Fenghou

Chapter 472
It was getting brighter, and the fire in the city of Agan County was still burning. The three sides of the city walls were covered with corpses of Xixia soldiers in disorder.

But the most shocking thing was the gate of the city, densely packed with thousands of corpses, the Xixia soldiers in the city were desperately fleeing, but [-] Song soldiers shot and killed them mercilessly with their crossbows.

The city gate has been destroyed by the fire, and only half of the charcoal-burnt wooden frame is still hanging on the city wall. Through the city gate, you can see that the fire in the city is still burning, but the smoke has subsided a little, and you can clearly see the street The corpses of Xixia soldiers who died of smoke were lying on the bed.

In the end, none of the [-] Xixia troops could leave the county alive.

War is so cruel, it's either you die or I live, especially the war between different races, it is even more merciless.

Chen Qing left [-] soldiers to deal with the funeral, mainly responsible for burying the corpses and cleaning up the ruins. He led the army to Lanzhou City and joined Yang Zaixing's [-] cavalry.

Lanzhou City was called Jincheng County in the Tang Dynasty, and it is now called Lanzhou County. It is a large county with tall and thick walls, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

After Yang Zaixing entered the city, he had executed all Xixia officials and some party members and bullies, confiscated the property of the people that the government and bullies had seized, and returned all the property to the original owners.

Chen Qing led the army to Lanzhou City, Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong took Yu Shaoyou and other officials out of the city to welcome Chen Qing's arrival.

Chen Qing smiled at Yang Zaixing: "My soldiers haven't had a good rest these few nights, so you arrange them to camp quickly. I'll just ask the magistrate Yu about the situation in the county."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong hurried to arrange accommodation for the army.

Chen Qing asked Yu Shaoyou again with concern: "How are the people in Agan County resettled?"

Yu Shaoyou heard that all the [-] Xixia troops were burned to death in Agan County, and none of them survived.

He didn't dare to be negligent, and said respectfully: "Reporting to the Jiedu envoy, some old and weak people are housed in vacant houses and temples. There are not enough vacant houses, and the humble officials set up hundreds of large tents in several vacant lands to house them temporarily."

Chen Qing thought for a while and asked again: "How much military rations are there for Xixia people in the city?"

"About [-] shi."

Chen Qing was startled, "There are so many?"

"The Jiedu envoy didn't know that there was only [-] shi of military rations in Lanzhou. Later, when General Yang arrived, he brought [-] shi of grain from Dingxi County, Gongzhou with a camel team."

Chen Qing was a little confused, three thousand camels were following his main force!Where did Yang Zaixing get the camel team from?

He hurriedly said to his soldiers: "Go and find General Yang!"

After a while, Yang Zaixing rushed over, clasped his fists and said, "See Dutong!"

"Let me ask you, what happened to your camel caravan?"

Yang Zaixing bowed and said, "It was captured by the humble officer in Dingxi County. A total of [-] camels were transported from Xingqing Mansion to deliver salt, tea, cheese and other supplies. They were stopped in Dingxi County, and the camels were seized by the humble officer."

"There are five thousand camels!" Chen Qing was really surprised.

Yang Zaixing said with a smile: "I was surprised at the beginning, but later I realized that camels are very common livestock in Xixia, just like our mules and donkeys. There are tens of thousands of camels in the government of Xixia alone, and the larger caravans usually have them. A thousand camels."

Chen Qing chuckled, "It seems that I am ignorant."

"This time we cleared up the five warehouse cities, and gained a lot. I'm sending people to make a clean list, and I will submit it to the capital as soon as possible!"

War is like this, the winner will get countless dividends, including land occupation, huge booty, ransom for prisoners of war, etc., while the loser often cannot recover for several years.

In this battle between the Xixia and Song armies competing for Xihe Road, the various military resources prepared by Xixia alone consumed nearly [-]% of the national power of the Xixia Kingdom. For example, in the Battle of Xuanhe, the Xixia Army defeated [-] Tongguan The army captured millions of spears from the Song army, and now half of them are paid for in this battle.

Needless to say, the previous [-] prisoners of war had to be redeemed. Chen Qing would definitely raise the price. Twenty sheepskins were not enough, and a soldier needed at least thirty sheepskins. This would be a huge expense.

It is foreseeable that this war will make the Xixia Kingdom unable to recover for several years.

There were a lot of things to do in the military camp, and Yang Zaixing temporarily resigned. Chen Qing rode a horse on the bustling Jincheng Street.

"Now caravans from all over the world gather in Lanzhou, waiting for the Yellow River to completely thaw, so this time is very lively. In summer, merchants from the Western Regions, Xixia, and Hexi Corridor will gather in Lanzhou again. This place has been a prosperous business since ancient times. big city!"

"How many people are there in Lanzhou County now?"

"Humble jobs now only have a tentative population estimate."

Chen Qing glanced at him, "You are the Lanzhou Sihu, and you don't have exact data on the population yet?"

Yu Shaoyou hurriedly said: "Jiedu envoys don't know, the lowly position is Lanzhou Sihu before Jingkang. After the Jin soldiers invaded, the population changed a lot. Xixia later took control of Lanzhou and moved many Han people to Lanzhou. The key is that the Xixia government's population statistics are not correct, and a large number of slaves are missing."

"Then how many people do you estimate?"

"It is estimated that there are [-] households with a population of [-] to [-], but the Xixia government statistics only have [-] households, a total of [-] households are missing, and the population is [-] to [-]. They should all be slaves, not civilians."

"Why are there slaves?" Chen Qing asked puzzled.

Yu Shaoyou sighed and said, "It is the Han slaves plundered from other prefectures who were planted in Lanzhou to grow wheat in the Hehuang Valley. Half of the land over there was occupied by Xixia. These slaves are responsible for farming and spend the winter in Lanzhou. After the beginning of spring, I will go to the Hehuang Valley to plant wheat, and the Yellow River will pass after it thaws."

"Do you need military escort?"

"Generally not necessary. Their family is in Lanzhou. Don't be afraid of them running away. Seventy percent of the grain has to be handed over every year, and I keep [-] percent to support the family. It's been several years. Please look at the Jiedu envoy, that's over there!"

Yu Shaoyou pointed to the northwest direction, and Chen Qing immediately saw a large number of thatched huts and mud houses, all of which were rammed with mud. The roofs were covered with thatch or wheat straw.

"This is the residential area of ​​the serfs, and it is also the lowest level of the people in Lanzhou. Every family is so poor that they can barely make ends meet."

Chen Qing looked towards the shantytown, only to see that it was pitch black, there was no one to be seen, and there was a dead silence.

"Look at it!"

Chen Qing turned his horse's head and headed towards the shanty town, and all the soldiers followed immediately.

The shantytowns are filled with rotten alleys, smelly, and many houses have no doors, only a piece of rag is hung on them, it is dark, and nothing can be seen.

After walking around, Chen Qing felt really uncomfortable. This is not a living environment for people, it is not even as good as a pigsty.

He immediately said to Yu Shaoyou: "Immediately select twenty or thirty elders from the shantytowns, come to the county government office, and I will talk to them!"

"now?"

Chen Qing nodded, "Right now!"

Half an hour later, a county magistrate led more than twenty old men in shabby clothes into the county government meeting hall, where Chen Qing was waiting for them.

All the old people knelt down and saluted, "Mr. Jiedu Envoy!"

"You don't need to be too polite, old men, please get up quickly!"

Chen Qing asked the soldiers to arrange seats, and invited more than [-] elderly people to sit down.

Chen Qing said slowly: "Everyone, please come here. There are a few important things to announce. Let me tell you the first thing. From today onwards, slavery status will be abolished. There will be no more serfs. You are all civilians. The county government will give you a new one. Fabricate household registration."

Everyone was very excited, and many old people couldn't help covering their faces and crying. There were no slaves in the Song Dynasty, but Xixia made them slaves, which was an unforgettable shame for them.

Chen Qing and the others stabilized their emotions a bit, and continued: "Changing the household registration is only the first step, and the next step is to improve everyone's life.

I don't want to wait until next year to talk about it. It will be implemented now. I consider returning half of the food that each family turned in last year. First of all, we must ensure that everyone can have enough food.

Then I thought about distributing the land cultivated by each household to everyone, as the private property of each family, and tax-free for ten years. "

Everyone was stunned. They couldn't believe their ears. There was no sound in the meeting hall. After a while, an old man said timidly: "Jedushi is not joking! Are you really going to give us the land or exempt from tax for ten years? "

Chen Qing nodded, "It's not a joke. I will give each family a small tent. In the cold weather, I will give each family three sheepskins. The whole family can live on their own land together."

All the elders finally understood that it was not a joke, and the lobby suddenly burst into joy.

(End of this chapter)