Wei Tong's mansion is located east of Yujie. It is a mansion covering an area of about 30 acres. This is a rare mansion in Lin'an, where land resources are tight.
In addition, Wei Tong also has a landscape garden house covering an area of ten acres by the West Lake.
These two beautiful houses were of course given by the Emperor Zhao Gou. Zhao Gou was very generous to his only biological uncle. Not only did he give him a beautiful house, he also made him the Yonghe County Prince. His relatives had already been granted the title of County Prince during their lifetimes in the Song Dynasty.
As a precedent, Empress Dowager Xiang's two brothers were both named county kings during their lifetime.
Zhao Gou also gave Wei Tong a gold medal, allowing him to enter the palace at any time to help Queen Mother Wei solve her problems. With this gold medal, Wei Tong was not only free to enter and exit the palace gate, but also the city gate. Even in the middle of the night, the city gate had to be opened.
, let him enter the city.
Wei Tong himself was not idle either. He was extremely greedy for money. He occupied countless restaurants and teahouses in Lin'an City. He also used the power of Queen Mother Wei to get involved in mining, minting money, and smelting gold and silver mines. In addition, Queen Mother Wei was
With the support of Emperor Zhao Gou, when the Wei Party was gradually formed, Wei Tong became Empress Dowager Wei's contact.
He maintained a large number of stewards under him. Whenever he appointed a Wei Party official to a local official, he would send a chief steward to follow him, like a vampire, desperately sucking the blood of the local people.
Basically, everyone in Lin'an knows that Wei Tong has eight famous stewards, known as the Eight King Kongs, and Wang Lin is one of the Eight King Kongs, ranking second.
Sichuan Road is the territory that Empress Wei has always wanted to control. From Zhu Shengfei to Liu Guangshi, the two Sichuan-Shaanxi propaganda envoys were all Empress Dowager Wei’s people. Empress Dowager Wei had indeed penetrated deeply into Sichuan Road. Before Chen Qing sent troops to Sichuan Road, Sichuan
At least 30% of the state officials were appointed by Empress Dowager Wei.
Sichuan Road was originally Zhang Jun's territory. Zhang Jun appointed a large number of officials on Sichuan Road, including Chengdu Magistrate Li Yi, who was recommended by Zhang Jun. This made Emperor Zhao Gou very dissatisfied, and Empress Dowager Wei's infiltration of Sichuan Road was inevitable.
Zhang Jun's power was squeezed out, and Emperor Zhao Gou was also happy to see this happen.
Those two years were also the busiest time for Wei Tong. In order to help Queen Mother Wei win the Sichuan Road, Wei Tong really spent money. Many state officials who were not originally part of the Queen Mother's faction were also used by him to infiltrate the Wei Party with money and power.
It will cost at least millions of dollars.
Of course, he had already recovered these capitals by various means, and made huge profits tenfold.
However, Wei Tong has been really depressed these days. Just yesterday, the Queen Mother summoned him to the palace and scolded him. Only then did Wei Tong know that something had happened in Sichuan. Li Jinxiao failed to raise an army and was suppressed by Chen Qing.
Can Wei Tong not be depressed? It was the Queen Mother who asked him to provoke Li Jinxiao and others to raise an army. Now that the army failed, it is simply unreasonable to put the responsibility on herself!
"I told her that Li Jinxiao's troops were too small and he would fail if he raised the army too hastily. She didn't believe it and thought that all the states would raise troops to respond. Now, all the soldiers were killed and all her influence was wiped out.
Now they blame me for letting them raise troops, and I have suffered heavy losses! Who am I to talk to for reason?"
Wei Tong was so angry that he cursed loudly in the study. His aide Qiu Qiankai advised: "The matter has come to an end. Your Majesty, don't be angry anymore. It's better to think about how to reduce the losses."
Wei Tong sat down and said after a while: "Is there any news about Wang Lin?"
"Not yet. I sent a pigeon message over there but no reply."
Wei Tong frowned, "You sent a pigeon letter and you didn't get a reply?"
"I've asked about it from my humble position. I've sent three pigeon letters in the past few days, but there's been no reply. Logically speaking, the reply should have arrived long ago."
Wei Tong was suddenly upset. He had important interests in Shu, including millions of taels of silver, hundreds of thousands of taels of gold, millions of coins, and so many properties. He was worried about it more than anyone else.
The wealth accumulated over the years could not be transferred, and Wei Tong felt itchy with hatred just thinking about it.
At this time, someone reported in the courtyard, "Your Majesty, there is an urgent pigeon message from Shu!"
Wei Tong was startled and said quickly: "Bring it in quickly!"
A confidant came in with a tube of pigeon mail, and Wei Tong asked, "Are you from Chengdu?"
"No, the letter says Bazhou!"
Wei Tong was stunned, why are you from Bazhou?
Qiu Qiankai whispered: "Didn't we set up an emergency backup pigeon message in Bazhou? Even Wang Lin doesn't know about it."
Wei Tong remembered that it was an intelligence point they set up last year. It was very hidden. The purpose was to monitor Wang Lin and his friends' activities. Of course Wang Lin wouldn't know about it.
He suddenly felt something bad. He quickly opened the mailbox and took out a thin tube of paper. Wei Tong spread the paper and lay on it to read for a long time. He suddenly yelled, his vision went dark, and he fell on his back. He was frightened.
Qiu Qiankai quickly asked the maid to help him up, and Wei Tong burst into tears.
Qiu Qiankai picked up the note and read it carefully. He was also shocked, "All personnel were killed, and all wealth and industry were swallowed up by the Western Army."
Just two simple sentences revealed that extremely bloody and horrific things happened in Sichuan. Wei Tong's hard work and gains in Sichuan were completely gone. No wonder he couldn't accept it.
Qiu Qiankai sighed, he didn't know how to persuade.
At this time, Wei Tong suddenly stopped crying. He wiped away his tears, his eyes became extremely bitter, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Chen Qing, I need you to repay me thousands of times!"
After ten days of sailing, the fleet arrived at Jiangling Prefecture. The Western Army stationed 15,000 troops in Jiangling. The commander-in-chief was Commander Yang Yuanqing. When Chen Qing's ship docked, Yang Yuanqing and Jiangling Prefect Zhang Shun communicated with Ge Qinghong and other military and government officials.
They all came to the big ship to greet him.
Chen Qing took Zhao Yingluo off the ship, and Yang Yuanqing came forward and knelt down on one knee to perform a military salute, "I'm sorry to see you, the king of the county!"
Yang Yuanqing had wavered in his loyalty before and suffered a big loss. He finally woke up and became loyal and did not dare to have second thoughts. Only then was he gradually promoted. At the beginning of the year, he was promoted from deputy commander to commander, leading the army on his own.
, this is also Chen Qing's trust in him. If nothing happens, he will be promoted to the capital in two or three years.
Chen Qing smiled and said: "Thank you for your hard work, General Yang, please get up!"
Zhang Shun, the prefect of Jiangling, and Ge Qinghong, the general magistrate, also came forward to salute. Zhang Shun had stayed in Jiangling Mansion for nearly eight years. When Wang Yan became the prefect of Jiangling, he was the general magistrate. Later, Chen Qing's army was stationed in Jiangling, and he also fully supported it.
He used to be part of Zhang Jun's faction, but now he is the prefect of Jiangling recognized by Chen Qing, and the court can no longer transfer him.
Last year, the imperial court issued a transfer order to transfer him to be aware of Ezhou affairs. He refused to be transferred on the pretext that the people wanted to stay. Then the new magistrate sent by the imperial court was blocked by the army and could not enter Jiangling City. The new magistrate had to return all the way, and the imperial court also
They had no choice but to acquiesce in the occupation of Jiangling Mansion by the Western Army.
Fortunately, Zhang Shun would report all matters big and small to the court, thus saving the court's face. The court simply kept him in Jiangling Mansion, which was considered a last resort compromise.
The general judge Ge Qinghong was the son-in-law of Wang Jin, a wealthy family in Jiangling. Wang Jin supported the Western Army, and Ge Qinghong was naturally a supporter of the Western Army.
Chen Qing said sincerely to the two of them: "200,000 Jianghuai people went south to Jinghu South Road, and Jiangling Mansion settled 150,000. I know you must have put in huge hardships. The imperial court cannot see your achievements, but I can see clearly.
Clearly, I believe that your hard work will never be in vain."
Chen Qing's statement moved the two of them. Zhang Shun bowed and said: "Thank you to the king for your understanding. Although resettling the people in Jianghuai is difficult for a while, after they settle down, they will produce huge agricultural products for Jiangling. This year our summer grain output will be
If it can be doubled, the output of cotton cloth, tea and vegetable oil will also be doubled several times, and Gangneung will soon be restored to a land of plenty."
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "This is what I expect too!"
Ge Qinghong said quickly: "Your Majesty, you have worked hard all the way, please go to the city to rest!"
Chen Qing smiled and shook his head, "It's still early now. Let's go to the military camp first and visit the defenders."
