Fenghou

The boat approached the city wall, and Chen Qing immediately ordered someone to notify the cutoff.

Hu Yanyun gave an order, and thousands of soldiers came forward with sandbags on their backs, and countless mudbags were thrown down. The wooden stakes prevented the sandbags from being washed away by the water. The sandbags piled up quickly, and the last gap was blocked.

The river water dropped rapidly and disappeared, and after a while, a crescent-shaped channel was exposed on the city wall. The Song army stuffed the boats into the channel, and used huge stones to support the bottom, so that the boats were tightly pressed against the bottom of the city wall.

"retreat!"

Tang Qian yelled, and the soldiers quickly retreated. He took out the fire bag and lit the thick matchlock, which burst into flames.

Tang Qian turned around and ran, and all the soldiers retreated one after another, squatting down covering their ears, even the soldiers operating the trebuchet retreated five hundred steps away.

The sky and the earth suddenly became quiet, followed by an earth-shattering explosion, the earth shook, and a huge mushroom cloud rose. The huge shock wave caused by the explosion of two thousand catties of gunpowder blasted the city wall up, bricks and stones fell rustlingly, and dust filled the air.

When the dust subsided a little, Chen Qing pointed at Zhan Dao, "Go in!"

Yang Zaixing waved his big gun and shouted, "Brothers, follow me!"

"Kill!" Ten thousand cavalry followed Yang Zaixing to kill in Guancheng...

It was the soldiers in the Guancheng who were greatly affected. They didn't take any precautions. When the river stopped flowing, Li Bosheng led dozens of soldiers to check. They became the first victims. The main general Li Bosheng was blown to pieces. Dozens of other soldiers were also killed.None were spared.

Thousands of soldiers were shocked by the violent explosion, their ears could not hear anything, and great fear shrouded everyone's heart.

"The city wall has collapsed, and the Song army is here!"

I don't know who yelled, and saw the cavalry of the Song Army rushing into the city like a tide. The will of thousands of defenders had been destroyed, and no one had the intention to resist. There is only one choice left, be killed or surrender.

The gate of Guancheng was opened, and the main force of the Song army began to march into Guancheng. At this time, there was a muffled sound in the distance, and white waves rolled on the river bed. Fortunately, the water storage time was not long, and no floods were caused. The river water overflowing the river bed only shallowly submerged the soldiers' ankles.

A cavalryman rushed to report to Chen Qing, "I would like to report to Dutong that the explosion just now collapsed the embankment, and it can't be blocked. The embankment has been completely washed away!"

Chen Qing waved his hand, "Don't worry about the dam, let General Hu Yanyun pack up and go south!"

"Follow the order!"

The cavalry turned and galloped off.

Chen Qing led a mighty army through Guancheng and headed towards Tongzhou.

At this time, Guancheng was still burning, and black smoke enveloped the sky.

……

Jingzhao City is already full of turmoil. The news of Chen Qing's eastward expedition has some people happy and others worried. The joy is ordinary people. Guanzhong is still the territory of the puppet Qi. Although the puppet Qi army has abandoned Shaanxi Road militarily, the government Jurisdiction did not give up.

The Guanzhong area is the same as the Central Plains. The people are bearing higher taxes year after year. The land tax collected directly has reached five taxes and two, that is, [-]% of the harvest has to be turned over to the government, and the household tax is as high as ten yuan per household per year. There is also [-]% commercial tax.

This is only a direct tax, and there are terrible indirect taxes, such as the price of salt is 110 yuan per catty, [-] yuan per bucket of rice, and tea and wine tax, etc. The people in Guanzhong have long been exploited to the point of poverty.

Of course Wan Yanchang would not care about this kind of thing, the supplies of their Jinbing were provided by the people in Guanzhong, and more than half of the wealth expropriated was used to support the Jinbing.

This year's tax payment is still under urging, but most of the people have used various methods to delay it, especially the news of Chen Qingdong's levy, which gave them hope. Everyone knows the price of salt and rice on Xihe Road It is much cheaper than Guanzhong, and the tax is extremely low, so that all the people are eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the Song army.

Although the people are happy, the army is very worried. There are only [-] puppet Qi troops in the city. The chief general is Zhong Lin. Zhong Lin was originally Li Cheng's general. Thousands of people stayed behind in Jingzhao City.

Zhong Lin knew very well that his [-] troops could not defend Jingzhao City, but he could not give up Jingzhao City and retreat eastward. Once Wan Yanchang knew that he would give up Jingzhao City, he had to kill him. Lin has been in a state of anxiety.

In fact, not only the general Zhong Lin, but also the ten thousand troops under him are also in disarray. The reason is very simple. These ten thousand troops are all state soldiers from the states in northern Shaanxi. Their hometown has been occupied by the Song army. Jin Bing worked hard?

Chapter 557 Entering the City

At noon, Zhong Lin returned home in a depressed mood. He is from Gaoling County, Jingzhao Prefecture. Because of this, he did not follow Li Cheng to Bianliang, but stayed in Jingzhao. Wan Yanchang highly valued him and promoted him. For the capital.

Zhong Lin was also from the Western Army. He surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin in the Battle of Fuping. At that time, he was still a commander, but in just four or five years, he was promoted to the commander of the capital. At this time, he was only in his early thirties.

This is where his embarrassment lies. He has considered leading the army to surrender, but he can't lose the high position of Dutong. Chen Qing himself is only Dutong. Is it possible to give himself a high position?

But if he did not surrender, his [-] troops would not be able to stop the main force of the Song army, and he would definitely be wiped out, and he himself might die.

Zhong Lin was drinking tea in the study sullenly. At this time, there was a heavy coughing sound from the yard, and it was his father who came.

Zhong Lin hurried out of the yard, "Father, why are you here?"

Zhong Lin's father is called Zhong Buyi, about 60 years old, with white beard and hair, a bit rickety back, inconvenient legs and feet, and always leaning on a stick.

"I have something to ask you!"

"Father, come in and sit down!" Zhong Lin quickly helped his father into the room.

Next door to their mansion is the largest tile in Jingzhao, where business is flourishing, Zhong Buji goes to drink tea every day, he understands the current situation very clearly.

Zhong Buyi sat down and asked his son, "I heard that the main force of the Song army has launched an attack on Shaanxi Road. Where is the attack now?"

"I don't know either. It is said that the main force of the Song army is in Jingyuan Road, but I also heard a saying that the Song army appeared in Tongzhou. I don't know if it is true or not."

"No matter where Song Jun appears, their goal is Jingzhao City. Daddy wants to ask you, what are you going to do?"

Zhong Lin sighed, "I most hope that Wanyan Helisa will lead the army to Jingzhao City to take over the defense, but the Jurchen army just stays in Fengxiang and refuses to come. I don't know what to do now?"

"Then you never thought about returning to Song Dynasty?"

Zhong Lin was silent for a moment.

Zhong Buyi said slowly again: "Back then you surrendered to the Kingdom of Jin to save your life and the lives of our whole family. Daddy doesn't blame you, but I have always had a thorn in my heart these years. Sometimes the storyteller in the teahouse talked about Yang General, I can't listen anymore, so I left quickly, I'm getting older now, I guess it's only been a few years, I'm afraid how to explain when I see my ancestors? You know what I mean."

"Father, stop talking."

Zhong Lin said helplessly: "Actually, I don't really want to surrender to Chen Qing. There is no place for me over there. If my father insists that I surrender, then I will surrender."

"Daddy doesn't necessarily want you to work for Chen Qing. If you don't like him, you can resign at that time. Daddy just hopes that you can keep Jingzhao City, especially restrain your subordinates, and don't let the chaos loot Jingzhao City. When I was drinking tea in the morning, I heard that the Han family money shop and Laoshun silk shop were robbed by the rebels last night, so there must be such a thing!"

Zhong Lin nodded, "I understand what Dad means. I will restrain the military discipline. If it doesn't work, I will take the army out of the city."

Zhong Buyi stroked his beard happily and said, "Only you can keep Jingzhao City, I believe Chen Qing will never treat you badly."

……

Zhong Lin returned to the barracks and immediately ordered someone to find the deputy general Liu Jiang.

After a while, Liu Jiang rushed over, bowed and saluted, "See General Zhong!"

Zhong Lin said with a serious face: "Last night, four major cases occurred in Jingzhao City, all of which were looting of shops. Dongzhi County told me that they were all committed by several groups of soldiers. Who was on duty in the barracks last night? How did you let them out? "

Liu Jiang hurriedly said: "Last night, I was on duty, but I guaranteed that the gates of the barracks were closed at night, and the soldiers were never let out. I think that it is very likely that the soldiers patrolled at night, but there are 2000 people patrolling at night. They won’t put the looted property in the barracks, it’s really hard to check.”

"You also admit that our people did it?"

Liu Jiang smiled wryly and said: "I don't have any evidence that we did it, but I know that the soldiers are panicked and the morale of the army is fluctuating. Many people want to get a ticket to go back to their hometown. I am also very worried that similar robbery cases will become more and more serious." More and more."

Zhong Lin pondered for a moment and said: "If the army breaks out into riots and loots the whole city, I'm afraid none of us will survive in the end. I decided to take the army out of the city and relocate to the Baqiao barracks!"

"What about the patrolling soldiers?"

"Take all the soldiers away, leave no one behind, and hand over security and city gates to the government!"

Liu Jiang nodded, "That's fine, if the situation changes, we can evacuate at any time!"

In the afternoon of the same day, Zhong Lin ordered the whole army to assemble. He led [-] troops to leave Jingzhao City and go to the Baqiao military camp twenty miles away.

……

Three days later, Chen Qing led an army of [-] to Jingzhao City. The [-] army first came to the Baqiao barracks and formed a formation outside the barracks.

Chen Qing sent someone to surrender this ten thousand army. Under the unanimous request of the generals, Zhong Lin accepted Chen Qing's surrender and surrendered unconditionally.

The gates of the camp were wide open, and teams of puppet Qi soldiers came out of the camp holding white flags to surrender. They put down their weapons and armor in a group, and were led by the cavalry to an open field to rest in place.

Zhong Lin brought more than [-] generals to Chen Qing's war horse, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "Pseudo Qi general Zhong Lin led his men to surrender to the Jinglue envoy, and is willing to do the work of a dog and horse for the Jinglue envoy!"

All the generals said in unison: "I am willing to do the work of a dog and a horse for the economic strategy!"

Chen Qing waved his hands and said with a smile: "General Zhong and all the generals restrained the army and preserved Jingzhao City. This is a great contribution. I will never treat you badly. Please, generals, welcome everyone to join the Xihe Army!"

Chen Qing immediately ordered Liu Cui to take over the surrendered soldiers. The surrendered generals should be trained intensively for three months according to the regulations, and then restarted. separated.

Arranged to surrender the army, Chen Qing ordered the whole army to enter Jingzhao, and the [-] troops held a ceremony to enter the city. The city of Jingzhao was suddenly empty, and the people of the city came to both sides of Zhuque Street to sing and dance to welcome the Song army to recover Jingzhao.

Chen Qing rode on the horse, looking at the cheering crowd on both sides, countless people burst into tears, and many people even knelt on the ground and wept bitterly. It is far from a recovery.

But this time it was the victory of the Eastern Expedition and the official recovery of Jingzhao City. All the people knew that the Song Army had really returned this time. Hundreds of thousands of people were excited and shouted, "Long live! Long live the Song Army!"

Waves of cheers came and went like sea tides.

At this time, Chen Qing could see a familiar place, the place where he killed Yan Loushi back then, the walls and bluestone slabs hadn't changed at all, and the surrounding houses were also the same as before.

But the person changed. It turned out that he came to Chang'an with the determination to die, and escaped in a panic after killing Yan Loushi by chance.

But who would have thought that five years later, he would lead an army into Jingzhao in a grand manner.

As he told a group of seniors five years ago, 'I'll be back! '

Now that he really came back, the corners of Chen Qing's eyes couldn't help getting moist.

……

[-] Song troops left the city from the north gate and stationed in the barracks, while Hu Yantong led [-] troops to station in the city to maintain order in Jingzhao City.

Chen Qing went to the county government office under the guard of dozens of soldiers. When he was hundreds of steps away from the county government office, he saw thousands of people lined up in front of a shop.

Chen Qing said to a soldier: "Go and see what's going on?"

The soldiers rushed away, and came back to report after a while, "Qi Dutong, that is a grain store. Because the Song army entered the city and lowered the price of grain for sale, the surrounding residents came to line up to buy grain."

"How much cheaper?"

"It's ten yuan cheaper, and a bucket of wheat only costs seventy yuan."

Chen Qing frowned, "So a bucket of wheat costs [-] Wen?"

"This is still the price of old wheat. New rice and new wheat cost more than 100 renminbi. Just now, I heard from people in the queue that many people have run out of food. They are digging wild vegetables, catching voles, and picking up elm money outside. It is very miserable."

Chen Qing's face became ugly and he said nothing.

Not long after, they came to the county government. The Jin people had merged the original Chang'an County and Wannian County into one, and called it Chang'an County. The magistrate of Chang'an County was named Dong Yan. He was about 40 years old. .

However, he has a very bad reputation because of excessive taxation, but this year he realized that the situation is not good, so he was not active in tax collection, so that last year's tax was collected until now less than [-]%.

Dong Yan knew very well that if the people were really forced to sell their sons and daughters, then his own life would be in danger.

When Dong Yan heard about Chen Qing's arrival, he rushed out of the county government office to greet him, "I don't know the envoy's arrival, so I'm far away from welcoming him!"

Chen Qing smiled lightly: "I want to know about the situation in the city, does the county magistrate have time?"

Dong Yan was flattered and said: "Humble job has time!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Then please ask the magistrate to take me to the warehouse."

Chapter 558 Warning

Chen Qing pointed his horsewhip at the long grain buying queue in the distance, and said in a very dissatisfied tone: "I just found out that a bucket of wheat actually costs eighty renminbi, and there are still people digging wild vegetables outside the city, catching voles, and picking leaves to eat. Zhao's people are living in such a difficult situation, how can the government turn a blind eye?"

Dong Yan knew that what should come is still coming, and he had to face it. He said helplessly to Chen Qing: "The Cangcheng we are going to see is the only warehouse group in Jingzhao City. It is under military control, and the local government cannot intervene. You can’t go in either. The county government is just as poor. Hundreds of county magistrates, including the humble ones, have owed their salaries for three months. Vole."

"And then?" Chen Qing's face softened a little.

"The envoy of Jinglue also knows that Shaanxi Road has to bear the military salaries, supplies, and various supplies of 35 gold soldiers and 400 puppet Qi troops. Although the puppet Qi troops have a large number, their salaries are not high and their food is poor The key is that [-] gold soldiers need to eat meat every day, and each soldier needs [-] Guan a month for tea and wine. To feed these [-] Jurchens, the entire Shaanxi Road is almost crushed. Qingyang Mansion raises sheep to provide them with food and drink, and the monthly military salary is [-] guan, which is more than [-] million guan a year. There is no other way except high taxes to exploit the people.”

Speaking of this, Dong Yan said with great melancholy: "But the common people don't care so much, they only hate the government for extorting money and making their lives more and more difficult. We have become the last scapegoats."

"How long has Dongzhi County been in Jingzhao Mansion?"

"The humble job was originally the Sima of Qingzhou, and he was transferred to Jingzhao to serve as the magistrate of Chang'an the year before last."

Chen Qing nodded, and asked again: "How many people are there in Chang'an County now?"

"A population of 25, including rural households in the suburbs, a total of [-] households."

"What about the entire Jingzhao Mansion?"

"I heard that there are more than [-] people in the humble job."

There are still a lot of people, much more than the population of Chengji County, which makes Chen Qing very satisfied. Calculated in this way, the entire Guanzhong must have a population of more than one million.

"Didn't Wanyanchang and Wanyan Helisa stay in Jingzhao Mansion before? Why did Wanyan Helisa go to Fengxiang again?"

"Reporting to the Jinglue envoy, the home of the Jurchens has always been the Fengxiang Mansion. Before that, the Marshal's Mansion was temporarily moved to Jingzhao because the Jurchens wanted to enter Hanzhong from the Ziwu Valley. Naturally, I will return to Fengxiang."

A group of people soon came to Cangcheng. Cangcheng has been taken over by the Song army. The square in Cangcheng is full of hungry people, tens of thousands of people, covering a large area.

"Give us some food!"

"General, please give us some rice! Our family has been out of food for more than a month."

The hungry people pleaded bitterly, but the hundreds of soldiers guarding the gate had no choice but to keep showing signs of power to keep the hungry people away.