Fenghou

Chapter 285 Taking office
Zhang Mingzhong sat down on an ivory chair and said, "We decided to cooperate with the Jin soldiers to launch a center line attack, attacking the front line of Xiangyang and Jingzhou. Our emperor hopes that the king will also launch an offensive at Dongting Lake to contain the Song army so that the Song army cannot fully defend Jingzhou."

Speaking of which, Zhang Mingzhong took out a copy of the emperor's handwritten letter and handed it to Yang Yao. Yang Yao looked at it and handed the letter to Huang Cheng.

Yang Yao was extremely shrewd, rolled his eyes a few times, tentatively smiled at Zhang Mingzhong and said, "It's a coincidence that you came this time, it happened that Chen Qing was the governor of Yuezhou, and he also brought an elite western army. Does the center line attack have something to do with Chen Qing?"

Zhang Mingzhong hesitated and said, "We know that Song Ting's personnel has been mobilized recently. Our attack on the center line was actually aimed at a series of recent changes in the situation. In fact, it was more because of the Song Army's defeat on the Eastern Front, which led them to defend the main force on the Yangtze River. , and have no time to take care of the center line, this time is when the center line is weak, it is an opportunity, so we decided to launch a center line offensive, and it has nothing to do with a specific person."

After reading the letter, Huang Cheng nodded to Yang Yao, expressing that the other party's reasons were credible and they could cooperate.

Yang Yao said with a wry smile: "In fact, we have already started a war with the Song army. Just a few days ago, our more than [-] troops were defeated in Huarong County. Chen Qing was so cruel that he even killed all my troops. The soldiers who surrendered They also killed all of them, leaving no one behind, and used the heads of dead soldiers to build a Jingguan on the north bank of Dongting Lake, which is extremely cruel."

Zhang Mingzhong nodded, "He is famous for his cruelty. In the Northwest, he would kill prisoners of war every time he fought. He was called a monster, so that children in Qi State did not dare to cry at night when they heard his name. His ferocity can be seen. I heard that he was killed. Transferred from the northwest, the soldiers on Shaanxi Road beat gongs and drums to celebrate."

Yang Yao was dumbfounded and said for a while, "But now he's coming to deal with us."

"Your Majesty has an invincible navy, so why worry about the dry wolves in the Northwest?"

This flattery was good, Yang Yao was very happy, "Well said, I dare not compete with him on land, but if he dares to enter the water, I promise to send him to see the Dragon King."

Zhang Mingzhong worked hard all the way, Yang Yao sent someone to take him down to rest, and he discussed with Huang Cheng again: "I think the real purpose of Qi Guo's cooperation with us is to hope that I can restrain Chen Qing in Dongting Lake. It’s a big deal, but since the State of Qi wants something from us, shouldn’t we make some demands to the State of Qi, such as the fire oil they have been refusing to give us.”

Huang Cheng smiled and nodded, "I think this request can be made!"

At this moment, a soldier reported outside the hall, "Speak to Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Hukou!"

"Bring it up!"

After a while, a messenger soldier entered the hall and reported, "About [-] warships of the Song Army passed by the mouth of the Yangtze River. The momentum is huge. The brothers have too few troops to fight!"

Yang Yao was stunned. The Yangtze River Navy of the Song Army had only a few dozen warships in Poyang Lake, Jiangzhou. When would two hundred warships appear again?
Chen Qing's army had already returned to Jiangling Mansion, and [-] shi of grain from Huarong County entered the Yangtze River along the Huarong River through captured ships and sent them to Jiangling Mansion. At this time, the imperial court had sent nearly [-] warships mobilized from Quanzhou to Jiangzhou was handed over to Li Gang, Huguang Xuanfu envoy.

Li Gang received Wang Yan's request, and immediately sent a fleet to Jiangling to escort Chen Qing's army to Baling County, Yuezhou.

In fact, the main purpose is to pass through the mouth of Dongting Lake, also known as the mouth of Jingjiang, which is [-] miles wide, to prevent water thieves ambushing in the mouth of the lake from attacking like a pack of wolves.

With the escort of warships, Chen Qing's fleet passed the lake mouth smoothly, and even the cavalry boarded the boat and passed the lake mouth. The bandits in the lake mouth did not dare to act rashly. Yang Yao's plan to empty the river failed.

As for escorting Lv Xiu and his party back to Lin'an, Chen Qing did not use naval warships. They captured several thousand stone warships. Chen Qing sent three hundred soldiers on five warships, and the three thousand Yuezhou that Wang Yan handed over to him The army selected a group of sailors to drive five warships to escort Lu Xiu and his party back to Lin'an.

As long as you leave the Dongting Lake area, you don’t have to worry about safety on the road. The Puppet Qi State has no navy. Although the situation in Runzhou is tense, they will enter Lishui in Wuhu in advance, and go directly to Taihu Lake along Lishui, so you don’t have to take the long way around the Jiangnan Canal. up.

In fact, almost all merchant ships now take this route to avoid Runzhou, where the army is overwhelming. Merchant ships directly enter West Taihu Lake. It is very convenient to go to Suzhou and Changzhou. If you want to go to Lin’an, you can cross Taihu Lake to Huzhou, and then go The Guantang River will reach Lin'an, saving at least five days compared to taking the Jiangnan Canal.

As for how Lv Xiu will prepare for the marriage after returning to Lin'an, that's a later story, so I don't need to go into details now.

Baling County is today's Yueyang. It was a large county in the Song Dynasty. The city wall of the county was rebuilt in the fourth year of Jianyan because of the rebellion of Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao. Ling County.

This time Chen Qing served as governor of Yue and E towns and governor of Yuezhou. His mission was the former rather than the latter. He was not asked to govern the local area and appease the people's livelihood, but to exterminate the Dongting water thieves. It is good to concentrate resources on the army. As for the restoration of people's livelihood, that will be something after the eradication of banditry.

There is a large military camp in the city, which can accommodate [-] people. Chen Qing arranged for the army to live in the military camp, and moved the money, food and materials into the city, including the [-] shi of grain transferred from Huarong County, which was also transported into the warehouse.

Yuezhou Tongpan is called Yan Yun, a famous poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, grandson of Xiangguo Yan Shu, about [-] years old, a Jinshi background, and has been in the officialdom for nearly [-] years.

"Everyone doesn't know that Baling County was captured by Yang Yao in the fourth year of Jianyan, and the city was plundered wantonly. There are more than [-] people left."

Chen Qing nodded, "No wonder I feel that the city is empty and sparsely populated. If so, there should be a lot of empty houses!"

"Of course there are many, more than half of the houses are empty."

"That's right. I brought a lot of family members with the army. They also need housing. They are currently living in tents, but after all, it is not a long-term solution. I just want to know, does the government distinguish between owned houses and unowned houses?"

"This. The government has not distinguished, but we have a little trick to distinguish."

"What little trick?"

Yan Yun smiled and said: "Many people just went out to seek refuge, but they did not abandon their homes. They would always come back to take a look and pull out the weeds in front of the house and in the yard, so if they find a house in the yard and in front of the house It is covered with weeds, which means that this family will not come back in all likelihood.”

Chen Qing nodded with a smile and said, "So that's it. I've been educated. How about the food situation of the people in the city?"

Yan Yun shook her head, "The situation is very bad. This year's summer food has been robbed by water thieves. The people in the city have been relying on government relief for the past few months. They still don't know what to do next!"

Chen Qing thought for a while, it was the end of August, and it was too late to plant anything, so he asked again: "Is there any food to harvest in autumn?"

"There are [-] mu of rice in the east, which we planted in a rush. Everyone is counting on this rice. If the water thieves come to snatch it again, the problem will be serious."

Chen Qing said indifferently: "They dare not come again, not only that, but we will also rob them of their food, unless they plant the food in the lake, since I am here, the situation must be reversed!"

A relieved smile appeared on Yan Yun's face, "We have been looking forward to this day for too long."

(End of this chapter)