Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 284 0279 [Barbarian Information]

The barbarians south of the Dadu River are weak, but that doesn't mean they are few.

Described by the administrative divisions of later generations, when the two forests were at their peak, they owned the southern part of Ganluo County, the eastern part of Yuexi County, and the northern part of Xide County.Tribal population, as many as tens of thousands.

Now there may be 3 to [-] people left, and they were driven to Xide County by the Qiongbu Chuanman, and at the same time controlled part of the land in Yuexi County.

The reason why Yu Wenchang knows its strength is because Lizhou has materials from various ministries decades ago.At that time, the national power of the Great Song Dynasty was still strong, and occasionally they would recruit barbarian soldiers to fight. At most, they could call up more than 1 people.

"You want to attack the Sichuan barbarians in Qiongbu, so you take these more than 300 Xiang troops?" Yu Wenchang asked.

Zhu Ming said: "We also conscripted some of the Xiang army, and then recruited the Shuyi on the north bank of the Dadu River, and then recruited some civilians to transport food. We can claim that there are [-] troops."

The number of Xiang troops in Lizhou is as large as one army (2500 people).

However, the Tea Horse Department deported more than 1000 people, specially used to escort goods for the mutual market.There are also Xiang troops serving in the yamen at the prefecture and county levels, and they are used purely as servants.

There are only 350 of them who can really fight (300 infantry and 50 horses). The so-called army of [-] people is indeed a bit outrageous.

Zhu Ming suddenly asked: "The commander of a full-staffed infantry in the Xiang Army should have 500 soldiers. How come there are only 300 in Lizhou?"

Yu Wenchang said: "Two years ago when the Lunan barbarians rebelled, the envoys conscripted troops from various prefectures, and [-] Lizhou soldiers were taken away. Then there was another barbarian rebellion in Maozhou, and the [-] Lizhou Xiang troops never returned. How many casualties were there? Man, I haven't given a definite number until now."

Ju Ming was speechless: "..."

This kind of operation is very normal, Lizhou belongs to miasma, and the rule established 110 years ago is that the Xiang army here changes defense once every two years.

But it hasn't been changed for decades, Xiang Jun is mostly recruited locally.

After the system commander transferred the soldiers away, he casually threw some crooked melons and cracked dates back, which can be said to be a change of defense in two years.As for the pensions for the dead and wounded soldiers, it is estimated that they will not be given much, so Lizhou has to find a way by itself.

Yuwen often said: "Most of the remaining 300 infantry troops were recruited by me personally, and they are all good people from the countryside."

This is the luck of the misfortunes. The Xiang army in the Song Dynasty recruited many homeless and fleeing refugees, and they were not very obedient in training and fighting. Yuwen Chang did a good job recruiting good people from the countryside.

Zhu Ming said: "The Sichuan barbarians in the Qiong tribe are growing day by day. In the past few decades, the population of the territory has nearly doubled, and the trade channels between the ministries have been cut off. If things go on like this, it is really a big problem. Now you can order the ministries to send troops to besiege. Are the barbarians sending troops?"

Yu Wenchang sighed: "Success is still a youthful spirit. Not to mention whether sending troops can win, can you and I deploy troops privately?"

Zhu Ming said: "Everything is flexible. Recruit some unemployed vagrants to make up the number, and turn all the existing Xiang army into rural soldiers. As for the officers who are not easy to change, let them temporarily serve as military officers in the Xiang army. Zhizhou can dispatch them. Conscripts do things."

Yu Wenchang was dumbfounded when he heard this: "Once you are found out for doing this, at least you will be hanged."

"Scholar-bureaucrats generally don't impose the death penalty," Zhu Ming said with a smile, "I'm not doing it for meritorious service, but to frighten the barbarians in Lizhou."

Yu Wenchang didn't want to take risks with Zhu Ming, so he wrote a severely worded letter, angrily denouncing the disobedience of the Sichuan barbarians in Qiongbu, and ordered him to return the people and property looted from the Lianglin tribe.

Zhu Ming volunteered, "I'll deliver the letter."

Yu Wenchang has already figured out the way of Ju Ming: "You want to explore the terrain yourself?"

Zhu Ming smiled and said nothing.

……

Yu Wenchang finally agreed to let Zhu Ming deliver the letter, because he also wanted to know the reality of the barbarians.

The next day, Zhu Ming set off with more than ten riders.

Li Jien, the son of the leader of the Lianglin Department, acted as a guide and crossed the river more than ten miles downstream of the Hanshui into the Dadu River.

After crossing the river, there is a river valley in front of you, with towering mountains on both sides.

Li Jien said: "This place used to be owned by the Lianglin Department, and there were villages in the mountains. Those villages now obey the orders of the Qiongbu Chuanman. But as long as the government defeats the Qiongbu Sichuanman, the villages in the mountains will definitely no longer obey them."

Zhu Ming asked, "Is this the only way to go north?"

Li Jien pointed to the east: "There is a passage far away there, which can go north, and it must pass through the edge of the territory of the Ministry of Hate."

The Xuhen Department is located in Ebian County in later generations, and it no longer belongs to Lizhou, but is under the jurisdiction of Jiazhou in name.

Li Ji'en pointed to the west again: "There is a passage far away there that can go north. After crossing the river, you have to pass through the five tribes."

Zhu Ming asked again: "Besides the two Linmans in the south, is there any other tribe that has enmity with the Sichuanmen of the Qiong tribe?"

Li Ji'en said: "Bao Zhai barbarians, they may send troops to help."

To the south of the Dadu River is the territory of Wuman.

Whether it is Qiongbu Chuanman, Baozhaiman, or any other Linman, they all belong to the Wuman tribal alliance.

One or several villages form a small tribe, and the leader is called "ghost master".

Many small tribes unite to form a large tribe, and the leader is called "big ghost master".

The leader of the overlord level is called the "Great Ghost Lord of Hundred Barbarians"!
The various barbarians fought back and forth, apart from expanding their territory and population, they also fought for the title of "Great Ghost Lord of the Hundred Barbarians".

During the Tang Dynasty, the leader of the Sichuan barbarians in Qiongbu was the Lord of Du Dagui.

During the Five Dynasties, this title was snatched away by the Lianglin Man.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Chuanman of the Qiongbu and the Lianglinman fought back and forth, and in the end the Sichuanman of the Qiongbu won.

It is rumored that the "Hundred Man Capital Great Ghost Lord" can communicate with ghosts and gods, and get help from ghosts and gods in the dark.

After continuing to walk for two days, Zhu Ming suddenly saw a village with two watchtowers built of stone.

"Do all the ministries have bunkers?" Zhu Ming asked.

Li Jien said: "This kind of room is called a cage room."

The cage house is also called Qionglong, and in modern times, it even evolved into a Qiang dwelling.There are generally three floors, the upper floor is for food, the middle floor is for people, and the lower floor is for livestock.

But in ancient times, it was a military-civilian dual-purpose building. Only tribal nobles could live in it, and soldiers were called to defend it during wartime.

The Wudeng tribe (the tribe where the great ghost master of the Baiman capital belongs) of Qiongbu Chuanman is stationed. The village is called "Pugu Cage", named after the tallest and largest cage house in the village.

After walking for a few more days, I came to the confluence of two rivers and saw a large village.

The village faces the river on three sides and the mountain on the other side, and there are actually five blockhouses built there.

"Where is this?" Zhu Ming asked.

Li Jien looked at the village with complicated emotions and said, "My grandfather used to live here. The tallest cage house used to be the home of the two Linman ghost masters, but now it is occupied by the Qiongbu Chuanman."

In fact, it is the seat of Ganluo County in later generations.

Zhu Ming took the initiative to go to the village to rest, and when he learned that he was the county magistrate of Hanyuan, the leader of the village personally led the crowd to welcome him.

The barbarians here are all dressed in the same way, the men wear buns, and the women have disheveled hair.Among the etiquette of the Han people, the bun belongs to the mourning bun, or the bun of witches, and somehow it became the daily hairstyle of the barbarians.

The leader of the village is the younger brother of the great ghost master of Baimandu, named Busu.

The nearby villages are all Busu's territories, belonging to the Wudeng tribe of the Qiongbu Chuanman, and Busu himself has the title of ghost master.

This guy can't speak Chinese, so he called a Han Chinese to do the translation.

"Qiao Huan pays homage to the county magistrate!" the Han said, clasping his hands.

Zhu Ming asked: "If you are a Han people, why do you work for the barbarians?"

Qiao Huan replied: "You can't live in Han land, you can only live in barbarian land."

Zhu Ming asked: "If you can live, would you like to go back?"

Qiao Huan bowed his head and said nothing more.

That night, the ghost master Busu hosted a banquet in hospitality, and in the evening he also presided over the ghost sacrifice ceremony.

This kind of ceremony when entertaining guests is not very formal.When they encountered large-scale sacrifices, they used human animals to sacrifice ghosts. Human animals often came from captives of hostile tribes.

Zhu Ming didn't dare to drink too much, so he went to rest after eating.

They also don't live in the bunker provided by the ghost master, and only borrow the wooden house near the bunker, and they can escape at any time when they are attacked.

Zhang Tong and Li Bao took turns leading several cavalry on duty.

In the middle of the night, Li Bao scolded in a low voice: "Who is outside?"

Qiao Huan's voice came from the darkness: "It's me, I have something important to tell you!"

Zhu Ming has already woken up and asked Li Bao to let him in.

Everyone went to guard outside, even Li Jien, the son of the two Linman leaders, was ordered to stand outside the door and not to eavesdrop.

Zhu Ming asked, "What's the matter with you?"

Qiao Huan said in a low voice: "Two years ago, the envoys who asked to build a city and mutual market on the south bank of the Dadu River did not come from the Sichuan barbarians of Qiongbu, but were ordered by the Gao clan of Dali Kingdom."

Zhu Ming asked: "Why do the Sichuan barbarians of the Qiong tribe listen to Dali?"

Qiao Huan explained: "As early as the Tang Dynasty, the Chuanman of the Qiong tribe married the Nanzhao Kingdom, and now they are still marrying with the Dali Kingdom. For decades, they have not shown their military power in Lizhou, and the barbarians dare not resist the Dali Kingdom. The leaders of the Chuanmen in the Qiong tribe also need the help of the Dali Kingdom to subdue the barbarians."

Zhu Ming sneered: "These two sons of Lin Man's ghost lord, they are not telling the truth, but they are unwilling to reveal the truth. Presumably they must have ulterior motives."

Qiao Huan said: "Lianglin Manming was clearly a vassal of the Great Song Dynasty, but secretly became a vassal of the Dali Kingdom. How dare they tell the truth for such a serious crime?"

After communicating with Qiao Huan, Ju Ming basically understood the situation.

All the barbarians were sandwiched between the Song Dynasty and Dali, and received the canonization of both countries at the same time.By making use of the fear of each other between Song and Dali, the barbarians can survive, and no one dares to annex these barbarians easily.

However, the Song Dynasty had not used troops for a long time, and its prestige among the barbarians was declining day by day.

The barbarians had no choice but to turn to Dali and obey Dali's orders.At the same time, they wanted to get rid of the grip of the Dali Kingdom, but they were powerless, because it was impossible for Song Dynasty to send troops for them.

Because of intermarriage with the Dali Kingdom, the Chuanman of the Qiong tribe received material support from the Dali Kingdom, so they developed the fastest and continued to expand their territory and population.

The real purpose of Li Jien, the son of the ghost masters of the two forests, is to provoke a war between the Great Song Dynasty and the Chuanman of the Qiong tribe!

Moreover, the two Linmans are very likely to preserve their strength. It seems that they are fighting for life and death, and most of them will paddle at critical moments-this is Ju Ming's guess.

Although Yu Wenchang didn't understand the truth, he subconsciously felt that there was something wrong, so he didn't want to be used by the two forests.

Only Zhu Ming, a stunned young man, wanted to send troops when he heard the news.

Once the government starts a war with the Qiongbu Chuanman, it goes without saying that they will win the battle.If the battle is defeated, the two forests and barbarians will immediately fall to the Dali Kingdom, and even madly send money to women to show their loyalty, and the Dali Kingdom will definitely take the opportunity to strengthen its control over the barbarians.

The relationship between them is very complicated.

There are roughly three forces: Song Dynasty, Dali, and Zhuman.

There are countless subdivided forces: Qiongbu Chuanman, Lianglinman, Baozhaiman, Fengpaman and so on.

Each barbarian alliance is divided into many tribes.

For example, there are six major tribes in the Chuanman of Qiongbu.Among them, five big tribes are Wuman, and one big tribe is Baiman. Although they are united externally, they also fight with each other.Once the external environment changes drastically, it is very likely that they will fight themselves.

Zhu Ming decided to try his best to find out the situation of Zhu Man.

(End of this chapter)