Fenghou

Chapter 278
Although Zhang Jun bought Chen Qing two months, the time was still relatively tight. It would take more than a month from Lin'an to Ganquanbao, and Chen Qing had to set off westward as soon as possible.

Three days later, the day of departure came.

This trip to the west, there were quite a few people traveling with her. Besides Lu Xiu, there were also her elder brother Lu Wei and his fiancée Li Mei. Surprisingly, Li Qingzhao also accompanied them on a trip to central Sichuan, and there was also Wei Su, the wife of Lieutenant General Yang Yuanqing.

Yang Yuanqing and Wei Su were married in Linyou County, and they separated not long after they got married. Wei Su followed his elder brother Wei Qing to Lin'an. Wei Qing had a favor and served as the county magistrate in Dinghai County, Yuezhou. Wei Su lived with his elder brother. Together, she misses her husband and is willing to go with Chen Qingxi.

There is also the family of three master craftsman Xie Changzhi. Chen Qing gave him two hundred taels of silver to settle down and let him pay off the debt owed by Zhileg. Xie Changzhi immediately said that he would sell it to Chen Qing for the rest of his life. of the army.

Xie Changzhi also went with Chen Qingxi, but his family would disembark halfway, go to Yuezhou to settle down first, and join up after Chen Qing led the army.

Same as when he came here, Chen Qing rented a large passenger ship of [-] shi and a horse boat of [-] shi.

This morning, on the wharf outside Yuhangmen, the brothers and sisters of the Lu family said goodbye to their father, Lu Jin, who was seeing him off, and the two big ships set off slowly.

The big ship has three floors, the top floor is where luggage is placed, the second floor is where Chen Qing and many female relatives live, and the first floor is where Chen Qing's personal soldiers live.

Everyone was still in the excitement of just going out, visiting each other, or gathering in the large middle cabin, which is equivalent to the lobby, where they usually eat and rest.

Everyone sat together on the left side. There were three tables on the left side, and there were several windows. From the windows, you could see the scenery and human feelings on the shore.

Although it is midsummer, there is a cool breeze on the river, and the cabin is relatively shady. Everyone drinks tea and enjoys the scenery, which is very comfortable.

This time Li Qingzhao also brought two female disciples there, they were also the daughters of a wealthy family, one named Ding Xiniang and the other named Lin Qingqing, they were both as old as Lu Xiu, and they each brought their maids. Not a lot.

The four women sat together to play leaf games, and Chen Qing sat next to Lu Xiu to watch the game. This was the first time Chen Qing saw this kind of poker from the Song Dynasty, and he was quite interested.

Ye Zixi is a playing card, with forty cards, representing forty official positions, ranging from a county lieutenant to a prime minister. There are dice patterns on the cards, and then the dice are rolled in turn. Then if you get this official position, you may become prime minister one time, and be demoted to county captain the next time. It can be said that the game of cards is like life.

Players and bystanders can also bet money and bet on the size of the dice, which is highly involved.

After playing for a while, Li Qingzhao said with a smile: "Come and see the scenery outside."

Everyone dropped the leaves and ran to look at the scenery. They saw the mountains in the distance like a daisy, and a village nearby with white walls and black tiles, hidden among green trees, red flowers, small bridges and flowing water. It was really too beautiful to behold.

Chen Qing picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "The soul of the scenery lies in the people. If there were no fishing boats in this beautiful scenery, it would be quite dull, but with a few fishing boats and villages, the whole picture would come alive."

Lu Xiu waved a small light fan, pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Sanlang is right, just like the mountains and rivers you wrote, there is no way out, the willows are dark and the flowers are bright, and there is another village. The word village is the word in the poem, and there is a soul all at once. , as if returning to the world."

"Shangyuan, tell me about the itinerary!"

Lu Wei was very concerned about their itinerary. Once Chen Qing left, he would shoulder the safety of everyone, and the burden was heavy, so he was always a little worried.

Chen Qing clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Everyone be quiet, I will briefly tell you about the itinerary."

Everyone was quiet, and Chen Qing said again: "Let's talk about the itinerary on the road first. Most of the time is by boat, but when we arrive at Jiayu County, we have to disembark and go overland, and then we go to Jianli County, where we board the boat again. This section is mainly It is to avoid the water thieves in Dongting Lake. It takes about a day and a half to spend the night in a small town on the way. Don’t worry about your safety. We have a hundred elite soldiers guarding them. A hundred of them can be worth a thousand.”

"General Chen won't take office directly in Yuezhou!" Li Qingzhao asked.

Chen Qing shook his head, "I have to go to Qinzhou to fetch troops, so I will go to Bashu with everyone, we will break up in Chengdu, and then I will leave thirty elite soldiers to protect everyone's safety. You can swim freely in Shu, Don't worry about security issues.

About a month later, I will lead the army back to Bashu, when we meet up, and then we will return. On the return journey, I will take office in Yuezhou, but I will send a warship to escort everyone back to Lin'an. The time before and after is about three months Around, when everyone returned to Lin'an, it should be autumn. "

After a pause, Chen Qing smiled again: "There is another important point, all the expenses of your trip this time will be borne by me, even if I am not here!"

As soon as Chen Qing said these words, cheers erupted in the cabin.

The journey went very smoothly. On this day, the fleet finally arrived in Chengdu. Chengdu was not damaged by the war, and it still maintained the prosperity of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chen Qing rented three private courtyards at the best Gao'an Inn in the city, and ordered Yan Jun to lead thirty elite soldiers to guard them. Chen Qing also handed over the Yu sisters to Lu Xiu to play with them.

After Yiyi bid farewell, Chen Qing led seventy soldiers to ride northward on horseback. This time they were not dragged by the carriage, and they ran all the way at an extremely fast speed. They arrived in Hanzhong five days later. Chen Qing did not go to Nanzheng County, but continued northward. .

This morning, Chen Qing led his men to finally arrive at Fort Ganquan.

Zheng Ping, Yang Yuanqing and other generals rushed to the city gate to welcome Chen Qing's return.

"Dutong, how could the imperial court abandon Ganquan Castle? Is the foundation we have worked so hard to build abandoned like this?" The crowd surrounded Chen Qing, chattering, their eyes full of anger.

Chen Qing said to everyone: "This is the will of the emperor, unless we rebel and stand on our own, we must obey."

Seeing that everyone looked sad, he waved his hands again and said: "The so-called iron-clad camp and flowing soldiers, Ganquan Fort will not disappear, it will always be here, as long as our army is still there, then one day we will take it back, Everyone should take a long-term view, and don’t care about the gains and losses of one city or one place.”

"We understand! We are only evacuating temporarily, and we will come back sooner or later."

When Chen Qing came to the barracks, he saw that the barracks had been tidied up, leaving only tents that could be tidied up at any time.

Zheng Ping and Yang Yuanqing had received a letter from Feiying in advance. Although they didn't understand, they still packed up all kinds of money, food and materials according to the order.

"Have all the residents in the city been notified?" Chen Qing asked again.

"I have been notified. Some are willing to leave, while others want to stay. They are reluctant to part with the land outside the city."

"It's not too much to force, if you continue to inform, the army will go south in three days!"

When Chen Qing returned to the big tent of the Chinese army, Zheng Ping walked in and said, "Recently, we discovered that there are quite a few real cavalry sentinels who have been watching us from the outside. Xiaoyi's army had clashed with them and captured two prisoners."

"What did the captive say?"

"They said they came from Deshun Prefecture, and Deshun Prefecture has assembled about [-] Jurchen cavalry."

Chen Qing nodded, this was within his expectation, Wan Yanchang would not allow him to retreat southward smoothly, the ten thousand cavalry should be here to stop him.

Although his own army is very elite, Chen Qing also has to admit that in terms of cavalry combat, the Jurchen cavalry is still invincible in the world. The Song army cavalry is not the opponent of the Jurchen cavalry. They grew up, and their equipment is no less than that of the Song Army.

"Bring Zhao Xiaoyi to meet me!"

Not long after, Zhao Xiaoyi hurried into the big tent, knelt down on one knee and gave a military salute, "See Dutong for humble posts!"

"Is there any movement in the main force of the Golden Army in Deshun Prefecture recently?"

"The news from five days ago was that there was no movement. Beizhi sent scouts to Deshun Prefecture yesterday. There should be news later today."

"Report to me immediately if you have any news!"

"Follow the order!" Zhao Xiaoyi bowed and retreated.

Chen Qing considered playing a side-ball. It would take a day and a night to come from Deshun Prefecture. If the opponent did not move in Deshun Prefecture, he would have to make full use of the day and night.

"But."

Chen Qing immediately thought of another difficulty. He still had a lot of baggage and people to follow him. It was [-] miles from Ganquanbao to Xianrenguan, and the baggage would take ten days. The Jurchen cavalry could catch up with him in two days, so they didn't Not in a hurry.

Chen Qing gradually realized that if they really wanted to retreat southward smoothly, a tough battle would be unavoidable.

Forget it, just face the threat of the Jurchen army!

(End of this chapter)