Ever since the businessman Han Dongtang was killed, Chen Qing has been thinking about rebuilding a kerosene supply chain, but this opportunity has never appeared. But since Chen Qing learned that Shu Ling Shi Zhangxuan's father had served as the academic magistrate of Yanzhou Prefecture for 20 years, Chen Qing
Qing then realized that this might be an opportunity.
The county magistrate of Fushi County is called Li Miaowen, a native of Yanchuan County, Yanzhou. He was once the most proud disciple of Zhang Xuan's father. He passed the Jinshi examination in the second year of Xuanhe and served as the registrar and county magistrate of Fushi County. Li Miaowen received Zhang Xuan's
He also received three hundred taels of gold for his father's autographed letter.
Entrusted with a favor and a profit, Li Miaowen was willing to become Xihelu's spy in Yanzhou.
Li Miaowen has been a little anxious in the past two days. He sent a piece of information to Chengji County half a month ago because he found that the Yanzhou kerosene warehouse has 20,000 barrels of inventory, and the Yanzhou garrison only has a thousand people. This is a rare opportunity.
.
But half a month has passed, and there is still no news from Chengji County. Li Miaowen has just received the news that a transport fleet has set off from Jingzhao three days ago and is expected to arrive in Fushi County in the next two days.
If no more people come from Chengji County, all the kerosene will be transported away.
In the afternoon, Li Miaowen was sitting in the official room in a daze. An attendant walked in quickly and said: "Master, someone from your hometown has come to deliver a letter."
Li Miaowen's heart skipped a beat. This was what he and Zhang Xiao had agreed upon. It was not someone from his hometown who came to deliver the letter, but someone from Chengji County...
"Where is he?" he asked urgently.
"Waiting outside the county office!"
Li Miaowen thought for a while and said: "You take the messenger to my house, I will be back right away!"
Li Miaowen cleared the table, got up and went back home.
In the study, Li Miaowen saw the messenger. The messenger was the scout sent by Liu Qiong. He was carrying a oral message.
The soldier saluted and said, "My general is in Liujia Town, thirty miles away to the north. My general wants to know if there is still kerosene in the kerosene depot and whether the garrison has increased?"
Li Miaowen said quickly: "It's the same as before. There are 20,000 barrels of kerosene in the kerosene depot. The garrison is right next to the kerosene depot. There are only a thousand people. The general is called Wang Sang. He is usually in the city at night."
After a pause, Li Miaowen added: "Three days ago, a transport fleet set off from Jingzhao to Yanzhou to extract kerosene. It is expected to arrive in the next two days. You'd better take action tonight."
After speaking, Li Miaowen found a confidant and asked him to follow the scout to Liujia Town to serve as a guide for the Song army. At the same time, he gave the scout a map.
The scout put down a wooden box, said goodbye and left.
Li Miaowen opened the wooden box, and inside there were thirty fine rubies, each worth hundreds of guan. Li Miaowen was dazzled by the sight. This box of gems was worth at least 3,000 guan.
Liu Qiong took his men to rest in a nearby forest thirty miles away, which is relatively close to Liujia Town.
In the evening, the scouts sent out came back, bringing with them a servant guide.
Liu Qiong looked at the map and asked in surprise: "Is the kerosene warehouse outside the city?"
The servant bowed and said: "Report to the general, the kerosene warehouse is by the Yanshui River, mainly to facilitate transportation. A large camp of a thousand garrison is also stationed next to the warehouse. Their general is called Wang Sang, and he has a concubine in the city.
I have to go back to the city to spend the night every night.”
"How is this army doing?"
The servant shook his head, "We common people call this army soft and hard. When you see a woman's legs, you are soft, when you see money, your hands are soft. When you enter a restaurant, your mouth is soft, when you enter a gambling house, your pockets are soft, but when you see the people, your attitude is tough."
Liu Qiong nodded. He could fully understand that Yanzhou belonged to the rear area and was far away from the battlefield. It would be strange to deploy an elite army here.
He looked at the map carefully, and a bold battle plan quickly formed in his mind
On the south bank of the Yanshui River, there is a warehouse group consisting of ten warehouses, surrounded by high walls. This is the kerosene warehouse, which was built in Luocheng only last year.
The reason why the warehouse was not built in the city is that firstly, Yanzhou is in the rear area, far away from the Song army, and there is basically no external threat. Secondly, there is a garrison nearby, and there is no fear of theft by ordinary people. The third important reason is
The transportation is convenient and can be shipped directly, so there is no need to find civilians to carry it out from the city.
The military camp is located to the east of the warehouse complex, only a hundred steps away. There are fences around it. There is an open space to the north of the military camp. At night, the outside is filled with business tents, prostitutes' tents for the leather and meat trade, and various food stalls.
There were wine and meat sellers, branches of gambling halls, etc., and it was extremely lively.
It was also because the general Wang Sang had to return to the city every night. Once he left, no one was in charge of the military camp. The soldiers took the opportunity to indulge in women, indulge in eating, drinking and gambling.
At two o'clock, it finally became quiet outside the military camp, and the exhausted soldiers returned to the camp to sleep. At this time, two thousand Song Army cavalry had crossed the Yanshui Bridge, only two miles away from the military camp.
The cavalry kept approaching and stopped about 300 steps away from the military camp. Liu Qiong waved his hand, and dozens of scouts ran forward.
The camp gate was closed, and the soldiers on guard went to find places to sleep. There was no soldier on guard in front of the camp gate.
The Song army scouts cut off the wooden bolts of the camp gate with a knife and opened the camp gate.
Liu Qiong saw it clearly from 300 steps away. He rode his horse and shouted: "Kill in and leave no chickens or dogs behind!"
Two thousand cavalry suddenly swept towards the military camp like a flood that broke a bank.
The cavalry rushed into the military camp, and he threw one after another at the big tent. The military camp was ablaze. Many soldiers fled from the big tent in fear, but they were killed mercilessly by the cavalry. There were cries and shouts in the military camp.
Some soldiers luckily escaped from the military camp and ran towards the county town several miles away.
In less than half an hour, the Song Army's cavalry rushed out of the military camp, and the military camp had turned into a sea of fire.
That night, the Song army used 2,000 camels to carry away all 20,000 barrels of kerosene. These were medium barrels, each weighing fifty kilograms. Each camel could carry ten barrels or more.
When day finally dawned, a large number of officials and general Wang Sang rushed to the river. The military camp was burned to ashes, and the surrounding business tents were also affected and burned.
The commander-in-chief Wang Sang looked extremely ugly. He could not explain to the commander-in-chief Li Cheng why he was not in the military camp at night.
Li Miaowen hid among a group of officials, looking horrified at the corpses that were burned to black charcoal, and that the warehouse was looted. All the 20,000 barrels of kerosene he had stored for half a year were taken away.
At this moment, a fleet of eighty thousand-stone ships slowly arrived. They came to extract kerosene and transport it to Jingzhao.
All the officials looked at each other and were dumbfounded. What should we do?
In the past two days, eight more female guards and ten male guards have moved into Chen Qing's mansion. The male guards are mainly responsible for the outer house and the middle hall, while the female guards are responsible for the back house.
Increasing security is also part of preparations for war. Chen Qing has made too many enemies outside, especially Xixia, who likes to use assassination methods. The Xixia royal family also established a special assassination group, Heijintang. When Xixia attacked Ganquan Fort, Heijintang's
The warrior sneaked into Ganquan Castle.
When Xixia was unable to defeat the Xihe Army with normal warfare, assassinating the opponent's leader must be the choice of the Xixia royal family. This was their tradition and a very effective method.
In addition to Xixia, the puppet Qi army will also do this kind of thing. They have many precedents, not only assassinating enemy leaders, but also assassinating political opponents.
Although Chen Qing's personal soldiers are very elite, he does need some highly skilled personal guards around him.
Chen Qing already has a personal bodyguard. Except when Chen Qing returns to his inner house, this bodyguard follows him like a shadow at other times. This bodyguard is a young Taoist priest who is as fast as a ghost. His special skill is throwing knives.
At dusk that day, Chen Qing returned home and entered the inner chamber. The personal guard disappeared. There was a female guard in the inner chamber to take over, so he ignored it.
Chen Qing returned to his study, took off his clothes and hung them on the hanger. The door creaked open, and his wife Lu Xiu came in with a cup of tea.
"Are you hungry, husband? Why don't you go have dinner first?"
Chen Qing smiled and waved his hand, "Let's take a short rest. I'm not too hungry now."
"Husband, people in the city are saying that the war cannot be fought. Is it true?" Lu Xiu asked.
Chen Qing took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Who said that?"
"I heard what the master said, and she heard what other people in the teahouse said. Everyone is very concerned about this issue."
Chen Qing nodded, "I can only say that the war may not break out. Wanyanchang wants to preserve his own strength and will not use the Jurchen army to die. It depends on the puppet Qi army. If Bianliang Xiang pays attention to increasing its troops, then this time
The war will definitely begin."
As soon as Chen Qing finished speaking, an arrow shot out of the window with a 'whoosh!', and the arrow was accurately nailed to the wall, with a letter stuck on it.