In the cold winter, heavy snow falls.

After the pacification of the south, Guo Jia has completely solved his internal concerns in Yizhou, and he can turn his gun and only face the foreign enemy.

Gan Ning was requisitioned back from Hanzhong by Guo Jia to lead Yinling to ride north with him, with a very clear purpose, that is, to take the northwest as a strategic goal in the next period.

Guo Jia, who was sitting in the carriage, was dressed very warmly, but occasionally shivered, and from time to time a cold wind would sneak in from the neckline of his sleeves.

"Ying'er, don't always lift the curtains, the heat in the car is gone."

Xiao Qiao made a gesture to carry Guo Ying into his arms from under the window in the car, but was flexibly dodged by the little girl.

This time he went north to Chang'an, Guo Jia brought Xiao Qiao, Cai Yan, Wu Amaranth and daughter Guo Ying.

Maybe it was the first time to go out, Guo Yingan couldn't tell it, lying on the car window and opening the curtain to look into the distance, the earth was vast, the winding and undulating outline of the Qinling Mountains was visible in the distance, the silver light was bright, and there was a unique scene, so that Guo Ying, who saw this scene for the first time, sighed loudly.

Poking his head out of the window and looking at the scenery, Guo Ying suddenly looked down and saw a familiar figure among the soldiers accompanying him on both sides of the carriage.

With a wave of his little arms, Guo Ying shouted at the man: "Big brother! Eldest brother! ”

Guo Ye, who was dressed in the costume of an ordinary soldier, squeezed his eyes at Guo Ying helplessly, hoping that she would not be so eye-catching, especially not to let him also attract attention.

Guo Ying was still greeting, but she was hugged back from the inside, Xiao Qiao hugged her firmly in her arms, bowed her head and said: "Ying'er, remember, Ye'er is a pawn now, don't pester him." ”

Also enlisted in the army with Guo Ye are Xu Yi, Dianman, and Gan Gui, among which Dianman was promoted the fastest, and now he is a small capital, and even Guo Ye, Xu Yi, and Gan Gui have to obey Dianman's orders.

This time, in addition to Gan Ning leading Yinling to fly north, there was also Wu Yi leading 10,000 new troops, and Guo Ye and several people were among the new troops.

Guo Jia, who was reading in the car in a big hat, sometimes had a headache for Guo Ying, who couldn't calm down for a moment when he jumped up and down, but he still smiled more often, as if he saw himself when he was a child.

The snow is long and the wind is cold, which does not affect the grandeur of welcoming Guo Jia's arrival.

In Chengdu, most of the people who greet Guo Jia are ordinary people, and Chang'an is more of a wealthy family who can't wait to give their daughters to Guo Jia.

Guanzhong is recovering, rebuilding on the road to glory, the people who have returned to Guanzhong have settled down, and after a year or two of savings, they are also moving towards the direction of prosperity, these are the basis for promoting commercial prosperity, and the businessmen who benefit from each other are naturally Yizhou Chamber of Commerce, and the commercial street that Chang'an was planned out of is almost the Yizhou Chamber of Commerce in the monopoly, which is also a temporary situation, after the population increases, the increase in consumer demand, and the Yizhou Chamber of Commerce wants to continue to monopolize and is powerless. At that time, merchants from all over the world would inevitably come to Chang'an to do business.

Xu Shu, Fa Zheng, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Ji, who has been promoted all the way up in Chang'an in the past two years, lined up at the south gate of Chang'an to greet Guo Jia.

Chang'an was close at hand, Guo Jia gently hugged Guo Ying in his arms into Cai Yan's arms, this girl was finally tired after making trouble all the way, and she slept in Guo Jia's arms for a long time and didn't wake up.

Stepping out of the carriage and pulling the thin belt of the big man, Guo Jia stepped in front of everyone, saluted civilly and martically, and the wealthy families also greeted in unison, such a scene may have satisfied Guo Jia's vanity ten years ago, but now it feels like a waste of manpower and material resources on the surface.

"Let's go into the city, it's cold here in winter, and whoever gets cold and sick again is not mine."

Xu Shu left, Zhang Liao right, left and right followed Guo Jia into the city.

When he came to the Chang'an Mansion, Guo Jia took off his big hat and sat down directly on the main seat, although he was in a carriage, but the bumps along the way also made him a little tired.

"Let's talk about the recent political affairs in Chang'an in all aspects, pick the key points, and I'll read the detailed documents later."

Guo Jia sat reclining, listening with his eyes closed.

The person who replied to Guo Jia was Zhang Ji, he was born in Guanzhong, Guo Jia entered Guanzhong, and the Guanzhong clan and the wealthy family basically went to Xuchang to hug Cao Ying's thigh, and Cao Ying specially recruited Zhang Ji, Zhang Ji did not go to Xuchang to take office, but stayed in Guanzhong, he is a talent, but Guo Jia did not promote him exceptionally, from standing out in the imperial examination to gradually becoming Xu Shu's right-hand man in Guanzhong in a few years, relying on his diligent and pragmatic work.

Zhang Ji reported that he was in good condition for a long time, and Guo Jia leaned motionless on the main seat, his eyes closed as if he was asleep.

Zhang Ji looked at Xu Shu, his eyes seemed to be asking what to do?

Xu Shu came out of the column and whispered: "Lord, lord." ”

"I'm thinking. Yuan Zhi, how many years will it take for Guanzhong to really become my help? ”

Guo Jia's eyes were still closed.

Guanzhong has now reached a state of self-sufficiency, and there is no need for Guo Jia to transport grain and grass from Yizhou to maintain, but what Guo Jia wants is a Guanzhong that can provide him with grain and grass and provide a source of troops, otherwise he will send troops from Hangu Pass to the east, and the war and military supplies will be transported from Yizhou, and the consumption is immeasurable.

Xu Shu didn't dare to boast, whether Guanzhong can develop rapidly, the biggest factor is the population, there is more population, there is more output, there is more soldiers.

"At least, three years."

Sigh softly.

Guo Jia seemed a little helpless about this answer.

If Yuan Shao hadn't come to Guanzhong back then, maybe the recovery and development of Guanzhong would have been much faster.

"The lord is going north this time, does he want to wave his army east?"

Zhang Liao asked tentatively.

The south was pacified, Han Sui and Ma Chao in the northwest were not worth mentioning, Guo Jia had no worries in Yizhou, and Zhang Liao thought that Guo Jia was going north in winter because he wanted to send troops to the east in the spring.

"It's easy to pull the egg when you take a big step. Let's clean up the northwest first. ”

Guo Jia's words made several people present stunned at first, and then their expressions were stunned.

Perhaps no one expected Guo Jia to use such vulgar words to describe it.

"Then the lord is preparing to crusade against Han Sui and Ma Chao this time?"

Xu Shu's brain was running, at this time, Guo Jia's strength wanted to fight Han Sui and Ma Chao without any problem, but fighting a war means consumption, and if the reserves accumulated for several years are consumed, it is equivalent to having to start all over again.

"Prepare for war secretly, if the situation in the northwest does not change within two years, I will directly subdue the northwest, and if Han Sui and Ma Chao give me an opportunity to take advantage of it during the period, then take advantage of the situation and take it in one fell swoop."

The official business came to an end temporarily, Guo Jia and Xu Shu and Zhang Liao reminisced, and then delayed their office.

Guo Jia has always been very conscious of this, and he hates that others revolve around him.

Coming to Lishan again, this time Guo Jia brought his family here for a winter vacation.

In the natural hot spring, Guo Jia soaked in it very comfortably, the three beautiful concubines washed away the lead and turned to the sky without makeup, and the natural beauty was enough to captivate the world.

Guo Ying, who couldn't settle down in the water, patted the splash and hugged Guo Jia's arm and said to him, "Daddy, teach me to swim." ”

Under the star-studded moonlight, Guo Jia originally wanted to enjoy this rare time, but he didn't expect Guo Ying to give him a headache again.

Wu Yuan came to Guo Jia's side, gently stroked Guo Ying's little face, and said softly: "Ying'er, let me teach you how?" ”

Guo Ying's head was tilted, so she hugged Guo Jia's arm and didn't let go, shook her head and said, "No, I want my father to teach." ”

Cai Yan and Xiao Qiao, who were leaning on the shore not far away, showed teasing smiles, and after seeing Wu Amaranth returning in vain, Cai Yan said: "Ying'er likes to pester her husband like this, and my sister doesn't have to mind." ”

Xiao Qiao and Cai Yan are both self-aware, knowing that no one to persuade Guo Ying at this time will be ineffective, Wu Amaranth has experience after hitting a wall, and will definitely not try to stand up in such a situation next time.

The pool was not deep, but it was large enough to submerge Guo Ying's head, and Guo Jia laid her flat on the water, explaining the essentials of swimming posture to her while trying to maintain her balance.

In the misty hot spring pool, Guo Jia looked at Guo Ying, who had just learned to swim and kept splashing and getting carried away, and suddenly a sense of accomplishment welled up in his heart.

…… After the winter, Guo Jia did not return to Yizhou and continued to stay in Chang'an.

Many speculated that this was a signal that Guo Jia was going to move the administrative office to Chang'an.

Although Chengdu is now more prosperous than Chang'an, but Chengdu can not have the political significance and status of Chang'an's great Han and Western Capital, Guo Jia wants to compete in the Central Plains, Chengdu is not as good as Chang'an's strategic position, from the day Guo Jia entered Guanzhong, many people have inferred that Guo Jia will one day put the ruling center in Chang'an.

The Yuan family has not officially withdrawn from the stage of history, Cao Ying has not crossed Hebei a step, Guo Jia has been staying in Chang'an, and there will always be people who misunderstand that Guo Jia is rearming and going out of the Kwantung Expedition.

In late May, Guo Jia was discussing with Zhang Ji in Fuzhong a plan to invest in water conservancy construction in Guanzhong in the second half of the year, which would cost manpower and material resources, and the results would not be immediate, and it would often take several years to make a qualitative leap.

Zhang proposed to achieve it overnight, so that the water conservancy construction of the entire Guanzhong could be completed in one step, Guo Jia disagreed, he had to consider many aspects, Zhang only stared at Guanzhong, Guo Jia could not, and after the southern part of Yizhou was annexed, a large amount of money, grain and labor should be invested in construction and development, and the overall situation should not be top-heavy.

After Guo Jia informed Zhang Ji of his considerations, Zhang Ji took a step back and wanted to complete the infrastructure construction of Guanzhong in at least three years.

Both of them seemed to be elegant scribes, and they did not get angry when they held their own opinions, and they were calm when discussing issues.

After the matter was concluded, Guo Jia and Zhang Ji casually talked about some trivial matters in Guanzhong, and at this time, Xu Shu walked into the hall with a solemn face.

"Yuan Zhi, your expression tells me that something big is happening."

Guo Jia took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and seemed to be mentally prepared to listen to Xu Shu's report.

As Guo Jia expected, Xu Shu arched his hand and said in a deep voice: "Lord, I just got the news that Yuan Shao died of illness. ”

Yuan Shao, who was famous for a while, died.

(To be continued)