If it is too heavy to describe what happened in Weiyang Fucheng as a one-day disaster, this sudden disaster almost changed the situation of the entire Jiangnan, making the entire Jiangnan situation change in a way that is beyond everyone's imagination. A drastic change in speed. Historians of later generations want to find out what caused this disaster, which almost shattered the vitality of the wealthy businessmen in Weiyang Mansion, and whether Situ Tai, who nominally controlled the entire Jiangnan at that time, was secretly instigating it. But nothing can be done.
Because in order to get rid of all this, Situ Tai took quite decisive measures. The initiator of the "Weiyang Massacre" was Weiyang Mansion City Shou Rong Shengming and the Jiangnan Independent Second Division Division Commander Shen Qiuchen who was stationed in Weiyang Mansion at that time. In a short period of time, they suffered a disaster that they had not imagined. The defender of Weiyang City, Rong Shengming, who fled to Jinling first, was quickly beheaded. After learning about the fate of his accomplices, Shen Qiuchen immediately went to Yuhang. He launched a rebellion, but his rebellion seemed so weak that several subordinates immediately betrayed him. The entire Jiangnan Independent Second Division immediately fell into a melee at the Yuhang Mansion Pier. During the melee, the whereabouts of the culprit Shen Qiuchen was unknown. Some people say that he fell into the canal and died during the war. Some people say that Shen Qiuchen and his cronies fled into the Atlantic Ocean with a batch of the most valuable jewelry in a boat and disappeared. Some people say that Shen Qiuchen deliberately acted under the instruction of Situ Tai. There are many different opinions about creating chaos in order to hide the truth from others, but one thing is unmistakable. A small part of the gold, silver, antiques and jewelry that Shen Qiuchen escorted mysteriously disappeared during the rebellion in Yuhang.
According to the information learned by historians later, the amount of property actually delivered to Situ Tai was at least 10% less. In particular, a group of valuable antiques disappeared mysteriously, which made this headless case even more confusing.
Rong Shengming and Shen Qiuchen imprisoned more than 120 wealthy businessmen and their families in the entire Weiyang Mansion in one day, and then set off an unprecedented frenzy of ransacking their homes. All the mansions of wealthy businessmen were cleaned out, and as many as ten banks were looted. The soldiers followed the officers' instructions and only had gold, silver and antiques. All bills of exchange, documents and other items were burned. Weiyang Mansion immediately became a hell on earth, and the businessmen who were detained in prison were ordered to hand over half a million imperial gold coins each in ransom silver within three hours. In such a short period of time, all their property was looted. How many people were able to come up with it under the circumstances? In the end, only about 70 people collected the ransom money from relatives and friends through various pledges, loans and other means, while most of the remaining 40-odd people who could not get it together barely managed to get it. gained their lives, but more than ten people lost their lives in the demonstration of killing chickens to scare monkeys.
According to later investigation materials, Rong Shengming and Shen Qiuchen plundered and extracted as much as 50 million imperial gold coins in this bloody massacre and robbery. This did not include a large number of antiques, calligraphy, paintings, jewelry, and more than ten The destruction of the family bank directly led to the financial paralysis of the entire Weiyang area. In particular, the destruction of a large number of documents and files directly caused the entire Weiyang area to be operated with extremely primitive means in the following year, causing Weiyang to suddenly fall from its status as the center of the Seven Prefectures in Jiangnan to the end. It took three years for Weiyang to gradually recover.
What role Situ Tai played in this scene, which can be called the darkest, worst and bloodiest scene in the history of the empire, continues to be debated by future generations, but one thing is certain that he must bear the main responsibility, and both leaders are The officials he appointed, and Shen Qiuchen was the old man who had been following him, had just been promoted from the Second Army to the position of commander of the notorious Jiangnan Independent Second Division in less than half a year.
The Weiyang murder case quickly spread throughout Jiangnan at an unprecedented speed. Within a week, the whole of Jiangnan exploded like a ladle of cold water poured into a boiling oil pan. The business class and landlord gentry in Jiangnan, who had always maintained a restrained attitude under Situ Tai's iron-blooded rule, could no longer bear it. They finally began to stand up and express themselves. position. Two days after the murder of Wei Yang, on September 13, 699 in the mainland Gregorian calendar, Songjiang gentry and merchants announced that they would jointly expel all officials of King Situ Tai of Yan and implement self-government. Immediately, he announced his willingness to abide by the decree of the Western Xinjiang Protectorate by King Qin Li Wufeng, and requested Xijiang to dispatch officials as soon as possible to form the Songjiang local government for management. This was the first time that Xijiang forces officially arrived in Dadongyang. On September 14, Quanzhou Prefecture, which had been in a semi-independent state, declared autonomy and became the protectorate of the Kingdom of Milan. However, this was unanimously condemned by the Jiangnan gentry outside Quanzhou. The Kingdom of Milan immediately expressed its intention to let Quanzhou become the protectorate of the Kingdom of Milan. land. On September 15, members of the Quanzhou Chamber of Commerce jointly issued a statement announcing that Quanzhou was willing to accept the management of Qin King Li Wufeng and urged officials from Western Xinjiang to form a local government.
On September 14, a large-scale citizen uprising broke out in Gusu Prefecture. The revolting people captured the city guard and expelled local officials. The Jiangnan Independent Third Division stationed in Gusu Prefecture adopted a neutral stance and launched the uprising that night. After declaring that the situation was over and requesting to accept the management of Western Xinjiang, there was a sudden uproar, and the entire Jiangnan suddenly became a noisy political performance venue.
On September 17, when the two divisions of the First Army of Western Xinjiang advanced northward from Weiyang into Yuhang, the First Independent Division of Jiangnan stationed in Yuhang City took a boat along the Grand Canal to evacuate Yuhang and return to Jinling. At the same time, Liao Qichang, the former governor of Jiangnan County in the empire, announced that Jiangnan County was separated from the empire and the rule of King Yan, and was under the jurisdiction of the Prince of Qin's Palace. He also proposed to cancel the outdated title of the Protectorate of Western Xinjiang and form a temporary government of the King of Qin.
The impact of the Wei Yang murder case was far-reaching, even affecting the establishment of the new dynasty. The industrial and commercial circles, led by the Jiangnan industrial and commercial class, unanimously demanded strict measures against the Situ family, and resolutely opposed women with Situ family blood becoming the emperor. The attitude of this group of Wu Feng harem members almost made the already complicated palace battles at that time even more intense.
Situ Tai's attitude of giving up on Jiangnan and the fact that the situation in Jiangnan suddenly became so favorable to Xijiang due to the Wei Yang murder case made both Liang Chongxin and Cheng Dayou feel the need to change the original battle plan. In fact, Jiangnan no longer needed to Conquered by any military means, the original plan of the Eastern and Northern Expeditions lost meaning overnight. The people's return and the eager expectations of the gentry and merchants all exploded after the vacuum of Situ Tai's military power, including Quanzhou. Except for Jinhua, which still maintains a shaky rule under Situ Biao's force control, the other six Jiangnan mansions have entered the embrace of Western Xinjiang in a relatively peaceful manner.
Regarding Situ Tai's attitude towards abandoning Jiangnan, Liang Chongxin and Cheng Dayou also discussed it several times. In the end, they believed that this was a wiser strategy for Situ Tai. If too many troops were invested in Jiangnan, not only would his northern army be trapped In this watery country that is already difficult to adapt to, and the local hostility will only make the more troops he invests, the more losses he will suffer. His economic policies in Jiangnan have made it impossible for him to win the hearts and minds of Jiangnan people under any circumstances. Instead of consuming the dead land of Jiangnan, it is better to shrink the troops and ensure the security north of Shanjiang. At least in this way, he can launch an offensive in the northern theater with peace of mind. As long as he can completely defeat Xijiang in the north, he will still He has the strength to compete with His Highness King Qin in the world.
The Situ Biao issue that was originally hoped to be resolved last seemed to be suddenly put on the agenda.
"Dayou, have you read the letters and reports sent by Songjiang and Quanzhou? Haha, these businessmen were so embarrassed by Situ Tai, but they were unwilling to express their attitude and insisted that Shen Qiuchen show it to them in Weiyang. Only the sharpness of the blade is enough to be willing to show off. Alas, man is really the most tolerant animal. If you don't put the knife under his neck, in many cases he is willing to endure it and sometimes even chop it down. , he still endured it indifferently. This may be a kind of inertia among people." Liang Chongxin weighed a stack of paper in his hand and sighed with emotion, "This Shen Qiuchen has really done a big favor to both of us. If it weren't for With his sweep, I'm afraid that all classes in the Jiangnan government will still be timid and their bayonets are red. No wonder they can't help it. A dozen good heads can be considered as a wake-up call for the Jiangnan businessmen."
"Not necessarily, Brother Chongxin. I don't think these businessmen broke out just because Shen Qiuchen chopped off a few heads. If our army hadn't entered Weiyang, do you think they would have made such a high-profile boast? Hehe, People are all realistic. As long as it doesn't cut off their own heads, they will tolerate it as long as they can. This is a common problem among people, especially businessmen. Now that the commotion is so vigorous, it is not a foregone conclusion that Jiangnan will be included in our Western Xinjiang area. , Situ Tai no longer has the possibility of controlling Jiangnan, so why would he want to shout a few words at this time, show his face, and lay the foundation for himself to obtain more benefits in the future? These businessmen are better at planning than anything else." Cheng Dadian shrugged and walked side by side with the other side. Originally, the two of them had decided to take one route each. Liang Chongxin went south to take Suzhou and Quanzhou, while he himself took Yuhang and Songjiang. Unexpectedly, the situation changed so quickly that the army had no use for it.
"Haha, there is some truth to it, but they are still considered uprising before the battle, and they rebel temporarily. We will have to rely on these guys for a lot of time in the future. On the surface, we have to give in and reciprocate. They praise us so highly. Well, we have to express a few words of comfort and concern, right?" Liang Chongxin's tone at this time was full of ridicule.