Fenghou

Chapter 714
Yang Yuanqing acted cautiously, he did not drive out all the bandits, but took dozens of captives to Jiangling City, this is to prevent someone from slandering them for killing people and claiming credit.

Zhang Shun, the magistrate of Jiangling, heard that the cavalry support from the Western Army had arrived and that he had wiped out Liu Gui, a bandit in Longshan. He was ecstatic and went out of the city to welcome the Western Army.

"So it's General Yang, that's great!"

Zhang Shun didn't expect that it was Yang Yuanqing who came. Yang Yuanqing had been stationed in Jiangling for a few months, and Zhang Shun was Jiangling's judge. He was worried that he would be a difficult general, but he didn't expect it to be Yang Yuanqing. Zhang Shun was overjoyed.

Yang Yuanqing clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Prefect Zhang, we haven't seen each other for a long time!"

"General Yang is here, Jinghu is safe, please enter the city quickly!"

"Wait a minute!"

Yang Yuanqing waved his hand, "Bring it up!"

Seventy or eighty bandits brought up by soldiers of the Song Army knelt on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, all of them downcast.

"This is Liu Gui's bandits. They ravaged Fangcheng Town last night, and we beheaded more than [-] people. The [-] people stayed and waited for Zhang Zhifu to deal with them."

Zhang Shun gritted his teeth and said, "Liu Gui's subordinates did all sorts of crimes. At least thousands of innocent people died at their hands. There is no need to interrogate them. General, please behead me directly!"

Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered: "Drag it down and behead it, and show the head to the public!"

Dozens of people were so frightened that they kowtowed and begged for mercy, "General, please spare me! We will never dare again."

Hundreds of Song Army soldiers dragged them down like wolves and tigers. In just a moment, all eighty bandits were beheaded, and thousands of people around them suddenly burst into cheers.

In the prefectural office, Yang Yuanqing introduced Chen Qing's bandit suppression support arrangement to Zhang Shun.

"Xuanfu made this support in three steps to South Jingnan Road. The first step is to forcefully suppress the bandits and send [-] troops. I am [-] cavalry, and [-] sailors will come from the Yangtze River soon. The first step is to suppress bandits. The second step is to suppress bandits and spring plowing at the same time. Seeds and cattle will be sent, and then the Song army will suppress bandits while protecting spring plowing; the third step is relief. In fact, relief will always be there to ensure that there will be no famine before the summer harvest, so that The common people have at least something to eat, and of course, relief is mainly provided by the government.”

Zhang Shun was really moved. He sighed and said, "The benevolence and righteousness of envoy Chen Xuanfu is like a mirror in our hearts. This kindness will be remembered by the officials and people in Jingnan. Now there is no food in every state and county, and hungry people are everywhere. There are many old people and children. They are all on the verge of death, it is too miserable, if possible, it is best to provide relief in various states first, and we must fully cooperate."

"Why is the famine so severe?" Yang Yuanqing was also a little shocked.

"It's not Liu Guangshi's fault. He transported all the grain from the official warehouses of the states and counties without leaving a single rice. As a result, when he surrendered, all the grain became the spoils of the imperial army and was transported away. Now, with banditry rampant, every household has run out of food, so they can only dig wild vegetables to survive, but eating wild vegetables every day is not a solution! Seeing that the spring is approaching, there are no seed cattle, and the officials are worried. .”

"How is the situation of the bandits on South Jing South Road?" Yang Yuanqing asked again.

"The bandits on South Jingnan Road are basically loafers, a group of a dozen or [-] people, but because of the unity of the people, the loafers can't take advantage of it, and now they have begun to develop in groups. There are already five A relatively large group of bandits, Liu Gui, whom the general wiped out yesterday, is one of them. Currently there are four bandits, one from Jiangling Mansion, one from Yuezhou, one from Tanzhou, and one from Changde Mansion. Wang, it’s not easy to encircle and suppress.”

"Are there still many wandering warriors?"

"There are so many more, it's almost too much."

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Our Xuan Fu envoy ordered me to lead [-] scout cavalry to Jingnan to suppress the bandits because of the fact that the bandits were scattered. The [-] scouts will be divided into [-] teams to suppress the bandits in various places, and we will try to spend half a year. Eliminate banditry."

"But what about the four major bandits?"

Yang Yuanqing laughed, "Have you forgotten, Mr. Fu? We still have [-] soldiers yet to arrive!"

Just as he was talking, a servant from the yamen ran over and reported in the hall, "I want to report to the lord that a fleet came from the west, and a lot of soldiers came down. They said it was the Sichuan-Shanxi Army."

Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed, he did not expect the Western Army from Bashu to come so quickly.

On the Yangtze River, two hundred [-]-stone ships began to dock slowly, and [-] troops gathered on the shore. They were the [-] Western Army from Bashu. It was Yang Yuanqing's general. After Yang Yuanqing transferred to a civilian position, he was transferred to Zheng Ping's jurisdiction.

It is also Zheng Ping's shrewdness. He received Chen Qing's flying eagle message, telling him that Yang Yuanqing had led [-] cavalry to go south to Jiangling, and Yang Yuanqing was the leader of the bandit suppression in Jingnan.

Zheng Ping immediately changed his generals and sent Yang Yuanqing's old general Wang Dan to lead [-] people eastward.

Yang Yuanqing and Zhang Shun rushed to the pier, Wang Dan stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to salute, "The humble Wang Dan sees Commander Yang!"

Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed, Zheng Ping actually sent Wang Dan to command the army, this is for his own face!
"It turned out to be General Wang, please hurry up!"

Wang Dan got up and said: "General Qi, this time I led [-] troops to suppress the bandits. In addition, there are [-] shi of grain. General Zheng said that this is the arrangement of Xuanfu envoy. The [-] shi of grain It will be used for disaster relief first, and the grain seeds will be shipped later."

Yang Yuanqing nodded and asked, "Is it paddy or rice?"

"Reporting to the commander, there is only [-] shi of rice, and the rest is rice."

Yang Yuanqing turned his head to Zhang Shun and said, "Let's start building the shed! First we will start the porridge relief in Jiangling City, and then we will send the food to the local governments."

Zhang Shun was overjoyed, "I will arrange to set up a porridge shed now."

With the arrival of the [-] troops, the Western Army began to pay fees on Jinghu South Road. Yang Yuanqing divided the [-] scout cavalry into [-] squads, with [-] people in one team, and went to various places to suppress bandits. The relief food was sent to the states, and Yang Yuanqing and Wang Dan led [-] troops to Jianli County, where the largest group of bandits on Jinghu South Road was entrenched, consisting of about [-] people.

[-] troops rushed to various places, opening the curtain of a comprehensive suppression of bandits on the Jinghu South Road.

That morning, the imperial court special envoy Orihiko arrived in Jingzhao, and was warmly welcomed by Chen Qing. The special envoy and his party of more than [-] people lived in the VIP post.

Zhe Yanzhi is also very concerned about the demise of Xixia. Seven generations of the Zhe family have served as prefects for more than [-] years, guarding the frontier for the Song Dynasty. Fuzhou is today's Fugu County in Yulin, the frontier of the Northern Song Dynasty.

It was also because of the invasion of the Jin soldiers that the Zhe family was forced to go south. Zhe Yanzhi dreamed of returning to Fuzhou, even if he gave up his official position in the imperial court.

In the lobby, the two were divided into guests and hosts, Zhe Yanzhi pondered and asked Chen Qingdao: "Does Xuanfu envoy have any plans to attack Hedong?"

Chen Qing smiled and said: "The preliminary estimate is next year, but when next year has not yet been fully determined."

"If you want to attack Hedong, I suggest that it should be sooner rather than later next year?"

Chen Qing was taken aback, "Why did Mr. Zhe say such a thing?"

"I'm telling you in my personal capacity that next year the imperial court will negotiate a truce with the Jin soldiers. Once the imperial court and the Jin soldiers cease fighting on the Huaihe River, the Kingdom of Jin will inevitably increase its troops to the east of the river. It will be very difficult to seize the east of the river."

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "In fact, great difficulty is not necessarily a bad thing. In many cases, the more you pay, the more you will gain."

Zhe Yanzhi felt very ashamed and nodded, "It's better for Xuanfu envoy to see thoroughly and see in the long run."

Orihiko pondered for a long time and said, "If I come to Jingzhao for retirement next year, I wonder if the envoy will welcome me?"

"Did something happen to Mr. Zhe in the court?"

Orihiko sighed softly, "The ups and downs of these years are all related to the imperial court's anti-gold strategy. If the imperial court resists the gold, I will be promoted. If the imperial court appeases and compromises, I will be demoted. Now that the imperial court's finances are in crisis, a deal will be made next year." And the possibility is great, I am already mentally prepared to step down."

"When Jin Guo tore up the agreement, Zhe Gong will make a comeback."

Orihiko shook his head, "I'm tired, and I don't want to bother anymore."

Chen Qing was silent for a moment, and said sincerely to Zheyan: "If Mr. Zhe is willing to come to Jingzhao, it is my great honor, Chen Qing!"

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[I'm sorry today, my hands hurt too much, and I struggled to type. I only wrote two chapters. 】

(End of this chapter)