The fleet swims against the current, sailing during the day and resting at night. Entering Bobai County, it has belonged to the establishment of Wuzhou Mansion in Guangxi.

The capital city of Wuzhou was controlled by Geng Xianzhong, the governor of Guangxi under Li Chengdong, and Yang Dafu, the general soldier of Wuzhou. Yulin Prefecture to the south of Fucheng, Xingye, Luchuan, Bobai, Beiliu, and four counties in Yizhou are the defense areas of Chen Bangfu, the Duke of Qingguo.

Chen Bangfu sat in Xunzhou Prefecture and controlled Guinan, and was another big warlord in the Yongli court. Chen Bangfu colluded with Ma Jixiang, who was known as Emperor Ma, to obtain the same duke title as Li Chengdong.

When Li Chengdong broke Wuzhou Mansion for the second time, Chen Bangfu contacted the surrender. If it weren't for Chengdong anyway, Chen Bangfu would be kneeling under Li Chengdong's horse's hooves at this time. Now Chen Bangfu has changed and become the representative of Xixun of the imperial court, and he is on an equal footing with Chengdong, and he is faintly fighting against Dongxun. The civil and military forces of Guangdong, who knew the details, looked down on Chen Bangfu and his family very much, and if it weren't for Ma Jixiang's face, Li Chengdong almost sent troops to arrest Chen Bangfu.

Chen Bangfu sat in southern Guinan, neither sent troops to support Huguang nor Jiangxi to support Jiangxi, and was obsessed with looting private wealth to raise the army, and had no enterprising spirit. He invoked the example of the Mu clan in Yunnan to Ma Jixiang and guarded Guangxi with the state of the country. Ma Jixiang didn't have the courage to give the edict of sealing and guarding Guangxi, and Chen Bangfu dared to alter the edict without authorization, changing the word of residence to the word of the world, which caused public anger.

Among the seven prefectures below Liuzhou, Chen Bangfu's power was superior. Qu Shiyun, who stayed behind in Guilin, tried to collect food from Chen Bangfu to supply the Dian army, Jiao Lian and Ma Bao on the front line, but Chen Bangfu flatly refused.

The Ming army of Qiongzhou waved the banner of reinforcing the Huguang front line, and passed through Chen Bangfu's defense area. Shou Xiang was too lazy to deal with the local defenders, and the matters of contact were handed over to the Ming generals Zhang Shijie and Huang Heming, who led the troops.

Before sending troops, Zeng Ying temporarily promoted Zhang Shijie to the rank of governor and chief soldier, precisely to facilitate exchanges with the Ming army on the mainland. The official position is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the general army means the right to fight independently in the eyes of the world, and Zeng Ying is also afraid that the army he has worked so hard to pull out will be pitted by which ally.

Huang Heming is a direct subordinate of the Inspector Yamen, a native of Nanhai, Guangzhou, he started as a horse seller in Guangxi, and has deep contacts with many military generals and Tusi in Guangxi. This time, Huang Heming traveled with the expeditionary force and went to various places to buy horses again.

After all, they were still working for the same imperial court, and Qiongzhou remained neutral in the party struggle of the imperial court, and the contact between the expeditionary force and the local defenders was relatively smooth. It is not easy for the officials at the grassroots level to fight for the party or something, and they are all working hard to resist the Tatars. Bobaizhi County even gave away 100 stone of grain, and tried its best to recruit dozens of pigs, sheep and chickens to reward the expeditionary force.

Politeness and courtesy are a meaning, and I am quite satisfied with the order, so I paid attention to the situation of the neighbor to the north.

"Who is the defender in the Yulin area?"

Zhang Shijie: "Chief soldier Liang Shiyi, he is Chen Bangfu's subordinate. There has always been a legend in the army that Qingguo has never been on the battlefield in his life, and he only got the title of Duke of Guo by relying on his superiors, but in fact, his army is not very convinced of him. ”

"Is there such a thing?"

"Yes, it's not just Liang Shiyi. The same is true of Xu Biao, the guard general of Hengzhou (Xiasanzhou, Nanning Prefecture), and Li Ya, the deputy general of Yongchun (a county under the jurisdiction of Nanning Prefecture). ”

Shou Xuan thought for a while, "For these friendly generals, we must be vigilant and cooperate, the salt they eat comes from Qin Lian, right?" ”

Huang Heming: "Yes, Wuzhou has salt from Guangzhou Prefecture, and their price is 30% more expensive than ours, so most of Guangxi still eats our salt." ”

The sea salt produced by Qinlian goes up from the Nanliu River and enters the Pearl River system in Beiliu County to supply the whole of Guangxi.

Salt is a necessity and the most important weapon for economic penetration. China's salt zones are often one of the main bases for dividing the power of the separatist regimes.

"Salt for tea, salt for horses," Shou Xuan said, "You can also change people, you might as well sell it cheaper, remember that we don't sell salt to make money." ”

Huang Heming arched his hand and said, "Understood, Archon, I will try to win over these three generals under Chen Bangfu." ”

Bidding farewell to Bobai County, the fleet continued to go up, and entered the Yulin Basin a month after departing from Hepu County.

The woodland is wide and flat, and the water is winding but not deep. Yulin belongs to five genera, and the state city has jurisdiction over Xingye County, Beiliu County, Luchuan County, and Boyou County. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, Yulin has developed into an important commercial city in Guangxi, a gathering place for merchants, and a salt transit center. In the Ming Dynasty, the land road was overhauled, and the city of Yulinzhou was connected to Beiliu County in the north, Xingye County in the west, and then to Guixian County, Nanning Prefecture, becoming the crossroads of southern Guangxi.

One of the most important trade routes is still the water and land route between the Nanliu River and the Beiliu River. There are generally two points to consider in the site selection of joint land transportation: one is to select the shortest distance between the two rivers; The second is to make the land route connected to the waterway navigable. Obviously, passengers and goods have to be transferred when they dock or are launched. Therefore, there are transfer stations formed at both ends of the water and land routes, and with the increase of passenger and freight flow and the accumulation of time, the scale of the transfer station is also expanding, in the south of the river is the city of Yulinzhou, in the north of the river is the county of Beiliu.

The fleet disembarked at the port town south of Yulin City, and Huang Heming went to negotiate with Liang Shiyi, the general of Yulin. Zhang Shijie commanded the troops to set up a camp in Gangbu Town.

Gangbu Town is located at the mouth of the confluence of the Nanliu River and the tributary Dingchuan River, also known as Dingchuanbu. Yulinzhou City is more than 20 kilometers upstream of Dingchuanbu Town. Shou orderly got off the boat, and as far as the eye could see, there was a golden rice field between Dingchuanbu Town and Yulinzhou City. It's harvest time, and the fields are full of busy farmers.

The people of Yulin looked at this army under the banner of the Ming army in panic. In this era, the guest army under the banner of the Ming army is usually another term for robbers. The guest army that comes in the autumn harvest season generally has only one purpose, to grab grain. Shou Orderly walked to the edge of the town and pulled out his binoculars. Nearby peasants scattered and rushed back to their homes, while those in the distance desperately scrambled to harvest food in the hope of saving up more for next year.

"Zhang Shijie."

"Archon."

"Military discipline is strictly restricted, and no one is allowed to take a step in Dingchuan Town except for the former outpost detectives. If you do need to leave the town, you must have a warrant issued by you. ”

"Yes."

It is natural for Shou to order, and Zhang Shijie naturally obeys the order.

The army is a very realistic group, and the prestige of the leader comes from feeding the soldiers, from marching with the soldiers, from leading them to victory, from making the soldiers rich. Shou Xuan did not have the position of an official in the Ming Dynasty, but neither he nor Zhang Shijie felt that there was anything wrong with the current command system.

Dingchuan Port is the largest bazaar in southern Guinan, which was once densely populated and the houses were lined up one after another. The Orderly noticed some special details about the town, and there will be some iron hooks on the second floor to tie the boat.

In the past 2,000 years, Han immigrants have gradually increased, cutting down forests in the Yulin Basin to open up rice fields. The terrain of the Yulin Basin is relatively flat, the water flow is slow, the soil erosion is aggravated, and the siltation of the river channel is obvious. In the summer rainy season, the river water rises sharply, but the drainage is not smooth, and it is very easy to form waterlogging. The city is soaked in water almost every year, and the water in the city can reach a depth of more than 1 meter at most. The situation in Dingchuan Port is similar to that of the state castle, and whenever it is flooded, these iron nails on the second floor can be used to tie the sampan and other small boats for the owner to enter and exit.

Since entering Guangdong, the trade between Qinlian and Guangxi has been cut off. The war destroyed commerce, and in 2 years, it was the first large fleet to enter the port of Dingchuan. There is no business without a business trip, and there are few residents in the town, and most of the houses are vacant.

The soldiers sailed on the Nanliu River for a month, and it was very hard to paddle and pull fibers, and the expeditionary force temporarily took Dingchuan Port as a camp to rest. Many of the dwellings saved the trouble of camping, and the soldiers lived directly in empty houses. The advantage of the dwelling is that the iron pot is sufficient, and the departments no longer need to take turns to eat, and even have the conditions to open a small stove.

Zhang Shijie restrained military discipline and did not commit any crimes in the surrounding autumn. It took a few days to establish initial trust with the people around him.

Huang Heming returned, and at the same time brought the envoy of Liang Shiyi, the guard of Yulin. The order was not raised on this trip, and Liang Shiyi invited Zhang Shijie to meet in the state city.

The fleet was divided into two teams at Dingchuan Port, ships under 10 tons loaded with salt and went upstream, and Zhang Shijie drew 500 people to go north along the official road, advancing by land and water. The rest of the troops and ships remained at Dingchuan Port.

Standing at the bow of a salt ship, Shou Xian continued to ascend to observe the last section of the Nanliu River.

The channel from Dingchuan Port up to Yulimju is even shallower. The Dingchuan River and the Tamarind River flow into the Nanliu River, which makes the water volume of the river below Dingchuan Port larger, and the navigation conditions are better. The channel from Jeongcheon Port up to Ullimju Fortress is shallow, and only ships of 10 tons or less can be passed. Most of the fleets from Lianzhou were unloaded at Dingchuan Port, and local sampan ships with a load of several tons were transferred to the state capital.

During the Han Dynasty, the earliest river port opened up in the upper reaches of the Nanliu River was in Maolin Town, which was the closest inland port to the Beiliu River. Due to siltation of the river channel. The navigable river channel of the Nanliu River in the upper reaches gradually moves downward, and the northernmost inland port is now the Anyuan Bridge, which is 200 steps south of Yulinju City, commonly known as the Great South Bridge. Local sampans and small boats from Chinlien Lai were eventually unloaded here.

The name of Anyuan Bridge naturally comes from an arch bridge across the Nanliu River.

The official road from Yulin to Lianzhou is crossed by the bridge. The Yuan Dynasty built a wooden bridge over the Nanliu River, and the Ming Dynasty changed it to a Shiji wooden bridge in the Yongle Year. In the third year of Wanli (1575), it was rebuilt as a stone arch bridge.

Anyuan Bridge is all made of huge bluestone, and the reverse water surface of the piers is built into the shape of the bow, and when the flood comes, the piers in the shape of the bow are like a plow to separate the water to both sides and protect the bridge body as much as possible.

The sampan of the orderly ride passes under the bridge, and the Nanliu River in the south of Yulin Castle is only more than 20 meters wide. Anyuan Bridge is a three-hole arch bridge with a maximum span of 11 meters. In this era, the most fascinating Chinese architecture was the stone arch bridge. There are many rivers in the south, and it is these beautiful stone arch bridges that connect the land routes of various places.

The sturdy stone arch bridge was strong enough to withstand the advance of a 12-pounder bronze field gun, a 2.5-ton marching system in front of the artillery company. There are too few solid stone bridges like this in China.

One of the most important tasks of the army's so-called staff trip is to investigate the load capacity of the bridges on the marching route, the slope of the main road, the turning radius and other data, and record them in detail.

It is extremely simple to scold Fang Xuan in the thatched house, and if you really want to command the battle with your brain, it will be a military nightmare. Fighting a war relies on a series of inconspicuous data such as the traffic conditions of roads and bridges, the depth of waterways and the shallow carrying capacity of waterways. It's easy to draw an arrow on a map, but the result could be thousands of people slaughtered by enemy forces in places like river valleys. There is nothing opportunistic about the Army's war, and all work must be based on a solid foundation that seems to be very dull.