Chapter 154: Flint Military Settlement
However, according to this decree, it was not just the Southern Xiongnu who came to Gaoping.
Their full instructions were:
Order them to escort the second batch of military rations and the high-quality seeds for planting near Gaoping City and send them here.
For an expedition of more than 20,000 people, the food carts that had been brought with the army were not enough, and Bingzhou had already prepared backup transportation.
Now that Qiao Yan had given the order, Liang Zhongning, who was in charge of escorting military rations, went to Meiji City when passing through Xihe County, and brought Prince Zuo Guli and Yu Furuo with him.
Yu Furuo adapted relatively well to this kind of conscription.
It's not like he hadn't been conscripted and ordered around by the Han people before.
It was just that he was transferred to Youzhou and Jizhou at that time to quell the rebellion of Zhang Ju in Yuyang, but now he was transferred to Liangzhou.
Earlier, when Qiao Yan requisitioned Huchuquan to farm the land in Ziwuling, Yu Furuo, as the elder brother, couldn't help but feel worried, wondering if he had accidentally offended Qiao Yan in some way. Since the governor of Bingzhou came to power while he was assisting in a war abroad, it is possible that he missed some important events.
Now that he had finally got a task assigned to him, it was just a matter of ensuring that the military rations would not be robbed during transportation from Bingzhou to Gaoping City. Yu Furuo finally felt relieved.
If I have to say it, escorting military rations is much safer than fighting against Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun.
When they were traveling along the Jingshui River Valley, perhaps because the valley was close to the mountains on both sides, corpses of Qiang people could be seen lying on the ground from time to time. As a result, there were almost no human figures along the way. It was so quiet that Yu Furuo felt as if he was on a picnic.
Just as he thought of this, he heard Prince Zuo Guli beside him whisper, "Do you think Bingzhou Mu called us here to make an example of him?"
Before Fu Luo could give him any answer, he continued, "Why did she use the Liangzhou Qiang people to warn me? I had some ideas before, and wanted to rely on Xiu Tuge's internal invasion to seize power, and it would be best if the Southern Xiongnu could be completely independent. But she warned me with Xiu Tuge's head first, and then frightened me with the plight of the Xianbei. How could I dare to have such an idea?"
He said angrily: "I'm almost giving away all my private property!"
The position of King Zuoguli was second only to the Left and Right Wise Kings. He could even appoint thousands or hundreds of subordinates as his own. It was rare for someone to have achieved such status.
Yu Furuo felt that if he heard correctly, the guy next to him was almost crying.
For a moment, he didn't know whether he should be angry at the guy for his previous dangerous thoughts, or feel sympathy for his current miserable appearance.
Then I heard King Zuo Guli say, "Do you think there is a possibility that this time we are not the monkey that is killed to scare the monkeys, but the chicken that is killed?"
"Toli, be careful with your words!" Yu Furuo interrupted him quickly.
Fortunately, King Zuoguli's previous complaint was not loud and was spoken in the Xiongnu language. Yu Furuo looked at Liang Zhongning in the team and felt slightly relieved when he saw that he did not seem to realize that what Tuoli said was a malicious speculation about Bingzhou Mu.
"What's the point of being careful when speaking..." Toli muttered, "The eagle has been plucked of its feathers."
The name Toli means flying eagle in Xiongnu language, so the way he put it is quite vivid.
But Yu Fuluo could not praise him for the appropriate metaphor at this moment, but said sternly: "Hu Yantuoli, if you still say this in Gaoping City, I can't protect you."
After hearing this shout, King Zuo Guli calmed down a little.
In fact, he only dared to complain in front of his fellow tribesmen. When he really arrived in Gaoping and met Qiao Yan in person, he immediately stopped complaining and turned from an eagle into a quail.
He even told Qiao Yan about the several "battlefields" he saw while passing through the river valley on the way, and praised Qiao Yan's strong martial virtues.
Qiao Yan glanced at him with a half-smile.
She really wanted to tell this idiot that soldiers like Liang Zhongning who were stationed in Wuyuan to guard against foreign barbarians would more or less learn a few words of Xiongnu dialect in case of emergency.
Although Liang Zhongning was born as a leader of the Yellow Turbans, he did have some talent for languages and he heard the conversation between Toli and Yu Furuo clearly on the way.
But she didn't call this guy here to be a monkey or a chicken, nor did she want to give him the head of the Zhong Qiang leader as a new wine glass, so she didn't bother to argue with him about his inappropriate words.
In short, the Southern Xiongnu, who had surrendered to her, appeared here just to show their attitude to the surrounding Qiang people.
She told Han Sui that she was paying tribute to Duan Xing, and that they would fight at Fengyi Mountain and pursue a policy of annihilation. But if she really used all her military forces to wipe out the Qiang people, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
Therefore, after the initial shock and killing, a batch should still be used.
As for how to use it? Several people from the Southern Xiongnu are suitable representatives.
Of the Southern Xiongnu people who had finished transporting military rations, except for the five hundred people who continued to be responsible for transporting rations, some were incorporated by Qiao Yan into the team that swept the surrounding tribes, and some were incorporated by her into the team that cultivated the land in Huoshi Village.
Hufro belongs to the former, while Toli belongs to the latter.
Upon hearing that he would only need to go from being exploited in Meizhi City to farming near Gaoping City, Tuoli finally breathed a sigh of relief.
His eyes swept across the head of the Zhong Qiang leader on the top of the city wall, and he felt that not engaging in a fight with Qiao Yan might be the best thing he had ever done.
Comparing the danger of what he and Yu Furo were doing, he couldn't help feeling a little superior.
So he kindly reminded him: "I heard that the Qiang people are good at fighting and are proud to die in battle, but ashamed to die of illness. Yu Fuluo, you better be careful."
Yu Fuluo pointed to the blood-stained land outside Gaoping City and said, "If the Qiang people were really invincible, this wouldn't be the case. The Han army is in high spirits, and one more of me won't make a difference. Instead of worrying about my safety, you should worry about whether you have become more lazy in the past few years. It would be a joke if you were no longer useful for farming."
“……”Toli decided to shut up.
He looked at his hands, which had lost some flesh due to the shock a while ago but were still round and smooth, and felt that what Yu Furuo said might be true.
He should first ask the soldiers under Qiao Bingzhou how to farm the field.
If he remembered correctly, Qiao Yan seemed to have come up with a lot of new tricks in Bingzhou?
Yu Furuo didn't bother to care what Tori was going to do and turned his attention to his own task.
When these Southern Xiongnu people arrived at Gaoping City, the time for the battle agreed upon by Qiao Yan to Han Sui had already passed.
This means that based on the information received from Qiao Yan, Han Sui finally gave up on a head-on confrontation with Qiao Yan at Fengyishan, and chose to wait for her to attack Jincheng and then repel her by relying on the geographical advantage.
During the few days of waiting, Huangfu Song's troops had moved from Chaona City to Gaoping City.
When the time for the appointment at Fengyi Mountain arrived, Han Sui did not show up, so these two teams, which could be called tiger and wolf teams, set out the next day.
Within just one day, one team slaughtered the nearby Fengyang Qiang, while the other team dealt with the Fenghe Qiang on the other side. Their decisiveness and ruthlessness were astonishing.
The two Qiang tribes were located west of Gaoping City and migrated eastward after being defeated by the Han army in Hanyang during the Jianchu period.
In recent decades, they have participated in many Western Qiang uprisings, mostly led by the Xianrong Qiang, and developed independently after the Xianrong Qiang was defeated.
During the period when Han Sui led the Qiang rebellion, these two tribes participated to some extent as response teams scattered throughout Anding County.
It was precisely this tendency of selection that made them the targets of elimination by Qiao Yan after Han Sui rejected the invitation to a fight.
This is undoubtedly the signal Qiao Yan sent to the outside world.
Han Sui was a coward. He did not dare to use his position as the commander of the Qiang tribe to counterattack after she conquered Gaoping City. Instead, he remained hiding in Yuzhong and Jincheng areas. So she could only open up the way to Yuzhong by herself!
Feng Yangqiang and Feng Heqiang were both blocking her way, so she had no choice but to wipe them out!
Of the five or six thousand people in these two tribes, no one was left alive, except for the horses, cattle and sheep raised in the tribes, which were subsequently driven towards Gaoping City by the Han army.
When the news spread, the surrounding Qiang tribes denounced Han Sui, but at the same time they could not help but feel terrified by Qiao Yan's actions.
If she really intended to exterminate their entire clan, under the threat of the enemy's mighty iron hoof, they could either join hands, relying on the combined numbers of their troops and the situation of a desperate battle, and perhaps have some chance of turning the tables, or they could only choose to flee far away, fleeing to Longxi County via Hanyang County.
"Is there any other possibility?" a voice was heard from the participants of this simple meeting.
"What do you want to say?" The elder at the top looked at the person who spoke and asked.
The one who asked if there were any other possibilities was a girl in her twenties. Seeing that everyone around her was looking at her, she said, "A few days ago, I saw a lot of carts and horses transporting food from the mountains, and many of the escorts were dressed like Xiongnu. Maybe this Qiao Bingzhou is different from Duan Jiming."
The old man frowned and said, "Yao Chang, don't forget that you are a Qiang from Shaodang just because you consider yourself a descendant of Emperor Shun and changed your surname to Yao. Don't have any unrealistic expectations of these Han people."
Most of the Shaodang Qiang surrendered to the Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Xiaohe, and moved to Longxi, Hanyang and Anding. There was one branch near Gaoping. That is the branch to which the girl called Yao Chang by the old man belongs.
Their situation was indeed quite different from that of the Zhong Qiang, Feng Yang Qiang and Feng He Qiang who were attacked successively by Qiao Yan.
Because in most cases they have a good relationship with the local Han government, they are mostly stationed in areas with relatively fertile land. In addition to the Qiang people's usual practice of living by following water and grass, they also engage in agricultural activities.
Also because of this living condition, their intelligence system is more developed than that of other Qiang people.
Yao Chang had heard a lot about the deeds of the Bingzhou governor. In her opinion, judging from the way he behaved in Bingzhou, if he was really the same as Duan Xing, then the Southern Xiongnu in Xihe County should have been eliminated long ago.
Who made Duan Xing's famous quote called - and wanting his followers to live together with him is like planting thorns in fertile fields and raising vipers in the house. 2
What he meant was that even if the Qiang people were dispersed and allowed to live together with the Han people, they would definitely raise snakes and become a nuisance, so it would be better to kill them all.
If Qiao Yan did not fully follow Duan Xing's way of doing things, and at this time he recruited the Huns to this battlefield, it seemed to be a somewhat subtle signal.
She met the elder's gaze and replied firmly, "Of course I will not forget my identity, but I want to give it a try. You can rest assured that I will only lead those in my tribe who are willing to approve of this move. If it fails, it will not hinder you!"
Although the children of Shaodang Qiang were proficient in herding and farming, they also followed the traditional tough style of the people of Liangzhou in terms of martial arts, that is, "women still wear halberds and wield spears, and carry bows and arrows."
Yao Chang is no exception.
After she finished arguing with the elder, she took a dozen companions who had been persuaded by her and headed straight for Gaoping City.
However, before she reached the city, she happened to see Yu Furuo and others leading a small group of people leaving Gaoping.
She originally wanted to rush directly to the Bingzhou governor to argue with him, but after seeing this scene, she changed her mind.
Rather than leaving empty-handed, it is better to take a hostage with you.
Yu Furuo never thought that he would encounter a disaster just because he wanted to investigate the surroundings before carrying out the task assigned by Qiao Yan.
The matter of conquering the Qiang people in all directions was not as simple as he told Tuoli.
Another piece of advice Qiao Yan gave him was that he needed to select a few Qiang tribes from the ones she had selected to cooperate with Chu Yan to complete the operation of capturing prisoners rather than exterminating the tribe.
Yu Furuo thought that he had finally been appointed as the governor of Bingzhou, so he naturally had to do his best. It would also prove that as the next Khan of the Southern Xiongnu, he would definitely work wholeheartedly and prudently for Marquis Qiao, and at least he would be much more reliable than a guy like Hu Yantuoli. So before officially advancing, he might as well take a look around the surrounding area first.
However, as soon as he entered the forest, he and his horse missed a step and fell, fainting.
When he woke up, he found himself and his companions tied up tightly, and the mastermind behind the sneak attack, the Qiang woman with a bow and a knife, was loudly asking the people on Gaoping City: "If Qiao Bingzhou needs someone to send, why use such a useless person! Why not consider me!"
Qiao Yan had been informed of the situation and climbed to the top of the city wall, looking down in the direction of the sound.
The Qiang woman under the city had deep eyebrows and eyes, and a kind of cold beauty, but what attracted Qiao Yan more was the sense of power and confidence she showed in the movements of riding a horse and holding a knife.
besides--
She made the choice to recommend herself at this time.
What a smart person!
"So what position do you plan to put her in, Lord?" Cheng Yu asked when he followed Qiao Yan to the top of Liupan Mountain.
Qiao Yan replied: "Don't worry, wait until the war with Han Sui officially begins. I actually prefer to keep her in Liangzhou rather than Bingzhou, and it would be best if she can have a legitimate identity."
The Han government has always had a principle in governing Liangzhou, which is to govern Liangzhou with the powerful people in Liangzhou.
Although due to the principle of the Three Mutual Law, the powerful men in a certain county would be encouraged to take up posts in another place, there is no doubt that this status, coupled with their connections, can often effectively restrain the local Qiang forces.
But in the later period, there was a shortage of available talents among the powerful, or the repeated rebellions of the Qiang people meant that this suppressive relationship no longer existed, and the situation inevitably got out of control.
There are some things that cannot be said to others, but can be said to subordinates like Cheng Yu who understand her ambitions clearly.
For example, Cheng Yu knew very well that her attack on Liang Province was not because she wanted to attack Dong Zhuo and welcome back Emperor Liu Xie of Han, but simply to find an opportunity to take control of Liang Province.
So we cannot just consider how to suppress the rebellion in Liangzhou, we also need to consider how to govern Liangzhou.
This is not the same proposition as Bingzhou.
Except for Xihe County in Bingzhou, the other counties were harassed by the Qiang people, but they still gathered together as Han people. But in Liangzhou, Qiang people lived everywhere, just like mixing black and white sesame seeds together. It was not easy to separate them quickly.
Rather than employing powerful people, Qiao Yan was more inclined to the idea of using the Qiang to rule the Qiang in addition to employing his own people.
Therefore, it is necessary to have a Qiang leader.
Then Yao Chang, the first one to work for her, might as well wait and see.
But because her idea could not be implemented immediately, Yao Chang and her clansmen were first settled in the mountainous field area of Huoshi Village. According to the expertise of the Shaodang Qiang people, they worked on the farm together with the recruited Han people.
However, considering that Yao Chang's self-recommendation made her different from ordinary people, Qiao Yan first let her take a small leader position, intending to evaluate her character from a close distance.
When she climbed to a high place and looked in the direction of the fields in the mountains, she saw that where the stream passed through the mountains, the ridges of the fields had been further repaired and widened based on the original development by Zhong Qiang.
Among the surrounding hills, this relatively flat area appears to be even more fertile.
According to the climate and planting conditions here, Qiao Yan finally decided on three crops to be planted here:
Sesame, beans and wheat.
And this is the place she set up as the Huoshizhai military garrison.
The reason why this place is still called Huoshizhai is not because this place is the scope of the Huoshizhai protection area in later generations.
If divided according to geographical location, this place should be more inclined to the eastern side of the broad Liupan Mountains.
But when Qiao Yan turned his head to the west, he saw the hazy mountains in the distance, appearing to be a mixture of dark red and green, as if they were burning.
This special Danxia landform is now mixed with the sunset, forming a unique landscape in the central part of Liangzhou, and also the source of the name of the mountain settlement.
And that mountain range also became a must-pass place on the Shaanxi-Gansu Road, the northern section of the eastern section of the Silk Road, in the early Yuan Dynasty.
However, the mountains are still largely undeveloped, and if you want to go to Yuzhong, you cannot pass through the middle.
Qiao Yan withdrew his gaze and temporarily put aside his thoughts on future plans. He said to Cheng Yu, "Let's go down the mountain."
When she reached the farming area at the foot of the mountain, she stopped for a moment.
I don't know if it's because most Chinese people have some sentimental feelings about farming. Even though the soil here is still being turned over and the seeds haven't even been sown, she feels that the scene before her has a power that can calm her mind after a long expedition.
Even if she doesn't have the time to prolong the battle and wait for the harvest.
Cheng Yu couldn't help but tease at this time: "Han Sui must be very confused. Your Excellency has issued a declaration of war to him, but now he is farming in Anding County."
Qiao Yan turned her head and said to the counselor who had followed her the longest, "But you should know that I have never farmed for anything other than seeking greater benefits."
This is indeed Qiao Yan's style, and Cheng Yu has witnessed it from beginning to end.
She planted mustard greens in the capital in order to lower Emperor Ling of Han's vigilance and to ensure that there would be no setbacks in the ranks of the marquises before arriving in Leping.
She farmed in Leping in order to accumulate the first batch of people's support and reserve grain so that she would have the capital to recruit people.
She promoted agricultural tools and farming methods in Bingzhou and set up military settlements on Baidao River in order to have sufficient military supplies when she went to war against Dong Zhuo and marched into Liangzhou.
Then farming in the Liupan Mountain area of Liangzhou at this time is obviously not a stopgap measure while thinking about how to attack Yuzhong!
Whatever she is planning, let Han Sui have a headache about it!
Besides, since she was stranded in Gaoping, was Han Sui really the one giving her the most headache?
I'm afraid it's...
Just as she thought of this, she suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from the fields ahead, interrupting her thoughts.
She took two steps in that direction and realized that the owner of the voice was the Zuoguli King of the Southern Xiongnu.
No wonder there was something strange about the Chinese accent in that voice.
Thinking of what he said on the way to Gaoping City, Qiao Yan planned to listen to what he was saying next, just as a show to relieve his boredom.
After the two of them walked for a while, they could see clearly the person who was talking with King Zuoguli.
It was those Qiang people of Shaodang who surrendered to Yao Chang because of her persuasion and escaped the disaster of genocide.
To these Qiang people, it would be difficult for Qiao Yan to get rid of the label of cruelty in a short period of time.
Although Qiao Yan temporarily arranged them here and did not seem to have any prejudice against them, out of the idea that people of the same kind attract each other, they felt that the Southern Xiongnu people who worked here were of the same kind as them.
Seeing that Toli, who was nominally a high-ranking official of the Southern Xiongnu, behaved in such an approachable manner, they felt that he was a brother.
It was during the break from farming that they started chatting with each other.
What the Southern Xiongnu grain-delivering teams brought here were not only good seeds, but also farming tools.
At this time, the Shaodang Qiang tribesmen held the curved plow and asked Tuoli: "Can we really double the land yield just by using this curved plow method as Qiao Bingzhou said?"
Even if the purpose of deep cultivation is achieved, it seems that there shouldn't be so many.
But this question...you can ask anyone, but asking Tuoli is a little bit inappropriate.
You have to know that he only learned farming skills from someone a few days ago, so how can he be considered an expert?
But after he realized that he did not have to be either the "chicken" or the "monkey" to be killed as a warning to the monkeys, he felt relieved. Now that he is regarded as a senior by these Qiang people, he feels a sense of accomplishment in his heart.
Comparing himself with Yu Furuo who was so unlucky as to be held hostage by Yao Chang, Tuoli felt that being pointed at with a gun by Qiao Yan was no big deal.
After all, there are not many people who can survive to this day despite being targeted by Bingzhou Mu.
This is the first treatment I have ever received!
When he thought of this, he simply puffed up his face and pretended to be fat.
He recalled what he had heard from the Han people a few days ago, and replied: "Of course it is not enough. We have to add raw bone meal as base fertilizer before sowing, and then apply two special fertilizers after sowing."
The Qiang man in front of him nodded as if he understood, and then asked: "What is the raw bone powder?"
"..." Tuoli realized awkwardly that he had not asked this question clearly to others.
When he was in Xihe County, only those in the clan who were full-time farmers would come into contact with the new farming methods issued by the state government.
He is only responsible for eating!
However, he had to build up a reliable image in front of these "good brothers" and could not be stumped by such a simple-sounding question!
He suddenly had an idea, motioned for the men to come closer, and whispered, "Tell me, why did you kill so many Qiang people and cremate them according to Qiang customs?"
Qiao Yan, who was not far away, paused.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
