Fenghou

The military camp occupies a large area and can accommodate at least 5000 people, but currently only [-] Huangzhou troops are stationed in the camp.

Before dawn, Li Muqing led [-] soldiers to run quickly in the night, about a hundred steps away from the camp, when the bell on the sentry post rang suddenly.

'when!when!when! 'They were spotted by sentries.

"Shoot gunpowder arrows!"

Li Muqing gave an order, and two thousand soldiers fired gunpowder arrows towards the camp together. The dense gunpowder arrows streaked across the sky like red meteors.

The camp was on fire, and many soldiers were shot by gunpowder arrows. There were screams and exclamations everywhere, and the camp was in chaos.

"Kill in!"

Li Muqing led two thousand soldiers towards the main gate of the camp.

"One, two, three, boom!"

The soldiers smashed open the gate with their thick giant logs and rushed in. The camp was already in flames, and the figures of countless soldiers ran around in the flames.

When the Song army entered the camp, more than [-] soldiers who were about to break out from the east were so frightened that they knelt down and begged for mercy.

Li Muqing left 300 soldiers to guard the prisoners, and [-] more to clear the camp. He led the army to continue the pursuit.

Sure enough, Jiang Xin was right. The west gate of the camp was wide open, and most of the soldiers escaped through the west gate.

The soldiers fled to the west along an official road, but within two miles, the front suddenly burst into flames.

At this time, the Song army also came chasing and killing them from behind. There were interceptions before, and later they pursued. Many of the hundreds of soldiers were bare-handed, unarmed, and without armor. Seeing that they were desperate, the soldiers knelt down and begged for mercy.

……

At dawn, the Song army escorted more than [-] prisoners of war to the open space, but no figure of Ren Zhongqun was found among the prisoners of war, which immediately put Li Muqing under tremendous pressure.

He immediately ordered the army to search everywhere, "Search every corner, every mine is not allowed!"

At this moment, Jiang Xin, the steward, ran out of breath and said, "General Li, I found Ren Zhongqun!"

Li Muqing was overjoyed, and asked anxiously, "Where is it?"

"Over there in the miners' quarters, but...but he's been beaten to death by the miners."

Li Muqing hurriedly led his men to the mining area. It didn't matter that Ren Zhongqun was dead, but he had to see people in his life, and he had to see his corpse in his death.

Three corpses appeared on the open space in front of the gate of the mining area. It was Ren Zhongqun and his two stewards. When Song Jun killed them, the three of them hid in the mining area before they had time to escape. They were killed by hundreds of people who came out to watch the excitement. discovered by miners.

The angry miners saw Ren Zhongqun and two stewards who were alone. Hundreds of people raised their sticks and beat the three of them to death.

Li Muqing led hundreds of soldiers to arrive, only to see a dead body hanging on each of the three wooden stakes, Jiang Xin pointed to the middle-aged, tall and thin middle-aged man and said: "This is Ren Zhongqun, who is usually full of evil, so today's end .”

Ren Zhongqun stared at the sky blankly. He never imagined that after so many years of hard work, he smelted [-] catties of crude silver, but in the end he made Chen Qing's wedding dress for nothing.

……

At this time, Chen Qing led an army of [-] to Xining Prefecture. Xining Prefecture is today's Xining area. This is the edge of the Hehuang Valley. , the snow-capped mountains shone with magnificent golden light.

Xining Prefecture and Huangzhou were integrated in the Tang Dynasty, collectively referred to as Shanzhou, where the Longyou Jiedu Mansion was located.

During the time of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, it was restored by the Song Dynasty as Longyou Duhufu, and it was also the westernmost frontier state of the Song Dynasty, while Jishi Prefecture was in the south of Xining Prefecture.

Xining City, also known as Qingtang City, was once the capital of the Qingtang Dynasty. After the dissolution of the Qingtang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty seized the opportunity to restore Xihe Road and migrated a large number of Han people to Xihe Road.

Both Huangzhou City and Xining City were the main places where Han people migrated. A large number of Han people planted wheat in the Hehuang Valley, which ensured the military rations of the Xihe Army.

Ren Dejing's army originally stationed in Xining Prefecture had been defeated by the Song army. When Chen Qing's army arrived in Xining City, the general judge Feng Quan led the civil officials to come out and ask for surrender.

Feng Quan was actually an official appointed by the puppet state of Qi. He was about 35 and six years old. He was the grandson-in-law of Wang Hou. Invite him out to serve as the general judge of Xining Prefecture.

Most of Chen Qing's confidantes were officials from the Puppet State of Qi. Feng Quan was a local, and Wang Hou's grandson-in-law, with a good reputation, so Chen Qing didn't plan to change people.

When everyone heard that the Jiedu envoy would not hold them accountable for surrendering, and continued to let them take up their duties, everyone's hearts were hanging in the air, and they were overjoyed, and surrounded Chen Qing to inspect the city.

Feng Quan listened to Chen Qing's question about the Zhizhou, and quickly explained: "Jiedu envoys don't know something. The Zhizhou of Xining Prefecture, Huangzhou, and Kuozhou are all concurrently served by Ren Dejing. There is only general judgment in the state."

Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "I only stayed in Huangzhou City for one day before leaving, so I don't know these things. How many people are there in the city, how many Han people?"

"Reporting to the Jiedushi, Xining prefecture has about [-] people and [-] households, and they are basically concentrated in Xining County. Among them, Han people account for [-]%, and the other three are Qiang people and Tubo people."

Chen Qing saw that although the city was large, it was relatively deserted, and asked with a smile, "The business here seems not as prosperous as Huangzhou City."

Feng Quan smiled wryly and said: "The business here is mainly traded with Tubo people, and Huangzhou City is the end of the Silk Road. A large number of merchants from the Western Regions are concentrated in Huangzhou. Xining City is definitely not as good as Huangzhou City. But in a few days, it will be lively here."

"why?"

"The ice and snow on the West Sea side are beginning to melt, and a large number of Tubo merchants will come here with their camels to trade, buy daily necessities and grain, and sell sheepskins, sheep wine, dairy products, and medicinal materials."

At this time, Chen Qing had already seen a caravan of Tubo people appearing on the street. He asked curiously, "Don't the Tubo people use yaks to carry their loads? How could it be camels?"

Feng Quan chuckled, "The Tibetans in the plateau used yaks, and the Tibetans in the Qingtang Dynasty used horses at first, but in recent years they started to use camels, because camels can carry a lot of cargo."

Chen Qing nodded and asked again: "Apart from food, what else is Xining Prefecture rich in?"

"Reporting to Jiedushi, it was originally rich in salt!"

Feng Quan sighed, "Xining Prefecture was originally the largest salt producing area on Xihe Road, but now it is in big trouble."

Chapter 483 The Salt Controversy

Salt has been valued by various rulers throughout the dynasties, and the salt tax was even the most important source of finance in the Tang Dynasty.

Salt may be just a condiment today, and its importance cannot be realized, but in the past, salt was the best preservative. One dish was seasoned, and it would rot within a few days after eating, so pickled vegetables and cured meat were The most important food in ordinary people's homes, every household consumes a lot of salt.

Salt is not like grain and cloth, you can plant the land and weave your own cloth, but salt must be purchased from outsiders, so the biggest expenditure of each household is basically salt, and adding taxes on salt has become the best way for the ruler. means of exploitation.

Therefore, we all feel that land tax and household tax do not seem to be much in history, but we always say that the tax is heavy. In fact, a big reason is that the indirect tax is too heavy.

Salt is equally important to Chen Qing. Their salt production site is in Yanchi, Jichuan County, but the output is not large, just enough for military and civilian use. But with the increase in population, the demand for salt will also increase greatly. He is also considering A new salt-producing area, so when Feng Quan mentioned salt, Chen Qing suddenly regained his energy.

"What trouble?"

"The Western Army has three large salt lakes in the south of Xihai. Although these three salt lakes are not within the scope of Xining Prefecture, they are under the jurisdiction of Xining Prefecture. The three salt lakes were initially subject to a salt tax, and later a road tax. Since last summer, mining has been banned, saying that it is their land, and all salt workers had to withdraw."

"what about now?"

"It's just the beginning of spring, and I'm going to send people to negotiate. I haven't set off yet, but I guess it won't happen in [-]% or [-]% of the time, or it's going to be asking for a lot of money, which is unacceptable!"

"The three salt lakes are definitely ours, did Ren Dejing sell them?"

Feng Quan sighed, "We bought the three salt lakes 50 years ago, including the ten miles around the salt lakes, and a salt road. His army needs salt, but he didn’t dare to be tough on the West Sea, he blindly compromised and tried his best to please Geloba with money, which made Geloba and his son very arrogant.”

Sure enough, it was Xihaibu again, Chen Qing said lightly: "I'll take care of this matter!"

……

Chen Qing brought several soldiers to a large tent, which was the residence of Ren Dejing's second wife and youngest daughter. Ren Dejing's second wife was the daughter of Geloba, the chief of the West Sea. Get along well with Saikaibu, but now he has changed his mind.

Chen Qing has always believed that the fist is the truth, and only when the fist is hard can there be dignity, especially for foreigners. Chen Qing is not Ren Dejing, he is called a devil, since Gelopa can't be a man, then Chen Qing will use a knife Come and teach him to be a man.

Ren Dejing's second wife was boiling water, and when she saw Chen Qing coming in, she was so frightened that she hugged her daughter and hid in a corner.

Chen Qing glanced at her and said, "Pack up your things! I'll take you home today."

Although Chen Qing killed all the male members of the Ren family, he was not mean to his wife and daughter, and left a sum of money for each of them, enough for their retirement.

Ren Dejing's second wife got 500 taels of silver, which is considered generous.

"Go back and tell your father, I will visit him when I have the chance."

After speaking, Chen Qing turned and left.

The phrase 'have a chance to visit him' depends on the context. If Feng Quan said it, it meant that he was going to deal with Geropa.

But to Geropa's daughter, the meaning is different, it means that she will go to pay homage to him, at least Geropa's daughter understands it in this way, she will bring Chen Qing's overtures to her father.

……

Chen Qing returned to his big tent. At this time, Gao Ding brought in an official named Dong Liang, who was the head of salt affairs in Xining Prefecture. Feng Quan was going to send him to negotiate with the West Sea Department.

"Dutong, he's here!"

Dong Liang quickly clasped his fists in salute, "See Jiedu envoy for humble posts!"

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Director Dong, please sit down!"

Dong Liang sat down a little uneasy, and Chen Qing calmly said: "Feng Tongpan said that Mr. Dong has a better understanding of the situation of the Tubo people in the West Sea, and recommended you to me. I want to know the situation of the army in the West Sea."

"Reporting to Jiedushi, in fact, the biggest difference between Hehuang Tubo and Qingtang Tubo is that Qingtang Tubo has a special army, while Hehuang Tubo doesn't have a special army. It can be said that they are all soldiers. The Xihai area is rich in dragon horses. In fact, they are excellent Hequ horses, so the Tubo people are basically cavalry, and their equipment is much better than that of the Tubo people of several other tribes."

"Is it Ren Dejing supporting them?"

"Ren Dejing wanted to set up a [-]-thousand western navy, all equipped with the equipment of the Qi army, but he just had this idea, and he hasn't started to implement it yet.

The equipment of the Tubo people in Xihai was actually supported by Xixia. They were all equipment eliminated by the Xixia people. As far as I know, there are almost ten thousand sets of leather armor, leather helmets, leather shields, spears, and short swords. I am very strong, and I want to unify Hehuang Tubo and rebuild the Qingtang Dynasty. "

"Where are the bows and arrows of the Tubo people?"

"Bows and arrows are very common. If you can't shoot them, they have a range of fifty steps."

Chen Qing was puzzled and asked: "I feel that Xihaibu is not very good, why is Ren Dejing flattering them so much?"

Dong Liang sneered and said, "When he was courting the West Sea, he was relatively weak. Later, when he gradually got an army, he also wanted war horses and wanted to form the West Navy. He always wanted the other party, so of course he had to please!"

Chen Qing nodded slightly, "I want to go to Salt Lake to have a look, Director Dong will show me the way!"

……

Geloba is about 50 years old, not tall, but very strong. He has been the chief of the West Sea for nearly 30 years. At first, he was also a very simple Tubo man. He respected the Song Dynasty very much. He also attaches great importance to it.

It's just that as he got older, Geropa's character flaws became more and more serious, and he gradually became arrogant and arrogant. Especially after Jingkang, he no longer respected Da Song, but looked at it with an extremely contemptuous attitude. Song people, including his son-in-law Ren Dejing, he also looked down upon from the bottom of his heart.

This time, Chen Qing's attack on Ren Dejing ended too quickly. When he got the news, the war had already ended, and his son-in-law Ren Dejing was also publicly executed.

However, Chen Qing did not execute his daughter and granddaughter, but even sent someone to bring them back, which was a bit beyond Geloba's expectation.

"Did he say so? By chance to visit me?"

The young Tibetan woman hugged her daughter and nodded slightly.

Geloba snorted coldly with a face full of disdain: "I thought of visiting me after killing Ren Dejing? I thought he was so capable, but in the end he had the same virtue as Ren Dejing, obediently bowing his head to see me! "

The second son, Zhudan, said angrily: "If you kill someone, can you come here and apologize? Father, this Chen Qing has to pay the price. I want him to know that our Xihaibu is by no means a soft persimmon, and he can be dismissed with an apology." gone."

The eldest son Luo Jiang also said: "Father, simply take down those three salt farms completely as compensation for killing Ren Dejing!"

Geropa snorted, "The three saltworks belonged to us in the first place, what kind of compensation is it?"

Just as we were talking, a Tubo man came running from outside and said, "Chief, Chen Qing, the leader of the Han people, has gone to Salt Lake, and they have resumed work!"

Geropa's eyes widened, he stood up abruptly and said angrily, "They dare to start work before I agree? How many troops do they have?"

"Probably a few hundred cavalry."

The eldest son Luo Jiang said: "Father, let me go and see!"

Geropa thought for a while and said, "You take 1000 people there and don't allow them to start working. If you need assistance, send someone to notify me immediately!"

"I see!"

The eldest son Luo Jiang walked out quickly, and the second son Zhudan jumped up and said, "Father, I will go too!"

"What are you going to do! You go to mobilize all the young and strong to gather. If there is a need to fight, we will have a good fight with them!"

When Geloba thought of Chen Qing's flattery to him, he looked down on him from the bottom of his heart.

Chapter 484 The Salt Controversy

Chen Qing came to the salt lake closest to Xining City, called Tuqiang Salt Lake, about a hundred miles away from Xining City, in the south of the West Sea, and the other two salt lakes were fifty miles away and a hundred miles away in the west. The largest salt field It is the third salt lake with an area of ​​tens of thousands of hectares and abundant reserves.

However, Xining Prefecture is now focusing on the development of the first salt lake, which covers an area of ​​[-] hectares, and is actually connected to the second salt lake.

Two thousand salt workers also came with Chen Qing. There are large pieces of salt crystals everywhere, and there is no need to cook them at all, just cut the large pieces of salt crystals and transport them ashore.

In fact, the same is done by the salt workers. They are actually porters, so the salt produced by 10 salt workers is enough for hundreds of thousands of people to eat.

Chen Qing looked at the endless snow-white world. Under the reflection of the blue sky, the salt lake also showed a faint blue color. He couldn't help sighing: "As expected of the sky, it's so beautiful!"

Dong Liang, who accompanied Chen Qing on the inspection, said with a smile: "Now the Jiedu Envoy understands! Why don't we boil the West Sea to get salt, but go deep into Tubo to get these salt lakes? It really doesn't cost much to mine here. Pull large chunks of salt directly, cut it into salt bricks, and then transport it to Xining Prefecture by camels. We have three camel teams with a total of [-] camels that travel between Xining City and Salt Lake all year round.”

Chen Qing nodded, "Indeed, the cost of boiling salt is too high. In this case, the cost of a catty of salt is only a few pennies!"

"It's almost the same. It's mainly the wages and shipping costs of the salt workers. We calculated it and spread it out. It costs two yuan a catty, and the price in Huangzhou is [-] yuan a catty. The profit is quite lucrative."

The price of salt in Chengji County is [-] yuan per catty, but its cost is [-] yuan per catty, which is much higher than the salt here, so it is more economical to mine it here.

"It seems that I also like Tuqiang Salt Lake very much."