Fenghou

Chapter 647 Wanxi
The wharf was extremely busy. Teams of peasants used wheelbarrows to transport food and supplies from the warehouses half a mile away to the pier. There were [-] large ships moored on the pier, and the ants-like peasants carried the grain and supplies onto the large ships.

The fleet transported the grain and supplies along the Weishui River to Longxi County, and then transported them to Lanzhou by camel from Longxi County.

This is the third batch of food and supplies shipped to Lanzhou. On the pier, Chen Qing asked Zhang Xiao, "Have the siege weapons been shipped yet?"

"Reporting to the Xuanfu envoy, fifty heavy trebuchets, seven thousand-step guns, and seven hundred siege ladders are already on the way to Lanzhou. They are mainly dismantled into parts and shipped, but they are also very heavy and slow to ship. It is estimated that all of them will arrive in Lanzhou this month."

"And the battering ram!"

Chen Qing reminded again: "Most of the cities in Xixia don't have moats, which is conducive to the use of battering rams. Have you sent the dragon rams I mentioned last time?"

"The giant dragon hammer is currently still in Longxi County. According to the plan, it will arrive in Lanzhou before the end of this month. In fact, we have enough supplies and food. There are [-] shi of wheat in the Huangzhou warehouse, which can be called at any time. I feel that it is still a force. The problem needs to be solved as soon as possible, to prevent the Jin soldiers from besieging Wei and saving Zhao, and to attack Guanzhong while we attack Xixia."

Next to him, Jiang Yanxian also said: "Although Xixia is the weakest now, it still has a hundred years of foundation after all. To destroy Xixia requires at least [-] troops. No matter how we count, our strength is not enough. The meaning of humble position is that we not only have to ask the court Money and grain, and borrowing troops from the imperial court, if Xixia can be destroyed, it will be a great thing for the imperial court."

Chen Qing shook his head, "I have already made a statement to the imperial court, hoping to support me with half a year's money and food, I guess I will give some of it, but the army support must not be counted on, we can only rely on ourselves. Sima, there should be [-] soldiers from all the prefectures!"

Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "Less than [-] people, about [-] people, there can be [-] township soldiers from Sichuan, [-] people from Guanzhong, and the population of Xihe Road and northern Shaanxi is too small, so don't worry about it." , plus these [-] people, we have a total force of [-] troops, leaving [-] troops to defend Sichuan and Shaanxi, and [-] troops to attack Xixia."

Chen Qing thought for a while and said, "The [-] troops are a little short, but considering that there are still [-] cavalry from the Yellow-headed Uighurs, we can still win over the Qiang people from Xixia. They also hate the Xixia court deeply. Heda, we can assign the western part of Xixia to the Qiang people, and then the Qiang people will also send troops, so even if the total is less than [-], it is almost the same."

Jiang Yanxian praised: "The Qiang people's plan is good, did the Xuan Fu envoy send someone to contact you?"

"I have already asked Xi Xia's scouts to contact, but there is no news yet."

"When does Xuan Fu envoy plan to send troops?"

"It should be early autumn. The exact time will depend on the court's attitude."

Speaking of this, Chen Qing looked at the tens of thousands of civilians on the pier with his hands behind his back, and said with a faint smile: "Do you think there are spies from the Kingdom of Jin hidden among these civilians?"

Zhang Xiao nodded, "There must be!"

"Did Sima arrange Lin Jianqing's matter?"

Zhang Xiaowei smiled and said, "I've already made arrangements. I announced the job rotation system early this morning, and it's tailor-made for him."

"But the real classified information can't let him touch it."

"Please rest assured, I will show him what should be shown to him, and he will not be able to touch a word of what should not be shown to him. Forgive him for not being able to find my palm no matter how hard he struggles."

A team of peasants carried a fifty-jin wooden barrel onto the boat and sent the barrel into the cabin. One of the peasants took advantage of unpreparedness and dug a bit in the crevice of the wooden barrel with sawdust, and some powder fell down. After smelling it, it was indeed kerosene.

After entering the warehouse, everyone carefully put down the wooden barrels. The civilian husband just now pretended to wipe his sweat with a towel, quickly glanced at the cabin, and counted silently in his heart.

A soldier behind shouted: "Don't be in a daze, hurry up!"

The civilian husband turned around and boarded the boat. He found an excuse and left quickly
As Han Zhengfu, the commander of the internal guards, deduced, Wanxi Restaurant is indeed a node of Jin Bing's intelligence network, but it is not an intelligence point, but just a foothold. Except for the shopkeeper, everyone else here is normal. The country has nothing to do with it, so the inner guard can't find any suspicious clues here.

Li Toutuo is just a nickname. His real name is Li Wanxi, which is the origin of the name of Wanxi Restaurant. However, his pseudonym in Jingzhao is Jiang Xi, and sometimes he is also called Li Toutuo. His identities are the two proprietors of Wanxi Restaurant. One, although he spends most of his time at Wanxi Restaurant, there are some things he never shows up for.

All shops have a back door. After the shop is closed, the clerks and shopkeepers will leave through the back door. Wanxi Restaurant is no exception. Outside its back door is an alley, which is very long, two or three miles long. Like a huge maze, extending in all directions.

But just [-] steps away diagonally from the back door of Wanxi Restaurant, there is a private courtyard house, covering an area of ​​about one mu, with a small courtyard and two entrances. But others went through the restaurant and returned to their residence.

At this time, Li Toutuo was listening to the reports of two subordinates.

"Today, kerosene, gunpowder and food are transported on the pier. I estimated that there are at least [-] barrels of kerosene."

Before his subordinates could finish speaking, Li Toutuo interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "It has nothing to do with us to transport the amount of supplies, grain and grass, and I don't care. I only care about Chen Qing's situation. He appeared at the pier. What do you think is the possibility of assassination?" How big is it?"

Another subordinate bowed and said, "Commander Qi, we did see Chen Qing on the pier. The guards can be said to be very tight. At least [-] cavalry formed two large circles inside and outside, holding heavy shields in their hands. No matter from which direction When shooting arrows, the arrows will be blocked by the shield, and there are hundreds of inner guards around the perimeter watching, anyone with a crossbow within three hundred steps will be spotted by the inner guards."

"What about assassinating from a height?" Li Toutuo asked again.

"Maybe from a high place, but after he left the pier, he got into the carriage. I don't know if the arrow can penetrate the carriage. His carriage looks the same as an ordinary carriage from the outside, but I guess there is something in it. They It is unlikely that such a large loophole will be exposed."

His subordinates were indeed right, so Li Toutuo turned back and asked the shopkeeper, "Yesterday you told me that Chen Qing has a substitute, is this news true or false?"

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "The humble job just listened to the chatting of two drinkers. They said an anecdote, that Liu Yu had a double, and one of them said that, as far as he knew, Du Tong also had a double."

"Who are these two drinkers?"

"It looks like it should be a general of the Western Army. They dare not call Chen Qing by his name directly. They use Dutong instead. Since they are called Dutong, they should be soldiers."

Li Toutuo nodded, that's what happened, the generals all called Chen Qing the Dutong, and the civil officials called Chen Qing the Xuanfu envoy, everyone knew that.

He had a big head, and said slowly: "Whether Chen Qing has a substitute is of great importance, we must find out as soon as possible."

The shopkeeper hesitated and said, "Is it possible to use Lin Jianqing and ask him to inquire?"

Li Toutuo said bitterly: "That idiot can't even enter Chen Qing's mansion. I guess he covets Chen Qing's concubine too obviously, and he was seen out, so Chen Qing's wife strictly forbids him to enter the mansion. If I had known about him With a bad reputation, I wouldn't use him at all."

"Maybe his father can, let his father inquire."

Li Toutuo nodded, if he wanted to use Lin Jianqing's father, then he would have to have a showdown with Lin Jianqing.

(End of this chapter)