Shuofang County governs the three counties of Yanlu, Ningshuo and Changze, and governs Yanlv City. After Li Yuan unfortunately fell to his death last year, the imperial court appointed Yang Qing, King of Xun, as the prefect and general manager of Shuofang County. However, due to heavy snowfall and the Chinese New Year, Yang Qing Qing took office less than ten days ago.
In the first month of the first lunar month, Shuofang County has a sharp wind and white snow. The heavy snow only stopped for two days, and pieces of goose-feather snowflakes fell from the sky again.
Yang Qing, accompanied by Changshi Zhao Hongzhi, inspected the city.
Speaking of which, Zhao Hongzhi was also a member of the King Wei clan. His father, Zhao Gui, was appointed by Yang Jian as an official of Yang Shuang because of his talent, integrity, and outstanding political achievements. After Yang Shuang died of illness, Dugu Min asked Yang Jian for instructions and disbanded The official system of the royal palace was established, so Zhao Guifu entered the official career again; but not long after, Zhao Gui also died at home at the age of sixty-two.
Zhao Hongzhi and his elder brother Zhao Hongan followed their father's teachings and were both virtuous and self-motivated people who lived a frugal life. He worked as a junior official in Yushitai until he became a long-term official today. In addition to his ability and integrity, Yang Ji also gave him a push.
And his brother was originally a general of the Zhaozhao Army. When Yang Ji was ordered to reorganize this army, Zhao Hongan not only assisted with all his strength, but also worked with Yang Ji to eliminate Liu Jialun's main force; later he was promoted to a general of this army due to his merits General Zuo.
Yang Qing looked at the heavy snow flying in the sky and said, "Although they are both in Yongzhou, Shuofang County is much colder than Guanzhong."
"Guanzhong is like a big basin, with mountains on all sides blocking the cold wind, but Shuofang does not have this advantage, so it is naturally colder. I couldn't stand the biting cold at first, but after a winter, I got used to it." Zhao Hongzhi paused. After a moment, he added: "It's colder in the north than here, and the herdsmen are afraid that many livestock will freeze to death."
Yang Qing also knew that more than half of the people here were Hu people or descendants of Hu people. He said: "The imperial court has always emphasized centralized education. Could it be that the herdsmen have not settled down or farmed?"
"No!" Zhao Hongzhi shook his head and said: "The herdsmen live a nomadic life, and only in winter will they drive their livestock into the city. Their people often number in the thousands or tens of thousands, and their livestock number in the hundreds of thousands. Once they enter the city, they always cause all kinds of accidents."
"That's true." After understanding this, Yang Qing frowned and said, "Shuofang is only so big, why not build a village nearby? Why didn't Li Yuan say it before?"
"The herdsmen stubbornly resist Han culture and integration, and always stick to the bad habits of the Hu. They live a life of chasing water and grass, and frequently use knives. It is relatively good here, but the Hu living in Yulin and Wuyuan in the north People are more arrogant." After a long silence, Zhao Hongzhi said with some difficulty: "As for Prefect Li, he has a heroic temperament, likes to make friends with heroes, and behaves like a fool; he believes that as long as there is no chaos in the ministries, other issues are not important."
Yang Qing's temples began to beat suddenly. The Sui Dynasty had been unified for so long, but the Hu people still behaved like this. Do you really think that the Sui Dynasty had nothing to do with them?
And Li Yuan clearly held his position as an official based on the principle of "doing more is worse than doing less". As long as Shuofang was not in chaos, he didn't care about education at all. Since he does nothing, he naturally has a lot of time to hunt and make friends with so-called "heroes".
He suppressed the anger in his heart and said: "If we don't change, Shuofang will always be a land of barbarians. When the ice and snow melt, we must do something. Not only must we regulate the behavior of the herdsmen, but we must also educate their children." I would like to see who has the courage to fight against the imperial court and the law."
"Here!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Hongzhi responded with excitement and clasped his fists.
"Da, da, da..." A burst of rapid hoofbeats interrupted the brief silence, and a group of scouts was seen approaching from the street in front. The leader of the group, Chief Huo, controlled the horses, stepped forward and saluted: "Prefect, The caravan from Yan'an County has crossed the Hongliu River and is heading northeast of Changze City."
"So fast?" Yang Qing raised his eyebrows and was secretly glad in his heart. It had only been a day and a half since he received Yang Ji's order. From this, it can be seen that the other party has been heading north in the snow. Otherwise, how could those heavy trucks loaded with goods arrive so quickly?
He glanced at Zhao Hongzhi and asked the scout fire chief: "Where is the group from Beidi County?"
The scout fire chief answered with his hands raised: "That branch entered Yanchuan County and then headed due north. The specific movement is currently unknown."
Yang Qing had just arrived and didn't know much about the terrain here. He asked Zhao Hongzhi, "Zhao Changshi, what do you think?"
Zhao Hongzhi did not answer this question directly. He thought for a moment and introduced in detail: "The intersection of the northeast corner of Lingwu and the northwest corner of Yanchuan is the Yellow River. More than 20 miles south of that part, it flows from east to west. The Nayuan River flows into the Yellow River at Licheng in Lingwu County."
"Licheng was a military fortress in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Nowadays, it has become a town. The business there is developed and the permanent population is more than 2,000 households. In winter, caravans going north usually enter the Yellow River there. If it is For heavy trucks, they often transfer the goods onto long sleds or flatbed trucks, which is faster and safer than traveling by land. My guess is that the two caravans most likely gathered there to change trucks. After that, we will go north along the ice of the Yellow River."
"That's it!" Yang Qing nodded, turned to the scout fire chief and ordered: "Closely monitor the movements of these two caravans, but if there is any trouble, report it immediately! In addition, send a message to General Zhao, and immediately lead the army northward, from The south takes its retreat route."
"I humbly obey my orders!" The scout fire chief agreed quickly, turned his horse's head, and led the team out of the city.
After hearing the arrangement, Zhao Hongzhi already understood Yang Qing's intention. He asked, "The prefect is planning to intercept him midway?"
"Not bad!" Yang Qing sighed and said with a wry smile: "The order given to us by King Wei is to kill everyone in the caravan one by one, and the news is not allowed to leak, so we need to take action in a sparsely populated place. If these caravans are allowed to Entering Licheng will definitely alarm a lot of people.”
Having said this, he asked: "I plan to divide the main force into five groups and outflank them from the east and north respectively. Does Zhao Changshi have any suggestions?"
Zhao Hongzhi thought for a moment and said: "The herdsmen live in tribes. During this season, they will go out to compete with other tribes. If they win, then the land with abundant water and grass will belong to the winning tribe this year. So I suggest The prefect disguised some troops as herdsmen."
"Furthermore, a caravan is, after all, a caravan, and its guards are essentially different from the army. As long as they are surrounded and show their identity, they will not dare to attack. If they attack the army, they can be caught by surprise."
"This method is good, then let's do it." Yang Qing smiled and nodded.
