The first year of Chengtian, the first year of Republic, March 20th.
Ten days had passed since the first time the city was attacked by thieves. During these ten days, Xiangguo City was bombarded by stone-shooting machines outside the city, and the city was full of ruined walls.
At this time, a forty-year-old grain merchant was regretting his adventure that day in this city.
This person's name is Zhen Ku. He is a member of the Wuji Zhen family of Zhongshan State. He has been responsible for the family's grain business in Zhao. He should not be here in Xiangguo City.
In fact, before the fall of Handan, all the Liu clan kings in Handan had all retreated northward with Lu Zhi's remaining army. Zhen Ku was among those who retreated at that time.
Later, when Jushou was appointed as the Prime Minister of Zhao by Lu Zhi and was responsible for organizing a defensive front against the Taishan Army in Xiangcheng, Jushou issued a notice urging the people of Xiang to follow Lu Zhi's army to move north to Youzhou.
Zhen Ku originally wanted to go back, but when he learned that Jushou was setting up a large grain station and urgently needed someone to be responsible for purchasing and collecting grain, he was tempted.
The so-called pursuit of wealth and honor in danger, coupled with doubts about whether Taishan's army would march north, Zhen Ku and her tribe volunteered to enter Xiangguo City.
In this process, it was just as Zhen Ku had expected. There was no danger. After the Taishan Army captured Handan, they stopped at Handan and did not go north.
Then Zhen Ku took Ju Shou's talisman handwriting and began to collect food, wages and military supplies from all counties in northern Zhao, and transported them all to Xiangguo City.
Of course, Zhen Ku also made a fortune in this process.
Just when Zhen Ku thought that the good days would continue like this, Taishan's army began to move northward. As a result, the city was in chaos.
Of course Zhen Ku wanted to run away, but after all, he was worried about getting involved because of his official status, so he secretly found an old man, who was a confidant of the Jushou shogunate and a member of his clan, Juhong.
Juhong assured him that everything would be fine.
He even told Zhen Ku that as long as she did it with confidence, good days would be ahead.
Zhen Ku also thought about it. With the strength and reserves of Xiangguo City, and Ju Shou being Lu Zhi's confidant, once the city was besieged, wouldn't reinforcements from all over the country come?
So he stayed in the city peacefully and continued to dispatch corn from various places to sell to the Han army in the city.
But what Zhen Ku actually didn't know was that it was not Lu Zhi who proposed staying in Xiangguo at the end of last year, but Ju Shou himself.
At that time, the defeated army returned to the north, and Jushou volunteered to stay in Xiangguo. He said:
"The servant thinks that the overall situation in Hebei is to focus on the Zhao region. The most important part of the Zhao region is Handan, followed by Xiang. Now that Handan has been lost, Xiang can no longer be like this. Please urgently ask Jian to send the new governor of Zhao to move to the county.
In the Xiang State, if you occupy the strong position and control the weak, you can protect the north of Zhao."
Jushou then explained in detail to Lu Zhi the layout of the entire defensive front after retreating to the north.
First of all, Jushou made it clear to Lu Zhi that the central and southern parts of Jizhou, the land of heavenly abundance, should not be lost.
The entire Jizhou can be divided into two parts from west to east, and each part is very important.
First, there is the mountainous and hilly area in the far west near the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain, that is, the area west of Zhao Di and west of Changshan Kingdom. Although it is hilly, it is particularly important because Taihang Mountain cuts across the east and west here, forming eight famous mountains in the middle.
Xingdao. Whoever controls these Xingdao will control the main east-west route of Shanxi and Hebei.
Then there is Julu in the central part, the Anping Kingdom area. This area is densely covered with rivers, has flat terrain, fertile land, dense population, and is conducive to farming. It is the great granary of this dynasty in Guandong. Once the thieves take full control, the thieves will no longer be in danger of losing food.
.And in these troubled times, there is no need to say more about what this means.
But unfortunately, it is not easy to defend the entire central and southern Hebei Province.
The Taihang Mountains can only block the east and west, but there are no mountains to rely on for north-south defense. In this case, the east-west river network can only be used as a defensive front.
The first line of defense is the Bairen line in the north of Xiangguo. From here to Juye Ze in the east, a defense line composed of Wubi and Daze is built. It was also the Zhao people's defense line in Zhongshan.
Then the second one is the Hutuo River further to the north. It starts from the east of Taihang Shandong and traverses Changshan Kingdom, Zhongshan Kingdom, Hejian Kingdom, and Bohai County. It is 1,200 miles long. Moreover, the Hutuo River has a large flow, so there is no boat.
Crossing can be said to be the natural north-south defense line.
So when Su Qin talked about Yan, he said that the Hutuo River was the southern barrier of Yan. If you defended it along the river, you could defend against the enemies in the south. Because of this, the wars in Hebei in the past dynasties focused on the Hutuo River.
Now that Lu Zhi was about to retreat to the north, Jushou suggested relying on these two north and south defense lines to build a position. If he advanced, he could suppress the Taishan army in a corner, and if he retreated, he would be able to protect Yan's territory.
Lu Zhi couldn't help being happy when he heard this, and hurriedly asked Jushou for advice on how to build these two lines of defense.
Jushu pointed out that originally the most important defense focus should be Handan, but now that Handan has been lost, only Xiangguo is left.
Why?
Because the passage of a large army is different from the passage of three or two people. The former requires thoroughfares, while the latter requires any wild road.
What is the entire official road network in Jizhou like? It is a typical tic-tac-toe layout.
There are two straight roads running from north to south, one is Handan Guangyang Road and the other is Xinyang Road. But the most important road here is Guangyang Road.
The development of Guangyang Road was the earliest. With the rise of Yan and Zhao during the Warring States Period, this Guangyang Road became the main artery connecting Yan and Zhao. It was not only the route of Zhao's Northern Expedition, but also the only way for trade between Yan and the south.
.
The southern end of this road extends to Hanoi, then passes through Yecheng, to Handan, and then to Xiangguo, Bairen, Fangfang, and Yuan clan. This Guangyang Road was taken by the Taishan Army in the Northern Expedition.
Then it is divided into two lines at Yuanshi. The west line continues north to Changshan Kingdom and goes directly to Daidi. The east line turns northeast, passes through Zhongshan Kingdom and leads to Yanji. In the past, Guangwu Chijie went north to Xianji, and this was the route he took.
road.
The second north-south road goes from Zhuo County in Yandi to Gaoyang in Hejian County, Raoyang and Xindu in Anping State, and then along the road in Qinghe State until Qingzhou.
However, the utilization rate of this road is not high, because there are few towns along the road, and the cost for business travelers to travel here is high and the benefits are small. Therefore, the most important north-south road in central and southern Hebei is Guangyang Road in Handan.
There are north-south arteries, and there are east-west roads. Because of the river network, the connection between Jizhou's east and west is much closer than the connection between the north and the south.
Therefore, the construction of the east-west straight road mainly focuses on the two passes.
This pass is Fukou Pass. The western part of this road can enter Huguan from Taiyuan via Shangdang, and then exit Taihang Mountain from Fukou Xing to the east.
Then after passing Fukou Pass, it is divided into two roads. One is directly connected to Yecheng and is also the most important passage out of Yecheng to the west. The other is heading northeast, directly out of the mountains from Wu'an and directly to Handan.
Therefore, the two separate roads from Fukou Pass build a connected transportation in the southern region of Jizhou, and their destinations are mainly the plains of Qingzhou and Linzi.
In addition to Fukou Pass, the second pass is Jingxing Pass, also known as Tumen Pass.
This Tumen Pass is just west of Yuanshi, a county in Changshan State. The western end of this road can be taken from Taiyuan, Lishi, Lin, then out of Jingxing, and then out at the eastern section.
From here, there are three roads to take. One is the two northern lines of the North and South Handan Guangyang Road, either Tongdaidi or Youji. The remaining road is from Zhending to Xindu.
Therefore, it can be seen that the transportation network in central and southern Hebei is a traffic pattern that combines the two roads opened in the Taihang Mountains to the east and west, and the Guangyang Road in Handan to the north and south.
In this transportation network, Yecheng, Handan, and Yuanshi are transportation hubs. Among them, Yuanshi can be said to be the most important core hub because it communicates with four roads.
So to defend the south of Jizhou, you must defend the Yuan clan, and to defend the Yuan clan, you must defend Handan.
It's a pity that Handan has been destroyed now, and the only city that can protect the southern part of the Yuan clan is Xiangguo. Xiangguo is located on the Guangyang Road in Handan, which is the only way for Taishan's army to go north.
Therefore, Jushou presented Lu Zhi with a large-depth defense front on both sides of the two cities.
It is already in Xiangguo, with the Yuan clan as its two cities, and the Bairen Line and the Hutuo River as its two lines. It focuses on defense and obstructs it at all levels.
As soon as this strategy came out, Lu Zhi readily accepted it and immediately appointed Ju Shou as the Prime Minister of Zhao and garrisoned the first city, Xiangguo City.
Therefore, after Jushou proposed this strategy, he had already made up his mind to live or die with the city. Whether there are reinforcements or not does not matter to the outcome.
But this was a hardship for Zhen Ku, a big grain merchant. Not only did he have to stay in the city, but he also had to lose all his family property accumulated over the years in this dead city.
This forty-year-old wealthy businessman actually has six grandsons. He is also the patriarch of the Zhen family. In addition to studying Confucianism, he also studies business.
By daring to think, act, and take risks, the Zhen family's family business expanded by half in his hands. Not only was the trade network with the northern Hu region opened up, but the Zhen family's business trip even reached Jianghuai.
Hard work is indispensable.
But this time his bet failed. In order to win this big deal from Jushu, Zhen Ku not only spent most of his fortune, but also gathered all his people in the city.
Zhen Ku didn't want to leave before, but it was also because Zhen Ku couldn't bear to leave after investing so much money. So he got lucky, and this time he finally lost all his money.
Zhen Ku still remembers the scene when Xiangguo was besieged that day.
It was already the third watch that day, and Zhen Ku, who had already put a lot of effort into planning the grain platform for the Jushou shogunate, was just about to fall asleep. A group of people rushed over. This person had been assigned to work in the Jushou shogunate by him.
So when he came, Zhen Ku was stunned.
Sure enough, this person had just received the news that the Jindu crossing outside Xiangzhou had been broken down. The thieves had left the city no more than twenty miles away and would arrive tomorrow.
Zhen Ku could no longer run away now, so he could only place his hope on the abilities of Jiancheng and Jushu. He had been dealing with Jushu for so long, and although this man had deceived him, Zhen Ku was still very confident in his abilities.
So after comforting the tribesman and asking him to go back and continue to inquire, Zhen Ku fell asleep.
But soon, Zhen Ku was awakened.
He scratched the wall of his house and looked at the street, and saw a group of soldiers lighting torches and rushing out of the city. Judging from their appearance, they were the red-headed soldiers of Prime Minister Jushou.
Now Zhen Ku couldn't sleep. She knew that if she didn't go well, the thieves were about to break in. So she hurriedly asked Buqu and his disciples to pack up their belongings and hitch the carriage. He planned to run away just in case.
Forget it about money or whatever, just save your life.
But soon the Red-headed Army returned, and a defeated army was picked up. Zhen Ku guessed that they might be the soldiers of the Li family in Zhao, who had been guarding the ferry before.
It seems that the Red Head Army won the field battle out of the city, otherwise they would not have been able to bring the Li soldiers back. Looking at it this way, the Taishan bandits are nothing more than that!
After comforting herself in this way, Zhen Ku got off the wall, went back to her room, undressed and slept.
After sleeping until dawn, Zhen Ku got another new news the next day.
It turned out that the Redhead Army blocked the city gate with stones overnight. After someone saw it, they went home to report the news and fled the city with their families and slaves overnight. However, because it was late at night, not many escaped.
When Zhen Ku heard the news, he was so angry that he punched the table. He scolded himself for being indecisive, and cursed those who ran out to be sure to encounter the Taishan bandits.
On that day, Taishan's army surrounded Xiangguo City.
Zhen Ku found a tribe of people and asked him to take him to the city. He wanted to see if this Taishan bandit could conquer the Xiang Kingdom.
On the way to the top of the city, Zhen Ku saw the streets full of panic-stricken wealthy children.
These people all fled from Handan. Except for some who went to Youzhou with Lu Zhi, most of them stayed in Xiangguo in the hope of returning to their hometown.
After all, these people have lost their disciples and their land, and they have nothing.
Judging from the looks of these people, they probably wanted to go up to the top of the city to watch the battle. Without thinking too much, Zhen hurriedly followed the tribe to the top of the city. As soon as he looked outside, his heart froze and his face became miserable.
All I could see was the huge army in the darkness outside. The flags were waving, the people and dogs were silent, it was a mighty army.
Now Zhen had no hope and hurriedly left the city. As soon as he returned to the mansion, he ordered Buqu to block the door and let people pay attention to the situation in the city at all times. After that, he locked himself in a quiet room and shivered.
He prayed that the Taishan Army would be like the rumors and would not make any mistakes.
…
Zhen Ku's ostrich attitude was of no use. Soon a military official came knocking on the door and asked Zhen Ku to choose someone to deliver grain to the city. Soon the military official went to other places.
It seems that those wealthy villagers who fled into the city are still unable to escape. Not to mention using knives, you have to do the work of delivering water and food.
There is no shortage of millet in the city of Xiangguo, so when it comes to the rations for the officials in the city, Jushu allocates them in fixed quotas, three meals a day. But there is no shortage of millet, so manpower is needed.
So Jushou once again set his sights on the rich and powerful villagers in the city, ordering ten people from each family to deliver meals according to call, two meals during the day and one meal at night. As for the supply of clean water, there was no limit, it would be like this every day.
Zhen Ku wailed again, and with the evasive eyes of the disciples, he selected ten people and went to the top of the city.
Hey, that's it.
…
Zhen thought hard and decided to take the ten disciples to the top of the city to deliver the food.
After all, at this time, he still can't break the hearts of these disciples? His own safety will depend on the desperate efforts of these people in the future.
So Zhen Ku took two more pig forelegs and corn for fifty people and went up to the city.
When delivering the meal, Zhen Ku saw the Prime Minister Jushou patrolling the city at the top of the city. He just hurriedly stepped forward and cried to Jushou:
"Prime Minister, can we defend this city?"
As soon as these words came out, the officials in the city were in an uproar, and Zhen Ku was also escorted to Ju Shou, waiting to be punished.