Chapter 280 Wei County Investigation
Chapter 280 Wei County Investigation
The next morning, Xiao Xia set out with a dozen trusted warriors to Weizhou to investigate the rebellion of the Baohui Association.
Just one day before Xiao Xia set out, Wang Qiu, the Minister of Dali Temple, resigned from his post with a sad face and returned to his hometown to mourn for his father. His father went to the toilet at night and accidentally stepped on empty air and fell into the toilet and drowned, becoming a laughing stock in the surrounding area.
Although Wang Qiu didn't want to resign, he had no choice. The system was in place, unless King Jin repeatedly asked him to stay, but would King Jin ask him to stay? "
While Wang Qiu was still going through the formalities, Prince of Jin had already received the emperor's approval. He immediately summoned all officials to the Dali Temple and announced that Xiao Yu would officially serve as the Minister of the Dali Temple and Li Min as the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple.
In the afternoon, Wang Qiu came to get his luggage, but he couldn't even enter the Dali Temple. The soldiers directly took his luggage out.
Wang Qiu knew it well, but he didn't dare say a word and hurried home to observe mourning the next day.
A year later, Wang Qiu fell into the water and drowned while crossing the river on a boat. He died in an accident. No one in the court cared about his life or death anymore, and not even a wave of concern was made.
Half a month later, Xiao Xia arrived at Anyang County, Wei County. They met Li Luming who had returned from completing his mission in Hedong County. Li Luming turned around and followed his lord to Wei County.
Xiao Xia and his group came to Wei County in the name of Tianzhen Martial Arts School to escort the goods safely, and they stayed in an inn.
The Wei County of the Sui Dynasty and the Wei County of the Tang Dynasty are not the same. The Wei County of the Sui Dynasty is actually Xiangzhou or Anyang County, while the Wei County of the Tang Dynasty is the neighboring Wuyang County.
Wei County was also the location of Ye City, the capital of Northern Qi. The Northern Qi's old nest was in the Qi County area, but they built their capital in Ye City, Wei County.
Anyang County was the seat of Wei County, and Ye County was fifty miles away to the north. Since the Northern Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Northern Qi Dynasty, the palace of Ye City was almost completely destroyed, and Yecheng became a ruin. Later, a small county town was built on the ruins, still called Yecheng County, but it has completely declined.
The population of Ye City moved to Anyang County, making Anyang County begin to prosper.
Xiao Xia had just settled in, and the guy who took care of them was rewarded with two taels of silver, so he was particularly enthusiastic and gave them a lot of instructions.
"In Wei County or the surrounding counties, if you see any recruitment for carpenters, bricklayers, or construction workers, don't apply. In any case, it's best not to go to any recruitment advertisement. If you go, you're doomed."
Xiao Xia pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Why is recruitment so serious?"
"Because they are all pretending to be mutton, they are actually recruiting rebel soldiers, and they promise beautiful things, such as 300 coins a day, 3 catties of rice a day, meat for every meal. You will know when you go there. Being half full a day is good, and having meat for every meal is just fine, but getting beaten every meal is almost the same. As for the money, don't even think about it. They will give you 300 coins a day, but it will be recorded in the account and will be paid to you after they win. It is estimated that they will never win in their lifetime. This is called drawing cakes to appease hunger."
Xiao Xia laughed again and said, "Since they are called rebel soldiers, why don't the government do anything about it?"
"They are not called the Rebel Army, but the Patriotic Army. It sounds nice. Fighting against the Taihang Mountain bandits is the government's business. What does it have to do with them?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Thank you very much, we will be careful."
After the man left, everyone looked at Xiao Xia. Xiao Xia smiled and said to everyone, "Let me tell you our mission this time. We need to understand three things clearly. First, how many people are there on the other side? Second, what are the equipment of the rebel soldiers? Third, when does the other side plan to start the rebellion? Once we understand these three things clearly, we can go back."
Li Luming suggested: "Sir, we can join the army. Wouldn't it be easier for us to understand the situation if we are in it?"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "Joining the other side will only give us a partial understanding. It is meaningless if we cannot see the overall situation. I have considered that the best way is to find the other side's command center or capture important figures of the other side and get information from them. This is the only feasible way."
"But it's hard to find!" Sun Lei sighed.
"It's not easy to find. I'll go visit Governor Li tonight."
The governor of Wei County was named Li Xingjian. Among the three memorials Xiao Xia saw, two were written by Li Xingjian. Although he also talked in general terms and did not provide detailed data, his anxiety could be seen between the lines.
At night, Xiao Xia brought Sun Lei and Li Luming to the governor's residence. Sun Lei handed a visiting card to the doorman, "Governor Li's family is coming from Luoyang, please pass it to Governor Li!"
Xiao Xia used the identity of Li Zhang, the nephew of Li Xingjian. Li Zhang had actually passed away three years ago. Li Xingjian left this secret code in the memorial just to avoid attracting attention.
This is also what Li Xingjian said in his memorial. The county governments around Weijun were infiltrated by the other side. He didn't know which officials continued to be loyal to the Sui Dynasty and which officials had already had different ideas?
Soon, Li Xingjian came out quickly and asked loudly, "Where is my nephew?"
Xiao Xia stepped forward, clasped his fists and said, "Uncle, Li Zhang is here!"
Li Xingjian was stunned for a moment. He did not expect the other party to be so young. He looked less than 20 years old. He immediately realized that the other party was not simple. He greeted him warmly: "Thank you for your hard work on the way. Come into the mansion quickly!"
Xiao Xia followed Li Xingjian to the study, and the two men were taken to the kitchen to eat.
The two sat down in the study. Xiao Xia took out two memorials and said with a smile, "This was written by the envoy, right?"
Li Xingjian nodded, he stood up and closed the outer door, then came in and whispered, "They have planted at least five spies in my house, including the maidservant beside my wife, and I pretended not to know."
“How could it be so rampant?”
Li Xingjian sighed and asked, "Excuse me, sir, who are you?"
Xiao Xia took out his Imperial Censor card and said with a smile: "My last name is Pei, and I am the Imperial Censor!"
"So it's Censor Pei. My apologies! My apologies! Censor Pei, are you here to investigate the matters I described in my memorial?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Envoy Li's words are too vague. There is nothing accurate and useful, so the court knows the facts but not the reasons. So I will investigate in detail, for example, how many people are there?"
Li Xingjian smiled bitterly and said, "When I learned about this, they had recruited about 8,000 people. When I wrote the report to the court, they had increased to 30,000 people. Now I don't know how many people they have."
"Then how did Envoy Li know these two data?"
"Someone inside told me."
"Who?"
Li Xingjian shook his head. "I don't know who it was. Someone wrote to tell me, and the letter appeared directly on my official desk. It appeared twice, and then never appeared again."
"It should have been put there by someone in the government office."
"I know that, but there are thirty or forty people in the government office. It could be anyone. I really can't think of who it could be."
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and asked, "To what extent have they infiltrated the government?"
Li Xingjian smiled and said, "Let me put it this way! As long as they are officials from Hebei, they could be their people."
"Is it that serious?"
Li Xingjian sighed and said, "The Guanlong Group and the Shandong Group have been fighting for a hundred years. After the fall of Northern Qi, the local officials in Hebei and Shandong were basically still officials from Northern Qi. Although the court has won over the great families, the low-level officials from Hebei and Shandong are still discriminated against and have no chance of promotion. The high-ranking officials of the court and the wealth of various places are basically controlled by the nobles and officials of the Guanlong Group.
On the surface, the confrontation between the Guanlong Group and the Shandong Group has disappeared, but this confrontation still exists in people's hearts. As long as discrimination exists, anti-discrimination will also exist.
The rebel forces in Wei County have grown rapidly to tens of thousands of people in just a few months. Where do the money and food come from? It is the landlords from all over Hebei who are secretly supporting them. The county officials from Hebei, their fathers and grandfathers were officials of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Would they not secretly support Baoguohui?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "When Qin II died, the six states in Shandong were destroyed on the surface, but they still existed in reality."
"That's right. The Qin Dynasty was also a showdown between the Guanlong forces and the Shandong forces. The lack of benevolence and righteousness led to a different offensive and defensive situation. In fact, it was not that the conquerors did not practice benevolence and righteousness, but that the conquerors plundered too much wealth from the conquered, thus triggering the conquered's resistance."
"So the Sui Dynasty is now facing the same crisis as the Qin Dynasty?"
Li Xingjian nodded, "That's what I'm worried about. I've been an official in Hebei for eight years, and I've seen it all. The Guanlong Group has plundered Hebei and Shandong too ruthlessly, and the fertile land has become their manor. Although the gentry in Hebei and Shandong don't speak, I can feel their hatred and resistance to the court. These are the soil for the Baohui to survive. It's really difficult for the court to wipe out the Baohui. I've written memorials to the court more than once, but to no avail."
Xiao Xia smiled bitterly, "Let's get back to my mission! I want to investigate the rebellious forces in Wei County. Where should I start?"
(End of this chapter)