choke element

Chapter 985: Hitting the Shore (Part )

There was no need for Shi Qing to give a warning, the knights scattered on the periphery naturally urged their horses to go out and investigate.

A moment later, several riders came back, and the leader jumped off his horse several feet away, stumbling a few steps before he stood still. His head and face were covered with weeds, and his body was covered with traces of mud, which looked like several holes had been drilled into it.

Looking at Shi Qing and the others, the man laughed and said, "Good news! The scale of the mining sites nearby is much larger than expected. From here to there, there are mineral veins on the southern slopes of four consecutive hills. Moreover, we can dig along the old tunnels and mine directly without the need for additional surveys! Manager Shi, you have gone against the crowd and gone deep into the grassland this time. It is really worthwhile! I think the gains may be several times more than originally thought!"

At this point, he shook open his outer robe, and a dozen or so pieces of ore fell to the ground. "These were picked up from the old mines on the four hills. The manager can ask someone else to take a look. They are all good materials!"

Shi Qing looked around at the people around him, trying hard to suppress the smile on his face, and reservedly asked someone to put it away, preparing to take the person back to Linhuang Prefecture for a closer examination.

However, the person who was exploring the mineral vein in front of him was a master craftsman who had come here specially. With his words, the situation of the mineral vein had been confirmed completely.

Who among those who have been busy with Shi Qing recently doesn’t know the value of copper mines?
In addition to the Mongolians who did the rough work, dozens of officers led people to guard the perimeter, and they would come back from time to time to inquire. There were also relevant officials in Linhuang Prefecture who sent people here to wait for news, and they followed Shi Qing eagerly every day. Hearing the good news about the mineral vein, several soldiers were overjoyed and clapped their hands first.

The Great Zhou Dynasty respected military men, but it did not completely indulge the border generals in doing business. It also established a set of regulations to restrict them. One of the most important rules was to strictly prohibit the generals from taking advantage of their positions to eat and take advantage of the benefits. Strategic resources such as copper mines must be brought under the government.

After the government took over, even if the benefits had to be circulated and distributed among the various military expenditures, the ordinary soldiers would still receive additional subsidies, which would probably be no worse than winning a great battle. Several soldiers were already planning to set up a few new households in the northern border.

Furthermore, in order to protect this source of wealth, the higher-ups would most likely allow Linhuang Prefecture to expand its military establishment. At a time when the court's attention was increasingly tilted toward the southeast, this was a rare good thing. Even if most of the additional troops were transferred from the Central Plains and the inland areas, with more establishment, there would always be more official positions, and everyone had the hope of rising profits.

The foreman who directed the construction naturally could not make any profit from the copper mine, but he also knew that just to develop a single previously discovered vein of minerals, tens of thousands of strings of cash would be invested. Roads, houses, warehouses, smelting furnaces and even defense facilities would have to be built rapidly. It was a huge business.

Not only that, several workers were also smiling happily as they held the windlass.

In recent years, various construction projects have been continuously carried out in the Great Zhou, and relying solely on corvée labor by local governments is often insufficient to meet urgent needs. Therefore, more and more farmers take advantage of the slack season to form teams to work in distant places to earn some extra money. Some large cities offer wages as high as 70 or 80 coins per day, almost catching up with the wealthy areas of the Southern Dynasty.

Of course, we don't have that much money in the northern border. Fortunately, from the foreman down, all of them have their own farmland in the Central Plains. With farmland, they have basic food and clothing, and they are not greedy. But they come out during the autumn farming season, and they have to set aside half of their wages as wine and meat money for hiring people to help harvest in their hometown... This reduces their profit. Now that the general manager has discovered a large mineral vein, there is more work to do. Maybe they have to work here all winter, and they can get more benefits.

Shi Qing himself was even happier.

He spent half a year in the northern border, and found that the Mongolian tribes were poorer than each other. Even though there was livestock fur trade and felt carpet factories were constantly opening, the majority of the profits were still taken by merchants. Officers like him tried their best to ensure that the northern border defense line would not become a financial burden, and avoid the old path of the boundary trench defense line that dragged down the finances of the Jin Dynasty.

From this perspective, the Emperor's previous statement that he would draw troops from the northern border to the southeast sea, and even to Goryeo, Japan, etc., was indeed correct. Moreover, the southeast sea is thousands of miles long, the sky is high and the Emperor is far away, and many strategies can only be implemented by loyal and reliable troops.

Here in the northern border, realistic conditions dictate that the Great Zhou's military investment and expansion have their limits. Rather than continuing to invest regardless of consumption until it becomes unsustainable beyond the limit and is beaten back by the eager Mongolian army, it is better to prepare early, stop at the right time, and maintain a stable defense line with elite soldiers and generals.

But if a copper mine can be opened on the grassland, making the benefits of the grassland more abundant, the grassland will be more important in the emperor's heart. Perhaps, the total plate of the entire army will become larger. Then someone like me will not only make a lot of money, but also get promoted. In the future, I may be able to lead thousands of people to roam the desert and seal the wolf's lair!

Just when he was feeling proud, a deputy beside him interrupted and said, "General Manager, the Yuerluo area is hundreds of miles away from Linhuang Prefecture, and there is a hundred miles of pine forest blocking the road. If something happens, it will be difficult for soldiers to rescue. Now that the situation here has been settled, shouldn't the general manager return to Linhuang Prefecture as soon as possible? If you are worried, you can transfer some of the garrison forces from Shuoping and Changtai? Or, send someone to contact Huanzhou..."

Before he could say anything, Shi Qing shook his head and glared at the deputy.

When Shi Qing first gained a foothold in Tengzhou, Shandong, his two most important generals were Shao Zhen and Du Guoen. These two were very able to follow Shi Qing's ideas and act in a smooth and cunning way, which enabled Shi Qing to gain benefits by wandering between the Jurchens, the Red Coats and the Dinghai Army.

However, the Dinghai Army expanded rapidly, and the two men's double-faced behavior offended Monk Luo, who killed them on the pretext of drinking and eating. All the subordinates promoted by Shi Qing later took this as a warning and became much more cautious than before.

It was clear that his subordinates were worried that Shi Qing, as the commander-in-chief of the troops stationed in an important town, was far away from the garrison and would be exploited by the Mongols. There was also a hint of accusation that Shi Qing was not coordinating closely enough with the neighboring tribes.

The emperor had earlier sent a letter to all the tribes, saying that since there were rumors that they were going to reduce their troops in the northern border, the Mongols would inevitably attack, whether out of revenge or greed. It is better to be cautious when the storm is about to come.

But even if the Mongolian army took any action, their targets should be Chang, Huan and Fu prefectures, Jinshan, Juyongguan and Zhongdu Daxing Prefecture behind it, and Xijing Datong Prefecture under the protection of Fengzhou and Jingzhou... Why should they attack Linhuang Prefecture?

Although Linhuangfu was the capital of the Liao Dynasty, it had been devastated by war and was extremely desolate during the transition from Liao to Jin. During the reign of Jin Shizong Dading, Linhuangfu Road was just a forward post under the Northeast Recruiting Office. The 24 garrisons along the boundary trench had a total of only 720 households and less than 3,000 people.

Therefore, Shi Qing was given the title of general manager when he was in charge of Linhuang Prefecture. What he was thinking about mainly was how to recruit the people in order to gain a stable foothold.

In a sense, it was precisely because of the weakness of Linhuang Prefecture that the emperor placed Shi Qing in this position, and it was precisely because of the weakness of Linhuang Prefecture itself that it seemed particularly safe. This seemingly dangerous but actually safe situation was precisely the ability of Shi Qing to stand firm in troubled times.

At that moment, Shi Qing patted the shaft of the cart, wanting to explain the reason in detail to his deputy. At this moment, a line of dust rose in the distance.

"Where is this news from? Hasn't the mine already reported it?"

For some reason, Shi Qing felt a chill in his heart.

Soon the knight dismounted and rushed to Shi Qing. Shi Qing recognized him. He was a confidant who had set up a delivery shop on the pine forest road. He was usually confident. How could he look so pale? He was obviously extremely frightened but was suppressing himself. Something big had happened!
"What do you mean?" Shi Qing asked in a low voice.

The knight was panting like a bellows, his throat was hoarse, and the others hurriedly fetched a water bag for him to drink. After a while, he managed to say, "The Mongolian army is attacking! The garrisons in Shuoping, Changtai, Zuzhou, Huaizhou and other places in the north of Linhuang Prefecture are all showing signs of the enemy, and the beacons are lit one after another. There was no news from Heihepu, Fengzhoupu and other places in the south yesterday, most of them have been lost! When I set out, a scout risked his life to report that the main force of the Mongolian army had passed the Dayanluo Herdsman's Office, and the number of soldiers and horses was overwhelming, and I don't know how many there were!"

Cold sweat dripped down Shi Qing's forehead. The tension and fear almost overwhelmed him, so much so that he stood in the carriage for a long time, as if he had become a sculpture, unable to extricate himself.

"Butler! Butler! What should we do!"

After a while, the anxious questions from the people around him suddenly rang out. It was as if a plug had been pulled out of Shi Qing's ears. The sound was like hot water pouring into his ear canal, which made the Linhuang Prefecture's military chief regain his composure.

"What should we do? Send a few good riders with three horses each to urgently inform the Northeastern Recruiting Office, the Northwestern Recruiting Office, and the beacons and border trenches along the way! The rest of you, follow me back to Linhuang Prefecture. Damn it, defend the city! What else can we do!"

In just a moment, his warrior nature overwhelmed his politician and businessman nature, and Shi Qing gave orders in a stern voice, so much so that his voice broke.

His old subordinates were the first to react, just like the thorns who would immediately curl up into a ball when encountering danger.

At the same time, in Zhongdu, far from the border, in the main hall of the Duyuan Marshal's Mansion, military reports from various sources were delivered here like a tide, one after another. At the most intensive time, there were as many as a dozen reports in half an hour.

Through these military newspapers and the text in them, the staff ran back and forth, moving wooden chess pieces representing the army, or marking on palm-wide papers and then sticking the papers in specific locations.

The huge map originally hung on the wall was taken down and laid flat on the ground for the staff to operate. The civil and military officials of the Great Zhou gathered here and looked around the map. The intensive messages gave the experienced generals a realistic and vivid scene as much as possible, so that they could almost feel the sound of iron hooves stepping on the ground in the distance through these signs and words.

Yelu Chucai withdrew his eyes from the pile of books. It was the intelligence that the Record Office had spent a lot of effort to collect, recording the huge strength of the Mongolian army.

He stroked his beard to calm himself, and said in a deep voice: "The Mongolians have mobilized on such a large scale, I'm afraid they won't concentrate their forces on one point... According to their habit, they will probably spread out over a vast front of hundreds or thousands of miles, threatening and restraining our army everywhere, so that our army will be exhausted to cope with it."

Although he did not lead troops, he had seen a lot, and when he spoke now, he had the demeanor of a veteran on the battlefield.

"Prime Minister Yelu is right." Wang Shixian tapped a certain spot on the map with his whip. "If we sort out the threat of the Mongols from east to west, the first place to be threatened is Linhuang Prefecture."

"Why do you think so?" Guo Ning asked.

Someone said: "The Mongols first conquered Linhuang Prefecture, and then went south to Dading Prefecture, thus cutting off the connection between the Northeast and the Central Plains. This was the same trick that Mu Huali used to lead the Wutuxia army southward."

"Not necessarily. The Central Plains and the Northeast are connected by sea. Before the sea freezes, the Mongolian army cannot cut off the connection... They must understand this. So I guess this group of troops will pretend to go south, but actually go east, from Linhuang Prefecture to Taizhou, and even Zhaozhou and Huining Prefecture. Their goal is not to block the connection, but to directly contain the troops of the Jurchen, Bohai, Khitan and other tribes in the Northeast."

At this point, Wang Shixian paused and scratched the back of his head. He had been hit hard on the head earlier, and it almost split open. He had not recovered well since then, and his skin and flesh were often swollen and painful. Fortunately, the swelling and pain disappeared when the weather got cooler, leaving only the unbearable itching.

"Hehe, we didn't count on those tribal soldiers..." someone muttered in a low voice.

"There are tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry. Why can't we count on them?" someone immediately objected.

"Who is the garrison commander of Linhuang Prefecture?" asked Yelu Chucai.

"It's Shi Qing." Several people answered at the same time. An aide then wrote a note and posted it at the location of Linhuang Mansion.

Guo Ning suddenly thought of something and asked hurriedly, "Has what Zhongming just thought of been included in the emergency plan and sent to Linhuang Prefecture?"

"…It's in the third version of the plan, but it was only shipped five days ago."

It's probably too late.

No matter how well prepared they are, once the two armies meet, there will always be various omissions, and they cannot be forced. I hope Shi Qing is smarter and doesn't just focus on the south route and pit those Jurchen generals of the Northeast Recruiting Division.

Guo Ning thought about it and said, "Zhongming, please continue. What is the second point of threat?"

(End of this chapter)