Most of the Great Walls built in later generations were based on the Ming Great Wall, but since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the construction of the Great Wall has never stopped in order to defend against foreign enemies.
Except for the Liaodong Great Wall, which took hundreds of years to build during the Ming Dynasty and stretched thousands of kilometers from Shanhaiguan to the Yalu River, and was demolished after the Qing army entered the pass, the ruling regimes within the pass in all dynasties, including foreign ethnic groups such as the Xianbei and Jurchen, had been continuously building the Great Wall.
The Great Wall at the end of the Han Dynasty was not completely connected. Not only was Liaodong undefended, there were also many sections between Youzhou and Bingzhou. Even many fortresses of later generations had not yet been built.
In particular, the three inner passes, including Juyongguan, Zijingguan and Daomaguan, are all located near or within the territory of the newly conquered Black Mountain.
As for the outer three passes, due to the chaos in the late Han Dynasty, not only were many of the city walls incomplete, but the garrison also relied on local Han and Hu border residents. As the Han court no longer had salaries, the defense became meaningless.
Repairing the Great Wall is extremely expensive, and Yuan Xi currently does not have the extra manpower and resources to fill this gap. However, as the lord of Youzhou, he has the responsibility to defend the border and protect the people, so he can only find ways to mobilize troops to guard the border and guard against foreign infiltration.
However, Yuan Xi lacked confidence in the Great Wall defense line, which was now riddled with holes. He did not feel relieved until news came from the border fortresses of Yuyang and Youbeiping that Zhao Yun and Xianyu Fu had defeated several groups of Xianbei bandits who had infiltrated the area and whose remnants had either fled outside the Great Wall or ran to Liaoxi.
However, Yuan Xi was somewhat hesitant about what attitude to take towards the Gongsun Du family in Liaodong.
The Gongsun Du family operated in later generations for three generations and ruled the Liaodong Peninsula for more than 50 years until it was destroyed by the Sima Yi clan. It can be said that they were very famous.
But in this era, the Gongsun family is still in its development stage, because it only began to control Liaodong in the sixth year of Zhongping (189 AD), which is only seven or eight years ago.
Therefore, in Yuan Xi's opinion, the power of Gongsun Du's family was not stable. They had only been operating in Youzhou a few years earlier than himself and did not have an absolute advantage.
Gongsun Du, courtesy name Shengji, was originally from Xiangping, Liaodong. Xu Rong, a fellow countyman, was Dong Zhuo's General of the Interior and recommended Gongsun Du to be the governor of Liaodong. -- "The Biography of Gongsun Du" in "Book of Wei"
Because of the existence of the Three Mutual Law, it was actually unreasonable for Gongsun Du to be appointed as the prefect of Liaodong. Even Gongsun Zan, who was at the peak of his power at the time, did not dare to take the position of governor of Youzhou himself, but instead recommended Duan Xun as the governor of Youzhou.
Gongsun Du was able to do this because his real birthplace was not Liaodong, but his family came from a different county.
Du's father (Gongsun) Yan, who was hiding from officials, lived in Xuantu. -- "The Biography of Gongsun Du" in the Book of Wei
Therefore, Gongsun Du's situation was somewhat similar to that of Gongsun Zan. Both were not welcomed by the local powerful families. Therefore, after they came to power, they were more friendly to the common people and used harsh laws to suppress the local gentry and powerful families.
However, because the powerful aristocratic families controlled the land and could not be eradicated, this method always had hidden dangers. Just like before Gongsun Zan's defeat, there were fires everywhere in his rear and the whole state rebelled. Gongsun Du actually also had weaknesses.
This was also the focus of debate among Yuan Xi's advisers. Should they take advantage of Gongsun Zan's unstable foothold to gradually nibble away at him and destroy him, or should they appease him first and let him be used by Youzhou? Guo Jia, Ju Su, and even Tian Yu and Lu Xun all had different opinions.
The reason why Yuan Xi was so cautious was that he could see that if he mobilized all his strength and went all out, he might be able to defeat the Gongsun Du family within three years.
But it is difficult to say what the gains and losses are.
To devote all efforts to the conquest of Liaodong would mean giving up the subsequent campaign to encircle and suppress Yuan Shu and just sit back and watch Cao Cao grow stronger.
Of course, the rewards for destroying the Gongsun family were also very generous. They would be able to control Liaodong, move south from Lelang to the Korean Peninsula, and bring vassal states including Goguryeo under their rule.
But the ideal is good, but the reality is not so easy. Even if he defeats Gongsun Du, Yuan Xi will be seriously injured and will have to recuperate for at least several years, and he will miss the most crucial battles for hegemony in the Central Plains.
Moreover, when they arrived in Liaodong, there were the Xianbei to the north and the Korean countries to the south, neither of which was a soft persimmon that could be easily dealt with. It was easy for them to fall into the quagmire of endless war and be gradually dragged down.
So in the end, when Yuan Xi expressed his desire not to participate in the struggle for hegemony in Liaodong within five years, everyone agreed. Guo Jia finally said, "Since we cannot be enemies, we must try to make friends."
"Gongsun Du will most likely not reject your kindness, but if we let him grow stronger, it will still take some effort to consolidate his foundation in Liaodong."
Ju Shou also nodded in agreement, "So how to make friends with them and how to give them a certain degree of support requires careful consideration."
"Originally, the best way for the two sides to get along is through marriage. Now that you don't have any female relatives, it's not easy to take this path."
"But there is another deeply hidden relationship that may not be impossible to exploit."
Everyone knew that Ju Shou had a very good understanding of the relationships among the aristocratic families throughout the world, which far surpassed Guo Jia, who was of a relatively humble origin, and they could not help but listen attentively.
Ju Su said, "The late General Xu Rong who recommended Gongsun Du was a General under Dong Zhuo."
"Dong Zhuo's lieutenant generals are powerful and influential, but they are few in number. In addition to Xu Rong, there are also a few others such as Duan Wei and Niu Fu, all of whom are Dong Zhuo's most capable confidants."
"Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Zhang Ji and Jia Xu were only lieutenants at that time, ranking below Xu Rong and others."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, so that's why. No wonder Duan Wei despised Li Jue and Guo Si so much. It turned out that Duan Wei and the world-famous Xu Rong were of similar status, so he naturally looked down on others.
At that time, Xu Rong was famous all over the world. He once surpassed the three heroes of the late Han Dynasty. He was brave in battle and defeated Cao Cao and Sun Jian successively, almost forcing them to death.
In the battle to defeat Cao Cao, the brothers Bao Xin, Cao Cao's subordinates, were killed. Cao Cao was shot by an arrow and barely escaped by riding Cao Hong's horse.
Sun Jian was even more miserable. He was beaten to the point where only a few dozen riders were left. He was only able to escape by exchanging turbans with Zu Mao.
After the two battles, Xu Rong became famous all over the world.
However, such a fierce man defected to Wang Yun after Dong Zhuo's death. However, because he was suspected, he did not control many soldiers and was sent to resist the army of Li Jue and Guo Si which was several times larger than his own. He died in the battle.
Xu Rong is a typical iron-blooded soldier who completely obeys orders from his superiors and respects them. Even when he knows that something is impossible, he will not retreat at all.
For this era, Xu Rong is the military general who best represents the spirit of the Han Dynasty.
He couldn't help but be a little dazed. The notorious Dong Zhuo had two confidants who were extremely loyal to the Han Dynasty. What was this?
If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will be crooked too. It is not surprising that Dong Zhuo had Li Jue and Guo Si under his command, but why did he have people like Xu Rong and Duan Wei working for him?
Ju Su's words brought Yuan Xi back to reality, "Xu Rong was Gongsun Du's sponsor."
"As both Lieutenant-Generals, Xu Rong and Duan Wei have a close relationship. Now both you and Duan Wei have been given titles by the Emperor himself, so they can be considered peers."
"Moreover, the matchmaking between Duan Wei and the emperor was led by Master Wenhou. Duan Wei should definitely owe Master Wenhou a favor in this regard."
"Sir, if you use this relationship to negotiate with Gongsun Du, you will have a moral advantage."
After listening to Ju Su's detailed analysis, Yuan Xi praised him and said, "Sir, you are right. Please write a letter for me, carefully consider the words, and invite Gongsun Du to send an envoy to talk to us."
Ju Shou took the order, and everyone was shocked. The situation in Liaodong was like a tangled mess. Ju Shou had now pulled out one of the threads, and everyone saw the dawn of solving the problem step by step.
Ju Su said again: "If you want him to work for you, friendship alone is not enough, you must have real benefits. What do you plan to promise Gongsun Du?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "I can't offer anything concrete right now. I can only give you a verbal promise."
"I want to join forces with them and send troops to fight against the Northern Xianbei, Donghu and Goguryeo."
"If he can eat all these places, they will all be his. I only want the southern half of the peninsula."
"If the matter is justified, I will submit a petition to fully support him in being made a duke or a king."
Everyone was surprised when they heard this. Ju Su asked, "A king with a different surname?"
"This is a bit taboo. Unless Gongsun Du is crazy, he probably won't dare to agree to it, right?"
Guo Jia smiled and said, "But it's not like there hasn't been one before. Now that the Han Dynasty is in decline, who knows what will happen. Gongsun Du is very courageous, and you have a good grasp of his thoughts."
Yuan Xi thought that Guo Jia was indeed better than Ju Shou in terms of winning people's hearts. He also saw from later history that Gongsun Du had the ambition to become king, so he threw out this bait.
In the later Three Kingdoms period, strictly speaking, the status of the Gongsun family was very transcendent, like the existence of a fourth country. It often jumped back and forth between Wei and Wu and reaped all the benefits.
Moreover, her daring to make peace with Buyeo was an act of usurpation. One must know that in order to make peace with a country, both of them must be the rulers of the country.
The emperor is far away and the sky is high. It would be abnormal for Gongsun Du to not have any ideas in this geographical location.
Yuan Xi was actually very vicious. He knew that the way Gongsun Du's family ruled Liaodong was by reigning in terror. Under their rule, almost all the local big families were slaughtered. History books stated that "more than a hundred families were exterminated."
What Yuan Xi was really afraid of was actually the princes like Liu who implemented benevolent policies in the local area and were widely popular. The territories of such people were extremely difficult to conquer because the monarch and the people were united.
But Gongsun Du is different. His actions can maintain his rule under normal circumstances, but once external threats arise, the internal situation will easily become unstable. This is why Yuan Xi is confident in joining forces with him.
The less popular he is, the more opportunities Yuan Xi will find to do bad things in the future.
Ju Su was unable to understand Yuan Xi's thoughts at first, but Guo Jia, who had been with Yuan Xi for a long time, knew it very well, so he spoke out in agreement.
Everyone had made their plans, and as it was almost noon, they were all going to go home. Yuan Xi saw Guo Jia hurriedly leaving and asked curiously, "Mr. Fengxiao, is there something urgent?"
As Guo Jia boarded the carriage, he sighed, "Guo Yi has been attending the charity school recently, which saves me a lot of trouble, but I have to pick him up at home for lunch every day. I'm in a hurry to pick him up now."
Seeing Guo Jia turning into a social animal, Yuan Xi couldn't help but laugh and said, "Mr. Fengxiao is indeed hard-working, but as the chief priest, you are also responsible for the affairs of the charity school. Why don't you think about taking lunch from the public warehouse?"
"It doesn't cost much anyway, and it can save each family's manpower and resources."
Guo Jia smiled and said, "I was just waiting for you to say that, sir. I will send someone to do it."
Yuan Xi was startled, then laughed and said, "Sir, you are plotting against me."
Guo Jia laughed heartily and drove away in the carriage.
Yuan Xi shook his head, walked out of the front yard and returned to his own mansion in the backyard. As soon as he entered, he heard a very melodious and pleasant piano sound coming from the hall.