Fenghou

"what!"

Chen Qing was taken aback, "How many people died?"

"More than 1000 people died, mostly elderly people. Wang Tongpan's father, Wang Yu, was also killed."

"Why are they all old people?"

"Wang Huai got the news in advance and led most of the people to hide in Chigu Fort, but many old people were unwilling to leave, and they were all murdered. Wanyan and Lisa even ordered to set fire. More than half of the county town was burned down, and the city walls were destroyed. Most of it collapsed."

Chen Qing's eyes shot out with anger, and he said coldly, "Wanyan drink Lisa dry?"

Zhang Xiao nodded, "It should be that he attacked Chengji County if he couldn't vent his hatred for Du Tong."

"I have to go to Chengji County right away. You can make arrangements for the camels to deliver food and tents there immediately. Postpone other things until I come back."

Chen Qing immediately wrote a letter to his wife and asked the soldiers to send it to his home.

He immediately ordered [-] cavalry, each carrying ten days of dry food, and at the same time, each carrying another bag of food, then left Ganquan Fort, and rushed towards Chengji County at a fast speed.

As soon as Chen Qing left, Yang Yuanqing arranged another [-] shi of grain and [-] tents, and Hu Yantong led the army to escort the ox carts and camels to Chengji County for disaster relief.

Two days later, Chen Qing arrived in Chengji County, three hundred miles away.

The scene in front of him shocked him. Three of the four city walls collapsed, more than half of the houses in the city were burned, and tens of thousands of people were left homeless. Many people either crowded into one room or took shelter in the ruined walls.

Hearing of Chen Qing's arrival, tens of thousands of people in the city ran out, crying loudly, and Chen Qing was really uncomfortable. He immediately ordered the soldiers to cook porridge for the hungry and cold people.

At this time, Wang Huai, the judge, came forward to salute, and said tearfully, "The Jurchens are too cruel, even the old man is not spared. My father scolded Jin Bing for his cruelty, and as a result, he was pierced by more than a dozen spears."

Speaking of sadness, Wang Huai covered his face and cried loudly, and all the people cried together, and the cry was loud.

Standing on a high place, Chen Qing shouted loudly: "The so-called blood debt is repaid with blood. I, Chen Qing, promise to all my fathers and fellow villagers that sooner or later, I will definitely use the head of Wan Yanhe Lisa to sacrifice to the dead folks. I have gone, please mourn, I will let soldiers help everyone rebuild their homes!"

Wang Huai raised his arms and shouted: "Blood debts!"

Tens of thousands of people raised their arms and shouted, "Blood debt!"

Although everyone's emotions were appeased, the real difficulties were in front of them. There was no housing, insufficient food, and heavy property losses.

Wang Huai sighed and said to Chen Qing: "Thanks to Fan Gong, the military advisor of Wanyan Wushu, he sent someone to tell us that the Jin soldiers might massacre the city. We fled overnight with only a little food and clothes, and hid in Chigu Fort for three days. , when I came back, it became like this, there was no more food, and the house was burned down. Thanks to Qingshui County sending people to send hundreds of shi of grain in time, tens of thousands of people can get a bite of food. Now I really don’t know what to do. it is good?"

Chen Qing nodded and said, "Probably the day after tomorrow! Tents and food will be delivered, so that everyone can settle down, and then think about how to rebuild their homes. It's just right. I want to rebuild the city wall. How many men are there under the age of 50?"

"Probably more than ten thousand people!"

"Organize them all, and then recruit [-] young and strong men from various counties, hire them to build a new city wall at a salary of [-] yuan per person per day, and roughly complete the work before the wheat matures, about a hundred days, and wait for the harvest We'll finish with the wheat."

Wang Huai thought for a while and said: "If it is built with bricks, it can barely be completed, but if it is built with quarried stones, I am afraid that a hundred days will not be enough."

"Just burn the bricks. I'll send three thousand soldiers over to make the bricks."

"But even if 15 young adults work for [-] days, they still need [-] yuan!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Don't worry about the money. Ganquanbao has money, and I will also notify the counties to recruit civilian husbands. Wang Tongpan first organizes the young and strong in Chengji County, cleans up the city walls, and cleans up the large stones that can be used. Come out and do things first, you can’t wait for everyone to arrive before doing it, that would be a waste of time!”

Wang Huai nodded silently. The task is heavy, but with the assistance of soldiers, it will be better.

"Okay! I'll start recruiting people today."

Chapter 4 and Four Fortification

After the news of recruiting people to build the city wall spread, countless people came from other states in an endless stream. The northwest was far less prosperous and prosperous than the south of the Yangtze River.

People in the south of the Yangtze River can earn a hundred Wen a day, but in the Northwest it is not bad to earn twenty or thirty Wen a day, and there are few ways to earn money.

The main reason is that there is too little money circulating in the northwest market, and all the money in the Song Dynasty has flowed to the wealthy Jiangnan.

So Chen Qing pays [-] Wen a day and takes care of food and housing. This news is like a huge magnet, attracting people from all prefectures and counties to come to work. In just ten days, [-] young and strong clouds gathered in Ji County.

At this time, Jiang Yanxian, Lu Wei and other officials rushed to Chengji County, and [-] soldiers responsible for defense and maintaining order also arrived, and a large amount of material resources were continuously sent to Chengji County.

Chen Qing wanted to understand a truth, he must first secure the interior if he wants to fight against the outside world, and if he wants to become a real Xihe Road Jiedu envoy, he must first control Qinzhou in his hands.

Wang Huai is a local snake. His father was killed by a Jin man. He can be used, but he is not capable enough to bear the heavy burden of Qinzhou's general judgment. The two of them took over the reins.

In front of a big tent, Chen Qing met Wang Huai, the listless judge, and said with a smile, "Wang Tongpan, I want to check on the situation of Mai Mai, do you have time to accompany me?"

"The Jiedu envoy has an order, how dare a humble official refuse to obey? Please come with me."

Wang Huai was dissatisfied with his words. He led the people of Chengji County to escape the Jinbing massacre. There was no credit but hard work. As a result, a new magistrate and a county magistrate were appointed, and his power was taken away. How to feel comfortable.

Wang Huai accompanied Chen Qing to the wheat field silently. Chengji County happened to be the confluence of three rivers, Wei River, Tingchuan River and Ji River. It has always been a place rich in food.

The large wheat fields are mainly distributed on the south bank of the Weihe River and the north bank of the Jishui River, with an area of ​​more than [-] mu. The ditches in the field are criss-crossed and the water flow is sufficient, so that the wheat grows lush.

"Chengji County is also three years old now!" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

Wang Huai nodded, "During the Tang Dynasty, the climate here was warm and humid. Crops were harvested twice a year, one season of wheat and one season of rice. Now the climate has turned cold, and most areas only have one crop per year. The barren land can only be planted The low-yield corn, Chengji County has good conditions, sufficient water sources, and fertile land, so it can be harvested three times in two years. The wheat was harvested in July this year, and the field was rested for a few months. Winter wheat will be planted in winter, and it will be harvested in early June next year. Hurry up Time to plant another season of beans."

"Wang Tongpan deserves to be a big family in Chengji. He really knows Chengji County. I wonder if Wang Tongpan is familiar with Gongzhou?"

Wang Huai was slightly taken aback, and then replied: "Gongzhou is the original Weizhou. It has always been related to Qinzhou by blood and in-laws. My mother is from Longxi County, Gongzhou. I grew up in my grandfather's house in Longxi when I was young."

"Your mother is also a rich family!"

Wang Huai nodded, "Although the Longxi Li family is not as powerful as the Tang Dynasty, it is still the largest family in Gongzhou. It has produced several Jinshi and has a great influence in Gongzhou."

Chen Qing said with a smile: "I consider recommending you as the governor of Gongzhou, would you be willing?"

Wang Huai was really unexpected, and he was speechless for a long time. Of course, he knew that Chen Qing's so-called recommendation was just talk, and in fact it was a direct appointment, regardless of whether the court agreed or not.

It took a while for Wang Huai to say: "All are ready to send troops to Gongzhou?"

Chen Qing said indifferently: "There are only a thousand puppet Qi troops stationed in Gongzhou, and they can be taken at any time. I am going to consolidate Qinzhou first, and then consider sending troops in autumn. After all, I am the Jiedu envoy of Xihe Road. State is a matter of time."

Wang Huai hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm just afraid that the lowly job's lack of ability will disappoint Dutong!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Why don't I let you be the judge of Qinzhou, but let you be the governor of Gongzhou? Do you understand this reason?"

"Frankly speaking, I can't figure it out for a humble job."

"In fact, the reason is very simple. I have very high requirements on Qinzhou. Every county must obey the orders of the state government. I must keep track of the movements of each county at all times. I must double the population of Qinzhou within three years. Let Qinzhou be squeezed into a fist instead of five fingers. Frankly speaking, Wang Tongpan has contributed to Chengji County, as you can see from this wheat field, but his control over Qinzhou is still a bit weak, I can say right!"

Wang Huai said with shame on his face: "Du Tong is right. My father said that I can only be a county magistrate. I really can't control the counties in Qinzhou."

"That's why I considered letting you go to Gongzhou. For Gongzhou, my request is to control Longxi County. Among the five counties in Gongzhou, Tongwei, Tong'an, Anxi, and Dingxi, these four counties are too weak and have almost no sense of existence. , as long as you control Longxi County, you control Gongzhou, which is just very suitable for you."

Wang Huai suddenly realized, and quickly bowed and said: "The humble official is willing to go to Gongzhou to share the worries of the capital!"

Chen Qing nodded, "My army will take Gongzhou this autumn, and you will go to the office together. There are still four or five months. During this period, you must fully support Jiang Yan to build the city first. This autumn, the Xihe Road Festival Du Mansion will be relocated to Chengji County, I hope you will leave a strong mark in Chengji County."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

……

After some in-depth talks, Wang Huai's knots were untied, and he began to go all out to be Jiang Yanxian's assistant, making the construction of Nirvana rebirth in Chengji County run at a high speed.

However, relying on the efforts of the officials alone, without enough resources, it is still difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. In order to make Chengji County reborn as soon as possible, Chen Qing began to use the money he had saved over the years.

On the official road, a transportation team that is more than ten miles long came from Ganquan Fort full of supplies in an endless stream. Tens of thousands of large tents were distributed in the fields and hills outside the city, and there were 10,000+ stone grains, 20 coins, Eighty thousand civilians and troops lived in the camp, and Jiang Yanxian, Wang Huai, Lu Wei, Du Min and other officials were so busy that they never touched the ground.

Chengji County basically changed its appearance every day, and it was cleaned up within a few days. It began to dig deep pits and build foundations, using long strips of large bluestones from the old city wall to build the foundation, and then began to repair the city wall with new bricks. bricks filled with soil.

While building the city wall, the burned houses in the city began to be rebuilt. In order to encourage and help the people rebuild their homes, the Song army even provided fired red bricks for free.

With united efforts, the entire Chengji County has become a large construction site, with men, women, old and young people participating in the construction of rebuilding their homes.

The construction site was in full swing, and there were teams of busy people everywhere, carrying baskets, stirring mud, and boiling glutinous rice paste. From a distance, they were as busy as an army of ants.

Chen Qing stood on a small hill one mile away to inspect the progress. This was the second time he arrived in Chengji County within a month. He smiled and asked Jiang Yanxian: "Look at the progress, the city wall should be completed before the wheat is harvested, right?" ?”

Jiang Yanxian nodded with a smile and said, "The city can be completed before the wheat is ripe, but the people's own houses can't be completed until winter. Now everyone is repairing the city wall. There is a shortage of manpower, and there is no supply of red bricks."

Chen Qing pondered for a while and asked again: "There are also official residences, military camps, Cangcheng, and the family members of Ganquanbao, and there are so many people. Is the area of ​​the city enough?"

"Don't worry about Dutong. The original city of Chengji County had a circumference of 25 miles. Now we have expanded it to 38 miles. It is only slightly smaller than Jingzhao City in the entire northwest, and eight miles longer than Fengxiang City's 30 miles. With a population of 20, even if Cangcheng and military camps take up a lot of space, [-] people can still live. That's enough."

Chen Qing said happily: "This way I can rest assured, what difficulties are there now?"

"There is still a lack of resources, such as coal, wood, pig iron, and stoves. Now several families share one stove, but the stove is easy to solve. There is refractory mud nearby. I just ask the brick-burning soldiers to burn a batch. The key is the first three. , to build a house you need beams and sun-dried wood.”

Chen Qing laughed, "If you want the supplies from the West Warehouse of Ganquan Fort, just say so, and I won't give them to you?"

In the west warehouse of Ganquan Fort, there are 10,000+ battalion fences, tens of thousands of catties of coal, and a large number of incinerated waste weapons. Jiang Yanxian wanted to come here a long time ago, but he was too embarrassed to open his mouth. After all, it was military supplies.

"The humble post is too embarrassed to bring it up, for fear that the military will be dissatisfied."

Chen Qing shook his head, "That's not exactly military supplies!"

He thought for a while and said, "I can give you all three kinds of materials, but you know that Ganquan Fort is short of wood. In the future, we will organize the people of Ji County to log and return the wood to Ganquan Fort."

Jiang Yanxian was overjoyed, and quickly agreed: "There is no problem with this. After the people get the wood, they will write an IOU and pay back with wood later."

Chapter 4 and five

Early in the morning, Jiang Yan walked quickly to Chen Qing's big tent, bowed and said, "Does Du Tong want to go back to Ganquan Castle today?"

"The plan is to go back this morning."

Chen Qingxiao asked, "What's the matter?"

"Lizhi County of Jichuan County and Weizhi County of Qin'an County will rush to Chengji County at around noon today. Please all of them can meet them."

Chen Qing asked all county magistrates to come to Chengji County to report on their work. There are seven counties in Qinzhou, not to mention Ganquan County. In addition, the four county magistrates of Gangu County, Longcheng County, Yefang County and Qingshui County have already arrived, and there is still a shortage of chickens. The magistrate of Chuan County and Qin'an County.

If Chen Qing didn't know that the magistrates of these two counties were good, he would have dismissed them all.

"Why are they late?" Chen Qing asked a little displeased.

"Reporting to Dutong, Wei Zhi County is because his father passed away three days ago, and he can't leave for a while, and Li Zhi County is because of bandits in Jichuan County. He took people to catch the bandits and just returned to the county."

These two reasons are not bad, Chen Qing nodded, "You immediately send someone to inform the county magistrate Wei, let him go back and continue to handle the funeral for his father, this time it is his special situation, come back next time."

"The humble job will arrange it!"

At noon, Li Wanlou, the magistrate of Jichuan County, arrived at Chengji County. Zhang Hong, the magistrate of the county, had already brought [-] young men to build the city wall.

Chen Qing met with Li Wanlou and Zhang Hong, the county magistrate. Jichuan County is the first county in the south of Ganquanbao. Ganquanbao has dealt with Jichuan County many times and has also received the full support of Jichuan County, but Chen Qing is still the first The first time I saw Li Wanlou, the county magistrate.

"See Jiedushi!" Li Wanlou and Zhang Hong bowed together.

"Two county magistrates, please sit down!"

Chen Qing politely invited the two to sit down, and served tea again. He smiled and asked Mimi, "Have you met Jiang Zhizhou?"

Li Wanlou hurriedly said: "There is no formal report yet, just a few pleasantries. The formal report is scheduled for the afternoon."

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Don't be too nervous, Jichuan County has been cooperating with Ganquan Fort, especially in resettling immigrants. I heard that Jichuan County is very famous for its leather boots."

Li Wanlou also said with a smile: "The leather boots from Jichuan County are actually the leather boots from Ganquanbao. After they migrated to Jichuan County, they almost all resumed their old business. Because of their good quality, they became famous very quickly. , There are also many merchants in Guanzhong who come to buy."

"Is there a tax?"

"Currently there is no taxation, because leather boots are selling well, and businessmen who buy shoes and sell leather come in droves, which makes the business that was originally stagnant gradually prosperous. Many people are working as apprentices to learn how to tan leather and make shoes. Learn a craft of eating."

"Not bad! Very far-sighted. In the future, Jichuan County is likely to become a famous shoe city. In fact, it can not only make shoes, but also make leather hats and leather jackets. As long as it is leather, you can try it. If it grows bigger, it must be normal. collect taxes."

"If the army needs leather boots, they can hand them over to Jichuan County. Our county government is going to set up a business and is ready to take big orders."

"If the military boots are of good quality, I can hand them over to you!"

The atmosphere was relaxed and lively, and Chen Qing asked Li Wanlou again: "Is the banditry in Jichuan County serious?"

Li Wanlou nodded, "Because there are many businessmen who come to Jichuan County, many bandits keep an eye on them, and there has been a lot of banditry. A few days ago, a businessman from Lintao Prefecture was kidnapped. We took people to chase and rescue him, and killed seven They captured three people alive and rescued the Lintao businessman, but when we interrogated the bandits, we felt that the situation was a bit serious, so I have to report to the capital in a hurry."

"Tell me, what's going on?"

"These ten bandits are not independent, they are just a small leader. According to the account of the arrested, their leader is Xia Hu, and there are more than 300 people under him. The lower part is divided into seven hills. The humble official suspects that this Zhang Hu is the bandit back then. Xia Baihu."

Chen Qing shook his head, "I don't know much, please explain in detail."

"About ten years ago, a group of bandits appeared in the northern part of Gongzhou. There were about 3000 to 5000 people. They ran rampant in the Xihe Road states, raped, burned and killed, and committed all kinds of crimes. They led [-] people to suppress the bandits, and within ten days they wiped out the bandits, but the whereabouts of the leader Xia Baihu is unknown, and Xia Baihu divided his subordinates into seven armies, which is very similar to Xia Hu's current division into seven hills."

"For a whole ten years, how could there be no news from him?"

"Qi Dutong, there was a rumor back then that Xia Baihu and his men were pretending to be the Xixia army, but I don't know if it's true or not. If the rumor is true, then this Xia Baihu has the greatest possibility of fleeing back to Xixia."

Chen Qing was just asking casually, and didn't take this bandit seriously. The magistrate should be able to wipe it out, but he suddenly pulled out the Xixia people, which made Chen Qing have to be more vigilant.

Since he defeated the Xixia army the year before last, there has been no news about the Xixia army. Of course, he knows that the Xixia people will not let it go, and will definitely find ways to deal with him, not to mention that he will go west, and the conflict with the Xixia people is inevitable. At this time, a group of bandits suspected of being from Xixia suddenly appeared. Of course, Chen Qing couldn't take it lightly.

Chen Qing took a few more steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Has this bandit appeared before? Like robbing houses or something?"

Li Wanlou quickly shook his head, "They have never conducted a large-scale operation, and we don't even know it exists. If it is a bandit with 300 people, we would not dare to be so careless. We will definitely ask everyone to send troops to suppress the bandit."