Fenghou

Chapter 434
The Song army didn't have any extra food to support these prisoners of war. Chen Qing immediately ordered that all the prisoners of war be sent to mine saltpeter mines, and two thousand soldiers were sent to guard these prisoners of war. Anyone who dared to provoke troubles would be killed!

Sending [-] troops to guard the prisoners of war, Chen Qing once again faced the problem of insufficient troops. He had to maintain a standing force of [-] troops, but the [-] troops in his hand were excluding the [-] standing army, leaving only [-] defense troops. , Guarding three states seems stretched.

Especially in Qinzhou, Chengji County needs at least [-] guards, plus the [-] guards in Ganquan Fort, it actually needs [-] troops. This is the minimum requirement. At least [-] people are needed.

Recruiting soldiers has become a top priority, but recruiting soldiers needs money and food, and the bitter cold land in the northwest is the two most scarce resources.

This is not like the thousands of people back then, which could be supported by one Qinzhou. Now he has [-] troops, and it is really difficult to support him from three states. He needs to find a larger land for food production.

Moreover, they consume too much food. If there is no additional income from food, they may not last until next year's summer grain harvest.

Thinking of the extra income from grain, Chen Qing fixed his eyes on Lintao Mansion, where the Taohe Valley is a place of heavy production, so there must be a large amount of grain in storage.

But even if he captured Lintao Mansion, it would only temporarily solve the urgent need. If his army strength increased to [-], how would he solve the long-term shortage of food and military pay?

In the big tent, Zhang Xiao pointed to the map and said to Chen Qing: "The nearest grain-producing areas to us are either the Guanzhong Plain in the east or the Hehuang Valley in the west, and the Hehuang Valley is controlled by the Tubo people. To recruit a large number of Han people to cultivate, in fact, the Hehuang Valley is only a long-term prospect, and it is not realistic at this stage.”

Chen Qing smiled bitterly and said, "But the Guanzhong Plain is not realistic at this stage!"

"Du Tong is right. Although the Hehuang Valley and the Guanzhong Plain are unrealistic, it does not mean that the immediate predicament cannot be solved."

"Join the army, please tell me!"

Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "In fact, we still have three ways to go, the first is to develop the Weihe Valley in Qinzhou and Gongzhou, and the Taohe Valley in Lintao, but we need manpower, either implement military settlements, or go to Guanzhong to recruit people ;

The second is trade, where livestock are exchanged for grain from Bashu. According to a special investigation by Beizhi, the price of mules, donkeys, cattle and other livestock in Bashu is five times that of Hehuang, and the price of sheepskin is ten times that of Hehuang.

But because of the war, the caravan was a bit blocked, but we can set up a military business house, conduct a large amount of trade, and send back food with the price difference. To expand the number of camels, we need to build a transport team ourselves.

The third way is to mine, especially copper and silver mines, but this way is strictly prohibited by the court and is very sensitive. "

"Why are you sensitive?" Chen Qing was a little puzzled.

Zhang Xiao looked at the young coach, and he still didn't understand some things.

"The feudal separatism after the mid-Tang Dynasty slowly evolved into Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. After the Song Dynasty unified the world, it was deeply analyzed that the biggest feature of the feudal separatist regime is that it mines and casts money by itself, forming independent finance, independent financial power, independent military power, and official power. Independence, these three major independences have led to them becoming completely independent kingdoms, the most important of which is the independence of financial rights.

Therefore, the imperial court was particularly strict about the mining of the frontier troops. They would rather allow the local government to mint their own money, but they would never allow the army to mine and mint their own money. The system should be cautious in this regard. "

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "Why did I think of opening a copper and iron mine? Because there is a hematite mine next to the saltpeter mine, which is rich in copper and iron. I thought that the saltpeter mine was already mined by miners, so why not let the prisoners of war mine copper instead?" iron ore."

"Is the copper-iron ore high-grade?"

"Pretty good. It's a bonanza with a lot of output."

Zhang Xiao thought for a while and said: "Dutong can be mined, but copper should not be turned into money for the time being. Others can't catch Dutong's braids. I feel that the food problem should be solved by the first two methods to increase the population. expand trade."

Chen Qing nodded, "Speaking of which, I still want to capture Lintao Mansion first. According to the information I got, Lintao Mansion has a large stockpile of food and supplies. I'm worried that they will transfer to Lanzhou."

"The Dutong wants to send troops to Lintao, hurry up! Occupy Lintao Mansion before winter comes, and use another winter to consolidate the occupation. As for the opening of copper and iron mines in Gongzhou, I will leave it to the humble officials to do it. Dutong doesn't have to worry about it." gone."

Chen Qing said happily: "Then please join the army!"

On the tenth day after capturing [-] Xixia troops, Chen Qing went out again and led [-] people to fight towards Lintao Mansion.

At this time, it was late autumn in September, which is usually the middle and late stages of the war. In two months, it will start to snow, and the war will have to stop.

Of course, Chen Qing knew the information about Lintao Mansion very well. Lintao Mansion was mainly inhabited by Han people, Tubo people and Qiang people. Most of them are Qiang people and Tubo people, who make a living by raising livestock.

All the ethnic groups in Taofu have lived in peace for decades. Didao County is located in the middle of the Taoshui River Valley. Xihe Road Jingluefu or Jiedufu is located in Lindidao County. The residents in the county are mainly Han people, but Xixia also began to immigrate to Lintao. Many mansions and profitable businesses were seized by Xixia people. Han people mainly lived at the bottom, selling labor, or doing errands as merchants.

At present, Xixia has deployed [-] troops in Lintao Prefecture, which are deployed in Didao County and several major fortresses, of which Didao County has [-] troops.

The Xixia Army also set up an observation post on the official road at the junction of Lintao and Gongzhou. Once the Song Army entered Lintao Mansion, the sentry post would immediately notify the general of Lintao County, and then the general would notify Lanzhou.

As night fell, Chen Qing led an army to temporarily camp in a pine forest on the east bank of the Taoshui River Valley. They didn't bring tents and luggage, so they could only wrap their bodies in military blankets to rest.

At this time, a group of Han people drove over with dozens of carts full of grain and slaughtered pigs and sheep. Chen Qingwenxin rushed over.

The two old men knelt down and saluted Chen Qing, "We are looking forward to the stars, the moon, and finally the general!"

Chen Qing hurriedly helped up the two old men, clasped his fists to the group, and said, "Thank you for your support to the Song Army. Please tell the people in the Taoshui River Valley that we will take back Lintao Mansion from the Xixia Army when we send troops this time. Overthrow the rule of the Xixia people who oppressed everyone."

"We must tell everyone."

At this time, Niu Gao brought up a man in his thirties and said to Chen Qing: "This is Wuzhi County, former Didao County. This time he is the one who organized the people to deliver food to us."

Wu Zhixian quickly stepped forward and bowed to salute, "Humble rank Wu Hongwei, see Jiedushi!"

Seeing that he was tall and majestic, Chen Qing smiled and said, "Emissary Liu Jinglue told me that there is a magistrate general on Xihe Road, so it must be you!"

Liu Ziyu told Chen Qing about the situation on Xihe Road, and specifically mentioned to him a commander who had been transferred from a military position to a magistrate. Liu Ziyu was temporarily appointed. Although he was a general, he did better than a civilian official. Let him serve as magistrate all the time, but the Ministry of Officials did not pass it. Like Wang Huai, he is an unnamed local official.

Wu Hongwei nodded, "It's a humble job, I don't know where Marshal Liu is now?"

"He is now quelling the barbarian rebellion on Guangnan West Road, a very distant place."

Chen Qing asked Wu Hongwei to sit down in the pine forest, and asked with a smile, "Has Wuzhi County always been in Lintao Prefecture?"

Wu Hongwei nodded, "The humble job is a local from Lintao Prefecture, protected by the local people, and Xixia people can't catch me!"

"If I want to attack Didao County, is there any shortcut?"

This is what Chen Qing is most concerned about. He did not carry a siege weapon, and planned to cut wood locally to make it. If there is a shortcut, it will save him a lot of trouble.

Wu Hongwei was born as a general, he understood what Chen Qing meant, and said with a smile: "It's really God's will!"

"How to say?"

"A section of the city wall in the southeast corner of the county seat is empty. A group of beggars hollowed out the soil inside the city wall, which became their habitat. Before I could fill in the soil, the golden soldiers came and killed me. With no soldiers under his command, he could only abandon the city and flee.

Later, Jin Bing appointed Zhu Sui, the county captain, as the county magistrate, and I told Zhu Sui not to fill in that section of the city wall, but to seal it with bricks.

Then the puppet Qi army came, and the Xixia people also came, but they didn't find that part of the city wall was empty. I said, sooner or later, the Song army will use this part of the city wall to attack the city, and now the Jiedu envoy will come Yes, isn't this God's will? "

(End of this chapter)