As the medical officer of the state government, Zhao Zhixian was probably the most inconspicuous among all the officials. His official rank was only ninth grade. There were doctors in the medical clinic and 20 apprentices. The Zhongfang County was newly established. Generally speaking, the position of county magistrate was useless.
It won't be Zhao Zhixian's turn.
Zhao Zhixian was riding on horseback, recalling what Han Daoxun and Han Qian and his son had talked to him the day before, and the shock in his heart had not dissipated.
Except for the Qianjiang Inn that was deliberately exposed before, he never thought that Wen Ruilin would fall in the eyes of the Han family and his son several times when he came to Qianyang City to see him.
The Han family and his son also formally proposed this time to establish a new Zhongfang County at the foot of Zhongfang Mountain, with him as the county magistrate. However, the condition is that Tanzhou lifts the blockade of Yuanshui and resumes trade between Xuzhou and the outside world, allowing grain and other goods to be exported.
The goods can be transported into Qianyang City, and at the same time, the Han family and his sons are supported in fighting against the local surname forces in Xuzhou.
This can be seen as the Han family's father and son's foundation in Xuzhou has expanded to a certain extent. There is no need to worry about being completely reduced to a vassal of Tanzhou, but they want to further attack the local influence and completely consolidate the rule of his father and son in Xuzhou.
foundation, but had to seek support and cooperation from Tanzhou.
The establishment of the new Zhongfang County is undoubtedly the greatest goodwill first released by the Han family and his son.
Taking advantage of Han Daoxun's release of land restrictions in Xuzhou and attracting an influx of refugees, Tanzhou also successively sent thousands of elites and more than 2,000 family members to occupy a small village called Yingyu Village at the foot of the western foothills of Shanxi Province.
At present, the stockade has been expanded to be stronger than an ordinary city, and tens of thousands of acres of grain fields have been cultivated around Yingyu Village. It can basically ensure self-sufficiency, and almost control the entire western foothills of Shanxi in China.
However, the significance of establishing a new Zhongfang County on the basis of Yingyu Village (Zhongfang City) for Tanzhou cannot be underestimated.
Zhongfang City currently only controls the foothills of the western foothills of Zhongfang Mountain and about ten miles of narrow beachland on the east bank of the Yuanjiang River. Zhongfang County has been officially established. In addition to incorporating the entire middle and northern sections of Zhongfang Mountain into the county, it can also incorporate more than a dozen small and medium-sized tower boundary mountains on the east bank of the Yuanjiang River.
Fanzhai is all included in Zhongfang County.
In this way, they can not only develop shoals along both sides of the Yuanshui River, but also go deep into the mountains to mine coal, iron, medicine, tea, and wood. They can also recruit refugees on a large scale to settle here, and bring native people under their rule, instead of just from Tan.
These more than 3,000 people were transferred by Zhou An.
Even if the Han family and his son can control the overall situation in Xuzhou by then, the existence of Tanzhou in Xuzhou cannot be ignored. This may be the basis for a further in-depth alliance between the two parties, right?
This is also in line with Tanzhou's expectations for the Han family and his son.
The Han family and his son had the ambition to separate themselves from Xuzhou, but their foundation was too weak. How could they establish a firm foothold in Xuzhou without seeking support from Tanzhou?
Of course, the imperial court has a tendency to gather troops in Ezhou, and the north of Tanzhou is under great pressure. It also hopes to unite more forces in the upper reaches of the Yuanshui and Xiangshui rivers to fight against the imperial court.
Therefore, the Han family and his son proposed to establish a new Chinese county and recommended him to serve as the Chinese county magistrate immediately. Zhao Zhixian did not wait until he consulted Tanzhou before agreeing to the matter.
Zhao Zhixian directly discussed with Tan Yuliang, who had been lurking in Xuzhou for many years in the name of the owner of Qianjiang Inn. Today, he and Tan Yuliang took several family members and rushed directly to Zhongfangzhai under the escort of more than 30 armed horsemen from Qianyang Inn.
Planning the establishment of a county.
After riding horses over Shima'ao, Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang did not ride directly down the ridge road, but reined their horses in front of the mountain and looked at the valley to the north.
The Han family and his son agreed to use Shima'ao, a mountainous area more than 200 meters high and with dangerous terrain that shrinks the Yuanshui River to only a hundred feet wide, as the boundary, and divide the area north of Shima'ao and south of Hanmeiling at the southeastern foothills of Longya Mountain.
Incorporated into the newly established Zhongfang County.
From Shima'ao to the north is the Yuanshui River Valley, which is about 20 miles away. It is relatively more open, and extending almost four or five miles to both sides are the high mountains of Zhongfang Mountain and Tajie Mountain.
The Yuanshui River Valley, which is eight or nine miles deep and extends for more than twenty miles, is the most essential area of the newly established Zhongfang County.
Although it is not as good as Dawankou in the north, if you manage this valley area well, you can get 50,000 to 60,000 acres of grain fields. Currently, Zhongfang City and several small villages on the other side have reclaimed less than one-third of this valley.
one.
And then including the sloping valley fields in Zhongfang Mountain and Tajie Mountain on both sides, the newly established Zhongfang County can support 20,000 to 30,000 people, and there is no problem at all.
On the other side of Zhongfang Mountain, Yanji Village is located at the eastern foot of Zhongfang Mountain, on the bank of the Yuanshui River that turns north again thirty miles east of Qianyang City. It is actually Tanzhou secretly located at the junction of Xuzhou and Chenzhou.
Another stronghold controlled.
There is also an extremely narrow and steep valley road that passes through the peaks of Zhongfang Mountain, connecting the Yanjizhai Valley to the Zhongfangzhai Valley. Currently, there are two small fanzhai villages located on this valley road, which are temporarily outside the control of Tanzhou.
After Zhongfang County was newly established and the land tax reform was implemented, Zhao Zhixian thought of taking control of these two villages deep in Zhongfang Mountain and opening up the valley road between Zhongfang County and Yanji Village. Tanzhou was located in Xuzhou and Chenzhou.
The power deployed secretly can break down the barriers and connect us together.
Zhao Zhixian believed in Han Daoxun, and Han Qian should have figured out the reality of Yanji Village, so that the sincerity of his father and son could be more clearly demonstrated.
After passing Shima'ao, there is a stream called Zhugong River lying in front of you.
The streams that come out of Zhongfang Mountain only have a short flow of four or five miles from the mountains to the Yuanjiang River. In summer and autumn when there is abundant rainfall, the water flowing out of the streams is particularly turbulent, and it easily washes away the natural siltation on both sides.
The river embankments formed caused the entire surrounding area to be submerged in floodwaters.
This is currently the main reason why the valley north of Shima'ao has not yet been fully developed.
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang were escorted by more than thirty equestrians and walked east along the stream bank.
Where Zhugong River leaves Zhongfang Mountain, the river is relatively narrow, only a dozen steps wide. There is a bamboo bridge built there to cross Zhugong River. It is also the only way to go north from Qianyang City by land.
Walking five or six miles east along the south bank of Zhugong River, the terrain is a bit rugged, but it only takes half an hour to ride a horse. The bamboo bridge, which was built twenty years ago, looks a bit shabby, but it has withstood the wind and rain and stands solidly on the bamboo bridge.
On the upper reaches of Gongxi River.
More than a hundred meters below the bamboo bridge, there are two awning boats parked across the stream beach. There are traces of people trampling ashore among the reeds.
Zhao Zhixian looked back at Tan Yuliang hesitantly.
Tan Yuliang had a hideous scar on his face, and he motioned to the two horsemen around him to cross the river first to see what was going on on the other side.
After crossing the bridge, there was less than twenty miles of winding journey to Zhongfang City (Yingyu Village), and the straight-line distance was only thirteen or fourteen miles. They found a high ground and galloped up to it, where they could even see clearly
The newly built tower in Zhongfang City.
But, be careful when sailing the ship of ten thousand years.
Soon the two horsemen crossed the bamboo bridge, followed the footprints extending along the creek beach, and rode into the mountains to search. After two sticks of incense, they rode back and reported: "Looking at the footprints left in front, there should be ten
Many people abandoned their boats and landed here, heading for Longqiao Village in the mountains..."
Longqiao Village is a small village inhabited by just over a hundred people in the valley upstream of Zhugong River.
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang did not see at this time that there were more than a dozen awning boats on the river north of Zhongfang City, slowly going down the river. At the same time, in the Longqiu River opposite Zhongfang City, there were also
More than twenty awning sailboats slowly sailed out.
They thought that it must be the residents of Longqiao Village who returned to the village from outside and parked the boat on the beach.
The defenders of Zhongfang City did not pay much attention to it even though they saw more awning sailboats on the nearby river and more fishing boats moored on the river than before.
In their opinion, the Han family and his son should be more vigilant about whether there are any changes in the native surnames; at the same time, they are also more concerned about the movements of the Han family and his son's troops stationed in Qianyang City and Wuliuxi (Longya City).
After all, Fan Yong, the village soldiers of the four powerful clans, are mainly scattered among the mountains and rivers of Langxi and Tanyang. It is extremely difficult to gather or act in a unified manner.
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang, escorted by more than 30 armed horsemen, crossed the bamboo bridge and walked north along the rugged mountain road at the eastern foot of Zhongfang Mountain for three or four miles, before climbing over a 30-40-meter-high mountain ridge.
At that time, I suddenly saw a large number of birds circling over the mountains and forests far to the north, unwilling to come down for a long time.
"wrong!"
As the deputy commander of the Tanzhou soldiers and horses in Xuzhou, Tan Yuliang had such a vision. If he hadn't noticed that a group of soldiers and horses were ambushing in the mountains and forests opposite, then all his meals over the years would have been in vain.
"What's going on?" Zhao Zhixian reined in the reins, leaned towards Tan Yuliang, and asked.
"There is an ambush ahead." Tan Yuliang said.
"How is it possible?" Zhao Zhixian asked in shock, "They are people with the fourth surname?"
Zhao Zhixian did not think they were subordinates of the Han family and his son. After all, the Han family and his son wanted to do harm to them. They had no chance to leave Qianyang City, but why did the four surnames want to ambush them here?
Tan Yuliang frowned deeply, and his old skinny face was as wrinkled as the bark of an old tree. He and Zhao Zhixian were not conspired by the big families of the four surnames. They had been secretly planning for this moment for several days, and choosing to ambush them at this time was really to kill them.
Their troops in the Chinese city were lured out of the city.
Tan Yuliang and Zhao Zhixian did not guess this, not because they were stupid.
Without further mobilization, the four surnames will only have 2,000 standing troops in their hands. After deducting the necessary left-behind troops, no matter how well the four surnames cooperate, they can only dispatch 1,200 troops.
Who would believe that the four surnames would raid the Chinese city where thousands of elites were hidden at this time?
Even if they go out to fight in the city, the thousands of soldiers and horses transferred from Tanzhou to Xuzhou are all elite soldiers, and they cannot be defeated by the four surnames!
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang never expected that under various misdirections, the four surnames mistakenly believed that Tanzhou had only more than 400 elite troops hidden in Zhongfang City. They wanted to use Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang as bait to lure Tanzhou's "four
Hundreds of elites" were lured out of the Chinese city to ambush him!
