"What, Li Zhigao doesn't allow us to retreat into Xunyang, what does he mean?"
After hearing the messenger's report that Li Zhigao was in Xunyang, blocking the water and land passage from Baihe Village to Xunyang, Jinzhou, Zhou Yuan was so anxious that he wanted to grab the messenger and see if he was lying about the news.
After the Jingxiang War, Emperor Tianyou newly established Junzhou, and then successively restored Fangling and Yunyang counties on both sides of the Han River in the south of Junzhou. However, these two counties were sandwiched between the Wudang Mountains and the Qinling Mountains approaching the Han River.
In the mountains, there is little land and few fields. Previously, more than 5,000 households and 30,000 households were relocated. However, as the villagers moved out from nearby areas, the population dropped to less than 20,000.
Fangling County had a newly built rammed-earth city wall, which was only 400 steps square. The remaining troops were hastily evacuated. With a family of more than 20,000 people, it seemed overcrowded.
After the heavy snowfall, the city was trampled by people and horses, and the city became muddy.
The simple county government office, with thirty or forty houses, now serves as the office, and there are more than a hundred officials, big and small, at the Shangshu desk. They can vaguely hear Zhou Yuan's angry shouts that are almost roaring coming from the hall, and their eyes are even more intense.
Seeing despair and panic, I don't know where the way out is.
Chun Shisanniang closed the door of the hall, making the narrow hall even darker.
Zhou Yuan shouted angrily: "Open the door, now Li Zhigao wants to cut off our retreat, what's so shameful!"
Chun Shisanniang smiled bitterly and stood at the door of the hall, either closing the door or opening it.
Zhong Yanhu still leads the remaining troops to guard Canglang City, but Canglang City is located to the north of Han River and east of Dan River. With their remaining more than 20 warships and 2,000 naval troops, it is difficult to stop the rebellion.
The army's water camp advanced westward.
Once the elite water camp of the recruiting army enters Danshui, Canglang City will be blocked to the east of Danshui.
No matter what, they must evacuate all the soldiers and civilians in Canglang City to Fanling and Yunyang to the west of Danshui in the shortest possible time.
The combined population of Fangling and Yunyang counties is less than 20,000, and the slope terraces add up to 150,000 to 60,000 acres of barren fields. The annual harvest may only be 130,000 dan, even if they can use the local grain reserves at this time.
How long can the 20,000 remnant defeated soldiers and nearly 40,000 dependents of the army be able to survive without leaving a grain of food for the people?
They even sent 40,000 dependents and idlers to Liangzhou for nothing. They led 20,000 remnant troops to guard Yunyang and Fangling, and the food supply could not last them until the spring of next year.
Although Fangling and Yunyang are easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is too difficult to provide food. Zhou Yuan and others also thought of withdrawing most of the soldiers and their children to Liangzhou first, leaving three or four people in Fangling and Yunyang.
Thousands of elites can defend themselves against danger.
Even under such a bad situation, it would not be a pity to abandon Fangling and Yunyang counties. The remaining troops retreated to Liangzhou to rest and recuperate. In Xunyang and other places in the east of Jinzhou, they held on to the dangerous terrain and recruited the army.
Being blocked from the Hanzhong Basin, there may not be any chance for salty fish to turn around.
Compared with Li Zhigao's initial proposal to retreat to Jinliang County, even if the loss of troops and generals was extremely tragic, considering that Liangzhou could only support 20,000 to 30,000 troops and horses at its limit, some of the troops and horses were lost, so there was not much difference.
.
But no one expected that Li Zhigao would block Xunyang's water and land channels at this time and prohibit them from entering?!
"Li Dushuai did not say that he would not give in at all. He only said that the soldiers with small family members and injured soldiers could be evacuated to Liangzhou to settle down first, but Yunyang and Fangling must not be lost. I hope Lu Gongshi, Chai Dushi and Zhou
Your Excellency personally guards the Queen Mother and His Highness King Xiang, supervises these two cities, and keeps the enemy out of Hanzhong." The messenger said cautiously.
"What kind of nonsense is this? Not only do you want to block us out of Hanzhong to fend for ourselves, but you also want to take away more than 40,000 generals and soldiers, and think that we are fools?" Zhou Yuan jumped up angrily and said, "Madam,
We will escort the Queen Mother and Prince Xiang to Xunyang now to see if Li Zhigao has the courage to order us to be shot!"
Zhou Shu died in battle. Except for Zhou Yuan's eldest son Zhou Lian, his second son and two nephews fell into the hands of the rebel army and could not escape. The Zhou brothers were attached to the Xinchang Hou Mansion and Wanhong Mansion.
The descendants of Zhou Yuan were separated from the previous clan and were already sparsely populated. Over the years, they gathered more than a hundred soldiers and generals, and most of them were buried east of the Tangbai River. Why didn't Zhou Yuan become furious?
"Zhigao's wings are finally hardened," Lu Qingxia sighed quietly and said to Yao Xishui, "Go to Xunyang to see Zhigao and see what conditions he has before he agrees to get out of the way and let us defeated soldiers.
Withdraw to Hanzhong and take a breath. When I first withdrew to Xiangcheng, I said that he would take the lead in everything, but he refused to take charge, but there was no need to do such a thing at this time, which would be painful for relatives and happy for enemies.
.”
"I'm going to see eldest brother right now." Yao Xishui said bitterly.
…………
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The distance from Baihezhai to Xunyang is only about a hundred miles, but the narrow road close to the south bank of the Han River has been in disrepair and has been blocked by falling earth and rocks from mountain collapse in several places. Groups of people want to pass through.
, is already impossible.
Nowadays, only by using trackers to step on the rugged beach rocks and pull the boat can it barely withstand the turbulent flow and slowly move up.
It was possible at any time to recruit a large army to march west along the Han River and attack Yunyang and Fangling. Yao Xishui did not dare to delay, so he took a few guards and rushed to Xunyang through the rugged mountains on the south bank of the Han River.
Xunyang City is located on the north bank of the Han River. Not only have fence walls been built on the narrow channels on both sides of the river, but many hidden piles have also been laid in the rapid river. Several thick and long iron cables are used to connect the cliffs on both sides of the river, completely blocking the water channel.
Lose.
Xunyang City is also small, but Li Zhigao built a camp in the open space outside Xunyang City on the south bank of the Han River, and the whole camp is quite spacious.
Walking into the camp, I saw that the generals looked calm and were not affected much by the defeat of Xiangcheng. Looking inside and outside the camp, almost all the flat open space was reclaimed as grain fields and planted with beans and wheat. Yao Xishui could guess that.
When they came to Liangzhou, they must have expected the defeat of Xiangcheng, and they did not even tell the lower-level generals about it.
Su Hongyu led a dozen healthy women wearing coarse cloth skirts to pull weeds in the fields in the camp. When she saw Yao Xishui walking in, she sighed before coming forward and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Brother, where are the others?" Yao Xishui asked.
"A new lime kiln has been built in Beishan. Zhi Gao and Li Tian should go over to see the lime kiln." Su Hongyu said.
Yao Xishui insisted that Su Hongyu take her to the cellar. On the way, she met Li Zhigao and then Li Tian returned with his guards.
Li Tian was only fifteen years old, and he was still full of panic when he escaped from Jinling. He had not seen him for just three or four months. Now, wearing armor, he looked much stronger and less childish.
"Brother." Yao Xishui was speechless and called out.
"You must have worked hard all the way here. Let's go to Xunyang for a rest first." Li Zhigao said happily, as if he had no idea of Yao Xishui's purpose. He put his arm around her thin shoulders and walked towards the camp together.
Yao Xishui also restrained himself until he walked into the shed where Li Zhigao served as a tent, and then asked: "It turns out that the elder brother's prediction of the situation was correct. Madam and Zhou Yuan also realized that they were not capable of dealing with such a complicated and bad situation.
If you have the idea of seizing the throne again, why is my eldest brother so ruthless and insisting on blocking Xiangcheng soldiers and horses from Jinzhou?"
"If someone comes to Guanjiang Tower again, will Madam and Zhou Yuan not see each other?" Li Zhigao took off his heavy armor, changed into a light fur shirt, and sat in front of the brazier and asked.
"Eldest brother, Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian also sent people to offer surrender to the Mongolian prince?" Yao Xishui asked in confusion, "Eldest brother naturally disdains being the lackey of the Mongolian people, but why should we consider that Zhao Mengji and Wang Xiaoxian will lead their troops after next spring?
Attacking Liangzhou? It is impossible for us not to know that the Mongols are venomous snakes at this time, but at this time it is also a last resort to pretend to be snakes."
"Han Qian attacked Deng Jun south because he was eager to send troops into Shangluo. By then, there would be 50,000 or 60,000 elite soldiers in Tangyi and the remaining beams peeking at Guanzhong. Even if it was difficult to recapture Guanzhong, he would still be able to contain the Mengwu troops from the western front - Zhao Mengji
"Wang Xiaoxian wanted to attack Liangzhou, but he only had 60,000 to 70,000 weak troops. I have 20,000 troops, which is enough to prevent them from gaining any advantage," Li Zhigao said.
Maybe we can borrow some food and grass from Shu, otherwise so many people and horses will not be able to survive this winter."
"Besides not having contact with Xiao Yiqing and Wang Jingrong's people, what conditions does the elder brother have to agree to let Madam and the others go west?" Yao Xishui asked.
"Five thousand soldiers and horses were left to build with firewood, Zhong Yanhu guarded Yunyang, and the mausoleums were enough. The other soldiers and their families moved to Liangzhou and then they were broken up and organized into field soldiers to reclaim the wasteland," Li Zhigao said, "Madam and the others arrived in Liangzhou
, I will arrange a small city for them to shelter the Queen Mother and Prince Xiang."
"Han Qian sent people to find his eldest brother first. Is this necessary to borrow food and grass from Shu?" Yao Xishui asked.
"I don't know what Han Qian is telling me to do," Li Zhigao said.
"But I have to give Madam an excuse." Yao Xishui said.
"There must be something to say. You can just say so when you go back to Fangling." Li Zhigao said.
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"Li Zhigao, what do you mean? At this time, he is still arguing with Han Qian Qian. Hasn't he been bitten by the poisonous snake Han Qian?" Zhou Yuan asked angrily.
"Although hundreds of thousands of acres of grain fields have been reclaimed since the beginning of autumn, the first harvest will not come until late spring next year. Before that, the 7.8 million acres of grain fields cultivated in Liangzhou provide for
A total of 200,000 soldiers and civilians are required to feed them. They may not be able to survive this winter, so they must borrow four to five million shi of grain from Shu," Yao Xishui said. "My eldest brother had no choice but to agree to their conditions."
"You can really borrow food from Shu. Have you seen the envoy sent by Han Qian?" Lu Qingxia stared at Yao Xishui suspiciously and asked.
"I didn't see anyone coming from Tangyi, but I thought in my heart that Shu and Tangyi would never want to see us borrowing food from the Mongol people," Yao Xishui said calmly, "I just want to aggrieve Madam for the time being.
With Mr. Zhou..."
"Let me think about it, you should go and rest first. Running all the way is also tiring." Lu Qingxia said a little exhausted.
"We can never agree to Li Zhigao's conditions. We send people across the Qinling Mountains to meet Xiao Yiqing in Taiyuan and offer the Liang and Jin states as a token of appreciation in exchange for Wang Yuankui sending troops out to Tangluo Road to threaten Liangzhou. I don't believe that Li Zhigao will still have any illusions.
Make peace with Han Qian!" Seeing Yao Xishui leaving, Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "The Mongols can make Zhu Rang guard Dongliang. Even if we have 30,000 to 40,000 remaining soldiers, we can help them conquer Sichuan and Shu.
Seal the vassal state!"
Seeing Lu Qingxia's hesitation, Zhou Yuan looked at Chai Jian and urged: "Li Zhigao said he would leave five thousand troops for you and Zhong Yanhu, just because he was afraid that you would steal his edge, and he also used you and Zhong Yanhu as scapegoats to block Zhou Bingwu.
, Zhang Zhi and Zhao Zhen marched westward."
Chai Jian's face looked gloomy and uncertain.
"Okay," Lu Qingxia waved his hand, not asking Zhou Yuan to continue, and said, "I know he doesn't know how long Emperor Liang Zhu Yu's body can't hold on. Since he still has some illusions, we will
There is nothing wrong with relying on him for the time being. When Emperor Zhu Yu of Liang dies and Heluo, Xuru, Caiying and other places fall into the hands of the Mongols, he will make the right decision."
"But..." Zhou Yuan still wanted to argue.
"Can't you bear the grievance for a moment?" Lu Qingxia asked with a stern face.
"There must be some guards around Madam." Chai Jian said with a serious face.
He did not think that it would be a good idea to send someone to see Xiao Yiqing to surrender at this time and send Wang Yuankui to send troops to threaten Liangzhou. However, even if he bowed his head and endured for the time being, Chai Jian believed that once Liang Emperor Zhu Yu died, they would be able to turn around.
.
"No matter how extreme Zhigao is, he can't lock us up as prisoners." Lu Qingxia said.
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In the twelfth lunar month, both sides of the Huaihe River enter the coldest season of the year, and the ground is covered with white snow.
The Xiashi Gorge is too narrow. When the water level is at its highest in summer, the water surface is only 300 meters wide. This blocks a large amount of flood water in the upper reaches of Yinghuai River, submerging large areas of land on both sides of the river and causing great damage to the south bank embankment.
pressure.
At the end of November, after the first Hehuai War was completely over, nearly 30,000 able-bodied civilians and rural soldiers were recruited and concentrated in the floodplain area on the west side of Xiacai County, north of the Xiashi Gorge.
The thick ice in the area led to the icy mud, and the mud was dug out and loaded onto ships to be transported away.
The preliminary plan is to dig out a new river channel between the lower reaches of Yingshui River and the Yongtai Canal and Xiyuan River to the east before summer next year, and eventually connect the three river channels back and forth to form a river with a length of more than 120 meters.
The Yingyuan Canal is more than ten miles long.
In this way, a new flood channel will be formed on the north side of Xiashi Gorge and Xiacai New Town. Together with the Shouchun flood canal excavated on the south bank at the beginning of this year, it will ensure that Shouchun, Fengtai, and Huo
There are two to three million grain fields in Qiu and other places, and a population of three to four hundred thousand people will no longer be threatened by summer and autumn floods; at the same time, when the floods peak next summer and autumn, the flooded area on the west bank of the lower reaches of the Ying River will be greatly reduced.
Of course, waterways such as Yongtai Canal and Xiyuan River are still too shallow and narrow. The initial plan is to widen them to 50 meters. Dozens of dredgers will also be transferred from Puyang River and Yuxi River to reduce the consumption of manpower.
In addition to digging the Yingyuan Canal, Han Qian initially planned to resettle 100,000 people in Xiacai County. However, the area adjacent to the Ying River in the eastern part of Xiacai County was largely flooded. A large number of villages and houses needed to be built, and nearly 300 people needed to be restored.
Farming thousands of acres of flooded fields, Feng Xuan, as the deputy general manager of the Hehuai Marching Army and also in charge of Xia Cai County Magistrate and Xia Cai Soldiers and Horses Envoy, had a very heavy burden on him.
In addition to the 5,000 elite soldiers who guarded the cities and strongholds to resist the intrusion of small groups of enemy troops, almost all the adult men and women who stayed in Xiacai, including the local soldiers and local yong, were requisitioned, and even some strong adult women were also recruited.
Digging and moving soil up the embankment, undertaking this extremely hard physical work.
Of course, in addition to the rations of one stone of grain and one pound of salt per person per month, all slave laborers will also be allocated an additional five acres of irrigated land that will be exempted from land tax for three years. However, so many civilians are brave enough to undertake such hard work.
In addition, the key to high enthusiasm is.
In addition to the 100,000 people who migrated south to Xiacai, nearly 200,000 people were resettled in the townships and counties on both sides of the Chaoshou Post Road. The standard is still that Ding Zhuang participates in the construction of villages on the Xiangsi River Channel Road, is given rations, and settles down in the countryside.
House.
A woman who is widowed after her husband's death cannot survive with her children. The township secretary will provide minimum relief, but they are also required to start a new family within a limited time, otherwise they will be directly matched with an official.
The northern part of Chaozhou and the southern part of Shouzhou are not only the richest and most fertile areas in Huaixi, but also the most fertile areas. At the peak of the previous dynasty, there were millions of people. However, they were devastated by the war and suffered extremely heavy population losses. At one time, the population was less than three
One hundred thousand people, and now 200,000 people have been moved in, so that the county and township can barely have enough population.
At this time, the number of people under the jurisdiction of Tangyi, including Xiacai and Xuzhou, barely reached more than two million, but there was still a huge distance from the five million people at the peak of the previous dynasty.
Even with the population growth rates of Xuzhou, Donghu and other places as high as 34%, Huaixi still needs forty or fifty years of rest and recuperation if it wants to return to its heyday in the previous dynasty.
However, in any case, this winter's war has come to an end for the time being, and no enemy soldiers have been able to penetrate to the south bank of the Huaihe River. In the ice and snow, embankments and canals are being built, houses are paved and roads are being built everywhere, and cars and horses are constantly on the road.
, more or less has some atmosphere of governing the world.
In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, as the Huaixi New Year Festival atmosphere became increasingly intense, a group of carriages and horses crossed the Huaihe River. After a brief preparation outside Shouchun City, they continued south along the Chaoshou Post Road.
Hundreds of carriages were traveling south surrounded by more than 300 cavalry. Except for a small group of cavalry at the head of the road, all wearing the blue and yellow uniforms of the Tangyi Army, most of the escorting cavalry were wearing
It is the unique dark black armor of the cavalry guards of Emperor Zhu Yu of Liang Dynasty.
The carriage in the center meanders nearly two miles in length, and the scene inside the carriage is covered by thick curtains.
People in the carriage would occasionally lift the curtains and peek out, but they were sallow and thin, and looked frightened, as if they didn't know what kind of fate awaited them on the road ahead.
The people watching by the post road didn't know who this team of black armor cavalry was escorting south, and they were full of curiosity.
Traveling day and night, the team of carriages and horses arrived outside Chaozhou City two days later. They did not enter the city, nor did they turn towards East Lake. Instead, they stationed themselves at a newly built post station in the north of Chaozhou City.
Although Donghu and Liyang on the east bank of Chao Lake were the military and political center of Tangyi at this time, Chaozhou City, located on the north bank of Chao Lake, was once an important town in Huaixi and was also the center of the prefectures and counties along Jiangdong and Chao Lake to Huo Shouguanghao.
A must-stop for other places.
After the city was renovated, Chaozhou City soon regained its vitality, and business trips continued.
This team, stationed at the post station in the north of the city and escorted by Liang Jun Xuanjia's elite troops, naturally attracted great attention.
Who are they?
Why are they the most elite Liang Jun black armor guards, and why do they stay in the north of Chaozhou City and never leave?
Of course, some news quickly spread among the people.
"What, Emperor Liang was so grateful for the assistance from the Tangyi Army that he sent the most elite Xuanjia Cavalry under his command to give a big gift to the Marquis?"
"What kind of big gift, you need to be escorted by black armor cavalry? I heard from others that these hundreds of carriages are full of people, not gold, silver and jewelry. What kind of big gift is this?"
"The poisonous woman Empress Xu and Zhang Xinchun were a group of thieves. When the old man died in a car accident, he and the Marquis had a different hatred of killing their father. Emperor Liang sent Empress Xu, Zhang Xinchun and other thieves together with the Duke of Chu Yang Fen.
Is it considered a great gift to escort all my concubines and children to Huaixi?"
"This is really a great gift - I think back then, the old man was loyal and loyal, but died so tragically. This time, the Marquis can finally avenge the old man. But why did he stop in the north of Chaozhou City for five days?
Why don’t you just send Empress Xu and Zhang Xinchun and the other traitors to East Lake to be tortured?”
"Perhaps the Marquis is thinking about how to cut Empress Xu into pieces in order to relieve the hatred in his heart?"
As the news spread, hundreds of people came to the city north post station every day to watch the excitement. However, despite the tight security, only business travelers staying at the post station could ask Tingzu Yi Cheng for some information, but they had no chance to see Xu.
Later, the true faces of Zhang Xinchun, the imperial eunuch of the Great Chu State, Yang Fen, the Duke of Chu State, and others were revealed.
Until the 23rd day of December, the day of Little New Year's Eve, it snowed heavily, and a group of cavalry came from the east post road through the snow.
Many merchants stayed at the inn for several days, and people who had nothing to do went out of the city to watch the excitement. When they saw the cavalry coming from the east wearing the uniforms of the cavalry guards, they thought that the Marquis of Qianyang was finally going to capture Empress Xu.
The thief eunuch Zhang Xinchun and Duke Yang Fen of Chu were escorted to East Lake for torture.
The cavalry leader dismounted in front of the gate of the post station. After checking the seal with Yi Cheng, the military attache sent by Chaozhou to strengthen the guard at the post station, and the general of Liang Jun escorting the prisoners, he took out a letter of order directly from his arms and stood in front of the post station.
It was announced in front of the door:
"The Marquis of Qianyang, the minister of the Ministry of War and the envoy of Tangyi, Han Qianling, the military governor of all states, and Jing Tan, the captain of Liang Guoxuan's cavalry school, escorted several prisoners of the Jinling rebellion to Jinling for trial. We were ordered to escort them along the way, and all the yamen and camp troops provided convenience.
, must not be obstructed..."
"What?"
Not to mention Yi Cheng, Chaozhou sent military attaches to strengthen supervision and the military attaches to Liang Jun's Xuanjia Cavalry. The merchants and people nearby who came to watch the excitement were stunned. Marquis Qianyang refused to avenge his father's murder and wanted to kill Empress Xu.
Zhang Xinchun, Duke Yang Fen and others were sent directly to Jinling for trial?
Yi Cheng and the military attache sent by Chaozhou City received the order letter and checked it carefully. However, they did not dare to make any independent opinions. They sent people to Chaozhou City to ask the county magistrate Du Yiming to invite him.
Although the whole thing has nothing to do with Chaozhou, the prisoners were temporarily stationed at the north post station. Chaozhou only sent people to strengthen the supervision of the periphery and maintain order, but Yi Cheng and the military attachés sent by Chaozhou to strengthen supervision could not
Questioning whether the order letter was fake, I was shocked and didn't know whether I should really sit back and watch the prisoners and escort the troops to Jinling. I was so sick that I sought medical treatment, so I could only ask the county magistrate Du Yiming to come out and make the decision.
Besides, if the rebels and the escorting troops are going to Jinling, they have to contact Chaozhou to arrange a ferry.