The royal capital of the Western Jin Dynasty, Zhengshi Hall.
The King of Jin was sitting at the top, discussing with his ministers the transfer of officers and soldiers from various places for garrison.
The Minister of War reported: "Since this year, the Hanyang Pass garrison has been mobilized many times, but has not been able to replenish it in full. Hanyang Pass is a key point in the Western Regions, and armaments cannot be ignored. I believe that troops should be mobilized from nearby areas, and then from large local households.
Recruit private army servants to supplement it."
Zuo Xiang said: "Basically all the capable troops of the imperial court have been transferred to the north. There are only some old and weak troops in the areas near the Western Regions, and their armaments are lax. It is useless to transfer them to Hanyang Pass, but it will be a waste of food and salary. Therefore, it is necessary to recruit private troops near Zuo.
, and mainly members of local wealthy families.”
Xu Gong, the Minister of Household Affairs, came out and said: "Now that the national treasury is empty, if you want to recruit local private troops, you have to pay corresponding compensation. Where will the money come from? Furthermore, outside Hanyang Pass, there is now Dingxi Jiedushi Lord Wei Yuanwei guarding
, is the first barrier in the Western Region, and the role of Hanyang Pass is no longer as urgent as it was at the beginning of the year. Therefore, I think it is better to slow down the matter and organize and train the new army first, and then recruit private troops after the national treasury is sufficient."
King Jin's face was expressionless, without a trace of smile.
Recruiting private troops from large households to serve as official troops was a common practice in the past, and it was used to extend the lives of the Western Jin Dynasty several times in history. According to convention, although private troops were requisitioned, compensation was required, but only a small amount was given symbolically. For example, ten soldiers
The private army originally asked for ten taels of silver, but when it was called up, it was basically only half a tael. This kind of recruitment was actually equivalent to asking the big families to pay donations.
The area around Hanyangguan has always been the Xu family's sphere of influence, and all large households are inextricably linked to the Xu family. Recruiting private troops is actually equivalent to cutting meat from the Xu family. What Xu Gong, the new Minister of Household Affairs, said is actually
The Xu family simply did not want to spend money to make up for the gap in Hanyang Pass.
All the princes in the political affairs hall are all old foxes, how can they not understand what he means? But what Xu Gong said is right. With Wei Yuan's Qing Ming standing in front, there will be more soldiers in Hanyang Pass.
It doesn't matter, Wei Yuan develops well, and the Xu family can also be protected in the future. Wei Yuan was defeated by the Wu Clan, and Han Yangguan is still there, so the Wu Clan can't defeat it.
All in all, as long as Hanyang Pass is there, the Xu family can be invincible.
At this moment, an internal official suddenly came quickly and handed an urgent report to King Jin. When King Jin picked it up, his expression changed slightly, then returned to normal, and said: "This is an urgent report from the Western Regions."
, let’s all take a look.”
The emergency report said that the horse bandit Zhantian Gang raided Hanyang Pass and entered Guancheng. Dingxi Jiedu Commander Wei Yuan immediately sent out a large army to suppress the bandits. Now the two sides are fighting fiercely in Hanyang Pass City. The Hanyang Pass defenders were completely wiped out.
, the life and death of the new garrison envoy, deputy envoys Xu Chunyuan, Fan Donghe and others are unknown.
This report was circulated among the political ministers one by one, and there was silence in the political hall.
Xu Gong came out again and said loudly: "This Wei Yuan is ambitious and crosses the border to suppress bandits. He clearly has disobedience! Please issue an order from the Holy King to immediately dispatch an army to capture Wei Yuan in the capital!"
Lu Zhongzhi, the admiral of the Nine Gates, said: "This matter is really strange and should not be acted upon rashly. Dingxi Jiedushi is on the front line of the Western Regions. If something goes wrong, the gates of the Western Regions will be wide open and the Wu Clan will definitely march in again. Now Hanyang Pass
The situation is unclear, and if the Wu clan enters the interior of Ningzhou, it will be a huge disaster. I believe that we should first send an imperial envoy to the Western Regions to find out the truth, and then make a decision."
This was an experienced opinion, and all the ministers agreed one after another. Xu Gong and the other two Xu family members were helpless.
In fact, everyone knew that this was Wei Yuan's revenge, but they didn't say it. However, everyone was awestruck. No one expected that Wei Yuan would come back, and his methods would be so fierce when he came back, so they regarded Wei Yuan in their hearts.
The danger level has been quietly raised by several levels.
There is one more thing everyone tacitly agrees on: conquer Wei Yuan? What will be used to conquer him?
At this time, Hanyang Pass had fallen into Wei Yuan's hands.
Some of the Zhantian Gang's subordinates were active in various districts in Guan City, mainly the most dilapidated and old districts. They said to the countless refugees gathered here: "The west gate has been opened, and there are people setting porridge not far after leaving the customs.
Why don’t you leave quickly?”
These Zhantian Gang members all carried huge backpacks and took out steamed buns one by one to distribute. The steamed buns were very small, only half the size of a fist, but after the refugees who had been hungry for several days and were already dying after eating the steamed buns,
Miraculously, they gained strength, and all of them, their faces glowing red, ran towards the west gate.
These steamed buns are mixed with some medicinal powder from marching pills. After eating them, your physical strength will be greatly increased and you can travel long distances.
At this time, the four gates of Hanyang Pass were wide open, with no restrictions on the entry and exit of the refugees, and the news that someone was giving porridge to the west spread among all the refugees. So the refugees left the west gate and walked away.
In the eyes of Hanyangguan residents and wealthy households, the current situation in the city was strange. Wei Yuan's army was beaten by horse bandits and was trapped in four gates, unable to retreat.
The city was full of horse bandits from the Zhantian Gang. They drove away the soldiers stationed in Weiyuan's barracks, and then captured all the tens of thousands of defenders, escorted them out of the customs, and disappeared without a trace.
The entire Hanyang Pass was looted, and sixty-seven out of ten large households in the pass were looted. Wei Yuan's officers and soldiers first looted a wave of goods in the name of sweeping away the horse bandits, and then Zhantian helped the horse bandits to borrow food.
One more wave for the sake of fame.
The armory, treasury, granary, etc. inside the pass were all blocked, and carts were being pulled out of the pass one after another. It was not known who owned these carts.
The Zhantian Gang looted the city for a whole day, and it was not until Wei Yuan's follow-up reinforcements arrived that they left the city and retreated. Wei Yuan did not stay much longer, and also withdrew from Hanyang Pass the next day and returned to the realm.
.
It wasn't until half a day after Wei Yuan left that officials, big and small, emerged from every corner of the city and hurried to the governor's mansion to express their loyalty. Only to find that the governor's mansion had been burned to the ground and several of the governor's envoys were missing.
At this time, several hundred miles to the west, Wei Yuan was riding side by side with Fan Donghe.
Wei Yuan said: "General Fan, remember to bring the news when you go back this time. Also, if it falls into my hands next time, I won't give you any discount."
Fan Donghe smiled bitterly and said: "After my eldest brother was imprisoned, Fan was already disheartened. From now on, he plans to take a sinecure in the family and spend the rest of his life in peace."
Wei Yuan smiled slightly and said: "General Fan is still young, and there may be a breakthrough in the future. If you want to seek revenge from me, I will be waiting for you at any time."
Fan Donghe shook his head repeatedly: "Master Wei has a profound moral character and is good at fighting alone. Fan is not your opponent now, and he will never have a chance in the future."
"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing. After you go back, just say this is what I said: the Xu family's dharma ministers are all rubbish."
Fan Donghe could only smile bitterly and said: "The Xu family has many dharma ministers and many geniuses."
Wei Yuan said: "It doesn't matter. As long as we fight alone, I am not afraid of anyone. If anyone is dissatisfied, just come to me. But time waits for no one. When I achieve the Dharma, they will never have a chance again."
After a while, Fan Donghe went east alone. Until now, he was still in a daze.
It wasn't long ago when he and Xu Zhongxing attacked Qingming. Although Wei Yuan was already very powerful at that time, Fan Donghe felt that he could still defeat him, and Xu Zhongxing had no doubts about it.
As a result, Wei Yuan was not killed by the karma curse of the Wu clan. After he came back, his cultivation level directly became Daoji Perfection. In this battle at Hanyang Pass, Wei Yuan fought against four Dharma ministers of the Xu family, and ended up capturing one alive and beheading the other.
, forcing Fan Donghe to surrender was a complete victory.
It's just that Wei Yuan kept saying that he came alone, but Fan Donghe always felt that something was wrong when he thought about his two magic puppets, a cat and a snake.
Only half a day after Wei Yuan withdrew his troops, Zhao Tong appeared in front of Hanyang Pass. He looked at the wide-open Guanfang City Gate, the empty city towers, and the streets with few people in sight. He could hardly believe his eyes. Then Zhao Tong appeared again.
After walking around the city wall, I saw that only the bases of the eight giant crossbows were left, and their colors finally changed.
As soon as he returned to the realm, Wei Yuan received a notice and Zhao Tong asked to see him.
Wei Yuan immediately rushed to Zhikedong Town. When he saw Zhao Tong, he greeted him with a smile and said, "Eunuch Zhao is here at the right time. I have got a new batch of gadgets. Eunuch, please pick a few first."
Without waiting for Zhao Tong to answer, Wei Yuan waved his hand, and several followers filed in holding several large trays. A faint brilliance rose from the trays, which were filled with jewels.
Zhao Tong certainly had good eyesight, and he could tell at a glance that the plates were filled with top-grade pearls, jades, and jade. When these plates came out, even he couldn't control them.
Wei Yuan pulled Zhao Tong to the tray, picked up the jewelry with both hands, and stuffed it into Zhao Tong's pocket.
Although Zhao Tong has seen the world, this is the first time he has experienced such a scene. He kept saying: "It can't be done, it can't be done! This, how can this be possible..."
But Wei Yuan kept holding on, and in a blink of an eye, Zhao Tong's pockets were filled to the brim.
Wei Yuan simply took the imperial edict from Zhao Tong's hand, took it out of the bag and put it aside, and then put it into the bag containing the edict. Until the yellow silk bag was full, Wei Yuan tied the mouth and put the bag
Put it into Zhao Tong's hands.
"This, this..." Zhao Tong held the bag containing the imperial edict, and several gems fell out from the pocket from time to time. They jumped on the ground and illuminated the room twinklingly.
Finally, Zhao Tong let out a sigh and said sincerely: "Master Wei, you said you wanted to vent your anger, so that's it. Why did you dismantle those eight giant crossbows? How can you afford to build these giant crossbows now?
"
Wei Yuan smiled and said: "Those eight giant crossbows were dismantled by the Zhantian Gang, and they have nothing to do with me."
Zhao Tong stamped his feet and said: "Master Wei, such a big thing is not something to be joked about! Without those eight giant crossbows, Hanyang Pass has become just a decoration. When the Wu Clan army comes, isn't it just a flat plain? This
There are 1.5 million taels of giant crossbows. Now that the national treasury is empty, how can we afford new ones? For the sake of the overall situation, we should get these giant crossbows back!"
Wei Yuan said: "Those counties behind Hanyang Pass belong to the Xu family. How much money can the king collect in a year? Why does Eunuch Zhao have to worry about them? Besides, now that I, Qing Ming, am in front, I can naturally do it in the back.
Don't worry. But if something happens to Qing Ming one day and he can't hold on anymore, then the army of the witch clan will march straight in and will naturally smash all the bottles and cans behind. Haha, if I don't live well, then no one can think of it.
Better off!"
Seeing Zhao Tong's face turn green and white, Wei Yuan smiled and said: "Eunuch Zhao, you see, Qing Ming is the overall situation now. Anyone who can't get along with me, Qing Ming, is ignoring the overall situation!"
Chapter completed!