The great river waterway has always been the lifeblood of shipping. In wartime, it is a natural hazard. But in fact, the great river is not a natural hazard for the south. As we all know, to defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River. Once the Huaihe River line is breached, the north and south banks of the river will be covered with fire.
You can't defend the gap even if you want to.
In ancient times, small southern countries, such as Soochow in the Three Kingdoms, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, all defensive forces were along the Huaihe River. If you abandon the Huaihe River line, it is equivalent to letting go of the bridgehead. It is no exaggeration to say that the Huaihe River is the 'Tongguan' of the south. However, the Huaihe River
It is not as 'easy to defend but difficult to attack' as Tongguan.
For the big river, its more important role is actually to store food, use the dense water network in the south to supply the Huaihe River defense line, and fight a war of attrition with the powerful powers in the north. Therefore, the waterways of the big river have always been extremely prosperous.
It is prosperous in times of war, and it is even more prosperous when the world is at peace.
A ship of about 200 stone sailed in the middle and lower reaches of the river. Its destination was Jiangning, Runzhou. The ship was fully loaded with goods from the north, including a large amount of furs, woolen clothes, sugar and other rare high-end commodities from the south.
"We have stopped at three ferries, and each time we sold a large amount of goods. It is reported that the other party has noticed us. If I guessed correctly, the other party is definitely planning to ambush us before we enter the next ferry."
On the bow of the ship, a young captain reported to Zhang Xuansu.
"Perhaps, it's not the ferry next moment, but tonight." Zhang Xuansu shrank his hands in his sleeves, facing the wind, and said softly.
"Tonight?" The captain paused, then said solemnly: "If it is tonight, we need to notify General Wang immediately."
"Don't worry, General Wang has experienced hundreds of battles and has been prepared for it. It is enough for us to do our own thing well. There is no need to add any extraneous things to arouse the other party's vigilance. However, you must also be more prepared and careful to avoid being attacked."
"Yes." The captain clasped his fists and stepped back slowly.
Zhang Xuansu breathed out softly, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"I want to see what kind of ghost is causing trouble."
"That must be a water ghost." Chu Suiliang walked to him with a smile, blowing in the wind with him, enjoying the rare peace.
"Water ghost?" Zhang Xuansu frowned and said, "What does this mean?"
"In the south, we like to call water bandits water ghosts. In a few places, they are also called water monkeys. They are extremely powerful in the water. Once caught by them, you will not be able to escape death even if you are King Xiang. Later, he joined the army.
The strong soldiers of the navy are also called water ghosts. Generally speaking, they hope that the navy can have the ability to turn over rivers and seas like the water ghosts in the water." Chu Suiliang explained softly.
Zhang Xuansu nodded, then thought of something and asked: "I remember, Chu Siqing seems to be from the south, right?"
"To be precise, he is from Qiantang." A trace of memory appeared on Chu Suiliang's face.
"That's good. I feel confident about your crossing the river this time." Zhang Xuansu smiled.
"Farewell." The recall on Chu Suiliang's face subsided and he smiled bitterly: "To tell you the truth, I haven't returned to Qiantang for a long time. In the pre-Sui Dynasty, I went north for the sake of my future. Rough calculation, it has been nearly twenty years since I returned to Qiantang.
I went back to my hometown to have a look. When I came back this time, I was ordered to kill people, but I really didn’t have the face to meet the folks."
"Why, what do you know?" Zhang Xuansu asked with a smile.
Chu Suiliang sighed: "You are not from here, so you may not understand very well. The clan forces in the south are intertwined. Due to differences in in-laws, regions, ideas, etc., they are divided into various factions. It is difficult to clarify.
The saint's thorough investigation of Huainan Road and Jiangnan Road this time will definitely affect the whole body. I am not doubting anything, I am sure that a large number of corrupt people and perverting the law will definitely be found."
Zhang Xuansu said coldly: "They deserve it. The saint didn't treat them generously enough. He tried to win over and appease them, but he didn't expect that they would get worse. If they are not severely punished this time, how can the court face the people of the world?"
"Yes." Chu Suiliang nodded, looking very melancholy.
After a while, Zhang Xuansu asked again: "Master Chu Si, are you not soft-hearted?"
Chu Suiliang's face turned dark.
"Absolutely not."
"That's good." Zhang Xuansu clasped his fists and said, "I'm going to go back and rest first. There will definitely be some trouble tonight. I'm sorry."
"Censor Zhang, please help yourself."
When the two of them parted, Chu Suiliang didn't look very good-looking.
As a former minister of the Emperor's Shence Mansion, he is actually living a very depressed life now. The same group of colleagues who were loyal to His Majesty the Emperor were either prime ministers, such as Du Ruhui, Xue Shou, and Dai Zhou. Or they were ministers, such as Cen Wenwen.
, Wei Zheng, Qin Qiong, etc.
He is the only one who has never changed his position as Minister of Taifu Temple. Moreover, his title over the years has still been that of Duke of the County that was conferred by His Majesty the Emperor when he ascended the throne.
The fundamental reason was that he knew that it was his attitude towards Fan Bang that had offended the saint.
In his foreign thoughts, there are three main points. The first is to put the Chinese first and then the barbarians. The second is to fear power and admire virtue. The third is to appease the Rong and barbarians with faith and righteousness.
The core of his thought was to put Huaxia first and then Yidi. When the saints exterminated the Turks and burned more than 200,000 Turks to death, he believed that such a huge killing should not be caused, so he impeached Li Jing. After that, he went to the saints and talked about the Tang Dynasty.
The prefectures and counties under its jurisdiction are
"One body", in "one body", the eastern capital Luoyang and the imperial capital Chang'an are like the heart and soul, and the other states and counties are like the limbs. The Turks are external objects, or other people's siblings, and do not need to be contacted too much. As long as they are honest, there is no need to pay attention to them.
them.
As a result, the sage scolded him for being stupid and didn't care about what he said. He set up a governor's office to govern the grassland.
This was the beginning of his irritation with the saint.
After that, he went to Shu to use "power" to make the Turks fearful. He used kindness to educate the Turks and moralize them. By appointing a khan, he made them grateful to the Tang Dynasty and attached to the Tang Dynasty forever.
As a result, the emperor scolded him for being crazy and asked him to copy the historical records of the former Sui Emperor Yang Jian's factionalization and canonization as a khan, and the later historical records of Jie Li and others' southward invasion of the Central Plains 10,000 times.
He was dumbfounded at the time, but had nothing to say. Because of the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, most people scolded him for being short-sighted, saying that the Yi and Di could not believe that they could be civilized. The emperor even bluntly told him that the Yi and Di were just beasts.
If the empire is strong, they will be household dogs. If the empire is weak, they will tear off their disguise and transform into tigers and wolves, harming the people of the empire.
After these two incidents, he didn't realize how wrong he was at that time. When the emperor was suppressing and killing the barbarians, he even went to court to explain the pros and cons.
That is, his last thought was to appease the Rong and Yi with faith.
He believes that trust is the foundation of the country, and keeping trust with the barbarians and Di can fully display the image of the empire. Keeping trust is an effective way to avoid foreign wars. As long as the empire can treat others with trust, the troubles of the barbarians and Di will no longer exist.
As a result, this time he was directly hit on the head by the emperor with a memorial, and he never talked to him again.
Later, the emperor's series of actions made him completely understand that his own thoughts were completely opposite to the emperor's.
The emperor had no intention of letting the Yi Di go. He did not treat the Yi Di as human beings, but as livestock. He would not let go until they were all killed.
The empire trampled his thoughts under its feet by cheating, breaking promises, etc. against the three kingdoms of Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje.