Chapter 265 The Talent of the Defense Master
Su Ze said to his trusted staff:
"I'm going to Gaoping."
The three people present all had very clear judgment of the situation, and they quickly followed Su Ze's thinking.
Su Liang said from a diplomatic perspective:
"Yu County Magistrate has stabilized the situation in northern Gaoping. Now he and the Jingzhou rebels are keeping their distance. General, will your going to Gaoping cause trouble?"
Su Chao also nodded and said:
"Right now Gaoping is entirely dependent on the grain from Hezhou. The situation is extremely chaotic. If the general goes to Gaoping at this time, it will only increase the burden of grain supply."
Su Ze looked at Wei Xiaokuan behind him. Facing the objections of the Su brothers, Wei Xiaokuan said:
"The general should go to Gaoping!"
Su Ze looked at Wei Xiaokuan, and Wei Xiaokuan said:
"The general is not only going to Gaoping, but also to Xiazhou."
When talking about the northern border, Wei Xiaokuan didn't know much about it, but when talking about Guanxi, Wei Xiaokuan was very familiar with it.
Xiazhou was the place where Helian Bobo rose to power.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, this place had another name - Shuofang.
It was here that Guo Ziyi, the governor of Shuofang, supported Emperor Suzong of Tang to ascend the throne and defeated the Anshi Rebellion.
In the late Tang Dynasty, the name of Xiazhou was restored.
In the Song Dynasty, the Dangxiang people established the Western Xia Dynasty based on this.
But in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Xiazhou was an ordinary poor state that no one cared about.
Even the Su brothers lacked understanding of Xiazhou.
However, Wei Xiaokuan was well aware of the mountains and rivers of Guanxi. After bringing the northern border into the analysis, Wei Xiaokuan quickly realized the importance of Xiazhou.
Wei Xiaokuan pointed at the map and said:
"It looks like there are vast roads between the entire northern border and Xiazhou and Lingzhou, but in fact, there are only a few roads for refugees from the six towns to take when they head south."
Su Chao had also studied "Annotations to the Classic of Waterways" with Li Daoyuan. He immediately responded and said:
“Mao Us Desert?”
Wei Xiaokuan nodded and said:
"During the Qin and Han dynasties, Maowusu was a farming and pastoral area. The Qin and Han dynasties also built the Great Wall here to resist the Xiongnu."
"By the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, this area had already become desertified, and even grazing was not suitable, let alone farming. During the Helian Bobo era, sandstorms would often blow over Tongwan City on the banks of the Wuding River, and herders would no longer go there to graze."
"If the refugees from the Six Towns want to go south, they certainly cannot cross the Maowusu Desert. They can only go north along the Great River, either through Lingzhou or Xiazhou."
This time Su Liang's face also looked ugly.
If these two routes go through Lingzhou, they will harass the Hezhou and Liangzhou areas behind Su Ze and threaten the stable Hehuang area.
Hezhou and Liangzhou are the most important rear base of the Su Ze Group, the frontier station of trade in the Western Regions, and the base for food and horses. Once their safety is threatened, it will have a huge impact on the front line.
What if we go south from the eastern line of the Yellow River?
Su Liang didn't even dare to think about it. Going south along the eastern line of the Yellow River, the final destination would be Tongguan, the gateway to Guanzhong.
If Tongguan was lost, Xiao Baoyin's army would be in danger. If Xiao Baoyin was not there to attract the rebels' firepower, Su Ze would have to face the rebels in Guanzhong alone.
Su Liang's plan for Su Ze was to hide behind Xiao Baoyin, occupy the four corners of the territory first, and then slowly develop it.
We cannot allow Xiao Baoyin to put down the rebellion quickly, but we cannot allow Xiao Baoyin to perish. Without the protection of the imperial court, he will have to rely on the areas occupied by Su Ze. Once he is held back by the rebels, he will not be able to leave Guanzhong for several years.
Just as Wei Xiaokuan said, to stop the rebel troops from the six northern towns from moving south, the best line of defense is Xiazhou and Lingzhou.
Relying on the natural defense line of Wuding River and Hengshan, it is possible to block the rebel troops from the Six Garrisons who are moving south from the north.
Wei Xiaokuan pointed at the map and said:
"General, it is not enough to just stay close to Xiazhou City (Tongwan City). To completely prevent the rebels from coming south from the north, we also need to build a city along the Yellow River."
"As long as we build a city at this location, the eastern front will be safe!"
Wei Xiaokuan pointed to a location on the map and began to explain the benefits of building a city there.
Su Ze was in a daze for a while. Is this the strength of a master of city construction and defense?
Talent is really something amazing.
Su Chao and Su Liang also came over and looked at the place Wei Xiaokuan pointed to, marveling at it and thinking it was a good place to build a city.
The place Wei Xiaokuan referred to is today's Mizhi County, Shaanxi Province.
This place is still a wilderness today, and it will be an ordinary county town in the future.
But in the Song Dynasty, a famous war broke out here - the Battle of Yongle City.
The battle fought for Yongle City, which was built by the Northern Song Dynasty on the banks of the Wuding River near Mizhi.
The front line of the war between the Northern Song Dynasty and the Western Xia was exactly the Hengshan Defense Line drawn by Wei Xiaokuan.
All this demonstrates Wei Xiaokuan's extraordinary talent in defensive warfare.
He can find the most critical places to defend on a map that looks ordinary to ordinary people!
You know, Su Ze was able to realize the importance of the Hengshan Wuding River defense line because of the experience of later generations.
"It's a pity that the bones by the river are still the person in the deep boudoir's dream."
Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, Wuding River has been the front line of the Central Plains against the Dangxiang people in the northwest.
However, in the Northern Wei era, the front line of warfare against the grassland was the Six Garrisons. Lingzhou and Xiazhou had long been the heartland of the Northern Wei, and few people realized the importance of this line of defense.
But Wei Xiaokuan saw it!
And most importantly, Wei Xiaokuan is still young and he has only learned this knowledge from books.
What will he become once he is able to truly put this knowledge into practice?
Su Ze looked at Wei Xiaokuan and said:
"Xiao Kuan, are you willing to learn Shui Jing Zhu from me?"
Wei Xiaokuan was stunned for a moment, then he was overjoyed.
After Wei Xiaokuan entered Su Ze's military headquarters, Su Ze borrowed his "Notes on the Classic of Waterways".
However, "Annotations to the Classic of Waterways" is just a book. When Su Ze and Su Cho were under the tutelage of Li Daoyuan, they learned not only a book, but also the thoughts of Li Daoyuan, the unparalleled master of geography, on the geographical trends of mountains and rivers across the country.
The later "Shui Jing Zhu" is a travel note and a geographical monograph with gorgeous words.
But in this era, it is a definite dragon-slaying technique!
Su Ze was willing to teach Wei Xiaokuan geography in person, which was exactly what Wei Xiaokuan longed for.
Su Ze said to Su Chao:
"Ling Chuo, ask Liangzhou and Hezhou to squeeze out some more food. This time I will personally lead the troops to Gaoping, and after meeting up with Yu Jin, we will go to Xiazhou."
The governors of Xiazhou and Lingzhou were both ordinary figures whose names were not recorded in history books. After the rebellions of Gaoping and Jingzhou, rebellions also broke out in Xiazhou and Lingzhou.
The two provincial governors were unable to maintain the situation and turned to surrounding provinces and counties for help.
Li Shizhe in Hezhou and Yuan Yu in Liangzhou also received their letters for help. As Su Ze is the most powerful in the northwest, his military office is also filled with letters asking for his support.
As long as Su Ze is willing to take over, the two state governors will be happy to give up their military power.
And when the news of the Six Garrisons Uprising came, they were afraid that they would have to resign from the post of governor.
Speed is of the essence in war. This time, Su Ze decided to take 2,000 of his most elite cavalrymen to Gaoping to assist Yu Jin in stabilizing the situation, and then immediately head north to Xiazhou.
No matter what, we must control the banks of the Wuding River before the rebel troops from the Six Garrisons move south.
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Xiurongchuan.
Erzhu Rong was hunting.
In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a hunting system for four seasons: spring search, summer seedling hunting, autumn hunting, and winter hunting.
Erzhu Rong's tribe had actually been deeply sinicized. He said to Liu Gui beside him:
"'The sons of the seedlings are chosen as disciples.' The emperors of ancient times also selected warriors through hunting, right?"
Liu Gui's ancestors were from the Zhao Han royal family. Liu Yuan, the Xiongnu emperor who was a great Han Chinese in spirit, had a deeper cultural attainment than the Sima family. His family's academic heritage was also not bad. It is said that Erzhu Rong used allusions from the Book of Songs.
"The son of a seedling, the chosen one is noisy."
The son of heaven is called the Son of Heaven. Hunting in summer is called Miao. Hunting in this season is specifically for hunting newborn wild animals.
The four seasons of hunting mentioned in Zhou Li is actually the hunting of farming peoples.
There are two purposes of hunting: one is to train soldiers, and the other is to eliminate the threat of wild beasts in the forest to farming.
If newborn wild animals are not killed in the summer, they will affect the people working in the fields during the autumn harvest.
The emperor arranged hunting activities in the summer, and there was a lot of noise when he counted the infantry and his entourage.
The noise was meant to disturb the newborn beasts of the forest and drive them from their lairs.
Erzhu Rong's hunting training also followed the "Book of Rites". The summer hunting trained the soldiers' ability to form an encirclement.
As expected, the soldiers disturbed a porcupine's nest, and several baby porcupines rushed out of the nest and ran in all directions.
The soldiers who were just bustling about suddenly put on serious expressions. They formed a formation to block the porcupines' escape routes, and then began hunting the porcupine cubs according to their assigned defense areas.
Soon, all the porcupine cubs in the nest were brought to Erzhu Rong, and the adult porcupines in the nest were shot through by bows and arrows.
Liu Gui couldn't help but sigh that Erzhu Rong's men were indeed the elite among the elite.
Since following Su Ze's advice and going north to join his fellow villager Erzhu Rong, Liu Gui has gradually become involved in the affairs of the Erzhu family and has become increasingly aware of the family's ambitions.
The Erzhu family has been working hard for several generations, waiting for an opportunity.
Now this opportunity seems to have been placed in front of Erzhu Rong.
Just a few days ago, Erzhu Rong had received secret news that the Six Towns had rebelled.
Liu Gui knew that the Erzhu family had made arrangements in the Six Garrisons, and Liu Gui even suspected that the Erzhu family was involved in the Rebellion in the Six Garrisons.
But the water was too muddy and he couldn't see clearly.
But Liu Gui was clear about one thing, that is, the Erzhu family had been preparing for this day for a long time.
From Erzhu Rong's hunting and military training, to the Erzhu family's efforts to smooth relations with Luoyang, to the huge wealth accumulated by the Erzhu family.
The chaotic times have begun, and these are the capital.
Adult wild porcupines have a strong fishy smell, but young porcupines are a rare delicacy.
The chef removed the porcupine's quills, sprinkled them with spices, wrapped them in river mud, and roasted them over a fire.
Liu Gui looked behind Erzhu Rong. These were the elite cavalry that he had trained throughout the year.
In the entire Xiurong, there are only three thousand such cavalrymen.
But Liu Gui knew very well what a terrible effect these three thousand people would have if they were placed on the battlefield.
"Agui, you know some people in Liuzhen, right?"
When Liu Gui first arrived in Xiurong, he recommended Gao Huan to Erzhu Rong.
Later, Liu Gui also wrote letters to Gao Huan. After learning that Gao Huan had made contributions in Li Chong and Su Ze's northern expedition and had been promoted to military commander, he no longer wrote to Gao Huan to recruit him, but he still kept in touch with Gao Huan.
Erzhu Rong also had contact with Yang Jun, the commander of Wuchuan Town. Yang Jun was from the Hongnong Yang family. Since the previous generation of the Erzhu family, he had established connections with these Han Chinese clans by presenting them with precious horses.
When Yang Jun was appointed to Wuchuan, he also stopped in Xiurong, where Erzhu Rong personally presented him with fine horses and furs.
Even for the messengers from the Six Garrisons who were delivering messages to the south, Erzhu Rong spent his own money to build post stations for them to rest.
So even though it was separated from Hengzhou, Xiurongchuan was well aware of the situation in the Six Towns.
"Agui, you can write to the people you know in the Six Towns. If things don't go well, you can go south to Xiurongchuan."
As one of the top military strategists of his time, Erzhu Rong was well aware of the special features of the Six Garrisons.
Erzhu Rong also coveted the manpower from the Six Garrisons.
-
Some people see it as an opportunity to expand their family, while others see it as an opportunity to eliminate political enemies.
The second year of Zhengguang, June 20th.
The news of the rebellion in Woye Town and the successive rebellions in the Six Towns finally reached Luoyang.
At this time, the Northern Wei court had just received news of a great victory on the eastern front and the recovery of northern Xuzhou. Before the court had time to celebrate, it received news that the northern border was in chaos again.
Once the Six Garrisons were in chaos, the ruling King Yuan Yi of Jiangyang was completely panicked.
The Six Garrisons were an invisible elephant in Luoyang’s politics.
From the emperor to the ministers, everyone ignored the Six Garrisons.
Unless something like the Rouran invasion happened, the Six Garrisons would not appear on the list of important officials to be discussed.
Over the years, the only person who discussed the Six Garrisons issue was General Li Chong.
After Li Chong returned from his last northern expedition, he wrote a letter to the court requesting that the six towns be changed into prefectures and counties.
Military towns are a primitive form of rule that integrated the military and civilians. They were a stopgap measure adopted by the Northern Wei Dynasty in its early days when it was unable to carry out thorough administrative rule.
However, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, the Northern Wei Dynasty had enough talents. Gaoping Town and Bogul Town were changed to Gaoping County and Lingzhou respectively. All other military towns except the Six Towns were abolished and replaced by the administrative structure of prefectures and counties.
The advantage of this is that the three-tier structure of prefectures, counties and towns has more official positions with higher ranks than the original six-garrison structure. These official positions provide a smooth path for advancement and can accommodate the talents of the six towns.
After being transformed into prefectures and counties, officials and talents of the Six Garrisons could also circulate with other prefectures and counties, and were connected to the entire Northern Wei bureaucratic system, no longer being an outlier.
In addition, the household registration of the military towns was also strictly controlled. After being changed into prefectures and counties, the people who could not survive in the six towns could move to Hengzhou, Lingzhou, Xiazhou and other areas to ease the population pressure in the six towns.
It can be said that Li Chong's memorial was good, but it did not arouse the interest of the court discussion and was soon shelved.
But today in the Menxia Province, Li Chong's memorial was discussed again.
Hejian Wang Yuanchen once failed in a competition of wealth with Li Chong and became enemies with Li Chong.
Yuan Chen glanced at Li Chong, the opportunity for revenge has come!
(End of this chapter)