Zhang Mingzhong sat down on an ivory chair and said: "We have decided to cooperate with the Jin soldiers to launch a center line attack and attack the front line of Xiangyang and Jingzhou. We, the emperor, hope that the king will also launch an offensive at Dongting Lake to contain the Song army and prevent the Song army from fully defending Jingzhou."
As he spoke, Zhang Mingzhong took out an autographed letter from the emperor and handed it to Yang Yao. Yang Yao read it and handed the letter to Huang Cheng.
Yang Yao was extremely shrewd. He rolled his eyes a few times and smiled tentatively at Zhang Mingzhong: "It's a coincidence that you are here this time. It just so happens that Chen Qing has been appointed as the governor of Yuezhou and has brought an elite Western Army. I want to know, what will you launch?"
Does the midline attack have anything to do with Chen Qing?"
Zhang Mingzhong hesitated and said: "We know that the Song Dynasty has recently mobilized personnel. Our attack on the center line is actually in response to a series of recent changes in the situation. In fact, it is more because of the Song Army's defeat on the eastern front, which led them to defend the main army along the Yangtze River.
, and have no time to take care of the center line. This is when the center line is weak and it is an opportunity, so we decided to launch a center line offensive. It has nothing to do with a specific person."
After Huang Cheng read the letter, he nodded to Yang Yao, indicating that the other party's reasons were credible and they could cooperate.
Yang Yao smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, we have already started a war with the Song army. Just a few days ago, our more than 10,000 troops were defeated in Huarong County. Chen Qing was so cruel that he killed all my troops and surrendered.
They also killed them all, leaving no one alive, and even used the heads of dead soldiers to build a palace on the north bank of Dongting Lake. It was simply extremely cruel."
Zhang Mingzhong nodded, "He is famous for his cruelty. He will kill all prisoners of war in every battle in the northwest. He is called a human demon, so that young children in Qi State dare not cry at night when they hear his name. His ferocity is evident. I heard that he was
After being transferred from the northwest, the soldiers on the Shaanxi Road celebrated with gongs and drums."
Yang Yao was dumbfounded and said after a while: "But now he is here to deal with us."
"Your Majesty has an invincible naval force, so why worry about the Northwest Land Wolf?"
This flattery was good, and Yang Yao felt very happy, "That's good, I don't dare to compete with him on land, but if he dares to go into the water, I promise to send him to see the Dragon King."
Zhang Mingzhong worked hard all the way, and Yang Yao sent someone to take him down to rest. He discussed with Huang Cheng: "I think the real purpose of Qi State's cooperation with us is to hope that I can contain Chen Qing in Dongting Lake. Whether I can contain him is a question."
It's true, but since Qi State wants something from us, shouldn't we make some demands from Qi State, such as the kerosene that 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 palace, "Your Majesty, there is urgent news from Hukou!"
"Bring it up!"
After a while, a messenger soldier came into the palace and reported, "About two hundred warships of the Song Army passed the mouth of the Yangtze River with great momentum. Our brothers have too few troops to fight!"
Yang Yao was stunned. The Yangtze River Navy of the Song Army only had dozens of warships at Poyang Lake in Jiangzhou. When did two hundred warships appear again?
.........
Chen Qing's army has returned to Jiangling Prefecture, and Huarong County's 10,000 shi of grain have also entered the Yangtze River along the Huarong River through captured ships and been sent to Jiangling Prefecture. At this time, the imperial court had sent nearly two hundred warships from Quanzhou to Jiangling Prefecture.
Jiangzhou was handed over to Li Gang, the envoy of Huguang Xuanfu.
Li Gang received Wang Yan's request and immediately sent a fleet to Jiangling to escort Chen Qing's army to Baling County in Yuezhou.
In fact, the main purpose is to pass through the 20-mile-wide mouth of Dongting Lake, also called the mouth of Jingjiang River, to prevent water thieves ambushing in the mouth of the lake from launching a wolf pack attack.
With the escort of warships, Chen Qing's fleet passed the Hukou smoothly, and even the cavalry also boarded the boats and crossed the Hukou. The thieves in the Hukou did not dare to act rashly. In less than an hour, the fleet passed the Hukou, using
Yang Yao's plan to empty the river failed.
As for escorting Lu Xiu and his party back to Lin'an, Chen Qing did not use naval warships. They captured several thousand-stone warships. Chen Qing sent 300 soldiers on five warships, and also sent 3,000 Yuezhou soldiers from Wang Yan to him.
A group of boatmen were selected from the army and drove five warships to escort the ships of Lu Xiu and his party back to Lin'an.
As long as they leave the Dongting Lake area, they don't have to worry about safety issues on the road. The Puppet Qi Kingdom has no navy. Although the situation in Runzhou is tense, they will enter Lishui in Wuhu in advance and go directly along Lishui to Taihu Lake. There is no need to take the long way around the Jiangnan Canal.
Already.
In fact, almost all merchant ships now take this route to avoid Runzhou where the army is pressing. Merchant ships enter West Taihu Lake directly. If you want to go to Suzhou or Changzhou, it is very convenient. If you want to go to Lin'an, you can cross Taihu Lake to Huzhou and then go there.
The Guantang River reaches Lin'an, which saves at least five days compared to taking the Jiangnan Canal.
As for how Lu Xiu prepared for the wedding after returning to Lin'an, that is a story for later, and there is no need to go into details now.
Baling County is today's Yueyang. It was a large county in the Song Dynasty. The county wall was rebuilt in the fourth year of Yan Yan's reign because of Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao's rebellion. The newly built city wall was tall and strong, which prevented the rebels from breaking through Ba Ling a few months ago.
Ling County.
This time Chen Qing was appointed as the governor of Yue, Hubei Town and Yuezhou. His mission was the former rather than the latter. He was not asked to govern the place and appease the people's livelihood, but to exterminate the Dongting water thieves. His appointment as governor was also to improve the situation.
It would be better to concentrate resources on the army. As for restoring people's livelihood, that will only happen after the banditry is eradicated.
There was a large military camp in the city that could accommodate 20,000 people. Chen Qing arranged for the troops to stay in the military camp and moved money, grain and materials into the city, including 10,000 shi of grain transferred from Huarong County, and also transported it into the warehouse.
The general judge of Yuezhou is called Yan Yun. He is the grandson of Yan Shu, a famous poet in the Northern Song Dynasty and the prime minister of the country. He is about forty years old. He was born as a Jinshi and has been in the officialdom for nearly twenty years.
"The generals don't know that Baling County was captured by Yang Yao in the fourth year of Jianyan. They looted the city and the people in the city suffered heavy losses. Later, many people fled. The city that originally had nearly 200,000 people now only has
There are more than 30,000 people left."
Chen Qing nodded, "No wonder I feel that the city is very empty and sparsely populated. In this case, there should be a lot of empty houses!"
"Of course there are many. Most of the houses are empty."
"That's right. I brought many 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 houses with owners and houses without owners?"
"Well...the government has not distinguished it, but we have a little trick to distinguish it."
"What little trick?"
Yan Yun smiled and said: "Many people just went out to take 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 door and in the yard. So if they find a house in the yard or in front of the door,
If it is overgrown with weeds, it means that this family will most likely not come back."
Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "I see, I have learned the lesson. What is the food situation of the people in the city?"
Yan Jun shook his head, "The situation is very bad. This year's summer grain has been stolen by water thieves. The people in the city have been relying on government relief for the past few months. I don't know what to do next!"
Chen Qing thought for a while and realized that it was the end of August and it was too late to plant anything. He asked again: "Is there any food that can be harvested in the autumn?"
"There are 8,000 acres of rice in the east. It was planted by us. Everyone is counting on this rice. If the water thieves come and take it away again, the problem will be serious."
Chen Qing said calmly: "They don't dare to come again. Not only that, we will also seize their food unless they plant it in the lake. Now that 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 so long."