Wei Shutong calmed down and said immediately: "Don't worry, Lord Hou, the military power of Chengdu Mansion is still in the hands of Xiaguan, and he, Li Hongxin, can't change the situation. From today on, Xiaguan will send heavy troops to guard Lord Hou's safety until Lord Hou leaves." Within Xichuan territory.”
Qi Ning smiled faintly and asked: "Master Wei, if Li Hongxin suddenly rebels now, how will you deal with it?"
"Rebellion?" Wei Shutong snorted coldly and said, "Master Hou, forgive me for speaking bluntly. Although Li Hongxin has the handle on me, he also knows my bottom line and does not dare to push him too far. Moreover, he He was also not allowed to have the slightest act of rebellion. When Li Hongxin surrendered to the imperial court and released his horses to Nanshan, the imperial court disbanded most of his troops. Now, except for the troops sent by the imperial court to guard Xichuan, most of the troops and horses in Xichuan are now They were re-recruited later. Li Hongxin only retained a thousand Jinguan Guards under his command. The money and food for these Jinguan Guards were borne by Li Hongxin himself, but their armored weapons were always allocated by the imperial court. Every three Replace armor and equipment once a year.”
Qi Ning said: "So, the equipment in Li Hongxin's hands is all in Master Wei's heart?"
"Exactly." Comrade Wei Shu said: "Back then, the Shu army was disbanded, all their armor and weapons were confiscated, and the court compensated them with severance pay. Most of these people went home to farm, and they were exempted from taxes for three years. Among them, many were forcibly recruited into the army. The imperial court did not allow them to bleed any more and allowed them to remove their armor and return to the fields. Naturally, they were grateful. It has been twenty years, and those soldiers had already returned to their hometowns. Li Hongxin wanted them to It is impossible to pick up weapons."
Qi Ning smiled and said: "Without weapons, those veterans cannot be recalled, so Mr. Wei feels that it is impossible for Li Hongxin to rebel."
Wei Shutong seemed very confident about this and said: "To be honest with you, the total number of soldiers and horses guarding Xichuan in various places is more than 40,000. These soldiers and horses are paid by the imperial court, and the leading generals also Most of them are transferred from the imperial court and assigned by subordinate officials." After a pause, he said: "In order to prevent accidents in Xichuan, the late emperor had to report to the imperial court whenever he mobilized more than a thousand soldiers and horses, and the Ministry of War signed off on the deployment of troops. Orders can be mobilized. Even if you are a low-ranking official, you can only mobilize four thousand soldiers and horses in Chengdu to quell unrest at any time."
Qi Ning nodded slightly and said, "In other words, Li Hongxin has no possibility of mobilizing troops?"
"Of course it's impossible." Wei Shutong sneered: "When the late emperor sent the old marquis in Jinyi to pacify Bashu, he knew that Li Hongxin was not a kind person. After the pacification of Xichuan, although he greatly rewarded Li Hongxin and gave him a large fiefdom, he He enjoyed glory and wealth, and retained a thousand officers and guards. However, the late emperor was very wary of this person and would never allow him to have the right to mobilize troops. Although Li Hongxin originally proposed to install a group of tiger and wolf generals under him, the court did indeed The group of people were resettled, but they were scattered everywhere, and they all held deputy positions and were under surveillance. Over the years, these people actually don't have much power among the various troops."
Qi Ning was thoughtful, and Wei Shutong asked cautiously: "Is the Marquis worried about something?"
Qi Ning shook his head and smiled: "I was just thinking, since Jianjiaguan did not stab me to death, what methods will Li Hongxin use next."
"The lower official will definitely send someone to investigate this matter." Comrade Wei Shu said: "If we can find evidence that Li Hongxin was behind the assassination of the Marquis in Jianjia Hall, we will have evidence that Li Hongxin is treasonous, and then we can justifiably kill him." If someone is caught, it can be regarded as eliminating a great harm."
"Since Li Hongxin has arranged it this way, it will not be easy to find a handle." Qi Ning said calmly: "None of the assassins survived, and there is no physical evidence. Li Hongxin is not worried at all that evidence of his crime will be found." After thinking about it. After a while, he suddenly said: "Master Wei, I still want to ask you about the temple."
"Does the Marquis suspect that there is something wrong with the temple donated by Li Hongxin?" Wei Shutong asked.
Qi Ning said, "You said he has donated and built more than a dozen temples. Do you know the specific locations?" After a slight pause, Wei Shutong continued, "Do you have a map of Xichuan here?"
"Yes." Wei Shutong stood up immediately, went out, and asked someone to bring a topographic map of Xichuan. When he returned to the house, Qining took the map and spread it on the table.
This era was different from later generations. Maps were extremely rare items, and maps were rarely circulated among the people.
However, Wei Shutong was the governor of Xichuan, so his government naturally had an extremely accurate topographic map of Xichuan.
On the map, the sixteen counties of Xichuan are described in detail, especially the terrain of Shu County where Chengdu Prefecture is located. The mountains, rivers and mountains are all very clearly outlined, and the cities of each county are also clearly marked.
"Master Wei, can you mark on the map the locations where Li Hongxin built the temple?" Qining stared at Wei Shutong.
Seeing Qi Ning's serious expression, Wei Shutong knew that the matter was not simple. He thought for a moment and then said: "Master Hou, I know that Li Hongxin donated more than ten temples and I remember some of them, but... not all the temple locations are clearly remembered. .”
"Mark the locations of the temples you know." Qi Ning's voice was serious: "If Li Hongxin donates to build three or two temples, it may be to deceive others and show that he has no desires and is devoted to Buddhism. Hey, he, the Li family Li Hongxin, who has been based in Xichuan for a hundred years, is a generational hero with blood on his hands, how could he put down his butcher knife so easily."
Wei Shutong frowned, took the brush, dipped it in ink, thought about it carefully, and then lightly tapped many places on the map to make dots of ink.
Qi Ning saw that he was making dots, and he was obviously very familiar with the geographical environment of Xichuan. He thought to himself that Wei Shutong was not an incompetent person after all. Just seeing how well he knew the terrain of Xichuan, he knew that this person had indeed spent a lot of time in Xichuan. It took a lot of effort.
Wei Shutong carefully placed eight ink dots, but the ninth place was not placed. He finally put down the brush and said: "Master Marquis, there are no mistakes in these eight places. I am not sure about the remaining ones." , and there are a few things that I really can’t remember.”
Wei Shutong was the governor of Xichuan and was in charge of the sixteen counties of Xichuan. Everything was complicated. Wei Shutong obviously didn't pay much attention to Li Hongxin's donations to temples before, but it was really not easy to remember eight locations.
Qi Ning nodded slightly, took a closer look, passed his fingers lightly, and suddenly raised his head, saying, "Master Wei, take a closer look. Is there anything strange about the locations chosen for these temples?"
At this time, Wei Shutong put his hands behind his back, bent down and observed carefully, frowning and said: "Of the eight temples that Xianguan knows, six are near Chengdu, and the remaining two are one in Brazil County and one in Jiangsu Province. Yang County...!" He narrowed his eyes and suddenly raised his head and said, "Yes, I have remembered it. Although I can't determine the exact location of the remaining temples, they all seem to be in Brazil County and Jiangyang County."
"Not to mention Brazil County and Jiangyang County." Qining pointed to the temples in Shu County on the map, "Six temples surround Chengdu Prefecture, and almost all of them are built with mountains behind them. Hehe, Mr. Wei, don't you Do you think these six temples seem to surround Chengdu?"
Wei Shutong took a closer look, his body was shaken, and he lost his voice and said: "Master Hou has good eyesight, it is really like this, Xiaguan... Xiaguan has never noticed this before."
"That's no wonder." Qi Ning said: "Master Wei, when did Li Hongxin start donating money to build the first temple?"
"The first temple donated and built by Li Hongxin is here." Wei Shutong pointed to an ink spot near Chengdu Mansion, "This is Qingcheng Mountain, the first temple donated and built by Li Hongxin." After thinking about it. After thinking about it, he said: "That should have been four years ago."
"Four years?" Qi Ning sneered: "In just four years, Li Hongxin donated and built more than ten temples, which is really a big deal."
Wei Shutong said: "When he surrendered to the imperial court, the imperial court left him a large fiefdom and rewarded him with countless gold and silver, allowing him to enjoy all the glory and wealth. As far as I know, Li Hongxin also sent people to do some things in private The business also brings in a large amount of income every year. After all, he still has a thousand Jinguan guards under his command, and he also has some retainers. Although the number is not large, they are very money-consuming. If there is no income, this group of people will The only thing we can do is drink from the northwest wind."
"It's no wonder he had so much money to donate to the building."
Wei Shutong frowned and said: "Li Hongxin has always been generous. He fought against the imperial court and squandered his family wealth, so it is not surprising that he spent a lot of money and was demoted. A few years ago, Li Hongxin's wife passed away and there was a big funeral. Please invite Hundreds of monks were saved. From then on, Li Hongxin invited eminent monks to the palace to preach sermons every once in a while. Xiaguan also met him a few times. He was indeed an eminent monk with profound Buddhist teachings, so he began to donate money to build temples. I don’t care too much, and the official sent someone to take a look, and there’s nothing wrong with it, so…!”
Qi Ning thought to himself that Li Hongxin was indeed very cunning. Before doing anything, he always took steps to confuse his opponents, and then started doing things smoothly, making people careless and careless.
"Master Wei, what do you think the purpose of these six temples surrounding Chengdu is?" Qining said thoughtfully, "He would not have chosen such a location on a whim. He must have planned it."
Wei Shutong nodded and said: "What the Marquis said is right. I didn't think so before. But now looking at the map above, there is something very strange in it." He couldn't help but raise his hand to stroke his beard, "But six temples can do... What?"
"Look at Brazil County and Jiangyang County...!" Qining raised his hand and said: "Chengdu is in Shu County, Brazil County is in the northeast of Shu County, and Jiangyang County is in the southeast." At this point, he reached out and picked up the brush. , connecting the three counties on the map, Wei Shutong immediately saw a triangle popping up on the paper, and couldn't help but said: "This... this is the power of a triangle!"
"This triangle suddenly includes Shu County, Jianwei County, Zitong County, Jiangyang County and Basi County." Qining said: "And these five counties are the core area of Xichuan. Mr. Wei, we are now You should understand how much evil intention is hidden in this."