Chapter 26

Li Boliang ultimately could not escape; he was dragged before Chen Qing by the Song army soldiers, frightened to the point of collapsing on the ground.

"General, I had no choice. The Jurchens are too ruthless. The Song people are like pigs and dogs to them. I wanted to protect the people, but I couldn't!"

As the Jin soldiers retreated, they burned, killed, and looted along the way. Over three thousand civilians were killed, and hundreds of young women were captured, leaving countless families in ruins.

Chen Qing stared at him coldly and said, "If you had any sense of honor, you would have resigned and left, rather than groveling before the Jurchens and constantly betraying the people's interests. In these nine days, how many heinous deeds have you committed? Don't you know yourself?"

"I was forced, General. The innkeeper who sold animal feed betrayed you, and it was I who killed him. I... I have also made contributions!"

Chen Qing stepped forward and glared at his fat face. "Do you know why I must kill you? Because I know you will betray me!"

Li Boliang frantically waved his hands. "I won't, I swear to you, I will never betray the General!"

Chen Qing shook his head, his gaze turning cruel. "My principle is to err on the side of caution and never let a guilty person go free. Besides... you deserve to die!"

Chen Qing stood up and waved his hand. "Take him out and execute him!"

"General, spare my life! Spare my life!"

Li Boliang was dragged out, crying and shouting all the way. In the end, he was beheaded by the Song army soldiers and his head was hung at the county office. Countless civilians came to throw stones at his head, hating him to the core.

In recent days, Li Boliang had led a group of Han soldiers to search house by house for young women, who were then given to the Jurchen soldiers to abuse. These women were further abused by the Han soldiers, and half of them eventually hanged themselves or jumped into wells to die.

As for the plundering of pigs and sheep, it was countless. With the New Year just over a month away, the meat that the civilians had prepared for the holiday was almost all taken and given to the Jin soldiers to squander.

Chen Qing not only executed the county magistrate Li Boliang but also the county lieutenant Min Wu and Li Boliang's advisor Du Jue. He then appointed the former Baoji clerk Wei Qing as the temporary county magistrate and set up tents to cook porridge to help the refugees who were cut off from food due to the heavy snow.

Wei Qing came from the Wei family of Jingzhao, but he was a secondary son. He passed the imperial examination in 1124 and was appointed as the clerk of Baoji County. In 1129, when Wanyan Lou Room led a large army into Guanzhong, he successively captured Jingzhao and Fengxiang. Wei Qing fled to Linyou County with his wife, children, and mother, and opened a private school to support his family.

This time, Wei Qing took the initiative to help Chen Qing restore order in the county. He had lived in Linyou County for over a year and was very familiar with the situation there.

Inside the county office, Wei Qing poured a cup of hot tea for Chen Qing.

"Commander, the most urgent task now is to solve the food and housing problems for the civilians, especially the refugees. The refugees living on the streets have been buried by the snow. Last night, over seventy people froze to death, and many families have run out of food."

"What suggestions do you have?"

"Actually, the solution is simple: raise money and grain. Currently, the county granary has 760 stones of grain and 350 strings of copper coins, but it's far from enough. We need to raise more money and grain from other sources."

"I understand the need for grain, but why do we need to raise money?" Chen Qing asked, puzzled.

"Commander, the best way to solve the housing problem for the refugees is to help them rent houses. Many families in the county have empty rooms, but they are unwilling to give them up for free. Rent is very cheap now; one can rent a room for 50 copper coins a month, or 1,000 coins for a year and a half. But most refugee families can't even afford 50 coins, so they have to sleep on the streets. Therefore, the government must raise the money."

Chen Qing thought for a moment. "The army has over 2,000 taels of silver, all seized from the Jin soldiers. If we also raid Li Boliang and Min Wu's homes, we might get several thousand strings of coins. That should be enough to cover the rent, right?"

Wei Qing was delighted. Silver is hard currency; one tael of silver can be exchanged for five strings of coins. "Commander, the silver alone is enough!"

"But I can only give you half the silver. I need to keep the other half to recruit soldiers. However, we can confiscate all of Li Boliang and Min Wu's assets, including their grain. Li Boliang's granary has over 500 stones of grain, and he also has a small farm in the county. I estimate he has hidden more grain and money."

Wei Qing suddenly remembered something and slapped the table. "Commander, you're right. He previously requisitioned 3,000 stones of grain for the Jin army, but the Jin army only used 200 to 300 stones. Where did the rest of the grain go?

I asked the county clerks, and the granary's grain has never been moved. So I am certain that most of the remaining grain was embezzled by him and Min Wu."

Chen Qing said coldly, "As long as the grain is still there, we will dig it out, even if we have to dig three feet deep!"

......

The army began to take action, raiding Li Boliang and Min Wu's homes, including Li Boliang's farm outside the city, which was several hundred acres. The raid was led by the head of the cavalry, Zheng Ping, with thirty cavalrymen.

At the same time, at the county gate, a long line of young men had formed to join the Song army.

Chen Qing rode to the gate and heard Yang Yuanqing shouting from a distance, "Join our army, but don't think of just eating and drawing a salary. Our army will fight the Jin soldiers to the death to protect our homeland. You may die on the battlefield, so think carefully."

Some of the young men in line left, but most stayed.

At this moment, a tall, strong young man stepped forward and said, "I am Lu Gui, from Weinan County in Huazhou. I was originally a squad leader in the Jingyuan Army. After the defeat at Fuping, I fled home, only to find that my parents and family had been killed by the Jin soldiers, and my house was burned to the ground. I am determined to avenge my family. I beg the General to accept me!"

Chen Qing and Yang Yuanqing had discussed the recruitment, prioritizing scattered soldiers, especially those from the Western Army, who were well-trained and skilled in combat. Chen Qing was appointed by Zhang Jun as the camp commander with a quota of 1,000 men. Once the army reached 1,000 men, they would have more flexibility.

Yang Yuanqing nodded and asked, "Can you ride and shoot?"

"I can ride and shoot with a crossbow."

Most Western Army soldiers can ride, which is true. Yang Yuanqing pointed to a stone lock on the ground. "Lift it over your head with both hands, three times!"

Lu Gui stepped forward, grabbed the 60-pound stone lock, and shouted as he lifted it over his head three times.

A 60-pound stone lock can be lifted by most strong men, but this mainly tests for injuries.

"You are accepted. Go to the tent to register."

Lu Gui was delighted, bowed, and went to the tent to register.

At this moment, Yang Yuanqing saw Chen Qing and let Yang Hua take over. He walked forward with a smile. "I thought the Commander was at the county office."

Chen Qing dismounted and handed the reins to Zhao Xiaoyi behind him. He smiled and said, "I've left the trivial matters to County Magistrate Wei. I am more concerned about the recruitment. How is it going?"

"It's going well. We've recruited over 300 men since this morning, mostly scattered soldiers. Fortunately, there are many refugees, or we wouldn't have enough scattered soldiers in Linyou County."

"Have you given them the settlement money?"

Yang Yuanqing nodded. "As the Commander ordered, we gave each man three taels of silver to settle their families."

Three taels of silver is a significant amount. After the Jingkang Incident, wealthy families and merchants sold their properties and lands to flee south, exchanging them for gold and silver, causing the price of gold and silver to soar. At its peak, one tael of silver could be exchanged for over ten strings of coins. Although the price has dropped, one tael of silver can still be exchanged for five strings of Xuanhe copper coins.

The paper money issued during the Xuanhe period has become worthless, and the iron coins issued in Shaanxi have also depreciated significantly. One copper coin can be exchanged for five iron coins, leading many shops to refuse iron coins and only accept copper coins.

Three taels of silver can be exchanged for 15 strings of copper coins, or 15,000 copper coins, enough to support an ordinary family for several years. This has always been Chen Qing's philosophy: treat your subordinates well, and they will fight to the death for you when the time comes.

At this moment, Yang Yuanqing thought of something and said to Chen Qing, "This morning, several recruits mentioned a shooting range in the county. They said the owner is a former imperial army instructor who specializes in archery."

Zhao Xiaoyi blurted out, "Xu Shengqiang!"

"Do you know him?" Chen Qing turned to look at him.

Zhao Xiaoyi scratched his head. He didn't dare to interrupt when the senior officers were speaking, so he said awkwardly, "Actually, everyone in Linyou County knows. Xu Shengqiang was an instructor for the 800,000 imperial army in Dongjing. After the Jingkang Incident, he returned home and opened a shooting range. By the way, Liu Wu also learned crossbow shooting at his range."

Chen Qing laughed. "An instructor for the 800,000 imperial army in Dongjing," a very impressive title.

"What is his name?"

"His name is Xu Ning."

Chen Qing was taken aback. In "Water Margin," there is a Golden Lance General Xu Ning. Is this the same person?

However, in "Water Margin," the Golden Lance General Xu Ning died in the campaign against Fang La. Could this Xu Shengqiang be the prototype for the Golden Lance General Xu Ning?

Regardless, if he wanted to practice riding and shooting, it would be best to have a master to guide him.

Chen Qing was quite interested and smiled. "Let's go and see."