After cleaning up the battlefield, Chen Qing led 80,000 troops northward and stationed in Lingzhou.
At this time, Liu Cui sent someone to deliver an express message.
Chen Qing opened the express letter and read it carefully. In the letter, Liu Cui told Chen Qing that he had used the strategy of surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao to pretend to attack Xingqing Mansion, which had led 70,000 enemy troops to the north. His army had no siege weapons and could not attack Xingqing City.
At this time, he had led an army of 70,000 to cross the Yellow River and began to attack the Xixia army that was supervising the wheat harvest.
More than 10,000 Xixia troops had retreated northward in panic. Liu Cui was worried that the enemy's main force would come to harvest wheat, so he begged his commander to send troops to help them harvest wheat.
Chen Qing immediately recruited 50,000 party men in the city, took their families as hostages, and ordered these 50,000 men to go to Hetao to harvest wheat.
At the same time, Chen Qing sent Yang Zaixing to lead 30,000 cavalry and a wheat harvesting team of 50,000 party members to cross the river to join Liu Cui's army and assist Liu Cui in harvesting wheat.
But this number was not enough, so Chen Qing ordered another hundred thousand people to be recruited from the Han people to go north to participate in the wheat harvest.
The wheat harvest season is coming.
A big reason why Chen Qing captured Lingzhou was to harvest wheat.
Xixia is a famous wheat producing area. Wheat is mainly produced in two places. The largest wheat area is the Hetao area between the East and West Yellow Rivers. There are also large wheat areas distributed between several cities.
Both sides need to harvest wheat, which affects Xixia's food and military rations next year, and also affects the rations for the more than 700,000 people under the Song Army's jurisdiction next year.
Li Qianshun, the son of the Western Xia Dynasty, specially sent the imperial censor Bari Zuren as a special envoy to visit Chen Qing in Lingzhou City, hoping that the two sides would stop the war during the wheat harvest.
This agreement was not difficult to reach, and the two sides hit it off immediately. The two sides agreed to a one-month truce, with the East Yellow River as the boundary. The wheat fields east of the Yellow River were harvested by Xixia, and the wheat fields west of the East Yellow River were harvested by the Song Army.
A few days later, 100,000 people arrived at the wheat fields in Hetao and began harvesting wheat in full swing.
Chen Qingze, escorted by three thousand cavalry, went to the west of the Yellow River to inspect the wheat harvest situation.
The Yellow River splits into two at the mouth of a gorge fifty miles south of Lingzhou, splits into two east and west Yellow Rivers and flows northward, merges into one again in Dingzhou, and continues to flow north.
There is a large alluvial plain between the two Yellow Rivers in the east and west, also called the Hetao Plain. The land is fertile, the irrigation is convenient, the sunshine is abundant, and the area is very vast. It has become a famous grain producing area. However, this fertile alluvial plain is almost completely destroyed by the Western Xia Dynasty.
More than a dozen powerful men, big and small, occupied it, built hundreds of manors, and kept hundreds of thousands of Han serfs to farm for them.
But now all the manors have been cleared by the Song army. This alluvial plain was occupied by the Song army, depriving the Xixia dignitaries of their land ownership.
In the morning, Chen Qing came to the wheat fields in the north of the plain. There are also endless wheat fields here. The golden waves of wheat are undulating, full of the joy of harvest.
There were heads everywhere in the wheat field. At this time, Chen Qing saw several old Han people sitting on the edge of the field. He was surprised, how could there be old people here?
Chen Qing got off his horse, stepped forward and said with a smile, "Where are these old men from?"
Several old people didn't know Chen Qing, so they all laughed and said: "We are from Taiyuan Prefecture. Judging from the general's accent, we must be from Guanzhong!"
"I am from Zheng County."
Chen Qing knew who they were. The 50,000 carters came to Xixia with the forcibly commandeered carts, and were sent here by the Xixia court to cut wheat. Of course, their carts also came with them to load wheat.
Chen Qing sat down on a big rock and asked with a smile: "Where is your cart?"
"It's over there in the barracks!"
An old man pointed to the barracks and said worriedly: "The Xixia army has run away. We don't know what to do. General, help us ask, can we still go back to our hometown?"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Actually, you can stay in Xixia, and when Xixia is destroyed, they can bring their families to Xixia, and each person will be given a hundred acres of land, and they will be tax-free for life. Isn't it good?"
“How is it possible to be tax-free for life?”
Several old people shook their heads and said with a bitter smile: "Returning a hundred acres of wheat fields is simply a daydream."
Liu Qiong, who accompanied Chen Qing on his inspection tour, couldn't help but said: "Do you know who he is?"
Chen Qing waved his hand to Liu Qiong, indicating not to say anything. He continued to talk to several old men: "This is not a daydream. The Hehuang Valley recruits Han immigrants, and each family is allocated a hundred acres of fertile land. If they are military family members, they can be allocated Up to two hundred acres, the valleys and valleys are tax-free for twenty years, and the families of military personnel are tax-free for life. The Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Division has announced that after the destruction of Xixia, the people who immigrated to Lingzhou will be given one hundred acres of Yongye land to each household for life over the age of fifty. Tax-free, and those under the age of 50 are tax-free for 20 years.”
Several old men looked at each other. They had never considered this issue. They were just forced to live in Xixia.
"Thank you General for your kind introduction. We all understand, but we must go home first. I wonder if we can go back?"
Chen Qing also knew that they were eager to return home and could not force them, so he smiled and said: "Of course you can go home. After the wheat harvest is over, each of you will be given two guan of money and five buckets of rice, and then there will be an army to escort you out of Xixia." , I believe we will meet again in Hedong soon!"
At this time, Liu Cui came galloping on horseback from a distance. Chen Qing stood up and greeted him. All the old men were surprised to see that the top general actually bowed on one knee. An old man grabbed a soldier and asked quietly: "Is this Who is the general?"
The soldier smiled and said: "Other than Chen Dutong, the envoy of the Xuanfu of Sichuan and Shaanxi, who can promise you a lifetime tax exemption?"
"ah!"
Everyone exclaimed and were stunned. It turned out that this general was the famous King of Sichuan and Shaanxi, Chen Qing.
Chen Qing used to be called a human devil by everyone, but in recent years, Chen Qing has worked hard to govern Xihe Road and Shaanxi Road, and his deeds have gradually spread. People all know that he is a ruler who truly cares about people's livelihood, and their favor for him is growing day by day. No one calls him the Human Devil anymore. This nickname has been gradually forgotten and replaced by the nickname King of Sichuan and Shaanxi.
Everyone's hearts were filled with mixed feelings, and they didn't know whether they were moved or scared. At this time, an old man smiled and said: "Actually, I think it would be good to bring my family to settle here. I am a tenant in Taiyuan Prefecture, and I will have my own family here." Land, Chen Dutong just promised to be tax-free for life, everyone, I am really tempted."
At this time, everyone knew Chen Qing's identity, so everyone believed what he just said. We are all poor people. Faced with such good conditions, who would not be tempted?
...........
Liu Cui introduced Asali to Chen Qing, and Asali also knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists and saluted: "Asari, who is a humble official, comes to the capital!"
Chen Qing quickly helped him up and said with a smile: "Chief Jiang told me about the general. He said that the general is the first warrior of the Eastern Qiang people. He is indeed well-deserved!"
"They have all won awards. The chief is my father. When a father praises his son, it is always a bit exaggerated."
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "In my opinion, you Qiang people are all warriors."
Chen Qing's words were not false. In this confrontation with the Jurchen cavalry, 10,000 of the 30,000 Song army cavalry were Qiang cavalry. They were the forefront of the confrontation. Six thousand seventeen of the 10,000 Qiang cavalry were killed.
More than a hundred people were still not defeated, which is really impressive.
“Thank you, Du Tong, for your love!”
Chen Qing and the generals received the ceremony again, and then, surrounded by dozens of generals, he went to the wheat field to inspect the situation.
Liu Cui said regretfully: "This time I pretended to attack Xingqing Mansion. Later I heard that there were only 15,000 defenders in Xingqing Mansion. At least half of them were the emperor's guards. There were very few troops defending the city. I really regretted it. If I had brought a
Approval of siege weapons, maybe Xingqing Mansion can take it down."
Chen Qing shook his head, "Even if the Xingqing Mansion is captured, it does not mean the destruction of Xixia. Brother Richard is still in Dingzhou, and he will succeed him as the lord of Xixia. Although Xixia has declined, they have not yet perished."
Liu Cui asked anxiously: "When can we wait until it is destroyed?"
Chen Qing said lightly: "If Heaven wants to destroy it, it must first make it crazy. The people who make Xixia crazy have already appeared, and that day is coming soon."