Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Although the magistrate of Yanggu County wanted to help the disaster, the county treasury did not have much money and food, so there was nothing to help.As a last resort, he had no choice but to report to the magistrate of Yunzhou City for help, and at the same time contact the local rich man to help.

Ximenqing is the richest man in Yanggu County, and he has a close relationship with the magistrate Xianggong. Therefore, the magistrate first approached Ximenqing, hoping that he would generously donate money, set up more porridge sheds, and help the victims of Cangzhou.

Cangzhou is the place where Liangshan hero "Leopard Head" Lin Chong was married, and it is also the place where "Little Whirlwind" Chai Jinchai is located!I don't know if such a big flood accidentally drowned that "little whirlwind" Chai Jin?

The county magistrate Xianggong is worthy of being a scholar who came from the imperial examination and has a wide range of knowledge.From his mouth, Ximenqing understood why Cangzhou was regarded as a far-evil military state for distributing felons, and why there was such a huge flood.

Cangzhou got its name because it is on the verge of the Bohai Sea.It was first built in the second year of Xiping, Emperor Xiaoming of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and Cangzhou was built in the land of Ying and Jizhou, which means the sea.

For Cangzhou, it took tens of thousands of years for the transformation from the sea to the mulberry field to become a reality, but on the same piece of land, the transformation from the mulberry field to the sea can be completed almost instantly.Among them, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the main factor that caused Cangzhou to "turn the mulberry field into the sea".

Over the past dynasties, due to improper management and the continuous invasion of the Yellow River, the canal that has been blessed for thousands of miles has become the instigator of floods in the land of Cangzhou.

Before the Western Han Dynasty, the major rivers on the Hebei Plain, such as the Yellow River, the Hutuo River, the Luo River, and Zhishui, all flowed into the sea alone.In the 11th year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty, after Cao Cao excavated a Pinglu Canal from the Hutuo River to the Luo River, all major rivers on the Hebei Plain flowed into Jizhou and entered the sea, and the Haihe River system was formed.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, social contradictions intensified, warlords separated each other, and peasant uprisings formed a chaotic situation of mutual attacks.After Yuan Shao and Cao Cao failed in the decisive battle at Guandu, Cao Cao launched a strategic attack on Yuan Shao's forces in Hebei.

After Yuan Shao's sons Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang were lost in Hebei, they went north and colluded with Wuhuan Tadun to continuously harass the border and plunder people and property.

In order to relieve the border troubles in the north and then free up his hands to unify China, Cao Cao planned to conquer Wuhuan in the north.

People and horses have not moved, food and grass must go first.Cao Cao knew that in the area of ​​the Hebei Plain, due to the repeated breaches and diversions of the Yellow River, there were many huge lakes, "shallow enough for cars and horses, deep enough for boats."He decided that Dong Zhao would be responsible for digging two north-south waterways: Quanzhou Canal and Pinglu Canal.

In the 11th year of Jian'an, the Pinglu Canal was dug, and the Quanzhou Canal and Xingou were connected, and the grain transport ships could reach Zhuojun directly.

In May of the following year, the 53-year-old Cao Cao adopted the suggestion of the counselor Guo Jia to "expedition to the virtual country".He personally led an army of 20 and thousands of chariots to march north to Wuhuan. Using the local Tian Chou as a guide, he dispatched surprise troops to capture Liucheng.

In this Northern Expedition, Cao Cao beheaded the leader of Wuhuan, Tadun, broke through the three prefectures of Wuhuan, eliminated Yuan Shao's sons Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang and other Yuan clan forces who had fled there, unified northern China, and ended the division of northern China.It can be said that it has successfully achieved its own strategic goals.

It was after the great victory of the Northern Expedition to Wuhuan that Cao Cao passed Jieshi on his way back to his teacher in September, and wrote the famous poem "Guan Canghai", expressing his joy after victory.

Immediately afterwards, Cao Cao wrote another poem "The Life of the Turtle", which further expressed his great ambitions: "The old man is standing still, his ambition is a thousand miles away; the martyr's old age, his ambition is endless." determination.

Cao Cao did not expect that the Pinglu Canal he dug would become the beginning of the North-South Grand Canal.

In the fourth year of Sui Daye, Emperor Sui Yang needed to transport troops and food northward in order to conquer Goguryeo.He imitated Cao Cao's method and conscripted more than a million men and women from various counties in Hebei. The canals and others constitute the Grand Canal that runs more than [-] miles from north to south.

It's a pity that although Emperor Sui Yang built the Grand Canal and was able to transfer grain from the south of the Yangtze River to the north, he still failed to complete the feat of conquering Goguryeo.On the contrary, because of laboring the people and wasting money, it touched the interests of aristocratic families everywhere, sparked civil uprisings, and finally ruined a dynasty and became the king of subjugation.

However, the Grand Canal built by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty has beneficially promoted the transportation between the north and the south of China, benefiting future generations for more than 1000 years.

It's a pity that other places have benefited from the canal, and Cangzhou has borne the consequences of the changes in the rivers of the Hebei Plain, and has become an unfortunate place.

The canal in Cangzhou was called Yuhe or Weihe at that time, and became part of the Haihe River system.The artificially excavated canal caused the confluence of many rivers in Jizhou, which also caused serious consequences for the drainage problem of the Haihe River Basin.

During the rainy season from June to September in summer and autumn, when the Zhang River, Hutuo River, and Wei River swell at the same time, almost the entire Hebei Plain will suffer from floods, especially Cangzhou.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through Cangzhou for more than 400 miles. Whenever the water rises, the canal becomes an important channel for the river to vent its tyranny.Due to the canal's "large water channel is narrow, not to mention undisturbed, and many streams are blocked", the river channel often bursts its embankment.

In the Song Dynasty, the Yuhe River in Cangzhou, Hebei Province was captured by the Yellow River North River for five or sixty years, resulting in repeated dredging and silting of the Yuhe River.

Therefore, Cangzhou will encounter floods almost every year, the difference is only the size of the disaster.

Because Jizhou, which suffers from floods every year and is adjacent to the Liao Kingdom in the north, is a border defense place, this Cangzhou has become a far-evil military state assigned by the imperial court to commit serious offenders, and also a hiding place for fugitives and robbers traveling from south to north. land.

That "little whirlwind" Chai Jin, a descendant of Chai Shizong from the previous dynasty, was placed in this dilapidated place. Although he had no worries about food and clothing, and there were no iron scrolls, his dissatisfaction could be imagined.

It's no wonder that after Chai Jin and Chai officials eat and drink enough every day, they don't do other good things, and they only do the job of taking in the heroes who broke the law and causing trouble for the court.

Chapter 258 The Ultimate Scumbag Dong Ping

As a descendant of the former royal family who has no worries about food and clothing, he should have lived his life as a rich man in a down-to-earth manner.However, Chai Jin secretly colluded with the gangsters of the rivers and lakes, and supported bandit gangs like Liang Shanbo since Wang Lun's time.

If Chai Jin didn't have any other intentions, I'm afraid it would be difficult to convince everyone.It can even be said that "little whirlwind" Chai Jin is the shadow brother behind the development of Shuibo Liangshan.

However, although this guy is not a good bird, he is a good bird, but his family is rich and powerful, he has many younger brothers, and his family has lived in Cangzhou for many generations.

Don't say that half of the people in Cangzhou were drowned by the flood, even if [-]% of the people there were killed, I'm afraid Chai Jin could escape.

After Ximenqing had a discussion with the county magistrate, Chai Jin's life and death was not what he was most concerned about.Ximen Qing was more interested in another piece of information provided by the county magistrate.

According to the county magistrate, Cangzhou, Hebei is located on the remote border of Song and Liao, where fugitives gather, and the frequent military disasters and floods have fostered a fierce and martial atmosphere among the local people.

There are many people in Cangzhou who practice martial arts, and they are brave and aggressive, so the government is afraid that they will go all the way south to seek refuge in the Liangshan River, which will increase the momentum of the bandits.

In order to appease these victims, the Yunzhou government will follow the old system and select and recruit some strong refugees among these victims as the imperial army and Xiang army, so as to prevent the refugees from rebelling.According to the news from the prefecture, Dong Ping, the Military and Horse Superintendent of Dongping Prefecture, Yunzhou, is in charge of recruiting the Jin and Xiang troops.

"Merry Two Guns" Dong Ping?Ximenqing remembered that this guy was from Shangdang County, Hedong.He has a handsome appearance, a dignified appearance, and a clever mind. "Three teachings and nine streams, he knows everything, and he knows everything by tasting bamboo and tuning strings."

Dong Ping is a big scum in history!It can be regarded as one of the most despicable people among Liangshan heroes.

Dong Ping took a fancy to the daughter of Cheng Wanli, the prefect of Dongping Prefecture, and proposed marriage to Cheng Wanli.It's a pity that Cheng Wanli didn't like this flamboyant general, so he politely refused him and didn't agree to Dong Ping's marriage proposal.

Dong Ping held a grudge, and was captured when he went out of the city to fight the Liangshan bandits, and immediately surrendered to the Liangshan bandits shamelessly.He led the robbers to break through Dongping Mansion, killed the prefect Cheng Wanli's family with his own hands, but took away his daughter, and forcibly took him to Liangshan to occupy him as his wife.

Killing the old father-in-law and the mother-in-law, but marrying the old father-in-law's daughter by force, what kind of vile and shameless person must be able to do this?I'm afraid even the lecherous and vulgar "dwarf tiger" Wang Ying should be ashamed of herself!

Since Ximenqing traveled to Yanggu County, although he was not far from Dongping Mansion, he had never had any contact with Dong Ping, the military supervisor, and it can be said that well water does not violate river water, and each walks in his own way.Only this time, Ximenqing decided to recruit a large number of strong martial arts fighters from the disaster victims in Cangzhou. I'm afraid it was inevitable that he would have some entanglements with Dong Ping.

Furthermore, the daughter of the magistrate of Cheng claims to be very beautiful, and her beauty is so beautiful that Dong Ping, who has played all the beautiful tricks in Goulan Washe in Dongping Prefecture, can't forget it. Heart.

This time, with me as a senior official, Ximen, no matter what, we can't let the tragedy happen again.The flower of Cheng Zhifu's daughter can no longer be planted on Dong Ping's stinky arrow!

After discussing with the county magistrate, Ximenqing promised to the magistrate that he would try his best to resettle and rescue more Cangzhou victims, and would persuade Dulonggang Hujiazhuang, Zhujiazhuang and other county manors to work together to help the victims.

The county magistrate was overjoyed when he heard the words, and said that after the matter was completed, he would report Ximen Qing's righteous deeds to the imperial court and obtain a commendation and reward for Ximen Qing.

Ximenqing's current attitude towards the imperial court is ambiguous, cooperating to seek his own interests, but not getting too deep.Therefore, he didn't expect to get a half-job through this matter.Otherwise, how could Ximenqing completely pass over Qingzhou and Jiangzhou's achievements in breaking the thieves?

However, Ximenqing is willing to further improve his reputation among scholars through disaster relief.Therefore, he did not object to the county magistrate promoting the matter.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Ximen Qing bid farewell to the county magistrate and returned to his mansion.

Calling a few brothers from Shang County and Ximen Zhong who runs a raw medicine shop, Ximen Qing and his party left Yanggu County and returned to Ximenbao.

As soon as he left the gate of the county seat, Ximenqing saw that many straw huts had been newly built outside the city gate, and many unkempt victims were sitting in the huts for shelter.

Beside the city gate, the county magistrate was leading people to set up a few large iron pots and cook gruel there.Relying on the daily rice porridge donated by the county, these victims on the edge of the city can barely survive.

Seeing Ximen Qing and his party coming out of the city on horseback, the county magistrate looked at Ximen Qing with a wry smile, and shouted: "Your Majesty Ximen, the road has not been very peaceful these two days, you must be careful!"

Ximen Qing returned a salute immediately, and thanked him: "Brother Duomeng reminded me, I am very grateful! The magistrate and the county magistrate have told me about the situation here. After returning to Ximen Fort next time, we will immediately organize disaster relief!"

"It's really a blessing for all the disaster victims that the senior officials of Ximen can contribute, and I, Yanggu County, have no worries!" There was a smile on the county official's face.

After saying this, Ximen Qing bowed his hands to the county magistrate, rode forward, and left Yanggu County with a team of more than a dozen people.

From Yanggu County to Ximenbao, along the way, you can see Cangzhou victims in twos and threes.Most of these victims looked exhausted and numb. When they saw Ximen Qing and his party, they stood on the side of the road and stretched out their hands to ask for alms.