The cavalry that came to Xiangcheng was an army of 20,000 led by Chen Qing. He ordered Gao Ding to lead 30,000 cavalry south to Longxing County to support Liu Qiong's army. He himself led 20,000 cavalry from Liang County and marched nearly 300 miles.
, came to Xiangcheng County to kill.
Unexpectedly, they happened to encounter Li Cheng's army retreating from the official road in the south after being defeated, only half an hour later.
Chen Qing led 20,000 troops to the city. The gates of Xiangcheng County were opened, and the county magistrate Xu Ping led a group of county officials out of the city to welcome the Song army.
In the Song Dynasty, not all county officials were county magistrates. The key was to see whether the county magistrate came from the imperial court to take up the post. If it was a court official who came to take up the post, he would often carry the title of a court official and be called a county magistrate.
However, if you are promoted directly from the county captain or county magistrate to the county chief official without a court official title, then you are called a county magistrate and cannot be called a county magistrate.
Of course, the status of the county magistrate is higher. If someone has been a Beijing official and comes from Beijing, after serving as a county magistrate for a few years, he or she can be promoted to a state magistrate. The county magistrate is more like a local snake. He has a good career and a strong background and can be promoted.
For general judgment.
This is equivalent to the two systems of local government. Generally, general magistrates cannot be directly appointed as magistrates. They must go to Beijing to be gilded and take the title of a Beijing official before they can be appointed as magistrates.
It’s a bit far-fetched. This Xu Ping is a typical local snake. He is the eldest son of the Xu family, the largest family in Ruzhou. He did not come from the imperial examination. The family directly donated money to get the position of Liang County Captain five years ago. He was promoted to Liang County Lieutenant two years ago.
Xiangcheng County Magistrate, if nothing happens, he will be the next Ruzhou Tongpan magistrate in three or four years.
Xu Ping doesn't care who comes to Ruzhou, and he is not loyal to any force. He is only loyal to his own family. Chen Qing also knows this very well, especially he knows in advance that Xu Ping is the eldest son of the Xu family in Ruzhou, so Chen Qing
Qing's attitude softened a lot.
"May I ask Magistrate Xu, are there Li Cheng's troops in the city?"
When Xu Ping heard that His Highness King Yong was coming in person, he became even more frightened and bowed: "Reporting to Your Highness, Li Cheng fled back to the county town half an hour ago and his foothold was not stable. When he heard that the Song army was coming, he quickly took him with him
The remnants of the army fled."
Chen Qing was startled and then overjoyed. Doesn't this mean that Li Cheng was defeated? He quickly asked: "How many troops did Li Cheng bring back?"
"There are about a thousand people. There were originally two thousand defenders in the city. More than three thousand of them have fled the county."
At this time, Commander Lu Gui stepped forward and said a few words to Chen Qing. Chen Qing nodded and said, "Go to the city first!"
Twenty thousand cavalrymen marched into the county town.
Xiangcheng is very large, with a circumference of about thirty miles. There is a transfer envoy's office covering an area of five acres. Li Cheng used it as a temporary governor's residence, and Chen Qing naturally regarded it as his temporary commander's office.
But what interests Chen Qing more is the warehouse group behind it. Xiangcheng has convenient transportation. Ru River passes through the south of the city, and it is surrounded by major grain production areas. Therefore, it has always been an important grain transit place. The transshipment office also has a
it's here.
"How much grain is left in the warehouse?" Chen Qing asked with a riding whip to the warehouse.
Xu Ping said quickly: "The official warehouse belonging to the county has about 12,000 shi of grain, but this time Li Cheng brought a large amount of military grain and supplies. They did not take it away, nor did they burn it. They sealed the warehouse. The details are as follows.
I don’t know how much food and supplies are in humble positions.”
Chen Qing nodded and said to Lu Gui and Yan Jun: "This Li Cheng is pretty good. He didn't burn the food. Based on this, if he is captured in the future, he can be spared his death."
Xu Ping also said quickly: "Li Cheng has a good reputation among the people. He enforced military discipline in Xiangcheng County. During the period of garrison, there was no robbery of property or bullying of the people."
Chen Qing smiled and said to Zhang Fan, the marching commander: "Go and count the money, food and materials. I want to know how much food and materials Li Cheng left behind?"
"I humbly obey orders!"
Zhang Fan's inventory results were beyond Chen Qing's expectation. There were 80,000 shi of grain, 200,000 dans of fodder, and 8,000 sets of armor. The so-called set of armor refers to a set of armor, a sword, and a long sword.
Spears, a dagger, a complete set of infantry equipment, 5,000 city-defending bows, 3,000 military crossbows with corresponding arrows, and 6,000 tents. What surprised Chen Qing the most
Yes, more than 300 thousand-stone flat-bottomed cargo ships were also captured on the Ru River.
These grain and grass supplies were all transported by ship, of course not in one batch. The three hundred cargo ships were strategic supplies. Li Cheng had to remove the ships anyway, but Chen Qing's army arrived too suddenly, and the boatmen were scattered in the city.
, many people even stayed in the brothels, and had no time to leave the city, so the ships naturally became the trophies of the Song army.
Just as they were counting the supplies, Liu Qiong and Gaoding's tens of thousands of troops also rushed to Xiangcheng County. They heard that King Yong had taken the lead in Xiangcheng County, and several generals hurriedly went to the city to see them.
In the lobby, Chen Qing smiled and asked several generals to sit down and said to them: "After this battle, Ruzhou will basically be controlled by us. The control point of Ruzhou is in Xiangcheng County, such as Ye County, Liang County, etc.
Basically, there is no need to consider garrisoning troops in the county. The enemy does not dare to review the map alone. However, Dengzhou must station at least 5,000 troops to prevent Xiangyang's troops from going north. In fact, after we occupy Tangzhou and Dengzhou, the western front of the armistice agreement will not count.
It’s invalidated, so we have to pay attention to the imperial court sending troops northward.”
Tang Qian leaned forward and said: "Your Majesty, I went to Xiangyang in humble duty and heard a rumor that the imperial court's attack on Jinghu South Road was false and that it was true to seize Yue Fei's military power. I wonder if this gossip is reliable?"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "It should be true. The imperial court has signed a long-term armistice agreement with Jin Bing and will begin to withdraw military power. What about the Eight-Character Army, Wu Family Army, Yue Family Army, Zhang Family Army, Han Family Army, etc. The Emperor will not allow them to continue.
If it continues to exist, it will become the second Sichuan and Shaanxi.
In fact, the first person to withdraw the military power was my old boss Wang Yan. The Eight-Character Army was disbanded, and the second person to withdraw the military power was Wu Jie. Now Wu Jie has been turned into a civilian official and appointed to know the affairs of Hongzhou. So the third
The three must be Yue Fei. If he is lucky, he will be appointed as a civil servant. If he is not lucky, he will be dismissed from office and will be under surveillance."
Chen Qing knew that due to his appearance, Yue Fei would most likely not be executed in Fengbo Pavilion, but there was a high possibility of being transferred to a remote area. His army was annexed by Zhang Jun in history. That was because the court was afraid of Yue Fei.
The army rebelled, and in all likelihood this time it was taken over by a general sent by the imperial court.
After a pause, Chen Qing continued: "But the imperial court still wants to attack Jinghu South Road. It may not necessarily conflict with our army, but they will also station troops on Jinghu South Road, and then we squeeze out of Jinghu South Road. The imperial court only has this ability.
I can guess it all."
Liu Qiong sighed and said: "But the generals under Yue Fei are all good at fighting. It would be a pity if they were buried like this. I have a good relationship with Zhang Xian. I want to write a letter to him."
"How do you know Zhang Xian?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
Liu Qiong said sheepishly: "Wasn't His Highness expelled from the martial arts examination back then? Several new people were admitted to the martial arts examination, including Zhang Xian. He lives in the same dormitory as the humble official. We have a very close friendship."
Chen Qing said happily: "If circumstances permit, you can write a letter asking him to come to the Western Army and say that I warmly welcome him to come."
Liu Qiong scratched his head and said, "I still have something to report for my humble position."
"What else?"
"It's about the reduction of soldiers. Zhang Zhongxiong's 16,000 reduction of soldiers. I don't want it very much. I want Li Cheng's 20,000 reduction of soldiers. Your Highness, can you?"
Before he could finish speaking, Gao Ding became a little unhappy and said: "Xiao Liu Dutong, we agreed, how can you take it all by yourself?
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "Could it be that Li Cheng's soldiers are more powerful than Zhang Zhongxiong's soldiers?"
Liu Qiong smiled bitterly and said: "It's not a matter of being more powerful. It's far from it. Zhang Zhongxiong's army is basically composed of new recruits, without much training, and their combat effectiveness is very weak, but Li Cheng's army is well-trained and experienced, with nine thousand cavalry and low-level cavalrymen.
The opponent's 10,000 infantrymen faced off, and after a fierce battle for an hour and a half, both sides were evenly matched. This infantry really impressed me."
"I think they are pretty good even in my humble position!"
Gao Ding also said: "Although the army was defeated, they still maintained their respective military camp formations after being captured. This is the first time I have seen such demotion of soldiers. I also hope to take some of them. Please invite Your Highness Chen Qing
!”
Chen Qing nodded, "Our total strength has reached 350,000, but it cannot exceed 400,000, otherwise the finances will not be able to bear it. I originally wanted to annex part of Yue Fei's army. If the 20,000 troops are indeed good, then you two
A family of 10,000 people, then Zhang Zhongxiong’s army was disbanded and returned to farmers. In fact, it was the same in Luoyang. I disbanded all the prisoners of war and returned to farmers. The recovery of the Central Plains requires population and a strong labor force. In the future, all prisoners of war will be disbanded and no more troops will be added.
.”
The generals stood up together and said: "I will obey His Highness's order!"
