The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 349 Wang Xin Lost
Zuoyun County.

The Western Army General's Office.

It was actually the place where Wang Xin used to work, the former residence of the military commander.

Wang Xin kept everything simple, and the entire military commander's residence resembled an ordinary civilian house.

Now that the plaque has been changed and it has been upgraded to the General's Mansion, it still looks shabby to many people.

"Crackling."

Inside the accounting office, several accountants were fiddling with abacuses, the small beads and the main frame making a beautiful sound.

These seemingly ordinary little objects have an incredible effect on helping people get better.

at this time.

Zhou Wen sat quietly behind the desk with a dark face, making the whole room even more silent. Even his trusted advisors did not dare to say anything out of turn, urging the accountant to calculate this year's accounts as soon as possible.

The roster of Datong Military Town shows 30,000 soldiers and 90,000 militia.

In reality, it's less than half.

It's considered fair and just if the Yongxing Army has four thousand soldiers. According to Zhou Wen's understanding, when Feng Yong was in power, the Yongxing Army indeed had more than three thousand, or even as many as four thousand, of its retainers.

Right now, I don't have four thousand, but I do have three thousand.

There are about 20,000 to 30,000 militiamen.

The Western Army of Datong had a large number of soldiers, a total of three thousand, plus a full complement of militia, totaling twelve thousand soldiers.

The Datong Western Army, established less than three years ago, has already accumulated more than half of what Fatty Feng had built up in Datong over twenty years. In three years, it has covered the ground that others took ten years to cover.

Moreover, as a military governor, Feng Pangzi controlled the resources of the entire Datong military town.

In contrast, when Wang Xin first arrived in Datong, he was just a newly promoted ordinary military officer.

Zhou Wen already admired Wang Xin's abilities, but he was glad that Wang Xin had benefited from them. Although Wang Xin must have kept many backup plans, Zhou Wen was not worried.

When people leave, the tea is cool.

It's all just a matter of time.

However, Grand Secretary Zhang could not give himself much time. But with Grand Secretary Zhang's help, if he could not defeat the Western Army of Datong within a year, Zhou Wen believed that he could commit suicide to atone for his sins.

How can a person be so useless?

"From October of last year to October of this year, after auditing the accounts, it can be confirmed that the money and grain received by the Datong Western Army from all sources, including the imperial court and local areas, amounted to less than 120,000 taels of silver."

After confirming the identity of the scholar and the accountant, he solemnly approached Zhou Wen.

"I shouldn't be surprised."

After a while.

Zhou Wen suddenly said something inexplicable.

"Yes."

Even scholars became melancholy.

The annual military expenditure of the Datong Western Army totaled around 160,000 taels of silver, and in the event of war, the expenditure would often double.

Under normal circumstances.

The Western Army in Datong should be just as resentful as the Yongxing Army in neighboring Datong.

last year.

The Datong military town won a great victory.

They marched for thousands of miles, and everyone was covered in sand and dust, looking several years older.

Silver for departure, silver for reward, silver for merit, silver for commendation, silver for pension.
As a result, the imperial court implemented reforms.

Instead of receiving any reward, they were met with troop reductions. What's worse, the military expenses were still in arrears. If they were going to reduce the troop numbers, they could at least make up for the arrears in military pay.

But everyone knows it's impossible.

If the imperial court had the money, would it still reduce its military?
The reason for reducing the army was precisely because there was no money. But the result is that the army reduction requires more money. What's the point of reducing the army then?

The entire military town of Datong was in an uproar.

It wasn't just Datong Military Town that was making trouble; other military towns were also causing trouble. However, Datong Military Town harbored the most resentment because it had just fought a war last year. Who could accept such an outcome after risking their lives?

Fortunately, the imperial court was aware of the situation, and the Datong Western Army was the least affected by this troop reduction, so there were no strong demands from the court.

But that's all we can do.

Ultimately, it all comes down to money and supplies.

According to Zhou Wen's plan, he couldn't control other places, but the Datong Western Army had 12,000 men and 3,000 battalions, which was really too many. However, these were all treasures, and he was naturally unwilling to give them up.

Zhang Jifu also supported it.

No matter how short of money the imperial court was, it could always squeeze out some each year, and it wouldn't be short of Zhou Wen's share.

Therefore, in addition to the normal arrears of the imperial court, the cabinet could independently subsidize Zhou Wen's military expenses by tens of thousands of taels of silver per year, which shows that Zhang Jifu was indeed spending real money to cultivate his own loyal followers.

For example, Liu Qi, who used to be in the Yingtian Camp in Jinling, has now been transferred to the Northern Army of the Beijing Garrison, and he is still receiving a considerable amount of money every year.

Now that tens of thousands of taels of silver are in hand, it's time to spend them and see results.

What effect?
Of course, the goal is to control the Western Army in Datong.

"In other words, Juzhongchang alone provided the Datong Western Army with no less than 100,000 taels of silver in a year," Zhou Wen asked incredulously.

"I'm afraid it's more than 100,000."

Zhou Wen's trusted advisors also looked grim.

In comparison, Zhou Wen's fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver were less than half of what the other person had.

No wonder Juzhongchang was so arrogant in Datong. Sometimes Zhou Wen even wanted to teach them a lesson, but luckily he held back. These bigwigs now not only had connections in the imperial court and money, but also had guns to back them up.

"I've met Wang Xin in this town before. He seems calm and collected, but why does he act so recklessly?"

Zhou Wen complained with a stern face.

The generals of the Western Army in Datong were very united when facing Zhou Wen, making it impossible for Zhou Wen to find a way to attack them. Then, a group called Juzhongchang formed a force that also rendered Zhou Wen unable to move.

There's a sense of helplessness when facing a hedgehog.

"What does Mr. Yang think we should do next?"

"There's no rush."

The trusted aide slowly spoke.

Zhou Wen's expression was respectful. This advisor was extremely famous. He was originally Grand Secretary Zhou's clerk. With his help, he could save himself a lot of trouble.

"I'm afraid that Grand Secretary Zhang will be urging us."

Zhou Wen's face darkened further. Although he knew his advisor was right, he couldn't help but worry.

"The more anxious the governor is, the more closely they will band together to resist him. The less anxious the governor is and the less he does to them, the more they will start to make trouble on their own. At that time, the governor will not have to lift a finger."

"just in case?"

Zhou Wen hesitated.

Unlike other places, Zhou Wen was unsure about the Western Army in Datong.

The aide was full of confidence.

"Profits move people's hearts, especially since it involves those families in Datong. Not only is the garrison commander eyeing the Western Army, but many others also want a piece of this fat meat. In fact, the garrison commander has helpers."

"Oh?"

“These companies in Datong have no conflict of interest with the town government, so they can unite and each get what they need.”

After a while.

Zhou Wen approved of his advisor's plan.

The progress is too slow. If it delays Grand Secretary Zhang's plans, even if Grand Secretary Zhang doesn't spare me out of consideration for Grand Secretary Zhou, he won't give me much use in the future.

Great risks, great opportunities.

Such opportunities are rare and hard to come by.

Now that he had encountered this opportunity, Zhou Wen was not willing to stop at just the position of a general.

Coincidentally.

Someone rushed in to announce the news.

"Liu the guerrilla commander has arrived, eager to see the garrison commander."

"Let him in."

Zhou Wen glanced at his staff in surprise.

Zhou Wen knew that Liu Tong had left Guiyun City a few days ago.

However, Liu Tong did not tell him where they were going.

After making inquiries, Zhou Wen learned that Liu Tong had gone to Weiyuan Pass and then to Datong. Although Zhou Wen did not know the specific reason, he had discussed it with his staff and concluded that it was not because of internal matters.

It was probably a conflict between Tang Ping and Zhao Yong.

Many people in Datong knew about the discord between the two. Several years ago, when Zhao Yong was still in Yanmen Pass, the two distrusted each other. It was only because Wang Xin was there that they did not have a major falling out.

"The opportunity has come."

The advisor, confident of victory and with a flawless plan, gave Zhou Wen a reminder.

"Mr. Yang's ability to calculate people's hearts is something that we admire to the core."

"Haha."

Zhou Wen cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

soon.

Zhou Wen reprimanded Zhao Yong and allocated 30,000 taels of silver to reward Tang Ping's troops, promoting Tang Ping to the rank of adjutant general, and showing a clear intention to groom Tang Ping as his deputy. With the support of several powerful families in Datong, led by the Zhou family, Tang Ping's prestige in the Datong Western Army increased even further.

The one who was directly confronting him was Zhao Yong, who was stationed at Weiyuan Pass.

Zhao Yong made contact with Zhang Can, and the two departments joined forces to support the herdsmen. Any breach of contract by the trading company would not be supported, and any act of using their dominant position to oppress or bully the herdsmen would be subject to heavy fines.

this day.

Zhang Can seized cattle, sheep, and horses worth nearly 100,000 taels of silver from Juzhongchang in three cities outside the Great Wall. A month later, he auctioned them off to other merchants for 90,000 taels of silver.

This sum of 90,000 taels of silver was considered an exorbitant fine imposed on Juzhongchang.

The Western Army in Datong completely broke out.

Zhou Shiming was the first to be affected, as most of the goods in this shipment belonged to the Zhou family, resulting in a heavy loss.

Zhou Gui was so angry that he spread rumors everywhere that Zhang Can was rebelling.

Unfortunately, Zhang Can was always outside the pass and never returned to the inside. The businesses of the three cities outside the pass, including Juzhongchang, were not under the court's control, and no one wanted to expose them to the public.

"Tang Ping, you're my brother-in-law, you have to help me with this."

Zhou Gui found Tang Ping.

This time, Tang Ping did not refuse Zhou Gui. After mustering his troops, he prepared to charge out of the pass.

The soldiers were very worried.

"Boss, won't the imperial court be furious if we do this?"

"If we really fight Zhang Can, I'm afraid we can't win. Half of our old brothers are on his side. We can't possibly lose, can we?"

"Let's have a proper talk."

Nobody really wanted to.

Tang Ping cursed, "Who would actually fight him? Without the imperial decree, who would dare to act recklessly? We're going to find him and demand an explanation."

The public says that the public is reasonable, and the mother says that the woman is reasonable.

There was a lot of noise.

The whole of Datong was alarmed, and even neighboring Shanxi heard about it, with an imperial censor sending people to inquire.

Zhou Wen was startled.

If Tang Ping were to lead his troops out of the pass and fight Zhang Can, wouldn't that be a laughing stock?

Even if he couldn't cover it up, Grand Secretary Zhang would lose face. Zhou Wen looked at Tang Ping speechlessly, "You are a military officer of the imperial court, not a mountain bandit. Is this how Wang Xin used to treat you?"

Zhou Wen accused Tang Ping of cursing.

Zhou Wen used to not scold him, but recently he's been giving Tang Ping money and food, showing him a lot of loyalty, so he's practically one of his own. Now he can scold him.

Tang Ping looked unconvinced.

Zhou Wen, too lazy to waste words, stopped Tang Ping and ordered him to disband his troops and return to camp.

Tang Ping left grumbling, still cursing Zhang Can and Zhao Yong. Watching Tang Ping's departing figure, Zhou Wen shook his head helplessly.

"I heard that this person used to be a miner in Yiwu. He was lucky to have followed the right person; otherwise, he would have been a miner all his life and wouldn't be where he is today."

The advisor stepped out from behind the screen, making no attempt to hide his disdainful assessment.

"Now our town can reply to Grand Secretary Zhang."

Zhou Wen smiled wryly.

He couldn't laugh when Datong banded together before, and he still can't laugh now that the Datong Western Army is causing trouble.

There were also disturbances in other military towns, but they were organized and not just making a ruckus.

The Western Army of Datong is truly a bunch of bastards.

"If it weren't for the governor's intervention, Tang Ping would have been ready to lead his troops out of the pass to fight. This man is really outrageous, just a reckless brute. The Zhou family misjudged him this time and lost a daughter."

The staff member felt sorry for him.

Zhou Wen did not refute.

He was trying to win over Tang Ping because Tang Ping still had value to him. Once he had dealt with the Western Army of Datong and Tang Ping had lost his value, he would not abandon him, but he would not truly consider Tang Ping a confidant either.

They can't even promote their own people, so why would they waste a spot on Tang Ping?

Whether Tang Ping is mediocre or not, if the higher-ups say he's capable, then he's capable.

Without Wang Xin's leadership and without his own support, the Zhou family naturally suffered a loss this time.

"I would like to ask Mr. Yang to help polish the letter to Grand Secretary Zhang."

"It is the proper course of action, but the Grand Secretary inquired in his letter about how long it would take to gain control of the Western Army of Datong. As for the specific timing, we would appreciate it if the Commander-in-Chief could make the final decision?" the advisor asked cautiously.

This was a question Zhou Wen used to find difficult to answer, but now he's confident: "No more than six months."

The aide nodded.

Given the current situation, it would be easy to control elsewhere, but the Western Army of Datong is indeed different from other places, so the garrison commander cautiously gave them half a year.

If all goes well, it should take about three months.

Finally, we've seen some progress.

Some people are happy, while others are disappointed.

Zhang Wenjin could not be described as disappointed.

People in the mansion were packing their luggage, and carts and cars filled the entire street.

People came in droves to see them off.

"Your Excellency's return to the capital will surely bring you a promotion, which should be a joyous occasion. We should be happy for you, but we are reluctant to part with you. We are truly unable to be happy. Please forgive us, Your Excellency."

Zhao Tao sighed deeply.

Zhai Wen, standing to the side, kept his head down and didn't say a word; he didn't have Zhao Tao's spirit of publicly flattering him.

Zhao Tao was originally a confidant of Fatty Feng, but after things went wrong, he switched his allegiance to Zhang Wenjin and has been doing quite well these past few years.

"Zhai Wen, you stay."

Zhang Wenjin ultimately kept Zhai Wen.

Zhai Wen was somewhat surprised.

"What are your instructions, Your Excellency?"

"You know the situation in Datong. There are many things I am willing to do but unable to. Looking around Datong, you are the only one who can do something practical. So there are a few things I need to tell you."

Zhang Wenjin spoke in a gentle tone.

Zhai Wen was surprised to find himself highly regarded by Zhang Wenjin and was somewhat moved. He quickly replied modestly, "Your Excellency, you have overestimated me."

Zhang Wenjin waved his hand.

"As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Wang Xin is a man of action. Among the few officials I am on good terms with in Datong, you hold the highest position. That's why I kept you here, not for any other reason."

Wang Xin acted openly and honestly in Datong.

This is his confidence.

There was also an interpreter named Tao Sheng, but his position was too low to be of any interest to Zhang Wenjin.

In fact, Zhai Wen was only a fifth-rank official.

"Grand Secretary Zhang intends to replace me with Zhou Wen. Judging from his character, I fear he is not the kind of person who can turn the tide," Zhang Wenjin said with deep concern.

After Zhang Wenjin's guidance, Zhai Wen understood the imperial court's plans for the future of Datong.

Zhou Wen's occupation of the Western Army in Datong was only the first step. The next step was to be promoted to military governor and use the Western Army in Datong as the foundation to completely control the entire Datong military town. With the strength of the Western Army in Datong and the support of Zhang Jifu, Zhou Wen's control over Datong would be no less than that of Feng Yong in the past.

Zhai Wen didn't quite understand why Grand Secretary Zhang wanted to do this, and he was even more confused as to why Zhang Wenjin had agreed.

Zhang Wenjin didn't offer much explanation.

"These past two years have been turbulent. It's best not to cause any trouble in Datong. Otherwise, we'll suffer losses for nothing, and in the end, the imperial court will have to clean up the mess. No one will benefit. It's better to wait out these next few years and wait for Zhang Jifu to successfully reduce the army. This will ultimately be a good thing."

Zhai Wen smiled wryly: "How could I, a humble official, decide on the Great Harmony?"

Zhang Wenjin patted Zhai Wen on the shoulder and said, "If you people working below put in a little more effort, the outcome will be different. It's useless for me to talk to the others; we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate."

Zhai Wen was also greedy.

However, Zhai Wen and his gang still had some bottom line when it came to being greedy.

Many people just want to make as much money as they can while they're still in office.

Zhai Wen was speechless.

The thought of Zhang Wenjin blocking the street with his large cart full of money and jewelry, and then trying to persuade them to do things properly, is truly indescribable.

Ignoring all that, Zhai Wen couldn't help but ask, "Can Zhou Wen really control the Western Army of Datong?"

"who knows."

Zhang Wenjin shrugged.

Anyway, he wasn't optimistic. He had tried to win them over before, but he couldn't see the problem, so he couldn't answer Zhai Wen's question.

Zhai Wen decided to go and see Tang Ping.

If Tang Ping really sides with Zhou Wen, who will later become the military governor of Datong, then it would be necessary for me to go and pray to Buddha in advance.

And then there's Wang Xin.

I heard that Wang Xin is going to have a child. I'll send him a gift this year before the New Year.

In the end, we were just close friends.

It's a real pity that the Western Army of Datong fell to another family. Wang Xin's strength lay in his lack of selfishness, which is why the court was willing to employ him. He was incorruptible and unafraid to offend people. However, he also lost because he lacked selfishness.

(End of this chapter)