Fenghou

"Are you sure it's the envoy of the Qinzhou system, not the envoy of soldiers and horses?"

"I'm sure, the boy has seen the appointment letter from the Ministry of Officials with his own eyes, and he has also seen the official seal."

"Do you know what it means to make an envoy?"

"The boy is going to ask his father for advice."

"Zhizhi envoy is the military and political supervisor. That is to say, Qinzhou will no longer appoint Zhizhou. He is your immediate superior. Of course, the premise is that the court must recognize your general judgment. This is a troublesome matter."

Wang Yu sighed, "Regardless of whether you have worked for the Jin people or not, you are an official under the rule of Jin Bing, not appointed by the court. This is a taboo of the court, and it is generally difficult to get the court's recognition."

Wang Huai shook his head, "If the court refuses to admit it, I'll be fine if I don't become an official."

"You can't say that. Your passing judgment is the key to safeguarding our family's interests. If you didn't pass the judgment, Jin Bing would let our Wang family go?"

Wang Huai was silent for a moment and said: "Chen Qing told me that he didn't care if I was appointed by the court, the key is that I should be able to do things."

"What does he mean when he says yes?"

"His biggest headache now is food. The main topic we are talking about today is the issue of military rations."

Wang Yu frowned, "The food problem is not easy to solve!"

"He is willing to pay for it, and it is in silver. He seems to have a lot of silver in his hand."

"Needless to say, it must have been snatched from the golden men of Pingliang Mansion, but with silver in hand, things will be easy to handle."

"Father, he seems to hope that I can help him solve the problem of the fort. Although he didn't say it clearly, I can feel what he means."

"The problem of the fortress is even more difficult to solve, even if you have money."

Wang Yu was also relieved, and said to his son: "It seems that Chen Qing is very pragmatic, but you have to be smarter and ask him to send someone to be a recorder to join the army, so that he won't interfere with the usual government affairs. His mind will be entirely on the military."

Recording affairs and joining the army is the head of the six Cao officials, and the power of government affairs is second only to the general judge. Wang Yu is indeed a veteran who has been in the officialdom for many years. He knows how to balance the relationship between his son and Chen Qing.

His son holds the power of government affairs, but Chen Qing is the envoy of the system, and the military and government are in charge. Taking Chen Qing aside in government affairs will only be a way to bring disaster, and giving Chen Qing the second position in government affairs will not only save his own Power can also make Chen Qing feel at ease about government affairs.

Wang Huai understood his father's painstaking efforts, nodded and said: "My child understands."

After a pause, Wang Huai said again: "Chen Qing asked me to invite the gentry from Qinzhou for him, how should father arrange it?"

Wang Yu thought for a while and said, "Just arrange it in Tianshui Restaurant, our Wang family treats guests, and treat it as a clean-up for him!"

Chapter 179 Receiving the Wind

Early the next morning, Wang Huai brought a businessman to see Chen Qing. The businessman's surname was Jiang, and he was half of the Qiang people. He had a big shop in Chengji County. He sold daily necessities to the Qiang people all the year round, and he was very familiar with the Qiang people. Of course, the businessman is also very willing to work for the new envoy.

Chen Qing asked Hu Yanyun to bring a hundred brothers to buy sheep, and buy [-] sheep. If the quality of the sheep is good, it is okay to buy [-] sheep.

Hu Yanyun immediately followed the merchant with his soldiers and set off.

Wang Huai said again: "General Qi, there is one more thing that needs to be discussed with the general."

"Wang Tong, please tell me!"

"That's right, Qinzhou's recorder joined the army and died of illness last year. The position has been vacant all the time. It just so happens that the general has taken up the post. Please ask the general to appoint him!"

"The recorders of the various states who join the army are generally appointed by the court officials! If I rob the officials of their business, wouldn't they hate me?"

Even though he said that, Chen Qing still smiled and turned to Zhang Xiao and said, "This position should be taken by Mister!"

The recorder joined the army as the chief officer of Liu Cao, with great power, Zhang Xiao was of course overjoyed, and quickly clasped his fists and said: "The humble official is willing to share the worries of the control!"

Wang Huai saw that Chen Qing talked about the appointment of the official department, but in fact he didn't take the official department seriously, so he let go of his heart and said quickly: "Tomorrow at noon, I will meet the general at Tianshui Restaurant. All the big gentry families in Ji County will come, in fact, most of the big families in Qinzhou are in Chengji County."

This is what Chen Qing expected, Chen Qing chuckled, "Tomorrow at noon, I will come with Commander Zheng."

……

Tianshui Restaurant can be regarded as the best restaurant in Qinzhou, and it is also an asset of the Wang family. It is located in the center of the county town and is very magnificent.

But what surprised Chen Qing was not this restaurant, but the rich gentry. In a dilapidated county town in Chengji County, there were hidden dragons and crouching tigers. More than 100 gentry with fat heads and big ears in brocade came out at once. where do you live?

Zheng Ping reacted faster than Chen Qing. He whispered to Chen Qing: "I guess I usually dress in rags and live in rags. Just pretend! I'm afraid that thieves will miss you."

"It makes sense!" Chen Qing nodded with a smile.

"General Chen, let me introduce you to Officer Pan."

Wang Huai pulled a tall, fat man with a fleshy face and triangular eyes with a hint of arrogance.

No one else introduced Wang Huai, but he was the only one who introduced him, probably with some background.

Chen Qing smiled and saluted with fists in his hands, "It turned out to be Mr. Pan, long-awaited! Long-awaited!"

This official Pan really thought that others admired him for a long time, so he chuckled, "The two are General Chen and General Zheng! I heard old Fu talking about you. Old Fu is my in-laws. In fact, you also know each other. It's you. Fu Dutong."

Chen Qing was startled, it was actually Fu Xuan, Zheng Ping blinked and asked: "President Pan and Fu Dutong are in-laws?"

"That's right! My daughter married his son, and it happened last year. Last year I was in Hanzhong, and this year I will be in my hometown in Qinzhou."

Chen Qing also heard the clues, Fu Xuan didn't have a son, so the daughter of the official Pan would marry Fu Moshan, right?

Chen Qing had a little self-restraint and didn't expose him. He smiled, said hello, and entered the restaurant.

Zheng Ping didn't have such a good temper, this dead old thief actually called himself Little General Zheng, what was he?

The fat on his face twitched twice, and he said with a sinister smile: "Fortunately, Ling Ai married Fu Dutong's son, but not his nephew Fu Moshan. Let me tell you, Lao Pan, that Fu Moshan has a bad reputation. Li likes to find men, especially those black and strong soldiers. Not long ago, he was messing around with a dozen soldiers in the camp, and was caught by Wu Dutong's patrol, broke his legs in public, and drove him out. The military camp is here, this incident has caused a sensation in Dasanguan, your daughter is lucky not to marry him."

After finishing speaking, Zheng Ping laughed and left. Pan Daguan's face turned green with anger. Wang Huai was surprised to hear that, isn't this son-in-law that Pan Daguan brags about all day long called Fu Moshan?It turns out that his son-in-law is as good as Long Yang.

……

The restaurant and the yard were crowded with more than a dozen tables, all of which were full.

Wang Huai made the opening remarks, welcoming Chen Tongzhi, the envoy of the Qinzhou government.

Chen Qing also said a few words on the scene, nothing more than saying that the army should be stationed for a long time to protect everyone's personal and property safety, maintain order in Qinzhou, and restore production and life in all counties.

Chen Qing didn't mention the food for the time being, and everyone started eating and drinking as they exchanged cups.

After three tours of wine and five flavors of food, the atmosphere of the scene is very lively, and the time has come.

Chen Qing picked up the wine cup and said with a smile: "Thank you for your support to the army. I have a few words from the bottom of my heart, and I want to talk to you."

Everyone put down their chopsticks, sat down respectfully, and listened attentively to what General Chen had to say.

"Everyone knows that the military discipline of the Western Army has always been good. Like the Zhongjia Army, it has never committed any crimes. My army has to learn from the Zhongjia Army. The military discipline is strict and does not disturb the people. Even if the soldiers buy things, they will be fair and reasonable. , will never buy and sell by force..."

Chen Qing didn't finish his sentence, and won a round of warm applause.

Chen Qing coughed twice, and the following is his focus, "I led the army to Qinzhou this time, because it was not a battle, and according to the regulations, I had to deal with the food myself, but there was no food in the official storehouse, and the gold The soldiers have been exploited, so please come here today..."

There was no sound at the wine table, no one spoke, everyone secretly complained, it really was a Hongmen banquet, this is terrible.

The official Pan said with a bitter face just now: "The general doesn't know something. The Jin soldiers forcibly allocated [-] shi of grain and [-] guan of money to Qinzhou during the Dasan Pass battle. Where can the government get them? Come out, collect the money and food, don’t look at everyone’s well-dressed clothes, in fact, many people are so poor that they can’t even afford food.”

"That's it! That's it!" There was a buzzing echo in the lobby.

Wang Huai's face was flushed with anger, wouldn't he know what kind of background these bastards are?When it comes to money and food, they pretend to be poor. Why don't they pretend to be in front of Jin Bing?

"Everyone be quiet, General Chen won't ask for your food in vain, he will give you money!"

Hearing that the money was given, the lobby became quiet again.

Chen Qing continued with a smile: "As I said just now, the army has strict military discipline and will not blackmail everyone. In fact, I am going to buy food from you at the market price before we came, and we are going to pay silver. "

As soon as Chen Qing finished speaking, the lobby boiled like boiling water. Everyone had food, and they all hid it underground. People who need food are very poor and have no money.

No one would be willing to let everyone donate it for nothing. Now that Chen Qing is willing to buy it at the market price, he actually buys it with silver.

Officer Pan couldn't help but said: "I suddenly remembered that there seems to be some food in my manor, and I don't know how to hand it over to the army!"

Zheng Ping snorted coldly, "This bastard said just now that he was too poor to eat, but now that he has food again, he loses his face."

Of course, Chen Qing didn't care about it. Anyway, his money was stolen, so he didn't feel bad. The key point was that the army couldn't last for a few days, so he had to get the food as soon as possible.

Chen Qing stood up and said with a smile: "Everyone should have seen our barracks. You all bring food to the barracks in carts, and we will pay you silver on the spot. The price of silver and copper coins will be calculated at a price of one to five. We can also buy vegetables, chickens and ducks, and other materials, if we need them, we will also buy them with silver.”

……

That afternoon, Daguan Pan was the first to deliver grain to sell. He brought in 180 shi of wheat. The price of grain on Xihe Road had already been inflated by the war at Dasan Pass. In addition, it was spring again, and the price of grain was very expensive. , the market price of wheat has reached 180 Wen per bucket, which is [-] taels, which is equivalent to [-] taels of silver. Pan Daguan was very happy when he got the heavy [-] taels of silver. .

Immediately, the Wang family also sent grain, and Wang Yu personally escorted it, and sent a thousand shi of grain, worth three thousand guan, equivalent to 600 taels of silver.

But the Wang family was generous and donated [-] altars of pickled vegetables and [-] chickens and ducks to the army. In addition, the Wang family knew what Chen Qing needed, and he definitely needed an ice cellar to store food and meat. , This is actually a favor, the ice cellar where they store food is empty, and the ice is of no use, so they simply donate it to the army.

In just two days, Chen Qing got 1 shi of grain, and there will be more grain coming in later, enough for Chen Qing's [-] troops to feed for three months.

Chen Qing then handed over two thousand shi of rice to the state government and ordered the state government to cook porridge to help the hungry people. He saw with his own eyes that many county residents were digging wild vegetables and catching voles in the fields to survive.

Chen Qing is the envoy of the Qinzhou government, not only the military commander, but also the parental officer of the Qinzhou people...

Chapter 1 Eighty Fortress

Qinzhou borders Gongzhou in the west, Fengzhou in the south, Longzhou in the east, Deshun Prefecture and Pingliang Prefecture in the north, and a corner stretches out to border Huizhou. Most of the states and counties here were seized by the Song army. Dude Shunzhou and Huizhou were invaded by Xixia, but everyone has not yet gained a firm foothold, and temporarily maintained a state of peace and harmony.

There are eight counties in Qinzhou, Chengji County, Qingshui County, Yefang County, Longcheng County, Qin'an County, Jichuan County, Gangu County, and Xining County in the north near Huizhou.

After initially solving the imminent food problem, on the morning of the third day, Chen Qing led [-] cavalry to inspect Chigu Town, [-] miles south of Chengji County.

Chigu Town is a big town, and it is the only place to go to Fengzhou. Since ancient times, the transportation is convenient and the commerce is developed. Of course, Chen Qing came to Chigu Town to inspect it because he did not want to drink. To the east of Chigu Town is the famous Zhoujiabao in Qinzhou. , Known as the largest fort in Qinzhou.

The fortress system in the northwest has a long history, and it was mainly built to deal with the invasion of the Xixia army. Once the Xixia army attacked, the county town closed the city gates, and the people in the village hid in each fortress.

In addition, the bow and arrow clubs in the northwest states are very active, basically forming a situation where all the people are soldiers. As long as men can use bows and arrows proficiently, there are hundreds of archers in each fortress, and there are thousands of archers in defense. The effect is so obvious that At the peak of Qinzhou, there were more than 300 fortresses, large and small, sheltering more than [-] people.

When the Jin soldiers came, the fort also played a very good role, so that only Chengji County in Qinzhou was invaded by the Jin soldiers, and the Jin soldiers could hardly attack the fort. The people of Qinzhou suffered little loss.

But everything has advantages and disadvantages. Everyone can see the positive side of the fortress, but the disadvantages of the fortress have also begun to appear, that is, independence, no taxation, and disobedience to government management. Each fortress has a meeting hall, which is controlled by the fortress Several family patriarchs of Xiangbing sit in town and hold the power of the fortress. In fact, each fortress has formed an independent kingdom one by one.

So much so that the county government in Chengji County has been abandoned for several years, and it has no effect. These fortresses are like black holes, constantly absorbing the population. At present, the population controlled by the eight county governments in Qinzhou is less than [-]% of the entire population of the prefecture. The rest of the population hid in the fortresses, each fortress is like a small town, with all kinds of shops in it.

Chigu Town has become very decrepit now. There are less than a hundred people left in the original town of a thousand people, basically all of them are old and weak. Of the hundreds of shops, only one foot shop is left open, and there are a few tea sheds. Pedestrians replenish dry food and tea.

The reason why it is in decline is that there is a Zhoujiabao next to it. Zhoujiabao is one of the three big forts in Qinzhou. The other two big forts are Anyuan Village in Gangu County and Dingxi Village in Qin'an County.

Zhoujiabao was originally called Chigubao, but it is now under the control of the Zhou family, a rich family in Qinzhou, and has been renamed Zhoujiabao. There are 2000 people, all of whom can shoot bows and arrows. Among them, the [-] Zhou family's children are the most famous. They are very brave and good at fighting, and their bows and crossbows are very powerful.

The only time the Jin soldiers attacked the fort happened here. In the third year of Jianyan, a thousand Jin soldiers attacked Zhoujiabao. After two days of fierce fighting, the Jin soldiers suffered more than [-] casualties and failed to capture Zhoujiabao. The price was too high. At that time, the West Route Army controlled Wanyan Ulu and had to give up the idea of ​​​​attacking the fortress.

Chen Qing became the envoy of the Qinzhou system, and the biggest challenge he faced was not the Jin soldiers and the Xixia army, but the fortress.

A fortress can exist, but it must be subject to government management and taxes. The archers of the fortress must obey their dispatch and must come to training on schedule. The leaders of each fortress must also be appointed by themselves.

Zhoujiabao Chen Qing has been famous for a long time, Yue Fei's master, Zhou Tong, the chief instructor of the bow squad of the 80 Imperial Army in Tokyo, came from Zhoujiabao.

In addition, the mysterious banker who gambled on arrows in Fengle Tower was also said to have come from Zhoujiabao. Zhoujiabao has always been famous for its bows and arrows.

Of course, today Chen Qing just came over to inspect and see what the Zhoujiabao looked like.

Pointing to a large mountain in the distance, the guide said, "That is the Zhou Family Fort. It is divided into the Front Fort and the Back Fort. There are more than 700 households and a population of tens of thousands."

Chen Qing couldn't believe that there were tens of thousands of people living in a mountain, but when he stepped forward to take a closer look, he probably understood.

In fact, it is not a big mountain. It is composed of seven or eight big mountains. The mountain is steep and has only one entrance. Of course, other mountains can also be climbed, but if the horse does not go up, it will be meaningless to the Xixia Army and Jinbing.

There are no trees on a big mountain in the front, and it is full of densely packed cave dwellings. Three fort walls were built with stones, forming three steep defensive walls. Each fort wall is fifty or sixty steps apart. If it is breached, the army will quickly retreat behind the second fort wall. Even if the three fort walls are breached, the soldiers can retreat to the mountains behind.

It is indeed too expensive to capture this fortress, no wonder the golden soldiers are unwilling to attack.

"What do the people above live on?" Chen Qing asked.

The guide pointed to the endless wheat fields below the mountain and said: "These wheat fields belong to them. During the wheat harvest in the fourth year of Jianyan, the Jin soldiers came to burn the wheat, but they were ambushed and killed more than 100 people. After that, the Jin soldiers never came again."

Chen Qing smiled and asked Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui who accompanied him, "What do you think is the reason why the fort has always existed?"

Yang Zaixing didn't want to understand, but Liu Cui sneered and said, "My father told me that it was because the Battle of Fuping, the Battle of Heshangyuan and the Battle of Dasanguan attracted the main force of the Jin army, and Wanyan Wushu had no time to take care of it." On the other side, the hundreds of gold soldiers stationed in each state are too few to do anything about them."

Chen Qing nodded, "Your father is right, several battles have restrained the main force of Jin Bing, and even though Jin Bing occupied Xihe Road, they didn't have the energy and time to digest it.

This is also the main reason why Jin Bing abandoned Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road, and let Qi State and Xixia digest Shaanxi Road and Xihe Road. "

Speaking of this, Chen Qing whipped his whip, "Go to the foot of the mountain and have a look!"

Chen Qing led [-] cavalrymen to rush down a country road to the foot of the mountain. There was a small river at the foot of the mountain. There were wheat fields on both sides of the river. Many farmers were farming. When they saw them coming from a distance, these farmers immediately blew their horns.

'Woo—'

Immediately afterwards, the horns on the mountain continued to sound, and the drums sounded like thunder.

All the peasants ran away, which made Chen Qing secretly a little annoyed. Even though his army was flying the Song Dynasty banner, these peasants didn't recognize it.

Not long after, Chen Qing led the army across the small bridge and came to the foot of the mountain. Looking up the mountain, they saw the first defensive wall. The first defensive wall was built on the mountainside, about [-] steps from the ground. .