Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1248: Strategy
When Yang Xiu saw that Ju Shou was asking about him, he also became hesitant. Although he had been a chief clerk before, he was usually only responsible for recording and not for making suggestions.

Of course, Yang Xiu was still good at coming up with ideas, but he was good at guessing what other people were thinking, not at making comprehensive plans. So when he saw Ju Su asking, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and answer, "The invasion of foreign barbarians has been a major threat for hundreds and thousands of years. Emperors of all dynasties and countless generals have been unable to eradicate it, let alone the current situation where several states are fighting against it?"

“So I think you guys set your goals too high from the beginning?”

Ju Su said, "Oh?"

"Then what goal does Dezu think is considered a success?"

Yang Xiu said, "Let me confirm first. In addition to the invading Central Xianbei, Goguryeo and Wuhuan have also made unusual moves. The attitudes of the Gongsun family and the Eastern and Western Xianbei are unclear, right?"

Ju Su sighed and nodded.

The trouble lies here. When the Central Xianbei army marched south this time, the first to be hit was not Jicheng, but several forces in the Han-Hu buffer zone behind Jicheng.

Putting aside the conflicts between Goguryeo and the Gongsun family, although the number of Wuhuan people was also hundreds of thousands, they were divided into four parts and distributed along the long border of Youzhou. While they surrendered to Yuan Xi, they also had intersections with the three Xianbei forces in the east, middle and west that bordered them.

The three Xianbei tribes were not in harmony. Kebineng of the Central Xianbei was the most famous and firmly suppressed Budugen of the Western Xianbei and Suli of the Eastern Xianbei. The Wuhuan in Zhuojun and Yuyang were under pressure from the Central Xianbei and naturally tended to be unstable.

Today, the number of tribesmen involved in these forces has exceeded 500,000 or 600,000. With the military strength of Jin State in Youzhou, it is really difficult to deal with these people who may turn into bandits at any time.

Yang Xiu said in a deep voice: "Hundreds of thousands of bandits, how can it be so easy to deal with them?"

"If you want to annihilate them all and not let any of them escape, it will be difficult to do so even if you gain control of the world."

An official said impatiently: "That being said, is this the responsibility of our Youzhou officials?"

Yang Xiu said leisurely: "The key to this problem lies in the Xianbei where Kobineng is."

"As long as the Central Xianbei are dealt with, other forces will not be able to do anything even if they have ulterior motives."

Everyone thought that this was no nonsense, but it was said that there were hundreds of thousands of Zhong Xianbei people who entered the pass. How could they be so easy to deal with?
Yang Xiu continued: "Although the Xianbei invaders are numerous, they also have weaknesses."

Someone couldn't help but ask: "What weakness?"

Yang Xiu said, "The Xianbei tribes gathered together, relying heavily on the personal prestige of the tribal leader."

"The hundreds of tribes of the Central Xianbei were all convinced by Ke Bineng's actions, and they came together to launch such a large-scale invasion."

"Then the key for us is how to target Kobe."

"If Kobe Neng dies, Zhong Xianbei will surely fall apart and will no longer pose a threat."

After hearing this, everyone started thinking about it. What Yang Xiu said did make sense. In fact, the same was true for the forces in the Central Plains now. The Wei and Jin states were both greatly affected by the situation of Cao Cao and Yuan Xi.

Fortunately, the Han people had a strict system of heirs, which allowed their subordinates to continue to be loyal to the next lord. However, the tribal system of the Hu people was very unstable in this regard. The grasslands believed in the survival of the fittest. Even if the previous leader designated an heir, after his death, his descendants were often not convinced of each other and would eventually compete for supremacy.

This often manifests itself in attacks and conflicts, with swords clashing against each other, which can last for several years or even more than ten years. The tribe is severely damaged and naturally has no spare energy to invade the Central Plains.

Therefore, the strength of grassland tribes depends heavily on their powerful leaders, but success or failure depends on the powerful leader. If the powerful leader cannot invade the Central Plains during his lifetime, decades of efforts will often be wasted.

Ju Su nodded repeatedly, "De Zu means that we should find a way to target Kobinen himself?"

"How do you do it?"

Yang Xiu said, "We can do both at the same time."

"On the one hand, we can send someone to wait for an opportunity to assassinate Kobinen."

"On the other hand, we can offer benefits to Budugen, Suli and others so that they can hinder Kobe's progress."

"If the conditions are good enough, maybe we won't even have to do anything, they will send someone to assassinate Kobinen."

"If Kobe dies, the Xianbei will become a mess. They will instinctively flee back to the outside of the Great Wall. It will be much easier for us to chase and destroy them then."

Everyone nodded, and someone couldn't help but ask, "How to provoke the three Xianbei tribes to fight each other?"

"They are not stupid. Although they have been fighting overtly and covertly over the years, they have kept it within certain limits. Just like when the Central Xianbei sent out troops, the Eastern and Western Xianbei did not add fuel to the flames, but they did not stop or warn them either. It is obvious that they want to share in the benefits."

Yang Xiu said leisurely: "So those who are not of our race must have different hearts. There is no need to talk about morality when using them, because if Youzhou cannot stop them, they will also change and follow Kobe to plunder the Central Plains."

"As for how to deal with them, I have just arrived in Youzhou and am not familiar with the situation of the three Xianbei tribes. I have to rely on you who are more familiar with the situation."

With just one sentence, he easily pushed the rest of the matter aside. Everyone felt quite impatient, but they knew that if they relied on Yang Xiu for everything, it would seem too unbearable for everyone.

At the same time, these officials of Yuan Xi were also somewhat arrogant in their hearts. After all, the situation in each state under Yuan Xi's rule was pretty good. If only Youzhou was in a bad state, that would be unreasonable.

Yuan Yin immediately said: "I will send people to lobby the Wuhuan and the border tribes, and try to make them hold back the Xianbei."

Ju Su said, "We need to discuss this matter again. The Central Xianbei rely on Jicheng, but the Western Xianbei are in Bingzhou. The Eastern Xianbei are even more troublesome, involving the Gongsun family and Goguryeo. We need to report this to the king before making a decision." "Since we have decided on the general direction of targeting Kobinen, everyone should go back and think carefully today about what else you can do to help within your jurisdiction."

After hearing this, everyone accepted the order and dispersed.

Ju Shou stopped Yang Xiu and said, "Come with me to the lord's house."

At this time, Ni Heng turned around and said, "I want to go too."

Ju Su was puzzled and asked, "Do you have something important to report to the lord?"

Ni Heng said, "I heard that the king's wife passed away?"

Ju Su said: "Yes, she is Kong Beihai's daughter."

Ni Heng said, "Mr. Wen Ju was my sponsor. I want to go and pay my respects."

Ju Su hesitated for a moment before speaking: "My lord fell ill because of this matter. If you promise me not to provoke the king, I will take you there."

After hearing this, Ni Heng agreed immediately, and Ju Shou took the two of them over in a carriage.

Yang Xiu and Ni Heng were riding in the same carriage. When they were in the carriage, Yang Xiu took the opportunity to say, "Zhengping, it's ok for you to act like a madman at ordinary times, but don't say the wrong thing in front of the lord."

"He may have a worse temper than Cao Cao at times. If you anger him, you will definitely be courting death."

Ni Heng heard this and said helplessly: "Why do you always think I'm going to cause trouble?"

"I'm really just offering normal condolences this time."

Yang Xiu stared at Ni Heng doubtfully, thinking to himself, it's because you were too famous for your bad temper in the past. Could it be that the lord has really cured you in these days?

The three of them arrived at Yuan Xi's house and told the guards their identities. Soon a maid led them in and took them all the way to Yuan Xi's room.

The maid led everyone to the front hall, and Zhen Mi came out and said, "My husband invites all the gentlemen in."

Ju Su was the first to bow and said, "Greetings, Queen."

Seeing that the two people behind him were slow to greet each other, he glanced back. Yang Xiu and Ni Heng then reacted and hurriedly greeted each other. At this moment, the same thought came to their minds: how come the master has so many wives when his wife is so beautiful?

Madam Zhen's appearance is the only one he has ever seen in his life. Could it be that the other madams are all as beautiful as her?
That's impossible. How could there be so many women with outstanding looks in the world? Or has the king collected all the most outstanding women in the world and put them in his own house?
Not to mention the two people's wild thoughts, when Zhen Mi led everyone into the room, Yuan Xi was already sitting on the bed waiting.

When he saw Ju Shou and others coming in, he said, "I am not feeling well and cannot get out of bed. Please forgive me."

The three of them said they didn't dare. Seeing that Yuan Xi's face was pale, Ju Shou quickly made it short and briefly explained the ideas they had discussed yesterday.

After hearing this, Yuan Xi nodded and said, "Dezu is right. Even if we use the strength of the four northern states, we cannot stop the hundreds of thousands of Xianbei people."

"Besides, it's not easy to talk. I defeated Cao Cao and was on the verge of victory, but he, Kobe, still wanted to fight me. This only shows that he was very determined."

"My personal guess is that Kobe is either betting on the outcome or testing the waters with hundreds of thousands of people."

This idea of ​​his was something Ju Shou and the others had not thought of before. Yang Xiu was surprised and asked, "Hundreds of thousands of people as a test?"

Yuan Xi said: "In their eyes, human life is not important. The survival of the tribe is the most important thing."

"In this respect, Kirby is a bit like Cao Cao."

"My basis for this judgment is that the school office just sent me information about the specific circumstances of Kirby's tribe relocation this time."

"After reading it, I found that the tribes he was most familiar with did not enter the pass, but migrated to the direction of the Hetao Plain."

"That place is in the Yinshan area. In winter, there are mountains to block the cold currents. It is a good place to spend the winter. This shows that Kobe has a way out and is not a reckless man who gambles everything on one throw."

"You can take this information out later and analyze and discuss it carefully."

The three of them saw dozens of newly opened bamboo slips on the tables beside Yuan Xi, and knew that Yuan Xi probably didn't get enough rest last night.

Ju Su immediately bowed and said, "I have done my job poorly and caused you so much trouble. I feel really guilty."

Yuan Xi waved his hand and said, "Don't say that. I can't sit still either. If I don't do something, I'll feel even more depressed."

"Besides, Youzhou is where I started my family. I will never give this place to outsiders no matter what."

After hearing this, everyone bowed and said, "We should follow our lord and fight against the Xianbei foreign enemies together!"

(End of this chapter)