Chen Qing likes to use civilian officials who surrendered to the Qi Kingdom. They are more likely to be loyal to him than to the Lin'an court.
The earliest Wang Huai was like this, Zhang Xiao was like this, Jiang Yanxian was like this, and now there is Wang Tao, who was born as a Jinshi, an honest official, pragmatic and hard-working. How could he let such a talent go?
Wang Tao is about thirty years old. He has been an official in Deshun Prefecture, which is droughty and windy all year round. This makes him look older and darker than his peers in the mainland.
When he saw Chen Qing, he kept his head down and said nothing, with an unconcealable shame in his expression.
"Wang Shijun has been serving as an official in Deshun Prefecture?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
"Exactly! His humble position was initially the county lieutenant of Shangluo County. He was promoted to county magistrate one year later. He was appointed magistrate of Longgan County four years later. Last year, he was appointed as the governor of Deshun Prefecture. This position has been vacant for several years."
"In other words, Wang Shijun did not come from Bianliang to take office?"
"No, it was Li Cheng who directly appointed me as the magistrate of Deshun Prefecture and then registered it with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Qi State."
Chen Qing nodded and asked, "Have you ever gone to Bianliang to report on your work in the past year or so?"
Wang Tao still shook his head.
Chen Qing laughed and said, "Since Puppet Qi did not appoint him directly, then why did Wang Shijun refuse to stay?"
Wang Tao smiled bitterly and said: "I am indeed worried about my parents, wife and children. If they are in Deshun Prefecture, I will be willing to serve as Jiedushi."
Chen Qing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, gave some instructions to the soldiers, and the soldiers immediately left.
Chen Qing said to Wang: "I will immediately send someone to bring your parents, wife and children to Qinzhou. You go to Qinzhou to help first. When your family comes back, you will be appointed as the general magistrate of Qinzhou. In this way, no matter whether Jingzhao or Bianliang
They will not know that you have returned to Song Dynasty, and it will not affect your parents, wife and children."
Wang Tao was moved in his heart and quickly stood up and saluted, "Thank you for your love and kindness. I will do my best to do my best for you!"
At this time, Hu Yanlei quickly walked into the lobby, bowed and saluted, "For your humble position, please see the capital!"
Chen Qing pointed at Wang Tao, "This is the governor of Deshun Prefecture. His parents, wife, and children are in Bianliang. You should immediately send your capable men to Bianliang to take his parents, wife, and children to Chengji County."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Hu Yanlei was indeed a professional scout, and his questions were also very professional. He asked Wang Tao: "Do Wang Zhizhou's parents, wife and children live in the official residence in Bianliang?"
"Is there any difference?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
"Reporting to the capital, if you live in an official residence in Bianliang, someone will be watching you, and it will be difficult to escape. You will have to find an excuse to pick him up secretly, such as an outing, and you will be discovered quickly and will be wanted along the way."
Wang Tao shook his head quickly, "How do I qualify to live in an official residence? I am from Bianliang. I have an ancestral residence and a courtyard left by my grandfather."
"That will be easy to handle. Please Zhizhou come with me. I will find a few capable men and we will discuss a safe plan together."
Wang Tao looked at Chen Qing, and Chen Qing smiled and said: "Go! Commander Hu Yan's men are all powerful people, and I can always trust them in what they do!"
Wang Tao bowed to Chen Qing and followed Hu Yanlei down.
...........
Chen Qing immediately inspected the defenses of Longqian County, accompanied by He Zongshen.
Chen Qing checked some details on the top of the city. He pulled out his dagger and made a few cuts between the city bricks. Only a little powder fell. He knocked on the city bricks again, but they were not broken at all.
Chen Qing nodded, "Not bad. When was the city wall built?"
"Reporting to the capital, I still remember the city wall that was rebuilt thirty years ago. It was overhauled about eight years ago. It is indeed very strong. Even the commander-in-chief praised the city wall for its strength."
"How did the Xixia people capture the county in the first place?" Chen Qing asked again.
He Zongshen showed a look of shame on his face and sighed: "Bei Shi fell into the trap at that time. There was a banditry in Xiyun Town, twenty miles away from here. Someone came to report at night that more than two hundred bandits attacked Xiyun Town. So Bei Shi took the lead.
Thousands of troops rushed to Xiyun Town to quell the bandits, but fell into the Xixia people's plan to divert the tigers away from the mountains. We rushed to Xiyun Town and found that the bandits had escaped. Then we received news that thousands of Xixia troops occupied Longgan County, so we had to go south.
After retreating to Tongbian, I realized later that the bandits were also dressed as Xixia people."
Chen Qing nodded, "The Xixia people are full of tricks, so be careful."
"Because the ancestral home of the humble position is in Xiyun Town, and there are many He family members there. When I heard the news, my head exploded. I never thought that this was a plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain. Now I have learned my lesson and put all the people away.
The clan members all moved to Longqian County."
At this moment, a war horse galloped in the distance. It was the cavalry of the Song Army. The cavalry was quickly brought to Chen Qing. He knelt down on one knee and said: "Report to the capital, General Yang was attacked by the Xixia Army."
Ambush, the army suffered heavy casualties!"
At the same time he arrived in Longgan County in the morning, Chen Qing ordered Yang Zaixing to lead a thousand cavalry to go north to Delong County first.
This news shocked Chen Qing, and he quickly asked: "Where was he ambushed?"
"Ten miles outside Longde County!"
Chen Qing was stunned for a moment. Isn't this a repeat of the scene in Longxi? It's just that the two parties have swapped roles.
"How many soldiers were injured or killed, and what is Yang Zaixing's condition?"
"Reporting to the capital, our brothers suffered more than 300 casualties. General Yang's horse was shot to death, but everyone was safe and sound."
Chen Qing immediately said to the commander Li Muqing: "General Li led two thousand soldiers to defend the city with the state soldiers. Close the city gate tightly for me. Even if the enemy troops lie under the city and are massacred by you, you are not allowed to leave the city until I arrive."
Only then can we open the city gate. In addition, we must prevent the enemy forces from inside and outside from joining forces to seize the city at night."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Chen Qing immediately led five thousand cavalry to leave Longqian County and rushed toward Longde County, which was sixty miles away.
.........
Chen Qing led five thousand cavalry and ran for more than thirty miles. It was getting late. This was a cavalry team coming from a distance. It was Yang Zaixing's army that had retreated from defeat. There were only more than 600 cavalry and more than a hundred wounded soldiers.
The soldiers brought Yang Zaixing to Chen Qing. Yang Zaixing said with shame on his face: "I didn't learn the lesson from Longxi County and rushed to the county seat. As a result, I was ambushed by the enemy. I am guilty!"
Chen Qing waved his hand and asked: "How many enemy troops are there?"
Yang Zaixing shook his head, "The opponent was ambushing in the woods on the hillside. I was eager to lead the army to break out, so I didn't see the specific strength of the troops. But judging from the number of arrows fired by the opponent, there should be no more than 2,000 people. Otherwise, our number of casualties would not be more than 2,000."
More than three hundred people."
Chen Qing was a little surprised. The scouts had previously inspected Longde County and there were no Xixia soldiers. So where did this army come from and why were there so few troops?
"The commander-in-chief probably came to occupy Longde County, so he doesn't have many troops."
Chen Qing shook his head, "Everything must be considered from the worst side. It is better to make a mistake in judgment than to be careless."
"What Dutong means is that the other party has other plans? Could it be that the other party's target is Dutong's army?"
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "The other party may be planning a surprise attack on Longgan County to lure me out. But if I rush back and fight back, maybe they will ambush near Longgan County again and repeat their same tactics."
Yang Zaixing was stunned for a while. He had just thought of the other party's plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and also thought that the other party's real intention was to sneak attack Longgan County, but he ignored the possibility of the other party ambushing near Longgan County. This is really too careless.
Already.
"Du Tong, what should we do?"
"Retreat to Longgan County first!"
Chen Qing decided to withdraw to Longqian County and sent Zhao Xiaoyi and his men to investigate the ambush near Longqian County.
.........
At night, there were dark figures near the Xicheng Gate in Longqian County. They gathered from all over the county to an inn closest to the Xicheng Gate.
Like Longxi County, Xixia also sent a large number of spies to lurk in Longqian County. They lived in Longqian County for nearly a year in various capacities, including merchants, clerks, pawns, porters, etc.
Their mission is to cooperate internally and externally at the critical moment to capture Longgan County again.
This is a strategy commonly used by the Song Army, but the Xixia Army also likes to use this trick. It has been tried and tested with great success in offensive and defensive battles with the Song Army and the Liao Army.
But Chen Qing was already on guard. He brought Hu Yanlei and his two hundred soldiers from the scout battalion with him in order to clear out the Xixia spies in Longqian County.
Logically, this should be a matter for the Internal Affairs Battalion, but Commander Wang Hao's main task is to prevent enemy forces from destroying Chengji County. The task of clearing out Xixia spies in Longgan County falls on Hu Yanlei's shoulders.
At this time, Hu Yanlei quickly rushed to the military camp, walked into the tent, clasped his fists to Li Muching and said, "General Li, a large number of suspicious people have been found gathering at the Ping'an Inn near the West City Gate. Please send troops immediately!"
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[I have something to do at home today, so please take the update at noon off. I will update as usual in the afternoon. Sorry everyone!]