Chapter 1141 Path

Chapter 1141 Path

Chapter 1141 Path
Like the so-called sons of the six counties, the Bandun barbarians can be regarded as one of the main forces of the Cheng State.

The ancient Qiang people (Ba people) lived in scattered places, but the Yu River Basin was still its core source - Yu River, also known as Dangqu River, is now the upper reaches of Qujiang River.

After the fall of the ancient Xiong State, the people scattered, without a ruler, and lived in different towns. Today, with Dangqu (now northeast of Qu County) as the center, it is spread all over the Sanba area, with hundreds of thousands of people, and the Luo, Gong, Pu, and Zan families are the most famous, especially the Luo family with the greatest influence.

At the end of November, Chengguo Shangshu Pushe Luo Yan arrived in Dangqu and recruited Bandunman troops everywhere.

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, he personally led several thousand well-organized vanguards and headed northeast. While passing through various towns and villages, he continuously recruited able-bodied men and collected food, fodder, and draft animals.

On this day, Gong Zhuang was mourning at home in mourning clothes. Just after he finished lunch, several of his nephews and nieces came to say goodbye.

When they saw the mourning hat on Gong Zhuang's head and the mourning clothes on his body, they all lowered their heads, feeling extremely ashamed.

"Go." Gong Zhuang sighed, waved his hand and said.

The nephews and nieces felt even more ashamed.

After a moment, Gong Mian whispered, "Uncle, we are helpless. All the cities are under the control of the Luo family, and there are also large imperial troops suppressing us. If we don't send troops, we may not be able to survive."

Gong Zhuang said nothing, just put down the book in his hand, and said after a long while: "If the Liang people had not occupied Badong, I would not have advised you. Now that they have occupied Badong, Chengguo is doomed. When going to the war, don't be too aggressive, save your life. Li wants to die, let him go. It's great that Emperor Liang can avenge me, it's great."

That's right to say...

My nephews and nieces looked at each other, not knowing how to persuade him.

But this uncle was the most talented and respected person in the clan, and was also very famous in Brazil. At one time, he was as famous as his fellow villager Qiao Xiu. No one dared to contradict him in person, so they could only keep silent.

As for "revenge", just look at the way your uncle is dressed.

Li Te killed Gong Zhuang's father and uncle. Many years have passed, but he still refuses to get rid of the grief. Isn't his attitude obvious?
It's just that you really have no ability to resist Li Cheng's rule. If there is any chance, ask your uncle if he is willing to kill the enemy with his own hands?
"Where did Luo Yan ask you to meet up?" Gong Zhuang asked again.

"Xuanhan County." Gong Mian replied.

Xuanhan is a county under the jurisdiction of Dangqu County.

This county was established by Liu Bei when he divided Baxi County. It was abolished nine years later and was established and abolished many times since then.

It was re-established during the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, and governed three counties: Dangqu, Xuanhan and Hanchang. It was abolished during the reign of Emperor Li Cheng, and was established again and abolished again. It was re-established this year, but Luo Yan's brother Luo Gu was appointed as the prefect, which can be regarded as a compromise.

When Gong Zhuang heard the words "Xuanhan County", his heart moved and he asked, "Are there Liang troops coming from the direction of Weixing County?"

"I heard there were unusual movements, but no large army was coming, and a large army couldn't pass that road." Gong Mian replied.

"From Xicheng to Xuanhan, we can only follow the river valley. The cliff road is rugged and the water can only be traversed by rafts. It is winter now, so we don't think a large army can be sent." Gong Zhuang nodded and said, "What about Shangyong?"

There is a road that leads directly to Shangyong from the eastern border of Xuanhan. It mainly goes through Dushui, a tributary of the Mianshui (Hanjiang River), which can be accessed by bamboo raft, and then goes through a land route to the eastern border of Xuanhan.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Meng Da was the prefect of Xincheng and rebelled against Wei. Shen Yi was the prefect of Weixing and he blocked the Dushui River valley, "cutting off the road to Shu and preventing rescue." This was the road he was referring to.

There is also a record of Xiahou Shang saying "From Shangyong Road, traveling west for more than 700 miles, many mountain people and barbarians obeyed him. Within five or six years, thousands of families surrendered." He was also talking about this road.

When Gong Mian heard Gong Zhuang asking about the two paths, he was immediately impressed.

My uncle doesn't go out of the mountain, but just sits at home and knows everything about the world. Unfortunately, he has a family feud, which is a loss for the Li family.

After asking these questions, Gong Zhuang glanced at someone in the crowd, then closed his eyes and said no more.

Seeing that Gong Zhuang wanted to see them off, everyone bowed and left, returning home to reorganize their troops.

Half an hour later, a man came alone and bowed, "Uncle."

"Silang, you're here." Gong Zhuang stood up and helped his nephew up.

"Uncle, did you seem to have something to say just now?" asked nephew Gong Chun in a low voice.

Gong Zhuang said nothing at first, then pointed to the thatched cottage where he was in mourning and said, "This cottage was built when Li Te was still alive, and it has been nearly thirty years. In the past thirty years, many people have advised me to end the mourning period, saying that it is impossible to mourn for such a long time in the world, but I ignored them all. Do you know why?"

Hearing this, Gong Chun burst into tears and said, "Uncle..."

Gong Zhuang snorted coldly and said, "There is a saying in Chengdu that 'the Gong brothers of Baxi refused to submit to Li Te and were killed by him', but what is the truth? Li Te was afraid of the Gong family's power among the Bandun Barbarians, so he killed them. Your grandfather was killed by him, but you still recruited your own troops to help him commit atrocities, making your relatives sad and your enemies happy. How stupid!"

Gong Chun cried even louder.

After a long while, Gong Zhuang sighed, helped his nephew up, and said, "Uncle just mentioned the two paths of Weixing and Shangyong. Don't you have any questions?"

Gong Chun stopped crying for a while, and subconsciously asked: "Uncle is saying..."

"You all gather in Xuanhan. If you are not on guard against the enemy from Weixing and Shangyong counties, then there is only a third possibility." Gong Zhuang said: "Go east to Hanfeng, go around to Nanpu, and cut off the Liang army's food supply."

When Gong Chun heard this, the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Going southeast from Xuanhan, most of the tribes along the way are the Bandun Man tribe. No, to be more precise, it is the Baihu Yi tribe.

During the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, "the tiger traveled through four counties and killed 1,200 people."

The King of Qin recruited people in the country again, "Anyone who can kill a tiger will be rewarded with a city of ten thousand households and gold and silk." The Qurenyi people Liao Zhongyao, He Shehu, Qin Jing and others made bamboo crossbows and shot tigers from a high building.

In the end, the King of Qin broke his promise and refused to pay his debts, only swearing an oath of alliance with the barbarians.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, a part of the Baihuyi had moved to the Dangqu River basin, where they fought for Liu Bang with shields and planks. "They were brave by nature, and initially served as the vanguard of the Han Dynasty, and broke into the enemy's battle line many times."

Liu Bang liked the bravery of the Baihu Yi very much, and even ordered the musicians in the palace to learn the Baihu Yi's "Bayu Dance", which was a great honor to him. By this time, the Baihu Yi had been called "Bandun Man" and lived separately from the people who stayed in their hometown, but there was no doubt that they were all Qiang people.

What if Luo Yan persuaded or bribed the Baihuyi tribes in Badong? This way, he could recruit soldiers, obtain supplies and guides, and attack the Liang people unexpectedly.

Although the Liang army had elite soldiers and generals, they still had to eat, right? At this point, their water transportation was mostly unavailable, so they could only go overland at great expense. Once their transportation was cut off, the front line would not be able to hold out for long before running out of food and would have to withdraw.

There are many barbarian tribes and many small mountain roads in the mountains of Sanba. How long have the Liang people been here? With the people's sentiments not in favor, they have no way of knowing this. The possibility of success of this plan is quite high, and it is totally worth a try.

"Silang." Gong Zhuang was a little excited when he spoke. He said, "The Liang people are attacking Ba County from the north of the Yangtze River. It is obvious that they are planning to take down various fortresses along the way, force back the Chengjun navy, and let the Liang State ships transport grain to follow. This strategy is difficult, but it may not be impossible. In this way, Hanfeng, which is isolated outside, will be easily captured by Luo Yan. After he takes this place, it is only 160 miles to Nanpu by taking a small road, which is very close. However, if he can do this, the Liang people can also do this, do you understand?"

When Gong Chun heard this, his heart suddenly started beating.

"Clang!" Gong Zhuang took out a knife from the thatched cottage and threw it at Gong Chun's feet.

Gong Chun looked at his uncle blankly.

"Silang, take this knife and go tell the Liang people about this path and lead them to Xuanhan." Gong Zhuang whispered, "In the future, you will take this knife and kill all the descendants of Li Te in Chengdu to avenge your family."

"With this achievement, you can serve as an official in Liang in the future. The Gong family will also have a chance to flourish and may even replace the Luo family."

"There are more than 100,000 Bandun barbarians in Dangqu and hundreds of thousands of Qiang people in Sanba. Now I heard that some of them are coming down the mountain?"

Gong Chun was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Those who came down the mountain were called "獠人".

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the tribe began to move out of the valley and migrate northward. They were widely distributed, from Yuexi in the south to Hanzhong in the north, and there were traces of the Yi and Liao people everywhere.

But the Liao people mostly lived in the mountains, and many Shu people didn't even know they existed, like an illegal household. In history, "Li Shimin, the emperor of the Cheng Han Dynasty, granted amnesty to the territory. There were no Liao people in Shu before, but they started to emerge from the mountains, from Ba to Jianwei and Zitong, filling the valleys, with more than 100,000 tribes. They could not be controlled, and became a great nuisance to the people."

Last year, Li Xiong also pardoned the "sins" of the Liao people and ordered them to move out of the mountains. On the one hand, it was to enrich the county population, and on the other hand, because these people were ignorant and barbaric, daring to fight and not afraid of death, he wanted to draft their able-bodied men to serve as soldiers to fight against the Liang army.

These are the people Gong Zhuang was talking about.

Seeing his nephew nod, he immediately said: "There are hundreds of thousands of Qiang people in Sanba, and there are also some in other counties. Now there are hundreds of thousands of Liao people coming down from the mountains, and there are countless people who have not yet come out. In the future, when we pacify Shuzhong, Emperor Liang will need someone to guard one side for him and appease the tribes. This is the opportunity."

Gong Chun listened and picked up the knife like a madman...

******
When Chengguo Shangshu You Pushe Luo Yan was recruiting the army of Bandunman and Liao people, Li Shou led more than 20,000 soldiers from six counties eastward and arrived at Jiangzhou County (now Chongqing city), the seat of Ba County, and gathered 30,000 recruited county people, barbarians and Liao soldiers there, totaling 50,000 people.

For a time, the area near Ba County was filled with shining armor and flags, giving off a sense of military might.

It is naturally impossible for 50,000 troops to be stationed in Jiangzhou County alone.

Starting from the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, they dispersed to various important garrisons and defended them in strategic locations.

The navy went downstream and continuously attacked the Liang army's ships, making it impossible for them to transport grain by water, slowing down their advance, lengthening their grain routes, and increasing their losses.

At this time, Li Shou received news: Fengdu had been captured by the Liang people, and more and more Liang army flags were gathering in Zhi County.

He didn't say anything.

There are not many soldiers in Fengdu, and there are only more than 2,000 young men from the six counties in Zhi County, plus some soldiers from wealthy families and barbarians. It is estimated that they will not be able to hold out for long.

The place where the decisive battle between the two sides took place was only in Jiangzhou.

If Jiangzhou wins a great victory, we can take advantage of the situation to pursue and recover some of the lost territory.

If Jiangzhou is defeated, the next battlefield may be Chengdu, and there will be no chance of winning because the enemy's cavalry can be used. The incident in which Wu Han led the cavalry to repeatedly attack Gongsun Shu will be repeated.

Jiangzhou cannot be defeated, if it is defeated the situation will be over.

At this time, he was also slightly dazed.

Even if the Liang army was badly defeated at the gates of Jiangzhou, it would only retreat, and they would not necessarily be able to take advantage of the situation to recapture Badong. Once the Cheng army was badly defeated, they would have to start the Battle of Chengdu. This war between the two sides was not equal at all.

(End of this chapter)