The two entered the house. Seeing Yuan Tan's worried look, Yuan Xi comforted him, "Brother, you are now the ruler of a state, why are you so worried?"
Yuan Tan sighed and said, "Yes, my brother and I are still so young, but we have been able to occupy one of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty and are on an equal footing with people of my father's generation. Logically, I shouldn't be so anxious."
"But don't think my words are harsh, my second brother. We have different mentalities."
"You are the illegitimate son of the Yuan family. Now you have been adopted as the legitimate son and become the head of a branch of the family. You have already soared to the sky like your father."
"But I can't. I'm the eldest son, and I'm expected by everyone. Now I'm suppressed by my third brother. The people who stand behind me and support me put a lot of pressure on me."
"There are no absolutely loyal subordinates in the world. If I give them no benefit, or if they feel that there is no profit in the future, I will soon be deserted by everyone."
"It just so happens that there is a wall in front of me that I can't climb over."
Yuan Xi knew who Yuan Tan was talking about.
Yuan Shao and Liu.
As Yuan Tan's parents, it was impossible for Yuan Tan to disobey them and he could only passively obey their orders.
This is also the dilemma that the eldest son of a family in every generation must face. On the one hand, the future is promising, but on the other hand, he is suppressed everywhere. Over time, his mentality will become unbalanced.
Apart from anything else, since the title of crown prince appeared in Qin Dynasty, there have been a total of 161 crown princes in all dynasties, and 91 of them successfully ascended the throne.
It seems that the probability is actually quite high, but you have to know that for a prince who has not ascended the throne, being deposed and imprisoned is the best outcome, and the probability is that he will die.
Therefore, it is normal for Yuan Tan to be so anxious. If Yuan Shang really comes to power, Yuan Tan's fate will be worrying.
The key point is that with Yuan Tan's ambition, he would never be willing to be inferior to Yuan Shang.
Yuan Xi felt that Yuan Tan was hinting at something, but he did not think much about it and could only say, "It's not that there is no solution."
"Brother, if you can subdue the Taishan bandits, Qingzhou will become a large province second only to Jizhou in terms of military strength alone."
Yuan Tan sighed: "Then what? Where to go?"
Yuan Xi said: "Since the west doesn't work, why don't you turn your attention to the east?"
Yuan Tan was stunned: "Going out to sea?"
"Are you planning to build a navy and go south with my second brother to occupy Jiangdong?"
Yuan Xi listened and didn't comment, "There are other directions."
"Qingzhou is so close to Mahan, it may be a possible retreat."
After hearing this, Yuan Tan pondered, "Are you talking about Gongsun Du's four Liaodong counties? What's the area to the south?"
"That place is full of savage tribes. What's so good about going there?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Just because it's not possible now doesn't mean it won't be possible in the future. The resources are still quite abundant. Moreover, we can use it as a springboard to go south to the Yamatai Islands."
After hearing this, Yuan Tan said, "So this is the reason why my second brother is organizing a fleet."
"But those islands, with hundreds of tribes, are not as powerful as the Southern Xiongnu. The Yamatai Kingdom is just one of them."
"Now that place can't even make ironware or pottery, it's no different from the barbarians, what's the use of it?"
Seeing that Yuan Tan was not interested, Yuan Xi could only ask, "In that case, according to my elder brother's idea, do you want to go south to attack Yuan Shu?"
Yuan Tan then nodded and said, "This is indeed a way out, and it is also a helpless move. I will think about it carefully when I go back."
"But I came here this time to eliminate the Taishan bandits within a year. I wanted to ask my second brother if he could help me think of a solution."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Isn't this too hasty?"
"That's hundreds of thousands of people, and they're hiding in the mountains, not in the plains."
Yuan Tan sighed, "I know that, but my third brother puts too much pressure on me. His power is growing much faster than mine."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, I know that too, but can't your advisers come up with a solution?
He tried to test the waters by saying, "How about trying to recruit Zang Ba, the leader of the Taishan bandits, and promising him an official position?"
Yuan Tan said: "This man is very cunning, and he does not openly confront any party, but he also does not leave the mountainous area. The hundreds of thousands of people under his command only obey his orders."
"In this case, even if he is nominally attached to me, what is the point?"
Yuan Xi thought that this was indeed a problem. Even if he promised Zang Ba an official position outside the scope of Mount Tai, he might not take the position.
An idea suddenly occurred to him, "Brother, do you want to give Langya to him?"
Yuan Tan then smiled and said, "My second brother is smart, but if you do this, he might not obey the rules, harass the surrounding counties, and cause trouble to my Guangling."
Yuan Xi thought that this was Yuan Tan's intention. In this way, Zang Ba might indeed lead his troops out of Mount Tai, and Yuan Tan would be able to revitalize the Qing-Xu border.
But in this case, Liu Bei and Yuan Xi would have to face hundreds of thousands of Taishan bandits who might return at any time. Yuan Tan was afraid that Yuan Xi would be unhappy, so he came to inform him.
Yuan Xi thought that this was most likely the idea of one of Yuan Tan's advisers. It was a good idea to use the Taishan bandits to contain himself and Liu Bei.
Today's Xuzhou is like a small miniature of the Three Kingdoms. Yuan Tan, Liu Bei and Yuan Xi work together to deal with the surrounding forces, but they are wary of each other to avoid being taken advantage of by the other two parties. Their ultimate goal is to strengthen themselves.
If Yuan Tan put all his strength into dealing with the Taishan bandits, his own strength would be weakened, so he simply released Zang Ba and let him help him to contain the two sides.
Yuan Xi thought to himself that in this world of struggle for hegemony, no idea is simple. There are conflicts of interest between friends, enemies can cooperate with each other, and brothers may look honest but actually have their own intentions. This is the politics of troubled times.
He smiled at Yuan Tan and said, "Please do it with confidence, brother. There is no problem here."
After hearing this, Yuan Tan felt relieved. This was a wise move, but he had to explain it clearly to Yuan Xi, lest Yuan Xi become dissatisfied and side with Liu Bei.
Of course, Yuan Xi also hinted this to Liu Bei in advance. Only in this way could he dominate the three parties.
After Yuan Xi sent Yuan Tan away, he thought that introducing another force would cause several times more problems. Even if they were brothers, once conflicts of interest were involved, no matter how emotional or blood-related they were, they would have to give way.
However, in the next few years, the focus of his expansion will not be on Guangling, so Yuan Tan is afraid that his worries are in vain this time.
Now that Chen Deng and Taishi Ci are in charge of Guangling County, all he has to do is hold on firmly and wait for him to revitalize the situation in Youzhou and increase his strength.
Zhen Mi accompanied Yuan Xi to see Yuan Tan off. When she saw his carriage going away, she asked, "Did they reach an agreement so quickly?"
"We're not going back to Guangling anytime soon?"
Seeing a look of disappointment on Zhen Mi's face, Yuan Xi thought that things were surprisingly going smoothly this time, and too quickly. In just one day, Liu Bei and Yuan Tan had finished their talks.
The only one left seems to be the Mi family?
In fact, it seems that it doesn't matter whether the Mi family goes or not. Now there is no problem with the Qingzhou port on the route south from Youzhou. Yuan Tan has obtained a promise from Yuan Xi on the matter of Zang Ba, so he has to give him some face.
The port of Xuzhou, not to mention Langya, the important port of Guangling already belongs to Yuan Xi. It seems that the Mi family does not have much use value to Yuan Xi now?
Yuan Xi had just heard from Chen Deng about the failure of the Mi family's daughter's marriage. It turned out that a large part of the reason for the failure was because of himself who returned Liu Bei's wife and daughter.
However, Yuan Xi did not expect that in order to curry favor with Liu Bei, the Mi family would be willing to let Mi Zhen become a concubine. If he had known that the Mi family was so willing to do so, he would have been able to do so with reluctance and sacrifice his own body to marry Mi Zhen.
But now that the Mi family's property has been given away, and I can't get any dowry from the Mi family, it seems there is no need to do this?
Thinking of this, he said to Zhen Mi apologetically, "I originally wanted to take Madam to visit the Mi family to discuss the sea trade route. After all, the Zhen family's trade route is now managed by Madam."
"However, the three counties along the coast of Xuzhou, Langya and Guangling, are not in the hands of Lord Xuande now. Only the Donghai County in the middle is left. It does not seem to be necessary for the trade route."
"In this case, it seems that there is no need for us to go to the Mi family."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi was a little disappointed, but she still nodded. At this time, Guo Jia came out and said, "Sir, you are wrong. We still have to go to the Mi family."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "It's rare that you are so opposed to it, I would like to hear the details."
The two entered the house, and Guo Jia sat down leisurely, saying, "Sir, do you think that the Mi family will not side with us now that Liu Bei has placed great importance on them?"
Yuan Xi said: "Isn't it?"
"Now I see that Mi Zhu is quite determined. I'm afraid he won't even let me in."
Guo Jia shook his head: "I have a different opinion."
He lowered his voice and said, "Jia, I think your ambition is not limited to Guangling County, right?"
"You are not strong enough now, so you have no choice but to be patient. When you become more powerful in the future, can you still be content with a small fortune?"
Yuan Xi sighed, "But Lord Xuande took Xuzhou legitimately, and I cannot do anything that would betray him."
"Don't give me that!" Guo Jia sneered, "Young Master must be hiding something from me, otherwise why would you rush to deal with the Black Mountain bandits?"
Khan Yuan Xi did not expect that his plan could not be hidden from Guo Jia.
Guo Jia sneered, "Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. You are very thoughtful, and your inner and outer thoughts are very different. You can fool others, but you can't fool me."
"Apart from anything else, some people say that the women that the young master likes are mostly widows or wives, but I see something different."
"The women you want to marry are all those whose fathers have died and whose family power is almost extinct, right?"
"Do you think it's easier to control this way, and there won't be trouble from foreign relatives in the future?"
Yuan Xi was sweating profusely, and quickly lowered his voice and said, "Sir, don't be so blunt!"
"Although I have some such thoughts, I didn't kill their father!"
Guo Jia smiled complacently. Yuan Xi only partially denied his words, but did not clarify the term "relatives by marriage"!
This boy is really ambitious. He keeps talking about supporting the Han Dynasty all day long!
But it would be more interesting to follow the young master and see how the Han Dynasty came to an end!
Guo Jia felt that the Han Dynasty was in its current state and it was probably beyond saving.
Although it was once glorious, it was corrupted to such an extent by several generations of incompetent rulers that it had already lost the support of the people and could collapse at any time.
If the flesh is rotten, it may be possible to cure it, but if it cannot be cured and spreads to the whole body, the person will die. Besides, how many loyal ministers of the Khan are left in the Thirteen States?
Thinking of this, Guo Jia straightened his hat and said, "The matter of the Mi family is something that can be discussed."
"Being on good terms with the Mi family will do more good than harm to you, young master."