Fenghou

Kong Yanzhou had already realized that something was wrong, he beat his horse and ran wildly, followed by thousands of soldiers who were also running wildly, and soldiers kept falling down while running.

Kong Yanzhou finally rushed out of the valley, and looking behind him, there were less than a thousand soldiers fleeing with him. Kong Yanzhou sighed, and retreated to the east with the remnants of the soldiers. Not long after, Kong Yanzhou led his army into Lingbao County, where they looted food and property.

Chapter 733 Apologizing

The Song army in Shan County paid close attention to every move of Hangu Pass and Mianchi County. Liu Qiong sent two scouts to monitor. When the remnants of Hangu Pass were looting Lingbao County, they were immediately spotted by the Song Army scouts and rushed back to Shan County. Notified Liu Qiong.

Tang Qian said to Liu Qiong in a low voice: "Controlling, the cheap army is still in Mianchi, and it will take a day at the earliest to use cavalry. We can ambush and intercept near Shan County, it's not a big problem."

Liu Qiong looked to the east, but there was no movement in the east. They set up ten guard posts along the way to Mianchi County. Artificial beacons, very useful in short distances and short periods of time.

Liu Qiong nodded and said: "Since the opponent has only a thousand people, then we will play three against one. General Tang will lead 2000 people to ambush the opponent at Taniguchi, and I will lead 1000 people to intercept from the front."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Tang Qian went down to the city. Not long after, he led two thousand soldiers out of the south gate and ran towards the official road.

Liu Qiong then led a thousand troops out of the city.

In the afternoon, Kong Yanzhou led more than 100 defeated troops and fled in a panic. They said they were in a panic, but they also led thousands of mules and donkeys, all loaded with belongings, and there were even more than [-] young women with their hands tied. , lined up in a long line, followed behind crying, dozens of soldiers escorted them, touched them along the way, took advantage of them, all the soldiers were looking forward to the dark.

Kong Yanzhou walked in the front on horseback, looking at the outline of the city in the distance with a complicated expression. That was Shan County, which had been captured by the Song army.

He knew in his heart that once the Song army occupied Shan County, Shanzhou and Guozhou would basically be over, and it would be difficult to regain them. Back then, Li Yanxian defended alone for two years, and the Jin soldiers did not capture the city of Shan County, let alone the Song army now There is also Sichuan and Shaanxi as the backing.

Kong Yanzhou turned around and shouted: "Everyone, be careful, don't make any noise, don't be discovered by the Song army guarding the city, let's go straight there!"

At this moment, there was a sound of clappers on the top of the head, and arrows were fired from the nearby slope, and the dense arrows shot out. Hundreds of soldiers walking in front were hit by arrows one after another. Kong Yanzhou was caught off guard. sacked.

With a roar, Tang Qian led [-] soldiers to rush out from the nearby ravine and slope. The remaining hundreds of Puppet Qi soldiers panicked. Before he could run far, he was surrounded by Liu Qiong's army. The puppet Qi army had no way to escape, and they knelt down and surrendered one after another.

The quick end of the battle was beyond Liu Qiong's expectations. This army seemed to have completely lost its fighting spirit.

At this time, Tang Qian held Kong Yanzhou's bloody head and said: "The whole family is not finished yet. 120 people were shot and 250 were injured, and the rest surrendered."

"Are those women injured?" Liu Qiong asked looking at a group of women squatting in the distance.

Tang Qian shook his head, "Brothers avoided them with their arrows and didn't shoot at them. They were just slightly frightened and not injured."

Liu Qiong said again: "These prisoners of war have committed a heinous crime of looting Lingbao County. Together with the wounded, they were tied up and taken back to Lingbao County, and handed over to the people of Lingbao County. I will return these property to the county king."

"Humble job understands!"

Tang Qian found more than a hundred donkeys and gave them to the women to ride them home, and gave them some money. Tang Qian then led a thousand soldiers and escorted the prisoners back to Lingbao County.

At dusk, Tang Qian escorted the prisoners of war to Lingbao County, only to see a crowd of people outside the city gate, gathering [-] to [-] people from Lingbao County. , The kitchen knife is already waiting outside the county.

When they saw the prisoners of war who had been escorted back, their hatred finally burst out, and they yelled, "Kill them! Cut them into pieces!" Tens of thousands of people rushed towards them like a tide. Tang Qian saw that the situation was not good, Immediately lead the soldiers to retreat and throw the prisoners of war to them.

The prisoners of war were tied up in several bunches like grasshoppers, unable to escape, crying and begging, and collapsed on the ground in fright, and the crowd swallowed them up like a tide...

The anger was finally vented, and the people began to return to the city one after another, offering sacrifices to their murdered relatives with the severed heads.

Only then did Tang Qian lead the army up. The prisoners of war were all in shape, and their heads were gone. Limbs and internal organs were all over the ground.

Tang Qian ordered the soldiers to collect the corpses and burn them on fire, then dig a pit and bury them deeply.

At this time, a group of cavalry came rushing forward, and someone shouted, "Is it General Tang?"

Tang Qian recognized the man as Zhang Hua, his subordinate. Tang Qian stepped forward and said with a smile, "So it's General Zhang. Has the army come here?"

"The army is clearing Hangu Pass, and the county king is also here. General Tang, come with me!"

Tang Qian nodded and ordered Yang Quan, the commander, to lead a thousand troops to station in Lingbao County to maintain order. He followed Zhang Hua to Hangu Pass with a few of his men.

The thick smoke and poisonous gas in Hangu Pass had dissipated, and the Song army accidentally captured more than 1000 soldiers. Some of them opened the city gate to surrender after Kong Yanzhou retreated. There were about [-] soldiers.

The other part of the army has 3000 people. They are the army guarding the inner city. They are led by the commander Li Ming. The width was one mile, and the poisonous and black smoke was much thinner. They did not escape with Kong Yanzhou. After the Song army entered the valley, Li Ming led the army to surrender.

It was his confidant army who really followed Kong Yanzhou to escape, more than half of them suffocated to death in the valley. Although less than a thousand people followed Kong Yanzhou to escape Hangu Pass by chance, none of them survived in the end.

Tang Qian reported to Chen Qing their battle situation in the past few days, and Chen Qing was relieved that Liu Qiong really lived up to his great trust and seized Shan County before it was too late. This step is crucial.

Chen Qing smiled and praised: "You did a good job. You actually killed Kong Yanzhou. I said before that you let this demon escape. I will credit you with a great contribution."

Tang Qian was overjoyed. Just now he was worried that the county king would blame them for handing over the prisoners of war to the common people. Now it seems that the county king didn't even mention this matter, which made him secretly relieved.

He quickly bowed and said: "The order in Shan County has been stabilized, please move the county king to Shan County!"

Chen Qing nodded, and immediately ordered Yang Zaixing to lead an army of [-] to continue clearing Hangu Pass, while he led an army of [-] to Shan County.

Shan County is not far from Hangu Pass. At one o'clock, the team arrived in Shan County, and Liu Qiong went out of the city to welcome the lord.

It was already very late, Chen Qing asked Liu Qiong to arrange for the army to rest, and everything will be discussed tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Chen Qing paid homage to Li Yanxian, the famous general who died in the anti-golden battle, and his soldiers by the Yellow River, and asked Liu Qiong to hand over the property captured by Kong Yanzhou to Yang Chu, the magistrate, and asked Yang Chu to collect the remains of the fallen soldiers and bury them again. Tombstones were built for them, and a tomb with clothes and hats was built separately for Li Yanxian as a memorial.

Chen Qing then walked up to the top of the city and looked eastward. Liu Qiong pointed to a hill in the distance and said, "The humble officer has deployed three scouts on that hill. Once the army that can be obtained appears twenty miles away, They will immediately fire powder arrows to inform the city."

Chen Qing nodded and said, "I heard that you deployed ten security points along the way to monitor the movements of the defenders in Mianchi County?"

"The situation is true. I am worried that the other party will come to meet Kong Yanzhou's army. Now it seems that they don't know that Hangu Pass has fallen."

"How much food is there in the city?" Chen Qing asked.

"Originally there were [-] shi of grain in the city, [-] shi of which have been used to help the common people, and there are also a large amount of armor and materials, and [-] of which were seized with spears alone."

"Do you have siege weapons?"

"There are more than 100 siege ladders, and nothing else."

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "It's better to work harder. You and I will go to Mianchi County and take Mianchi County down."

Chapter 734 Mianchi

Mianchi County is no longer the boundary of Shanzhou, but the boundary of Henan Prefecture. The reason why Chen Qing wanted to win Mianchi County was related to its important geographical location. In a sense, Mianchi County is the real entrance of the Weihan Ancient Road. Only after entering Mianchi County can the Xiaohan Ancient Road be truly opened.

Otherwise, if the people want to go to Sichuan and Shaanxi to make a living, the Puppet Qi State only needs to send 1000 people to guard Mianchi County, and no one can enter the Weihan Ancient Road. It is for this reason that Mianchi County became Chen Qing's final battle between Shaanxi and Guo. a goal.

In fact, when Chen Qing launched this campaign, one of his very important goals was to open up the ancient Xiaohan Road so that the people of the Central Plains could come to Sichuan and Shaanxi to make a living. If a large number of people came to Sichuan and Shaanxi, he could slowly restore the vitality of northern and central Shaanxi.

An army of [-] and [-] supply camels marched towards Mianchi County in a mighty manner, and they were still [-] miles away from Mianchi County, and the news could be obtained.

This news surprised Zhe Keqiu. He had just received an order from Wanyan Wushu, ordering him to immediately send [-] troops to support Hangu Pass. Before he was ready to set off, Chen Qing led the main force to Mianchi County to kill coming.

There are [-] to [-] troops, how can the little Mianchi County bear it?

More importantly, has the Song army captured Hangu Pass in just two or three days?There is no news about Kong Yanzhou at all, and it is estimated that the disaster is already in danger.

Zhe Keqiu went up to the county seat and looked towards the west. From a distance, he vaguely saw a big banner unfurling, and it really was a large army coming towards this side.

Several generals persuaded: "Commander, Mianchi County is too small to stop the Song army's thunderous blow. I'm afraid our entire army will be wiped out. Let's retreat back to Luoyang!"

The generals were right. The city wall of Mianchi County was only two feet high, and it was in disrepair for a long time, and the city gate was also dilapidated. If a battering ram was hit hard, the city wall would collapse, and they couldn't defend it at all.

But retreating from Mianchi, how could he explain to Wanyan Wushu?

Deputy General Zhou Xingwu asked in half: "Shaanzhou fell, the responsibility is not on the commander in chief, it is entirely Kong Yanzhou's responsibility, Shan County fell in his hands, and Hangu Pass could not be held after only two days, the commander argued hard, It's never the Marshal's turn to take the responsibility, and the fourth prince's board can't hit the Marshal!"

"I'm afraid of abandoning Mianchi, what if Chen Qing's army continues to march eastward?"

"That's no way, Mianchi can't be defended, our army is completely destroyed, and Luoyang is even more dangerous. Why don't we withdraw our troops and go back to defend Luoyang, at least the strength is still there! If the entire army is destroyed, the fourth prince will really not forgive Too handsome."

One sentence wakes me up and I can ask for it. I am really confused. If you lose a broken city like Mianchi, you will lose it. If you lose [-] troops and lose Luoyang, Wanyan Wushu will not forgive yourself.

He immediately said: "The order is for the whole army to abandon Mianchi and retreat immediately, and return to Luoyang."

The main force of the Song Army still had a few miles to go to Mianchi County, but it was a good idea to lead an army of [-] to quickly evacuate Mianchi County and run towards Luoyang. Keep the army, keep your own strength.

Chen Qing also didn't expect that Zhe Keqiu would run away in a panic without fighting. This is not in line with the Zhe family's style of never retreating and never giving up. It seems that Zhe Keqiu not only betrayed the Song Dynasty, but also betrayed the Zhe family. tradition of.

Chen Qing immediately ordered the army to enter Mianchi County. A mighty [-] army marched into the county seat. Martial law was imposed and the people were not allowed to go to the streets. It was necessary to eliminate hidden dangers before returning to normal.

Surrounded by all the generals, Chen Qing went to the top of the city to check the situation of the city defense.

On the top of the city, a commander said puzzledly: "Your Majesty, Mianchi County didn't cut off the Weihan Road. In fact, people can pass through the Weihan Road at night, so they shouldn't be discovered!"

Chen Qing said indifferently: "It doesn't have to be the county town to cut off the passage, as long as a post and a checkpoint are built on the necessary road, then no one will even think about passing it."

Everyone burst into laughter, and the commander scratched his head, and he laughed out of embarrassment.

At this time, Liu Qiong was also embarrassed and said: "The king of the county, I also have some ideas about humble positions. If we rebuild Mianchi County and build it into a tall and strong city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, wouldn't it be more convenient to become our bridgehead?"

Chen Qing shook his head, "When the enemy comes, we just need to retreat to Shan County. When the enemy retreats, we will take it back. If we really need a strong city and let the enemy build it, we don't have to bother."

Liu Qiong said again, and Chen Qing waved his hand and said, "Mianchi County is not a strategically important place. If the enemy cannot take Shan County, they will not garrison in Mianchi County. They are more likely to rebuild Xin'an County or consolidate Luoyang City. Don’t keep staring at a small city, let me say it again, the strategic city is Shan County, not Mianchi County, Lingbao County, Hucheng County, etc. As long as we keep Shan County, we will keep Shanzhou.”

Liu Qiong was ashamed and said: "The humble official understands!"

Chen Qing turned around and said to the generals: "If you want to be on your own, the key is to have a strategic vision and know how to grasp the big and let go of the small. The fundamental reason why Kong Yanzhou failed so quickly is that he has no strategic vision. He obviously has [-] troops. , he should gather to guard Shan County, instead of spreading salt, stationing a little in each small town, and finally being defeated one by one."

Everyone bowed and said: "Humble duty, remember the teaching of the county king!"

Chen Qing immediately left [-] troops to guard Mianchi County, and ordered Niu Gao to lead [-] troops to guard Shan County, and ordered him to build [-] beacon towers on the Weihan Ancient Road all the way to Tongguan.

Before leaving Shanzhou, Chen Qing issued a series of appointments. He appointed Fu Lin as the magistrate of Shanzhou, appointed Yang Gongran as the magistrate of Guozhou, recommended Yang Chu as the magistrate of Shanxian County, recommended Wang Changyi as the magistrate of Mianchi County, and other prefectures and counties. Officials are handed over to the Ministry of Officials for appointment.

This is also the division of responsibilities between Chen Qinghe's Internal Affairs Hall and the Department of Officials. He can directly appoint the Zhizhou, but the appointment of officials below the Zhizhou is the responsibility of the Internal Affairs Hall and the Department of Officials. Chen Qing can at most recommend individual officials, and it can only be a recommendation. He cannot overstep his authority.

Similarly, for military appointments, Chen Qing can only appoint the top two levels. Currently, the top two levels are all control and control.

The military positions of generals below the command are appointed by Dutong and Tongzhi. For example, the Dutong can appoint generals below the commander, and the commander can appoint generals below the commander, but the commander has no appointment power.

In addition, in addition to military positions, generals also have military rank officials. Military rank officials are mainly related to the general's salary and welfare treatment, and they are also very concerned by the generals.

After the Battle of Xixia, Chen Qing abolished the third-class 52-level military general system formulated in the Song Huizong era. This system was too complicated, and the civil and military were not equal, which was very unfair. Chen Qing restored the military officials in the early Northern Song Dynasty within the Western Army. system and honor system.

Therefore, in the Western Army, they are no longer called Wu-rank officials, but Wu-san officials. Wu-san officials are evaluated by the Ministry of Officials according to the qualifications and merits of the generals, especially the seniority is very important.

At present, Chen Qing's military position is the Marshal of the Western Army Capital, and his military official has not been appointed yet. He only has the rank of official title bestowed by the emperor, Taiwei, and the title of King of Lingwu County.

The honorary officer system is mainly aimed at veterans and soldiers, giving them a social status.

When the [-]-strong army arrived at Tongguan, Chen Qing issued another military order, promoting Liu Qiong and Niu Gao to be the commanders of the deputy capitals, Tang Qian to be the commander of the capital, and Wang Duo to be the commander of the upper army. Generally speaking, military officers above the deputy commander can be appointed as General.

The [-] troops continued to be stationed at Pujin Pass, while Chen Qing returned to Jingzhao Mansion by boat.

Chapter 735

It took Chen Qing half a month to seize the two prefectures of Shaanxi and Guo, opened up the Weihan Road, and at the same time added a solid body armor for Guanzhong to protect the safety of Guanzhong.

However, this military operation was very low-key in Guanzhong, the Central Plains, and even the Song Dynasty, and was not taken seriously by everyone. The people in Guanzhong are all concerned about land investigation, which involves the vital interests of countless people.

Wanyan Wushu didn't even bother to reprimand and retreat without success. The two prefectures of Shaanxi and Guo originally belonged to Shaanxi Road, and if they were lost, they would be lost. When Wanyan Wushu saw that Chen Qing's strategic intention was not a conspiracy Central Plains, but just to increase the defense of Guanzhong, he no longer takes this matter to heart.

Wanyan Wushu's whole thoughts were in the court of the Kingdom of Jin. He and Nianhan wrote a letter to the emperor at the same time, impeaching Wanyan Talan for accepting bribes from the Song Dynasty, signing an armistice agreement with the Song Dynasty without authorization, and betraying Jianghuai.

The two of them want to work together to overthrow Prime Minister Tarlan, and Nianhan even rushes to Beijing for this matter.

Fan Gong, his confidant and aide, saw that Wanyan Wushu had been restless these days, so he persuaded him: "The key is that the prince should not think too much about the result, after all Wanyan Tarlan has the support of Zong Pan and Zong Jun, the leaders of the three provinces in the court." , Song Dynasty put Wanyan Helicha and Wanyan Qi back again. Tarlan can say that he signed an armistice agreement with Song Dynasty against his will to save them. Dedicate the gold given by the Song Dynasty to the emperor, even if the emperor wants to touch him, it will be difficult, and it must be a compromise in the end."

Wanyan Wushu smiled wryly and said: "Sir, you are right, maybe Nianhan and I are too eager for success, and we don't have enough influence in the court."

Fan Gong persuaded again: "The key is that the time for the Son of Heaven to ascend the throne is still short, and his wings have not yet matured. Although he has taken over the old wolf lord's Hezha Meng'an, he has gained martial arts, but his literary skills are not enough. In a year or two, he will be firmly seated on the throne. , he must be tidy up and lazy, the prince might as well bear with it a little longer."

What Fan Gong said made a lot of sense, but it was not entirely correct. The Kingdom of Jin was established by force, and the power of the emperor came from the army. The new emperor Wanyan Quan valued military power the most. The reason is that he has not fully grasped the military power, not the civilian power of the prime minister.

Wanyan Wushu was well aware of this, he sighed and said worriedly: "I'm just worried that the Son of Heaven will solve the martial arts first, and then consider the literary strategy. If he solves the martial arts first, he will attack Zonggan and Nianhan. As far as I know, Zonggan's Hezhameng'an has already pledged his allegiance to the emperor, and now only Nianhan's [-] Hezhameng'an army is left. Last time I hinted at Nianhan and asked him to deal with Chen Qing. Keep the military power of Meng'an."

The most elite army in the Kingdom of Jin is the Hezha Meng'an Army. The elite soldiers selected from the various armies are composed of 20 people, also known as the Emperor's Guard Army. Commanded by three people, even the [-] troops in Wanyan Wushu's hands belonged to the peripheral army.

Once the emperor Wanyan Quan fully controlled the 20 Hezha Meng'an army, his throne would be completely secure, and he could kill whoever he wanted.

At this moment, the soldiers from outside rushed to report, "Report to the lord, the special envoy from Shangjing is here!"

Wanyan Wushu asked urgently: "Who is the special envoy?"

"My lord, it's Shangshu Youcheng Han Qixian."

Wanyan Wushu was stunned for a moment, Shangshu Youcheng Han Qi was a lazy prime minister, he has always disliked this person.

Wanyan Wushu suddenly said angrily: "What do you mean, why did you send Han Qi here first?"

Fan Gong hurriedly persuaded: "Han Qixian may have brought the intention of being lazy. The prince should meet and listen to what he means. At most, he will not express his opinion."

Wanyan Wushu nodded, "Please wait in the VIP room!"

Wanyan Wushu pondered for a moment, then quickly came to the VIP hall.

There is a thin old man sitting in the guest hall. He is Jin Guo Shangshu Youcheng Han Qixian. After Jin Guo emperor Wanyan Quan came to the throne, he carried out a major reform. He adopted the Han official system and abolished Jin Guo The system, of course, was also supported by the first emperor, and it can be regarded as the consensus within the Kingdom of Jin.

Han Qixian was originally a Han minister in the Liao Kingdom. He also deeply participated in the reform of the official system. He was appreciated by the emperor Wanyan Quan and was named Shangshu Youcheng.