Most of the Great Walls of later generations were built in the Ming Dynasty, but since the Western Zhou Dynasty, in order to defend against foreign enemies, the construction of the Great Wall has never stopped.
In addition to the Great Wall of Liaodong, which the Ming Dynasty spent hundreds of years building over thousands of kilometers from Shanhaiguan to the Yalu River, and was demolished after the Qing troops entered the Pass, the ruling regimes in the Pass in the past dynasties, including foreigners such as the Xianbei Jurchens, have continued to build
Of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall at the end of the Han Dynasty was not completely connected. Not only was Liaodong undefended, but there were also many cutoffs between Youzhou and Bingzhou. Many fortresses in later generations had not even been built.
In particular, the three inner passes including Juyong Pass, Zijing Pass, and Daoma Pass are all located near or within the newly conquered Heishan Mountains.
As for the outer three passes and the first line, due to the chaos in the world at the end of the Han Dynasty, not only were the city walls mostly damaged, but the garrison also relied on the local Han and Hu border people. As the Han court no longer had salaries, the defense was in name only.
Repairing the Great Wall costs a lot of money. Yuan Xi currently does not have the extra manpower and material resources to fill this gap. However, as the lord of Youzhou, he has the responsibility of guarding the land, guarding the border, and protecting the people, so he can only think of ways to mobilize troops to guard the border and prevent foreign infiltration.
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But Yuan Xi also lacked confidence in the Great Wall defense line that was now riddled with holes. Until news came from the Yuyang and Youbeiping border fortresses, Zhao Yun and Xian Yufu defeated several groups of Xianbei bandits that had penetrated into the wall. The remaining soldiers either fled outside the Great Wall or fled outside the Great Wall.
After running to Liaoxi, I felt relieved.
As for what attitude to take towards the Gongsundu family in Liaodong, Yuan Xi was a little hesitant.
The Gongsundu family operated for three generations in later generations and ruled the Liaodong Peninsula for more than fifty years until it was destroyed by the Sima Yi clan. It can be said that it is famous.
But in this world, the Gongsun family is still in the development stage, because it only began to control Liaodong in the sixth year of Zhongping (189), only seven or eight years ago.
Therefore, in Yuan Xi's view, the power of the Gongsundu family is not stable. It was only a few years earlier than his own in Youzhou, and there is no absolute advantage.
Gongsun Du, whose courtesy name was Shengji, was originally from Xiangping, Liaodong. Xu Rong from the same county was Dong Zhuozhonglang general, and Du was recommended as the prefect of Liaodong. "The Biography of Gongsun Du in the Book of Wei"
Because of the existence of the three mutual laws, it was actually unjustifiable for Gongsun Du to serve as the governor of Liaodong. Even Gongsun Zan, who was at the height of his power at the time, did not dare to take the position of Youzhou pastoralist himself, but instead appointed Duan Xun as the governor of Youzhou.
Gongsun Du was able to do this because his true place of origin was that his family did not come from Liaodong, but came from Yiwang, a county.
Du's father (Gongsun) Yan, avoided the officials and lived in Xuantu. "The Biography of Gongsun Du in the Book of Wei"
Therefore, Gongsun Du's situation is somewhat similar to that of Gongsun Zan. Both of them were not welcomed by the local wealthy families. Therefore, after he came to power, he became more close to the poor people and used harsh punishments to suppress the powerful local nobles.
But because the powerful gentry controlled the land and could not be eradicated, there were always hidden dangers in this method. Just like before Gongsun Zan's defeat, there were fires everywhere and the whole state rebelled. Gongsun Du actually also had weaknesses to be found.
This was also the focus of debate among Yuan Xi's counselors. Whether to take advantage of Gongsun Zan's unstable foothold and gradually encroach and destroy him, or to appease him first and let him be used by Youzhou. Guo Jiaju, and even Tian Yu and Lu Xun all had different opinions.
The reason why Yuan Xi is so cautious is that he can see that if he mobilizes all his strength and goes all out, he may not be able to defeat the Gongsundu family within three years.
But it’s hard to say what the gains and losses are.
To devote all one's energy to conquering Liaodong means giving up the subsequent battle to encircle and suppress Yuan Shu, and just sit back and watch Cao Cao become powerful.
Of course, the reward for destroying the Gongsun family is also very rich. They can control Liaodong, move south from Lelang to the Korean Peninsula, and bring vassal states including Goguryeo under their rule.
But the ideal is good, but the reality is not that easy. Even if he defeats Gongsun Du, Yuan Xi will be severely weakened. He will have to recuperate for at least several years, and will miss the most critical battles for hegemony in the Central Plains.
Moreover, in Liaodong, there are Xianbei to the north and Korean countries to the south. They are not soft persimmons that can be easily dealt with. It is easy to fall into the quagmire of endless wars and then be gradually dragged down.
So in the end, after Yuan Xi expressed his intention to not participate in the Liaodong hegemony within five years, everyone agreed. Guo Jia finally said: "Since we can't be enemies, we must find ways to make friends."
"Gongsun Du will probably not reject the young master's good intentions, but if he is allowed to become powerful, it will still take a lot of effort in the future until his foundation in Liaodong is solid."
Jushou also nodded in agreement, "So how to make friends with him and how to give him a certain degree of support requires careful consideration."
"Originally, the best way to have a good relationship between the two parties was through marriage. Now that the young master has no female dependents, it is difficult to take this path."
"But there is another hidden relationship that may not be exploitable."
Everyone knew that Jushou had a very good understanding of the relationship between nobles and clans in the world, which was far better than Guo Jia, who was of a relatively low background, so they couldn't help but listen attentively.
Jushu spoke up and said: "The late Zhonglang general Xu Rong who recommended Gongsun Du was Dong Zhuo's Zhonglang general."
"Dong Zhuo's lieutenant generals are powerful and powerful, but there are not many of them. In addition to Xu Rong, there are also a few people such as Duan Suan Niu Fu, who are Dong Zhuo's most powerful confidants."
"Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Zhang Ji and Jia Xu were just school captains at that time, ranking below Xu Rong and others."
Yuan Xi thought that this was the case, no wonder Duan You despised Li Jue and Guo Si. It turned out that Duan You and Xu Rong, who was famous all over the world, had similar status, so they naturally looked down on others.
At that time, Xu Rong was very famous in the world. He once surpassed the three heroes of the late Han Dynasty. He fought bravely and defeated Cao Cao and Sun Jian successively, almost forcing them to die.
In the battle that defeated Cao Cao, Cao Cao's brothers Bao Xin were killed. Cao Cao was hit by an arrow and managed to escape by riding Cao Hong's horse.
Sun Jian was even more miserable. He was beaten to the point where he had only dozens of horses left. He only managed to escape by exchanging turbans with Zu Mao.
After the two wars, Xu Rong became famous all over the world.
However, such a fierce man joined Wang Yun after Dong Zhuo's death. However, due to suspicion, he did not control many soldiers, but he was sent to resist the army of Li Jue and Guo Si, which was several times larger than his own. He died in a battle.
Looking at Xu Rong, he is a typical iron-blooded soldier. He completely obeys orders and respects orders. Even if he knows that something cannot be done, he does not retreat at all.
For this era, Xu Rong is the military commander who best represents the spirit of the Han Dynasty.
He couldn't help but feel a little lost. The notorious Dong Zhuo had two confidants who were extremely loyal to the Han Dynasty. What was this?
The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. It is not surprising that Dong Zhuo has Li Jue and Guo Si under his command, but why would someone like Xu Rong and Duan Xuan serve for him?
Jushu's words brought Yuan Xi's thoughts back to reality, "Xu Rong is the leader of Gongsun Du."
"Both are Zhonglang Generals, Xu Rong and Duan Yan have a close relationship. Now the title of Young Master and Duan Yan are both personally granted by the Emperor, so they can be called peers."
"Furthermore, the connection between Duan Xuan and the emperor was led by Prince Wenhou. At this point, Duan Xuan must accept the prince's affection."
"Young Master brought this relationship to bear and negotiated with Gongsun Du, thus gaining a moral advantage."
After hearing Jushu's analysis, Yuan Xi praised: "Sir, what you said makes sense. Please write a letter for me, consider the words and sentences, and invite Gongsun Du to send envoys to talk with you."
Jushu accepted the order, and everyone was shocked. The situation in Liaodong was like a mess. Jushu now pulled out one of the threads, and let everyone see the dawn of a complete solution to the problem step by step.
Jushou said again: "In order for him to be used by the master, friendship is not enough, there must be actual benefits. What does the master intend to promise Gongsun Du?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "I can't give you anything practical now, so I can only make verbal promises."
"I want to join forces with them and jointly send troops to deal with Northern Xianbei, Donghu and Goguryeo."
"If he can eat these places, they are all his. I only want the southern half of the peninsula."
"If the matter can be justified, I will express my full support for him to be crowned king."
Everyone looked surprised when they heard this, and Jushu said: "A king with a different surname?"
"This is a bit taboo. As long as Gongsun Du doesn't lose his mind, he might not dare to agree to it, right?"
Guo Jia smiled and said: "But it's not like it has happened before. Now that the Han Dynasty is in decline, who knows what will happen. Gongsun Du is very courageous, and the young master has a good grasp of his ideas."
Yuan Xi thought that Guo Jia was indeed higher than Jushu in matters of people's hearts. From the history of later generations, he saw that Gongsun Du had aspirations to become king, so he threw out this bait.
During the Three Kingdoms period in later generations, strictly speaking, the status of the Gongsun family was very transcendent, just like the existence of a fourth kingdom. They often jumped back and forth between Wei and Wu, reaping the full benefits.
Moreover, his daring to make peace with Buyeo is even more arrogant. You must know that anyone who can make peace with the country must be the head of the country.
The sky is high and the emperor is far away. In this geographical location, it would be abnormal for Gongsun Du not to have any ideas.
Yuan Xi was actually very corrupt. He knew that the Gongsundu family's method of ruling Liaodong was to engage in a reign of terror. Under his rule, the local wealthy families were almost wiped out. It is said in history books that "more than a hundred families were wiped out."
What Yuan Xi is really afraid of are princes like Liu who implement benevolent policies in the local area and win the hearts of the people. The territory of such a person is extremely difficult to conquer because the monarch and the people are united.
But Gongsun Du was different. His behavior could maintain his rule in peacetime, but once external troubles occurred, it would easily lead to internal instability. This was why Yuan Xi felt relieved to join forces with him.
The more unpopular he is with the people, the more opportunities Yuan Xi will find to cause harm in the future.
Jushu couldn't understand Yuan Xi's thoughts for a while, but Guo Jia, who had been with Yuan Xi for a long time, knew it very well, so he agreed.
Everyone had made a plan, and seeing that it was almost noon, everyone had to go back to their homes. Yuan Xi saw Guo Jia walking out in a hurry, and asked curiously: "Mr. Fengxiao, is there something urgent?"
Guo Jia sighed as he boarded the carriage: "Guo Yi has recently gone to free school, which has saved me a lot of things. But at noon, I often have to take him home for dinner, so why don't I rush to pick him up?"
When Yuan Xi saw Guo Jia transformed into a social animal, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "It's hard work for Mr. Fengxiao, but as a sacrificial wine, Mr. is also responsible for the affairs of the charity school. Why don't you want to pay for the lunch meal from the public warehouse?"
"It doesn't cost much anyway, and it can save everyone's manpower and material resources."
Guo Jia smiled and said: "I'm just waiting for the young master's words. Then I'll send someone to do it."
Yuan Xi was startled, then laughed and said, "Sir, you are plotting against me."
Guo Jia laughed loudly and drove off in the carriage.
Yuan Xi shook his head, walked out of the front yard, and returned to his backyard mansion. As soon as he entered, he heard an extremely melodious sound of a piano coming from the hall.