The reconnaissance team returned first from the Meizhou-Jiading Prefecture direction. To say that the reconnaissance distance in this direction was the farthest, it only took about fifteen days. The reason was that it took the waterway. In ancient times, land transportation conditions were backward, and those who could sail were

Rivers are the quickest way to travel. To go to Meizhou and Jiading Prefecture, if you take the waterway, you only need to take Wenjing from Hengyuan Town.

The river flows along the river, passing through Chongqing Prefecture, Xinjin, and Pengshan, and then directly to Meizhou and Jiading Prefecture. Most of the Pili Army Navy personnel are from the Xinjin Navy, and the Xinjin Navy is closely related to Pengshan, Meizhou, and Jiading Prefecture Navy.

There are many contacts. Wu Qing, the commander of the reconnaissance company in charge of this direction, with the support of the Xinjin Navy, found out the situation clearly within a few days.

Jiading Prefecture in Meizhou is mostly hilly and mountainous, and the defense of the mountain city where Jiading Prefecture is located is no weaker than that of Diaoyu City. It has never been conquered by the Mongolian army. Instead, it has severely defeated the Mongolian army many times. The disaster caused by the Mongols is less severe, so the population density

On the contrary, the economic situation is better than that of the Chengdu Plain. The areas with waterways in these two places and the hilly areas are especially suitable for farming.

In order to be densely packed, except for the military villages, the rest of these farming villages were the land of local aristocratic families. These aristocratic families formed strongholds to protect themselves in dangerous places. The forts they built not only resisted the harassment of Mongolian cavalry and bandits, but also served as a defense against the government.

The basis for bargaining is that its population and land are not within the scope of government grain payments and taxation.

Meizhou is the hometown of the famous "Three Sus" Su Xun, Su Shi and Su Che. It is nearly three hundred miles away from Hengyuan. Jiading Prefecture is Leshan, which is famous for its giant Buddha in later generations, and is more than four hundred miles away from Hengyuan. Ouyang Xuan

The reason why we sent people out to reconnoiter the two places was that besides strengthening

In addition to doing business with the areas along the line and purchasing urgently needed supplies for the Pili Army, more importantly, they wanted to get in touch with Chongqing and Lin'an. Chongqing was the military and political center of Sichuan in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Lin'an was the political center. Although the Southern Song Dynasty court was corrupt, it had

politics

According to Ouyang Xuan's plan, if Zhengshuo can get in touch with the central authority and win an official position as a governor, he can reduce the constraints and interference of corrupt officials such as Pan Tongzhi. This governor was from the Southern Song Dynasty.

Designed to win over semi-independent forces

A kind of position set up, whose jurisdiction covers one state or several states. It was mostly set up in the Jianghuai area that had long been controlled by the Jin Kingdom. It has not yet been set up after the fall of the Jin Dynasty. Ouyang Xuan's idea of ​​setting up a town governor was

This is achievable in the coming changes in Sichuan.

If the original historical trend is followed, Pu Zezhi will be defeated and lose all Xichuan. Meng Ge Khan will personally lead an army to attack Diaoyu City, and the entire Sichuan Jiji will be in danger. If Sichuan is lost, Jinghu will be lost, and if Jinghu is lost, Lin'an will be destroyed.

The danger can be defended. Even if the Mongolian army is fishing in Mengge

After the city died in the battle, the Southern Song Dynasty government only controlled Chongqing and other eastern Sichuan, the southern Sichuan area along the Yangtze River and Jiading Prefecture in western Sichuan. On the one hand, the Southern Song Dynasty court needed to win over the Perak Army, a new force to fight against Mongolia, in order to reduce its influence on Chongqing.

pressure from all sides

On the other hand, Sichuan was long war-torn and far away from the center, and the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty had always been very weak. The imperial court was more cautious than trusting the leading ministers who went out of Sichuan. Yu Jie once regained the entire territory of Sichuan and expedition to Hanzhong, but due to the central government's

Constraints and generals

Failure to cooperate resulted in failure. Letting him fight with subordinates who held heavy troops without breaking through was also the result of the central government's deliberate connivance. It was also a consistent strategy to prevent the Sichuan system from becoming powerful. The Southern Song Dynasty court would definitely support other forces to check and balance to prevent the emergence of separatist forces.

.

Not long after Wu Qinggang came back, he was ordered to go to Huojing County, Qiongzhou. In addition to him and his 100 soldiers, there was also the first company of the field battalion, led by Cao Ergou. After seeing this

In terms of battle formation, Wu Qing knew that going to Huojing must be extremely important, otherwise he would not have sent the first company of the Perak Army's most powerful field battalion. In the Perak Army, although the reconnaissance company of the inner guard battalion led by Dong Hu

The quality of the individual soldiers is the best, and they also give priority to the latest grenades and muskets. However, because they are not equipped with big weapons such as artillery, their strength is still not as good as that of the first company of the field battalion. Ouyang Xuan asked Cao Ergou to lead the strongest combat force.

The reason why these two companies went there was because something happened in the direction of Qiongzhou. Yuan Shanhu, commander of the anti-trafficking company in charge of the direction from Qiongzhou to Huojing, sent someone back to say that four scouts were kidnapped in Huojing.

The reconnaissance operation in the direction of Qiongzhou was divided into two detachments. The first detachment consisted of 20 people and went to Yizheng County and Pujiang County via waterway through Xinjin City. Although the distance was far, it saved time and effort. Yuan Shanhu led the second detachment.

Two branches

There were thirty people in the detachment, and they took the overland route, passing through Dayi County and Anren County to Qiongzhou. The two teams agreed to meet outside Huojing County. The land route from Hengyuan to Qiongzhou was less than 200 miles, and it was said that it would only take two or three days.

Reachable, but

However, Yuan Shanhu and others spent ten days. In addition to detouring through Anren County, there were too many bandits on the way. After the Mongols retreated from Chengdu, Qiongzhou, Anren and other counties were also recovered by Yu Xing, the prefect of Jiading. Dayi County

Thunderbolt

The Li army briefly occupied it and then gave up. It was also occupied by Yu Xing's subordinates and began to farm near the city. The iron smelting and salt industries in Qiongzhou and Huojing, which the government valued most, also began to resume operations, creating a world of fireworks.

.

In addition to defending Jiading Prefecture, Yu Xing's soldiers also had to send troops to follow Pu Zezhi to attack Chengdu, so there were not many soldiers sent to Qiongzhou. Except for Qiongzhou and Huojing, soldiers from other counties even defended the city.

All are still insufficient, and the countryside is dominated by bandits. Although the soldiers of the Perak Army are much more powerful than the bandits, they still have

Because they were on a mission, they didn't dare to get entangled with bandits, so they had to travel day and night, but even so, they were harassed and seriously delayed their journey. When the two teams met outside Huojing City, the food they brought had been exhausted. Rendezvous

The hillside there was where the Pili Army camped when they first came to buy salt. It was still two or three miles away from Huojing City.

Yuan Shanhu had no choice but to send five people to the city to buy food. According to the requirements of this outing for reconnaissance, the Perak Army personnel were not allowed to reveal their identities. Therefore, when the food buyers went to the city to buy food, they did not bring weapons such as muskets and grenades. In addition to the high price of food,

, the whole grain purchasing process went smoothly. The accident happened shortly after leaving the city gate. Not far from the city, the five people were surrounded by dozens of strong men.

Surrounded, these people were all masked and armed with knives, and they actually dared to take hostages less than a mile away from the city. The leading masked man ordered his subordinates to untie a scout and said: "You are not a Qingcheng Mountain Taoist but a Perak soldier. Go back."

Tell Ouyang Xuan that this is the border of Qiongzhou. If you want these people to survive, give them firearms in exchange." After saying this, he carried the four soldiers of the Perak Army and walked towards the mountain.

After receiving the news, Yuan Shanhu hurriedly led people to go, but he could not catch up. After the initial panic, he quickly calmed down. He did not rush to send people back to Hengyuan Town to report the situation, but first inquired about the origins of this group of people, and then

situation together

Report back. After inquiring, it was found that the man who kidnapped the Perak soldiers was named Boss Qian. He was a well-known figure in Qiongzhou and Huojing. He and his two brothers had been engaged in private salt trading since they were teenagers. After nearly 20 years of

Years of development, there are now hundreds of

His subordinates make a living as both merchants and bandits. He is said to be a merchant because he is not only a private salt dealer, but also goes to the southwestern Yi tribes in the south of Qiongzhou, the Western Tibetan tribes, and even as far as Dali Kingdom to do business, mainly in

Use tea, silk and salt from Han Dynasty

, iron and other goods in exchange for local medicinal materials, horses and other specialties. Although this trade route is difficult and dangerous, the profit returns are extremely generous. This trade route is also known as the Ancient Tea Horse Road in later generations, and then extends to the Indian Ocean to become the Southern Silk Road.

road.

Boss Qian is said to be a bandit because in recent years, the Mongolian invasion of Dali and other tribes in Tibet has destroyed the original local order, but no effective governance has been established. As a result, bandits have appeared along the way, seriously blocking the business routes. Qian

After the boss lost all his money several times, he also started the business of robbing houses. The first time the Perak Army went to Huojing to buy salt and encountered bandits, it was he who ordered people to rob. However, during that robbery, they ate the Perak Army's large firearms.

deficit,

It was precisely because of this that he came up with the idea of ​​getting firearms. With powerful firearms, he would no longer be afraid of the barbarian bandits cutting off the trade routes. However, the Perak Army strictly controlled firearms and would not sell them at all.

.now that

But he couldn't buy it, so he had to think of another way. The soldiers of the Perak Army dressed as Taoist priests from Qingcheng Mountain were discovered by his spies as soon as they entered the territory of Qiongzhou. The boss, who was worried about not getting the money for firearms, was overjoyed and kidnapped the people.
Chapter completed!