Tianjin Wei, the canal pier outside the city was crowded with people, and the people here were all Tang soldiers and local officials and gentry who came to greet the Holy Emperor.
Li Xuan led the Guards all the way north along the canal. Because it was not a battle, and a large amount of baggage was transported by ship, the soldiers could move forward lightly, so the speed of going north was very fast.
On June 20th, Li Xuan led his army to Tianjin Guard. At this time, he naturally did not know that the Third Army had captured Youzhou City and that Emperor Shaowu had burned himself to death.
However, even if he doesn't know now, Li Xuan is very optimistic about the Third Army taking over Youzhou City. Unless a miracle happens, for example, an extraterrestrial meteorite hits the Third Army's camp and destroys the entire Third Army.
If it is reimbursed, then Youzhou City will definitely not be able to stop the Third Army's attack!
Youzhou City will definitely be captured, and this time he went north to receive his spoils of war, Youzhou City!
However, before going to Youzhou City, he still planned to stay in Tianjin Guards for a while. On the one hand, he would let the Guards who were traveling north take a rest, and on the other hand, he would also wait for news from the Third Army that they had conquered Youzhou.
This time, Li Xuan has no intention of personally commanding the siege!
The only battle that he can personally command can only be a life-and-death strategic decisive battle like the Battle of Anping. Attacking Youzhou City, although it is quite important, is just the icing on the cake, and it is not difficult. With Hao Bainian
With the capabilities and strength of the Third Army, there will be no problem in taking it down.
After disembarking from the ship at the dock outside Tianjin City, Li Xuan also entered Tianjin City under the protection of many soldiers and the entourage of many officials.
This place was not actually a big city in the early years. However, after Zhu Di established his capital in Youzhou, this place became an important transportation thoroughfare and an important node of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. At the same time, this place also became the gateway to Youzhou.
In fact, in Li Xuan's view, Tianjin's status is more important than Youzhou!
Because the capital of the Tang Dynasty was Jinling City, although Youzhou was the accompanying capital, in the future, within the system of the Tang Dynasty, it should evolve into a relatively pure military strategic city, serving as a strategic support behind the border towns in the north.
Point exists.
However, it will definitely not become a large consumer city in the future, let alone a political center, and even an economic center is impossible.
Because at the previous Imperial Northern Strategic Civil and Military Strategy Conference, the Eternal Sage personally proposed that Tianjin could be developed as the main support point for the northern economy!
Because Tianjin's coast is also an important node of the canal, even going to Shanhaiguan is more convenient than going to Shanhaiguan from Youzhou. Moreover, Li Xuan also knows that Tianjin has a Tangshan. What is there? It is easy to mine and transport to foreign countries.
, and the coal is of fairly good quality.
With resources and transportation advantages, it is naturally easier to develop the economy. It is much better than having nothing in Youzhou except countless mouths that want to supply food.
When Youzhou's political center position was taken away by Jinling City, and its position as the northern economic center was taken away by Tianjin, as for the cultural center, it is not even considered. The culture of any county in the south of the Yangtze River is better than Youzhou!
Therefore, the remaining main role of Youzhou in the future is to exist as a strategic support point in the north, become a defensive barrier for Tianjin and even the entire north, and at the same time serve as the rear for the towns on the northern Great Wall!
Youzhou is the rear of the northern border towns, then Tianjin will be the generous rear of Youzhou, and will also be the main defense resource supply center!
After entering the city, Li Xuan was not interested in the street buildings in the city. Instead, he immediately summoned the cabinet and relevant officials from Beizhili and directly instructed to separate a part of the area from Youzhou Prefecture and Hejian to establish Tianjin Prefecture.
Subsequently, a formal edict was issued to change the name of Northern Zhili to Hebei Province, and personally determined that Tianjin would be the seat of the Hebei Governor's Yamen.
The reason for changing the name of Beizhili to Hebei Province is because Beizhili belongs to the Northern Zhili of the Ming Dynasty. This area has unusual political meaning, so just like the reorganization of various provinces in Southern Zhili, by changing the name,
They even changed the jurisdiction to lower the concept of the previous Ming Dynasty and re-establish the new order of the Tang Dynasty here.
At the same time, the reason why Hebei Province was not established in Youzhou City but was changed to Tianjin Prefecture was on the one hand to support Tianjin and on the other hand to suppress and downplay Youzhou City.
After all, the Ming Dynasty had its capital in Youzhou for more than a hundred years. It is inevitable that there will be a large number of pre-Ming elements remaining in the city. If the focus of northern rule is placed in Youzhou, it will probably be a bit troublesome.
Now, the Tang Dynasty only needs to continuously weaken the political and economic status of Youzhou City, while maintaining a large number of troops stationed in the city, and turning this place into a military center, then the residual influence brought by the Ming Dynasty will continue
weaken.
However, although Youzhou City's status in the Tang Dynasty's territory will continue to decline in the future, Li Xuan still wants to take a look before that.
After staying in Tianjin for two days, Li Xuan received a report from the Third Army saying that the Third Army had successfully captured Youzhou City. Li Xuan immediately decided to continue heading north to Youzhou City!
The route forward is still along the canal!
This way of going north, whether it is Li Xuan's northward route or the army's offensive route, all proceed along the canal, which proves the importance of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to the current northern China.
In Li Xuan's view, before the large-scale popularization of railways, especially before the completion of the North-South Arterial Railway, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal played an irreplaceable and important role. Even now that shipping is developing rapidly, this will still not affect the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
The strategic position of the canal.
In addition, even if the railway connecting the north and the south is built, the importance of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal will still be very great for a long time!
Therefore, Li Xuan has already instructed the Ministry of Industry to maintain the navigation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal!
They went all the way north along the canal, first to Tongzhou, and then continued along the Tonghui River to Youzhou City. The overall route was almost exactly the same as the Third Army's northward march.
When the Holy Emperor went north, he not only brought a large number of officials, but also the Guards, as well as numerous logistical supplies arranged by the Privy Council Logistics Department.
Some of the soldiers were in boats, and some were walking on the shore. A large number of ships in the canal carried a variety of supplies. Because they were all small boats plying the canal, their load capacity was generally not large, so in order to satisfy the huge
Due to transportation needs, the number of ships is also extremely large.
However, this journey north also made Li Xuan more determined to make the capital in the south!
Since China's economic center of gravity moved southward, the dynasties with their capital in the north needed to transport food from the far south to the north in order to meet the needs of Kyoto and the northern frontier army. This gave rise to a special water transportation system.
This also resulted in a huge financial burden!
And once water transportation is cut off, there will basically be catastrophic consequences!
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, after various rebel armies occupied the south of the Yangtze River, they cut off the Yuan Dynasty's water transportation system, thus creating a passive situation for the Yuan Dynasty.
The same was true during the Northern Expedition of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty occupied the south of the Yangtze River and cut off water transportation from the source. The Ming Dynasty's life was in decline. At that time, it was not a question of whether there was money in the treasury, but the money in Youzhou City.
Soldiers and civilians, the question is whether the border troops in various places can have enough to eat.
Before the development of railways, river transportation had an irreplaceable strategic position in China, and it could not be replaced by sea transportation. Canal transportation was an important part of the canal.
The current transportation system of the Tang Dynasty is based on river transportation. The Pearl River Basin, Yangtze River Basin, Yellow River Basin, Huaihe River Basin, plus the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal basically constitute the main transportation channel of the Tang Dynasty.
.
After arriving at Youzhou City through the canal, Li Xuan naturally would not forget to show off his big pussy!
According to the past tradition, Li Xuan directly rode into the city in military uniform. Of course, before entering the city, Li Xuan was afraid that his life would be lost inexplicably. Therefore, the garrison in the city almost cleared the streets where the holy driver passed.
A select few were left to greet him.
The focus of these people is naturally the former Ming officials led by Wan Chensong. At the request of the Tang Dynasty, Wan Chensong and others still wear the official robes of the Ming Dynasty, and they are also the formal official robes used at the Great Court.
, looking at the vast sea of former Ming officials in red robes coming to the front, and then they all knelt down and shouted long live.
I have to admit, this is really a sense of accomplishment!
After accepting the worship of the former Ming officials headed by Wan Chensong, Li Xuan also appropriately expressed his kindness. He awarded Wan Chensong and other former Ming officials with grades on the spot and asked them to work well in the future. I will not
I’d rather not treat any meritorious person!
Li Xuan crossed Wan Chensong and waited for the Ming Dynasty to be demoted, and then went to the Forbidden City!
This was the political heart of the Ming Dynasty. According to reports, Emperor Shao Wu of the Ming Dynasty burned himself to death here at the last moment. But now, no trace of fire can be seen in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Because Wan Chensong led the crowd to surrender, there were basically no large-scale battles or large-scale fires during the recovery of Youzhou City, even in the Forbidden City. The Ming army guarding the palace at that time defected on the spot.
Well, it can be said that the Tang Dynasty captured Youzhou City without wasting a single soldier!
Looking at the Forbidden City that was so well-preserved, to be honest, Li Xuan was very tempted. There must be a lot of good things in it, and there are countless treasures of all kinds!
Moreover, even if this place is used as a royal villa, the Tang royal family will only come here once in a while. When the railway is built in the future, they can often come here for vacations and inspections.
As for now, we must carry out the fine tradition of the Tang Dynasty: move and take away everything that can be moved!