Fenghou

Just as Lu Xiu raised her eyebrows, she saw her husband next to her. She immediately changed her face and said with a smile: "Really, you should tell me first if you want to come!"

When the old lady who sold matsutake mushrooms heard that she wanted them all, she smiled and said, "Okay! I'll find you a basket to pack them in!"

Lu Xiu hurriedly pulled her husband aside, and said in a low voice, "Just now she let go, the little Siwen can be sold."

Chen Qing knew that his wife was not stingy, and that bargaining was her pleasure, so he smiled and said, "This kind of high-quality matsutake mushroom costs a lot of money in Lin'an, so you should buy them all right away, in case someone sees them , you can’t buy that much.”

"That's right!"

Lu Xiu got into the game too deeply just now, and now she realizes that she can do it behind the scenes of bargaining for a penny or two. Now that her husband is here, she has to give him face.

She waved her hand and said, "I want them all, how much?"

The old lady smiled and said, "Three hundred Wen!"

"its not right……"

Lu Xiu bit her lip in time, it was only 55 pieces, 270 five Wen was the right amount, but she actually asked her for 25 Wen more, and met a profiteer.

She gave Yu Lian a wink, and Yu Lian took three slings of money and handed it to the old lady, who counted for a long time before nodding, "Okay, I'll come back to sell dried mushrooms the day after tomorrow, all of them are of the highest quality, the girl wants to come!"

Lu Xiu snorted, "Let's talk!"

"Girl, the small bamboo baskets are made of high-quality tortoise shell bamboo. Others sell them for 25 yuan each, but I only sell them for [-] yuan."

"Oh, thanks."

Lu Xiu blushed a little, and hurriedly pulled her husband away.

"What will I buy next?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

"I'll check the list!"

Lu Xiu hurriedly took out a list from her handbag, which were all the ingredients Meng told her to eat more.

"I want to buy eggs, turtles and old hens, and..."

The Tao sisters followed Lu Xiu majestically from left to right. Many vendors who were about to greet them warmly stuck out their tongues and retracted their heads when they saw them.

……

Two days later, the last batch of supplies from Ganquan Fort arrived in Chengji County. So far, the transfer of Ganquan Fort has been completed.

At this time, the scouts sent to Deshun Prefecture also returned.

Chen Qing immediately summoned all the generals to discuss sending troops to Deshun Prefecture.

Chen Qing hung a map of Deshun Prefecture on a wooden stand, and said to everyone: "I just got the news from the scouts that there are still only 1000 puppet Qi troops in Deshun Prefecture, stationed in Longgan County."

Chen Qing pointed to the Longgan County Road next to Pingliang Mansion with a wooden pole: "This is the governor of Deshun Prefecture, only twenty miles away from Pingliang Mansion, and it is the west gate of Pingliang Mansion. Logically, the puppet Qi army should be here They stationed heavy troops to guard the gate of Pingliang Mansion, but in fact they didn’t pay much attention to the west gate, on the contrary, the number of Puppet Qi Army in Pingliang Mansion was about 5000, directly five times that of Deshun Prefecture.”

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Pingliang Mansion is the gate of Jingyuan Road. It is normal for the Puppet Qi Army to value it. Deshun Prefecture is the same as Gongzhou. It is too far away from them, with a small population and low taxes. It is of little value to them, so the Puppet Qi Army The Qi army only stationed a thousand troops symbolically, and we can definitely take it down."

Yang Zaixing pondered for a moment and asked, "What is the attitude of the Xixia people towards Deshun Prefecture?"

"That's a good question!"

Chen Qing said slowly: "The Western Xia Army took control of Zhenrong Prefecture in the north. They once occupied half of Deshun Prefecture before, but were later ordered to withdraw by the Jin Bing, but they must not be reconciled and will definitely make a comeback. If they seize Deshun Prefecture in their hands, they can occupy it openly, and this is what we need to consider. It is easy to capture Deshun Prefecture, but it is not easy to hold it."

Chapter 418 Long Qian

Two days later, Chen Qing personally led [-] troops north to Deshun Prefecture.

Although the capture of Deshun Prefecture has both advantages and disadvantages, everyone unanimously supported the capture of Deshun Prefecture in the end, not because there were not many troops stationed in Deshun Prefecture and it was easy to win, but because Deshun Prefecture was of great significance to Qinzhou. The northern barrier of Qinzhou, in order to ensure the safety of Qinzhou, they must take Deshun Prefecture.

Deshun Prefecture is small, with an area only half that of Qinzhou. It is mainly composed of mountains and hills. It consists of six counties, Zhiping County and Shuiluo County in the south, Weirong County and Tongbian County in the middle, and the easternmost Longgan County in Pingliang Prefecture, and Longde County in the north.

Among the six counties, Longgan County in the east and Longde County in the north are of strategic significance. One of these two counties defends against the Jin Army and the Puppet Qi Army, and the other defends the Xixia Army. echo each other.

In the southeast of Deshun Prefecture is Longshan, which stretches for hundreds of miles, extending from the Weishui River in Qinzhou to Longgan County. It is like a natural barrier, preventing the enemy from entering Deshun Prefecture from the southeast.

After Chen Qing's army got supplies in Shuiluo County, they continued to go northward along the official road, which was full of undulating mountains and hills. The cavalry had to go northward along the official road, and there was no other way. Three days later, the army arrived in Longgan county.

The scouts who arrived in Longgan County first were [-] subordinates led by Dutou Wu Zhongnan, and they had already entered the county to lurk.

Twenty miles away from the county seat, a Song army scout disguised as a commoner came on a donkey. He was led in front of Chen Qing, and the scout saluted, "Report to Dutong, the puppet Qi army in Longgan County There are still 1000 people, and the commander is called He Zongshen."

"How's military discipline?"

"The military discipline is good, and there is no disturbance to the people. This He Zongshen is from Longgan County. This army was originally the Deshun Prefecture Army."

Chen Qing pondered for a moment, found a flat big stone, spread out paper, wrote a letter, and handed it to the scouts, "Let Wu Dutou find a way to hand over the letter to this He Zongshen within today!"

"Follow the order!"

The scout took the letter and went back.

Chen Qing was not in a hurry to go to Longgan County, but let the soldiers rest on the spot.

……

Longgan County is a middle county with a city circumference of [-] miles. It is the prefecture of Deshun Prefecture, and it is also the county with the largest population and largest grain production in Deshun Prefecture. Like the Northwest states, Longgan County was not destroyed by the Jin soldiers. Controlled by several big families.

In fact, this is also a tradition since the Han and Tang Dynasties. There are not many officials at the county level. There are only four people, the magistrate, the county seat, the county lieutenant, and the master book. Generally, the county magistrate and the gentry jointly rule.

The He family is one of the three major families in Longgan County. He Zongshen is the He family. In the Song Dynasty, he was the commander of the Zhouxiang Army.

He Zongshen was about 40 years old. He was tall, with a beard and a black face, and he looked mighty. He didn't want to surrender to the Jin people, but he didn't want to leave the state. He finally surrendered to the Qi army. , the face is passable, so I won't be sorry for my ancestors.

In the past two days, He Zongshen was quite distressed. He received the third urging order from Li Cheng, the envoy of Shaanxi Economic Strategy, asking him to send last year's money, food and taxes to Jingzhao.

This made it very difficult for He Zongshen. You must know that Deshun Prefecture was hit by a drought last year, and the grain production was reduced by [-]%. Now, the warehouse is empty, what should he escort to Jingzhao?

And their tax halving has not been approved by the Qi court, and it seems that it is too late to make up the formalities. Not only He Zongshen is distressed, but the government and gentry are even more distressed.

In the prefectural office, He Zongshen, several officials, and several heads of wealthy clans were discussing countermeasures.

He Zongshen sighed and said, "I heard that Gongzhou was captured by Chen Qing. Our Deshun Prefecture is too close to Ganquan Fort, and Chengji County is also close. I guess Li Cheng was worried that the Song Army would occupy Deshun Prefecture, so he urged Let's take the money and food away."

Zhizhou Wang Tao sneered and said, "Since he is afraid, why didn't he send more troops?"

"I heard that the Song army is attacking Ruzhou, and Li Cheng led an army of [-] to support it. Guanzhong has not many troops, so he must not care about this side."

Everyone was surprised at the same time, "Song army went to the north?"

He Zongshen nodded, "I heard that the Northern Expedition started from Xiangyang."

At this moment, there was a rush of running outside, and a soldier ran in with a letter, "Commander, your letter!"

"Who sent me the letter?"

He Zongshen frowned, snatched the letter away, looked at the cover, and was so frightened that he said, "Ah! ' With a sound, he stood up abruptly.

Seeing that his expression changed drastically, everyone was rarely so nervous, and they all asked, "Zongshen, who wrote you the letter?"

"Yes...it's Chen Qing!"

"Ah!" Everyone was also stunned.

Liu Kun, the magistrate, urged impatiently: "Look at what is written in the letter?"

He Zongshen couldn't help but glanced at the letter again. On the letter was the Duke Jing of the Great Song Dynasty, the Jiedu envoy of Xihe Road, and General He Zongshen, the military envoy of Chen Qingzhi Deshun Prefecture.

The writing is very face-saving, and he is actually called Deshun State Military Envoy. He is only a commander, and the military envoy must at least be a commander. He does not have the qualifications. State soldiers and horses?

He Zongshen opened the letter and read it carefully, and said to everyone: "He said that the Xixia army will invade the south soon, and he hopes that we will fight side by side with him to resist the Xixia army's invasion."

This is actually the dignified version of asking them to surrender, not to surrender, but to fight against foreigners side by side, how can we fight side by side without surrender?Ultimately, surrender.

He Zongshen's eldest brother, He Zongshun, was taken aback and asked anxiously, "Will the Xixia people invade?"

"Why not!"

Another patriarch was dissatisfied: "Didn't they capture Deshun Prefecture the year before last, and forced each of our thirteen big families to pay [-] shi for grain? You forgot, and then they were forced to leave by the Jin soldiers, and each family was forced to donate [-] shi. Gun money and two hundred shi of grain, how long is this!"

Everyone expressed their opinion that the Xixia people would not touch the ordinary people who had no oil and water, and only killed the big households. They wanted to eat and drink them up, and the Xixia people must not be allowed to invade again.

He Zongshen sighed, "Chen Qing has led an army of [-] people here, just outside the city. He said that he didn't want to kill the local soldiers, and asked us to surrender the city and return to the Song Dynasty. What do you think?"

"Do you need to ask? How can you resist with 1000 people? Hurry up and open the city gate!" He Zongshun glared at his brother and said.

Everyone also urged He Zongshen to surrender. In Gongzhou, Chen Qing used local gentry as officials, and they very much agreed with the idea of ​​rural people governing the countryside.

At this time, Zhizhou Wang Tao sighed and said: "Actually, I would also like to return to the Song Dynasty, but my family is in Bianliang. I can't care about their life and death. I hope that General He will tell Chen Dutong that I am willing to cooperate with him in handing over the state affairs." , please let me go."

He Zongshen nodded, "I'll go to see Chen Dutong and guarantee for Zhizhou!"

Wang Tao is from Bianliang. He was born as a Jinshi in the fourth year of Xuanhe. He has been an official in Deshun Prefecture.

He Zongshen got up and left the state office, ordered the city gate to be opened, and he personally led a thousand troops out of the city to surrender.

……

Half an hour later, He Zongshen accompanied Chen Qing's army into Longgan County.

"Chen Dutong, although he is a vulgar person with a lowly position, he still respects those civil officials who are honest and honest and do practical things for the people. Wang Zhizhou has been an official in Deshun Prefecture for ten years, and all the people love him. Although he is a member of the puppet Qi court Officials, but I implore Chen Dutong to forgive him and let him return to Bianliang!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Just now you said that last year's tax in Deshun Prefecture was cut in half without authorization, was it he who decided it?"

"Exactly. Originally, he meant that the drought was completely exempted, but if it were exempted, our army would have no supplies, so the tax would only be collected in half. Li Cheng is still forcing us to transport money and food to Jingzhao. How can we have money and food? "

Chen Qing nodded, "Let him come to see me!"

Chapter 419 The Attack

Chen Qing likes to use the civil servants who surrendered from the puppet Qi State. They are more likely to be loyal to themselves than to the Lin'an court.

The earliest Wang Huai was like this, so was Zhang Xiao, and Jiang Yanxian was also like this, and now there is Wang Tao, who was born as a Jinshi, is an honest official, and is pragmatic and willing to work. How can he let such a talent go?

Wang Tao is about [-] years old. He has been an official in the drought-stricken Deshun Prefecture all the year round, which makes him look a little older and darker than his peers in the mainland.

When he saw Chen Qing, he kept his head down and remained silent, with an unconcealable shame in his expression.

"Wang Shijun has been an official in Deshun Prefecture?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

"Exactly! At first I was a county captain in Shangluo County. One year later, I was promoted to the county magistrate. Four years later, I was promoted to the magistrate of Longgan County. Last year, I was appointed as the governor of Deshun Prefecture. This position has been vacant for several years."

"That is to say, Wang Shijun didn't come from Bianliang to take office?"

"No, it was Li Cheng who directly appointed me as the prefect of Deshun Prefecture, and then filed it with the Ministry of Officials of the State of Qi."

Chen Qing nodded, and asked again: "Have you been to Bianliang to report on your work in the past year?"

Wang Tao still shook his head.

Chen Qing laughed, "Since it was not directly appointed by the puppet Qi, why did Wang Shijun refuse to stay?"

Wang Tao smiled wryly and said, "I am really worried about my parents, wife and children. If they are in Deshun Prefecture, I am willing to serve Jiedushi."

Chen Qing walked a few steps with his hands behind his hands, and gave some instructions to the soldiers, and the soldiers went immediately.

Chen Qing said to Wang Tao: "I will immediately send someone to bring your parents, wife and children to Qinzhou. You go to Qinzhou to help first, and when your family comes back, you will be appointed as the general judge of Qinzhou. In this way, no matter whether Jingzhao or Bianliang They will never know that you have returned to the Song Dynasty, and it will not affect your parents, wife and children."

Wang Tao was moved, and quickly stood up to salute, "Thank you for the kindness of the Jiedu Envoy, I will do my best to serve the Jiedu Envoy!"

At this time, Hu Yanlei walked into the lobby quickly, bowed and saluted, "See Du Tong for humble posts!"

Chen Qing pointed to Wang Tao, "This is the governor of Deshun Prefecture. His parents, wife and children are in Bianliang. You immediately send your capable men to Bianliang to take his parents, wife and children to Chengji County."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Hu Yanlei is indeed a professional scout, and his questions are also very professional. He asked Wang Tao, "Wang Zhizhou's parents, wife and children live in the official residence in Bianliang?"

"Is there any difference?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

"Reporting to Dutong, if you live in the Bianliang official residence, there will be people watching, and it is not easy to escape. You have to find an excuse to pick him up secretly, such as an outing, and you will be discovered quickly, and you will be wanted along the way."

Wang Tao shook his head quickly, "I am not qualified to live in an official residence. I am from Bianliang. I have an ancestral house and a yard left by my grandfather."

"Then it will be easy to handle. Please Zhizhou come with me. I will find a few capable men, and we will discuss a safe plan together."

Wang Tao looked at Chen Qing, and Chen Qing said with a smile: "Go! Commander Huyan's subordinates are all powerful people, and I always feel at ease when they do things!"

Wang Tao saluted Chen Qing and followed Hu Yanlei down.

……

Accompanied by He Zongshen, Chen Qing then inspected the defense of Longgan County.

Chen Qing checked some details on the top of the city. He pulled out his dagger and cut a few times between the city bricks, leaving only a little powder.

Chen Qing nodded, "Not bad, when was the city wall built?"

"Reporting to Dutong, I still remember the city wall rebuilt 30 years ago. It was overhauled again about eight years ago. It is indeed very strong. Even the commander-in-chief at that time praised the city wall for its strength."