When Yuan Xi and Tai Shici returned to Yecheng, the New Year was still a few days away. Yecheng was filled with joy and joy of the New Year.
Every household pastes a tiger portrait on the door, puts mahogany plaques with images of Shen Tu and Yu Lei on both sides of the door, and hangs a reed rope on the door beam for the door god to catch ghosts.
There were no firecrackers at that time, but there were similar things.
Firecrackers.
The so-called firecrackers at that time did not have gunpowder, they were just burning firecrackers.
People light fires in front of their homes or in their backyards and burn bamboo joints to make crackling sounds to scare the ghosts and ghosts in the mountains.
Amidst the crackling sounds of celebrations in advance, vendors on both sides of the road were shouting loudly, children were running up and down the street, and women were chasing after them holding up their skirts, scolding, but with a smile on their faces.
.
There was a lot of people, and the smell of burnt bamboo was transmitted to the car window. Yuan Xi was in a trance, and his thoughts seemed to have returned to his previous life. The memories of the two lives were intertwined in the laughter, and finally the creaking sound of the axle brought him back to his previous life.
Pull back to reality.
Yuan Xi listened to the crackling sound of bamboo joints and remembered that gunpowder had not been invented at that time. Charcoal was easy to make at that time, but saltpeter and sulfur required some effort.
There may be saltpeter mines in Youzhou. The most easily available saltpeter at that time was soil saltpeter formed in the corners of walls over the years, but the output was not large.
Sulfur is more troublesome. It can be found around open-air craters and hot springs. Most of it comes from the Western Regions.
These two things are not used in many places and are mostly needed by alchemists, so the output is not large.
That's why Yuan Xi was eager to open up maritime trade routes. If he could rely on the Zhen family's trading firm, his chances of obtaining such things would be much greater.
He had a headache. The purity and proportion of these things were slightly different, and the final effects were completely different. However, he had long forgotten all about how to deal with these things.
How to use the existing tools to purify and utilize these materials, he is far inferior to this world's alchemist.
It happened that during this period, most of these alchemists were related to Taoism and even the Yellow Turban Army, and alchemy had not yet emerged, so there were not many people making alchemy.
Historically, after the Three Kingdoms, due to Cao Cao's special status in Taoism, Taoism was greatly promoted in the Wei State. The alchemists devoted themselves to the emerging Taoism and promoted alchemy, which gradually became a trend.
The most famous product among them is Wu Shi San, which became popular in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
Yuan Xi suddenly remembered that the last time Yuan Shang gave him the medicine, the symptoms he had last time, according to Wu Zhao's judgment, were probably the extremely rare Wu Shi Powder!
At that time, this thing was very precious and only appeared occasionally among a few noble families. As a contemporary celebrity, Cai Yong naturally had some gifts as gifts.
Cai Wenji had also seen the symptoms when Cai Yong took it, and her symptoms during the attack were very similar to Yuan Xi's at that time.
Yuan Xi speculated afterwards that if Yuan Shang had the Five Stones Powder, would it mean that he was related to Taoism or even the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army?
This guess is not impossible. After all, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Yellow Turban Army would take the upper-level route.
Now that the Yuan family occupies Jizhou, and the surrounding states are the original headquarters of the Yellow Turban Army, it is reasonable for the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army to seek refuge with Yuan Shang and start a new business.
The carriage arrived at Yuan Shao's official residence first. Yuan Xi and Tai Shici went in to meet Yuan Shao and told them about the peace talks with Liu Bei.
After hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded slightly. It didn't show on his face, but he was quite satisfied in his heart.
This time, Yuan did not actually send much benefit, most of it was verbal moral support. Although this was very important to Liu Bei, for Yuan, it was nothing.
The surrender of Xuzhou suppressed Yuan Shu's northward route on the one hand, and on the other hand secretly demolished Cao Cao's platform, laying an excellent starting point for the attack on Gongsun Zan in the coming year.
He did not speak to Yuan Xi, but first turned to Tai Shici and said: "My son has been protected by Ziyi several times. It can be said that his hard work is a great achievement."
Taishi Ciqian said: "It is a matter of duty for Ci to be frightened."
Yuan Shao nodded slightly. He had learned from the side that Zhao Yun and Tai Shi Ci, whom Yuan Xi had recruited to surrender, were both capable and not under the Four Court Pillars.
Yuan Shao was very surprised at that time. Yuan Xi only found two generals, and they were both able to match the top combat power of Jizhou?
Now that Yan Liang is dead, the two generals Yuan Xi and Qu Yi behind the scenes have become a force that cannot be ignored, and Yuan Shao has to pay more attention to it.
As for Zhang He and Gao Lan, he was still commanded by Yuan Shang. If Yuan Shao knew that Gao Lan had defected to Yuan Xi, he would not know what he would think.
Yuan Shao said to Tai Shici: "I heard that Ziyi devoted himself to raising his old mother and acted with utmost filial piety. He should be a role model for the world's nobles. Now that the New Year is approaching, I have prepared some small gifts to repay Ziyi's filial piety."
The guards had come over a long time ago. When Taishi Ci saw him, he understood that Yuan Shao wanted to talk to Yuan Xi in private, so he thanked him and went out.
There were only two people left in the room, and Yuan Shaofang said: "You did a good job."
Yuan Xi paid homage: "It all depends on my father's reputation. I'm just following the trend."
He really meant what he said. Now his plans are all based on the historical process. He just goes with its development and pushes it a little further.
Including Cao Cao's attack on Xuzhou, Lu Bu and Zhang Miao's uprising in Yanzhou, and Liu Bei and Yuan Shao's alliance, it was not Yuan Xi who could change the general trend of the world on his own, but he followed the needs of the princes and profited from it.
However, the current situation has embarked on a different track. If Yuan Xi uses the same method in the future, the returns may not be as high, and may even run counter to expectations.
Yuan Shao said: "If Gongsun Zan can be defeated in the coming year, the Yuan family will be able to stabilize the north, plan to go south, and have a decisive battle with Yuan Guangdu."
When he mentioned Yuan Shu's name, he seemed to have a lot of resentment in his words. Yuan Xi thought of Cao Cao as well, and thought that if a Taoist was not treated well by his family when he was a child, he would really hold grudges when he grows up.
Yuan Shao said: "What do you think about the northern attack?"
Yuan Xi thought for a while: "My father, the counselor, should know much better than me about most things."
"I'm only worried about one thing. Will Cao Cao take advantage of our entire army to attempt a sneak attack on Ye City?"
"Oh?" Yuan Shao became interested, "Your statement is interesting. Only Tian Feng mentioned a similar statement, but he only mentioned it briefly, but he was not as sure as you."
"Do you have any evidence?"
Yuan Xi whispered: "No."
"But it's still unclear who was behind the Yecheng Rebellion in the fourth year of Chuping, right?"
Yuan Shao shook his head and laughed: "You are all overly worried. Cao Cao had too much time to take care of himself at that time, let alone others?"
Yuan Xi knew that without evidence, it would be difficult to convince Yuan Shao. No one was sure whether Cao Cao had anything to do with the Black Mountain Army that invaded at that time, so he stopped talking at the moment.
Yuan Shao said again: "If Yecheng is unsafe, other places will be even less safe. I have been running this place for so long, and I will not be able to conquer it easily."
"And Cao Cao and I both understand that our family members must be placed in the safest place. I am Yecheng and he is Juancheng. Otherwise, if our family members are taken away, the soldiers will collapse."
Yuan Xi thought to himself that this was true. Beixin City was now surrounded by enemies on three sides. It would not be safe to bring Zhen Mi there, and it would be distracting during the battle.
But now that he is married, do he really have to leave Zhen Mi in Yecheng?
Moreover, according to the Han system, after an official gets married and takes office, he cannot take a wife for three years, but concubines are allowed. Doesn't this mean that Zhen Mi will remain a widow for three years?
He said aloud: "What about my marriage?"
Yuan Shao said: "Your mother asked the alchemist for fortune-telling, and she said that there will be a big war in the coming year. The marriage in the family was unknown before, and we will wait until Gongsun Zan is defeated before talking about this matter."
Alchemist? Where did the alchemist come from?
Yuan Xi's anger rose in his heart, and he had already begun to murder Liu.
In history, the predecessor should not have shown any talent or ambition, and he had a good relationship with Yuan Shang, so the marriage was not targeted.
But now Yuan Xi's goal is to dominate the world, so he showed his talents and joined forces with Yuan Tan, so he was jealous of Yuan Shang and started to target him everywhere.
This is normal when you think about it. It is mediocre not to be envied by others. Since you intervene in disputes, you cannot take advantage of everything. There will always be gains and losses.
However, Yuan Xi is a vengeful person. He keeps track of the accounts of Liu and Yuan Shang, and will always get back the money with interest when the time comes.
He really wanted to see what other tricks Yuan Shang could come up with.
Yuan Xi bid farewell to Yuan Shao and left the house, looking up at the somewhat gloomy sky, thinking that all the preparations and foreshadowings had been made, and the battle for Yijing next year was finalized.
As long as Gongsun Zan is defeated, he can truly get his own territory, Youzhou!
Although Youzhou is very useless to the Yuan family, there are foreigners and bandits, and western Liaoning is also occupied by the Gongsundu family, so it can be said that it is far inferior to other states.
But nowadays, there is no land that can be obtained easily. Several parties are fighting for a good place. Even with Cao Cao's ability and many talents under his command, Yanzhou has been in trouble for a long time.
Yuan Xi put his worries aside for the time being, and he and Tai Shici returned to the mansion. Everyone greeted them outside the mansion, including Wu Zhao, Zhao Yun, Cao Xian, Cao Jie and others.
Wu Zhao looks good, he must have recovered from his illness.
Cao Xian stood next to Wu Zhao. From his body shape to his temperament, he was quite similar. Moreover, he must have been living more peacefully these days than before. His face was radiant and more beautiful.
However, Cao Jie is still thin and small, probably because he is still young and has not yet developed.
Yuan Xi had a conversation with Zhao Yun and asked him and Tai Shici to go back to rest. Zhao Yun talked about Guo Jia before leaving. Yuan Xi nodded and said he understood.
Wu Zhao and Cao Xian followed Yuan Xi back to the house, and they knelt down together and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Master."
When the two girls, one big and one small, leaned side by side towards Yuan Xi, the peaks connected into mountains, creating waves on their skirts.
When Yuan Xi saw it, he was in a trance for a moment.
It's better to go home.
The two women came up to squeeze his shoulders, but Yuan Xi pulled Wu Zhao into his arms and said with a smile: "Is your illness better?"
Seeing Cao Xian watching, Wu Zhao felt shy and struggled a few times. Seeing that Yuan Xi wouldn't let go, Wu Zhao could only say angrily: "It's been cured a long time ago. It's just a minor problem."
Yuan Xi reached down his hand, and Wu Zhao jumped up like a frightened rabbit, "Young Master asked me to compile a teaching book before. I have already listed the names in a booklet and some originals. I went to sort it out and give it to Young Master.
look."
She ran out in a hurry. Yuan Xi knew that Wu Zhao was creating opportunities for Cao Xian and himself, so he smiled slightly and did not say anything.
Cao Xian gently squeezed Yuan Xi's shoulder and saw Yuan Xi speak out: "If you are just doing it for my mother and sister, you don't have to do this. I will also arrange for them properly."
Cao Xian lowered his head: "Does the young master want my concubine to marry someone else?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed and said, "That's right. How could I be willing to take advantage of others?"
Cao Xian felt happy in his heart, gently pressed his hand against Yuan Xi's back, and stretched out his hand.