There is also a large wheat field in the south of Dingzhou, which belongs to the official field. In the morning, Brother Richard, accompanied by officials, inspected the progress of the wheat harvest. He could not care less. The grain stock in Dingzhou was only 100,000 dan. In addition to the 50,000 troops,
These 100,000 shi of food can only last his army for four to five months. What will happen next?
In addition, there were 100,000 people in Dingzhou City. As for what the people would eat, he didn't even care.
"How much land is there in this wheat field?" Brother Richard asked, pointing with his riding crop.
Xiahou Qiuming, the governor, said quickly: "Reporting to the prince, the wheat fields in Dingzhou are about 80,000 acres."
"How much food can be harvested from 80,000 acres?"
"Each mu produces three hundred kilograms of grain, and eighty thousand acres equals two hundred thousand kilograms of wheat."
Brother Richard calculated in his mind that 200,000 yuan is enough wheat to feed an army of 50,000 people for eight months. With the current 100,000 shi, it is enough to feed an army of 50,000 people for a year. He nodded, "That's enough for an army of 50,000 people."
Xiahou Qiuming said with a bitter look on his face: "Your Majesty, this is not how the accounts are settled."
Brother Richard gave him a dissatisfied look, "Then what do you say?"
"Reporting to the prince, we must first sow wheat, twenty pounds per acre of land, and then there are one hundred thousand people in the city who also need to eat. There are also the soldiers' wives, children, parents, and we need to provide them with food. Twenty kilograms per acre of land.
How can a thousand stones be enough?"
Brother Richard suddenly asked with a gloomy face: "What should we do? Should we ask the court for it?"
Xia Houqiu sighed: "I guess the imperial court doesn't have enough. This year, 70% of our wheat fields are controlled by the Song army, and we only have a little more than 30%. The only thing we can count on now is how many cattle and sheep each tribe can have? Otherwise, how many cattle and sheep can each tribe have?"
There's no way we'll make it through next year."
Brother Richard understands in his heart that the cattle and sheep of Xixia are controlled by the Qiang people. There are not many Dangxiang people who are still engaged in nomadic herding. There are only four tribes left, distributed at the eastern foot of Henan Mountain. They are controlled by the imperial court. He is the only one.
What can be controlled are the cattle and sheep of the Black Mountain Military Division.
Thinking of Montenegro, Brother Richard suddenly thought of his second son and two thousand men who had been missing for a long time. Their whereabouts and fate were unknown, which really cast a shadow on his heart.
At this time, a soldier rushed over, saluted and reported: "Mr. Han is back!"
Brother Richard didn't want to inspect anymore, so he turned his horse around and returned to the city.
Han Feng had just returned from Xingqing Mansion. He was ordered by Brother Richard to secretly visit Wuyan Puluhun, the chief general of the Jin Kingdom, but the end result was not satisfactory.
At this time, Brother Richard walked into the lobby quickly and said, "Sir, you are back!"
Han Feng quickly bowed and saluted, "I just came back from my humble job."
"How is it? Have you ever been embarrassed when entering Xingqing Mansion?" Brother Richard asked with concern.
Han Feng said with a smile: "Now that Xingqing Mansion has been released again, you can enter and exit normally. I went straight into the city without looking for anyone or receiving any questioning."
Brother Richard was stunned, "Why did you let go?"
"It's probably because the imperial court and Chen Qing signed a one-month armistice agreement! In order to make it easier for food to enter the city, they didn't bother to check."
"Bang!" Brother Richard slapped the table, and the teacup on the table was almost knocked over.
"It's just nonsense. I worked hard to clean up the Xingqing Mansion. As soon as he let go, the Song Army's scouts were able to enter the city again."
Brother Richard was extremely annoyed and asked again: "Who gave this order?"
"It seems that Cao Baozong is in charge of the city's defense. He should have made the decision."
"This damn dandy has failed more than he has accomplished, and more than failed!" Brother Richard gritted his teeth with hatred.
After a pause, Han Feng continued: "I met Wu Yan Puluhun."
"Sit down and talk!"
Brother Richard pointed to the chair and asked him to sit down.
Han Feng sat down and said with a wry smile: "Wuyan Puluhun hopes that the prince will cooperate with the court as much as possible and hand over the army to the court."
Brother Richard's face sank, "What does he mean?"
"What he meant was that he sided with the emperor and rejected the prince's suggestion."
"Humph! He's just a Jurchen captain of ten thousand men, does he think of himself as the Supreme Emperor of Xixia?" Brother Richard's tone was extremely dissatisfied.
Han Feng added: "But I met the deputy general Han Chang again in my humble position. He was very interested in the prince. He suggested that the prince write a letter to Wanyan Talan, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Jin."
Brother Richard's brows knitted together, "I'm a little confused. Which play are they singing?"
"Your Majesty, the two of them are not sharing the same stick of incense. Wuyan Puluhun is the confidant of the fourth prince Wanyan Wushu, and Han Chang is the lazy person of Wanyan Tat. There is a deep conflict between the two people behind the scenes. Now they are completely Yan Wushu dominated Xixia, so Wuyan Puluhun supported the emperor, but Wanyan Talan did not want to send troops to Xixia, but he did not want Xixia's affairs to be deprived of power, so he ordered Han Chang to lead an army of 30,000 associates as deputy general. Han Chang was I want to push the prince to Wanyan Talan’s side.”
Brother Richard finally understood that Wanyan Wushu had the upper hand when the two major Jin factions competed for Xixia, and he was Wanyan Talan's hope of moving back into the first round.
"If I join Wanyan Talan, what will I get?" Brother Richard asked.
"Han Chang didn't say it clearly, but he only said that Datong Mansion is Wanyan Talan's territory. I guessed that Wanyan Talan wanted to use Datong Mansion as a retreat for Xixia. Wanyan Talan supported the prince to become the leader of Xixia. host."
Brother Richard took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Mr. Han, do you want me to write this letter?"
Han Feng said with a smile: "By writing this letter, the prince will take the initiative. He can enter Xingqing Mansion and retreat to Datong Mansion. But if he does not write this letter, the prince will really have to look at the faces of the emperor and the Jurchens.
Brother Richard nodded. Han Feng was right. Writing this letter would give him an escape route. As for whether he chooses this escape route, it all depends on his own wishes.
Brother Richard immediately wrote a handwritten letter and sent someone to Xingqing Mansion to deliver it to Han Chang, who then sent someone to go to Beijing and deliver it to Wanyan Talan.
After signing a short-term armistice agreement with Chen Qing, Xixia has also entered the busy farming season. In the past, it was Han slaves who harvested wheat, or Qiang people, Uighurs, etc. If the lower-level party members had land, they themselves I will also harvest wheat.
But most of the Dangxiang people will not be busy with farm work, but this year is different. Almost all the Han slaves have left. The Qiang and Uighurs were also forcibly driven away by Brother Richard. No one harvested wheat. Only the Dangxiang people were mobilized. During the harvest, almost all the young men and women of Dangxiang people went out of the city to harvest wheat.
There were too many wheat harvesters coming and going at the city gate, and there was no time to check. Cao Baozong simply ordered that the control be completely relaxed, allowing the people to enter and leave the city freely.
Although Brother Richard scolded Cao Baozong for breaking his rules, he didn't know that Cao Baozong had no choice. Hundreds of thousands of people left the city in the morning and hundreds of thousands of people entered the city in the evening. People kept leaving and entering the city along the way. How could the soldiers conduct interrogations? Since we can't conduct an interrogation, we can only let it go.
In the evening, hundreds of thousands of mighty wheat harvesting troops began to return to the city. They led mules and donkeys loaded with wheat, and some drove carts filled with wheat.
There are a row of soldiers standing on each side of the city gate, but as long as there is no trouble, these soldiers will not mind their own business.
After the food enters the city, it is not moved back to each house. Instead, it is sent to the warehouse before going home to rest.
Hu Yanlei and several of his men were also among the people harvesting wheat. The Xingqing government let them go. How could Chen Qing not take advantage of this opportunity?
Of course, there are tens of thousands of acres of wheat fields outside Lingzhou City, and of course Lingzhou is also harvesting wheat. However, Lingzhou is harvested by the Song army, and the city gate is still closed, not giving the Xixia people any chance.
Chen Qing and Brother Richard have the same idea. At this critical moment, there can be no mistakes.
Without any interrogation, Hu Yanlei led his men into Xingqing City. They went to hand over the food, and then drove the empty truck to a small alley in the south of the city. At the end of the alley was a small courtyard, which was the former Song Dynasty.
At the military scout's residence, Xiao Yuan looked at the door lock and said with a smile: "The mark I made when I stepped forward is still there, no one lives there."
He took out the key and opened the door. It was true that no one lived there. The ground was very messy and some debris was piled up in the yard. This was a slum area with little oil and water. None of the Xixia soldiers came in to loot it.
Xiao Yuan led everyone to clean up the yard and rooms, while Hu Yanlei went out to do errands alone.
Not long after, Hu Yanlei came to a splendid mansion. On the plaque was written the inscription "Cao Mansion". If translated into Chinese, it would be "Cao Mansion".
