After the news of recruiting people to build the city wall spread, countless people came from other states in an endless stream. The northwest was far less prosperous and prosperous than the south of the Yangtze River.
People in the south of the Yangtze River can earn a hundred cents a day, but in the northwest, they can earn twenty or thirty cents a day, which is pretty good, and there are still very few ways to make money.
The main reason is that there is too little money circulating in the northwest market, and all the money of the Song Dynasty went to the wealthy Jiangnan.
So Chen Qing offered fifty cents a day to take care of food and housing. This news was like a huge magnet, attracting people from various states and counties to come to work. In just ten days, 30,000 young people gathered in Ji County.
At this time, Jiang Yanxian, Lu Wei and other officials rushed to Chengji County, as did 10,000 soldiers responsible for defense and order maintenance. A large number of supplies were continuously sent to Chengji County.
Chen Qing understood a truth: to deal with foreign affairs, one must first settle the domestic affairs. If he wanted to become a true Jiedushi of Xihe Road, he must first control Qinzhou.
Wang Huai is a local snake. His father was killed by the Jin people. He can be used, but his ability is a bit poor and he cannot bear the burden of Qinzhou's general judge. Chen Qing immediately appointed Jiang Yanxian to know Qinzhou affairs and Lu Wei to become the county magistrate.
The two of them took over the reins.
In front of a big tent, Chen Qing met the listless Tongpan Wang Huai and said with a smile: "Wang Tongpan, I want to see the situation of wheat. Do you have time to accompany me?"
"The Jiedushi envoy has an order. How dare you disobey your humble position? Please follow me."
There was a hint of dissatisfaction in Wang Huai's words. He led the people of Chengji County to escape the massacre by the Jin soldiers. He had no credit but hard work. As a result, he appointed a new magistrate of the state and county, and his power was taken away. In his heart,
How can I feel comfortable?
Wang Huai accompanied Chen Qing to the wheat field in silence. Chengji County happened to be the confluence of the three rivers: Weishui, Tingchuan and Jishui. It has hundreds of miles of fertile fields, abundant water sources, and good sunlight, so this place has always been called Longxi Jiangnan.
It has always been a land rich in food.
Large areas of wheat fields are mainly distributed on the south bank of the Wei River and the north bank of the Ji River, covering more than 200,000 acres. The fields are crisscrossed with ditches and sufficient water flow, making the wheat grow lush and green.
"Chengji County now has three crops every two years, right?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.
Wang Huai nodded, "In the Tang Dynasty, the climate here was warm and humid, and crops were harvested twice a year, one wheat and one rice. Now the climate has become colder. Most areas only have one crop a year, and the land is barren and can only be planted."
Corn, which has a low yield, has good conditions in Chengji County, with sufficient water resources and fertile land, so it can be harvested three times every two years. We harvested wheat in July this year and rested the fields for a few months. We planted winter wheat in the winter. It will be harvested in early June next year. Hurry up.
Time to plant another season of beans.”
"Wang Tongpan is indeed a big businessman in Chengji County. He really knows Chengji County. I wonder if Wang Tongpan is familiar with Gongzhou?"
Wang Huai was slightly startled and then replied: "Gongzhou is the original Weizhou. It has always been connected with Qinzhou by blood and marriage. My mother is from Longxi County, Gongzhou. I grew up in my grandfather's house in Longxi when I was a child."
"Your mother is also from a wealthy family, right?"
Wang Huai nodded, "Although the Li family in Longxi is not as powerful as the Tang Dynasty, it is still the largest family in Gongzhou. It has produced several Jinshi and has a great influence in Gongzhou."
Chen Qing smiled and said: "I am considering recommending you as the governor of Gongzhou. Are you willing?"
Wang Huai was so unexpected that he was speechless for a long time. Of course he knew that Chen Qing's so-called recommendation was just talk. In fact, it was a direct appointment, regardless of whether the court agreed or not.
After a while, Wang Huaicai said: "Is the commander-in-chief ready to send troops to Gongzhou?"
Chen Qing said calmly: "There are only a thousand puppet Qi troops stationed in Gongzhou, and they can be captured at any time. I plan to consolidate Qinzhou first, and then consider sending troops in the autumn. After all, I am the military governor of Xihe Road, and I can capture Gongzhou."
State is a matter of time."
Wang Huai hesitated and said: "I'm afraid that I will be incapable of doing my humble job and let the capital down!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Why don't I let you be the general magistrate of Qinzhou, but instead let you be the governor of Gongzhou? Can you understand this?"
"Frankly speaking, I can't figure it out."
"Actually, the reason is very simple. I have very high demands on Qinzhou. I want every county to resolutely obey the instructions of the state government. I want to keep track of the trends of every county at all times. I want to double the population of Qinzhou within three years.
To make Qinzhou clenched into a fist instead of five fingers, frankly speaking, Wang Tongpan has contributed to Chengji County, just look at this wheat field, but his control over Qinzhou is still a little weak, I can say
right!"
Wang Huai said with a face full of shame: "What Dutong said is absolutely right. My father said that I can only be a county magistrate. I really cannot control the counties in Qinzhou."
"That's why I considered letting you go to Gongzhou. For Gongzhou, my requirement is to control Longxi County. Among the five counties of Gongzhou, Tongwei, Tong'an, Anxi, and Dingxi, these four counties are too weak and have almost no sense of existence.
, as long as you control Longxi County, you will control Gongzhou, which is just right for you."
Wang Huai suddenly realized it and quickly bowed and said: "I am willing to go to Gongzhou to share the worries of the capital!"
Chen Qing nodded, "My army will take Gongzhou this autumn. You will take office together then. There are still four or five months. During this period, you must fully support Jiang Yan to build the city first. This autumn, Xihe Road Festival
Dufu is about to move to Chengji County, and I hope you will leave a lasting mark in Chengji County."
"I humbly obey orders!"
After an in-depth talk, Wang Huai's knot was relieved, and he began to go all out to be Jiang Yanxian's assistant, so that the construction of Chengji County's Nirvana Rebirth was put into high gear.
However, relying solely on the efforts of officials without sufficient resources, it is still difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. In order to bring Chengji County to nirvana and rebirth as soon as possible, Chen Qing began to use the capital he had accumulated over the years.
On the official road, transportation teams that are more than ten miles long are arriving from Ganquan Castle with supplies. Tens of thousands of large tents are distributed in the fields and hills outside the city. There are also hundreds of thousands of stones of grain and two hundred thousand strings.
Qian, 70,000 to 80,000 civilians and troops lived in the camp, and a group of officials such as Jiang Yanxian, Wang Huai, Lu Wei, and Du Min were so busy that they never touched the ground.
Chengji County basically changed its appearance every day, and it was cleaned up within a few days. Deep pits were dug to build the foundation, and long strips of bluestone from the old city wall were used to build the foundation. New bricks were then used to repair the city wall, and the inside of the city wall was made of old city walls.
The bricks are filled with soil.
While the city wall was being built, the burned houses in the city began to be rebuilt. In order to encourage and help the people rebuild their homes, the Song army even provided fired red bricks for free.
With united efforts, the entire Chengji County became a large construction site, and men, women, old and children participated in the construction of rebuilding their homes.
The construction site is in full swing, with teams of busy people everywhere carrying baskets, stirring mud, and cooking glutinous rice milk. From a distance, they look like an army of ants as busy.
Chen Qing stood on a small hill one mile away to inspect the progress. This was the second time he had arrived in Chengji County within a month. He smiled at Jiang Yanxian and asked: "Looking at the progress, the city wall should be completed before the wheat harvest."
?”
Jiang Yanxian smiled and nodded and said: "The city can be completed before the wheat matures, but the people's houses cannot be completed until winter. Now everyone is repairing the city wall, there is a lack of manpower, and the red bricks are not in supply."
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and then asked: "There are also official residences, military camps, Cangcheng, and the family members of Ganquan Fort, and there are so many people. Is the city enough area?"
"Don't worry, everyone. The original city circumference of Chengji County was twenty-five miles. Now we have expanded it to thirty-eight miles. In the entire northwest, it is only slightly smaller than Jingzhao City and even wider than Fengxiang City's thirty-eight miles."
Eight miles long, it is enough to support a population of 300,000 people. Even if the city and military camps take up a lot of space, it can still support 200,000 people. It is enough."
Chen Qing said happily: "This makes me feel relieved. What difficulties are there now?"
"We still lack some resources, coal, wood, pig iron, and stoves. Now several families share one stove, but the stove is easy to solve. There is refractory mud nearby. I can just ask the brick-burning soldiers to burn a batch. The key is the first three items.
, to build a house you need beams and sun-dried wood.”
Chen Qing laughed and said, "If you want the supplies from Ganquanbao West Warehouse, just tell me, and I won't give them to you?"
In the west warehouse of Ganquan Fort, there are hundreds of thousands of camp logs, tens of thousands of kilograms of coal, and a large number of burned scrap weapons. Jiang Yanxian had wanted to come over for a long time, but he was too embarrassed to ask. After all, they were military supplies.
.
"I'm embarrassed to bring it up because I'm in a humble position, for fear that the military will be dissatisfied."
Chen Qing shook his head, "Those are not exactly military supplies!"
He thought for a while and then said: "I can give you all three materials, but you know that Ganquan Fort is short of wood. In the future, we must organize the people of Chengji County to cut wood and return the wood to Ganquan Fort."
Jiang Yanxian was overjoyed and quickly agreed: "There is no problem with this. After the people get the wood, they will write an IOU and repay it with the wood later."