The dock was extremely busy. Teams of civilian workers used wheelbarrows to transport food and supplies from the warehouses half a mile away to the dock. Two hundred large ships were moored at the dock. The ant-like civilian workers then carried the food and supplies onto the large ships.
The fleet first transported food supplies along the Wei River to Longxi County, and then transported them on camels from Longxi County to Lanzhou.
This is the third batch of grain supplies shipped to Lanzhou. On the dock, Chen Qing asked Zhang Xiaodao: "Have the siege weapons been shipped?"
"Reporting to the Xuanfu envoy, fifty heavy trebuchets, seven thousand-step guns, and seven hundred siege ladders are already on their way to Lanzhou. They are mainly to be dismantled into parts for transportation, but they are also very heavy, and the transportation is slow and humble. It is estimated that all of them will be shipped to Lanzhou this month."
"And a battering ram!"
Chen Qing reminded again: "Most of the cities in Xixia do not have moats, which is conducive to the use of battering rams. Have you sent the giant dragon hammer I mentioned last time?"
"The giant dragon hammer is still in Longxi County. According to the plan, it will arrive in Lanzhou before the end of this month. In fact, we are relatively sufficient in terms of materials and grain. We still have 300,000 shi of wheat in the Huangzhou warehouse, which can be used at any time. I think it is still a force. The problem needs to be solved as soon as possible to prevent the Jin soldiers from surrounding Wei to rescue Zhao and attacking Guanzhong while we are attacking Xixia."
Next to him, Jiang Yanxian also said: "Although Xixia is at its weakest now, it still has a century-old foundation. To destroy Xixia, we need at least 300,000 troops. No matter how we calculate, we don't have enough troops. The meaning of humble position is that we must not only ask the court for We also need to borrow troops from the imperial court for money and food. If we can destroy Xixia, it will be a great good thing for the imperial court."
Chen Qing shook his head, "I have already reported to the court, hoping to support me with money and food for half a year. I will probably give a part of it, but we cannot count on military support. We can only rely on ourselves. Now I am planning to recruit soldiers from Sichuan and Shaanxi. Zhang Sima, the total number of rural soldiers from various states should be 100,000!"
Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "There are less than 100,000 people, about 85,000 people. Sichuan can gather 60,000 rural soldiers, and Guanzhong can gather 25,000 people. The population of Xihe Road and northern Shaanxi is too small, so there is no need to consider it." , plus these 85,000 people, our total military strength will be 300,000, leaving 100,000 troops to guard Sichuan and Shaanxi, and 200,000 troops to attack Xixia."
Chen Qing thought for a while and said, "Two hundred thousand troops is a little less, but considering that there are 50,000 yellow-headed Uighur cavalry, we can also win over the Qiang people of Xixia. They also hate the Xixia court. They supported Xiao before. Heda, we can allocate the western part of Xixia to the Qiang people, and then the Qiang people will also send troops, so the total is not even 300,000, but it’s almost there.”
Jiang Yanxian praised: "The Qiang people's plan is good. Has the Xuanfu sent someone to contact them?"
"I have asked Xixia's scouts to contact him, but there is no news yet."
"When does Xuanfu intend to send troops?"
"It should be early autumn. I will decide the specific time depending on the attitude of the court."
Having said this, Chen Qing put his hands behind his hands and looked at the tens of thousands of civilians on the dock. He smiled lightly and said, "Do you think there are spies from the Jin Kingdom hidden among these civilians?"
Zhang Xiao nodded, "There will definitely be!"
"Did Sima arrange Lin Jianqing's matter?"
Zhang Xiao smiled slightly and said: "I have already made arrangements. I announced the job rotation system early this morning, which is tailor-made for him."
"But he cannot be allowed to have access to real confidential information."
"Please rest assured, Mr. Xuan, I will show him what should be shown to him. He won't be able to touch a word of what should not be shown to him. I'm sorry he can't find it out of my palm no matter how hard he tries."
A team of peasants carried fifty kilograms of wooden barrels onto the ship and sent the barrels into the cabin. One of the peasants took advantage of the situation and used sawdust to dig into the gaps in the barrels. Some powder fell, and he carefully After smelling it, it turned out to be kerosene.
Gu Yan
After entering the warehouse, everyone carefully put down the barrels. The farmer just pretended to wipe his sweat with a towel, quickly glanced at the cabin, and silently took stock in his mind.
A soldier behind him shouted: "Don't be in a daze, hurry up!"
The civilian husband turned around and got on the boat. He made an excuse and left quickly.
Just as the internal security commander Han Zhengfu deduced, Wanxi Restaurant is indeed a node of the Jin Bing Intelligence Network, but it is not an intelligence point, but just a foothold. Except for the shopkeeper, everyone here is a normal clerk, and Jin Bing It has nothing to do with the country, so the internal guards can't find any suspicious clues here.
Li Toutuo is just a nickname. His real name is Li Wanxi, which is the origin of the name of Wanxi Restaurant. But his pseudonym in Jingzhao is Jiang Xi, and sometimes he is also called Li Toutuo. His identity is the two proprietors of Wanxi Restaurant. One, although he spends most of his time at Wanxi Restaurant, there is something he never shows up for.
All shops have a back door. After the shop closes, the waiters and shopkeepers will leave through the back door. Wanxi Restaurant is no exception. Outside its back door is an alley. The alley is very long, two or three miles long, and there are alleys within alleys. Like a huge maze, extending in all directions.
But just thirty steps away diagonally opposite the back door of Wanxi Restaurant, there is a private house with an area of about one acre, a small yard and two entrances. This is Li Toutuo's residence. The carriage usually stops in front of Wanxi Restaurant. But the others walked through the restaurant and returned to their residence.
At this time, Li Toutuo was listening to reports from two of his subordinates.
"Today, kerosene, gunpowder and grain were shipped to the dock. I made an estimate and found that there are at least 5,000 barrels of kerosene."
Before his men could finish speaking, Li Toutuo waved his hand and interrupted him, "It has nothing to do with us how much supplies and food we transport, and I don't care either. I only care about Chen Qing's situation. He appears at the dock. Do you think there is a possibility of assassination?" How big is it?"
Another subordinate bowed and said: "Commander Qi, we did see Chen Qing on the dock. The guard can be said to be very tight. At least three hundred cavalry formed two large circles inside and outside, holding heavy shields. No matter which direction you look at, When shooting arrows, the arrows will be blocked by the shield, and there are hundreds of internal guards monitoring the outside. Anyone holding a crossbow and approaching within 300 steps will be discovered by the internal guards."
"What if we assassinate from a high place?" Li Toutuo asked again.
"Maybe from a high place, but after he left the dock, he got into the carriage. I don't know if the arrow can penetrate the carriage. His carriage looks no different from an ordinary carriage from the outside, but I guess there is something going on inside. They It’s unlikely that such a big loophole would be exposed.”
The subordinate did make sense. Li Toutuo turned back and asked the shopkeeper, "You told me yesterday that Chen Qing has a substitute. Is this news true or false?"
The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "I just listened to two drinkers chatting. They said something strange and strange, saying that Liu Yu had a substitute. One of them said that as far as he knew, Du Tong also had a substitute."
"Who are these two drinkers?"
"It seems that he should be a general of the Western Army. They dare not call Chen Qing by his first name, so they use Dutong instead. Since he is called Dutong, he should be a soldier."
Li Toutuo nodded, that's what happened. The generals called Chen Qing the Dutong, and the civil servants called Chen Qing the Xuanfu Envoy. Everyone knows this.
He was a little confused and said slowly: "Whether Chen Qing has a substitute or not is very important. We must find out as soon as possible."
The shopkeeper hesitated and said, "Can we use Lin Jianqing to ask him to inquire?"
Li Toutuo said bitterly: "That idiot couldn't even get into Chen Qing's house. I guess it was obvious that he coveted Chen Qing's concubine, so Chen Qing's wife strictly prohibited him from entering the house. If she had known he
If his reputation is ruined, I won’t use him at all.”
"Maybe his father can ask his father to inquire."
Li Toutuo nodded. If he wanted to take advantage of Lin Jianqing's father, he would have to have a showdown with Lin Jianqing.