Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 96 Long-term Planning
Hearing Zhang's words, Wu Zhao couldn't help but glance at Yuan Xi, and found that the other party didn't respond, and secretly thought that he had really learned badly.

Yuan Xi had no expression on his face, but he was actually very happy in his heart. If this matter is accomplished, it will be of great help to his future plans.

If you want to blame, you can blame Yuan Shang, what you did was too extreme, it drove the Zhen family to a dead end, and the rabbit would bite people when it was in a hurry, I am afraid that Yuan Shang was also driven into a dizzy by himself at that time, and he was eager to frame himself, so he had a flaw .

If he could wait a little longer and make plans after confirming the news of Gao Lan's death, it would be difficult for Yuan Xi to talk to the Zhen family.

But maybe Yuan Shang thinks highly of himself and thinks that no gentry would dare to resist the Yuan family?
He said: "Auntie, don't be too polite, we will be a family from now on, we should help each other in the same boat."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Mi blushed and quickly lowered her head.

Yuan Xi said to Zhen Rong again: "General Gao's going to Beixincheng was originally planned by the third brother, and he wanted him to offend me and elder brother."

"He's doing well in Beixincheng now. I'll talk to my elder brother in a few days and let him go back to Yecheng to reunite with his wife."

When Zhen Rong heard this, he burst into tears and said: "Thank you, Young Master, for your kindness!"

Yuan Xi saw Zhen Rong's exquisite body curves, and thought of the scene where the two of them ate Wushi powder that night and rolled for a while.

Although Yuan Xing and Wu Zhao arrived in time and did not make a big mistake, Yuan Xi's desire had been completely aroused at that time, so what happened to Wu Zhao later happened.

He quickly calmed down and said to Zhang: "Now that the Zhen family has been involved in the struggle between me and my third brother, my father will not do anything to the two of us, but maybe he will anger the Zhen family because of it."

Mrs. Zhang hastily said: "Please help me, my lord!"

Now Zhen Yao is an adult male in the Zhen family, if Yuan Shang has bad intentions and asks Zhen Yao to go to the battlefield to kill him, how can she be worthy of the dead Zhen Yi!
Yuan Xi nodded and said: "Since that's the case, I will help the Zhen family clarify the misunderstanding in front of my father."

"But if I leave Yecheng, there's no guarantee that the third younger brother won't have feelings for the Zhen family."

"My idea is that it's not easy for Zhen's family to stay in Jizhou, so it's better to go to Youzhou."

As soon as these words came out, all the daughters of the Zhen family, including Mrs. Zhang, hesitated.

Merchants' homes don't just leave, regardless of the loss of property, the local contacts, business routes, and relationships will all disappear with the migration.

And Youzhou is not a safe place now, most of it is occupied by Gongsun Zan, and there are foreign horse thieves everywhere, which is much more dangerous than Jizhou.

Yuan Xi saw it, and said with confidence: "I know what the old lady is worried about."

"But there are still risks in doing business, let alone opening up a place."

"But think about it, old lady, if you stay in Jizhou, the Zhen family will be a wealthy businessman."

"The hereditary position of the two thousand stones of the ancestor of the Zhen family will definitely be threatened by someone. Whether it can be inherited in the future is not certain, right?"

"Youzhou is different. Most of the gentry are attached to Gongsun Zan. After the war is wiped out in the future, these gentry will not end well. There are many vacant positions, which are much more opportunities than Jizhou."

Yuan Xi would definitely not keep the Youzhou gentry, they not only betrayed Liu Yu, but the later Yuan Xi's general, Jiao Zhao Zhang Nan, also rebelled at a critical moment. It is dangerous to keep this group of rebels, it is better to get rid of them.

After hearing this, Mrs. Zhang began to move.

Because what Yuan Xi said was indeed reasonable. After the princes occupied a place, although they would buy the local gentry, they would also give a considerable part of their positions to the foreign gentry under them as a check and balance.

The conflict between Yuan Shao's current Yingchuan Runan gentry and Jizhou gentry was deliberately done in this way.

The way to be a subordinate is to let the subordinates fight each other and show their loyalty to the lord, so as to ensure the lord's dominance over the group.

Therefore, the monarch not only does not prohibit internal fighting, but encourages internal fighting within a certain range, just like the emperor uses his gentry and eunuchs to check and balance.

One day, if the gentry and eunuchs join hands to deal with the emperor, that would be the most terrible thing.

If the subordinates are friendly and there is no discord, the lord will be worried instead. Are these people ready to team up to deal with him?
The way to be an official is to slander the superior and flatter the inferior, which is to confuse the subordinates to fight each other, and the subordinates are self-satisfied when they fight among themselves.

Mrs. Zhang thought for a long time before she opened her mouth and said: "The whole family of Zhen's family has moved, and the old man has no objection, but if you just sell the property and exchange it for goods, you will just sit and eat when you arrive in Youzhou, and it is not a long-term solution."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "Of course we can't give up wealth."

"The Zhen family will gradually transfer their business routes to the seaside within a year or two, mainly by sea."

"What!" Mrs. Zhang was surprised. "Not to mention the high cost of building a ship. Now the coastal states are all enemies of the Yuan family. I'm afraid it will be difficult to control the trade routes in the future."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi praised: "Auntie really has bright eyes, but I must have something to rely on for saying so."

"Although Jizhou is stable now, it is the land of the Fourth World War. It has been surrounded by years of wars. I am afraid that the Zhen family business route is not so safe, right?"

Mrs. Zhang nodded and admitted that, especially in the past few years, in addition to the feudal lords' melee and the Yellow Turban thieves' rebellion, the Zhen family's business routes always had to pay a huge amount of protection fees to pass, resulting in a sharp drop in the profit of the goods.

The advantage of the sea route is that as long as the destination port is opened up, the journey can be unimpeded.

Yuan Xi said again: "Although Xuzhou, Qingzhou, a coastal Youzhou, is not in Yuan's hands at the moment, in time, these will be controlled. When the Zhen family makes a move, will they be able to surpass the local gentry quickly?"

"So the Zhen family can make arrangements in advance. Of course, this is also a gamble. Whether or not to gamble is entirely up to Auntie."

"And Jizhou may not be safe in the next few years."

Zhen Mi Zhang and the others felt their hearts sink. Since Yuan Xi said so, it was obvious that it was not groundless.

After Yuan Xi finished speaking, he looked at everyone with a smile.

The Zhen family is an important part of his plan. Without money and nobody, nothing can be done.

At that time, there was no Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, so he couldn't dig it out, and sea-going ships were not paid much attention because of frequent banditry, but Yuan Xi knew that sea transportation had great potential.

It saves manpower and material resources, does not need road construction, is fast, and is less affected by the weather.

If it is said that there are not one out of ten land routes for transporting food for thousands of miles in wars, at least half of them will be left by sea routes.

All that is needed is a stable sea route, a good enough ship, and an inland route to control the river leading to the mouth of the sea.

Yuan Xi's next step is to acquire the coastal land of Youzhou and establish a port.

Help Yuan Tan conquer Qingzhou, the coastal Beihai and the ports of Bohai State.

Xuzhou is more troublesome. At that time, it is best to make friends with Liu Bei, or use Lu Bu to restrain him. He has not yet made up his mind.

Moreover, with good sea ships, they can quickly transport soldiers' money and food during war, which is much more convenient than land routes.

It can even be a good move against Jiangdong in the future. If they can share the north and south of the river with Jiangdong and control the shipping on the Yangtze River, they can hold Jiangdong's lifeline.

Of course, the investment in sea ships in the early stage was indeed not small, so he set his sights on wealthy businessmen like the Zhen family, and only the Zhen family can afford a fleet of ships.

Mrs. Zhang is also thinking at this time, the risk of transferring the Zhen family business center from Jizhou to the coast is indeed very high, but once it succeeds, the benefits will be huge!

Yuan Xi knew that although the Zhen family was a noble family, it was also a family of merchants, and it would be difficult for a woman like the Zhang family to make up her mind without giving some substantial benefits.

Yuan Xi said, "Does Auntie think that Zhen Yao, the only male member of the Zhen family, will not be able to revitalize the Zhen family even if he gets back the title of two thousand shi?"

"I have an idea. If the gentry who go to Youzhou in the future can contribute to the establishment of free schools, digging rivers, etc., I may not be unable to fight for some titles."

"The second son of Zhen's eldest son died early, and there are several younger sons. I will find a way to let him inherit it. It is not impossible for the Zhen family to have a few more titles."

This is almost like selling officials and nobles in the time of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, but Yuan Xi has no psychological pressure. In a place like Youzhou, if you don't give others benefits, who wants to be taken advantage of and invest money?

Mrs. Zhang was finally moved, bowed down and said: "Since that's the case, I will entrust the Zhen family to the young master!"

She is not stupid either, the Zhen family is already on board, it is impossible not to stand in line, and the size of the Zhen family cannot resist the Yuan family at all.

Compared to Yuan Shang who directly plotted against the Zhen family, Yuan Xi could at least negotiate terms.

At this time Zhen Mi said softly: "I am worried that the third son Yuan will definitely oppose the marriage between the son and the Zhen family."

"Master Yuan San believes in prophecy and is very famous among the gentry."

Yuan Xi heard about this from Gao Lan, his heart came from the sky, and the prophecy of himself and Zhen Mi was extremely feared by Yuan Shang.

He felt uneasy for a while, Yuan Shang has no lower limit in what he can do, and he has a biological mother Liu to protect him.

At that time, you will be defeated by Cao Cao, and I will not save you!
He said: "Girl, don't worry, there must be a way for the car to reach the mountain."

After hearing this, Zhen Mi blushed and nodded.

Seeing that the matter was almost finished, Yuan Xi paid homage again: "The Zhen family has not failed me, and I will certainly not fail the Zhen family."

When Mrs. Zhang and others saw it, they hurriedly returned the gift.

Yuan Xi got up to say goodbye, and took Wu Zhao with him.

Zhen Rong and Zhen Mi followed Mrs. Zhang to the gate, and when Yuan Xi got into the carriage and left, the gate of Zhen's residence was closed, and the three went back separately.

When Zhen Rong heard that Gao Lan was still alive, he suddenly felt relieved. Seeing Zhen Mi staring at the direction of the carriage, he said with a smile: "Why, the future husband is so powerful, is it because he secretly agreed?"

Zhen Mi shook her head and said, "Where did my sister think, I was thinking that the maid next to Second Young Master is not simple."

Zhen Rong thought about it, and suddenly said: "Indeed, the Second Young Master asked us to dismiss the idlers, but he naturally kept his maid. Obviously, he trusts her very much."

Zhen Mi's thoughts didn't stop there, the maid and Yuan Xi looked at each other several times, both of them stared at each other, and the corners of their mouths couldn't help but smile, this is not the relationship between the master and ordinary maids!
And when he went to see Yuan Xing in disguise, the maid saw through him at a glance, this is not an ordinary person.

Seeing that Zhen Mi didn't speak, Zhen Rong said that she was shy, and made fun of her a few more times. Zhen Mi was annoyed, and said: "Sister, I'd better go and take off this dress. Since brother-in-law is not dead, what are you doing wearing it?" .”

"It's a pity that you were tricked into this by the third son Yuan. If the second son and sister Yuan Xing hadn't rescued you, I still don't know how things would have turned out."

When Zhen Rong thought about what happened that night, she felt guilty for a while. She didn't know how much Yuan Xi remembered, but she took less Wushisan, and still remembered most of it!

She quickly covered it up and said: "I haven't married yet, my elbow is turned away, I won't tell you anymore!"

She left Zhen Mi in a hurry, went back to her room, took off her filial piety and threw it in the corner.

When she changed back to the skirt, her hand touched the place that was touched that night, and the strange but familiar touch was awakened again.

The feeling of this forbidden immorality was so clear that she couldn't help but cry out.

(End of this chapter)