Xu Hongtu smiled slightly and said, "Does Jiedushi know about Wang Hou?"
Chen Qing nodded, "I know that he is the founder of Xihe Road. After the dissolution of the Qingtang Dynasty, it was his management of the Qingtang hometown that laid the foundation of today's Xihe Road. He is the predecessor I should follow.
."
"When Wang Hou was appointed as the first military envoy of Xihe Road, I was still his Hu Cao and participated in the military affairs. His management methods for the Tubo and Qiang people can be summarized in eight words, using both soft and hard tactics, focusing on appeasement and dealing with disobedience.
His tribes were struck with thunderbolts, such as the great chief Doropa and his son. When they resisted the court, Wang Hou did not hesitate to lead his troops to annihilate him and his son, killing them all. His tribe also perished, which was a good deterrent.
other Tubo tribes.
Then he comforted the surrendered tribes and gave them tax-free gifts and other rewards. After more than ten years of governance, the Tubo and Qiang people were convinced. To this day, they and the Han people can still live in harmony, all thanks to Wang Hou's decades of hard work.
Governing relentlessly.”
"Then what is Ren Dejing's attitude toward the Tubo and Qiang people?"
Xu Hongtu pondered for a while and said: "Ren Dejing has always valued the Tubo people and despised the Qiang people. In order to win over the Tubo people, he married the daughter of Kelopa, the leader of the Xihai tribe. This woman gave birth to a little daughter for Ren Dejing.
Jiedushi had better not kill their mother and daughter and send them back to Tubo."
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Senior Xu, don't worry. Even if Ren Dejing commits a heinous crime, I will not kill his wife and daughter. Please continue!"
Xu Hongtu continued: "In fact, Ren Dejing's approach has advantages and disadvantages. In the early days, he won the support of the Tubo people, but he lost their respect."
"Why?"
"Because he has lowered his status. Originally, the Tubo people looked up to him, but in the end, the Tubo people looked up to him, or even looked down on him. Now the more rebellious tribe among the Tubo people is the Xihai tribe. The Jiedushi must be
Be wary of them, talking about this Xihai Department, Ren Dejing almost did a huge stupid thing."
Chen Qing quickly asked: "What's the stupid thing?"
Xu Hongtu said with lingering fear: "I heard that Ren Dejing was planning to form a 10,000-strong Xihai Cavalry, with the Xihai Department as the main body. The Tubo people were the main body. He and the Xihai Department even reached an agreement, but fortunately he did not have time to implement it. Once he implemented it,
This will leave huge hidden dangers.
This Tubo cavalry is likely to become the foundation for the Tubo people to rebuild the Qingtang Dynasty. Wang Hou's attitude was very clear back then. Some Qiang people could be allowed to join the Song army, but the Tubo and Qiang people could not be allowed to form separate armies. Later,
Liu Fa and Liu Ziyu both adhered to this principle."
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Does the Xihai Department have any old enemies?"
Xu Hongtu put his hands on his hands and laughed, giving a thumbs up and praised: "Jiedushi is really powerful! One sentence hit the point. After the Qing and Tang Dynasties lost their country, Hehuang and Tubo were divided into seven tribes. The largest Doroba tribe was
Wang Hou was destroyed.
Among the remaining tribes, the two larger tribes are the Jishi tribe and the Xihai tribe, and there are four smaller tribes, such as living in the northern part of the mountain in Kuozhou, living in the southern part of the mountain in Hezhou, and living in the western part of Tao in Lintao Prefecture.
And Taonan living in Taozhou, etc.
Originally, the six tribes were in peace with each other, but after Ren Dejing married the Xihai tribe, the leader of the Xihai tribe, Groba, became aware of being superior to other tribes. He tried to convene the chiefs of various tribes in Xihai several times to discuss matters, but was blocked.
The Shi tribe took the lead in resisting, and the Xihai tribe and the Ji Shi tribe had a long-standing feud. In order to resist, the two tribes have clashed three times since last year."
"Senior Xu's mother should be the Jishi Department!"
Xu Hongtu nodded, "My mother's nephew Asang is currently the leader of the Jishi Tribe and my cousin. He is more pro-Song Dynasty, while the Xihai Tribe is pro-Xixia. It is rumored that Ren Dejing started colluding when he became the general magistrate of Xi'an Prefecture.
Xixia, in fact, is indeed a thing, and it is through the Xihai Department that it communicates with Xixia."
"Can you please ask Senior Xu to contact the leader of the Tubo Jishi Tribe for me? I want to meet him."
"No problem, I will write a letter to Asang immediately and ask him to come to Qinzhou to meet the Jiedu Envoy."
"Come to Qinzhou to see you?"
Xu Hongtu nodded slowly, "Jiedu Envoy can give him benefits, but he cannot lose his authority. He must look up to Jiedushi Envoy."
"I see!"
Chen Qing nodded and asked: "I know there is a Jishi County in Jishi Prefecture. Are there any Han people in the county?"
"There are many Han people there. It is a nice and peaceful place. The more than 10,000 Han people living there are unwilling to leave. There is also a county magistrate recommended by the people. Jiedushi will know if he has the opportunity to go and see it."
"If I have time, I'd really like to go take a look."
Speaking of this, Chen Qing remembered something again and asked with a smile: "I still have a doubt. Hehuang is located in a remote place. How did Ren Dejing amass a large amount of wealth? There are more than 100,000 pieces of silk and satin alone. It's amazing.
Confused!"
Xu Hongtu laughed, "Didn't Jiedushi know that the Silk Road has moved south to the West Sea?"
Chen Qing was stunned, "I really don't know."
"Thanks to the Mongolian Xixia people, they collected heavy taxes in the Hexi Corridor and allowed their troops to pretend to be horse bandits to rob caravans. The caravans coming from the Western Regions had to take the Western Sea Line, from Khotan through Huangtou Huihe and then to the Hehuang Valley.
The original destination was to go to Jingzhao City, but due to the war that broke out on the Shaanxi Road in these years, they stopped in Huangzhou and traded a lot in Huangzhou. Jiedushi saw that silk, porcelain and tea cakes were purchased by Ren Dejing from Bashu and sold to them.
Chen Qing suddenly realized that these silks, porcelain, and tea cakes were goods, not accumulated wealth. This was good. They could guide these Western Region merchants to Chengji County and make Chengji County a trading center.
Chen Qing stood up to say goodbye. Xu Hongtu sent Chen Qing out of the door. At the door, Xu Hongtu smiled and said: "I have a better suggestion. Ren Dejing is ungrateful, mean and nepotistic. The more he wants to firmly control the army, but
The more dissatisfied the army officers are with him, the Jiedu envoy can use Ren Dejing's heads to recruit troops in Hezhou and Kuozhou, and there will definitely be unexpected surprises."
This suggestion hit Chen Qing's fancy. He quickly clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Thank you, Senior Xu, for your suggestion. I will try it!"
When Chen Qing returned to the military camp, Yang Zaixing and Gao Ding had returned with more than 2,600 surrendered soldiers. Chen Qing handed more than 2,600 prisoners of war to Niu Gao for reorganization.
He summoned generals Yang Zaixing, Gao Ding, Liu Cui and Liu Qiong to discuss matters at the Chinese army's tent.
"Taking Huangzhou is just the first step. Ren Dejing still has 6,000 troops outside, Kuozhou has 2,000 troops, Hezhou has 3,000 troops, and Ren Zhongqun's 1,000 troops at the silver mine. I have ordered Li Muqing to lead
The army cleared out the silver mines, and now only five thousand troops in Kuozhou and Hezhou were left, led by Ren Dejing's second son Ren Jian and third son Ren Hong. These two men had too little qualifications and prestige to suppress the army.
Someone gave me a very good suggestion, use Ren Dejing’s heads to recruit two armies, that is, to provoke them to mutiny. Liu Cui and Liu Qiong, can you accept these two tasks?"
Liu Cui and Liu Qiong were overjoyed, and they both bowed and said: "I am willing to take this humble position!"
Chen Qing nodded, "I will give you seven thousand cavalry. You go to Kuozhou first, and then to Hezhou. Concentrate superior forces to deal with them instead of dividing your troops. Do you understand?"
The two of them saluted together, "I understand my humble position!"
Chen Qing said solemnly to Yang Zaixing: "I will personally lead an army of 10,000 to Xi'an Prefecture. General Gaoding will accompany me. Huangzhou will be handed over to you and Niu Gao."
Yang Zaixing nodded slowly, "In this humble position, I will definitely live up to the trust of the capital!"
The next morning, Chen Qing ordered the execution of Ren Dejing and other clan members. Except for his wife, concubines and three daughters, all the other men were executed in public.
Liu Cui and Liu Qiong led 7,000 troops to the Yellow River south of Huangzhou. At this time, the Yellow River had thawed, but the Yellow River south of Huangzhou was relatively narrow. The cavalry could use large leather rafts to build pontoon bridges to cross the Yellow River.
