diskusbooks Chapter 342: Journey to the West
Chapter 342: Journey to the West
Mr. Zhao sat leisurely on the second floor, sipping his fragrant tea, his fingers tapping the table casually.
A letter was spread out before my eyes, and the contents of the letter were clear and concise.
Zhao Hong's rebellion ended in failure. He was captured and was about to be exiled to the northwest, his destination being Dingbian County on the border of Qin.
As for Zhao Heng, his title of prince was demoted to that of a county prince, but he still remained in the land of Chuzhou.
Zhao Sheng thought to himself that if this happened, the Great Zhou, which had seemed harmonious on the surface, would probably become chaotic and turbulent.
Yuezhou is a place of great natural beauty, abundant resources, and people live and work in peace and contentment.
However, there was no capable official to manage it carefully, and the court could gain very little benefit from it.
Of Zhao Hengzhang's eight sons, five died in the blink of an eye.
As for the Eighth Brother, he is actually a puppet in the hands of the Lu family and will decline sooner or later.
After drinking a cup of tea, Zhao Sheng suddenly felt the urge to urinate.
But he resisted the urge to go to the toilet. Instead, he asked someone to bring him paper and pen, and bent over the desk to write furiously.
The meaning of the letter explained that Bingzhou had been in chaos for many years and Lao Ba was not capable of governing. However, the position of King Jin should not be removed, but Zhao Jing should be sent to Yuezhou to take over all affairs of Yuezhou.
As for Zhao Wei, he did not mention him in the letter, also to avoid suspicion.
After writing the letter, Zhao Sheng sent someone to deliver it to the capital and directly to Zhao Hui.
Now that Yanzhou is practicing self-government, Zhao Sheng has no intention of interfering.
His current priority is to build the four areas of Weizhou into a solid rock and step up the development of Dingzhou's resources.
The second is the manufacture of weapons and the search for a granary to ensure that the people in these places have enough food and clothing.
Zhao Sheng’s idea is beautiful, but reality is always cruel and ruthless.
The Great Zhou Palace coup quickly caused an uproar in neighboring countries.
Especially Dingbian, where Zhao Hong was exiled, which borders the State of Liang.
Although there are few frictions between the two countries, barbarians often come here to harass, making this place desolate and desolate.
Here, various forces are intertwined, and officials and bandits are not secretly colluding with each other, but officials have directly become bandits.
Zhao Hong's biological mother was Concubine Li, who was quite favored by the emperor.
His mother's family is the Wang Group, which is extremely powerful.
When the Wang family learned that Zhao Hong was going to be exiled to Dingbian, they immediately began to make preparations.
Although Zhao Hong has become a deposed prince, for the powerful Wang family, it is just a matter of moving to another place to continue living.
Wherever Zhao Hong can set foot, that is where the Wang family's influence can extend.
In this case, how could Liang Kingdom not be frightened?
Furthermore, the cannon developed by Zhao Hong brought new inspiration to the Wang family of Bingzhou.
In particular, the weapons such as rifles and rocket launchers that have reappeared in the new army have undoubtedly opened a new era of new weapons.
Zhao Hong's journey of exile was nothing like the difficult journey of ordinary criminals in shackles.
Even the route of travel was just a casual remark.
When passing through Bingzhou, members of the Wang family organized a large team to escort them all the way west.
Everything is laid out openly in front of everyone.
Zhao Kang was also exiled, but his destination was Dacheng, a small city in the northeast of Yanzhou.
His treatment is completely different from Zhao Hong's.
However, Zhao Hui never treated him unfairly.
In a big city, you don't have to worry about food and drink, and you have a hundred personal guards to protect you.
Of course, it was announced to the outside world that this was a discipline on him.
……
It seemed as if tens of thousands of troops had flocked to Dingbian overnight.
At a place halfway up the mountain, about three miles away from the county town with earthen walls, a massive construction project has already begun.
These were the people sent by the Wang family to build a mansion for Zhao Hong.
There was a lack of bricks, stones and wood here, but they brought cement.
Since there were no rivers for drinking water here, they dug wells and even built a project called karez to ensure that tens of thousands of people here had no worries about drinking water.
Although it is already May, the climate in Dingbian is still a little chilly, and there are occasional signs of freezing.
Fortunately, the Wang family is wealthy.
Local residents came to help in order to earn money.
"Whose great master is this, building such a large-scale project here?"
On the construction site, migrant workers work hard, trying their best to earn a few cents a day.
This kind of scene has not been seen for many years.
"You, you're really eating pickles and still worrying about the emperor. I only gave you a steamed bun at noon, and you're so happy?"
Another worker joked with a smile.
"I'm really excited! Tell me, it's been a long time since our family had a full meal. We've been out of food this winter. Now I can get a few cents of wages, which is just right to help my family out of their financial difficulties."
"I think you're really overexcited. You ate half of a steamed bun. What's the matter? You even kept the other half to cover yourself. Aren't you afraid it'll go bad?"
"Don't laugh at me, didn't you keep half of it?"
The workers were laughing and joking with each other, and were working with great enthusiasm.
On the distant city wall, the county clerk looked into the distance.
He knew very well that this was an attractive piece of fat meat, but the other side had tens of thousands of people guarding it tightly, so he could only shake his head and sigh helplessly.
"Master, this is the Wang family, and they're building a house for the emperor's son. What? Are you still planning to do something about it?"
A burly man in frayed cloth armor asked with a strange smile on his face.
"Captain Li, I'm on patrol for the county magistrate. Please stop talking nonsense."
Being teased, the master was quite unhappy and said angrily.
"Come on, I was just joking with you, Master. Why are you giving me the cold shoulder?"
Captain Li seemed to realize that his words had gone awry, and he quickly stepped forward to explain with a smile.
Although the legal advisor did not hold an official position, he was often by the county magistrate's side, and his words were much more effective than those of a small constable like him.
"Okay, I just said it casually. Don't use sweet potatoes as dry food in the future."
The lawyer still didn't look happy and walked down the city wall with his hands behind his back.
After the lawyer walked away, the captain of the police walked down the city wall, spat fiercely at the lawyer's back, and then walked away humming a little tune.
The construction of the dock started from halfway up the mountain and then extended along the foot of the mountain towards the county town, the two echoing each other from a distance.
It gives the illusion that the Wang family is building a new city.
That’s right, the outermost wall built by the Wang family is three meters high. There is a hanging tower on the gate, a city wall at the back, and arrow towers on all four sides. From a distance, it looks a bit like a smaller version of Dingbian City.
……
Anyway, the construction there will take some time. Since Zhao Hong entered Bingzhou, he basically has to rest for a day after walking a certain distance, and then slowly move forward towards the north.
I never get up until noon in the morning, and I find a place to rest when the sun is high in the afternoon.
The guards in charge of the escort also enjoyed themselves following behind.
Zhao Hong enjoyed a large table of local delicacies, which were so filling that he could not finish them all by himself.
The accompanying guards ate with him.
Of course, if Zhao Hongruo was still eating, they would not dare to fight for it.
Naturally, they didn't want to miss such a carefree day with wine and food.
After crossing the Yellow River,
The comfortable days were gone forever. Many counties were far apart, and banditry was rampant, making the roads no longer safe.
Although the escorting guards and the Wang family soldiers who protected Zhao Hong numbered several thousand.
But Zhao Hong, who has always cherished his life, is unwilling to take risks.