A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 284 The City of Yanzhou

Outside the Great Wall.

desert,

Gobi,

All the way north.

The desert is overgrown with trees, and the weeds on both sides of the path are very luxuriant. There are piles of sand dunes, and occasionally bare sand, which is very conspicuous under the cover of vegetation.

For people in Guanzhong, these desert scenes are usually hard to see.

On the sand dunes, Artemisia argyi grows most luxuriantly. On the undulating sand dunes, they freely crawl all over the barren beach. In some low-lying places of the sand dunes, poplar euphratica and Salix salix occasionally grow on the grass beach.

It is said that it is the road, but in fact, the wind and sand are blowing and the road cannot be seen. Only under the leadership of the local guide can the direction be determined.

Everywhere is the same scene, sand dunes, grassy beaches, overgrown weeds, patches of Artemisia argyi, Populus euphratica and Salix salix.

Wu Huaiyu is leading an army marching in this desert, here is the edge of the desert, the edge of the Mu Us Desert.

However, the ecological environment at this time is still very good, at least it is not the long yellow sand without green.

Led by a local guide, they set out from Lingzhou and headed northeastward for about [-] miles. After walking for five days, they finally arrived at Wubaiyanchi.

"My lord, Wuchi is ahead."

The salt produced by the four major salt ponds in Yanzhou, Wuchi, Baichi, Wachi, Xixiangchi, and Wubaichi, is of the best quality with large grain size and bluish-white color.

A large salt lake appeared in front of it, empty and dazzling under the afternoon sun. The snow-white salt formed a salt wall around the salt lake, almost surrounding the entire salt lake.

"Wuchi is the first of the four major salt ponds in Yanzhou. It covers an area of ​​about [-] mu, and the water depth is less than three inches. However, the salt production is large. It is said that it can produce hundreds of thousands of tons of salt a year when it was prosperous in the Sui Dynasty."

Huaiyu looked at the salt pond in front of him, feeling very beautiful.

The water surface is as crystal clear as a mirror, and the whole pool is white.

The salt pond is surrounded by green grass, wild flowers grow, the poolside is adjacent to the dam fields, and the canals are criss-cross.

"When night falls, the bright moon shines in the sky, the light of the pool and the color of the water reflect up and down, and the scenery is bright and beautiful. It is also one of the eight scenic spots in Yanzhou."

In fact, there are many salt ponds in Yanzhou, more than a dozen in size. Wuchi and Baichi are the largest and produce the best salt.

"What about people?"

Next to Wuchi, Li Daozong once built Wucheng and stationed troops here. Last year, Liang Shidu led Yu She to set up tens of thousands of cavalry to go south to encircle Wucheng, indirectly detonating the Xuanwumen Change.

But now they came to Wuchi, but they didn't see anyone.

Only the empty salt pond, no salt workers, no enemy troops.

Since the Han Dynasty, salt has been produced here, and since then there have been fortifications and forts built here to guard the salt pond, which is a battleground for military strategists.

But now, no one.

There is a county beside Baichi not far from Wuchi, which used to be called Xingning County, also called Baichi County, and is now called Yanchi County.

There is a Wucheng and a Baicheng, guarding the Wubai and Baichi, but there is no one there.

There were no people, no salt workers, no salt merchants, and no guards.

The salt lake is surrounded by empty fields.

There are saline-alkali flats on all sides, and Artemisia saline grows on it, lumps and lumps covering the entire saline-alkali flat, salty white crystals are everywhere, and only Artemisia saline grows on the wet saline-alkali flat.

Beyond the salt-alkali beach, there are barren beaches overgrown with Artemisia annua and undulating sand dunes.

A look that was abandoned by the world.

Looking into the distance, you can see the deserted beaches in the distance, with scattered heights and Geliangs connecting Geliangs, extending to the sky.

Under the guidance of the guide, they found Wucheng not far from the pool.

A square castle in the desert is about 150 paces from east to west, and [-] paces from north to south, covering an area of ​​less than [-] mu, which is not as big as a square city in Chang'an.

The city wall was rammed, with a door on the east and west walls, and a dry moat outside the wall.

This is Wucheng, which attracted the hearts of the ruling and opposition parties last year.

There are many Wucheng in Tang Dynasty, and there are three in Shuofang alone, this is one of them.

It is said that when the salt production in Wuchi was prosperous, Wucheng was also very prosperous, but now there are only empty salt ponds and Wucheng without people.

"There are traces of life everywhere here, and it was not long after we evacuated."

Scouts scout around.

Near Wucheng, around Baichi and Yanlu, there are many fortresses. There are not only Han border residents who settled and cultivated, but also Dangxiang Qiang, Turks, Shanhu and other Hu tribes who migrated here to nomad and cultivate.

Although this place is located in the Gobi desert, if there is salt, it will be very prosperous. Salt is easy to feed horses, cattle and sheep are herded on the beach,

From Beidi County to Daxing County, from Xi'an Prefecture to Wuyuan County, from Yanchuan County to Yanzhou, here has always been inseparable from salt and war.

Every spring, when the warm south wind blows across thousands of miles, it comes to the edge of the Mu Us Desert, wrinkling the spring water of the Salt Lake.

When the south wind arrives, the wind rips up the waves, that is, the wind condenses the salt, the jade is clean and chilled, and it is not laborious to cook and splash. It is natural, and it is inexhaustible.

Beat salt, pack salt, eat salt by salt.

The powerful blocked the dam to build salt fields, and the poor dug out a kiln at random outside the fort. As long as they had a little bit of strength, they could find a way of life here.

They will pack salt in groups and sell it in Lingzhou, Gyeongju, Yanzhou and other places. They eat and stay in restaurants along the way, all they need is a handful of salt.

A small handful of salt can exchange two steamed cakes.

A load of salt can be exchanged for a large load of grain.

Or sell salt to go outside the Great Wall, and exchange cattle for horses.

Born from salt, prospered from salt.

"Master Liang is ruthless enough these days. He knew that he couldn't beat us, so he directly came to the bottom of the pot and moved everyone away."

Entering the empty Wucheng, there are no ghosts.

Liang Shidu played a scorched-earth strategy with Datang, voluntarily abandoning Yanzhou as a buffer zone, and moved all people and animals to Xiazhou. Wucheng was also set on fire, and even the wells were filled.

Su Lie and the others were very angry, but Wu Huaiyu felt nothing.

Fighting, isn't it just doing everything you can.

Datang wants to use the method of harassment to exhaust Liang Liang. It is not stupid for Master Liang to survive until now. If he can't beat him, he just gives up.

In the past, they could often bring Turkic people together, but last year Datang and Turkic reached a Weishui alliance.

Liang Shidu couldn't defend Yanzhou by himself, so he simply gave up, and his strategy contracted, no problem.

"Clean up Wucheng and Baicheng, and garrison troops."

"But people are gone, and the salt pond is deserted, what should I do?"

"This salt pool is still there, and the salt is also there. If you have salt, you won't be afraid of being abandoned. It is impossible for Liang Shidu to move everyone away, go out to comfort the people, and recruit the people to resume salting,"

Wu Huaiyu is not afraid of anyone.

There are only a few thousand of them themselves, let alone more than 1000 prisoners, who can directly dry salt here.

If you have salt, you can go to Gyeongju and Yeongju to exchange food. If you have food and cities, what are you afraid of?

Without a single soldier, Wu Huaiyu announced the recovery of Yanchi County.

On the same day, troops were stationed in Wucheng and Baicheng.

Yanzhou town soldiers, Wu Huaiyu granted the title Dingbian Army, the state soldiers stationed in Yanchi County, and Wuyuan County, which had not yet been recovered, and Dingbian Army stationed in Wucheng and other fortresses.

Restore Fengbao and the Great Wall defense line, take over Zhuyanchi, and restore the salt road.

Appease all fanhus.

There are quite a lot of things to do, but fortunately this time I came prepared, including soldiers and horsemen, as well as state and county officials.

Seeing Wu and the others holding back their energy, Su Lieniu was so angry that they missed an enemy and wanted to cross the Great Wall and immediately take back the Wuyuan City inside the Great Wall. Wu Huaiyu was not in a hurry and took it step by step.

If the enemy takes a step back, they will take a step forward.

While restoring the site, the production of Yanchi and the trade of salt horses were restored at the same time.

Standing on the city wall, I feel the simplicity and vicissitudes of life.

This place is outside the Great Wall, which shows that this is not a place suitable for farming.

Anyone who is familiar with history knows that the ancient Great Wall is not only a defense line in the military sense, but also a natural geographical boundary between agriculture and animal husbandry, because the Great Wall is basically on the boundary line of precipitation such as [-] mm.

This line is the real boundary between nomadism and farming.

It is the dividing line between semi-humid and semi-arid, and also the dividing line between forest vegetation and grassland vegetation.

The average annual rainfall is less than [-] millimeters, dry and windy, and only suitable for grazing. This is why from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the present Sui and Tang Dynasties, this place has always been on the border of the empire, and there have been constant wars.

The Han people, who are good at farming, do not adapt well here.

So even when the Qin and Han dynasties were prosperous and powerful, they just defeated and conquered the nomads, and then placed them in the border areas, letting them graze and guard the borders.

But for different races and cultures, this kind of surrender and detainment policy can really control them. Once the central dynasty weakens or there is civil strife, the nomads in the border areas will often rebel.

Therefore, the northern boundary of the Central Plains Dynasty has always been this rainfall line, and the Great Wall of all dynasties has basically been on this line.

Although there is still a wealthy Hetao area on this line, as long as the strength is a little weaker, it cannot be controlled.

The two sides have completely different ways of life, but it is difficult to live in peace. For a long time, the nomads on the grasslands have been more robust, but relatively backward, and their ability to resist disasters is weaker. The weak prey on the strong, triggering wars, and finally this tribal war often easily turns into an invasion and plunder of the Central Plains.

The Great Wall was built in the Sui Dynasty to isolate the harassment of nomads.

Wuyuan City is an important fortress on the Great Wall. Su Lie and the others don't care about salt or trade, they only care about fighting.

A group of generals gathered together and sent a large number of light cavalry to scout around, studying how to take Wuyuan City.

Wuyuan is sixty miles away from Wucheng, and it is the hub of Shuofang Great Wall.

Along the Great Wall, there are still many beacon towers in ancient castle camps, and they are considering how to take them back one by one.

But Wu Huaiyu felt that they were worrying too much.

Judging from the fact that Liang Shidu directly gave up Wubai Lake and Wubai City, they would not stick to Wuyuan. Although this is an important point of the Great Wall, they obviously did not have the guts to confront Tang Jun in Yanzhou.

With a high probability, there will be no war in Wuyuan.

What is in front of Wu Huaiyu now is not actually a military confrontation, Master Liang is obviously discouraged, and directly plays with him to clear the field, move all the people away, and leave him an open space.

When Wu Huaiyu regained Yanzhou, he had to face the problem of no one.

It's a bad thing, but it's not all bad.

The downside is that it takes time to recover, and there is a shortage of people. The upside is that he is left with a blank sheet of paper for him to paint and paint. He can redistribute the layout and interests of the entire Yanzhou more easily and conveniently.

a few days later.

Wu Huaiyu stood on the tower where the Great Wall was about to rush to Wuyuan City. Everything was as he expected. Master Liang didn't want to fight him at all, so he withdrew directly.

They withdrew all the way to the north of Xiazhou Great Wall, in the area of ​​Hongliu River.

Wu Huaiyu reported victory to the Emperor Chang'an, and successfully recovered Yanzhou without a single soldier, taking back Siyanchi and Fort 36 in two counties.

Su Lie successfully joins forces with Duan Decao, governor of Xiazhou.

Duan Decao took Liu Lancheng and Liu Min, and led the Xiazhou Army to recover the land north of Baiyu Mountain and south of the Great Wall, and also restored the land on the west bank of the Hongliu River. Now he controls Ningshuo County inside the Great Wall, and Hongliu River outside the Great Wall. To the west is Nagasawa County.

Liang Shidu guarded Shuofang City in the lower reaches of the Hongliu River, and still controlled the land of Yinsui in the east of the Hengshan Mountains.

But with the advance of Wu Huaiyu and Duan Decao's two armies, the first-line defenses of Baiyu Mountain and the Great Wall that they originally controlled were completely torn apart.

Now he has the Yellow River in the east, the desert in the north, and the Great Wall controlled by the Tang Army and the Baiyu Mountain defense line in the southwest. He has completely fallen into a dead end, especially after losing the defense of the Yanxia Great Wall, he has been completely exposed to the Tang Army.

Although he actively retreated to avoid fighting Tang Jun on the outside, it also made it impossible for him to retreat and lost the strategic buffer space.

Datang easily achieved a strategic victory in the first stage, with a huge advantage.

Xue Wanche, governor of Lingzhou, led the army to the north and took control of Yuzhou. This made Wu Huaiyu very safe now. There was Yuzhou in the north, which blocked Yu Sheshe in Hetao for him, and Duan Decao in the east, which blocked Liang Shi in Shuofang for him. Duan Duan from Gyeongju is behind him.

Wu Huaiyu's Yanzhou is now out of contact with the enemy.

An accompanying army member of the Lingzhou Dudufu suggested to Huaiyu that the soldiers are also idle, and it is better to send out to encircle and suppress those rebellious Qiang and Hu rebels who had previously attached themselves.

This guy can't wait to catch slaves again.

(End of this chapter)