Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 17: Looking at the Flying Clouds

Wei Sheng had a large house with three courtyards in Chuzhou City.

This is not because he is corrupt and exploits his soldiers, but because Chuzhou is the front line of the confrontation between Song and Jin, so the land price will naturally not be too high.

In addition, Wei Sheng is good at business, so it is not surprising that he has such a big house.

However, what is strange is that in such a big house, there is not even a maid, and the daily cooking and cleaning of the yard are done by the family members themselves.

I can only say that it’s a good thing that Wei Sheng has many children.

"Father, elder brother."

Wei Sheng and Liu Huai had just stopped their horses in front of the Wei Mansion when a young man in a plain robe came up to them and bowed to them.

This man had the Wei family's signature thick eyebrows, and his face looked exactly like Wei Sheng, except that he was much thinner and his face was much paler.

This person was Wei Sheng’s biological eldest son, Wei Jiao.

"Haha, second brother!" Liu Huai jumped off his horse and hugged him with open arms: "I miss you so much!"

"Let go...let go!"

Wei Jiao was intoxicated by the mixed smell of blood and sweat on Liu Huai's body, and immediately struggled hard.

"Don't make a fuss, Dalang. Erlang is a bit of a germaphobe, you know that."

Wei Sheng reached out and grabbed the reins of the two horses, and walked past happily, but had no intention of pulling them apart.

Wei Jiao broke free from Liu Huai's iron arms and looked down at his tattered clothes: "Brother, this is all I have!"

"Second brother, I guess you won't be able to wear this robe in the future."

Before Liu Huai could say anything, a sweet laugh came from behind him.

Looking back, I saw Wei Rujun holding a long wooden pole and watching his two brothers playing with a smile on his face.

"Little sister, why so fast?"

"Our shop is well-located. On weekdays, our income is flowing in like water every day. There are so many people interested in it, so we don't have to worry about selling it." Wei Rujun leaned the wooden pole against the wall, stuffed a small package he was carrying into Wei Jiao's arms, and helped his second brother straighten his clothes. "Mr. Li came quickly and offered a high price, a full eighty-seven taels of silver."

As the Wei family's chief steward, Wei Jiao held the small package and immediately noticed the problem after weighing it: "The weight is wrong."

"Oh, I also sold the wine banner and sign, and earned an extra ten taels of silver."

Wei Rujun pointed at the empty wooden pole, then stealthily glanced at Wei Sheng's back, grabbed Liu Huai's hand, and whispered, "Brother, can I go north with you?"

Liu Huai frowned and flatly refused: "Sister, we are going to the Northern Expedition, not a spring outing. The war is dangerous and you, a little girl, should not get involved. When the situation stabilizes, father will naturally send someone to pick you up. Just wait in Lin'an and be obedient."

Wei Rujun, however, refused to listen and held onto Liu Huai's arm with both of his arms. "Second brother is so weak, yet he can still join the army. Why can't I go?! I still have some inherited spear skills, so I can protect myself. Let me protect Second brother, okay..."

Wei Jiao counted the silver in the bag, snorted coldly and said nothing.

"Look, my second brother also agreed."

"Sister, your fancy spear skills are indeed passable," Liu Huai advised earnestly, "but on the battlefield, the emphasis is on swift swords and swift horses, heavy armor and long spears. Small tricks are completely useless. Forget about anything else. Your small body can't even support decent armor. A stray arrow will kill you."

"Second brother, can you wear armor with your physique?" Wei Rujun asked unconvinced.

Wei Jiao frowned immediately: "Sister, just say it, why do you have to drag me into this?"

Liu Huai pulled Wei Rujun's hand away: "Your second brother is a man, so he can die..." Wei Jiao was furious: "What do you mean by die, big brother? I finally understand why my little sister speaks so harshly now. It's all because of you."

"Look, little sister, it's because your second brother looks down on you. It has nothing to do with me." Liu Huai quickly waved his hand, broke free from Wei Rujun's arm, and went back to the room to sleep.

Only Wei Rujun was left stomping his feet at the door.

Facts have proved that Wei Sheng was not talking nonsense.

The reason why the Southern Song Dynasty was able to hold on to half of the country was that the Han Dynasty had true heroes.

Just as Liu Huai was sound asleep, two horsemen came along the street from the west. When they saw the words "Wei Mansion", they immediately pulled their reins and dismounted.

"Erlang, Ajun, has Duke Wei returned?"

The one who spoke was the yellow-faced man in the front. He was about forty years old, wearing a cotton robe, with a machete hanging behind his horse, looking like a hero of the green forest.

The young man behind him was shirtless, with flowers embroidered on his snow-white upper body and a handsome face, just like the prodigal son Yan Qing in "Water Margin".

Both of them seemed to have come from far away, and they were sweating all over, but they were beaming with joy and were extremely excited.

Wei Jiao immediately recognized that the older man was called Dong Cheng, and was Wei Sheng's close friend.

The young one was called Zhang Xiaoyi. He was brought back from Jiangbei by Wei Sheng last year. Although they had only known each other for a year, Wei Jiao knew that he was one of the most reliable people when facing the Jin army.

The reason is simple. Zhang Xiaoyi is the son of Zhang Wang, the leader of the rebel army that started an uprising in Haizhou last year.

In March of the 30th year of Shaoxing, Zhang Wang and Xu Yuan, unable to bear the heavy taxes, rose up in rebellion, but were easily surrounded and killed by the army led by Xu Wen, deputy commander of the Jin navy. The whole process took less than three months.

Zhang Xiaoyi could only flee in a hurry with more than ten people, while his parents and brothers were all killed.

He had a feud with the Jin Kingdom that wiped out his entire family!
Therefore, when Zhang Xiaoyi heard that Wei Sheng was going to gather people to march north, he was more anxious than anyone else.

"Uncle Dong, Brother Xiaoyi." Wei Jiao, who was waiting at the door, bowed and said, "Father is waiting for you in the study. Please come in."

The two men threw away their reins and strode into the Wei Mansion. Not long after, they walked out quickly.

Dong Cheng had a ferocious smile on his face, and laughed out loud in the street: "Hahaha, the damn heavens finally opened their eyes and let me live until today!"

After saying this, without waiting for the others' reaction, he drove his horse towards the state treasury in the west of the city.

Although Zhang Xiaoyi was calmer, his red bare chest still betrayed his mood.

After bowing to Wei Jiao, Zhang Xiaoyi reined in his horse and galloped eastward without saying a word.

The arrival and departure of these two people seemed to turn on a switch, and all kinds of people came to visit in an endless stream, including some pot-bellied businessmen, soldiers and officials, and even northern nobles wearing conical hats.

Wei Jiao was mentally prepared for this. He simply led the guests into the study one by one, and ignored their sadness or joy when they left. He just continued to entertain the guests at the gate.

After all, Wei Jiao, as the chief steward of the Wei Mansion, had already been familiar with these people.

However, at night, when Liu Huai woke up from his sleep, a person Wei Jiao had never seen before finally came.

"Excuse me, young man," the visitor said, a rough-hewn man, but his words were polite and refined. "Mr. Li Gongzuo, under the orders of Mr. Li Huibao, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Zhejiang Route Cavalry and Infantry, has come to pay his respects to Lord Wei."

Wei Jiao looked the other person up and down.

"please."

(End of this chapter)