Tens of thousands of Jin soldiers and the puppet Qi army retreated overnight. They spent countless money, food and resources, but in the end they suffered under the Ganquan Fort.
The siege of Ganquan Fort lasted for a month, and the Jin soldiers suffered more than 23,000 casualties. The Song army also paid a price of 3,000 casualties, with more than 2,000 soldiers killed in battle alone.
But it was also after this battle that Ganquan Fort was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people for its solidity and difficulty in attacking, and it was known as the best fort in the world. No more troops came to seek humiliation.
In the early morning, the first ray of sunlight fell under the Crescent Mountain. The Jin Bing camp had completely disappeared, leaving only a circle of barracks. The Jin soldiers retreated in a hurry, and the barracks became a drag, so they simply abandoned them all.
Liu Qiong sent someone to send news that tens of thousands of Jin soldiers were evacuating to the south and were already fifty miles away from Ganquan Fort. General Wanyan Wushu left first with a thousand cavalry.
When the news came, the whole Ganquan Fort was filled with joy. Chen Qing ordered Yang Yuanqing to lead 10,000 soldiers to completely clear the battlefield, and sent Zheng Ping to lead 3,000 cavalry to pursue the enemy's logistics team.
The battlefield was quickly cleared, and all the enemy corpses were burned and buried deeply. Except for the bright red blood stains and black traces of fireworks that could not be cleaned up, everything was restored to its original appearance.
Yang Yuanqing led the soldiers to dismantle the camp fence. For Ganquan Fort, which was seriously short of wood, these thick logs were all fine wood and a precious resource. There were more than 100,000 of these logs. The first company of the Song Army
It took three days to dismantle all the camp fences.
The city gate was opened, and the people went out of the city to fetch water from the river. Fortunately, the wheat seedlings were not affected by the war and were growing well. They were green and endless as far as the eye could see.
In the afternoon, Zheng Ping led his army back. Although they did not catch up with the enemy, they captured hundreds of carts, which were basically filled with grain, wine and meat. There were 30,000 pickled legs of lamb alone.
Chen Qing immediately ordered that 10,000 lamb legs and 1,000 bags of wine be distributed to the people. People all over the city beat gongs and drums and celebrated as if it was a festival.
The state of war was finally lifted the next day, and Chen Qing returned to his home. When he walked into the yard, he saw his wife Lu Xiu slowly sweeping the floor with a long broom.
"Madam, why are you sweeping the floor?" Chen Qing asked urgently.
Lu Xiu smiled and said: "My belly hasn't gotten bigger now, so there's actually no difference. If you get tired of lying down, move a little."
It didn't hurt to sweep the floor. Chen Qing also felt that he was making a bit of a fuss. He stepped forward to take the broom and asked with a smile: "Where are the two of them?"
Lu Xiu looked into the room and said, "Drinking with Master at noon, all three of us are drunk, and they are still lying down!"
At this time, Yu Ying and Yu Lian walked out in a daze, "Ah! The young master is back. Madam, what time is it now?"
Lu Xiu said angrily and funny: "It's afternoon! You go wash your face with cold water first, sober up, and then cook together."
The two agreed and ran to wash their faces. Chen Qing asked again: "Has Dr. Li been here?"
"He came yesterday and checked my pulse. He said the pulse was very stable and confirmed that it was a happy pulse. He asked me to continue taking medicine for a few more days."
When Chen Qing saw that Lu Xiu was going to wash rice, he quickly took the bamboo basket and said, "I'll come!"
Lu Xiu smiled and said: "It's not tiring to wash rice, but you have to carefully pick pebbles. Just sit next to me and talk to me!"
When she saw Yu Lian washing her face, she ordered: "Hurry up and make a pot of tea!"
"Hey!" Yu Lian ran away quickly.
Yu Ying took out half a marinated leg of lamb from the kitchen and asked, "Madam, how should I cook the leg of lamb?"
Lu Xiu smiled: "Cut it into slices! Put it in the duck soup in the pot and stew it together."
Lu Xiu said to Chen Qing: "I was lucky yesterday. Yu Ying bought two ducks at the market. They were quite fat. I asked A Luo to kill them for me and gave half of them to Master. It's just right for our family to eat half of them."
Chen Qing asked in surprise: "Is there a market in the city?"
"Yes! It was formed spontaneously by the people near the city wall of Neicang, selling some vegetables grown in their own yards, chickens and ducks raised, as well as pickled fish, eggs, onions and ginger, etc. There are also people selling cloth shoes and socks, but
It’s quite expensive. A duck actually costs a lot of money. A chicken costs eight hundred cents. A chicken in Lin’an costs up to twenty cents. A three-year-old duck only costs fifty cents.”
"Where are the vegetables? Are they expensive?"
"Of course it's very expensive, more than ten times the price in Lin'an."
"There is nothing we can do at this time. Things are scarce but expensive. It will be much better when we move to Chengji County next year."
Lu Xiu was stunned for a while and said, "Is your husband going to give up Ganquan Castle?"
Chen Qing shook his head, "Of course not. Ganquan will continue to have troops stationed and guarded, but it doesn't need too many troops. Just three thousand people are enough. We found that as long as we maintain enough kerosene, three thousand people are enough to deal with the enemy's attack."
City, and more importantly, if I were not in Ganquan Fort, the Jin soldiers would basically not attack Ganquan Fort."
"Then why do you have to wait until next year to go to Chengji County?"
"The city wall in Chengji County is not good. It is too old and too short. It needs to be renovated, heightened and reinforced. It will take at least a year."
Just as he was talking, Li Mei walked in carrying a carp and said with a smile: "Someone was fishing by the river today. I thought it was pretty good, so I bought two back. I'll give this one to you!"
Lu Xiu quickly asked Yu Lian and Yu Ying to find a basin to raise fish, and asked Yu Lian to give half a duck to Li Mei. Li Mei refused to take it and ran away.
Chen Qing sat aside drinking tea and watching this heartwarming scene, and said with a smile: "I found that you all have become housewives in Ganquan Fort. You cook and buy food by yourself. When you see fish by the river, you even buy two by the way.
When I come back, I’m afraid I won’t have this opportunity next year, so enjoy it!
Lu Xiu smiled sheepishly and said: "My husband is absolutely right. I went to buy groceries a few days ago, and I actually bargained with an old woman. In the end, I managed to keep the price down. When I got it back, I felt that the weight was wrong. It weighed three kilograms.
The big radish is half a catty less."
"This is a down-to-earth life. Experience it well and you can tell it to your children in the future. My mother also lived a hard life for two years when she was young. She had to bargain with others when buying groceries!"
Lu Xiu was made to giggle by her husband, and she went into the kitchen to cook.
At this time, a soldier came running like a gust of wind.
"Qi Dutong, Hu Yanyun and the brothers are back!"
Hu Yanyun went to Yanzhou to buy kerosene and stayed there for more than a month, which really worried Chen Qing. They only had a thousand soldiers and a thousand camels. If they were discovered by the Jin soldiers, they would be in big trouble.
Chen Qing quickly stood up and said, "I'll go take a look!"
Lu Xiu ran out of the kitchen and asked, "Will your husband come back for dinner?"
"I'll be back soon, let's have dinner together!"
Chen Qing got on his horse and ran towards the east city gate. As soon as he reached the city gate, he saw a camel team coming in from outside the city. The leader was a dark and thin man, who was Hu Yanyun.
"Hu Yanyun saw Chen Qing and hurriedly stepped forward to salute and said: "For your humble position, please see the capital!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "It's a coincidence that you guys are back! The war ended yesterday and you guys came back."
"Reporting to the capital, I have actually been back for a few days. I have been hiding outside. I only knew that the war was over when I saw someone fetching water."
"How's it going? How much kerosene did you get?" Chen Qing asked expectantly.
Hu Yanyun made a gesture, and Chen Qing's eyes widened, "Eight thousand seven hundred barrels?"
Hu Yantong nodded, and Chen Qing was overjoyed. It was beyond his expectation. He quickly smiled and said, "Go and talk about it in the military camp!"