Poor Family

  Chapter 641 A chance encounter at the ferry

Li Yanqing stayed in Gyeongju for another ten days before returning to Jingzhao Mansion. As long as he got the compensation and the money and horses, the follow-up processing in Gyeongju has nothing to do with him. Rest and recuperate, then calm down and consider your next move.

  As soon as he returned to Jingzhao Mansion, he received two happy news in a row. One was that his wife gave birth to Liner, the mother and child were safe, and the other news was that he also served as the manager of Yanyan Road.

  The news that he finally became a father made Li Yanqing very happy, but the appointment of the head of Yanyan Road really made Li Yanqing a little confused.

To some extent, Shaanxi Road is an administrative division. Because it is too important to the strategic position of Xixia, the imperial court also drew up six routes along the border of Song and Xia on the north of Shaanxi Road from a military point of view, namely Yongxing Army Road, Yanyan Road, Huanqing Road, Jingyuan Road, Qinfeng Road and Xihe Road, of which Xihe Road has been controlled by Xixia, there are actually only five roads, which directly border Xixia, and 60,000 frontier troops are stationed there.

Li Yanqing was named the general manager of Fuyan Road, which includes Suizhou, Yan'an Prefecture and Fuzhou in terms of area. He has 10,000 troops. The actual troops are stationed in Suizhou and Yan'an Prefecture. However, he only cares about the army, not the local area. administrative.

   "Sir, what do you think is the significance of the imperial court appointing me as the head of Yanyan Road?" Li Yanqing asked after a moment of thought.

Mo Jun laughed and said: "I've been thinking about this question for several days. Yanyan Road is at the border, and you are in Jingzhao Mansion. It stands to reason that the two should have nothing to do with each other. There are Yaozhou, Fangzhou and Yanzhou in the middle, but I I heard that Xixia has signed a border peace agreement with the imperial court, agreeing that they will not fight each other within 20 years. In this way, the possibility of war on the border is very small, and the imperial court is likely to cut troops on Shaanxi Road and Hedong Road to alleviate military burden."

  Li Yanqing frowned, "It is impossible that there are no troops on the border!"

"Of course there will be an army, but it won't be as large as it is now. I estimate that at most half of the army will be retained. The Yanfu Road Army may be laid off, but Yan'an Mansion and the Suizhou border cannot be without garrisons. At this time, the imperial court will appoint you as Director of Yanfu Road, isn’t the army coming soon?”

  Li Yanqing immediately understood, "You mean that the imperial court will let the troops of Jingzhao Prefecture fill the frontier troops of Yan'an Prefecture and Suizhou?"

  Mo Jun nodded, "That should be the meaning, otherwise it really doesn't make any sense to appoint you as the manager of Yanfu Road."

  Li Yanqing took a few steps with his hands behind his back, "If this is the case, wouldn't I put a lieutenant general in Yan'an Mansion and Suizhou? Who do you think is better?"

   "The humble officer thinks that Cao is good at defense. He is good at defense, and three battalions will be sent there. Among them, two battalions in Yan'an Prefecture and one battalion in Suizhou should be enough. Of course, the premise is that the court really disarms."

Li Yanqing nodded silently. His heart was a little heavy. There were still three years in history before the Jin soldiers would attack the Song Dynasty. The extent to which this event can change history is debatable. At least Wanyan and Wu Qimai have successfully ascended the throne, and started to consolidate the throne as in history. Li Yanqing was very worried that the Jin Dynasty would attack the Song Dynasty in advance.

   It is really unwise to disarm the Song Dynasty at this juncture!

That night, Li Yanqing wrote a memorial, strongly recommending that the imperial court maintain sufficient military deterrence on the Xixia border, on the grounds that the Xixia people’s promises were not credible, and once they completed their strategic plan in the north, they would probably turn around and attack the Song Dynasty. Forcing the Song Dynasty to restore the old coins.

  . ． ． ． ． ． ．

More than three months have passed in a flash. The memorial written by Li Yanqing to the imperial court is like a muddy cow, and there is no news. However, the decision of the imperial court is exactly the same as Mo Jun's guess. In the border agreement reached between Song and Xia, there are two parties. The terms of simultaneous disarmament, according to the agreement between the two sides, the border troops of both sides will be gradually reduced to 10,000 within 20 years, of which the first three years shall not exceed 40,000, and the border troops on Shaanxi Road and Hedong Road shall not exceed 20,000. people.

  The Xixia army took the lead in fulfilling the treaty, reducing the 150,000 frontier troops by 110,000 to only 40,000. The Song Dynasty also started operations, reducing the troops on Shaanxi Road and Hedong Road to 20,000 each.

However, Xixia transferred the downsized troops to the north, while the Song Dynasty transferred the downsized troops back to the capital. Li Yanqing did not think of this. Perhaps the two Northern Expeditions lost too much troops, so the imperial court did not transfer the troops. Li Yanqing was relieved to be cut off. It seems that Zhao Ji is not stupid at all, and he is reluctant to let the elite Western Army go home and return to farming.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty also played a trick, only reducing the frontier troops but not the garrisons of Jingzhao and Taiyuan. Therefore, the significance of Li Yanqing serving as the general manager of Yanfu Road is revealed. Once the border is critical, Li Yanqing and Yao Pingzhong will directly He led the Jingzhao Army and the Taiyuan Army to the north.

  After entering December, heavy snow fell in the north and the Central Plains. The entire Huaihe River and the north of Zhongnan Mountain were covered with heavy snow. At this time, the border was the quietest, and the road was blocked by heavy snow. Neither the Jin soldiers nor the Xixia army could go south.

   Seeing that there were only ten days until the New Year, Li Yanqing packed his luggage and returned to the capital to visit his relatives.

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Fenglingdu is located in the southwest of Rui County on Hedong Road, about 30 miles away from the county seat, adjacent to Luoyang Mansion and Shaanxi Road in the south. Fenglingdu is located at the corner of the Yellow River East, and is an extremely important transportation and strategic fortress. Crossing the borders of Hebei, Qin and Jin, and the Central Plains, it has been the largest ferry on the Yellow River since ancient times.

At this time, the Yellow River is covered with thick ice, and several heavy snowfalls have turned the world into a vast expanse of whiteness. It is New Year's Eve, and Fengling Ferry is extremely lively, crowded with travelers who are going home for the New Year. It is also important to cross the Yellow River here. Mainly by sled, otherwise, the severe cold on the ice will easily leave hidden dangers to the body.

   Of course, there is no problem with adequate preparation, but everyone still likes the feeling of sitting on a sled wrapped in a thick quilt.

This time when he went to Beijing, Li Yanqing only brought Zhang Ying and a dozen of his personal guards. Among his four personal guards, Yang Guang went to the scout battalion. The leader of the personal guards, served as the deputy commander.

   Zhang Ying took a few soldiers to look for the sled, while Li Yanqing waited patiently in an open area. Not far away was a row of taverns and restaurants, full of customers, and the business was very good.

  At this time, Li Yanqing suddenly heard a familiar voice from the small tavern, "What kind of wine does your bird shop sell? Damn, how much water is it mixed with?"

Hearing this voice, Li Yanqing suddenly laughed, turned around and walked towards the tavern, opened the curtain and walked into the lobby, and he saw Niu Gao standing by the stairs, grabbing the shopkeeper's lapel and shouting: "It's more expensive than a building." It's still expensive, if you don't bring out good wine, I will tear down your bird shop."

  The shopkeeper's face was pale with fright, and he couldn't say a word. Li Yanqing smiled and said, "Old Niu, what are you doing?"

  Niu Gao was startled, turned around and saw Li Yanqing, he pushed the shopkeeper away, and said overjoyedly: "Guanzhi, why are you here?"

   "I'm going back to the capital, of course I have to pass by here, but you, how did you go west from Taiyuan?"

   "Don't mention it, this year's snow is extremely heavy, several passages in Taihang Mountain are closed, and Wangwu Mountain is also difficult to pass, so I had to take a detour to Fenglingdu with Agui."

   "Wang Gui is here too?"

   "It's upstairs, I'll call him!"

   "No, let's go up together."

Li Yanqing and Niu Gao walked to the second floor together, walked up the stairs, and saw Wang Gui sitting by the window drinking, just as Niu Gao was about to shout, Li Yanqing held him down, smiled and waved his hands, he went straight up and greeted Wang Gui Sit by your side.

   "Someone is sitting here, why don't you go somewhere else?" Wang Gui didn't look up, his tone was quite impatient.

   "Our friendship, can't we even drink a glass of wine together?" Li Yanqing smiled slightly.

  Wang Gui froze all of a sudden, slowly raised his head, his eyes suddenly widened, he'ha! ’ With a loud cry, he punched Li Yanqing, and the drinkers on the second floor all looked over here,

  Li Yanqing grabbed his wrist and said with a smile, "Since when did you have this problem?"

  Wang Gui was extremely excited, smiling all over his face, "I just told Lao Niu whether I would meet Lao Li, and I did, it's God's will!"

   "It's God's will! The New Year is coming soon, why are you here? Are you going to the capital?"

  Wang Gui's face darkened, and he said for a long time: "It's hard to say, let's talk later!"

  At this time, Niu Gao brought up three bottles of wine, poured the wine on the table, and said angrily: "It's a **** black shop, I found this from their wine cellar, and I haven't had time to add water to it."

  The shopkeeper stepped forward to scald the wine for them, and begged in a low voice: "These three bottles of wine are a gift from the shop, please three military lords to show your respect!"

  Wang Gui waved his hand, "Forget it this time, let's serve some good dishes!"

   "I know, come right away!"

Wang Gui poured a glass of wine for Li Yanqing, and said in a dissatisfied tone: "This time, you really did not behave kindly. You went to Jingzhao Mansion, but you left your brothers behind. Now that your brothers are in trouble, you should help or not." Do not help?"

  Li Yanqing was startled, and the hand that raised his glass stopped in mid-air, "What do you mean by that?"

  (end of this chapter)