Fenghou

"It probably originated from Li Bai's poem "The Journey Is Difficult"! If you want to cross the Yellow River and the ice-blocked river, you will climb the Taihang Snow Mountain, so it is named Xuechuan."

At this time, Lu Xiu found that the two waiters in the restaurant were staring at her. She felt a little unhappy, so she turned to her brother and smiled, "How much does this building cost?"

Lu Wei stretched out five fingers and said with a smile: "This number!"

Lu Xiu exclaimed, "Five thousand guan?"

Lu Wei said unhappily: "My eldest sister, this is not Lin'an, this is a small county in the northwest, only five hundred guan!"

"so cheap?"

"Of course, people here have a low income, five hundred guan is a lot of money, and only big families can afford it."

Lu Xiu smiled and said: "Second brother, this price is too expensive, you should make it cheaper! Anyway, you don't need money for the land, how about three hundred guan?"

Lu Wei rolled his eyes, just now he said the price was too cheap, but now he thinks the price is too expensive.

"I want to give you the store for nothing!"

"Great!"

"Great for your size!"

Lu Wei smiled angrily and said: "Your husband said that if I bend the law for personal gain, I will be dismissed directly, so I have to follow the market price. The market price here is [-] guan. If not, you can resell it in two years, and you will be guaranteed a thousand coins to break the bank."

Lu Xiu was so excited that she clenched her little fist, "Then I'll sell it for two thousand!"

Everyone laughed dumbfounded, and walked into the shop to take a closer look...

In Xuechuan Restaurant, a waiter quickly walked up to the shopkeeper and said in a low voice, "The woman opposite just now, I can confirm that she is Chen Qing's wife."

The shopkeeper immediately became very interested, and quickly asked, "Is she here to buy from the shop opposite?"

"It should be! The county magistrate is also there, and the group of them went into the shop."

The shopkeeper nervously and excitedly considered the benefits he could get. First of all, it was information. The shop opened by Mrs. Jiedushi, whether it was a restaurant or a teahouse, would always be visited by military generals and local officials. This is an opportunity to get in touch with them. You have to let your buddy punch in.

Maybe he can kidnap Mrs. Jiedushi and send her to Xixia, that would be a great contribution!

The shopkeeper sat behind the counter and began to dream.

……

At this time, Chen Qing was inspecting the state school not far away. Chen Qing was also very concerned about running the school. He needed a large number of talents, and these talents were not only cultivated by the state school, but more importantly, he recruited them in the name of the state school. Professor, just like Li Jingwei, the magistrate of Fengtian County, who fled to Tongxi County, Gongzhou with his two sons to live a difficult life, and finally died of illness.

If the recruitment of professors with high salaries was made public earlier, Li Jingwei was a Jinshi, so of course he would come to apply for professors, and he would be able to be recruited by himself.

Although Li Jingwei is dead, Chen Qing believes that there must be many officials from Shaanxi Road fleeing to the northwest, and this is the opportunity to recruit them.

Chen Qing asked Jiang Yanxian again: "Before I sent someone to send two teenagers, one named Li Songnian and the other named Li Songshi, how are they doing?"

"They are very good and have a solid foundation. After studying hard for a few more years, they can go to Lin'an to take the imperial examination."

"They're living in the state school now?"

Jiang Yanxian nodded, "The two brothers and more than a hundred other scholars live in the school dormitory. In the past two days, everyone has gone to harvest wheat, and there is no one in the state school."

"The recruitment of professors must be done quickly, and the recruitment notices should be posted in all surrounding states and counties. The most lacking in the Northwest are scribes. Even if they don't come to be professors, they must have other functions."

"Beizhi understands that it will be implemented in two days."

After inspecting the state school, Chen Qing continued to walk towards Simaqiao. From a distance, he saw the real target of this inspection, Xuechuan Restaurant.

Chapter 424 Synchronization

Chen Qing met his wife by accident. He really didn't expect that the location of the teahouse chosen by his wife was directly opposite to Xuechuan Restaurant.

"I'll take a look at Zhouxue. Is this the teahouse you chose?" Chen Qing looked at the shop and smiled.

Lu Xiu took her husband's arm and said coquettishly: "I like the position of Simaqiao, but the price in Lu Zhi County is too expensive, and he refuses to lower the price. Husband wants him to be cheaper?"

"He must have given you the lowest price. Don't embarrass your second brother. A bunch of people in the county government are counting on this money for their salaries!"

Lu Wei wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and said with a wry smile: "It's still Jiedushi who understands the difficulties of low-level officials. The county government has not paid salaries for three months, so we can only count on this money to solve our urgent needs!"

"Stingy, I'll give you the money when I get back." Lu Xiu gave her elder brother a resentful look and said.

At this time, Wang Hao stepped forward and whispered to Chen Qing: "The other party has been staring at this side by the window on the second floor."

Chen Qing nodded, smiled and said to his wife: "Go back first! I'll help you get the teahouse up and running, so don't worry about it."

"Great, leave everything to my husband."

Lu Xiu has confirmed the teahouse, so she doesn't want to ask about other things, and she is too busy interviewing her maidservants!

Watching the carriage of his wife and his party going away, Chen Qing also rode away, and he whispered to Wang Hao when he reached the gate of the city: "You send people to run that teahouse, I believe the other restaurant will definitely send people in, they Since we want to get information, we will give them the information they want, understand what I mean?"

Wang Hao nodded again and again, "I understand."

After a pause, he hesitated and said: "The humble official is worried about endangering the safety of my wife."

"I will tell them not to go to the teahouse for the time being."

"The humble job will arrange manpower."

Chen Qing laughed again: "I pay for the normal layout and decoration and the cost. These are two different things. I don't want to take advantage of your internal affairs camp."

……

As soon as Chen Qing returned to the barracks, Hu Yanlei hurried to see him, and he brought two important pieces of information.

"Report to Dutong, Wang Tao's family has been brought back, and his family has arrived in Longgan County."

"It's going well!"

"Unexpectedly, it went smoothly. My subordinates said that Bianliang was in chaos. Li Heng's army had already reached Bianliang, and a large number of people fled the city. The scouts in the city took Wang Tao's family out of the city taking advantage of the chaos. Famous subordinates succeeded in coordinating him outside the city, and the puppet Qi court was also in chaos, and no one cared about his family's situation at all."

Li Heng's army attacked near Bianliang, and Chen Qing knew about it. He set up an intelligence point in Bianliang and grasped the latest information on the Northern Expedition of the Song Army.

Chen Qing was not optimistic about Li Heng's Northern Expedition. He thought it was a speculation. The Song Dynasty also seized the opportunity of the Jin Kingdom's internal struggle and wanted to counterattack the Central Plains. The cavalry was not good enough to attack the city, but the cavalry was still extremely powerful in fighting on the plains, especially Wanyan Wushu's Tiefutu and Kidnap Horse, before they met Yue Fei, swept the world, Li Heng's army was no match at all.

However, it was also the Northern Expedition of the Song Army that restrained the Jin soldiers and the puppet Qi army, so that they would no longer suffer from the enemy, and could wholeheartedly deal with the Xixia army.

"How is Jingzhao?"

"Reporting to Dutong, Jingzhao's military strength is currently only 2, and the main force has been taken to the Central Plains by Li Cheng."

"What's the other important piece of information?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Another piece of information is about Gongzhou. Xixia has increased its troops to Dingxi County. The number of troops has increased by about 3000. At present, there are [-] Xixia troops in Dingxi County."

Chen Qing nodded, "I see, continue to monitor the Xixia people's movements, go!"

Hu Yanlei saluted and left.

Chen Qing paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. He was originally worried that Xixia would send troops from both sides, Gongzhou and Deshun Prefecture at the same time, so he did not send troops for a long time, and waited and watched.

But judging from the current situation, the Xixia Army should have given up the Deshun Prefecture side and concentrated their forces on Baoxihe Road.

The Xixia people have already increased their troops to Dingxi County. This is a cautious first step, which means that the Xixia people have not given up on Gongzhou. What will happen if they don't respond?

Will they raid Longxi County?

Chen Qing already felt the urgency of sending troops to Gongzhou.

……

That night, Chen Qing ordered Wang Duo to lead [-] troops to reinforce Longxi County.

Three days later, Chen Qing personally led an army of [-] to Gongzhou.

On the official road in the south of Dingxi County, Gongzhou, a Xixia army of 2 people is marching to the south. This army is composed of infantry, cavalry and camel army, and there is a huge team of baggage behind them.

This kind of prudent way of dispatching troops is relatively rare in the Xixia army. The Xixia army likes to send out surprise troops and take risks. This is also related to the century-old confrontation between the Song and Xia armies. There is hope only by sneak attack.

Therefore, the Xixia Army has carried out sneak attacks on the Song Army for many years, and over time they have developed a tradition of surprise soldiers.

Previously, the Xixia Army sent surprise troops to attack Longxi County and Longgan County twice, but both were defeated by the Song Army. Xixia Prince Li Ganshun learned his lesson and reassigned Cao Baozong, a well-known general for his stability, as the main general.

Cao Baozong was the eldest son of Cao Jie, the old Prime Minister of Xixia. Cao Jie made great contributions in the process of Li Qianshun's victory over the Queen Mother Liang and seized the power of the government.

Although Cao Jie died of illness five years ago, his children are still highly regarded by Li Qianshun, especially the eldest son Cao Baozong was named a general, leading an army of [-] to guard the capital. He is Li Qianshun's most trusted general.

This time Gongzhou and Deshunzhou missed at the same time, Li Qianshun did not dare to underestimate the Song army, so he sent Cao Baozong as the commander of the Lanzhou army, leading an army of [-] to ensure that Xihe Road was not lost.

Cao Baozong is about 40 years old, with a straight nose, deep eyes, and contoured lips. His father, Cao Jie, is half of Han Chinese blood. Although Cao Baozong’s Han Chinese blood is not obvious, it can still be seen from his appearance. His appearance is not as rough as that of the Dangxiang people, but has the meticulousness of the Han people.

At this time, a cavalryman rushed over, clasped his fists and said, "General, there is news from Longxi County that the Song Army has added 3000 troops to Longxi, and the number of defenders in Longxi County has reached [-]."

Cao Baozong snorted, "He reacts quite quickly!"

The general Shang Dongyan next to him said in a low voice: "Chen Qing should have kept an eye on our every move. We increased our troops to Dingxi County, and he discovered it."

"He found it normal. For example, I also know that he left Chengji County with 5000 people to come to support Longxi County. That's why I only sent 2 troops. I would like to meet the so-called number one fierce general in Northwest China for a while." General Song."

"The general wants to deliberately meet him for a while?"

"of course!"

Cao Baozong said coldly: "With [-] troops against [-] troops, let's see if he is really capable or just a vain name!"

……

On the official road a hundred miles away in Longxi County, the army led by Chen Qing was also marching towards Longxi County in mighty force, and dozens of scout teams sent out kept sending news of the safety ahead.

When Chen Qing crossed the Weishui River, he got the news from the scouts in the north of Gongzhou. The enemy general Cao Baozong had led an army of [-] to the south, carrying a large amount of luggage, and the army was closely guarded and walking slowly.

Chen Qing immediately understood the other party's intentions. Cao Baozong probably wanted to test himself, lead the war to Gongzhou, and ensure the safety of Lintao and Lanzhou.

That is to say, the opponent turns from defensive to offensive again.

The counselor Zhang Xiao said from the side: "Dutong, the opponent wants to push the battlefield south to Longxi County. If they win, they will directly annex Longxi County. If they lose, they will retreat northward. There is no loss. The fight is good. Abacus!"

Chen Qing sneered and said, "But everything has advantages and disadvantages, right? It's impossible for him to take all the good things."

"Du Tong is right. They moved the battlefield southward, which seems to have taken the initiative, but at the same time created a weakness, that is the logistics supply. If the logistics supply line is cut off, they will be in big trouble."

"The idea of ​​joining the army is exactly the same as mine. How to take advantage of each other's weaknesses is the key to winning this war."

Chen Qinggao shouted, "Pass on my order, march faster!"

The army speeded up and rushed towards Longxi County.

Chapter 425 Confrontation

On the third day after Chen Qing's army arrived in Longxi County, [-] Xixia troops also arrived in Longxi County. They began to build a board-walled barracks and sentry towers three miles north of the county seat, and the defense was extremely tight.

Standing on the top of the city, Chen Qing looked at the camp built by the enemy from a distance. It turned out to be a plank camp. Is this planning to fight a protracted war with him?

Zhang Xiao seemed to understand Chen Qing's thoughts, and said with a smile: "Maybe he hoped that the puppet Qi army would attack Qinzhou from the east, or attack Deshun Prefecture, and we had to retreat hastily."

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "I think they should also know the situation in the Central Plains. They should know that Li Cheng led the main force of the Jingzhao army to the Central Plains."

Zhang Xiao shook his head and said, "Dutong, they may not know this information, so don't think too highly of them. There are not many armies that value information as much as we do, especially those that have nothing to do with us. The general army can't do it. Xixia is so far away. They can’t do the same, unless businessmen bring them news, they will never take the initiative to send people to inquire.”

Next to him, Yang Zaixing also said: "I also agree with Zhang Canjun's judgment. The Xixia Army probably didn't know that there were only [-] garrisons of Jin soldiers in Fengxiang Mansion, let alone that Li Cheng had led the main force to the Central Plains to participate in the war. The enemy general just arrived in Lanzhou not long ago. There is no time to investigate such detailed information.”

Chen Qing nodded, "Even so, it's not in our interest to confront the other party for a long time."

At this time, the two scouts made a detour to the west city, entered the city from the west city, and were brought to the city wall casually. The two scouts knelt down on one knee and saluted: "Qi Dutong, we have already checked clearly, the other party did not carry a siege ladder." , there are no heavy siege weapons, and in addition, General Liu Qiong has successfully led his army north."

"Go and investigate again!"

The two scouts saluted and walked away quickly.

Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "It seems that the other party is going to fight us for a long time."

"Dutong, the other party is here!"

A soldier shouted, and saw a Xixia cavalry running in the distance, gradually approaching the city wall, and shouted: "My general has a letter to Chen Dutong!"

He shot a letter arrow over the top of the city.

A soldier picked up the letter and ran to present it to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the letter and read it, then smiled lightly at Yang Zaixing and said, "Your business has come to your door!"

Yang Zaixing was shocked, and excitedly said: "Is the opponent going to fight one-on-one?"

Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "This Cao Baozong is very interesting. He said that he has the sword of Emperor Shenzong of the Great Song Dynasty. He wants to bet with me that he will win two out of three battles in a one-on-one match, and bet on my Fang Tian painting halberd."

Zhang Xiao thought for a while, then suddenly said: "I know, it must be the Seven Star Sword!"

"Zhang Canjun, tell me, what is the Seven Star Sword?"

"It was the battle of Yongle City that year. Emperor Shenzong gave his own sword, the Seven Star Sword, to Xu Xi, a scholar of Longtuge. Later, the Xixia army was wiped out in Yongle City, Xu Xi also died in battle, and this sword fell into the hands of the Xixia people."