After Cao Cao captured Hanzhong, he led his army back north and retreated to Yecheng, preparing to claim the throne.
Liu Bei, on the other hand, wanted to stick to the pass, develop production, and win over the people of Yizhou as soon as possible.
As for Zhang Xi, Zhang Xi led his troops back to Badong County in September of the 19th year of Jian'an, and then followed the instructions from Chengdu and began to repair the agricultural facilities in the territory to a certain extent.
Yizhou, once again, is a great place.
Since the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Bashu and Bashu countries, the Qin State has carried out large-scale development of the Bashu and Bashu regions. The Dujiangyan Irrigation Project of Li Bing and his son directly created the Chengdu Plain, forcibly turning the Bashu and Bashu areas into a barren land. The land of abundance.
Liu Bang relied on the support of Bashu to achieve his empire. This is also the key to why Zhuge Liang values Yizhou so much.
But Liu Yan and his son, well, Liu Yan is actually better, mainly Liu Zhang.
During Liu Zhang's reign, he allowed powerful and lawless families to annex land without hesitation, but did not care at all for the water conservancy equipment that cost a lot of money to maintain.
As for the aristocratic families, although they had annexed a lot of land, they did not want to pay for these expensive water conservancy facilities themselves, so they just waited for Liu Zhang to pay for them.
Liu Zhang said, "I have chased Gan Ning and defeated Zhao Shi. After fighting for so long, I can't enjoy it anymore?" !
Then play music, then dance! ! !
Therefore, over the years, water conservancy facilities have not been maintained at all, and many of them have fallen into disrepair.
Until Liu Bei entered Shu, the first thing Zhuge Liang did to recuperate was to send someone to take charge of the repair work of Dujiangyan.
Counties and counties also need to conduct an investigation of the water conservancy facilities within their jurisdictions, and repair those that should be repaired.
The water conservancy facilities in Badong County are really unfortunate. Although Badong is guarding the Yangtze River, there are really no water conservancy facilities.
Anyone who is familiar with geography knows that the development of the Chongqing area in later generations relied on the geographical conditions of being located at the intersection of three rivers. This place has never been a high-yield area of food.
It is really because the hydrological conditions of this part of the Yangtze River are too complex and the height difference is too large. It is suitable to build a hydropower station, but it is really not suitable for irrigation.
Besides, these days, there is no technology to build dams in places with such complex hydrological conditions.
Therefore, the water conservancy and irrigation facilities in Badong County have never relied on the Yangtze River, but are concentrated on several small tributaries that merge into the Yangtze River.
For example, Meixi River, Xiaojiang, Wushui-Yanyan River. The last one is actually the Daning River that everyone will know in later generations.
The water flows of Meixi River and Xiaojiang are relatively flat, and they are basically used for diversion and irrigation. Therefore, the western part of Badong County is basically the grain-producing area of Badong County, including Yangqu County, Hanfeng County, and Quren County.
That's why Zhang Xi went to war in Hanfeng County at that time.
It is not a place rich in food to begin with. The only three counties in the west that can produce food are related to the safety of the entire Badong County.
It won’t work without getting angry.
As for the three counties in the east, Yufu is the county government.
At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Gongsun Shu, a separatist force in the Shu region, felt that the terrain of this place was dangerous, and there were rumors of the emperor's spirit in Bashu at that time, so Gongsun Shu built a city here, called Baidi City.
But since Liu Xiu later unified the world, the name Baidi City was naturally not adopted, so it was still called Yufu County.
Of course, it’s hard to say whether Yong’an and Yong’an Palace will appear again in this era, so no one will call Yu Fu Yong’an for the time being.
Yufu County is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and Jialin River. It has a special geographical location and is generally used as the county seat and the cargo transportation center of Badong County.
Wu County and Beijing County are indeed similar, but they are towns that rely on salt water and are built because of the busy transportation of salt water.
Salt water does not mean that the water contains salt, but it means that this waterway is used to transport salt.
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, Baoyuan Mountain began to produce salt, and this production continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty.
The salt from Baoyuan Mountain has been the main supplier of table salt in the southwest for more than two thousand years. To transport the salt from Baoyuan Mountain to various parts of the southwest, the waterway under Baoyuan Mountain is crucial. .
Therefore, the river water used to transport salt is also called salt water.
In other words, there is a very large salt production base in Badong County, and Zhang Xi, the governor of Badong, obviously cannot turn a blind eye to this thing.
Therefore, after dredging the water conservancy facilities in the three western counties, Zhang Xi devoted all his attention to boiling salt and making salt in Baoyuan Mountain.
You know, in the Han Dynasty, salt and iron were government-run.
Where is the salt? This is all money.
However, most of the current Baoyuan Mountain Salt Spring is in a state of neglect due to the turmoil caused by Liu Bei's entry into Sichuan some time ago.
Occasionally, some salt springs that are still producing are not controlled by local officials, but by thieves in the mountains.
Of course, although they are thieves, it is not known how many of them are refugees who really cannot survive or have fled, and how many of them are vests sent by local aristocratic families.
And Zhang Xi doesn’t need to know.
As the prefect of a county, isn't it within my scope of responsibility to exterminate bandits? !
Of course, Zhang Xi is not stupid. He knows that the bandits occupying the salt springs in the mountains are likely to be related to the local aristocratic families. If he rushes into the army rashly, he may not even see a ghost once he enters the mountains.
Therefore, Zhang Xi feels that this matter needs to be discussed in the long run.
Zhang Xi first led three thousand county soldiers to enter Wuxian County in the name of inspecting the local area, and summoned the Wuxian County magistrate and representatives of local wealthy families in Wuxian County.
The magistrate of Wu County and all the aristocratic families were frightened out of their wits.
Which county governor is inspecting the place and comes with a large army? !
In May, Zhang Xi caused such a big commotion in Hanfeng County. He arrested the county magistrate and ransacked homes, but he only brought a guard of a hundred people.
What are you planning to do with three thousand troops now? !
No matter what he did, the magistrate of Wu County and the heads of the local wealthy families were all very nervous, fearing that Zhang Xi would be unhappy and upset everyone present.
After all, these are troubled times, and who knows what kind of temper these officials are these days. I heard that this man, who was born in a poor family and was a general who led troops, became a prefect, and he might have a bad temper.
Zhang Xi actually didn't want to do anything. He just held a cocktail party and said that he was going to the place to establish good relations with the local village elders. By the way, he inadvertently revealed during the dinner that he was leading troops to go to Baoyuan Mountain to exterminate the bandits. of.
Then let Xiao Deng Ai stare at it to see the reactions of the people at the table.
Don't pay attention to those who are happy and flattering, and don't pay attention to those who don't care. Look specifically for those who are uneasy, write them all down, and don't leave after you finish the meal.
Of course, Zhang Xi did not want to kill anyone, nor did he want to torture someone to extract a confession.
Among those who are in high spirits, there may not be people who are colluding with the bandits. Among those who don't care, there may be salt lords who are deep in the city. But those who are uneasy must have a guilty conscience.
Regardless of whether he was related to the bandits or not, he definitely knew something.
Moreover, this kind of person has a bad mentality. After a scare, he might be able to follow the clues, find some useful clues, and then follow the clues. Hehe.
Needless to say, Zhang Xi's trick worked really well. He quickly found useful clues, and then followed the clues and caught a local tycoon who was involved with the bandits.
But the crime committed by the gangsters in this place turned out to be just helping the bandits sell their stolen goods. The salt boiled by the bandits was sold privately.
Of course, this is also a capital crime. No matter in which dynasty, smuggling salt is a capital crime.
But the problem is that what Zhang Xi wants to arrest is not the people engaged in downstream industries, but those who collude with or shield the bandits and salt lords.
Besides, the world is now in chaos, discipline is weak, and Yizhou under Liu Zhang's rule has weak laws. Some people are selling smuggled salt. Is this really a big sin? !
In other words, if no one sells private salt, many people will not be able to survive.
These days, official salt is much more expensive than private salt.
This is not to argue for those who sell illegal salt, but Zhang Xi always feels that he seems to be going in the wrong direction. The business wars he witnessed in his previous life seem to be of no help at all.
Zhang Xi didn't quite understand, and since he couldn't find any other clues or evidence, he was a little confused for a while.
And little Deng Ai didn't understand why his master had to worry about such trivial matters? !
"Master, the most important thing now is to go up the mountain and exterminate the bandits?!" Little Deng Ai asked his master in confusion.
Zhang Xi sighed in his heart that although little Deng Ai has grown up and will be crowned soon, he still seems a bit naive about things like people's hearts.
No matter, little Deng Ai is already at this age, and it's time to get in touch with some dark sides. Zhang Xi and little Deng Ai analyzed the dirty thoughts of these aristocratic families.
"Nine out of ten bandits in the mountains are under the orders of these aristocratic families. If we don't get rid of these aristocratic families, how can we stably produce salt?!" Zhang Xi concluded in the end.
Little Deng Ai scratched his head, still puzzled, and said, "Even so, if we take over all the salt springs and send troops to guard them, will the wealthy families still dare to rebel?!"
Zhang Xi shook his head and was stunned when he was about to say something.
Yes, why should I care about his family’s reaction? !
These are troubled times.
I came with 3,000 soldiers, and there are still more than 10,000 elite soldiers stationed at Yufu. Even if you wealthy families like you want to rebel, so what? !
If you don't have armor or weapons, even if you bring out ten thousand people, I won't be afraid.
Not to mention that there is no wealthy family in Badong County who can pull out a team of 10,000 people at once. They are just cats and dogs.
Another thing, even if such a team can be pulled out, Zhang Xi is not afraid.
Liu Bei is not Liu Zhang. He will not easily compromise with these aristocratic families and continue to allow these wealthy families to control the interests of the government.
It's hard to say about other aspects, but the salt and iron official camp is a national policy of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Bei, a clan member of the Han Dynasty, will not compromise in this regard.
The only thing to consider is how to deal with the bandits on the mountain.
These bandits must have been supported and funded by aristocratic families, otherwise they would not be able to fill their stomachs in the mountains just by boiling salt.
As long as we find a way to deal with these bandits, then occupy the salt spring, and then recruit groups of aristocratic families to fight, this matter does not necessarily have to rely on killing people to establish authority.
Zhang Xi suddenly realized that it seemed that he was going in the wrong direction from the beginning.
We shouldn't start from the aristocratic family, and fight with these local snakes. It is a waste of time and the effect may not be very good.
Sure enough, we should change our thinking and start with the bandits first.
After Zhang Xi figured this out, he no longer hesitated.
There was no need to stay in Wu County. He led his troops directly to leave Wu County, even bypassing Beijing County and heading straight to Baoyuan Mountain in the north.
When they arrived at Baoyuan Mountain, they first stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain, and then divided the three thousand soldiers into two parts. One part set up camp at the entrance of the main mountain pass to prevent bandits from going down the mountain to break through, and the other part guarded various mountain trails under the guidance of local mountain people. , to prevent someone from fornicating with bandits.
Winter is coming soon, and the animals in the mountains are hibernating or migrating.
After surrounding the mountain for a winter and blocking all roads that could send supplies up the mountain, Zhang Xi couldn't believe that these bandits could survive the whole winter relying on salt springs.
This move... Haha, Zhang Xi didn't come up with this move by himself, but Zhuge Ke learned from it.
Zhuge Ke used this move to pacify Shan Yue.
I just don’t know if Zhuge Ke will use this trick in the future when he goes to pacify Shanyue. Will someone say that he copied Zhang Xi? Well, it doesn’t matter, there is no copyright awareness these days anyway.
(End of chapter)
