Yuan Shang rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "If the second brother wants to be an official in Jizhou and marry a girl from the Zhen family, it will have consequences."
At that time, there was a place of origin avoidance system for officials in the Han Dynasty. From the governor to the county captain, local officials could not be appointed.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was the Three Mutual Methods.
Its terms are extremely complicated. To put it simply, there are two main points.
First, the official’s household registration cannot be local, even if the wife’s family is local.
Just like Cao Cao was from Pei State in Yuzhou, but he raised his army and started his activities in Yanzhou, Yuan Shao was from Runan in Yuzhou, but he went to Jizhou.
The second is avoidance in different places. A person from Jingzhou will be the governor of Yangzhou, and a person from Yangzhou will be the governor of Yizhou. Then a person from Yizhou can neither be the governor of Yangzhou nor the governor of Jingzhou, and the three states will be avoided in a cycle.
Especially the second article, when combined with the first, makes it difficult for many state officials to find them.
Although this has the advantage of preventing the formation of rural parties, it also leads to many disadvantages.
The important horse-producing areas in the north, Youzhou and Jizhou, have been short of chiefs for a long time. There are so few qualified people that only people from the two states can choose.
But now the world is in chaos, the Han Dynasty is in decline, and after the princes occupy the states, they also promote some local nobles to serve. Anyway, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and no one has time to take care of these things.
But for the Yuan family, who is a role model for the noble family, they still have to put in enough effort on the surface.
The implicit meaning of Yuan Shang's words is extremely vicious. If Yuan Xi wants to marry Zhen Mi, he must give up his official position in Jizhou and leave Jizhou as soon as possible after getting married.
If Yuan Xi doesn't marry Zhen Mi, it means that you have other ideas. You just agreed, are you going to regret it in public?
Here Yuan Shang used a clever trick to turn Yuan Xi's marriage on Yuan Shao's order, which was an extremely normal thing, into an inappropriate situation that put Yuan Xi in a dilemma.
After Yuan Xi figured out Yuan Shang's intentions, he secretly thought to himself that as his third brother, one strategy could often achieve several goals, so no wonder Yuan Tan had a headache.
However, what Yuan Shang didn't know was that Yuan Xi had no interest in Jizhou at all.
At least that's the case for now.
Yuan Xi smiled slightly and said to Yuan Shang: "What the third brother said is that after I get married according to my father this time, I will leave Jizhou and return to Youzhou."
"After all, Gongsun Zan is still strong in Youzhou."
"I came back this time to borrow five thousand soldiers and horses from my father to attack Gongsun Zan with all my strength."
Yuan Shang's eyes narrowed and he rarely made a sound.
After hearing this, Yuan Shao said to Mrs. Liu, "You go out first."
When only the father and son were left in the room, Yuan Shao slowly spoke.
"It's September now and the weather is getting colder. If we want to send troops, we have to wait until next year."
"What's more, after the Yecheng Rebellion, my Yuan family has been attacking the Black Mountain Army. Now the conditions for sending troops are not mature."
He said to Yuan Shang: "Xian Yi has been away from Jizhou for three years and does not understand the situation here. Please explain it to him."
Yuan Shang hurriedly said: "No."
He turned to Yuan Xi and said solemnly: "Now is not the best time to attack Gongsun Zan."
"First, Qingzhou has not yet been determined. If we send troops from Jizhou to the north, the grain roads are mostly close to Qingzhou, and it is extremely easy to be harassed by troops sent by Tian Kai, Kong Rong and others."
"Second, the rear has not yet been determined. Cao Cao of Yanzhou is confronting Yuan Shu of Yuzhou and Tao Qian of Xuzhou. If they cannot support us, the situation in Jizhou will also be greatly affected."
"Third, Gongsun Zan trapped Yi Jing, and Liu Yu's army of 100,000 was defeated by him. If we, the Yuan family, want to attack and destroy him, we must use all the troops in Jizhou. If we cannot attack for a long time, our army's vitality will be damaged and we will be slowed down.
The process of the Yuan family’s struggle for world hegemony.”
"So to defeat Gongsun Zan, we must first pacify Qingzhou, stabilize Xuzhou, and take control of them. It's not just the second brother with thousands of troops who can accomplish the task."
After hearing this, Yuan Shao nodded slightly and said, "Xian Yi has done very well in Beixin City in the past three years, but in the overall situation, Li Xianfu is still a little behind."
Yuan Xi had to admit that Yuan Shang was not a fool. He had so many advisers behind him to advise him, and everything he said could hit the mark.
However, his goal was not Youzhou in the first place. Now he was just bargaining, using retreat as advance.
He slowly said: "I would like to ask my third brother for advice. If Youzhou is not able to achieve victory in one battle, where is the best breakthrough point for the next step?"
Yuan Shang smiled and said: "Of course it's Qingzhou."
"This place is uneven. Youzhou and Xuzhou are difficult to defeat."
"But now is not the time to send troops. Tao Qian of Xuzhou has a good relationship with Tian Kaikong of Qingzhou. Xuzhou is not weak now. If we rashly raise troops, it will not be easy to conquer."
After hearing this, Yuan Shao also nodded slightly.
However, what Yuan Xi said next shocked both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shang.
"This condition will be met soon."
"That's why I came back."
He cleared his throat and said, "I met a stranger some time ago. He told me that there should be changes in Xuzhou and Yanzhou soon."
Yuan Shang heard this and sneered: "How could the second brother believe the lies of such a charlatan?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "I would rather believe that it exists than believe that it does not exist."
"Anyway, it will be easy for Jizhou to mobilize troops and horses in advance. Why not give it a try?"
Yuan Shang frowned and said: "Although my second brother has fought in Beixin City, the mobilization of hundreds of soldiers and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses is completely different!"
Yuan Shang was very confused and a little guilty.
The eldest brother Yuan Tan went to Beixin City. Looking at Yuan Xi's appearance, he might have known that he had tampered with the grain and grass in Beixin City.
Why didn't he complain in front of his father?
Although Yuan Shang had already thought of a countermeasure, he was not completely sure. It would be best for Yuan Xi not to tell him.
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "There are indeed hundreds of soldiers in Beixin City, but when defending the city, the whole city was mobilized, and there were thousands of people on the city walls."
He turned to Yuan Shao: "Father, I have something to ask of you."
"If there is a change in Xuzhou, I would like to borrow a general and five hundred troops to go to Xuzhou to stir up the situation."
"If Xuzhou and Yanzhou really have no time to take care of themselves in the end, how about my father give me two thousand soldiers and horses?"
This is a gambling game, and Yuan Xi’s favorite game is the empty-handed white wolf.
Yuan Shang thought that his second brother was really naive and his words were unfounded. How could his father agree to this extremely ridiculous proposal?
What shocked Yuan Shang was that Yuan Shao actually nodded and said: "Yes."
Yuan Xi smiled.
I went around and around with Yuan Shang and spent so much time talking, but actually I was talking about Yuan Shao.
What he relied on was a private bet he made with Yuan Shao when he left Yecheng that day.
Yuan Xi said something at that time, but Yuan Shao didn't believe it at all.
"Within two years, there will be a rebellion in Yecheng, and the person behind it is Cao Cao."
After Yuan Xi finished speaking, he said that if his words did not come true, he would never return to Yecheng.
But if it comes true, Yuan Shao will agree to one condition.
Yuan Shao only thought that Yuan Xi said something out of anger, but he didn't expect that the Yecheng Rebellion really happened!
While Yuan Shao was shocked, his trust in Yuan Xi increased invisibly.
The more Yuan Shao thought about it, the more likely it was that when they were young, Cao Cao cheated him when he was trying to steal his bride. Although this incident had happened many years ago, Yuan Shao still had a shadow in his heart.
Cao Mengde is a scammer!
However, Yuan Xi has never been able to find out who was the mastermind of the Yecheng Rebellion in later generations.
He just wanted to put this shit basin on Cao Cao's head.