Chapter four hundred and eightieth: Spring of the coming year
Liu Xiang was very greedy for Zhou Yu. He wore a feather fan and a silk scarf. While talking and laughing, the oars and oars were turned into ashes. It is not an exaggeration to praise him as the best in Jiangzuo.
But he was a son of the Lujiang family and refused to serve as an official here.
There is also Lu Su, a powerful man from the Xia Pi State, who has fled long ago.
It was said that Liu Ye was a clan member of the Han Dynasty and should be in the same camp as him, but unfortunately, he also refused.
Fazheng of Yi County fled to Yizhou with his grandfather and is now staying in Mianzhu, so he cannot be invited.
People won't play with you.
Liu Xiang didn't have much else to do except record this revenge. He couldn't just kill them if he didn't provoke them, right? His reputation would be completely ruined, and no one would sincerely serve him in the future.
He shook his head, put aside these distracting thoughts, and asked, "Does Wen He have a good strategy to break the deadlock?"
"Add more troops to Jiameng Pass." Jia Xu blurted out without thinking.
It is true that the war has reached this point. It is enough to directly attack Jiameng Pass. There is no need to use some messy strategies. In that time, the city can be captured.
"Let's increase the number of troops after spring begins. It's the twelfth lunar month now, and sending troops there will just be a waste of time."
There are 80,000 troops in Yizhou, but Liu Xiang is not satisfied. With so many troops, the combat effectiveness has not improved much. Xu Huang still lacks experience, and Tan Mianfu is not suitable to be the leader of an army. He was originally sent to Baishui Pass.
, which is to pretend to attack and contact the Qiang people.
In the end, it became the main attack. This change was quite confusing, and the key points were not clear.
He also specially appointed Jushu as military advisor. It seems that these people did not communicate well, or the generals were at odds? Forget it, it is not easy to change generals before the formation. After all, the offensive was only blocked and the battle was not defeated.
Liu Xiang was used to leading troops in person. Seeing the war from the perspective of a bystander always made him feel uncomfortable. At least he still had sense and did not do such mind-numbing operations as remote control command.
Putting aside the war in Yizhou for the time being, the focus in the past two years is still on opening up trade routes in the Western Regions.
"How is the discussion going with the heads of the noble clans? Did Jin Yiwei find out any news?" This is the main purpose of summoning Jia Xu today.
Liu Xiang did not intend to open up trade after building the fortress. He wanted to form a large merchant group and enter the Western Regions with the army.
"My Lord, there are one hundred and twenty-six families involved. There are no less than 20,000 guards and men. Some of the goods have been transported to Chang'an. It is said that four to five thousand carts will be assembled to transport the goods."
"Send some people to sneak into it and record what you see along the way." This time, Liu Xiang did not send a military caravan. These nobles were just going to visit the mines.
If they can make money, it's because they are strong. If they can't, they just have to pay tuition. Anyway, their family has a big business and they can afford it. Once they get familiar with the market, they can just send a military caravan there.
In order to encourage the enthusiasm of these scholars, the Zhen family will also participate.
Developing a trade route is not just about having a route, it has to be explored slowly.
What to sell, where to sell, which route is the fastest, whether to find an agent, what goods to transport on the way, and what supplies to bring on the return trip.
You have to do this several times before you can understand it.
This kind of information is an experience that can be used as a family heirloom.
Of course, the Zhen family has been entrusted by him to bring a group of camels to Chang'an on their return trip.
The general scope of the Western Region is the Tarim Basin, where there is the Taklimakan Desert, and camels are the best means of transportation.
Trade routes have been cut off for a long time, and camels around Chang'an are a rarity.
Liu Xiang is not sure whether camels were used as the main means of transportation in the Han Dynasty's trade in the Western Regions, but he knows that on the Silk Road of the Tang Dynasty, camel caravans were the furthest and most mainstream caravan system.
Then you need to prepare in advance.
He is used to doing things first.
For example, Jinchuanwei is still a plan on paper, but he has already sent the construction team to Liangzhou, and also shipped a lot of cement to Jincheng and Wuwei, as well as military households, sources of initial soldiers, war horses, and weapons and equipment.
It's almost ready.
The commander also thought about it, picked and chose, and decided to send Yan Gang there.
Ability, qualifications, and loyalty are all no problem.
He has experience in leading light cavalry for many years, and has experience in building up elite cavalry step by step. The 1,800-mile Hexi Corridor cannot be stabilized by infantry alone. There must be a cavalry unit that can move quickly.
Either to suppress bandits or to provide support, it is indispensable.
Yan Gang was a well-known cavalry general in the Anping Army.
As for his qualifications, let alone his qualifications. Apart from the four generals of Yuan Cong, he had already joined the army early, and his official title and military exploits were all high. Unless he was suffering from hysteria, Sun Jian and Cao Cao would not take the initiative to trouble him.
It happened that he could watch Cao Cao, who had a heavy army in hand, and go on an expedition to the Western Regions, and he could also lead his light cavalry to rush thousands of miles to help when needed.
There are some deficiencies in civil affairs and farming, but he comes from the lower class of Guizhou, has farmed and endured hardships, and knows what is going on. He is assigned a few assistants who are good at this, and they are appointed as Jinchuan Wei Gong Cao, Cheng, or Assistant.
So, there shouldn't be any problem.
Just wait until next spring to take up the post.
Recently, many things have to wait for the coming spring, the wars in Yizhou and Liangzhou, the caravan going to the Western Regions, the establishment of the Jinchuan Guard, and Liu Xiang's wedding.
The auspicious day is on the 21st of the first lunar month. Lao Cao's daughter is fifteen years old, and he can't wait to become a real maternal relative. Mi Zhu's sister is also fifteen, and he is also looking forward to becoming a maternal relative.
Yuan Shu's daughter was sixteen, and the marriage they had promised a few years ago happened to be held together.
One sheep can be driven, two sheep can be herded, and she becomes a talent show girl.
In total, after marrying these three, he has six wives. Except for Mrs. Gan, the others are all political marriages. It is estimated that the harem fight is not far away. He is very annoyed by this kind of thing.
But what can be done?
It can't be stopped.
For the sake of family and power, this kind of fight was inevitable. He suddenly understood why the ancient emperors built such large palaces.
They are all far away, out of sight!
Fortunately, there are many palaces in Chang'an, so he doesn't need to carry out big projects that waste people and money.
Weiyang Palace has been emptied. No, that is not correct. It should be said that all the original palace residents were sent to Changle Palace, and the people inside now are people he is familiar with who came from Ye County.
Like Weiyang Palace, there is Gui Palace.
Beigong has already done this.
Zhou Cang also rushed to Chang'an. Only a thousand Qimen troops were left in Ye County to guard the palace city. The entire infantry battalion had been assigned to the Qimen army. He led 7,000 guards and took over the four palaces in the city.
Mingguang Palace does not need him to guard it. It has become a workshop area for silk weaving, soap making and coin minting. There are nearly 40,000 workers in it. There is also a large amount of open space that has been converted into the largest treasury in Chang'an City. It is overseen by the general.
People are responsible for management.
But the largest workshop area and warehouse group is located in the north of Chang'an City, at the intersection of the Wei River and the Jing River. It is the former site of Qin Xianyang Palace, covering an area of 3.7 square kilometers. The picture shows that water transportation is developed, and half of the palaces are still usable.
, because Xiang Yu only burned more than half of it, the Han Dynasty only classified the place as a royal forbidden garden, but did not make any major changes or constructions.
To be honest, the Qin Dynasty was addicted to building palaces. On both sides of the Wei River around Xianyang, 270 palaces were built. The palaces were connected by various complex roads, corridors, pavilion roads, etc., covering the modern
Baoji, Xianyang, Xi'an, Weinan.
In a broad sense, Xianyang, the capital of the Qin Dynasty, was a hundred times larger than Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty.
It's so heartbreaking and crazy. It would be strange if it doesn't perish after all this effort.
Therefore, Liu Xiang wanted to make use of everything he could. With such a good geographical location, what's the point of encircling it? It would be better to build factories and material transfer warehouses to support the Silk Road.