When the commotion started on the roadside, Yan Rou reacted much faster than others and arrived immediately.
At that time, he kept muttering in his heart that if he mobilized his soldiers and caused a conflict with the refugees, he would be embarrassed.
He was already prepared to kill a few people on the spot if Yuan Xi pursued the matter, and he also wanted to ask for punishment himself.
When they got there, they found that the uniforms of those soldiers were all from Yuan Xi's subordinates. Yan Rou breathed a sigh of relief and felt fortunate that she was not implicated.
After a while, he saw Yuan Xi rushing over to deal with the matter. He thought to himself that this unclear situation might be just covered up in the end.
However, the development of events afterwards was far beyond Yan Rou's expectations. Yuan Xi actually dealt with the case seriously according to military law!
You know, when the Han Dynasty was strong, military law was indeed very strict. But now it is a time of chaos, and the armies of the princes are equivalent to private soldiers. They are treated very favorably whether they are fighting for territory or farming. Who cares about military law?
If it were Yan Rou's own personal soldiers, they would all be well fed and well provided for and work hard for him. But Yuan Xi, on the other hand, didn't feel any pain when fighting. Wasn't he afraid that his subordinates would be dissatisfied?
However, Yan Rou also became alert. Yuan Xi treated his personal guards so strictly, but his own Wuhuan and Xianbei soldiers were much more lax. If they committed a crime, could they still escape?
This kind of thing might happen once or twice, but if it happens more and more, how would I deal with it?
Yan Rou was secretly alert and decided that once he arrived in Jicheng, he had to gather his soldiers and rectify military discipline first, so as to avoid problems that would be too late when he tried to remedy them.
He suddenly realized that was Yuan Xi trying to hint at him by doing this?
The soldiers who had been beaten had just limped to their feet. When they heard that Yuan Xi wanted to punish himself, they immediately knelt down and shouted, "It is we who are guilty. Please do not punish yourself, sir!"
Tian Yu also said, "Sir, the commander-in-chief was beaten with a military stick, which damaged the prestige of the army."
The hundreds of guards around Yuan Xi all bowed and said, "Please think twice!"
Seeing this, Yuan Xi sighed and said, "Since everyone says so, let's try another one."
He drew out the ring-handled sword from his waist with a swish, and at the same time took off the hair crown on his head, and his hair fell down all of a sudden.
He swung his knife back, the knife flashed, and he cut off a large lock of hair and threw it on the ground, shouting: "Cut your hair to pay for your sin!"
This incident happened suddenly, Tian Yu, Yan Rou and others were stunned, and everyone present was trembling!
The reason why people reacted in this way was that according to Han law, cutting hair was a form of punishment, which was equivalent to the punishment only slaves would receive. However, Confucianism was flourishing at that time, and it also advocated that "the body and hair are given by parents, and one should not damage them. This is the beginning of filial piety."
In other words, it is okay for the lower class people, but for the gentry who value filial piety and reputation, this behavior is extremely serious!
Yuan Xi was quite satisfied when he saw that everyone looked solemn.
As a modern man, there is no psychological pressure to shave his head, but this is the effect we want nowadays, and we have to thank the clever Cao Cao.
Yuan Xi had a malicious idea. He thought that if he cut off his hair to replace a military stick, and Cao Cao rode his horse to trample on the young seedlings in the future and wanted to use cutting off hair as a substitute for the death penalty, how much hair would Cao Cao have to cut off with his own example?
He waved his hand and asked Tian Yu to take away the soldiers who had been beaten with military sticks. He walked to the front of the cart and asked the soldiers to take some bread to the couple. He said, "I will arrange some people to escort you to Jicheng. Take good care of your grandfather on the way. Come to me anytime if you need anything."
The couple quickly knelt down to express their gratitude and even pulled the young man to kneel down.
Yuan Xi stopped them, touched the boy's head and said, "People say that there are many heroes in Yanzhao. This child is less than ten years old, but he is not afraid of sharp swords and weapons, and dares to stand up for his family. He can be said to be a hero at a young age."
He thought for a moment, took out the short sword from his waist, handed it to the boy and said, "I give you this sword to protect your family, but don't use it to do evil."
The boy took the knife, a look of joy appeared on his face, and he nodded vigorously.
Guo Jia saw Yuan Xi sending the family off, and then he lowered the curtain. Meiji in his arms asked, "Why doesn't the master get off?"
Guo Jia smiled slightly: "You have done a good job, why do you need me to come forward again?"
He thought that Yuan Xi was becoming more and more meticulous in his work. He punished soldiers to improve military discipline, cut his hair to appease and shock everyone, and finally gave the knife to the young man to protect his family.
Regardless of what Yuan Xi really thought in his heart, this performance was already quite remarkable and he acted like a lord.
After Yuan Xi got on the carriage, the team continued to march, and the soldiers began to murmur as they walked.
"Your Excellency is too cruel. It is unheard of for a noble family to cut their hair."
"We must be more careful next time so as not to anger the envoy."
"That's right. Serving as a soldier under the envoy, you have land and food, and your life is much better than before. If you make a mistake and are beaten into a slave, you will lose everything, and your family will be implicated!"
Everyone agreed with him, and someone whispered, "You said that the envoy's virtue is so noble, is it true that he is a real person from heaven who has come down to earth as the rumors say?"
Everyone nodded and agreed in unison, "That does make sense!"
Inside the carriage, Zhen Mi carefully helped Yuan Xi gather up her hair, put on a crown, and then inserted a hairpin to secure it.
She looked at Yuan Xi with heartache as he was missing a large patch of hair. She wanted to speak, but no words came out.
Mrs. Wu was indeed deeply moved. Yuan Xi and her son Sun Ce could be said to be two completely opposite types of people, and their styles of doing things were extremely contrasting.
Sun Ce was simply cut from the same cloth as Sun Jian; he was bold, cheerful, and extremely charming, a model of the knight-errant of that era, and thus he attracted a large number of like-minded people in Jiangdong.
It can be said that Sun Ce's behavior is the style of the gentry. From Yuan Shao to Yuan Shu, from Sun Jian to Cao Cao, when they were young, they all had hawks and running dogs, and called friends and acquaintances. This is called character.
To be fair, Madam Wu did not like this kind of behavior. She once advised Sun Ce that since he had great ambitions, he should mature early. When the princes established their achievements, didn't they still have to pay attention to their reputation?
However, Sun Ce didn't listen much and continued to do as he pleased, which made Mrs. Wu quite helpless.
In contrast, Yuan Xi was extremely introverted and calm. Everything he did was well thought out. He was mature beyond his years and possessed self-discipline, which was extremely rare among scholars of his age. In this respect, he was just like Sun Ce's father.
It's like... carrying something heavy.
Mrs. Wu thought to herself that she didn't know how Yuan Xi's character was formed. Perhaps he had experienced many things that made him what he is today?
What made Mrs. Wu extremely ashamed was that she had an unclear relationship with him and they even had a child!
Mrs. Wu couldn't help but think of what happened that night. Perhaps it was because of the drunkenness, Yuan Xi was uncharacteristically domineering and behaved very differently from usual. Was this drunken promiscuity, or the release of his repressed nature?
Mrs. Wu's face became increasingly hot, and she couldn't help but squeeze her legs together, secretly cursing herself for being shameless. Yuan Xi might have revealed his true colors, but wasn't she the same?
Thinking about how terrible her performance was in the end, Mrs. Wu felt very uncomfortable. She thought to herself that she liked being treated like that. Wasn't this even more abnormal?
Zhen Mi seemed to sense something and glanced at Madam Wu, who was so frightened that she dared not move.
Yuan Xi noticed that Madam Wu looked unnatural, so he asked, "Madam, have you been sitting in the carriage for too long and are you feeling unwell?"
"Do you want to ask Mr. Yuanhua to take a look?"
Madam Wu said hurriedly, "I'm fine, don't worry, young master."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi said, "Let's wait and see. Madam is pregnant with your husband's child. What if she gets pregnant after such a long journey?"
It would have been better if Zhen Mi didn't mention this. Madam Wu felt like she didn't know where to put her hands and feet. She couldn't help but fold her hands to cover her lower abdomen, as if she wanted to press it flat.
Yuan Xi and Zhen Mi looked at each other and realized that Mrs. Wu still could not fully accept the reality, so they could only take it one step at a time.
After another half day, near noon, the carriage stopped and they set up camp and made a fire.
During the march, it was only right that the only meal at night would be heated up by making a fire. But now there was no war and no need to rush, so Yuan Xi ordered everyone to take two breaks a day and cook at noon.
As soon as this order came out, the soldiers were all very happy. It was not long after the Chinese New Year and the weather was still cold. Being able to eat one more hot meal a day would make them feel much more comfortable.
Yuan Xi instructed Zhen Mi and Madam Wu to go find Huan's mother and daughter for dinner, while he, Tian Yu and others, shared the same pot and stove with the soldiers. Seeing Yuan Xi squatting beside the pot, drinking corn porridge from a wooden bowl, the soldiers beside him looked at him with awe and respect.
Previous events made them understand that this envoy had a bottom line in doing things, and if it was touched, he would deal with it seriously!
Yuan Xi ignored everyone's gazes and picked at the wild vegetables and dried minced meat in the bowl. He raised his head slightly while chewing and inadvertently saw the feet of the soldier opposite him. He showed a puzzled look on his face and then became depressed.
He held out his chopsticks, pointed at the soldier opposite him and said, "Where are your shoes?"
The soldier on the opposite side was shocked and looked at his feet, wearing a pair of tattered straw sandals, with exposed toes all cracked by the cold.
Tian Yu also realized that when in Guangling, Yuan Xi considered that they would be going on a long march, so he specially bought winter boots and asked Tian Yu to distribute them to everyone.
Those winter boots were made of rabbit skin and were very expensive, so they cost a lot of money.
At this time, the soldiers were wearing winter straw sandals, also called "fei", which were usually made of rice straw, wheat stalks, rice stalks, etc. The winter straw sandals were stuffed with hay to keep out the cold, and were much simpler than leather boots.
Tian Yu thought the quartermaster was cheating him, so he asked, "Tell me the truth, have you received the boots?"
The soldier quickly took out a pair of boots from his quilt and said, "I'll report to the envoy and the military supervisor. They were sent to me a long time ago. I've been carrying them all along."
Tian Yu breathed a sigh of relief: "Why don't you wear it?"
The soldier stammered, "These shoes are very expensive. I can't bear to wear them."
"Besides, the soles of leather boots will be easily worn out when walking through mountains and rivers. Straw sandals are more convenient for walking."
After hearing this, Tian Yu turned to Yuan Xi and said, "That's true. Leather boots are not wear-resistant. They're fine for riding horses, but walking on muddy ground is really inconvenient."
He turned to the soldier again, "Having said that, I bought you shoes for you to wear. How can you fight with frozen feet?"
After hearing this, the soldier quickly put on his leather boots, tied up his dirty straw sandals carefully, and put them into his bag.
Yuan Xi thought that only by being with the soldiers could he discover more problems. During this period of time, he was busy with diplomatic negotiations and moving among the nobles, but he had overlooked many problems.
Yuan Xi also understood that he could not take care of everything by himself and it was impossible for him to take care of every detail, so he was in urgent need of like-minded companions who could understand him.
Such companions are extremely difficult to find, and there are only a few like Zhao Yun so far. Training them personally is also a solution, just like Yuan Xi deliberately kept Sun Li by his side.
But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. It may take Sun Li several years before he can stand on his own, and even then, it will be far from enough.
Just like the problem of shoes in front of us, soldiers often have to face long-distance marches, but it is very difficult to find wear-resistant and soft sole materials.
The wooden sole is too hard, the grass sole is not strong enough, the leather sole is too expensive, the cloth sole has not yet appeared, and the hemp sole has the best cost-effectiveness, but it cannot withstand long-distance marches.
After much thought, the most suitable thing is rubber from later generations.
Yuan Xi thought that he had to speed up the development of maritime trade. The key point was that even if he could get rubber trees for planting, the soil in his own territory was not suitable.