Changlepo is located to the east of Chang'an City. To the north is a large grassland covering an area of 1,000 acres. The Ba River flows through the middle of the grassland. In addition to the grassland, there are also large forests. This place is called Shiliyuan. It was originally a forbidden garden of the Tang Dynasty palace.
During the Five Dynasties period, this place was also a place where dignitaries visited, and ordinary people were not allowed to enter.
After entering the Song Dynasty, the era of common people came. Not to mention a piece of grassland, even the imperial palace in Bianliang was open to ordinary people. Shiliyuan became a place for Jingzhao people to go out and have fun with their families. In spring, the wind was beautiful and the grassland was beautiful.
The toilets were filled with small tents, and many civilians brought food to relax and spend the night here.
It was late spring in April, and the heyday of outings had passed. However, dozens of small civilian tents were still stationed in Shiliyuan. However, large camps began to be stationed on the other side of Shiliyuan, and more than a dozen small tents were invited away. Uighurs
Three hundred tents were set up, and this was their campsite.
That night, Chen Qing held a grand bonfire banquet at the Uighur Army camp in Shiliyuan. He invited musicians and dancers from several music and dance studios to perform singing and dancing performances. Nearly a hundred officials and generals also brought their families with them.
Come to the banquet, Chen Qing's two thousand soldiers also drank and ate meat together with more than a thousand Uighur guard soldiers, or competed in martial arts.
Lu Xiu took his sons Chen Ji and Zhao Qiaoyun to the banquet. Chen Qing held his son and pointed at Cao Changchun and said with a smile: "Call me uncle!"
Chen Ji called out in a childish voice: "Uncle!"
Cao Changchun laughed loudly, "Good boy, uncle gives you a gift!"
He took out a roll of paper from his arms and stuffed it into Chen Ji's arms, "This is for you!"
Chen Qing was startled, what is this? He took the paper, and it turned out to be a land transfer order. It was signed by Cao Changchun and ten elders, transferring Jiuquan County to him, and added his son's name at the end.
Of course Chen Qing knew what this meant, which meant that he could incorporate Suzhou into the Sichuan-Shaanxi territory. This was a special way of sharing, just like the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty, which was nominally owned by the Tang Dynasty.
Territory, but in fact the Tang Dynasty only controlled four military towns, and the other vast land was the land of various small countries in the Western Regions, such as Khotan, Qiuci, Shule, etc.
Liangzhou is Chen Qing's actual administrative prefecture and county. The entire land of Liangzhou belongs to Xihe Road, while Ganzhou only belongs to Chen Qing in name. The actual land belongs to the Yellow-headed Uighurs, but according to the agreement, the Yellow-headed Uighurs want a city.
to Chen Qing. Since Zhangye City was the capital of the Yellow-headed Uighurs, the Yellow-headed Uighurs gave up Xiedan County to the east to the Song Dynasty. Xiedan County became the seat of Ganzhou. Chen Qing also symbolically established Xiedan County in Xiedan County.
A thousand troops were stationed.
When Cao Changchun gave Jiuquan to Chen Qing's son, Suzhou nominally belonged to the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty got Jiuquan County, the only county seat in Suzhou.
Of course, Cao Changchun's sending of Jiuquan County was not really a gift to Chen Qing's son, but to bring the Song army in to fight against Xixia's counterattack.
Chen Qing laughed, "It's not sincere to give this to my son! I might as well give you a pony, he would like it better."
"Yes!"
Cao Changchun said with a smile: "I will choose a magical pony to send to the crown prince later. This will be the meeting gift for the uncle."
The banquet began immediately, everyone sat in the open air, the soldiers sat on the ground, laughing and laughing, while the officials and family members were more reserved, with tables and chairs, and groups of dancers danced in front of the bonfire.
From time to time, soldiers would bring pots of roasted whole lambs and put them on the table. Special chefs would cut them into plates, and the maids would serve them to each guest like running water.
Chen Qing and Cao Changchun sat at the main seats. Next to them were their wives and daughters. From time to time, they turned their heads and chatted.
Lu Xiu drank a glass of wine with Chen Qing. Seeing that it was almost time, she whispered to her husband: "Ji'er and I have to go back first."
Chen Qing nodded, turned around and waved to Yan Jun, who quickly stepped forward.
"Send the wife and the young master back, send more brothers, and be careful on the way!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Cao Changchun next to him asked in confusion: "Is my sister-in-law going back?"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "I have a half-year-old daughter at home who is not in good health and can't leave her mother at night."
"I see, then my sister-in-law should go back and take care of the child!"
Gu Kuang
Lu Xiu said goodbye to Cao Changchun and everyone, then took his son and left.
Cao Changchun watched the mother and son get on the carriage, and then asked with a smile: "My dear brother only has a son and a daughter?"
"Currently we only have one son and one daughter!"
Cao Changchun shook his head, "There are too few heirs, which is not conducive to inheritance, so be it! I will give my dear brother a few beauties, all of whom he likes, and let them pass on the family line to my dear brother."
Next to him, Zhao Qiaoyun's heart skipped a beat. What the eldest sister was worried about had indeed come true.
She pinched Chen Qing's leg quietly, and Chen Qing smiled and said: "Actually, there is no shortage of women around me. Mainly because of the constant wars with the Xixia people and Jurchens in the past few years. I have been fighting abroad. I don’t have much time with my family, but I will spend more time with them in the future.”
"Brother Xian, do you really have no regrets?"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "I appreciate brother's kindness. If it is convenient for brother, why not give me a few more good horses for breeding."
"Well, I'll give you twenty fine stallions later!"
Cao Changchun saw that Chen Qing was not good at women, so he stopped mentioning the matter. To him, women were just as valuable as horses. Since Chen Qing asked for horses, giving them away was the same thing.
Cao Changchun picked up the wine cup and said: "My dear brother should know about the Jin soldiers entering Xixia!"
Chen Qing said calmly: "I know about the Jin soldiers entering Xixia. I only heard that Xiao Heda died and several sons had internal strife. I don't know the rest."
Cao Changchun nodded, "Brother Xian is concentrating on dealing with the Jurchens, and may pay less attention to Xixia. I am very concerned about Xixia and have sent a large number of spies. To be precise, Xiao Heda's power has been completely destroyed, and the internal strife among several sons has , the second son won in the end, but was captured by Xiao Heda's son-in-law that night and given to the Xixia court, and all the remaining 20,000 people surrendered."
"How many troops does Xixia have now?" Chen Qing asked.
"The total number of troops currently available to Xixia is 150,000, of which 20,000 are in Dunhuang, Shazhou, and 130,000 are in Xixia itself. This includes 20,000 Xiao Heda's surrendered troops, but does not include the 20,000 golden soldiers. .”
Chen Qing took a sip of wine and asked with a smile: "Isn't it rumored that Xixia has 400,000 armed soldiers?"
"The total population of Xixia is only over two million. How can it be possible to support 400,000 armed soldiers? As far as I know, at their peak, they only had a standing force of more than a hundred thousand. When faced with a war, they kept recruiting troops. This time During the civil strife, the Xixia court and Xiao Heda drained almost all of their military resources, and I estimate that at least 500,000 people died in the entire Xixia."
"There are so many people?"
"Absolutely! The Xixia army almost wiped out all the eastern counties, even the party members."
"Then what?"
"Then the latest news I got is that the Jin Kingdom will support Xixia with 300,000 shi of food and 50,000 sets of armor. Then Xixia must go on an expedition, but I haven't found out how exactly they will go. This should be their top secret."
"So brother is worried that Xixia will attack the Hexi Corridor?"
Cao Changchun nodded, "Xixia definitely doesn't want to go to war. The civil war almost destroyed it. It will take at least twenty years for them to slowly recover. But now it is not up to Xixia. The choice of Jin Bing to relieve Xixia is to force them to fight. If according to Jin's policy
The intention is that Xixia will attack in the direction of Xihe Road, but if the Xixia people are allowed to choose their own enemies, they will definitely eat the Yellow-headed Uighur to replenish their energy. It depends on how Xixia and the Jin Kingdom negotiate."
"What do you think, brother?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.
Cao Changchun narrowed his eyes and said with a sly smile: "Brother Xian, can't you really invite me to come to Jingzhao to relax?"