Chapter 928: Going South and Meeting
Chapter 928: Going South and Meeting (Part )
On the fifth day of August, the army arrived at the bank of Sheyan River.
When they arrived here, they found that the area was mostly hilly and mountainous. Although there was the Qin Straight Road for travel, it was not easy to travel due to years of disrepair, so Shao Xun ordered them to stop and rest for two days, and he took the opportunity to meet with local chiefs.
There is a Xiongnu military base here, called "Fusu Fort", which is surrounded by stone cliffs on all sides and is located on a very dangerous mountain.
The city is not big, with a circumference of only five miles. It was named after the tombs of Fusu and Meng Tian located nearby.
There were seven or eight hundred military and civilian households in the fort, half of them Di and Qiang, and half of them Xiongnu. As the situation was hopeless, they surrendered.
Shao Xun ordered the establishment of a county here, named "Suide County", which was under the jurisdiction of Diaoyin County.
This county administered four counties: Fushi (now Yuhebao, Yulin), Suide (now Suide), Yangzhou (Yangqiaopan Town, Jingbian County), and Sheyan (Baichengzi, Hongdunjie Township, Jingbian County), and its capital was Fushi.
The south of Diaoyin was still Shangjun, which governed Gaonu (now Yan'an), Pingdu (near today's Zichang City), Dingyang (southeast of Yan'an, between Yanchang and Yichuan, a gathering place for miscellaneous Hu people), Ganquan (now a county, named after a beautiful spring in the south of the city), and Zhilu (now Fu County), with Gaonu as its capital.
At this point, the division of Shangjun was completed.
The twelve counties in the three prefectures of Xinqin, Diaoyin and Shang were basically abandoned during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Now they are all inhabited by Hu people, and it is not easy to restore them.
Shao Xun met with chieftains in the newly established Suide County. In addition to the Xiongnu, Xianbei (remnants of the Bai tribe of Xianbei), Di and Qiang, there were also many other Hu peoples.
These mixed Hu peoples could no longer be identified with their ethnicity, and were more like a bunch of mixed blood. Not to mention the Jin Dynasty, even the Xiongnu couldn't figure out what they were, and their numbers were so large that they ended up naming them after the regions, such as "Dingyang Hu" - a similar phenomenon also occurred in Xihe County, which was separated by a river, such as "Shilou Hu".
"When I returned from Luoyang in the past, I killed Lu Zhuyan. Who is he to you?" Shao Xun asked, looking at a man named "Lu Zhuqian".
"He's my cousin." Lu Zhuqian replied.
Shao Xun nodded and asked, "Where did the Shangjun Xianbei come from?"
"They were originally from the Bai tribe of the Later Han Dynasty." Lu Zhuqian said, "At that time, they were stationed in Taiyuan, and later moved to various places."
"They lived in Taiyuan during the Han Dynasty..." Shao Xun was speechless after hearing this.
"In the past, when Tuoba was weak, he offered sacrifices to the heavens in the western suburbs of Shengle. The nobles of the Bai tribe were unwilling to bow their heads, so they formed an alliance with other tribes to fight against them and scattered to various places. The Lu Zhu clan was able to control the four tribes and lived in Shangjun for generations." Lu Zhuqian said, "The Lu Zhu clan and the Tuoba clan are irreconcilable. Now we are willing to serve King Liang as our leader and be the vanguard in the future expedition against Tuoba."
"Hey——" Shao Xun stretched out his hand to stop Lu Zhuqian.
Don’t say anything that is not conducive to unity. Didn’t you see that the nobleman who brought the second batch of reinforcements from Tuoba Xianbei was also present?
Yiluo Chinu, who had recruited more than 4,000 cavalrymen to march south, was actually present at this time. After hearing Lu Zhuqian's words, he sneered.
There was a grand ceremony to offer sacrifices to heaven. There were seven wooden plaques on the altar, representing the seven brother tribes except the Tuoba clan, and Yiluo was one of them.
The ten Tuoba clans have the same ancestor. Yizhan and Che Kun are not qualified to go on the altar. What kind of a wild dog is Lu Zhu?
Of course he knew that the Bai tribe was extremely powerful at its peak and was considered the leader of all the Xianbei tribes, but that was all in the past many years. Today, the Bai Xianbei are scattered, and the most famous is the Lu Zhu clan, which only controls four tribes with a total population of tens of thousands.
These four tribes have suffered heavy losses in the war against the Xiongnu so far, and it is considered impressive that they now have 30,000 men.
"What do you mean by conquering Tuoba?" Yao Yizhong said, "Your Majesty's enemy is Liu Can. You should mobilize all your elite cavalry and attack Chang'an."
Pu Hong couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
He couldn't stand Yao Yi Zhong anymore. The smell was too strong and the power was too intense. Did he have any shame?
After hearing what Yao Yizhong said, Lu Zhuqian turned around, saluted, and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead 3,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry to the south to attack Chang'an."
"Yes." Shao Xun praised.
These people all bring their own dry food, recruit their own troops, and fight on the battlefield themselves. You don't have to pay a penny, it's completely free - of course, there is nothing truly free in the world. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were many people who brought their own dry food to fight for the monarch, and the monarch didn't have to spend any money, and the price was tacit approval of their status as local emperors.
Lu Zhuyan had tens of thousands of followers and lived between Shangjun and Diaoyin. In his early years, he had surrendered to Liu Yuan and had good relations with the Di and Qiang people in Shangjun, but later they all became frustrated followers of the Xiongnu regime.
Shao Xun had never heard of the name Lu Zhu in later generations.
Among the various Xianbei tribes, clans such as Zheju and Yifu in Hexi all had a place in the Northern Wei court. However, the Bai tribe of Xianbei, who had been taught a lesson by two generations of ancestors and grandchildren, Tuoba Liwei and Tuoba Yilu, eventually disappeared in the long river of history.
It can be seen that the Tuoba clan hated them very much and wanted to kill them as soon as possible, just like they did to the Murong clan.
The people that the Tuoba clan hated had their own value in united front work, but this was not something that could be told to outsiders.
After waving his hand to let Lu Zhuqian sit back, Shao Xun looked at Shan Zhi and Shan Liang, father and son, and said, "The Tuge family is really at a disadvantage to the Shan family."
At this point, he stood up, sighed, and said, "In the past, Liu Yuanhai and I were good friends and we had a mutual respect. But people like Liu Cong and Liu Can went against human ethics, were mad and heartless, and ignored the teachings of their ancestors, and acted violently in the country."
At this point, he looked at Shan Zhi and said, "During the Yongjia period, I returned from Luoyang to rescue Yu and Yan. When I passed Chenggao, I met Shan Zhenxi. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet. How is he now?"
"He has been dead for three years." Shan Zhi replied: "On his last day, my uncle hated marrying the wrong girl, hated Liu Cong for not keeping his promise, and hated Liu Can for being cruel and inhumane."
"Old friends are gradually dying." Shao Xun sighed: "Do you want to seek revenge on the Xiongnu?"
Upon hearing this, Shan Zhi bowed down and kowtowed, saying, "Please give the order, Your Majesty."
"Among the Di and Qiang people in Fengyi and Shangjun, there are still some who respect the Shan family. You can now lead their troops and march to Chang'an. If you have military merit, why should I be reluctant to give you the position of prefect of Diaoyin?"
"I obey your command." Shan Zhi bowed again. "Go and command the troops quickly." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, then looked at Lu Zhuqian and said, "You should also send troops."
"Yes, sir." Shan Zhi and Lu Zhuqian responded in unison.
"Hmm..." Shao Xun finished speaking, paused, and asked: "Who is now leading the Di Qiang to advance westward from Fengyi?"
"Your Majesty, your army has eliminated Quan Qu." Yang Man reported, "He is arrogant and does not know the destiny. When he heard that the Xiongnu were defeated, he instigated the Di and Qiang tribes in Fengyi and Shangjun to rebel. He gathered 50,000 people and called himself the 'King of Qin'. He was reprimanded by the governor and then gave up his title."
"The troops he gathered will still be under his command." Shao Xun said: "The troops gathered by the Shan family will be led by the Shan family."
At the same time, a little surprised.
There are really a lot of Di and Qiang people in Shangjun and Fengyi.
Simply put, these Di Qiang were mainly distributed in Weinan, Yan'an and Tongchuan in later generations. There were also some in Yulin in the north, but in smaller numbers.
Fifty thousand soldiers often correspond to a population of more than 200,000, of which Fengyi should account for the majority, about hundreds of thousands.
But not all the Di and Qiang people in these three places followed the Xuchu clan. There must have been some people who rebelled. It’s shocking to think about it.
"Your Majesty!" Seeing Shao Xun remained silent, Yao Yizhong strode forward and said earnestly: "I am willing to lead 8,000 Fufeng Qiang soldiers to attack the Xiongnu."
"Your Majesty!" Pu Hong stepped forward and said, "I have 10,000 Di soldiers who can take Liu Can's head."
"Your Majesty!" The nobles of the Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes also requested to fight.
When Shao Xun saw this, he turned to look at Zhang Bin and said, "Mengsun, how many elite soldiers and brave generals do I have under my command?"
Zhang Bin also laughed and said, "Your Majesty obeys the will of Heaven, and people from far and near come to surrender. This is Heaven's will."
Shao Xun laughed and said, "Quickly take Chang'an for me. You are all heroes of the time. What's the point of staying in a remote place? After you have made contributions, you can follow me to Luoyang and Bianliang, and you will be rich and powerful."
******
When Liang Fen arrived in Anding, it was already the eighth day of August.
On this day, Peng Tianhu, the leader of the Lushui Hu and the governor of Liangzhou in the Han Dynasty, heard that Liang Fen had returned home and came to pay a visit in person.
Two days later, the Lushui Hu dispatched more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry, and went down the Jing River straight to Chang'an.
Along the way, we encountered several groups of Huns.
These people only defended the city and did not fight with the Lushui Hu, nor did they obey Liu Can's order to march east.
Of course, there were still many Xiongnu tribes heading east, mainly the various tribes of the Lao Tu clan, who successively gathered near Chang'an.
Guanzhong was already in a state of excitement.
The fighting in Anding, Lueyang, Nangan, Fufeng, Xinping and other counties suddenly became fierce.
There were many cases of Han noble families killing Xiongnu officials and rebelling against the Han people, and the Hu people were no less common.
Among the Di, Qiang, Ba, and Jie in various counties, many were forcibly relocated by Liu Can from the Qin and Long areas. Of course, some came here on their own initiative, or had lived in Guanzhong for several generations. They still had tribal habits, and all the male adults over the age of 15 went out, armed with wooden spears, and gathered more than 300,000 soldiers (corresponding to a Hu population of over one million) to fight with the Huns scattered everywhere. They really took revenge for their enemies and grievances for their grievances.
After taking revenge, they took the official status temporarily issued by Hou Feihu and happily gathered in Chang'an.
Guanzhong under Liu Can's rule was like a powder keg and exploded directly.
Of course, changing someone else to rule wouldn't be much better. There were more than one million Hu people in Guanzhong, with many ethnic groups and conflicts, and it was really a powder keg.
Shao Xun proposed "both the barbarians and the Chinese are at peace" for a reason. He simply recognized the reality and knew that since the mines were laid during the Later Han Dynasty, the Hu people have multiplied and their numbers are too large to be killed. He could only use both suppression and appeasement.
Moreover, due to climate reasons, there are still tribes moving south and east from the surrounding areas, which is increasing the overall number of Hu people...
By mid-August, there were almost no organized Xiongnu troops in the counties outside Chang'an, and all of them retreated inside and outside the city of Chang'an.
The most terrifying thing is that even the outside of Chang'an City was not safe, because Liu Can forcibly relocated many troublemakers who were unwilling to obey him to the vicinity of Chang'an, and almost all of these people rebelled - during the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Liu Cong, Liu Can, Shi Le, Shi Hu and even Fu Jian all liked to move the troublesome tribes to the vicinity of the capital.
August 15th, the night of the full moon.
On this day, Shao Xun followed the Qin Straight Road, crossed many mountains, and arrived at the northern part of Fengyi County.
Liu Can climbed up the city wall and looked out, tears streaming down his clothes.
The Di, Qiang, Ba, Jie, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Lushui Hu and even various mixed Hu peoples whose origins were unclear all stationed around Chang'an under the order of Jin general Hou Feihu.
The only elite soldiers capable of fighting in Chang'an City were six thousand guards and three to four thousand remaining imperial guards.
His reign may have come to an end.
(End of this chapter)