“There is a gold town in Zhongxian County, there is a watchtower array on the mountain, the gold field beside the Gold River, and the watchtower is a three-star safe.” Along with this nursery rhyme, let’s walk into this place named after gold. Not for the gold rush, but for the confusing stories hidden behind this town named after gold…
Mysterious legends in nursery rhymes
Not knowing when it started, a nursery rhyme was sung in Zhongxian County, Chongqing City: “Golden Dam, Golden River, and a gold box in the north of Zhongzhou.” Thus, the legend of gold in the golden field spread like this.
Of course, this legend is not entirely groundless. During the reign of Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty, a war that lasted for nine years and spread to Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Henan, Gansu and other provinces broke out, known in history as the “White Lotus Revolt”, which was the largest peasant uprising in the mid-Qing Dynasty. After the war broke out, more than ten rebels, including Xu Tiande, Leng Tianlu, Wang Sanhuai, Luo Qiqing, and Ran Wenjue, formed the Sichuan White Turban Army, known as one of the three main forces of the White Lotus Sect. The troops of Yingshan and Chengdu general Le Lishan also cooperated with another ace unit, the Xiangyang White Turban Army, which made the White Lotus Religion Army a big boost for a while.
Soon, the Qing army began to adjust its strategy. In view of the sparse population in the mountainous areas, it adopted measures such as “building villages and regiments” and “reinforcing the walls and clearing the fields” to cut off the sources of grain and troops of the rebel armies to weaken the opponent’s mobile combat capability, and then divided and surrounded them. The two white-skinned troops had to retreat to the mountainous area of eastern Sichuan. Yao Zhifu, Wang Cong’er, Luo Qiqing, and Ran Wenzhu were successively killed. Wang Sanhuai was captured. Today’s Zhongxian County, Chongqing City) and the eastern Sichuan area. It is said that at that time, the leaders of the White Lotus Sect knew that the situation was over. In order to preserve the fire of the comeback, they decided to send Leng Tianlu and other ministries to escort the gold seized at the beginning of the uprising, and to ensure that they entered Sichuan first and placed the gold in secret, while the rest of the troops retreated while resisting. Finally, they were scattered and hidden in the mountains of eastern Sichuan, and when the time was right, secret treasures were dug up as military assets to fight against the Qing again.
However, because Leng Tianlu returned to the north to fight the enemy after arriving in Zhongxian County, he was killed by an arrow, and this legend about gold has become a secret forever. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, flash floods caused by a heavy rainstorm hit the gold field. At night, when the villagers returned to Changzhen, they could vaguely find a little golden light in the river by the bright moonlight. After searching the past, they found some fine pieces of gold and silver. The news spread like wildfire, and since then all the villagers have invested in the “gold rush” wave, and some gold and silver have been found in the river beaches and the flooded fields. The news quickly spread to the government, and I remembered that the legend of the White Lotus Sect hiding gold has been circulating in the local area. The name of the Golden Field was only after the White Lotus Sect uprising was suppressed. Therefore, the government quickly began to carry out a carpet search on the mountains along the river. But nothing was found, and the mysterious hidden gold in the nursery rhyme is still missing.
Whether the name of the Gold Field is really related to Tibetan gold has long been impossible to verify. According to local chronicles, Jinjin Town originated from the yellow wattle tree that is abundant in the Jinziba area, and was named after its homophonic “gold”. After further research, the “Huang Jingshu” argument put forward in the local chronicles is difficult to stand up. First of all, since Jinziba is rich in Huang Jingshu, how can you explain the name of Jinziba? Secondly, the Golden River that flows through the Golden Field was originally named Shuangxin River, and its name change coincides with the legend of Tibetan gold.
Therefore, there are many loopholes in the statement of “Huang Jingshu”, which can only be regarded as a rumor for the time being.
Golden Town was built in the Qing Dynasty, more than 240 years ago. It is located on the main traffic road from the north of Zhongxian County to Liangping, Dianjiang and North Sichuan. Because it is located in the transitional area between Shizhu Mountain and Liangping Bazi, the terrain is dominated by hills, and the water is vast, which is naturally very suitable for farming. As a result, many famous families who cultivated and studied their families were born. rise. Today, several old streets along the river and commercial roads in the Golden Town have retained the scale of the past, and you can still feel the prosperity and hustle and bustle of the past. And so many old streets are densely clustered in this area, which also shows its former wealth.
The town is built along the Golden River. On one side of the river is the old street of Diaojiaolou. The old street is 600 meters long, paved with 3 meters wide bluestone, and there are many residential buildings on both sides. In the past, the residents on the old street were basically businesses, and if you look closely at the gates, they were all paving downstairs and accommodation upstairs. In addition, the former government, health centers, animal husbandry health stations, supply and marketing cooperatives and other office spaces were also the same. It’s all there, and it’s still vaguely recognizable. Right now, there are only a few left-behind old people left in the town. They are still full of pride when they talk about it before: “The golden people of the past have seen the world, and many people in the county have never seen the dazzling array of goods.” The prosperity has turned into clouds, only those unique wooden doors, various plaques, and small arch bridges built with ingenuity… It seems that they are still telling the prosperity and glory here.
Daling Old Street is the place where the famous local family, the Ran family, lives. The whole old street is built on the top of Niutaoshan Mountain, which is 900 meters above sea level. There is still a bluestone road that is more than 100 meters long and about 10 meters wide. The entire bluestone slab road is paved with 8 rows of stones 2 meters long and 50 cm wide. It is quite imposing and remains intact after more than 150 years. It is currently the best preserved bluestone slab ancient street in Zhongxian County.
Therefore, when the legend of Tibetan gold spread, it brought many disasters to this once peaceful and prosperous place. Especially in the period of social unrest, naturally many “good boys” were eyeing here. When you get to the site, you can see: if you are so rich, you don’t need to look for hidden gold, so let’s grab it directly. From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the area around Huangjin Town became a place where bandits were rampant in northeastern Chongqing, and local residents could only do their best to protect themselves. Later, under the leadership of the big family, the residents of some places moved the whole town to the top of the mountain, and set up cards from top to bottom according to the terrain, and closed the layout, such as Daling. More often, they choose to build a stockade in a dangerous place nearby, and store grain and materials. They usually live in the town, but they will be moved immediately when the bandits attack, such as the well-preserved Shuangling Ancient Village.
Mysteries hidden in watchtower positions
When it comes to the fortifications of Golden Town, we have to mention the Xiaohe Diaolou Array. The top of the hill where the Xiaohe Diaolou Array is located was also a famous ancient village. When you climb to the top of the mountain, you can see far and wide, and the sight is suddenly clear. All around the bottom of the mountain are the flat dams formed by the vertical and horizontal impact of shallow hills and small rivers. If it is golden autumn, it will be full of sight. harvest and happiness.
There is no need to inquire about the way to get here. From a distance, you can see a small mountain rising from the ground, surrounded by cliffs on all sides and the top of the mountain is very flat. The shape of the “small table” is very recognizable. The whole hill is actually a complete granite boulder, with only two dangerous paths connecting the village and the top of the mountain. Said to be a trail, in fact, it is simply connected by digging holes directly on the smooth stone walls that have been polished by wind and rain. One is so vertical that it is almost impossible to climb, and the other can be used hand and foot to climb to dangerous places. One step slips and it falls off the cliff.
The most amazing thing is that there is also a big magical well on this hill, with abundant water, warm in winter and cool in summer, sweet and delicious. There are many ancient villages in Huangjin Town, but because they are all granite rock mountains, drinking water has become a big problem, so they can only dig large pools to collect rainwater. However, this method was very difficult to defend against the warlords and bandit soldiers of the Republic of China. They often scrambled for food and money on the spot. They only needed to send a small number of people to surround the hills, and the village needed water for both drinking and farming. The weather is a little drier and unsustainable. At the top of this hill, there is actually a well that can continuously flow out clean water. It is a miracle, but where this water comes from is still a mystery. What is even more strange is that if you plough the field in Yujiaba, which is more than 500 meters lower than here, the water in the well on the top of the mountain will actually become turbid, so the saying that the well is connected to Yujiaba has been passed down to this day – is there any mystery? Strength, pumped the water from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain?
There is a more mysterious legend about the well. Once, the bandits surrounded the cottage for three months, from spring to midsummer, but the mountain was still full of people, and there was even the sound of opera in the market. This annoyed the leader of the bandits, so they came up with a bad move: they first took a peasant household from a neighboring village as hostages, and then forced the daughter of the peasant household to pretend to flee to the cottage, and then waited for an opportunity to poison the well. The residents of the village happily accepted the girl’s escape, but when the bandits were confidently waiting for the conspiracy to succeed, they found that the village was still singing and dancing every day, while their subordinates were poisoned by eating fish from the river one after another. Death, this frightened the leader of the bandits, thinking that it was punishment from heaven, and hurriedly took the bandits and fled. Later, it was said that because the well water was connected to the small river, the poison was deposited in the river water and was eaten by the fish, but the water on the top of the mountain was diluted so that it was no longer toxic.
Legends are just legends, but this lonely hill is indeed suffering from bandits. There is no way, who told you to be so conspicuous, you can see it from afar like a lighthouse, saving the bandits the effort to circle around the mountain. In addition, the superior conditions naturally aroused the bandits’ desire to take it for themselves. Even if they encountered the encirclement and suppression of the government army, they could keep eating and drinking until the end of the world. As a result, this seemingly impregnable fortress has instead become the focus of “care”. The bandits come in waves, and the guys in their hands also change their guns and guns with the development of the times. As a result, no matter how strong the fortress is, it can’t hold it. .
The cottage kept changing owners until the Fang family at the foot of the mountain took over after the rise. They repeatedly summed up the experience and lessons of the past offensive and defensive, organized the tribe to conduct a detailed survey and research on the hill, and changed the old method of simply strengthening the wall and setting up the checkpoint, and planned a plan consisting of three watchtowers on the top of the mountain. Samsung Array. The orientation of the three watchtowers is just right to ensure that there are no dead spots around, and the height can also ensure that after the abnormal position is found to emit smoke, the personnel have sufficient time to transfer the materials up the mountain and complete the defense, and can also form a linkage with the surrounding fields and towns.
The overall scale of the Diaolou is basically the same, with a height of about 40 meters and a bottom area of about 30 square meters. These stone holes are small on the outside and large on the inside, which can be shot with muskets or bows and arrows. They are designed with stone mold pistons, which are usually plugged to avoid wind and bullets, and can be removed when looking out and shooting. Two of the watchtowers guard the main road to the mountain and enter the village. To enter the village, you can only pass through the very narrow place between the cliff and the watchtower by yourself, and the dense shooting holes in the surrounding walls are enough to ensure that nothing goes wrong. The other is slightly higher, and mirrors the other two. The three watchtowers form a corner and are seamlessly connected by stone walls along the edge of the cliff. There is an open space in the middle, without shelter, which is fertile land in peacetime, and is convenient for personnel to be mobilized in wartime.
Although there are only three watchtowers, it is already a formation of iron barrels. The three watchtowers were built with funds from the three most powerful families, Fang Jingru, Fang Chengyun and Chen Youyi, and lived and guarded them in person. The watchtower array is majestic and unusual. At the bottom of the mountain, no matter from which direction, you can always see at least one eye-catchingly. Standing on the 2,000-square-meter hard rock plane on the top of the mountain, there are cliffs in front and back. The watchtowers form a triangular array. It’s like being in the center of the magic altar. After the completion of the “Samsung Array”, the hill has never been harassed by bandits again, and its shock and deterrent ability is evident.
After the liberation, the masters of the three families died one after another, and the descendants moved to other places to live. In the 1960s, there used to be a school called Junling Middle School where the Diaolou was located, with about five or six junior high school classes. The old people talked about the interesting experiences when they went to school, as if they were vivid in their minds, but when the author climbed it in person, it was difficult to imagine the fantasy scene of studying in such a dangerous place.
Comments