The Cold Dew in October is followed by the Frost Descent, and autumn harvest, autumn planting and winter work are busy.
This is the formula for the busy farming season in October of the Gregorian calendar in later generations. Counting the days on the lunar calendar, it is now the time for autumn harvest and planting in Youzhou.
After meeting the women in the mansion, Yuan Xi was too embarrassed to stay in front of Ma, so he left the mansion to find Chen Gui to discuss the busy farming season in Zhuo County.
Chen Gui listened to Yuan Xi talking about the locusts, thought for a moment, and then nodded, "My lord, your reminder is good. There is indeed such a hidden danger, and we must guard against it."
"The only method I can think of right now is to plow the ground deeply when farming, and release chickens, ducks and other poultry into the fields to eat as many locust eggs as possible."
Yuan Xi also thought this method was feasible, so he said, "Thank you for everything, sir."
Chen Gui thought for a moment and said, "In recent days, Beixin City has accepted thousands of Black Mountain surrendered soldiers. It is said that the young master has asked them to do some kind of labor education?"
"Excuse me for being blunt, but isn't this a slave?"
"This will only arouse their rebelliousness. Will it really convince them?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Of course it's different."
"Re-education through labor involves labor, but it transforms people's hearts."
"Only by guiding them to experience the initial hard work and reflect on their mistakes from their own perspective can they realize what to do and ultimately be prompted to change."
"If we only force them to do forced labor, regardless of what they want, they will eventually become bandits."
Chen Gui seemed to understand what he said, and laughed, "I am indeed old, and I don't quite understand your thoughts, but I will wait and see. After all, the final result can only be seen with my own eyes."
Yuan Xi laughed, "Sir, you are right. Times have changed and everything will become clear."
He knew very well that although Chen Gui, an old man from a prominent aristocratic family, possessed a wealth of knowledge, his worldview had already been formed, and it would be extremely difficult to change his views.
However, Yuan Xi did not have too high expectations. A gentleman is harmonious but different. As long as Chen Gui can play his own value, it will be enough for Yuan Xi.
After all, Yuan Xi's ideas are too advanced for this era, and it is extremely difficult to find like-minded people. If someone can understand even half of his ideas, they will be able to become his right-hand man.
From this point of view, Yuan Xi's male advisers and generals may not understand and support him as well as the women around him.
Whether it is Ju Su and Guo Jia, or Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, although their loyalty to Yuan Xi is unquestionable, their starting point is still based on Confucianism, the righteousness of the relationship between monarch and ministers, and their own beliefs.
Their thoughts are also mixed with ideas about the relationship between the ruler and his subjects, making great achievements, leaving their names in history, and ennobling their wives and children. This is also human nature. After all, these are the mainstream ideas and concepts of this era.
Yuan Xi was also very smart in not touching their bottom line, but instead tried to find common ground between himself and them, and used his and their common goals to motivate everyone to move towards the same goal.
This is also the way the ruler and his subjects get along with each other. Everyone is selfish and has his own pursuits. Although it is said that if the ruler wants his subjects to die, the subjects have to die, but are the subjects really willing to die?
Therefore, Yan Zi proposed that if a gentleman is virtuous, his ministers can assist him, but if the king is unvirtuous, his ministers do not need to assist him.
Zhao Yun is a typical example of someone who relies on others without being a blind follower and obeys orders without doing evil.
Even more radical was Zhang Jue. When the imperial court was unjust, he decided to change the world and had no regrets even if he died. This was the spirit of resistance that had been rooted in the Chinese nation for a long time since the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.
For thousands of years, the Chinese people have never feared the gods of heaven and earth. If heaven is unfair, people will rebel. If heaven is unjust, people will replace it. What's more, what about the emperor of the court?
Therefore, Yuan Xi understood that his subordinates also had their own ideas. He and they achieved mutual success, but he did not have much hope as to how much they could truly understand him. Even Qu Yi and Zhao Yun could not fully understand many of his actions, right?
But this is relative to men, women are a little different.
The orientation for women in this era gradually began to move towards the husband being the most important, and external affairs were decided by the husband. Therefore, whether it was Zhen Mi or Cai Zhaoji, Cao Xian or Lu Lingqi, after following Yuan Xi, they almost unconditionally supported Yuan Xi's ideas.
This is the limitation of this era, but it may be the most appropriate for this era. Under the guidance of this idea, Yuan Xi can gain the trust of the women, even blindly, and make them support him in all aspects.
Yuan Xi has no intention of changing this situation for the time being. He actually feels that women in this era are much cuter than in later generations.
This is not to say that these women are brainless puppets. On the contrary, they understand Yuan Xi's intentions better than Yuan Xi's subordinates. This is because their honor and disgrace depend on Yuan Xi, so naturally the starting point of their thinking is highly consistent with Yuan Xi.
This seemingly non-independent idea is actually an important bond that maintains the family and society of this era. Although it also has a blind obedience side, it is much better than some people in later generations who blindly sing the opposite tune.
Yuan Xi really wanted to return to Jicheng, but he could only stay in Beixincheng temporarily, at least until the autumn harvest was over.
The first step for the thousands of Black Mountain troops to carry out the transformation this time is to participate in the autumn harvest and autumn planting. Due to the large number of people, it is easy for chaos to occur, so Yuan Xizuo needs to keep an eye on the whole process.
If this method can be successfully tested and these bandits can be transformed into normal people, this experience can be fully implemented in the future, which will benefit future generations.
Otherwise, if they encounter natural disasters or man-made disasters, these people will still become bandits who rob and loot, causing trouble for the village.
Yuan Xi gathered everyone together and discussed for several days before arranging the things to do in Youzhou in the near future.
Yan Rou has also recruited soldiers. Some of his Wuhuan cavalry will be stationed in Dai County and participate in the autumn ploughing and planting. They will then guide the border residents of Dai County to engage in half-farming and half-grazing. This will effectively reduce the risk of forage shortage during the ice age.
Zhao Yun reorganized his troops and rushed to Jicheng. While arranging the autumn plowing in Youzhou, he led his troops to Yuyang and expanded to Youbeiping and Liaoxi County in the east. He then established a camp defense line relying on the Great Wall, while trying to contact the Gongsun Du family in Liaodong.
This was Yuan Xi deliberately delegating power to Zhao Yun. After all, the focus of Yuan Xi's strategy in the next two years would be on Xuzhou, and among his subordinates, only Zhao Yun could take charge of Youzhou.
Although Zhao Yun's work cannot be said to be far superior to others, he has one great advantage, which is that he knows how to handle people very well. This will be very important in the subsequent negotiations with various forces, especially the Gongsun Du family.
The Gongsun Du family has a huge influence in Liaodong. With Yuan Xi's current strength, if he comes into conflict or even fights with them, he will be dragged into the quagmire, which is really not worth the loss.
Gongsun Du was born in Liaodong. He once served as a Shangshu Lang and the Governor of Jizhou. Later, he was dismissed from office. When his fellow villager Xu Rong was the General of the Central Army of Dong Zhuo, he recommended Gongsun Du to be the Prefect of Liaodong.
His personal ability can be said to be quite good. After taking office, he recruited talents and made use of exiles. During this period, there was chaos in the Central Plains. Although the number of refugees to Liaodong did not reach that of the Yangtze River Basin, it also became one of the main gathering places.
Some famous Shandong scholars such as Guo Yuan, Bing Yuan, Guan Ning, Wang Lie all crossed the sea to come. Gongsun Du had many talented people under his command. When his power was at its peak, he controlled Liaoxi, Liaodong vassal states, and the five counties of Xuantu, Liaodong, and Lelang.
However, the Hu ethnic groups such as Goguryeo, Woju and Mahan were suppressed by him and barely survived. For this point, Yuan Xi still admired him very much.
It can be said that half of Youzhou now belongs to Yuan Xi and the other half belongs to Gongsun Du. Yuan Xi has always believed that internal conflicts of the Han Dynasty should be resolved internally. If the two sides fight to the death and let other forces take advantage, wouldn't it be a joke?
Now in the western half of Youzhou, with Tian Yu, Yan Rou and Xian Yu assisting the Wuhuan and Xianbei, and with the friendly ethnic policy of treating all equally, the situation of mixed residence of Hu and Han people has tended to be stable. However, in the eastern half, the situation is extremely complicated.
In addition to Gongsun Du, there was also Chanyu Tadun, who led hundreds of thousands of Wuhuan people living inside and outside the Great Wall, and there were also Eastern and Western Xianbei outside the Great Wall.
To the east and south of Lelang County are the Korean countries.
Wokou, located to the east of Goguryeo, was under the jurisdiction of the vassal state of Liaodong.
The four counties of Liaodong were later known as Wiman Joseon, and were controlled by Gongsun Du.
The Three Han were abbreviated to Han because the kings of Jinhan and Byeonhan were both appointed by the King of Mahan. They were once under the jurisdiction of Lelang County of the Han Dynasty.
The Zhouhu people live on Dokdo Island at the southwestern end, and their habits are similar to those of the Xianbei.
At this time, most of the ethnic groups on the Korean Peninsula, except for the counties in the Han area, were still in the transition stage from the tribal period to the state period. Moreover, from the perspective of race, whether it was Jizi Korea from the Shang Dynasty or Mahan established by refugees from the Qin Dynasty, they were all territories of the Chinese since ancient times.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi cursed in his heart, thinking that Sima Yi in later generations not only destroyed the Gongsun family, but also killed most of the local people and moved the remaining people back to the inland, which was equivalent to directly abandoning Liaodong. This allowed other vassal states to take advantage of the situation and establish a dynasty that did not belong to them. It was really infuriating!
But since I am in Youzhou, I will not let this happen again. We have the same track, the same writing system. As long as we accept the same Chinese culture, sooner or later we will become one family.
But if anyone dares to create a new language and condone separatism, which would cut off the family line, Yuan Xi would not mind killing them.
Yuan Xi knew that the affairs of Gongsun Du's family could not be rushed, and it might take more than ten years, or even longer, for him to completely pacify Youzhou, but it would be worth it.
Because once the Korean Peninsula is occupied, we will truly have a springboard for maritime expansion.
Before that, he also had to discuss with Ju Shou and Guo Jia how to use the relationship between Gongsun Du and Chanyu Tadun to make the two sides restrain each other.
After all, Yuan Xi now has a great support, that is Liu Xie, and as one of the meritorious officials who welcomed Liu Xie, Yuan Xi can still gain a lot of reputation for both of them.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi called Yan Rou, took out the Youzhou specialties that were tributed by the northern border residents, and sent someone to deliver them to Liu Xie.
Boxes of furs, herbs, game and weapons were loaded onto the carriage, along with fine horses that were a specialty of Youzhou. The value of the goods was so great that even Yuan Xi felt a little pained.
But you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb, and the most important war horses and weapons among these things will most likely fall into the hands of his father-in-law, so it can be considered as keeping the wealth within the family, right?