Chapter 158 Chaos

Yuan Xi and Guo Jia were staring at each other.

Yuan Xi looked innocent, while Guo Jia angrily held up a roll of bamboo slips, trembling with anger.

The roll of bamboo slips contained nearly a hundred strips, and each strip had an extremely troublesome question written on it!

He angrily threw the bamboo slips in front of Yuan Xi: "Can these things be owed?"

"It's your own fault for not asking, what does it have to do with me?"

"You've been gone for more than half a month, and you bring me this? Do you think you're giving a gift?"

"Even giving gifts isn't done like this!"

"And what kind of broken questions are these?"

"Where can iron ore be found in Zhuo County?"

"How can the Black Mountain Army be used to deal with the Southern Xiongnu?"

"Why have some rice plants degenerated into weeds?"

"Do you think I know everything?"

Yuan Xi noticed half of a beautiful face peeking out from the doorway of the back room; this was the concubine Guo Jia had taken in, using one question per day as payment.

At the time, this deal seemed worthwhile, but Guo Jia probably regretted it now.

Yuan Xi said with a smile: "Isn't this brainstorming, to see what insights sir has on these matters?"

What he was worried about recently was that Zhuo County alone didn't have enough resources.

Take iron ore for example; Zhuo County only had a small iron mine with very little output.

Among the large iron mines, the closest to Zhuo County was in Zhongshan State, within Ji Province, near Beiping, only a hundred li or so from Beixincheng.

But it happened to be in Ji Province, now controlled by Yuan Shang, and often harassed by the Black Mountain bandits; Yuan Xi didn't expect to get anything out of him.

Yu Yang County in You Province did have a large mine, but unfortunately, it was separated from Zhuo County by Guangyang County.

At that time, a major factor restricting the army's combat power was the quality of weapons.

At least in the late Spring and Autumn period, block ironmaking carburizing steel technology appeared. A steel dagger unearthed from a Chu tomb was forged from seven to nine layers of iron, but it should have been quite valuable and not widely used.

By the early Warring States period, there were already batches of steel long swords, which evolved from the decorative and self-defense short swords of the Spring and Autumn period into practical weapons for equipping the army in batches, which were extremely lethal and offensive.

However, the proportion of iron soldiers in this period was far less than that of bronze soldiers, and although Qin, which eventually unified the six countries, had a small number of iron soldiers, bronze soldiers still dominated.

The reasons for this were not only the relatively troublesome technical aspects, but also the possibility of insufficient output.

Until the Western Han Dynasty, the development of the iron smelting industry and the progress of steel forging technology provided sufficient conditions for the development of steel weapons.

The Han court's policy of specialized manufacturing of weapons, the establishment of the Chang'an Arsenal, and the iron official monopoly system that began with Emperor Wu effectively promoted and guaranteed the development of the steel weapons manufacturing industry.

But even so, by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were still many bronze swords in the army, and iron was still a relatively valuable resource, especially in agricultural tools and household utensils, bronze was still the majority.

Therefore, finding an iron mine was very important for local development. Yuan Xi now extremely regretted that he had not known much about the location of ancient iron mines in his previous life.

He only remembered that he had read in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas · Classic of Zhongshan" that there were dozens of iron mines in the world, and there was a large mine in Liguo, Xuzhou.

It was a polymetallic deposit with iron as the main component and associated copper, cobalt, gold, silver, etc., containing high-copper magnetite rich ore and high-copper hematite rich ore, and the shallow burial of the strata was extremely suitable for mining and iron smelting, which was also a factor in Xuzhou's prosperity.

Yuan Xi was very envious, Xuzhou was a good place!

However, if Yuan Xi were himself, he wouldn't be too envious of Liu Bei in Xuzhou now, because news came from the south that Liu Bei's situation was very bad.

Yuan Tan had conflicts with the Taishan bandits in Qingzhou, and the Taishan bandits were blocked in the north, and many of them went south to plunder and enter Xuzhou.

On the Xuzhou side, Yuan Shu, because he could not break the situation in Yu Province, turned to attack Yang Province, and at the same time went north to covet Xuzhou. It is said that he sent several generals and had conflicts with Liu Bei.

What made Yuan Xi even more uneasy was that Cao Cao, who coveted Xuzhou the most, seemed to be doing nothing.

This was definitely abnormal. It was not until a few days ago that a spy from Yecheng brought news that Lu Bu seemed to have joined forces with Yuan Shu!

It was somewhat beyond Yuan Xi's expectations that Yuan Shu and Lu Bu joined forces at this point in time. According to his idea, Lu Bu would only have the conditions to join forces with Yuan Shu after he betrayed Liu Bei and seized Xuzhou in order to prevent Cao Cao.

Some time ago, Lu Bu was in Chenliu County, Yanzhou, and had already followed what his vest, Hidden Tiger, had said and went west to attack Sili, occupying several cities in Henan Yin.

This was in line with Yuan Xi's expectations. The next step for Lu Bu would be to open up Henei County, so as to be close to Shangdang County in Bing Province.

In this way, Yuan Xi would be able to find a way to use Lu Bu to suppress the Black Mountain Army and the Southern Xiongnu in the three counties of Yanmen, Taiyuan, and Shangdang in Bing Province, and finally border Youzhou.

In this way, not only would he be able to block Cao Cao's route to welcome the Han Emperor, but he would also be able to create a buffer barrier for Youzhou. When the time came, it would not be impossible for Yuan Xi and Lu Bu to join forces and do something.

The idea was good, but many problems occurred in the operation.

Just like now, Chenliu of Lu Bu and the territory of Yuan Shu are separated by Chen State. Why did they unite?

Wait!

Yuan Xi suddenly thought of an extremely terrible fact. The more he thought about it, the more uncertain he became, so he said to Guo Jia: "I can temporarily not ask these questions. Today, I only ask one question."

He told Guo Jia the news that Lu Bu and Yuan Shu had joined forces, as well as his guess, and finally said: "Sir, your hometown is in Yingchuan, adjacent to Chenliu and Chen State. If there is any change, I am afraid that your hometown will be affected."

Guo Jia's face changed several times after hearing this, and he lowered his head and pondered.

After a long while, he raised his head and said: "Gongzi's idea is indeed very possible."

"Lu Bu is ostensibly united with Yuan Shu, but in private, he may have contact with Chen State and even Cao Cao!"

Yuan Xi originally had some vague ideas, but Guo Jia reacted quickly and pointed them out so clearly, which made him break out in a cold sweat.

If the alliance between Lu Bu and Yuan Shu was an inevitable part of history, Yuan Xi could accept it, but if Cao Cao was involved in the middle, the situation would be completely different!

If these parties really joined forces, wouldn't this be shooting himself in the foot and purely making a cocoon to trap himself?

But thinking about it, it is really possible. Lu Bu and Cao Cao are now restraining each other. If they want to expand in another direction, they will inevitably worry about being stabbed in the back. At this time, peace talks are the best choice.

However, in this way, Lu Bu is fine, but Cao Cao's direction is likely to be Liu Bei. This is troublesome.

There is also a variable in the middle, Chen State.

Historically, Liu Chong, the king of Chen State, and Luo Jun, the prime minister, should have been assassinated by Zhang Kai, who was sent by Yuan Shu, but Zhang Kai was shot to death by Yuan Xi in Feixian, so naturally the two would not die from Zhang Kai's assassination, so Yuan Shu's response would also change at the same time.

Yuan Xi had a headache. The forces of the Three Kingdoms were a mess, not simply standing on one side to the end. Strengthening to annex, weakening to unite, is the way for the lords to survive. No one is stupid.

He said to Guo Jia: "In your opinion, sir, how can we alienate the relationship between these parties?"

Guo Jia sneered after hearing this: "You are really meddling. Youzhou is so far away from Yanzhou, even if you can do something, what benefits can you get?"

Yuan Xi thought to himself that he couldn't tell Guo Jia that he was laying out in advance to prevent Cao Cao from holding the emperor to command the lords. This matter was still far from being certain.

He had to say: "I suspect that Cao Cao is plotting Yecheng."

He had a basis for saying this.

In the Battle of Guandu in later generations, there were two introductions. What subverted the cognition of most people was that both of these things were initiated by Cao Cao.

One was that Cao Cao took the lead in occupying Henei County, outflanking the rear of Ji Province.

The second was a sneak attack on Yecheng.

"Spring and Autumn of Emperor Xian": Cao led his army to build a river, claiming to help Shao, but in reality he planned to attack Ye, thinking it was Zan's aid. When Zan was destroyed, Shao also realized it, and the army retreated and stationed in Aocang.

"Biography of Zhang Fan of the Three Kingdoms": At that time, Taizu was about to conquer Ji Province, (Yuan) Shu replied and asked: "Now Cao Gong wants to use a few thousand of his defeated soldiers to fight against an army of 100,000, which can be said to be beyond his ability! What do you think?

When Cao Cao attacked Gongsun Zan, he wanted to sneak attack Yecheng first, but Yuan Shao discovered it, so Yuan Shao destroyed Gongsun Zan and quickly retreated, forcing Cao Cao to retreat, and then Yuan Shao sent someone to question Cao Cao about this matter.

This was the direct cause of the outbreak of the Battle of Guandu the following year.

This also highlights that Cao Cao will never let go of any opportunity. Even if he is at a disadvantage, he dares to take the initiative to attack instead of sitting and waiting for the other party to attack.

The so-called war is not launched when you are ready, but will be launched at the most appropriate time.

In contrast, Yuan Shao, who had superior military strength, was conservative and passively defended everywhere in the Battle of Guandu, so that Cao Cao found a flaw and made a great contribution in one fell swoop.

Offense is always the best defense. Only when the enemy is exhausted can they not spare time to deal with themselves.

Cao Cao is indeed a master. As soon as Yuan Xi left Ji Province, he seized the opportunity. Now he is befriending Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, relying on Yuan Shao's unwillingness to fall out with him, and began to plot Xuzhou.

Xuzhou is indeed a hot potato. It is not easy for anyone to hold it, but if it is in Cao Cao's hands, it will be the worst situation.

In this way, Henei, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou will be connected in a line, and the south of the Yellow River will be occupied by Cao Cao, and he can attack and defend.

But Yuan Shao is different. His base camp, Yecheng, is too close to the Yellow River defense line and will be threatened at any time.

If Yuan Shao loses, Yuan Xi in Youzhou can only sigh helplessly, and will repeat the mistakes in history.

That's why he came to Guo Jia urgently to think about a way to break the situation.

Guo Jia snorted: "Today's question has been asked!"

Yuan Xi said with a cheeky face: "Then it will be counted as tomorrow's, and the previous questions will be written off."

Guo Jia still couldn't refuse Yuan Xi, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "Now Gongsun Zan is defending Yijing, and it is impossible to plot Fanyang and Yuyang to the east before attacking and destroying him."

"If Yijing is captured in the future, Gongzi will occupy Yuyang and control the sea route, and from Bohai County in Ji Province to Qingzhou, he can still help Xuzhou, but it is obviously impossible now, and can only rely on Liu Bei to support himself."

"What needs to be guarded against now is the Black Mountain Army entrenched in Bing Province."

When Yuan Xi heard this, he asked in confusion: "The Black Mountain Army is hiding in the Taihang Mountains, let alone fighting, it's hard to find them. How can we deal with them?"

He had a basis for saying this. When he was in Beixincheng for three years, Yuan Shao personally led a large army, and half of the time was spent fighting against the Black Mountain Army, but in the end, he could only repel them and could not eliminate them.

Guo Jia said: "To completely eliminate the Black Mountain bandits, it still depends on Lu Bu."