It was getting daylight, and the fire in Agan County was still burning. Under the three city walls, there were corpses of Xixia soldiers lying everywhere. Most of them were shot by the Song army after jumping from the city, and their bodies were full of arrows.
But the most shocking thing was the city gate, which was densely packed with corpses. There were thousands of them. The Xixia soldiers inside the city desperately tried to escape, but three thousand Song soldiers shot them down mercilessly with their crossbows.
The city gate has been destroyed by the fire, and only half of the blackened wooden frame is still hanging on the city wall. Through the city gate, you can see that the fire is still burning in the city, but the smoke has subsided a little, and you can clearly see the street.
It was covered with corpses of Xixia soldiers who died of smoke.
In the end, no one of the 25,000 Xixia troops could leave the county alive.
War is so cruel, you will die or I will live, especially the war between alien races, they will kill everyone without mercy.
Chen Qing left behind 3,000 soldiers to deal with the aftermath, mainly responsible for burying the bodies and cleaning up the ruins. He led the army to Lanzhou City and joined Yang Zaixing's 8,000 cavalry.
Lanzhou City was called Jincheng County in the Tang Dynasty, and is now called Lanzhou County. It is a large county with tall and thick city walls that are easy to defend and difficult to attack. The city has a population of nearly 100,000, mostly Han people, with a small number of Qiang and Dangxiang people.
After Yang Zaixing entered the city, he executed all the Xixia officials and some party bullies, confiscated the property of the people seized by the government and the bullies, returned all properties to their original owners, and appointed former Lanzhou Sihu Yu Shaoyou as temporary magistrate of the county.
Chen Qing led the army to Lanzhou City. Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong took Yu Shaoyou and other officials out of the city to welcome Chen Qing's arrival.
Chen Qing smiled at Yang Zaixing and said, "My soldiers haven't had a good rest these past few nights. You should quickly arrange for them to camp. I can just ask Yu Zhixian about the situation in the county."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Yang Zaixing and Liu Qiong quickly went to arrange accommodation for the army.
Chen Qing asked Yu Shaoyou with concern: "How are the people in Agan County being resettled?"
When Yu Shaoyou heard that all 25,000 Xixia troops were burned to death in Agan County, and no one survived, he was extremely horrified. It was rumored that this Jiedu envoy was called a human demon, and he was indeed ruthless.
He did not dare to neglect and said respectfully: "Reporting to the Jiedu Envoy, some old and weak people have been placed in vacant houses and temples. There are not enough vacant houses, so I have built hundreds of large tents in several open spaces to temporarily accommodate them."
Chen Qing thought for a while and asked: "How many Xixia people's military rations are there in the city?"
"About 80,000 shi."
Chen Qing was startled, "There are so many?"
"The Jiedu envoy did not know that Lanzhou originally only had 30,000 shi of grain for the army. Later, General Yang arrived and used a camel team to transport 50,000 shi of grain from Dingxi County, Gongzhou."
Chen Qing was a little confused. Three thousand camels were following his main army! Where did Yang Zaixing get the camel team from?
He quickly said to his soldiers: "Go and find General Yang!"
After a moment, Yang Zaixing hurried over, cupped his fists and said, "See the capital!"
"Let me ask you, what happened to your camel team?"
Yang Zaixing bowed and said: "It was seized by Beizhi in Dingxi County. There are five thousand camels in total. They just arrived from Xingqing Prefecture to transport salt, tea, cheese and other supplies. They stopped in Dingxi County and were seized by Beizhong."
"There are actually five thousand camels!" Chen Qing was really surprised.
Yang Zaixing smiled and said: "I was surprised at first, but later I learned that camels are very common livestock in Xixia, just like us mules and donkeys. There are tens of thousands of camels in the Xixia government alone, and larger caravans usually have them."
Thousands of camels.”
Chen Qing laughed and said, "It seems that I am ignorant."
"The cleanup of five warehouses this time has yielded a lot of rewards. I am sending people to make a neat inventory and will submit it to the capital as soon as possible!"
War is like this. The winner will receive countless dividends, including land occupation, huge trophies, ransoms for prisoners of war, etc., while the loser often cannot recover for several years.
This time the Xixia and Song armies competed for Xihe Road. The various military supplies and supplies prepared by Xixia alone consumed nearly 30% of the national strength of the Xixia Kingdom. For example, in the Battle of Xuanhe, the Xixia Army defeated 300,000 Tongguans.
The army captured millions of spears from the Song army, and now more than half of them were lost in this battle.
Needless to say, he had to redeem the previous 22,000 prisoners of war. Chen Qing would definitely raise the price. Twenty sheepskins were not enough. A soldier would need at least thirty sheepskins, which would be a huge expense.
It is foreseeable that this war will make it impossible for the Xixia Kingdom to recover for several years.
There was a lot to do in arranging the military camp, and Yang Zaixing temporarily resigned. Chen Qing rode on horseback on the bustling Jincheng Street. Shops on both sides were shouting. Teahouses and restaurants were next to each other. Every house was full of guests, and business was booming.
"Now caravans from all over the country are gathering in Lanzhou, waiting for the Yellow River to completely thaw, so this period is very lively. In the summer, businessmen from the Western Regions, Xixia, and the Hexi Corridor will gather in Lanzhou again. This place has been a prosperous trade place since ancient times.
Big city!"
"How many people are there in Lanzhou County now?"
"The humble position now only has a tentative population estimate."
Chen Qing glanced at him and said, "You are a householder in Lanzhou. You don't have exact data on the population?"
Yu Shaoyou quickly said: "Jiedushi didn't know something. His humble position was the household secretary of Lanzhou before Jingkang. After the invasion of Jin soldiers, the population changed a lot. Xixia later took control of Lanzhou and moved many Han people to Lanzhou.
, the key is that the Xixia official’s population statistics are not correct, and a large number of slaves are missing.”
"Then what's your estimate of the population?"
"It is estimated that there are 20,000 households and a population of 140,000 and 140,000 in the humble position, but the Xixia official statistics only have 13,000 households, a full 7,000 households less, and a population of 40,000 to 50,000. They should all be slaves and not counted as civilians."
"Why is there a slave status?" Chen Qing asked in confusion.
Yu Shaoyou sighed and said: "The Han slaves captured from other states were placed in Lanzhou to grow wheat. Half of the land in the Hehuang Valley was occupied by Xixia. These slaves were responsible for farming and spent the winter in Lanzhou.
After spring begins, we will go to the Hehuang Valley to plant wheat, and we will cross the Yellow River after it thaws."
"Do you need military escort?"
"It's generally not necessary. Their family is in Lanzhou. We're not afraid of them running away. Every year, 70% of the grain is turned over and 30% is kept to support the family. It's been several years. Jiedushi, please take a look, it's over there!"
Yu Shaoyou pointed to the northwest, and Chen Qing immediately saw a large number of thatched huts and mud houses. They were all houses made of rammed earth, with thatched roofs or wheat straw. The huts were low and dilapidated, stretching as far as the eye could see, very spectacular.
"This is the residential area where serfs live, and it is also the lowest level of the people in Lanzhou. Every household is so poor that they can barely make ends meet."
Chen Qing looked towards the shantytown and saw that it was dark, not a single person could be seen, and it was completely silent.
"Go and have a look!"
Chen Qing turned his horse and headed towards the shanty town, and all the soldiers followed him immediately.
The shantytowns are full of sparse alleys and the smell is overwhelming. Many houses have no doors, only a piece of rag hanging on them. They are dark and nothing can be seen.
After walking around, Chen Qing felt really uncomfortable. This was no place for people to live. It was worse than a pigsty.
He immediately said to Yu Shaoyou: "You immediately select twenty or thirty elders from the shantytowns and come to the county government office. I will talk to them!"
"now?"
Chen Qing nodded, "Now!"
Half an hour later, a county official led more than twenty old people in shabby clothes into the county government meeting hall, where Chen Qing was waiting for them.
All the old people knelt down and saluted, "I see you, Lord Jiedushi!"
"Fathers, there is no need to be polite, please get up quickly!"
Chen Qing asked his soldiers to arrange seats and asked more than twenty old men to sit down.
Chen Qing said slowly: "Everyone is invited to come here. We have several important things to announce. Let me tell you the first thing. Starting from today, slavery will be abolished. There will be no serfs anymore. You are all civilians. The county government will give you a new one."
Fabricated household registration.”
Everyone was so excited that many old people couldn't help covering their faces and started crying. There were no slaves in the Song Dynasty, but Xixia made them slaves. It was an unforgettable shame for them.
After Chen Qing and others calmed down a little, they continued: "Changing household registration is only the first step. The next step is to improve everyone's lives.
I don’t want to wait until next year. I want to implement it now. I am considering returning half of the grains that each family turned in last year to everyone. First of all, we must ensure that everyone has enough to eat.
Then I will consider giving the land currently cultivated by each household to everyone as private property, tax-free for ten years."
Everyone was stunned. They couldn't believe their ears. There was silence in the meeting hall. After a while, an old man timidly said: "Jidushi is not joking! Are you really going to give us the land, or are you exempt from tax for ten years?"
"
Chen Qing nodded, "This is no joke. I will also give each family a small tent. The weather is cold, and I will give each family three sheepskins so that the whole family can live on their own land."
The elders finally understood that it was not a joke, and the hall suddenly burst into joy.
