Chapter 338 Entry
When Li Jue told Li Ru everything he saw along the way, Li Ru said nothing and asked everyone to continue their journey to Chang'an.
Li Jue was puzzled. Guanxi was finished before his eyes, so he still had to pay tribute? Isn't this stupid?
But Li Ru was the instigator, and Li Jue was a little unsure of his own culture, so he followed suit honestly.
The next day, Li Ru led the envoy to the outskirts of Chang'an. The personnel from the Guanxi court who received him here had been waiting for several days and finally received the envoy from Hedong.
But the officials who received the reception were obviously very anxious, but when they sent Li Ru and others into the city, they still did not enter the city directly through Qingming Gate in the east. Instead, they took a big detour and entered the city through Anmen in the south. .
Along this way, there are more than ten miles of ruins and tombs, which are all dilapidated.
After all, Chang'an has only recently been taken seriously. In the past, it was regarded as the Xijing, that is, it was given a little more attention in the city. The Piyong, Ancestral Temple, and Sheji in the south of the city have all been repaired by the previous dynasty. Over the years, the rain and wind have made it full of desolation. .
Later, Li Ru found out why he took a detour to the south gate to enter the city on that day. It turned out that the Qingming Gate on the east side was full of retreating soldiers, and these people were stationed outside the city to prepare for reorganization.
The Kansai court did not want the Hedong mission to see these failures, so they took this detour.
However, despite all the concealments, the Kansai court undoubtedly attached great importance to the Hedong mission.
Not only did Da Honglu go out of the suburbs to greet him against the rules, but he also brought an old acquaintance of Li Ru with him.
He is Cao Quan, the original commander of Heyang. It turns out that Li Ru was from Heyang, Zuofeng Yi, Guan Nei. It was Cao Quanpi who promoted him to the county office, so he had a meager salary to support his family.
It can be said that Cao Quan was Li Ru's first nobleman.
Sure enough, Li Ru was also very excited when he saw the former holder of the title in the crowd. He bowed to Cao Quan when he stepped forward, and then greeted the Guanxi court politely.
Cao Quan was also very emotional. The former Dou Shi official, just because he was with the right person, has now reached a stage where he and even Jiu Qing are required to go out of the suburbs to meet him. Who would have thought of this?
Although the court was not in such a state because of what Li Ru did, but because of Dong Zhuo, the governor of Hedong behind him, this was already astonishing.
The reason why the Guanxi court treated the Hedong envoys with such courtesy was certainly not because of the Chiyan, which was less than a hundred cars away. Of course, these were naturally valuable, especially to the now impoverished Guanxi.
But what was really valued by the Kansai court was that this batch of pool salt was a tribute from the Hedong governor.
The system of soil tribute has its origin. Any local specialty products that are better, such as rice, wine, salt, dried and fresh fruits, ginseng and antler medicines, wild game, fresh fish from rivers and lakes, or clothing and utensils, to name a few, must be presented to the royal family for royal use. , sacrifices, banquets, and military needs.
The system of local tribute also shows the superior-downward relationship between the local government and the central government.
For example, when Qi Huan attacked Chu in the past, he was disobedient because Chu refused to pay tribute to Qing Mao. Therefore, the tribute sent by the governor of Hedong is a symbol of the imperial court in Guanxi.
In fact, Dong Zhuo's vision and timing were particularly good. The current Kansai court really needs Dong Zhuo and his Hedong Group.
At this time, Guanxi had just been defeated outside the Pass and had lost the initiative to leave the Pass. Dong Zhuo was urgently needed to lead his Hedong Army to cut off the Kwantung Army's westward advance from the north.
So this time Dong Zhuo has something special to live in.
In the next few days, Li Ru not only paid a pilgrimage to Liu Hong, but also drank and chatted with the officials from Chang'an and the famous people from Guanxi. It was as if Li Ru was really one of them, and it was as if there were not tens of thousands of people outside Guan who were singing and dancing. The heroes of Kanto.
Li Ru listened to a lot and read a lot, but said very little. After all, Li Ru was sober and had no hallucinations. He knew why he was being treated so politely and he also knew what he was doing here.
Soon, the Hedong mission embarked on the reverse journey.
This time, a petty official named Meng Da took Li Ru and the others back as a companion.
Because the Weihan Passage outside Hangu Pass was no longer safe, Li Ru and the others did not take this road on their return trip this time. Instead, they planned to go north of Chang'an and take the Pujin Road.
In fact, from the route, we can also understand why the Eastern and Western courts were competing to win over Dong Zhuo, the governor of Hedong.
Because there are three routes to Guanzhong in Hedong alone.
The first one was Wei Hantong, who Li Ru and the others left when they came.
This is the road between Xin'an and Yiyang. The western section of this road is separated from the eastern part by only a large river. It has been an important place to enter the customs since ancient times. At that time, the red eyebrows who were in the Guangwu Pass were stationed on this road, and then more than 100,000 red eyebrows were forced to land here.
And further back, when the Qin State was about to leave the country, get a glimpse of the King of Zhou, and aspire to conquer the Central Plains, it was also here that it was anxious with the Korean army.
But there are still some things to pay attention to when going down the Xiaohan Road from the south of Henan.
Because there are two natural barriers between Hedong Basin and Xiaohan Road. One is the winding Zhongtiao Mountain, and the other is the raging river.
Therefore, although Hedong borders Guanluo, there are only two mountain roads where we can actually march.
One is the Yuban Road to the east. Starting from Anyi, you can go directly to Sanmenxia, then cross from Shaanxi to Jin, and then go to Shaanxian to enter the customs. This is the road Li Ru and others took.
One is the Baixing Road in the west, which starts from Jie County, crosses Zhongtiao, and then takes the Shaanxi-Jin Ferry, and can also enter the customs in Shaanxian County.
Among them, Shaanjin is undoubtedly the only ferry crossing from Hedong to Weihantong. This ferry is also a very important one among the many ferry crossings on the river.
From here you can go west to Hangu and directly to Guanzhong. Or go east to Xin'an and go directly to Yiluo. And because the river suddenly converges from Sanmenxia, the river bed is narrow, only more than 70 feet wide, making it very convenient to cross.
Of course, there is not only this one ferry on the river east of Hedong, there are also two crossings, Zhujin and Fenglingdu, from east to west. But as far as Xiaohan Road is concerned, Shaanxi and Tianjin are the most important.
Now, this road cannot be taken, and Li Ru can only take Pujin Road in the north, which is also the most convenient road between Hedong and Chang'an, and is also the most important reason for Luoyang to win over Dong Zhuo.
It turns out that taking this route can directly bypass Hangu Pass and enter the Weibei Plain directly.
From Hedong Anyi, Wenxi and other places, you can go down the Sushui River in Neijun, either by boat or by land along the coast, to reach Pujin Ferry, the ferry of the river. Then cross the shore to Linjin County of Zuo Fengyi on the opposite side. Finally, you can go straight through the Weibei Plain and arrive at Guanzhong.
It can be said that this road is the intersection between east and west and the control hub of Yong, Bing and Yu. Its gains and losses are extremely important to both Kanto and Kansai.
Let's put it this way, it is still very difficult for the Guandong court to break through Hangu Pass head-on, but once Pujin can be won, entering the pass will be a matter of time. Because of this, for the Kansai court, this Pujin Road is also their lifeline and cannot be lost.
So, you know how liveable Dong Zhuo is!
In fact, in addition to the Xiaohan Road that Li Ru took when entering the customs and the Pujin Road that he took when leaving the customs, there is another road that is also very important, and that is the Longmen Road. However, this road is further north of the east side of the river and has limited impact on the current east-west confrontation.
But if Dong Zhuo suddenly changes his mind and brings troops into the pass, then Longmen Dao will come in handy.
I just don’t know if Dong Zhuo will ever use this path one day, hehe!
...Because they took different paths, Li Ru and others were able to examine the actual situation in Kansai from another direction.
The road was not smooth and it rained heavily. Li Ru and others stopped at Zuo Fengyi's Wannian. They saw the strong men urged by the Kansai court to go south along the official road. And the scene of the officials in the Wannian area going on a long march to become young men only made people write another article "The Officials in Ten Thousand Years".
But Li Ru also discovered something in Kansai that should not be underestimated during this process. That was this road, with an endless stream of grain transport teams under various banners. Li Ru was a local of Zuo Fengyi, so of course he knew that these banners were from the most powerful families in the county.
Obviously, this time the Kansai family really made a fortune. Maybe it was the crisis that brought these people together, maybe it was the emperor's promise, or maybe it was the resentment of the past two hundred years. In short, this time the Kansai families are really bleeding.
Perhaps in order to catch up with some military operations, the camel animals that died along the road were just dismembered on the spot, with large pieces of meat taken, and the rest was left to the local homeless people.
Li Ru regarded Guanxi Ding's behavior of going to the battlefield and the woman winning food as the unyielding spirit of the old Guanxi people. In his opinion, the resilience of the Kansai court is obviously not small.
But the accompanying envoy Meng Da didn't think so. The son of the Liangzhou governor obviously felt that this journey was not honorable. Especially at his age, it is the time when he is at his best.
So along the way, he looked gloomy and said nothing. I just want to take them to Pujin as soon as possible so that I can pay this job.
But Li Ru was well-connected and saw that this noble young man named Meng Da was the kind of person who would follow what he said, so he flattered him and let him know some details of the defeat outside the pass from Meng Da. .
In Meng Da's words, this was just a minor setback. He was a avant-garde captain. Now the armies from the east were recruiting him, and Yang Biao, who was holding a battle at Hangu Pass, did so carelessly.
As for any carelessness or minor setback, Meng Da was very tight-lipped. No matter what Li Ru said, he just hesitated.
Li Ru knew that he couldn't get any more information, so he had to chat with Meng Da about old things between the two capitals, just to pass the time.
Soon, the boring journey finally ended.
They finally arrived at Linjindu, opposite Pujin where Liu Hong's confidant Gao Hong was stationed.
Pujin theoretically belongs to Hedong County's control, but how could Liu Hong give his throat to others, so he asked Gao Hong to control it long before entering the customs.
After being sent here, Mengda's mission is over.
Meng Da said some polite words of farewell to Li Ru, and then pretended to be reluctant to leave. And Li Ru was also feeling sad, saying goodbye and wondering how long it would be before we see each other again. It’s not that there aren’t any willow trees nearby, Li Ru would have a willow-breaking expression.
No matter how many false politenesses there are, separation is inevitable.
After sending Li Ru and others onto the long boat, unmooring and launching the boat, Meng Da paid a distant bow to Li Ru on the boat and left silently.
Li Ru looked at the backs of Meng Da and others, also thinking deeply.
Is Kansai strong or weak?
……
The delegation from Hedong left, and the ministers at Chang'an court breathed a sigh of relief.
They are really vain. Maintaining the peaceful and prosperous times for those few days has been too much for these Kansai ministers to cope with.
From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, the situation in the world has gradually become clearer.
Now it can be said that the Heavenly Pillar of the Han Dynasty has collapsed, and it is now three points.
Among them, Liu Hong is related to Long, Henan's powerful people are related to the west, and the Taiping rebellion is related to Hebei. Among the three, the Guandong court supported by the powerful forces in Henan is the strongest and occupies the richest area in the world.
Followed by the Taiping remnants of Hebei and the Taishan bandits. Hebei was originally the place where the Han family made money and food, and was already wealthy. Fortunately, Hebei also had three points.
The north is still under the control of the Han family governors. With the support of local powerful forces and the military support of the Lu Zhi Army in Youzhou behind them, these county guards also occupy the four counties of Changshan, Zhongshan, Hejian, and Bohai. Still powerful.
In the central part of the country, most of the Julu County, Anping Kingdom, and Qinghe Kingdom were occupied by the Hebei Yellow Turbans. But most of the cities in these areas were still in the hands of the Han Dynasty. Among them, Julu, Anping, and Ganling were the centers of the Han Dynasty in these areas, like three fortresses, firmly anchored in the waist and abdomen of the Yellow Turbans in Hebei.
Finally, the southern part of Zhao State, Wei County, and northern Hanoi were occupied by the Taishan Army. The court in Kansai has no way of knowing what the specific situation is in this area. Anyway, it has been a long time since the post horse Yu Xi has been sent to these areas.
Putting aside the above, the last thing is their own Guanlong.
They are really poor in Guanlong. Now they already know that northern Jingzhou, Yuzhou, most of Xuzhou, most of Yanzhou, and some prefectures and counties in Qingzhou have sent Shangji and envoys to the imperial court in Guandong, and have sided with the Guandong camp.
The above areas are the areas with the most densely populated Han Dynasty and the most developed economy and culture. Even to tell a joke, they are the strongest in terms of military strength.
In addition to inheriting most of the military power of the Northern Army, the powerful people in the Kanto area all have very sophisticated soldiers. In terms of absolute combat power, it may be slightly inferior to the Kansai soldiers, but they have many soldiers and generals.
It can be said that the imperial court in Guandong, the Jianghuai River in the South Pole, the sea corner in the east, and the Heshuo River in the north are the lands of the Six Kingdoms, and there are already four of them. There are already half of them in the world who are talented and brave. It can be said that it is a super size lead.
And what about their own Kansai?
It was already in decline during the Pre-Han Dynasty, and after the Xinmang Chaos, it was even more dilapidated. Then he was transferred to the Pingqiang for a hundred years, which is truly a destitution.
Even the Guanlong area has no potential. Because of the long-term neglect of the Guanlong area, both the inns, pavilions and water conservancy facilities have long been deserted and shut down.
Although Liu Hong's frame has been repaired by capable veterans after it entered the customs, what progress can be made in the short term?
Therefore, if what Li Ru saw and heard was just disappointment about the future of Guanxi, then the officials of Guanlong who were more familiar with the inside story were already in despair.
The struggle at this moment is just due to the inertia of obeying the authority of the Han Dynasty, or the dissatisfaction with the suppression of Kansai by Kanto for two hundred years.
After all, these Guanlong families have memories. Most of their clans have written documents since the Six Kingdoms period, or even earlier than the Spring and Autumn Period. The history of the family and the region are very clear.
Those Guizhou people who have only lived for twenty years may inherently think that Guandong people are more expensive. But who knows, we Kansai talents should be among the best in the world.
It was our ancestor Jian Shang who established the Tianzhou Dynasty eight hundred years ago. It was also our ancestor who followed King Qin out of the border and swept across the world.
Why, just because you from Kanto won once two hundred years ago, do you want to overtake in a corner?
So they are not convinced! But what can you do if you don’t accept it?
Now, the situation is like this, where can their way out be?
It was also at this time that a letter sent from Hangu Pass brought them the answer.
Do you want to draw this entry route for everyone? In fact, it is still very important. If you have the opportunity to visit Shaanxi in the future, I believe you will be even more impressed.
(End of chapter)