Along the way, Yang Wen and Ouyang Xuan rode horses side by side and talked. While telling the story of the Yang family in Bozhou, he also introduced the reason why the government and the Yang mansion were moved to Hailongtun. In fact, the reason for building Hailongtun is very simple, which is to resist the invasion of the Mongolian army and the Dali barbarians they drove. Since the Mongols destroyed the Dali Kingdom, they have repeatedly invaded Bozhou and tried to attack the hinterland of Sichuan through the border of Bozhou, causing frequent peak fires in Bozhou.
The Bozhou Army was brave and good at fighting. Although it defeated the Mongolian invasion many times, it suffered heavy losses. War is a gold-swallowing beast. The Yang family only has a few states and less than a million people under its control. It has to fight the powerful Mongolian army for a long time, which puts great economic pressure. In particular, Bozhou City, where the Yang Mansion is located, has a flat terrain and easy access to water and land. It has a prosperous economy but is undefendable. In the face of frequent intrusions from foreign enemies, it is really not suitable to be used as a governance place. After weighing many factors, Yang Wen began to consider choosing a steep mountainous terrain to build a fort. Although this method requires a lot of manpower and resources in the short term, it can maximize strengths and avoid weaknesses, fully restrain the advantages of the Mongolian cavalry, and in the long run consumes the least and produces the greatest benefits.
The battlefield in central Sichuan is a typical mountain city defense operation mode. Since the Mongolian army Wang Dechen's troops occupied Lizhou, they frequently sent hussars to plunder, causing chaos in all states and counties. After Yu Jie was appointed as the envoy of Sichuan, he built a mountain city and moved the state and county offices into it, which not only protected the people, but also suppressed the invasion momentum of the Mongolian army. Bozhou has many talented people in building mountain cities and defensive warfare. It was with the talents of the Ran brothers in Bozhou that Yu Jie built a mountain city defense system with the "Eight Pillars in Sichuan" as the core. A few years ago, Yang Wen also began to build castles in Bozhou to resist the invasion of the Mongolian army. It's just that the governance is the foundation of a place and cannot be careless. There were too many factors involved in choosing a new administration, and there were many internal objections, which made him unable to make up his mind. In fact, he had already sent people to explore the surrounding area to find a suitable place for a new administration.
What made Yang Wen determined was the court order brought by Lu Wende two years ago - to build a city to ward off the Mongolian army. After the Mongolian army Wang Dechen's troops were stationed in Lizhou, they frequently went south to attack, which made the Sichuan Song army exhausted. If the Mongolian army stationed in Dali broke through Bozhou and headed north, Sichuan would definitely be difficult to defend. If Sichuan is lost, Jingxiang will not be protected, and the Mongols can go down the river and attack Lin'an. Therefore, Lin'an specially sent Lu Wende to discuss Bozhou's anti-Mongolian affairs. He and Yang Wen agreed to "build a city as the foundation of Bozhou", so they built "Longyan New City", also called Longyan Tun or Hailong Tun.
Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, Bozhou has not been under the actual jurisdiction of the central court, but only nominally obeyed the court's orders. However, on the one hand, the imperial order conformed to Bozhou's interests and needs, and on the other hand, it also helped Yang Wen suppress opposition voices, so it was implemented quickly and efficiently. For this reason, Yang Wenqing mobilized 80,000 civilians and took nearly two years to build this strong city. In fact, the final project of Hailongtun was completed just before the marriage between Bozhou and Pili Army, and it only took two or three months for Yang Mansion and Bozhou Yamen to move in. Yang Wen just took advantage of his daughter's wedding to celebrate.
When we arrived at Hailongtun, it was already sunset. Ouyang Xuan followed Yang Wen up the steep and narrow mountain road. While listening to Yang Wen's introduction, he carefully looked at this fortified city. Hailongtun is located on the top of Longyan Mountain, with mountains on one side and streams on three sides. There are cliffs hundreds of meters high all around. Although "birds and apes cannot cross it", there is only a narrow trail in the southeast leading to the top of the mountain. Because the mountain is high and steep, the path up the mountain has a very steep slope. Even if ordinary people walk up it with bare hands, they will be exhausted and out of breath, let alone risking stones to attack the city.
In the middle of the mountain is the first pass composed of a tall city wall hundreds of meters long. The city wall is made of bluestone and lime glutinous rice slurry with staggered joints. Its strength is not inferior to that of reinforced concrete, and its defensive power is amazing. The only way to reach the city wall is a footpath less than one meter wide. This footpath has thirty-six high and steep steps, known as the Ladder to Heaven. In the chest of the mountain is a second-level pass called Suspension Bridge Pass, which was carved out of a natural stone trench on the half-cliff as the city gate. On the shoulder of the mountain is the third pass. This pass has three huge city gates, and is also equipped with many city defense facilities such as urns, arrow towers, and horse faces.
When we arrived at Tunding, it was already dark. Taking advantage of the last rays of the setting sun, Ouyang Xuan was surprised to find that the top of the village was very flat and vast, and in the twilight it seemed as if he couldn't see the edge. After listening to Yang Wen's introduction, the area of Tunding is close to 3,000 acres. It not only has hundreds of houses, but also has schools, barracks, granaries, warehouses, and even many ponds and farmland. As long as there is enough food, you can hold on for a long time. Ouyang Xuan sighed after hearing the introduction. The terrain is even more steep than Diaoyu City. Even if Meng Ge Khan arrives in this city, he will end up in a worse end. Yang Wen laughed loudly after hearing this and said, "With the weapons brought by my virtuous son-in-law, no one can break my fortified city!"
When we reached the middle of the village, it was already dark. Dots of firelight shone through the doors and windows of each house. Under the leadership of a Bozhou official, the Pili Army followed Yang Wen into a brightly lit hall. This was a welcome banquet specially prepared for them. At this time, nearly a hundred people were seated in the main hall, and they all stood up when Yang Wen came in. Yang Wen walked straight to the main seat in the main hall and motioned for everyone in the Pili Army to sit at the guest of honour's seat. Following Ouyang Xuan into the main hall, besides Lu De, there were also Dong Hu and Zhu Tiaozi. Ouyang Xuan raised his eyes and looked around, and saw that most of the people sitting in the hall were men with their heads wrapped in cloth scarves. Judging from the clothes, most of them were local mountain people. There may have been a few women dressed as Miao people among them, but Yang Yan was not seen, which made Ouyang Xuan feel a little disappointed.
After the master of ceremonies in the hall signaled silence, Yang Wen began to speak. He first welcomed everyone to Hailongtun to attend Yang Yan's wedding ceremony, and then introduced everyone in the Pili Army one by one - of course they introduced the imperial titles, and everyone stood up and raised their hands in greeting. When the people in the palace learned that Ouyang Xuan was the deputy envoy to appease Chengdu Road and the military commander of Yongkang at a young age, they couldn't help but exclaimed. They all praised him as the best among men and congratulated Master Yang on finding a good son-in-law. Good marriage. After finishing his speech, the master of ceremonies began to give a toast, and everyone began to eat meat and drink wine from large bowls.
Yang Wen heard the praises in the palace and felt quite proud in his heart. Yang Yan's marriage was originally his heartache, but now it has become a beautiful marriage. Not only is his daughter satisfied, but he is also extremely satisfied. More importantly, the marriage with the Pili Army even solved one of his biggest worries. This concern comes from the succession issue of his only son Yang Bangxian. He has been leading troops in wars all year round, and he has no eyesight on the battlefield. Once something goes wrong, the succession issue will inevitably lead to many disputes. Although Yang Bangxian has practiced martial arts since he was a child and has a courageous nature, after all, he is only thirteen or fourteen years old this year, and his experience and qualifications are not enough to conquer the various forces in the country.
The Yang family has been in Bozhou for nearly four hundred years since it was granted the title of Yongzhen Bozhou in the late Tang Dynasty. During these four hundred years, although there were crises in his rule, he survived one by one with the endorsement of the imperial court, the support of his allies and superb strategies. It is now a troubled time. The Southern Song Dynasty regime is in danger under the iron heel of the Mongolian army. The big families in Bozhou and surrounding forces are also ready to make moves, and the Yang family has always been thin. This internal and external situation makes Yang Wen sleepless. .
Yang Wen took advantage of the marriage event to invite the major families in Bozhou and the chiefs of surrounding tribes. On the one hand, it shows the indestructibility of Hailongtun and the military power of Bozhou soldiers. On the other hand, it also shows that the Yang family not only has the support of the court, but also has unbreakable allies, so as to deter potential dissenters.
