Fenghou

"If you can't go back to Egan County, won't the old people regret it?" Chen Qing asked again.

Several old men laughed and said: "It's not a pity, even the people of this county have no regrets. For us ordinary people, staying away from war is the most important thing."

"In the future, everyone may be arranged in the Tao River Valley, but it is far away from the war, do you know?"

Several old men nodded, "It has been announced to us. In fact, it doesn't matter where you live. The important land and food, especially the government's allocation of [-] acres of land, will directly exempt you from taxes for ten years. These two things are irresistible. We I was afraid that the envoy Chen Jiedu would not count what he said, and after two years of tax exemption, he regretted it and started to collect taxes again."

None of the old men knew that the young general in front of them was the envoy Chen Jiedu they were talking about.

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Chen Jiedushi has always been a person who promises a lot, and since he has made a promise, he will never change it!"

……

After chatting briefly with a few commoners, Chen Qing continued to walk forward. At this moment, Yang Zaixing stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Will the Dutong promise to exempt the army for ten years, will it affect the military rations?".

Chen Qing smiled lightly, "Plant the phoenix tree to attract the golden phoenix. If there is not enough attraction, who would like to come to Xihe Road to farm? As for the military rations, don't worry, we can buy their rations, the one hundred thousand catties of silver , always play a role!"

Yang Zaixing suddenly understood the coach's thinking, and he sincerely praised: "Du Tong is really brilliant!"

Chen Qing thought for a while and then said: "There is a large pasture between Lintao Prefecture and Lanzhou. Now it is occupied by the party members. I will drive them all back to Xixia later. I plan to use this pasture to replace the west bank of the Taohe Valley. Farmland can also be developed on the west bank of the land, attracting more Han people to come to farm, and the food problem of the [-] troops can be solved, and there is no need to go to Bashu to buy food.”

"Beizhi suggested sending the people of Agan County to the Taohe Valley in the next two days. I heard that the land there is very fertile, and the reclamation committee can directly cultivate it, and it can catch up with the planting of a season of spring wheat."

Chen Qing nodded, "You and I want to go together. This matter really can't be delayed. I will order the army to escort them to Didao County tomorrow, and let the Didao County government make arrangements."

While the two were talking, a soldier reported from behind: "Huangzhou scouts are here, waiting for Dutong in the barracks."

Chen Qing was overjoyed, he wanted to know the situation in Huangzhou most now.

……

The scout who came to deliver the letter was Hu Yanlei's subordinate. Huyanlei is still in Huangzhou. He sent this subordinate to pretend to be a businessman and follow a caravan to Didao County. The scout then diverted to Lanzhou.

Chen Qing read Hu Yanlei's letter. Hu Yanlei had already found out the whereabouts of the batch of silver, which was in the underground warehouse of Huangzhou General Manager's Mansion. The letter said that Ren Dejing originally planned to build a country on Xihe Road, but did not Thinking of Chen Qing rushing out of the sky, Ren De respected and hated him to the bone.

Chen Qing snorted coldly. He actually wanted to build a country on Xihe Road. Even if he was not on Xihe Road, would the Xixia people allow him to build a country?It is simply taken for granted.

The letter also talked about the distribution of Ren Dejing's troops. There are a total of [-] troops, all of which are controlled by Ren Dejing's brothers and sons. Among them, Huangzhou has [-] troops, Xi'an Prefecture has [-] troops, Kuozhou has [-] troops, and Hezhou has [-] troops. Zhouzhou deployed four thousand troops, and another thousand troops followed Ren Zhongqun to the silver mine.

The [-] troops are equipped by the Puppet Qi Army, and the training is not bad. Among them, there are [-] cavalry in Huangzhou, and Ren Dejing is currently in Huangzhou.

After reading the letter, Chen Qing asked the scouts again with a smile: "Your intelligence investigation is good. General Huyan is doing well in Huangzhou, right?"

The scout nodded, "That's true. General Huyan bought a restaurant. The owner of this restaurant happens to be the Facao Junjun of the General Manager Ren Dejing's mansion. His name is Xu Pei. He is a local wealthy family in Huangzhou. He needs money urgently, so he sold the restaurant." , General Huyan returned half of the restaurant, and the two currently own half of the restaurant, so they have a very close relationship, and General Huyan helped him a lot."

"What can I do for him?"

"Xu Pei wanted to send his son to study in Chengdu, so General Huyan helped him find a relationship, that is, the father-in-law of Lu Zhi County, who helped recommend him to study in the government."

Lu Wei's father-in-law is Li Jiong, the general judge of the Chengdu government. This relationship must have been found through Lu Wei. In this way, wouldn't Xu Pei know the identity of Hu Yanlei?

"This Xu Pei knows the identity of General Huyan?"

"I didn't directly expose it, but I feel that he should have guessed a thing or two, otherwise he would not have told General Huyan about the deployment of the army and the whereabouts of the silver."

Chen Qing nodded. It should be that the Xu family is standing in line. It is a good thing to win over the local wealthy family!

Chen Qing suddenly thought of something and asked, "How did you cross the Yellow River?"

"I would like to report to Dutong that when I set out, the Yellow River in Huangzhou hadn't completely thawed, and I could still walk on the ice, but it should be thawed now."

Speaking of this, the scout took out a thick stack of maps from his arms and handed them to Chen Qing, "This is General Huyan who got the map of the three states and the city of Huangzhou, drawn by Ren Dejing, including Huangzhou, Xi'an and Kuozhou. The state is very detailed, please read it all."

Chen Qing was overjoyed, and quickly took the map and spread it out. There were indeed two maps inside, one was a map of the three states, which was indeed detailed, including official roads, rivers, bridges, forests, wheat fields, checkpoints, post stations, villages, counties, and military camps Wait, everything is available, it is a very suitable map for military use.

The other is a map of Huangzhou City, to be precise, it is a map of Huangzhou City Defense. The city walls, gates, government offices, barracks, warehouses and other important buildings are clearly marked.

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and then asked: "How powerful is the Xu family in Huangzhou?"

Chapter 473 official documents

Seven days later, the ice floes on the surface of the Yellow River became smaller and smaller. Although they hadn't completely disappeared, they were ready for sailing.

Chen Qing requisitioned all fifty nearby large ferries to carry troops across the Yellow River, and each ferry was loaded with soldiers, horses, and supplies to the opposite bank.

Before that, Chen Qing sent three soldiers with good water skills to venture across the Yellow River to investigate the situation of the Xixia army on the other side, and found that all the [-] Xixia troops had withdrawn, leaving only an empty camp.

But the other party was the experienced Shang Dongyan who was good at conspiracies. Chen Qing didn't dare to be careless, so he ordered a team of scouts to swim across the Yellow River, and divided them into two teams to investigate within a hundred miles. They still didn't find any trace of the army. Only then did Chen Qing become sure that the other party had completely evacuated.

It's just that Chen Qing couldn't figure out why the other party withdrew their troops. Logically speaking, the other party shouldn't know the news that the Agan County army was wiped out.

Unable to think of the reason, Chen Qing stopped thinking about it and ordered the whole army to cross the river.

It took three days and three nights for the army to cross the river, and it took [-] troops, [-] camels and a large amount of food and grass materials to be transported across the Yellow River.

On the north bank of the Yellow River, the Song Army used the large camp left by the Xixia Army to set up thousands of large tents. Chen Qing ordered the entire army to rest for a day before continuing to march eastward.

……

On the official road about eighty miles northeast of Daying, a few Xixia cavalry were urging their horses to gallop. They were not going to the Yellow River, but they were going to Liangzhou from the fork in front.

All around them was the desolate Gobi Desert, where piles of rocks were scattered.

At this moment, dozens of crossbow arrows shot out from a pile of rocks dozens of steps away from the roadside. Several Xixia cavalrymen were unable to dodge, and fell off their horses one after another. The horses were also shot by the arrows and fell to the side of the road.

Dozens of Song Army scout cavalry rushed out from behind the chaotic rocks, and the leading general was Tang Qian, who had just been promoted to scout commander.

Tang Qian and his men were the first batch to cross the Yellow River. According to Chen Qing's deployment, they immediately split up and went to guard in all directions to prevent the Xixia army from attacking halfway across. hundreds of miles away.

When they were about to go back, they encountered these scout cavalry. Tang Qian immediately ordered to intercept the Xixia cavalry with bows and arrows.

Four of the five Xixia cavalrymen were shot dead, leaving one alive, but he was also injured. His leg was broken, and he lay on the ground moaning in pain.

Tang Qian stepped forward to check the situation of the Xixia cavalry. The Xixia cavalry saw that they were scouts from the Song army. Before Tang Qian could approach, the Xixia cavalry had a fierce look in their eyes.

Tang Qian couldn't stop him in time, and watched the other party die, he was so angry that he kicked twice, "This bastard can do it well!"

He ordered: "Search carefully and see what is there?"

Everyone quickly found a volume of Xixia official documents, and a subordinate who knew a little about Xixia script said: "It seems to be the official documents of the Xixia Privy Council, and there is an urgent seal on it."

Apart from this volume of official documents, there were no other clues. They dug a deep pit and buried the bodies of five Xixia cavalrymen. As for their horses, they didn't need to worry about them. Naturally, wolves from the Gobi Desert would come to enjoy them.

Everyone got on their horses and sped up their horses and drove towards the military camp in the southwest direction.

……

In the middle of the night, Chen Qing was woken up by his own soldiers, "Du Tong, the scouts will report Tang Qian's important situation."

"Bring him in!"

After a while, Tang Qian walked quickly into the big tent, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See Dutong for humble posts!"

"General Tang please, what information do you have?"

Tang Qian reported to Chen Qing how they met a team of Xixia cavalrymen delivering letters, and finally took out the official document and presented it.

Chen Qing heard that it was the official document of the Privy Council of Xixia, and immediately sent someone to find the translator. This time, Chen Qing brought a dozen civil officials from the Jiedu Mansion, and two of them were translators who were proficient in Xixia.

After a while, an officer rushed over. This person was Liu Tao, about 30 years old, from Gyeongju. He had studied Xixia at the Gyeongju State School. The Western Army had commissioned Gyeongju State School to train a group of students who were proficient in Xixia , there are about forty people, and what they have learned is basically not used in the army, but has been hired by many big businessmen.

Last year, the Jiedu Mansion recruited translators who are proficient in Xixia. A total of three people applied for the job successfully, and Liu Tao was one of the best.

"Please give orders from the Jiedu envoy!" Liu Tao entered the tent and saluted.

Chen Qing handed him the official document, "Look at what's on it!"

Liu Tao read the content of the official document, and said to Chen Qing: "Please give me a quarter of an hour, and I will translate it sentence by sentence with my pen."

Chen Qing smiled and said, "What do you mean by telling me?"

"This is an emergency troop dispatch order, ordering [-] troops from Liangzhou to join Xingqing Mansion immediately. It seems that Xiazhou has rebelled."

Chen Qing suddenly understood that Xiazhou's rebellion was Xiao Heda's rebellion, wasn't it?

A series of doubts were immediately resolved. Shang Dongyan's withdrawal had nothing to do with the battle situation in Longxi County. It was Xiao Heda's rebellion, and Li Qianshun urgently mobilized all troops to deal with it.

This information came too timely, otherwise Chen Qing would not have dared to go west.

Chen Qing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and happily said to Tang Qian: "You and your subordinates will make a great contribution once, and each will be rewarded with ten taels of silver!"

Tang Qian was overjoyed and knelt down on one knee again to salute, "Thank you Dutong for your kindness!"

At dawn, the [-] troops marched towards Huangzhou in mighty force.

……

Huangzhou County is the Shanshan County where the Longyou Jiedu Mansion was located in the Tang Dynasty. Because Huangzhou City is located in the core of the famous Hehuang Valley and is rich in grain, it has been a place where a large population gathers since ancient times.

There are currently more than 20 households in Huangzhou, with a population of nearly [-]. Half of them are people who fled from various places along Shaanxi Road to escape the war.

Huangzhou is currently managed by the puppet state of Qi. Ren Dejing was appreciated by the puppet state of Qi and was appointed as the governor of Hehuang. An army of 2 people firmly controls Huangzhou, Xi'an and Kuozhou, and the Xixia people dare not attack him easily.

To a certain extent, Ren Dejing is the local emperor of the Three States of Hehuang, and they will not pay any attention to any orders from the puppet Qi State. In the Three States of Hehuang, he is the sky.

Ren Dejing has a half-brother, Ren Zhongqun, and two other younger brothers. At the same time, he also has two sons and three nephews. His family is prosperous, so he is naturally capable of controlling the army and government affairs. .

Ren Dejing was about 40 years old. He was tall and handsome, but he was very sinister, cunning, and shameless. Back then, he knelt on the ground, pointed a dagger at his chest, and swore to Liu Ziyu, the general of Xihe Road, that as long as Jin Bing Stepping into the city of Huangzhou, he died for the country.

But just as Liu Ziyu led his army to Guanzhong, he sent his brothers to Guanzhong and secretly surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin.

But Ren Dejing was not ashamed, but praised himself as a hero who knows current affairs.

He has been watching the battle between Xixia and Chen Qing for Xihe Road. In addition to arranging for his brother Ren Zhongqun to transport [-] catties of rough silver back to Huangzhou, he also took advantage of the opportunity of Chen Qing's army to withdraw from Hezhou and sent troops to occupy the city. Hezhou expanded the control area to four states, and his elder brother Ren Zhongqun led the army to occupy the Guichuan Silver Mine at the same time.

Since the Yellow River could not be crossed, he did not know the situation of the battle between the Xixia Army and the Song Army for the time being, which made him very anxious. He was very worried that the Xixia Army would fail. If the Song Army defeated the Xixia Army, then Chen Qing would definitely attack Huangzhou or Hebei in the next step. State.

For several days, Ren Dejing spent restless time, waiting for news from Lanzhou.

Chapter 474

The restaurant that Huyanlei bought is one of the three restaurants in the Xu family. It is located in the east of the city and is called Huangshui Restaurant. It is a relatively high-end restaurant in Huangzhou City.

In order to make friends with Xu's family, Hu Yanlei bought a trestle to return the beads, and returned half of the property rights to Xu Pei, the owner. This move really won Xu Pei's favor. Therefore, a lot of information was obtained from Xu Pei.

Xu Peinian is about 35 or [-] years old. His grandmother is from Tubo, so he has a bit of Tubo blood. He has a rough appearance, dark skin, a broad face, and a very bold personality.

Although he has a bit of Tibetan blood, his grandfather and great-grandfather are all Han Chinese, and his mother is also from a famous Han family in Lanzhou. Of course, he himself considers himself a Han Chinese, and he plans to send his 12-year-old son to Chengdu. Study at the government school.

In the afternoon, Xu Pei hurried back to the mansion and found his father who was spending his days in the backyard.

Xu Pei's father is called Xu Hongtu, a very impressive name, but he is more like a Tibetan than his son. In fact, his mother took him to live in Tubo for 15 years.

He returned to Huangzhou when he was 20 years old. When he first came back, he couldn't even speak Chinese. After five years of re-learning, he gradually recovered his true colors as a Han Chinese.

He only got married and had children at the age of 28, and now he is over [-] years old, but he is still physically strong, but he despises Ren Dejing's despicable character and does not want to work for him, so he pretends to be a patient all day long. take a step.

But he didn't want to offend Ren Dejing, so he asked his son Xu Pei to serve as the general manager of the mansion and join the army, barely showing the Xu family's support for Ren Dejing.

In the backyard, Xu Hongtu was squinting his eyes and listening to his little grandson Xu Changwu reciting "On the Passing of Qin Dynasty" to him.

’ However, the Qin Dynasty took a mere land to achieve the power of ten thousand times. It was more than a hundred years since the eight states were listed in the same dynasty; then Liuhe was the home, and Weihan was the palace; The laughers in the world, why?If benevolence and righteousness are not applied, the offensive and defensive momentum will be different. '

After listening to the recitation, Xu Hongtu nodded and said: "Qin and Sui are the same. Although they are short-lived, they connect the past and the future and open up the future. Without them, there would be no glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties. In my opinion, the Han and Tang Dynasties just picked up the Qin and Sui Dynasties. It’s just peaches.”

"The grandson is taught!"

Xu Hongtu smiled again and said, "When will you go to Chengdu to study?"

"It's only been a few days, the Yellow River has completely thawed, and my grandson is leaving!"

"Wait a minute, don't rush this moment."

When Xu Hongtu turned his head, he saw his son Xu Pei standing at the door, hesitating to speak, so he smiled and said, "Don't disturb, come here!"

Xu Changwu saluted, "Grandson bid farewell!"

Xu Hongtu let his grandson go, and Xu Pei came over to salute, "Father, he admitted at noon that he is the leader of Chen Qing's scouts. His real name is Huyanlei, not Li Lei."

Xu Hongtu nodded, he had already seen that this man named Li Lei was by no means an ordinary businessman, he was indeed Chen Qing's spy.

"He must be asking for something when he confesses his identity to you. What does he want?"

"He hopes that we can cooperate with him from the inside and the outside to help the Song army seize the city!"

"It's not what I expected!"

Xu Hongtu walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Did you promise him?"

"I said think about it."

"You answer him right away, just say that we have been looking forward to the stars and the moon, and to the return of Song Jun, and we will do our best to assist him!"

Xu Pei hesitated and said, "Father, do we really want to help them with all our strength?"