Lishan Mountain, also known as Xiuling Mountain, is the northern branch of the Qinling Mountains. It has winding mountains and green trees. It is early spring in February, and the grass and trees have not yet turned green. From a distance, it looks like a dark blue dragon.
At the middle foot of Lishan Mountain, there are more than two hundred armored knights staying quietly in front of the mouth of a canyon. Occasionally, the horses snort, or one or two large birds passing through the sky whistle, breaking the silence in the canyon. The canyon is long, deep, and twists and turns.
, a waterfall falls from a hundred-foot-high cliff, and the water splashes against the rocks, making a gurgling sound.
Zhu Yu was wearing a green robe, standing on a raised stone platform, looking at the wonderful scenery in the valley.
Several fast horses galloped from outside the mountain, alerting the cavalry guarding the entrance of the canyon. When they saw that the person coming was Deputy General Chen Kun, they relaxed their vigilance and let him go directly into the canyon to meet His Highness King Yong.
"If you don't stay in Da'an City, what are you doing here?" Zhu Yu asked.
Da'an City was Chang'an, the famous capital of the previous dynasty. Chang'an City, which was destroyed by the war after the previous dynasty was overthrown, was incorporated into the territory of Liang State just four years ago and was renamed Da'an City for reconstruction.
After the Jingxiang War ended, the Liang Dynasty internally summarized its experience and lessons, mainly because the time to operate the Guanzhong land was too short.
After a hundred years of war, Guanzhong was in dilapidated condition, and the remaining forces did not yet have a strong sense of belonging to the Liang Kingdom.
During the Jingxiang War, the troops from Guanzhong came out of Wuguan to attack Jingzikou, but their offensive was always tepid. As a result, during the entire Jingxiang War, the soldiers and horses that entered the Nanyang Basin never received truly effective support from the Guanzhong area.
support.
Whether it is to continue to use troops against the Chu State from the west or to send troops to conquer Shu, managing Guanzhong has become the top priority of the Liang State.
In the middle of the previous dynasty, Jingzhao Prefecture added a pass to the inner pass, and the population was nearly four million when it was prosperous. However, after a hundred years of war, the population of the states under the jurisdiction of Guanzhong Xingtai at this time was only a little over one million, while the population once reached
The Jingzhao Chang'an Prefecture, which had a capital of two million, now had less than 300,000 people in its eighteen counties, but it was still the foundation of the Liang Kingdom that could not be ignored.
Zhu Yu led Xuanjiadu back to Luoyang in Bianzhou. He didn't even have the chance to rest for two months. Then, he was ordered by the Shangshu to close Guanzhong and led Xuanjiadu to Da'an City and began to operate Guanzhong. It has been half a year so far.
Zhu Yu was not very satisfied with the outcome of the Jingxiang War. Even though he was in Guanzhong, he was always concerned about the movements of Chu State.
Chen Kun handed over the horses to the accompanying guards to take the lead. He climbed up the stone platform and said excitedly: "The Emperor Chu's final decision on Han Qian's absconding was finalized half a month ago. The spies just sent the news report.
, it seems that we only need to wait for the Han family and his son to make peace with Tanzhou before we attack Jingxiang again..."
Zhu Yu remained silent. He took the newspaper and sat on the moss-stained rock to read it carefully. He shook his head and said, "Everyone is focusing on Han Qian's defection these days, but few people can jump out.
Take a look at the whole chess game."
"Your Highness, do you think there is something fishy about this matter?" Chen Kun asked in surprise.
"I was just a little skeptical at first, but now I'm 70-80% certain," Zhu Yu said.
"What did your Highness suspect at first?" Chen Kun asked puzzledly.
"In the battle between Jingxiang and Xiang, it can be said that Han Qian single-handedly turned the tide of the battle and made us return without success. Yang Mi did not reward Han Qian. Perhaps it could be said that he did not like Han Qian and his son for their extraordinary achievements, or perhaps he did not like it at that time.
He was wary of the Han family and his son, but with Yang Mi's suspicious temperament, if he really wanted to dethrone him, and since he had to use the Han family and his son to assist Yang Yuanpu, it would be impossible not to keep an eye on him. Han Qian should not be allowed to abscond so easily.
"Zhu Yu said, "Now that he has demoted Shen Yang to Ezhou to serve as chief historian, the situation has become clear. All this is Yang Mi's chess game, and the Han family and his son are his pawns in Tanzhou..."
"Han Qian absconded quite thoroughly this time. Given Yang Mi's suspicious nature and without sufficient restraint, he would let both the Han family and his son go to Xuzhou?" Chen Kun asked in confusion.
"If I were Yang Mi, I would give Xuzhou to the Han family and his son," Zhu Yu stood up and said with his hands behind his back. "And using Yang Yuanpu to lead Ezhou from afar, and sending Shen Yang and Zhou Dang to Ezhou to run the business first, is actually for Make preparations for sending troops to Tanzhou in the future."
Chen Kun thought that Xuzhou was located in a corner, with high mountains and far away rivers. Dingkou was only one-twentieth of Tanzhou. It was originally half Jizhou. Giving it to the Han family and his son would not harm the state of Chu. With seven counties and a population of over two million, Tanzhou is really a very cost-effective deal.
Thinking of this, Chen Kun asked: "Should we send someone to Tanzhou to deliver the letter?"
No matter what they say, since they have discovered this secret, they cannot just sit back and watch Emperor Chu succeed.
Zhu Yu pondered for a moment and said: "The news is going to be spread, but Tanzhou may not be very wary. On the contrary, Anning Palace and Xu Mingzhen may be more easily shaken."
Chen Kun said: "I will make arrangements right away!"
…………
…………
February in Xuzhou is much warmer than in Guanzhong.
The evergreen trees and shrubs in Xuefeng Mountains and Wuling Mountains are relatively large, but they are dark green in winter and look a bit dull. In February of the fifteenth year of God’s Blessing, new green leaves grow, and the Tianqi Mountains are covered with clumps. The new grass grows long, the jasmine flowers on the cliffs or in the huts on the stream bank also spit out bright yellow stamens, and the color gradation between heaven and earth is much richer.
Han Qian stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the surrounding mountains and fields, but in his heart he hoped that the arrival of warm, moist and rainy spring would be postponed.
In order to build diversion weirs and overflow weirs in Wuliu Creek, the river channel must be intercepted, and water from the upstream of Wuliu Creek must be diverted through narrow canals excavated from the side.
In order to save manpower, this narrow canal is only three feet wide and six or seven feet deep. It can only be used as an irrigation branch canal during normal times. It can also serve as the main channel of Wuliu River during dry seasons, but not during wet seasons.
The Wuliu River water conservancy project must be built when the rainwater from Longya Mountain is concentrated, otherwise the upstream water will exceed the bearing capacity of this branch canal. Fields may be affected by floods at any time, which will also seriously affect subsequent reclamation.
This will also mean that subsequent plans will need to be further adjusted.
Although Han Qian knew that there were a lot of things going wrong in Xuzhou, and things might go wrong somewhere, and it was impossible for everything to go according to plan, there were too many and too big problems, and he couldn't avoid them all.
He is now scrambling for time. On the one hand, he wants to have the ability to contain Tanzhou in the autumn and winter. On the other hand, he also has to guard against the possibility that after the war in Tanzhou is over, God bless me, I will seize Xuzhou. What to do with the third prince?
By then, wouldn’t it mean that neither his father nor his son would gain anything?
The three-masted galley sailed slowly to the Neihu Pier on the east side of Wufeng Mountain. There happened to be a small boat driving a large group of gray-feathered ducks passing by. There were three or five young duck farmers standing or squatting on the bow of the boat, curiously looking at the roof deck. The number of beds and crossbows.
These young duck farmers were all children of the plantation. When they saw the warship approaching, they showed no fear in their eyes. When they saw their uncle they knew on the deck, they raised their hands to say hello excitedly.
If it weren't for the cold spring water, some of these young people would jump into the lake and show off their swimming skills.
"It would be great if we could go boating here." Zhao Ting'er stretched out and said in a soft voice.
Han Qian turned around and looked at her lazy and charming face, his heart trembled slightly.
Xi Rong squatted on the deck. She didn't know where she picked up the stones, and threw them at the ducks in the lake, which made many gray-feathered ducks quack and scream.
The year before last, Han Qian made a big fuss in restaurants and restaurants in Qianyang, asking for ducks everywhere for food. Later, he purchased cured duck breasts on a large scale and sold them in Jinling and other places. Here in Qianyang City, almost every household has developed the habit of supporting their families.
The number of ducks raised on the plantation has been maintained at about 100,000. Previously, 30,000 to 40,000 ducklings were hatched using the soup hatching method and sent to Wuliu River and Longya City, which will provide cheaper ducklings.
Excellent meat, poultry and duck.
The boat docked at the Neihu Pier. Han Qian was not in a hurry to get off the boat. He saw the newly built embankment extending from Wufeng Mountain, blocking the water of the Yuanjiang River in the river channel that had narrowed by more than half on the west side. The plantations on the west side were relatively new.
When he first arrived in Xuzhou, within two months, the area had expanded a lot to the outside, and almost 10,000 acres of new grain fields had been reclaimed. He felt very happy.
In addition to the people farming and farming, more people on the west side of Wufeng Mountain gathered together to dig river canals and build river gates.
It is not that after Wufeng Mountain builds river embankments from the north to the south, the tens of thousands of acres of land between the embankments and Qianyang City will all become fertile farmland capable of growing two-crop grains.
The terrain is low, easy to accumulate water and difficult to drain, and the soil is soft. Without continuous and long-term improvement, upgrading, planting of grains, cotton and linen, etc., it is difficult to have an optimistic harvest; most new fields can only be planted for one season.
Winter wheat should be harvested before the end of April to avoid waterlogging after summer.
In Linjiang County, even if the Wuliu River Water Conservancy Project is completed and the higher terrain is developed, more efforts will still be needed to build river embankments and open up more than 100,000 acres of grain fields along the river.
"Han Qian, Han Qian!"
Feng Yi and Kong Xirong happened to be at the Neihu Pier at this time. When they saw Han Qian returning to Qianyang on the boat today, they strode over to say hello.
In the past two months, Han Qian mainly stayed in Longya Mountain and did not go back to Qianyang much. Today was the first time he met Feng Yi and Kong Xirong after arriving in Xuzhou.
After half a year of hard work, especially after arriving in Xuzhou, Feng Yi had to cultivate fields and build houses with his pampered and resentful clansmen like them. He became much darker and thinner, but compared to the dude he had been in Jinling before.
, decadent, but much more energetic.
Kong Xirong has been trained in boxing and kicking skills by his father Kong Zhou since he was a child. He is taller and stronger than Feng Yi, but he has always been Feng Yi's follower, and his personality is not showy.
When they met this time, Han Qian saw that although he was still as taciturn as before, his eyes were deeper and more focused than before. Feng's disaster should have changed him the most.
There were more than 400 members of the Feng family, and Han Qian asked the Xi family to set aside more than 200 houses and 2,000 acres of new land in the newly built Xi Village to accommodate them.
In addition to the lack of buildings, the two thousand acres of new land was not enough to feed more than 400 people based on the grain output of the Linshui beach. However, Han Qian allocated another part of the homeland and more than three thousand acres of wasteland, allowing the Feng clan to
Construction and reclamation were carried out to change their bad habit of reaching out for clothes and opening their mouths for food.
Resentment is bound to be inevitable, but Feng and Kong seem to be able to cope with it.
Han Qian stopped the guards who were about to stop Feng Kong, walked towards them, and said with a smile: "Look at how lean you are. I haven't seen you for more than two months and you have suffered a lot! But don't complain, look. Seeing me like this, if you follow me to Longya Mountain, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult."
"We are not afraid of hardship now, but it is too boring to work in the fields and raise ducks all day long. Do you have any other errands for the two of us to do?" Feng Yi asked with a shy face, "By the way, listen. He said that Zhang Ping, the uncle of the inner temple, came to Qianyang to convey the order this time. Yao Xishui and Chun Shisanniang also came with them. Can we go into the city with you and meet them?"
Feng Yi and Kong Xirong were unable to enter Qianyang City at will at this time. Even if they wanted to see their old friends, they made a special trip to wait for Han Qian in front of the dock.
"Do you really want to see Chun Shisanniang?" Han Qian looked at Feng Yi and Kong Xirong with a smile and asked.
Feng Yi's guilty face turned slightly red. After all, Chun Shisanniang and Little Crow Guo Que'er's identity in Zuo Si was revealed by him without resisting the pressure. To be honest, he was also afraid of seeing Chun Shisanniang. He hesitated for a long time. , then said: "It was me who exposed Little Crow, Chun Shisanniang's identity, and I couldn't help you. However, Xirong, a bastard, never said a word, and even complained about me for a long time afterwards. This time it was him I want to see Chun Shisanniang, but I'm embarrassed to say, I'll drag her to see you. We don't want to see her in person, we can just take a sneak peek."
Han Qian glanced at Kong Xirong and thought to himself with a headache, he wouldn't put his youthful love on Chun Shisanniang, who had no limits, right?
"Okay, you come with me into the city." Han Qian nodded and agreed. When he saw the horses coming over, he asked someone to bring Feng Yi and Kong Xirong each to bring a horse over, and galloped to Qianyang City a few miles away. …
