"As a minister, you should share your worries with your father!" Yuan Yao added righteously.
Han Yin smiled and nodded.
Right, this is the Mr. Yuan I am familiar with!
When Han Yin went out, he happened to run into Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang stepped aside to get out of the way, and Han Yin didn't pay much attention to the young man and walked out.
"Are you getting up now? No more sleep?"
Yuan Yao was a little surprised when he saw Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang touched his belly and said with a smile: "I was sleeping soundly, but the taste of the porridge was even more delicious, which woke me up."
Yuan Yao asked in confusion: "Did your sister-in-law wake you up when she was serving you porridge?"
It shouldn't be. Feng Fangnu has always been very cautious, so she shouldn't be so rash, right?
Zhuge Liang quickly shook his head: "It has nothing to do with sister-in-law...Sister Feng. I really woke up by myself when I smelled the aroma of porridge!"
Yuan Yao felt relieved when he saw Zhuge Liang's face glowing red.
Chaisang Inn is not big. Just now, the back kitchen was cooking medicinal porridge, and I could smell it in the front hall.
"How about the porridge? It tastes good. If it suits your taste, let your sister-in-law make it for you every day from now on!"
Zhuge Liang was a little embarrassed: "How...how can I bear this?"
Yuan Yao saw Zhuge Liang's squirming look and understood in his heart.
He immediately burst out laughing and said, "I can't bear to have a pair of chopsticks."
"Your sister-in-law is not only good at making porridge, she is also good at making pastries. Your boy will be in good hands in the future!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Feng Fangnu walked in carrying a plate of pastries.
Looking at the various exquisite pastries on the plate, Zhuge Liang secretly swallowed.
Yuan Yao waved his hand, and Feng Fangnu obediently bowed to Yuan Yao and Zhuge Liang and slowly withdrew.
Seeing Feng Fangnu walking away, Yuan Yao approached Zhuge Liang with a pastry plate.
"I'm going to rejuvenate myself in a few days, what do you think?"
Zhuge Liang's eyes never left the pastries since Feng Fangnu came in.
But despite this, he immediately understood what Yuan Yao meant.
It seems that the person who went out just now should be the envoy from Huainan.
And Yuan Yao deliberately waited for Feng Fangnu to go out before telling him about returning to Shouchun. This meant that Yuan Yao had no intention of taking Feng Fangnu back, so he didn't want her to know about it for the time being.
But Zhuge Liang knew that Feng Fangnu was the only beauty Yuan Yao favored during this period, and she was the daughter of Feng Fang, the eighth captain of Xiyuan. Her status was not low, and she could meet the Yuan family's marriage threshold in Runan.
But Yuan Yao wants to return to Shouchun, but he doesn't want to take Feng Fangnu back with him. This means that Yuan Yao will only go back to Shouchun for a short time this time, and he will come back in the end.
Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang frowned and asked, "But has something changed in Huainan?"
Yuan Yao nodded and stuffed a piece of pastry into his mouth.
It's easy to talk to smart people.
When Yuan Yao started to speak, Zhuge Liang picked up a piece of pastry and put it in his mouth.
"Could it be that Duke Yuan is about to raise an army? And send an envoy to ask the young general to return to Shouchun and take charge of the rear?"
Yuan Yao continued to nod.
Zhuge Liang frowned slightly: "Are you going to attack Yanzhou or Yuzhou?"
Yuan Yao shook his head while grabbing the second piece of pastry and stuffing it into his mouth.
Zhuge Liang was surprised: "Is it possible that Duke Yuan wants to attack Xuzhou Liu Bei?"
Yuan Yao nodded again.
Zhuge Liang frowned, the cake he put to his mouth suddenly lost its aroma, and his hand dropped.
"This is probably not a good idea!"
"Who says it isn't?"
Yuan Yao muttered while chewing the cake: "I came back to Shouchun just to persuade my father not to think about this and that all day long."
"Can't you just live well in Huainan?"
Zhuge Liang: "In that case, you can just write a letter to persuade him, why bother to go in person?"
"Now Jiangyou is newly settled, everything is unclear, and the young general needs to be in charge to make a decision. How can we leave so easily?"
Yuan Yao: "That's why...I'm looking for you!"
"What I'm thinking is this..."
Leaning close to Zhuge Liang's ear, Yuan Yao explained his plan directly.
Bang~
The cake in Zhuge Liang's hand fell directly to the ground, and his expression changed drastically.
I asked someone to make porridge and pastries for me very early in the morning.
So you are waiting for me here!
I knew it was nothing good!
Yuan Yao picked up a new piece of pastry and handed it to Zhuge Liang.
"What's your expression?"
"You should be happy! After I leave, your sister-in-law has clearly arranged three meals a day for you. It will never be the same again. I guarantee your satisfaction!"
Zhuge Liang grimaced and said helplessly: "I...do I still have a choice?"
"No!"
Yuan Yao said without any doubt.
Zhuge Liang reluctantly took the cake and stuffed it into his mouth.
This Yuan Yao is really my nemesis!
Fortunately, this pastry is really delicious!
…
The next day, Yuan Yao changed his clothes, pretended to be a follower, and followed Han Yin on the boat heading north.
Zhuge Liang still lives in the post station, handling military affairs and issuing orders in the name of Yuan Yao.
After Yuan Yao moved into the inn, in addition to letting his own soldiers guard the internal defense, he also transferred a team of soldiers from Lu Su to take charge of external defense.
The guards inside and outside the inn are very tight.
Yuan Yao has always cherished his life and used to live in seclusion. Therefore, not going out for ten days and a half will not arouse anyone's suspicion.
Lu Su, the magistrate of Chaisang County, and Liu Fu, the captain of the field camp, have been preparing to build a city in Banzhou these days.
Regarding the division of labor between the two people, Yuan Yao had already made clear arrangements.
Liu Fu knew hydrology and was good at building cities. Therefore, he was appointed as the construction supervisor, responsible for surveying the hydrology near Banzhou, determining the city site, and specific construction matters.
Lu Su is responsible for the overall planning and logistics of the entire construction. For example, issues such as recruiting civilian men, recruiting wood and stone transport ships, and coordinating the supply of grain and grass.
Although all the food supplies in Jiangxia were destroyed, it would be difficult for the Jingzhou Army to make a comeback in the short term.
However, in order to further reduce the probability of Jingzhou sending troops, Yuan Yao ordered Lu Su to launch a diplomatic offensive against Jingzhou.
On the one hand, he sent people to bribe Liu Biao's wife, Mrs. Cai, his brother-in-law Cai Mao, his nephew Zhang Yun and others, so that these people would try their best to dissuade Liu Biao from negotiating peace with him, or delay the Jingzhou army's war preparations.
The other side launched a public opinion offensive. On the one hand, he condemned Liu Biao's reckless use of weapons, which caused the people of Jiangxia and Yuzhang counties to fall into trouble; on the other hand, they vigorously advocated the Jingzhou threat theory and sent a large number of spies to spread the news that Liu Biao had the intention of arrogant expansion.
After Yuan Yao left, Zhuge Liang, who had full power, came up with another trick.
That is to send several dead soldiers, pretending to be merchants, to go upstream by boat to Liu Zhang's place in Yizhou.
But "unfortunately", these emissaries disguised as merchants were exposed and were caught halfway by Liu Biao.
Liu Biao found the letters between Yuan Yao and Liu Zhang from these people, and interrogated the confessions of those people, which made Liu Biao begin to doubt the alliance between Yuan Yao and Liu Zhang.
The father-son relationship between Liu Biao and Liu Yan and Liu Zhang has always been bad.
Although they are all members of the Han clan, they should unite as one to help the Han clan.
But in fact, the two parties have always been mortal enemies who want to get rid of each other quickly.
The confrontation between Liu Yan and Liu Biao occurred when Liu Yan suggested that Emperor Ling should use the clan and important ministers as state pastors and monopolize power in the local area to stabilize the people.
Liu Biao was an opponent of the proposal to "abolish history and establish animal husbandry" at that time, and was in tit-for-tat opposition to Liu Yan. But in the end Emperor Ling listened to Liu Yan's suggestion.
Liu Biao has always regarded Liu Yan as the culprit of the chaos in the world.
When Liu Yan was still alive, Liu Biao wrote to the court several times, accusing Liu Yan of being arrogant in promoting the theory of saints in Xihe and pretending to ride in chariots to serve more than a thousand people.
When Liu Yan died of illness, Liu Biao did not put aside his grudges, but continued to target the newly established Liu Zhang. And quickly sent Liu He, his companion, with the intention of overthrowing Liu Zhang's rule in Yizhou.
Although Liu Zhang was cowardly and incompetent, it did not mean that he had no temper.
Especially you, Liu Biao, have repeatedly criticized my father and son. Every few months, you send people to the emperor to say that my father and son are the initiators of trouble in the world and have arrogance. Please ask the emperor to remove my father and son as Yizhou pastors.
If you just talk, that's all, but if you send people to cause trouble in front of my father and son again and again, who can bear this?
In the first year of Xingping, Shen Mi, Lou Fa, and Gan Ning led troops to rebel. Later, a fire broke out in Mianzhu, the prefecture, forcing my father to move the prefecture to Chengdu, where he finally died of depression.
Liu Zhang also knew very well that these things were more or less related to Liu Biao!
Therefore, after initially stabilizing the situation in Yizhou, Liu Zhang appointed Zhao Wei, his father's humerus minister, as Zhonglang General in the East Expedition, and led a large number of troops to station in Quchu to intimidate Liu Biao.
Liu Zhang's strict defense made Liu Biao very unhappy, but there was nothing he could do.
The Three Gorges was a dangerous place, and Zhao Wei was stationed with heavy troops. Liu Biao could only temporarily give up his thoughts on Liu Zhang in Yizhou to the west, and instead set his sights on Yangzhou in the east.
But what Liu Biao didn't expect was that despite Liu Yao's surrender, he failed to capture Yuzhang County as planned.
Now Liu Biao and Yuan Yao also turned against each other.
What Liu Fang is most worried about now is that he is afraid that Yuan Yao and Liu Zhang will form an alliance and then attack him from both sides.
Although Liu Zhang is cowardly and incompetent, and Yuan Yaobing has few major generals, they may not be able to cause any trouble if they join forces.
But don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the eventuality.
On the third day after intercepting Yuan Yao's emissary, Liu Biao wrote a letter and sent it to Yuzhang, asking Yuan Yao to stop fighting and seek peace.
Zhuge Liang took the opportunity to propose that Xiazhi County, which was adjacent to Yuzhang County, be separated from Jiangxia County and placed under the jurisdiction of Yuzhang County.
Xia Zhi is just a small county, far away from Shiyang City, the capital of Jiangxia County, but closer to Chaisang.
Continue to occupy Xiaji, and station heavy troops to guard against Yuan's attack.
Liu Biao made the decision for Huang Zu, cut off the pheasant, and made peace with Yuan Yaoyang.
And Zhuge Liang asked for Xia Pheasant not just to expand his territory, but because Xia Pheasant was next to Banzhou, and when Banzhou started building the city, it must have been known to the Jiangxia army.
If Xia Pheasant is included in the bag, Jingzhou's ability to detect its own intelligence will be greatly reduced, and there will be one more place nearby to recruit civilians and harvest wood and stone.
…
Lu Su and Liu Fu were very busy with the construction of the city, and Yuan Yao was a hands-off shopkeeper who gave them absolute trust and allowed him to procure grain and grass, harvest wood and stone from various counties.
Yuan Yao didn't interfere in any matter, big or small, he just let the two of them decide on their own and then reported it to him.
Therefore, despite being the closest, Lu Su and Liu Fu never discovered that the person who lived in Chaisang Station and gave orders to various places every day was not Yuan Yao himself.
But his full agent, Xiao Zhuge Liang.
Although Yuan Yao is five or six years older than Zhuge Liang, the resources in their stomachs are simply incomparable.
Yuan Yao, who is such a dabbler, can handle important military and political affairs for most of half a year. Naturally, it is not a difficult task for Zhuge Liang, a talented man.
In troubled times, running the army comes first.
Zhuge Liang also adhered to Yuan Yao's consistent thinking and continued to organize his army and practice martial arts.
Mengchong captain Zheng Bao led the navy to station in Pengze.
During this period, Zheng Bao continued to recruit soldiers from Liu Yao's army, and the original number of troops from one school had expanded to more than two schools.
Zheng Bao was very sensible. As soon as Yuan Yao came back from Jiangxia, he immediately reported the army establishment and stated that the extra 2,500 troops in a school could be dispatched to Chaisang at any time, and Yuan Yao would appoint generals.
Yuan Yao was not polite and asked Zheng Bao to keep 500 men for himself, while the remaining 2,000 men were sent to Shangliao to make up for the battle losses.
In addition to these two thousand soldiers, Nanchang and Shangliao have been recruiting new soldiers.
The losses of Lu Dai and Huang Zhong in the battle of Jiangxia were all made up at once.
Gan Ning no longer acted as the commander of Lu Dai's unit, but became independent. Based on his 800 old units, he added more than a thousand new soldiers to form his own unit.
As a result, Yuan Yao has as many regular troops as four schools.
They are:
Mengchong captain Zheng Bao led a naval force of 3,000 men and more than a hundred large and small warships. He was stationed at Chaisang to defend the direction of Jingzhou. Because the peninsula was surrounded by water, all the wood, stone and manpower needed to build the city needed to be transported by ship, so Zheng Bao It was also necessary to cooperate with the city building projects of Lu Su and Liu Fu.
General Zhonglang and Captain Huang Zhong, who led the army of 3,000 infantrymen, were stationed at Poyang.
The commander of the army, Ma Ludai, led 2,500 horse and infantry troops and was stationed at Shangliao.
Sima Ganning of the other department led 2,000 men and was stationed in Xiaji. Like Zheng Bao, he was on the side of guarding against Jingzhou's invasion while cooperating with Banzhou in building the city.
The above total more than 10,000 people, which is Yuan Yao's main combat strength.
In addition to these regular troops led by generals, Yuan Yao also asked the three counties of Yuzhang, Poyang, and Luling to organize and train their own troops, under the command of the county captain.
Huang Yi, the captain of Yuzhang, temporarily acted as the governor of Yuzhang. He was allowed to train a school with a full quota of 2,500 county soldiers, but actually trained 3,000 county soldiers.
Most of these three thousand people are Zhuge Xuan's old troops, and the other part are newly recruited farmers. Their combat strength is very worrying, and they can only maintain local security and suppress banditry.
Su Fei, the captain of Luling, allowed a school of 2,500 county soldiers to be organized and trained, but the actual number was less than 1,000.
These county soldiers were trained by Su Fei based on hundreds of county soldiers in Luling County with the strong cooperation of the new Luling Governor Zhuge Xuan.
However, half a year after Su Fei took office, the number of Luling County soldiers reached 2,000, and they were well-trained. They could not only attack the disobedient armed forces of powerful clans and eliminate banditry, but they could even fight with the Shanyue tribe. Go forward and never fall behind.
There is a temporary shortage of captain and governor of Poyang, and only the newly appointed magistrate of Poyang County, Zhuge Jin, is in charge.
The security of Poyang County is temporarily under the charge of Huang Zhong's headquarters stationed here.
Lin Linzongzong, when Yuan Yao comes back from Shouchun, he will have more than 15,000 soldiers in the three counties of Jiangyou.
I remember that when Yuan Yao came across the river, he had only two to three thousand soldiers.
But in less than a year, they had more than 10,000 troops and a solid territory.
The most important thing is to recruit a large number of top talents.
The literary ones include Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin, Lu Su, Liu Fu, He Kui, Zheng Hun and others, and the martial arts include Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, Lu Dai, Zheng Bao and others.
The key is that among them there are many top or first-rate advisers and generals in the world.
This family fortune is completely enough for Yuan Yao, as a prince, to settle down in these troubled times!
