In the camp, Chen Qing met with the surrendered general Li Cheng.
Chen Qing has been dealing with Li Cheng for many years. Although they are enemies of each other, he has a good impression of Li Cheng. First of all, he can restrain military discipline and not massacre ordinary people. He takes the lead and loves soldiers like sons. He is very brave in battle and is quite a famous general.
It is a pity that he first loyal to the Puppet Qi Army and then to the Jin Kingdom.
Li Cheng knelt down on one knee and said: "I would like to thank Your Highness for sparing my humble life. I have nothing to ask for. I only ask that Your Highness be able to leave my humble duty and return to my hometown to farm so that I can live this miserable life."
"Where is General Li from?" Chen Qingtan asked.
"I am from Chenliu County, Kaifeng Prefecture."
"This year's Gui Geng?"
"Thirty-eight years old!"
Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "You are not even forty yet, and you are only a few years older than me. Do you plan to return to farming to retire?"
Li Cheng didn't say anything, and Chen Qing asked again: "What should you write on your tombstone a hundred years from now? The former Jin capital controlled Li Cheng's tomb. Do you think your descendants can be proud of it?"
Chen Qing's words were like a knife, piercing Li Cheng's fragile heart. He burst into tears, knelt down on his knees, and said with a choked voice: "I beg your Highness to show Li Cheng a clear path!"
Chen Qing said slowly: "Go to Hexi and guard the border to atone for your sins! Maybe one day you will rebuild the Beiting Protectorate for me. After your death, your tombstone will be engraved with the tomb of Han General Li Cheng, so that your descendants can raise their heads.
Be a human being.”
"In this humble position, I am willing to serve His Highness as a dog and horse, and I am willing to go to Hexi to guard the border."
Chen Qing immediately made Li the governor of Shazhou, and led an army of 20,000 to guard Dunhuang, Shazhou, waiting for an opportunity to regain Beiting. Ten years later, Li Cheng, who had been promoted to the governor of Hexi Province, led an army of 50,000 to a great defeat at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains.
Two hundred thousand troops from the Western Liao Dynasty recovered the Yinli River Valley, resettled Tingzhou, Xizhou and Yinzhou. Chen Qing named him the first Beiting Jiedushi and gave him the title of Duke Chang. This is not mentioned later.
........
Ten days later, three hundred large ships with thousands of stones arrived in Licheng County. These large ships went north along the coastline of Donghai Island, then entered the mouth of Jishui River in Binzhou, and traveled all the way in the opposite direction to Jinan Prefecture.
The army will carry all the captured money and materials onto the ships. This time, three hundred large ships will go up the Yellow River, escorted by the Yellow River Navy, and sail directly to Shaanzhou. Then they will use three thousand stone cargo ships to enter Guanzhong through Tianbao Canal, and transfer the money
The transportation of supplies to Jingzhao is a long journey, taking at least more than a month.
For more than ten days, Chen Qing has been meeting with officials from various states and counties on Shandong Road. Overall, Shandong Road is much better than Henan Road. First of all, it has not suffered too much war, and people have not been displaced in large numbers. Secondly, there has been no diversion of the Yellow River.
The impact on Henan Road is huge, but the impact on Shandong Road is slightly smaller. Thirdly, the society is stable, there is no idle land, the climate is good, and agriculture is developed.
It was also for this reason that Wanyan Wushu valued Shandong Road more, but unfortunately he still couldn't keep it.
Of course there are corrupt officials in Shandong Road, but this is not Chen Qing's business. This is the business of the Department of Civil Affairs. What Chen Qing has to do is to regain Shandong Road, appease Shandong Road and maintain stability. He immediately went to various states on Shandong Road.
The government promulgated a series of laws.
The main purpose is to abolish the taxes of the Jin Kingdom, replace them with the Sichuan-Shaanxi Tax Regulations, significantly reduce the household tax, land tax, and business tax. These three major taxes are temporarily exempted for two years, and the price of salt is reduced from 400 to 100 cents per catty.
For ten coins, all other taxes were abolished, and all counties were required to set up Changping stores to ensure the livelihood of the people at the lowest level.
A series of tax policies were promulgated, and the whole Shandong Road was filled with joy, with every household beating gongs and drums to celebrate their new life.
........
Chen Qing immediately appointed Liu Cui as the military envoy of Shandong Road, leading an army of 50,000 to guard Shandong Road. He also appointed Tang Huai as the governor of Haizhou, leading an army of 10,000 to guard Haizhou and Donghai Island, and stationed the Jiaolong Camp on Donghai Island.
After the general military and political arrangements were completed, Chen Qing led an army of 200,000 to leave Jinan Prefecture and return westward to Guanzhong.
One thing that needs to be explained here is that after reorganization, Li Cheng's 43,000 surrendered troops were all replenished as the Western Army, greatly increasing the strength of Chen Qing's men.
The streets in Dangtu County are bustling with people and are particularly lively. Since Dangtu County rebuilt its wharf, its scale has become larger and larger. It has become the second largest port in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River after Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. Its throughput even exceeds that of Wuhu Port.
Dangtu County was on a first-come-first-served basis, and commerce developed rapidly. Everyone in the county had a job, every family could make money, and the economy prospered accordingly.
There is a Yuelai Inn near the South City Gate. The business is very good and it is full of guests every day.
That morning, the shopkeeper was settling accounts in front of the counter. As if he felt something, he looked up and saw proprietor Wang, who lived in the upper room on the second floor, appearing in front of him. The shopkeeper smiled and asked, "What can proprietor Wang do that I can help you with?"
Boss Wang is a businessman from Lin'an. It is said that he is planning to invest and build a business in Dangtu County. During this period, he was specifically inspecting Dangtu County.
"I heard yesterday that a large number of troops will be stationed in Dangtu. Is it true?" asked Dongzhu Wang.
The shopkeeper was startled, "No! There are only three thousand Heaven-Shaking Army. I didn't hear that there will be a large number of troops stationed. Where did Mr. Wang get the news?"
"I was chatting with a local tea drinker in the teahouse. He said that 20,000 troops were stationed more than a month ago."
The shopkeeper thought for a while and laughed, "That must be the Western Army passing by! I rested here for three days and then left by boat. I heard it was going to Haizhou. Anyway, the Western Army often passes by to rest. We are used to it.
, it won’t be a permanent military presence.”
Dongzhu Wang was surprised and said: "If the Western Army is resting, won't it conflict with the Heaven-Shaking Army?"
"how can that be possible?"
The shopkeeper looked both ways and lowered his voice: "We all have rumors here that this Heaven-Shaking Army is actually the Western Army. Commander Wang Qing's wife and children came from Jingzhao to visit him. They lived in my store at the time. I
I know they are coming from Jingzhao."
"I understand. It seems that Dangtu County has a bright future and is worth my investment in buying land."
"It must be good! We all know it and business will get better and better."
Needless to say, this proprietor Wang was a spy sent by Qin Hui. He was the cousin of Qin Hui's wife Wang, and his name was Wang Huan. More than ten years ago, he served as the censor to impeach Chen Qing, who suppressed the banditry in Muzhou. Instead,
Was dismissed.
However, with the support of Qin Hui, he soon became the magistrate of Xuancheng County and Xuanzhou. Last year, he was transferred to the imperial court and promoted to Yushi Zhongcheng. This time, Emperor Zhao Gou ordered a secret investigation of Zhang Jun. The Yushitai and the Criminal Department were divided into four groups to investigate separately.
Wang Huan personally led a team to Dangtu County to investigate Zhang Jun's situation in various places.
Wang Huan has been investigating for five days. The more he investigates, the more frightened he becomes. Many things are open secrets, but the court knows nothing about it. Feng Qianming, the magistrate of Tu County, is from Jingzhao and once served in the Western Army. All the warehouses are
Belonging to the Western Army, the Three Thousand Heaven-shaking Army appears to be Zhang Jun's private army, but in fact it is the Western Army pretending to be a private army. It also has more than a hundred warships, and its chief general Wang Qing is also under the control of the Western Army.
When the Western Army came by ship, they would rest in Dangtu County. Dangtu County was actually a stronghold of the Western Army, but it was concealed by Zhang Jun. This must be some kind of secret agreement between Zhang Jun and Chen Qing.
After getting evidence from the innkeeper that the commander-in-chief Wang Qing was a general of the Western Army, Wang Huan realized that the problem was serious, so he led several of his men by boat back to Lin'an that afternoon.
