Fenghou

Chen Qing waved his hand, "The bed probably has an mechanism, it's best not to force it!"

He looked expectantly at the little maid.

The little maid pointed to the center of the bed and said, "The Chief Manager was lying on the bed at that time!"

A tall and fat soldier lay down in the middle of the bed. After a while, Chen Qing heard a low 'click! ', and immediately searched around, but did not find where the sound came from?

The little maid touched the wall at the head of the bed for a while, and pressed it hard, and a hole appeared in the wall. Inside the hole was a copper ring, embedded in the wall. Everyone was refreshed. Everyone was attracted by the bed. On the wall, it will not appear until you lie on the bed, it really took great pains.

"It seems to be twisting this ring!" The little maid pointed to the copper ring.

Chen Qing reached in and twisted it hard, only to hear 'click! With a sound, the soldier on the bed he was lying on just now let out an exclamation, and fell down. The bed turned into a movable board. Everyone hurriedly opened the movable board, and a big hole appeared, about one foot deep, with a thick mattress underneath.

The soldier shouted from below: "Dutong, there is nothing wrong down there, there is still a door here!"

Sun Jiandao, who was standing aside, said, "I also heard that there are two underground palaces in the General Manager's Mansion. One is real and the other is fake. This should be the entrance to the real underground palace. The fake underground palace is under the rockery outside."

"Let the humble staff go and have a look first!"

Yang Zaixing pulled out his sword and jumped down, followed by several soldiers holding torches.

Everyone walked in through an open door, only to hear everyone exclaim, and after a while, they heard Yang Zaixing shouting and cursing and the sound of swords clashing, followed by someone shouting: "Forgive! Forgive!"

The little maid was a little scared and said, "It's the voice of the steward, general, can you let me go?"

Chen Qing nodded, and said to the two soldiers: "Escort her home, don't frighten her!"

The two soldiers left with the little maid, and soon, Yang Zaixing took a ladder and walked up, stretched out his hand and dragged up a tall and fat middle-aged man who was tied up like a rice dumpling. The middle-aged man fell to the ground, his face pale with fright. , limp as mud, unable to speak a word.

Sun Jian said in a low voice: "Dutong, he is Ren Dejing!"

"Sun Jian, you bastard, I treated you well, how dare you betray me!" Ren Dejing cursed.

Chen Qing waved his hand, "Take him out and wait for disposal!"

The soldiers gagged Ren Dejing's mouth with rags and dragged him out like a dead pig. Then, holding a torch, Chen Qing led Yang Zaixing and a dozen others into the underground palace.

The so-called underground palace is actually a wider and higher tunnel, which is built around a circle with bricks. The underground palace is very long, with twists and turns at least tens of feet in length, with large boxes piled up on both sides. Soldiers pried open a large From the box, a heavy black cube came out. Chen Qing tried it, and it weighed at least fifty catties.

This should be a rough silver ingot, the surface was oxidized and blackened, but it must be confirmed. He and the soldiers moved more than a dozen black squares and returned to the study.

Chen Qing paid much more attention to this batch of crude silver than Ren Dejing. One hundred thousand catties of crude silver ingots were converted into 160 taels of silver. One-twentieth of the annual tax income.

With this money, the soldiers' military salaries, the input of materials, and the development of the Hehuang Valley and Taohe Valley have greatly promoted, laying a solid foundation for him to continue to recover Shaanxi Road.

In the yard, Chen Qing confirmed that this batch of rough silver was exactly the silver that had disappeared from the Guichuan Silver Mine, and there were clear storage records. It totaled [-] catties and [-] large boxes.

But there are more than [-] catties of silver in the underground palace, as well as a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry, as well as jade, bronze and other items.

This is only part of the wealth, and there are also grains, copper coins, cloth, porcelain, silk, and tea cakes stored in several warehouses, and the amount is very large.

The reason why Ren Dejing wanted to separate himself and proclaim himself emperor, following the example of Xue Ju, the overlord of the Western Qin Dynasty, was because he had accumulated a large amount of wealth and had the confidence to proclaim himself emperor.

As the sky gradually dawned, Huangzhou City was completely occupied, and 23 soldiers became prisoners of war. All [-] members of the Ren family, including Ren Dejing, were arrested.

But Chen Qing was not in a hurry to deal with them. Ren Dejing's three sons and elder brother Ren Zhongqun were still outside.

In the morning, Chen Qing received news that a 3000-strong army was approaching Huangzhou City from the west, about forty miles away from Huangzhou City.

This should be the [-] Xi'an Army led by Ren Dejing's eldest son, Ren Hua, who came to support Huangzhou.

Chen Qing immediately ordered Yang Zaixing and Gao Ding to lead [-] cavalry each to fight.

Ren Dejing's [-] troops are basically Han Chinese, which is fundamentally different from the Xixia foreign army. Chen Qing, the Xixia army, asks for ransom at most, and it is impossible to collect it for his own use.

But Ren Dejing's [-] troops can be incorporated for his own use, which will play a decisive role in the rapid expansion of Chen Qing's army.

All of Chen Qing's orders to Yang Zaixing and Gao Ding were to accept surrender as much as possible.

Chen Qing handed over the [-] soldiers to Niu Gao for reorganization. Niu Gao took eight deputy commanders, eight capitals, and five civil officials to reorganize the soldiers, and another [-] troops were in charge of assisting.

The Xihe Army has formed a complete set of procedures for the reorganization and surrender of soldiers, mainly to break up all [-] soldiers, reorganize battalions, departments, teams, and corps, appoint new commanders and deputy commanders, and then promote outstanding sergeants to serve as commanders. Dutou, escort team, corps leader, Yuhou, ten generals and other festival-level officers.

Three days after the formation of the new army, physical strength training and confrontation training began, especially confrontation training and various competitions, which played an important role in enhancing the sense of group identity.

Sajinping, about [-] miles west of Huangzhou City, is a forest and grassland area with a radius of tens of miles, also known as Xilieyuan, where Ren Dejing trained cavalry. Here the soldiers were flanked by [-] Song cavalry.

The army of Xi'an Prefecture was defeated, and 650 cavalry troops of the Song Army surrounded and intercepted. Ren Hua was shot off the horse by Gao Ding and killed on the spot. The enemy troops who wanted to break through were killed by Yang Zaixing's order, and the remaining [-] enemy troops all surrendered.

At the same moment when the siege of Xilieyuan broke out, Chen Qing came to the Xu family and visited Xu Hongtu, the old man of the Xu family.

It was Hu Yanlei who told him that the mother of the old man of the Xu family was the daughter of Dong Zhan, the second-generation Tubo suzerain of the Qingtang Dynasty. Xu Hongtu had lived in Tubo for 15 years and had close ties with the leaders of Tubo tribes.

If Chen Qing wants to continue to collect Jishi Prefecture and Taozhou, and to stabilize the frontier in the future, he will inevitably get along well with the Tubo and Qiang people.

Xu Hongtu welcomed Chen Qing into the hall of honor, and the two sat down separately.

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Thanks to the Xu family's great assistance in capturing Huangzhou this time, I have appointed Xu Pei as the governor of Huangzhou. I believe he can restore order as soon as possible and get rid of Ren Dejing's abuse of Huangzhou."

Xu Hongtu bowed and saluted, "Thank you Jiedu Envoy for trusting my son, and I believe he will not disappoint Jiedu Envoy."

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and asked, "What good advice does Senior Xu have for governing the land of Hehuang?"

Chapter 479 Proposal

Xu Hongtu smiled slightly and said, "Does the Jiedu envoy know about Wang Hou?"

Chen Qing nodded, "I know that he is the founder of Xihe Road. After the disbandment of the Qingtang Dynasty, it was his governance of the old land of the Qingtang Dynasty that established the foundation of today's Xihe Road. He is the predecessor I should emulate. .”

"Wang Hou served as the first economic envoy of Xihe Road back then, and I was still his Hucao member in the military. His governance methods for the Tubo people and Qiang people can be summed up in eight words, both soft and hard, mainly appeasement, not obedient. The tribes were struck by thunderbolt, such as the great chief Doroba and his son. They resisted the court. Wang Hou led his troops to wipe them out without hesitation. He and his son were all killed, and his tribe also disappeared. It was a good deterrent. other Tibetan tribes.

Then he appeased the surrendered tribes and gave tax exemptions and other rewards. After more than ten years of governance, the Tubo people and Qiang people were all convinced. Until now, they and the Han people can still live in harmony, all thanks to Wang Hou's decades of work. Relentless governance. "

"Then what is Ren Dejing's attitude towards Tubo and Qiang people?"

Xu Hongtu pondered for a while and said: "Ren Dejing always valued the Tubo people and despised the Qiang people. In order to win over the Tubo people, he married the daughter of Geloba, the leader of the Xihai tribe. This woman gave birth to a young daughter for Ren Dejing. Jiedushi had better not kill their mother and daughter, but send them back to Tibet."

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "Senior Xu, don't worry, even if Ren Dejing committed a heinous crime, I will not kill his wife and daughter. Please continue!"

Xu Hongtu continued: "Actually, Ren Dejing's approach has advantages and disadvantages. In the early days, he got the support of the Tubo people, but lost the respect of the Tubo people."

"Why?"

"Because he lowered his status. Originally, the Tubo people looked up to him, but the Tubo people looked up to him, or even looked down on him. Now the most rebellious tribe among the Tubo people is the Xihai tribe. Jiedushi must Be wary of them, when it comes to the West Sea, Ren Dejing almost did a stupid thing."

Chen Qing hurriedly asked: "What stupid thing?"

Xu Hongtu said with lingering fears: "I heard that Ren Dejing planned to form a cavalry force of 1 people in the West Sea, with the Tubo people in the West Sea as the main body. He even reached an agreement with the West Sea, but luckily he didn't have time to implement it. Once he implemented it, There will be great hidden dangers.

This Tubo cavalry is likely to become the foundation for the Tubo people to rebuild the Qingtang Dynasty. Wang Hou's attitude was very clear back then. Both Liu Fa and Liu Ziyu insisted on this principle. "

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said, "Is there any old enemy in the West Sea?"

Xu Hongtu clapped his palms and laughed, raised his thumbs up and praised: "The Jiedu Envoy is really powerful! One sentence hit the nail on the head. After Qingtang lost his country, Hehuang Tubo was divided into seven tribes, and the largest Doroba tribe was captured Wang Hou died.

Among the remaining tribes, the two larger tribes are the Jishi tribe and the Xihai tribe, and there are four small tribes, such as living in the northern part of the mountain in Kuozhou, living in the southern part of the mountain in Hezhou, and living in the western part of Lintao Prefecture. And Taonan living in Taozhou and so on.

Originally, the six tribes lived in peace, but after Ren Dejing married the West Sea tribe, the leader of the West Sea tribe, Geropa, had the consciousness of being superior to other tribes. Shibu took the lead in resisting. Xihaibu and Jishibu had a long-standing feud. For the sake of boycott, the two tribes had clashed three times since last year. "

"Senior Xu's mother should be Jishibu!"

Xu Hongtu nodded, "My mother's nephew, Asang, is currently the leader of the Jishi Department and my cousin. He is more pro-Song, while the Xihai Department is pro-Xixia. It is rumored that Ren Dejing started colluding with him when he became the general judge of Xi'an Prefecture. Xixia, in fact, there is a real thing, that is, contact with Xixia through the West Sea Department."

"Can I ask Senior Xu to contact the leader of the Tubo Jishi Department for me, I want to meet him."

"No problem, I will write a letter to Ah Sang immediately, asking him to come to Qinzhou to meet Jiedushi."

"Come to Qinzhou to see me?"

Xu Hongtu nodded slowly, "The Jiedushi can benefit him, but he must not lose his prestige. He must look up to the Jiedushi."

"I understand!"

Chen Qing nodded and asked again: "I know there is a Jishi County in Jishi Prefecture, are there any Han people in the county?"

"There are a lot of Han people. It's very nice and peaceful there. More than 1 Han people living there don't want to leave. There is also a magistrate elected by the common people. The Jiedu envoy will know if he has the opportunity to visit."

"If I have time, I really want to take a look."

Speaking of this, Chen Qing remembered something again, and asked with a smile: "I still have one doubt. Hehuang is located in a remote place. How did Ren Dejing amass a lot of wealth? There are more than [-] pieces of silk and satin alone. Confused!"

Xu Hongtu laughed, "Does the Jiedu envoy know that the Silk Road has moved south to the West Sea?"

Chen Qing was stunned, "I really don't know."

"Because of the Xixia people, they collected heavy taxes in the Hexi Corridor, and allowed the army to pretend to be horse bandits to rob caravans. The caravans from the Western Regions had to take the West Sea Line, from Khotan Kingdom, through Huangtou Huihe, and then to the Hehuang Valley. The original destination was to go to Jingzhao City, but because of the war on Shaanxi Road these years, they stopped in Huangzhou and traded a lot in Huangzhou. The silk, porcelain and tea cakes that Jiedushi saw were purchased by Ren Dejing from Bashu and sold to them. Goods from merchants in the Western Regions."

Chen Qing suddenly realized that these silks, porcelains, and tea cakes were goods, not collected wealth. This is not bad, it can guide these Western Region merchants to Chengji County and make Chengji County a trading center.

Chen Qing got up to leave, Xu Hongtu sent Chen Qing out of the gate, and at the gate Xu Hongtu laughed again: "I have a better suggestion, Ren Dejing is unkind, mean and crony, the more he wants to firmly control the army, but The more dissatisfied the army officers and men are with him, Jiedu envoys can go to Hezhou and Kuozhou to recruit troops with respectable heads, and there will be unexpected surprises."

This suggestion caught Chen Qing's heart, and he quickly cupped his fists and laughed, "Thank you, Senior Xu, for your suggestion, I will take it and give it a try!"

……

When Chen Qing returned to the barracks, Yang Zaixing and Gao Ding had escorted more than 600 soldiers back, and Chen Qing handed over 600 prisoners of war to Niu Gao for reorganization.

He summoned Yang Zaixing, Gao Ding, Liu Cui, Liu Qiong and other generals to discuss matters in the big tent of the Chinese army.

"Taking Huangzhou is only the first step. Ren Dejing still has 6000 people outside, Kuozhou has 2000 people, Hezhou has [-] troops, and Yinkuang Ren Zhongqun has [-] troops. I have ordered Li Muqing to lead the army to wipe out In the silver mine, there are only [-] troops left in Kuozhou and Hezhou, led by Ren Dejing's second son, Ren Jian, and third son, Ren Hong.

Someone gave me a very good suggestion, use the head of Ren Dejing to recruit two armies, that is to provoke their mutiny, Liu Cui and Liu Qiong, can you accept these two tasks? "

Liu Cui and Liu Qiong were overjoyed, and they bowed together and said: "The humble job is willing to go!"

Chen Qing nodded, "I'll give you [-] cavalry. You go to Kuozhou first, and then to Hezhou. Concentrate your superior forces to deal with them instead of dividing them into battles. Do you understand?"

The two saluted together, "I understand!"

Chen Qing said solemnly to Yang Zaixing again: "I will personally lead [-] troops to Xi'an Prefecture, General Gao Ding will go with me, and Huangzhou will be handed over to you and Niu Gao."

Yang Zaixing nodded slowly, "The humble official will definitely live up to Du Tong's great trust!"

In the morning of the next day, Chen Qing ordered Ren Dejing and other clansmen to be beheaded. Except for his wife and three daughters, all other men were beheaded publicly.

Liu Cui and Liu Qiong led [-] troops to the Yellow River in the south of Huangzhou. At this time, the Yellow River had thawed, but the Yellow River in the south of Huangzhou was relatively narrow, and the cavalry could use large leather rafts to build floating bridges to cross the Yellow River.

4 Chapter Eighty

Liu Cui and Liu Qiong went south all the way. Two days later, the army was still forty miles away from the Yellow River, and it was getting late. Liu Cui ordered the army to cook and rest on the spot by the river.

The soldiers were busy building earthen stoves with stones, lit the marching briquettes, and began to boil water to cook soup. This is the marching regulation promulgated by Chen Qing last year. Soldiers should try not to drink unboiled water when marching.

There was no honeycomb cake in the past, and even if there was such a rule, it was not realistic. Since the invention of honeycomb, it has made it possible to boil water in the wild.

In fact, the soldiers also knew that the river water looked clear, but a large number of animals would die by the river. After the corpses rotted, the river would definitely be polluted. Drinking unboiled water would cause diarrhea. Everyone knew this.

In the past, branches and wood were used, and it took a long time to boil a large pot of water. Soldiers could not wait, so they had to drink raw water and chew dry cakes. Now there are instant-burning honeycomb briquettes, which generate a lot of heat and can be boiled quickly. A large pot of broth can soak up dry biscuits and eat them. Who wants to chew dry biscuit meat that is harder than a stone.

Moreover, with briquettes, while waiting for the water to boil, soldiers can also make homemade soft cakes, mix the flour into a batter, spread them on a hot iron plate, spread oil, sprinkle spices and meat sauce, Zhang Ruanbing will be ready soon.

The army consists of five people, equipped with an iron pot with a cover and an iron plate, and fifty quick-burning honeycomb cakes, which are carried by mules and horses when marching.

Liu Cui, Liu Qiong and three commanders were sitting together. They also boiled a pot of soup, broke off a piece of tea cake and put it into the pot to cook. Liu Qiong was making batter to make soft cakes. After all, they were senior generals. A little bit better than ordinary soldiers, can make tea.

"What is the third brother worried about?" Liu Qiong saw that Liu Cui had something on his mind, and frowning all the way.

Liu Cui sighed and said, "I'm worried that we will miss out if we go south!"

"Why did General Liu say that?" Several commanders next to him asked in puzzlement.

"A few days ago, Ren Dejing issued a summoning order, asking the troops from all over the country to rush back to King Qin of Huangzhou. He used the Eagle Letter, and the troops from all over the country should have received it. Ren Hua from Xining Prefecture was the first to lead the army to arrive. Calculated from the time, the enemy troops in Hezhou and Kuozhou should have arrived in Huangzhou, so I was worried that they would be missed."

Liu Qiong thought for a while and smiled: "Actually, I don't think it's a big problem. There is only this official road in the south of Huangzhou. No matter whether you come from Kuozhou or Hezhou, you will eventually converge on this official road. And even if you cross For the Yellow River, if you come from Kuozhou, you have to go to the Baihetan Ferry in front of you, there is no way to cross the river in other places, as long as we wait at Baihetan, they will naturally come to your door!"

Liu Cui nodded. What Liu Qiong said made sense. It seemed that he had taken charge of several peripheral operations and had indeed made a lot of progress. No wonder everyone wanted him to follow him.

Now Liu Cui was not in a hurry. After dinner, the army rested in place and patiently waited for news from the scouts.

In the middle of the night, several Song Army scouts rushed from the south, and soon came to the Song Army's camp, and the leading scout was brought to Liu Cui.

The scout knelt down on one knee and gave a military salute, cupped his fists and reported, "General, we found the enemy at the Baihetan Ferry ahead!"

Liu Cui lifted his spirits and quickly asked, "How many troops are there, are they on the south bank or the north bank?"

"There are about 6000 people. When I found out, the army was on the south bank and was building a pontoon bridge. Half of it has been built, and it is estimated that it has been built now!"

Five to six thousand people, that is, the two armies converged, and Liu Cui quickly sent someone to bring Liu Qiong to discuss.

After hearing the report, Liu Qiong immediately said: "The enemy army obviously doesn't know our existence, so I suggest an ambush halfway."

Liu Cui immediately spread out a map, looked at it for a while, and said, "There are more than a dozen canyons in front of us. We can attack back and forth, block the enemy army in the canyon, and force the enemy to surrender."

The two discussed it properly, and immediately divided the troops into two groups. Liu Qiong led the army to go to the south of the canyon first, while Liu Cui led the army to wait in the north of the canyon.