The changes in the war situation brought about by the disastrous defeat of the Jin soldiers at Dashan Pass had a profound impact on both the Song and Jin Dynasties. Wanyan Wushu was removed from the post of marshal of the Western Route Army, and the Wanyan Wushu faction within the Jin Kingdom was also suppressed.
Wan Yanchang gained power, and at Wan Yanchang's suggestion, the Song and Jin Dynasties began negotiations to exchange some captured minor Song people for the Jurchen prisoners of war in Dashan Pass, including the Empress Dowager Wei, the biological mother of the emperor.
Due to the great victory of the Song army on the western front, the main war faction of the Song Dynasty had the upper hand. Shortly after the Battle of Dashanguan, Fan Zongyin was implicated by Wei Pang and was dismissed from the prime minister and demoted to Xuanzhou Sima.
Zhang Jun returned to Beijing to become prime minister due to the great victory on the Western Front, and Zhu Shengfei, the minister of the Ministry of War, was appointed as the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi.
As Wan Yanchang gained power and the puppet Qi State's power further expanded, the Jin State temporarily withdrew from Xihe Road and handed over Shaanxi Road and Xihe Road to Qi State for management.
The puppet Qi Emperor Liu Yu appointed Guo Zhen, the Privy Councilor, as Marshal of Zhenxi and the Propaganda Envoy of the Northwest and West Roads. He led 150,000 elite troops to take over Shaanxi Road and Xihe Road.
As the Jin soldiers evacuated from Xihe Road, an opportunity arose. Zhu Shengfei, the new Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu envoy, was still on his way to take office after taking over from Lin'an to Zhang Jun. Zhu Shengfei made several appointments in succession.
Guan Shigu, the governor of the capital, was appointed as the general manager of Pingjing, and he led 10,000 troops to station in Pingliang Mansion, Yuanzhou and Jingzhou. He also appointed Fu Xuan, the commander of the capital, as the general manager of Fenglong, and led 8,000 troops to station in Fengxiang Mansion and Longzhou.
At the same time, the Xixia army also took the opportunity to go south and swallowed Deshun Prefecture, Zhenrong Prefecture, Qingzhou, Baoan Prefecture and half of Qingyang Prefecture in one fell swoop, plus Shizhou, Hezhou, Lanzhou, Huizhou, etc. that were previously annexed by Xixia
In fact, Xixia took the opportunity to annex most of the Song Dynasty's northern border states of Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road.
The Song, Qi, and Xixia forces were intertwined in the northwest, and the situation was extremely complex.
Chen Qing's rank was promoted, his military rank was promoted, and he received a title, but his dispatch officer remained the same and was still the envoy of Qinzhou.
In early March, after resting for half a month at Dashan Pass, Qinzhou led five thousand troops to Qinzhou to take office. This was not to fight, so Sima Qu Hongyuan only gave Chen Qing five days of food.
From then on, he had to rely on himself to provide food and grass.
At this time, the Jin soldiers had already evacuated Qinzhou. In the distance were the rolling mountains, and an official road extending to the west. To the south of the official road was the surging Wei River, and on the north bank were vast wheat fields. The green winter wheat was growing gratifyingly, and farmers could be seen from time to time.
Busy in the wheat field.
"The imperial court has no foresight! If we don't send more troops to the northwest at the critical moment, will these 30,000 troops be enough to fight both Xixia and the puppets?"
Zheng Ping complained all the way, and the Jin soldiers withdrew. Even the Xixia people knew that they should quickly increase their troops and annex the Xining Road territory. Such a good opportunity, but the court was indifferent.
"Okay, I'll just listen to your thoughts all the way. Stop complaining. The higher-ups are more awake than us. Let's do our own thing first! We're running out of fodder and food," Chen Qing said angrily.
"The problem of fodder is not big. It's spring now. Where can I find some grass to eat? The key is food. Hey! You and I both know it well."
"What should I say?" Chen Qing glanced at Zheng Ping.
"How much food did we burn in one fire? Where did the Jin soldiers' food come from? Do you think there will still be food in Qinzhou's official warehouse?"
Although Zheng Ping is a bit verbose, he can always hit the nail on the head.
While talking, the army arrived at Chengji County. Chengji County is the prefecture of Qinzhou. It is a large county with a city circumference of about twenty miles. During the Xuanhe period, there were tens of thousands of households. Although Chengji County was not attacked by the Jin soldiers.
The city was brutally massacred, but even after the nest was overthrown, the eggs would not be finished. People in Chengji County were displaced and the population dropped sharply. Now there are only more than 2,000 households and less than 20,000 people left.
The county town was also dilapidated, with collapsed houses everywhere. There had just been a light rain, and the ground was very muddy. The gray sky and the dilapidated city cast a shadow on Chen Qing's heart.
"Hu Yanyun, take some brothers to find a place that can be used as a military camp!"
Hu Yanyun was in charge of logistics, which was his responsibility. He nodded and took more than a hundred cavalry to find the garrison camp. Chen Qing asked Yang Yuanqing to lead the army to rest outside the city first.
Chen Qingze, Zheng Ping and his staff Zhang Xiao came to the state government office. The state government office and the county government office were both together. The two government offices were facing each other. The county government office looked like a dilapidated City God's Temple. The eaves were rotten and most of the tiles on it had fallen off.
Only a broken drum covered with dust stood at the door. Only one of the two doors was left, and some rotten wood and broken mats were used to block the other side.
Although there were not many decent county government offices in the Song Dynasty, this was the first time for everyone to see this dilapidated county government office. Everyone looked at each other in disbelief. His staff member Zhang Xiao smiled and said: "Why don't we go to the state government office and have a look first!"
The state government office looked a little better, but it was also in disrepair. Everyone walked into the government office, and found it empty with not a single person in sight.
Chen Qing was a little annoyed and said: "Search for me and find someone who can talk!"
Dozens of soldiers rushed to each room, and soon a soldier shouted: "We found one over here!"
After a while, a civil servant was pushed out. The civil servant was dissatisfied and said: "I can walk by myself, I don't need you to push me!"
The voice sounded familiar. When the clerk approached, Chen Qing recognized it at a glance, "You are... Du Min!"
This man was Du Min, a weak scholar who was in charge of the warehouse at Jianjun Pass. He also went to the city to participate in the war. After the war, Chen Qing gave him fifty taels of silver and asked him to return to Qianyang County. Unexpectedly, he met him here.
arrive.
"It's General Chen!"
Du Min was suddenly surprised and happy, "Hey! And Zheng Dutou, why are you here in Qinzhou?"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "It's normal for me to come to Qinzhou! But you, aren't you in Miyang County? Why did you come to Qinzhou?"
"Hey! It's a long story. Not long after the battle at Jianxiao Pass, someone reported to the county government that I was working for the Song Army. The county magistrate was a good person and secretly sent someone to tell me to run away. If I were caught by the Jin soldiers, I would be in trouble. My wife
I was from Chengji County, so I fled with my family to my father-in-law and mother-in-law's house, and my father-in-law asked someone to find a job for me in the state government."
"Why are there no people in the state and county offices?"
"The county government has been abolished a long time ago. The state government has always served as the county government. Wang Tongpan took the governor and archers to the countryside to collect taxes two days ago. He will not be back until tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Other officials took the opportunity to sneak home.
, I am the only one guarding here, and there are a few squad leaders who were still there just now, but I don’t know where they went.”
"What about Zhizhou?"
Du Min shook his head, "The magistrate fled with the county magistrate and the others back then. Now there is only Wang Tongpan, who is both the county magistrate and the prefecture magistrate. Then there are Li Dujian and several people who joined the army. I am the secret official in charge of the warehouse."
"How much grain is in the warehouse?" Chen Qing asked anxiously.
Du Min smiled bitterly, "All the money, grain and materials in the warehouse have been transported to Dasanguan. There are only some wood and bricks left in the warehouse. There are still a few official ships on the Wei River and some land. This is all the property of the government.
.”
Zheng Ping glanced at Chen Qing, his eyes clearly saying, 'I'm right!'
Chen Qing was too lazy to pay attention to him and asked: "Who appointed this Wang Tongpan? Is he an official of the Jin Kingdom, the Puppet Qi Kingdom, or the Song Dynasty?"
"This is more complicated. He is none of the three mentioned by the general. He is actually an official collectively elected by the gentry in the city. He has never been an official, and Jin Bing didn't care about it. He just spent three years in a muddle-headed way as a general judge.
"
Chen Qing also understood that this was the case in many states and counties. Officials appointed by the imperial court had gone away, and the Jin Kingdom did not appoint officials. The social security was very chaotic. The local wealthy gentry collectively recommended one person to take charge of the government. Linyou County's
That's what Xu Ning is like.
It doesn't matter whether the current official is legal or not, the key is how to solve the pressing problem he has now?
"How long can our food last?" Chen Qing turned around and asked.
Zhang Xiao thought for a while and said: "Until tomorrow night!"
"General, no more rations?"
Chen Qing nodded, "Is there any way?"
"There is no hope for Guancang, so we have to buy it from outside."
Chen Qing was overjoyed, "Can I buy food outside?"
"I can buy some, but not too many, but there is another way, little man?"
"What else can I do?"
"There are many Qiang people living in the west and south of Qinzhou. They make a living by herding. You can ask them to buy sheep."
This is also a way. At present, Chen Qing has enough money. He has 200,000 taels of silver alone. The silver he obtained from Pingliang Mansion is stored in Xianren Pass. He has already obtained it. In addition, they have hidden it in Zhongnan County.
There is a lot of money, and after a while, Chen Qing will find a way to get it all back.
At this time, Yang Yuanqing had found a temporary military camp. In the northwest corner, it was actually the former Jin Bing military camp. Although the Jin Bing garrison only had 500 people, they occupied 200 acres of land and leveled a large racecourse.
, the Jin soldiers withdrew, and the remaining military camp was used by Chen Qing and others.
Chen Qing immediately ordered the army to camp in the northwest corner, and brought in all the bricks, stones and wood from the official warehouse to build walls and sentry towers.
Soon, Hu Yanyun, who went to buy food, came back.
A total of fifty carts were transported, thirty of which were filled with grain, and the other twenty carts were filled with vegetables, meat, eggs, etc.
Hu Yanyun stepped forward and cupped his fists at Chen Qing and said: "Qi Zongzhi, I only bought 300 shi of grain in total, but I still ran to all the grain stores."
"Only three hundred stones!"
Chen Qing frowned. Three hundred stones is only three thousand dou. If it is divided among five thousand soldiers, each person will have about half a dou, which is only six kilograms. It is enough to last for three days. If you save a little, you can last for four days.
How can this be done? Even if we go to the Qiang people to buy sheep now, it will take several days to go back and forth. Can the little grain in their hands last that long?