When the boat enters the Han River, the river becomes wider, and the destination is Yuyangzhou, which is full of reeds.

The history of Yuliang Chau is very long, the Tangbai River from north to south and the Han River from west to east converge here, and the sediment forms a whirlpool here, and after accumulation, Yuliang Chau is formed.

The largest island on the Han River covers an area of nearly 30 square kilometers, and only a few people live on it, and you can see the pure natural scenery.

Under the illumination of the setting sun, Zhao Dezhao couldn't help but think of "Luoxia and lonely birds fly together, and the autumn water is the same color as the sky." Verses.

It's such a beauty.

This is Xiangyang a thousand years ago, the hometown of modern Zhao Dezhao.

Although Zhao Dezhao has concerns about this hometown, he does not attach too much importance to it.

In the Ming Dynasty, he lived for more than a hundred years and never visited once.

Because of the Ming Dynasty at that time, it was not an important area.

But in today's Song Dynasty, only this is the most suitable place to start, so he will come.

As you sail past Yuliang Chau, you can see the majestic Xiangyang City Wall towering on the other side of the river, where the river is only one mile narrow in the upper reaches and turns south downstream, and is more than a kilometer wide at its widest point.

Zhao Dezhao stood at the front of the third floor of the attic, with Wang Pu on the left and Cai Lingxing on the right.

This is supposed to be a flower boat, less solemn and more fatty, but the decoration is very beautiful.

Cai Lingxing pointed to the tower at the north gate and introduced: "This is Xiangyang, the first city in China, in history, in addition to other reasons, there are only a handful of records that have been directly attacked.

Before Qin attacked Jin, the four-way army had a total of 170,000 people, while Zhu Xu only had more than 10,000 people, and Xiangyang City was not breached.

In the end, the former Qin commander Fu Pi could only adopt the method of siege to cut off the Jin reinforcements and grain routes. The Jin general Li Bohu rebelled against Jin and surrendered to Qin, opened the city gates, and Xiangyang fell after being besieged for eight months. ”

Eight months...... Zhao Dezhao sighed in his heart. The Mongol army was invincible, and even Europe was flattened, but it was blocked in Xiangyang for thirty-eight years.

From the breakdown of the military alliance between the Song and Mongolia in 1235 to the surrender of Lü Wenhuan, the defender of Xiangyang, to the surrender of the Yuan Dynasty in 1273, it lasted 38 years.

Even for the last time, the Mongol army did its best, and Xiangyang was held from 1267 to 1273.

It took six full years for the invincible Mongol army to capture the city.

No city in history has ever been able to hold on for so long with such a disparity in troops.

Zhao Dezhao nodded, turned his head and asked, "Cai Tingshi, how is the defense capability of Jiangbei Fancheng?" ”

Cai Lingxing has been an official in Xiangyang for many years, and he is no stranger to this problem, and replied: "There are Qinghe River in the east of Fancheng, Paizi River in the north of the city, Qili River, and Putuo River, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. Only on the west side, there is no river, a plain, so there is a saying of 'Xiangyang with iron and Fancheng with paper'. ”

Zhao Dezhao asked again: "If you dig a canal to divert water in the west of the city and build a city wall, is it possible?" ”

Cai Lingxing was confident and said: "The Paizi River and the Putuo River both originate from Xinye and Deng County, and the water volume is insufficient. However, in the upper reaches of the Han River, there are two waterways, Heilonggou and Bailonggou, and if you can dig a canal to divert water, you can form a tight defense line.

However, this project is huge, costing a lot, and more importantly, as a result, the defense area of Fancheng is too large, and the troops will be insufficient. ”

Wang Pu asked, "In this way, how big will Fancheng be?" ”

Cai Lingxing thought for a while and said: "From the Qinghe River on the east side to the place where the ditch is easy to dig on the west side, there are twenty miles, if you take the Qili River as the boundary, to the Han River, ten miles from north to south. ”

Wang Pu sighed: "There are two Kaifeng mansions! ”

"Not only that, this is just Fancheng, but also Xiangyang......" Zhao Dezhao smiled and said to Cai Lingxing: "Cai Tingshi, tell us about the situation in Xiangyang again." ”

Cai Lingxing said: "Liu Diantou came to Xiangyang and brought instructions to stay behind, and now his subordinates have ordered people to build a wall in the Qingshui ditch between Wanshan Mountain on the west side and Wanshan Mountain in the southwest.

Wanshan is a slope mountain, which extends from the Han River to Longzhong, blocking the west of the city tightly. However, the mountain is not steep, so if you want to defend it, you can only dig earth and build a wall.

Qingshuigou is the only natural outlet of Xiangyang, the narrowest point is only one mile, and it does not take much manpower to build the wall, and it can be completed in summer at the latest. ”

Wang Pu asked again: "What about the east side?" ”

Cai Lingxing said: "The east side is the natural barrier where the Han River turns, and between the Han River and Da Xian Mountain, the narrowest point is only a few tens of meters.

If construction starts, it will only take half a month to build a city wall between the mountain range and the Han River. ”

"It's really a natural treasure, so if you follow such regulations, how big is Xiangyang?"

"The Han River to Wanshan is also twenty miles, and the pass of Da Hyeon Mountain is twelve miles to the Han River, and the total area is about the same as that of Fancheng."

Wang Puleng paused for a moment, and then asked, "Will someone cut off the water?" ”

"There is the Tanxi River in Xiangyang, and the moat can draw water from the Han River, so the water source cannot be cut off."

Wang Pu pondered for a while and said: "Second brother, a Xiangyang, surrounded by mountains and water, the area is as big as Kaifeng Mansion. In this way, Fancheng can not plan for the time being, and wait for the future to be rich, and then slowly figure it out. ”

Zhao Dezhao nodded, and asked again: "How many household registrations do you have in Xiangyang now?" ”

"There are less than 10,000 households and more than 30,000 people in the inner city of Xiangyang, but the number of people outside the city and Fancheng combined, there are nearly 50,000 households and 300,000 people."

"What about the entire Xiangyang Mansion plus Nanyang Mansion?"

"Xiangyang Province now governs thirteen prefectures and counties, with a population of more than two million, and Nanyang Province is slightly smaller, with two million. However, if the population of Shannan Dongdao is added, it has not been counted. ”

Shannan East Road includes the south of Henan, the east of Shaanxi, the east of Xichuan, and almost the whole of Hubei.

The main reason is that the Nanping regime has just been eliminated for more than two years, and there are bandits and water bandits in Hubei, and most of the population has not been counted.

Zhao Dezhao looked at Cai Lingxing, and saw that this person's expression was calm, and he answered questions without haste.

Although I heard Zhao Kuangyin say that this person is an old man and has no talent, but now it seems that this official who knows the local area very well, a responsible official, is not as incompetent as Zhao Kuangyin said.

Zhao Dezhao asked again with the examination: "Now that Xiangyang has been promoted from the state to Beijing, Cai Tingshi thinks that this Xiangyang should be upgraded?" ”

Cai Lingxing hesitated for a moment and said: "The imperial court has its own decision on this matter, and his subordinates dare not speculate. ”

"We're talking in private now, but it's okay."

Cai Lingxing looked at Wang Pu hesitantly, and saw that he was also smiling and nodding, knowing that he couldn't hide.

He groaned and said: "Xiangyang has been an important town since ancient times, and the Chu State in the early Spring and Autumn Period has always been a country that has developed itself with Xiangyang as the center. Whether it is Danyang as the capital or Yandu as the capital, Xiangyang is the largest city. ”

The Danyang here is not the Danyang of later generations, but the Danjiangkou Reservoir located in Xichuan, where the Chu State was expelled to the south, first in Xichuan, Henan Province for 300 years, and then in Yandu (in the territory of Yicheng under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang) for more than 100 years.

Half of the more than 800 years of Chu State's history has been centered on Xiangyang.

In later generations, this place has always been a battleground for soldiers, and this unique place has not been able to develop. But even so, Xiangyang is still a prosperous place in all dynasties.

Tang set up the fifteenth road of Kaiyuan, and Shannan East Road is one of them, governing Xiangyang. Nanping resisted my Great Song Dynasty, and it was also headed by Xiangyang, Xiangyang broke, and Nanping was destroyed in my Great Song Dynasty in less than two years.

The Han River runs through the belly here, the land is fertile, the rivers are vertical and horizontal, and it is really a first-class land of fish and rice. His subordinates have been officials in Xiangyang for more than three years, and this place is prosperous especially in the Central Plains.

But stay here this time, not for farming, but for work, and his subordinates are ignorant of work, so they don't dare to talk nonsense, disturbing the plan of staying behind. ”

The old slippery head talked for a long time, and it seemed that he had said a lot, but he had no opinion at all.

However, he has now changed his mind a little and wants to keep this old slippery head.

In order to support him, Zhao Kuangyin sent Wang Pu, Shen Yilun, and Lu Duoxun.

Wang Pu was appointed as the Yin of the Hanjing Mansion, Lu Duoxun was appointed as the soldier Cao, Shen Yilun was appointed as the transfer envoy, and the soldiers and horses were all deployed.

In the military and political, there is currently a vacancy for the observation envoy, so that no one will get in the way of Zhao Dezhao's affairs.

In terms of civil affairs, in fact, there are also many big shortcomings deliberately left, such as the highest level of civil and prose officials, the Kaifu Yi and the three divisions.

According to the configuration of the early Song Dynasty, a state capital, especially an area larger than a province like Shannan Dongdao, must have such a configuration of civil official positions.

This official position can supervise the military, but the military cannot interfere with him.

Zhao Kuangyin is still looking for a competent official, he doesn't want Wang Pu to be this official, but Zhao Dezhao feels that Cai Lingxing can also be competent.

Of course, it won't be given to him so easily, so you have to take a closer look.

The loose official position of Kaifu Yi and the Three Divisions was abolished in the Ming Dynasty, but it was still very good in the Song Dynasty and had great power.

Zhao Dezhao raised his eyes and saw that there were countless dense crowds of people on both sides of the river embankment in the distance, and asked, "Cai Tingshi, how much labor has been called now?" ”

"In the autumn and winter, we began to mobilize the people, and now it is the second batch, with a total of 100,000 people."

"The project may be completed before the farm is busy?"

"Yes."

"The embankment was built according to the requirements?"

"According to the drawings of the Ministry of Engineering, there is not a trace of cutting corners. The subordinates thought that the water in the Xiangyang section of the Hanjiang River was stable, and such a big project would cost the people and money. ”

Zhao Dezhao glanced at Cai Lingxing and knew that this old slippery head was testing himself.

He smiled and asked, "Why?" ”

"The upper reaches of the Han River are stable, and the Danjiang Lake regulates the water volume of the Han River, and it is relatively stable all the way to the middle reaches. The subordinates read the Xiangyang Chronicles, Xiangyang has only been flooded four times in the past thousand years, and Fancheng has been flooded a little more, but it is less than ten times, which is completely different from Kaifeng Mansion, which is flooded almost every year.

Nowadays, the Yellow River embankment in Kaifeng Prefecture does not have such a high standard, but Xiangyang has built a river embankment with a width of 15 meters at the bottom and a width of 5 meters at the top, which is really a waste of money for the people. ”

Zhao Dezhao laughed, looked at the north gate of Xiangyang City getting closer and closer, shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about this for the time being, in two days, you will know why." ”