Fenghou

"The grain boat is on the shore, but it seems to be empty, and the draft is not deep."

Lieutenant General Liu Quan said in a low voice: "Why don't we try a night attack and set fire to the opponent's camp!"

Jiang Yan shook his head first, "Wan Yanchang said that the other party made his fortune by attacking at night, and told us not to make sneak attacks. He has learned a painful lesson, and we must listen to his advice."

Liu Quan said anxiously: "But...the other party wants to spend with us, and our food can't support us for a few days."

Jiang Yan sighed first, and said to the generals behind him: "We have only two choices, either form an array and fight the opponent to the death, or withdraw the troops and return to Xiangyang, which one do you think is more suitable?"

Commander Li Yong said: "Although we have [-] troops, the opponent has [-] cavalry, but the initiative is in the hands of the opponent. They will fight if they are favorable, and retreat if they are unfavorable. We are very passive, and it is easy to lose due to morale failure. Jurchen cavalry battles are all about this problem, they are defeated before fighting, and finally they are massacred one-sidedly, unless we also have a considerable number of cavalry, otherwise the humble office does not approve of a decisive battle with the opponent."

The other generals were also chattering, meaning the same thing. Now the soldiers are hungry, morale is low, and the battle is bound to be a disastrous defeat. Anyway, they just don't want to fight the Song army.

Jiang Yan first said to Liu Quan: "They are all generals above the commanding ranks, and the generals are afraid of fighting, not to mention the soldiers, will General Liu persist?"

"But even if we retreat, we can't outrun the opponent's war horse!" Liu Quan sighed.

Jiang Yanxian smiled faintly, "I have my own way to make the soldiers retreat!"

……

On the street, there was a long queue in front of the porridge point. The food in the city had already been plundered by the puppet Qi army. The people could only rely on the army to provide porridge once a day in the morning and evening. It is said that soon there will be only one porridge at night. The people are panicked.

A man picked up the porridge bowl and looked at it, and suddenly said angrily: "Is this still porridge? It's clearly rice soup, and the rice particles can't be seen!"

The porridge soldier said coldly: "If you like to drink or not, go away!"

The man became even more agitated, threw the porridge bowl on the ground, waved his arms and shouted: "You have stolen all my rice, so just give us this, how shameless you are?"

At this moment, the man suddenly staggered and fell headlong to the ground, his whole body twitching, "Scared the people around to get out of the way and watch from afar!"

At this time, a military doctor ran over, showed the man, and suddenly shouted: "Everyone, go away, it's the plague!"

Hearing that it was a plague, the people were so frightened that they stumbled and fled in all directions.

The atmosphere in the city suddenly became tense, and the soldiers were under martial law throughout the city, but news continued to spread, 'The family of XX, the whole family is dead! '

Through the windows and cracks in the doors, many people saw soldiers dragging carts passing by on the street. The carts were wrapped in mats, but their feet were exposed. These were people who died of the plague and were sent for burial.

The whole city was suddenly enveloped in a kind of extreme fear...

There is a courtyard near the south gate, where two subordinates of Huyanlei live. They are a pair of masters and apprentices. The master carried the medicine box, grabbed and boiled the medicine. They were forced by the army to see a doctor for the soldiers before, and now they have returned.

Perhaps because of the martial law, although they are doctors, they don't have much business during the day, and only at night, some people will sneak up to see them for medical treatment.

"Master, we still have to go tonight!"

Wang Du said with a sad face: "The pile of graves are full of people who died of various diseases, what's there to see!"

Feng Shaoyou shook his head and said: "In the past few nights, I have seen many patients, saying how serious the plague is, and every family has died everywhere, but I have never seen a plague patient, nor have I seen the so-called extermination of the whole family. It's a rumor, someone spreading rumors with ulterior motives."

"It's all under martial law, how can rumors spread?"

"That's the problem! Martial law is in place, why do you hear the same saying, whose family died today, and whose family died yesterday, exactly the same saying, who do you think is spreading it?"

"Ah! Could it be the soldier who gave out porridge?"

"Except for them, there is no one else. The other armies are trying their best to hide the truth, lest the people's hearts and the army's will be confused, but here it is reversed, lest everyone will not be chaotic."

Feng Shaoyou sighed, "If something goes wrong, there must be a demon!"

Speaking of demons, the king became even more frightened, and begged, "Master, don't go to the graves! Maybe they burned them and buried them deep. Where can you find the dead bodies of the plague?"

"It's true, look at your useless appearance, you are still a scout! Forget it, let's go to another party tonight, and we can find out the truth!"

Half an hour later, the master and the apprentice came to a yard under the cover of night. Feng Shaoyou looked at the yard for a long time and said, "This is the shopkeeper Wang's house of a grocery store that died yesterday. Let's go in!"

The two climbed over the wall and entered the yard. There was no one in the yard. The room was pitch black and the door was locked. Looking through the window, the room was empty, with only some tattered furniture left, and the lock on the door was corroded. Looking at the kitchen, the mice have made their nests in the stove.

Feng Shaoyou sneered and said: "See, the weeds in the yard are as high as my knees, and the house has been closed for at least half a year, which is enough to prove that the whole family's death from the plague is an out-and-out rumor .”

"Master, I still say the same thing, what's the point of the puppet Qi army spreading rumors? It's ruined the army's morale."

"I do not know either!"

Feng Shaoyou was also at a loss, what was the other party's intention in doing this?

The point is that he has to spread the news?

Feng Shaoyou pondered for a while and said: "Last time I heard that someone had a way to get out of the city, but it was more expensive. Let's give it a try and let you go out to deliver letters!"

……

At three o'clock the next day, Chen Qing had already fallen asleep, but was woken up by the guards on duty.

"Dutong, there are scouts in Changshou County to deliver the letter."

Chen Qing was slightly taken aback, but he immediately understood that they were Hu Yanlei's subordinates, the two doctors and apprentices.

"Let him come to see me!"

Not long after, the soldiers brought a young man up, and the young man knelt down on one knee to salute, "All low-ranking kings see Du Tong!"

Chen Qing heard from Zhang Hua, the head of the scout, that the apprentice doctor was only 16 years old. He nodded and said with a smile, "Isn't Changshou County closed to prevent the people from going out? How did you get out?"

Wang Du said with bitterness on his face: "Qi Du Tong, someone is doing business in the city, and the dead body is going to be transported out of the city for burial. My master paid a high price to let the humble official go out of the city pretending to be a corpse."

Seeing his bitter face, Chen Qing couldn't help but burst out laughing, and asked again: "You bother to go out of the city so much, do you have any important news to report?"

"Reporting to Dutong, there is indeed important news. The plague is breaking out in Changshou County."

Chen Qing was taken aback, "Is there really a plague?"

"There is no such thing. My master and I have checked it out. There is no outbreak of plague at all. It is completely a rumor fabricated by the puppet Qi army, causing the whole city to panic?"

"Why do you do this?" Chen Qing asked puzzled.

"We don't know either. Master guessed that it was because there was no food, and the puppet Qi army was going to describe the starving people as plagues to cover up their crimes."

Chen Qing nodded slowly, it is indeed possible!

He pondered for a moment, and said to the soldiers: "Go and invite Zhang Canjun!"

Just as the soldier was about to leave, Chen Qing called to stop the soldier again, "Forget it, don't bother joining the army to rest, let's talk about it tomorrow morning!"

Chapter 3 and Four

What did Zhang Xiao think about the strange actions of the puppet Qi army?

Zhang Xiao pondered for a long time, then slowly said: "Xiaozhi has a bold idea, but I'm not sure!"

"Join the army, just say it!"

"My humble guess is that the puppet Qi army is about to retreat, and the army and the people are mixed together to retreat!"

Chen Qing frowned, "You mean, the spread of rumors and the plague will force the common people to retreat together?"

"It should be like this. If I'm not wrong, they will definitely spread rumors. The plague broke out everywhere, only Xiangyang did not, so the people in the city must have fled to Xiangyang."

Chen Qing nodded, "It's very possible!"

Yang Zaixing next to him was puzzled and said: "The army is as chaotic as the army, how can we ensure that the soldiers will retreat to Xiangyang honestly?"

Zhang Xiao laughed, "I guess the soldiers haven't received their salaries for several months. If they want to get their salaries, they have to go to Xiangyang, or they have to give up. In other words, Xiangyang has the antidote to the plague. This move is even more ruthless. Guarantee that every soldier will desperately flee to Xiangyang!"

"Joining the army is right. That should be the case. The key is how we can tell the common people from the soldiers. If we throw away our armor and mix among the common people, how can we tell the difference?"

Zhang Xiao shook his head and smiled wryly: "This trick is very vicious. Unless the people are all killed and all the men are killed, the lowly officials can't think of how to tell them apart. The key point is that they are all hungry people. If we don't care, a large number of people will starve to death. But if we Don't worry, we don't have enough troops!"

At this moment, a soldier came rushing to report, "Report to Dutong, the scouts in front have heard the news, the gate of Changshou County is wide open, and countless people are rushing out."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and they were guessed right, that's what happened!

Everyone looked at Chen Qing, and Chen Qing said helplessly, "Wang Duo led a thousand troops to guard the camp, and everyone else will follow me to see the situation!"

The cavalry assembled quickly, and under the command of Chen Qing, nine thousand cavalry galloped to the north.

……

Under the extreme threat of the plague, the people in the city broke out with unprecedented efficiency and speed. The four city gates opened wide at the same time, and 10,000+ people rushed out, and [-] soldiers were among them. Even Jiang Yanxian pretended to be A middle-aged scribe, with some books and belongings, and a few followers, fled towards Xiangyang in a donkey cart.

On the official road, the sky and the ground are full of fleeing people, all hungry, supporting each other, crying loudly, many old people can't walk after fleeing for more than ten miles, sitting on the side of the road, patting their legs and crying, waiting to die.

Chen Qing led [-] cavalry to kill them, and [-]% of the people in the city fled, and the remaining [-]% did not have time to leave the city.

Chen Qing ordered the city gate to be closed and led the cavalry to chase after him. He saw that the official roads and the wilderness were covered with escaped people. The autumn wind was howling and the chill was biting.

At this time, Zhao Xiaoyi came to salute on horseback, "See Dutong!"

"Has the fleeing army been assembled?"

Zhao Xiaoyi shook his head, "All of them broke up and fled in all directions. They were basically mixed with the common people. Without armor and weapons, they couldn't tell the difference."

Chen Qing said helplessly: "You really can't underestimate the capable people in the world, pass on my order, stop chasing!"

The cavalry had to stop their pursuit, and the task was changed to relieve the people and persuade them to return to the city.

It took two full days before the 10,000+ people began to return to the city one after another, but in the end only [-]% of them were persuaded to return. Those with a little condition at home still fled to Xiangyang.

Three days later, Li Gang led the army and supplies to Changshou County to take over the follow-up disaster relief work. Only then was Chen Qing able to escape from Changshou County and lead the army to Jiangling Mansion to rest.

Until then, both sides had completed their strategic contraction, and the Puppet Qi Army began to consolidate its occupation of Xiangyang Mansion and Deng, Suizhou, and Fangzhou. Dong Xuan sent people to Changshou County to negotiate with Li Gang, and was willing to use 1 of the captured troops in Dengzhou and Xiangyang Mansion. More than [-] Song troops were exchanged for the [-] puppet Qi troops captured in Hanyang.

The two sides began to be in a strategic confrontation, and Li Gang also ordered the governors of various places in Huguang to start recruiting soldiers.

……

The ship escorting Yang Yao and other bandit generals finally arrived in Lin'an. Although the Song Dynasty was under heavy pressure from the third-line attack, the news that the Dongting Water Bandits had been suppressed made the court rejoice. There are more than 120 members of the famous thief general and their family members.

The beheading of Yang Yao means that the banditry in Dongting Lake has been completely pacified, and it also marks that all the rebel forces in the Song Dynasty have been extinguished. The court can concentrate on restoring people's livelihood, increasing the population, and gradually improving the increasingly embarrassing financial difficulties. .

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Emperor Zhao Gou came to pay his respects to the Empress as usual, and the Empress Dowager Wei said in a cold voice, "The officials seem to be in a good mood today, have you encountered something happy?"

"After reporting back to my mother, Yang Yao, the leader of the bandits who has caused troubles in the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake for several years, has been taken to Lin'an. He was publicly beheaded at noon today, and a poisonous thorn in my son's back was finally pulled out."

"Oh! I've heard some rumors. It's a good thing! Are the officials planning to reward meritorious soldiers?"

"My son has this plan. Thanks to Chen Qing's great contribution, he was able to pull out this poisonous thorn."

"It's Chen Qing again. Ai Jia remembers that he seems to have just been promoted to the capital! Could it be that the officials plan to promote him again?"

Zhao Gou sighed secretly in his heart. He discussed this matter with Qin Hui today, and Qin Hui hinted that he would ask the queen mother for instructions, which made Zhao Gou feel a little upset, but he had no choice. there will be trouble.

"Empress Dowager, my son promised to the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty in the court meeting that he would exterminate Yang Yaozhe, be promoted to three ranks, and become a prince. If the son does not keep his word, how will he face the world?"

"Chen Qing isn't the only one who killed Yang Yao! With so many generals under their command, is Chen Qing the only one who deserves the credit?"

"This...Other meritorious officers and men will of course also be rewarded, and the promise of the son-in-law is only given to the chief general."

After a pause, Zhao Gou explained again: "This is the reward offered by my minister last year, not for Chen Qing."

"Then how does the emperor plan to seal him?"

"Follow the promise! You will be named Duke Jing, and you will be promoted to three ranks."

The Empress Dowager Wei sneered and said: "What do other generals think about your letter like this? Zhang Jun has fought for 20 years and has made a lot of achievements in battle. He is only a Duke of the country. The same is true for Han Shizhong. Liu Guangshi is even just a Duke of the county. He is just a prince." Do you think it is appropriate for the officials to make you a duke when you are old?"

"Mother, you are not joking!"

Empress Dowager Wei was silent, and Zhao Gou said again: "I also know that Chen Qing's promotion is too fast. I can't do anything about the title, but I can be flexible about the official position."

"How to work around?"

"My son said that officials were promoted to three ranks of soldiers, but he didn't say that civil servants were still military generals. My ministers planned to promote military commanders to one rank, and civil servants to two ranks. In fact, they are still fifth rank."

"Then why didn't the officials raise him to three ranks in Honor Officer?"

Zhao Gou was at a loss for words, and said for a while, "Officer Sheng Xun may be ridiculed by the world."

Empress Dowager Wei learned from Qin Hui's wife, Wang Shi, that the officials were going to add officials to Chen Qing, which made her furious. Is her son deliberately against herself?

But Empress Dowager Wei didn't expect that this was the official's promise in the court meeting. No matter how dissatisfied she was, she couldn't help it. She couldn't let the official family lose their trust!

"Forget it, since you are a general, you should be promoted to a military officer! Don't let the court officials laugh at you."

"My son obeys my mother's edict!"

Empress Dowager Wei snorted and said: "Your father often said that meritorious service should be rewarded, and crimes should be punished. The official family can't just reward Chen Qing and not punish him. If Chen Qing commits a crime in the future, the official family will protect him. The Ai family will not agree!"

"My son doesn't dare!"

"Aijia is tired, let's kneel down!"

"The queen mother is resting, and the son is saying goodbye!"

Zhao Gou kowtowed respectfully, got up and left.