Fenghou

There is a winding mountain road that can walk carts and circles up the mountain.

At this time, Chen Qing saw a crowd of soldiers standing behind the first defensive wall, there were more than 1000 soldiers, each wearing hats and leather armor, with bows and arrows in their hands, ready for battle.

"Wave the Great Song Army Flag!"

A soldier waved Da Song's Tuanlong Army flag towards the mountain, but there was no response from the mountain.

At this moment, hundreds of arrows suddenly shot out from the mountain, and shot towards the Song army down the mountain.

"It's the God Arm Crossbow!"

Chen Qing recognized the arrow, and he immediately ordered: "Retreat immediately!"

The cavalry of the Song Army retreated quickly, and their position was within the range of the divine arm crossbow.

However, the arrows did not land on his head, the distance was shortened, and more than 100 crossbow arrows landed in front of them.

Chen Qing's face became very ugly. Of course he understood what the other party meant. The other party already knew that he was Song Jun, but he was warning them not to interfere with Zhoujiabao.

When did Chen Qing become so cowardly and passive? He turned around and asked, "Do we have the God Arm Crossbow?"

"Have!"

Several cavalry soldiers with crossbows in their hands rushed forward.

Chen Qing took over a god-armed crossbow, stretched his arms to wind it, put in a crossbow arrow, and took a few steps back.

The soldiers retreated one after another, and Chen Qing raised his crossbow to aim at the flagpole on the defensive wall, on which was flying a large flag with the word "Zhou" written on it.

"What did you see in this fortress?" Chen Qing asked Yang Zaixing behind him.

"Arrogance!" Yang Zaixing returned calmly.

"Yes! Arrogance."

Pull the hanging knife, 'click! With a sound, a crossbow arrow shot out powerfully. It could not penetrate the armor of the enemy with three hundred paces, but it could break the rope. The big flag on the flagpole suddenly fell off, blown by the wind, and floated far away.

The exclamation of the Baoding people suddenly sounded on the defensive wall. Even Zhou Jiabao, who is powerful in archery, had never seen such a transcendent archery technique.

The cavalry of the Song Army also burst into warm applause and cheers.

Chen Qing put down the crossbow and said coldly, "Go back to the city!"

Chapter 181 The Zhou Family

Standing in front of the third defensive wall on the top of the mountain was an old man with white beard and hair. His back was a little bent, and he was leaning on the stone wall with both hands. He watched the big flag fall, his eyes full of anxiety.

What he was worried about was not General Song's superb arrow skills, but the strong warning contained in this arrow.

My two brothers went further and further on the road of arrogance, which would bring disaster to the family.

"Dong Gong, it's windy outside, it's time to go back to the house!" The two strong men behind him reminded coldly.

It sounded like he was concerned, but his tone was actually extremely cold.

The white-haired old man looked at the flying flag and sighed, then turned around and staggered towards the house.

The white-haired old man is Zhou Tong. He is nearly seventy years old. He has left his hometown since he was in his twenties and wandered around. He also admired his reputation and hired him as the chief instructor of the archery class.

But he couldn't resist the invasion of time. After the Jingkang Rebellion, Zhou Tong returned to his hometown after 40 years of absence. He is the eldest son of the first wife, but because he has been away from the family for too long, the family is actually controlled by his two brothers. .

Zhou Tong also has no intention of fighting for power. He has no children, so he lives alone in the backyard farming the land for the elderly. But after a faint two years ago, his body completely collapsed. I couldn't even lift the stool, and my legs seemed to be filled with lead, so I could only stagger.

Last autumn, Zhou Tong witnessed his nephew Zhou Qing occupying a married woman with his own eyes. He couldn't understand his fourth brother Zhou Xintu's emperor-like demeanor, wantonly bullying the people of Zhoujiabao, so he severely reprimanded them at the clan meeting. Zhou Xin was annoyed, so he put Zhou Tong under house arrest in a small courtyard above the mountain top.

There are two cave dwellings in the small courtyard, with high walls on both sides, usually only a mute old man takes care of his daily life, and Zhou Xin sends a confidant to monitor Zhou Tong's every move at all times.

When Zhou Tong returned to the dark room, seeing the strong man watching him also came in, his face darkened immediately, "Who told you to enter the room, get out!"

The strong man stood at the door and ignored him. Zhou Tong was furious and slapped the table hard, "Did you hear me, I'll tell you to get out!"

"Brother, why get angry, it's not good for your health!" A cold voice came from outside.

Immediately after, a thin figure appeared at the door. This was Zhou Xin, the fourth brother.

Zhou Tong has five brothers in total. The second and third children have both died of illness. Wu Zhoujian is even less than 70 years old.

Zhou Xin is currently the actual ruler of the Zhou Family Fort. He is small in stature and does not know martial arts, but he is vicious and vicious, and he can buy people's hearts. Everyone in the Zhou Family Fort is not afraid of him, but many people support him.

Zhou Xin walked into the cave and sniffed it. The musty smell in the room made him feel a little uncomfortable, so he asked his subordinates to move a chair and sit at the door.

"Song Jun came to provoke today, I think my brother knows it too!"

"I only saw the Zhou family banner blown away by the wind!" Zhou Tong said coldly.

"This is just an accident. It doesn't explain anything. This General Song is called Chen Qing. I've heard of him. He was a formidable guy when he faced Jin Bing at Jiandao Pass. But it doesn't explain the problem either. Move Zhoujiabao."

"In that case, what did you come to see me for?"

"I don't want to go against the imperial court yet, so I'm here to ask my brother to go out of the mountain and live in Chengji County for a while. At the same time, I told Chen Qing that as long as he doesn't come to interfere with Zhoujiabao, I'm willing to make some compromises."

A sneer appeared on the corner of Zhou Tong's mouth, he really thought that Zhou Xintian was not afraid of anything, it seems that he is still afraid of the imperial army!

"What compromise do you want?"

Zhou Xin laughed dryly and said, "I heard that Chen Qing's army is short of food, and I'm willing to give them a thousand shi of grain as military rations."

"and then?"

"Then I can promise that after the harvest every year, I will pay half of it as land tax, which is also in line with the imperial court's [-]th tax rule."

"Any more?"

"The other thing is to sacrifice my brother, and implore my brother to put the family first and move to live in Chengji County. All the expenses of my brother will be borne by Zhou Jiabao!"

Zhou Tong immediately understood that Zhou Xin wanted him to go to Chengji County as a hostage.

Zhou Tong thought for a while and said slowly, "I can go to Chengji County to be your hostage, but I want to remind you that your conditions are not sincere enough to impress Chen Qing."

Zhou Xin smiled faintly, "I know I can't impress him, but let's talk slowly! Wouldn't it be nice to let him attack Lengfanzhai and Zaojiaobao first?"

Looking at his brother's cunning eyes, Zhou Tong suddenly understood his brother's plan. He deliberately showed weakness to confuse Chen Qing, and asked Chen Qing to attack Lengfan Village and Zaojiao Fort, which were also heavily guarded, while Zhou Jiabao watched the strength of the Song Army, and then determine their next course of action.

"Let me go, you don't regret it?" Zhou Tong laughed mockingly.

"Actually, elder brother is in the way of my affairs. The fifth brother persuaded me more than once to bring you a glass of poisoned wine to send you on the road, saying that you were old and died of illness. With your current body, no one would doubt it, but I always feel that elder brother What else can I do for the family? That’s why I have never agreed. Whether it’s going to Chengji County for the elderly or being a hostage this time, I just hope that my elder brother will put the interests of the family first, and not ruin the family because of the grievances between our brothers. Otherwise, we would have no face to meet the father of Jiuquanxia and the ancestors of the Zhou family."

A big family hat was cast down, leaving Zhou Tong speechless for a while.

"What do you want me to do?"

Zhou Xinxin was secretly happy, and quickly said: "If you can agree, pretend to agree. In a word, try to delay as far as possible, so that Zhoujiabao will fade out of Chen Qing's sight."

This is Zhou Xin's cunning. There are hundreds of forts in Qinzhou. Let Chen Qing solve the other forts first. After half a year, when the war between Song Jin, Song Qi, and Song Xia broke out, Chen Qing would not take care of the Zhou family. fort.

Anyway, Chen Qing didn't understand the situation in Zhoujiabao, and thought that Zhou Tong was very important in Zhoujiabao. With this hostage, he agreed to some conditions that would not touch the reality of Zhoujiabao, such as taxes, Chen Qing should He will let the Zhou family castle go.

The key is that the elder brother should not talk nonsense, that's why Zhou Xin came to persuade the elder brother today.

Zhou Tong looked at his brother for a while, and suddenly realized that it was not himself who really destroyed the family, but this brother's misbehavior. It was his ambition to be an emperor who should not have ruined the family.

Zhou Tong said coldly: "I didn't destroy the family. I am not ashamed of my father and the ancestors of the Zhou family. I only do what I should do. Your little tricks and tricks have nothing to do with me. Don't let me see you." I cooperate with you!"

Zhou Xin was furious, staring at Zhou Tong viciously and said, "Since that's the case, shut up and stop talking nonsense. If your nonsense makes the Zhou family fall into disaster, you will be the family's sinner!"

"I want to take a look, who is the sinner of the family in the end?"

Zhou Xin was very annoyed, snorted heavily, turned around and hurried away angrily.

……

When Zhou Xin returned to Dazhai in Houshan, his brother Zhou Jian hurriedly greeted him, "Did that old man agree?"

Zhou Jian and Zhou Xin are compatriots from the same mother, but it is the opposite of Zhou Xin. He looks extremely strong, has high martial arts skills, and is especially good at archery. He has a simple mind and is basically Zhou Xin's thug. Zhou Xin ordered him to be in charge of commanding the Zhou family. Elite Archer.

Zhou Xin said with a gloomy face: "He's just dissatisfied with me. I used the family to suppress him, so he had to agree."

"It's a pity that this old thing is cheap!"

Zhou Xin saw a clansman next to him, so he said hypocritically: "You can't say that, after all, he is the eldest son of the concubine, and he is well-known in the world. Let him be a hostage on behalf of the Zhou family, it can be regarded as his doing something for the family!"

"Goodbye, brother!"

Zhou Xin snorted, and then ordered: "Let Guanshi Jia come to see me!"

Chapter 182 Production

When Chen Qing returned to the county seat, he happened to encounter a mighty flock of sheep entering the city. Hundreds of cavalry guards left and right drove the flock of sheep to the barracks.

Seeing these fat and strong sheep, Chen Qing was quite happy in his heart, and quickly ordered: "Who is the owner of the sheep, let him come to see me!"

The soldiers galloped away, and after a while, a logistics army was led up and saluted with fists in their hands, "For a lowly position, please refer to the control!"

"Where is your commander Huyan?"

"Reporting to the government, he is still negotiating with the Qiang people for long-term supply, and he will not be back until a few days later!"

"Is the price still negotiable?"

Dutou nodded and said: "This is the first batch of sheep, there are [-] sheep, and the Qiang people don't want to give us any money."

Chen Qing was taken aback, "Why don't you want money?"

"I heard from Commander Huyan that last year we attacked the Jurchen camp in the West Valley, and a large number of horses and sheep fled. The Jin soldiers only took back a very small amount, and most of them were captured by several Qiang tribes. Their chief said, This is taking advantage of us, so they are willing to give us [-] sheep, and they will be sold to us cheaply in the future."

This news was really beyond Chen Qing's expectation. He didn't pursue the situation after the camp was burned, but he didn't expect that the Qiang people would be taken advantage of in the end.

However, these Qiang people also know how to reciprocate kindness, which is rare, Chen Qing said happily: "Drive the sheep back to the barracks, and reward the three armies tonight!"

……

Back at the barracks, just as Chen Qing went back to his tent and sat down, Zheng Ping ran over and said angrily: "This morning, another group of big grain sellers came and collected three thousand shi of grain. It only went up in March, and before March, it was always about [-] yuan per bucket, and these big black-hearted people actually raised the price by [-] yuan for us!"

Chen Qing frowned, and asked, "Then what price did you charge for today's three thousand shi grains?"

"Of course it's based on two hundred Wen a fight, why give them three hundred Wen?"

"Bullshit!"

Chen Qing said angrily: "Do you think I don't know the previous grain price? Three hundred renminbi a dou is to give them a profit, and they will sell the grain to us in the future. You hurry up and send someone to make up the difference. Go out, do we still want to be famous?"

Zheng Ping's lips trembled, and he turned to leave. Chen Qing stopped him again, "I should tell you about this first. I forgot. We are not businessmen, and the money we got was also stolen from Jin Bing. The price It is not a loss for us to set a higher price, but it has attracted big and wealthy families.

There are two major factions in Qinzhou, one is the powerful family and the other is the fortress. Since we want to attack the fortress, we must win over the other faction. Otherwise, if these two factions join forces, it will be difficult for us to gain a foothold in Qinzhou in the future. "

Zheng Ping nodded silently, and he asked again: "The commander thinks that there is a relationship between the big family and the fortress?"

"They are inextricably linked. If you don't think about it, where are the grains of these big households hidden so that they won't be looted by the gold men? They say that they are hidden in the manor. I don't believe it at all. The gold men only need to buy a few Zhuang Ding, it is useless for them to hide no matter how concealed they are, I know in my heart that these grains must be hidden in the surrounding fortresses."

"Understand the job, immediately send someone to pay the difference to them."

Zheng Ping walked away quickly.

After lunch, Yan Jun, the personal guard, reported outside the tent, "Controller, Sihu Du Min brought an old man to visit, who seems to be his father-in-law!"

"Please come here!"

Chen Qing heard from Du Min that his father-in-law used to be a professor of state studies, he had taught in Qinzhou and Longzhou for 30 years, he had numerous disciples, and he was quite famous in Qinzhou and even Xihe Road.

Not long after, Yan Jun led Du Min and an old man into the big tent. The old man appeared to be about 60 years old, not tall, with a thin appearance. He was wearing a shirt and a school crown.

"Old man Qiao Lin, I've heard about the general's reputation for resisting the gold for a long time, so I'm here to pay you a special visit!"

"I've heard about the old man's reputation for erudition since I came to Qinzhou. I thought about it for a while. I'm too busy. Please come in!"

Chen Qing invited Qiao Lin in very politely, and the two sat down among the guests. Qiao Lin praised: "As soon as the general came to Chengji County, he began to give away porridge, hey! How many lives have been saved! I will give it to you." Du Min said, this is what is called an envoy, not only thinking about soldiers, but also thinking about poor people."

"The old man has won the prize!"

Chen Qing didn't want to hear these flattery words, so he smiled and said nothing, waiting for Qiao Lin to continue.

Qiao Lin still wanted to boast a few more words, but Du Min saw that Chen Qing didn't want to listen to such lies anymore, so she coughed lightly and said, "General Chen, my father-in-law came today, and he actually has two suggestions."

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Mr. please speak frankly, Chen Qing is all ears!"

Qiao Lin had no choice but to put away her flattery and turn her mind to the real business, "The general helps the people for a while, but he can't help them for a year. Why don't you teach them how to fish at the same time?"

"The old man means farming?"

Qiao Lin nodded, "There are a lot of barren fields outside the city, and there are even large areas of official land that have not been cultivated. Mobilize all the residents in the city to open up wasteland outside the city to cultivate land, at least to ensure that there is something to eat in summer and autumn!"

"It's already the beginning of March, isn't it too late for farming?"

"The old man is not talking about planting wheat, but planting millet, beans, especially millet. Now is the right time. The general has harvested a lot of grain. There must be a lot of corn. Just take out part of it to make seeds. In addition, the old man can use it in the front room of the house. After planting melons, this is also food! The key is that the general must encourage and send troops to help everyone, and then the army will also plant grain and farm, raise pigs and chickens, so as to relieve future worries, what does the general think?"