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At the junction of Hunan and Guangxi, there are two rivers that are famous all over the world.
There is a river called Xiaoshui, which originates from Mount Jiuyi south of Yongzhou. "Records of the Grand Historian: The Basic Annals of the Five Emperors" records: "Shun died in the wilderness of Cangwu during his southern tour and was buried in Jiuyi in the south of the Yangtze River." The Jiuyi in the south of the Yangtze River mentioned in this record refers to Mount Jiuyi south of the Xiaoshui River.
The other is called Xiangshui, which originates in Xing'an County, Guangxi.
The Xiaoshui River and the Xiangshui River flow northward and meet in Yongzhou, so this area has been called Xiaoxiang since ancient times.
If you take a boat from Nanjing, can you reach Guangxi directly? The answer is yes.
After Qin Shihuang swept across the six kingdoms, in order to open up Lingnan, in the 26th year of Qin Shihuang's reign, he ordered Tu Sui to lead 500,000 troops to attack Baiyue in the south. Each army had to occupy a major pass in the Five Ridges, and the one that occupied the mountain pass on the border between Hunan and Guangxi was one of them. Initially, they encountered resistance from the local ethnic groups, and the troops could not advance for three years, and it was difficult to transport military pay.
In the 28th year of Emperor Qin Shihuang's reign, Emperor Qin Shihuang ordered the Imperial Censor Lu to be in charge of military supplies and supervise soldiers and laborers to build an artificial canal between the Xiangjiang River and the Lijiang River in Xing'an to transport food and wages.
In the 33rd year of Emperor Qin Shihuang's reign, the Lingqu Canal was completed. It was the first artificial canal in Chinese history. It connected the Yangtze River system and the Pearl River system, enabling the Qin State to quickly unify Lingnan.
From this record, it is not difficult to see the importance of the Xiangjiang River waterway. This time when the Qin army attacked Guangxi, its logistical supplies still mainly relied on the Xiangjiang River waterway.
If Liu Tichun wanted to win, his first priority was to open up the Xiangjiang River, the lifeline into Guangxi. Both Qiyang and Yongzhou further south were major cities guarding this lifeline.
Liu Tichun quickly broke through the fortifications carefully built by Gu Xiancheng on the south bank of the Huoshui River and surrounded Qiyang, which caused a great shock to Guangxi.
What Guangxi can rely on is not the cities with low and short walls within its territory, but the dangerous mountains and rivers.
Like Qiyang, it relies on the Huashui River. Once the Huashui River is breached, it means that the fall of Qiyang is only a matter of time.
The Qin army's artillery was transported upstream from the Xiangjiang River and directly to the city of Qiyang. Twenty cannons were lined up at the foot of the city.
Before the Qin army opened fire, Gu Xiancheng saw the situation and his bandit nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong came back. He immediately abandoned the city with 4,000 troops and fled to Yongzhou.
When General Jiao Lian heard that the Qin army had abandoned the city and fled without firing a shot, he was furious and wanted to hold Gu Xiancheng accountable. However, Gu Xiancheng learned about this in advance and decided not to come to Yongzhou. Instead, he changed his route and quickly retreated to Quanzhou, Guangxi.
Although Jiao Lian was furious, he could not do anything to Gu Xiancheng for the time being, so he had to urgently mobilize 10,000 troops to defend at Xiangkou Pass (on the east bank of the confluence of Xiaoxiang River) outside the north gate of Yongzhou Prefecture.
Two days later, Liu Tichun's army reached the west bank of Xiangkou Pass, which was a river formed by the confluence of Xiaoxiang and Feihuoshui. The river was surging, and there were 10,000 enemy troops on the other side waiting in formation, making it very difficult to cross the river.
Qin Zuoming suggested to Liu Tichun, "General Liu, why don't we divide our forces here? You lead the army to pretend to cross the river, and I will lead a group of people to attack Quanzhou. I will send more people to spread rumors along the way. The enemy will find it difficult to distinguish the truth from the false, and will definitely think that Jiao Lian's army has been defeated. By then, people's hearts will be scattered, and if I can take Quanzhou in one fell swoop, Yongzhou will be isolated and will surely fall without a fight."
Liu Tichun thought this plan was feasible, and immediately allocated 3,000 cavalry to Qin Zuoming, who rushed to Quanzhou, Guangxi along the official road on the west bank of the Xiang River. The 3,000 cavalry galloped forward, and Qin Zuoming sent a large number of spies along the way to spread rumors everywhere, claiming that Yongzhou had been broken and Jiao Lian was dead.
These rumors spread rapidly in Guangxi like a plague, causing panic among the people.
Qin Zuoming's 3,000 troops attacked Dong'an County at the junction of Hunan and Guangxi; the Ming army garrison commander Xu Changzuo wanted to resist, but his soldiers were in chaos first. After looting the city, they fled. Xu Changzuo himself was captured, and the last barrier of Quanzhou was lost.
Gu Xiancheng, who retreated to Quanzhou, had friction with Quanzhou defender Bai Gui and almost got into a fight. Fortunately, Qu Shisi arrived in time and managed to stabilize the situation.
When Qin Zuoming attacked Quanzhou, Ma Liuliang led 3,000 troops and horses, crossed mountains and rivers on foot, and traveled nearly 400 miles in five days, from the original Wangnong Tusi of Shadingzhou (Wenshan City, Yunnan), to Gaoping in Jiaozhi.
In Gaoping, Ma Liuliang received a warm reception from Mo Jingyu. If it were not for the combat mission, Marquis Jiande would really like to be the emperor in Gaoping for a few days.
Mo Jingyu had 120 elephant soldiers, who were favored by Ma Liuliang at first sight. In order to please the Qin Dynasty, Mo Jingyu had to reluctantly give up the 120 elephant soldiers and hand them over to Ma Liuliang for command.
Ma Liuliang was now able to upgrade his elephants to new levels. Each of these elephants could carry several people, and could also be used to carry food and supplies, and could cross mountains and ridges, and pass through forests and streams as if they were walking on flat ground.
Just look, on the way to Longzhou, Guangxi, Ma Liuliang was sitting in a large bamboo basket on the back of an elephant, whistling leisurely.
Tang Yue reminded him, "My Lord, please pay attention to your image in front of outsiders. Don't forget that you are the Marquis of Jiande of the Qin Dynasty."
Deputy General He Jinan also joked: "If this book is not brought with you, someone may forget that he is a marquis again."
When Ma Liuliang was first canonized, the interesting incident that happened at the imperial banquet had already become known to everyone.
Wu Xiaoliu, Hou San and others immediately followed suit, "I think it's more friendly to call this Marquis Ma Tou'er, rather than Marquis Ma Tou'er."
"Be kind! I'm willing to give up the title of Marquis that I earned with my life just to be kind to you? Damn it, Wu Xiaoliu, do you think you're Xi Shi?"
What the hell is going on? The surrounding Qin soldiers all burst into laughter when they heard this. Tang Yue saw that he was getting more and more excited, and couldn't help shaking his head. It seemed that this guy would be like this in his life. Even if he wore a dragon robe, he would not look like a prince.
He said to Ma Liuliang: "Marquis Jiande, we are about to enter Guangxi. As the commander-in-chief of the army, you must be aware of the situation in Guangxi. Marquis Jiande knows..."
"I don't know!" Ma Liuliang interrupted him bluntly, "Sour Scholar, don't keep me in suspense. I don't know, but you know it. A few days ago, we were exhausted from climbing over mountains and ridges. Now, this elephant is good and comfortable to sit on. Sour Scholar, please tell me quickly, what is the situation in Guangxi?"
Ma Liuliang had long regarded Tang Yue as a knowledge base of "taking and giving". He didn't have to worry about not understanding something. He could just ask Tang Yue when he needed it.
Tang Yue was used to it, and he pondered, "During the Ming Dynasty, there were many chieftains in Guangxi, including four chieftains' offices, 41 chieftains' states, eight chieftains' counties, ten chieftains' offices, more than 70 chieftains' inspectors, five chieftains' households, and more than 320 local officials including local governors, local governors, and local county governors.
Longzhou, which we are about to enter to the east, is controlled by the chieftain of the Zhao family. Further east is the chieftain of Siming Prefecture. To the north is Taiping Prefecture, which is home to more than a dozen chieftains of varying sizes. After passing Taiping Prefecture and entering Nanning Prefecture, it is governed by the officials of the imperial court. If our army wants to open up the area from Gaoping to Qinzhou, we must capture or control the chieftains of Longzhou, Siming Prefecture, Shangsi Prefecture, Jiangzhou, etc...."
"Okay, okay, damn it, toast again, why toast again." Ma Liuliang couldn't help but complain.
In Yunnan, he encountered a situation where there were many chieftains. The same situation occurred when he came to Guangxi. These chieftains were actually more difficult to deal with than the Ming army. They were independent and very good at climbing mountains and digging through forests.
Tang Yue said: "Marquis Jiande, these chieftains are indeed very troublesome to deal with, but they are not loyal to the Ming Dynasty. As long as we handle them well, not only will we not have to resort to violence, but it is not impossible to get their help, so..."
"So you want me to pretend to be their grandson and beg them?"
Well, Tang Yue originally meant this. He hoped that Ma Liuliang would hold back his anger, make good relations with these chieftains, and try to get them to side with the Qin Dynasty. For these chieftains, it was not important who became the emperor. What was important was that you ensured that their interests were not violated.
Therefore, it is not necessarily difficult to persuade them to side with the Qin Dynasty. After all, although these chieftains are independent, they also have to consider the general situation of the world. It will not be good for them to be enemies of the Qin Dynasty.
If we proceed in this way and everything goes well, it won't be difficult to open up to the Qinzhou area.
But judging from Ma Liuliang’s reaction, asking a newly minted marquis to pretend to be a grandson and please those chieftains is, in one word: difficult!
As expected, Ma Liuliang immediately jumped up and said, "Damn it, you sour scholar. I've known you for so long, and this is your most disgusting idea. Damn it, who am I? I'm the Marquis of the Great Qin. If I were to ask those chieftains for help, wouldn't that be a disgrace to the Great Qin? If these guys dare to say no to me, I'll crush them into pieces!"
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ps: It's the end of the month, and other people's monthly tickets have started to rise sharply. It's the season when the chrysanthemums are withering again. Haozi would like to bow to everyone here and ask for your support of monthly tickets. Brothers, I sincerely ask for your support of monthly tickets!
.(To be continued..)
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