As they were talking, Zhen Mi came in. When she saw the armor piled on the ground, her expression was a little complicated. When Mrs. Du saw this, she knew that Zhen Mi had something to say, so she stood up and made way.
Lu Lingqi pushed Zhajia aside, asked Zhen Mi to sit down, and said casually: "I know what you want to say, Madam, don't worry, I will protect him."
Zhen Mi sighed softly, "Madam, I feel really sorry for what you said."
"As a female member of the Yuan family, you should be protected by your husband. If it is the other way around, your wife will be in danger."
"I would like to thank you on behalf of my husband. I hope you take care of yourself and come back safely with your husband."
Lu Lingqi said unconcernedly, "Don't worry, I've seen a lot of life and death on the battlefield. Unless we encounter a high-ranking enemy general, I will be able to save both of us."
Zhen Mi nodded gently, "I actually envy you, Madam, for being able to always be with your husband."
"After I married my husband, I was not able to help him much. I am really ashamed."
"Madam, please let me know if you need me to do anything. I will do my best."
After Lu Lingqi sent Zhen Mi away, she thought to herself, are all women who have given birth to children so cautious?
It is better to be free, at least I don't have to stay in this mansion for who knows how many years.
Thinking of this, she began to understand Mrs. Du's feelings.
She casually picked up the twin halberds that were shining with cold light, and waved them around on her fingertips, followed by a sharp sound of wind.
Lu Lingqi wrapped the double halberds carefully, thinking that she had embarked on a different path from other women from the aristocratic families. She didn't know how many battles she would have to fight in the future. Although there might be dangers, she would never regret it.
Soon it was the day when Yuan Xi led his army to set out. This time he not only brought soldiers who were proficient in naval and land warfare, but also many students from charity schools.
Although Guangling County employed many local nobles, it was not possible to have all important official positions be held by locals, as this would only accelerate the growth of local nobles.
Therefore, transferring a group of students from Youzhou Charity School to Guangling to take up posts, and then transferring officials from Guangling to Youzhou for exchanges can effectively prevent local tyrants from forming cliques and avoid the restrictions of the Three Mutual Laws.
It was for this reason that Chen Deng, who was from Xia Pi, was appointed as the prefect of Guangling. Yuan Xi thought of Zang Hong, who had not yet been settled in Guangling, and felt that his territory in Xuzhou was indeed a little small.
This was also the first time Yuan Xi returned to Xuzhou after being granted the title of Mu of Xuzhou. Compared with the last time he left, the situation in Xuzhou had changed greatly.
The three parties, which were originally relatively balanced, saw their strengths wax and wane. After incorporating most of the Taishan bandits, Yuan Tan suddenly became a powerful warlord with an army of 100,000, and this force was looking for an opportunity to vent.
Of course, this number is definitely inflated. Most of them are bandits holding bamboo spears and wearing linen clothes. These people have no ability to resist Yuan Xi's elite troops.
During this period, Liu Bei also assembled a team of 20,000 people. Under the leadership of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, they repelled Yuan Shu's army that invaded the border several times. It can be said that their combat effectiveness was quite impressive.
As for Yuan Xi, he was the only one among the three parties that did not increase its troops significantly.
He simply ordered Guangling City to train the navy step by step, while maintaining a certain number of standing troops. He adopted the conscription system to recruit thousands of reserve troops, training them on weekdays and letting them go back to farm during the busy farming season.
The reason why Yuan Xi carefully controlled the number of his soldiers was that even if there were a large number of people, if they were not well trained, they could not be transformed into combat power and would just be a group of mobs.
Later, when Sun Quan led an army of 100,000 to attack Hefei, didn't they also flee in a panic? What's the use of having more soldiers at a time like this?
Guangling increased its military strength by a small amount, and the excess money was used by Yuan Xi to build a granary to store food. There was an important reason for this.
Today, there is a bumper grain harvest in Huai and Si, which gives Yuan Shu the confidence to declare himself emperor. At the same time, he is preparing for war and expanding the army, increasing the standing force to more than 100,000.
It seemed that Yuan Shu was at the peak of his power, but only Yuan Xi understood that there was a huge hidden danger.
During the second year of Jian'an, the Huai-Si region will suffer continuous disasters.
Locust plagues, floods and earthquakes occurred frequently, resulting in a massive harvest failure. Soldiers and civilians were short of food, while Yuan Shu lived an extravagant life. By the time he reacted, the situation was already irreversible.
So Yuan Shu seemed extremely powerful at this time, but in fact, when the blind expansion of troops encountered food shortages, it would quickly explode, forming a chain reaction, and then the situation would collapse.
So this time when Yuan Xi went to Xuzhou, he was discussing with Liu Bei how to build a defense line to withstand Yuan Shu's attack. As long as they could hold on for more than half a year, Yuan Shu's internal hidden dangers would be exposed.
He didn't know what the other princes who accepted the Han court's edict were thinking, but Yuan Xi was very self-aware. Even if he had several times more troops, it would not be appropriate for him to confront Yuan Shu, who was at the peak of his power. Whoever was willing to take the lead at this time, let him do it.
What Yuan Xi needs to do now is to hold on to Guangling County, maintain good relations with Yuan Tan, Liu Bei and Sun Ce, maintain stability in the surrounding areas, and hold out until Yuan Shu shows signs of decline.
Therefore, his personal visit to the front line in Guangling this time was mostly a show for the Han court. After all, he had received the imperial edict, but it would seem too perfunctory for him to still stay in Youzhou.
Moreover, according to the time, some of the merchant ships that went out to sea to trade in Haixi should have returned. He wanted to ask Zhen Yao what useful things the Zhen family caravan brought.
A few days later, Yuan Xi, along with his soldiers and students, boarded a ship bound for Guangling Haixi.
To the north of Haixi is the estuary of the Huai River, which has a branch, the Han River, which leads directly to the north of Guangling. Now that Yuan Xi has arrived in Guangling City, he no longer needs to enter the Yangtze River from the open sea and then arrive at Guangling South Pier.
The students who had just boarded the ship were fine at first, but when the sea became windy and rough, some of them began to stagger on the deck, unable to stand steadily, as if they were drunk. Some even lay down on the side of the ship and vomited, and were laughed at by others.
Rivers are not like the sea. The sea and mountains have winds and waves all the time, never stopping, and ships shake much more violently than inland rivers.
This is also the reason why the Qingzhou pirates were so fierce in naval battles. Many of them grew up on the sea and were good at operating on ships, so merchant ships had no power to fight back under their attacks.
The navy trained by Taishi Ci not only trained in the inner rivers, but also often conducted drills at sea, so they were able to suppress the Qingzhou pirates and achieve success in one fell swoop.
Inside the cabin, Madam Du looked pale, with a wet linen cloth on her forehead. She said to Lu Lingqi, "I should have been the one taking care of the girl, but now I am so embarrassed."
As soon as she said something, she felt like vomiting again and quickly covered her mouth.
Lu Lingqi patted Madam Du on the shoulder and said, "It's okay. When I first boarded the ship, I was not much better than you. You should rest well first."
After saying that, Lu Lingqi got up and left the cabin. After walking around, she met Yuan Xi, Ju Shou and Lu Xun who were talking at the bow. She knew that they had something to say, so she didn't say anything and just stood aside.
Yuan Xizheng said to Ju Su: "Mr. Gongyu, do you think that Cao Cao's recent actions are a little wrong?"
Ju Su nodded and said, "Although these military intelligence letters did not clearly point out Cao Cao's troop movements, I am sure that he did not concentrate his troops at the border between Yanzhou and Yuzhou."
Yuan Xi suddenly remembered that wasn't the second year of Jian'an the time when Cao Cao conquered Zhang Xiu?
Thinking of this, he laughed and said, "I'm afraid you are worrying too much, sir. No one is willing to take action against Yuan Shu first. I'm afraid Cao Cao has gone to expand his territory somewhere else?"
Ju Su's eyes fixed, and he asked, "What do you mean, sir?"
Yuan Xi replied: "I think it is very likely that Cao Cao will go to occupy Jingzhou."
Ju Su was stunned for a moment, then he began to ponder, and after a long while he finally said, "It's not impossible."
"If we take over Jingzhou, it means we have taken over the key point to conquer the world. Given his coveted Xuzhou territory, he is really obsessed with conquering cities."
"But Jingzhou is not easy to attack, especially since Zhang Xiu is guarding Nanyang, the gateway to Jingzhou. Cao's army may find it difficult to capture it."
Yuan Xi asked, "What if he had colluded with Zhang Xiu in advance?"
After hearing this, Ju Su immediately realized what was happening and nodded, saying, "It's possible!"
"But how did you predict this, sir?"
Yuan Xi was feeling proud in his heart. He thought it would be best if Cao Cao attacked Nanyang. This way he would suffer a great loss and it would be difficult for him to gain much advantage in the attack on Yuan Shu afterwards.
He was about to speak, but he saw Lu Xun frowning, and couldn't help but ask: "What is Boyan's opinion?"
Lu Xun hesitated for a moment and said, "Xun thinks that Cao Cao has no reason to attack Jingzhou at this moment."
Yuan Xi was startled, and bowed to Lu Xun, "Please give me some advice, Boyan."
After hearing this, Lu Xun said hurriedly: "Xun's words are nonsense, please just listen to them."
He cleared his throat, "Because Xun feels that now is not the right time for Cao's army to attack Jingzhou."
"Although it now occupies Sili Yanzhou, its foundation is not stable."
"First of all, he cannot control the situation in Huaicheng. Both Wen Hou and Dong Cheng have the possibility of causing trouble."
"And the emperor ordered him to attack Yuan Shu, so Yuan Shu must have stockpiled a large number of troops on the border of Yuzhou for defense."
"Under such circumstances, how could Cao sell the two huge flaws at its back to the enemy and attack Jingzhou, west of Yuzhou and south of Sili?"
"Even if he takes Nanyang, he won't be afraid that Liu Biao in the south will suddenly attack him. Where can he escape to with his lone army?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi turned to Ju Su and asked, "Sir, what do you think of Boyan's words?"
Ju Su smiled and said, "What Bo Yan said is also what I wanted to say."
"Just now, I saw that you were very confident, but I don't think Cao Mengde would consider attacking Jingzhou as the most important option at the moment."
Yuan Xi had been convinced and he realized that he had made the biggest mistake.
Prejudice.
If natural disasters such as locust plagues and floods that are beyond human control still occur as usual, it is impossible for those events that are under human decision-making and control to be exactly the same in later generations.
After all, the direction of history and the general trend of the world are completely different now. If you still have this kind of mindset, you will suffer a great loss sooner or later!
Thinking of this, he was shocked and bowed to the two of them, saying, "Thank you for your advice."
"Let's go to Haixi to collect intelligence first, and then make a decision."