Yuan Xi admired Cao Cao in many ways, but he felt that it would be difficult for him to get along with Cao Cao.
The bottom line he insisted on was completely different from that of Cao Cao. He believed that there was a moral yardstick in people's hearts. Although people had to have their own persistence and ideals, without this yardstick, they would lose their original heart.
Yuan Xi had to admit that the yardstick in his heart was greatly influenced by Liu Bei's two words from later generations.
Do not do evil for the sake of small gains, and do not refrain from doing good for the sake of small gains.
Liu Bei experienced hardships and displacement in the turbulent times, suffered countless losses, and spent his entire life trying to realize his ideals. Yet he was able to say these two sentences before his death, which had a great impact on Yuan Xi.
This undoubtedly affected Yuan Xi's principles in life. Just as he knew that Cao Cao's massacre in the city was very useful in fighting a war, and he also knew that killing all the soldiers and civilians in Chenliu City could indeed ensure that future troubles would be eliminated, but if it were Yuan Xi, he still couldn't do it.
But this also means that Yuan Xi chose a path similar to Liu Bei's, which is more difficult to take, because in this world, the final victory or defeat is not determined by morality, but ultimately by strength.
Strength, strength, and more strength. Yuan Xi sighed in his heart and leaned out to look at the city. Zang Hongzheng was leading soldiers and civilians out of the city to surrender to Gao Lan.
There were quite a few of these people who were loyal to Zang Hong and did not want to stay in Dongwuyang. It actually took quite a bit of effort to settle them.
Logically speaking, the people in this city were all registered in Jizhou and could not leave the city without permission, but this was the condition for Zang Hong to surrender. In order to avoid further casualties, Yuan Xi decided to agree.
Gao Lan took over Dongwuyang, Tian Feng had to stay to sort out the city affairs, and Yuan Xi would return to Yecheng to report, but before that, he needed to have a good talk with Zang Hong.
When Yuan Xi walked down from the city wall, Gao Lan and Zang Hong were handing over the seals of officials and generals. Zang Hong looked normal when talking to Gao Lan.
After all, since Yuan Shang left, Gao Lan led his troops to besiege the city just for show and basically did not organize any decent attack, so there were not many casualties on both sides, and no deep hatred was formed.
When Gao Lan saw Yuan Xi coming over, he turned around and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency."
Yuan Xi returned the greeting, and the two of them understood each other tacitly. Gao Lan's lack of effort was a hint from Yuan Xi earlier. Now that the matter was finally resolved, Gao Lan felt relieved. After all, if the Yuan family insisted on attacking the city, he would have a hard time explaining himself.
Zang Hong walked up to Yuan Xi and said, "There are still more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians in the city. They want to follow me. Please tell me where to go."
Seeing more and more people pouring out of the city, Yuan Xi suddenly had an idea, "Mr. Ziyuan is from Guangling?"
Zang Hong was a little surprised, "Yes, I was born in Sheyang, Guangling."
Yuan Xi said, "Since you don't want to stay in Jizhou, the most suitable place I can think of is Guangling County."
"I have been appointed as the governor of Xuzhou, and Guangling is in my possession. If the governor brings people over, I can still settle them."
"I will write a letter now. Sir, take it to Guangling to see Mr. Yuanlong and ask him to help settle the people. How do you think?"
After hearing this, Zang Hong immediately bowed and said, "Thank you for your kindness, sir."
Yuan Xi nodded. He did not promise Zang Hong any official position because he could not see Zang Hong clearly for the time being and could only wait and see.
A few days later, Yuan Xi returned to Yecheng and met Yuan Shao, who was obviously quite satisfied with the result.
Zang Hong went to Xuzhou, and Dongwuyang returned to stability. This big city occupying a strategic point on the Yellow River was thus returned to the hands of the Yuan family. The next step was for Gao Lan to be able to free up his hands and lead his troops to Heishui to support Yuan Shang.
Yuan Xi also achieved his goal. Although there was a deviation in the order of attacking Heishan and welcoming the emperor, things were finally back on track. The next step was to go to Heishan to finish things off.
As long as Jizhou opens up the Heishan Passage and enters Bingzhou, it will be able to defend Youzhou against the threat of the Southern Xiongnu. If the Youzhou army wants to pass through it and go south to Henei, all they need is Yuan Shao's nod. It can be said that this is a result that both sides can accept.
Yuan Shao said to Yuan Xi: "You have done a great job this time. You have contributed a lot to the growth of the Yuan family in recent years."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's all thanks to your care, my Lord."
He meant what he said. Many times, if he hadn't been acting under Yuan Shao's guise, it would have been difficult to accomplish his goals.
Yuan Shao said to Yuan Xi, "What does Xian Yi plan to do next, Black Mountain?"
Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "The matter at Black Mountain must be concluded as soon as possible, and then I will return to Jicheng to guard against any further movements by Yuan Shu's army."
Yuan Shao asked, "Xian Yi thinks Yuan Shu might attack Xuzhou?"
Yuan Xi nodded and said, "It's very likely."
"Shouchun, where he is, is too close to Xuzhou. It is impossible for him not to covet this place."
"According to my calculations, he will be crowned emperor in about half a year."
"When the time comes, the whole world will rise up to attack him. He will also attack Xuzhou to find a way out. Who can gain more advantage depends on who strikes faster."
"That's why I want to completely solve the trouble with the Montenegrin Army before that."
"The Black Mountain Army has Cao Cao's backing. I don't think he will let us succeed as we wish."
Yuan Shao nodded and suddenly said, "I heard that Xianyi's wife Zhen..."
Yuan Xi quickly said, "It's true that she's pregnant."
He didn't dare to say that he actually had a child with Madam Wu. If Yuan Shao knew that he had an affair with Sun Jian's widow, he would definitely be very surprised, right?
Yuan Shao was also happy in his heart. He was not young anymore. In many big families, he could be a great-grandfather at his age. But now, let alone the fourth generation, even in the third generation of the Yuan family, there was no male heir!
He thought of the agreement between Yuan Xi and Lu Bu that after marrying Lu Lingqi, he would be adopted by the Lu family, and finally made up his mind and said, "Zilong and Yuan Xing's marriage will start with the six rituals."
Yuan Xi was overjoyed and quickly called Zhao Yun in from outside the door.
Zhao Yun heard this and bowed to Yuan Shao, saying, "Thank you, sir."
Seeing Yuan Shao's stiff face, Yuan Xi thought that Zhao Yun had a really stubborn temper. He would not change his mind until the six rituals were completed.
He patted Zhao Yun on the shoulder and said, "I'm leaving now. You can discuss the rest with the envoy."
Then Yuan Xi flew away, leaving Zhao Yun and Yuan Shao staring at each other.
The next morning, Yuan Xi received news that although Zhao Yun's parents had died early, his eldest brother was still alive. According to the Han system, the eldest brother should be the one to propose marriage on behalf of his parents, so Zhao Yun sent people to Changshan Zhending to pick up his eldest brother.
Yuan Xi had already prepared the betrothal gifts for Zhao Yun. The rest of the etiquette had to be attended by Zhao Yun's elder brother. Yuan Xi was happy to be free, so he found Lu Lingqi who was practicing martial arts and said, "I want to discuss something with you. Come with me to the Zhen family."
Lu Lingqi put away her halberd and said, "What's so serious?"
Yuan Xi said, "I want you to take my wife Zhen's biological mother, Zhang, as your stepmother."
Lu Lingqi was almost confused by this sentence. After thinking for a while, she finally reacted and said puzzledly: "My father and mother are still alive, why should I recognize a stepmother?"
"Besides, if we want to recognize our father's good friends or relatives as our adoptive parents, that is possible, but that is the custom of the Hu and Han people in Bingzhou. How can the Jizhou nobles accept it?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "You think clearly."
"This kind of thing is done for outsiders to see."
"To be honest, your current status is very uncertain. If you set it too low, Marquis Wen will not be happy."
"If you acknowledge Zhang as your adoptive mother, I will also express my position to Marquis Wen. This way, the relationship between you and my legal wife will be closer, and there will be no suspicion and conflict between the two sides."
"Of course, if you agree, I will still have to ask Zhang for her opinion. After all, this means that I acknowledge you as the candidate for the main wife. If she has any reservations, she may not agree."
After hearing this, Lu Lingqi shook her head and said, "I really don't understand the twists and turns in the minds of you nobles. I was attracted to you at the beginning. As for other women, I am not interested at all."
"This kind of thing doesn't matter to me, but since you brought it up, I'll go with you."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's better to go now than to wait for a day."
Lu Lingqi nodded, threw down the double halberds, walked a few steps, looked at the Hu clothing on her body, and said, "Just like this?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's up to you."
Lu Lingqi thought about it, then went back into the house and changed into the long gown that Yuan Xing had given her. She walked out, turned around, and said, "How is it?"
Yuan Xi felt his nose getting hot and praised, "Very good."
The two of them sat in the carriage. Lu Lingqi lifted the curtain and looked at the scene on the streets of Yecheng curiously, asking questions from time to time. As the carriage swayed, Lu Lingqi's body curves trembled constantly. Yuan Xi felt his mouth and tongue dry, and his movements became extremely stiff.
Lu Lingqi noticed something was wrong, looked down at Yuan Xi's robe, and immediately understood what was going on. She felt her face getting hot, and said angrily, "He is indeed a lewd tiger!"
Yuan Xi defended himself: "It's just that you are too attractive."
"Really?" Lu Lingqi still didn't believe it. "Why did mother say that I was crazy and had none of the charm of a lady from an aristocratic family?"
Yuan Xi thought of the slender and thin Yan Shi and smiled: "She doesn't understand, or she is jealous of you."
Lu Lingqi was even more suspicious, "Are you lying to me? What's the most attractive part of me?"
Yuan Xi coughed dryly and flexed his hands. "Do you really want to know?"
Lu Lingqi opened her eyes wide and nodded in confusion.
When the carriage arrived at the gate of Zhen's mansion, the coachman Sun Li handed over a visiting card. The doorman saw it and immediately opened the gate and welcomed the carriage in.
Sun Li parked the carriage, knocked on the door twice, and said, "Sir, we've arrived."
The carriage door slowly opened, and Yuan Xi jumped off the carriage and reached his hand inside. After a long while, Lu Lingqi stuck her head out with her hands covering her chest and a flushed face.
She glared at Yuan Xi fiercely and then reached out her hand. Yuan Xi grabbed her arm and tried to help her down.
Lu Lingqi felt her legs and feet go weak. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she staggered and almost fell. She quickly leaned on Yuan Xi to keep her balance.
She thought of the situation in the carriage just now, and was so angry that she stomped hard on Yuan Xi with her boots. The kick was so powerful that Yuan Xi screamed in pain, and Lu Lingqi's anger subsided a little.
Yuan Xi limped and led Lu Lingqi to the entrance of the hall, but found that Zhang had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Yuan Xi coming, she bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency."
Yuan Xi hurriedly replied: "Hello, mother."
Zhang was relieved when she heard this, but when she saw Lu Lingqi beside Yuan Xi, she wondered, "Who is this girl?"
Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "She is the daughter of Marquis Wen."
He winked at her, and Lu Lingqi bowed to Zhang and said, "Greetings, Madam."
Zhang heard this with mixed feelings and said, "Come in."
The three of them went in and sat down. They had just exchanged a few pleasantries and had not yet gotten down to business when a doorman said, "Father Zhen Si is here."
Before he finished speaking, Zhen Rong walked in and said, "Mother, I'm here!"
She saw someone in the room at a glance, and when she looked closely, it was Yuan Xi. Her face was stunned.