Zhou Huaian had also taken Wei Guiyang from a distance, but it was the first time he came from this city. Standing on the top of the city and looking out into the distance, you can't help but sigh that this is the geographical victory of "the screen of Sanxiang, the key of Guangxi and Guangxi".
It is under the jurisdiction of Lianzhou, Jiangxi (South) West Road, and is also the southernmost point of Jiangxi Road. Geographically, it belongs to the administrative divisions wedged into the Lingnan region, and belongs to a traditional planning method of division and transformation.
And Guiyang City is just clustered in the pipeline from the Nanling Mountains to the Jinghu area outside the Lingwai, under the mountain pass that slowly rushes down at the southern end of Qitianling. Accompanied by the rushing stream, the pounding water of the tributaries of the Xiangjiang River is divided into two official roads, southeast and west, in this irregularly shaped valley that is high in the north and low in the south.
And in the mountains named Jiuyi Mountain to the north, there are the military fortress built by the Qin Dynasty-Yangshan Pass, and the Dupangling Road and Qitianling Road leading to Guiyang. The natural mountain is twisted and cracked. Two mountain crossing roads constituted;
The first emperor of the Qin Dynasty sent troops to Nanyue to send troops to the Five Routes of the Southern Expedition, and in addition to the great construction of civil engineering and civil power to dredge the famous Ling Canal, he also built the Yuecheng Ridge and Linhe in Shi'an by following the mountains and rivers between the Wuling Mountains. Four new roads, including Mengzhuling Mountain in Guiyang, Dupang Mountain in Guiyang, and Qitian Mountain, have been in use ever since.
The Yuechengling Road is the most convenient route from Huguang to the south to Guangdong and Guangxi. It is also the most important waterway for crossing the Vietnam Ling Mountains. It was also the route used by the Huangchao army to go northward; however, it would be too long to go to Guangzhou from this road.
Mengzhuling Road (also known as Guiling Road and Xiemuguan Road), this road traces back to Yongzhou (Lingling) in Hunan along the Xiangjiang River, then separates from Yuechengling Road, and then traces along Xiaoshui River; passes through Hunan Dao County, Jiangyong crossed the Mengzhuling Pass to He County in Guangxi.
Han Gaozu Liu Bang sent Lu Jia as an envoy to Nanyue, saying that Zhao Tuo would take the route from Guiling. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty settled Nanyue, Xiemu County (now southwest of Jiangyong County, Hunan) was set up between Yinzhuling and Dupangling to control this passage, which was later called "Xiemuguan".
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Pan Mei defeated the Southern Han Dynasty, and Yue Fei suppressed the minority uprisings in Guangxi. They all entered Lingnan via Xie Muguan via Xie Muguan. Therefore, they have always been regarded as "the main road to Lingkou."
The advantage of this road is that there are two rivers that are very close to the source and diverge from north to south: Xiaoshui and Hejiang. From this, you can go down the He River to Jiangkou Town, Fengkai County, along the Xijiang River in Guangdong Province, and then you can follow the Xijiang River to Guangzhou. There is also a clear exploration mileage from here to Chang'an, which is about four thousand miles.
There is another bifurcation on this route, namely Lingling and Guiyangqiao Road branched from the upper reaches of the Xiaoshui tributary of the Xiangjiang River; it was opened by Zheng Hongshang in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
This road was the most used before Tang Dynasty, because Lingnan could use the North River and Lianjiang waterways, and Lingbei could also use the Xiaoshui, Xiangjiang, Dongting, Yangtze River, and Hanshui waterways to connect to the north-south passage between Jingxiang, and then pass through Wuguan, Shangshan and Lantian Road go straight into Guanzhong.
Then there is Qitianling Road (also known as Xindao, Huangxi Pass, and Yangshan Pass) that also pass through Guiyang. This road traced from Hengyang, Hunan, along the Lei River, through Qin Leiyang County, to Chen County (now Chenzhou, Hunan Province); from Chen County to Han Road, went southwest, passed Lanshan County, and reached Han Guiyang County (now Guangdong Link). City);
Or go south to Pingshi, and then go southwest, via Xingzi to Lianxian, Guangdong. There are no lofty mountains and ridges in this section of land. After entering Lianzhou, Guangdong, you can use the water (now Lianjiang) and Beijiang waterways to go straight to Guangzhou. This is also the main route used by Zhou Huai'an to use water to transport equipment this time.
In addition, it is the easternmost Dayuling Road (also known as Hengpu Pass, Meiling Pass); this road runs from Nanchang, Ji’an, Ganzhou, Dayuling to Nanxiong and Shaoguan, and then travels south to the territory of Guangzhou, which is the maintenance of Gan-Guangdong. Common channel.
It was called "Shang Shang" in ancient times. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Nanyue people defeated Han Qianqiu to "make a letter to seal the envoy of the Han and put the envoy on the stop", that is, the head of the Han envoy was placed in a box and placed at the boundary of Lingkou. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Mei family built a city to stop the Lingkou and called it "General Mei City". In the Qin Dynasty, it was renamed "Hengpu Pass".
The famous Kaiyuan minister Zhang Jiuling rebuilt the mountain road when he was the governor of Guangzhou, turning the five-foot road opened in the rocks into a wide road with two cars running in parallel. Therefore, it is also the main route for the Jiangnan roads to enter the ridge.
At least two of the Wuling tunnels are within the territory of Guiyang County, but in terms of administrative divisions they belong to Jiangnanxidao and the current Hunan Observatory. This is undoubtedly a way to prevent the rebellion in the Lingnan area. A basic preventive measure for city congestion.
Now this Lingnei Shengyao has fallen into his own hands. If he seizes the key points in the mountains, then his rebels can form an "advance, retreat, and retreat" to Jiangxi, Hunan and other places outside the ridge. The "defendable" military strategist is a place of victory.
It is said that the allusion that Zhao Zilong of the Three Kingdoms in the late Han Dynasty planned to take Guiyang took place here; um, it was Zhao Fan, the prefect of Guiyang who claimed to be Zhao Yun’s family, and he first bought wine to worship his brother, and then summoned the widow’s wife to serve wine and want to kiss him. Adding a kiss, the result was angered by Zhao Yun's story of sending him to the city first and then sending him away.
Although Lianzhou is only a Xiazhou, at its peak there were 32,210 households and 143,533 people. Although the output of the hilly fields is not fertile, there are also relatively rich minerals such as gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron in the three local counties. Therefore, this is a state and county with mining and metallurgy as its main economic activity.
In addition to the nearby copper mines in Pingyang, Chenzhou, and the rich lead-tin mines in Huaizhou; therefore, the imperial court followed the Western Han Dynasty "Golden Official" system and set up the "Guiyang Supervisor" in Guiyang County (now Guiyang) and set up furnace yards. The five institutes mine copper and make money on the spot, and manage the franchise of the corresponding silver and lead pit mining.
Since the Tang Dynasty, Guiyang Supervisor "Zhang Twenty-Eight Copper Mine Supervised by Money" has been known throughout the world. There are more than 90 foundry furnaces in the country, and there are five in Guiyang. The most recent time was to cast the "Xiantong Xuanbao" in the Xiantong Year, which started ten years ago.
Approximately 30 craftsmen are employed per furnace. Every year, except in June and July, it stops working, and the rest is done in October. Each casting is about 21,210 catties of copper, 3,79 catties of white pewter, and 540 catties of black tin. The price of copper, pewter, and tin is about 750 liters per penny, and Ding Jiang’s expense is not included. Three thousand three hundred coins are counted for each furnace, and more than 327,000 coins are counted for about one year old.
In addition, according to the "Pictures and Records of Yuanhe Prefectures and Counties": Guiyang "the silver is so fine that it is not anywhere else." The local annual output of ninety-five taels of silver, accounting for almost one-third of the output of Jiangxi Province.
Of course, the more important thing is that the copper material obtained from here can not only be used to make money, it is also the basic symbol of a gradually mature local government; it is also one of the important raw materials for forging guns. However, the laborers, servants, and craftsmen in these places have escaped because of the war, so it will take some time before they can resume work if they want to recruit new staff and recover.
At present, the Cantonese government is trying to forge the iron sheet with a hydraulic press mechanism and then roll it up on a roller. In the next step, Zhou Huaian plans to make use of it after the mechanical transmission is relatively stable and has a high degree of precision. The hydraulic drilling machine punches holes in the wrought iron rods of Baotou Steel.
After defeating an enemy in one place, the exploratory team, census team, and work team that Zhou Huai'an had brought would use the nearby soldiers as their direction to lead and launch operations. On the one hand, it searches for potentially hidden hostile forces and the remnants of defeated soldiers hiding in the civilian population; on the other hand, it also collects evidence and clues to liquidate the wealthy families in the city;
Here, it is mainly those local tycoons who have been the business of generations of mine owners, so the people’s style is sturdy and there is no lack of privately-made soldiers for the benefit; there are also Shanyi "Mocha" and other miscellaneous places where there are frequent armed fights and battles. Therefore, in terms of organization and daily fighting experience, it is not comparable to the peasant-origin groups of other opponents.
If there are people with sufficient means and prestige to connect and organize their power, coupled with the echo of the local Shanyi Moji; then it is no wonder that Chai Ping will have the unfavorable sweeping forces in other places, and he will not be able to eat one here. It's a big loss. According to the information collected by Zhou Huaian in the local area.
This time the opponent Chen Yanqian, a local tycoon in Guiyang, used to be such a man, although he did not have any official status or title, he was sitting on a contiguous piece of land in and outside the mountain, with more than a dozen mine pits and workshops; he kept many guards. The mine’s family members and tribes, as well as many thugs, supervisors, and mine heads, obeyed their orders, with hands and eyes open to the sky and highly prestigious local leaders.
Not only did the subordinates suffer from exhaustion, but the children just heard about it, they managed to manage all kinds of intertwined relationships, and claimed that even the governors of the past dynasties had to ask him to sit down and discuss matters before they could consider opening up the situation, and the money, food, taxes, and tribulation were levied. .
Therefore, when the rebels of Huang Chao went south, compared with the local soil groups that actively jumped out to resist and cause chaos in the Pearl River Basin; the Lianzhou area, which was temporarily unconcerned, became what he wanted to do, under the banner of protecting the land and conserving the border, and wantonly annexing local forces. Embezzling and occupying a piece of paradise in the government industry.
Later, after the situation outside Lingwai gradually stabilized, he was also quite knowledgeable about the current affairs and offered a lot of money, food and property, and gave it to the Grand General's Mansion at that time; therefore, he was not listed among the targets of the army's attack. On the contrary, he won more time and buffer to lie dormant and gather strength.
When the majority of the Rebel army went north, he even obtained a banner from the deputy commander, Shang Rang, and claimed to be a member of the rebel army. He was even able to put a nephew in Meng Kai, who was left behind, to listen to orders. However, because of his low rank, he did not attract any attention from Zhou Huaian at that time.
Then, probably during Zhou Huaian's expedition to Annan, he was able to wipe out most of the alien forces in the three counties of Lianzhou, and he began to give birth to his own ambitions and ideas; what happened later was natural.
With the failure of Meng Kai's seizure of power in Canton, the rest of the rebels in those places were not all willing and attached to the banner of the Sanjiang Army; one of them hurriedly gathered, and the men and horses were carrying a lot of luggage and family members, and they were rushing out of Guangxi. When he was in the state, he sent people to falsely deceive him; after accepting a hospitality to get drunk and disarmed, many people were killed, and the rest were sent to the mine to be enslaved.
So Chen Yanqian, who had received a lot of armor and weapons, began to swell his confidence. He decided to cross the mountain road of Qitianling and attack Pingyang, the city of Chenzhou, which is still under the command of the Hunan Observatory, so as to control all the minerals of this generation under his command.
Therefore, almost all his calculations were successful; under the banner of help, he successfully deceived into Pingyang City, and killed the defending governor Dong Yue and merged the department. However, he did not expect that the sweeping troops led by Chai Ping would kill his lair under Guiyang City; on the one hand, the tribesmen would greet them with a cow and carry wine and lie into the city, while on the other hand they would lead the capable men and horses to rush across the mountains and ridges. come back.
So while there were ambushes in Chaiping City, the left-behind camp outside the city was also attacked by the inside and outside. It was his nephew, Chen Lingxuan, who worked at the left-behind director, who got mixed in under the name of the former left-behind envoy Meng Kai. The attack killed Wang Gui, the deputy captain left behind by Chai Ping, and shouted "Meng Liushou is back" and "only kills the thief and monk", which caused great chaos in the camp. Many old rebels were overwhelmed by foreign enemies Broken
It’s just that he obviously didn’t expect that Chai Ping, who was born in a veteran young rebel army, would be much more difficult than most rebel generals he had seen; and he didn’t expect the reinforcements from Cantonese to respond so quickly; in the end the city and outside the city would fall short. Lost at both ends, he had to withdraw from Guiyang City again, and then led his troops to escape Qitianling.
However, the price of this battle was not small. Only a thousand people were finally gathered outside the city, plus the remaining troops brought out by Chai Ping in the city; this time the sweeping army was more than half damaged. What's more terrible is that more than a dozen generals below Wang Gui died. If the traditional rebels had been demoralized and could not be dealt with.
Therefore, this gentleman can be said to be a typical template of a hero who rises up in troubled times; but if this number exists in his own way, it would not be so pleasant. Therefore, for the sake of long-term peace and stability, we can only mobilize the common people's mode to cut the grass and root out the roots of their families and party members.
For example, confiscation of their land and mines after public trial of their members. Then, after taking away the usable part of the confiscated materials, the remaining part of the inventory, household items and real estate will be used as compensation for mobilizing the poor to help transport, and will be distributed in disguised form to become circulating goods.
Because of Chen Yanqian's aggressive removal of dissidents and annexation of other large households and wealthy families, the remaining work is relatively simple; as long as there is sufficient force as a deterrent and support, there are also various kinds of suffering masters and parties among the people, and there are even some sufferings. A survivor of a powerful family who has a deep hatred and a desire for revenge.
Finally, after the land and mines confiscated outside the city were cleared and surveyed, new farming offices and public workshops were set up on the spot to encircle them, and then the landless and extremely poor were recruited to farm and work. Then, the surviving soldiers who were rescued one by one from the mines and workshops, and many people who were captured and enslaved from other places, were also placed in them for training.
The next step is to send troops to attack those Moju villages that are stubborn tigers, punitively capture and arrest their young men and women, and further enrich the period; in this way, a group of potential beneficiaries and grassroots organizations with certain executive power in the city from inside to outside the city, This has been preliminarily formed;
Later history said, "When the teacher came, opened the warehouse to release grain, relieved the hunger and suffering, released the slaves, cleared the hidden households, and the whole city was made blue (Baotou)."