Yuan Shao's alliance with the Wuhuan people and their relatives was undoubtedly controversial.
Some people scolded Yuan Shao for losing the face of the Han people, for having to compromise with women in exchange for the support of the Wuhuan people; others thought that Yuan Shao was able to bend and stretch for his own great cause and dream, and he subdued other people's troops without fighting, showing the style of a wise master.
But in any case, it is an indisputable fact that Yuan Shao received strong support from Wuhuan, which is not good news for Cao Cao and Lu Bu.
However, Cao Cao was not panicked at all.
Nowadays, Chenliu and Xuchang have become the commercial centers of Han Dynasty, and the daily business taxes alone are countless.
Coupled with the improvement of various livelihood tools by workshops, the productivity of the people has been greatly improved. In just one or two years, the overall strength of Cao Cao's rule will definitely exceed that of Yuan Shao.
Therefore, Cao Cao is not afraid at all if he talks hard.
And there is a more important reason, that is, Cao Cao knows that Yuan Shao is likely to die in the near future. Lu Yan's "prophecy" has almost never failed, so Cao Cao naturally does not panic at all.
Chen Liu, in the mansion of General Hussar.
"Sir, it's time to get up..."
Early in the morning, Lu Lingqi's voice sounded outside Lu Yan's door. Lu Yan slowly opened his eyes and asked, "Lingqi, what time is it now?"
"It's already time, you still have to go to inspect the general and serve as a prisoner today!"
"Ah! Oops! I actually forgot about this!"
Lu Yan secretly thought, "Oh no," then he suddenly turned over and sat up, and quickly started to put clothes on himself.
Lu Lingqi heard the movement in the house and guessed that Lu Yan had put on his clothes, so she opened the door and walked in.
"Sir, when can we attack Yuan Shao?" Lu Lingqi saw that Lu Yan was still arranging his clothes, so she walked behind Lu Yan and helped him tidy up.
Lu Yan turned his head slightly and replied with a smile: "Mr. Cao and the others will make up their minds, we just need to wait with peace of mind."
"I really didn't expect that Yuan Shao actually formed an alliance with Wuhuan from the three counties..."
"No matter how hard Yuan Shao struggles, he will not last long."
There was a profound meaning in Lu Yan's words that Lu Lingqi could not understand, but these were not important.
"That's right!" Lu Lingqi smiled sweetly and said: "We are well equipped with troops now, but Yuan Shao is like a terminally ill man... Sir, if there is a northern expedition against Yuan Shao, I also want to go to the battlefield."
"Yes, but you must have enough ability to protect yourself." Lu Yan nodded lightly, and then suddenly reached out and grabbed Lu Lingqi's little hand on his shoulder.
Because she has been practicing martial arts all year round, Lu Lingqi has many calluses on her palms.
Lu Lingqi was suddenly attacked by Lu Yan. Lu Lingqi subconsciously wanted to struggle, but was held tightly by Lu Yan and could not break free...
"I know... let go, there's someone outside!"
"I will propose marriage to Marquis Wen after this winter."
"Ah..." Lu Lingqi still wanted to keep trying to pull her hand away, but Lu Yan's words made her lose her mind and gave up her struggle. She replied in a voice like a mosquito: "Let me, sir, make the decision."
After Lu Lingqi finished speaking, she gently pressed her face against Lu Yan's back.
Feeling the warmth from Lu Yan's body, Lu Lingqi felt a sense of peace and happiness that she had never felt before.
Lu Yan patted Lu Lingqi's hand gently and said: "Okay, let's set off. If the ink continues, Geng Liang and Ma Jun will probably be anxious to wait..."
Lu Lingqi immediately stood up straight, with a slight blush on her face, and replied: "The horses are ready, let's set off now."
The two walked out of the room and looked at the falling snowflakes in the courtyard outside. Lu Yan couldn't help but sigh, "It's snowing!"
"Yeah...it doesn't look like the snow will be light today..."
...
It has already started to snow in November, and the cold air is coming in waves to the north, as if to cast a heavy and depressing shadow over the entire country.
After discovering that this winter might be colder than previous years, Lu Yan realized that the sudden cold would take away the lives of many people. So Lu Yan planned to start from two directions to solve the heating problem this winter for the people under his rule. .
One is to find and mine coal, and the other is to make cotton into cotton clothes and quilts.
Speaking of coal mines, everyone's first reaction must be Shanxi Province. But now Shanxi Province is divided into Youzhou and Jizhou, both under the control of Yuan Shao.
However, Lu Yan remembered that in later generations there were coal mines in Kaifeng, Henan, and they were super-large coal mines with billions of tons.
Kaifeng City in Henan Province seems to have been near Chenliu during the late Han Dynasty. There may not be a complete correspondence, but the approximate location is similar.
Since there are coal mines, coal must be utilized.
Many apprentices began to go out looking for traces of coal mines, and craftsmen began to build a strange-looking iron stove, with a long iron cylinder attached to the stove, which could extend to the outside of the house.
This kind of stove can not only keep warm, but also boil water and cook things, and the existence of the chimney can also discharge the smoke out of the house, which can not only prevent the house from being polluted by smoke, but also avoid carbon monoxide poisoning caused by insufficient coal combustion.
Not surprisingly, the coal mine was found quickly.
However, during this period, coal was called coal. It was just a matter of naming, so don’t get too hung up on it.
Geng Liang and Ma Jun greeted him outside the prison early.
By the time Lu Yan and Lu Lingqi arrived, they had been standing in the ice and snow for almost an hour.
"Ta-ta! Ta-ta!"
The sound of horse hooves sounded in the distance, and Lu Yan and Lu Lingqi finally arrived. Geng Liang and Ma Jun immediately rushed forward to greet them, bowed their hands and said, "Lu Qiaoqi, madam, you are here!"
"I've met... I've met... Lu Qiao... Qiaoqi, I've met... my husband... Madam!"
Lu Yan and Lu Lingqi dismounted from their horses. Naturally, a handyman came to take the reins of the horses and led them to the stables to take care of them.
"I'm really sorry, some things have been delayed and kept you waiting for so long." Lu Yan said to Geng Liang and Ma Jun with his hands in hand.
"Lu Qiaoqi has important responsibilities and is very busy with official duties. It is already very rare for him to take time out of his busy schedule for us to supervise him... We should wait a little longer." Geng Liang said this sincerely. .
But to Lu Yan, it felt a little weird, and Lu Lingqi was snickering on the side...
"Why do you feel like these words are poking your spine?" Lu Yan cursed in his heart, but asked: "How is it? Has the stove been built?"
Geng Liang is now mainly responsible for the deployment and management of personnel, while Ma Jun is mainly responsible for technology research and development and physical manufacturing.
Lu Yan should have asked Ma Jun this question, but because Ma Jun had a stuttering problem, Geng Liang finally answered for Ma Jun: "They are all simple tasks. With the current level of our craftsmen, how can we build this..." There is almost no difficulty in growing a stove.”
Geng Liang held his head high when he said this. After all, almost all the best craftsmen in the Han Dynasty were gathered as supervisors. No wonder he was so confident.
You must know that the status of craftsmen is only higher than that of merchants, and they are even regarded as lowly by many people.
But today, under the operation of Cao Cao and Lu Yan, the Han Dynasty not only classified the workshops as official, but also improved the treatment of the craftsmen. The craftsmen could even enter official careers.
This kind of attraction is simply fatal to the Han craftsmen.
Seeing Ma Jun nodding beside him, Lu Yan nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Very good!"