Fenghou

Chapter 547
Guan Shigu was taken to the commander's tent of the barracks, Chen Qing waved his hand and said with a smile: "Guan Dutong, we haven't seen each other for a long time, please sit down!"

Guan Shigu sat down silently, feeling quite emotional in his heart, when he saw Chen Qing back then, Chen Qing was just a commander, and the Qin State made an envoy, and in just a few years, Chen Qing became a vassal.

Chen Qing is also quite polite to Guan Shigu, after all, more than half of the mid-level generals in his army were former members of Guan Shigu.

"Guan Dutong has also seen it. Although I am nicknamed Human Demon, I am only referring to the Jurchens and Xixia people. I tried not to kill in this battle. Only a few thousand puppet Qi soldiers were killed in battle, and more than [-] people were captured. Everyone. We are all Han people, so we should unite together to expel the Tartars and restore our Han family, this is the bounden duty of our soldiers."

Guan Dutong sneered in his heart, he knew very well how Chen Qing's nickname came from, wasn't it because he killed all of them in Guanzhong, leaving no prisoners of war in the Qi army?Jingguan outside Jingzhao City does not have the head of a Jurchen soldier, and now they need prisoners of war, so they say such beautiful words.

But he didn't expose Chen Qing's words, he just said indifferently: "Isn't it the Great Song Dynasty to restore the Han family's country?"

Chen Qing smiled, "The Song Dynasty is just a passer-by in the land of China. Could it last forever? If the Song Dynasty is destroyed by the Jin people, we will give up resistance?"

Guan Shigu shook his head with a smile: "I understand Chen Dutong's current situation. Chen Dutong came to me because he didn't want to talk about these things!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Guan Dutong should know what I want to say, I will give Guan Dutong a chance."

Guan Shigu pondered for a moment, sighed and said: "I am over half a hundred years old, and I have been in the Western Army for thirty years. I have been a soldier for half my life. I am really tired. My biggest dream is to teach a few students and plant a few acres of land in my spare time. , raise a pond of fish, and my grandson is around my lap, can Chen Dutong understand?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "I can understand, Guan Dutong, please rest assured, I will send someone to bring your family back!"

Chen Qing ordered someone to take Guan Shigu down to rest. At this time, Liu Cui walked in and clasped his fists, "Dutong, can you allow me to plead for Guan Shigu!"

Chen Qing looked at him in surprise: "Why do you ask for mercy, do you think I'm going to kill him?"

Liu Cui was startled, and said happily, "Is he willing to surrender?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "No one is willing to do things for Puppet Qi. He has no future and is useless. It's just that his family members are all in Bianliang, so he can't make a statement. So our top priority is to rescue his family members."

"Then simply declare that he has died in battle, and the puppet Qi court will not pay attention to his family."

Chen Qing nodded, "That's what I think."

Liu Cui hurriedly said: "Let's leave this matter to the humble staff!"

"It seems that you care about him very much!"

Liu Cui smiled bitterly and said: "When my father was appointed as the envoy of Xihe Road, Mr. Guan was the deputy envoy, and our two families are family friends. If I can't handle this matter well, I can't explain it to my father."

Chen Qing said lightly: "I see, you go to reorganize the soldiers, and I will take care of Guan Shigu's affairs, so just leave it alone."

"Humble post obeys orders!"

Chen Qing then walked out of the barracks and went up to the inner city wall. The [-] soldiers sat in the outer city and rested. Groups of soldiers of the Song Army carried large baskets full of steamed buns and distributed steamed buns and hot soup to the prisoners.

Some prisoners of war who had finished their lunch had already started queuing up to register, such as name, age, place of origin, family situation, etc., and then went outside the city for reorganization.

Zhang Xiao said from the side: "Beizhi walked around just now and found a lot of old and weak soldiers. There are still a lot of them. We are worried that we will not be able to reach our goal in the end."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "Don't worry, we are not all for recruiting soldiers, giving them land, giving them tax exemption, giving them a chance to stay away from the war and live and work in peace and contentment, and they will naturally bring their families to Xihe Road, Taohe Valley The land and Hehuang Valley can be developed, and our army rations will be guaranteed.”

A trace of shame appeared on Zhang Xiao's face, and he said, "Tutong still has a long-term vision, and a humble job only considers the army, so his vision is narrow."

At this time, the soldiers stepped forward and said, "Dutong, Yang Zhizhou is here."

When Chen Qing turned his head, he saw Yang Yuanqing standing far away. He had lost a lot of weight.

Chen Qing nodded, gave Zhang Xiao a few more instructions, and then walked towards Yang Yuanqing with a smile.

Yang Yuanqing is now aware of Qinzhou affairs, but he is really embarrassed as the governor. Not to mention that the power in his hand was taken away by the Jinglue Mansion, and the officials of the prefectural government are still obsequious to him. Can't mix inside.

Now Yang Yuanqing began to regret it. He was originally from Wu Jie, and Wu Jie was transferred back to the court to sit on the bench. He also received a letter from Wu Jie, in which he felt Wu Jie's frustration.

In particular, Liu Zan and Cao De successively came to seek refuge with Chen Qing, Yang Zaixing and Zheng Ping were promoted to commanders, Gao Ding, Liu Cui, Liu Qiong, Niu Gao and others were promoted to commanders, but his knowledge of Qinzhou affairs was delayed by the court. Only when he recognized it did he finally wake up and realize his stupidity.

Chen Qing stepped up and asked concerned: "Why did Lao Yang lose a lot of weight! Is he not in good health?"

The sound of 'Old Yang' made Yang Yuanqing's nose sore, and he said quickly: "The humble worker is in good health, thank you for your concern."

Chen Qing nodded, waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"

The two walked slowly along the city wall, and Chen Qing said with a smile: "When I led the army to Jingzhao to kill Yan Loushi, there were only [-] people. Now our army will exceed [-]. How many years has it been? Like a dream."

"The next step of Dutong should be to seize Shaanxi Road!"

"It will be a matter of time before we seize the Shaanxi Road, but we still need to train our troops and use time to digest the [-] soldiers. We still have to wait for the opportunity."

After walking for a while, Yang Yuanqing sighed and said: "As for the matter of supervising the army, the humble official did not handle it well. The supervising army should not be allowed to enter Chengji County. The humble official trusts the court too much."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "The matter is over, don't mention it!"

Yang Yuanqing was a little excited and said: "How can you not say it! If the humble official does not let Wang Xian enter Qinzhou, he will not be killed, and Dutong will not break with the court because of this. This is all caused by the humble official's momentary confusion."

"Do you think I have broken with the court?"

"I was ignorant and ignorant before, but now I understand some things. The Xihe army has reached [-]. How can the court tolerate Dutong? The death of the supervisor is just an excuse. The emperor summoned Dutong to Lin'an to report on his duties. It must be In order to win Dutong, if Dutong refuses to go back, it means a break."

Chen Qing said with a smile: "If I take Xihe Road, the imperial court may want to break with me, but if I take Shanxi Road, the imperial court will be afraid that I will be independent, and will coax me thousands of times, and even make me king. Do you believe it or not?"

"Humble job believes that everything depends on strength."

Chen Qing nodded, "I know you don't like being the governor, if I let you go back to the army and take charge of training the army, would you be willing?"

Yang Yuanqing was so moved that tears were about to fall, he bowed and said: "The humble job is to serve the power of a dog and a horse!"

It took ten days to reorganize the army. The [-] troops met the standard and officially became a member of the Xihe Road Song Army. Chen Qing then appointed Zheng Ping, Yang Yuanqing and Hu Yantong to be responsible for training the army, and asked them to train the army within three months. The [-] troops were trained and qualified.

As for the remaining [-] unqualified soldiers, Chen Qing did not release them back to their hometowns, but sent them to farm in the Taohe Valley and Hehuang Valley, and promised them that they could choose to return to their hometowns after one year. , or take the family over to settle down, if you choose the latter, each person can get a hundred acres of land, and tax exemption for ten years.

Of course, soldiers who join the Xihe Army will be treated better. Their families can get [-] acres of land, and they will be exempted from tax for life. In addition, they will also be rewarded with military merits. The minimum reward for one meritorious service is ten acres of land. You can also get a reward from an honorary officer, and you can get the same treatment as a famous scholar. You can see an official without paying homage, and you will be exempted from tax and labor for life.

It is these military rewards that formed the foundation of the morale of the Xihe Army and the secret of the undefeated Song Army on Xihe Road.

[-] fresh blood were injected into the Xihe Army, bringing the total strength of the Xihe Army to [-]. It is already difficult to support such a large army on Xihe Road alone, and outward expansion has become an inevitable option.

But whether to expand northward or eastward has become a major strategic option for Chen Qing to consider.

(End of this chapter)