Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 607: Military and Civilian Alliance

Summer harvest is definitely a top priority for Henan.

Since the beginning of May, the official documents sent by various prefectures in Henan to the provincial government must report the recent local weather. If there is a wind, rain or hail disaster, the provincial government office has to coordinate with various departments and rush to provide assistance to the disaster-stricken areas.

Coincidentally, Xu Jin, the imperial envoy who was inspecting the local areas on behalf of the emperor and the left vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, was in Kaifeng city at that time.

If resentment could kill people, Xu Qingteng would have been stabbed to pieces and died eighty-eight times.

What a pity, Xu Jin is tough and has an even tougher life.

I was originally planning to stay in Henan for a month before going through Tongguan to Shaanxi for an inspection, but I ended up going to the Yellow River embankment that was being built and reinforced...

"Sir, the Marquis of Yongfeng has arrived at Guide Prefecture. He has stopped at Yucheng County and has not moved on. He has sent a letter to me."

The accompanying captain of the imperial guards handed over the letter, and Imperial Envoy Xu, who was wearing a pair of crystal glasses on his nose, raised his head.

When he opened the letter, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

As expected of his disciple, he knew what to focus on as soon as he arrived in Henan.

Compared with investigating corruption and deficits, the most important thing at the moment is the summer harvest and the reinforcement of the Yellow River embankment for flood prevention.

If the matter of embezzlement of funds for river management were exposed now, who knows what kind of crazy things these people would do.

If there were a hole in the Yellow River embankment, the vast land of Henan would probably be submerged by huge floods.

"Zhu Jun, have someone invite Lu Wan over. I have something important to tell him."

After Xu Jin put away the letter, he did not continue to deal with the documents on the table. He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, stood up and walked to the window.

According to official documents sent in the past two days, it is raining in all prefectures in Henan, and the rain is heavy, almost catching up with the precipitation in the first two months of previous years.

The rain outside the window was quite scary. The petals and leaves that had fallen to the ground had been submerged in mud and water. Let alone composing a poem about fallen flowers, Xu Jin had no interest in writing poetry at all.

At this moment, he is only worried about this year's summer harvest and the stability of the Yellow River embankment.

Da da da da~
Lu Wan, a captain of the Kaifeng Prefecture's Dragon Guards, came rushing over with big strides, the corners of his clothes wet.

"This general greets His Excellency the Imperial Envoy!"

"No need to be polite, Captain Lu. Please take a seat."

Xu Jin did not exchange too many pleasantries, but motioned for Lu Wan to sit down and talk.

As an imperial envoy who inspects local areas on behalf of the emperor, Xu Jin holds the king's banner and can temporarily mobilize personnel from local government offices. The Dragon Guards are the most commonly used and best used force.

Since arriving in Kaifeng Prefecture, the officials from Henan that Xu Jin had dealt with the most were those from the Kaifeng Thousand Households Division of the Dragon Guards.

There were only Xu Jin and Lu Wan in the room. Xu Jin was making tea, and the boiling water stirred up a cloud of smoke as it brewed the tea leaves.

The falling raindrops hit the tiles, giving Lu Wan a sense of relief.

"I'm afraid Captain Lu has been very busy these days."

Xu Jin handed over the brewed tea, and Lu Wan took it respectfully with both hands. He smiled bitterly and replied, "If I say I'm not busy, I'd be lying to you. But I have fulfilled my mission and finally found out the spy hiding in our ranks. But you, sir, I have a question, why did you send Yuan Wenlong to the Marquis of Yongfeng? You might as well take this opportunity to find out the termites in Kaifeng Prefecture or even the capital..."

"Captain Lu, have some tea first~"

Ok?
Seeing that Lu Wan's face was more confused, Xu Jin raised his glass to signal him and took a leisurely sip.

"It's like making tea. If the water is not boiling, no matter how good the tea leaves are, they won't taste good. No one in the government offices of Henan Province, or even in the capital, knows how many people are involved in this case. The officialdom in Henan at this moment is like this pot of tea, the water is not yet hot. I sent Yuan Wenlong to the Imperial Cat Jia Cong with great fanfare, just to add fuel to the fire..."

"Your Excellency's plan is brilliant. No one is more frightening to the traitors than the Imperial Cat! As long as Yuan Wenlong falls into the hands of the Yongfeng Marquis, the entire Henan officialdom, as long as they are involved with him, will become like ants on a hot pot."

As a soldier directly guarding the emperor's entourage, Lu Wan was well aware of the intimidating power of the Imperial Cat Jia Cong.

It is said that the Dragon Guards have the deterrent power to stop children from crying, but compared with the Royal Cat Jia Cong, they are nothing.

Countless corrupt officials had died at the hands of the imperial goose-feather sword on his waist.

"but……"

"Sir, please speak."

Xu Jin suddenly changed the subject, his face solemn: "What I am most worried about now is not the corruption... Captain Lu should have seen the reports from various places in the past few days. Heavy rains have fallen in various prefectures in Henan. According to the farming season, the annual summer harvest will be in a few days. In addition, the Yellow River embankment has been rebuilt everywhere this year. If it is just the situation in previous years, it would be fine. If the rain does not stop, and someone with ulterior motives is desperate, I am worried about the Yellow River embankment..."

"I understand, sir. What you mean is that the most important thing right now is to prevent anyone from digging the dike!"

Lu Wan was also an old hand, so he could hear Xu Jin's worry.

It’s no wonder that there is nothing a desperate person cannot do.

In the early years, some people even dug dikes and destroyed farmland in order to take over fertile farmland.

Xu Jin nodded and continued, "So, I will leave Yuan Wenlong to my disciple and draw the attention of those people to Guide Prefecture. In this way, we can focus all our energy on flood prevention and keep a close eye on every part of the Yellow River embankment."

……

This year's rains came one after another. Jia Cong stayed in Yucheng County for about half a month, and it rained heavily for more than half of the time.

Because he was worried about the stability of the Yellow River embankment, Jia Cong even went to the embankment north of Yucheng County to inspect it.

Fortunately, the Yellow River embankment near Yucheng County has been reinforced long ago. At present, although there is flooding, it is still relatively stable.

However, the situation of the wheat in the fields is not good this year. The wheat has turned yellow and it is time to harvest, but the heavy rain never stops.

Finally, there were signs of clearing up, and the anxious Jia Cong was already standing on the top of the city wall.

"My Lord, Feng Yongtang, the commander of the Guide Army, has arrived."

Kaka~
"I am Feng Yongtang, the commander of the Guide Army, and I am here to greet you, Lord Marquis!"

Jia Cong was overjoyed and stepped forward to help up Feng Yongtang who was bowing in worship.

"General Feng, please don't be polite. We are so happy to see you here!"

He was wearing black armor, a long sword at his waist, and had a black face. He was indeed a general under the old Duke of England.

Feng Yongtang straightened his back and let Jia Cong look him up and down.

When Jia Cong had finished his inspection, he clasped his fists and asked, "I wonder what the Marquis has asked me to do?"

"Come on……"

Jia Cong dragged the confused Feng Yongtang to the edge of the city wall. Outside the gradually decreasing rain, the endless wheat fields were vaguely visible.

"General Feng has also seen that this year's wheat has not yet been harvested. I have asked many people, and they all said that even if the weather clears up for a few days, there will be several heavy rains later. This farming season cannot be delayed!"

Ok?
"That's true, but I still don't understand why the Marquis summoned me here."

Jia Cong suddenly pointed at a sickle not far away, and looked at Feng Yongtang as if he saw a lamb: "So, this marquis intends to send a message to all prefectures and cities, ordering all military guards and prefecture government offices to pick up sickles and harvest the wheat in the fields as soon as possible. Including this marquis myself, I also have a task of harvesting one acre of land."

……

Food is the most important thing for people. Anyone who dares to stop Jia Cong from harvesting will be his sworn enemy.

For the first time, Jia Cong took out the golden mace to beat Wang and issued an order to all prefectures and cities in Henan, requiring all those who received salaries from the court, regardless of their official rank, to go to the fields to work.

While the weather is fine, everyone has a sickle and is trying to harvest the ripe wheat before it rains.

The Guide Army, with nearly 12,000 men, was the first to receive the military order. They were divided into eight teams and rushed to the eight counties in the prefecture to help the people harvest food.

It was the first time that Feng Yongtang received such a strange order. He personally led more than a thousand people to help Jia Cong harvest wheat in Yucheng County.

What he didn't expect was that Jia Cong was much better than him at doing farm work.

"Have you ever worked in the fields before?"

Jia Cong kept using the sickle in his hand, and he kept knocking the wheat to the ground again and again, and then tied it up.

"Your Majesty planted an acre of land in the palace. When he was in Beijing, that acre of land was basically taken care of by me and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."

Emperors of every dynasty had similar “show” projects.

For example, during the spring ploughing every year, the emperor would symbolically perform a performance by pushing the plow.

But the current emperor is more practical. He actually turned a corner of the imperial garden into farmland, and harvested in summer and planted in autumn, never missing two seasons a year.

However, the emperor was so busy with his daily affairs that he often had no time to take care of the farmland.

Normally, this kind of thing could be assigned to the palace servants, but the emperor suddenly had an idea and threw the matter to the prince and Jia Cong, under the pretext of letting them experience the hardships of the farmers and the difficulty in obtaining food.

Complaints are complaints, and resentments are resentments.

Jia Cong's ability in farm work has been honed in the past few years. He can harvest an acre of land by working with his butt bent over for most of the day.

Jia Cong, who was suffering from back pain, dropped the sickle in his hand, rubbed his waist and looked around.

Although there was no sun in the sky and the air was damp, it didn't rain at least.

The military and civilians everywhere are still busy. Yesterday there were endless waves of wheat, but today it has turned into a summer harvest scene with the joint efforts of the military and civilians.

"We need to have an artist draw this and send it to the palace for our fourth brother to see, and for the officials in the court to see!"

Jia Cong immediately ordered his personal soldiers to go to the city to find a painter.

The three brief days of clear weather gave the people of Guide Prefecture the most critical time.

With the great alliance of the military and civilians, the people of Guide Prefecture managed to snatch back nearly 70% of the food from the hands of God.

Although it rained again after three days of clear weather, Jia Cong was no longer as anxious as before.

"My Lord, this is a brilliant plan. I really admire it!"

"Stop, stop, let's get down to business."

Jia Cong stopped the flattery of Dai Ting, the magistrate of Yucheng County, and slumped down on the armchair, narrowing his eyes slightly: "Dai County Magistrate, the rain is coming one after another, and the water level of the Yellow River has once again exceeded the warning line. There must be people on the riverbank for a moment."

"Don't worry, my Lord. I have already made arrangements. Three shifts a day, 500 people in each shift, will keep a close eye on every inch of the riverbank in the county."

Dai Ting also realized that the Yongfeng Marquis was a person who did not like flattery and only focused on getting practical things done.

Dai Ting followed Marquis Yongfeng to the fields to harvest wheat these days. He was so exhausted that his back almost broke, but he didn't dare to complain.

Fortunately, the hardship was worth it. Last night, the Marquis summoned him to the garden to discuss important matters together.

This meant that Marquis Yongfeng approved of his acting as the king's representative, and that he was important to the king.

"But, does the Marquis really not intend to meet the people waiting outside the garden?"

"No, I'm almost dead tired, I don't have the time to talk nonsense with them."

Jia Cong was too lazy to open his eyes. When he was rushing to harvest with his sickle, officials or their cronies from Kaifeng Prefecture and even the capital came to Yucheng County, saying they wanted to see him...

Huh~
Without even meeting them, Jia Cong could guess why these people came.

Yuan Wenlong is still imprisoned in the woodshed. His personal soldiers have killed several waves of black-clad men who tried to silence witnesses at night.

"Okay, you should go back and take a rest. You have been the best and most active one in following me to the fields these days. I have also investigated clearly that you are a good official. When we return to the capital, I will definitely commend you in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Ouch, what a big surprise!

Dai Ting was so ecstatic that he fell to his knees with a thud.

"Thank you, my Lord. Thank you, my Lord..."

Jia Cong calmly accepted Dai Ting's kowtow and expressed his gratitude. This man was indeed a good official. Except for his low birth and lack of background, Dai Ting, who was a juren, was able to climb to the position of county magistrate, but his original official career had actually come to an end.

Fortunately, he met Jia Cong. Even though he had no background, Jia Cong was his background.

The people of Yucheng County have a very good impression of Dai Ting, who has been in office in Yucheng for two years. He has encouraged people to engage in farming and sericulture, expanded commerce, built water conservancy projects, strengthened river defenses, investigated lawsuits... It can be said that except for the cultural and educational aspects which he is not good at, Dai Ting has done the best he can.

He is a good man, with limited abilities, but he has a heart for the people.

If someone lacks ability, they can be trained. But if someone has a bad heart, the more capable he is, the more terrible he is. This is Jia Cong's principle of employing people.

Dai Ting stepped out gratefully, and then Jia Shiyi pushed the door open.

"Third Master, Mr. Qing Teng sent a letter, asking you to secretly transfer a troop of soldiers over there. He will be of use."

Deploy troops?

Jia Cong turned over and sat up, taking the letter handed to him by Jia Shiyi.

This time the letter was unusually long. It not only described the situation in Kaifeng City in recent days, but also contained a few points that made Jia Cong more and more frightened the more he read it.

Among them, the prefectures and counties of Henan, Huaiqing, and Kaifeng all reported urgent reports that heavy rain had continued and the precipitation was far greater than in previous years. The river embankments in the prefectures and counties along both sides of the river were mostly unstable, and they all asked the provincial government for help.

Although the joint efforts of the military and civilians to harvest the crops were successful, and no one dared to disobey the orders of Jia Cong, who held the golden mace to beat the king, the effect could not be compared with that of Guide Prefecture.

According to data reported from various regions, less than 30% of the rush harvest has been completed.

The second was the case of embezzlement of silver for river management. Yuan Wenlong was sent to Guide Prefecture, and the pressure on Xu Jin in Kaifeng City was instantly relieved a lot, which gave him enough energy to focus on the Yellow River embankment.

Just as Xu Jin expected, someone was so desperate that he was planning to dig up the Yellow River embezzlement in order to retaliate against the imperial court's investigation into the case of corruption in river management and to destroy the evidence...

Xu Jin could no longer trust any of the guards in Henan, so he planned to ask Jia Cong to mobilize some people, preferably those outside the military guards in Henan.

"Fuck them! If I don't skin these people alive, I will be unworthy of the golden mace bestowed upon me by the old man! Uncle Eleven, go and make arrangements yourself. Send someone to Jinxiangwei in the north immediately. Transfer the Jinxiangwei to the south secretly. Hurry to Kaifeng City without stopping. Listen to the teacher's orders!"

　I’ll stop here tonight and continue tomorrow. Good night!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)