In early October and early winter, the temperature continued to be high this summer, but by October the weather dropped sharply.
Following an autumn rain at the end of September, cold air swept across the entire Hebei area.
The drizzle continues, and the trees in Nanshan Mountain outside Pingyuan City are withered, and the leaves are yellow and pale brown. The raindrops hit the forest leaves, making a crisp sound of ticking.
Nanshan is close to the Yellow River and is located on the north bank of the Yellow River. On the other side of the river is Gaotang County. There is a ferry between the two places, freight is exchanged, and commerce is extremely prosperous.
From the direction of the North Bank Ferry, there was a constant flow of people coming and going, most of them were businessmen, and only a few were farmers and Guizhou people.
Gaotang County on the south bank of the Yellow River is the last stop of the cement road. When it reaches the north bank, it enters the boundary of Pingyuan County. The road is muddy and slippery, and carriages transporting goods have fallen into mud pits several times, often causing traffic jams.
Several carriages moved forward leisurely and leisurely. The blocked road in front was finally clear. Because the roadside was often blocked, villagers from nearby villages often came to stay. Once the carriages got stuck in the mud, someone would be hired.
Come and help push the cart.
After the road was clear, the convoy drove forward for another two-quarters of an hour, and saw Nanshan Mountain in the distance. There was a pavilion at the foot of the mountain, which managed several neighboring villages near the north bank of the Yellow River. In front of the pavilion, someone was holding an oil-paper umbrella.
Standing in the hazy mist and rain.
Rainwater fell along the eaves of the pavilion. The carriage stopped in front of the pavilion, and the curtains were opened. The first person to get out was a middle-aged man of about forty, with a white face and long beard, a clean appearance, and a dignified air.
From the car behind, a scholar of about thirty years old got out. He was wearing a long robe and had a mustache. From the appearance, he looked somewhat similar to Xun He.
"Brother Gongda!"
Chen Mu smiled and bowed his hands: "Mu, I have been looking forward to it for a long time."
Xun You once served as a county magistrate in Jinan, and accompanied Liu Bei in the campaign against Qiu Liju. Later, he resigned and returned home, following his uncle north to Jizhou.
The reason why he went to Jizhou was because he was also a member of the Party. After Wang Fen dominated Jizhou, it became the headquarters of the Party. Party members all over the world went there, and Xun You was no exception.
However, as Yuan Shao came to power, he began to liquidate party members. Except for those with higher reputations such as Xun and Chen Yi, many party members were disappointed with Yuan Shao and left here.
Now Chen Mu wrote a letter inviting him to come to Qingzhou, Xun He also persuaded him to come, and Xun You happily agreed.
"The son returns."
Xun You responded with a salute: "You can just wait for me in the city, why wait here?"
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Brother Gongda came to Qingzhou to make Qingzhou more powerful, so etiquette cannot be neglected."
"hehe."
Xun You smiled and said nothing.
Another person also got out of the car.
Chen Mu bowed his hands again and said, "I must be Brother Boding."
"I've met Dr. Guanglu."
Xun Jing returned the same salute to Chen Mu.
Chen Mu pointed to the gate of Pingyuan City not far away and said, "It's difficult to speak here, so go back to the city first."
Nanshan is neither high nor big. It is located less than two miles southeast of Pingyuan City. To the west is the official road. If you follow the official road, you will soon reach the city.
It was not far away, so a few people simply walked there without taking a car. The road near the city was slightly better, with a rammed earth structure that prevented rainwater from penetrating and did not form a swamp.
"The weather is getting cold."
An autumn wind blew, and Chen Mu shrunk his cotton-padded clothes and expressed his sincere admiration for Xun You and Xun Jing, who still wore robes and maintained the scholarly demeanor in the early winter.
Xun You pondered: "The weather has become more and more abnormal in recent years. When it's hot, it's hotter, and when it's cold, it's colder."
Chen Mu sighed: "Yes, next year, I'm afraid it will be even more serious."
"I heard that locusts are raging in the north this year, there are heavy rains in the Jianghuai area in the south, the Han River and the Huaihe River are overflowing, and there are wars and people are displaced?"
Xun Jing on the side said something.
Chen Mu nodded: "The locusts were caused by drought, and the drought also affected Qingzhou. Fortunately, we were well prepared and organized manpower to extinguish the locust plague in time, otherwise the losses would be even greater."
Xun You sighed: "A great chaos is coming."
The weather is becoming more and more abnormal, disasters are frequent in various places, plagues are rampant in the south, locust plagues in the north, droughts in Guanzhong, and floods in Huainan all seem to herald various ominous signs.
The ancients were very superstitious, and they often believed that natural disasters were punishments or warnings from God. Therefore, disasters continued and were frightening.
Only Chen Mu knew that the reason for the frequent disasters in recent years was because the Little Ice Age was getting closer and closer.
The Little Ice Age in the late Eastern Han Dynasty did not start with the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but lasted from the first year of Jian'an to the Western Jin Dynasty, that is, from about 200 AD to 300 AD.
Although there were occasional natural disasters in various places in the Han Dynasty in the past two years, they were never serious. However, as the Little Ice Age got closer and closer, the climate became more and more abnormal.
Summers will be hotter and winters will be colder. What will follow will inevitably be more severe disasters across the country.
Because of constant natural disasters, people had no harvests in their fields, which would inevitably lead to famine, rebellion, military disasters, and plagues. From the first year of Jian'an to the Western Jin Dynasty, it was indeed a period of significant population decline in the late Han Dynasty.
From the period of Emperor Ling, the population was between 40 and 50 million, but by the end of Emperor Xian's period, the population had dropped by more than half. Almost 20 million people died in this disaster. The cold numbers were countless accumulated corpses.
This year has been relatively good. Although there are natural disasters, they have not affected all parts of the country. But next year, there will be a severe drought in the central plains of Guandong, and the scope of the impact will be large. The entire North China Plain will be affected. In history, Cao Cao killed the grain transport officials.
Next year, in 197, what happened during the confrontation with Yuan Shu.
Chen Mu didn't know how to change it, because this fell into the category of natural disasters. With modern technology, it might be possible to ensure agricultural supply during natural disasters.
But in ancient times, agriculture relied on the weather, and manpower was extremely limited, so we could only take one step at a time.
"I just hope that there will be fewer disasters and the people can still live their lives."
Xun Jing sighed.
Chen Mu said: "It seems that Brother Boding came along the way and seems to have a lot of knowledge?"
"Um."
Xun Jing nodded: "We came from Dongjun. Last year and this year, Lu Bu fought many battles with Cao Cao. Dongjun was already riddled with holes, and there were constant natural disasters. Along the way, the road was full of bones, and there was no human habitation for thousands of miles.
It’s very scary.”
Xun You suddenly recalled that when he crossed the river from Dongjun Yiping a few days ago, countless people dragged their families and families towards Jinan, and said with a smile: "I'm afraid most of the people in Yanzhou came to Qingzhou."
Chen Mu looked pitiful and pitiful: "The people are in too much misery and are homeless. As the saying goes, Confucius said benevolence, and Mencius said righteousness. Although my eldest brother is not as good as Confucius and Mencius, he can only pursue benevolence and righteousness."
After saying these high-sounding words, Xun You and him looked at each other and suddenly laughed.
What is the meanest thing in troubled times?
Human life is the most despicable.
What is the most precious?
It is also the most precious human life.
In the vast new era of later generations, 9.6 million square kilometers are used to feed a population of 1.4 billion with very little cultivated land. This is because of advanced science and technology, industrial civilization gave birth to fertilizers, biology gave birth to hybrid rice, hybrid wheat, etc., and grain output increased significantly.
Created a peaceful and prosperous age.
Today, in the old society two thousand years ago, agriculture was still in its most primitive period. The Eastern Han Dynasty covered an area of more than 5 million square kilometers, and there was still a large amount of land in an undeveloped state, including forests, plains, barren mountains, etc.
The process of the feudal dynasty for thousands of years was actually a process of continuous land reclamation in an agricultural society. Until the early days of the founding of our country, there were still a lot of land reclamation and lake reclamation. You can know how low the land utilization rate was during the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Millet is relatively drought-resistant and can be planted anywhere regardless of land. Therefore, Qingzhou has been opening up wasteland in recent years, forests have been cut down, and mountain forests have been reclaimed. Although the environment has been seriously damaged, talking about the environment in an era when people don't have enough to eat is a big deal.
Ridiculous thing, so when there is excess land, more people are needed.
Qingzhou is now able to support Liu Bei in fighting wars everywhere. It handles disasters properly, continues to reclaim wasteland, continues to absorb people, suppresses powerful forces from time to time, and formulates and implements various excellent policies. It is estimated that in another year or two, Qingzhou will
The population of Jizhou may exceed six million, which is not far behind Jizhou.
A few people were chatting and laughing, and within a short time, they had arrived at the south gate of Pingyuan County. Due to the constant light rain, there were not many people outside the city except for vehicles transporting goods. Under the pavilion at the gate of the city, a peerless and handsome scholar was standing.
Standing tall and straight, he smiled slightly, as if he was floating like an immortal.
This person is Xun Yu.
After Jushou Tianfeng went south, Xun Yu also came to the front line of Pingyuan and guarded Pingyuan country with Chen Mu to guard against Yuan Shao's attack.
Hearing that his clan nephew was coming, he came over specially to greet him.
"Uncle Wenruo."
Xun You and Xun Jing stepped forward to salute Xun Yu.
Xun Yu is only thirty-three years old this year, only four years older than Chen Mu, two years older than Xun Jing, and six years younger than Xun You, but he cannot resist his seniority.
The Xun family started with the brothers Xun Shu, and the generation of Xun Yu was the third generation, and the generation of Xun You and Xun Jing was the fourth generation.
Therefore, the three of them did not appear in the fifth server and were at the end of the first server.
It is worth mentioning that many people in later generations believe that the so-called five servers refer to five generations. By the sixth generation, they are born in the fifth server, and they are already very thin blood relatives.
But in fact, this is wrong knowledge. If we strictly follow the ancient clan etiquette, five generations should be counted as one server, and five generations should be twenty-five generations.
Therefore, in ancient times, even if they were four generations apart, Xun You, Xun Jing and Xun Yu were close relatives. If someone broke the law and was said by the emperor to have implicated the nine tribes, they were all considered to be among the nine tribes.
The clan relationship is close. Xun Yu's line is the main line of the Xun family, and Xun You's line is a branch line, and he is older. Therefore, even if he is younger than Xun You, Xun Yu just nodded and said like an elder: "Gongda Boding
It’s a blessing to come from afar and have a bumpy journey, so let’s talk about it first in the city.”
"Thank you, Uncle Clan."
The two of them then stood up from their bowed posture.
Chen Mu looked left and right, suddenly burst out laughing, and said jokingly: "Wen Ruosu and I have always been friends with each other, so wouldn't I be taking advantage of the two elder brothers Gongda Boding?"
Xun You said solemnly: "Zuo Botao, who was over fifty, got along well with the young scholar Yang Jiao'ai and became friends. The thirty-one-year-old Yu Boya met the fifty-nine-year-old Zhong Ziqi and became close friends.
When socializing, what matters is having similar interests, so why should we care about age and seniority?"
He was talking about allusions recorded in history. One is "Friends of Yang Zuo" and the other is "Mountains and Flowing Waters", both of which are famous friends who forget the year.
Chen Mu said seriously: "What Brother Gongda said is true. I have learned from it."
A group of people entered the city.
After walking on the road for more than half a month, I was tired from traveling and traveling. I first settled in the mansion, took a bath, changed into clean clothes, and then washed the dust for them.
After dinner, Xun Jing went back to his room to read.
They only came with two people and more than twenty Xun family servants. But there were more than ten vehicles. Except for a small number of clothes, most of them were piles of bamboo slips and books.
Books are not valuable in later generations, but in the Han Dynasty, they were hard to buy. Cultural inheritance determines whether a family can prosper for a long time and talents will continue to appear.
Therefore, these disciples from great families are always ready to study with books, whether they go out or stay at home.
In the evening, the rain finally stopped, and the evening breeze blew. On the wooden floor under the courtyard corridor, Xun Yu, Xun You, and Chen Mu were sitting on the floor. A pot of wine was boiling on the table. Under the eaves above their heads, a bamboo horse hung.
Wind chimes make a crisp sound when the wind blows.
"When Yuan Shao went south, I don't think he necessarily meant to go south."
Chen Mu poured a glass of wine for the two of them. The three wise men met each other and reminisced about the past. After talking about romance and romance, they soon started to talk about the general trend of the world.
Xun You took a sip of the hot wine, felt the temperature in his throat, and asked curiously: "How can you see it?"
"Brother Gongda thinks that if you are surrounded by powerful enemies and need to divide your troops to go to other places, should you give up a large area of land on the border and huddle up your troops for defense, or should you strictly guard the border cities and make a gesture of spreading troops along the border?"
Chen Mu asked back.
Xun You pondered for a long time before saying: "I will choose to strictly guard the border city. Even if the number of troops is reduced, I will still make a huge noise and pretend to have sufficient troops."
"now it's right."
It is easy to deal with smart people. Chen Mu said with a smile: "Suddenly giving up a large area of land will not only lose one's own strength, but also give up a large number of people's land to others under the rule. It will also make people feel very guilty, and it will be easier to provoke attacks. The Art of War has this saying
, be imaginary but be real, be real be imaginary, no matter what, even if you are strong on the outside and powerful on the inside, you must frighten the enemy so that the enemy does not dare to attack."
"But Yuan Shao did the opposite, which shows that he was also making changes between reality and reality."
Xun Yu took over the words: "On the surface, he is aiming at the south, so the army goes south, and the troops bordering Youzhou and Qingzhou in the east shrink significantly and retreat. In fact, this is just a way for him to confuse the world. I am afraid that the real goal is
It’s Gongsun Bogui.”
Yuan Shao's methods were indeed very confusing, and even Jushou Tian Feng did not see it. However, the reason why they could not see it was because they were in Yuzhou, too far away, and knew too little about Jizhou's intelligence.
Chen Mu, on the other hand, arranged a large number of spies in Jizhou to spy on intelligence. Yuan Shao was tight on the outside and tight on the inside. The truth that he said it was 80,000 when he went south but actually only had 20,000 was on his desk long ago.
Oh, you clearly said you planned to go south to break up the fight and send 80,000 troops, but the actual situation turned out to be only 20,000, and after stopping in Dongjun, you never moved forward.
What does it mean?
Even a fool can see that, I'm afraid there is another conspiracy here.
So what is Yuan Shao’s idea?
Naturally it was Gongsun Zan.
He was surrounded on three sides, but two of them were guarded.
There are eight passes in Luoyang. Even if Yuan Shao attacks, he can only capture Hanoi County. When he reaches Mengjin, Xiaopingjin and Hulao Pass, he will be stuck and it is impossible to continue the attack.
To attack Qingzhou, he can only attack the Pingyuan Kingdom. Unless he takes a detour to Xuzhou, the Taishan Gorge will block it, unless his troops can fly over.
This is not the era of the Maginot Line. Germany had mechanized troops that could cross mountains and ridges.
In the late Han Dynasty, marching and fighting basically relied on walking. It was a fool's dream to quietly circumvent Mount Tai. If you could not circumvent Mount Tai, you would have to fight head-on on the plains.
However, after years of hard work, the Pingyuan Kingdom has long been impregnable. Not to mention the vast Yellow River, there are countless cities, forts, water forts, and sentry towers in various places. If they are attacked by force, it will never be defeated in a short time, and they may even be defeated.
The danger of being beaten to a bloody head.
This is the benefit of occupying a good location.
The only place where Yuan Shao can take action is with Gongsun Zan.
The plains along the Bohai Sea are flat and very large, and the terrain of Zhuojun is also the same. Whether moving north or east, the operational range is very wide, unlike Luoyang and Qingzhou, which are just stuck in the opening and difficult to attack.
And from a strategic perspective, it is a normal idea to pacify the north first to prevent Gongsun Zan from stabbing him in the back, and then deal with the south.
Therefore, the moment Chen Mu received the information, he and Xun Yu analyzed that Yuan Shao would probably take action against Gongsun Zan at the beginning of next year at the latest, and he had been planning for a long time. I am afraid that Gongsun Zan was already in an extremely dangerous situation.
"So, to save or not to save?"
Chen Mu looked at Er Xun with a smile and asked. The two of them were a strategic master and a tactical master, corresponding to Ju Shou and Tian Feng.
However, Er Xun's historical evaluation is much higher than that of Ju Shuo Tian Feng, and his intelligence is probably one or two points higher. If Ju Shuo Tian Feng is hovering around 94, then Er Xun should be around 96.
Listen to their opinions, they may be more original than Jushou Tianfeng's.
"Save, but not completely."
Xun Yu pondered for a moment and said: "Gongsun Zan is a hidden danger. He is good friends with Ming Dynasty, but he is also very ambitious. Ming Gong trusts him too much. If a war breaks out and he suddenly stabs Jizhou in the back after taking Jizhou, the consequences will be disastrous."
After hearing his words, Chen Mu sighed: "Wen Ruo's heart is the same as mine."
"Could it be that you have long wanted to drive Gongsun Zan away?"
Xun Yu said in confusion.
Chen Mu smiled and said, "Who do you think persuaded eldest brother to go south?"
One sentence made Er Xun feel horrified. When they looked at each other, they could see the shock in each other's eyes.
Good guy, Liu Bei's journey south happened in June and July this year, and it's already October now. Chen Mu actually started plotting against Gongsun Zan three or four months ago.
It may even take longer. Such a miraculous plan is really impressive.
After a while, Xun You said: "Gongsun Zan should indeed return to Youzhou, but he cannot be eliminated. Once he is destroyed, Yuan Shao will have no worries and can attack us with all his strength, so we must let him live to contain us."
"What to do?"
Xun Yu turned to look at Chen Mu. Since he had planned it a long time ago, he didn't believe that he didn't have any ideas.
Chen Mu looked at the two of them and suddenly said something incomprehensible: "The climate in our Central Plains has become increasingly harsh. Summers are unbearably hot and winters are bitingly cold. Do you think the grasslands in the north will get hotter or colder?
"
Xun You continued casually: "Yes, in winter, the further south you go, the climate becomes milder. I heard that when there is heavy snow in the north, it is often as warm as spring in the Jiaozhou and Nanhai areas."
Chen Mu raised his head and looked into the distance, and said quietly: "Then it seems that the lives of the Xianbei people and the Huns will be very difficult, so it is time to go south."
The two Xun looked at each other again.
A gust of autumn wind came, suddenly desolate.
It blows into people's collars and creates an inexplicable chill on the soles of their feet.
As Beihu moves southward, great chaos is coming.
I don’t know how many people will die in this Central Plains land.