Fenghou

Chapter 159
In the first ten days of December, a strong cold current swept across the land of Guanzhong, and then the heavy snow hit.

Chen Qing's army is temporarily stationed in Zhongnan County. Zhongnan County is under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Mansion. It is a small county at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain with a population of only a few thousand people. Nan County is completely isolated from the world.

Chen Qing chose Zhongnan County, on the one hand, because of its difficult and dangerous roads, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and on the other hand, because it is very close to Luotang Road. Withdraw to Hanzhong.

On the top of the city, Chen Qing watched the gray sky while listening to the report from Yan Jun who had just arrived.

"Before Beizhi left, he repeatedly asked that the money should not be revealed, and that he should not be peeped by thieves. His wife was very moved, and they must give Beizhi a piece of good fox fur. It is probably their treasure at the bottom of the box. Brought it back, on the Commander's table."

"And then? Did they say what to do in the future?"

"The humble official advised them to go to Zheng County to buy some land, but the couple said that Zheng County is not safe, and they still want to stay in the village. It seems that what they mean is to buy some land, and then ask a gentleman to teach their three children to read."

"What do you think of them?"

Yan Jun nodded, "It can be seen that the couple are very kind and honest, and the folk customs in that area are like this. The couple regards the two children as their own. It feels like a humble job. The woman seems to love the little lady more. The little lady brought back a small silk flower."

"Did they say, give some to the mother of the child?"

"Chen Chongyang has this idea, but his wife disagrees. She is very dissatisfied with the child's mother. It seems that she took away all of Chen Shangyuan's property and did not leave it to the child. I guess I will give some in the end, and share half of it with her. .”

"How do you feel about those two kids?"

"They are all well-behaved and sensible, especially the little boy. If he is educated well, he may have a bright future."

After a pause, Yan Jun said in a low voice: "If the commander is concerned, I will visit them from time to time after I am humbled."

Chen Qing shook his head, "They have their own lives, don't bother them."

The two children are Chen Shangyuan's children, not his Chen Qing's children. Chen Shangyuan is dead. He arranged for Chen Shangyuan's funeral and gave his children enough wealth. Even if he settled his own worries, boys will have good luck in the future No matter how much he helps in the dark, to achieve this step, he will be considered as benevolent and righteous.

As for letting a child into his life, that would be big trouble, impossible.

Chen Qing looked at the mountains that were gradually turning gray in the distance, and said lightly: "It's going to snow again!"

At this time, Chen Qing suddenly discovered that a caravan of camels loaded with medicinal materials was going out of the city, but was stopped by soldiers and was not allowed to leave. The proprietor jumped in anxiety.

Chen Qing leaned forward and asked, "What's going on?"

"Commander, this man said that there is an urgent matter at home, so he must leave."

The proprietor stepped forward and knelt down and kowtowed: "General Qi, my father is terminally ill, and the doctor said he won't survive this year. I must rush back to see my father for the last time."

Liu Cui stepped forward and pleaded with Chen Qing: "Although he cannot go out of the city in principle, this person is out of filial piety, so can he take special care of him?"

Chen Qing saw that the merchant had more than [-] camels, and each camel was packed full, so he looked like a merchant in the fur business.

Chen Qing said lightly: "People can go back to fulfill their filial piety, but the goods and staff will stay, and we will leave in the spring!"

The businessman was stunned for a while, and he didn't leave, so he had to lead the camel back to the city in dejection.

Liu Cui was stunned, scratched her head and asked in puzzlement, "How does the commander know that he is lying?"

Chen Qing smiled and said: "If his father really had a problem, he would not come to buy goods, he would definitely stay at home. No doctor can guarantee that he will die at the end of the year. Besides, other merchants transport goods by mules and donkeys. The fact that he is a camel alone means that he is prepared, and you see that his goods are all shipped, is this rushing back to show his filial piety? This is clearly because he wants to go back first and sell it for a good price."

Liu Cui was stunned, "The commander said that, it seems to be true!"

"Of course it may be true, businessman! Generally, it is not easy to separate people from goods, after all, there is so much capital."

Chen Qing thought about it and said: "Although we don't want to expose the hiding place, it's not that we don't care about human relations. If his father is really seriously ill, I can let him go back. In this way, you can send someone to the merchant's hometown to find out. The truth, if what he said is true, then let him go, if not, give him twenty sticks as a warning to other businessmen!"

"Humble job understands!"

Liu Cui left in a hurry, Chen Qing looked into the distance and said to himself, "The snowstorm is coming again!"

An hour later, the bitter cold wind howled, and the distance became hazy again. There was a gray snowstorm between the sky and the earth, and soon nothing could be seen.

This heavy snowfall did not last long, and it ended in a day. The sun shone into the county again, and the entire Zhongnan County became a world covered in silver.

Groups of children built snowmen and had snowball fights in the streets and alleys of the county, and the laughter resounded throughout the county.

Although the county seat is built on the hillside, it is not small. The city has a circumference of fifteen miles, which is considered a medium-sized county seat, but its permanent population is only a few thousand people. However, as winter comes, many people living outside the city also flock to Moving into the city for the winter, the county's population exceeded [-].

Relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to eat water, Zhongnan County is backed by Zhongnan Mountain, naturally it is mainly made of mountain products, rich in various medicinal materials, fur, wood, mushrooms, game, especially medicinal materials and fur, and has always been the largest distribution center in Jingzhao Prefecture. Every autumn and winter, a large number of medicinal materials and fur traders gather in Zhongnan County, and they don't leave until spring.

Chen Qing's troops were stationed in Chenghuang Temple and Laojun Temple. These two temples were next to each other and occupied a large area. Two thousand cavalry were stationed there.

In the two ambush battles in Lintong County and Zheng County, although they wiped out [-] Qi troops, they also paid the price of more than [-] dead, and the number of troops dropped sharply to more than [-].

In the past few days, Chen Qing found that most of the men in Zhongnan County are powerful in martial arts and are very good at living in the mountains and forests. They also have a high level of bow and arrow.

Chen Qing had the idea of ​​recruiting soldiers in the county.

This morning, Zhang Xiao, a staff member, hurried into Chen Qing's temporary official room, bowed to Chen Qing, and said, "Commander, I have asked the magistrate about my humble position. Half of the men in Zhongnan County have served in the army. This place has always been a time of war between Song and Xia. There have long been rumors that the Qi army is going to recruit soldiers in the key areas where the Song army is recruiting soldiers, if we take the first step, we may have a good harvest."

Chen Qing turned around and asked Marquis Yu, Zhou Kuan and Zhang Miaodao, "How much money do we have?"

"Does the commander want to know about food and grass?"

"Let's talk about it together!"

"The supplies, grain and grass have been counted. Now there are [-] shi of grain, [-] shi of black beans, and [-] dan of forage. These are the grain and grass brought from Zheng County, and the captured soldiers have not yet been counted."

Chen Qing waved his hand, "Let's not talk about Bingjia for now, let's talk about money, it costs money to recruit soldiers."

"We seized a total of [-] taels of official silver, [-] taels of gold, [-] boxes of jewelry, and [-] copper coins from the five counties of Xianyang County, Zheng County, Fengyi County, Lintong County, and Weinan County. There are more than [-] vehicles, and the property seized on the battlefield has been rewarded to the soldiers, not counted among them."

Chen Qing nodded, and said to the deputy general Yang Yuanqing: "When we evacuate in the early spring, we must travel lightly. We can only take away silver, gold and jewelry. The rest of the food and supplies must be left to the people in the county. Recruitment is simply a higher compensation, and soldiers who are willing to join the army will be given double the settlement money, [-] yuan per person, and one stone for food. The initial recruitment of [-] people will give priority to riding horses."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Chen Qing said to Zhang Xiao and the two Marquis Yu again: "The three of you also go to help together!"

The three saluted and went out with Yang Yuanqing.

Chen Qing came to the map with his hands behind his back, staring at the Jinbing camp marked by the small triangular flag in front of the monk, he was really worried, wondering if Fatty Zheng is safe now?
Zheng Ping is still serving as the commander of the Associated Army, but the ranking of the commander of the army has risen from the previous eleventh to the seventh.

The reason is that once the emperor and the courtiers, Zhang Zhongfu, the governor of the capital, failed to catch the traitor Zheng Ping, nor did he destroy Chen Qing. Zhao Bin, the deputy commander of the capital, took over the post of capital commander of the Xie Congjun.

After Zhao Bin became the capital commander of the Xie Congjun, he demoted several of Zhang Zhongfu's confidantes and promoted his confidants to the top. In this way, Zheng Ping, who belonged to the neutral faction, was naturally drawn in, and the ranking of the commanders also rose several places, ranking seventh.

At noon that day, Zhao Bin drank with several commanders in the big tent. Because it was snowing and it was too cold, Wanyan Wushu allowed the Xie Congjun to drink to keep out the cold.

"Old Zhao, what did the fourth prince want you to do this morning?" Zheng Ping asked Zhao Bin, filling a glass of wine.

Zhao Bin sighed and said, "Isn't it about Chen Qing?"

"Any news about Chen Qing?" Everyone asked together.

Zhao Bin nodded, "I got the news before, the fourth prince didn't say anything, it is said that Chen Qing led an army to rampage in Jingzhao Mansion, and led more than [-] cavalry to kill [-] Qi troops. The Qi army called him Chen The devil did not keep prisoners of war, killed all [-] people, and built a capital. The [-] Qi army was afraid of him like a tiger. According to the fourth prince, Qi Emperor Liu Yu asked the wolf lord for help.

As a result, the wolf lord was alarmed. In addition, Chen Qing had bloodbathed the Pingliang mansion before, and the wolf lord was very annoyed. He personally gave the order to the fourth prince, preferring to capture the Dasan Pass later, and take Chen Qing's head first. "

Li Nong drank the wine in his glass, "Although Chen Qing is a general of the Song Dynasty, this kind of courage makes people have to admire!"

Zheng Ping applauded loudly, "Old Li is right, if there are more Chen Qings in Song Dynasty, will the two emperors be taken away?"

Everyone was a little embarrassed, Fatty Zheng's mouth was too hateful, they were all Song generals once!

Another general asked cautiously: "Zhao Dutong, don't you want us to encircle and suppress Chen Qing?"

Zhao Bin shook his head, "Our mission is to find Chen Qing. As for the encirclement and suppression, Wan Yan Huo Nu, the head of the Wanfu, is in charge. He led [-] cavalry from Taiyuan, and Wanyan Alupu also led [-] Jurchen cavalry to cooperate. .”

Zheng Ping frowned and said, "But there is so much snow in Guanzhong, it's hard to walk, how can I find Chen Qing?"

"Walking is not possible, but cavalry can. I think our [-] cavalry will be divided into ten teams and go to various places in Guanzhong to find Chen Qing's whereabouts."

(End of this chapter)