Fenghou

Chapter 188 Dingxi

Dingxi Village belongs to Qin'an County. It is located on the west bank of Watingchuan, the second largest river in Qinzhou. It is about forty miles away from Qinchuan County. There is only one big mountain, which is tall and majestic, and densely packed cave dwellings have been dug out on the mountain, occupying the east and south sides of the entire mountain, and thousands of families live on the mountain.

Dingxi Village was originally a military village built by the Western Army, where a thousand soldiers and their families were stationed, and there was even a tile made up of dozens of shops.

The Western Army had already abandoned this military village, and the people in several surrounding villages moved to Dingxi Village one after another in order to avoid the iron hooves of the golden soldiers. As a result, more and more people came to live in Dingxi Village.

Different from Zhoujiabao, Dingxi village is not a certain family to decide their fate, but a meeting hall composed of four big families, and each family sends a respected elder to sit in the town, forming a similar elder Council's decision-making body.

Decide on various affairs, large and small, mediate conflicts among the people, distribute water sources, food supplies, and so on.

Dingxi Village has more than 800 mu of wheat fields on the west bank of Wating River. These wheat fields feed the residents on the mountain. Armed forces are the foundation of Dingxi Village. Dingxi Village has a [-]-member guard army, while Qin'an County has only more than [-] people. Archers are no match for Dingxi village at all, so even if Dingxi village never pays taxes and never submits to the management of Qin'an County, Qin'an County has nothing to do with them.

The number of guards, population size and influence make Dingxi Village the third largest fort in Qinzhou, second only to Zhoujiabao and Anyuan Village.

But it also became a node that must be split with a knife in Chen Qing's eyes. Unlike Zhou Jiabao's tactics, Chen Qing decided to treat Dingxi Fort with courtesy first and soldiers later.

That afternoon, Chen Qing led two thousand cavalry to Dingxi Village, and the team set up a camp opposite Dingxi Village.

Chen Qing carried a thousand small marching tents, each of which could only accommodate two soldiers to sleep, and the army dug a trench around the camp. More than 100 scouts were divided into bright sentries and dark sentries.

As soon as the camp was built, soldiers came to report, "Qin'an county magistrate, please see me!"

The magistrate of Qin'an County is called Wei Yuan, and the county captain Zhang Qu is also here.

Chen Qing asked the two of them to sit down in his big tent. Chen Qing's big tent was the only normal one, and it was also the command center of the whole army. Of course, small tents could not be used.

Unlike Chengji County, Qin'an County did not have Jin soldiers stationed there, so the county officials did not escape, and they also regarded themselves as officials of the Song Dynasty, and did not recognize themselves as officials of the Kingdom of Jin.

"Dingxi village is just four families, hateful, they are against the government, it has nothing to do with the people, I implore the general to attack the village and show mercy to the people!"

Chen Qing waved his hands and laughed: "You may not know that I have taken the Zhou family fort. Except for beheading the Zhou family, the other 1 people have been evacuated back to their homes. I also gave them money, food and cloth. The attack on Dingxi Village is the same this time, the people will not be attacked, and the money I get will be handed over to the county to resettle the villagers and relieve the hungry."

Wei Yuan and Zhang Qu were overjoyed, they stood up and saluted together, "Thank you General for your tolerance!"

Chen Qing asked them to sit down, and then asked Wei Yuan, "Are there any organized county people in Qin'an County to cultivate land?"

Wei Yuan nodded, "Received the general's order, I also organized thousands of county residents to farm in the official fields outside the city, but our county is fine, it has always been a major grain-producing county in Qinzhou, it seems that Jin Bing didn't realize it We realized that the amount of grain allocated to us was not large, only half of the grain stored in the official granary, and we hurriedly hid the rest of the grain, creating the illusion that the granary was empty.”

"That is to say, there is no situation in Qin'an where people dig wild vegetables outside the city to catch voles for a living?"

"It didn't show up. We have grain porridge in our county. It's not too bad. I heard that the situation in Gangu County and Jichuan County is not very good."

Chen Qing nodded. His next step was to go to Gangu County. Chen Qing glanced at the county captain Zhang Qu, and asked with a smile, "Can county captain Zhang tell me about the situation in Dingxi Village?"

Zhang Qu hurriedly said: "The humble official is willing to share the general's worries!"

He thought for a while, then slowly said: "Dingxi Village existed at least during Renzong's time, and it has always been a military village. When I was young, I lived in Dingxi Village for five years. Later, Dingxi Village was abandoned until it was abandoned by nearby villagers in the second year of Jianyan. It was rebuilt, and villagers began to live in it. Up to now, there are about a thousand households with a population close to 7000. It is currently controlled by four families, Guan, Yang, Luo, and Huang. The main one is the Guan family. Merchants, Zhai Ding's armor was purchased by his family, so the Guan family has the most say in Dingxi Village, their owner is called Guan Pingxu, and is currently the owner of Dingxi Village."

"How to solve the water source on the mountain?" Chen Qing asked again.

"There is spring water on the top of the mountain, and they divert the water into the village."

Chen Qing laughed, "Does it mean that if I cut off the water source, they will have to kneel down?"

Zhang Qu nodded, "It can be said that, but they must have stored water. At least when I was young, the army had regulations. Every household must store water. Now I don't know how much they require."

Chen Qing got up and walked to the tent door, looking at Dingxi village on the mountain, he could try to cut off the water source.

He turned back to Wei Yuan, the county magistrate, and said, "There is one more thing. The magistrate of Wei must prepare to receive the people. I hope the magistrate will organize manpower as soon as possible!"

……

A cavalry galloped close to Dingxi village, raised his crossbow and shot an arrow at the sentry tower on the mountainside. A letter was stuck in the arrow, and the cavalry turned around and walked away. Take the arrow letter and run to the mountain.

The owner of Dingxi Village is called Guan Pingxu. His family is a merchant, a well-known cloth merchant in Dingxi County. He has been a cloth merchant for decades and accumulated a lot of wealth. Like all merchants, his family turned all this wealth into land.

After the Jingkang Incident, a large number of businessmen took their families and wealth to the south, but the wealth of the Guan family was deposited on the land and could not escape. They simply took their clansmen to Dingxi Village, and took advantage of the war to buy a large number of soldiers at a low price. First.

The Guan family's financial power, military power and influence made them the number one in Dingxi village. The other big families, Yang family, Luo family, and Huang family can only become the younger brothers of the Guan family.

Guan Pingxu is about 50 years old. Although he is already a landlord, he still maintains the shrewdness, cunning and profit-seeking of a businessman in his bones.

Two thousand Song soldiers appeared at the foot of the mountain, which made Guan Pingxu very nervous, so he quickly invited several elders to discuss matters together.

At this time, everyone didn't know that the Zhoujiabao had been razed, and they didn't know whether the cavalry of the Song Army were just passing by or came from Chengji County.

"Goose horns can be greedy!"

Yang Jin, the oldest, spoke first with a little lisp. He was nearly seventy years old, his mouth was like a cloth pocket, and he leaked air when he spoke, but he liked to show off his knowledge.

Guan Pingxu knew he said 'I think we can negotiate', but now is not the time to correct his pronunciation.

With a wave of his hand, Yang Jin was not allowed to speak again, and he said to the crowd: "Let me just say a few points, first, we need to know the purpose of the other party, why they came, and what they want; second, how to protect our interests No loss; third, what about my soldiers? Fourth, if we surrender, what benefits can we gain?"

As expected of a businessman, Guan Pingxu's thinking is very clear. His meaning can be explained in commercial terms, just one sentence, "How much is the other party willing to pay? What price can I sell?"

Luo Tao, the representative of the Luo family, nodded, "The village master is right, we can send people to contact them, get to know them, and then start negotiations."

"It's like being greedy!" Yang Jin was in a hurry, he was the first to propose the negotiation, how did it become the meaning of the Luo family.

No one understood what he said, and didn't care what he said, Huang Jigu worried: "What is the strength of our negotiation?"

"army!"

Guan Pingxu said coldly: "With our 2000 soldiers guarding the heights, just [-] people want to capture Dingxi Village?"

At this time, there was a rush of running outside, and a soldier shouted: "Send to the village master, a letter is shot up from below."

"Bring it up!"

The soldiers walked into the hall and put a letter on the table. Everyone came forward together, and saw on the letter: "Imperial seal of Qinzhou Zhizhi envoy, control of Chen Qingzhi Dingxizhaiguan, Yang, Luo, and Huang." '

Guan Pingxu picked up the letter and opened it, took out the letter and read it again, his face became very angry.

The three of them asked together: "What is written in the letter?"

Guan Pingxu snorted coldly and said: "He ordered us to go down the mountain and surrender before dark, otherwise the four of us will be killed!"

Chapter 189

There was silence in the hall, and none of the four people spoke. Guan Pingxu suddenly slammed his fist on the table and said angrily, "The golden soldiers are here, and they run faster than rabbits. They don't care whether we live or die. When the golden soldiers leave, they He ran back to act like a domineering man, what did he think of us? It’s just too deceitful!"

Luo Tao also sneered and said, "They treat us like a mob, and think that our thousand soldiers are for nothing."

Huang Jigu sighed: "After all, they are the imperial army. We can't resist. Why don't we send someone down the mountain to have a talk, to win the other party's understanding, and to avoid a war between the two sides. We just want to protect our own interests."

The three of them suddenly realized why Yang Jin, who had been grabbing the conversation, was silent, and looked at Yang Jin together, only to see him stunned, motionless like a sculpture.

Guan Pingxu suddenly felt something was wrong, he stretched out his hand to test Yang Jin's breath, he stood up immediately, and said in astonishment: "What's going on, he's actually dead!"

Yang Jin was frightened to death by a letter. The three of them looked at each other in dismay. They were fine just now, but they died in a blink of an eye. It was an anecdote.

Guan Pingxu said to Huang Jigu: "Mr. Huang, you should hurry up and inform the Yang family. I will discuss with Lao Luo and see who will go down the mountain to talk."

Huang Jigu knew that they wanted to send him away, so he didn't point it out, so he nodded, turned and left.

Guan Pingxu watched Huang Jigu walk away, and then asked: "Who is in charge of guarding the water source today?"

"It's Huang Ning!"

Huang Ning is Huang Jigu's son, Guan Pingxu shook his head, "Replace him immediately!"

Luo Tao asked nervously, "Could it be that the Song army wants to capture the water source?"

"I think it's possible. We have to store water for half a month, and ask everyone to prepare containers and hurry up to pick up the water."

"But...but aren't we going to send people down the mountain soon?"

Guan Pingxu sneered, "What if Chen Qing doesn't accept the negotiation?"

"Can we hold it?" Luo Tao worried.

"It doesn't matter how long I can stay. What matters is how much loss Chen Qing is willing to pay. He ordered us to surrender before dark, and at the same time threatened death. Obviously he doesn't want to pay the price. In this case, we have a bargaining power." Confidence, once Song Jun's loss is unbearable for Chen Qing, then renegotiation is inevitable, this is called business, how can there be any reason not to allow the seller to quote?"

"But I'm worried that Chen Qing will be annoyed. He will pretend to agree to the negotiation and take revenge on us after we go down the mountain!"

"He will not do this kind of thing that breaks the trust of the people. Once he does it, no one will believe him again."

Guan Pingxu patted Luo Tao's shoulder with a smile, "Don't worry! My judgment will not be wrong."

"But the Huang family..."

Guan Pingxu nodded, narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "You are right, what I am most worried about is the Huang family. He is not of one mind with us. I will send someone to monitor the Huang family later. If they want to surrender secretly, then we will attack first." !"

Guan Pingxu immediately invited Li Weiru, the Sima of Yuanzhou who had fled back to his hometown, as his representative, and went down the mountain to negotiate with Chen Qing.

……

The Huang family also lives in a cave dwelling, and their family population is not too large. There are only about twenty people, and the cave dwelling has more than a dozen eyes. The Huang family is not a wealthy family, they are the landlords of the village, and they are the weakest of the four major families. One, ranked in the entire Dingxi village, their family didn't even rank in the top twenty.

The reason why the Huang family became one of the four major families in Dingxi Village is that they were the first to settle in Dingxi Village. They spent a lot of money to renovate the dilapidated mountain road and water diversion tile road, and then their fellow villagers moved in. After living in Dingxi Village for nearly two years, the Guan family only moved in.

For a long time, Huang Jigu was the owner of Dingxi Village.

Huang Jigu returned home worried. Of course, he knew that the Guan family and the Luo family did not want him to be present when making the final decision, so he sent him away. But can Guan Pingxu really understand the crisis facing Dingxi Village?

With an extremely arrogant attitude, Chen Qing ordered them to surrender before dark. If Dingxi village was regarded as an ordinary village, as the envoy, this order was normal, there was no problem at all, and it was even a little redundant.

The point is, what do their families think of Dingxi Village?

An independent kingdom to compete with Song Dynasty?Or a bandit lair?

Huang Jigu felt that it was the latter. Their actions and attitudes against the government were no different from those of the King of the Mountain, especially the Guan family, who enjoyed the supreme power in Dingxi Village. Guan Pingxu was blinded by this power. eyes.

Huang Jigu had a strong intuition that Chen Qing didn't want them to surrender, and asked him to find an excuse to attack. Once Dingxi village fought against the imperial court, he could wipe out the four major families and deter other fortresses.

I don't know if Zhoujiabao still exists?It stands to reason that Chen Qing should attack Zhoujiabao first, then Dingxi village, and finally Anyuan village in the west, and wipe out these three fortresses one by one.

When the other fortresses saw the end of the three fortresses, the problem of the fortresses in Qinzhou would be resolved. Chen Qing must have planned this way.

Huang Jigu paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, what should he do?Accompany the Guan family to perish together?

Do not!The death of the Guan family is their business, and the Huang family will never accompany them.

At this moment, Huang Gu's eldest son, Huang Ning, walked in quickly.

Huang Jigu was startled, "Ning'er, aren't you on duty at the top of the mountain today?"

"Guan Shibo won't let me guard it anymore, let me go home, and Guan Liu will guard it instead."

"why?"

"I do not know either."

After Huang Jigu took two steps, he suddenly understood that the Song army was going to seize the water source tonight, and Guan Pingxu was afraid that he would collude with the Song army, so he refused to let his son guard the water source.

Huang Jigu was really annoyed, since you don't trust the Huang family, then we will go our separate ways.

Huang Jigu made up his mind, he immediately wrote a letter, asked his son Huang Ning a few words, and asked a hunter from the same village to take his son down from the back mountain.

……

Later in the afternoon, Dingxi village finally sent someone. The person who came was Sima Li Weiru from Yuanzhou. He was also from Qin'an County. return home.

Li Weiru's family was really poor, and he had no financial resources to support him to go to the south to avoid disaster, so he had to hide in Dingxi village with his wife and daughter.

The Guan family usually took good care of Li Weiru, so this time Guan Pingxu asked him for help, Li Weiru couldn't refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and go down the mountain.

Fortunately, Chen Qing was very polite to Li Weiru. He heard Wei Yuan, the county magistrate, say that this Li Weiru was a Jinshi in Zhenghe for five years. One of the poorest counties in Qinzhou, it has become the largest grain-producing county in Qinzhou, surpassing Chengji County.

Although he has no background, but because of his outstanding political achievements, even the traitor Cai Jing admired his integrity and ability, and promoted him to Yuanzhou Sima.

Chen Qing believed that Li Weiru was an upright and dignified Sima of Yizhou, but he actually wanted to hide in the fortress. This shows that his family is really poor, and he probably doesn't even have the travel expenses to go to the south.

Chen Qing invited Li Weiru to sit down in his big tent, and asked with a smile, "Li Sima should be very young, right?"

Li Weiru smiled bitterly and said, "I'm not young anymore, I'm 45 this year."

Chen Qing knew that Li Weiru's son died in Hebei in the second year of Jingkang, and he had only one daughter at the age of 15, so Chen Qing stopped talking about his family and changed the subject: "Li Sima is here to deliver a letter! "

Li Weiru nodded, "I owe the Guan family a favor. He came to beg me, but I couldn't refuse, so I had to run for him, just to deliver a letter."

He took out the letter and handed it to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the letter and read it. Guan Pingxu was very polite in the letter, saying that he had no idea of ​​secession and independence. It was just that he had invested his entire fortune in Dingxi Fort, and hoped that he would have some success after submitting to the court. compensate.

Chen Qing sneered, and handed the letter to Li Weiru, "Has Li Sima read this letter?"

Li Weiru shook his head, "I'm only responsible for delivering the letter, Guan Pingxu's matter has nothing to do with me!"

"Li Sima, take a look!"

Reluctantly, Li Weiru took the letter and looked at it, then said calmly: "It's normal, the Guan family is a businessman! Businessmen always like to sell for a price."

"The letter said that they invested their entire net worth in Dingxi Village. What does that mean?"