After hearing Yuan Xi's words, Liu He smiled and said, "Your Excellency is really too kind to praise me."
"Since the emperor has issued an edict, as a member of the royal family, I have no choice but to go to Huaicheng to meet the emperor and perform my duties as a member of the royal family."
The message that Emperor Liu Xie asked Yuan Xi to bring was, "I am in urgent need of capable people around me. I hope the Minister can be my right-hand man and help me maintain peace both internally and externally."
After Yuan Xi met Liu He, he conveyed Liu Xie's message. After hearing it, Liu He became worried and was a little absent-minded during the meeting just now. It was not until everyone left that Liu Xie made up his mind.
Yuan Xi sighed and said, "Brother, if you want to come back, the gate of Youzhou is always open to you."
Liu He bowed and said, "Thank you for avenging my father. I will remember this in my heart."
"He Hui left alone, and went to the envoy to take care of one or two of his former subordinates."
Yuan Xi quickly bowed and kowtowed deeply, "Thank you for your help, I will never forget it."
Looking at Liu He's departing figure, Yuan Xi remained silent. Liu He was a man who was very cautious in doing things. What he just did was equivalent to returning a favor.
Because Liu Yu had previously implemented benevolent policies in Youzhou and maintained a policy of befriending the Hu and Han border residents, Liu He had long been famous in Youzhou. But precisely because of this, Liu He also understood that it would be difficult for him and Yuan Xi to maintain mutual trust.
There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and Youzhou cannot accommodate two people with too high prestige. Especially since Liu He has good relations with the border people of Hu and Han and has a large number of subordinates loyal to him, Yuan Xi may trust him, but Yuan Xi's direct subordinates may not think so.
As a counselor who considers everything for his lord, it is absolutely impossible for him not to be on guard against Liu He. Even if Yuan Xi does not have this idea for the time being, what if Liu He's prestige is rising?
So Liu He chose the smartest thing to do, which was to retreat while the going was good.
What put him in such an embarrassing situation was his identity as a relative of the Han royal family.
There were tens of thousands of Han royal family members throughout the world, and many of them depended on foreign princes and harbored ulterior motives. Even under Yuan Shu, there were many members of the Liu clan.
But Liu He was different. His father Liu Yu was the chief minister of the Han Dynasty, and Liu He himself was a man of great character. Therefore, people who had contact with him for a long time knew that this man would never betray the Han Dynasty.
Although Yuan Xi had no intention of establishing his own country, many of his actions were actually contrary to the Han system and etiquette. In the long run, anyone could guess that Yuan Xi would make Youzhou completely different and then what he would do next.
So instead of facing a future separation, Liu He chose to leave on his own and left his subordinates to Yuan Xi. He left the prestige vacuum created after his departure from Youzhou to Yuan Xi to find a way to inherit and remedy.
This is also Liu He's character, repaying Yuan Xi for avenging Liu Yu and saving his life.
But from now on, the two of them will go their separate ways.
Yuan Xi sighed deeply. If it were a peaceful era, he and Liu He would definitely become good friends. But now the world is in chaos and rituals and music are in disarray. Both of them have their own ideals to stick to, but in the end they are forced to embark on different paths.
There is no right or wrong here, it's just that people stand in different positions and play different roles in the tide of the times, and they have no choice.
Yuan Xi was feeling a little depressed. He had not yet reached the highest position, but in the process, he had already begun to experience the painful choices of being alone.
The higher the position you stand, the fewer people you can confide in. In this process, the good and the bad will gradually be eliminated. Partners who were once loyal or had different opinions will also be aged by the sands of time, or leave, or die, until finally, only the loneliest one is left.
I guess Liu Xie must be feeling even lonelier than I am at this moment?
Yuan Xi walked out the door, but saw Tian Yu standing in the courtyard, and he hadn't left.
Yuan Xi knew that something must be wrong, so he hurriedly ushered Tian Yu in and asked, "Brother Guo Rang, is there something wrong?"
Tian Yu took out a letter from his sleeve and said, "This is from Yan Rou in Dai County."
"He knew that his subordinates were following the young master's convoy to Jicheng, so he sent people to change horses midway and rushed here day and night, and actually arrived a day earlier than the convoy."
"The messenger came to me as soon as the convoy arrived and handed the letter to me."
"After I checked, I found that the military situation inside was critical, so I waited here for you, young master."
Yan Rou was the commander of the Wuhuan tribe, and Tian Yu was the commander of the Wuhuan tribe. He had nominal jurisdiction over Yan Rou, so any urgent letters reported by Yan Rou had to go through Tian Yu and be delivered to Yuan Xi, unless under very special circumstances.
Yuan Xi unfolded it and took a look. His eyes widened instantly and he said with a smile: "This is interesting."
This letter could be sent by Kirby!
The letter said that he was now just the chief of a small tribe on the border, and he was forced to obey orders when the Xianbei moved south. He hoped that Yuan Xi would understand his suffering, and that the culprit was Chief Budugen and others behind the scenes.
Therefore, Kobe hoped that Yuan Xi could find a way to stop the war, and Kobe was also willing to make friends with Youzhou in private.
After seeing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It is true that the closer people are, the less they want to fight."
"What do you think, Brother Guorang?"
Tian Yu said decisively: "Don't trust Kobe Bryant completely."
"It's just trying to please both sides and play both sides."
"If Youzhou is weak, they will definitely raise their butcher knives without hesitation to kill and plunder the people of Youzhou."
Yuan Xi sighed, "That's true, but if we reject him now, he will be forced to break off relations with us completely."
He changed the subject and asked, "Brother Guorang, what do you think of the Hu people?"
Tian Yu said without hesitation: "As for the Hu people who are registered as civilians within the pass, I agree with you very much and treat them equally."
"But we cannot be too soft on the Hu people outside the Great Wall, including the Xiongnu and Xianbei."
"If we allow it to grow, it will inevitably cause great harm. After all, when there is power, there will be other ideas. This is inevitable."
"So the strategy should be to suppress and support them at the same time, so that they will have awe of the Central Plains and will sincerely submit to them."
Yuan Xi nodded slightly. When it comes to understanding foreign races, Ju Shou, Guo Jia and Lu Xun are actually not as good as Tian Yu.
Although the strategic abilities of these people were far superior to Tian Yu, Tian Yu had seen too many people and things in the north, and could grasp the thoughts of the Hu people outside the Great Wall very clearly.
The north is bitterly cold, so border residents are tough in temperament. For the sake of survival, the bottom line they uphold is much lower than that of people in the Central Plains. Moreover, without Confucian education, their views on things like propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame are much more indifferent.
In this harsh living environment, force is everything, and they will only admire those who are stronger than themselves!
Therefore, you cannot make friends just by making friends, you can only make ungrateful people. Yuan Xi shares the same view as Tian Yu on this point, that you need to use both kindness and severity.
Yuan Xi asked: "How should we do it specifically?"
Tian Yu pondered for a moment, "Divide and rule, let them fight among themselves."
"We cannot win over a fixed candidate. This will only increase his prestige, and other tribes will flock to him, accelerating the annexation and growth of his tribe. This is not a good thing."
Yuan Xi nodded in agreement, feeling very happy.
He seemed to have found a way to deal with different opinions among advisers and generals. Advisers and generals each had their own strengths and weaknesses. On a certain issue, a versatile adviser like Guo Jia might not be as good as someone like Tian Yu, who grew up in a border area and could empathize and see things more clearly.
At this time, you need to learn from others, listen to everyone's opinions, and choose the compromise solution that you think is most appropriate.
This places high demands on the lord, especially when counselors are arguing with each other. The lord must make a decision and abandon some options that seem feasible but are not the best.
At this moment, Yuan Xi judged that Tian Yu had a clearer view on the issue of the Xianbei outside the Great Wall, and this captain who protected the Wuhuan was worthy of the title.
Yuan Xi felt the slight joy of growing up, but the more mature he became, the more he could appreciate Cao Cao's terrifying power. The other party's title of military strategist was not for nothing. He was much more experienced than himself in both military and political strategy.
When the emperor moved to Huaicheng, Yuan Xi thought he had gained an advantage. However, after Cao's army used the emperor's edict to slaughter Puyang, Yuan Xi realized that things were not simple.
Instead of insisting on moving the emperor to Xu County, Cao Cao was able to temporarily relax and focus on eliminating the hidden dangers in his own territory. The emperor's move to Huaicheng seemed like Cao Cao was going with the flow.
Yuan Xi had a feeling that Cao Cao was like a boxer in later generations, temporarily retracting his fist.
This is not a stop to the attack, but a build-up of momentum for a stronger and more ferocious punch in the next round!
During the battle in Puyang, although Yuan Xi used Kong Rong to rescue Zhang Miao and his brothers, the other side lost Chenliu County, and went from being a local lord to a lone warrior, with all his strength gone, which was equivalent to a defeat for Yuan Xi.
Yuan Xi felt that Cao Cao would not attack Huaicheng before defeating Yuan Shu, but if he succeeded, all the forces in Huaicheng combined would probably not be Cao Cao's match.
Moreover, Liu Xie had not yet fully realized Cao Cao's ambition at this time, and he was too confident to incorporate the Black Mountain Army into his imperial guards. It was only after Liu Xie suffered a loss at the hands of Cao Cao that he would recognize Cao Cao's true face, but it would be too late by then!
Yuan Xi pondered over whether he should try to get Yuan Shao involved in Huaicheng, or launch the Battle of Guandu in advance?
He then shook his head. It was too difficult. In Yuan Shao's mind, Yuan Shu was still his biggest enemy. Cao Cao was not the most important enemy.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi sighed deeply. Cao Cao seized every opportunity very well and hardly revealed any flaws. He was truly a formidable enemy.
The only way for now is to abandon the idea of achieving success overnight, take each step steadily, work hard to find talents, and narrow the gap between the two sides, so as to find a chance of winning.
He was riding on his horse, sorting out the strategies so far in his mind, and was lost in thought for a moment. When he came to his senses, he found that he had arrived at the gate of the mansion he had not seen for a long time.
The guard recognized him and quickly opened the door. Yuan Xi and Sun Li rode in on horseback. When they reached the courtyard, he jumped off the horse and looked at the familiar scenery in the mansion. When he left, the trees in the courtyard were still lush and green, like a canopy covering the sky, but now the ground is covered with yellow leaves, the branches are bare and dry, and a chill is gradually rising.
Walking along the corridor and turning a few corners, he heard a woman's laughter coming from a house in the distance. He recognized the familiar voice and felt his heart filled with peace and tranquility.
When he turned the corner, he almost bumped into a woman holding a handful of bamboo slips. It was Cai Zhaoji.
Cai Zhaoji let out a cry of "ah", and when she saw clearly that it was Yuan Xi, her face was filled with surprise and joy. The next moment, she was embraced by Yuan Xi.
After a long while, the two separated slightly. Cai Zhaoji's face was full of joy, and she said softly, "Come in quickly, we are all waiting for you inside."
Yuan Xi took his hand and said with a smile: "Let's go together."
He took Cai Zhaoji's hand, strode into the house, opened the door and smiled at the girls inside, "I'm back."