Liu Chengzong set foot on Anhuayuan.
To the south of Qingyang Mansion, there is the largest plateau of loess in the world.
It is 220 miles long from north to south, and a hundred miles wide from east to west. It is between Malian River and Pu River from east to west, and is bounded by Jing River in the south, spanning Qingyang Prefecture and Ningzhou.
On the way here, Yang Dingrui told Liu Shishi a lot about Ningzhou.
It is said that the terrain here is flat and it was once the place where the Zhou Dynasty established its foundation. It is known as the Granary of Longdong.
After passing Yima Pass and walking south, I rode my horse on the mountain and looked around. I was very happy to see the large flat plateau.
But while traveling, this was not the case.
Wild grass grows in large connected wastelands, and the mountain terraces and even trees grow into forests. There is no trace of a granary, which makes Liu Chengzong feel that some big battle has been fought here.
The villages they encountered were all in ruins, with only endless mature fields surrounding the standing fortress.
"What's going on?" Liu Chengzong, riding his horse through the foot-high haystacks, asked, swinging his whip, "Where are the people?"
It is normal for the land to be barren due to drought, but it should not be this bad. Even the fields near the water are barren. There are some places that are clearly mature fields after harvesting, but there is no trace of people.
Except for those forts, it was like entering no man's land.
Little Zuanfeng was happy, running around in the wild with his long legs, rolling with joy.
Meibao is different. He has the air of an officer. He sits on Hongqi's butt, holds his long bow with his claws and looks around with his head raised, as if he is a leader inspecting.
Hu Sanzhao, a local bandit from Ningzhou, was cutting the road ahead with a hatchet. He was so tired that he was out of breath. He turned around, took a breath and smiled: "Commander, there are people in Ningzhou, but they all go to the mountains to avoid taxes and dig holes in the ground to survive. When the summer tax is over, they will appear.”
Liu Chengzong simply got off his horse, let go of the reins and walked forward, with Hongqi following suit.
He asked: "Why is it like this here?"
Liu Chengzong had seen a lot of the barren mountains and ridges in northern Shaanxi.
Flat land is scarce in this environment. As for Liujiamao in Heilong Mountain, even a small piece of flat land needs to be planted by the people.
But here?
Tens of thousands of land as big as Liujiamao are connected together.
Such good land is left here with no one cultivating it. Liu Shizi thought he had gone abroad. Is this something that Chinese farmers can do?
"Oh, why did it become like this, Marshal? It's a long story."
Hu Sanzha had never spoken so many words to Liu Chengzong. He organized his words and said: "The imperial court has three places with heavy taxes, Susong, Jiangxi, and Ningzhou, namely Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang, and Li Siqi."
"In the beginning, in the Hongwu Year, Ningzhou's tax was twice as high as that of the four towns of Gyeongju; Ningzhou's grain had to be supplied to Ningxia and other places for 18 warehouses, and the people could not afford it, so the officials said that if they pay the bank, one stone of grain can be supplied elsewhere. Sold for eight denarii."
Hu Sanzha raised his hand and said: "Millet is cheap in Ningzhou, and one stone of grain can only be sold for four yuan. As a result, we pay more."
"Master Wanli increased taxes by 4.3 cents per acre in Heshui, Anhua and other places. I don't know why Ningzhou was increased by 7.4 cents. Anyway, the more taxes are increased, the fewer people will farm the land."
Hu Sanzha said happily, spread his hands and said: "It will be useless to increase taxes in the future. Increase as much as you like. In the past, Ningzhou had less than 20,000 people and more than one million acres of land. Now we have I guess it’s only 200,000 acres?”
Seeing that the meal was served and there was no smoke in sight, Liu Chengzong lost the desire to talk and nodded: "Find a place to rest."
He really didn't expect that Ningzhou, which was very important in his plan, would look like this.
What a wonderful place, but it was forced to be destroyed by taxation.
The more taxes cannot be collected, the more taxes have to be raised. The more taxes are raised, the less people will farm, and all precious fertile land has become wasteland.
Of course, at night, they stayed on the plateau of Dongzhi Town. The fertile land around them was so lush with wild grass that it was so desolate that there was nothing but two forts, one in the south and one in the north, standing alone on the plateau.
Poor.
Soldiers from the Lion Battalion went out in all directions. Under the leadership of Tang soldiers, they carried the book office and surveyed and mapped the terrain and roads within a hundred miles to prepare for the future.
This area that should have been fertile and prosperous but was extremely desolate was the best preset battlefield in Liu Chengzong's mind.
Dusk has passed, and oil lamps are lit in the military commander's tent in the camp.
There was a map spread on the tiger skin carpet. Liu Chengzong held an oil lamp in one hand to illuminate it, and held sesame seed cakes in the other hand and stroked the map westward along the Jing River.
His hand finally stopped at the southernmost tip of Ningzhou, marking the location of Yilu Horse Station.
Yilu Mayi itself is insignificant, but from there to the south, it is the northwestmost part of Xi'an Prefecture, Pizhou Changwu County; to the west, it enters the Jinghe River Valley.
The westernmost end of the river valley was the destination of his trip - Pingliang Fucheng, the residence of Han Fan.
Looking at that place, he turned his head and shouted outside the tent: "Find a Guanzhong soldier!"
To threaten Pingliang Fucheng, it is necessary to enter the Jinghe River Valley, so troops must be divided and garrisoned at Yilu Mayi to block possible reinforcements from Guanzhong heading north.
On the other hand, Guyuan's trilateral headquarters may not be indifferent to his invasion.
He should try his best to determine the troops that can be mobilized in Guanzhong, and then decide to keep people stationed in Yilu Mayi or even Changwu County to eliminate worries and fully deal with Cao Wenzhao's westward advance.
The Guanzhong soldiers from the Lion Camp followed Wei Qian'er to explore the terrain, but Liu Chengzong, who was not waiting for the Guanzhong soldiers, saw an unexpected person.
Gao Yingen.
"Brother Gao, why are you here?"
Gao Yingen ran so hard that he was exhausted. When he saw Liu Chengzong, he felt like he was seeing a relative, and he complained loudly: "Shuai Liu, I had a hard time looking for you. I almost died on the way."
"Died on the road?" Liu Chengzong was surprised and asked quickly: "What's going on? This road should be quite safe!"
"Don't mention it. I thought you had conquered Heshui County. I even went to eat a bowl of porridge, only to find out that it was a porridge factory set up by the county magistrate. I almost got caught."
Gao Yingen waved his hand, but he didn't notice anyone else and sat down on the ground of the tent: "Is there anything to eat?"
On the way, he caught up with Jiang Yingchang, the magistrate of Heshui County, recruiting people to strengthen his army. There were hungry people everywhere.
Gao Yingen thought it was the Lion Battalion opening a warehouse to provide food for the people after they conquered the city, so he rushed to drink a bowl of porridge. However, when the county health workers started to register, he realized something was wrong and ran away quickly.
Liu Chengzong raised his finger and pointed to the small wooden basket next to him and said, "You can eat the newly made sesame cakes by yourself... What happened?"
"Nothing serious happened. Your friends in Yuhebao are still sending news to Yanchang County. My brother was afraid that you didn't know, so he sent me to bring you the news. Guan Ning's army has entered Shanxi."
Liu Chengzong, who was still very relaxed at first, became serious after hearing this. He also sat down on the tiger skin and asked solemnly: "How many troops are there?"
Gao Ying'en said: "The total force is about five thousand. I heard that we entered Shanxi in three battles and had three victories. All the hungry civilians and thieves who were captured in the three battles were killed."
"Kill them all?"
Liu Chengzong cursed: "Which lunatic led the troops?"
Gao Yingen had a strange look on his face. He was about to reach out to get the sesame cakes from the wooden basket, but when he reached halfway, he took it back after hearing this sentence: "The pioneer officer is Yan'an General Yang Yanchang."
Fuck you.
Liu Chengzong waved his hands flatly and said: "Impossible! How could Yang Yanchang lead his troops to kill them all? Who is the general?"
Someone in the Chuangzi Brigade had long said that Yang Yanchang was from Liu Chengzong. Gao Yingen had heard about this, but he was not sure.
He was already a general, so how could he be from Liu Chengzong?
But it would depend on Liu Chengzong's reaction, and Gao Yingen knew it.
He continued: "Yang Yanchang only has 500 troops. The grain transport officer behind him is the guerrilla general Wang Ziyu, who leads 1,500 troops. Both of them are generals from the Yan'an Guard."
Liu Shizi didn't speak, he just spread his hands in front of him, feeling speechless in his heart.
Who is the smartest person to choose?
With this tail general as the base, Liu Chengzong is no longer interested in who the main general is. It is obviously a lineup that Guan Yue has no control over.
"The general's name is Cao Wenzhao. He is a Shanxi native who joined the army in Liaodong. He was a guerrilla general earlier. Now he has been promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of Yansui West Road. I have never heard of this person before, but he is quite ruthless."
Liu Chengzong shook his head. This was either a ruthless thing or a lunatic.
Who doesn't know how to kill? There are wars everywhere these days. Not to mention soldiers and thieves, even those who are studying can kill.
After a battle, it is normal to become red-eyed and kill all the prisoners in anger.
War is a matter of life and death. When you stand on the battlefield, you should know that you will die.
Nothing out of the ordinary for this day and age.
But when all three battles were like this, there was no emotional reason.
That's what he wanted to do.
There is no benefit. Apart from forcing the peasant army to complete the transformation from living a common life to being a class enemy, what else can it bring?
"That one stood beside Chongzhen to extend the life of the Ming Dynasty. It is also a solution. Anyway, he can't deal with the drought, nor can he deal with the vassal king. Isn't it enough to kill you, a bandit who gathers hungry people?"
Liu Chengzong mocked and said to Gao Ying'en: "When there is a drought in Shaanxi, they kill all the rebellious Shaanxi people. When Shanxi becomes troubled, they kill all the rebellious Shanxi people. It's different."
"Compared to these bastards, Shaanxi's soldiers and generals are just making ends meet."
Liu Chengzong's smile was cold: "Having such a thing is not a bad thing for us. In the past, the leader knew that if caught by the court, he would die, but the thieves and pawns were fine. In the future, the thieves and pawns will also know that if they lose, they will die. Then it’s up to you to die and me to live.”
Gao Yingen felt the same and nodded: "My brother feels the same way. Let everyone tell this to everyone in the Chuangzi Brigade. Now the three battalions look different."
"Go back and tell Master Gao that, not counting pioneers and grain transporters, those three thousand Guan Nings will be killed if there is a chance. No one will be spared...who doesn't know how to kill?"
Liu Chengzong said: "This is no longer a matter for everyone to do their own thing."
Gao Yingen took a deep breath, with a bitter expression on his face: "Should we kill them all too?"
"Otherwise, what should you do? Let them go and let them kill again? If the two of them fight, the extreme will win."
Liu Chengzong spread his hands and said: "He has become extreme, and you are still gentle. You are the one who suffers. We are not as big as the imperial court. If we want to win, we can only be more extreme than him."
"Okay, I'll tell my brother this."
Gao Yingen finally picked up the sesame cakes he had wanted to take for a long time and said while eating: "By the way, the people from Yuhebao said that your troops entering Qingyang Mansion shocked the three sides of Shaanxi Province. Governor Yang He was worried that Qingyang Mansion would fall, so he led his troops Coming to Ningzhou."
"ah?"
Liu Chengzong was stunned. He really didn't expect Yang He to come to Ningzhou by himself: "How many soldiers did he bring?"
"Three hundred." Gao Yingen raised three fingers and said, "But we may also mobilize troops from Guanzhong."
Things were different from what Liu Chengzong thought.
The governors of the three sides came to Ningzhou with 300 people. Isn't this a sheep entering a tiger's mouth?
But the problem was that Liu Chengzong didn't want to capture him, let alone kill him.
Liu Chengzong liked such a relatively mild trilateral governor who basically did not play much role in suppressing bandits.
Just like King Han's Mansion, Liu Chengzong's plan was just to besiege King Han's Mansion. The purpose was not to pull King Han out and kill him, but to attract Cao Wenzhao to come over.
It's very annoying for you, the Governor of the Three Kingdoms, to come here with a body of thousands of dollars and deliver it to the captives.
"Where is Cao Wenzhao now?"
"He has just set off to Ning... Oh, the commander-in-chief is talking about Cao Wenzhao." Gao Ying'en finally realized what he was saying, shook his head and said, "I don't know, I haven't arrived at Wang Jiayin's place yet anyway."
Liu Chengzong nodded to indicate that he already knew, and chatted a few words about Lion Bay with Gao Yingen. After he finished his meal and sent him out of the Chinese army tent, he sat cross-legged on the tiger skin blanket and began to think.
After much thought, I still felt that I couldn't hit Yang He.
The most ideal situation is to deal with Cao Wenzhao in Qingyang Mansion. His ultimate goal is to move to Longxi and establish a base and even political power there.
At this time, getting rid of Yang He and attracting all the firepower of the court to himself would not be of any help in achieving the goal.
On the contrary, it will create a lot of resistance.
That night, Liu Chengzong found Yang Yao and asked, "How far is this from Guyuan?"
"About four hundred miles. The mountain road is not easy to walk. What's wrong with the commander?"
"Yang He should be on his way to Ningzhou. Cao Wenzhao is still in Shanxi. I wonder if I can jump into Guyuan and fight there."
Yang Yao didn't understand the connection and just said matter-of-factly: "The mountain road is not easy to walk. From Zhenyuan to Guyuan, you have to pass through Liupan Mountain. However, Pingliang is not easy to walk either. To go north, you have to pass Xiaoguan."
"It's quite easy to go west from Pingliang Mansion. After passing Liupan Mountain, you'll enter Longxi."
It was difficult to go anywhere. Liu Chengzong shook his head, very troubled by the current situation.
He felt that he had to be prepared on both sides, and it would be best if he could completely ideally defeat Cao Wenzhao and leap into Longxi.
If there must be extraneous problems, then it would not be a big deal if there are too many lice to bite Han Fan.
Let’s first see where Cao Wenzhao is.
Liu Chengzong went to find Wei Qian'er again and asked him to send a confidant back with Gao Yingen: "Go to Saimen Qianhu Station and find Ren Qianhu. He will have the final say in Yan'an Guards."
Wei Qian'er nodded: "What about after we find Ren Qianhu?"
"Let him arrange to pick a trustworthy person from the Yan'an Guard, see if there is anything at home that can be used as an excuse, go to Shanxi to find General Yang, inquire about the next march route, know the specific location, and report back immediately."
After Wei Qian'er accepted the order, Liu Chengzong warned: "Someone must tell Ren Quan'er, and the excuse must be made well. Cao Wenzhao must not be allowed to doubt Yang Yanchang... I remember that his two aunts were pregnant with a baby last year. Look, See if you have a name yet, it’s time for General Yang to name the baby.”
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Note:
For Ningzhou’s land area, population, and heavy taxes, please refer to the "Ningxian Chronicles" of the Ningxian Local Chronicles Compilation Committee Office
