The reason Yuan Xi came to Tancheng this time was, firstly, to reach a more stable alliance with Liu Bei and Yuan Tan, and secondly, to dig up Chen Gong and Hua Tuo. Having achieved these two goals, he was already satisfied and prepared to return home the next day.
As for the Mi family, he had originally planned to keep his distance. After all, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang were both promoted by Liu Bei, and Yuan Xi felt that their abilities were average and it was not worth poaching them.
At this time, Guo Jia expressed an opinion opposite to Yuan Xi, which made Yuan Xi quite puzzled.
Yuan Xi told the story of Mi Fang going to Chen's house today to discuss purchasing land, and finally said: "Mi Fang is greedy for personal gain and can't distinguish the important from the unimportant. Chief Mi Zhu is just honest and loyal. It seems that there is no benefit in making friends with the Mi family, right?"
Guo Jia heard this and laughed, "Mi Fang would do such a thing?"
"In that case, we should make friends with him."
Yuan Xi was puzzled.
Guo Jia explained: "Mi Fang is obviously greedy for small gains and forgets the greater good. He always puts his own interests first when dealing with things. He happens to be in a high position. Over time, he will inevitably make mistakes and be criticized by others."
"It would be fine if this person had self-awareness, but he is acting rather arrogantly. If this continues, he will inevitably clash with other officials and harbor resentment. If this continues, it will definitely be a hidden danger."
Yuan Xi pondered Guo Jia's words carefully, and suddenly raised his head and asked, "Sir, do you mean to make friends with Mi Fang and use him as a thorn in your side?"
Guo Jia smiled proudly: "It is a rusty nail. If it is left on the door for too long, it may cause the door to break."
"Nowadays, the princes of the world are fighting each other. In many cases, the losses in fighting foreign enemies are far less than the damage in internal strife."
"It's like attacking a city. It's always much more difficult to break in from the outside than to surrender to the enemy inside the city."
"Lü Bu lost Chang'an, and Liu Bei lost Xiapi, that's how it was."
After listening to this, Yuan Xi couldn't help but feel the same way. The quarrel between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, Lu Bu losing Chang'an, and Liu Bei's rebellion in Xuzhou were all due to internal problems. In other words, no matter how solid a fortress is, it can be easily breached from the inside.
Guo Jia finally said: "A person whose ability and virtue do not match his position is likely to be dissatisfied. If he turns against you at a critical moment, the effect he will play will be unexpected."
"From what I can see now, Mi Fang may take this path. At least, the possibility is much greater than that of others."
He said, "Sir, what you mean is that I should befriend Mi Fang now so that he can think he has a safe way out, and then if he encounters setbacks in the future, he might become disloyal?"
Guo Jia smiled and said, "Young Master is very smart and will understand it immediately."
Yuan Xi let out a long sigh. Guo Jia was indeed a man who looked at things differently.
Unlike himself who had knowledge from later generations, Guo Jia made a rough guess about Mi Fang's life trajectory based purely on conjecture and guesswork!
In later generations, Mi Fang did take this path, which led to the death of Guan Yu and left him with a bad reputation in history.
Yuan Xi thought to himself, will I be the one to play the role of Lu Meng in the future?
He said aloud: "Sir, do you mean that I should now use money and benefits to befriend the Mi family?"
Guo Jia said confidently: "Of course!"
"Sir, don't think about the dowry from the Mi family. Aren't you ashamed to be a young master of the Yuan family?"
"To build a career in the future, do you still need this little money from the Mi family?"
"Don't you think it's ridiculous that you're still thinking about making a fortune from the Mi family at this time?"
Yuan Xi was very angry. "That"
Guo Jia said: "At least we have to go to the Mi family. In fact, the Mi family dared to let the Mi family girl be a concubine, which shows that their desire to cling to a prominent family is very strong."
"In that case, why don't you consider it?"
"To be honest, if the Mi family is eyeing the ruler of a state, you are also a suitable candidate. This is a great opportunity. Why not give it a try?"
"I heard that the girl from the Mi family is not as pretty as the lady, but she is also a beauty. In order to expand your business, it shouldn't be difficult for you to sell your beauty a little bit, right?"
Yuan Xi's face froze. Not to mention Mi Zhen, what should he do if Mi Fang, his second brother-in-law, took advantage of the situation and blamed him?
I don't want to have Mi Fang as my subordinate!
Guo Jia was very disappointed. "My lord, you were very brave on the battlefield, but now you are so timid. There are many ways to deal with the in-laws. If you don't want to dirty your hands, I am willing to do it for you."
Yuan Xi thought to himself, damn, Guo Jia is really cruel. But this is indeed what a strategist would say, cold and heartless, only caring about interests.
He could only say: "In this case, I will send someone to the Mi family to send a visiting card, and I also invite you to go with me to calm the situation."
Guo Jia was secretly delighted to see that Yuan Xi was finally persuaded.
Young master still attaches too much importance to women's thoughts. For the lord, such feelings are really too redundant.
In the future, I will find a way to get a few more women around him. When he gets tired of this kind of thing, he will naturally understand that the ultimate goal is to dominate the world, and everything else is an obstacle!
In Guangling City, Cai Zhaoji said to Madam Wu and Cao Jie, "You have been copying for a long time. Let's take a break to avoid being too tired."
After hearing this, Mrs. Wu and Cao Jie put down their brushes.
Cao Jie rubbed her sore fingers, stood up and stretched. She was still young at the time, and after copying for a long time, she could hardly hold on.
Cai Zhaoji felt a little guilty when she saw this, so she took out a piece of candy from her sleeve, handed it to Cao Jie, and said with a smile, "Eat it."
Sugarcane was introduced to South China during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, but for a long time afterwards, it was only eaten directly.
It was not until the Han Dynasty that the method of extracting rock honey from sugarcane was discovered, but it had not yet been popularized. At that time, the sweets people ate were generally honey and maltose.
"The Book of Rites: Inner Regulations" records: "Sweet foods include dates, chestnuts, maltose, and honey."
Honey is the earliest pure natural sweetener. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, monarchs gave each other honey as precious gifts.
Towards the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, candied fruit appeared, that is, using honey to soak food. It was a unique invention in my country at that time.
Another large category is maltose, commonly known as maltose, which is recognized as the earliest sugar produced in the world and appeared in the late Shang Dynasty.
The Book of Songs has the line "The fields of Zhouyuan are lush and green, and the violets and teas are as sweet as candy" which is proof of this.
The Chuci also records that "Juzhuang honey bait is made of long, and glutinous rice is made by boiling wheat sprouts or barley sprouts with various rice. The ancients ate glutinous rice a lot during the cold food festival, so it is also used in medical prescriptions."
Cao Jie took the maltose, licked it gently, and a very happy expression appeared on his face.
She suddenly seemed to have thought of something and said to Cai Zhaoji, "Madam, I want to give it to my sister to try."
After hearing this, Cai Zhaoji took out two pieces of maltose from her sleeve, stuffed them into Cao Jie's hand, and said with a smile: "This makes me look bad. Go ahead and copy here in the morning and come back after dinner."
Cao Jie happily ran out holding the candy. When Mrs. Wu saw this, she felt a little warm in her heart and said with a smile: "I'm afraid Mrs. Huan is not unable to afford it, but does not allow them to eat too much."
Cai Zhaoji laughed and said, "It's bad. I don't think as clearly as Madam."
Mrs. Wu had been staying in Yuan Mansion for quite some time, and she gradually discovered that the situation in Yuan Xi's inner house was quite different from that of other aristocratic families.
In the relaxed environment, there was a touch of human touch everywhere, which made Mrs. Wu envious. This was the warmth she had never experienced since she got married.
Cai Zhaoji said to Madam Wu, "It's almost time for dinner. Madam, I'll have someone prepare whatever your daughter wants to eat."
Madam Wu glanced at her daughter who was sleeping soundly on the couch beside her and said hurriedly, "Thank you for your consideration, Madam. I will just eat with everyone else."
Cai Zhaoji smiled and said, "Madam, you are still so polite. After all, we are distant relatives. Your children have suffered so much. Even if we see it, we can't bear it."
"Sir, it shouldn't take you long. Once you come back, we can set off."
"If Madam has come to her senses, the Master can always send someone to take Madam back to Jingzhou. If Madam doesn't want to go, then she can go to Youzhou to have a look, that's also fine."
Mrs. Wu looked grateful, but she was very anxious in her heart.
If she wanted to escape, Guangling was the shortest way. If she really went to Youzhou, how could she travel thousands of miles back to Jiangdong?
No, we must find a way to escape as soon as possible!
Mrs. Wu felt very sorry. She knew that Yuan Xi had given her a horse, but she had deceived everyone, which made her feel extremely guilty.
But her son Sun Ce is now dependent on Yuan Shu and is at odds with Yuan Shao, so she has no choice but to do this.
Over the past few days, Mrs. Wu has figured out the activity patterns of everyone in the Yuan Mansion. She has memorized the behavior habits of Yuan Xi, Zhen Mi, Cai Zhaoji, Huan's mother and daughter, and even Sun Li and Guo Jia.
Now half of the people have followed Yuan Xi to Xia Pi, and the mansion is empty. It is a good opportunity.
What she lacked now was the opportunity to escape from everyone and the token to leave the city.
However, there were some problems with the exit tokens for the people from Yuan Mansion. One token was in the hands of Taishi Ci in the military camp, and the other was in the hands of Cai Zhaoji.
There is no need to think about Taishi Ci, so we can only start with Cai Zhaoji.
Mrs. Wu observed these days and found that Cai Zhaoji did not carry the token with her.
If it's not on her, it must be in the house. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wu couldn't find an excuse to go to Cai Zhaoji's house before. After all, Yuan Xi sometimes had to stay overnight there.
But after Yuan Xi left, Mrs. Wu gradually became familiar with Cai Zhaoji. What she had to do next was to take the opportunity to stay overnight in Cai Zhaoji's room, then find the token while she was sleeping and escape with her daughter!
In Lujiang County, Jiangdong, in Qiao Rui's residence.
A young girl of about the same age as a child, with a childish face and unusually lively eyes, was secretly peeping at the banquet outside through a hole in the wall.
She turned around excitedly and waved to another older girl behind her, "Sister, come and see!"
"The distinguished guests my father invited today are General Bofu and General Gongjin!"
Another girl, who was a little older and had a calm face, was sitting on a couch in the distance, sewing a handkerchief attentively.
When she heard her sister talking, she didn't even raise her head and said softly, "What's so good about it? You are being disrespectful by doing this. Don't look at anything inappropriate."
The two girls have red lips and white teeth, and their skin is extremely white and smooth, as if it could be broken by a baby's. It seems that their skin has a faint luster like jade, which makes people sigh at the sight of them.
Both girls are outstanding beauties. Although they have not fully grown yet, they have already revealed their beauty that is 70% stunning. At present, they are kept in seclusion and are not well-known, but people who have seen them all think that they will become famous in Jiangdong sooner or later.
These were Qiao Rui's two daughters. They had not been given any names and were privately called Daqiao and Xiaoqiao by the servants.
Daqiao is calm and Xiaoqiao is lively. Now Xiaoqiao sees that Daqiao is not moved at all, so she pouts and says, "Sister is too boring."
She put her eyes closer to the gap, looked for a while, and said, "It's strange, why do I feel that General Bofu and General Gongjin are not very happy?"
After hearing this, Ohashi said calmly, "Of course I'll be unhappy after losing the battle."
"My father was arrested. Fortunately, he was released. Otherwise, our family would have collapsed long ago."
"You're still in the mood to have fun."
(For convenience, Daqiao and Xiaoqiao were changed to Daqiao and Xiaoqiao later.)