Fenghou

Chapter 177 Food
The changes in the battle situation brought about by the disastrous defeat of the Jin soldiers at Dasan Pass had a profound impact on both the Song and Jin Dynasties. Wanyan Wushu was removed from the post of Marshal of the West Route Army, and the Wanyan Wushu faction within the Kingdom of Jin was also suppressed.

Wan Yanchang gained power, and at Wan Yanchang's suggestion, Song and Jin began negotiations, exchanging some captured minor Song people for Jurchen prisoners of war in Dasanguan, including the empress dowager Wei, the birth mother of the son of heaven.

Due to the victory of the Song army on the western front, the main combat faction of the Song Dynasty gained the upper hand. Not long after the Battle of Dasanguan, Fan Zongyin was implicated by Wei Pang and was dismissed as Prime Minister and demoted to Sima of Xuanzhou.

Zhang Jun returned to Beijing to become prime minister because of his great victory on the western front, and Zhu Shengfei, a minister of the Ministry of War, was appointed as the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

Due to Wan Yanchang's gaining power and the further expansion of the power of the puppet Qi State, Jin State temporarily withdrew from Xihe Road and handed over Shanxi Road and Xihe Road to Qi State for management.

Liu Yu, the puppet emperor of Qi, appointed Guo Zhen, a member of the Privy Council, as the Marshal of Zhenxi, and also served as the Xuanfu Envoy of the Northwest and Northwest Routes. He led [-] elite soldiers to take over Shaanxi Road and Xihe Road.

As the Jin soldiers withdrew from Xihe Road, an opportunity arose. Zhu Shengfei, the new Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu envoy, was still on his way to take office after the handover from Lin'an and Zhang Jun. Zhu Shengfei issued several appointments in succession.

Appoint Dutong Guan Shigu as the general manager of Pingjing, and lead [-] troops to garrison Pingliang Mansion, Yuanzhou, and Jingzhou. He also appointed Dutong Fu Xuan as the general manager of Fenglong, and led [-] troops to garrison Fengxiang Mansion and Longzhou.

At the same time, the Xixia army also took the opportunity to go south and swallowed Deshun Prefecture, Zhenrong Prefecture, Qingzhou, Baoan Prefecture, and half of Qingyang Prefecture in one fell swoop, plus Shizhou, Hezhou, Lanzhou, Huizhou, etc. that Xixia had annexed before. In fact, Xixia took the opportunity to annex most of the northern border states of Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road in the Song Dynasty.

Song, Qi, and Xixia have intertwined forces in the northwest, and the situation is extremely complicated.

Chen Qing's rank was promoted, his military rank was promoted, and he even won the title of knighthood, but his dispatcher has not changed, he is still the envoy of the Qinzhou system.

At the beginning of March, after resting for half a month at Dasan Pass, Qinzhou led [-] troops to Qinzhou to take office. This was not to fight, Sima Qu Hongyuan only gave Chen Qing food for five days.

From then on, food and grass had to be settled by himself.

At this time, the Jin soldiers had already withdrawn from Qinzhou, and there were rolling mountains in the distance. An official road stretched to the west. The Weihe River was surging on the south side of the official road, and on the north bank was a vast wheat field. The green winter wheat was growing gratifyingly, and farmers could be seen from time to time. Busy in the wheat field.

"The imperial court has no foresight! If you don't send more troops to the northwest at the critical moment, just relying on these [-] horses, is it enough to fight Xixia and the puppet Qi?"

Zheng Ping complained all the way, the Jin soldiers were withdrawn, and even the Xixia people knew that they should increase their troops to annex the territory of Xining Road. Such a good opportunity, but the court was indifferent.

"Okay, just listen to your thoughts along the way, don't complain, the higher ups are more awake than us, let's do our own things well first! The fodder and food are almost gone." Chen Qing said angrily.

"Forage is not a big problem. It's spring now. Where can I find a few mouthfuls of grass to eat? The key is food, hey! You and I know it well."

"How to say?" Chen Qing glanced at Zheng Ping.

"How much food did we burn, and where did the food for Jin Bing come from? Do you think there will still be food in Qinzhou's official warehouse?"

Although Zheng Ping is a bit wordy, he always hits the nail on the head.

While speaking, the army arrived at Chengji County. Chengji County is the prefecture of Qinzhou. It is a large county with a city circumference of about [-] miles. During the Xuanhe period, there were tens of thousands of families. The brutal massacre of the city, but after the nest is overthrown, there will be no eggs. The people in Chengji County have been displaced, and the population has dropped sharply. Now there are only more than [-] households, less than [-] people.

The county town was also dilapidated, with collapsed houses everywhere. It had just rained lightly and the ground was very muddy. The gray dawn and the dilapidated city cast a shadow over Chen Qing's heart.

"Hu Yanyun, take some brothers to find a place that can be used as a military camp!"

Hu Yanyun was in charge of the logistics, which was his job. He nodded and led more than a hundred cavalry to find the camp. Chen Qing asked Yang Yuanqing to lead the army to rest outside the city.

Chen Qingze, Zheng Ping, and staff member Zhang Xiao came to the state government office. The state government office and the county government office were together. The two government offices faced each other. The county government office looked like a dilapidated city god's temple. Only a broken, dusty drum stood at the door, and only one of the two gates remained, with some rotten wood and broken mats blocking the other side.

Although there are not many decent county government offices in Song Dynasty, this is the first time everyone saw this dilapidated county government office. Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and the staff member Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "Why don't you go to the state government office to have a look first!"

The state government office looked a little better, but it was also in disrepair for a long time. When everyone walked into the official office, the official office was empty and there was no one in sight.

Chen Qing was a little annoyed and said, "Search for me and find someone who can talk!"

Dozens of soldiers rushed to each room, and after a while, some soldiers shouted: "Find one here!"

After a while, a civil servant was pushed out, and the civil servant said dissatisfiedly, "I can walk by myself, so I don't need you to push me!"

The voice was a little familiar, and when the official approached, Chen Qing recognized it immediately, "You are Du Min!"

This man is Du Min, the frail scholar in charge of the warehouse in Jiandaoguan. He also went to the city to participate in the war. After the war, Chen Qing gave him fifty taels of silver and asked him to return to Siyang County. Unexpectedly, he met him here. arrive.

"It's General Chen!"

Du Min was suddenly surprised and delighted, "Hey! And Zheng Dutou, why did you come to Qinzhou?"

Chen Qing smiled and said, "It's normal for me to come to Qinzhou! But you, aren't you in Siyang County? Why did you come to Qinzhou?"

"Hey! It's a long story. Not long after the battle of Jiandao Pass, someone reported to the county government that I was working for the Song army. The county magistrate is good. He secretly sent someone to tell me to run away. It would be troublesome if I was caught by the golden soldiers. My wife I'm from Chengji County, so I took my family and fled to my father-in-law's house, and my father-in-law asked someone to find a job for me in the state government."

"Why are there no people in the state government and county government?"

"The county government has long been abolished. The state government has always been the county government. Wang Tongjuan took the governor and archers to the countryside to collect taxes two days ago. He will not be back until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Other officials took the opportunity to sneak back home. , I’m the only one guarding here, and there are a few team leaders who were still there just now, and I don’t know where they went.”

"What about Zhizhou?"

Du Min shook his head, "Zhizhou fled with the county magistrate and the others. Now there is only Wang Tongpan. He is both the county magistrate and the prefecture. Then there are Li Dujian and several soldiers who joined the army. I am the official in charge of the warehouse."

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

Du Min smiled wryly, "All the money, food, and materials in the warehouse have been transported to Dasanguan. There are only some logs and bricks left in the warehouse. There are still a few official ships on the Weihe River, and some land. This is all the property of the government. .”

Zheng Ping glanced at Chen Qing, his eyes clearly said, 'I'm right! '

Chen Qing didn't bother to pay attention to him, and asked again: "Who appointed this Wang Tongpan? Is he an official of the Jin Kingdom, the Puppet Qi Kingdom, or the Song Dynasty?"

"This is more complicated. He is none of the three mentioned by the general. He is actually an official elected by the gentry in the city. He has never been an official, and Jin Bing doesn't care. He just passed the three-year sentence in a daze. "

Chen Qing also understands that this is the case in many prefectures and counties. Officials appointed by the imperial court have run away, and Jin Guo has not appointed officials. Xu Ning is like this.

It doesn't matter whether the current official is legal or not, the key is how to solve the pressing problem now?

"How long can our food last?" Chen Qing turned around and asked.

Zhang Xiao thought for a while and said, "Tomorrow night!"

"The general has no rations?"

Chen Qing nodded, "Is there any way?"

"There is no hope for Guancang, or we can only buy it outside."

Chen Qing was overjoyed, "Can food be bought outside?"

"I can buy some, but not too many, but there is another way for the villain?"

"What else can be done?"

"Many Qiang people live in the west and south of Qinzhou. They make a living by grazing sheep. You can ask them to buy sheep."

This is also a way. At present, Chen Qing has enough money. He has [-] taels of silver alone. The silver he got from Pingliang Mansion is stored in Xianrenguan. He has already got it. In addition, they are hiding it in Zhongnan County. There is a lot of money, after a while, Chen Qing will find a way to get it all back.

At this time, Yang Yuanqing had already found the temporary barracks. In the northwest corner, it was actually the barracks of the former Jin Bing. Although the Jin Bing garrison only had [-] people, they occupied [-] mu of land and leveled a large racecourse. At that time, the Jin soldiers withdrew, leaving the barracks just for Chen Qing and the others to use.

Chen Qing immediately ordered the army to camp in the northwest corner, and transported all the bricks, stones and wood from the official warehouse to build walls and sentry towers.

Soon, Hu Yanyun, who went to buy food, came back.

A total of [-] carts were transported, of which [-] carts were loaded with grain, and the other [-] carts were vegetables, meat, eggs and the like.

Hu Yanyun stepped forward and clasped his fists to Chen Qing, saying: "Qi reported to the control system, I only bought three hundred shi of grain in total, so I ran away from all the grain shops."

"Only three hundred stones!"

Chen Qing frowned, three hundred stones was only three thousand buckets, distributed to five thousand soldiers, about half a bucket per person, only six catties, enough to eat for three days, save a little for four days.

How can this work? Even if they go to the Qiang people to buy sheep now, it will take several days to go back and forth. Can the little grain in their hands last for that long?

(End of this chapter)