Fenghou

Chapter 671 Manor

At dusk, Tang Qian finally saw the legendary manor. The first thing he saw was a row of tall fir trees standing on the plain like a pagoda. Going is like a high black wall.

This kind of fir tree has strong water storage capacity, straight and straight, often as high as more than ten feet, not only keeps the soil moisture, but also has a dense texture, which has a wide range of uses. Basically, all kinds of wooden utensils in Xixia are made of it. .

In the manor there are endless wheat fields, and there are many dilapidated low houses in the far distance, densely packed together, probably the residence of the grain slaves.

These food slaves are made up of families. The Xixia people not only kidnap young men, but also young women. They let them form families and grow food for their masters with peace of mind. Their children are also slaves. The Song people were captured as slaves, so that many slaves have been passed down for generations.

Tang Qian learned the lesson of underestimating the enemy, and instead of attacking hastily, he sent two skilled men to sneak into the manor from the river to investigate the situation.

Five thousand cavalry were waiting two miles away from the manor. At this time, the night had fallen, and the sky was full of stars. The velvet curtain was covered with precious stones. The summer season was over, and the night in Xixia had a chill, and the soldiers were not used to it. , Wrapped military blankets around their bodies one after another.

At this time, there were bursts of ferocious dog barking in the manor, and then the dog barking stopped abruptly. Not long after, more than a dozen support soldiers rushed over with two spies, clasped their fists at Tang Qian for the capital, and said: "A pack of ferocious mastiffs were chasing our brother, and they were able to jump over the ditch, and the humble officer had to order them to be shot."

"I see. How is the situation in the manor?" Tang Qian asked the two spies.

A soldier said: "Reporting to the general, the manor army does have an army. In the northeast corner, a hundred tents have been set up, and there are about a thousand people. Mr. Qiao said that the guards of the manor are not the same as them. They live separately. It is very close to the residential area, and it is estimated that there are about a hundred people."

Tang Qian nodded, "Have you been discovered?"

"It's possible that we were discovered, otherwise there wouldn't be so many vicious dogs chasing us, but they might not be able to guess our identity."

Tang Qian sighed in his heart. When he saw the mastiff shot by the crossbow, the other party could guess it.

He immediately said: "The whole army is assembled and ready to go!"

The cavalrymen of the Song Army got on their horses one after another, followed the general and rushed towards the manor...

As soon as he approached the main gate of the manor, he heard a rapid alarm bell from the manor, 'Dang!when!when! 'It should be the patrol Zhuang Ding who discovered the body of the mastiff.

Tang Qian ordered: "Go in!"

The cavalry of the Song Army pulled down the gate of the manor. Tang Qian galloped his horse and rushed into the manor first, killing towards the northeast of the manor. Hundreds of cavalry of the Song Army followed behind him with torches in their hands. The torrent of cavalry behind rushed into the manor. .

One hundred big tents are in the northeast corner. Zhuang Ding in the big tent heard the sound of bells and galloping horses. As soon as dozens of people rushed out of the big tent, the cavalry opened their bows and fired arrows, and a dense rain of arrows hit them Shooting away, dozens of Zhuang Ding screamed and fell to the ground.

The Song Army cavalry immediately divided into three teams and surrounded the barracks from three directions. Xixia Zhuang Ding rushed out one after another to fight desperately, but their strength was very different, and they were mercilessly killed by the Song Army cavalry.

More than a dozen Song slaves saw the situation clearly from a distance, and ran towards the densely populated houses, shouting: "The cavalry of the Song army is here, it is the cavalry of the Song army!"

The villages inhabited were boiling, and the villagers all heard the news that the Song army was attacking Xixia. They suffocated their anger and waited for this moment. rush away.

They were bullied, and their wives and daughters were wantonly insulted by these guards. The hatred had long been buried in their hearts. At this moment, the hatred that had accumulated for many years was instantly detonated.

The villagers rushed into the big camp like a tide, and many guards who rushed out of the big tent were knocked down by hoes and sticks. Fear, they didn't care about fighting the villagers and ran for their lives, but not long after they ran, they were surrounded by Song Army cavalry regiments and all were killed.

In less than half an hour, more than a thousand Zhuang Ding were killed by the Song army. The soldiers of the Song army lit countless torches, and the manor was illuminated like daylight. More than a dozen old men stepped forward tremblingly, knelt down and saluted, "I implore the general to forgive you!" pass us!"

"Are you all people from the Song Dynasty?" Tang Qian asked.

The other party spoke the same language, and a dozen or so elderly people burst into tears, "We are all, we are all citizens of the Song Dynasty. Some have been arrested for decades, and some were only arrested two years ago."

"You don't have to be afraid, we are the Western Army, here to rescue everyone back home!"

Hearing that it was Song Jun who came to rescue them back home, the three thousand people cried loudly, and many of them cried so hard that they were so sad that they fainted.

Tang Qian asked again: "Excuse me, old man, do you have someone in charge here?"

"Yes! Yes!"

Several old men turned around and shouted: "Song Dalang, this general has something to do with you."

A middle-aged man came over and saluted and said, "Song Cheng, the Han people in the farm are in charge. Please tell me, General?"

Tang Qian asked, "Are there ships and food in the manor?"

"There are more than a dozen large ships and granaries, all in the northwest. I will take the general there."

Tang Qian nodded, "Let everyone pack up their things first, and follow us to the south later."

The man went back to give some instructions, and thousands of serfs ran back home to pack their things. Then the man led Song Jun to the warehouse in the northwest.

More than a dozen warehouses were built in the northwest corner, surrounded by tall barracks and a row of bungalows. The two stewards of the manor lived here. They were all gone, Tang Qian guessed that they hadn't run far, so he ordered the commander Zhang Yan to lead a thousand cavalry to search outside.

The soldiers opened the gates of more than a dozen warehouses, which were not only full of food, but also accidentally discovered an armory. There were more than 3000 spears alone, [-] swords, [-] pairs of armor, and thousands more. Bows and tens of thousands of arrows.

But there is no money, and it should be stored in the mansion in the capital. Tang Qian looked at the grain again, and estimated that there were about 10,000 shi, and [-]+ dan of forage.

At this time, Song Cheng, the Han steward, brought five hundred young and strong men over, clasped his fists and said, "General, we are willing to help carry the food!"

Tang Qian asked happily, "Where are the ships?"

"Just to the north of the manor, there is a small river over there. Fifteen large boats are parked in the river, less than a hundred steps away from here. In addition, there are thousands of mules and camels in the livestock shed, which can be used to carry food. "

"Then it's hard work everyone, go and bring all the livestock!"

Tang Qian immediately ordered the soldiers to participate in the transportation of grain and armor. Soon, the young and strong slaves brought [-] mules and [-] camels to participate in the transportation of grain.

As the sky gradually dawned, the last boat left the manor. There was no life in the manor, and Zhuang Ding's body was dug and buried deeply. The two stewards and a dozen Zhuang Ding who escaped could not escape. They were captured and executed by the Song army, and they were buried deeply, leaving only large expanses of blue and yellow wheat billows undulating in the morning wind.

The first batch of 62 Song Army cavalry, led by Commander Zhang Yan, withdrew to Mingsha County with [-] large ships. Women and children, holding on to their meager property.

On the west bank of the Yellow River, young and strong men rode mules to follow the cavalry of the Song Army, and dozens of camels acted as temporary trackers, dragging the fleet slowly.

After the fleet passed the gorge, Tang Qian led [-] cavalry to turn around and head north quickly, continuing to search for ships.

Chapter 672 Weakness

The 10,000+ people who were expelled from Xingqing Mansion have all been sent to Weizhou and Yanzhou for resettlement. The camp that was just vacant has ushered in new residents. The first batch of [-] Han slaves lived in the camp.

Tao Chunlai, the marching commander who was in charge of resettling these Han slaves, asked Chen Qing: "These Han people are very confused about the future, and they all come to ask the humble officials, but the humble officials can't answer them, can the general tell the humble officials, how to resettle them next? "

"I plan to let them stay in Hetao, give them land, 30 years of tax exemption, and give them enough lures to let them take root in Hetao."

Tao Chunlai hesitated and said, "They have a strong desire to return to the Song Dynasty. I'm afraid only some of them are willing to stay."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "I will let them choose voluntarily. If they don't want to stay, they can also go to northern Shaanxi to resettle. Those also need a population. It is said that there are hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese slaves. In fact, it is not a big problem."

After a pause, Chen Qing said to Tao Chunlai again: "There will be a large number of people coming soon, and they will set up tents quietly. If you have any difficulties, please bring them up to Zhang Sima. I have asked him to take full responsibility for the people."

Tao Chunlai secretly heaved a sigh of relief. With Zhang Sima in charge, his pressure was much less.

"The humble staff will arrange to set up a tent immediately!"

Back in the commander's tent, Chen Qing ordered his soldiers again: "Go and invite Zhang Sima, and then invite General Yang, General Gao, and Generals Liu and Xiao, and say that I have something important to discuss with them!"

Not long after, Zhang Xiao came first, followed by Yang Zaixing, Gao Ding, Liu Cui and Liu Qiong also rushed to the tent.

"Everyone, please sit down, I have important matters to discuss with you."

Everyone sat down, Chen Qing raised a report in his hand and said: "This is a report written by Tang Qian. He followed my order to search for ships and brought up a manor. Some of the details worry me."

Chen Qing handed the report to Zhang Xiao and asked him to circulate it to everyone.

Chen Qing said to everyone: "I found three more serious problems. First, the Zhuang Ding problem. This is actually the private army of various dignitaries. The Western Xia dignitaries hid them in the manor, but they didn't want to hand them over to the court. The number of these private troops will not be small. What I am worried about is that they are Zhuang Ding now. If the Xixia dignitaries feel that the situation is not good, will all these Zhuang Ding join the Xixia Army?

The second is the problem of grain and armor. There are a lot of grain and armor stored in the manor. To be honest, the grain is within my expectation, but the armor is beyond my expectation, but it is reasonable to think about it .

In the final analysis, it is still the same nature as the private army, because the rich and powerful are selfish, in other words, the powerful and powerful do not feel the seriousness of the situation and do not want to hand over their property to the court, so they hide food, soldiers and private troops in the In the manor, once they felt the situation was serious, they would not hesitate to fully support the Xixia court. "

Gao Ding couldn't help interjecting: "Dutong's meaning is to intercept this part of resources before they wake up, and Zhuang Ding will wipe them all out?"

Chen Qing nodded, "That's what I mean, and I'm a little worried. Tang Qian destroyed the first manor. Once the news leaks out, there will definitely be a chain reaction. There is no impenetrable wall in the world, only the speed of the wind."

Zhang Xiao pondered for a while and asked: "The envoy Xuanfu just said that there are three questions, what is the third question?"

"The third problem is the issue of Han Chinese slaves. They are basically concentrated in the major manors. I estimate that there are hundreds of thousands of them. I am worried that when Xixia's troops are insufficient, they will all be escorted back to Xingqing Mansion as human shields. When we attack Xingqing Mansion, there will be a very tragic scene, and it will seriously affect my Hetao plan."

"So the envoy Xuanfu decided to send troops?" Zhang Xiao continued.

Chen Qing nodded, "We must send troops to the north immediately, sweep away all the manors, and leave no hidden dangers!"

Yang Zaixing pondered for a while and said: "The Western Xia court will not just watch us sweep, they will definitely send troops to stop us!"

"That's why I convened everyone to discuss. How should we send troops? How many troops should we send? How should we deploy them?"

The generals looked at each other in blank dismay, and only then did they understand that Du Tong had decided to send troops, but the method of sending troops needed to be discussed with everyone.

……

That night, the [-] cavalrymen of the Song Army divided into three groups and headed northward, and [-] large ships also headed northward again. Gao Ding led [-] cavalrymen to sweep the various manors, and Liu Qiong led [-] cavalrymen to destroy the pontoon bridges built by the Xixia Army. Li Muqing and Cheng Huan each led [-] cavalry to block the Xixia army.

And Chen Qing personally led [-] Song troops and [-] Qiang cavalry to the north as backup.

This is also a weakness of Xixia. The interests of the Xixia dignitaries and the court have not reached a consensus. The Xixia dignitaries put a lot of resources in the manor. Chen Qing must destroy the resources of the Xixia dignitaries outside the city before the Xixia government and the opposition reach a consensus.

At this time, Tang Qian had already got 110 ships, which was all thanks to the old boatman Qiao and Song Cheng, the Han steward.

The old boatman Qiao drew a map for Tang Qian, and he marked all the places where the boats might be hidden. However, the old boatman Qiao couldn't support himself and could no longer follow them. He followed the first fleet to Mingsha County.

But only the map was given, Song Jun's eyes were still dark, they couldn't find any hiding spots on the map, so the steward Song Cheng stepped forward, he became Song Jun's guide, and led the soldiers to find one after another. In one hiding place, batches of ships were pulled out of the hidden water by the Song army.

In just three days, the Song Army searched all 21 hiding places drawn by the old boatman Qiao, and captured 110 large ships, bringing the total number of ships they captured to 170, more than half of the total number of Xixia ships.

The rest of the ships were either hidden in the manor or in the city.

In the afternoon, Tang Qian led his cavalry and 110 ships to the south. Suddenly, dust was flying in front of him, and the earth seemed to be trembling. A huge cavalry was rushing from the south.

Tang Qian immediately ordered the scouts to investigate, and after a while, the scouts came back and reported, "It's General Gao's army!"

It turned out that Gao Ding was coming, and Tang Qian rushed to meet him. At this time, Gao Ding's cavalry had slowed down and stopped.

Gao Ding had already seen the fleet in the Yellow River, he urged his horse forward, pointed his whip and laughed loudly: "Is this the latest victory of General Tang?"

Tang Qian clasped his fists in salute, smiled wryly and said, "This is all the warships that have been found so far, and there are still more than 100 warships that have not been found."

Gao Ding nodded, and told Tang Qian about the plan and deployment of Dutong. He said helplessly, "This time, my mission is to sweep all the manors, annihilate all the Zhuang Ding, collect food and supplies, and take away all the slaves. But I don't know where to start, can General Tang help me?"

Tang Qian said with a smile: "If it was three days ago, I'm afraid I would be confused, but now I can really help General Gao."

After finishing speaking, Tang Qian called up the guide Song Cheng and introduced to Gao Ding: "This man is called Song Cheng, his original surname is Zhang, and he was a commander of Murong Tao's under the command of the Jingyuan Army. After the Battle of Fuping, Murong Tao led the army to surrender to Xixia, and he was also forced to enter Xixia. Because he refused to work for the Xixia people, he was sold as a slave by the Xixia people. He changed his name to Song Cheng, which means Song Chen. , strong commanding ability, was appointed by his master to be the steward of Han Chinese slaves, he has a very good understanding of the manors in various places, and he is also my guide."

After listening to Gao Ding, he stood in awe, clasped his fists and said, "General Song is determined not to betray, which is admirable."

Song Cheng replied: "If General Gao needs to know about the situation of various manors, I can introduce them in detail? However, I suggest that General Gao start with the top ten manors. They own [-]% of all manors, food, soldiers, etc. Similar to slaves, the first big manor is Brother Li Cha’s Tianlu Manor, which is only [-] miles away from us and covers an area of ​​more than [-] hectares, and I heard that there are nearly [-] people in it.”

Gao Ding was overjoyed, and said decisively: "Time is not waiting for me, let's go to Tianlu Manor now!"

The Song Army built a pontoon bridge with large ships, and [-] Song Army cavalry crossed the Yellow River. Under the guidance of Song Cheng, the army marched toward Tianlu Manor more than ten miles away.

Chapter 673 Blood Alliance

There is indeed no impenetrable wall in the world. Three days after Tang Qian raided the first manor, the owner of the manor, the imperial historian Bari Zuren, got the news, but Bari Zuren did not tell Brother Richard about it, he knew it very well. Brother Li Cha's shamelessness, once Li Cha knows about it, he will definitely use it to make a fuss, taking the opportunity to embezzle everyone's slaves and money.

Barry Zuren called more than a dozen dignitaries overnight to discuss countermeasures.

Li Kan, the king of Changping, said angrily: "Who knows that the king of Jin is greedy, most of the wealth of Tuoba Aqu, the king of Chu, fell into his pocket, and the white jade tripod given to the king of Chu by the late emperor is openly placed in the living room of his house. He simply wrote the words 'despicable and shameless' on his forehead."

Xia Jinfeng, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, also said: "Actually, it's not just the wealth of the King of Chu. This time, it is said that all the gold, silver and jewels were transported into the Prince Jin's mansion, and [-] carts were pulled."

"It's not rumored, it's true!"

The privy envoy Cao Baozong said on the side: "My subordinates in the army told me that the gold, silver and jewels piled up in three large tents were transported away overnight by the soldiers of the Prince of Jin, a total of 52 carts. The emperor also knows about this. Summon the king of Jin to reprimand him, and the matter will be settled."

Barry Zuren said worriedly: "The problem now is that the Song army may also be eyeing our wealth. My southernmost manor has been swept away, Zhuang Ding is dead, and the food and slaves have also been taken away. Fortunately, I The money from the money was not placed in the south manor, what do you think should be done?"

Changping Wang Li Kan asked, "Is it the manor in Shajiao to the south?"

"Exactly!"

Li Kan frowned, "But my manor is also in Shajiao. My housekeeper came over this morning. My manor has not been attacked! I just said that a Song army team is looking for a ship. Is it because there are Fifteen ships were targeted by them."

Barry Zuren was stunned for a moment. Li Kan's manor was only five miles away from his manor, but Li Kan's manor was fine. Could it be because of the boat?

"It may be the reason, but I'm not sure."

Li Kan asked Xia Jinfeng again: "Xia Shangshu, is there any news from the Kingdom of Jin?"

Of course, Li Kan did not ask Jin Guo to reinforce Xixia, but asked them to take refuge in Jin Guo. These Xixia dignitaries are not stupid. If they have no way out, they will definitely support the court to fight against Song State, but the problem is that they have a way out, of course. It is impossible to donate the family property to the imperial court.

Xia Jinfeng nodded, "I was also looking for an opportunity to tell everyone that Wanyan Talan has agreed for us to take refuge in the Kingdom of Jin, on the condition that we donate [-]% of our property. We can choose where to go, either go to Beijing, or Datong Mansion, or Yunnei Prefecture, I consider going to Datong Mansion first, I have already sent someone to look at the house in Datong Mansion."

Barry Zuren hesitated for a moment and said: "The [-]% problem is not a big problem. The key is whether Jin Guo will keep his promise or slaughter us like sheep."

Xia Jinfeng said with a smile: "Jurchens generally keep their promises. I estimate that they will give [-]% to the Jin Dynasty court and [-]% to the local government. Basically, they will be able to settle down."

"Then when can we leave?" the crowd asked again.

"I'm going to ask the eldest son to move some of the belongings there after the house is settled. If you want to go, you should hurry up and settle the house first. I don't know if there will be time."

Everyone looked at Cao Baozong together. He is a privy envoy and has a better understanding of the current war situation.