The distance between Nanyang and Xiangyang is not close, there are 300 miles away.

Six hundred miles back and forth is even more time-consuming.

Until he had already set out on the road, the "war correspondent" Hu Wufuzhi was still persuading Shao Xun not to go south and to return to the division as soon as possible.

Shao Xun admits that he has a point, but does not accept it.

After heading south from Wancheng, the road was in surprisingly good condition: the main thing was that it was wide enough.

It can be seen that since the Cao Wei era, the Jingxiang area has been very important.

This is also a commercial avenue, since the end of the Han Dynasty, I don't know how many people have made a fortune because of it - when Shi Chong was the assassin of Jingzhou, it was probably the fastest stage of wealth accumulation in his life.

On the night of the 20th, the army arrived in Shuyang, and Shao Xun stayed in the ancestral house of the Le family, and by the way, he visited the mother of Lan Ji, Liu.

"Tao Nu is a hard-working person, the prince must treat her well." Liu was old and lacked energy, so he was about to fall asleep, but when he heard that the famous Chen Hou was coming, he had to meet him.

She asked Shao Xun to sit next to the candle flame, and looked at it carefully for a long time, then sighed, and kept babbling: "The peach slave is not a lady when he meets someone, and the king of Chengdu will ......."

Shao Xun listened patiently and smiled.

When he and Lan Ji talked at night, he would occasionally mention the king of Chengdu. At this time, Lan Ji would get goosebumps all over her body, and she would ...... Zhang is dying, I don't know how cute it is.

"Over there in Xiangyang, don't go to the prince." Liu said suddenly.

"Why?" Shao Xun was a little surprised.

"The soldiers of the princes are mostly northerners, and they may not be able to adapt to it when they go there. If a plague strikes, the soldiers of a hundred battles will be gone. Liu said: "I know that the prince has practiced martial arts all year round and is physically strong, but the epidemic is indescribable, and it is ...... indescribable."

When Shao Xun heard this, he was in awe.

Old Madam Liu was really knowledgeable, and she also pointed out what he ignored.

Nanyang is okay, it can be regarded as a mature area. However, the water network in Xiangyang area is vertical and horizontal, the degree of development is not high, and the army is going south, maybe there is nothing to do, maybe there is something, who can say for sure?

"Thank you, old lady, for mentioning." Shao Xun arched his hand and said.

Liu sighed, squinted his eyes, looked at Shao Xun carefully, and said: "The prince has great ambitions and acts in a measured manner, if he fulfills his ambitions in the future, treat my daughter well." ”

Shao Xun hurriedly said, "Don't worry, old lady. The peach slave is beautiful, and she serves Weng Po diligently, and I love it very much. ”

Liu nodded, and then took his leave and left.

Shao Xun then crouched in front of the desk and handled several important official duties casually.

This is a rather elegant study, but there is still a bow hanging on the wall, which may reflect the living conditions of the scholars at this time: reading and practicing martial arts must be taken into account.

Le Guang is the protagonist of the idiom "Cup Bow Snake Shadow".

Shao Xun looked at the bow again, and sure enough, it was a horn bow for cavalry.

Nanyang Le's seems to have a certain foundation in riding and archery, no wonder Le Kai directly said that he had gathered more than 2,000 "foot riders" before.

One of the hometowns of Huaiying Tuqi, it's a little interesting.

Tang Jian lingered outside the door. After Shao Xun finished writing a letter, he called him in and sent the letter out.

The letter was addressed to Pei Chun.

Shao Xun asked him to send 1,000 county soldiers, and then levy 2,000 Ding Zhuang to Chenggao County to occupy Guancheng.

Cheng Gao is on the Great Ling Mountain, and Zheng Zhi is in the Spring and Autumn Period. Ten miles southwest of the county, there is a revolving gate ban, the city is related on the bandao, it is called "the revolving gate pass", it is one of the eight passes of Luoyang in the late Han Dynasty - this pass city blocks the south gorge mouth of the bandao.

After abandoning, it was turned to build a new Guancheng in the southeast of the county, called "Tiger Prison Pass" - Guancheng is located in the middle of Bandao.

This Tiger Prison was called "Tiger Prison Ancient Pass" in later generations, because in the first year of Sui Daye, a new Tiger Prison Pass was built by the water, also known as "Bishui Pass".

Xinguan Castle was moved to the foot of Daling Mountain, north of the Yellow River, south of the mountain, and at the same time blocked the north gorge of Bandao.

The reason why Xinguancheng was built here is probably because the Yellow River silted up, forming a piece of land at the northern foot of Daling Mountain, and the east-west can go along the riverside, without going up the mountain and walking the Bandao.

At this time, this riverside road has not yet appeared, and the mountain road between Luoyang and Xingyang still has to be taken, so the Tiger Prison Pass or Chenggao Pass is the top priority.

Controlling the Tiger Prison Pass controls the most convenient road to the east of Luoyang.

It's not impossible to take a detour, but it's more troublesome and risky.

In history, Gao Huan once crossed the mountains and mountains, and made a sneak attack on a detour, which shows how much inconvenience was caused to the Eastern Wei Dynasty after the loss of the Tiger Pass, forcing the two sides to fight the main battle here.

It's a critical place.

"Wait." Shao Xun grabbed Tang Jian and said, "Let the messenger bring a word." ”

"Gentleman, please speak."

"Accumulate enough food and grass in the city, and if you dare to flee without a fight, I will kill you."

Tang Jian was stunned for a moment, and then nodded: "No." ”

This sentence is relatively heavy.

I don't know if Pei Chun listens to it or not, but it should have some effect.

It is inevitable that the Xiongnu will go south to encircle Luoyang, if they block the Tiger Prison Pass, and then lock the three passes in Luonan, if they want to go deep into Yuzhou, they can only retreat to the north bank of the Yellow River first, and then cross the river south from Jijun, go around a big circle, very inconvenient.

In this way, the army was cut into two groups, east and west, which could not be echoed, which was very troublesome and very dangerous.

I can't say it, and it doesn't have to be if I give up.

******

After leaving Huaiyang, I arrived in Yuxian County in one day.

Then they doubled their way, arrived in Deng County on the 23rd, and occupied the empty county seat.

At this time, there was a military report, and the state-owned Haoqiang who was attached to Wang Ru anyway, killed the officials appointed by Ru.

Shao Xun asked people to bring the map and look at it carefully.

At the time of the unification of the dynasty, Jingzhou was very vast, with a total of 22 counties.

Now it's much different.

First, Jiangzhou was set up, and the three counties of Wuchang, Ancheng, and Guiyang were divided—and seven counties were cut off from Yangzhou.

The three counties of Xincheng, Weixing and Shangyong were transferred to Liangzhou.

After succeeding to the throne, he took five counties such as Changsha and Hengyang from Jingzhou and placed them in Xiangzhou - another cut Guiyang from Jiangzhou to Xiangzhou, and cut Shi'an and other nine counties from Guangzhou to Xiangzhou.

The entire area of Jingzhou has shrunk greatly, so far only eleven counties remain.

Jingzhou has also made some adjustments internally.

Jiangxia divided Jingling County.

Suiguo was set up for the king of Sui, and this country was very small, only governing the two counties of Sui and Pinglin.

When Sima Xin, the king of Xinye, was alive, he analyzed Xinye and other counties to place Xinye country.

After Sima Xin's army was defeated and died, there was no heir, the country was divided, and the counties were merged into Yiyang. Later, although he succeeded Sima Shao to inherit the prince, the county king became the county king - in the final analysis, the previous Xinye King was Sima Jian's person, and he really stood on the wrong team, and the new king has nothing to do with Sima Yue, otherwise, what if you create a new Cai Kingdom like Sima Teng?

In this way, there are still thirteen counties in Jingzhou at this time, but the area has been greatly reduced, and it is not the same as before.

However, Shao Xun has already requested the re-establishment of Xinye County, with jurisdiction over the five counties of Xinye, Jianyang, Sui, Chaoyang, and Caiyang, with Yu Fang as the guard, in order to reward him for killing the rebels, and as the first line of defense against Wang Ru.

At this time, Yu Yi followed him and brought more than a thousand soldiers and horses.

The Xinye Yu clan is after the Han Situ Yu Meng, and the starting point is higher than that of the Yingchuan Yu clan, but the development is not as good as theirs, perhaps because of the circle - the Jingzhou scholars, politically obviously cannot be compared with the Ru Yingshi people.

"It's clear." Shao Xun stood at the head of Deng County and glanced at the south regretfully.

Deng County has long been subordinate to Yiyang, and is now one of the eight counties of Xiangyang County, not far to the south to Fancheng.

Wang Ru did not defend Deng, but gathered a lot of soldiers and horses in Fancheng, and he could not hold out, and his intention was clear.

Le Kai, who also followed all the way, glanced at Yu Fang, and the meaning in his heart was difficult to understand.

"Other counties don't talk about it, the three counties of Xinye, Nanyang, and Shunyang must watch and help each other." Shao Xun looked at the two of them and said: "The three families together can gather tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, if you fight well, you should not be afraid of Wang Ru." After I returned to the north, I didn't want to hear about one being surrounded and the other two sitting idly by. Yang Zuyan is not here today, but I will make it clear to him, if you divide it, you will be weak, and if you join it, you will be strong, and if you are three together, no one can easily eat you and so on. ”

Le Kai and Yu Fang glanced at each other again, and said in unison: "Obey the orders of the prince." ”

They heard it, and the prince regarded the three counties as their private fiefdoms, and used the word "you wait".

Sometimes, they feel that troubled times are not good.

Sometimes, I feel that troubled times are really a paradise for careerists.

When the authority of the imperial court was great, how could they be allowed to seize military power and political power at the local level?

But when the authority of the imperial court was weakening, the local power was to be filled by the nobles.

They vaguely feel that even if someone cleans up the old mountains and rivers in the future, the gate politics will not be eliminated for a while, and they will take advantage of this troubled era to climb to a new peak.

Chen Hou, the nominal overlord of Luonan and Yuzhou, seems to have acquiesced to their local status?

There was the sound of horses' hooves in the distance.

Soon, several sergeants came over with a messenger.

"Prince, this is the king's messenger." Tang Jian led people forward to search his body, and then invited the messenger over to report.

Shao Xun glanced at the messenger.

A typical middle-aged scholar, trembling, but strong in spirit, looked at Shao Xun.

Shao Xun didn't bother to pay attention to him, took the letter and read it.

After reading it, he asked, "Why did you send a letter for Wang Ru?" ”

"The family is all obsessed with it, and it has to be the last resort." The messenger replied.

"Wang Ru is a character of one side, but he is trapped in a lonely city and does not dare to fight, why not?"

"The general has won consecutive battles, he is brave, and his momentum is loud, and he has heard of it from far and near." The messenger replied: "Although there are many soldiers, but the hearts of the people are chaotic and uneven, so the infant city guards itself and waits for the general to retreat." ”

Shao Xun laughed and said, "Wang Ru is upright, and he is not afraid of being known to me." ”

The messenger bowed his head and said yes.

"Bring me a message to Wang Ru." Shao Xun said.

"General, please."

"When I defeat the Huns, I will-" Shao Xun rubbed the hilt of the knife at his waist and said: "Mention the journey of loyalty and righteousness, lead the people who are happy and obedient, beat the drum to ask for crimes, go south, Xiangyang Lonely City, can you be a strong soldier?" ”

"The court sent back the displaced people, and they were angry and chaotic, and it was excusable that something happened for a while. If the king is acquainted with him, and he is disarmed, I will keep him well. Shao Xun continued: "Let's bring back the original words. ”

"Yes." The messenger replied.

After the messenger left, Shao Xun waited in Deng County for two days.

During this period, the scouts reported that Wang Ru had almost abandoned all the outlying strongholds and retreated to Fancheng and Xiangyang, without the slightest intention of attacking.

Shao Xun sighed, knowing that this guy couldn't hold on.

Although there is not much grain and grass in the city, it should not be a problem to stick to it for a month or two. There are also a large number of Kwansai party followers, and they also sit on a fortified city, which is not easy to capture.

There was no time to waste with him, so he could only withdraw his troops first.