Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 962 Jianghuai War
Yuan Xi rode his horse slowly around Jinyang City. This ancient city was very different from a few months ago. The streets were much neater, the houses on both sides had been repaired, and the number of people gradually increased.

However, compared with before, the population proportion of the Southern Huns has dropped significantly. People wearing Han costumes are everywhere, and there are many businessmen among them.

After Yuan Xi captured Jinyang, there was no trade route to Sili for the time being, but the routes to the north of the Great Wall and the east to Heishan were opened. Driven by profit, more people were doing business.

The Hetao Plain was once a famous horse farm in the Han Dynasty. The horses produced by it were very popular among the counties in the Central Plains. Even people from outside the Great Wall came to ask for horse breeds. However, as it fell into the hands of the Southern Huns, the horse trade with the Central Plains was almost interrupted. .

This time, as Yuan Xi retook Bingzhou and took back the trade routes, livestock was finally able to be sold in the Hetao Plain. This was a great help to Montenegro, where the mining industry was developing rapidly and was in urgent need of animal power.

More importantly, during this year's war, Yuan Xi's bloodletting policy almost wiped out the Southern Huns die-hards, including tens of thousands of Southern Huns soldiers, and nearly 100,000 including their families. As these people died in battle or were sent to Montenegro and other places, the population of the southern Xiongnu in Bingzhou was greatly reduced.

Moreover, Yuan Xi purposely supported the identity of King Youxian and went to the Southern Xiongnu tribe in charge of the five northern counties, and the Huchuquan tribe under the rule of Gao Gan in the south became two groups. The original intention was to differentiate from each other and prevent the Southern Xiongnu tribe from Sit big.

Of course, border people are a very complicated issue. Bingzhou is currently short of Han soldiers to guard the border. After all, the border areas are bitterly cold and there are not enough benefits. Normal people are willing to stay in the rich hinterland of the Central Plains. So what is Yuan Xi's next step? , that is, how to attract the Han people to come and expand the border. After all, if you voluntarily give up border integration and expansion like the Eastern Han Dynasty, you will end up being taken away by the barbarians.

When he came to the city head, he saw that the snow outside the city had long melted, and the green mountains and green waters surrounding Jinyang were winding like a barrier. The morning glow accompanied by clouds and mist shrouded the mountains inside, like a dragon about to fly. , four words suddenly appeared in Yuan Xi's mind.

Great rivers and mountains.

"The Southern Xiongnu and Xianbei have a feud. It's time for them to prove it."

"But soldiers are a problem. There are still many gaps."

What everyone is discussing right now is that after a winter's rest, Cao Cao and Jiangdong once again sent troops at the same time, one to attack Liu Bei's Fancheng and Xiangyang, and the other to Huang Zu's Jiangxia.

Tian Yu said quickly: "I will do my best."

The reason for this is that through Liu Biao, Yuan Xi had previously recruited some frustrated people from the eight major families in Jingzhou. When these people saw the war in Jingzhou, they looked for an opportunity to work in Jianghuai.

Yuan Xi thought about it and said, "As instructed by senior officials, let some people come from Huchuquan and take turns every two years."

If Jiangdong completely captures Jiangxia, it can invade Nanjun and attack Cao Cao from both sides. Not only will Liu Bei be unable to defend it, but Liu Biao will also completely lose Jingzhou, which is what Yuan Xi does not want to see.

At this time, Shouchun was in charge of Jianghuai. Lu Xun and Taishi Ci were in charge of the military affairs, and Liu Ye and others were in charge of the internal affairs. They sat at the top, and at the bottom were the subordinate officials in the circle.

Some of them fled to Jingnan, some entered Yizhou, another part went to Cao Cao's forces, and the last part of them went east and followed the Huai River into Shouchun. Take refuge in Yuan Xi.

Jingzhou has not calmed down in the past two years. The war once spread to the vicinity of Xiangyang, and the entire Nanyang was unsafe. This county with the most population in the world produced a large number of refugees.

Yuan Xi spoke up: "I'll let Zilong lead the troops to preside over it."

As winter turns to spring, wars that had been temporarily suspended due to the severe winter began to reignite in various parts of the world. During this, most of the world's attention was not actually focused on Bingzhou. After all, in the eyes of many people, Yuan Xi's attack The Southern Huns have little influence on the situation in the world. The most critical thing at the moment is the battle for Jingzhou.

Tian Yu said: "Then the southern part of Bingzhou blocks Cao's army's defense line."

At the sound of footsteps, Yuan Xi turned around and saw that it was Tian Yu who was patrolling the city. He cupped his hands and said to Yuan Xi: "My lord, now the road from Jinyang to Beiwu County has been completely opened, and stations have been set up along the way. What's the next step?" It’s time to step up the construction of the Yinshan defense line in the five northern counties.”

Yuan Xi nodded, "I will set off tomorrow, first to Wuyuan, and then back to Youzhou. When the situation here calms down, I will personally come to take Guo Rang back to Jicheng!"

On the other side, there is some danger. Huang Zu lost half of Jiangxia last year. Now Jiangdong is involved again and vows to completely eliminate Huang Zu. As an ally of Liu Biao, Yuan Xi seems to be unable to sit idly by.

It goes without saying that Cao Cao defeated Liu Bei, but Liu Bei now has the momentum of getting stronger and stronger. From the early stage against Cao Cao, he suffered repeated defeats, and now he has defended Fancheng watertight, which shows his great potential.

Tian Yu felt relieved and saw Yuan Xi pointing to the green mountains outside the city and saying: "Great rivers and mountains, if you don't give in an inch, this city will be handed over to the country."

Its components are quite complex, including not only clan members like Liu Ji, but also Jingzhou nobles like Yang Yong, as well as officials from Youzhou and Jizhou that Yuan Xi brought here before. These people check and balance each other, which is also Yuan Xi's intention.

In fact, Shouchun is not idle. In addition to supporting Liu Bei last year, it has been actively training naval forces in the Huai River. At the same time, it is digging ditches from the Huai River to Chao Lake. This year, medium and large ships can finally pass.

This means that the Huai River navy can finally be sent to the Yangtze River through Chao Lake. Although Wankou south of Chao Lake is still occupied by Jiangdong, if Shouchun wants to fight, it can be taken back at any time.

What everyone is debating is whether the next step is to support Liu Bei in resisting Cao Cao, or to go south to the Yangtze River and destroy Jiangdong's plan. But if there is a falling out with Jiangdong, the two sides may start a full-scale war along the long-term coast. No one here can bear this responsibility before asking Yuan Xi for instructions. This is where everyone is struggling now.

But now Yuan Xiyuan is fighting in Bingzhou. Even if he sends a letter to ask, it will take several months to come and go. In this time, Huang Zu may be destroyed!
Lu Xun was also under tremendous pressure. Although he was Yuan Xi's sworn brother in name, he had to handle official matters impartially. The falling out with Jiangdong was a major event that affected the overall situation. Even with Lu Xun's ability, he was unable to make a decision.

At this time Liu Ye spoke, "Why can't we go to Yuzhou?"

Everyone was stunned, and Yang Yong said: "This is a good idea. It can contain Cao Jun, so that the pressure on Liu Biao will be reduced, and maybe there will be extra troops to support Jiang Xia!"

Liu Ji spoke up: "But before leaving, the envoy said that Yuzhou was probably a bait. If he attacked rashly, it would not lead to a full-scale counterattack by Cao Cao's army. Now my lord's territory and Cao Cao's territory are intertwined in several counties. If a full-scale war breaks out, who can take charge?"

"My lord is still in the north of Saibei at this time and there is no time to rush over. Who else can make the decision besides him?"

Everyone was silent. What Liu Ji said was indeed a big problem. In fact, Yuan Xi's situation was very similar to Cao Cao's. The lord was the absolute core figure of the power, and no one else dared to make decisions without authorization.

Liu Ji spoke up: "The most troublesome thing now is that if Shouchun sends troops to attack Yuzhou, Hefei's defense will inevitably be empty, and the possibility of Jiangdong taking advantage of it cannot be ruled out."

"After all, this is not the first time Jiang Dong has betrayed his trust. His thoughts about Hefei Shouchun have never disappeared."

Everyone knows that Liu Ji hates Jiang Dong because Liu Yao was defeated by Sun Ce, but they have to admit that what Liu Ji said makes sense. After Jiang Dong captured Jiang Xia, its threat to Yuan Xi's power became much greater, because He is obviously colluding with Cao Cao. In this case, the only one Jiang Dong can plot is Jiang Huai!
Yang Yong said: "You are right, but have you ever thought about it. If Jiangdong is really harboring evil intentions, this battle will be inevitable."

"If we watch Jiangdong take Jiangxia, do nothing, miss the opportunity, and wait for it to turn around and deal with us, it will make us even more passive."

"Even if we don't openly go to war with Jiangdong, we still have to find ways to disrupt their plans."

Liu Ye said aloud: "I have a worry."

"At present, among the officials in Shouchun, all civil servants are performing their respective duties. It can be said that there are many talents."

"But in terms of generals, apart from Governor Lu and General Taishi, there are only a few former generals under Yuan Gongdao who can lead the army."

"Judging from the number, it still seems to be small. You must know that regardless of Cao Cao's Yuzhou side, there are dozens of generals with surnames in Jiangdong. Many of them are veteran generals who follow the little overlord Sun Ce to conquer the world."

"With all due respect, there are still too few generals in Shouchun."

Lu Xun and Tai Shici looked at each other and agreed in their hearts. In order to conquer Bingzhou, Yuan Xi took away almost all the generals. It is difficult for Shouchun's generals to support large-scale operations!

Lu Xun thought for a moment and said, "Are there any strong generals in Jingzhou that we can recruit?"

He was asking a group of officials in Jingzhou. After Yang Yong and others whispered for a while, they spoke out: "Most of the famous generals in Jingzhou are under the command of Liu Jingsheng. The two most famous ones now."

"First, General Wen hired Wen Zhongye to guard Nanjun as the first direction after the fall of Xiangyang."

"The second is Zhonglang General Huang Zhong and Huang Hansheng, who guards You County and echoes Jiangxia. They once invaded Yuzhang, but now they are unable to survive alone."

After hearing this, Lu Xun couldn't help but shook his head. These words were almost unsaid. Yuan Xi had indeed mentioned these two people in key points, but they were both important ministers of Liu Biao, and they could not be recruited now, so he said: "Do you have any Have you ever heard of Wei Yan?"

The scholars in Jingzhou were all stunned. After a while of discussion, they all shook their heads to express their ignorance.

After hearing this, Lu Xun sighed inwardly and said, "Let's send an urgent message to the envoy first."

"Before that, mobilize some warships from the Huai River to enter Chaohu Lake and block the waterway to the Rushu River in the south to deal with the attack from Jiangdong."

After receiving the order, everyone dispersed one after another. They thought that at such a young age, Governor Lu acted so calmly, neither impatient nor aggressive. He had the air of a general.

However, they didn't know that the reason why Lu Xun was like this was because Tai Shici's physical condition was not very good now.

(End of this chapter)