The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Although I was worried about the Yellow Turbans, but when I first came to Xuzhou, I was not familiar with the local environment, but I couldn't be more anxious.

Xuzhou borders Qingzhou to the north, Yanzhou and Henan to the west, Yangzhou to the south, and the sea to the east.

There are five counties under the jurisdiction of the state. From north to south, they are: Langya, Donghai, Pengcheng, Xiapi and Guangling.

Compared with other prefectures, Xuzhou has a characteristic, that is, there are fewer prefectures and states under its jurisdiction, and there are more “states” in the prefectures and states.

Among the five prefectures, three were originally vassal states, namely Langya State, Pengcheng State and Xiapi State.

These three living vassal states have been passed down for a long time.

Among them, the country of Langya belonged to the lineage of Liu Jing, the son of Emperor Guangwu.

Pengchengguo belongs to the line of Liu Gong, the third son of Emperor Ming.

The Xiapi State is from the lineage of Liu Yan, the sixth son of Emperor Ming.

Of these three vassal states, Langya and Pengcheng now have their own rulers, while Xiapi state now has a name but no king.

Speaking of which, Liu Yi, the king of Xiapi who took office, is really a lucky person.

At the age of thirty-three, he took over the throne of the king of Xiapi. He sat on the throne for fifty-seven years. In the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turbans rose and the country of Xiapi was invaded. During this period, he had He had a disgraceful experience of abandoning the country and fleeing for a short time, but after the Yellow Turbans were pacified, he soon returned to the country and returned to Xiapi. He died on the throne a few months later, at the age of ninety.

It is rare for a person to be seventy years old, but he actually lived a long life of ninety years, and enjoyed all the glory and wealth on the throne. He counted the two Han years for hundreds of years, and there were not many others.

It's just that his son Liu Yi is not as lucky as him. It is probably because he has been the prince for too long, and he was not young when he inherited the throne. He died after only a few months on the throne. For the second year of Zhongping.

Liu Yi has no son. After his death, the kingdom of Xiapi has no heir. It stands to reason that either another king of Xiapi should be named, or the country should be exterminated. It's just that the army has been in turmoil these years, and the court has no time to take this matter into consideration. Therefore, Zhongping two Year to date, four years have passed, but the country of Xiapi is still in an abnormal state where there is neither a successor nor the removal of the country.

However, this is a good thing for Xiang Xiapi.

Although it is said that the princes and kings of this dynasty have no right to govern the people, they just sit on the ground and collect some taxes to support them, but after all, they are "the princes of princes", and they are the monarchs of a country in name. There are quite a few princes and kings who have committed crimes and violated the law, so after the absence of such a nominal monarch, it is natural for the Prime Minister of Xiapi to be much more comfortable in governing the country.

Having said that, whether it's comfortable or not, it's none of Xun Zhen's business.

Early the next morning, Xun Zhen continued eastward.

There are many lakes in the two counties of Xiapi and Guangling.

There is a large lake in the south of Huailing County, called Nushan Lake. This lake existed in the era when Xun Zhen came, and its area is still not small. This lake occupies a larger area.

There is a large river in the two counties of Xiapi and Guangling, namely the Huai River.

This water originates from Tongbai Mountain in Nanyang, Jingzhou. From Tongbai Mountain, it goes all the way to the east, passes through Yuzhou, and flows into Yangzhou. In Yangzhou, it flows northeast and flows into Xuzhou, through Xiapi, Guangling, and finally into Yangzhou. sea.

On its way to the east, there are many tributaries joining in, and these tributaries mostly come from Yuzhou and Yangzhou, such as Rushui and Yingshui in Yuzhou. It's even more turbulent inside.

Huailing and Nushan Lake are on the south bank of the Huai River.

After passing through Huailing, the Huai River suddenly made a big bend to the south. This bend was almost 90 degrees, but it did not flow too far to the south, and then turned back to the northeast. On its way to the northeast, it passed through again. A big lake.

This lake is Hongze Lake in later generations, but at present, Hongze Lake has not been fully formed. More precisely, it is not a big lake, but a group of lakes formed by many smaller lakes. This group of lakes mainly surrounds the two banks of the Huai River, and more than 60% of the lake water in each lake is brought and supplemented by the Huai River.

This group of lakes straddles the two counties of Xiapi and Guangling, most of them are in the territory of Xiapi, and a small part is in the territory of Guangling.

Especially Chengzi Lake in the northwest of this group of lakes, most of the waters of this lake are in the territory of Guangling, and its area is much larger than that of Nushan Lake. It is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Guangling.

However, when Xun Zhen came to Guangling, this time, he didn't have the chance to see this big lake, because the lake was too far north, and the county seat of Guangling was in the south of the county.

Along the south bank of the Huai River, Xun Zhen and his party crossed Nushan Lake, and went southeast for about a hundred miles to Gaoshan County, where Xiapi and Guangling meet.

At the county boundary, the county officials of Guangling County have been waiting for a long time.

Speaking of which, the road to Xunzhen was hard, and the officials of Guangling County who were waiting for him were also very hard.

Gaoshan County is a sub-county of Xiapi, and the county officials of Guangling cannot stay here. However, there is no county on this side of Guangling County, which is adjacent to Gaoshan County. Dongyang County, which is the closest to Gaoshan, is also 50 to 60 kilometers away to the north. , these county officials came to greet Xun Zhen, and of course they couldn't wait in Dongyang County, which is dozens of miles away, so they waited for many days in the wild pavilion in the village on the side of the county boundary. Shangfeng Meal sleeps in the open, but the conditions are not very good.

A few days after entering Xuzhou, Xun Zhen had two intuitive feelings.

One is that there is a lot of water in the territory, and the other is that the territory is "sparse in the territory, Guangzhou and county".

Of course, this "diguang county is rare" is relatively speaking, it is relative to the Zhao State and Wei County of Yuzhou and Jizhou.

Zhao State and Wei County in Yuzhou and Jizhou are all densely populated places. Most of the counties are only 20 to 30 miles apart, and even close to each other, they are only 10, 20, or even ten miles apart. It is only about half of the state of Xiapi, but the number of counties within the territory is the same as that of Xiapi. They are all seventeen cities. Twenty or thirty miles away, Yingyang is only ten or twenty miles away from Xiangcheng, and Kunyang is only ten or twenty miles away from Wuyang.

In Yuzhou, it can be said that it is not too far to go to one county. If you ride a horse, you can go through two or three counties in a day.

But in the territory of Xiapi, you can’t see a single county if you walk for a day. Except for the three northernmost counties, Xiapi, Siwu, and Liangcheng, which are a little closer to each other, the other counties are often separated by a hundred miles or more.

From Xiapi, we know that Guangling has not yet entered the territory of Guangling, but it is expected that the distance between the counties in Guangling County should be the same.

In fact, it is.

Like Xiapi, except for the few counties near Guangling County, the county seat of the county, Guangling, Jiangdu, and Yuguo are about 30 miles apart. The northernmost Haixi is 170 to 80 miles away from Sheyang in the south.

In other words, although Guangling County is large, its area is almost twice that of Yingchuan, but in terms of a bustling place, it is only in the south of the county with the county seat Guangling as the center.

Xun Zhen started his career with military exploits, and he was worried about the hundreds of thousands of Qing, Xu Huangjin, and the disputes between the princes that would rise again in the future. Therefore, after he had these two intuitive impressions, it was natural for him to The first thought came to the military.

There is an old saying about marching and fighting, but there are only three things: the weather, the geographical advantage, and the people.

We don't talk about the weather, people and people, but only about geography.

When Xun Zhen was in Yuzhou and Jizhou to conquer the Yellow Turbans and Montenegro, although there was water in Yuzhou and Jizhou, it was not as much as Xuzhou.

There are more plain areas in Yuzhou, more mountainous areas in Zhaojun in Jizhou, and most of Xun Zhen’s works are from the north, most of whom are from Yuzhou, and there is no problem in fighting on the vast plains. After the practice in Zhao and Wei, now It is also possible to fight in the mountains, but fighting in an area with dense river networks and dense lakes such as Xuzhou is a big challenge.

Suddenly, Xun Zhen thought of Sun Jian.

Most of Sun Jian's minions are from the South, and they are good at water warfare. When he was in Changsha County, Xun Zhen saw the ability of his minions to fight on land and water. He also asked Jiang Qin, compared with Sun Jian's minions, which one is better than the other? Jiang Qin replied at the time: We can win on land~www.wuxiaspot.com~, but not on water.

Although Xun Zhen had long recognized the shortcomings of his own troupe, he had specially asked Jiang Qin and the others who followed him to Changsha to practice with Sun Jian's troupe, and when there was a riot of thieves in Changsha, he also asked them to also In the battle, he cooperated with Sun Jian's part in some small-scale amphibious battles, but after all, his time was short, and his combat ability on water and muddy depressions was still inferior.

Thinking of this, Xun Zhen couldn't help thinking: The Wentai Department is good at water warfare. I first went to Guangling today. In order to prevent the Yellow Turbans from rising again in the future, I need to be familiar with water warfare as soon as possible. Should I write a letter and borrow a few from Wentai? subordinates? Let them come and teach me the righteousness?

With his friendship with Sun Jian, Sun Jian would not refuse if he wanted to write letters everywhere.

When I think of Sun Jian, I think of another thing.

Sun Jian and the current Xuzhou prefect Tao Qian used to be colleagues. Both of them worked under Zhang Wen's account. Because of their different backgrounds and personalities, their friendship was not very good, but they were decent. Zhen came to Guangling to take office, but it seemed that he could get closer to Tao Qian.

In any case, from a close distance, the current Tao Qian is the governor of Xuzhou, and he is a governor with military power and a strong style. From a distance, Tao Qian is one of the future ministers of Xuzhou and one of the local princes. , Xun Zhen should have a good relationship with him as soon as possible.

Knowing that the county officials of Fuzhong had greeted Hui in front of him, Xun Zhen refused to take it, so he immediately ordered Yi Cong to stop, and only brought Xi Zhicai, Xun You, Cheng Jia, Yao Sheng and other scribes to drive the horses forward by the Chinese army. , go to the front and meet these assistants who are about to become their own governance of Guangling.