Looking at Shen Guotai's hurried away figure, Zhang Xiao smiled and said: "I thought His Highness wanted to use this opportunity to try street fighting."
Chen Qing shook his head, "If the other party were Jurchen soldiers, I would definitely not let them evacuate, but after all, they are Han people. They killed both sides and killed countless people. The Jurchens had no damage to their skin and just watched the joke. I won't do this kind of thing." "
"I'm afraid there are other reasons!" Zhang Xiao laughed.
"There are various reasons. Once his army breaks out of the city, I can't pursue him in such a dark night, but this is not the main reason. If I don't want to let them go, even if they break out of the city with all their strength, more than half of them will be killed or injured. The key is that I don’t want my soldiers to suffer too many casualties in street fighting.”
Not long after, Shen Guotai came back and bowed: "We have a total of twenty carriages and three thousand horses. The warehouse has been closed. We will leave Yingchang Mansion before dawn. I only hope that Your Highness will promise you a thousand pieces of gold!"
"Go! I won't go back on what I promised, and tell Li Cheng to evacuate in an upright manner. If he wants the soldiers and their families to leave safely, don't play tricks on me!"
"I remember!"
Shen Guotai bowed and was about to leave when Chen Qing stopped him and said, "Please wait a moment!"
Shen Guotai stopped and bowed: "If there is anything else, please give me your instructions!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "If Mr. Shen is willing to stay, I can continue to appoint you as the general judge of Yingchang Mansion!"
Shen Guotai was stunned. After a long while, he was moved and said: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, but General Li is not unkind to me. I cannot abandon him for the sake of profit!"
"Okay! Everyone is their own boss at that time. You can come to Jingzhao to find a job in the future."
"If His Highness is willing to accept him in the future, he will definitely come to the humble position."
"Mr. Shen may wish to recommend some local officials to me. I require them to be honest and capable."
Shen Guotai nodded and said: "Since His Highness trusts you, I can recommend two people to Your Highness. One is Su Heng, the magistrate of Xuchang County. Although this person comes from a wealthy family, he is very upright, distinguishes between public and private affairs, and has strong ability to do things. He even has Wanyan Wushu. They all admired him very much and invited him to Bianliang several times, but he declined.
The other person is Li Yanjun, the magistrate of Yancheng. The agricultural conditions in Yancheng are only average in Yingchang Prefecture, but the grain output in Yancheng has ranked first in Yingchang Prefecture for five consecutive years. It happened to be during Li Yanjun's tenure. His ability is evident. , and he is very honest, his salary is not enough to support his family, and he even copies books for others at night."
Chen Qing was surprised and said: "If such a person is not truly honest, he is a traitor!"
"Reporting to Your Highness, Li Cheng sent someone to spy on him and concluded that he is truly incorruptible!"
Chen Qing nodded and smiled: "Then I also look forward to seeing Jing Zhao again, sir!"
Shen Guotai bowed deeply again, said goodbye and left.
Zhang Xiao smiled and said: "Your Highness is really trustworthy in employing people!"
Chen Qing said calmly: "Yingchang Mansion is the best governed in the Central Plains. Sima Zhao Yuan was in front of him, and Li Cheng was his successor. But the real person in charge of government affairs is Shen Guotai. He should have been in charge of Yingchang Mansion for two years. Well, if he was a corrupt and treacherous person, Yingchang Mansion would have been in trouble long ago."
"Your Highness knows people!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "I will use the two people he recommended, but I will also arrange intelligence scouts to observe them. If they are not worthy of their names, I will just replace them."
At this time, Li Cheng's 25,000 troops had been assembled. In the 20 carriages were the families of Li Cheng and other important generals. Everyone was holding a cloth bag with packed soft stuff inside, and 3,000 cavalry were guarding it. family.
At this time, Shen Guotai rode back on horseback, escorted by more than a dozen cavalry. Li Cheng asked, "How do you say that?"
"Chen Qing said that he would not go back on what he promised. He also said that he should let the general evacuate in an upright manner and not be petty with him, otherwise he would not be able to guarantee that the soldiers and their families would leave safely."
Li Cheng sighed in his heart. The soldiers and their families were taken hostage, and it was hard to say what would happen in the future. But at this time, the arrow was already on the string, and he had to shoot it. It was too late to regret now.
Li Cheng had no choice but to put the fate of himself and his soldiers on Chen Qing's promise. He ordered: "Let's go!"
The 25,000-strong army set off in a mighty manner, with 3,000 cavalry guarding 20 carriages in the middle of the group. Not long after, the army arrived at the North City Gate. The North City Gate was opened, and the city was filled with soldiers holding bows and arrows. The soldiers of the Song Army watched coldly as the army passed through the city gate.
The 25,000-strong army walked out of the north city gate and walked quickly northward along the official road. After a while, the team disappeared into the thick night.
But just a dozen miles away from the enemy's army, Tang Qian led 10,000 cavalry to follow them from a distance, maintaining a distance of more than ten miles.
After Li Cheng received the report, he immediately understood that this was the surveillance cavalry of the Song Army and should not attack him. He immediately ordered: "Send the order to the entire army to speed up!"
At dawn, Li Cheng's team entered Songlou Town. Songlou Town is located at the junction of Yingchang Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture. It is under the jurisdiction of Yanling County, Kaifeng Prefecture. This means that Li Cheng left Yingchang as agreed. Mansion.
Not long after, Tang Qian also led 10,000 cavalry to turn around and rush towards Xuchang County.
The Western Army has lifted martial law in Xuchang City, and 25,000 troops have left the city. Even if a small number of soldiers are left in the city, they will not be able to make trouble. Moreover, Chen Qing also warned Li Cheng not to play tricks, as the families of the soldiers are hostages. .
Although martial law has been lifted, the city is still very quiet, with few pedestrians and almost no shops in the city open.
The Western Army posted a notice to calm the people, so the civilians who participated in the defense of the city were pardoned and would not be held accountable for their crimes. They reassured the people that they did not have to worry and could live a normal life. At the same time, the Western Army was providing rice relief in the city, and those in need could go and get it.
Three porridge sheds have been erected on the street, and the army has begun to deliver porridge. Although the street is deserted, people receiving porridge have lined up in a long line in front of each greenhouse.
What Chen Qing is most concerned about is the warehouse. The warehouse is a city within a city, located in the middle of the county. It has a circumference of about eight miles and occupies 30% of the area of Xuchang County. The most important thing in the warehouse is grain. After all, Yingchang Prefecture is the first grain-producing state in the Central Plains. The government has a grain store of 500,000 shi, which is already more than Bianliang, but other materials are much less than Bianliang.
There are also soldiers, armor, bows and crossbows, which can probably arm about 30,000 people. From this, we can see the characteristics of Li Cheng in leading troops. He would rather be smart than too many. He turned all 30,000 civilians into troops, and there were 50,000 troops in the city. , but such an army is also the easiest to be defeated.
Once the two sides set up the battlefield, the army will even collapse without a fight. What combat capabilities will the army converted from 30,000 civilians have? If they are allowed to defend the city, the Western army will quickly find the weakness and capture the city, so there are not many soldiers. As for the essence, Li Cheng is well aware of its principles.
There are also kerosene, gunpowder, cloth, pig iron, copper ingots, medicinal materials, tea cakes, tung oil, wood, as well as tents, war drums, flags, camp fences and other supplies.
But Chen Qing found that there were no copper coins, gold, silver, or silk.
The warehouse manager explained: "There is no inventory of silk. There used to be more than 10,000 pieces of silk and satin. Li Cheng sent people to transport them to Lin'an and sold them. They were all replaced with cloth and shipped back. The cloth in the warehouse was exchanged for silk and satin. , a total of fifty thousand horses."
"Aren't there any local cloths? Are there any copper coins, gold and silver?"
Chen Qing asked: "Did he give it to the soldiers or family members last night?"
The warehouse manager was startled and quickly explained: "It was definitely not allocated to soldiers and family members last night. Shen Tongpan said that he had reached an agreement with His Highness to close the warehouse, so he did not open the warehouse door and closed it directly."
"Then can you explain the reason?"
The warehouse manager wiped the sweat from his forehead and said: "There will be no gold and silver, not in any official warehouse. The fourth prince has a strict order. Gold and silver from all over the country must be sent to Bianliang. Private storage is not allowed. Copper coins are It was used to provide military salary, but it was not enough, so cloth was used to offset it, so there were no copper coins, and all the cloth was used to supplement the military salary."
At this time, Zhang Xiao came over and said with a smile: "Your Highness, I have talked with Su Zhixian, and it was really good. Do you want to meet him, Your Highness?"
Chen Qing nodded, "I'm going to the county government now!"