Fenghou

After marching for 20 days, the [-]th army arrived in Lingzhou. At present, there are [-] troops stationed on Lingxia Road, led by Li Muqing, the governor of the capital, and another [-] militia troops. The equipment is no different from that of the regular army. The difference with the regular army is that they usually For farming, training in leisure time, and serving as soldiers in wartime, there is a monthly subsidy of consistent money. When the enemy invades, they will gather to defend their homeland.

Li Muqing had already set up the camp in advance. It was a huge plank barracks, covering an area of ​​20 mu, with [-] large tents, which could accommodate [-] troops.

The soldiers were exhausted from the long journey, and went back to their camps to rest.

Surrounded by dozens of major generals above the Dutong level, Chen Qing came down to the main tent of the Chinese Army.

There is a huge sand table in the big tent of the Chinese army, which is exactly the same as Chen Qing's sand table, but doubled in size, three feet long and three feet wide, and the terrain is more detailed.

"Has the snow in Toyosu subsided now?" Chen Qing asked.

Li Muqing shook his head, "According to the latest information from the scouts, the snow hasn't receded, so you can't ride a horse yet!"

Chen Qing saw three small tents piled up on the ground in Fengzhou, each about the size of a finger, and asked with a smile, "Does this mean where the enemy troops are stationed?"

"Exactly!"

Li Muqing nodded and said, "They are also gathering places for herdsmen."

The first thousand and 350 chapters six Toyosu

Fengzhou is the top of the shape of the Yellow River. The Yellow River is divided into two parts here, each flowing for hundreds of miles and then merged into one, forming a rope shape, which is the Hetao.

Of course, Hetao is composed of three areas, including Shangtao in Lingzhou, Zhongtao in Fengzhou and Houtao in Yulin, forming three fertile Hetao Plains.

"The Yellow River has a hundred harms, but only benefits." The three fertile lands in the Hetao Plain have always attracted the prying eyes of various forces.

As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court moved tens of thousands of people to reclaim Hetao and build counties. However, the wheel of history soon entered the dark era of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The northern Han people were almost slaughtered, and the Hetao area was also deserted. Desolate, collapsed, gradually buried by historical wind and sand.

The rise of Lingzhou in the Tang Dynasty led to the establishment of the Shuofang Army, and the Hetao area ushered in a short-term prosperity. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Hetao area was once again occupied by nomads. Various forces came and went like revolving lanterns, and finally became the ZTE of the Dangxiang people. The land, this occupation is more than 100 years.

The Western Xia of the Dangxiang people had already perished. Chen Qing resettled Lingxia Road and stationed [-] troops. However, the Hetao area of ​​Fengzhou was still occupied by the Tata and Kelie tribes from the grassland.

Since Chen Qing was launching the battles of Shandong Road and Hebei Road, he adopted a strategy of forbearance against the fall of Fengzhou. In the spring of this year, after the Western Army captured Hebei Road, they began to counterattack Hetao.

It was already the beginning of February, and the Hetao Plain was still covered with snow. The snow had not yet melted, and it was difficult to ride horses due to the thick snow. However, the Tata and Kelie tribes already had supply tribes in Fengzhou, tens of thousands of soldiers. Squatting in the dome tent, you can also eat and drink through the winter.

This morning, a group of small black dots appeared on the vast snow field. Looking closer, they were scout soldiers of the Western Army riding camels. Each of them had two camels, one for riding and the other for carrying supplies.

The team has been exploring the Fengzhou area for half a month and has gained a lot of information. They are ready to return to Lingzhou.

The leader of the scout was a deputy commander named Zhou Honglie, from Yan'an Prefecture. He led [-] men to investigate the enemy's equipment and the snowmelt situation in Fengzhou.

The team currently has one last task, to understand the snow melting situation. It is best to determine when the snow and ice will melt?

When everyone came to the South Yellow River, if they want to understand the melting of ice and snow, it is best to start with the Yellow River. From the thawing and melting of the Yellow River, it can be judged that the entire Hetao is snow melting.

"Head! The underlying ice is half-thawed."

The crowd smashed a big hole in the ice with a few picks, and the river rushed up.

"Half a month ago, the ice layer was three inches thick, but now it is only one inch. In 20 days at most, the Yellow River will completely thaw."

Calculated from the thawing time of the Yellow River water, then 20 days later, the snow in Fengzhou should also completely melt.

Zhou Honglie nodded and said: "I sent the eagle letter back, saying that horseback riding is feasible around February [-], and the snow will melt by the end of the month. Fengzhou is still about half a month later than Lingzhou."

At this time, a soldier pointed to the east and shouted: "It seems that someone is coming over there!"

Everyone looked to the east, only to see hundreds of small black spots running towards this side, "It's a war horse!" The deputy commander Zhou Honglie's heart sank. They made a mistake in their judgment, and the war horse was ready to run.

"This is the enemy sentry cavalry, let's cross the river!"

Thirty soldiers led the camels and walked carefully towards the ice. The ice was so thin that they could barely walk on it. They only heard the creaking sound of the ice and fell into the river without paying attention.

"Watch out ahead!"

Zhou Honglie pointed to the front of a soldier and yelled. The soldier was startled and found signs of water seepage on the ice ahead. He was so frightened that he led a camel and took a detour.

"Everyone go west, don't cross the river!"

Zhou Honglie lay down on the river and looked ahead, only to see water seepage on the ice to the south, and the ice was too thin to move forward.

Everyone turned around and walked westward in unison, walking with difficulty.

At this time, although the horses could run on the ground, the ice and snow resistance was still great, and the speed of the sentinel cavalry was not fast, but they were still getting closer to the Western Army.

"There is no water seepage ahead!" shouted the soldier in charge of observing the ice.

Zhou Honglie threw a roll of rope over, "Tie the rope around your waist, and walk over to have a look!"

The soldier tied the rope around his waist and walked forward cautiously step by step. Finally, he jumped onto the south bank.

Zhou Honglie was overjoyed, and quickly shouted: "People go first, camels follow!"

The soldiers went up to the south bank one by one, and Zhou Honglie led the long camel team to the south bank one by one. Sixty camels climbed to the south bank, and more than forty camels suddenly went, "Ha la! With a sound, the ice cracked, and a dozen camels fell into the water instantly and disappeared without a trace.

The soldiers were sad, these camels had been with them for a long time, and they already had deep feelings, but they were swallowed by the river.

"Wang Ping and Liu Shun take the camel away, and the rest of the brothers prepare to shoot with crossbow arrows!" Zhou Honglie ordered loudly.

The chasing sentinel cavalry also went on the ice and walked towards the south bank. The soldiers of the Western Army immediately acted. Two soldiers took the camel away, and the remaining 28 soldiers each sought cover and raised their crossbow arrows.

At this time, the chasing nomadic cavalry shouted loudly. Dozens of them stepped into the thin ice area with their horses, and all fell into the water and were also swallowed by the river.

The other sentinel cavalry were frightened. They hesitated for a moment, and then went west in the same way as the scouts of the Western Army, looking for ice that could cross the river.

"Archery!" Zhou Honglie gave the order.

Twenty-eight scouts shot arrows at the same time, and the powerful crossbow arrows shot two hundred paces away. Eight nomadic soldiers were caught off guard and were shot by the crossbow arrows, falling to the ground one after another.

The other soldiers lay down on the ice in fright. For a moment, the cold on the ice made them unbearable, and they got up again, shouting and running. The second round of crossbow arrows roared, this time more accurately, 28 arrows, Sixteen soldiers were shot and fell.

Hundreds of nomadic soldiers also fired arrows to fight back, but unfortunately their bows and arrows did not have enough range to hurt the soldiers of the Western Army.

Zhou Honglie watched the ice surface creaking, his mind suddenly moved, and he had a bold idea.

"Stop shooting arrows!"

The soldiers stopped shooting arrows, and the nomadic cavalry came after them shouting.

Zhou Honglie ordered his men to go down and fetch the firearms bag. After a while, three soldiers brought up the big bag and took out five wooden barrel fire mines, each weighing about five catties.

Zhou Honglie left four of his men behind, while the other soldiers withdrew first.

Five scouts of the Western Army lay in ambush behind the soil, watching the approaching nomadic cavalry. This is a 300-man sentry cavalry. Excluding the soldiers who fell into the water and the arrows, there are still more than 240 people.

The sentinel cavalry was only fifty paces away from them, and they also found the ice surface that could go ashore, and began to approach the south bank.

Zhou Honglie gestured to the four men, and they simultaneously lit the matchlocks of the barrel fire mine, and threw them at the cavalry on the ice with all their might.

Five wooden barrel fire mines slid on the ice and slipped into the enemy's ranks, 'Boom!boom!boom! 'Five wooden barrel fire mines exploded continuously, poisonous nails splashed, and soldiers and horses hissed miserably.

The real crisis came from the ice surface. The ice surface began to crack rapidly, and the area was very large. The commander turned pale with fright and shouted: "Retreat!"

Before it was too late, more than a dozen ice surfaces broke at the same time, and more than half of the soldiers and horses fell into the water. After struggling in the water for a while, they were swept away by the underwater rapids.

Of the more than 240 soldiers, there were only about [-] soldiers left, including the commander, who was also swept away by the rapids. The rest of the soldiers were so frightened that they turned around and fled to the north bank, not daring to pursue them any more.

They were not only frightened by the broken ice, but also shocked by the barrel fire and thunder.

Zhou Honglie laughed loudly and waved his hands, "Let's go!"

He brought back a few of his men and chased after the distant team.

The first thousand and 350 chapters and seven new villages

At this time, by the Yellow River in Lingzhou, Chen Qing and his generals were also investigating the ice surface of the Yellow River.

An experienced veteran said: "Reporting to Your Highness, the situation this year is similar to that of the previous year. It is estimated that there will be a complete thaw and ice flood in late February."

"What about last year?" Chen Qing asked again.

"My villain remembers that the ice flood last year appeared on the last day of February. This year it will be a few days earlier, but Fengzhou is colder than ours, and the ice flood may not appear until early March."

"Is it possible to transport supplies on the ice now?"

"no!"

The old boatman quickly shook his head and said, "The ice layer is unstable. Some places are thicker, while others are very thin. People walking on it will definitely break and fall into the water."

Chen Qing nodded, and said to several generals, "I'm thinking about taking the battlefield to Fengzhou, and I can't put the battlefield in Lingzhou."

Yang Zaixing said: "If this is the case, then you can consider using camels to transport supplies first. We have [-] camels here, and we can transport the food, grass and supplies over a few more trips."

"But tents, barracks and other luggage cannot be transported."

"If you can fight directly, the camp doesn't need it."

Chen Qing thought for a while, and asked Li Muqing, "Is there any news about the scout?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is no news about the scouts yet, but it should be within two days."

Chen Qing nodded and said to the generals: "Let's go back to the barracks first!"

All the generals turned their horses around one after another. Chen Qing suddenly found a village on the other side of the river, so he said to the generals: "You go back to the barracks first, and I will go to the other side to check the people's conditions!"

Zhang Ao, the governor of Lingzhou, and Wang Bo, the governor of Lingzhou, accompanied Chen Qing to the pontoon bridge to the south. When Lu Wei was the prefect of Lingzhou Prefecture, Zhang Ao was the judge. Renamed as governor.

Lu Wei praised him very much, praised him for his practicality and down-to-earth attitude, and strongly recommended him to Chen Qing to take over as the magistrate. Although Zhang Ao did not come from a major, he was still promoted by Chen Qing to be the chief official of Lingzhou.

A group of people crossed the pontoon bridge and arrived at the south of the village.

The village is a new one. In the past, it was a large manor of the Xixia dignitaries. The Han slaves who farmed the land lived in low and dilapidated mud houses. After the Xixia was wiped out, almost one million Han slaves did not return. The land, shops and houses were distributed to them, so they stayed on Lingxia Road and became the owners of Lingxia Road.

At present, the southern and western mountainous areas of Lingxia Road are dominated by Qiang people, and Xiazhou Mansion has been established. Lingzhou Mansion is a place where Han people live together. Almost a million Han people live here. In the future, the population will multiply, and they will continue to move northward. Migration to Toyosu.

A group of people approached the entrance of the village, and a dozen small dogs ran out and barked wildly. A middle-aged man yelled, and the dozen small dogs ran back in fright.

"It turned out to be Zhang Inspector and Wang Changshi, and their humble positions are far away!"

Inspector Zhang Ao saw that the other party turned out to be Liu Yong, the law officer of their government, and he was also surprised: "Liu Sishi, why is your family here?"

The man said embarrassingly: "This is my parents' house. Today is a day off. I'm here to visit my parents!"

Chen Qing smiled and asked, "Inspector Zhang, is this your subordinate?"

When the man saw Chen Qing, he was really startled, and hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, "I don't know His Highness is here, I'm so rude!"

Zhang Ao introduced: "He is Cao Sishi of the government office, his name is Liu Yong, and this is his parents' home."

Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "Please get up! I'll visit your parents and find out about the situation!"

"Please follow the humble position!"

Liu Yong led the crowd into the village. The houses in the village were all green brick and tile houses. At first glance, they were built in a unified manner. The army built several large brick and tile workshops, and fired a large number of bricks and tiles to build houses for the people. In order to let the people stay in Lingzhou with peace of mind, Chen Qing gave them a kind of welfare.

Everyone walked into a large yard at the head of the village. This private house covers an area of ​​about one mu. The yard is very large. There are several jujube trees planted in it. There is also a group of chickens in the yard and a well. It looks quite interesting in agriculture.

"It's sunny today, just sit in the yard!"

Liu Yong quickly went into the room to find more than a dozen small stools, and an old couple also moved the chairs out. There was a man in his thirties next to him, and a couple of children and a woman behind him. They should be a family.

"It was my brother's family. My parents liked the country and lived with them."

Chen Qing nodded. At this time, Liu Yong brought his parents up again. When the old couple heard that it was His Royal Highness King Yong, they knelt down and kowtowed. Chen Qing asked his soldiers to help them up.

The old man said with tears in his eyes, "Your Highness is our reborn parents. If it weren't for Your Highness, we would have died a long time ago. How could we live like this today?"

"Elders, you are welcome. The country is based on the people. I am also sincerely happy to see that you can spend your old age in peace. Please sit down!"

Everyone sat down, and at this time many villagers came to the yard. They heard that it was King Yong, and the villagers couldn't help cheering.

Chen Qing arranged for several elders to sit down, surrounded by villagers, which made Chen Qing's soldiers quite nervous.

"How much land does the old man have now?" Chen Qing asked Father Liu with a smile.

"Reporting to Your Highness, our family has 60 mu of land, the eldest son and the second son each have [-] mu of land. The old man is over [-] years old and can no longer claim land, but he gave him [-] mu of vegetable fields."

Chen Qing was a little strange, as if there was no extra vegetable land in the land grant regulations, he turned his head and looked at Zhang Ao.

Zhang Ao quickly explained: "The rule is that each household has one mu of house land. If you give up the house land, you will be given ten acres of vegetable fields. These ten acres of vegetable fields are actually compensation for Liu Yong."

Chen Qing knew very well that there must be something tricky about it. Liu Yong became an official in the city and enjoyed a separate house in the city. His household registration is in the city, so his land and house in the countryside should be given up, but Liu Yong obviously occupied both ends.

Officials will take advantage of the loopholes in the system to benefit themselves. This happens everywhere, and it cannot be avoided. Although it cannot be avoided, it does not mean that Chen Qing can ignore it.

Chen Qing didn't say anything, he smiled and said: "Old man Liu raised a good son!"

The people around were all laughing and watching the fun, the governor Zhang Ao and the chief governor Wang Bo both understood what King Yong was saying, and they looked at each other nervously, saying something was going to happen.

Chen Qing asked old man Liu and other old people again, "What crops are you growing now?"

Old man Liu said: "Our family mainly grows wheat, and also planted [-] acres of cotton. Growing cotton is more profitable than wheat. We plan to grow another [-] acres of cotton this year."