Fenghou

Chapter 626 The Night Banquet
Changle Slope is located in the east of Chang'an City. To the north is a large grassland covering an area of ​​[-] mu. Bashui flows through the middle of the grassland. In addition to the grassland, there are also large forests. This place is called Shiliyuan, which was originally a forbidden garden of the Tang Dynasty imperial palace. During the Five Dynasties, it was also a place for dignitaries and nobles to play, and ordinary people were not allowed to enter.

After entering the Song Dynasty, the era of civilians came, not to mention a meadow, even the imperial palace in Bianliang was open to ordinary people to play, and Shiliyuan became a place for Jingzhao people to go outing with their families. The spring is sunny and the grass is beautiful Small tents were set up on the ground, and many common people brought food to relax and spend the night here.

It was late spring and April, and the heyday of outings had passed, but there were still dozens of small civilian tents stationed in Shiliyuan, but a large camp began to be stationed on the other side of Shiliyuan, and more than a dozen small tents were invited away. People built [-] tents, and this is where they camped.

That night, Chen Qing held a grand bonfire banquet in the Uyghur army camp in Shiliyuan, and invited musicians and dancers from several music and dance workshops to perform singing and dancing. Nearly a hundred officials and generals also brought their families together. When they came to the banquet, Chen Qing's [-] soldiers also drank and ate meat with more than [-] Uighur guard soldiers, or competed in martial arts.

Lu Xiu brought his sons Chen Ji and Zhao Qiaoyun to the banquet together, Chen Qing hugged his son and pointed at Cao Changchun with a smile: "Uncle!"

Chen Jizhi called out childishly, "Uncle!"

Cao Changchun laughed loudly, "Good boy, Uncle gave you a gift!"

He took out a roll of paper from his pocket and stuffed it into Chen Ji's pocket, "This is for you!"

Chen Qing was startled, what is this?He took the scroll, which turned out to be a land transfer decree, signed by Cao Changchun and ten elders, transferring Jiuquan County to him, and adding his son's name on the back.

Of course, Chen Qing knows what this means, which means that he can incorporate Suzhou into the territory of Sichuan and Shaanxi. This is a special way of sharing, just like the Anxi Protectorate in the Tang Dynasty, which was nominally owned by the Tang Dynasty. territory, but in fact the Tang Dynasty only controlled four military towns, and the other vast lands were still the land of various small countries in the Western Regions, such as the Khotan Kingdom, the Kucha Kingdom, and the Shule Kingdom.

Liangzhou is Chen Qing's Shizhi County, and the entire Liangzhou land belongs to Xihe Road, while Ganzhou is only nominally owned by Chen Qing, and the actual land belongs to the Yellow-headed Uyghur, but according to the agreement, the Yellow-headed Uyghur will give up a city To Chen Qing, since Zhangye City was the capital of the Yellow-headed Uighurs, the Yellow-headed Uyghurs ceded Zendan County in the east to the Song Dynasty, and Zendan County was used as the seat of Ganzhou. A thousand troops were stationed.

Cao Changchun gave Jiuquan to Chen Qing's son, which meant that Suzhou also belonged to the Song Dynasty in name, and the Song Dynasty got Jiuquan County, the only county seat in Suzhou.

Of course, Cao Changchun sent Jiuquan County out not really as a gift to Chen Qing's son, but to draw the Song army in to fight against Xixia's counterattack.

Chen Qing laughed, "It's not sincere to give this to my son! It's better to give a pony, he likes it better."

"Yes!"

Cao Changchun said with a smile, "I'll pick a special pony to send to the son later on. This is the uncle's meeting gift."

The banquet began immediately. Everyone sat in the open air, the soldiers sat on the ground, laughing and laughing, while the officials and family members were more reserved. There were tables and chairs, and teams of dancers danced in front of the bonfire.

From time to time, soldiers put pots of roasted whole lamb on the table, and special chefs cut it into plates, and the maids served it to every guest like flowing water.

Chen Qing and Cao Changchun sat at the main seats, beside them were their wives and daughters, and they chatted sideways from time to time.

Lu Xiu drank a glass of wine with Chen Qing, and seeing that it was almost time, she whispered to her husband, "Ji'er and I have to go back first."

Chen Qing nodded, turned his head and waved to Yan Jun, who hurried forward.

"Send Madam and Young Master back, send more brothers, be careful on the way!"

"Understandable!"

Cao Changchun next to him asked puzzledly, "Is my sister-in-law going back?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "There is a half-year-old daughter at home who is not in good health and cannot leave her mother at night."

"So that's it, the sister-in-law hasten to go back and take care of the child!"

Lu Xiu bid farewell to Cao Changchun and the others, and then left with her son.

Cao Changchun watched their mother and son get into the carriage, and then asked with a smile, "Your brother only has one son and one daughter?"

"Currently there is only one son and one daughter!"

Cao Changchun shook his head, "There are too few heirs, which is not conducive to succession, how about this! I will give my virtuous brother a few beauties, all of whom I like, and let them carry on the family line for my virtuous brother."

Zhao Qiaoyun's heart skipped a beat, and what the eldest sister was worried about came true.

She lightly pinched Chen Qing's leg quietly, and Chen Qing said with a smile: "Actually, there is no shortage of women around me. The main reason is that the wars with the Xixia people and the Jurchens have continued in recent years. I have been fighting outside. I don’t spend much time with my family, but I will spend more time with them in the future.”

"Brother Xian really doesn't regret it?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "I appreciate my brother's kindness. If it's convenient for you, why don't you give me a few more good horses for breeding."

"Okay then, I'll send you twenty top stallions later!"

Cao Changchun saw that Chen Qing was not good at women, so he stopped mentioning this matter. For him, women are property like horses. Since Chen Qing asked for a horse, it was the same thing to give it away.

Cao Changchun picked up the wine cup and said, "My virtuous brother should know about the Jinbing's entry into Xixia, right?"

Chen Qing said calmly: "I know about the Jinbing's entry into Xixia. Specifically, I only heard that Xiao Heda died and that some of his sons had internal strife. I don't know about the rest."

Cao Changchun nodded, "Your brother is concentrating on dealing with the Jurchens, and may pay less attention to Xixia, but I am very concerned about Xixia and have sent a large number of spies. To be precise, Xiao Heda's power has been completely destroyed, and the internal strife among several sons In the end, the second son won, but he was arrested by Xiao Heda's son-in-law that night and sent to the Xixia court, and the remaining [-] people surrendered."

"How many troops does Xixia have now?" Chen Qing asked.

"The sum of all Xixia troops currently available is [-], of which [-] are in Dunhuang, Shazhou, and [-] are in Xixia mainland. This includes [-] Xiao Heda's descended troops, but does not include [-] Jin soldiers. .”

Chen Qing took a sip of wine and asked with a smile: "Isn't it rumored that there are [-] soldiers in Xixia?"

"Xixia has a total population of just over two million. How could it be possible to support [-] soldiers? As far as I know, when they were the most, their standing troops were only a few hundred thousand. When they faced a big war, they kept recruiting troops. In the civil strife, the Xixia court and Xiao Heda almost squeezed out all the soldiers, and I estimate that at least [-] people died in the entire Xixia."

"There are so many people?"

"Almost! The Xixia army almost wiped out all the eastern counties, even the party members."

"and then?"

"Then the latest news I got is that the Kingdom of Jin will support Xixia with [-] shi of grain and [-] sets of armor, and then Xixia must go on an expedition, but I haven't found out exactly how to go. This should be their top secret."

"So brother is worried that Xixia will attack the Hexi Corridor?"

Cao Changchun nodded, "Xixia definitely doesn't want to fight. The civil war almost destroyed it. It will take at least [-] years for them to slowly recover, but now it's up to Xixia to choose. The Jin soldiers to relieve Xixia's difficulties are to let them fight. Intention, Xixia will attack in the direction of Xihe Road, but if the Xixia people choose their own enemies, they will definitely swallow the yellow-headed Uyghur and replenish a little vitality, it depends on how Xixia and Jin Guo negotiate."

"What do you think, brother?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

Cao Changchun narrowed his eyes, and said with a sly smile: "Your brother is not really asking me to come to Jingzhao to relax!"

(End of this chapter)