Chapter 412 Savage Qin City
The sky was clear, without a cloud overhead.
Under the scorching sun, the trees on Siming Mountain were all wilted.
It's hot as hell.
The long, narrow, conical head of the black fine dog was already languid, with its red tongue sticking out, panting unceasingly, lying on the ground without wanting to move.
Qin Lang also felt hot. He had tried his best to put on cool clothes, but he still felt his whole body was drenched in sweat. It was a sweltering day with no wind at all, and his sweaty clothes stuck to his body, making him extremely uncomfortable.
The **** weather.
Although he is an authentic southerner in later generations and has seen all kinds of furnace cities, but after living in Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty for three years, it is difficult for him to adapt to the heat.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, I set off from Chang’an and went south. It’s more than a thousand miles from Chang’an to Changsha, and it’s another thousand miles from Changsha to Yuecheng Ridge at the junction of Hunan and Guangxi. I spent more than a month walking and looking around on the road. At this time, I arrived at Siming Mountain, which is already mid-June. Now, it is the hottest time.
Looking back, most of the 'knights' and 'samurai' from Guanzhong are as listless and listless as those Guanzhong dogs.
Actually, it’s only morning, but everyone is too hot to walk.
Come all the way from Changsha, all the way is mainly by boat on the Xiangjiang River, which is relatively easy, but when you reach the border of Hunan and Guangxi, the waterway is difficult, and the mountain road is even more difficult.
These days, many knights and warriors in Wu'an Prefecture have regretted it. How good Chang'an is. Why did Guanzhong fertile wilderness go to this **** wilderness?
Many people miss the happy days of being a ranger in Chang'an. The girls in Pingkangfang are so juicy and gentle, the wine in Zuixianlou is so mellow, and the Persian orchid who sells wine in Xishi is also full of style. Even the flax pancakes in Chang'an Morning have a tempting aroma. Take a bite, and your mouth will be full of fragrance and oil.
Damn, now I have to trek through mountains and rivers in this wild place, my hot thighs are about to rot.
"Savage, this is the real wild!"
Qin Lang fanned the wind with a fan, looking at the vast mountains.
"We are still in Yongzhou on the Jiangnan West Road. We haven't even passed the Five Ridges. What are you talking about? The real wildness is still far away." He shook his head. This group of guys made him a little disappointed. The further south, The slower the team marched, and Qin Lang was appointed by the emperor to be the Prosecutor on behalf of Tiannan, so after crossing the Yangtze River and passing through counties, local officials came to welcome them one after another, and Qin Lang couldn't ignore it. .
He has to get close to these people on behalf of the prince, and also to inspect the place for the emperor, to declare the majesty of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and to inspect the situation of the place along the way, to find some business opportunities, to engage in some cooperation and so on.
"Yuechengling, Qincheng!"
Qin Lang looks to the south, and there is a white jade belt winding among the mountains, and finally crosses the mountains and connects the two places. That is the Lingqu that was specially built by Qin Shihuang to conquer Baiyue in the south. The Lingqu connects the Xiangjiang River in the south and the Lijiang River in the north. , so that the problem of transshipment of grain and grass materials was greatly solved, and it also laid the foundation for the subsequent pacification of Baiyue.
The Yuecheng Ridge where Qin Lang is currently located is the southeastern tip of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the northwest branch of the Wuling Mountain System, spanning the eastern part of Guilin in Guangxi, the southern part of Shaoyang in Hunan, and the northern part of Yongzhou.
It is five hundred miles long, with continuous ups and downs, and countless southern barbarians have gathered.
Standing on the Babu Ridge of Siming Mountain, you can see the Lingqu at the foot of the mountain. When Qin Shihuang destroyed the six kingdoms and conquered the world, he decided to open up Lingnan, and ordered Tu Sui to lead an army of 500,000 to march south. Wan, each occupying a pass in the south of the Lingnan Mountains. At that time, the first army on the side of Zhao Chengling was blocked by Manyue, and it was difficult to transfer the army's salary, and it was difficult to break through in three years.
Later, the Qin army built the Lingqu, dug an artificial canal of more than 70 miles between the Xiangjiang River and the Lijiang River, opened up the watershed, and made the two sides a smooth road. It took six years to build the Lingqu.
It took six years to build Qishili, but we know that the construction of this spiritual canal is difficult.
The importance of the Lingqu Canal has been the most important channel and canal between the Central Plains and Lingnan for more than 800 years after it was built.
During the Han Dynasty, Jiaozhi Jiuzhen Zhengfang and Zheng Er sisters rebelled, and Ma Yuan led the Han army to Lingnan from then on.
Although there are Wuling passes in the south of Lingnan, the most important pass from Qin to Tang is the pass of Yuechengling.
Yang Guangshi once sent Lingnan soldiers to conquer Lin Yiguo. At that time, the generals of the court also arrived in Guizhou from Lingqu, and recruited Feng An, Ning Changzhen, Chen Shilue and other Lingnan kings to gather troops and horses to march south.
Dig through a mountain and connect two water systems with different north-south directions. This was in Qin State 800 years ago. Qin Lang couldn't help but sigh the greatness of this project.
Lingqu is not just as simple as digging a ditch. Many of his engineering technologies are still great after two thousand years.
The Xiangjiang River goes north, and the Lijiang River goes down, running in opposite directions.
Eight hundred years ago, the craftsmen of Daqin connected them.
Lingqu is called a canal. It is really small, not as grand as the canal, but its grandeur is no less than that of the Grand Canal. Qin Lang, who came from more than a thousand years ago, would be amazed standing here.
Ling Canal is also divided into North and South Canals. The South Canal was dug to solve the problem of diverting Hunan into Li, and then the North Canal was dug to make the water flow gentle and allow ships traveling from south to north to sail smoothly.
Beiqu starts from Fenshuitang to the north, meanders in the plain on the right bank of Xiangjiang River, and then enters Xiangjiang River. Standing at the commanding heights of Siming Mountain, we can see that if the North Canal were excavated in a straight line, it would only be three or four miles away. However, in order to smooth the slope, the North Canal turned two big bends, forming two large S-shaped, extending the canal by six The seven-mile channel slows down the **** and widens the river to three to five feet wide.
However, during the dry season, Lingqu also has the problem of insufficient water. It needs to be dredged regularly, and trackers must be used to pull the fibers. It is even necessary to adjust the water volume through steep gates to allow boats to pass smoothly. The entire Lingqu has 36 steep gates. .
Only now, this great aqueduct has been destroyed.
The channel was already silted up due to the chaos of the Sui Dynasty, but now the barbarians deliberately blocked it with wood and stones, and the steep gate was also destroyed.
The Lingqu collapsed and the boat couldn't move.
Along the coast of Lingqu, there used to be a piece of fertile land irrigated by Lingqu water, but now the water culverts have been destroyed, and the dikes of the canal have destroyed the fertile fields. The surrounding area used to be an idyllic scene full of villages, but now it is full of sores and overgrown with weeds.
Many villages can still be seen to have been destroyed for a short time.
The exuberant vitality of the past is now replaced by ruins.
"Unexpectedly, once Li Xizhi left, the barbarians from Yuechengling would be so arrogant and bold!" Qin Yong, who was traveling with him, frowned, "A bunch of bastards."
According to the plan, Qin Lang's trip to the south should be relatively smooth. The plan is to travel from Chang'an to Changsha, then to Guilin, then go to Guangzhou, and then go southwest to Qinzhou and Jiaozhou. Finally, the fiefdom of Wu'an Prefecture should be properly managed and arranged. return to court.
But who would have expected that it took a month to reach Yuecheng Ridge, and before entering Lingnan, they encountered obstacles.
The mountain barbarians rebelled five hundred miles away from the Yuecheng Mountains between Hunan and Guangxi, destroyed Lingqu, blocked pass roads, looted villages, and attacked prefectures and counties.
Originally, Yuecheng Ridge stretched for hundreds of miles, and there were countless savages and barbarians living in it, but because the Lingqu Canal was opened in the Qin Dynasty, it has been an important passage from the Central Plains to the south of the Lingnan for 800 years. here.
Guilin in the south is the strongest bridgehead operated by the Central Plains court in the south of the Five Ridges, so the mountainous area sandwiched between Guizhou and Yongzhou, although there are many barbarians.
But for hundreds of years, a large number of Han people have also moved south and settled down, and even after continuous expansion, in fact, the Yuechengling area between Hunan and Guangxi, the mountainous area, and the flat land at the foot of the mountain have basically been occupied by the Han people. The tribe either moved south, or retreated to the backward mountains, or lived on the top of the mountainside.
Generally speaking, the barbarians in the mountains are not completely barbaric. In the eyes of the court officials, these barbarians are actually very different from the barbarians in Lingnan. These people are actually called Shuman.
It means that they completely accept the rule of the imperial government and have transactions with the Han people. Although most of the barbarians do not become naturalized and do not pay taxes, etc., in the eyes of the imperial court, as long as these barbarians do not mess around, the imperial court is not too bad. Control them too much, anyway, these people are dying of poverty, and there is nothing to control.
But who would have expected that this time, these city-crossing barbarians would join forces and come down the mountain.
What is the reason?
Qin Lang led the team to Yongzhou when he heard that there was a riot here. At first, the officials in Yongzhou refused to report the truth and only said it was a small conflict. Qin Lang really believed it.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived in Xiangyuan County, they discovered that the county town had been breached by barbarians and looted, leaving behind a dilapidated dead city.
Qin Lang did not return to Yongzhou Lingling, but took the initiative to follow the trail.
Chased all the way to Siming Mountain.
"Could it be related to Feng An?"
"Impossible, Feng An would say that Lingnan is the most powerful, but Feng's territory is in the southeast of Lingnan, which is the northwest of Lingnan." Qin Lang shook his head.
"But Feng An doesn't get sick early or late, but he gets sick when he arrives in Hengzhou. Isn't that a problem?" Qin Yong raised doubts.
Qin Lang felt that Qin Yong was still very perceptive. At that time, Feng An suddenly fell ill when he was passing by Hengyang. The accompanying doctor said that he would stop the treatment and recuperate. Qin Lang didn't think much about it. Looking back now, maybe Feng An knew about it at the time. The chaos here, but this guy didn't tell Qin Lang, he just found a reason to stay by himself and let Qin Lang go south alone.
This is suspected of killing with a knife, and it is not ruled out that Feng An took the opportunity to see Qin Lang's strength, or wanted to use Yuechengman to give Qin Lang a prestige.
"Maybe, but so what if we know? The problem now is these barbarians. We can't be blocked by them in Lingbei, right?" Qin Lang smiled.
"Maybe it has something to do with Li Xizhi. The court recruited him to join the court. This guy left Guizhou with his front heel, and when he crossed the city with his back foot, chaos broke out."
"Whoever he is, maybe it's Feng An or Li Xizhi, more likely it's Tan Dian or the Ning family, there must be someone in Lingnan who doesn't welcome me to go south, they're scared and worried, so I don't know how to provoke this Yuecheng is in chaos, but I, Qin Lang, are not scared too much!"
Qin Yong tapped his silver hammer in the palm of his hand, a little irritated, "But now we don't have many troops, and we are going deep alone, and we are not familiar with the terrain in the mountains, and we don't know the situation of those rioting barbarians. Dangerous. Maybe we can retreat temporarily and report to the court, or recruit troops from nearby to attack these barbarians!"
His proposal is relatively stable, no matter how chaotic the mountain is, it will not be a climate, but Qin Lang just shook his head.
"No need!"
(end of this chapter)