He was the richest man in the Qin Dynasty, and folk rumors said that he was not rich enough to rival the country, but richer than the country. He cleverly established a name in his fiefdom, extorted and violently expropriated the people, collected protection fees from the surrounding countries, and when he retired, he used more than a thousand cars to pull gold and silver treasures.
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He was Wei Ran, the younger brother of Mi Yue and the prime minister of the Qin state. Wei Ran was born in the State of Chu, and his sister was Empress Dowager Xuan, that is, Mi Yue in film and television works. Mi Yue married Queen Huiwen of Qin and also brought Wei Ran to the state of Qin. King Wu of Qin was brave and warlike, so he admired Wei Ran, who was strong and loved to practice martial arts, and appointed Wei Ran as a general.
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Although he became a general, he was still some distance away from the inner circle of power, because King Qin Wu's favorite was the three strong men around him. One day, King Qin Wu and three strong men competed in strength, and the competitive King Qin Wu risked to raise the crown and was smashed to death, and the other three strong men were also impaired, exiled or buried with the army.
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However, King Wu of Qin had no children, and the emperor's position suddenly became vacant and no one could inherit, which also became an important opportunity for Wei Ran's life to change. Because he thought of a key person, Empress Dowager Xuan's son, that is, his nephew, Huanji. is working as a proton in Zhao Guo.
He quickly went to the Kingdom of Zhao, secretly took back Huanji, and after a series of planning, he proclaimed him emperor, that is, King Qin Zhaoxiang. In order to secure his nephew's throne, Wei Ran killed all the forces that opposed Huanji, including Huanji's brothers.
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His sister was the empress dowager and his nephew was the emperor, and with his own support, Wei Ran was soon promoted to general, and soon after to prime minister. Since King Qin Zhaoxiang was only 18 years old, all the imperial government was controlled by his mother, Empress Dowager Xuan.
Wei Ran was also close to the water building platform and mastered the military and political affairs of the dynasty. At this time, Wei Ran finally gained a firm foothold, stepped into the core circle of power, and began to implement the ultimate goal of making money.
The laws of the Qin State were perfect and strict, and it was difficult to embezzle, and the cunning Wei Ran thought of a new way to make money
After Wei Ran, who was promoted to prime minister, seized the core power, he racked his brains to figure out how to make money, because the Qin state had changed the law since the martingale, the legal system was extremely strict, and it was very difficult to be corrupt and take bribes, but the clever Wei Ran quickly thought of a "safe" way to start a war.
He launched wars against Korea and Wei, and the following year sent troops to attack the state of Chu. Because the Qin State was strong in force at that time, it was able to win a big victory every time it went out and capture many cities.
After each siege of the city, Wei Ran would lead his troops to loot the city, loot the official palaces and large and small warehouses in the city, and take away all the gold, silver, cattle, horses and livestock that could be found, and then put them all into his pockets.
After several battles, the small surrounding states were terrified of the powerful Qin state, and Wei Ran took the opportunity to demand "protection money" from them in his personal name and threatened to fight if he didn't.
The small countries with weak forces were helpless, and they all offered offerings to Wei Ran to ensure safety.
Such a blatant use of the name of the state to accumulate wealth, there was a lot of discussion in the imperial court, and by the time the news reached the emperor's ears, the cunning Wei Ran had long resigned and rested.
A year later, King Qin Zhaoxiang felt that he was struggling to manage the government, and reluctantly asked Wei Ran to be the prime minister, assist the imperial government, and reward the fief and make Wei Ran the Marquis. This time, Wei Ran's confidence was greatly encouraged, and he believed that the emperor was indeed inseparable from himself, so he completely let go of his hands and feet and amassed a lot of wealth.
Ignoring the decrees of the state, Wei Ran re-established various titles in his fiefdom and collected taxes. For example, commercial tax, business tax, poll tax, even if ordinary people go to the river to fetch some water, they have to pay some tax.
Unlike the impoverished common people, the Wei Ran family's treasury was getting bigger and bigger. Wei Ran's heart also gained infinite satisfaction. After experiencing the joy of collecting taxes in the fiefdom, Wei Ran had a new direction.
In addition to being greedy for money, Wei Ran also likes to show off his wealth, often bragging about how much gold and silver he plundered, so there is a saying among the people that Wei Ran's wealth is far better than the royal family.
Wei Ran found that he was increasing various taxes in his fiefdom to exploit the people, and he fell in love with this kind of gameplay in terms of the continuous flow of energy. So he began to expand his fiefdom in different ways.
In the Five Kingdoms Qi-Destroying War, Wei Ran ignored the covenant, threw off the large forces of several other countries, and directly occupied Taoyi, the most prosperous city in the Qi state, with his team, and incorporated Taoyi into his fiefdom.
The other Yan Zhao and other allied states were directly stunned, and the angry Yan Zhao army turned to the Qin State to ask for guilt, and Qin Zhaoxiang's seven tips of royal anger immediately dismissed Wei Ran from office.
After Wei Ran was dismissed, he continued to operate with the Empress Dowager and successfully reinstated him, and when he attacked the Wei state, he captured three county towns, and Wei Ran was itchy and applied to the emperor for an increase in fiefdoms, and King Qin Zhaoxiang agreed to see his repeated battle merits. Wei Ran happily began to plan all kinds of taxes again.
Because Wei Ran always loved to show off his wealth, there were many rumors among the people, and as the ministers also wrote to complain, the emperor took the opportunity to remove Wei Ran from the position of prime minister and let him return to his hometown.
But Wei Ran still had to make a high profile at this time, and when he left, he packed all the treasures and pulled them away at once, and more than a thousand vehicles to pull gold and silver were used, and the convoy occupied countless streets, which attracted people's attention and heated discussions.
Why is he so greedy for money and so show-off? This also starts with Wei Ran's childhood.
Wei Ran's mother was the princess of Chu, who was expelled from the palace after being persecuted, and gave birth to Wei Ran after being insulted by a scoundrel. Therefore, Wei Ran, who suffered from poverty, had a strong desire for money.
In today's terms, I am poor. However, after Wei Ran's death, King Zhaoxiang of Qin immediately raided his home, and the wealth of the Wan Guan family was returned to the treasury.