Fenghou

Chapter 989
The cavalry that came to Xiangcheng was the [-] army led by Chen Qing. He ordered Gao Ding to lead [-] cavalry south to Longxing County to support Liu Qiong's army. He himself led [-] cavalry from Liang County and marched nearly [-] miles , Killed to Xiangcheng County.

Unexpectedly, it happened to meet Li Cheng's army retreating from the defeat of the official road in the south, and it was half an hour before and after.

Chen Qing led an army of [-] soldiers to the city, the gate of Xiangcheng County was opened, and the county magistrate Xu Ping led a group of county officials out of the city to welcome the Song army.

Not all county magistrates in the Song Dynasty were county magistrates. The key is to see if the county magistrate came from the imperial court to take up the post.

But if you are promoted directly from the county lieutenant or the county magistrate to the county magistrate without the title of an imperial official, then you are called the county magistrate, not the county magistrate.

Of course, the status of the county magistrate is higher. He has been an official in the capital. He came from the capital. If he has been a county magistrate for a few years, he may be promoted to magistrate. The county magistrate is more like a local snake. For general judgment.

This is equivalent to the two systems of local government. Generally, the general judge cannot be directly appointed as a prefect. He must go to Beijing to be plated with a layer of gold and wear the title of a Beijing official before he can be dispatched as a prefect.

This Xu Ping is a typical local snake. He is the eldest son of the Xu family, the largest family in Ruzhou. He was not born in the imperial examination. Xiangcheng county magistrate, if nothing happens, in three or four years, he will be the next general judge of Ruzhou.

Xu Ping didn't care who came to Ruzhou, and he didn't give allegiance to any force, he only loyal to his own family. Qing's attitude eased a lot.

"Excuse me, magistrate Xu, is there Li Cheng's army in the city?"

When Xu Ping heard that His Royal Highness King Yong had arrived in person, he became even more sincere and frightened. He bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, Li Cheng fled back to the county town half an hour ago, and his foothold was not secure. The remnants fled."

Chen Qing was stunned for a moment, and then he was overjoyed. Doesn't this mean that Li Cheng was defeated?He quickly asked: "How many troops did Li Cheng bring and escape?"

"About [-] people. There were originally [-] defenders in the city, and more than [-] of them have fled the county."

At this moment, Controlling Lu Gui stepped forward and said a few words to Chen Qing, Chen Qing nodded, "Go into the city!"

Twenty thousand cavalry marched into the county seat.

Xiangcheng has a large area, with a circumference of about [-] miles. There is a transfer envoy's office covering an area of ​​five acres. Li Cheng used it as a temporary Jiedu envoy's mansion, and Chen Qing naturally regarded it as his temporary commander's mansion.

But what makes Chen Qing more interested is the warehouses behind it. Xiangcheng has convenient transportation, Rushui passes through the south of the city, and is surrounded by major grain production areas, so this has always been an important grain transit point. it's here.

"How much grain is there in the warehouse?" Chen Qing asked with a horsewhip all the way to the warehouse.

Xu Ping hurriedly said: "The official warehouse belonging to the county has about [-] shi of food, but this time Li Cheng brought a large amount of military food and supplies, they didn't take it away, and they didn't burn it down, they sealed up the warehouse. I don’t know how much food and supplies I have.”

Chen Qing nodded, and said to Lu Gui and Yan Jun: "This Li Cheng is not bad, he didn't burn the grain. Based on this, if he is captured in the future, he can be spared to die."

Xu Ping also quickly said: "Li Cheng has a good reputation among the people. He restrained military discipline in Xiangcheng County. During his garrison, there was no looting of property or bullying the people."

Chen Qing smiled, and said to Zhang Fan, the marching commander: "Go and count the money, food and supplies. I want to know how much food and supplies Li Cheng left behind?"

"Humble post obeys orders!"

The result of Zhang Fan's inventory was really beyond Chen Qing's expectations. There were [-] shi of grain, [-] dans of forage, and [-] sets of armor. A spear, a dagger, a complete set of infantry equipment, [-] pairs of defensive bows, [-] military crossbows with corresponding arrows, and [-] tents, which was beyond Chen Qing's expectations. Yes, more than [-] thousand-stone flat-bottomed cargo ships were seized on Rushui.

These grain and grass materials were all brought in by boat, of course not in batches. The three hundred cargo ships belonged to strategic materials. Li Cheng wanted to withdraw the ships no matter what. It was just that Chen Qing's army came too suddenly, and the boatmen were all scattered in the city. , and even many people were still staying in the brothel, and they had no time to go out of the city, so the ships naturally became the trophies of the Song army.

At the same time that the supplies were counted, Liu Qiong and Gao Ding's tens of thousands of troops also rushed to Xiangcheng County. Hearing that King Yong had already occupied Xiangcheng County first, several generals rushed to the city to see him.

In the lobby, Chen Qing sat down several generals with a smile, and said to them: "After this battle is over, Ruzhou is basically under our control. The control point of Ruzhou is in Xiangcheng County, like Ye County, Liang County, etc. Basically, there is no need to consider the garrison in the county. The enemy does not dare to review the map alone, but Dengzhou must garrison at least [-] troops to prevent Xiangyang's troops from going north. In fact, after we occupy Tangzhou and Dengzhou, the western front of the armistice agreement will count It’s invalidated, so we still have to watch out for the imperial court sending troops north.”

Tang Qian leaned forward and said: "His Royal Highness, I went to Xiangyang in a humble position, and heard a gossip that it was false that the imperial court attacked the Jingnan South Road and seized Yue Fei's military power. I wonder if this gossip is reliable?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "It should be true. The imperial court has signed a long-term armistice agreement with Jin Bing, and it is about to start withdrawing troops. What about the Bazi Army, Wu Jiajun, Yue Jiajun, Zhang Jiajun, Han Jiajun, etc., the emperor will not allow them to fight again." Exist, otherwise it will become the second Sichuan-Shaanxi.

In fact, my old boss Wang Yan was the first to withdraw troops. The Bazi Army was disbanded, and Wu Jie was the second to receive troops. The three must be Yue Fei. If he is lucky, he will be appointed as a civil servant. If he is not lucky, he will be dismissed from office and be monitored. "

Chen Qing knew that due to his appearance, there was a high probability that Yue Fei would not be executed in Fengbo Pavilion, but there was a high possibility that he would be transferred to a remote area. His army was annexed by Zhang Jun in history, because the court was afraid of Yue Fei. The army rebelled, and this time, nine out of ten were taken over by the imperial court.

After a pause, Chen Qing said again: "But the imperial court still wants to attack South Jingnan Road. It may not necessarily conflict with our army, but they also want to garrison troops on Jingnan South Road, and then we will squeeze out Jingnan South Road. The imperial court has this ability. I can guess it."

Liu Qiong sighed and said, "But Yue Fei's generals are very good at fighting. It would be a pity if they were buried like this. The humble job has a good relationship with Zhang Xian. I want to write him a letter."

"How did you know Zhang Xian?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

Liu Qiong said embarrassingly: "Didn't His Highness be expelled from the martial arts examination back then? Several newcomers were recruited in the martial arts examination, among them Zhang Xian, who lived in the same dormitory as the humble official, and we have a deep friendship."

Chen Qing said happily: "If the situation permits, you can write to invite him to the Western Army, and just say that I warmly welcome him to come."

Liu Qiong scratched her head and said: "There is one more thing to report to the humble officer."

"What else?"

"It's about the soldiers, Zhang Zhongxiong's [-] soldiers, the humble official doesn't want it, and the humble official wants Li Cheng's [-] soldiers, can your highness?"

Before he finished speaking, Gao Ding was a little unhappy and said: "Little Liu Dutong, we agreed, how can you swallow it all by yourself?

Chen Qing smiled slightly: "Could it be that Li Cheng's soldiers are stronger than Zhang Zhongxiong's?"

Liu Qiong smiled wryly and said: "It's not a question of being stronger, it's far behind. Zhang Zhongxiong's army is basically recruits, not trained much, and their combat effectiveness is very weak, but Li Cheng's army is well-trained and experienced. Ten thousand infantrymen of the other side fought fiercely for an hour and a half, and the two sides were evenly matched, this infantry really impressed the humble staff."

"Humble job also thinks they are good!"

Gao Ding also interjected: "Although the army was defeated like a mountain, they still maintained their respective barracks after being captured. This is the first time I have seen such a surrender. I also hope to accept some of them. Please Your Highness Chen Qing !"

Chen Qing nodded, "Our total strength has reached [-], but it cannot exceed [-], otherwise the finances will not be able to bear it. I originally wanted to annex a part of Yue Fei's army. If the [-] troops are really good, then the two of you I have a family of [-] people, and then Zhang Zhongxiong's army was disbanded and returned to the peasants. In fact, it was the same in Luoyang. I disbanded all the prisoners of war and returned to the peasants. The restoration of the Central Plains requires a population and a strong labor force. In the future, all prisoners of war will be disbanded and no more troops will be added. .”

The generals stood up together and said: "I respect His Highness's order!"

(End of this chapter)