Early in the morning, Jiang Yanxian quickly came to Chen Qing's tent, bowed and said, "Do you want to return to Ganquan Fort today?"
"The plan is to go back this morning."
Chen Qingxiao asked: "What's going on?"
"Li Zhixian of Jichuan County and Weizhi County of Qin'an will rush to Chengji County around noon today, and we sincerely request the governor to receive them."
Chen Qing asked the magistrates of all counties to come to Chengji County to report on their work. There are seven counties in Qinzhou, needless to say Ganquan County. In addition, the magistrates of Gangu County, Longcheng County, Yefang County and Qingshui County have all arrived, and there is still a shortage of chickens.
Magistrate of Chuan County and Qin'an County.
If Chen Qing hadn't known that the magistrates of these two counties were good, he would have dismissed them all. He delayed coming after receiving the order, and his attitude was not correct in the first place.
"Why are they so late?" Chen Qing asked with some displeasure.
"Reporting to the capital, Magistrate Weizhi was unable to leave because his father died three days ago, and Magistrate Li was because there were bandits in Jichuan County. He led people to catch the bandits and has just returned to the county."
These two reasons are pretty good. Chen Qing nodded, "Immediately send someone to notify Weizhi County and ask him to go back and continue to handle the funeral for his father. This time is considered a special situation for him, and he will come back next time."
"The humble job will be arranged right now!"
At noon, Li Wanlou, the magistrate of Jichuan County, rushed to Chengji County. Previously, the county magistrate Zhang Hong had brought 6,000 young men to build the city wall.
Chen Qing met with Li Wanlou and the county magistrate Zhang Hong. Jichuan County was the first county south of Ganquan Fort. Ganquan Fort had dealt with Jichuan County many times and received full support from Jichuan County, but Chen Qing was still the first.
I met the county magistrate Li Wanlou for the first time.
"Meet the Jiedushi!" Li Wanlou and Zhang Hong bowed together.
"Two county officials, please take a seat!"
Chen Qing politely invited the two of them to sit down and served tea. He smiled and asked, "Have you met Jiang Zhizhou?"
Li Wanlou said quickly: "There is no official report yet, just a few pleasantries. The formal report will be arranged in the afternoon."
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Don't be too nervous. Jichuan County has always cooperated with Ganquanbao, especially in resettling immigrants. I heard that Jichuan County's leather boots are very famous."
Li Wanlou also laughed and said: "The leather boots in Jichuan County are actually the leather boots of Ganquan Fort. After they moved to Jichuan County, almost all of them returned to their old business. Because of their good quality, they quickly became famous, not only in Bashu
, there are also many merchants from Guanzhong coming to buy."
"Are there any taxes?"
"There is no tax for the time being, because leather boots are selling well, and businessmen who buy shoes and sell leather are coming in droves, making the originally lifeless business slowly become prosperous. Many people are working as apprentices to learn how to tan leather and make shoes, and can
Learn the art of eating."
"Not bad! It's very far-sighted. In the future, Jichuan County will probably become a famous shoe city. In fact, it can not only make shoes, but also leather hats and fur coats. You can try anything as long as it is leather. When it gets bigger, it will be normal."
Collect taxes.”
"If the army needs leather boots, they can hand them over to Jichuan County. Our county government is planning to set up a trading house and prepare to take large orders."
"If the military boots are of good quality, I can give them to you!"
The atmosphere was very relaxed and lively. Chen Qing asked Li Wanlou again: "Is the banditry in Jichuan County serious?"
Li Wanlou nodded, "Because there are many businessmen coming to Jichuan County, they are targeted by many bandits, and banditry has been going on. A few days ago, a businessman from Lintao Prefecture was kidnapped. We took people to hunt down and rescue them, and killed seven
We were a bandit, captured three people alive, and rescued the Lintao merchants, but we interrogated the bandits and felt that the situation was a bit serious, so I have to report to the capital in a hurry."
"Tell me, what's going on?"
"These ten bandits are not independent, they are just a small leader. According to the accounts of the arrested, their leader is called Xia Hu, and he has more than 300 men. The following is divided into seven hills. I suspect that this Zhang Hu is the gangster of that year.
Bandit Xia White Tiger."
Chen Qing shook his head, "I don't know much about it, please explain in detail."
"About ten years ago, a fierce bandit appeared in the northern area of Gongzhou. There were about two to three thousand people. They ran rampant in the Xihe Road states, raped, burned and killed, and committed all kinds of evil. The leader was called Xia Baihu, nicknamed Northwest Tiger, and he was the capital breeder.
Zhong led 5,000 men to suppress the bandits, and it took ten days to wipe out the bandits, but the whereabouts of the leader Xia Baihu was unknown, and Xia Baihu divided his men into seven armies, which is very similar to how Xia Hu now divides his men into seven mountains."
"How come there has been no news about him for ten years?"
"To report to the capital, there was a rumor that Xia Baihu and his men were disguised as Xixia troops, but I don't know whether it is true or not. If the rumor is true, then Xia Baihu is most likely to escape back to Xixia."
Chen Qing originally just asked casually and did not take the bandit seriously. The local officials should be able to eliminate it, but suddenly the Xixia people were mentioned, which forced Chen Qing to be more vigilant.
Since he defeated the Xixia army the year before last, there has been no news about the Xixia army. Of course, he knows that the Xixia people will never give up and will definitely find ways to deal with him. What's more, in his next western expedition, conflicts with the Xixia people are inevitable.
, at this time, a group of bandits suspected to be Xixia people suddenly appeared. Of course, Chen Qing could not take it lightly.
Chen Qing took a few more steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Have these bandits appeared before? For example, robbing homes and houses?"
Li Wanlou shook his head quickly, "They have never acted on a large scale. We don't even know of its existence. If there were three hundred bandits, we wouldn't dare be so careless. We would definitely ask the capital to send troops to suppress the bandits."
"Did the Xixia people attack Gongzhou?" Chen Qing continued to ask.
Li Wanlou still shook his head, "It is said that Jin State did not allow them to enter Gongzhou, and Qinzhou did not allow them either!"
Of course Chen Qing knew the ambitions of the Xixia people. If they did not want to capture Gongzhou and Qinzhou, then attacking Ganquan Fort would be meaningless. The Jin soldiers failed to attack Ganquan Fort and had to withdraw. Will the Xixia people be ready to make a move again at this time?
Even if they dare not capture Gongzhou openly, they can capture Longxi County in the name of bandits! In name, Xia Baihu occupied Gongzhou, but in fact it was the Xixia people who occupied Gongzhou. They were so secretive that they never harassed the chickens.
Chuan County, it means that their target is not Jichuan County, but Gongzhou.
Thinking of this, Chen Qing made an immediate decision. He could not wait until autumn, he must capture Gongzhou as soon as possible.
After meeting with the magistrate of Jichuan County, Chen Qing led two thousand cavalry to leave Chengji County and return to Ganquan Fort.
...........
Five days later, Chen Qing divided his troops into two groups and sent Yang Zaixing to lead 2,000 cavalry to Jichuan County. He was led by Li Wanlou, the magistrate of Jichuan County, to destroy Xia Hu, regardless of whether he was Xia Baihu back then or whether he was from Xixia.
, but the bandits have gathered to 300 people and are very dangerous. They will rob the county town at any time and must be eliminated in time.
The other route was personally led by Chen Qing, who led an army of 5,000 to Longxi County to capture Gongzhou. Ganquan Fort was handed over to Zheng Ping to guard and train the 3,000 newly recruited soldiers.
One thousand camels carrying grain supplies, and another 500 carts carrying supplies, followed the mighty army of 5,000. The 5,000 army was composed of 2,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry, and the army marched all the way to the southwest.
.
That afternoon, the army entered Gongzhou and continued to kill Longxi County, one hundred and fifty miles away.