Of course, the vast northwest would not bow its head and obey the orders of the Chu Empire just because a Chu army occupied Xianyang. Qining knew this better than anyone.
The common people may not care who is sitting on the throne, but they definitely care whether they and their families can have enough to eat. What really makes people surrender from the heart is never force, but allowing them to live without worries.
Qi Ning knew that he absolutely did not have the ability to govern the entire northwest, and it was impossible for the people in the northwest to have food and clothing in a short period of time.
An important purpose of Chu's conquest of the northwest was to use the northwest to pose a military threat to the Northern Han Dynasty, so it was impossible for the northwest to just let go and return to the Nanshan Mountains.
But Qining knew that in order to prevent major turmoil in the northwest, two forces must be captured. One is the local wealthy family in the northwest, and the other is of course the bureaucracy that specifically handles the affairs of the northwest.
Qining spent a lot of thought on these two forces.
Qi Ning did not break his promise. Less than five days after the Chu army took control of Xianyang, the ban was lifted, and the people in the city could move around in the city from childhood.
Before that, Qining naturally let the troops on hand control some of the most critical places in Xianyang, such as warehouses and city gates.
The public order in the city has always been maintained by the Xianyang Prefect. Qin Ning specially met with the Xianyang Prefect. The Xianyang Prefect was grateful for the sincerity of the Protector of Chu. Naturally, he tried his best to assist the Chu army in maintaining order in Xianyang. However, the government officials under Xianyang Prefecture did not make any changes. Everything remained as before. These officials did not lose their jobs because of the change of the city flag.
When the Chu army entered the city, everyone was worried about their lives and property, but Chu Junqiu did not commit any crime and even agreed to four rules. This made the atmosphere of panic in Xianyang city gradually disappear, and many people began to worry about their own livelihoods, especially those who had been in Xianyang before. The people who served as officials in Xianyang lived with their salaries. Now that the Chu people came, many people naturally felt that it was impossible for the Chu people to continue to appoint officials from the Northern Han Dynasty. Without public offices, their lives would be gone. landing.
Who knows that the little Duke not only summoned all the officials and let them choose whether to stay or leave, and reserved official positions for them, but also gave clear instructions to the minor officials who were working in various yamen, as long as they were willing to continue serving as officials. The status quo can still be maintained, and the government will still pay them salaries.
Qining really didn't have to worry about not being able to pay his salary. After all, it was all thanks to the Qu family and his son. When the Chu army entered the city, the first thing they took control of was the Zhenxi General's Mansion. Duan Canghai also immediately ordered the blockade of the General's Mansion. No one was allowed to enter without authorization. It was not until Qi Ning entered the city that he began to count the items in the general's mansion. It was a good thing that he didn't count the items. When the item details were placed in front of Qi Ning, Qin Ning gasped.
When the Chu State inspected the Huainan King's residence, a large amount of money and silk was seized, which opened Qining's eyes. After the financial list of the General's Mansion came out, Qining felt that the Huainan King was really nothing compared to the Qu family and his son.
Whether it is gold, silver, jewelry, or antique calligraphy and paintings stored in the warehouse, it can be said to be overwhelming. The amount is so huge that even Duan Canghai and others are shocked. The first thought of everyone is that the Qu family and his son are so greedy in the northwest. To be able to make money and be able to sit here for more than ten years is really quite a feat.
With such huge wealth, it is really easy to support the normal operation of all levels of government in the northwest. Moreover, a huge warehouse was built in Xianyang. Qu Yuangu proudly claimed that even if the city of Xianyang was besieged for three to five years, the grain in the warehouse would not be enough. It was enough to meet the needs of the entire city. Only when he saw the grain stored in the warehouse with his own eyes did Qi Ning realize that Qu Yuangu was not exaggerating.
In addition to a large amount of money and food, Xianyang also has a special department of household affairs and a lot of silver deposits in the treasury. These deposits are used to maintain the operation of the government at all levels in the northwest, so for Qi Ning, what he has on hand is The money is enough to guarantee the salaries of officials at all levels in the northwest.
Qining gave the northwest officials the right to choose. Two days later, the roster was sent up. Most of the officials were natives of the northwest. Naturally, it was impossible for them to enter the customs and go to Luoyang at this time. Moreover, everyone knew that the current customs There was a civil war, not to mention the Chu and Eastern Qi armies launching an offensive against the Northern Han Dynasty. The Northern Han princes were fighting for the throne. Running to the pass at this time was really no different from committing suicide. , so except for a few officials who want to enter the customs, most officials want to stay and serve the Chu State.
Among the few officials, except for a few who were indeed loyal to the Northern Han Dynasty, most of them were worried because their family members were in the pass.
Qi Ning kept his promise and not only sent people to escort the officials who wanted to enter the customs to Tongguan, but also gave each person a special allowance. This move was very popular and soon spread throughout Xianyang City.
The roster left by Hongmen Dao has naturally become a magic weapon in Qi Ning's hands. Half of the officials in the roster still stayed, and more than a dozen officials who were marked with red lines by Hongmen Dao also stayed. Qi Ning's feelings for Hong Naturally, he was very trusting in the intelligence from the door. After carefully examining the official positions of these more than ten officials, if their official positions could not bring much threat to him or cause too much trouble, Qining would still let them serve in their original positions. position, whenever there is the slightest threat to the Chu army here, Qining will transfer him to other positions.
Moreover, Qi Ning promoted officials based on the last page of the roster who had outstanding talents but were willing to serve the Chu State. With the help of these people, although the transfer of official positions in the northwest was not too large, the Lieutenant General remained silent. Some of the more important positions have been properly arranged. After this arrangement, Qining felt that it was extremely cumbersome, and thought that he would have to deal with these things as little as possible in the future.
In the blink of an eye, Qi Ning has been in Xianyang for almost ten days. He is busy from morning to night almost every day, and many things need to be consulted. Qi Ning has never been so busy before, even in Chu State.
On this day, I saw Duan Canghai hurried over and reported: "Sire, there is news from Tongguan. Qu Yuangu has indeed sent someone to Tongguan."
After taking Tongguan, Qining was sure that Qu Yuangu would not remain indifferent, but after waiting for nearly ten days but not hearing the military report, he wondered whether Qu Yuangu really wanted to leave the northwest? After hearing the news, a smile appeared on his lips.
"How many troops?"
"There are about two to three thousand soldiers and horses." Duan Canghai said: "And they have already made a tentative approach to Tongguan. However, according to the news from Lu Kang, the Northwest Army is obviously not attacking with all its strength."
"Tongguan is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Others don't understand it, but the people from the northwest know it better than anyone else." Qining said: "Now Tongguan is impregnable and has abundant supplies. If we defend it according to the danger, even if the people from the northwest attack with all their strength, they will not be able to shake it."
He personally led his men to conquer Tongguan and surveyed the terrain of Tongguan on the spot. He knew that as long as Lu Kang and his soldiers held it with all their strength, the Northwest Army had no chance of breaking through the pass.
"That's true." Duan Canghai said: "The Northwest Army attacked several times in vain, and now it has retreated. Lu Kang said that from the pass, you can see that the Northwest Army began to build a barrier about ten miles away from Tongguan. See That means, it seems that we are going to temporarily build a new pass on Tongguan Road."
Qi Ning nodded and said: "That's right. Qu Yuangu sent his troops back to Tongguan. He didn't think that he could really capture Tongguan, but he was worried that we would attack him from behind after entering the pass, so he sent people back to stop him. Let's enter the pass." He said thoughtfully: "It's not that easy to build a pass. How much manpower and material resources and time did it take to reach the scale of Tongguan today? They just built a temporary defense to prevent us from entering. It’s just a barrier.”
Duan Canghai sneered: "Building a barrier means that they have no confidence in conquering Tongguan."
"Qu Yuangu is not stupid. Since he divided his troops to intercept at the rear, the front will definitely speed up the attack on Luoyang." Qining said: "The war in the Northern Han Dynasty will be more intense." But he was thinking in his heart that he didn't know who was under Yue Huanshan's command. Where are the Qinhuai armies now? Longtai sent troops to the Northern Expedition this time. His purpose was to attack the east and attack the west. Using the Northern Expedition as a cover, he took the opportunity to capture the northwest and eastern Qi. Everything went well on his side, and Xianyang was captured in the shortest time. It can be said that Chu State's strategic purpose Half of it has been achieved, but I don’t know if the plan to conquer Dong Qi is going smoothly.
Duan Canghai asked: "Sir, do you want... to send troops to support Tongguan?"
"What did Lu Kang say in the military report?"
Duan Canghai said: "Lu Kangdao didn't mention the need for reinforcements."
"Then don't send people there for the time being." Qi Ning said with a smile: "Lu Kang is a mature and prudent man. If he feels that the troops on hand are not enough, he will definitely ask for more troops. Since he didn't mention it, we will send people there instead. He feels that we have underestimated him. But the military reports over there must be sent here every day, and the situation in Tongguan must be kept on top of here."
"My subordinates know." Duan Canghai cupped his hands and was about to retreat when Qi Ning stopped him and said, "I haven't seen Hong Mendao in the past few days. He seems to be returning to Jianye in the near future. Do you know where he is?"
"Does the lordship want to see him?" Duan Canghai said: "I haven't seen him for a few days. If the lordship wants to see him, I will go find him right away."
"No, I just want to ask." Qi Ning said: "We won't be able to return to Jianye for a while. Sanniang and Zhan Ying will definitely be worried, and they don't know what the situation is here. I just asked him to take the two Feng Jia Shu goes back."
Duan Canghai smiled and said: "Does the lord miss the young lady?"
Although Qi Ning is already the head of the family, he is still young and even the elder Gu Qinghan is now in his prime, so everyone in the house is still used to calling Ximen Zhanying Young Madam.
Qi Ning chuckled, waved and said: "Go on errands." Watching Duan Canghai retreat, he really thought about Gu Qinghan and Ximen Zhanying, thinking to himself that the court still didn't know how to arrange the northwest side in the future. If he stayed here It was okay to transfer myself back to Beijing some time ago. I had to endure it here. If I really wanted to arrange for myself to be guarded in the northwest, I would take over Gu Qinghan and Ximen Zhanying no matter what.