Fenghou

Chapter 731
In the morning, Wei Ping returned to Shan County with more than a thousand prisoners of war. They withstood the test. None of the prisoners of war ran out of the valley, and they were all unwilling to work for the puppet Qi army from the bottom of their hearts.

Although these prisoners of war were leftovers, a little older or a little younger, because of their performance, Liu Qiong decided to let them all join the Song Army, bringing the total number of troops in Shan County to [-].

At dawn, the news that the Song army had captured Shan County spread throughout the city, and the people immediately erupted, running to the streets to beat gongs and drums to celebrate the return of the Song army, and the city of Shan County became a jubilant world.

At the same time, the hatred accumulated in the hearts of the people for a long time also broke out with the arrival of the Song army. Thousands of elders rushed into the magistrate's mansion, arrested Yan Shun and beat him up. Going to Bianliang to report on his duties, he just escaped a catastrophe. In the past few years, officials at the prefecture and county levels have strictly implemented the puppet tax policy and imposed excessive taxes in Shanzhou. The people have long hated them.

When the patrolling soldiers arrived, the magistrate Yan Shun had been beaten to death by the angry people, and the county captain Jiang Dafu, who was domineering over the people, was also beaten to death by the angry people. They were also set on fire, and many places in the county were on fire, with thick smoke billowing.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Liu Qiong hurriedly ordered a temporary martial law and asked all the people to go home, otherwise they would be arrested and severely punished.

When the order in the city calmed down a bit, Liu Qiong came to visit Yang Gongran. The corpses in Yang's mansion had been cleaned up, and the housekeeper brought dozens of servants to wash the floor with water to clean the blood on the floor.

Yang Gongran ordered his eldest son, Yang Chu, to invite Liu Qiong to the guest room. The two sat down as guest and host, and the maid served tea. The generals wiped out all of them, which enabled us to successfully capture Shan County and minimize the casualties of our soldiers, for which I am sincerely grateful."

"Where! Where! General Liu is serious. This is our job. Besides, the Yang family alone is not enough. The key is to rely on General Tang to arrange the deployment. Why didn't General Tang come together?"

"The order outside is relatively chaotic. General Tang is leading the soldiers to maintain order, and he really can't get out."

Yang Gongran sighed and said, "It's normal for this to happen. I hope General Liu will be more tolerant and don't criticize the people. They have suffered too much these years."

"Mr. Yang, can you explain in detail?"

Yang Gongran said to the eldest son beside him: "Da Lang, you know the situation better, so tell me!"

Yang Chu bowed slightly and said: "The main reason is that the taxes and prices are too high, and the people's income is meager. The land tax is [-]% and the household tax is [-]% per year. There are also shelf tax, deed tax, and exemption money. The annual direct tax of a household is six to ten guan. The amount of the tax is related to the size of the house. These are not enough, there are terrible indirect taxes, salt, tea, sugar, oil, cloth, slaughter, etc., salt is [-] yuan per catty, wheat is [-] yuan per bucket, and cloth is also [-] to [-] yuan, so every family is poor. So poor that many people send their girls to our house to be maids, they don’t ask for money, they just want to support her.”

Liu Qiong frowned, "This is too tragic, no wonder the people are so angry."

Yang Chu said angrily: "Actually, it's not just Shanzhou, it's the same in other parts of the Puppet Qi State. The dog emperor Liu Yu even ordered the people to sell their sons and daughters to pay taxes. The sky is resentful and the Puppet Qi State can still live." How many days?"

Liu Qiong thought for a while and said, "I have [-] prisoners of war here, all of whom have joined the Song Army. At present, their families are all in the Central Plains. I want to transfer their families to Sichuan and Shaanxi. Is it possible?"

Yang Gongran stroked his beard and said: "Of course it is possible, but Mianchi County must be taken. Although Xin'an and Luoyang also belong to the Weihan Ancient Road, Mianchi County is special. It happens to be the exit of Xiaoshan, and there are many roads leading to Mianchi in all directions. .

Therefore, Mianchi is the real entrance to the ancient Weihan road. If Mianchi is controlled by the puppet Qi army, then all the migrating people will not be able to enter the ancient Weihan road. On the contrary, if Mianchi is taken down, people who come from all directions can enter the ancient Weihan road. . "

"I see. Thank you, Yuanwai Yang, for your reminder. In addition, according to the agreement, Da Lang is invited to serve as the magistrate of Shan County."

After half a day of martial law, Liu Qiong ordered the lifting of the martial law, and put up a list to calm the people, announcing the abolition of all exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes of the Puppet Qi State. Like the common people in Shaanxi, they can eat enough and wear warmth.

Although the literary talent is average, the content is very down-to-earth, and the people in the city see hope.

Yang Chu immediately became the magistrate of Shan County, and Yang Gongran recommended Wang Changyi, the eldest son of another powerful family in Shan County, Wang Changyi, as the county magistrate. Relief porridge, relief of the poor suffering from hunger and cold.

On the second day after Liu Qiong led the army to capture Shaanxi, Chen Qing led an army of [-] troops to Hangu Pass, and at the same time, Liu Cui led an army of [-] to cross the Yellow River from Fengling and swept across Shanzhou on the north bank of the Yellow River. counties.

Hedong and the Central Plains are not bounded by the Yellow River, but by the Zhongtiao Mountains in the south. Therefore, even if the Song Army swept across the north bank of the Yellow River, it would have no effect on Hedong. The Zhongtiao Mountains and the Zhongtiao Mountains are finally connected with the Taihang Mountains, enclosing the River East.

Another army of [-] people, led by the governor Wang Duo, occupied Guozhou where no soldiers were stationed.

Hangu Pass became the top priority for attacking the Weihan Ancient Road.

And at this moment, the spies sent by Zhe Keqiu also rushed to Hangu Pass.

"what!"

Kong Yanzhou's eyes widened, he grabbed the scout by the collar and shouted, "What the hell are you talking about? How could Shan County fall?"

The spy tremblingly said: "Don't dare to deceive Kong Dutong, Shan County was indeed captured by the Song army, and we also attacked the city, causing more than a thousand casualties."

Kong Yanzhou calmed down slowly. In fact, he also knew that there was a loophole in the Weihan Ancient Road. He could pass through the candle water, or even the Yellow River. .

Kong Yanzhou immediately turned around and asked Sima, "How much food and grass do we have?"

"Qi reports to the capital, the grain and grass are relatively sufficient, there are [-] shi of grain, and more than [-] dan of fodder!"

Kong Yanzhou nodded, and reported to the spies: "Go back and tell your commander-in-chief that I will stick to it for a month, and ask him to take back Shan County within a month. Otherwise, Shanzhou is over, and Luoyang can't hold on for long!"

Kong Yanzhou simply wrote another pigeon letter and sent it to Bianliang, asking Wanyan Wushu to put pressure on Zhe Keqiu. He knew that Wanyan Wushu would lead an army to retake Jianghuai, and if Shanzhou fell, Wanyan would be severely restrained. Wushu's strategy, he can ignore him if he can, but he will definitely not be able to withstand the pressure of Wanyan Wushu.

The [-] Song Army camped two miles in front of Hangu Pass. This was Chen Qing's first visit to Hangu Pass. Surrounded by his generals, he came to Hangu Pass to inspect the enemy's situation.

The guide Zhang Hua introduced to Chen Qing and the generals: "The south is Xiaoshan Mountain, which extends eastward, but there is also a branch extending northward to the Yellow River. Hangu Pass is this canyon, to be precise, it is not a pass, but the entire canyon has been built into a pass city, and there are four passes in total.”

Chen Qing saw clearly that a city gate was built in front of the canyon, with high walls on both sides in an arc, and finally connected to the cliff.

Then another pass city was built at the mouth of the canyon, and the two sides in front of the canyon were also city gates, forming an urn city with four sides.

But Chen Qing has guarded the similar Jiandao Pass, he knows that any pass has its weaknesses, it depends on whether you can find them?
"How to solve the drinking water in the city?" Chen Qing asked.

"It's all digging wells to get water."

Chen Qing nodded, it seemed that there was no other way for the water source, he wanted to look at the mountains on both sides, and he thought of the top of Jiandao Pass, which was very similar to here, so he asked, "Can the top of the mountain go up?"

"It should be possible, but I don't know the way up the mountain."

Chen Qing asked again: "If I want to send someone to the top of the mountain to have a look, where can I find someone who knows the way?"

Zhang Hua thought for a while and said, "Go to Hucheng County and look for hunters or herb pickers. They should know the way."

Chen Qing looked back at Hu Yanlei, and Hu Yanlei immediately clasped his fists and said, "Look for the humble job!"

(End of this chapter)