Chapter 145 What's Yours Is Mine

From the Eastern Han Dynasty onwards, there was a custom of forming sworn brotherhoods and adopting sons with different surnames.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were such examples, as was Sun Li, the adopted brother of Yuan Xi. After forming a sworn brotherhood, both sides vowed to share life and death and would never break their promise.

Forming brotherhoods was common, but adopting sons was less so, as this was a custom that originated from the Qiang and Hu peoples of Bing and Liang provinces. It was not initially a custom of the Han people, but as the Han and Hu people integrated, it gradually spread to the Central Plains, and only became greatly popular in the Tang Dynasty.

The most typical example is, of course, Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu, who addressed each other as father and son, without changing their surnames or having inheritance rights.

However, for the Confucian aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty, most people were unable to accept this.

Therefore, when Guo Jia heard Yuan Xi's proposal, his first reaction was that he had misheard.

A gust of cold wind sobered him up for the most part. What exactly did this son of the Yuan family want to do?

Yuan Xi smiled slightly. He was also forced to say this by Guo Jia, because he was running out of time.

He sighed and said, "Brother Fengxiao, you also know that the words you said when you left are no longer a secret among my father's staff."

"Regardless of whether my father cares or not, it is difficult to say whether others will target Brother Fengxiao for whatever purpose."

"Therefore, when I go to Beixin City in a few days, I will be taking you with me."

Seeing Yuan Xi making up his mind to take him away, Guo Jia said resentfully, "Anyway, I won't give you any advice."

Yuan Xi snorted, "Anyway, whether you give me advice or not, you have to come with me."

Madam Dong secretly looked at Guo Jia, and then secretly looked at Yuan Xi.

Guo Jia did not expect Yuan Xi to be so persistent, and said helplessly, "Just go, you want offspring, just have them yourself, why are you trying to steal my child?"

Yuan Xi smiled slightly, "Has Brother Fengxiao ever heard of my deeds?"

Guo Jia was slightly stunned, "Although Jia lives in seclusion, I still know some rumors. The young master fought in Xu Province and swept through Qing Province. The name of the 'Fierce Tiger' is very famous."

Yuan Xi then said, "Then does the young master know how I spent those three years in Beixin City?"

Guo Jia shook his head.

Yuan Xi said, "Hearing is false, seeing is believing, so I want the gentleman to see it with his own eyes."

"However, Beixin City is much more dangerous than Ye City, facing enemies on three sides. You and I may not be able to return."

"If that is the case, then I will be without an heir. I will blame you for not giving me advice and causing the deaths of both of us."

"Because I have no children, this child of Brother Fengxiao will be my adopted son, and the Yuan family will naturally adopt him into my lineage to continue my line of descendants."

"At that time, it will be Brother Fengxiao who is without an heir."

Guo Jia's face stiffened. Was there anyone who coerced people like this?

This plan was extremely vicious!

Madam Dong lowered her head, listening to this seemingly childish conversation. Seeing that Guo Yi also wanted to look up, she quickly pressed his head down.

Yuan Xi waved his hand, "I won't disturb your family reunion for these few days. After all, once we leave, we don't know when we will return, or if we will even return."

After Yuan Xi left, Guo Jia, Madam Dong, and Guo Yi stood in the snow in a daze. A cold wind blew, and Guo Jia sneezed.

Madam Dong quickly said, "Husband, let's go back to the room first."

Guo Jia said gloomily, "What the hell is going on!"

He said to Guo Yi, "You go back to my little hut and stay there."

Guo Yi listened, wiped his nose, and obediently crawled into Guo Jia's small dark room.

Madam Dong was puzzled and said, "The house that Yi'er and I live in is very big, enough for the three of us to stay in."

Guo Jia put his arm around Madam Dong and walked back, "You will have plenty of time to accompany him in the future!"

"I don't know how many days we have left to live, and my son is about to be snatched away. What do you think we should do?"

Madam Dong had not yet reacted, "Then what does my husband say we should do?"

Guo Jia said angrily, "A woman's brain is just slow to turn!"

"Of course, we should take advantage of these few days to have another one!"

When Yuan Xi returned to the room, he saw Cao Xian waiting at the door, but Wu Zhao was hurriedly tidying up things in the corner.

Yuan Xi went over to take a look and saw that there was a memorial tablet in the corner with Cai Yong's name written on it, with a burner of incense lit and a bowl of meat placed there. He immediately understood that Wu Zhao was offering sacrifices to his ancestor.

He stopped Wu Zhao and said, "Ancestral sacrifices are supposed to be left out for a day. Why are you putting them away now?"

Wu Zhao said softly, "I thought that the young master would not be back for half a day, and it is not good to have this in the room."

Yuan Xi went over, took three incense sticks, lit them, and inserted them into the incense burner, worshipping before saying, "What's the taboo about this?"

Wu Zhao was moved in his heart and could not speak for a moment.

Yuan Xi looked at Cao Xian, and Cao Xian quickly said, "I won't say anything."

She knew Wu Zhao's true identity from her mother, Madam Huan, and also understood that his identity could not be exposed. Moreover, Wu Zhao was highly valued by Yuan Xi, equal to Yuan Xi's sensitive spot, so how could she dare to say more?

Yuan Xi shook his head, "I'm not asking about this. Aren't you going to offer sacrifices to your ancestors?"

Cao Xian's face darkened, "Now my surname is Cao."

Yuan Xi and Wu Zhao exchanged a look, thinking that Cao Xian's experience was indeed very tragic. Her father was killed, her mother was taken away, and her surname was changed to that of her enemy.

Yuan Xi said, "You must endure for now. There will always be a way in the future."

Cao Xian was filled with mixed emotions of sadness and joy, and bowed her head and said, "Having these words from the young master is enough. This concubine will forever remember the young master's kindness."

The seven-day holiday of the Spring Festival in the Han Dynasty quickly passed. Yuan Xi had been traveling back and forth to many places in the past few months, and had hardly rested for a moment. This was the first time he had rested for such a long time.

Now that he was suddenly idle, he felt quite at a loss for what to do. He stared blankly at the snowflakes falling outside the window. This kind of weather was not suitable for training soldiers or gathering grain and fodder, so he could only postpone it depending on the situation.

Cao Xian came over with a large pile of bamboo scrolls, wobbling as she moved to the desk and placed the bamboo scrolls on top one by one.

She said, "This is a collection of essays transcribed and organized by Sister Wu Zhao and my sisters. Please take a look, Gongzi, and see if it is suitable."

Yuan Xi opened a scroll and saw that the bamboo strips were very thin, and densely covered with small clerical script. He said, "Don't tire yourselves out too much. Take it easy."

Cao Xian knelt behind Yuan Xi, helping to massage his shoulders, "Sister Wu Zhao and Cao Jie really haven't rested well these past few nights, so after writing, they slept in the study and asked me to bring it over to Gongzi for you to take a look."

Yuan Xi said, "You've all worked hard. You should go and rest too."

Cao Xian's face flushed red, "I've been accompanying Gongzi every night these past few days, so I've been resting very well."

Yuan Xi flipped through the bamboo scrolls, feeling Cao Xian pressed against his back, and felt a stirring within him.

Cao Xian was the oldest of the three sisters, several years older than Cao Jie. Her body, like other sinful aristocratic women, was already well-developed.

Although he hadn't taken the final step with Cao Xian yet, other than that, the two of them had done almost everything they should and shouldn't have.

Moreover, Yuan Xi had to admit that although Cao Jie would be more famous in later generations, Cao Xian's appearance was currently more outstanding.

Besides, Cao Xian had one very prominent talent.

Her movements were very nimble.

Yuan Xi sighed, feeling that he was not a good person either, and only hoped that he could do his best.

Although everyone's tragic life in the world is different, and there are people who are more miserable than the Huan sisters, it doesn't mean that the Huan sisters' experience is a matter of course.

Compared to Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Guo Jia, and Gao Lan, although they also have their life's lows, as men, as long as they have outstanding abilities, they can always find some opportunities to change their destiny.

But for women, there are much fewer opportunities.

Cai Zhaoji, Zhen Mi, Yuan Xing, Zhen Rong, the Huan sisters, Madam Du, and even Hong Shi and Lu Lingqi, all have the helplessness of being women. Their efforts to change their destiny seem extremely small and weak in the face of the torrent of the times.

Aristocratic women are still like this, let alone ordinary people. Thinking of the efforts of thousands of years in later generations to slightly change this situation, Yuan Xi deeply felt that the things he had to do now were a heavy responsibility and a long road ahead.

At the very front of the bamboo slips was the Han law.

Strict and sound legal system is the most basic guarantee for governing a place.

The second is the selection system for officials.

The Han system of recommendation had already existed in name only, but the Nine-Rank System of later generations was even more outrageous.

The key to the key lies in the fact that this selection system has always been in the hands of a few people, and it basically operates on the basis of favor and self-interest. From selecting scholars to recommending filial and incorruptible talents, they cannot escape this framework.

Over thousands of years, the selection system has undergone countless subtle improvements with the changes of the times. Yuan Xi didn't think he could advance it by a thousand years in one fell swoop. His current ability was not enough for him to establish a complete imperial examination selection system.

If he wanted to make benign improvements, it would be an extremely difficult thing for him, who was not familiar with the operation of ancient officialdom.

He thought hard, was the key to this selection of officials people or the system?

Damn it, if only Guo Jia could figure it out sooner and give him ideas.

When Yuan Xi was on a mission to Xuzhou, he also met Chen Qun, who proposed the Nine-Rank System. If he could put forward a concept, Chen Qun might not be able to come up with a better system.

The way to be an official is to check and balance. How to balance the relationship between the gentry, good families, and common people, and propose a distribution method that all three can benefit from and accept, is absolutely impossible for Yuan Xi to complete alone.

The progress of any system cannot be separated from the social reality at the time. If you want to improve it, you need a large group of people to concentrate their wisdom and work together, but Yuan Xi's subordinates are almost blank in this regard.

Only by occupying his own territory can he recruit more talents, and things return to the starting point.

The more he thought about it, the more chaotic his mind became. He couldn't help but shake his head. Cao Xian's slender hands stretched out behind him to massage his temples.

Yuan Xi suddenly felt a lot of relaxation and casually asked, "How can we recruit more gentry to work for us?"

As soon as the words came out, he actually smiled wryly. Cao Xian was just a girl, how could she have any ideas?

Cao Xian was stunned. Was Gongzi asking her?

She subconsciously said, "This concubine is shallow in talent and learning, and really doesn't know these complicated things."

Yuan Xi sighed. He was indeed too anxious.

Just as he was about to comfort Cao Xian, he heard her say, "This concubine only thought of one way."

"This concubine's original biological father was also a famous scholar of the time, and he had extensive contacts and friendships with many scholars."

"If Gongzi spreads the news about saving our mother and daughter, your reputation will rise, and many people in the world who are dissatisfied with the Cao family may come to befriend Gongzi?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, how could he have forgotten this? Just like Wu Zhao's identity can be used when the time is ripe in the future, it is the fastest and most effective way to raise a banner of righteousness.

Suddenly, his body shook. What had been bothering him before was the difficult problem of Cao Cao controlling the Yellow Turbans, but at this time, Cao Xian's words made him think of a possible solution.