At noon, Zhong Lin returned home in a depressed mood. He was from Gaoling County, Jingzhao Prefecture. Because of this, he did not follow Li Cheng to Bianliang and stayed in Jingzhao. He was highly regarded by Wan Yanchang and promoted him.
To rule the capital.
Zhong Lin was also from the Western Army. He surrendered to the Jin Kingdom in the Battle of Fuping. At that time, he was still a commander. However, in just four or five years, he was promoted to the commander of the capital. He was only in his early thirties at this time.
Herein lies his dilemma. He has considered leading his army to surrender, but he cannot give up his high position as the commander-in-chief. Chen Qing himself is only the commander-in-chief. Is it possible for him to be given a high position?
But if he did not surrender, his 10,000 troops would not be able to stop the main force of the Song army and would definitely be wiped out, and he himself might also lose his life.
Zhong Lin was sullenly drinking tea in his study. At this time, a heavy coughing sound came from the yard. It was his father who came.
Zhong Lin hurriedly walked out of the yard, "Father, why are you here?"
Zhong Lin's father is called Zhong Buyi. He is about sixty years old. His beard and hair are all white, his back is a bit stooped, his legs and feet are inconvenient, and he relies on a cane all year round.
"I have something to ask you!"
"Father, come in and sit down!" Zhong Lin quickly helped his father into the house.
Next door to their mansion is Wazi, the largest building in Jingzhao, which is bustling with business. Zhong Buyi goes there to drink tea every day. He understands the current situation very clearly.
Zhong Buyi sat down and asked his son: "I heard that the main force of the Song Army has launched an attack on Shaanxi Road. Where is the attack now?"
"I don't know either. There is news that the main force of the Song Army is in Jingyuan Road, but I also heard a statement that the Song Army appeared in Tongzhou. I don't know whether it is true or not."
"No matter where the Song Army appears, their target is Jingzhao City. Dad wants to ask you, what are you going to do?"
Zhong Lin sighed, "What I most hope is that Wanyan drinks Lisa and leads his army to Jingzhao City to take over the defense, but the Jurchen army just stays in Fengxiang and refuses to come. Now I don't know what to do?"
"Then you have never thought about returning to the Song Dynasty?"
Zhong Lin was silent for a moment.
Zhong Buyi said slowly: "You surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin back then to save your life and the lives of our whole family. Dad doesn't blame you, but there has always been a thorn in my heart over the years. Sometimes the storyteller in the teahouse talks about Yang
General, I can't stand listening to this, so I leave quickly. I'm getting older now, and I probably don't have a few years left. I'm afraid of what I'm going to say to my ancestors when I see them? You know what I mean."
"Father, please stop talking."
Zhong Lin said helplessly: "Actually, I don't really want to surrender to Chen Qing. There is no place for me there. If my father insists that I surrender, then I will just surrender."
"Dad doesn't necessarily want you to work for Chen Qing. If you don't like him, you can resign when the time comes. Dad just hopes that you can keep Jingzhao City, and especially restrain your subordinates to prevent rebels from looting Jingzhao City.
When I was drinking tea in the morning, I heard that Hanjia Money Shop and Laoshun Silk and Satin Shop were robbed by the rebels last night. Is this true? "
Zhong Lin nodded, "I understand what dad means. I will enforce military discipline. If it doesn't work, I will take the army out of the city."
Zhong Buyi happily stroked his beard and said: "You can only keep Jingzhao City. I believe Chen Qing will never treat you badly."
Zhong Lin returned to the military camp and immediately ordered people to find deputy general Liu Jiang.
After a while, Liu Jiang hurried over, bowed and saluted: "See General Zhong!"
Zhong Lin said solemnly: "Four major cases occurred in Jingzhao City last night. They were all looting of shops. Dong Zhixian told me that they were all committed by several groups of soldiers. Who was on duty in the military camp last night? How did they let people out?
"
Liu Jiang hurriedly said: "I was on duty last night, but I promised that the gate of the military camp was closed at night and no soldiers were allowed out. I felt that it was probably the work of soldiers patrolling at night, but there were two thousand people patrolling at night.
They won't put the looted property in the military camp, so it's really difficult to check."
"You also admit that our people did it?"
Liu Jiang smiled bitterly and said: "I don't have any evidence to say that it was done by one of our people, but I know that the soldiers are panicked and the morale of the army is unstable. Many people want to make a fortune and return home. I am also worried that similar robbery cases will become more common."
Come more and more.”
Zhong Lin thought for a moment and said: "If the army breaks out in riots and loots the whole city, I'm afraid none of us will survive in the end. I decided to take the army out of the city and station it in the Baqiao military camp!"
"What about the sentry soldiers?"
"Take all the soldiers away, leave no one behind, and hand over the security and city gates to the government!"
Liu Jiang nodded, "That's fine. If the situation changes, we can evacuate at any time!"
In the afternoon of the same day, Zhong Lin ordered the entire army to assemble. He led 10,000 troops to leave Jingzhao City and stationed at the Baqiao military camp twenty miles away.
Three days later, Chen Qing led an 80,000-strong army to Jingzhao City. The 80,000-strong army first came to the Baqiao military camp and set up a formation outside the military camp.
Chen Qing sent people to recruit this army of ten thousand people to surrender. At the unanimous request of the generals, Zhong Lin accepted Chen Qing's surrender and surrendered unconditionally.
The camp gate was wide open, and groups of puppet Qi troops came out of the camp holding white flags to surrender. They put down their weapons, took off their armor, and were led by the cavalry to an open space to rest on the spot.
Zhong Lin led more than 20 generals to Chen Qing's war horse, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "Puppet Qi General Zhong Lin led his men to surrender to the Jinlue Envoy, and is willing to do his best for the Jinlue Envoy!"
All the generals said in unison: "I am willing to do my best for the management!"
Chen Qing waved his hands and said with a smile: "General Zhong and the generals restrained the army and preserved Jingzhao City. This is a great contribution. I will never treat you badly. Generals, please stand up and welcome everyone to join the Xihe Army!"
Chen Qing immediately ordered Liu Cui to take over the surrendered soldiers. According to regulations, the surrendered generals must be intensively trained for three months before being reactivated. This is also to distinguish the good from the bad, keep the good generals, and eliminate the poor generals. It is also to combine them with the surrendering army.
separated.
Arrangements were made for the surrender of the army, and Chen Qing ordered the entire army to enter Jingzhao. The 50,000-strong army held an entry ceremony. The streets in Jingzhao were suddenly deserted. People from all over the city came to both sides of Zhuque Street to sing and dance to welcome the Song army's return to Jingzhao.
Chen Qing rode on his horse and looked at the cheering crowds on both sides. Countless people burst into tears. Many people even knelt on the ground and cried bitterly. Although Chen Qing had captured Jingzhao City twice, they were only passers-by and far away.
Restoration is far from possible.
But this time it was the victory of the Eastern Expedition, and Jingzhao City was officially recovered. All the people knew that this time the Song Army really came back. Hundreds of thousands of people were excited, raising their arms and shouting, "Long live the Song Army! Long live the Song Army!"
Waves of cheers came and went like a sea wave.
At this time, Chen Qing saw a familiar place. The place where he killed Wanyan Lou's house. The walls and bluestone slabs had not changed at all, and the surrounding buildings were also the same.
But the man has changed. It turns out that he came to Chang'an with the determination to die, and after luckily killed Wanyan Loushi, he ran away in panic.
But who could have imagined that five years later, he would lead his army into Jingzhao in a grand way.
As he told a group of elderly people five years ago, 'I'll be back!'
Now that he is really back, the corners of Chen Qing's eyes can't help but get a little wet.
Fifty thousand Song troops left the city from the north gate and stationed in the military camp. Hu Yantong led 10,000 troops to station in the city to maintain order in Jingzhao City.
Chen Qing went to the county government office under the escort of dozens of soldiers. When he was still hundreds of steps away from the county government office, he saw thousands of people lining up in front of a shop.
Chen Qing said to a soldier: "Go and see what's going on?"
The soldiers rushed away and came back shortly to report, "Let me tell you, the capital, that is a grain shop. Because the Song army entered the city and lowered the price of grain for sale, the surrounding residents came and queued up to buy grain."
"How much cheaper?"
"It's ten cents cheaper. A bushel of wheat only costs seventy cents."
Chen Qing frowned, "Doesn't a bushel of wheat cost eighty cents?"
"This is still the price of old wheat. New rice and new wheat cost more than 100 yuan. I just heard from people in line that many people have no food and are digging wild vegetables, catching voles, and pounding elm coins outside. It's very miserable."
Chen Qing's face turned ugly and he said nothing.
Not long after, they came to the county government. The Jin people had merged the original Chang'an County and Wannian County into one, called Chang'an County. The name of the magistrate of Chang'an was Dong Yan. He was about forty years old. He was a Jinshi and looked very good.
Smooth.
However, he has a bad reputation because of his excessive collection of taxes. But this year he realized that the situation was not good, so he was not active in collecting taxes. As a result, less than 20% of last year's taxes have been collected so far.
Dong Yan knew very well that if he really forced the people to sell their sons and daughters, his own life would be in danger.
When Dong Yan heard about Chen Qing's arrival, he hurriedly came out of the county government office to welcome him. "The lower officials didn't know the plan and the envoy was coming, so he missed the opportunity to welcome him from afar!"
Chen Qing smiled lightly and said: "I would like to know about the situation in the city. Can the county magistrate have time?"
Dong Yan was flattered and said: "I have time for my humble position!"
Chen Qing nodded, "Then please ask the county magistrate to take me to the warehouse to have a look."
