When Cao Changchun entered the door, he said worriedly: "Something happened at home. Three thousand Guazhou defenders actually surrendered to the Xixia army in Shazhou. Li Yanwu, the Xixia garrison in Shazhou, began a massive counterattack. Jiuquan County was surrounded, and the five thousand troops in the city were in danger.
Once Jiuquan is lost, the Xixia army will march into Ganzhou. My brother Cao Yuan sent someone to inform me urgently that I have to leave today."
Chen Qing looked at the map, pointed at Dunhuang with a wooden pole and said: "The Xixia army is marching southward, and Dunhuang will inevitably be empty. Why doesn't my brother send people from the back of the Qilian Mountains to attack Dunhuang? If we surround Wei and rescue Zhao, the Xixia army will inevitably withdraw."
Cao Changchun slapped his forehead in frustration, "Why didn't I think of that?"
"It happened suddenly. My brother was too impatient. I am a bystander!"
"Hey! Brother Xian is right, I'm confused."
After a pause, Cao Changchun said anxiously: "But I'm afraid it will be too late if I rush back."
Next to him, Jiang Yanxian suggested: "Don't worry, Chief. We have Eagle Letter, which can be delivered to the Haixi Saltworks in two days. It is only two days away from Quxian. Or our Eagle Letter can also be delivered to Liangzhou, and then from Liangzhou."
Zhou sent a letter to Ganzhou, what does the chief think?"
Cao Changchun was overjoyed and said, "Then send a message to Quxian. There are still 15,000 troops there who can attack Shazhou."
Quxian is the old capital of the Yellow-headed Uighur, about three hundred miles away from the new salt field of the Western Army. There are still many nobles living there and a large number of troops are stationed there.
Chen Qing added: "I can send five thousand troops from Liangzhou to go north to help defend Ganzhou. If the situation goes bad, I can also send the Lanzhou garrison to go north to help!"
Cao Changchun was moved in his heart and hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "You have a good brother, my heart has been made up. I will rush back first, and we will discuss the attack on Xixia later."
Cao Changchun immediately wrote two eagle letters, which were sent to the Haixi Salt Fields and Liangzhou respectively, and were urgently sent to the Yellow-headed Uighurs by the local garrison.
Chen Qing made another suggestion. He could send troops to escort Cao Changchun's wife and children back to Zhangye. In this way, Cao Changchun could rush back to Ganzhou with a light force. This suggestion was very reasonable and could save at least three days. Cao Changchun immediately
Entrusting his family to Chen Qing, he personally led two thousand cavalry to march day and night and rushed back to Ganzhou.
Chen Qing immediately ordered Liangzhou military envoy Zhao Lun to lead 5,000 troops to go north to support the Uighur army against Xixia. At the same time, he sent Liu Qiong to lead 5,000 tiger and bien cavalry to escort Cao Changchun's family back to Ganzhou. If necessary, the tiger and bien cavalry would also assist.
The Uighur army fought against the Xixia army.
On the second day after Cao Changchun returned to the Hexi Corridor, Chen Qing received urgent information from the Xixia Intelligence Point using the Eagle Letter. Twenty thousand Jurchen troops had withdrawn from Xixia to Taiyuan.
It is not surprising that the Jin Kingdom withdrew its troops from Xixia. After all, the Jin soldiers were defeated on the Shaanxi Road, which would definitely affect the Jin Kingdom's deployment and plans. The Jin Kingdom was not stupid. If they attacked Xihe Road at this time, it would be okay if they won, but if
What if we lose again?
With the current strength of the Sichuan-Shaanxi army and the weakness of Xixia, Xixia might be destroyed, so the Jin State urgently pressed the pause button and suspended the plan to attack Xihe Road.
However, the fact that the Kingdom of Jin does not attack Xihe Road for the time being does not mean that Chen Qing will not attack Xixia. It just means that he can prepare for the war more calmly, and Chen Qing has also obtained information about Taiyuan. Wanyan Xiyin, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Jin, has arrived in Taiyuan.
The purpose of his visit is unknown, but Chen Qing guesses that he is most likely the special envoy who came to Jingzhao for negotiations...
Chen Qing immediately appointed Yang Yuanqing as the three-way transport envoy and Zhao Xiaoyi as the deputy general manager. He began to use 200 ships and 30,000 camels to transport a large amount of grain and grass supplies to Lanzhou, and at the same time increased 50,000 troops to Lanzhou, kicking off preparations for war.
No civilians were recruited in preparation for this war. They were all mobilized within the army, and civilians were not affected.
At this time, the people in Jingzhao City paid more attention to the imperial examination. This was the first imperial examination in Shaanxi Road since Jingkang. Although it was a bit special, the state examination was not held and was renamed the Sichuan-Shaanxi Joint Spring Examination. However, after it was launched, it was immediately popular
Countless scholars have paid attention to it, and scholars have come from all directions since the beginning of the year.
In addition, the imperial court also approved the establishment of Jingzhao Imperial College, and the first batch of Taixue students were selected from this imperial examination.
The tenth day of April is the deadline for registration. Eighteen thousand scholars have come from all directions, including many from Hedong Road.
In the early morning, a waiter in the Pingan Inn in the south of Jingzhao City shouted in the corridor, "Today is the last day to register. Those who have not registered must register today. If you miss it, you will have no chance!"
In a guest room on the third floor, three young people were hurriedly packing up their quilts. Today is the registration deadline, but they have not signed up yet.
Of course, they didn't just come here. Now they can't find an inn, so they can only rent private houses for a short period of time.
They arrived in Jingzhao ten days ago. It was already a little late, and the inn was very nervous. They were lucky enough to find a back room in the Ping An Inn, and three people squeezed into one room.
The three of them all came from Chengdu, but they are not from Sichuan. They are all descendants of northern officials. The youngest, Chao Qing, is about in his early twenties. He is a descendant of the Julu Chao family and the grandson of the famous poet Chao Buzhi.
Another tall young man is called Zhong Huan, the grandnephew of the famous general Zhong Shidao. The third one is a few years older and is called Su Ce, the grandson of the famous prime minister Su Che.
The three of them were all studying in Chengdu Fuxue and were classmates. Because Chen Qing sent troops to occupy Bashu, the scholars in Bashu were generally dissatisfied. Many outstanding students were unwilling to come to Jingzhao to participate in the imperial examination, and would rather go to Lin'an to participate in the Spring Festival next year.
However, the news that Chen Qing led his army to defeat 100,000 Jin soldiers in northern Shaanxi and killed 70,000 enemies spread to Bashu, which also made countless scholars excited. At first, many people changed their minds and packed their bags to go to Jingzhao for reference.
"Why don't men take Wu Gou and collect the fifty states in Guanshan?" Young scholars who are willing to join the fight against the Jin Dynasty and serve the country have emerged in endlessly since ancient times. Especially since the three of them were officials, they were more willing to participate in the great cause of resisting the Jin Dynasty and regaining their homeland.
The three of them ate breakfast in a hurry and left the inn. Chao Qing smiled and said: "Old Zhong, you are a local, you should know where to sign up!"
Zhong Huan was about twenty-five years old. He was good at both civil and military skills. He could write articles and ride horses. His dream was to become a Confucian general and inherit his grandfather's career.
Zhong Huan chuckled, "I only lived in Jingzhao when I was a child, and I can't remember it for a long time. But I know about the Wanshou Eight Immortals Palace. We will find out when we get there and ask around."
The three of them stopped an ox cart, got on it and headed towards the Eight Immortals Palace.
The registration point is at the Jingzhao Prefecture School. There are not only the Fu Xue School, but also the Confucius Temple and the Encouraging Education Office. The Encouraging Education Office is the official office in charge of imperial examination education in the Xuanfu envoy's mansion. Education in Sichuan and Shaanxi is under its jurisdiction.
According to the agreement reached by Chen Qing and the imperial court, the education and running of schools in Bashu was under the supervision of the Imperial Academy, and the Education Encouragement Department of the Xuanfu Embassy was only in charge in name.
But in fact, the Imperial College was unwilling to spend a penny to run schools in Bashu. The fiscal revenue was all in the hands of the Xuanfu Envoy Office, and the teacher's salary subsidies, school maintenance and other expenses were all in the hands of the Education Encourage Administration.
So in just two months, all the schools in Bashu have recognized the reality, started to deal with the Imperial College, and focused on pleasing the Academic Encouragement Office. They have made all the suggestions of the Encourage Academic Office a top priority.
For example, Chen Qing put forward the school purpose of devaluing scriptures and emphasizing poetry. This was actually the purpose of running schools at the beginning of the Song Dynasty. However, later scriptures became dominant, which led to widespread students reading scriptures without knowing how to adapt and understand them.
This practical phenomenon has always been criticized by knowledgeable people.
Chen Qing not only made suggestions, but also implemented them. This time, the Jingzhao Imperial Examination abandoned scriptures and only tested poetry, Fu and strategy. This also caused many scholars who focused on scriptures to be intimidated and did not dare to take part in the imperial examination.
.
"over there!"
Chao Qing pointed to the distance and shouted, and saw countless scholars walking towards a gate. The three of them hurried to the gate. There were three large characters in gold on it, 'Encourage School'.
Registration is here. There is already a long queue at the door. There are at least thousands of people, arranged in four teams. Fortunately, registration is relatively simple and fast. The scholars keep moving forward without stopping.
The three of them had just lined up when they heard someone next to them boasting proudly, "It's not a big deal to know the examiner! Chen Qing is my brother-in-law! If it wasn't a formality, I would have taken office long ago."
[Dear book friends, please take a day off at noon today to relax a little and update normally in the afternoon]