Xingping Year 1 (194 AD).
Youzhou, Zhuojun, Beixin City.
The chill of late autumn, carried by the cold wind, poured into the city through the mottled brown city walls.
At the foot of the wall, a dozen soldiers squatted on the ground, holding wooden bowls and laboriously scraping the bean porridge inside with wooden spoons.
The leader was a tall, handsome young man who couldn't help but shiver slightly from the cold air above him.
The porridge in the bowl was quite rough, with a lot of sand mixed in, which grated painfully against his teeth.
He carefully crushed the half-cooked beans and millet with his tongue, grinding them finely on his molars until the bitterness in his mouth turned into a hint of sweetness, and then swallowed forcefully.
For him, who was used to modern food in his previous life, the taste of bean porridge that required so much chewing to swallow was far from ideal, but it was already a rare delicacy in the current situation.
Footsteps approached, and two men walked over from a distance, carrying a bundle of tattered mats, revealing a pair of skinny but pale and swollen feet.
The two walked crookedly, and the corpse inside the mat swayed a few times. The man in front couldn't help but say, "Erlang, carry it steadily, don't tear the mat, we still need to take it back later."
The man behind couldn't help but say, "D Lang, are we just going to bury sister in law like this?"
The man in front sighed, "Bury her?"
"We can't leave the city now, where can we bury her?"
The second man asked in confusion, "Then where are we going? Are we going to exchange sister in law with someone else?"
The man in front was silent for a moment, and said, "Forget it, let's just throw her down from the city wall."
The two staggered past, and a foul smell wafted over, making it difficult for the soldiers to swallow the food in their mouths.
They stood up, wanting to shout, but seeing that the young man was still silently eating his bean porridge, they had no choice but to sit down again.
After the two men passed, the young man thought for a while and said to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy beside him, "Sun Li, go ask them if the food rations have been distributed in the city these past few days, and how the person in the mat died."
The boy hurried up to catch up with them, and returned after a while, saying, "Brother Yuan, I asked, they said the rations were distributed, and the woman in the mat died of illness."
Sun Li hesitated for a moment and said, "Recently, even we haven't been eating very well. What they're doing is out of desperation."
The young man was silent. This was the chaotic Three Kingdoms period, where "no rooster crows for thousands of miles, and white bones are exposed in the wilderness," far from as beautiful as he had imagined.
His name was Yuan Xi. Three years ago, while working on a construction site, he was killed by a muck truck and transmigrated to the Three Kingdoms era, becoming Yuan Shao's seventeen-year-old second son, Yuan Xi.
At that time, it was the third year of Chuping (192 AD), just when Yuan Shao had defeated Gongsun Zan at Jieqiao. Gongsun Zan fled to Yijing, where the boundary between You and Ji provinces met, and defended himself. After that, the two sides fought, each with victories and defeats.
In history, this Yuan Xi was caught between his eldest brother Yuan Tan and his third brother Yuan Shang, and there were few records about him. The only thing he was known for was marrying Zhen Mi, one of the most famous beauties of the Three Kingdoms.
According to historical development, Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan, and Yuan Xi was appointed as the governor of Youzhou. After Yuan Shao was defeated at Guandu and died of illness, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fought for power, killing each other and being defeated by Cao Cao one by one. The three Yuan brothers died one after another.
After Yuan Xi understood the situation, he asked Yuan Shao to let him go to the front line in Youzhou.
He needed to buy time.
Because it wasn't until 199 AD that Gongsun Zan was completely defeated by Yuan Shao, and Yuan Xi was appointed as the governor of Youzhou, and 200 AD was the Battle of Guandu!
In history, Yuan Xi was defeated by Cao Cao's army after Yuan Shao's death. One reason was that Cao Cao's power was too great, and another reason was that Yuan Xi had only managed the Youzhou area for a few years, which was too short.
In this life, since Heaven had given him a few more years, Yuan Xi decided to seize this opportunity and make plans early.
Yuan Xi knew that Yuan Shao would fail sooner or later if things continued like this, but the key was Cao Cao.
The Battle of Guandu originated from Cao Cao's expansion after conquering Xuzhou and Yuzhou, which Yuan Shao could not tolerate, and the two sides went to war. If he could find a way to delay Cao Cao's expansion, would it be possible to change history?
To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. In order to cultivate his own power, Yuan Xi asked Yuan Shao for hundreds of soldiers and came to Beixin City, south of Zhuojun in Youzhou, to defend the city and farm the land.
According to Yuan Xi's prediction, Gongsun Zan was currently fighting with Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, and should not be able to spare the time to deal with him.
However, history had deviated slightly. Qu Yi, a meritorious official in the Battle of Jieqiao, was killed by Yuan Shao's axe-wielding men when he patrolled Beixin City last year because of his arrogance.
This fierce general, who should have retired from the stage of history a few years later, had his Liangzhou soldiers annexed by Yuan Shao after his death. The Youzhou front, which could have maintained a balance, was found a loophole by Gongsun Zan, who sent troops to attack the city from time to time, making it difficult for Yuan Xi to support it.
However, after several attacks and defenses, he gradually understood some war tactics, and with the experience of his previous life, he found a way to strengthen the city walls and finally defended it.
However, half a year ago, Liu Yu was killed by Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Zan began to free his hands to deal with Beixin City, which led to the fact that the city's food could not be transported in time, so the city often lacked food.
Yuan Xi tried to distribute some food to the people in the city so as not to cause a major famine, but it was difficult for him to control what people did in private when they were starving.
Of course, there was also food, because the wheat on the thousands of acres of land south of Beixin City would soon be harvested.
But what worried Yuan Xi was that he could not send people out of the city to harvest the wheat now.
Because now outside Beixin City, not only was there a troop of Gongsun Zan blocking the way, but Yuan Xi also received news that a group of bandits from the Southern Xiongnu was also coming from the mountains south of Beixin City!
It was harvest time, but they were surrounded by two sides and could not leave the city!
His cheap father, Yuan Shao, seemed to underestimate Beixin City. He sent a letter a few days ago asking Yuan Xi to return to Yecheng, saying that he was old enough to get married.
According to the historical trend, it was almost time for Yuan Xi to marry Zhen Mi, although according to official history, he also had a wife named Wu somewhere.
And if he calculated the time, Cao Cao was about to attack Xuzhou for the second time, and the people of Xuzhou would once again face a massacre.
This matter was too harmful to the harmony of heaven and earth. Yuan Xi was thinking about how to meet Yuan Shao and see if he could prevent this from happening, and also prevent Cao Cao from growing stronger.
But the top priority was how to break the siege of Beixin City.
He looked at the soldiers going up and down the city walls. Although they looked okay, they all looked tired. Defending the city was indeed easier than attacking it, but the pressure was not small. Now that there were two enemy troops outside, how could he break the deadlock?
While Yuan Xi was thinking, Sun Li ran over, "Brother Yuan, that young general of Gongsun Zan's army has brought troops to challenge us again!"
Yuan Xi heard the shouts of the soldiers outside the city, scooped the remaining mouthfuls of rice in the wooden bowl into his mouth, and stood up.
He carefully fastened his armor, put on his iron helmet, and said to everyone, "Let's go, go to the city wall and take a look."
He led the way to the city wall, and a few soldiers followed behind, whispering.
"General Yuan is good in every way. He has a handsome appearance and a tall stature. I heard that his archery is also not bad, but he is too cautious."
"That's right. We've all seen the famous generals under Gongsun Zan. The one who has been challenging us outside the city for several days is an unknown young general. I really don't understand why the general is so afraid."
"That's right. He's been challenging us under the city for several days, but we can't go out and fight. It's really frustrating."
Yuan Xi pretended not to hear the words of the soldiers behind him. He walked to the city wall, bent down, and put his head to the arrow hole, slowly revealing one eye.
He saw hundreds of soldiers neatly arranged under the city, without anyone drawing their bows and arrows. Only then did he straighten up and stick his head out.
In front of the enemy formation, a young general in silver armor and a silver helmet, riding a white horse, carrying a horn bow on his back, and holding a long spear, rode alone to the city to challenge.
When the young general saw Yuan Xi showing his head, he shouted loudly, "Yuan Xi, come out and fight!"
Yuan Xi heard this and smiled, "Brother Zhao, it's so cold, why bother shouting and killing? Why not go back and rest early, so that the soldiers can have a full meal."
The man said angrily, "Don't call me Brother Zhao! When was I your brother!"
"Enough nonsense, if you're a man, come out of the city quickly and fight me, Changshan Zhao Zilong!"
Yuan Xi, twenty years old, transmigrated for three years, was preparing to return to Yecheng to marry Zhen Mi and reach the peak of his life, but was blocked at the door.
At this time, the man named Zhao Zilong under the city was still unknown, and was looking for an opponent to become famous in one battle.