The content of the Han court's edict did not exceed Lu Xun's expectations. It did not mention the conflict in Xuzhou, but vaguely stated that all parties should focus on the overall situation and defeat Yuan Shu.
Yuan Xi sneered, threw the edict on the table, and walked around the room irritably. Although this was the best way to take the overall situation into consideration for the Han court, if Yuan Xi stood in Liu Xie's position, he would be afraid I will also choose this method of mixing mud.
But for Yuan Xi now, it is unacceptable.
Since the imperial court gave him the position of Xuzhou Shepherd, he was forced to take on the responsibility of protecting the people of Xuzhou. Cao Cao must have an explanation for sending troops to attack Xuzhou.
And given the current situation, no matter how stupid Yuan Xi is, he will not attack Yuan Shu first.
Cao Cao occupies Xiapi, and according to his style, he is likely to lead Yuan Shu's army towards Guangling, so Yuan Xi has asked Taishi Ci to return to Guangling to prepare for Yuan Shu's army.
Now Tangyi, on the southwest border of Guangling County, directly borders Jiujiang County of Yangzhou, and is directly exposed to the attack range of Yuan Shu's army. Xuzhou's local soldiers are poorly trained and have rotated out the city's defenders several times.
With Yuan Xi's current strength, he can only adopt a defensive posture until the Xiapi matter is completely resolved.
Liu Bei's whereabouts were unknown, Cao Cao and Yuan Xi were at odds, and Sun Ce stood still. As a result, the Yuan coalition forces each had their own agenda, and the initiative returned to Yuan Shu's army.
As a result, the pressure on Lu Bu increased sharply on the way south from Sili. It was said that Yuan Shu intended to mobilize troops in the direction of Yingchuan. If Lu Bu was repulsed, there would never be another time to challenge Yuan's coalition forces.
Yuan Xi and Jushou Lu Xun discussed for a long time, but they could not think of any good way to break the situation, so they could only wait and see what happens.
But this would be tantamount to selling Lu Bu, and Yuan Xi did not dare to tell Lu Lingqi too clearly, because now he has to be responsible for the millions of people and soldiers under his rule, instead of bringing a few hundred soldiers with him at the beginning It’s time to be spontaneous.
Yuan Xi considered several methods, including threatening Cao Cao with Cao Song in Ye City, or abandoning Guangling, returning to Jizhou and directly attacking Yanzhou, sending people to assassinate Cao Cao, etc., but either the feasibility was too low or the risk was too high. They were all persuaded by Ju Shou and Lu Xun.
Yuan Xi found that deep down, he was still inclined to take risks, but as his status got higher, he felt more and more helpless about the heavy burden on his shoulders.
Nowadays, he has to consider all aspects and act more conservatively. Otherwise, if he makes a wrong decision, hundreds of thousands of people under his rule may suffer.
Yuan Xi sighed and looked out the window at the gloomy weather. He felt increasingly unhappy when he thought that he couldn't find his direction and was trapped by a bunch of things in Haixi City.
Things in Haixi City are far more troublesome than Yuan Xi imagined.
First, because a large number of people fled, it was impossible to accommodate such a large population in the city, so they could only disperse the people to surrounding villages and towns as much as possible.
Second, because the people of Xiapi fled into Guangling, the sudden increase in population put great pressure on the food supply. This was equivalent to using the grain reserves in Guangling County to feed the population of Xiapi and Guangling counties, which was very important for the upcoming spring plowing. This is not a good thing for Xia Zhong.
In addition, Yuan Xi also gave priority to supplying soldiers' rations to deal with foreign enemies. This resulted in a larger food gap, and now he could only mobilize food from Youzhou for emergencies.
On the contrary, Cao Cao, who occupied Xiapi, had a much easier time than Yuan Xi. His people had already fled a lot. In addition, Cao Cao's army used some extremely drastic measures to collect food, which not only ensured the rations of his soldiers, but also forced them to A large number of people fled to Guangling for refuge, adding more pressure to Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi suspected that Cao Cao might have done this intentionally, but Yuan Xi couldn't use this trick on the people under his rule. He couldn't drive the people under his rule to Xiapi, right?
He suddenly thought of a saying, if a person has no shame, he is invincible.
Fighting for the world is a life-and-death process. Yuan Xi chose a more difficult path and had no choice but to go on.
Third, the fleeing people fell down in large numbers because of their physical weakness, exacerbating the consumption in various cities in Guangling.
In ancient times, migration was a very dangerous thing.
Because this not only means that the food rations during the journey cannot be guaranteed at all, but the harsh environment of sleeping in the open air makes it easy for people to fall ill, and they will also encounter various unpredictable dangers, such as wild beasts and rogue bandits, which will take the lives of the people.
In the later Three Kingdoms, it was normal for more than half of the people to die during several major internal migrations. If they were not forced to do so, who among the people would be willing to leave their homes?
This is the case now. Xiapi was captured. The people trekked for more than half a month to reach Guangling. Countless people died along the way. They were also weak and prone to diseases. Yuan Xi had to recruit doctors and try his best to treat them.
Cao Cao made a surprise attack on Guangling, and Liu Bei, who could have been a strong assistant, disappeared. The two completely disrupted Yuan Xi's plan.
Yuan Xi's original plan was to join forces with Liu Bei, advance in two directions into Yuan Shu's hinterland, and then let Liu Bei occupy Yuzhou.
In this way, he and Liu Bei can become each other's horns and threaten Cao Cao's rear. Even if the Battle of Guandu breaks out, Yuan Xi and Liu Bei can attack Cao Cao's hometown at any time.
But I don’t know whether Cao Cao keenly sensed the danger or had other purposes. He did not choose to attack Yuan Shu along the Yingchuan route. Instead, he secretly set up Chen Cang and mobilized the main force to Taishan County. He successfully attacked in one fell swoop. Not only did he defeat Liu Bei, but he also He even occupied Xiapi, causing Yuan Xi's plan to fail in advance.
Yuan Xi sighed deeply. He had to admire Cao Cao. He was indeed an extremely difficult and dangerous opponent!
The last problem he has to face is to stabilize the situation in Guangling cities, especially in big cities such as Haixi.
Previously, because of Zuo Rong, Buddhism rose in Xuzhou and competed with Taoism. Several wars broke out overtly and covertly between the two sides, and both sides suffered losses.
There was an element of deliberate indulgence by Yuan Xi, but as the situation evolved, Yuan Xi learned from Chen Deng's letter that he had not actually controlled the underlying situation.
Some forces are deeply hidden, just like the Mi family merchant ship was destroyed that night in Qucheng. Yuan Xi couldn't imagine what he would do if he encountered such a situation.
He can be sure that Reese's forces are also hidden in Haixi, and it is most likely the Taiping Dao forces that Cao Cao has intervened in!
Thinking that Cao Cao had planted such a group of people under his nose, Yuan Xi had trouble sleeping and eating. However, it was difficult to find out these people because Taipingdao was a secret society and it was difficult to penetrate inside.
Tai Shici had learned about some of the incisions of Taiping Road many years ago, but as time had passed, the codes for these joints had long been replaced.
But this problem must be faced, either to control it or to eliminate it. Otherwise, who knows when, these people will suddenly appear and stab you in the back?
Wanting to thoroughly find out the details of Taiping Dao in Xuzhou, Yuan Xi first thought of Yang Feng. Only she, as the saint of Taiping Dao, could catch these hidden people.
But the problem is that Yang Feng will never help Yuan Xi deal with Taiping Dao.
Until a few days ago, by chance, a Taiping Taoist alchemist was captured in the city. After interrogation, he confessed that he was indeed planning some plans that were detrimental to Yuan Xi's subordinates and family members.
The reason was that it was rumored that Yuan Xi had killed the Saint of Taiping Dao, and thus became the enemy of Taiping Dao all over the world.
Yuan Xi naturally knew that this was referring to Yang Feng, so Yuan Xi immediately sent a letter to bring Yang Feng, who was still in labor education in Youzhou, to Haixi, in order to clear up this misunderstanding.
For this reason, he could only make a deal with Yang Feng. As for whether the other party would agree or not, Yuan Xi was not sure.
He turned his head and looked at the couch. Lu Lingqi was still sleeping soundly, and he couldn't help but feel sorry in his heart.
Now that there is a lack of generals in the city, he and Lu Lingqi have to patrol the camps separately, one during the day and the other at night. As a result, when they come back these days, they only see each other sleeping.
He walked to the bed and gently tucked Lu Lingqi's quilt tightly. Lu Lingqi's performance was far beyond Yuan Xi's expectations.
When Lu Lingqi first said that she would fight together, Yuan Xi actually didn't take it seriously. No matter how good a woman is in fighting, how can she still face endless fighting all day long and persevere like a man?
But in the past few months, Lu Lingqi impressed Yuan Xi. Whether it was killing enemies on the battlefield or doing daily inspections, she did it very well.
Isn't it because Lu Lingqi has the positive and negative pressure from her father like Lu Bu that she is forced to perform as best as possible in order to clear the name of the family?
Thinking about his troubled father-in-law, Yuan Xi sighed. Lu Bu was really not suitable for such a high position, but after all, they were a family, so he could only try his best to help him.
He tiptoed downstairs. In the first floor of the room, Mrs. Du, wearing an extremely slim-fitting dark dress with a curved train, was sitting at the door doing a red dress.
She heard a noise on the stairs and subconsciously raised her head. She was startled by Yuan Xi coming down, and the needle tip on her hand pricked her finger.
Seeing Mrs. Du put her slender white fingers at the corners of her mouth and pursed her lips, looking at him with a bit of resentment, a bit of embarrassment, a bit of helplessness in her eyes, and matching her extremely charming face, Yuan Xi felt ready to move.
He stared at Mrs. Du's waist. Its curves were slender and slender, but in both directions, it suddenly pulled out extremely dazzling curves.
Among the women Yuan Xi met, the one with the right figure, except Zhen Mi, was Mrs. Du.
He and Lu Lingqi have been busy in the past half month and haven't seen each other very often. As a result, the fire in Yuan Xi's body has long been unable to be suppressed, and he is depressed by the tedious chores. He just wants to vent, so he lightly He quietly entered the house and closed the door.
Mrs. Du's eyes showed a little panic. She picked up the half-embroidered inner garment in her hand and held it in front of her chest. Her face was hot and she lowered her head and said, "Master, please respect yourself. Madam is still upstairs."
Yuan Xi looked down from a high position and saw Mrs. Du's swan-like slender neck faintly exuding a pure white luster, and said softly: "She is fast asleep."
As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Du's hand on her chest began to tremble slightly, and her fingers holding half of the clothes looked a little white from the exertion.
After a moment, she slowly lowered her hand as if she had made up her mind.
Her green hands gently placed the inner garment on the side of the table, and then slowly lifted it up. She stretched out a finger and penetrated the high-collar skirt, slowly opening a gap.
(End of chapter)
