The harvesting of wheat was over after a month. The armies of Song and Xia returned to combat mode.
Of course, as long as you follow the rules, you can also enter and exit the city gate normally.
It was mid-November in a blink of an eye, the weather was very cold, winter had already begun in Western Xia, and there was a flurry of light snow in the sky. This was the first snow since the beginning of winter.
In the evening of that day, Hu Yanlei came to Li Ji's mule and horse shop as usual and shouted: "Take the horse over, it's cold, give it more black beans tonight!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Hu! I promise to feed it until it's fat and strong."
Hu Yanlei rented a horse this month. He came to take the horse almost every morning and return it in the afternoon. He became very familiar with the people in the mule and horse shop.
Hu Yanlei's current identity was Cao Baozong's confidant. This was revealed once by him unintentionally. The shopkeepers and clerks of the mule and horse shop immediately paid attention to him, especially the proprietor Tuoba Shi Changshi, who deliberately made friends with Hu Yanlei.
, invited him to drink several times.
Hu Yanlei also gradually exposed his weakness in speaking, especially after drinking, he leaked many things about Cao Baozong.
Especially a few days ago, Hu Yanlei leaked something while drunk. Cao Baozong suspected that the missing property was related to his brother Cao Baohui, and the two of them had a bit of a falling out.
This sentence was immediately remembered by Tuoba Shi Changshi, and he immediately told Brother Richard the news in Eagle Letter.
Brother Richard immediately wrote back, asking Tuoba Changshi to spend more money to win over this soldier named Hu Yanqing.
The first capital Tuoba Changshi made was to give the rented horse to Hu Yanlei, which really moved Hu Yanlei.
Tuoba Changshi came out and said with a smile: "It's snowing and it's very cold. Why don't we go have a glass of wine to warm up."
"Of course, but I'm treating you today!"
"Brother, you don't have to be polite to me. Let's go! Go to Ganzhou Restaurant."
Ganzhou Restaurant is diagonally opposite the Mule and Horse Shop, and is also owned by Brother Richard. The two of them went up to the second floor and sat down at their old seats by the window.
Tuoba Changshi ordered food and drinks, and the two of them drank a few glasses of wine. Tuoba Changshi asked, "I heard a news that the imperial court is going to give the Jurchens one million taels of silver. Is it true?"
Hu Yanlei said in surprise: "Brother, how could you know? The Privy Councilor also said that this news is very secret!"
"Good things don't go out, and bad things spread thousands of miles. How can such news be hidden? Didn't I just hear about it?"
"It makes sense. The original condition for the Jurchens to send troops was one million taels of silver. In addition, they suffered heavy losses. How could they let the court go? This money cannot be escaped."
"How do you send the money away?"
Tuoba Changshi quickly explained: "I'm afraid they will confiscate my livestock."
"I won't requisition your livestock and use camels to transport them. There are thousands of camels. My brother won't want to intercept them halfway!"
"Interception?"
Tuoba Changshi smiled bitterly and said, "I don't want to die!"
"He is indeed seeking death. Ten thousand Jurchen cavalry escorted the silver to Taiyuan, and then transferred it to Beijing from Taiyuan. It is said that it is presented as a tribute to the emperor of the Jin Kingdom."
"when are we leaving?"
"Just these few days! The specific day has not been decided yet."
Brother Richard has already received a reply from Wan Yanchang. Wanyan Talan clearly expressed his support for his accession to the throne, which undoubtedly gave Brother Richard some reassurance.
During this time, Brother Richard was paying attention to every move of the court. Of course, he was the King of Jin after all. He had been in power for decades. There were many officials working for him in the court. He had many channels to get information. Tuoba Changshi
It's just one of the inconspicuous intelligence channels.
He had received conclusive news that the Emperor and the Kingdom of Jin had reached a secret treaty. The Emperor agreed to transfer one million taels of silver to the Kingdom of Jin for preservation. If Xingqing Mansion was captured by the Song Army, the Kingdom of Jin would transfer Datong Mansion to the Kingdom of Jin for one million taels. It was sold to Xixia for two silver coins and became the temporary capital of Xixia.
This is the real information. It is not the rumor from the outside that one million silver is used as compensation for the Jin soldiers to send troops. This is actually a kind of guarantee deposit. The Jin Kingdom guarantees that Xixia can continue to inherit.
There is another piece of information that is also relatively accurate. Ten thousand Jurchen cavalry will escort this batch of silver to Taiyuan Prefecture, and then transport it to Beijing from Taiyuan Prefecture.
Brother Richard is now confused as to whether he should leak this information to Chen Qing. Once Chen Qing intercepts this batch of silver and annihilates 10,000 Jurchen cavalry, the Kingdom of Jin will inevitably abandon Li Qianshun, and his opportunity will come.
But Brother Richard is worried that if the one million taels of silver are gone, will Wanyan Talan still give him the Datong Mansion?
It’s hard to have both!
Brother Richard suffered all night. At dawn, he finally thought clearly. He could not leak this news to Chen Qing. Without getting one million taels of silver, the Jin Kingdom's court would never give up Datong Mansion to him. Wanyan Talan agreed, but other Jin Kingdom nobles would not agree either.
The Yellow River froze in early November, and a large number of siege supplies were sent to Xixia from Lanzhou along the ice of the Yellow River on sleds.
In Yingli County, Chen Qing finally arrived at this batch of siege baggage that had been waiting for nearly four months. It was dragged by thousands of camels on the ice for ten days, and was followed by 30,000 cavalry on the southwest military road.
Although thousands of camels had thick coats, they were still frozen by the cold air on the Yellow River ice. More than a hundred camels froze to death on the road.
The soldiers took thousands of camels to the county town for recuperation, and tens of thousands of soldiers began to carry them in relays. There were 500 large siege ladders, 25 heavy trebuchets, and a giant battering ram.
Chen Qing stood on the hill, watching tens of thousands of soldiers shouting slogans, pulling hard, and slowly transporting various parts of the beast's siege ladder, trebuchet and battering ram back to the county town. Of course, they were parts. If It is a complete weapon and cannot enter the county town at all. The rack of the battering ram alone is five feet high. How can it be moved into the county town?
"Everyone is there!"
Chen Qing suddenly heard a soldier seeming to identify him. When he turned around, he saw Zhang Xiao walking towards him in a hurry.
"Zhang Sima, what's the urgent matter?" Chen Qingying came up and asked with a smile.
"Xuanfu Envoy, urgent information from Xingqing Mansion!"
Zhang Xiao handed a roll of eagle letter to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the eagle letter. There was a sentence in it, 'Ten thousand Jurchen cavalry escorted one million taels of silver to Taiyuan and set off on November 18th.'
Chen Qing's eyes widened. He was not alone because of one million taels of silver, but because of the 10,000 Jurchen cavalry.
"Today is November 16th, so we will leave the day after tomorrow."
"Exactly, we still have two days."
"Let's go back to the county first!"
Chen Qing immediately led everyone back to Yingli County. He needed to carefully consider the opponent's route and various possibilities and make a complete plan.
In the tent, Chen Qing spread out a map and said to Zhang Xiao and the generals: "The Jin soldiers escorted one million taels of silver to the east, so they must use camels. They have three ways to go. The northern route goes north along the Yellow River and enters. Hetao area of Heishan Army, and then enter Datong Prefecture from the north, but the commander of Heishan Army is Cao Baozong's brother Cao Baohui. Since Cao Baozong did not mention it, he will definitely not take the northern route.
The Jin soldiers will definitely be on guard against our interception. Although they are guarded by 10,000 cavalry, Wuyan Puluhun has suffered a big loss at our hands. He will not risk another million taels of silver, so the southern route is unlikely.
Then only the center line is most suitable."
Chen Qing pointed to the long strip of grassland between the two large deserts and said: "This is Henan in Xixia. Passing through this grassland also enters Dongsheng Prefecture. This is where they came from. If I am not wrong,
