Yuan Shu sent troops to Hanoi, which was beyond Yuan Xi's expectation.
This allowed him to smell something unusual, and he had the intuition that Hanoi County was about to be involved in the whirlpool of the storm. This made the rhythm of the previous plan somewhat out of step, and Yuan Xi became anxious.
Now that the spring plowing is over, Jicheng is on the right track and has begun to operate as the center of Youzhou. However, if an accident occurs, we cannot wait for the summer harvest and must take action against the Black Mountain Army early.
Yuan Xi and Guo Jia discussed it and decided to attack the Black Mountain Army's bridgehead in Beixin City.
Beixin City and Jicheng are more than 200 miles apart, and a lot of food has been stored in advance. Going south, you can enter Zhending, Changshan, Jizhou, which is an important pass for the Black Mountain Army to leave the mountain to the north.
After several years of operation, Beixin City's city defenses are much more fixed than Jicheng's. By garrisoning troops there, they can stop the Black Mountain Army from leaving the mountain.
At Guo Jia's suggestion, the families of the soldiers moved to Jicheng. This was to follow the example of Ye City. Placing their families in the big cities at the rear, especially in a county seat, could stabilize the morale of the army.
Because most of the family members of the governor of Zhoumu are within the jurisdiction, the idea of the soldiers is very simple. The city where the family members of the head of a state are located will definitely defend and protect them with all their strength, so that their own family members in the same city can also be more protected.
for safety.
Of course, the premise is that Yecheng is not attacked by Black Mountain bandits.
So who to find to take charge is also a big problem.
Yuan Xi thought about it again and again and directly said a name to Guo Jia.
Liu He.
After hearing this, Guo Jia nodded and said, "I can't think of a more suitable person than him."
"Only he, sitting in Guangyang, can suppress the forces in several counties including Yuyang Shanggu."
"But the young master is taking a big gamble. If he has other ideas, won't the young master's family be in danger?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "If that's really the case, I'll admit it."
"Besides, what I have to do now is to please the emperor. If Liu He tries to get in my way at this time, it means that he covets the throne. If he really had the guts to do it, his father would have done it long ago."
Guo Jia nodded slightly: "At the same time, we must guard against Shan Yu Tadun. Although the young master sent someone to send him a letter to talk to him, he has not replied so far, which shows that he has a lot of ideas."
"I'm afraid that he has completely surrendered to Yuan Shang and thinks that the young master is of no use."
"It doesn't matter," Yuan Xi waved his hand and said, "My original intention was just to hold him back."
"I will have a good talk with him after the matter in Hanoi is resolved."
"He is not stupid. There is no benefit at all in sending troops to attack me at this time, but we still have to take precautions."
"I will send a letter to Xian Yufu, the fox slave, and ask him to station troops near Shanhaiguan Pass in Youbei to block the opponent's entry route."
After hearing this, Guo Jia showed approval on his face. In his opinion, Yuan Xi has made great progress in the past two years.
In the beginning, Yuan Xi always asked Guo Jia some strange questions, which annoyed Guo Jia very much.
But gradually, Guo Jia discovered that Yuan Xi's strategies had improved significantly. Even without Guo Jia's reminder, there were many fewer loopholes in his thinking.
Guo Jia felt a little regretful. Yuan Xi was destined to be the lord. Otherwise, if he had learned from himself since childhood, he would have become a qualified counselor.
Thinking of this, Guo Jia thought that he was still too greedy. How could it be so easy to find a disciple who could inherit what he had learned all his life?
When Yuan Xi saw that it was noon, he asked Guo Jia to go back and rest. At the same time, he ordered people to summon all the subordinates in the afternoon to discuss and prepare for sending troops to Montenegro.
He left the official residence and returned home with Sun Li. On the way, he saw refugees in twos and threes wearing Montenegrin attire walking on the street.
The attire of the refugees in Montenegro is quite different from that of the local residents. They can be recognized almost at a glance. Most of the winter attire of the local residents is sheepskin jackets, but there are fewer livestock in the Montenegro area, so they often use hemp. The holes between the clothes are large and the cold wind
When it blows, people tremble.
Yuan Xi saw it and said to Sun Li: "Jicheng is in urgent need of manpower, and the clothing of the refugees must be guaranteed. If they cannot afford to buy it, we can give it to them on credit in advance, just like food."
After hearing this, Sun Li took out a piece of charcoal from his pocket and wrote down Yuan Xi's words on a piece of silk.
Yuan Xi saw that Sun Li was writing very seriously even when he was on horseback, so he couldn't help but smile and said: "You have made great progress, have you practiced calligraphy regularly?"
Sun Li touched his head and laughed sheepishly, "When I wrote some time ago, maybe my writing was too bad. Mrs. Zhaoji showed me the secret of writing after seeing it. After I went back and practiced for a few months, I found that
It’s really much better.”
The two of them were talking, and a group of students wearing uniform uniforms passed by on the street. They were talking loudly, and occasionally argued with each other with red ears and red ears, refusing to give in to each other.
Seeing their high-spirited looks, Yuan Xi seemed to be transported back to his previous life in college, but those days would never come back.
He remembered that after he graduated, his full ideals were shattered by the cruel reality, and he lived in a state of confusion for a while.
When he was at his most depressed, during rare holidays, he would run back to the campus where he had gone to school, sit on the curb, hold his knees, and watch people go by.
Looking at the freshly dressed juniors and juniors, full of youthful vitality, who have not yet faced the troubles of society and life, walking by with smiles on their face, Yuan Xi felt as if a trace of youth had been stolen away, leaving him with a dry experience.
A little moisturized.
The noisy voices of the students brought him back to reality from his memories. Yuan Xi heard that they were not only debating the classics, but also talking about farming, medical skills, and even blacksmithing, with some complaints mixed in.
The reason for this is that if they want to achieve success in free studies and get a qualified evaluation, they must write three essays. If they are in different fields, they will get extra points.
At first, the students didn't take it seriously, but when the assessment officials took out the 100,000 Whys standard compiled by Yuan Xi before, they were dumbfounded.
Only then did they understand that it was not enough to just study. Many answers could not be found in books. They had to do it themselves and do it in person to find the answers.
Therefore, in the mountains and fields, mills and blacksmiths' shops, there often appeared bitter-looking scholars, plowing and forging by themselves, while writing something down in a book.
Of course, whether one can graduate from free studies and be granted a satisfactory official position depends on both literary theory and performance evaluation.
This kind of assessment full of malice and resentment from future generations was naturally thought up by the heartless Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi felt extremely proud when he thought about being able to inflict mental torture that was the crystallization of the wisdom of later generations on his ancestors over thousands of years and couldn't help laughing.
Sun Li looked at Yuan Xi, who had an evil face, and thought that Mr. Dao seemed to have encountered a lot of difficulties recently. Could it be that he was driven crazy?
When Yuan Xi returned home, Zhen Mi and others had already prepared meals for him.
The two sat down side by side in a tacit understanding. Zhen Mi took a bowl of wheat rice from a copper plate and handed it to Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi was also hungry, so he took it, took a bite into his mouth, and said curiously: "Hey, the taste of this rice seems to be different from before."
Zhen Mi pursed her lips and smiled: "I added something to the rice."
Yuan Xi asked further, and it turned out that Zhen Mi encountered a sour wild fruit when she was out of the city, and later tried to add it to the rice, and it actually went well with the sweetness of the rice.
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "My wife used to be a girl from a wealthy family, so I'm afraid she never thought about this. But after marrying me, she did a lot of things herself, so I'm afraid she suffered a lot."
Zhen Mi glanced at Yuan Xi, "Isn't this what my husband likes?"
"My husband has said to others many times that those who are not diligent in their four limbs and indifferent to grains, and who can do things by themselves but drive others around, are all idiots."
Yuan Xi sweated profusely, "Did you hear that? This is not about you."
Zhen Mi's eyes narrowed again, "It's the same, isn't your husband doing the same thing?"
She lowered her voice: "Not to mention anything else, many of the principal wives of princes who aspire to the world are quite simple."
"I heard that Cao Mengde's wives and concubines all lived a simple life. They wore coarse linen clothes and ate grain rice. They rarely had meat."
Yuan Xi didn't take it seriously and said: "That may be a living habit. Cao Cao's life is not that simple. What he eats..."
He suddenly reacted, "Where did you hear about this, ma'am?"
Zhen Mi was startled: "There are some Taiping Dao and Kun Dao in the city who often come to the house to help with sewing. They are from poor families and their lives are not good, so I help them by letting them work."
"I heard about Cao Mengde from their mouths."
Yuan Xi thought deeply, thinking, Taipingdao is still promoting Cao Cao's deeds?
Under your nose?
This shouldn't be intentional, otherwise it wouldn't be so blatant, but the more it is like this, the more it shows that Cao Cao's reputation among Taoists has spread to Youzhou.
He shook his head, thinking that he would have to investigate more about Taiping Road in the future. He really couldn't rest assured that this thing was in the hands of others.
Zhen Mi saw Yuan Xi looking out the window with concern, and she misunderstood and said softly: "Mrs. Wu needs to recuperate these days. I specially asked the kitchen to prepare a meal for her that will nourish her body. Do you want to call her over?"
Let’s eat together?”
After hearing this, Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "It's okay. After we finish eating, I'll go see her alone."
Yuan Xi thought that he would lead the troops and set off soon, and he didn't know when he would be able to come back, so he cherished the time alone with Zhen Mi.
Zhen Mi said aloud: "When will your husband leave?"
Yuan Xi replied: "In the past few days, I will lead the troops to Beixin City to set up defenses."
"Just live here with peace of mind. After all, Jicheng is the rear area, and Bibei New City is much safer."
Zhen Mi heard this and said softly: "I will wait for my husband to return victoriously."
She suddenly remembered something and raised the corner of her mouth, "I remember that my husband promised the people of Beixin City that he would show them his bride, right?"
"Husband, you broke your promise."
Yuan Xi sweated profusely, how could he forget this incident!
Now that the war is about to begin, we can only wait until the Black Mountain Army is defeated and the area around Zhuojun where Dingbei New City is located is cleared.
Seeing Yuan Xi's embarrassment, Zhen Mi added another critical blow, "My husband has arrived in Beixin City. Please say hello to Madam Hou on your behalf."
"I heard that my husband bravely rescued General Gongsun's wife from a high-rise building, but then left her alone in Beixin City for more than half a year. I'm afraid it's not the way to treat guests."
Yuan Xi almost spat out the food in his mouth, "How do you know so detailedly?"
Then he suddenly said: "Tian Yu and the others are not that boring. It must be that boy Sun Li. Let's see if I don't settle the score with him!"
Zhen Mi groaned and regretted: "I was wrong. If my husband teaches me a lesson, he will never dare to reveal the news to me again!"
The two looked at each other and laughed happily at the same time.