Three Kingdoms

Shangdang, Huguan.

The battle that was originally thought to be coming did not arrive as scheduled, which made the soldiers at Shangdang Huguan breathe a sigh of relief. However, Yuan Jun still did not retreat from the stronghold in Taihang Mountain, and seemed to be ready to continue the attack at any time.

Fei Qian is not sure how much wealth Yuan Shao has and how much he can support him. After all, there is no systematic data to check on the current war. He can know the changes in Yuan Shao's reserves and morale. Everything relies on personal judgment. and predict the situation.

Taiyuan City was settled. After Lu Bu killed Chen Gong, he stayed in his mansion and did not come out. Zhang Liao went to see him several times, but he never saw him, and he didn't see anyone else. He just stayed behind closed doors.

Gao Shun was immersed in training in the school grounds, and he looked like he didn't care about the world. As for the other generals, they either stayed at home or went hunting in the mountains with a few guards...

Under such circumstances, Fei Qian had no time to go see Lu Bu or summon him, so he simply dealt with it coldly. After telling Cui Jun to pay more attention, he led his men and horses back to Huguan. After all, The importance of Shangdang Huguan is self-evident.

As long as Yuan Shao is completely defeated, many problems will be solved. After all, it is like a sentence, performance cures all diseases. When there is no performance, every problem is a big problem; when there is performance, no problem is a problem.

However, the current situation of Yuan Jun makes Fei Qian a little uncertain. Is there something wrong with Yuan Shao's rear as originally thought, or is Yuan Shao holding back his misfortune somewhere and preparing to cause trouble?

What no one expected was that a letter revealed the answer to the mystery.

At present, Feiqian's intelligence network is also relatively open. Of course, it is still limited to the north and south of the river. For the south, one is that no one goes there, and the other reason is that even if someone is willing to go, they have to pass through a warring area, which is very dangerous. Therefore, Fei Qian is very concerned about the current situation of Yuan Shu and Sun Ce. I only know a rough idea of ​​the situation, and the specifics are still very vague.

Compared with the blankness in the south, the intelligence in the north is relatively complete. Like the move Yuan Shao made in Yecheng, after being passed around and passed on, through the relay between the deployed personnel and the caravan, it quickly It spread to Fei Qian.

Of course, this is only a relative term.

No matter how fast I went, it took me close to ten days to write the letters...

However, it is still very valuable.

When Fei Qian got this letter, he actually felt a little dumbfounded.

Wude always said that there was still a certain market space during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but after being ruined by several emperors of the Han Dynasty, not many people continued to do this.

So what virtue does the Han Dynasty represent now?

Many people know that the Han Dynasty has the virtue of Fire, but in fact, the Han Dynasty was originally characterized by the virtue of Water, with a black color, exactly the same as the Qin Dynasty...

The theory of the beginning and end of the five virtues generally means that the evolution of history is always inseparable from the mutual growth and restraint of the five elements, and it is a cycle that starts and starts again.

Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are mutually reinforcing and restraining each other. Each dynasty corresponds to a different Five Elements. Whenever a later dynasty overthrows the previous dynasty, the new Five Elements must overcome the old Five Elements. Of course, this was Zou Yan’s theory, and it was also believed by many princes at the time. recognized.

Qin Shihuang believed in what the Five Virtues always said. Although most kings were fighting back and forth during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and there were many countries, most people still believed that the Zhou Dynasty was the orthodox dynasty, so the Zhou Dynasty was a fire virtue, and the Qin Dynasty was After the destruction of the Zhou Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty should have the virtue of water. Only in this way can it be called complying with the will of God.

So Qin Shihuang put everything on the water. For example, the color of their clothes was black, so black was the main color throughout the Qin State, including the Qin army officers, weapons, equipment, and Qin Shihuang's dragon robe, all of which were the same color. black.

Then a very strange thing happened. Since Liu Bang overthrew the Qin Dynasty and established the Han Dynasty, according to the theory of the Five Virtues, it should be to use soil to overcome water and uphold the virtues of soil. However, in the early days of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang He did not do this, but continued to uphold Shui De, and even squeezed himself into a position among the original four divine emperors, becoming the incarnation of the Black Emperor.

Could it be that Liu Bang was a gangster and didn't understand this?

Wrong, Liu Bang is actually a hooligan who understands culture, so Liu Bang did this out of important considerations. Liu Bang overthrew Xiang Yu not by relying on the troops he originally brought from Jingchu, but by the entire Old Qin people in Guanzhong.

Yes, Liu Bang was from Chu. When he was named King of Han, almost all of the 100,000 people in his hands were from Chu, Wei, and Han. However, no one can compete with the overlord Xiang Yu based on this. When Liu Bang secretly attacked Chencang and attacked Sanqin, he recruited almost all the Qin people in Guanzhong, including the five generals who later snatched Xiang Yu's body by the Wu River, all of them Qin people.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Qin people hated Xiang Yu, so the Qin people supported Liu Bang as the main military force and logistics of the Han army in the Chu-Han War. Therefore, in fact, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought for the world, and they mainly relied on the Qin people. Otherwise, when Gaixia was ambushing on all sides and played the song of Chu, wouldn't Liu Bang be worried that his soldiers would also be homesick and unintentional to fight?

Liu Bang and Xiang Yu's fight for the world was, to a certain extent, actually another fight for hegemony between the Qin and Chu people. Therefore, after Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty, he resolutely set the capital in Chang'an, because only in Chang'an could there be any solution He directly took charge of this group of Ziqin people, and then continuously moved the world's major commanders to Sanfu. On the one hand, it was for the sake of local stability, and on the other hand, it also continued to add sand to Guanzhong.

Even when Han Xin was killed, it was actually because he was afraid that the Qin people would rebel again, because the commander in charge of these Qin troops at that time was Han Xin. When he heard that someone was bewitching Han Xin, he jumped up. After all, these Qin people seemed to be more convinced of Han Xin...

Therefore, Liu Bang chose to inherit the water virtues of the Qin Dynasty to win the hearts of these Qin people. Then during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty decisively couldn't bear it, so he changed it to earth virtues.

Then in the period of Comrade Wang Mang, in order to prove that he was ordered by heaven, he adopted the abdication system of the Zhou Dynasty. Wang Mang said that he had inherited the fire virtue of the Zhou Dynasty, and changed the soil virtue to fire virtue.

As for Liu Xiu, his power was small at first and he did not dare to openly oppose Comrade Wang Mang's fire virtues. He simply took advantage of the situation and took the opportunity to make a big article with the word "fire", saying that "there is fire from the sky, and the flow is mainly red and black fire." "After Tu's prophecy was overthrown and Wang Mang was overthrown, everything became smoother. He simply did not change it and directly followed Huode until now.

It can be said that in fact, by the late Wang Mang period, the market for the Five Virtues had gradually disappeared. Most politicians knew that this thing was actually just a cover. The change of dynasty had nothing to do with any virtue. Therefore, after the Han Dynasty, Gradually no one mentions this matter. As for what clothes to wear and what color they are, they don’t care much about it. Therefore, the Chinese people after the Han Dynasty still like red very much. In fact, it is the genetic precipitation left from the fire virtue of the Han Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, it would be interesting for Yuan Shao to still create some water virtue.

"Come on, this information is interesting..." Fei Qian handed the news about Jizhou to Jia Qu.

"This...this is a big act of rebellion!" Jia Qu angrily slapped the information on the table and said indignantly, "In the past, we used to accept the system and correct the imperial edicts, and today we promote Shui De. This is a rebellious move! Wolf's ambition , it’s so obvious!”

After all, Jia Qu is still younger. Although he has experienced a lot in these years, maybe the Bingzhou people are more straightforward, or he is really dissatisfied with Yuan Shao's actions, so he seems to show strong disgust.

"The existence of Han is due to the order of etiquette!" Jia Qu shook his head and sighed, "Nowadays, the world is in chaos. Instead of seeking harmony, they rebel against differences. Such behavior will last forever! The great Han Yuan Benchu ​​will be a passerby after all!"

Fei Qian looked at it and said with a smile: "I think Yuan Benchu ​​had no choice but to take this strategy... It can also be said to be a good strategy. It can be said to achieve several goals with one stone. It can protect the reputation and explain the reasons for the external defeat. There is still a way to appease the people of the gentry who are in civil strife...but it may not be a good strategy in the future...Forget it, Yuan Jun is about to retreat, I wonder what Liang Dao thinks?"

From a higher position, Fei Qian could see not the strategy itself, but the intention, purpose, and future evolution of the strategy.

Doesn't Yuan Shao know whether the so-called "Five Virtues" are true or false?

Not necessarily, but for Yuan Shao, this statement does allow him to have a ladder to get down from the previously elevated place, so he can't control whether the ladder will fall and hit his head after coming down...

Yuan Shao's strategy is indeed a better move in terms of current results. As Fei Qian said, because Yuan Shao was stuck on the conquest of Bingzhou and could not step down, so An explanation was needed to preserve Yuan Shao's own reputation.

Just like a character like Ah Q, he also needs face. Even if he is torn to pieces in front of others, he still needs some psychological comfort behind the scenes, let alone a big shot like Yuan Shao who needs face very much.

The attack on Bingzhou failed, and even his hometown was stabbed by Taishi Ci. How could Yuan Shao give an explanation in such a situation? If you don't give an explanation, will anyone be willing to follow Yuan Shao in the future?

It was not a defeat to Zheng Xi, but a defeat to the direction of the world's fortune, so the current failure has become an acceptable result. After all, when gold is prosperous, water will be born, and it will be the turn of water virtue to flourish, and the future will be the same. Is it quite promising...

Therefore, such a set of theories diverted the attention of the descendants of the Jizhou gentry, and generally saved Yuan Shao's face, preventing him from retreating from the army, which would be too ugly.

"My lord, what you said makes sense!" Jia Qu also focused his attention on the specific military affairs. "If this happens, Yuan's army will definitely raise suspicions and retreat slowly... And in the mountain road, it is not easy for the soldiers to pursue them. If you are not careful, you may be ambushed... Well, my lord, can you let Lieutenant Ling lead a small group of soldiers to pursue and harass you along the way..."

Jia Qu was right. Since this piece of information was transferred to Fei Qian's hands, Yuan Shao's order to withdraw his troops must have also been given to Feng Ji in Huguan Village. As a famous counselor in history, he would definitely not mess up. If you immediately withdraw your troops regardless of anything, you will inevitably leave some suspicious soldiers and even dig a few holes...

Therefore, sending large-scale troops to pursue them may not have much effect in areas like the Taihang Mountains. It is better to send Ling Jie out as Jia Qu suggested, and get as much benefit as possible.

"That's fine..." Fei Qian thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. After all, Ling Jie's part was quite depressing because of Gong Jun's death. If he was given a chance to vent, it would also allow him to let go of his burden. The re-energized approach of killing two birds with one stone, "However, we need to make it clear to Colonel Ling, and remember not to force it, so as not to make the same mistake again!"

Jia Qu took the order and left.

After Jia Qu left, Fei Qian took over Yuan Shao's piece of information and looked at it again, and thought of something. Yuan Shao's theory of the end of the Five Virtues also reminded Fei Qian that the actions of Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao may have changed a bit at this point in time.

In history, Yuan Shu was beaten by Cao Cao until he called him daddy, and then he could only turn around and bully the area south of the Yangtze River. You must know that in the minds of most people in the Han Dynasty, the south was humid and hot, with a lot of insects and savages, not to mention miasma and other poisons. , is not a good place, so Yuan Shu was actually forced to take the southern land. So under such circumstances, why did Yuan Shu propose to proclaim himself emperor?

Cao Cao's Wei Shu also stated that Yuan Shu only "assumed the title" and did not officially proclaim himself emperor. He did not even clearly state the specific title. Then the topic changed and he just exaggerated Yuan Shu's extravagance and cruelty. For example, the words used to describe King Zhou are similar. Comparing the detailed descriptions of Liu Bei and Sun Quan's proclaiming the king, it can be generally guessed that Yuan Shu's so-called act of proclaiming the emperor is actually much smaller than that of Liu Bei and Sun Quan...

So, from this perspective, Yuan Shu's thoughts in history are probably similar to Yuan Shao's current thoughts, right? Use an excuse to consolidate the already somewhat disintegrated internal governance. "I'm the real wife... No, it's the official title..." Yuan Shu probably wanted to use this method to win back Sun Ce's heart. However, a man who has changed his mind, like a woman who has cheated on him, will be dissatisfied with any actions made by his original wife. Feeling disgusted and impatient.

But who would have thought that the climate would turn over at this time, and the ice line would press southward, causing the Jiangnan area that originally had a tropical or subtropical climate to become a temperate climate more suitable for people to live in. Jizhou, the original center of economic development, would In the Yanzhou and Qingzhou areas, natural and man-made disasters came together...

So from this perspective, the Sun family’s luck is the best, right? Could it be that the old saying goes, life must be decent, and it turns out...ahem...

If you think about it this way, there is actually not much difference between the theory of the Five Virtues that Yuan Shao is currently promoting and the orthodox theory of Yuan Shu at the time. I am afraid it is just a measure that he had to introduce to maintain his own authority and reputation.

So, can we take advantage of it?

Just like Cao Cao discredited Yuan Shu at that time...