At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 362 Caravan
With the advent of winter, various counties in the north have gradually become freezing cold, but in Jiaozhou, located in the far south, the temperature is still strong.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent troops to wipe out the South Vietnam Kingdom, he established the Jiaozhi Governor's Department here, which was divided into seven counties. The department governed Yinglou, which was the northwest of Hanoi, Vietnam in later generations.

It was not until this year in history that Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty changed Jiaozhi to Jiaozhou and changed the prefecture to Panyu.

Although history has changed, after Yuan Shao became emperor, in order to declare his sovereignty over Jiaozhou, he also ordered that Jiaozhi be changed to Jiaozhou. However, the state governance has not changed and is still located in Yinglou, Jiaozhi County.

At this time, Jiaozhou's geographical scope was roughly equivalent to Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan in later China, as well as northern and central Vietnam.

At this time, in the eyes of most Han people, Jiaozhou was still a remote and wild land. It was a vast and sparsely populated place with a hot and humid climate. Few Central Plains scholars were willing to go south to Jiaozhou.

In fact, Jiaozhou has become a place specifically for the exile of prisoners.

However, with the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Uprising at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wars spread across the Central Plains. Especially during the period of fighting between princes, many people fled to Jiaozhou to avoid the war.

The large influx of northern scholars and common people also promoted the development of Jiaozhou, making this remote place gradually prosperous.

Just when Li Jue and Guo Si were wreaking havoc in Chang'an and Guanzhong was devastated by famine, Jiaozhou had a special tropical and subtropical climate that allowed food to be harvested multiple times a year, so the people here did not go hungry. abdomen.

It was precisely because Shici became the governor of Ninan that the Shi family jumped from a local wealthy family to one of the few aristocratic families in Jiaozhou, and started the legend of this family.

Even though Yuan Shao appointed Shi Xie as the pastor of Jiaozhou, the Shi family still could not govern Yulin County. Why do you think it is?

And with the continuous influx of people from the north, Jiaozhou, which was once a vast area and sparsely populated, now has a total population of more than two million.

It turns out that Yulin County is located in Guangxi in later generations, and it is the intersection of Yizhou, Jingzhou and Jiaozhou. There are many mountainous areas here, covering almost half of the entire county.

He was appointed as the magistrate of Xuwen County and the prefect of Jiuzhen during the Dong Zhuo Rebellion.

In addition to these six counties, only Yulin County was not occupied by the scholar family.

In addition to being rich in grain, Jiaozhou is also an area that produces silver, copper, and iron. It also has a large number of rare treasures and relatively rare tropical fruits.

Although the household registration in Jiaozhou is still not as good as those in larger states, it is much better than in other remote frontier states.

Shi Xie seized the opportunity of the chaos in the world and promoted his three brothers to the positions of county guards.

However, with the continuous influx of people from the north, more advanced farming techniques began to be introduced, and coupled with Shi Xie's diligence and love for the people, Jiaozhou, a remote place, gradually became a paradise.

In addition, Shi Xie's father once served as the county guard in Ninan County. Even though he had retired long ago, there were still many children of the scholar family serving as officials in Ninan County, and he almost completely controlled Ninan County.

Shiwu served as the governor of Nanhai.

Among them, Shi Xie himself served as the prefect of Jiaozhi, and the jurisdiction of Jiaozhi County was located in Longbian, which is the northeastern area of ​​Hanoi, Vietnam today.

Among them, Shi Yi was summoned by the imperial court to serve as an official. He fled back to Jiaozhou during Dong Zhuo's rebellion. He was promoted to a partial general, was granted the title of Marquis of the capital, and became the prefect of Hepu.

Shi Xie's ancestors moved to Jiaozhou to escape the war. After six generations of hard work, the Shi family has become a local wealthy family. Shi Xie's father, Shi Ci, was appointed as the prefect of Rinan during the reign of Emperor Huan.

The four brothers occupied four of the seven counties in Jiaozhou.

Silver, copper, and iron can all be transformed into important strategic materials in troubled times.

There are seven counties in Jiaozhou.

Moreover, the Shi family was originally from Cangwu County. Although there was no clan member serving as Cangwu County Governor, the current Cangwu County Governor can be regarded as a puppet.

However, Jiaozhou's farming technology is still not as good as that in the north. Although the climate can support food harvests several times a year, the fertility of the land cannot do this.

In the past few years, after Zhou Qi occupied Yangzhou, Jingzhou, and Yizhou, the people of Chu gradually gained a stable living environment, and the tendency of refugees to escape Jiaozhou gradually stopped.

Even in later generations, the people here are still strong and strong, and many ethnic minority autonomous areas have been retained.

At this time, there were countless tribes living in the mountains in Yulin County. They were almost inextricably linked to the Nanzhong barbarians in Yizhou and the Wuxi barbarians in Wuling County, Jingzhou.

Although they were nominally under the rule of the Han Dynasty, the tribal chiefs were all proper native emperors. The tribesmen only knew the chiefs but not the Han people, let alone the rising Chu State in the north.

No matter how powerful the Shi family was, they could not control Yulin County, which had strong folk customs. They could only find ways to make friends with the chiefs of the major tribes here.

Even among the seven counties of Jiaozhou, even Jiaozhi County and Rinan County, which were located in later Vietnam, the local government would keep statistics on the household registration of people in each county in the county.

But only in Yulin County, the government has no way of counting the household registrations here, and they don't know how many tribal people are entrenched in the countless mountains.

Shi Xie also had self-awareness. He knew that Cangwu County was densely covered with forests and there were countless jackals, tigers and leopards, and it was impossible to conquer them by force. That's why he chose to give generous gifts to befriend the chiefs of the tribes instead of leading troops on a crusade.

When Xiang Hong, Fazheng and others led the troops to attack Jiaozhou, they originally planned to go down the river from Zoke County in Yizhou through the west, go directly to the east to attack Jiaozhi County, and take the lead in conquering Jiaozhou by going straight to Huanglong. To govern the state, he captured Shi Xie, and then pacified the entire Jiaozhou.

Xisuishui, also known as the Red River in Yunnan in later generations, is a huge river that spans Yunnan and Vietnam, and is also the largest river in northern Vietnam.

Nanzhong soldiers and horses flowed down the river through the west, which was not only very fast, but also very convenient for transporting grain and grass. It also saved a lot of time, and was the fastest way to pacify Jiaozhou.

Once Jiaozhi County is captured by the Yizhou Army and Shi Xie is captured or killed in battle, the rest will have nothing to fear.

Never thought about it.

Ever since Zhou Qi established the Nanzhong Dudufu in Yizhou, Shi Xie had been prepared for this day and built a camp in advance on the south bank of the most dangerous part of the West Suishui River, and connected an iron cable across the river.

The water flow in that section of the river was very strong, and the camp set up by Shi Xie was located in a condescending position, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

When Nanzhong County led by Xiang Hong and Fazheng was blocked in the river, the bows and crossbows and various long-range equipment that had been prepared in the camp all launched an attack on Nanzhong County's warships.

Because the water in that section was very fast and there were steep cliffs on both sides, it was difficult for the warships to turn around and go upstream. As a result, the South China Army suffered heavy casualties.

Fortunately, this is just the vanguard force sent by Xiang Hong. If the large force is allowed to go at the front without preparation, the losses will be very terrible.

Even so, this battle also made Xiang Hong and Fazheng a lot more cautious. They set up a water camp in the upper reaches, hoping to attack the camp set up by Shi Xie step by step, and then open up the water channel.

He never thought that the location of the camp was too clever and the terrain was very steep. Even though Fazheng racked his brains, he could not figure out a way to capture the camp.

Although the Nanzhong Army can take a detour and continue to advance towards Jiaozhi County, with that camp lying across here, it is like a choke point for the Nanzhong Army. The opponent may cut off the food route of the Nanzhong Army at any time, causing the entire Nanzhong Army to collapse. Overturned.

With Xiang Hong's caution and Fa Zheng's wisdom, he would naturally not do such a stupid thing.

Seeing that the camp could not be captured for a long time, and the Yuan army in the north attacked fiercely, Xiang Hong had no choice but to give up the strategy of taking Jiaozhi County directly, and planned to gnaw the hardest bone of Yulin County first.

Originally, according to the ideas of Xiang Hong and Fazheng, due to the special situation of Yulin County, the remaining six counties in Jiaozhou should be pacified first, and then they should concentrate their efforts to pacify Yulin County.

But now, the two of them had to change their original plans.

Xiang Hong wandered around in his early years and left his hometown with his old mother. He also experienced the warmth and coldness of the world. After that, he followed Zhou Qi all the way, killing countless people in southern and northern wars, and his character was very determined.

Fazheng was no less generous. He lost his father when he was young, and even his grandfather who raised him died when he was eleven or twelve years old. The Legalist family, which was originally a scholarly family, fell into decline.

At a young age, Fazheng had experienced Bian Rang's rebellion, Han Sui's rebellion, Dong Zhuo's rebellion, and Li Jue's and Guo Si's rebellion.

Fazheng's hometown, Xi County, is located at the transportation hub of Youfufeng. Every major turmoil will affect this place, which also makes Fazheng aware of the cruelty of this troubled world, and strengthens his belief in making contributions and revitalizing his family.

Later, the famine that spread throughout Guanzhong forced Fa Zheng to leave his hometown, and finally fled to Yizhou, where he managed to live a stable life.

However, Fazheng claimed to be talented, but he was never reused in Yizhou. Instead, he needed help from his friend Mengda, who had experienced the ups and downs of the world.

The two have different experiences, but also have many similarities.

Although they have very different personalities, they have one thing in common, and that is their tenacity. No matter what difficulties they encounter, they will not give up easily, but will rise to the challenge.

Since it was not feasible to take Jiaozhi County directly, even if the most difficult Yulin County in Jiaozhou was ahead, the two of them did not have the slightest fear and still chose to attack Yizhou from here.

Of course, Fazheng would not be so stupid as to directly conflict with the tribes in Yulin County.

He first asked the Nanzhong barbarians to form a caravan, bringing with them many supplies that the tribes urgently needed, and then headed east from Yushui to trade with many tribes along the Yushui River at extremely low prices.

Yulin County, like Jiaozhi County, also has rivers flowing from Yizhou that run through the entire county.

Yu Shui is one of them.

If it had been a fleet formed by other Han people, it would have been difficult to move in Yulin County, and it would have been looted by the tribes inside.

The caravan composed of Nanzhong barbarians is quite different.

As mentioned earlier, since Yulin County borders Yizhou and Jingzhou, many tribes within the county are actually inextricably linked with the Wuxi barbarians in Jingzhou and the barbarians in Nanzhong. Many tribes are even related by marriage. .

However, compared to the Nanzhong Barbarians and Wuxi Barbarians, Yulin County is further south, and the barbarians here have less contact with the Han people, so it is relatively exclusive. I don't have a good impression of the Han people either.

It’s just that many things produced by the Han people are in urgent need of these tribes.

They couldn't trust the Han people, and they couldn't live without those goods, so they traded with the barbarians from various tribes in Nanzhong and Wuxi barbarians in exchange for things.

Compared with the various tribes in Yulin County, the Nanzhong barbarians and Wuxi barbarians have more interactions with the Han people, and it is easier to obtain things produced by the Han people.

However, before Zhou Qi occupied Jingzhou and Yizhou, although they could trade with the Han people, each time they traded, they had to pay far more than the value of the goods in order to buy their own things from the Han people, which made things very expensive. .

Now it is very different.

Zhou Qi advocated the equality of all ethnic groups. As long as they were loyal to the court and kept their own rights, the government must safeguard the rights and interests of Han people and ethnic minorities.

For those merchants who deliberately sell things to barbarians at high prices, if they are discovered by the government, they will be severely punished.

These measures also allowed the Nanzhong barbarians, Wuxi barbarians, Shanyue barbarians, and the Ba people in Badi to buy Han things at affordable prices.

Because the Nanzhong barbarians had trade relations with various tribes in Yulin County.

Therefore, the caravan formed by the Nanzhong barbarians not only was not robbed by the barbarians in Yulin County, but even received a very warm welcome.

What the tribes along Yushui didn't expect was that the Nanzhong barbarians who came to trade this time not only brought a wide variety of goods, but also the prices were very cheap. It was incredibly cheap, including many supplies that the tribes urgently needed. , the same is true.

The exquisite clothes and sophisticated weapons worn by the barbarians, as well as endless amounts of grain and refined salt, stunned all the tribes.

Some of them couldn't understand why the Nanzhong barbarians, who were only slightly better than their own tribe before, had suddenly changed to look like this?
Compared with these Nanzhong barbarians who came to do business, they lived in their own tribes, just like the country bumpkins in the mountains seeing the rich people from the metropolis.

The Yao people, as the largest ethnic group in the western part of Yulin County, also have a very large tribe on the banks of the Yushui River.

The chief of the Yao tribe looked at the glamorous Dong Dana, stroking the extremely smooth silk she was wearing, and did not hide his envy.

"Dong Dana, you have brought people here to trade before. Your tribe did not have these good things at that time. Why can you wear gorgeous silk now?"

Silk, even in the Central Plains, was something only wealthy people could afford, and it was very expensive.

The Yao chief had never thought that a tribal chief like Dong Dana, who had lived in Nanzhong for a long time, could actually wear such gorgeous and expensive clothes.

After asking his doubts, the Yao chief looked at the exquisite and delicious pastries and food on the table, with deep envy in his eyes.

Dong Dana laughed loudly when he heard this, stretched out his hands and turned around twice, saying: "I really couldn't afford to wear such expensive clothes before, but it's different now. These clothes I'm wearing don't even have Spend money on it.”

The Yao chief's eyes lit up and he asked, "Did they steal it from the Han people?"

(End of this chapter)