Chapter 498 The Shen Family’s Position
Chapter 498 The Shen Family’s Position
In the morning, Pei Wen'an hurried to the official room of Prince Jin and presented a copy of the interrogation record to Xiao Xia. "This is the record of the interrogation of Lan Zhaohe and Lou Jiu. Your Highness, please take a look!"
Xiao Xia took the interrogation record and read it carefully. There was not much useful information. The most useful information was that there were disagreements among the Shanyue nobles. Lan Zhaotian strongly advocated rebellion. This was the hope of the Guanlong nobles. They hoped that they could rebel on a large scale and create influence on the entire Sui Dynasty. As for the life and death of the Shanyue nobles, the Guanlong nobles did not care.
Obviously, Lan Zhaotian was persuaded by the Guanlong nobles. He wanted to occupy the prefectures and counties and rebel. At the same time, the Guanlong nobles also persuaded Ming Zhongtian, the most powerful man in Yongjia County.
But the problem was that Lou Shigan, a powerful man in Dongyang County, firmly opposed this open rebellion. He tried his best to stick to his previous decision to resist the Sui Dynasty with scattered attacks but not openly. Another powerful man in Suian County, Shen Faxing, also supported Lou Shigan, so two factions, the East and the West, emerged.
Xiao Xia looked at Lou Jiu's confession again. The confession also contained an important clue. Shen Tong, the head of the Wuxing Shen family, firmly opposed the attack on the Wujun garrison. Their attack on the Wujun garrison did not receive the support of the Shen family, which led to the failure of the sneak attack and the annihilation of the entire army.
Otherwise, they could wear iron armor and have horses to support them. The crossbows of the Sui army could not penetrate their iron armor, and they could get ashore in time and escape on horseback.
Xiao Xia looked back at Lan Zhaohe's confession. The Shen Faxing mentioned in the confession was one of the three major leaders of the Shanyue warlords. This was interesting. If the Wuxing Shen family became one of the three major rebel leaders, it would be impossible for the attack on Wujun without the support of the Wuxing Shen family. Shen Guang would have joined the rebels long ago and would not have hidden in Jiangning, let alone joined the Sui army.
Xiao Xia remembered what Lu Xieting had told her, that the Shen family was only a branch of the family that had an alliance with the Shanyue people. Their Wuxing branch attached great importance to bloodline and would never marry with the Shanyue people. Only then would they be recognized by the Wu family.
Xiao Xia gradually understood that although Shen Faxing was using the banner of the Wuxing Shen family, he was most likely a member of the Shen family from another branch, and not a member of the Wuxing Shen family.
Thinking of this, Xiao Xia said to Du Ruhui: "I remember that Shen Faxing was the commander of the Suian County Army. We should have his resume. In addition, there is also the resume of Yuhang County Commander Dong Huailiang. Let's check them together!"
Du Ruhui bowed and left.
Pei Wen'an was puzzled and asked, "These resumes should be in the Ministry of War, right? Your Highness, are you going to get them all?"
Xiao Xia smiled and nodded, "There is a characteristic of Jiangnan officialdom. The chief official is sent by the court, and the second-in-command and below are mostly locals. Civil officials are controlled by aristocratic families, and military officials are controlled by powerful people. Especially the commanders of various counties, almost all of them have deep connections with local powerful people. They spend a lot of money to seek this position. When I intervened in the salt administration, I transferred the information of officials from various counties in Jiangnan from the court."
Pei Wen'an suddenly realized, "So that's it!"
Not long after, Du Ruhui came in with a file and said, "Your Highness, Shen Faxing studied in the county school in Tonglu County, Suian County. His resume shows that he was born in Wukang County, Yuhang County."
Xiao Xia nodded, "That's right. Shen Faxing is from the Wukang branch of the Shen family. Shen Xuanqian, who rebelled back then, was also from the Wukang branch of the Shen family. Shen Xuanqian has a son or nephew who fled to Suian County, and it is very likely that he is Shen Faxing."
After a pause, Xiao Jia asked again: "Where is Dong Huailiang?"
Du Ruhui said quickly: "Dong Huailiang is from Dongyang County. He was originally a lieutenant. In the 18th year of Kaihuang, he was suddenly promoted from lieutenant to commander of Dongyang Military Office. In the 2nd year of Renshou, he was transferred to commander of Yuhang Military Office."
"Is he Han or Shanyue?" Xiao Xia asked.
"Your Highness, it is not mentioned in the resume."
"And was there any mention of his wife?"
"It seems so!" Du Ruhui flipped through the pages and said with a smile, "I found it. His wife died of illness very early, and he married Yan in the 18th year of Kaihuang."
Xiao Xia laughed, "He is probably the son-in-law of the Yan family, one of the three great tyrants in Dongyang County. In the 18th year of Kaihuang, the Yan family spent a lot of money on him, so he was promoted from a school lieutenant to a captain in one step."
Pei Wen'an worriedly said: "If this is the case, Yuhang County is very dangerous!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "I know!"
Xiao Xia immediately said to Du Ruhui: "Send someone to inform Sun Lei to come see me immediately!"
"I'll arrange it right away!" Du Ruhui hurried away.
At this time, Pei Wen'an whispered: "Your Highness means that the Wuxing Shen family has nothing to do with the Shanyue people's rebellion?"
Xiao Xia smiled faintly and said, "Your view is a little shallow. If the Shen family had a clear position, Shen Faxing would not have participated in the rebellion of the Shanyue people, and Shen Guang would not have joined the Sui army. Didn't you notice? Shen Faxing joined the Shanyue people's rebellion as a powerful man in Suian County, and Shen Guang joined the Sui army as a child of the Jiangning Shen family. He had nothing to do with the Wuxing Shen family. The Lan and Lou families jointly attacked the Wujun Sui army, but the Wuxing Shen family firmly opposed it. It didn't want to be involved. This is the style of the Shen family. They bet on many, but the Wuxing branch will never be involved." Xiao Xia saw Shen Guang very clearly. As a direct descendant of the Shen family, he would not easily make a decision to join the Sui army without the consent of the family. How could he get the consent of the head of the family in Jiangning? It can only be explained that he came to Jiangning to join the Sui army. This must be a decision made by the Shen family, not a temporary decision made by Shen Guang in a moment of excitement.
If the Shen family in Jiangnan did not have such a versatile skill, there would not have been a grandson, Emperor Dezong of Tang, nor would there have been Shen Wansan, the richest man in Jiangnan in the early Ming Dynasty.
"Your Highness, do you think the Wuxing Shen family can be won over?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "There's no need to win them over. As long as they don't follow the Shanyue people in rebellion, that's enough."
At this time, Du Ruhui hurried in with Sun Lei. Sun Lei knelt on one knee and saluted, "I, Sun Lei, pay my respects to Your Highness!"
"General, please stand up!"
Xiao Xia smiled and asked, "Are you satisfied with the new equipment?"
Sun Lei is responsible for training 20,000 new recruits. He has been training them for two months. They are temporarily equipped with leather armor and spears, and he just changed his equipment yesterday.
"How is it? Are you satisfied with the new equipment?"
"Thank you for your arrangement, Your Highness. The brothers are very satisfied!"
"How is the soldiers' training going?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, most of the brothers are county soldiers. They have a certain foundation and are very easy to train."
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "How about training in another place?"
"Your Highness has given an order, and I will resolutely carry it out."
Xiao Xia nodded, "You will lead 10,000 new soldiers to Wujun to station there immediately, and the other 10,000 new soldiers will be handed over to Deputy General Wu Keqin for further training!"
Sun Lei immediately bowed and said, "I obey your orders!"
The Wuxing Shen family is a famous powerful family in the south of the Yangtze River. This family is proficient in both civil and military affairs. Although they have the bloodline of the powerful and attach great importance to industry and commerce, they also own a large amount of land like aristocratic families, focus on cultivating talents, and have produced many talented scholars and generals.
Perhaps they have some Shanyue blood in their blood. At critical moments, the Wuxing Shen family often cannot control their ambitions and jump out unwillingly, thus repeatedly standing on the wrong side.
During the great rebellion in the tenth year of Kaihuang, the Shen family spared no effort in providing money and manpower to support the rebellion of Shen Xuantang, a member of the Yuhang County clan. In the end, they were brutally suppressed by Yang Su, and all the members of Shen Xuantang's family were killed. The Shen family was so frightened that they kept a low profile for more than ten years.
Less than twenty years had passed since the Great Rebellion, and the rebellious spirit in the bones of the Shanyue tyrants had revived once again. They began to secretly collude with each other, and the Shen family, under the instigation of the Shanyue tyrants, also began to stir.
That morning, Shen Tong, the head of the Shen family, unexpectedly received a letter forwarded by Xiao Lin, the governor of Wujun. What surprised him even more was that the letter was actually a handwritten letter from Jin Wang Xiao Xia.
Shen Tong is about fifty years old, of medium build, with a square face, thick eyebrows, sharp eyes, and looks quite majestic.
Shen Tong paced back and forth in the lobby with his hands behind his back. Not long after, his third brother Shen Jun came hurriedly, "Brother, are you looking for me?"
Shen Tong nodded, "Did Shen Guang write a letter?"
Shen Jun said quickly: "I just received his letter. He was appointed as Langjiang and has a thousand naval forces under his command."
Shen Tong said slowly: "I just received a handwritten letter from King Jin. In the letter, he mentioned Shen Guang and thanked the Shen family for their support."
(End of this chapter)