Chapter 25 What is your life ambition?

Yuan Xi, just waking up, remembered something and anxiously wanted to get up and find Dong Zhao and the others.

Seeing Yuan Xi's nervous expression, Wu Zhao thought it must be an urgent matter and quickly comforted Yuan Xi to rest for a while, and she ran to the house to find someone herself.

She circled around most of the mansion before finding Qu Yi in the backyard training ground.

At this time, Qu Yi was holding a long wooden stick, staring at Zhao Yun in front of him with an unkind expression. The two had already exchanged some blows, and it was clear that Qu Yi had not gained any advantage.

These past two days, Zhao Yun had been called by Qu Yi to reside in the City Lord's Mansion, temporarily separating him from the subordinates who had surrendered with him earlier.

Zhao Yun knew that as a newly surrendered general, and with Yuan Xi unconscious, it was normal for Qu Yi to be wary of him at this time, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

In fact, another reason was that Qu Yi had always been brooding over the half-move loss in the forest that day, and was trying to find a way to get even.

Although Zhao Yun lowered his posture, he would not hold back in the duel, naturally going all out to respond. As a result, Qu Yi lost more than he won in the past two days, and was extremely depressed.

Qu Yi discovered that the current Zhao Yun was not much stronger than himself at his peak, but he had a very obvious advantage.

Extremely strong burst.

Reflected on the battlefield, it was that the first few spear strikes were extremely fast and ruthless. If one couldn't block them, they would die on the spot.

As long as one fully blocked Zhao Yun's first few moves and slowly exhausted his strength, turning it into a war of attrition, then the chances of both sides being evenly matched, or even winning, would greatly increase.

After Qu Yi was injured, his stamina was also not good. Today, seeing Zhao Yun fighting more and more bravely, he secretly complained in his heart, but he had to save face and stubbornly hold on. Seeing that in a few more moves, the long stick in his hand would be knocked away.

It happened that at this time, Wu Zhao ran over panting, saying that Yuan Xi had woken up. As soon as he heard this, he said, "This must be an urgent matter, let's go and take a look first."

After speaking, Qu Yi threw away the long stick and said to Zhao Yun, "Today we will not determine the outcome, let's fight again another day."

Zhao Yun listened, put away the wooden stick, and smiled slightly, noncommittally.

Seeing this, Qu Yi gritted his teeth hatefully. I'm just not back to my full strength yet, don't make such a knowing look, it makes you even more hateful!

Wu Zhao led the two to Yuan Xi's room. As soon as Qu Yi entered, Yuan Xi anxiously asked, "Have Gongsun Zan's troops attacked these past two days?"

Qu Yi thought Yuan Xi was talking about military intelligence and said relaxedly, "Don't worry, I arrange for soldiers to go out of the city to scout every day, and the city wall guards are also on alert day and night. Gongsun Zan's troops have been quiet these past two days."

Yuan Xi looked at the sun outside and said, "It was my mistake, I forgot to tell you."

"This year the autumn rains are continuous, and these few days the sky has finally cleared up. The foreign enemies on both sides have also been dealt with, and the wheat fields south of the city can be safely harvested."

Qu Yi was stunned before suddenly realizing, "I was a bit negligent in this matter. Yesterday, Mr. Gongren also mentioned it, and I said that the livestock in the city had just been used to pull carts for battle a few days ago and were still extremely tired, so I was thinking of letting them rest for a few more days to avoid them being exhausted to death."

Yuan Xi said, "The sooner the better. Please trouble brother to gather all the livestock in the city that can pull carts, and let the people bring all the tools they can push and carry. Tomorrow morning, they will go out of the city to rush the harvest."

"I will also go there then."

Qu Yi nodded, and just as he was about to go out, he turned back and said, "Don't be stubborn, you have been unconscious and feverish for two days, and Wu Zhao has taken care of you for two days and two nights, and haven't eaten a grain of rice. Where do you have the strength to go out?"

"If you really want to go out of the city, at least recover some energy before talking about it."

Hearing this, Wu Zhao quickly got up and said, "I'll go to the kitchen to make some porridge."

After Wu Zhao went out, Qu Yi saw that Zhao Yun was still staying in the room. After hesitating for a moment, he heard Yuan Xi say, "Brother, just go out, now Brother Zhao is on my side, and I trust him as much as I trust you."

Hearing this, Qu Yi then got up and went out.

Seeing Qu Yi turn his head back three times with every step, and finally disappear, Zhao Yun said to Yuan Xi, "It is fortunate for the General to have such a loyal person as Qu Yi."

Yuan Xi propped himself up and smiled, "Brother Zhao can call me Xianyi, otherwise it will seem too unfamiliar."

Zhao Yun knelt and sat before the mat and said, "Yun is terrified. Gongsun Zan has many great generals under his command. I have wasted several years without achieving fame. Why do you alone give me such special attention?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, how should I say this?

I can't possibly say that in later generations, whether in terms of loyalty or martial prowess, you are the best of the generals of this era, which is why I trust you so much?

He thought for a while and smiled, "I once heard that Brother Zhao abandoned his father to defect to Gongsun Zan, and there was quite a bit of rhetoric involved. I'm afraid the inside story is not that simple, right?"

"Although my father's actions also have many inappropriate aspects, he is no worse than Gongsun Zan in implementing benevolent governance, right?"

Zhao Yun was silent, because what Yuan Xi said was true.

Although Yuan Shao's Ji Province was cleverly seized from Han Fu, Yuan Shao also did some things to win over the hearts of the people.

Ji Province was the outbreak area of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Among them, the leaders of the Yellow Turban Army, the three brothers Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang, were all located in Ji Province, and Julu County was even the headquarters of the Yellow Turban Army. Before Yuan Shao arrived, it was also plagued by the Black Mountain Army and the Southern Xiongnu, which can be said to have internal and external troubles.

Afterwards, Yuan Shao implemented a policy of recuperation in Ji Province, and the appearance of Ji Province was completely renewed. Yecheng, which had been ravaged by war, also became a prosperous city with a developed economy, which not only won over the hearts of the local gentry, but also improved the lives of the people.

In real history, even if Yuan Shao failed in the Battle of Guandu and was forced to retreat to Hebei to defend, followed by Cao Cao's step-by-step pressure, some counties surrendered to Cao Cao.

But afterwards, Cao Cao's army could not conquer it for a long time and had to retreat. Yuan Shao recovered all these counties, which shows that he still had quite a bit of popular support.

It was not until the seventh year of Jian'an that Yuan Shao passed away, and Ji Province, Bing Province, and You Province were occupied by Yuan Shao's three sons respectively, who attacked each other, that Cao Cao found an opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Even so, when Cao Cao attacked Yecheng in the ninth year of Jian'an, it lasted from March to August. During this time, various methods such as tunnels, earth hills, and water attacks were used without success. Finally, Shen Rong, Shen Pei's nephew, opened the city and surrendered, and Cao Cao was able to break through Yecheng.

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty · Biography of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao": He made his brother's son Rong the Colonel of the East Gate. Rong opened the gate at night to train soldiers, and Pei resisted the battle in the city, capturing Pei alive.

From the Battle of Guandu to Cao Cao's plan to attack Yecheng, Cao Cao spent a full four years to break through Yecheng, which Yuan Shao had been managing. It can be seen that Yuan Shao's power still retained a considerable part after the Battle of Guandu.

Afterwards, Cao Cao slowly turned Yecheng into the capital of his fiefdom, and the political center gradually shifted from Xuchang to Yecheng. It can be seen that even as Yuan Shao's old opponent, Cao Cao's evaluation of Yuan Shao's management was quite high.

Seeing Zhao Yun silent, Yuan Xi suddenly said, "Brother Yun is probably not defecting to Gongsun Zan, but to Liu Yu, right?"

"Is it possible that my father's actions in the chaos of the Han Dynasty in the past few years have made Brother Yun somewhat disapproving?"

"Brother Yun's ambition, is it to revive the Han Dynasty?"

Zhao Yun was extremely surprised at this time, how could the other party seem to see through his mind?

Seeing Zhao Yun's expression, Yuan Xi was greatly relieved. He had the experiences of Zhao Yun's later life in later generations, which could confirm his thoughts.

Because after Liu Bei entered Bazhong and Shu, the two people who were originally quite close seemed to have some problems.

Especially when Liu Bei claimed the title of Emperor, Zhao Yun didn't even submit a memorial.

Even when the Kingdom of Shu attacked Wu, only Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang stood up to oppose it, advocating first attacking the Kingdom of Wei.

After this incident, Zhao Yun was treated coldly for a considerable period of time, which can be seen from the historical records.