The Red Mansions

Chapter 534 Jia Heng: Mrs. Wang is a demon, he needs to be with Yuan Chun...

Beijing Palace
It was mid-afternoon, and the beauty in the light blue dress was sitting on the teacher's chair, holding the table with one jade hand, and holding the writing brush in the other hand, facing a copybook.

It was Zhen Xue, Princess of Beijing.

The princess of the county is still in Song Huizong's thin golden body. At this moment, the sleeves decorated with blue water clouds are rolled up, and the soft afternoon sun shines through the carved window and falls on the arm of frosty snow, reflected by a jasper bracelet. Faint light.

The beauty has moon eyebrows and star eyes, under willow-leaf slender eyebrows, with a concentrated expression, her lips painted with light red rouge are slightly pursed, and there are dimples as light as crescent moons on her white and greasy face.

At this time, the servant girl came in and said, "Your Majesty, Princess Chu is here."

Zhen Xue came back to her senses, raised her beautiful face, put the brush in her hand on the pen stand, and said softly, "Welcome people to the side hall first, and I'll go there right away."

As he spoke, he pulled away the chair behind him, got up and went, but also because he didn't pay attention, when his hip touched the corner of the mahogany desk, there was an "Ouch" sound, and his eyebrows, which were curved like crescent moons, frowned tightly, tears hurting Come out, roll on the eyelashes, and see the color of pain on the greasy cheeks.

"My lady..."

At this time, the maidservants and mothers who were standing under the curtain and at the door of the study changed their complexions greatly and hurriedly moved forward to check.

Zhen Xue's gentle and gentle face was pale, she held her hips with one hand, waved her hand and said, "I'm fine, help me to rest on the bed, go talk to Princess Chu, and change to the study." Meet."

"Your Majesty, the medical officer is here to check." The servant girl whispered.

After a while, Princess Chu, who heard the news, followed her mother to the study room inscribed "Mo Yun Study". When she saw Zhen Xue sitting on Luo's bed, her jade face changed slightly, and she asked with concern: "Sister, listen to me." Mammy said my sister bumped into her just now, why are you so careless?"

With that said, come closer and have a look.

"Sister, I'm fine. Sister, why are you here?" Zhen Xue was feeling better now, and asked curiously.

Concubine Chu took the opportunity to sit down and said, "My lord has gone to Gongling. I have nothing to do at home, so I came to see you. Where's Xinxin?"

"She has homework in the afternoon, and she can read and write." Zhen Xue said softly while ordering the servant girl to prepare tea for Princess Chu with a sweet smile.

Aristocratic ladies have been well cultivated since childhood.

Zhen Qing nodded, and suddenly asked, "Does my sister know Jia Heng's father-in-law?"

Zhen Xue frowned and said, "Why did sister mention Jia Ziyu again?"

"Sister, do you still remember what I told you the day before yesterday? Then Jia Heng is really famous, today the court pushed, his father-in-law Qin Ye has now become the right servant of the Ministry of Industry." Princess Chu Zhen Qing's phoenix eyes under her willow eyebrows showed a sneer In other words, it looked as expected.

"This..." Zhen Xue's expression froze for a moment, her pink lips parted slightly, and she said doubtfully, "Ordinarily, military generals won't participate in court promotions. Does the Minister of Military Affairs still have special preferential treatment?"

"Sister said she doesn't pay attention to the court situation? She even knows the process of the court's promotion." Zhen Qing smiled and joked with her eyebrows bent.

"I've heard the prince mention it, and it's a little subtle." Zhen Xue explained.

Zhen Qing said coldly: "Sister, now that Jia Zheng has gone to the Department of General Affairs, Qin Ye stayed in the Ministry of Industry and was promoted to a department hall. If there is no plot behind this by the surname Jia, I will not believe it." !"

The more I thought about Jia, the more I felt that all this was planned by the Ministry of Industry, otherwise it would be too coincidental, wouldn't it?
Zhen Xue looked at her beautiful and glamorous older sister, and said, "My sister is really bewildered, even if she has a plan, it's not worth being surprised."

"Sister, I don't know. On the court recommendation, not only the people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate helped him speak, but also Mr. Zhao, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, helped him recommend Qin Ye. In the end, it was the people from the cabinet who agreed." Zhen Qing's eyes were clear, The slightly thin rose lips pursed, and said in a low voice: "I thought it was Mr. Shi from the Military Aircraft Department who helped to speak, but I didn't expect it to be these people. How deep do you think this person is in the city?"

Zhen Xue said: "Sister, Jia Ziyu can have such a high status at this age, how can the city be shallow?"

In fact, I also vaguely guessed some of my sister's thoughts in my heart. It was nothing more than trying to win Jia Ziyu into use by the brother-in-law of the king of Chu, but it was probably because the authorities were deluded. Not to mention anything else, how could he end up in such a crucial position so easily?
Zhen Qing said with emotion: "Yes."

This kind of person holds a key position, how could she not try to win him over, but she will not use the stupid method of "marriage" like a prince.

But to use Jia Ziyu as an important pawn,
It's just that she wants to leave a backup for the prince and help him at that critical moment, then her goal will be achieved.

Thinking of this, Zhen Qing's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but glance at her beautiful younger sister, she couldn't tell... she was going to make such a bad plan.

……

……

In the afternoon, Beijing Camp, Jieshuai Camp
The bright spring light in mid-spring lazily shines around the barracks in the afternoon. The lush willow trees, with their branches and leaves swaying with the wind, bathe in the spring light.

The generals and schools of the [-]th Regiment Battalion with the title of "Captain" are all there, in addition to the four generals Qu Guang, Shan Ming, Xiao Lin, and Shao Chao from the Guoyong Battalion, as well as the guerrilla generals Cai Quan, Xie Zaiyi, and Yangwei Battalion Gather Pang Shili together to discuss the rectification of the Beijing camp.

After several months, the vigorous and even bloody Beijing camp reorganization finally came to an end.

Jia Heng looked at Song Yuan, and said: "Now the [-]th Regiment Battalion has a fixed number of troops, and I will tell the commanders present."

At this time, Song Yuan's firm voice came from the field, saying: "Jie Shuai, the 17th Regiment of the Beijing Camp has been recruiting young and strong refugees from Shanluo and other places for several months since last winter, recruiting 15 soldiers. 2 soldiers, [-] regular soldiers, [-] auxiliary soldiers, the expansion of the twelve regiments and battalions, all of which are real soldiers and real wages. After training in advance, equipped with armored soldiers, they have begun to take shape. Subsequent military sources adhered to what Jie Shuai said was rather lacking than excessive, and did not make up for it in real terms...It is just that Henan and other places heard that the Beijing camp recruited soldiers, and the number of people who fled to Guanshan has a tendency to increase."

At the beginning, Jia Heng discussed with Shi Jie about the number of soldiers in the Beijing camp. Shi Jie believed that each battalion had a fixed number of troops of 18. In the end, the 25th regiment battalion had [-] soldiers and horses, while Jia Heng believed that [-] soldiers and horses were enough.

The premise of Jia Heng's idea at the beginning was to deter the world with the heavy troops of the Beijing camp, and to support the frontier war at any time. While mobilizing the army to advance northward, it was necessary to maintain a certain force advantage in the center.

In terms of locality, it is mostly solid inside and empty outside. In the local area, the weak branches are strong, and the frontier is trimmed and supplemented. From the root, the young and strong refugees in the three northern provinces are removed. The imperial court organizes them to provide military salaries, or produce Self-rescue or foreign war is better than attaching rebellious bandits in prefectures and counties.

Otherwise, when the civil unrest is coerced by the rebels, it will become a force against the imperial court.

At the same time, there is also a hidden principle that is consistent with Emperor Chongping or the political operation of the Han Dynasty. The northern soldiers are used to shock the southerners, and the southern provinces are used to support the northern soldiers and flog the world.

But correspondingly speaking, the pressure of real soldiers and real wages on the finances of the Ministry of Finance is greater than the previous one-year delay in arrears of the Beijing Camp's wages and silver. First, the Dongcheng Sanhe Gang made a windfall by copying inspections, and then there was the Zhongshun Palace and related corruption. The officer's ransack added that several consecutive windfalls can withstand this gap.

And more than half of this money came from the internal funds of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was for this reason that Emperor Chongping asked Jia Heng to focus his affairs on the Beijing camp the day before yesterday.

Jia Heng nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Nowadays, the soldiers and horses are enough. The battalions have suspended recruitment and training. As for the refugees, I will speak to the imperial court in the near future to build water conservancy projects in Sanfu and Henan. Drill wells to prepare for drought, and these will recruit a large number of peasants, which can relieve the difficulties of the people's livelihood."

At the beginning, he was advising the emperor to build water conservancy projects and stockpile food to prepare for shortages, which should be here.

Now the method of using work as relief is being used to alleviate the impact of the disaster. Of course, this has to be done all over again. This money cannot be directly allocated to the local government, otherwise there will be no sound, and it will easily become an excuse for the gentry to intensify the exploitation of the people.

Use work in lieu of relief, if you get greedy for money, it will be turned into excessive labor for you.

And the minister of the Ministry of Industry at this moment is his old father-in-law, so there is a possibility of practical operation.

As for Henan, he also needs to make achievements in local internal affairs, or to have his own basic base, and Henan is where he is aiming.

Without him, it is close to the capital, separated from the north and the south, and Luoyang echoes Shenjing.

It's just that Henan has been affected by drought and locust disasters in recent years, and natural and man-made disasters continue.

"Jie Shuai, the key is still the people of Henan, Shandong and other places. It's not a problem if they flee like this for a long time." Song Yuan hesitated for a while.

Jia Heng said: "In the next two days, I will report this matter to the Holy One."

The problem in Henan and Shandong is that natural disasters are frequent and officials are corrupt. Although a lot of taxes have been removed, the exploitation of local gentry has not been reduced, and the people have no livelihood. They either flee to the south or to Guanshan.

In the former case, Shen Fang, governor of Liangjiang, strictly ordered local prefectures and counties not to let people from Shandong, Henan and other places cross the south of the Yangtze River.

Although this point is a bit harsh, Jia Heng still agrees, because the refugees going south will have an incalculable impact on the three southeastern provinces, not only the deterioration of law and order, but also the gentry keeping slaves and hiding themselves, and the proliferation of private households armed and other serious problems.

Afterwards, Jia Heng discussed with the commander of the [-]th Regiment Battalion the training code, and made deletions and adjustments based on the actual problems encountered during the training. .

Discussed for about an hour, see no other comments.

Jia Heng read through the revisions compiled by the recording room and joined the army, and added them, and then said: "Everyone, the eastern captives are watching the north, and there is always the possibility of invasion from the south. We must not slack off in the drill. For the training, we will first follow this revised drill, and we will summarize the pros and cons next month."

"Yes." All the generals took orders in unison, and left the hall in twos and threes.

After the generals dispersed, Jia Heng, Song Yuan, Xie Zaiyi and other trusted generals from the Guoyong camp also left the barracks together, walked along a long road paved with blue bricks, walked around the camp area, and talked while walking.

Jia Heng stood by the road, looking at the soldiers who were practicing on the school field in the distance, and said to Song Yuan, Cai Quan and others who followed suit: "Although the soldiers are performing continuously, they have not yet experienced actual combat, and they do not yet know how powerful they are." How much? General Xie, you once fought against Donglu, where do you think our army's combat power can be improved?"

Xie Zaiyi changed his face and said: "My lord, I don't know the end of the next regiment battalion. The soldiers of the Guoyong battalion have been eliminated and practiced, and their combat strength is considered to be the highest among the battalions. Even if they go north and east, they can compete with each other."

Song Yuan frowned, and said loudly: "Jie Shuai, the [-]th Regiment Battalion was initially reorganized, and the time of formation of the army varies. I am afraid that it will take at least half a year of training. Now that the bandits are making trouble in various places, why not go to Beijing?" The battalion officers and troops went out of Shaanxi to suppress and arrest them?"

Jia Heng said: "I also have the same intention. Can we send soldiers to Henan to help suppress the war? The combat power of the Henan Metropolitan Army makes people have doubts."

On February [-]nd, he read in the urgent mail of the Military Aircraft Department that Niu Jizong had led the generals of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion to the Runing Mansion to supervise the army, and he paid attention to it at that time.

In his position, he was planning his own government, and as a minister of military affairs, he had to pay attention to this matter, otherwise what would really happen, he would never know.

"Henan? What does Jie Shuai mean?" Song Yuan frowned and asked.

Jia Heng said: "Niu Jizong went to Henan to suppress the bandits. It has been two months since he left. Henan dispatched troops and generals in full swing. There is no news at the moment and sent them to Shenjing by emergency delivery. Just now I called Qu Zhen from Jinyi Mansion. Fu, pay attention to the situation in Henan, if the suppression of bandits goes well, that’s fine, if not, I plan to send two battalions of officers and troops to Shaanxi to assist in the suppression, and at the same time to rectify the military affairs of the Henan capital.”

The latter's real goal was to rectify the military affairs. Taking advantage of the absence of the two kings of Nan'an and Beijing, he used military aircraft to usurp the power of the governor's office of the five armies.

Song Yuan thought for a while, and said: "I'm afraid I have to discuss this matter with the palace."

It's hard for them to talk about matters involving the court.

While they were talking, a small school of young people ran quickly from the direction of the camp gate. It was Jia Fang, a member of Jia Heng's clan. Compared with when he first came to Beijing Camp, he was completely immature.

Not only Jia Fang, but many of the Jia people who stayed in the Beijing camp had already been promoted to the general banner or tried a hundred households.

Jia Fang cupped her fists and said, "Jie Shuai, Qu Zhenfu from Jinyi Mansion is here."

Jia Heng nodded and said, "Lead him to the barracks."

In the barracks, Qu Lang took out a collection of books from the cowhide bag beside him, handed it over and said, "Commander, all the family property of the criminals related to the Gongling case has been confiscated, except Liang Yuan who is still in the southern province and has not been brought to justice. The officials in Beijing, these days, Those sentenced to death and exile are all in the roster, and there is also a record of the amount of confiscated property, please read it."

According to the original court discussion, the criminals related to the Ministry of Industry were also a few days old. After Emperor Chongping personally sentenced and punished them, the two ministers of the Ministry of Industry, the Langzhong and Yuanwailang of the Tuntian Qingli Secretary, Zhou Changshi of the Zhongshun Palace, and several doctors of the House of Internal Affairs were all executed. The subordinate officials were also exiled. As for the raiding of the house, it has been carried out in an orderly manner these days, but Jia Heng did not do it himself, but ordered him to work with the Jinyi Mansion and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to check on the progress at any time.

Jia Heng quickly flipped through it, nodded, and said: "Continue to follow up on this matter. Don't rush to sell those antique calligraphy and paintings. They can't be sold at a good price in the capital. I will find someone to send them to Jiangnan for sale."

Another 200 million yuan was confiscated from the family assets of these criminals. However, due to several consecutive raids, the eastern and western markets gradually failed to sell at a good price. After all, the consumer market is almost saturated.

After Jia Heng finished speaking, he put the book aside, turned to look at Qu Lang, and ordered: "In the past few days, I haven't received any urgent military information from the Henan Dusi at the Ministry of War. You let the Qianhu Offices in Luoyang and Kaifeng, Keep an eye on the Runing Mansion, and pay attention to the movement of the officers and soldiers of the Henan Capital, and if there is anything unusual, send a letter to the pigeons to report."

Qu Lang clasped his fists and said: "I'm humble, so please send a letter to Fang Shaoyong, a thousand households in Henan Jinyi, and pay close attention to the movement of Runing Mansion."

Jia Heng nodded and said: "Besides, you should always pay attention to Beiping."

Li Zan went to Peiping, and for the next half a year, he will prepare for the establishment of the Economic and Strategic Appeasement Department, and he also needs to keep in touch with the direction of Peiping at all times.

After Qu Lang left, Jia Heng's face paused, but his heart was still a little unsettled.

In other words, it was more like a strong premonition of the development of the situation, because when Niu Jizong was in command of the Guoyong camp, he had a bad impression on him, so there is no guarantee that there will be no major mistakes in this trip to Henan.

Jia Heng didn't return home in the evening, but went to the Princess Jinyang's mansion for dinner. At noon, Mrs. Wang acted as a demon, so he needed to have a good "talk" with Yuan Chun.

(End of this chapter)