In the afternoon, Zhao Bing did not have further talks with Jiang Jin because he knew that his heart disease was worse than physical illness. His heart knot was suddenly opened and he put down his heavy burden, so he naturally felt more relaxed. However, he knew that this was just a treatment of symptoms but not the root cause. The injury was not achieved overnight. Physical injuries still needed care. If there was a "return to the sky", the joke would be a big joke.

After taking a break, Zhao Bing looked for a shade in the small garden in the backyard of the county government. After a little arrangement, he began to check out the new information and information about Xiangyang. Among them are the local chronicles collected by the Imperial Front Office along the way, notes and travel notes from previous generations, as well as the information sent by the Affairs Bureau recently. In short, the content is very complicated, involving all aspects of folk customs, folk customs, geography and other aspects of the Xiangyang area.

Zhao Bing spread several maps of Xiangyang in the past dynasties on the table table. These were found out before the imperial court and re-enlarged and copied them so that he could view them. The ancient maps were very painful to see. There was no scale, no contour, and no unified marking. They could only intuitively distinguish the direction from the surrounding mountains, rivers and villages. As for the accurate altitude, don’t think about the distance between the two places. They often only mark the distance from a certain place to a certain place.

Even though the map is so simple, Zhao Bing still attaches great importance to it, because over the past thousands of years, not only the terrain but also the landform will change, the rivers will change, the flow will be cut off, and the place names will also change. Therefore, we have to constantly compare, otherwise it is likely that the opposite will happen, and the donkey's lips are not right, which is fatal to the army's combat.

Zhao Bing is holding the Xiangyang City Map in his hand, which is the latest version drawn by the Bureau of Affairs. The tabletops are painted by the previous dynasty and those rebuilt by this dynasty. By comparing it, you can see the history of the construction of this city, so that you can find where the city defense has weaknesses. After all, there are differences in the process of building cities, materials and quality used in previous dynasties, and it is clear where it has been washed away by water and damaged in the war.

In terms of time, Xiangyang City has a history of more than 2,000 years. It was built in the Han Dynasty and rebuilt in the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Xiangyang City moved eastward and northward from the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty. In the first year of Shenlong, Zhang Jianzhi was the governor of Xiangzhou and met with the Han River soaring. He used the Xiangyang County Town of the Han Dynasty and the Xiangyang Prefecture City Wall to build a flood control embankment in the west of the city. At this point, the location of the Xiangyang City has stabilized, forming a square city with a height of nearly three zhang, a width of five zhang, a circumference of nine miles, and a radius of fifteen miles.

However, the renovation of Xiangyang City mainly occurred in the Song Dynasty. Especially after the Jingkang Incident, the Zhao Song moved south, and the military role of Xiangyang City was highlighted. During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong, Xiangyang City added and repaired the city. "The towers and zombies were all spectacular, and the forts were stopped. The slow road was scarce. The enemy attacked the city with great force. The distance was long, and reinforcements were difficult to support." In addition, "four forts were built and eleven slow roads were eleven" so that the army in the city could quickly climb the city to support the battle.

In the eleventh year of Chunyou, Li Zengbo, who had been appointed as the umpire and control commander of Jinghu, believed that the status of Ying and Xiang areas was very important, especially Xiangyang must not be abandoned. After restoring Yingzhou City, he asked the court for 15,000 troops to reinforce and support from money and grain, intending to recover Xiangyang. The court dispatched 8,000 people to support him from other places and allocated 10 million qian as military expenses.

In April of that year, Li Zengbo sent the deputy commander of Jing and E, Gundam and King Deng of the shogunate, to lead 21,000 Jinghu troops to attack the Mongolian army entrenched in Xiangyang. During the battle, the soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty fought bravely and stubbornly, and fought bloodyly, conquering Xiangyang and Fancheng in one fell swoop. After recapturing Xiangyang, Li Zengbo ordered the construction of the city and built 10,000 barracks in the city within two months for the purpose of garrison.

An urn city was built on the three gates in the southeast, south and west of Xiangyang City. Brick walls were built in important locations, horse faces and towers were built on the city walls, and Yanchi City, which extended to the riverside, was newly built in the northeast and northwest corners of the city, echoing the two urn city on the east and west corners of Fancheng, which reached the riverside, and enhanced the defense capabilities of the two cities in Xiangyang. Outside each city gate, there is an urn city, also known as the garrison city, which is used to garrison troops and store weapons, commonly known as Yuecheng, and there is a city tower on the city gate. After the reinforcement of Xiangyang City, the defense capability of Changjili around it was greatly enhanced.

The Madam City, located in the northwest corner of Xiangyang City, is a city outside the city closely connected to Xiangyang City. It was built by Mrs. Han, the general of the Central Army in the third year of Taiyuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and led the crowd to build it. It was expanded many times later, and it was rectangular and slightly protruded outward. It was connected to the Xiangyang city wall in the south, west, and north walls. The walls were rammed with earth and bricks were built outside.

In view of the fact that it is easy to build a city and difficult to defend the city, Li Zengbo proposed six suggestions to the court to operate Xiangyang, including implementing the implementation of land camps, rewarding military farms, transporting rice and grain, building castles, exempting taxes, increasing military defense, etc. The court partially adopted its suggestion and allocated one million yuan of subsidies for military farms and dam construction, and exempting the taxes of Xiang and Ying for three years.

Therefore, the entire Xiangyang City was rigorously laid out, the situation was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the northern city wall was bordered by the Han River, and wide moats were carved on the other three sides. After that, in order to compete for the natural danger of the Yangtze River, the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty relied on the strong Jingxiang City Defense System. The Song Dynasty fought for decades of anti-Jin and anti-Yuan Wars. In the end, the Southern Song Dynasty relied on the dangerous situation of Xiangyang, abundant grain storage, and perseverance of the military and civilians. A major battle lasted for six years in Xiangyang. The 100,000 Yuan troops had no choice but to siege Xiangyang City for a long time.

The moat in Xiangyang City has also become a huge obstacle to the siege after excavation. It is adjacent to the Han River in the north, and the river channels are manually excavated on three sides of the east, south and west, leading the Xiangqu water from the southwest corner outside the city. At different periods, it passes through the southwest corner and the northeast corner and connects with the Han River, which separates the city from the land outside the city. It becomes a buffer zone during the war, greatly ensuring the safety of the city.

However, when Zhao Chun guarded Xiangyang in the second year of Kaixi, the width of the moat was about seven meters. When Lu Wenhuan guarded Xiangyang, the moat was wider, with the widest point reaching more than 30 meters, which was the widest artificial moat in China at that time. The military and civilians in the city contacted the outside of the city through suspension bridges on the moat. After the moat was widened, in order to facilitate the connection between the inside and the outside world, they used sandbanks in the water to artificially build an island around the water at the intersection of the three gates in the east, south and west, using the sandbanks in the water to build two sections of suspension bridges to help the connection between the inside and outside the city.

There are small water forts outside the gate of this kind that are separated from the mother city. The defense system commonly used in Western prisms appeared in Xiangyang, which surprised Zhao Bing. It is very rare in China. Build a fortress on the island to garrison troops. As a bridgehead, it can also become the front line for the defensive city. For the siege, it has become an insurmountable obstacle. Building a floating bridge will inevitably be haunted by the defenders in the fort, and the capture of the bridgehead is blocked by the water, making it difficult to deploy troops.

In addition to the complete urban defense system, the Han River outside Xiangyang City flows south from the east, north and west, and to the south is the steep Xianshan Mountain system. Seven miles west of the city, there are Wanshan Mountains facing the Han River in the north and connected to Shun'an Mountain in the south, forming the western barrier of Xiangyang; seven miles south of the city, there is Xianshan Mountain in a dangerous place, forming the southern barrier; in the north of the city, the Han River is controlled, facing Fancheng and the river, connecting with each other, forming a strict defense system.

On the periphery of Xiangyang City, there are many peripheral strongholds such as Niujiao Fort and Castle, which strongly guard the Xiangyang City and become the first line of defense in the Xiangyang defense system. If you want to get close to Xiangyang City, you need to first clear the strongholds in the mountains and eliminate the enemy troops entrenched here. The defenders occupy the commanding heights and are easy to defend but difficult to attack from a high point. If you are besieged, you will consume a lot of troops, which will inevitably weaken the power of the siege.

Faced with such a strong city, how should we unfold if we want to conquer the city as soon as possible? This made Zhao Bing look at the map and think hard, and the days of running around made him fall asleep unknowingly...

"What's wrong?" Zhao Bing was sleeping in a daze. He suddenly heard sobs and opened his eyes and asked in confusion.

"His Majesty……"

"Zhiwu?! Why are you crying?" Zhao Bing calmed down and his eyes gradually gathered. It was Lin Zhiwu who was wiping his tears with his sleeves, and he quickly got up and asked.

"Your Majesty also needs to take care of the dragon body and don't get tired of your body!" Lin Zhiwu supported His Majesty and said with a crying voice.

"Oh, I'll just take a nap, it's okay." Zhao Bing patted Qi's shoulder and chuckled.

"Your Majesty, you're not asleep just now, which scared us all!" Wang De, who was beside him, handed a glass of water and said frowningly.

"It's dark this day... How long have I been sleeping!" Zhao Bing looked around and the lights had already lit up, but he was sleeping on the bed in the house. Ni Liang, Chen Shishi, Ma Duanlin and others were all around him. He asked with a sip of water.

"Your Majesty fell asleep in the garden. It was raining all over the world. The little yellow gate who was accompanying him couldn't wake him up, so he could only carry him back." Wang De replied, "I saw that Your Majesty was sleeping and asked the imperial doctor to see him. He said that it was because of his majesty's fatigue. After hearing this, Ni Dushuai and others rushed to see him. It was already the hour of You."

"Haha, I've been sleeping for so long. I just thought I'd taken a nap!" Zhao Bing smiled bitterly and shook his head, remembering something and asking, "Didn't it alarm Jiang Shuai and Wang Xiang?"

"I didn't tell Wang Xiang and Jiang Shuai, but the little one was so scared that he was so scared that he was all over. Fortunately, Ni Dutong and the others were there, otherwise I really didn't know what to do!" Wang De said with lingering fear.

"This is the best, otherwise it will cause everyone to misunderstand if it is reported, and if it is not done well, it will shake the morale of the army!" Zhao Bing said relieved after hearing this. He knew that now is the critical time for handover. If there is a false news about his body, it will inevitably cause panic among the army and he does not know what is wrong.

"Your Majesty has been in the personal expedition for nearly a year since the war over there. As soon as the war ended, he has been running thousands of miles to Xiangyang. It is too hard and it is time to rest for a while." Chen Shishi said, they are responsible for behind-the-scenes work, and Shang Jue is very hard. His Majesty not only has to command the battle, but also has to review memorials and work hard for state affairs, which is several times more tired than them.

"I heard that Your Majesty can only rest for two hours a day, and the food is as simple as ever. People who are so strong will be beaten up for a long time. Let's take a break for a few days!" Lin Zhiwu also persuaded.
Chapter completed!