When entering Taiyuan from the direction of Hebei, the best way is Fukouxing, followed by Jingxing. There are post roads leading directly to Taiyuan.
Wen Qiao and others entered from Jingxing.
Jingxing also has two roads, the north and the south. The south road has been the main road since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and is heavily stationed.
The North Road has not yet been opened, and most of them are smugglers, bandits and gangsters. It is almost impossible to travel in large groups, so only a few rangers come to patrol occasionally.
Roughly from the northern foot of Feilong Mountain to the west, walk straight for sixty miles and arrive at a vast stretch of swamp wetland. The wetland is covered with reeds and is commonly known as "Weize".
In the 10th year of Yongjia (316), Changshan and Zhongshan prefectures recruited more than 10,000 Dingzhuang people and marched westward to Weize, where they rammed earth and built a city. However, they were defeated by Shi Le and stopped.
Forty miles to the west and slightly south from Wei Ze, there is Jingxing Pass, occupied by Shi Le.
When Wen Qiao and others arrived at Weize, it was already the tenth day of June.
Looking at the endless reeds, swamps, and the endless mountains beyond, he sighed, took the lead in wading into the water, and headed due west.
The road was not easy to walk, so it took us three days to walk 30 miles, and we arrived at the location of Niangzi Pass - originally named Weize Pass. It was named after Weize County was established in the east during the Sui Dynasty, and Chengtian Army City was established in the Tang Dynasty, where it was officially stationed.
It was organized to recruit troops, so it was named "Chengtian Army". During the Jin Dynasty, it was also named "Niangziguan".
This is the North Road.
The South Road was a more popular road in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the same was true in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. However, the North Road suddenly became popular during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Maybe the geography and climate environment changed, so that the North Road became passable.
But in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was very strange that they took the southern route again instead of the northern route. I don’t know why.
In modern times, the Zhengtai-Taiwan Railway ran through the North Road.
In short, Niangzi Pass blocks Jingxing North Road, and Jingxing Pass blocks Jingxing South Road. Which one is more important in the past dynasties depends entirely on which way people mainly take.
At this time, the North Road almost did not exist, so the South Road was the most important.
According to Li Zuoche's statement, "cars are not allowed to square track, and riders are not allowed to line up" on the South Road, which shows its topography.
"Feng Changshi, don't send me off, we're here." On the steep hillside, Wen Qiao bowed and said.
Feng Long hesitated for a moment and said, "That's fine. We'll be in enemy territory and be careful all the way."
Feng Long is the chief historian of Feilongshan Town. The general of the town is the beggar commander Chen Wu, who is leading his army northward and is stationed in Changshan County.
It had been less than ten days since Shi Le's army had been expelled. Changshan was in a state of turmoil and tension, and had to be suppressed by the army.
Wen Qiao waved to Feng Long, then looked at Guo Rong and others, and said with a smile: "Let's go, for food and accommodation tonight, I can rely on General Guo."
"My servant is not a general. I am just joking and warming up the wine." Guo Rong was not polite and led the way, saying: "There is a fort about ten miles ahead, and the owner of the fort is an old friend of mine..."
The sound gradually faded away, and the figure slowly disappeared around the corner of the mountain road.
Feng Long stood for a while and looked at the terrain carefully.
A few days later, former general Li Chong sent a group of prisoners over to build a second military city in Jingxing.
This city must be built, and Liang Gong even gave it a name: Tianchang Town.
Liu Ling, a foreign soldier, temporarily took the command of Tianchang Town General and led the Qingzhou soldiers to garrison here - this town general is not hereditary, he is just a guard general.
Once this city was established, both major and minor roads could be blocked. The only drawback was that the terrain here was relatively open and not as dangerous as the Jingxing Pass area in the south. But Jingxing Pass was in Shi Le's hands, so they had no choice but to settle for the next best thing.
****
Leping is located in the north of the Changzhi Basin (today's Yangquan City). Almost all of the territory is mountainous and difficult to walk.
It took the group more than ten days to stop and go across the entire Leping and reach Taiyuan.
Not that I'm afraid of anything.
In fact, Liu Yao did station troops and horses in several important locations in Leping and sent officials to various counties, but Shao Xun did not have enough control over the countryside of Henan, let alone the Xiongnu.
A few years ago, before Jinyang fell, Liu Kun sent his clansmen back to Zhongshan to recruit troops and crossed the two counties of Shile, but he didn't know about it.
In the era when imperial power did not go to the countryside, as long as the local wealthy families did not report it, you know what the hell!
Of course, if someone snitches, that's a different story.
When Wen Qiao crossed Shangai and Shouyang counties in the north of Leping, not only did no one report him, but on the contrary, there were people who received him. If they were not afraid of being too public, local wealthy families who were friends with the Guo family and the Wen family would even dare to hold a ceremony to welcome Wen Qiao.
feast.
From these details, Wen Qiao, Guo Rong and others felt a lot.
On June 24, on the mountain path to Yangqu, Wen Qiao observed the nearby mountain villages and said, "I know the people of Bingzhou."
"As a Leping person, I would still respond to Master Wang." Guo Rong said.
Wen Qiao smiled, and originally wanted to ask in a narrow-minded way, since he loved Master Wang, why did he marry his sister to Shi Hu? And he repeatedly gave advice to Shi Le?
But if you think about it carefully, this Guo Rong is not simple!
His family is in Yangqu, which is not far to the north of Jinyang. It fell into the hands of the Huns very late. They were obviously members of the gentry in the territory directly under Liu Bingzhou, but they actually defected to the Huns early. Do you think it is ambitious?
What's even more outrageous is that he did not vote for Liu Cong in Pingyang, but instead voted for Shile in Hebei. Should he be said to have good vision or poor vision? Wen Qiao thought for a long time and did not come to a conclusion.
Perhaps, if Liang Gong did not attack Hebei, Shi Le would have some luck.
In this way, Guo Rong can take the opportunity to rise up and form his own line in Hebei, and maybe turn the Taiyuan Guo family into the Yecheng Guo family - there are many branch families of the gentry, such as Qinghe Cui, Boling Cui, Yingchuan Yu, Xinye Yu
, most likely so.
"The countryside in Leping is not bad." Wen Qiao reined in his horse and pointed to a small basin at the foot of the hillside, and said: "Hundreds of families cut down trees, rammed soil, built cities, and lived here. The farmland is well organized, and irrigation canals extend in all directions. On the hillside,
There are also many cattle, sheep and horses grazing, and there are also many orchards. In the past, in Jinyang, Han Fujun sent food many times, which is really shameful. Taiyuan has fertile soil, and there is no food. On the contrary, in the mountains and rivers that stretch for hundreds of miles
, squeezed out a large amount of supplies to supply Jinyang sergeants."
Guo Rong was silent after hearing this.
Leping actually fell before Jinyang. To be more precise, after the Huns came, only two small battles were fought, and the wealthy rural families collectively abandoned Han Fujun and surrendered to the Huns.
Liu Kun didn't have much territory to begin with. Once Leping fell, Jinyang became increasingly difficult to maintain its control.
Now that Liang Gong's reputation is getting stronger and stronger, and he has the potential to devour the world, the Leping wealthy family will probably try their old tricks again and play the game of changing the king's flag on the city wall again.
There are very few loyal people in this world, and they are all just for personal gain, including him, Guo Rong.
Don't laugh at them for being weak at the knees and surrendering at every turn. Once a war starts, you never know when it will end. No one can guarantee what will happen during this period, and it is not surprising that the family will be destroyed.
Behind Guo Rong were several descendants of the wealthy Taiyuan family, who felt sad when they saw this.
In peacetime, they were more prosperous and could look down upon mountainous counties like Leping at will. But once war broke out, Taiyuan became the focus of all parties, and life was miserable.
Now they just hope that it will end soon and return to a peaceful world. They can take the opportunity to seize more land, recruit or even detain refugees, and enhance their own strength.
In this way, even if Liang Gong is defeated in the future and the Xiongnu or other forces - such as Tuoba Daiguo - come again, their bargaining power will be stronger.
****
At the end of June, a group of people arrived in Yangqu secretly and stayed at Guoshiwu Fort.
Guo Rong and others ran around and actively contacted.
Wen Qiao was more courageous and even sent a member of his entourage to go to Qi County day and night to contact the Wen clan members who stayed in the north and did not cross south.
On the third day of July, Guo Rong came back.
"The Wang family in Taiyuan didn't dare to contact them." Guo Rong said: "They are too entangled with the Xiongnu. Although people's minds have changed now, I don't dare to bet."
"It's okay, you did the right thing." Wen Qiao said: "To avoid leaking secrets, those small Tu tribes should not contact you. Once there are changes, they will react very quickly and will only follow the actions of the big tribes. What other news?"
"Guarding Jinyang is the newly arrived Liu Han clan, named 'Liu Yasheng', with thousands of people. He also gathered more than 3,000 families of refugees who were scattered in the mountains, divided the land and bought houses, and settled outside the city." Guo
Rong said.
"Liu Ya?" Wen Qiao was startled.
"It's not Liu Ya, it's Liu Yasheng. He has nothing to do with Liu Ya. He can only be said to be of the same clan. This man is a member of the pseudo-prince Liu Can. He is vulgar and illiterate and is good at cavalry." Guo Rong said.
Wen Qiao was speechless, what a useless name.
"What else? Tell us all." Wen Qiao said.
"Liu Can brought another group of people to move westward this year." Guo Rong said: "Not only the Hu people in the counties, but also the Han people in Hedong and Pingyang are strong. Many Wubao have lost money to eliminate disasters and have provided some money, grain, livestock, and people.
Ding, let Liu Can take him away. Pingyang is still gathering the Hu and Han people who were scattered before and sent them all to Guanxi. The Huns are leaving a way out."
"Liu Cong still stays in Pingyang?"
"Still. For many days, I have been patrolling various places, admonishing farmers and mulberry farmers. During the slack period, I have been training soldiers and horses and repairing city fortresses. I am worried."
"After all, he is in a hurry, of course." Wen Qiao said with a smile.
"There is one more thing." Guo Rong continued: "There is a rumor in Jinyang that Liu Can attacked Nan'an and Tianshui County. Nan'an was defeated and Tianshui was besieged. Sima Bao was unable to support his strength, so Zhang Shi of Liangzhou sent more than 15,000 infantry and cavalry.
The siege of Tianshui can only be lifted if people come to rescue. Liu Can will confront the Liangzhou soldiers in Nan'an County. I don't know what the outcome will be."
"Liangzhou is not stable internally. When it comes to self-protection, they may be able to mobilize in one place and coordinate external affairs. But if they want to rescue Qinzhou, I don't think they are willing. Only Zhang Anxun is loyal to Xu Guo, so he can try his best to drive them." Wen Qiao
Sighed.
Guo Rong also had some regrets.
In fact, when Zhang Gui was still alive, there was civil strife in Liangzhou, which reached the point of fighting with each other. In the end, Zhang Gui relied on the name given by the court to stabilize the situation and wipe out those who challenged his authority one by one.
Zhang Shike did not have the prestige of his father, and there were many people who were eyeing him internally, so it was difficult for him.
"Don't worry about that, the things in front of you are important." Wen Qiao came back to his senses and said seriously: "For the current plan, we must stock up on food, grass and military resources, and don't act rashly. Once the time is ripe, we can launch it. If
If you can't hold yourself back and make yourself self-defeating, no one may come to save you, is that understandable?"
Guo Rong nodded and couldn't help but ask: "When can we move?"
"I don't know either. I am waiting for Duke Liang's order." Wen Qiao said: "Whether the Taiyuan clans will rise or fall in the future depends on this. As long as you do it well, Duke Liang will see it and Lieutenant Wang will wait for you.
Please take credit."
Guo Rong's heart moved.
This is no longer a hint, but a blatant statement.
Wen Taizhen was one of Wang Yifu's people, and it was Wang Yifu's contribution to liaising with the various clans in Taiyuan.
This is to wake them up and let them know whose side they are on.
Guo Rong had a cold war for no reason.
This kind of thing is more terrifying and bloody than fighting the Huns. But do they have a choice? It seems that they don't.
Especially the Taiyuan Guo family, others have already regarded them as Wang Yan's people, right? There is no use in defending, after all, the mistress of the Wang family is the daughter of the Taiyuan Guo family.
No more tricks, go for it, maybe you will be rich and powerful.
Chapter completed!