After passing Fuqiang City and Yongning Village, you will leave the boundary of Qinzhou. Walking 180 miles westward, you will reach the ancient Weizhai Village.
Sixty miles west of the ancient Wei Village is the Weiyuan Village.
In another time and space, Weiyuan Village was built in the fifth year of Xining, but in this time and space, Wang Shao started to build the fort in the second year of Xining.
Why did Wang Shao build Weiyuan Fort and Ancient Wei Village?
The purpose is to operate the upper reaches of the Wei River.
You can know this from the journey to Zhang Yue.
It is a section from Chengji County in Qinzhou to the west of Fuqiang City for 120 miles, from Fuqiang City to the west of Yongning Village for 40 miles, and then from Yongning Village to ancient Weizhai for 140 miles, and then it is In one section, sixty miles west of the ancient Wei Village is Weiyuan, which is the upper reaches of the Wei River.
The three hundred and sixty miles from Weiyuan to Qinzhou covers most of the Wei River and the Weishui River Valley.
In important military locations, the focus is on physical victory.
The river valley is naturally the route for troops to enter and the channel for transportation. Wang Shao was in Weiyuan and Gu Wei established a firm foothold. Then the entire Wei River Valley was included in the Song Dynasty.
With the Weishui River Valley, there is a complete scenic spot, so it is crucial to capture Weiyuan and ancient Wei.
From the east of Fuqiang City, you can often see Han soldiers and civilians settling here. After Zhang Yue left Fuqiang City and went west, there were very few settlements. This is a valley washed out by the Wei River for thousands of years. From here, you can see the distance at a glance , there are continuous low mountains, the sky is extremely clear, and the white clouds are long.
There are mostly loess plateaus on the near side of the river valley. Most of the loess plateaus have been eroded by the river water. Below the plateau is the river valley. Loess is exposed in places not covered by jungle grass, but the land is still fertile because it is close to the river.
The Zhou Dynasty originated from the Weishui River Valley, and then conquered the world from here. The oracle bone inscriptions with the character Zhou are the character Tian on the top and the character Kou on the bottom. After the Zhou people were good at farming and settled in Zhouyuan, they took the name Zhou.
The talent of our flower growers in farming comes from here, so the Weishui River Valley is also the foundation of China.
As soon as Wang Shao arrived in Guwei, he reported that along the Weiyuan City and down to Qinzhou Chengji, along the river for five or six hundred miles, there would be tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land uncultivated.
Therefore, Wang Shao operated the ancient Weizhai and gathered troops to colonize it. As long as the Song army was stationed here, it would save the thousands of miles of transporting grain from Guanzhong to Qinfeng Road, and then from Qinzhou on Qinfeng Road to the ancient Weizhai.
Wang Shao's policy was opposed by Zeng Gongliang, Li Shizhong, Dou Shunqing and others who opposed opening the border.
Li Shizhong directly said that the thousands of hectares of farmland Wang Shao said were lies, and in fact there was not even an acre of land.
Zhang Yue was walking along the official road, when suddenly a group of Fan cavalry came out from the nearby platform. They intercepted the front of Zhang Yue's team all the way, and divided their ranks to cover the rear.
Everyone was shocked at first, but the old soldier who led the way took one look at it and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, this is the Da Ma family of the Tibetan tribe in Qinzhou."
After saying this, the old soldier stepped forward on his horse and chatted with the leading fanqi for a few words. Sure enough, the other party retreated after hearing this. Zhang Yue knew that the two Ma family (Da Ma family and Xiao Ma family) had joined the family in the first year of Chunhua, and they were considered familiar tribes.
If there are cooked potatoes, there must be raw potatoes.
There is no need to be afraid of either of these. Shubo and Tibetans are familiar with the laws of the Song Dynasty, and their leaders have all been granted official positions and are under the jurisdiction of the Song Dynasty. Except for dispatching with the Xixia army, it is difficult for Shengbo and Fan to approach the border towns of the Song Dynasty on weekdays.
What I fear the most is those half-baked people.
They are the ones who seem to be doing business with you, but when the boat reaches the middle of the river, they ask you whether you want hob noodles or wontons.
However, after this interruption, Zhang Yue and others accelerated their march and finally arrived at Yongning Village before dark. After leaving Fuqiang City, there was no post station where we could change horses, so our progress slowed down.
However, it is 140 miles from Yongning Village to ancient Weizhai. In the past, when transporting grain from Qinzhou, it was even more 300 miles. Now that the supply point has been moved to Fuqiang City, the supply distance has been shortened.
At first, the court officials had always opposed the construction of a stronghold in ancient Wei. One of the important reasons was that it was difficult to pay. It was not easy to transport grain and grass, and there was the risk of being attacked by peasants on the way. Zhang Yue sincerely admired the Song army who guarded the border.
Zhang Yue rested one night in Yongning Village. Because of the approval from the envoy, Zhizhai allowed them to enter the village and gave them more horse food. As for food, Yongning Village was also in short supply.
However, Zhizhai gave Zhang Yue ten liters of wine and three Tibetan cavalry Song soldiers who were familiar with the terrain as guides.
Fortunately, Zhang Yue and his party brought enough dry food when they set off from Fuqiang City.
That night, Zhang Yue had no sleep at all. He climbed to the top of the village and looked at the vast wasteland at dusk, listening to the sound of the Qiang flute that occasionally sounded outside the village.
The sound of the Qiang flute is clear and melodious, sounding like weeping and complaining in the vast wilderness.
Gradually, a full moon rose. Zhang Yue picked up his wine and drank at the scene. Unknowingly, he was thousands of miles away.
How are the brothers, sisters-in-law, wives and children at home doing now?
At this moment, Zhang Yue couldn't help but think of Wang Zhihuan's Liangzhou poem, and a feeling of alienation from this scene arose spontaneously.
…
Before dawn the next day, Zhang Yue and others left the stronghold.
It is a hundred and forty miles from Yongning Village to the ancient Weizhai Village. In the middle there are Yaerxia Village, Wulingbao Village, Xiaoluomen Village, Ningyuan Village, etc., but they are all small villages, with only three to five hundred troops stationed.
If there is really an attack by the Tibetan tribe, these forts will at best have some beacon fire or something, so don't expect them to send troops to rescue.
Before Wang Shao settled in the fields in Guwei, Ya'erxia Village and Wuling Fort were captured by the Qing and Tang tribes. The Song army lost more than a thousand people, and Guwei Village was deprived of food for half a year.
Although the road out of Yongning Village is along the Weishui River Valley, it is surrounded by bare mountains on all sides. The soil erosion here is much more serious than that in the lower reaches.
It rains heavily in July and August, and the soil is so loose that no plants can adhere to it, so it can only be washed into the river valley.
The river valley from Chengji to Yongning Village is owned by Qinzhou, and there is no uncultivated land at all. But with such serious water and soil erosion going up to Yongning Village, how can we cultivate farmland on a large scale?
The Weishui River Valley at this time was no longer the Weishui River Valley in the Zhou Dynasty.
The clear-cut allusion comes from the Book of Songs...
Li Shizhong, Dou Shunqing, and Li Ruoyu successively said that Wang Shao's cultivation of thousands of hectares of land along the Wei River was a lie about the military situation. It was indeed true at all.
Zhang Yue wanted to speak for Wang Shao from the bottom of his heart. In order to win the support of the court's resources, he could make the report more beautiful.
But if you think about it carefully, is this a common crime?
When Li Shizhong said that Wang Shao was lying about his farming, the officials sent Dou Shunqing to check the evidence. When Dou Shunqing also said that Wang Shao had concealed the report, the officials still didn't believe it, so they sent Li Ruoyu to investigate. Li Ruoyu also told him where the Qianqing that Wang Shao mentioned was found. The land is actually only one hectare.
The officials still didn't believe it, so they asked Han Zhen if this was the case. Han Zhen said that Wang Shao was actually a farmer.
As a result, Li Shizhong, Dou Shunqing, and Li Ruoyu were all demoted because they deceived the emperor!
If the officials finally learned the truth... Zhang Yue would be unimaginable.
This time I have to wipe Wang Shao's butt again.
"Sacrifice?"
Zhang Yue turned around and saw Liu Xishi, who was walking on horseback, and asked with a smile: "What's the matter, father-in-law?"
Liu Xishi said: "It's just to remind Sheren that we should be careful on the way to Guwei."
Zhang Yue said: "That's right."
Although Liu Xishi was a eunuch, he accompanied Zhang Yue on dozens of miles every day without any complaints.
It can be seen that the eunuchs in the Song Dynasty were really capable. No wonder they could produce Tong Guan.
Liu Xishi suddenly said: "Zhangshe people, actually I came to Guwei this time for an order to check the farming, but I have not seen anyone farming for so many miles. Where do you think this farm is?"
Zhang Yue said: "Hey, father-in-law, we have just reached the middle reaches. There will be no farming here. I heard that the water and grass in the upper reaches are lush. I think there must be farming from Weiyuan to ancient Wei."
Liu Xishi said meaningfully: "I hope so."
Zhang Yue and Liu Xishi were chatting. At this time, the team turned around the river valley. Zhang Yue suddenly saw a long team of mules and horses not far ahead, moving forward in a mighty manner.
The Xiang soldiers were overjoyed and said, "It's a caravan. Let's follow the caravan."
The presence of caravans traveling indicates that the trade routes are smooth and the situation is stable.
Zhang Yue looked at the caravan carrying mostly tea bricks and other items, and thought that the tea-horse trade was indeed the king's business.
Zhang Yue sent someone to take out his documents and immediately cooperated with the caravan to go to ancient Wei.
When the owner of the caravan heard that he was from the government, he immediately agreed and also came to explore Zhang Yue's connections. Zhang Yue casually made up that he was delivering official documents.
The caravan was guarded by both Tibetan and Han people, and Zhang Yue saw several familiar Tibetan cavalrymen standing watch along the way. As for the Tibetan people along the way, they welcomed the caravan very much. Many Tibetan people offered food and drinks, and at the same time chatted with the caravan's companions. Inquire about the news.
Zhang Yue was very happy to see that there was no barrier between Tibetan and Han people and they coexisted peacefully.
In addition to war and plunder, the Han and Tibetan people also had exchanges such as trade and peace.
This is buying tea in Hanzhong and changing horses from the Xihe River.
Zhang Yue privately asked Wang Shao, the Han, merchant and Tibetan army, how he was doing in ancient Wei, and they all unanimously praised him for his efficient management.
This is completely opposite to what Han Zhen and Li Shizhong said.
Following the caravan, the road was much smoother. It was protected by the forts built by the Song Army along the Weishui River, and hundreds of familiar Tibetan cavalry were voluntary escorts along the way.
Zhang Yue put his thoughts aside and arrived at Ya'er Gorge Village. It was very close to the ancient Weizhai Village and there were many salt wells.
Salt is a strategic material, so the Song army recruited people to dig salt wells for salt irrigation. This not only solved the salt problem of the border troops, but also sold the salt to the Qing and Tang tribes.
When Zhang Yue arrived at Ya'erxia Village, he unexpectedly saw Wang Shao and Wang Hou and his son!
The father and son led dozens of cavalry to wait for him outside the stronghold. The other party had obviously detected his whereabouts long ago.
When Wang Shao saw him, he got off his horse and said, "I'm here to apologize to you!"
Zhang Yue put his hand on Wang Shao's arm and said, "I'll bear it here, don't lose your composure."
Seeing this, Wang Shao quickly calmed down.
Zhang Yue looked at Wang Shao, a man who was not afraid of anything. Now he must have known that the Weiyuan farming incident had been noticed by the court. Finally, the paper could not cover up the fire, so he lowered his head and asked for help.
At this time, Liu Xishi also stood up and dismounted, stepped forward and saluted Wang Shao and said: "We are here to inspect the farmland on the emperor's order! But there are no farms along the way. Not to mention the thousands of hectares of fertile land that Wang Fugou originally mentioned. I haven’t seen an acre of land, I wonder why?”
(End of chapter)
