Chapter 167: One City, Two Belts
Jingzhou, which is bordered by the Yangtze and Han Rivers in the east and Bashu in the west, is indeed a fertile land in today's world.
Jia Xu was well aware of Qiao Yan's current situation.
Even if she had planned to break away from her status as a loyal subject of the Han Dynasty and fight for it, this was not a territory that would be quickly incorporated into her territory.
However, most of the counties under Jingzhou's jurisdiction were prosperous. The main roads in Jingzhou went north directly to Luoyang and Chang'an, and the Yangtze River waterway gave it the opportunity to go up to Bashu and down to the southeast. The geographical location and conditions were really too advantageous.
For a place like this, if you don't take it yourself and temporarily entrust it to someone else, you must take care of it.
At the very least, it cannot fall into the hands of someone who is both ambitious and capable.
"In fact, Liangzhou's geographical location is not bad, right?"
Qiao Yan's gaze fell on the map of the Han Dynasty's territory in front of him. He first looked towards Jingzhou, where Jia Xu's battle situation would be affected at this moment. Thinking that in this environment with relatively low overall temperature, Jingzhou had a stronger planting advantage than other places, and then turned his gaze back to the land of Liangzhou, he couldn't help but sigh.
No matter how Cheng Yu listened, he felt that Qiao Yan's words were a bit of self-consolation.
Liangzhou, which was once the only way to open up the Silk Road, connected Bingzhou, Sanfu, Yizhou, and the borders in the northwest. However, in the face of the rebellion of the Qiang people and the separatist rule of local tyrants, it is hard to say that it still has the glory of the past.
Judging from the situation of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty, the benefits of relying on the Silk Road were minimal. Instead, the financial expenditure on quelling the Qiang rebellion accounted for a considerable amount, and even dragged down the finances of the Han Dynasty.
Fortunately, the stage when Liangzhou needed the most military expenditure has passed, and the military deterrence left over from Sanming in Liangzhou can be directly inherited by Qiao Yan, allowing her to quickly open up the situation.
Otherwise, she would not have chosen this place at all.
All I can say is, thank you for the legacy left by Emperors Huan and Ling.
Within a month after the Ma Teng and Han Sui rebellion was suppressed, the scattered armed response forces had also entered the final stages of pacification.
Lü Bu and Qu Yi marched north to Wuwei, besieging the city and its military camp as a means of spreading the attack to the surrounding areas.
Qu Yan and Fu Gan went deep into Huangzhong to ensure that there were no other remnants of Han Sui or large Qiang tribes left in the area west of Jincheng County, which was protected by the canyon rivers.
Ma Chao, Yang Feng and Gai Xun entered Wudu County to quell the rebellion.
Because Gai Xun was previously the prefect of Wudu County and had a very high reputation in Liangzhou, even though he no longer had an official position appointed by the court, it did not affect his return to this position. Relying on the troops stationed in Longxi County by the Ma father and son, he went straight into Wudu to gather power.
After weighing the military capabilities of Qiao Yan's forces, the Qiang forces led by Yao Chang and the Hanyang tyrants represented by Jiang Jiong continued to choose to submit to her with Gaoping City as the center in Hanyang and Anding County.
Not to mention Beidi County.
Huochuquan, a leader of the Southern Xiongnu stationed west of the Ziwuling Mountains, saw that Qiao Yan's progress in Liangzhou showed no sign of the sluggishness of an outsider. He was in even greater awe of her and felt that he could not be like his brother, who was captured by a Qiang woman even when he was on patrol. He had to at least make some contribution, so he led his troops northward to expand his territory.
By the time Liu Yu arrived, although there were still some minor details that needed to be negotiated, in fact, the troops under Qiao Yan had already occupied seven counties in Liangzhou, with only Dunhuang, Jiuquan and Zhangye left.
But just like the situation in which Yang Shi of Jiuquan would send Yang Feng to her, as long as she could station troops in Wuwei County, she would not have to worry about the other three counties that were isolated from the outside causing chaos.
As she has only paused her pace to ensure the victory over Dong Zhuo, it is not appropriate for her to extend her power to Dunhuang.
But that's enough for now.
The territorial area of these seven counties is almost the same as that of Bingzhou, which she originally controlled.
This is equivalent to doubling her territory by sending troops out of Liang Province!
Even though it still relied on Huangfu Song's followers, in essence, who was the leader of the rebellion determined the ownership of the territory.
It's hers!
In Yuan Shao's Qingzhou and Jizhou, there was a little emperor in Yecheng, as well as a small court around him that moved from Luoyang. However, Qiao Yan had a world where she could fully display her talents.
Also, she had no plan to replace all the county governors in Liangzhou with her own people for at least two years. As long as she could smoothly tap into the human and material resources in Liangzhou, it would be fine. Therefore, having Liu Yu and Huangfu Song by her side was not a problem at all for her.
Her top priority at the moment is to sort out the fields in Liangzhou that can be used for military and civilian settlements.
Only by defining these areas could she ensure that Liangzhou's troops no longer relied solely on Bingzhou's food and fodder supply, and could then begin to be self-sufficient.
When Cheng Yu heard Qiao Yan's comment on Liangzhou's geographical location, he said, "Jincheng and Wuwei are good."
Among the seven counties of Liangzhou, although Huoshizhai military settlement was established around Gaoping City in Anding County, from a geographical point of view, this is an important place for building a city, but it is not the place with the best conditions for planting.
The two places mentioned by Qiao Yan are the ones.
The planting area in the whole territory of Liangzhou is basically only distributed in the Jingshui River Valley, the lower reaches of the Nishui River, the Qingshui River Basin, the Weishui River Basin, the Yellow River Basin in Jincheng and other areas where meltwater from snow mountains flows.
It is also restricted by mountain canyons and can only be distributed in a point-like manner rather than a belt-like manner.
Large river valley basins like Jincheng and Yuzhong are hard to come by.
However, it is impossible for her to take over the civilian farmlands originally distributed on these cultivated lands. They need to be reserved as military thoroughfares and are not suitable for extensive cultivation. On this basis, the range of choices is very limited.
First of all, I would like to thank Han Sui for establishing his own regime first and for giving up Jincheng.
The natural irrigation conditions of this place, the terrain conditions that prevent outsiders from entering, and its uniqueness after being cleaned up by Han Sui all make this place seem like another Leping.
This is also Qiao Yan’s first choice for stationing troops.
But even Jincheng cannot compare to Wuwei.
If modern people think about it, when the word Wuwei is mentioned, nine out of ten times the first thing that comes to mind is the Tengger Desert.
Although there was sand accumulation in Wuwei at the end of the Han Dynasty, it was far from the extent of later generations.
The snow water originating from the Qilian Mountains converges into the Lu River, flowing all the way to Duye, also known as Xiutu Lake, in the northwest. The oasis belt along the way passes through the counties of Luanniao, Guzang, Xuanwei and Wuwei, forming a green space partition between Wuwei and Zhangye.
If she could transform this place into her own military settlement, it would be equivalent to grasping the second throat of Liangzhou after Gaoping.
The changes of dynasties in later generations also proved the importance of this place, making Wuwei Guzang the capital of six dynasties.
Cheng Yu watched Qiao Yan put pen to paper and specially marked out this strip and the area around Jincheng.
"Mr. Zhongde, this will be our focus of development in the next year."
"The former is mainly a military settlement, a private military training ground protected by Kuiyuan Gorge, which corresponds to the military settlements in Bingzhou. In addition, the salt brine from outside Huangzhong to the west is regularly brought back by soldiers and the private armies of local nobles and stored here. How to control this place like an iron plate will require more effort from you, sir."
If Cheng Yu had not been in charge of internal affairs in Bingzhou in the past few years, he would probably not have dared to agree to this.
Seeing the look Qiao Yan gave him, even if she didn't say anything, Cheng Yu was well aware of the importance of this entrustment and the consequences if this place was seized by outsiders or if there was internal unrest.
With no shortage of experience in government affairs, Cheng Yu decisively replied, "Don't worry, Your Majesty."
Qiao Yan knew that Cheng Yu would not make a promise that he himself could not keep, so he continued, "The latter is mainly for civilian settlements, used to recruit people from the Lushui Qiang and the other three counties in Hexi, as well as to relocate the people who have caused chaos in Liangzhou."
Although she was not in a hurry to push her armed forces to the border of Liangzhou, in fact she was unable to do so for the time being because of her distance. However, there was obviously room for maneuver in relying on Bingzhou's systematic farming techniques to manage Wuwei's agricultural planting and achieve the effect of gathering, diverting and assimilation of the population.
This was also a piece of land she wanted to use to demonstrate her attitude towards managing and stabilizing Liangzhou to Liu Yu and Huangfu Song.
Only if she manages this line properly will she have the opportunity to expand further to the northwest.
Therefore, in the letter that Qiao Yan wrote to Xi Zhicai, she mentioned that Bingzhou needed to send some technical talents to Liangzhou after the autumn harvest to fill her plan of "one city, two belts and several points" of military farming and consolidating the people.
One city: Gaoping City.
Two belts: Jincheng River Valley Basin and Wuwei Lushui Green Belt.
Count points——
The local nobles who were frightened by Qiao Yan's various military actions in Liangzhou, except for the farthest Jiuquan, which sent a useful talent to her, those in Anding, Hanyang and other places handed over part of their land.
This is the territory that she has scattered ownership of in Liangzhou.
These fields are just a drop in the bucket compared to the land actually occupied by the powerful, but Qiao Yan knows very well where the key contradiction lies at this time. If he wants to manage Liangzhou, he will inevitably have to deal with them for the time being. The most appropriate move at the moment is to quit while he is ahead.
Part of this scattered land was given by Qiao Yan to the Qiang tribe that had come to rely on her for cultivation. In accordance with the tax payment method of Bingzhou, part of the output from the land was given to her, and part of it was given by Qiao Yan to Xu Shu who came from Bingzhou.
During the winter, he used the Xianbei people's camping next to Han Fu to create a psychological threat to him, which made the general Du Liao abandon his post and flee.
After Han Fu was officially deprived of his power by Qiao Yan, Xu Shu took over as the commander of the Du Liao General's camp.
However, considering the border situation of Bingzhou, after the complete defense construction of Shuofang County, Guyang Road, Baidaochuan and Yanmen was completed, the Du Liao General Camp was no longer necessary. It would be better to dispatch this part of the troops directly to Liangzhou to become an army that she deployed in various counties, scattered and ready to gather at any time.
"I am giving this task to you, and you should know what it means." After Xu Shu led his men to Liangzhou, Qiao Yan specifically called him for a talk.
The two men, together with their close followers, went north along the Yinma River and reached the Yellow River.
At the signal of their close follower Yu Qiaoyan, they stepped back a little, with the roar of the rushing Yellow River serving as a barrier. This became a conversation known only to heaven and earth and the two of them.
Xu Shu suddenly felt that the scene before him was subtly familiar.
The conversation outside Quzhou City in Jizhou six years ago seemed similar to what was happening now, yet also different.
At that time, Qiao Yan asked him a question -
Is the living word just the life that a person still has?
He said he would tell Qiao Yan after he came up with the answer, and this gave him a reason to continue following her.
He may have gotten the answer during his six years in Bingzhou.
Qiao Yan was also gradually putting into practice the compassion for the weak that he had no time to show at that time with every step he took.
But he still didn't intend to give an answer.
Because in the evolution of Bingzhou, or even today's Liangzhou, the answer may change with the various actions of the superiors, and a different answer may appear.
Amid the sound of the river, Qiao Yan's voice still reached his ears clearly: "Like Mr. Zhongde, you have an irreplaceable position among the people under my command, so I also hope that you can follow in his footsteps until I can walk side by side with him when I need two hands. Do you understand what I mean?"
Xu Shu was a smart man and would understand the hidden meaning behind the words.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Qiao Yan began to educate this person who volunteered to lead the horse and fell off the stirrup, and then handed him over to Cheng Yu for training. Later, when they were managing Leping, they still maintained a teaching and guidance relationship. Now that they have arrived in Liangzhou, Cheng Yu is still in charge of major affairs, and Xu Shu is in charge of minor matters.
But this does not mean that Qiao Yan hopes that they will always maintain this master-disciple relationship. They are always restricted and fettered by this distinction between superiors and subordinates, and can only move forward by following in the footsteps of their predecessors!
This actually means that she hopes to form a complete channel for her to gain experience and advancement with true confidants like Cheng Yu and Xu Shu who are not bound by family ties, so that when she needs to launch an all-out attack, they can each stand out on their own.
Xu Shu had experience as a knight-errant and had martial arts to protect himself, so her expectations of Cheng Yu were the same as her expectations of Xu Shu.
He was both a general and a counselor.
He was about to dismount and thank him when Qiao Yan stopped him with the whip in his hand. "Just listen and understand, so I also hope you can do one thing well. When Meng Qi and Bo Yang assisted Gai Yuangu in taking Wudu, the three noble families of Wudu, Li, Wang, and Jiang, gave away some of their land. I want you to manage this land properly. Whether you can be my other hand depends on this. Do you understand?"
The gleam in her eyes was so bright that Xu Shu had a vague guess in his mind.
The Xihan River and the Mian River in Wudu County are connected to Hanzhong, so it seems that there is no need to explain more about the significance of managing Wudu County.
When he heard this instruction, for a moment he felt the sound of the rushing river filling his ears, as if it was the sound of his blood boiling in his body.
He was silent for a long time before calming down. He bowed to Qiao Yan and replied, "To control the entire county from a small place, and under the nose of Governor Gai, the Lord has given me a difficult problem, but I am willing to accept this challenge."
Even if he grew up in Yingchuan and was considered a person who enjoyed the emperor's protection, so what?
He had followed Qiao Yan when he was sixteen, and now he was twenty-two. All he had seen and heard was a scene in which the Han Dynasty was in decline and there was no way out.
Looking around the world, the only one who cares about the people's wishes and has the ability to put them into practice is the Governor of Bingzhou!
So what if it's just a rebellious act!
"Let's go." Qiao Yan pointed to the ferry on the river in the distance and interrupted Xu Shu's thoughts. "Before you leave, follow me to Wuwei County first."
"It is said that one can only gain something if he travels thousands of miles, so let's take a look at the scenery of the Northwest Silk Road!"
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