Yang Yuanqing was cautious in his actions. He did not drive out all the rebels, but instead captured dozens of prisoners and took them to Jiangling City. This was to prevent anyone from slandering them for killing people for credit.
Zhang Shun, the prefect of Jiangling, was overjoyed when he heard that the Western Army's supporting cavalry had arrived and that they had wiped out the Longshan bandit Liu Gui. He went out of the city in person to welcome the Western Army's arrival.
"It turns out to be General Yang, great!"
Zhang Shun did not expect that it would be Yang Yuanqing who arrived. Yang Yuanqing had been stationed in Jiangling for several months, and Zhang Shun was the general magistrate of Jiangling. He was also worried that he would be a general who was difficult to deal with. Unexpectedly, it was Yang Yuanqing, which made Zhang Shun overjoyed.
Yang Yuanqing cupped his fists and said with a smile: "Prefect Zhang, we haven't seen each other for a long time!"
"General Yang has arrived. Jinghu is now worry-free. Please come into the city quickly!"
"Wait a minute!"
Yang Yuanqing waved his hand, "Bring it up!"
The soldiers of the Song Army brought seventy or eighty bandits to the ground. They all knelt on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. They were all dejected.
"These are Liu Gui's gangsters. They ravaged Fangcheng Town last night and we killed more than 500 people. These 80 people stayed to wait for Magistrate Zhang to deal with them."
Zhang Shun gritted his teeth and said: "Liu Gui's men did all kinds of evil. At least thousands of innocent people died in their hands. There is no need to interrogate them. Please kill them for me, general!"
Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered: "Drag him down and behead him, and show his head to the public!"
Dozens of people were so frightened that they kowtowed to the ground and begged for mercy, "General, spare your life! We will never dare to do it again."
Hundreds of Song soldiers dragged them down like wolves and tigers. In just a moment, all eighty bandits were beheaded, and thousands of people around them suddenly burst into cheers.
........
In the prefectural government office, Yang Yuanqing introduced Chen Qing's bandit suppression support arrangements to Zhang Shun.
"Xuanfu's support to Jinghu South Road will be divided into three steps this time. The first step is to suppress the bandits forcefully. He will send 11,000 troops. I have 5,000 cavalry, and 6,000 naval troops will come from the Yangtze River soon. The second step is to forcefully suppress the bandits.
The second step is to suppress bandits and spring plowing at the same time. Seeds and cattle will be sent, and then the Song army will suppress bandits while protecting the spring plowing. The third step is relief. In fact, relief will always be provided to ensure that there will be no famine before the summer harvest, so that
The people at least have food to eat, and of course, relief is mainly provided by the government."
Zhang Shun was really moved. He sighed and said: "The benevolence and righteousness of Governor Chen Xuan are like a mirror in our hearts. The officials and people in Jingnan will remember this kindness. Now there is no food in all states and counties, and hungry people are everywhere, including many old people and children."
They are all on the verge of death. It is so tragic. If possible, it is best to provide relief in various states first, and we will fully cooperate."
"Why is the famine so serious?" Yang Yuanqing was also a little shocked.
"It was not Liu Guangshi's fault. He transported all the grain from the official warehouses of various states and counties without leaving a single grain of rice. As a result, once he surrendered, all the grain became spoils of war for the imperial army and was transported away.
In addition, bandits are rampant, and every household has robbed all the food. They can only survive by digging wild vegetables everywhere, but eating wild vegetables every day is not an option! Seeing that spring is approaching day by day, there are no seeds and cattle, and the officials are worried to death.
."
"What's the situation with the bandits on Jinghu South Road?" Yang Yuanqing asked again.
"The bandits on Jinghu South Road are basically stragglers, with a dozen or twenty people in groups. However, because of the unity of the people, stragglers cannot take advantage. Now they have begun to develop into clusters. There are already five
This is a relatively large group of bandits, and Liu Gui, whom the general wiped out yesterday, is one of them. There are currently four other groups, one in Jiangling Prefecture, one in Yuezhou, one in Tanzhou, and one in Changde Prefecture, all of which occupy mountains.
King, it’s not easy to encircle and suppress you.”
"Are there still many stragglers now?"
"There are many more, it's just like an ox."
Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Our Xuanfu envoy ordered me to lead five thousand scout cavalry to Jingnan to suppress the bandits because the bandits were relatively scattered. The five thousand scouts will be divided into fifty teams to suppress the bandits in various places. We will try to spend half a year.
Eliminate banditry."
"But what should we do if there are still four major groups of bandits?"
Yang Yuanqing laughed, "Have you forgotten, Mr. Fu? We still have six thousand soldiers who haven't arrived yet!"
Just as he was talking, a Yamen servant came and reported in the hall, "Let me report to the Lord, a fleet came from the west, and many soldiers came down. They say they are the Sichuan-Shaanxi Army."
Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed. He didn't expect Bashu's Western Army to arrive so quickly.
.........
On the Yangtze River, two hundred 3,000-stone ships began to slowly dock, and 6,000 troops gathered on the shore. They were the 6,000 Western Army coming from Bashu. The leader was called Wang Dan, and he was a general commander. He was originally
He was Yang Yuanqing's general. After Yang Yuanqing was transferred to a civilian position, he was transferred to Zheng Ping's jurisdiction.
This was also Zheng Ping's shrewdness. He received a flying eagle message from Chen Qing, telling him that Yang Yuanqing had led five thousand cavalry south to Jiangling, and that Yang Yuanqing was the leader of the bandits in Jingnan.
Zheng Ping immediately changed his generals and sent Yang Yuanqing's old general Wang Dan to lead 6,000 people eastward.
Yang Yuanqing and Zhang Shun rushed to the dock. Wang Dan stepped forward and knelt down on one knee to perform a military salute, "Wang Dan, a humble official, is here to see Commander Yang!"
Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed. Zheng Ping actually sent Wang Dan to lead the army. This was because he was caring about his own face!
"It turns out to be General Wang, please get up quickly!"
Wang Dan stood up and said again: "General Qi, this time I led six thousand troops to suppress the bandits. In addition, there are one hundred thousand shi of grain. General Zheng said that this is the arrangement of the Xuanfu envoy. One hundred thousand shi of grain."
It will be used for disaster relief first, and the grain will be shipped later."
Yang Yuanqing nodded and asked: "Is it rice or rice?"
"Reporting to the commander, there are only 10,000 shi of rice, and the rest is rice."
Yang Yuanqing turned back to Zhang Shun and said: "Start building sheds! Let's start with porridge relief in Jiangling City, and then we will deliver the food to various local officials."
Zhang Shun was overjoyed and said, "I will arrange to build a porridge relief shed now."
...........
With the arrival of the six thousand troops, the Western Army began to pay the dues on Jinghu South Road. Yang Yuanqing divided the five thousand scout cavalry into one hundred squads, with fifty people in each team, and went to various places to suppress bandits. At the same time, the fleet also began to
Relief food was sent to various states. Yang Yuanqing and Wang Dan led an army of 5,000 to Jianli County, where the largest group of bandits on Jinghu South Road, consisting of about 2,000 people, was entrenched.
Ten thousand troops rushed to various places and kicked off the comprehensive suppression of bandits on Jinghu South Road.
.........
That morning, the imperial envoy Zhe Yanzhi arrived in Jingzhao and was warmly welcomed by Chen Qing. The envoy and his party of more than 30 people checked into the VIP Inn.
Zhe Yanzhi was also extremely concerned about the demise of Xixia. Seven generations of the Zhe family served as magistrates of Fuzhou for more than a hundred years, guarding the border for the Song Dynasty. Fuzhou is today's Fugu County in Yulin, the border of the Northern Song Dynasty.
It was also because of the invasion of Jin soldiers that the Zhe family was forced to go south. Zhe Yanzhi never dreamed of returning to Fuzhou, even if he gave up his official position in the court.
In the lobby, the two of them were seated separately. Zhe Yanzhi asked Chen Qingdao after a moment of silence: "Does the Xuanfu envoy have any plans to attack Hedong?"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "The initial estimate is next year, but when next year will not be fully determined yet."
"If we want to attack Hedong, I suggest it be sooner rather than later next year?"
Chen Qing was startled, "Why did Mr. Zhe say this?"
"I am telling you in a private capacity that next year the imperial court will negotiate a truce with the Jin soldiers. Once the imperial court and the Jin soldiers cease fighting along the Huaihe River, the Jin Kingdom will definitely increase its troops to the east of Hedong. It will be very difficult to seize Hedong again."
Chen Qing smiled slightly, "Actually, difficulty is not necessarily a bad thing. In many cases, the more you pay, the more you will gain."
Zhe Yanzhi felt very ashamed and nodded, "It is still Xuanfu who sees things thoroughly and takes a long-term view."
Zhe Yanzhi thought for a long time and said: "If I come to Jingzhao next year to take care of my elderly, I wonder if the Xuanfu Ambassador will welcome me?"
"Did something happen to Mr. Zhe in court?"
Zhe Yanzhi sighed softly, "The ups and downs in these years are all related to the imperial court's anti-golden strategy. If the imperial court resists the imperialist gold, I will be activated. If the imperial court appeases and compromises, I will be demoted. Now there is a financial crisis in the imperial court. An agreement will be reached next year." The possibility is extremely high, and I am mentally prepared to step down."
"When the Jin Kingdom tears up the agreement, Zhe Gong will make a comeback."
Zhe Yanzhi shook his head, "I'm tired and don't want to bother anymore."
Chen Qing was silent for a moment and then said to Zheyan sincerely: "If Mr. Zhe is willing to come to Jingzhao, it will be a great honor for me, Chen Qing!"
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[I’m sorry today, my hands hurt too much and I had difficulty typing, so I only wrote two chapters.]