weaving

Chapter 1485 Local Division
Yuan Shu was already worried that he would have difficulty controlling Luo Rucai and his gang of pacified bandits, but when he heard that the Earl of Yongning was going to help him form a standard battalion, he felt much more at ease.

Although his future standard battalion would only have two thousand men, he believed that with this battalion and his own prestige, Luo Rucai would no longer be allowed to run rampant in Suizhou City.

After all, Luo Rucai only had 3,000 soldiers in Suizhou.

Moreover, Yuan Shu also guessed that the purpose of the Earl of Yongning helping him establish the standard camp was nothing more than to use him to restrain Luo Rucai and prevent him from making any rash moves in Suizhou.

Even though there's a high chance that his own battalion might be directly controlled by the Earl of Yongning, it's still better than nothing. Besides, this battalion will have to recruit soldiers from the local area, and with his prestige, he might be able to control it!

The three chatted for a while longer, and Luo Rucai mentioned that he had prepared wine and dishes in the city and specially invited the Earl of Yongning to come into the city for a banquet.

They come, the security!
Since Zhang Cheng dared to come to Suizhou, he naturally wouldn't stay outside the city. Immediately, Luo Rucai, Yuan Shu, and the others escorted the Earl of Yongning, Zhang Cheng, out of the reception pavilion, mounted their horses, and headed straight for Suizhou City.

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Suizhou is described as "bound to the north by the Honghe River, connected to the Yangtze and Huai Rivers in the south, belonging to Bian and Luo in the west, and leading to Xu and Pei in the east, thus serving as a vital hub in the Central Plains." In reality, Suizhou City is divided into two cities, old and new, which are connected to each other to form a "凸"-shaped overall city layout.

Suizhou was formerly known as Xiangyi. In the fourth year of Chongning in the Northern Song Dynasty, Xiangyi was upgraded to Gongzhou, and the old city of Gongzhou, also known as Suizhou Old City, was rebuilt. Its scale was much larger than that of the old city of Xiangyi.

According to the revised Suizhou Gazetteer, the Gongzhou city wall, built during the Northern Song Dynasty, had a circumference of ten li and three hundred steps. However, during the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, frequent wars in the Central Plains led to the disrepair of the city and the destruction of most of the city walls.

In the early Ming Dynasty, in the twenty-second year of the Hongwu reign, the imperial court transferred the Jiancheng Guard under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Zhou's Mansion in Kaifeng to garrison Suizhou. It was then renamed Suiyang Guard. The commander of the guard at that time was Wu Zhong, who was ordered to lead his troops to rebuild Suizhou City.

Over the years, the terrain outside the city gradually rose due to the siltation caused by the repeated floods of the Yellow River, while the terrain inside the city became relatively lower and lower.

In the thirteenth year of the Chenghua reign, the Yellow River breached its banks again in Qi County, and the river water rushed into the city walls, eventually submerging the prefecture. All the government offices and civilian houses in the city were completely destroyed. Even after the water receded, the area of ​​waterlogged area in the city was still large, and the population that the prefecture could accommodate was greatly reduced.

However, outside the south gate of Suizhou City, there is a high hill running east to west, called "Phoenix Ridge", which stretches for more than ten miles. More than a thousand families of patients from the city who were seeking refuge from the flood moved to this place.

In the thirty-seventh year of the Jiajing reign, Zhang Huan, then the governor of Henan, came to Suizhou for inspection and ordered the construction of a new city in a densely populated area outside the south gate of the city.

The new city differs from the old city mainly in that the city walls of the new city are all made of bricks, while the city walls of the old city are made of rammed earth.

The city wall of the new city is ten li and two li long, and its height is more than 35 zhang. Its circumference is more than 3,800 steps. The city wall is covered with bricks inside and out, and there are seven city gates in total.

From then on, Suizhou had two cities, an old city and a new city, which were connected to each other. The old city was square and the new city was oval. The new city was long and the old city was narrow. Its shape was like the Chinese character "凸", and it was commonly known as Phoenix City.

Both the old and new city walls were surrounded by moats, with pontoon bridges built at the gates and willows planted to reinforce the riverbanks. Most official institutions, such as government offices, Confucian schools, granaries, prisons, the censorate, and garrisons, were located in the old city, while the new city consisted mostly of residential houses and shops.

From then on, the two cities of Suizhou coexisted and complemented each other's functions, becoming famous and important towns in the Central Plains.

By the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign, due to the increasing chaos caused by bandits, the old and new cities underwent large-scale repairs to prevent bandits from entering. The old city was originally an earthen city, so this time bricks and stones were added to the outside of the earthen walls. The gate towers, watchtowers, parapets, and sheep and horse walls were also renovated. The new city, which was originally a brick city, only underwent comprehensive repairs.

However, in March of this year, after the rebel leader Li Zicheng captured Suizhou, he ordered the people to demolish most of the city walls, especially the old city, and even filled in some of the moats. Although Luo Rucai broke away from Li Zicheng and led his army to Suizhou alone, he repaired the demolished city walls, but only rammed earth walls were built, and there was no time to cover them with bricks.

After Luo Rucai surrendered to the Earl of Yongning, he was appointed as the commander of the Suizhou Guard. He then led his troops to occupy the old city and moved into the Suizhou Prefectural Government Office to live and work.

The government offices in the old city, such as the Censorate and the Commander's Office, were mostly occupied by Luo Rucai's generals. Among them, Luo Daien occupied the Censorate, while Luo Daide occupied the Commander's Office.

The newly appointed Right Vice Minister of the Provincial Administration Commission and Circuit Intendant Yuan Shu had no choice but to move to the new city because all the government offices in the old city were occupied by Luo Rucai and his subordinates. He used his own family's Yuan Shangshu Mansion as his government office and started his business there.

This led to a new situation of separate governance within the same city of Suizhou!
The old city of Suizhou was mainly managed by Luo Rucai's Commandery, and all military affairs were handled from there; while the new city was mainly managed by Yuan Shu's Sub-Prefecture Office, and all government affairs and decrees of Suizhou were issued from there.

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Surrounded by a crowd, Marquis Zhang Cheng of Yongning entered the old city through the west gate of Suizhou.

Because today's banquet was hosted by Luo Rucai, and the venue was his office, in the back hall of the state government office in the old city of Suizhou, everyone entered the old city.

Only one hundred heavy cavalrymen accompanied the Earl of Yongning into the old city, while the remaining one hundred heavy cavalrymen, led by Hu Dayou, went to their garrison in the new city to arrange defenses.

The group soon arrived at the prefectural government office, dismounted, and entered through the ceremonial gate. The Cao camp soldiers standing guard along the way were all in high spirits, and most of their armor was new, showing that Luo Rucai and Ji Gui had put some thought into it.

The banquet was held in the main hall of the central courtyard, where only one octagonal table was set up. Luo Rucai first invited the Earl of Yongning to sit in the main seat, and then invited Yuan Shu and himself to sit on either side. Ji Gui sat to Luo Rucai's left, while Sun Shixiang and Hu Yiwen sat to Yuan Shu's left, followed by the registrar Wang Renzhe and the prefect Liang Ren.

In the left side hall, there was another table where Zhang Mingyuan, the central officer of the Earl of Yongning, Liu Chengzhu, the staff officer, Yang Shengzu, Yang Chengzhu, Wang Long, and Yang Mingqi, subordinates of Luo Rucai, as well as Luo Rucai's two uncles, Luo Daien and Luo Daide, were all seated.

The banquet went very smoothly, with everyone toasting and exchanging drinks, naturally centered around the Earl of Yongning, creating a harmonious and lively atmosphere.

During the banquet, the Earl of Yongning promised that after the reorganization of each camp was completed, the necessary military uniforms, armor, weapons, guns, ammunition, and other supplies would be provided as soon as possible. He also promised that each of the Cao camp soldiers who were eliminated would be given ten taels of silver to settle down and would be incorporated into the military settlements of Guide Prefecture.

The soldiers selected to stay in the camp were each given five taels of silver, and their monthly pay would be paid without delay. Luo Rucai, Ji Gui, and the others in Cao Cao's camp all applauded this.

Even Yang Shengzu, Yang Chengzhu, Wang Long, Yang Mingqi, Luo Daien, Luo Daide, and others who were having a meal in the side hall, came over to toast the Earl of Yongning after hearing about their appointment, to express their gratitude.

The only minor incident during this time was that the heavy cavalrymen accompanying the group did not drink a drop of alcohol, even when Luo Rucai personally went to offer them a toast.

Even if Luo Rucai came to the Earl of Yongning to plead, it would be to no avail. In the end, the Earl of Yongning simply ordered a few officers to stand up and each drink a bowl of wine, as a gesture of respect to Luo Rucai.

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At Shenshi (3-5 PM), the banquet had just ended. Under the escort of heavy cavalry, the Earl of Yongning, together with Yuan Shu, the governor, and others, left the state government office, exited the old city through the south gate, and entered the new city of Suizhou.