The magistrate of Xinye County, whose surname was Wang, was named Wang Yi. He was from Jizhou and was originally a descendant of the Party members. After the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, the Party forces fell apart and his hometown was in chaos, so he came to Jingzhou to join Liu Biao.
When he learned that Deng's descendants from abroad were returning home in large numbers and that Liu Biao had ordered them, Wang Yi did not dare to neglect and went out of the city to welcome them.
Liu Xian brought Deng Mao, Deng Hong, Deng Zhao, Chenzhen and others to meet him. The village elders stayed outside the city first, while the group entered Xinye County and went to the county government mansion to discuss.
Shen Chen also followed the adults in. When he arrived at the county government office, there was already someone waiting inside. He was an old man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties. Wang Yi introduced: "This is the current village elder of the Deng family in Xinye. His name is Deng Qi."
"I am Deng Mao."
"Deng Hong."
"Deng Zhao."
Several people greeted each other.
Deng Qi still held several scrolls of bamboo slips in his arms and said to them: "Please also meet the genealogy."
Deng Mao waved, and Deng Zhao behind him also took the bamboo slips in his arms.
The two of them sat on the table and began to compare each other's bamboo slips.
After a while, after comparing the genealogy, Deng Qi said with a smile: "It turns out they are several disciples."
After verification, Deng Qi's grandfather and Deng Mao's grandfather were brothers, and both were sons of Yehou Deng Guangzong.
When the Deng family tree fell and the monkeys dispersed, Deng Mao's grandfather moved to Xuzhou, while Deng Qi's grandfather went south to Yicheng, and in Deng Qi's father's generation returned to Nanyang.
Therefore, Deng Qi and Deng Mao should be regarded as cousins and brothers.
Deng Mao smiled bitterly and said: "The world is difficult and Xuzhou is already a scorched earth. We have no choice but to flee back to Nanyang with our family. I hope my brother will take him in."
Deng Qi smiled and said: "We are all brothers, so naturally we have to help each other. Nanyang lacks everything now, except land. Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, my hometown has been dilapidated. There are very few settlements and there are abandoned fields everywhere. If we reclaim the land, we can live a better life again."
"Thank you, brother."
When Deng Mao heard the news, he breathed a long sigh of relief. The only thing he was worried about was that his parents in his hometown could not tolerate them. Fortunately, there were wars and countless abandoned lands, so there was no need to consider the issue of habitat.
Wang Yi thought about it and said: "There are wastelands everywhere in Xinye now. The better place is the Shahe area. It can accommodate thousands of you more than enough, so let's place the village gathering in Shahe."
"Thank you, Lord County."
Deng Mao thanked Wang Yi again.
After finalizing the place, Wang Yi and Deng Qi took them there in person.
The elders of Huangmenting Township set off again. The Shahe River is a river between Huishui and Bishui. It runs through the two places. In addition to the Shahe River, there are also several rivers such as the Lihe River and the Tangzi River.
The Nanyang Basin is about the same size as the Guanzhong Basin, and its population reached more than two million during Emperor He's reign, accounting for two-fifths of the total population of Jingzhou at that time.
However, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Nanyang Basin has suffered many disasters. In addition, Yuan Shu was entrenched here in the early days. He did not practice the law and used looting as a source of extravagance. The people suffered from his harm, and Nanyang gradually declined. .
However, in the past two years, Yuan Shu was defeated by Liu Biao and Cao Cao one after another, and had to retreat to Huainan. The situation in Nanyang was much better. Today, it has a population of one million, and it is a source of food and population that Liu Biao values very much.
Therefore, he deployed many troops and horses in Nanyang. For example, Wenpin is currently guarding Wancheng, Cai Mao, the prefect of Nanjun and the military advisor of Zhennan General, is stationed in Xiangyang, and Liu Biao's nephew Zhang Yun is stationed in Fancheng.
In addition to these main forces to resist the north, there are other armed forces. For example, Gan Ning is also here at this time, with 800 Buqu, and Huo Jun's brother Huo Du, who also has hundreds of people, and others such as Shen Mi, Lou Fa and his ilk have dozens of forces, large and small.
Even to a certain extent, the more than two hundred tribesmen guarded by Huangmenting can be regarded as an armed force.
Shen Chen followed the village elders to the resettlement site, and saw the endless wilderness of Nanyang Basin, overgrown with weeds, and the forest in the distance blocking the sky. Although the Shahe River is not a big river, it is the river between Baihe River and Tanghe River in later generations, used for irrigation. There is more than enough farmland.
The village elders moved here to cut down trees, build houses, and reclaim land. While everyone was busy, Deng Mao summoned the clan elders and held a clan meeting.
After moving to Nanyang, the first Huangmenting Township Elders’ Meeting was held at the foot of a small hillside in the northeast of Shahe River. The place was densely wooded and overgrown with weeds. It was early winter, and although it had not yet snowed, the weather was already full of... The buttocks are cold.
Deng Zhao called a few strongmen to temporarily cut down some trees and build a shack.
Deng Mao, Deng Hong and other brothers, plus the two elders of the Shen clan, and Shen Chen, a total of eight people, were sitting in rows, all with very serious faces.
There was a lot of content in this meeting, and there were three main ones. The first was to determine Shen Chen’s commanding position, the second was to plan the new rural settlement in Huangmenting, and the third was the issue of the future development of the clan.
At the meeting, Deng Mao was the first to speak: "Although Ah Chen has a foreign surname, the Deng and Shen families have always advanced and retreated together. This time we were able to move back to our ancestral land smoothly, and Ah Chen has contributed a lot. I support Ah Chen in the future." Make decisions on clan matters."
Deng Hong nodded and said: "Ah Chen is very smart. This time he also allowed me to successfully serve as an official in Jingzhou. I also agree."
"I'm OK."
"Although Ah Chen is not very old, he has a calm personality. As long as he is around, it should be fine."
"Then it's settled, Ah Chen, what do you think?"
Several clan elders had no objections.
Since the beginning of this year, Shen Chen has been preaching about relocation at the village pavilion. At that time, the villagers didn't care, but it didn't take long for everything he said to come true.
After Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, the villagers felt very scared. It was also after this incident that Shen Chen's voice among the clan gradually increased and he was taken seriously by everyone.
Immediately afterwards, Shen Chen planned the migration route, trained soldiers within the tribe, and conducted land transactions with Mi Zhu, a wealthy man in Xuzhou. A series of things were done in an orderly manner, so he was gradually convinced by the villagers.
Unlike the villagers, who thought that Shen Chen was smart and could lead them to survive in troubled times.
Deng Mao, Deng Hong and others were considering the future development of the clan.
As descendants of the Deng family, they naturally have a much broader vision than ordinary villagers. They know very well that in such a world, if you cannot have a certain social status, or hold an official position, and control power, then you will be slaughtered like a pig or a dog.
Just like in Xuzhou, Cao Cao clearly wanted to take revenge on Tao Qian, the herdsman of Xuzhou, but Tao Qian had 10,000 troops stationed in the city, and Cao Cao couldn't attack, so he took out his anger on the people in the countryside and counties.
If it weren't for Shen Chen, perhaps the Huangmen Pavilion would be covered with corpses now.
So after this incident happened, Deng Mao and the others had to think, what if we could avoid this situation from happening?
Naturally, strength is needed.
If they don't have the strength, let someone with strength lead them.
Shen Chen is the best choice.
Firstly, he is a relative of the clan, and secondly, his future prospects are limitless.
Therefore, this is the right time to determine Shen Chen's dominant position and bind him to the clan.
"Thank you for your recognition, uncles. Although I don't think I am qualified to be the leader of the clan, time is tight and many things must be done."
Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "The top priority now is to build the village and cultivate the fields, so I will decide on the major issues in the clan for the time being. As for the convenience of farming, you clan elders are more familiar with it than me, so I won't get involved too much. But the specific planning of the village will be implemented by me, what do you uncles think?"
Deng Mao said: "Ah Chen, you make the decision."
"good."
Shen Chen nodded and said: "In the past two days, everyone will cut down trees and build shacks to live in. I will use this time to check the surrounding terrain first, and then design and build."
The matter was settled in this way, and in the next two days, Shen Chen began his survey, looking for a suitable place to live in the surrounding square kilometers.
The place Wang Yi chose for them is located to the north of the Shahe River, and to the south is the Shahe River. It is a small and medium-sized river seventeen or eighty feet wide. The river water is quite rich. The deepest part is about two or three feet. There is a large area of land on both sides.
There is a mountain forest in the northeast. It is called a mountain, but it is actually a hill. The highest point is only more than 20 feet high. There are many hillsides of 70 to 80 feet high. There are thick trees in it and a large number of animals inhabit it.
The north, northwest, west and southwest are all plain areas with lush forest vegetation. It is said that a little further to the west there was originally a village, which was ruined during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
After several days of investigation, Shen Chen finally decided to locate the village on the north bank of the Shah River, about two hundred meters away from the river.
At the same time, a large number of fields were cultivated on the south bank and outside the village.
The reason for this design was that Shen Chen wanted to dig a tunnel. The soil near the river was too wet and was not conducive to digging, so he moved the village farther away from the river.
The water problem is also simple, just build canals.
And just around here is the narrowest part of the Shahe River, which is only seven or eight feet long. A bridge can be built so that the fields on the north and south banks can be used uniformly.
To the east of the village is the hill. Shen Chen also plans to carry out a big project in the hill. He will build a bunker above the hill and a shelter below. The tunnel will lead directly to the village, so that even if there is an enemy attack, he can hide immediately. .
In addition, Shen Chen also asked each household to build a thatched house. According to the requirements of his drawing, a square cellar was dug underground in the backyard of each house, and a rammed earth thatched house was built above for raising livestock.
Although there were huts in the Han Dynasty, they were mostly owned by wealthy families or county residents. Ordinary villagers would be fine if they had a house, which was often a simple rammed earth or wooden house with a main room outside, a bedroom inside, and at most a kitchen. , special huts are rarely built.
It would be after the Ming and Qing Dynasties that the standard houses in rural areas of our later generations were truly developed.
Because the technology of retting did not appear until the Southern Song Dynasty, it began to be popularized in the Yuan Dynasty, and spread throughout the country during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. People in the Han Dynasty did not understand this technology.
Before Shen Chen traveled through time, he studied architectural design and worked in a design institute.
Although I was basically engaged in civil architectural design, when I was studying, I traveled across the country to learn about local architectural features. I saw many watchtowers, manors, and cities left over from ancient times, as well as many old rural houses.
So I still have some experience in rural construction.
At present, it is impossible to build a city with the population of Huangmenting, but it is possible to build a cage.
This kind of thing actually existed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was created by the Qiang people in Xiliang. It played a huge role until the Battle of Dachuan in the Qing Dynasty. Even artillery could not penetrate it.
After several days of survey, Shen Chen finally planned the pastoral area, residential area, Qionglong area and part of the tunnel bunker.
The Qionglong Tunnel bunker is an ancient architectural design and existed from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, the design was unreasonable and unstandardized, so it was not particularly popular.
What's more important is that these things are only suitable for small-scale construction.
Even the most famous tunnel battles in the Jizhong Plain during the Anti-Japanese War in later generations involved digging tunnels within villages rather than large-scale excavations.
Therefore, it is particularly useful when engaging in guerrilla warfare and dealing with small-scale wars.