The weather is gloomy, which is a bit unusual for the end of April!
Xixiudu was originally an uninhabited wild crossing. Now it has become a lively place, because it is now the border between Chu and Shu.
Strictly speaking, it is now the territory of the chieftains of the two states and the border of Shuzhong. Presumably, as the ruler of the Chu region, Zhou Xingfeng, the governor of Langzhou, would have no doubts. Because he could not control the chieftains' territory in the two states, and Shuzhong would not pay attention to Zhou Xingfeng, so Zhou Xingfeng hoped that this place would become a buffer zone.
After the establishment of the Shu Kingdom, it was no more than a hundred miles away from Yizhou and Jinzhou, the Chu lands. However, it became the most important waterway from Chu lands to Shu, and it was also the best place in Shu to flow along the Chu lands. Because of the importance of the location, everyone would rather it be deserted and uninvolved. However, because this land has been inhabited by barbarians since ancient times, water fortresses were naturally established here and standing military camps were stationed here.
The upper reaches are naturally the army of Shu, but the areas less than two miles downstream are relying on natural dangers. The chieftains of the two states also specially sent two barbarians to the pass. One is a native tribe of the chieftain, and the other is a barbarian in recent years. The protruding Miaoman.
Perhaps because of the special terrain, even if both sides sent soldiers to this place, there wouldn't be too many. It is really a primitive mountainous area with difficult and dangerous mountain roads and inaccessible places.
Now Xixiudu is not only a ferry, but also a military camp and water village. It is also the largest market in the vicinity within a hundred miles. People from dozens of miles nearby, whether they were from Shu or barbarians from Tianchu, would come here to attend the fair, and gradually a quite large market was formed here.
It is said that the people living around here are all Dong people who were driven out of Chu by the Miao people that day. Because they were constantly oppressed by the Miao people, many Dong people hid in the mountains and did not dare to come out. Although everyone has grown up drinking water from the Wulong River since ancient times, the difference is huge. They usually live a very hard life, but they found their own place to live on the border of central Sichuan.
The governor of Qianzhou in central Sichuan was very happy to get many people for nothing, so he naturally took control of the place. Although the territory is a bit remote, compared with the dangerous situation of the Shu Road, it has increased the safety of the Shu Kingdom.
The governor of Qianzhou sent some border troops at will, and he didn't need too many people. With some sophisticated equipment, he could still overwhelm the barbarians. Sure enough, since the Shu Kingdom set up military camps here, the Miao Man did not dare to come over openly, so gradually some Dong Man came out of the mountains.
As it gradually stabilized, some bold Dong people also tried to break through, took out some prey and medicinal materials, and rushed to Xixiudu to trade the agricultural products they needed and some necessary food, and even some rare things in the mountains. medicinal materials.
Wu Dun was born and raised in the local area. Because he was smart and out-of-the-box, when the Shu Kingdom established a military stronghold here, his father still called on the villagers to contribute. So Wu Dun got some real benefits, that is, he became a small tax collector in Xixiudu.
He doesn't know when his ancestors moved here, and even Wu Dun doesn't know if he is Han. Although his father and ancestors have always claimed to be Han, Wu Dun is more or less suspicious. It is said that they were originally from the Nanyang area in the Central Plains, but there were no figures in the ancestors, and there was really nothing to record. When it was in the hands of Wu Dun's father and grandfather, the origin had actually been forgotten.
He actually grew up around the Xixiudu Military Village, and actually saw these Dong barbarians slowly coming out of the mountains. To be honest, Wu Dun still sympathizes with these Dong barbarians. Seeing that there are some of them now, I feel a little relieved, because they gradually dare to live in the surrounding mountains and woods.
According to Wu Dun's father, during the period of the former Shu Kingdom, he saw with his own eyes that the Dong barbarians were driven away by the Miao barbarians in the Chu region. Many barbarians were killed in the mountains and fields. Many people died at that time. It is said that there are still some Dong barbarians left. Almost only the old, weak, sick and disabled were the victims.
Wu Dun has been somewhat sympathetic to these barbarians since he was a child. After all, his daily life is at least better than these barbarians. Later, Xixiudu was in the hands of the current Shu Kingdom. Because some people gathered there to live stably, a market was opened. Wu Dun often bought and exchanged some things in the hands of some barbarians, and gradually got to know some barbarians.
Yang Shan was the earliest Dong barbarian Wu Dun knew. Wu Dun described him as strong-backed, calm, and strong. It is said that he is now also the cave master of the Wuling Dong tribe in the mountains. He started hunting by himself at the age of ten and hunted black bears by himself at the age of twelve. He is a hero among the young Dong people.
In these vast mountains, it is said that there are still four or five groups of Dong barbarians. Wuling Dong is just one of the surviving tribes, and its population is not very large. In order for the tribe to survive, Yang Shan will work hard to travel through the mountains, looking for the best opportunities. He would give Wu Dun the best prey and medicinal materials every time, and Wu Dun would also prepare what he needed most.
What Wu Dun was most proud of was that he once used a complete black bear skin to exchange Yang Shan for a three-stone hard bow in the military camp. This was a great gift for the Dong barbarians who lacked weapons. Since then, Yang Shan has always regarded Wu Dun as a friend and gave the best things to Wu Dun.
Wu Dun sat on the branch of an old pine tree at the entrance of the post. One side of the branch stretched out flatly. The trunk was only four feet above the ground, but two people hugged the thick branch. It was usually used as a chair by many people. The place.
Sitting here, you can see the Junzhai, which is less than 500 meters across and is built in an orderly manner along the mountains and rivers. Although the Junzhai only has about a hundred people, it has about a dozen houses connected up and down, left and right. The military camp was built just across the Wulong River, guarding the Wulong River that passed through the mountains on both sides.
If you want to enter Shuzhong, you have to either pass through the military camp or enter the vast mountains. For thousands of years, no one has dared to cross into the deep mountains, not even the Dong people who were forced to despair. They could only hover dozens of miles in the mountains.
Therefore, Xixiudu can be said to be the proud work of Sichuan. Although there are people who can climb the mountains on both sides, they are now patrolled and guarded by people from the military camp, not to mention how many people dare to cross the 100-foot-high mountain.
Wu Dun's home is just over Xixiudu, at the foot of the mountains close to Junzhai toward the middle of Shu. When there was no Junzhai, there were more than ten families here. Of course, Wu Dun's family didn't know how many generations there were, but He enjoys his current life.
Sitting on this branch, you can also see the Dong people coming out of the mountains on the right. They all come to the river here. It is said that this Wulong River has tributaries that flow into the cave dweller gathering place where they live. They will also live in the mountains next to the mountains and rivers, but they are far away from the world.
They brought here the prey they caught, the herbs they picked, some fungi from the abundant mountains, and the fish they caught from the river for exchange. There are also some residents living around here, some who have lived there for a long time, some who later fled, and of course the soldiers stationed there.
Wu Dun's task was to collect some fees from those doing the transactions according to the wishes of the governor that day. Of course, even if these fees were collected every time, they would be pitifully small in the end. But Wu Dun would always ask the soldiers who changed defense to take them to Qianzhou. He had this responsibility.
Of course, another advantage of sitting here is that other people coming downstream can also see it. It is said that the downstream is actually the Wulong River extending downward here. On one side it goes to the mountains on the right, where the Dong people live in the deep mountains. On the other side it goes to the Chu land. The river gradually flows in with different levels and merges into many tributaries. .
Of course, those coming over the mountains and ridges on the left are the Miao and Tuman not far away. They have set up camps on the slopes of both sides at the place where the stream splits not far below.
With a piece of grass in his mouth and leaning against the branch of a tree, Wu Dun felt a little comfortable. Yang Shan would come again today. After all, it was time to go to work again. The things he brought for him last time were very good, but he was reluctant to take them out, but later because there were some things that needed to be dealt with. I gave it to Lieutenant Jiao in Junzhai, and Lieutenant Jiao found a good job for me. I could follow him to the state capital in two days.
Therefore, Wu Dun is particularly looking forward to Yang Shan bringing him good things today.
Five people wearing Dong Man turbans, led by a young man, were striding down the mountain road. This young man carries a five-foot long bow on his back, a full arrow pot made of tiger skin on his left waist, and a three-foot-long knife stuck in his green linen belt on his right. The most surprising thing is that he is actually carrying a tiger weighing two to three hundred kilograms on his shoulders. People who have already arrived one after another have a surprised look on their faces.
There were two young men behind him who were also carrying prey on their backs. Wu Dun looked at them from a distance, with a smile on his face, and jumped down from the branch to meet them. What surprised Wu Dun was that the other two were actually women wearing silver jewelry, but they were also carrying two large backpacks with great skill.
The young man walked to Wu Dun, put down the tiger that had stopped moving, and threw it on the grass beside him. Seeing Wu Dun actually showing his white teeth, he opened his strong arms and hugged Wu Dun.
"Good guy, we have gained a lot today! Yang Shan, how did you catch such a big tiger? There seems to be no scars!" Wu Dun was hugged tightly by the young man, almost breathless, but he was also tightly After hugging the young man, it turned out that this young man was Yang Shan, the Dong man whom Wu Dun was waiting for.
Yang Shan introduced three unknown people to Wu Dun. One was Yang Shuiqi. Wu Dun saw that he was as strong as Yang Shan and seemed to be taller. He must also be a warrior in the Yangshan tribe. The rest were the two women, one named Huali Yin and the other Wu Hua. Although Wu Dun knew that Dong girls were enthusiastic, they came with Yang Shan, so Wu Dun didn't like to look at them much.
Wu Dun knew the other man before and had been with Yang Shan several times. His name was Wu Li, and he was a famous warrior among the two famous surnames in Wuling Dong. Then Yang Shan told Wu Dun that he and Yang Shuiqi had beaten the tiger to death, which made Wu Dun stunned.
Wu Dun remembered that the military academy in the military camp stated that he wanted a tiger skin last time, so he wanted to introduce Yang Shan to him. It would be convenient for Yang Shan to move here in the future. Naturally, he was overjoyed when he mentioned Yang Shan. After selling the things in his hands, he and Wu Dun went to see Military Academy Chen.
No matter how difficult the road ahead is, no matter what changes may occur in the future, as long as you have a firm determination to win, nothing is impossible and no difficulty is impossible to overcome. Obviously, everything depends on human beings. This world is changed by people and is changed by people.
On April 21, turmoil suddenly broke out in Zizhou and Suizhou in the middle of Sichuan.
The reason was that what had been accumulated over the years was not enough to eat, and the villagers could not survive after spring plowing. The government and landlords did not relax taxation at all. The villagers could not bear it, and some people took the lead in attacking the local landlords. Some landowners were unable to suppress the hungry villagers, so they asked the prefecture and county for help. Officials from the prefecture and county had nothing to do, so they led a group of policemen to the countryside. Who knew that they were ambushed and cooked dumplings, and the villagers tricked them into serving them.
By the time the superior state government knew about it, the state and county government offices had already been occupied, and some people took the lead in condemning, criticizing, and suppressing notorious landlord bullies from all over the country. No one would be spared, as long as they were landlords and bullies with bad records and murder cases. He immediately received strong support from the villagers. In a short period of time, 10,000 or 20,000 villagers in the two state capitals each gathered to cause rebellion.
What alarmed the state government the most was that these villagers actually organized and planned the instigation, resistance and suppression. The state capital was greatly surprised. After investigation, it turned out that someone was secretly instigating the rebellion. It was finally discovered that these people called themselves the Equalization Sect, and in the name of land equalization, they launched actions to distribute land and property in various places.
Who dared to report the troubles in the state capital? For a while, everyone suppressed them secretly, hoping not to let the emperor of Chengdu know about it. Who would have thought that not only could the governors of the two states be unable to suppress it, but by the end of April, the movement in the prefectures and counties had become more and more intense. Some people, with the support of the average cultivator, said they would occupy the state capital and let the average cultivator sit here. The world. Seeing that the state government could no longer suppress the situation, everyone panicked.
No one knows that this is Liu Jixing's strategy of the Southern Han Dynasty in Shu. The Southern Han Dynasty is now attacking Chu with lightning speed, and the surrounding forces are not aware of it yet. Moreover, the combat power was suddenly separated, and the counterattack was not within the territory of Shu as everyone imagined.
Not to mention so-called countries such as Zhou, Chu, Southern Tang, and Dali, they had never thought of it. Even Shuzhong, which was the country that was suddenly victimized at this moment, had never thought of it. Because this is completely unreasonable, and the Southern Han Kingdom has always given people the impression that it is impossible to meet this condition, not to mention that Liu Jixing was smart enough not to let everyone use the banner of his own Han Kingdom.
Of course, the biggest taboo of Liu Jixing's Han Dynasty was that he was afraid that Zhou would know about it. After all, it is Shuzhong and Southern Tang who are at the forefront of the confrontation with Zhou State. There is no need to take the blame immediately, so Liu Jixing's strategy is to enter in another state first.
Nowadays, if the farthest Zhou State wants to know about this incident, it basically has to wait until Zhou State's spies in Shu send back the information. Of course, Zhou Lord Guo Rong is now planning the Northern Expedition. And when they found out about it at that time, they didn't know how the political situation of Shu had changed. It was obvious that Zhou had no time to react.
Naturally, Chu's reaction was the most intense, but as the Southern Han State targeted Chu in advance, it not only launched a war, but also made great efforts to attack the city and seize territory. Of course, the most troublesome thing for Zhou Xingfeng was that after the Han troops captured the prefectures and counties, they failed to defend the city and occupy the land. Instead, all officials were cleared and each city was left in a vacuum.
The bandit King Guo Jing of Xiangxi was the most hateful. He led thousands of bandits. Seeing that there was no one to manage the city, they went in to loot it. Of course, he was also looking for rich people and those bullies with extremely bad reputations. The biggest trouble was that Guo Jing also knew how to bribe the people and distributed most of the things and property he robbed to the people. Therefore, Guo Jing, king of Xiangxi, occupied more than ten states and counties in a short period of time.
The special operations troops of the Southern Han Dynasty not only attacked the Chu region, but also advanced hundreds of miles day by day. What worries Zhou Xingfeng the most is that there are actually navy troops attacking from the three Chudi rivers of Xiangshui, Zishui and Yuanshui, and marching together to Langzhou. Moreover, the navy that entered from Li River successfully occupied the upper waterway of Yongzhou and actually restrained Zhang Wenbiao, the governor of Hengzhou.
As the leader of the Chu region, Zhou Xingfeng's first reaction was to consume Zhang Wenbiao, but what he didn't expect was that he had indeed consumed Zhang Wenbiao, but he had lost the opportunity for war. Even Pan Song, who he later sent to support the Chuzhong area, could not play any role at this time. He could not form an encirclement with Zhang Wenbiao, but instead isolated Zhang Wenbiao.
The Southern Tang Dynasty was relatively slow to receive the news, and the governor of Qianzhou on the border responded even more slowly. Because Nan Tang, who had just been frightened by Zhou Guo, did not believe this at all. The neighbor who had been silent around him suddenly became as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood, and would cross the five ridges to attack Chudi.
When they finished planning and wanted to send Qianzhou to test the reaction of the Southern Han Dynasty, they received a battle report from the border, saying that the Chu land was full of soldiers, and they were attacking Chu land from several directions. The information was too slow, not to mention the lack of decisiveness. The Tang State did not have the courage to seize the opportunity to enter the Chu territory like it did in the past when the horses were competing for the slot.
Of course, within the Tang State, there were still voices asking for war in the Chu Territory. People like Han Xizai hoped that when the Chu Territory was disturbed by the Southern Han Dynasty, the Tang State could take the opportunity to get a piece of the pie. But what was unexpected was that someone from Zhongshu actually stopped this action. It is said that since the Southern Han Dynasty dared to suddenly kill Chu Di, it must have some knowledge of Chu Di and be on guard against Tang. Otherwise, the Southern Han Dynasty, which has always been reclusive, would never dare to do this.
The lucky ones would naturally retaliate, and Li Jing, the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, naturally wanted to send people to Chu to confirm. Sure enough, a report came from Jia Baocha, the Jiedu envoy of the Zhaoxin Army (Zhaoxin Army) on the border. After it was confirmed that all the camps in the northwest of the Southern Han Dynasty knew that Pan Chongche, the military envoy, was stationed there, there was a storm on the border. There was no response from Southern Tang Dynasty, and Li Jing, the leader of the country, remained silent. It was as if all this had not happened, and the Zhaoxin Army had only strengthened its border garrison.
After it was confirmed that the Southern Han Dynasty sent troops to the Chu region and occupied a large amount of territory with the bandit Guo Jing, the Dali Kingdom made a brief silence and finally sent another envoy to Prince Xing's Mansion. In any case, Zangxuman belongs to Dali in name. In the beginning, the Southern Han Dynasty used this route to successfully enter the western part of Chu and the middle of Shu. Although Dali was in a remote southwest region and had little contact with the Central Plains court, it still had to be wary of the general trend. Now it was natural that the envoy to Prince Xing's Mansion had its advantages. You can also demonstrate your plans and words for everyone to see.
The one who felt most unjust was naturally Shuzhong, not to mention that Shuzhong had always been hostile to Zhou and wanted to live his own happy life. Even with the foreign-separated kingdom of Nanhan, which was separated by territory before but now has close borders, it is basically an alliance. What's more, not long ago, Shuzhong had a marriage alliance with the Southern Han Dynasty?
Who would have known that Liu Jixing, the young emperor of the Southern Han Dynasty, suddenly lost his nerve and let his army enter Chu territory. The bandit Guo Jing got an advantage, and he actually wanted to attack Shu secretly, and he still maintained the speed of covering thousands of miles of land in a few days. He also regarded the words that the road to Shu is difficult and difficult to reach the sky as a joke.
The middle of Shu seems to be in complete chaos at the moment. Not to mention that the garrisons in various places are in chaos. I never expected that there would be any average religion. Most of the troops usually go to defend Zhou State and have been guarding against Zhou State on the border. There are not many troops in various places, not to mention that they usually rely on natural dangers for defense, but a small sect has incited a large number of people.
There were soldiers all over the Shu region just for show. Even some official villages that still had some manpower and preparations were attacked by the special operations troops descended from the sky by the Southern Han Dynasty. These people pretended to be civilians and became invisible members of the average cult. .
Some of the more miserable official villages and cities were directly controlled by the members of the Average Cult who had already infiltrated them. To put it bluntly, they were members of the secret party who led the people to control them. Once the armies of the Southern Han Dynasty were broken into parts, they were everywhere, and the Shu army had the sovereignty of all places. The people were controlled or killed, and the military villages and small cities in each place fully welcomed the arrival of the average team.
Not to mention the officials and soldiers in various places in Shu, even if they want to serve the country loyally, they can't catch up in terms of time. The rapid progress of the army led by the members of the Wenjing Cult is eye-catching. They don't know or understand why these rural people are advancing. The people are so powerful, why can they be so fast? Are the natural dangers everywhere covered with mud? But no one knows anymore.
As for those officials and soldiers who were loyal to the Meng family court in central Shu and managed to escape from their own area and rushed to Jinguan City to report the news, they were either intercepted and killed by the members of the Average Cult in the middle of the road, or they might have been in the next area they reached. Already under the control of the average cult members, they could no longer break through the defense line with their own strength and went to Jinguan City to report the news.
In just one week, various armies led by the Ping An Sect marched straight into the border of Shu. With the cooperation of party members who have infiltrated into the government and the army from various places, the distance between the leaders of the Average Cult who are closest to the capital is only a hundred miles away from Chengdu, the capital of central Sichuan. Moreover, within this distance of a hundred miles, there are still many villages.
Because the prosperity of Jinguan City has promoted the development of the surrounding areas, making the population dense. It also made it impossible for these places to become battlefields for everyone, but it also made it impossible for the Shu army to defend what was in front of them. Naturally, the average followers had no choice but to enter the vicinity of Jinguan City in large numbers.
There are advantages and disadvantages, and both parties know this truth. Secret party members from all over the Han Kingdom have already infiltrated into the surrounding areas of Jinguan City. He called on the people to organize spontaneous organizations, absorbed the forces of bandits and soldiers from all over the country, and fought against local tyrants and landlords every day. This not only affected the common people, but also basically surrounded the entire city of Chengdu.
In Chengdu, the Chinese capital of Shu, known as Jinguan City, it was not that there was no news of the invasion of troops led by members of the Banner Cult at this time, but that many officials had their own agendas. The head of the official department was afraid that he would cause trouble if he went to court. Now the emperor loved Mrs. Huarui the most. He had a lot of fun and wine every day, and was still intoxicated in his dream of the natural dangers of the Shu road. Basically, you don't care about political affairs. If you report the news yourself, the emperor may not believe it, and you may be labeled as a demagogue.
The junior officials dared not say anything even more. Of course, most officials did not have the opportunity to meet the emperor. In fact, there are some bloody people, a seventh-grade official named Ma Yi who is not afraid of death. His family in his hometown is considered a big local tycoon, and the whole family is taught by average people.
Someone in his family escaped and rushed to Chengdu to risk his life to report the news. Ma Yi was naturally shocked by a thunderbolt. He felt sad and sad, and wanted to see the emperor by beating drums on the ceremonial day. Not to mention the drumming and commotion in the morning, Emperor Meng Chang was so happy that night that he drank too much with Mrs. Huarui in the palace. He was so drunk that he didn't wake up.
It happened that the big boss Wang Zhaoyuan was in court that day, and he didn't know what this big boss was thinking, so he called Ma Yi to several of his big bosses. After asking about the reason, I was honestly surprised. In fact, he already knew something, and he understood that others knew even more. But he didn't expect that the situation would be so critical, and he felt a little worried.
But he knew the magnitude of this matter, and he didn't dare to lose his composure in front of Zhongshu's big bosses. Moreover, Ma Yi was also unlucky, because no one else came to report the news, so they all thought that Ma Yi was acting for public benefit. Although these big guys all knew it tacitly, no one dared to expose it. So he blamed Ma Yi for deceiving people and had people take the miserable Ma Yi to a prison.
But Wang Zhaoyuan was not too confused and knew how to show off, so he sent people out of the city to find out the news. Unfortunately, there are no clues near the outside of the city, because the people have not been harassed by the average cult at all. And because the average teacher gets a lot of benefits from fighting local tyrants, landlords, and bullies, everyone will deliberately hide it, so everything seems normal.
This Ma Yi was looking forward to it day by day and all the time, but he did not look forward to the emperor's summons, and the big bosses in the court also ignored him. They were all thinking about their own ways. But when Emperor Meng Chang woke up, Ma Yi committed suicide in the prison. As for why he committed suicide, only the ghost knows, because Ma Yi seems insignificant.
Maybe it was God who was going to destroy Shu. After Ma Yi died in the heavenly prison, Emperor Meng Chang knew about it but did not intervene in depth. He just heard that Ma Yi's family was killed by rebels. He had never thought that the danger was right in front of him, and he had never heard the ministers around him mention it. He didn't even know who such a low-ranking official was, not to mention that the person Wang Zhaoyuan sent out to inquire about the news was probably sent out for a trip and didn't come back to reply for a long time. Wang Zhaoyuan didn't dare to say anything at all, and just passed by inexplicably.
In fact, they had no idea how much work the members of the average church had done here. First of all, they bribed many officials from all walks of life in Shu in the capital city of Chengdu, and used various means and methods to control many officials. In fact, after mastering every move of the imperial court in central Sichuan, he also knew the movements of the inner court as well as the palm of his hand.
After the average sect learned about the unexpected chaos of Ma Yi and was delighted that he was imprisoned in the Tianlao, he naturally found a way to sneak into the Tianlao, understand a certain link in the system, and then created the illusion of Ma Yi's accidental death. To the outside world, it was naturally Ma Yi who committed suicide.
Then they secretly tracked and monitored the actions of Wang Zhaoyuan and the big guys in Shu. When Wang Zhaoyuan sent people out to Jinguan City, the secret elements of the Banjing Cult followed them and secretly captured all the spies sent out. Assassinated or controlled, and then fed back wrong information to Wang Zhaoyuan.
Nowadays, the people Wang Zhaoyuan was waiting for will naturally not come back. Those who come back to report are all fake or bribed by the average people. The actions of the average religion undoubtedly bought great convenience and time for the assembled troops to move. The garrisons in various places in central Shu were either cut off by the average religion, or were surrounded and annihilated by the troops organized by the average religion. No one was able to return to the capital Chengdu to aid.
The encirclement of Chengdu has completely reached maturity, and the time during this period is only about one month. No one expected that things would develop like this, let alone such an ending, but the overall situation was determined.
Liu Jixing, who was far away in Prince Xing's Mansion, although he didn't know the specific situation in Chengdu, he looked at a lot of intelligence from the Secret Party every day and looked at all the information about the Average Sect. He smiled knowingly in the direction of Shuzhong.
