The reconnaissance team from the Meizhou-Jiading Prefecture direction was the first to return. The reconnaissance distance in this direction was the longest, but it only took about fifteen days. The reason was that we took the waterway. In ancient times, land transportation conditions were backward, and rivers where boats could travel were the quickest ways to travel. To go to Meizhou and Jiading Prefecture, if you take the waterway, you only need to go down the Wenjing River from Hengyuan Town, pass through Chongqing Prefecture, Xinjin, and Pengshan, and then you can directly reach Meizhou and Jiading Prefecture. Most of the Pili Army Navy personnel came from the Xinjin Navy, and the Xinjin Navy also had many connections with the Pengshan, Meizhou, and Jiading Navy. Wu Qing, the reconnaissance company commander in charge of this direction, with the support of the Xinjin Navy, found out the situation clearly within a few days.
Jiading Prefecture in Meizhou is mostly hilly and mountainous, and the defense of the mountain city where Jiading Prefecture is located is no weaker than that of Diaoyu City. It has never been breached by the Mongolian army. Instead, it has severely defeated the Mongolian army many times. The disaster caused by the Mongols is less severe, so the population density And the economic situation is better than that of Chengdu Plain. The areas with waterways and hilly areas in these two places are particularly densely populated with farmland. Except for military villages, the rest of these farmlands are the land of local aristocratic families. These aristocratic families built strongholds in places with steep terrain to protect themselves. The forts they built not only resisted the harassment of Mongolian horsemen and bandits, but also served as a basis for bargaining with the government. Their population and land were not included in the government's food and tax collection.
Meizhou is the hometown of the famous "Three Sus" Su Xun, Su Shi and Su Che. It is nearly 300 miles away from Hengyuan. Jiading Prefecture is Leshan, which is famous for its giant Buddha in later generations, and is more than 400 miles away from Hengyuan. The reason why Ouyang Xuan sent people to reconnoiter the two places was not only to strengthen trade with the areas along the route and purchase urgently needed supplies for the Perak Army, but more importantly, he wanted to get in touch with Chongqing and Lin'an Prefectures. Chongqing Mansion was the military and political center of Sichuan in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Lin'an was the political center of Sichuan. Although the Southern Song Dynasty court was corrupt, it had Zhengshuo with political status. In Ouyang Xuan's plan, if he could get in touch with the central authority and win an official position as governor, he could reduce the constraints and interference of corrupt officials such as Pan Tongzhi. . This Zhenfu envoy was a position set up by the Southern Song Dynasty to win over semi-independent forces. Its jurisdiction was one state or several states. It was mostly set up in the Jianghuai area that had long been in conflict with the Jin Kingdom. It has not yet been set up after the fall of the Jin Dynasty. Ouyang Xuan's idea of setting up a town governor can be realized in the upcoming changes in Sichuan.
If the original historical trend is followed, Pu Zezhi will be defeated and lose all Xichuan. Meng Ge Khan will personally lead an army to attack Diaoyu City, and the entire Sichuan Jiji will be in danger. If Sichuan is lost, Jinghu will be lost, and if Jinghu is lost, there will be no danger to defend Lin'an. Even if the Mongolian army retreated after Meng Ge died in Diaoyu City, the Southern Song Dynasty government in Sichuan only controlled Chongqing and other eastern Sichuan, southern Sichuan along the Yangtze River, and Jiading Prefecture in western Sichuan. On the one hand, the Southern Song Dynasty court needed to win over the Perak Army, a newly emerging force, to fight against Mongolia in order to reduce the pressure on Chongqing. On the other hand, Sichuan was suffering from long-term wars and was far away from the center, so the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty had always been weak. The imperial court was more cautious than trusting the leading ministers who went out of Sichuan. Yu Jie once regained the entire territory of Sichuan and launched a northern expedition to Hanzhong, but his success failed due to the constraints of the central government and the lack of cooperation of his generals. Allowing him to fight without defeating his subordinates who held heavy troops was also the result of the central government's deliberate connivance, and it was also a consistent strategy to prevent Sichuan's envoys from becoming powerful. The Southern Song Dynasty court will definitely support other forces to check and balance to prevent the emergence of separatist forces.
Not long after Wu Qinggang came back, he was ordered to go to Huojing County, Qiongzhou. In addition to him and his 100 soldiers who went to Huojing, there was also the first company of the field battalion, led by Cao Ergou. After seeing this formation, Wu Qing knew that going to Huojing must be extremely important, otherwise he would not have sent the first company of the Perak Army's most powerful field battalion to attack. Among the Perak Army, although the reconnaissance company of the Internal Guard Battalion led by Dong Hu has the best quality of individual soldiers and has prioritized the installation of the latest grenades and muskets, it is not equipped with such powerful weapons as artillery, so its strength is still not as good as in the field. Battalion 1st Company. Ouyang Xuan asked Cao Ergou to lead the two most powerful companies because something happened in the direction of Qiongzhou. Yuan Shanhu, commander of the anti-trafficking company in charge of the direction from Qiongzhou to Huojing, sent someone back to say that four scouts were kidnapped in Huojing.
The reconnaissance operation in the direction of Qiongzhou was divided into two detachments. The first detachment consisted of 20 people who took the waterway, passing through Xinjin City and then heading to Yizheng County and Pujiang County. Although the distance was long, it saved time and effort. The second detachment led by Yuan Shanhu, consisting of thirty people, took the overland route to Qiongzhou via Dayi County and Anren County. The two teams agreed to meet outside Huojing County. The land route from Hengyuan to Qiongzhou is less than 200 miles. It is said that it only takes two or three days to arrive, but it took Yuan Shanhu and others ten days. In addition to detouring through Anren County, there were too many bandits along the way. After the Mongols retreated from Chengdu, Qiongzhou, Anren and other counties were also recovered by Yu Xing, the prefect of Jiading. Dayi County was briefly captured by the Perak Army and then abandoned. It was also occupied by Yu Xing's subordinates, who began to farm near the city. The iron smelting and salt industries in Qiongzhou and Huojing, which the government valued most, also began to resume operations, causing a lot of smoke and fire in the world.
In addition to defending Jiading Prefecture, Yu Xing's soldiers also had to send troops to follow Pu Zezhi to attack Chengdu, so there were not many soldiers sent to Qiongzhou. Except for Qiongzhou and Huojing, the soldiers in other counties are still insufficient to even defend the city, and the countryside is dominated by bandits. Although the soldiers of the Perak Army were much more powerful than the bandits, they did not dare to get entangled with the bandits due to their mission. They had to go out day and night to travel, but even so, they were harassed and seriously slowed down their journey. The food brought by the two teams when they met outside Huojing City had been exhausted. The hillside at the confluence was the camp where the Pili Army camped when they first came to buy salt. It was still two or three miles away from Huojing City.
Yuan Shanhu had no choice but to send five people to the city to buy grain. According to the requirements of this outing for reconnaissance, the Perak Army personnel were not allowed to reveal their identities, so the food purchasers did not carry weapons such as muskets and grenades when they went to the city to buy food. Apart from the high food prices, the entire food purchasing process went smoothly. The unexpected appearance occurred shortly after leaving the city gate. Not far from the city, the five people were surrounded by dozens of strong men. These men were all masked and armed with knives. They actually dared to take hostages less than a mile away from the city. The leader of the masked man ordered his men to untie the rope of a scout and said: "You are not a Qingcheng Mountain Taoist but a soldier of Pili. Go back and tell Ouyang Xuan that this is the border of Qiongzhou. If you want these people to survive, give them firearms in exchange." After saying this, he carried four soldiers of the Perak Army and walked towards the mountain.
After getting the news, Yuan Shanhu hurriedly led people there, but he couldn't catch up. After the initial panic, he quickly calmed down. He did not rush to send people back to Hengyuan Town to report the situation. Instead, he first inquired about the origins of this group of people and reported the situation together. After inquiring, it was found that the person who hijacked the Pili Army soldiers was named Boss Qian. He was a man with powerful eyes and hands in Qiongzhou and Huojing. He and his two brothers have been engaged in private salt trading since they were teenagers. After nearly 20 years of development, they now have hundreds of subordinates engaged in a business that is both business and banditry. He is said to be a businessman because he is not only a private salt dealer, but also trades in the southwestern Yi tribes, the Western Tibetan tribes south of Qiongzhou, and even as far away as Dali, mainly using tea, silk, salt, and iron from the Han area. and other items in exchange for local medicinal materials, horses and other specialties. Although this business path is difficult and dangerous, the profit returns are extremely generous. This trade route was later called the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, and when it extended to the Indian Ocean, it became the Southern Silk Road.
Boss Qian is said to be a bandit because in recent years, the Mongolian invasion of Dali and other tribes in Western Tibet has destroyed the original local order, but no effective governance has been established. As a result, bandits have appeared along the way, seriously blocking the trade routes. After Boss Qian lost all his money several times, he also started the business of robbing houses. The first time the Pili Army went to Huojing to buy salt and encountered bandits, it was he who ordered people to rob. It was just during that robbery that they suffered a big loss from the Pili Army's firearms, and it was because of this that he came up with the idea of getting firearms. With powerful firearms, we no longer have to worry about the barbarian bandits cutting off the trade routes. It's just that the Perak Army has extremely strict controls on firearms and will not sell them at all. Since you can't buy it, you have to think of other ways. The soldiers of the Perak Army dressed as Taoist priests from Qingcheng Mountain were discovered by his informants as soon as they entered the territory of Qiongzhou. Boss Qian, who was worried about not getting firearms, was overjoyed, so he kidnapped people and threatened the Pili Army.
