Across the Water Margin: Officials of Ximen

Xiaoshan, named after the ancient Xiaoxian County, also known as Weishan Mountain and Yaoshan Mountain, is located in the Yellow River Basin between Chang'an and Luoyang. It is often called Xiaohan together with the nearby Hangu Pass. It is an important military strategy in ancient China. It is famous for its precipitous, strong passes, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, in the 33rd year of Duke Xi, the Jin people and Jiang Rong defeated the Qin army in Wei, which is the ancient battlefield.

Xiaoshan is also the watershed between the Yellow River and its tributary, the Luohe River. The valley of the Yellow River in the north of the mountain is deep and fast, which is spectacular.

This Xiaoshan is a dangerous place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack!

Ximenqing took the opportunity to exchange military tactics with Yue Fei and others, pointing to the dangerous places of Xiaoshan and the Yellow River, discussing how to use troops along the way.

Ximen Qing secretly remembered this place for soldiers.

After passing Xiaoshan, Ximenqing and his party also arrived at Shanzhou on Yongxingjun Road from Northwest Beijing Road.

After resting in the city of Shanzhou for a day, Ximenqing led the crowd across the Yellow River by boat and arrived at Jiezhou on Yongxing Army Road.

Jiezhou, that is, Xieliang, is now also known as Pudong. This place is the hometown of Guan Yu, a famous general of the Three Kingdoms.

Ximen Qing came here, of course, to pay a visit to the brave general "Big Sword" Guan Sheng.

It is said that Guan Sheng is the direct descendant of Guan Yu, the famous general of the Three Kingdoms. His appearance is quite similar to that of his ancestor Guan Yu.

It is a pity that in the Song Dynasty, literature was more important than military affairs. Although Guan Sheng was familiar with military books and martial arts, he could only serve as a patrol inspector in Pudong in Xiezhou, and he was always a subordinate.

Historically, "Big Sword" Guan Sheng was recommended by his friend "Ugly County Horse" Xuanzan to Prime Minister Cai Jing to lead the army to attack Liangshanbo and rescue Beijing Daming Mansion.

As a result, although "Big Sword" Guan Sheng has high martial arts skills and is good at using soldiers, he still fell into Liang Shanbo's treacherous tricks.

"Double Whip" Hu Yanzhuo feigned surrender to Guan Sheng, lured Guan Sheng to rob the stronghold, and led him into an ambush by the Liangshan Army.

Guan Sheng was captured alive by Liang Shanjun with a hook, and his lieutenants Xuan Zan and Hao Siwen were also captured one after another.

Forced to helplessness, Guan Sheng after Zhongliang had no choice but to surrender to the Liangshan Army, and became the leader of the five tiger generals on Liangshan Horse, serving Song Jiang, Wu Yong and other traitors.

The current generation Ximen Qing came across and killed all the bandits in Liangshanpo. Not only did it save millions of people in Daming Mansion, but it also saved Guan Sheng's reputation.

Since this Guan Sheng received Ximen Qing's kindness in secret, he must serve Ximen Qing to repay his kindness!

Ximen Qing's trip, that is, when he was investigating the geography and human relations in Guanzhong, he first got to know Guan Sheng by the way, and he was just familiar with him, and he didn't have a clear plan.

This Guan Sheng didn't go to Liangshan to be a robber. As long as he didn't die, he would meet Ximen Qing in the battle of Jingkang between Song and Jin sooner or later.

At that time, maybe we can take the opportunity to subdue this "big sword" Guan Sheng.

Ximenqing came to Jiezhou with the purpose of forming a bond with Guan Sheng, but unfortunately he was unlucky and did not see Guan Sheng himself in the city inspection department.

When visiting the door, the soldiers guarding the gate of the inspection department told Ximen Qing that the inspector Guan Sheng had already led the troops out of the city to patrol, and he would not return to the city for ten and a half months.

Ximenqing gave five taels of silver to the soldier guarding the gate, and asked him carefully. He found out that Guan Sheng, as the patrol envoy of Pudong, had always been dedicated to his duties. Catch criminals in the tube.

This Jiezhou is not a border area, why is it so unsafe and needs Guan Sheng to lead troops to patrol around?

Suspicions floated in Ximen Qing's mind.

You know, Guan Sheng held the post of patrol inspection in Pudong, the official signature is the inspection department, the official name is the inspection envoy, and the province is called the inspection.

The official position of this inspection began with Li Cunxu, Emperor Zhuangzong of the Tang Dynasty after the Five Dynasties.In the Song Dynasty, this official system was inherited, and there were two inspectors in each of the east and west roads of the capital's mansion, and one inspector in each of the four gates of the capital.Responsible for Gyeonggi border patrol.

Later, the Song court set up inspection departments along the border, along the river, and along the coast.The inspectors of the inspection department are in charge of training armored soldiers and patrolling prefectures and towns. They have a lot of power and are later controlled by the county magistrate.

In other words, Guan Sheng is in charge of the armed patrols in Jiezhou, responsible for maintaining local order.

This kind of position is not of high rank, and is subject to the restraint of the county magistrate. It is just another low-level military position in the local area.

Except for Gyeonggi and the border areas, most of the inspection departments in other hinterland states and counties spend three days fishing and two days drying nets, and the inspection envoys rarely lead troops on patrol in person.Who works so hard like Guan Sheng?

Under Ximenqing's questioning, the soldier guarding the gate told Ximenqing the truth. It turned out that although Jiezhou is located in the hinterland, far away from Yan'an Mansion and other places adjacent to Xixia, the place is not peaceful, and there are thieves and strongmen from time to time.

The reason for this situation is that there is a Dayanchi lake with a circumference of more than 100 miles in the east of Jiezhou City, which is a famous salt-producing area in the Song Dynasty.

Since the Han Dynasty, salt from Jiezhou Salt Pond has been exported to Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Gansu, Shaanxi and other places.

In the Song Dynasty, because of the war with Xixia, the imperial court banned the buying and selling of salt produced in the major salt lakes in Xixia, in order to hit the economy of Xixia.And this also caused the price of salt in Gansu, Shaanxi and other places to rise sharply, making the salt produced in Jiezhou Salt Lake even more precious.

Although the imperial court implemented a monopoly of salt and iron, intending to control the production and sales of salt in Yanchi and monopolize its profits, the high profits still gave rise to many desperadoes who sold private salt.

Around the salt pond in Jiezhou, there are many underworld salt lords like Li Jun and Xu Wen, who rob salt fields and sell salt smuggledly, and don't pay attention to the government.

Guan Sheng, a dedicated patrol envoy, usually catches illegal salt dealers.

Chapter 731 Desperate to Capture Guan Sheng

The soldiers at the gate of the Ximen Qing's inspection office got the benefits of Ximen Qing, so naturally they had nothing to say to Ximen Qing. He told Ximen Qing that the Guan inspection led the troops out of the city this time, and they had to walk around Yanchi and arrive at Yanchi. After Anyi County in the east, return to Jiezhou City.

After this trip, the customs inspectors will have to investigate and arrest private salt dealers, and they will not return without ten days.

The soldier said to Ximen Qingjian, if the officials are eager to see the inspection team, they can go out of the east gate to Yanchi and catch up to Anyi County, maybe they can meet the inspection team on the way.If you are not in a hurry, you can also leave a message for him at the inspection house in Chengbeiguan.The parents and wife are present at Guan Xunjian's home, so Ximenqing can visit him.

Hearing this, Ximenqing pondered for a moment, then asked the soldier if he knew a good friend Hao Siwen who was in the inspection, but he was in the city.

After hearing this, the soldier smiled and replied to Ximen Qingdao, Hao Siwen and Guan Xunjian are sworn brothers, and they are also a hero in Xiezhou City.He often discusses the ups and downs of ancient and modern times with Guan Xunjian in the yamen, or dances guns and clubs to learn martial arts. Who doesn't know him in the inspection department's yamen?It's a pity that Hao Siwen also went out of Xunyanchi with Guan Xunjian, and he is not in the city at the moment.

Isn't "Jing Muyan" Hao Siwen not in the city?

Ximenqing sighed, it seems that Guan Sheng and Hao Siwen are indeed out of luck this time.The debt of favor that Hao Siwen owes to himself can only be settled slowly in the future.

Why does Ximenqing think that Hao Siwen owes him a favor?Just because Ximen Qing crossed over and changed the history of the Liangshan Army, it was equivalent to saving Hao Siwen's life.

In the original history, "Jing Muyan" Hao Siwen can be regarded as the leader who died the worst among the Liangshan bandits.

"Jingmuyan" Hao Siwen followed Guan Sheng to conquer Liangshanbo, but was captured alive by Hu Sanniang, and surrendered to the Liangshanbo robbers together with Guan Sheng.

When the seats were ranked in Liangshan Dajuyi, Hao Siwen ranked No. 40 because he was the confidant of Guan Sheng, the five tiger generals of the Ma Army. He and Xuanzan guarded the Zhengdong Dry Village together.

Hao Siwen's ranking is not low among the [-] generals of the Liangshanbo robbers.

It's a pity that when Song Jiangnan conquered Fang La, Hao Siwen was captured alive by Fang La's army in Hangzhou City, and Fang Tianding cut him to pieces and died, and his head was displayed to the public.

Hao Siwen was the worst among the Liangshanbo robbers who died from being hacked into pieces.

If Ximen Qing hadn't come across and planned to destroy the bandits in Liangshanbo and Fang La's rebel army, Hao Siwen would have died tragically in Hangzhou by now.So Ximen Qing thought that he owed him a favor, and there was indeed nothing wrong with him.

How can you not repay the benefits of Ximen Qing's officials?Thinking about it, that fellow is not a wealthy person, and in the future he can only use his martial arts to serve the officials of Ximen Qing.

After Ximenqing asked about the situation of Guan Sheng and Hao Siwen, he left the Yamen of the Pudong Inspection Department, found a restaurant in Jiezhou City, and drank with Jiao Ting and others while thinking about what to do next.

This trip to the west, to visit Guan Sheng and the two in Xiezhou is just a side trip, Ximen Qing will not deliberately go out of the city to look for Guan Sheng around the Great Salt Pond.

Ximenqing is now wealthy and powerful, and his subordinates are also like a cloud of fierce generals. Luan Tingyu, Wang Jin, Shi Jin, and Xu Wen all have undue courage. Jiang Zhong, Jiao Ting, Xu Ning, Yue Fei and other brothers are also highly skilled in martial arts. There is also Hu Sanniang, a tigress who was able to capture Hao Siwen alive.