Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 290 0285 [Prelude to the Great War]

The Yuexi River in later generations is now called Qiongbuchuan.

The lower reaches of the Niger River are more commonly called the Luo River by the Lianglin Man.

Lizhou's army marched along the Luo River, and when they encountered villages in the valley, they persuaded them to surrender, and immediately attacked those who did not want to surrender.

At the same time, Yu Wenchang continued to send envoys to the mountains far away from the valley to deliver messages.

Those tribes and villages in the mountains usually obey orders from the Chuanman of Qiongbu, and are obliged to recruit warriors to fight for the great ghost master of Baimandu.

However, they have many obligations and few powers.Even if you win the battle, you can only get a small amount of spoils, and the little soup you drink can barely make up for the battle losses.

Many small tribes could not understand Chinese, and the envoys sent by Yuwen were mostly barbarians who surrendered along the way.

The envoys only conveyed one message: it is beneficial to go down the mountain to help the Han soldiers fight, and even if you don’t help the Han soldiers fight, you are not allowed to fight for the fierce!

Except for the relatives who were enfeoffed by Jumeng, most tribes along the way were watching.They were not only afraid of the great ghost master of Baimandu, but also afraid of the army sent by the government, especially when they heard that there were [-] Han soldiers, which was close to the limit of mathematical understanding of the little ghost masters.

"Prefect, the village ahead is empty!"

"Explore again!"

Zhu Ming and Yu Wen often encountered a problem. They were advancing so fast that the Sichuan barbarians in Qiongbu had no time to gather their troops.

However, apart from the initial capture of a few villages along the river, all the villages further ahead fled.These barbarians did not fight the Han people, but fled into the mountains with their families.

Chasing into the mountains is a waste of time.

If you don't go into the mountains to pursue them, after the army has passed, the barbarians will come out of the mountains again and gradually gather to cut off the Han army's retreat.

Zhu Ming suggested: "Remove the cage fort in the village by the river, don't worry about these empty villages, and speed up to fight Jumeng. Many barbarian tribes are not in one mind. As long as the main force of Jumeng is defeated, the barbarians in the rear will surrender. .”

"Let's not care about food and roads?" Yu Wenchang asked.

"There is no need to bring in the follow-up food," said Zhu Ming. "We captured a few villages and obtained some food and livestock. Some of the food in these empty villages was too late to take away. Our existing military rations, stick to two The moon is more than enough."

Yuwen often asked: "If you delay the fight and cut off our army's supply road, what will happen after two months?"

Zhu Ming said: "There is a big ghost lord ahead named Busu, the younger brother of the big ghost lord Jumeng. He controls the territory where three rivers meet and the land along the banks is fertile. It was the core territory of the two forest barbarians. There is a A Han named Qiao Huan, whose heart is toward the imperial court, once told me secretly that Busu has a large amount of grain and grass in reserve.”

"Shoot down to grab food and supplies?" Yu Wenchang was a little moved.

Zhu Ming said: "It's best to persuade him to surrender. Busu's strength is second only to Jumeng, and he controls a large number of surrounding villages. If he is given enough time to gather troops, he may be able to gather tens of thousands of barbarians. If such a person is given benefits, Does he want to be self-reliant?"

Yu Wenchang pondered: "You can promise, and ask the imperial court to designate him as the Great Ghost Lord of Baimandu."

Zhu Ming laughed and said, "There are too many barbarians south of the Dadu River, and there are too few great ghost masters. After this battle, three hundred great ghost masters can be registered."

……

Luo Luolong, the seat of Ganluo County in later generations.

Busu called his sons over and said to Qiao Huan, "Read the Han official's letter again."

Qiao Huan did not repeat the content of the letter mechanically, but offered to help fill in the details:

"Respected Great Ghost Lord Busu, you are not only the Great Ghost Lord conferred by the imperial court, but also General Huaihua conferred by the imperial court. More than 100 years ago, the strength of the Sichuan Man in Qiongbu was far inferior to that of the Lianglin Man. Only by trading with the Han people in Lizhou can they grow rapidly, drive the two forests to the south, and occupy the most fertile land in the two forests..."

"Nowadays, the great ghost lord of Baimandu and General Guide are fierce. They don't know how to repay the kindness of the court. Instead, they repeatedly send people to plunder the Han people, and even intercept and kill the tribute envoys of various ministries. The Emperor Song was very angry and sent 30 troops. Come to conquer, and the ones who are about to arrive are [-] pioneers. If they can't win, they will send [-] troops next year."

"The great ghost master Busu has always respected the imperial court. If you can lead your troops to surrender, the prefect of Lizhou will ask the emperor of the Song Dynasty to confer you the great ghost master of Baimandu and General Guide. The sons of Busu can also Become a big ghost master..."

"If you refuse to surrender, once the Han soldiers arrive, they will definitely flatten Luo Luolong!"

After Qiao Huan finished speaking, he withdrew automatically. He was not eligible to participate in the tribal leaders meeting.

Busu’s second son was the first to speak. He owns four villages: “You can’t believe what Han officials say. In the past few years, when you go to Hanyuan Town for trade, you don’t get enough money every time. They say they will make up for it in the next year.” , has been procrastinating, and the Han officials owe us more and more money."

The barbarians here also use Song money, and it is Sichuan iron money.

However, only the big tribes are willing to collect money, and more often they directly exchange things for things.Or they sold the money in Lizhou and bought the goods directly in Lizhou.

They don't know how to weave, so they wear sheepskin clothes in winter and summer cloth woven by Han people.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Han people generally used ramie to weave summer cloth.But in the Song Dynasty, rattan weaving was still very popular, and many rattans, including kudzu, could weave cloth.

The kudzu vine linen is cheap and good, and is very popular among the barbarians.

Busu's eldest son said, "Even if the Han people are untrustworthy, how can we resist them when they come with a large army? If the Han officials are angered and they no longer allow the trade, where can we buy cloth? Where can we buy salt?" "

Yanyuan County and Yanbian County further south are now the territory of Dali Kingdom, and they are not under the jurisdiction of the powerful minister Gao.

The salt there went northward, but was blocked by the Baozhaiman. The Chuanman in Qiongbei wanted to buy Dali salt, and the price was far more expensive than Sichuan salt.

Several sons have different opinions, and it is difficult for Busu to make a choice.

The Han soldiers are about to come. If he doesn't surrender, he has to hold the front of the soldiers for Ju Meng first.Even if they can win, they will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

But if he surrendered, if the Han people were defeated, he would definitely be severely punished.

Just when he was hesitating, a subordinate suddenly came to report that the eldest son, Piaoli, had arrived with troops.

Busu hurriedly went to greet him, but found that Piaoli had only brought 1500 soldiers. He couldn't help asking, "Are there only so many soldiers?"

Piaoli explained: "This is the vanguard. Dad is still gathering troops, and he will arrive in a few days. Uncle, gather troops quickly, as long as you hold this place, and when Dad comes with the army, you will definitely be able to catch Han." Soldiers are defeated and flee."

"I'm already gathering troops. The villages in the mountains are too far away and it will take time." Busu said.

Piaoli asked, "How far are the Han people?"

"It will be there in two or three days." Busu replied.

After the Lizhou army crossed the Dadu River, there were tens of miles of dangerous valleys, which were most suitable for the barbarians to set up ambushes.

But Yu Wenchang and Zhu Ming dispatched troops without warning, which made the barbarians unable to react.

The most dangerous place has already passed. Although the mountains are high and the valleys are deep here, it is still a little bit close to an ambush.Zhu Ming is not a fool, how could he not send a search team to explore the way?
Especially in the area of ​​Busu, there are river valleys as long as more than ten miles, all of which are relatively open and flat.This allowed Busu to harvest a large amount of grain every year, and at the same time, he had no danger to defend. He could only defend in his lair, which faced the river on three sides and the mountain on the other side.

Piaoli came with troops, and Busu, who was hesitant, planned to hold on for a while.

The Han soldiers came very quickly, and after a day and a half, they had already reached the downstream village.

"It's an empty village again." Yuwen often looked at the village by the river.

Zhu Ming said: "Abandoning the village and fleeing, taking away the population and food, Busu is unwilling to surrender."

Yu Wen often said: "We came so quickly, Ju Meng must not have gathered many troops. There should not be many barbarians in front of Luo Luolong."

Not much, indeed, but also a lot.

The fertile valley of more than ten miles can support too many barbarians. Even if the tribes in the mountains are not recruited, Busu can quickly gather five or six thousand young and strong.

Including the 1500 elite brought by Piaoli, Luo Luolong's barbarians exceeded [-].

However, there are not enough weapons!
In fact, there are rich iron ore resources here, but many of them are hidden in the mountains and have not been discovered.

Moreover, the mining and smelting technology of Sichuan Man in Qiongbu is relatively primitive, and there are very few iron tools that can be made every year.

What is smelted is still pig iron, and it needs repeated forging to make weapons.

Of the more than 7000 barbarians at present, less than 3000 have iron weapons, and many of them only have iron spear points on wooden sticks.There are more than [-] barbarians still using bone spears and stone spears...

There are not many iron arrowheads for its homemade clay bows.

Busu and Piaoli commanded the headquarters to build fortifications on the river bank.There are more than 1 old and weak women and children in total. Building low walls with stones and mud can prevent Han soldiers from crossing the river easily.

Ju Ming checked the terrain the last time he came, and chose to cross the river in the north.

There is a small river, the widest point is less than eight meters, and the narrowest point is only five or six meters.

You can also take a detour and sneak out from the south.

But it's not necessary!

The focus of the barbarians' defense was also this small river, and a long low wall was built beside the river.

Ju Ming observed with binoculars for a while, and ordered: "Stand back a mile and set up camp against the mountains, cut down a lot of trees to make leveling cannons, and start crossing the river tomorrow to attack!"

In the previous attack on the villages along the river, some leveling guns had been damaged. After all, they were not elaborate gadgets.But only parts are broken and can be replenished quickly.

Now there is more to build, it is Zhu Ming who intends to fight here, waiting for Ju Meng to lead the army over.

Immediately, Zhu Ming called Guan Sheng again: "Lead ten small teams around the upper reaches of the small river, and hide in the mountains after crossing the river. When fighting tomorrow, go down the mountain from the back of the village. If there are enemies on the mountain, they will be wiped out if there are few. Come back soon."

Zhu Ming is making arrangements here, while the barbarians are already arguing.

Piao Li said: "The Han soldiers have just arrived and are not yet familiar with the terrain. We can sneak attack at night and burn down the camps of the Han soldiers. Maybe we can defeat them all."

But Busu said: "The village is surrounded by rivers on three sides, and there are many cage castles on one side. We don't want to take risks. We only need to stick to it for a few days, and the big ghost master will come with reinforcements."

"The Han people also have reinforcements. It is said that there are [-] troops," Piaoli said. "There are not many Han soldiers on the opposite side. We should seize the opportunity and eat up the vanguards of these Han people!"

Busu said: "If I want to go to you, my soldiers will not move."

"I'll go, I'll go!" Piaoli looked down on this uncle, thinking that he couldn't fight.

Of course Busu can fight, but his focus is not on whether to win the Han soldiers, but to preserve his own strength as much as possible.

Guan Sheng led more than 100 elite troops to ambush from the northwest.

Piaoli led eight hundred barbarians, crossed the river from the southeast and detoured, intending to go to Zhu Ming's side to rob the camp.

The two will not collide, because the direction of sending troops is completely opposite.

(End of this chapter)