Outside the Datong General Army's Mansion, a dozen carriages full of boxes were neatly parked on the streets outside the mansion under the protection of dozens of prefects.

Li Wenxuan, the owner of these carriages, walked towards the lobby of the General Military Mansion with a face full of panic and worry.

Walked into the lobby and saw Wei Zhenghou sitting on the main seat. If it had been placed in the past, Li Wenxuan would not have thought about it, and walked directly into the lobby, and then, under the compliment of the general soldiers of Datong, he sat on the main seat of the lobby.

However, sitting on the main seat in front of him is not only the general soldier of the third grade Datong, but also Li Wenxuan is very jealous, and he can even be described by the word fear from the third grade brocade and the guard.

So, after entering the lobby of the General Soldier's Mansion, Li Wenxuan changed his previous arrogance, and first saluted Wei Zheng with a respectful face before he spoke: "Li Wenxuan, the lowly prefect of Datong, has seen Lord General Soldier. ”

Wei Zheng nodded, and replied in a light tone: "Prefect Master Li is here, please take a seat...... Here, I would like to thank the prefect Li for his gratuitous support for giving me so much food and salary for the Haw Par Army. I don't know what Master Li is here for? Could it be that Lord Li personally sent these rations to the General Military Mansion......"

Wei Zheng's unexpected way of welcoming directly made Li Wenxuan feel confused.

After taking a deep breath, for the sake of his two precious sons, Li Wenxuan had to give up the so-called literati dignity.

He stood up from his seat and pleaded loudly to Wei Zheng: "Please be sure to save the dog...... Although the dog did a lot of evil things in Datong Mansion, it caused the resentment of the people of Datong to boil. However, after all, he is the only two sons of Xiaguan. So. Commander-in-chief, please by all means. All have to save the dogs. ”

Speaking of which. Li Wenxuan directly took out the list that had been prepared a long time ago and handed it to Wei Zheng. Then, he said with a heartache: "My lord, in order to save the dog, I am willing to take out two taels of silver to compensate the people of Datong Mansion who have suffered." ”

"Forehead ......" From Zhou Shuyuan's mouth, although Wei Zheng already knew that Li Wenxuan would come to this hand. However, Wei Zheng did not expect it. Li Wenxuan came so quickly.

He took the list and began to flip through it with as calm a face as possible.

When he saw the contents of the list, his face was still calm, without the slightest fluctuation. However, in Wei Zheng's heart, he was shocked by the number in the list.

said with a smile on his face at Li Wenxuan

"10,000 taels of gold, 150,000 taels of silver...... Master Li, what a big deal...... It seems that Master Li has not made less money in the position of the prefect of Datong in the past two years......"

Seeing the embarrassed expression on Li Wenxuan's face, Wei Zheng changed his words. continued: "Of course, Master Li is just making a lot of money in the prefect's office. It has nothing to do with me either...... So, please rest assured, Master Li, I will never talk about this money. ”

In fact, Wei Zheng still didn't say a word in his heart: "A corrupt official like Li Wenxuan is like a hen that can lay golden eggs, if he kills the hen, where will he get so many golden eggs in the future." ”

Hearing this, Li Wenxuan's embarrassed and nervous heart suddenly relaxed a lot.

Then, he asked Wei Zheng expectantly, afraid that Wei Zheng would not look down on the silver. After all, his two precious sons still have to be in the hands of Wei Zheng.

"Lord Commander, look at these silver ......"

Everyone else has delivered the money to their doorstep, so of course they have to accept it.

However, what everyone didn't expect was that what Wei Zheng was thinking about at the moment was not the more than 200,000 taels of silver in his hand, but how to use the silver to implement his first big plan after taking office as the chief soldier of Datong.

Under Li Wenxuan's longing gaze, Wei Zheng replied sternly: "Master Li, I will accept this silver, but not now, but two days later." ”

"In the next two days, there is one more thing that I hope Master Li can cooperate. At that time, as long as Master Li cooperates, the two sons will go back to reunite with you intact. ”

Hearing that Wei Zheng finally said the answer he wanted to hear the most, Li Wenxuan finally showed a relaxed smile on his face. He promised loudly to Wei Zheng: "Please rest assured, as long as the subordinate can do it, the humble duty will definitely be completed......"

"Okay, happy ...... I, Wei Zheng, like to deal with straightforward people like Master Li...... A hearty laugh came out of Wei Zheng's mouth. Wei Zheng no longer hesitated, and directly opened his mouth to order.

"Master Li can rest assured...... This may be very difficult for others. However, for you, Lord Li, it is a breeze. ”

"The specific situation is like this, according to the information just sent back by the scout battalion, the total strength of the Shaanxi rebels has expanded to 30,000, while our Tiger and Leopard Army is only 4,000 people. If you want to defend Datong Mansion, these 4,000 people alone will definitely not be enough. Therefore, before the rebels attack Datong Province, our Haw Par Army must expand its army. ”

"However, the expansion of the army requires food. Master Li also knows that the imperial court is very difficult now, and the food and salary of the 4,000 people of my Tiger and Leopard Army cannot be paid in full by the imperial court, let alone after the expansion of the army. ”

"Therefore, the food and salary of the Haw Par Army after the expansion of the army must be solved by myself."

"Although my Wei Zheng is the chief soldier of the imperial court, he is not the god of wealth, and he can't change the silver. Therefore, these grains and salaries can only be donated by the gentry and landlords in Datong Prefecture. ”

"After all, I, the Tiger and Leopard Army, came to Datong Mansion to protect them from being ransacked by the Shaanxi rebels."

At this moment, if Li Wenxuan didn't know the implicit meaning of Wei Zheng's words, then his prefect for several years would be in vain.

Under the gaze of Wei Zheng, without the slightest hesitation, he said loudly: "Please give a military order to the chief soldier......"

Wei Zheng nodded and ordered: "What you need to cooperate with Lord Li is to send an invitation to all the gentry and landlords in Datong Mansion who have a property of more than 100,000 taels, and two days later, to feast them at the prefect's yamen." As for the county orders in Datong Prefecture, all of them must also be present. ”

"As for the more than 200,000 taels of silver that Master Li just sent, it was used as food and salary at the banquet and donated to the Haw Par Army free of charge, supporting the expansion of the Haw Par Army, defending Datong Mansion, and eliminating the Shaanxi rebels......"

It is conceivable that once the prefect of Datong takes out 250,000 taels of silver at the banquet, he will be invisibly hated by the officials and landlords of the entire Datong Mansion and pushed to the opposite side of these officials and landlords.

Because, as the prefect, he took out more than 200,000 taels of silver, and if the county commanders and the gentry and landlords below took less, it would not give face to the prefect and the general soldiers.

If you offend the military and political leaders of Datong Mansion, then you will no longer have a foothold in Datong Mansion.

Therefore, the banquet that Wei Zheng said in front of him was, to put it bluntly, a banquet that made all the officials and gentry and landlords of Datong Mansion bleed.

At that time, after offending all the officials and gentry and landlords in the entire Datong Mansion, he will only have one way to rely on the Tiger and Leopard Army. Otherwise, if you lose the support of the army, you will lose your foothold in Datong Mansion under the joint attack of the officials and gentry and landlords.

After thinking about this, Li Wenxuan couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

What a ploy to kill two birds with one stone. Not only can he get countless food and salary, but he can also collapse his power in the entire Datong Mansion in one fell swoop, forcing himself to rely on the general soldier in front of him and completely become his subordinate.

However, for the sake of his two precious sons, Li Wenxuan had to agree with a cheerful face even if he was unwilling......

"Please rest assured, in two days, all the officials and gentry and landlords in Datong Mansion who meet the requirements will definitely wait for the arrival of the Chief Soldier at the prefect's yamen."

After Li Wenxuan left the lobby of the General Soldier's Mansion, Zhou Shuyuan and Zhang Wu walked out of the back hall.

After seeing Wei Zheng, Zhou Shuyuan, who was full of excitement, spoke first: "General, as the saying goes, three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver." The prefect alone donated 250,000 taels of silver to us, so didn't the official gentry and landlords of the entire Datong Mansion want to donate millions of taels of silver to us? ”

Wei Zheng smiled and replied: "How much silver we can receive, Vice General Zhang should be very clear......

Zhang Wu, who was already invisibly and slowly accepted by Wei Zheng, had a smile on his face no less than Zhou Shuyuan.

After nodding affirmatively to Zhou Shuyuan and Wei Zheng, he said with a firm face: "My lord, General Zhou: as long as there is no accident, we can at least get 1.5 million taels of silver from these officials and gentry and landlords......

"An important reason why we can get so much is the geographical advantage of our Datong Mansion."

"As a transportation artery into the capital, Datong Mansion must pass through here when many business travelers enter Beijing. Over time, business here has become more and more prosperous. And the official gentry and landlords of Datong Mansion relied on these shops to make their fortunes. ”

"As far as I know, among the gentry and landlords, there are more than 10 families with property of more than 500,000 taels, and as for those with family property of more than 100,000 taels, there are even more, absolutely not less than 100."

"Let's calculate according to the family's 10,000 taels of silver, plus more than 200,000 taels from the prefect Li, there are also more than 1 million. What's more, those gentry and landlords whose family property exceeds 500,000 taels will have to pay more than 10,000 taels of silver. ”

"If you are worth 100,000 taels, you will pay 10,000 taels of silver, will they give it?" Zhou Shuyuan asked with a skeptical face.

"This is the wisdom of adults...... "Wei Zheng didn't have time to speak, Zhang Wu, who had been in the officialdom for several years, had already taken the lead and patted Wei Zheng a little on the back.

Subsequently, under the gaze of Zhou Shuyuan, he explained......

"The reason why the lord asked Lord Li to take out the money at the banquet two days later was to force the people who came to the banquet to bleed. The prefect has taken so much silver out at one time, if they take less, they will not only offend the prefect, but also offend our chief soldier. So, even if their hearts ache, they will take out the money. ”

"Alright......" Wei Zheng interrupted with a nod.

"You two also go down and prepare, although this Li Wenxuan has a handle in my hands, but, after all, he is not his own person. Therefore, we must also have a number in our hearts to prevent Li Wenxuan from playing ghosts. You must know that the favorite thing for a group of civil officials in the imperial court to do is intrigue. (To be continued......)