Kong Rong, Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, Jian Yong ran into the wall one after another, and everyone turned their attention to Chen Deng. When Chen Deng saw this, he knew that he could not do it without speaking.
In fact, Chen Deng was extremely happy when Yuan Xi came this time.
Joining forces with Yuan Shao is much better than joining forces with Yuan Shu.
Once Liu Bei surrenders to Yuan Shao, Qingzhou and Yanzhou will be safe, and he only needs to concentrate on dealing with Yuan Shu in the south.
Xuzhou and Yangzhou are separated by the Yangtze River. It is extremely difficult for Yuan Shu to attack Xuzhou.
And if Liu Bei and Yuan Shu form an alliance, they will become Yuan Shu's vanguard, facing enemies on both sides at the same time. According to the size of Xuzhou, it is impossible to withstand the attack of Yuan Shaojun and Cao Caojun.
Therefore, the advantages and disadvantages of taking refuge in both sides can be seen at a glance.
Moreover, Yuan Shu had evil intentions and had the tendency to establish himself as emperor, which made Chen Deng, who was loyal to the Han Dynasty, very unhappy.
If Liu Bei gets involved with Yuan Shu again, I'm afraid his reputation will get worse and worse!
Chen Deng knew that whatever he could figure out, other counselors could also figure out.
Most people just can't save face.
After all, Yuan Shao's minion Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, and Yuan Shao's army had just defeated the Xuzhou army. The conflicts on both sides will not be solved in a short time.
But relying on Yuan Shao is much better than surrendering to Cao Cao. After all, the latter really has a mortal enemy with the gentry and people of Xuzhou.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Chen Deng said to Yuan Xi, "Why do you think, Master, that Xuzhou can seek refuge with Yuan Zhoumu?"
"Cao Cao failed to capture Xuzhou twice. Do you think Xuzhou is so easy to be exploited?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "I heard that Cao Cao's army has ceased war with Lu Bu's army."
After hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
Even a fool knows that Lu Bu has many powerful generals, and Cao Cao is now in a stalemate with him. The two sides are negotiating for peace, which shows that neither side feels that they can defeat the other side.
Once Cao Cao frees up his hands, the next step will definitely be to deal with the weakest one!
Looking around Yanzhou, the softest persimmon is of course Liu Bei, who just suffered a defeat in Qingzhou.
Yuan Xi felt a little proud when he saw the tangled expressions on everyone's faces.
In the battle of Qingzhou, the heat was just right.
Liu Bei was beaten to a semi-disabled state, causing him to lose the confidence to resist Cao Cao head-on.
But it was not completely defeated, and there was still some confidence and hope to deal with Cao Cao.
Chen Deng's eyes lit up slightly after hearing Yuan Xi's words. The other party was very smart. One sentence was worth ten sentences, which hit Liu Bei's weakness.
He nodded slightly and said, "I have nothing more to ask."
When Yuan Xi saw that Chen Deng was so easy to let go, he was a little strange at first, but after thinking about it for a moment, he immediately understood.
Judging from Chen Deng's reaction and the letter he wrote to Yuan Shao in later generations, it is obvious that he strongly supports the alliance between Yuan and Liu!
Chen Deng... Yuan Xi recalled the historical records of later generations and suddenly discovered that this was the talent he lacked the most!
Chen Deng is the captain of Xuzhou Diannong School, in charge of agricultural production. He personally inspects Xuzhou's soil conditions, develops water conservancy, and develops farmland irrigation.
Under his governance, Xuzhou's agriculture developed well, the rice crop was abundant, and the people were happy.
When Yuan Xi thought of this, his desire became even more intense. He would occupy Youzhou for farming in the future and would be in urgent need of a large number of agricultural talents!
Farming in ancient times was actually a difficult and difficult task.
If you want to plant food and harvest it smoothly, you must not make mistakes in cultivation, fertilization, irrigation, interplanting and other aspects.
Any unexpected mistake in any link may result in no harvest.
This was especially true in ancient times when land was cleared. Cultivating new land and planting new crops required taking great risks, one of which was crop degradation.
If crops from the south are grown in the north, it is likely that after one or two generations, due to various reasons, their yields will decrease, or they will become sick, or even degenerate into wild crops that are completely inedible.
In this era, there is no shortage of land, but there is a shortage of food.
Nowadays, some types of ancient grains have begun to reduce their yields and are gradually being replaced by more efficient crops.
Potatoes and corn were gone before the Age of Discovery, and one of the best options left was rice.
Under the right conditions, rice yields far exceed those of other cereals.
However, rice also has higher requirements for growing conditions and cultivation technology. It must cooperate with water conservancy, polder terraces, leveling the land, and improving the soil to be suitable for rice cultivation.
At this time, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were sporadic rice plantings in the northern states, but they did not reach a large scale.
Yuan Xi also tried planting rice in Beixin City, but due to water conservancy and soil and water problems, the effect was not very satisfactory.
But the significance of rice is very important, because it and wheat are not competitive, but complementary.
Rice and wheat have different growing seasons. As long as they are properly arranged, the same field can harvest two crops of rice and wheat at the same time a year.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng recorded in his "Nandu Fu" that there was a successful example of double cropping of rice and wheat in Nanyang, Henan.
However, after the wars at the end of the Han Dynasty, agricultural production suffered great damage and many agricultural technologies were lost.
Only certain noble families have similar books and records in their homes. At present, only relying on them can we pass on and carry forward this knowledge.
As long as the nobles mastered knowledge, they would never be completely eliminated. However, compared to land annexation, the inheritance and continuation of knowledge was benign.
Knowledge can do evil as well as good. For a scholar like Chen Deng who is proficient in agriculture, the more the better.
Yuan Xi's heart was filled with ups and downs. In his mind, talents like Chen Deng were no less important than Guo Jia.
It would be a waste to keep this person in Liu Bei's hands. Liu Bei now doesn't understand the value of Chen Deng at all!
Moreover, Chen Deng should not be as loyal to Liu Bei as others. This can be seen from the fact that he successively took refuge with Lu Bu and Cao Cao.
Although Chen Deng has the local sentiments of the Xuzhou gentry and has never left Xuzhou, but has been operating in Guangling County for many years, it must be said that Chen Deng has made great achievements in both domestic affairs and military affairs.
Not only was he a civil servant, he was also very strong in military use. When he was Cao Cao's vanguard, he personally attacked Xiapi, defeated Lu Bu, and defeated Sun Ce's army twice in Guangling. He was a rare talent.
He just died too early.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi said to Chen Deng: "Mr. Yuanlong, are you feeling ill?"
Everyone was startled, why did they talk about this for no reason?
Chen Deng shook his head and said, "No."
Yuan Xi pretended to be surprised and said: "Really not?"
"I have a friend who once calculated that Mr. Yuan Long has a hidden disease and even mentioned the symptoms."
After hearing this, Mi Zhu shook his head and said, "How could such a thing happen? I'm afraid the young master was deceived."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "You are being rude. After all, your complexion suddenly turns red, your chest feels tight, and your mood is irritable. This disease can be life-threatening within a few years. It seems like nonsense."
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of Mi Zhu and others changed slightly, but Chen Deng's expression remained as usual, he shook his head and said: "It is indeed outrageous. How can I be upset if I am under Duke Xuande?"
He flattered Liu Bei without any trace of it. Zhang Fei was very happy to hear it, and he extended his thumb and praised: "Mr. Yuanlong, a cultural man, really has extraordinary words."
Yuan Xi smiled, his goal had been achieved.
Someone must have known about Chen Deng's symptoms before, just look at the reactions of Mi Zhu and others.
But Chen Deng pretended not to know, obviously to avoid suspicion, but Yuan Xi's plan was so poisonous that it was useless for Chen Deng to pretend to be stupid. There must be people who knew about it and were already suspicious of him.
After all, no matter what Yuan Xi said is true or false, Chen Deng will definitely ask Yuan Xi for advice in private. After all, this disease is life-threatening, who would take the risk of being in trouble with him?
There was silence for a while
Upon seeing this, Yuan Xi said to Mi Zhu: "Brother Zizhong, I heard that the Mi family is involved in trade routes. How many sea routes lead to Yangzhou?"
"I came here this time because I was entrusted by a Jizhou businessman to ask if the Mi family is interested in cooperating."
"After all, Jizhou is rich in products. If it can be transported to the south, it will be very profitable."
Mi Zhu couldn't help but feel happy, and then she reacted and said awkwardly: "If I have a chance, I'll definitely, I'll definitely, haha."
Liu Bei felt extremely uncomfortable. Yuan Shao's son was so disgusting. He was openly poaching!
It's not like he didn't see Yuan Xi's bad character, but he was depressed because he had to pretend to be stupid!
Liu Bei could only chuckle and said: "Since Mr. Xian Yi has mentioned this, let's open the skylight and speak openly."
"As long as Yuan Zhoumu still loves the Han Dynasty, he is willing to negotiate."
Everyone thought that they had agreed to give Yuan Xi a showdown first, but why did Liu Bei take a stand after just a few words of probing?
They didn't know that Liu Bei was afraid of Yuan Xi's poaching ability and didn't want Yuan Xi to speak again!
Zhao Yuntai Shi Ci will not say anything. Now he is openly poaching people in front of him. How shameless is this?
Liu Bei is really scared. After all, his current strength is far from Yuan Shao!
Seeing Liu Bei's reaction, Yuan Xi smiled slightly. This is the role of reputation among noble families.
What Liu Bei was afraid of was not himself, but Yuan Shao behind him.
Yuan Xi deeply felt the importance of reincarnation. This is the world's greatest kindness to him, and it is much stronger than most golden fingers.
Just like there is a saying in later generations, "Money is not for women to spend, but for women to see."
Later generations of dog lickers spent countless amounts of money to kneel and lick the goddess in their hearts, but in the end they lost both their lives and money.
And those so-called goddesses take the initiative to throw themselves into the arms of rich men driving luxury cars, and they can get into bed without even asking for a penny from the other party.
Because those women are not stupid, they want a long-term meal ticket more than a short-term withdrawal.
Of course, this also involves the risk of being prostituted for free, but if one is willing to be beaten, the other is willing to suffer.
For these women, it doesn't matter how many times they have been cheated, or dozens of times, as long as they succeed once, that's enough.
And many of the scholars standing in front of Yuan Xi now have the same thoughts as those women.
Reputation is also for scholars.
Those who have more investment value than those who make their fortune from scratch are, of course, the children of aristocratic families.
It is precisely because of this that things went so smoothly this time. Yuan Xi's plans were just the icing on the cake.
As for whether you can get a scholar for nothing, it depends on how you operate.
Now that Liu Bei had loosened his words, the two sides began to bargain from sending troops to attacking and defending, from food and grass to mutual aid.
Time passed unknowingly, and Liu Bei hosted a banquet at noon, but Kong Rong did not show up.
After eating, the two sides continued to talk in the afternoon, which lasted all day. However, Yuan Xi discovered that Liu Bei was actually retreating in order to advance. Although he agreed to join the sect, he did not give in at all on many conditions. Apparently, he felt that since Jizhou sent Yuan When Xi came here, he must have something to ask for from Xuzhou.
This was far from Yuan Xi's previous psychological bottom line, and Yuan Xi was a little angry in the end.
Seeing that it was getting late, he became more and more dizzy, and proposed to talk about it tomorrow, and Liu Bei readily agreed.
When the dinner and the place to stay were mentioned, Yuan Xi felt angry and said with a smile: "I have already bothered Mr. Xuande at noon, so I won't eat in the evening."
"As for the residence, I can't afford hardships. I heard that the Mi family's mansion is quite nice. Can you open my eyes?"
Mi Zhu's face turned bitter after hearing this. This man is so evil. He is deliberately trying to trick me!
(End of chapter)
