Fenghou

At this moment, a low-pitched horn sounded suddenly from the north, and the sound of the horn sounded like a cold wind sweeping across the field.

Zhao Ping shouted excitedly, "Our reinforcements are coming, brothers, hold on!"

The morale of the soldiers of the Song Army was high, and they fought desperately.

But the bandits felt something was wrong, the ground was shaking, as if thousands of troops were coming, they were terrified and retreated one after another.

At this time, Huang Qian suddenly understood, and shouted in fear: "It's the cavalry! Withdraw!"

It was too late, the overwhelming cavalry came from both sides of the city wall, they were extremely brave, and swept away towards the terrified bandits.

A huge Chen Zishuai flag flutters in the wind...

Chapter 283 Qi Envoy

Dongting Lake water bandits have never encountered a war with cavalry, especially the Western Army cavalry known for their bravery. Chasing and hacking.

Really unable to run the horses, the bandit soldiers knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, but it was still useless. Chen Qing issued a killing order and refused to surrender. The bandit soldiers who knelt and surrendered were still chopped off by the cavalry.

Two hours later, the field calmed down, and the 1000 bandits were almost killed. The chief general Huang Qian and a dozen generals rode on horses and escaped by luck. Another [-] people who attacked the city surrendered The Song army also survived after leaving the city.

But even so, they still could not escape death, Chen Qing executed them all in a ritual way.

Nearly 1000 people in the county came to the city wall and watched the scene outside the city. More than [-] rebel soldiers were kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, and soldiers with swords in their hands stood beside them.

Yang Guang, the magistrate of Huarong County, couldn't bear it. He clasped his fists to Chen Qing and said, "Since they have already surrendered, why didn't the general let them go back to their hometowns to work as farmers, but killed them instead? Then who will surrender in the future?"

Chen Qing said lightly: "I never expect the enemy to surrender on the battlefield. Since they have chosen the road of being water thieves, this is their fate. There is nothing to complain about. If they surrender, they can go home alive. There is no price for being a thief, and I want everyone to understand that committing yourself to being a thief will only lead to death."

"But what if they are forced to become thieves? They must be given a chance to reform themselves."

Chen Qing stared at the county magistrate and said: "The county lord thinks they have no chance? No! They have more chances, and they can go home by jumping into the water with a log in their arms. The reason why they don't escape is that they find it profitable to be water thieves. You can mutilate innocent people and rob property, and you can wantonly abuse women without being punished by law.

If they are tolerant, who will give them an explanation for those innocent people who were killed by them, those sisters who were abused by them?

If I don't arrive in time today, will the county lord have a chance to excuse them in front of me?What will be the fate of the county lord's wife and daughter? Have these county lords ever thought about it? "

Yang Guang, the county magistrate, was speechless for a while, and the general Zhao Ping whispered beside him: "Chen Dutong is actually right. These bandits who surrendered were the first to rush into the city. They are often the most vicious bandits. They There is no merit to speak of, if you rush into the city first, you will be able to occupy big families and loot more property."

Yang Guang, the magistrate, sighed, "Actually, I just want to make a distinction. Those who commit the most heinous crimes will be killed, and those who commit minor crimes will be punished in other ways. No criminals can be released, that's all."

"no need!"

Chen Qing categorically refused, "The battlefield is their trial, my sword only cares about right and wrong, regardless of fairness, order, cut!"

"Woo--" the horn blew, and the soldiers of the Song Army raised their knives and dropped them. More than 1000 heads fell to the ground, and the people on the top of the city exclaimed.

……

Chen Qing immediately ordered that [-] rebel soldiers be headed to build a Jingguan by the Dongting Lake to deter Yang Yao's rebel army.

In just ten days, the cruel killing that took place in Huarong County spread throughout the entire lake area. Not only the tens of thousands of water thieves were deeply shocked, but even ordinary people realized that the army sent by the imperial court this time was extraordinary. Mo Chenqing's nickname quickly spread throughout the barracks of the bandit army and the streets and alleys of various prefectures and counties.

Some people were rejoicing, but some were also worried. They didn't know what the No. [-] hero of the Western Army would bring to Dongting Lake.

……

Yang Yao's lair is located in Junshan, Dongting Lake. His tens of thousands of troops are actually a kind of partnership, which was formed by the merger of dozens of water thieves, large and small. On the one hand, Yang Yao is powerful. Being annexed, some water thieves had to come and attach to him.

On the other hand, Yang Yao defeated the Song army who came to suppress the bandits several times, and captured a large amount of food and soldiers. In addition, he looted on the Yangtze River and around Dongting Lake, and his financial resources were quite strong. Therefore, many water thieves voluntarily attached themselves to him.

Of course, these water thief leaders all have a common condition, unwilling to give up their subordinates, Yang Yao also agreed to their condition, allowing them to form their own villages, and formed a 72 army village in Junshan. Yang Yao called himself the Great Saint King , He was supported by all the armies under his command.

In the past two years, Yang Yao's army has developed very rapidly. Except for Yuezhou because of Wang Yan's guarding, it can't take much advantage. The Huarong and Anxiang counties that were occupied before were taken away by Wang Yan's army, and the attack on Baling County suffered a disastrous defeat. .

But in Tanzhou to the south of Dongting Lake and Changde Mansion to the west, Yang Yaojun went very smoothly, occupying half of Tanzhou and the entire Changde Mansion.

The defeat of Huarong and the strong appearance of the Western Army Chen Qing caused great disagreements among Yang Yao. Some generals wanted to withdraw their old nest to Changde Mansion, but other generals refused to leave Junshan. Yang Yao was also in a dilemma. He certainly didn't want to leave Junshan, the 'Land of Prosperous Dragon', but Chen Qing's arrival made him a little worried.

Yang Yao didn't care about Huarong's defeat, Huang Qian was a Jiangxia water thief, currently Yang Yao's second largest force, Huang Qian's army was completely wiped out by Chen Qing, but it was beneficial for Yang Yao to control the bandits.

It's just that Chen Qing's vicious killing shook Yang Yao's military spirit, which made Yang Yao very passive.

"I remember Your Majesty said that you fought Chen Qing once?" asked the military advisor Huang Cheng.

Yang Yao nodded, "It happened last year. There were only two of them, and he actually killed hundreds of my subordinates, forcing me to evacuate. It was my most useless defeat."

"Besides being tough, what's his strategy?" Huang Cheng asked again.

"He was not fooled by the strategist Kong Jiang's plan, which shows that he is not stupid."

Huang Cheng shook his head, "It's not that he saw us through, but Wang Yan, including Wang Yan who set a trap in Huarong County, luring us to abandon the ship and go north, and we were wiped out by the cavalry in the end. These are all Wang Yan's arrangements. Chen Qing is just a It's just an executor, once Chen Qing enters Yuezhou, he will fight independently, so I am more concerned about his strategic ability."

Yang Yao snorted disdainfully, "So what if he has a strategy? In my opinion, strategy is just an auxiliary, and strength is the foundation. On land, I can't beat his cavalry, but in water, that is my world." , even if he is Zhuge Liang reincarnated, once he enters the water, he will be captured obediently!"

Huang Cheng laughed dryly, "That's true, strength is fundamental!"

Yang Yao slammed his fist on the table, "So let's find a way to lead him into the water to fight!"

At this moment, a soldier hurried up to the hall, knelt down on one knee and reported, "Report to Your Majesty, the special envoy of the State of Qi has arrived!"

Yang Yao was startled, and quickly said: "Please come quickly!"

As early as three years ago, Liu Yu, the puppet Qi emperor, sent someone to recruit Yang Yao, but Yang Yao flatly rejected him. He had great ambitions, so he didn't want to become a courtier of the puppet Qi.

Last year, the puppet Qi changed its strategy and no longer recruited Yang Yao, but recognized his status and expressed willingness to form an alliance with him. This was in Yang Yao's interest.

During this year, the Puppet Qi used the Yangtze River waterway to provide Yang Yao with a lot of military supplies, including 5000 sets of soldiers and 5000 tents, which quickly increased Yang Yao's direct army from [-] to three. There are [-] people, at least from this point, Yang Yao is still very grateful to the Puppet Qi State.

A young and shrewd special envoy came in. This person is Zhang Mingzhong, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites of the Puppet Qi, and Zhang Mingzhong, the grandson of Zhang Shuye, a famous official of the Song Dynasty. He was engaged to Lu Xiu once. Hesitation annulled the marriage.

Zhang Mingzhong went to Dongting Lake as a special envoy last year, and signed the alliance agreement on behalf of Liu Yu and Yang Yao, so he was promoted from a member of the Ministry of Rites to a doctor of the Ministry of Rites.

Yang Yao enthusiastically welcomed Zhang Mingzhong into the inner hall, pointed to a shiny golden chair and said with a smile, "How about this chair? I made it out of sixty catties of gold, and it is inlaid with more than 800 precious stones. You must be rich!"

Zhang Mingzhong said with a slight smile: "Sure enough, it's not Fanpin!"

He praises him with his mouth, but he despises him in his heart. He uses gold as a chair, but drinks tea from a large bowl. He is an extremely vulgar fellow.

"I'm here this time on the order of my son of heaven to talk about cooperation in a big war. I wonder if your majesty is interested?"

"Tell me about it!"

Chapter 284

Zhang Mingzhong sat down on an ivory chair and said, "We decided to cooperate with the Jin soldiers to launch a center line attack, attacking the front line of Xiangyang and Jingzhou. Our emperor hopes that the king will also launch an offensive at Dongting Lake to contain the Song army so that the Song army cannot fully defend Jingzhou."

Speaking of which, Zhang Mingzhong took out a copy of the emperor's handwritten letter and handed it to Yang Yao. Yang Yao looked at it and handed the letter to Huang Cheng.

Yang Yao was extremely shrewd, rolled his eyes a few times, tentatively smiled at Zhang Mingzhong and said, "It's a coincidence that you came this time, it happened that Chen Qing was the governor of Yuezhou, and he also brought an elite western army. Does the center line attack have something to do with Chen Qing?"

Zhang Mingzhong hesitated and said, "We know that Song Ting's personnel has been mobilized recently. Our attack on the center line was actually aimed at a series of recent changes in the situation. In fact, it was more because of the Song Army's defeat on the Eastern Front, which led them to defend the main force on the Yangtze River. , and have no time to take care of the center line, this time is when the center line is weak, it is an opportunity, so we decided to launch a center line offensive, and it has nothing to do with a specific person."

After reading the letter, Huang Cheng nodded to Yang Yao, expressing that the other party's reasons were credible and they could cooperate.

Yang Yao said with a wry smile: "In fact, we have already started a war with the Song Army. Just a few days ago, our more than 1 troops were defeated in Huarong County. Chen Qing was so cruel that he even killed all my troops. The soldiers who surrendered They also killed all of them, leaving no one behind, and used the heads of dead soldiers to build a Jingguan on the north bank of Dongting Lake, which is extremely cruel."

Zhang Mingzhong nodded, "He is famous for his cruelty. In the Northwest, he would kill prisoners of war every time he fought. He was called a monster, so that children in Qi State did not dare to cry at night when they heard his name. His ferocity can be seen. I heard that he was killed. Transferred from the northwest, the soldiers on Shaanxi Road beat gongs and drums to celebrate."

Yang Yao was dumbfounded and said for a while, "But now he's coming to deal with us."

"Your Majesty has an invincible navy, so why worry about the dry wolves in the Northwest?"

This flattery was good, Yang Yao was very happy, "Well said, I dare not compete with him on land, but if he dares to enter the water, I promise to send him to see the Dragon King."

Zhang Mingzhong worked hard all the way, Yang Yao sent someone to take him down to rest, and he discussed with Huang Cheng again: "I think the real purpose of Qi Guo's cooperation with us is to hope that I can restrain Chen Qing in Dongting Lake. It’s a big deal, but since the State of Qi wants something from us, shouldn’t we make some demands to the State of Qi, such as the fire oil they have been refusing to give us.”

Huang Cheng smiled and nodded, "I think this request can be made!"

At this moment, a soldier reported outside the hall, "Speak to Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Hukou!"

"Bring it up!"

After a while, a messenger soldier entered the hall and reported, "About [-] warships of the Song Army passed by the mouth of the Yangtze River. The momentum is huge. The brothers have too few troops to fight!"

Yang Yao was stunned. The Yangtze River Navy of the Song Army had only a few dozen warships in Poyang Lake, Jiangzhou. When would two hundred warships appear again?

……

Chen Qing's army had already returned to Jiangling Mansion, and [-] shi of grain from Huarong County entered the Yangtze River along the Huarong River through captured ships and sent them to Jiangling Mansion. At this time, the imperial court had sent nearly [-] warships mobilized from Quanzhou to Jiangzhou was handed over to Li Gang, Huguang Xuanfu envoy.

Li Gang received Wang Yan's request, and immediately sent a fleet to Jiangling to escort Chen Qing's army to Baling County, Yuezhou.

In fact, the main purpose is to pass through the mouth of Dongting Lake, also known as the mouth of Jingjiang, which is [-] miles wide, to prevent water thieves ambushing in the mouth of the lake from attacking like a pack of wolves.

With the escort of warships, Chen Qing's fleet passed the lake mouth smoothly, and even the cavalry boarded the boat and passed the lake mouth. The bandits in the lake mouth did not dare to act rashly. Yang Yao's plan to empty the river failed.

As for escorting Lv Xiu and his party back to Lin'an, Chen Qing did not use naval warships. They captured several thousand stone warships. Chen Qing sent three hundred soldiers on five warships, and the three thousand Yuezhou that Wang Yan handed over to him The army selected a group of sailors to drive five warships to escort Lu Xiu and his party back to Lin'an.

As long as you leave the Dongting Lake area, you don’t have to worry about safety on the road. The Puppet Qi State has no navy. Although the situation in Runzhou is tense, they will enter Lishui in Wuhu in advance, and go directly to Taihu Lake along Lishui, so you don’t have to take the long way around the Jiangnan Canal. up.

In fact, almost all merchant ships now take this route to avoid Runzhou, where the army is overwhelming. Merchant ships directly enter West Taihu Lake. It is very convenient to go to Suzhou and Changzhou. If you want to go to Lin’an, you can cross Taihu Lake to Huzhou, and then go The Guantang River will reach Lin'an, saving at least five days compared to taking the Jiangnan Canal.

As for how Lv Xiu will prepare for the marriage after returning to Lin'an, that's a later story, so I don't need to go into details now.

Baling County is today's Yueyang. It was a large county in the Song Dynasty. The city wall of the county was rebuilt in the fourth year of Jianyan because of the rebellion of Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao. Ling County.

This time Chen Qing served as governor of Yue and E towns and governor of Yuezhou. His mission was the former rather than the latter. He was not asked to govern the local area and appease the people's livelihood, but to exterminate the Dongting water thieves. It is good to concentrate resources on the army. As for the restoration of people's livelihood, that will be something after the eradication of banditry.

There is a large military camp in the city, which can accommodate 2 people. Chen Qing arranged for the army to live in the military camp, and moved money, food and materials into the city, including the [-] shi of grain transferred from Huarong County, which was also transported into the warehouse.

Yuezhou Tongpan is called Yan Yun, a famous poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, grandson of Xiangguo Yan Shu, about forty years old, a Jinshi background, and has been in the officialdom for nearly 20 years.

"Everyone doesn't know that Baling County was captured by Yang Yao in the fourth year of Jianyan, and the city was plundered wantonly. The people in the city suffered heavy losses. Later, many people fled. The city that used to have nearly 20 people is now only left. There are more than [-] people."

Chen Qing nodded, "No wonder I feel that the city is empty and sparsely populated. If so, there should be a lot of empty houses!"

"Of course there are many, more than half of the houses are empty."

"That's right. I brought a lot of family members with the army. They also need housing. They are currently living in tents, but after all, it is not a long-term solution. I just want to know, does the government distinguish between owned houses and unowned houses?"

"This...the government has not distinguished, but we have a little trick to distinguish."

"What little trick?"

Yan Yun smiled and said: "Many people just went out to seek refuge, but they did not abandon their homes. They would always come back to take a look and pull out the weeds in front of the house and in the yard, so if they find a house in the yard and in front of the house It is covered with weeds, which means that this family will not come back in all likelihood.”

Chen Qing nodded with a smile and said, "So that's it. I've been educated. How about the food situation of the people in the city?"

Yan Yun shook her head, "The situation is very bad. This year's summer food has been robbed by water thieves. The people in the city have been relying on government relief for the past few months. They still don't know what to do next!"

Chen Qing thought for a while, it was the end of August, and it was too late to plant anything, so he asked again: "Is there any food to harvest in autumn?"

"There are [-] mu of rice in the east, which we planted in a rush. Everyone is counting on this rice. If the water thieves come to snatch it again, the problem will be serious."

Chen Qing said indifferently: "They dare not come again, not only that, but we will also rob them of their food, unless they plant the food in the lake, since I am here, the situation must be reversed!"

A relieved smile appeared on Yan Yun's face, "We have been looking forward to this day for too long."

Chapter 285 Conditions

In the west of Baling County, there is a small river called Balingshui. This small river leads directly to the Yangtze River and winds from the southeast mountainous area. It does not intersect with Dongting Lake. More than 100 boats captured by Chen Qing are moored in Balingshui. A thousand soldiers were in charge of guarding.

Among the more than 100 ships, there were two Yang Yao's vehicles and boats. This was the first time the Song army captured Yang Yao's sharp weapon. Chen Qing valued it very much, and a hundred soldiers were specially responsible for guarding these two vehicles and boats.

On the second day after Chen Qing arrived in Baling County, Xuan Fu envoy Li Gang also rushed to Baling County to discuss with Chen Qing how to defeat the enemy.

Chen Qing took Li Gang to the bank of Balingshui River, and visited the two vehicles and boats.

"Baizhi feels that there are three key points in defeating the enemy, one of which is on these two vehicles and ships."

Chen Qing pointed at the car and boat and said with a smile: "This is Yang Yao's magic weapon to control Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River. If we can find a way to deal with them, we can break his most proud magic weapon, which is equivalent to cutting off his wings. "

"Have you found a way to crack it?" Li Gang asked happily.

"The chief craftsman in our army is researching!"

Just as he was talking, Xie Changzhi came out of the cabin with a lame leg. Li Gang was startled, "Aren't you... Master Xie?"

Xie Changzhi hurriedly saluted, and said a little excitedly: "Mr. Li still remembers the villain?"

"Why don't you remember that the thousand-step cannon you built hit the arrogance of the Jurchens so hard that the Jurchens had to withdraw their troops from Bianliang for the first time. I remember personally rewarding you!"

"Exactly! Exactly! It's a pity that when the mediocre minister came to power, the thousand-step cannon was abolished by the demon Taoist Guo Jing, which led to the subsequent Jingkang disaster." Xie Changzhi sighed.

Chen Qing asked curiously: "What is a thousand-step gun?"

Xie Changzhi smiled and said, "It's the super-large catapult brought back by the general from Ganquan Fort. We named it the Thousand-step Cannon. In fact, it can't reach a thousand steps. It can throw a [-]-jin gunpowder barrel five hundred steps away."

Chen Qing was even more puzzled. You must know that he invented the fuse. He used to ignite the gunpowder and then throw it, or ignite the oil paper, but the success rate was too low, and many oil papers were extinguished in the air.

"Then how did you light the powder keg?"