serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 104 Non-Toxic and No Husband ([-] in [-])

In the early morning of the next day, the rain stopped in the middle of the night, and the sky was still overcast with dark clouds and a biting cold wind.

General Uliasutai's [-] troops spread over the hillside and the surrounding grasslands.

A huge round tent was fenced in the middle of the grass.

King Chahar and several Mongolian princes stood outside the big tent with sullen faces.

In the big tent, Prince He Shuorong Yongqi sat cross-legged on the tiger skin mattress in front of the table, slowly tasting the food in front of him.

Generals such as Uliasutai and Jinzhou Guard stood in two rows on both sides.

The guard of Jinzhou hesitated for a while, then said: "Young master, the wind is biting outside, should we let them in?"

Yong Qi put down the goat's milk in her hand, picked up a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her mouth, a sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth, she threw the handkerchief on the desk, and asked, "The Palace wants [-] herdsmen, why only [-]?"

The guard of Jinzhou was shocked: "Young master, there are only less than 5 people left in Chahar, and the princes of the Ulan Chabu League have nearly [-] main forces in their hands."

Yongqi sneered again: "You are too honest." As she spoke, she took out a letter from the box on the desk, "This is a secret letter sent by a spy from the Sunite Department of the Xilin Gol League, Chahar The county king's family led more than [-] young adults, women and children to the Sunite Department."

The guard of Jinzhou was taken aback for a moment.

Yongqi: "The Mongols will never be of one mind with us."

General Uliasutai said: "Young master, the Mongols have not prepared enough cattle and sheep. If this continues, the battle will be really uncertain."

At this moment, there was a sound of horseshoes, which stopped outside the big tent, and then a white-armored soldier rushed in and knelt down to Yongqi: "Young master, the Zhelimu League led by King Horqin is in Zhao The Xiama Ridge in the Wuda League was severely damaged by the Zhou army, and only more than [-] people escaped."

As he spoke, he presented a letter to Yongqi with both hands.

Yong Qi took the letter and tore it open to read, her face turned greener and greener, then she slapped the letter on the table, and asked the white armored soldier who delivered the letter: "Why didn't you send the news when you lost the first battle?"

The white-armored soldier: "King Horqin originally planned to rest and wait for reinforcements at Xiama Ridge. He never thought that the Zhou army would dare to step into the territory of the Zhaowuda League, and was caught off guard."

Yong Qi snorted, took a piece of letter paper, picked up a pen and wrote: "You can go back after a short rest."

After finishing writing, Yongqi picked up the letterhead and blew it, and then said to the white-armored soldier: "Take my palace's letter and go to the Rehe Palace, and tell them to send troops to cut off the Zhou army's food supply!"

The white-armored soldier responded loudly, "Hey!"

Seeing the retreating white armored soldiers, General Uliasutai hesitated for a moment, but held back.

The guard of Jinzhou and those generals looked at each other. The Zhou army in the east seized 20 million cattle and sheep from the Chahar people, plus the supplies of the Zhelimu League coalition forces. Will they still worry about the army rations?
There were only [-] Banner soldiers in the Rehe Palace, and they sent at most five or six thousand, while the Zhou army had fifty or sixty thousand cavalry.

But they dare not say.

Someone cleaned up the food on the case table, and Yong Qi glanced at them, and finally fell on General Uliasutai: "You are my general of the Qing Dynasty, and I want to hear your opinion about the current situation. The battle situation and future strategic views."

General Uliasutai pondered for a while, and said: "The meaning of the slave is very simple. The Zhou army only has 13 to [-] troops, but our army has [-]. Now that we have enough food and grass, and the weather is not too cold, let's attack with the whole army immediately. , and the main force duel with Zhou Jun!"

The guard general of Jinzhou answered: "Forty thousand herdsmen are enough to overwhelm the Zhou army's formation."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Yongqi: "Okay." Then she said to the guard of Jinzhou: "Let them in."

The guard of Jinzhou: "Hey!" He replied and went out.

After a while, the guard of Jinzhou led King Chahar and several Mongolian princes in.

Several people suppressed their anger and saluted Yong Qi.

Yongqi sat there cross-legged, thought for a while, and finally said: "What the Palace wants is [-] herdsmen, but you are only willing to pay [-]. Can this battle be fought?"

As he spoke, his cold eyes swept across the faces of several people slowly, and he continued: "According to the "Law of the Qing Dynasty", you will be executed for disobeying my orders. However, I also understand that you Feelings, let’s forget it this time.”

The king of Chahar County and several Mongolian princes looked at each other and replied, "Hey."

Yongqi: "When can I arrive?"

King Chahar: "Tomorrow evening at the latest."

Yongqi: "Okay. The army rests for two days, and sets out early in the morning the next day to flatten the Zhou army!"

Everyone replied in unison: "Hey!"

Yong Qi stood up: "King of Chahar County."

King Chahar County: "Yes."

Yong Qi: "You lead your troops and the [-] herdsmen to attack Zhou's formation from the front."

First, the King of Chahar County, and then several other Mongolian princes, were stunned when they heard the words.

Yong Qi walked a few steps with her hands behind her back, and said, "I will write a handbook and send it to the Sunite Department, asking them to send your family to Daligang'ai Ranch."

The King of Chahar County changed his face, he clenched his hands tightly, but said in his mouth: "Thank you for your kindness."

Zhou Jun Daying
Chinese army tent.

Jia Hu was sitting in front of the desk, writing something with a pen.

Lin San walked in, holding a kettle in his hand, and made tea before going to the desk.

Jia Hu: "How is it?"

Lin San: "Five water sources have been drawn from the top of the mountain, and the water stored in the camp is enough for the army for half a month."

Jia Hu nodded: "Let's keep an eye on it, don't be careless."

Lin San: "Yes." He replied and withdrew.

Jia Hu took a sip from the tea bowl, put it down, and started writing.

After a while, there was a report from the soldiers outside the big tent: "Commander, Liu Xianglian from the sentry camp is here."

Jia Hu: "Come in."

After a while, Liu Xianglian came in and saluted: "Marshal."

Jia Hu raised his head and asked, "How is it?"

Liu Xianglian: "All the rivers and lakes in the surrounding [-] miles were poisoned, and dead cattle and sheep were buried in the upper reaches of the river and in the bends of the river."

There was silence.

This method was thought up by Eunuch Zhao, the supervising army. Many generals disagreed and felt that it would hurt the harmony of nature. In the end, it was Jia Hu who made the decision.

Eunuch Zhao has a good saying, survival is the most important thing, everything else is fake.

Besides, the Mongols themselves poisoned everywhere. As enemies, they should poison with peace of mind.

The biggest victims of this war were the Mongols.

After a while of silence, Liu Xianglian spoke first: "We still have to find a way to shoot down the Mongols' falcons, otherwise the mobilization of our cavalry will always be exposed to their eyes."

Jia Hu sighed deeply: "I know that too. But these beasts fly too high, they can't reach the firecrackers, bows and arrows."

Liu Xianglian: "I once read a copy of the Northern Song Dynasty's "Wu Jing Zong Yao" from my uncle, which recorded various infantry weapons, including the heavy long-range weapon such as the three-bow bed crossbow, which can shoot up to [-] steps .”

Jia Hu was startled: "Go ahead."

Liu Xianglian: "We seized a lot of hard bows from the Manchus from the royal court of Khalkha, among which there are more than a dozen thirteen-strength bows, plus the fifteen-strength bow in the hands of the general, we can make several beds A crossbow, let alone seven hundred paces, five or six hundred paces is fine."

Jia Hu's eyes lit up: "You mean to put the bed crossbow on the mountain?"

Liu Xianglian nodded and said, "You can try it. Maybe you can hide it in the army formation and shoot the enemy generals by surprise."

Jia Hu: "Okay! Just go ahead and do this. Go directly to the firearms camp and ask those craftsmen to cooperate with you. Tell them that this is done, and each will reward you with 50 taels of silver."

Then he said to Liu Xianglian: "I will give you another credit."

Liu Xianglian replied loudly: "No." Then she backed out.

Jia Hu picked up the tea bowl and took a few sips. He had a lot of ideas about firearms. He also used the drawings he got from the Xiyi people to sketch out a paper-shelled flintlock gun. This kind of gun fires fast. It has a long range, but it is not easy to produce with the current technology. In addition, Jia Hu does not want the emperor to master such a big killer.

Let's wait until the rights and freedoms can be realized.

Jia Hu put down the tea bowl, picked up the pen and continued writing.

The grassland is covered with dark clouds and the cold wind howls. On the contrary, the sky here is clear and cloudless in Beijing.

Qianqing Palace, outside the upper study.

The new Chief History Officer of Zhongshun Palace has already knelt outside the hall.

After a while, Dai Quan hurried out and said, "Come in." After saying that, he turned and walked in.

That Chang Shi got up and walked into the upper study room.

Emperor Jianwu was sitting in front of the imperial case reviewing memorials, and the feedback from various provinces on the promotion of the new policy of “Talking into Mu” was finally reported, which was not very satisfactory. What surprised him the most was Shandong.

The governor of Shandong said in his memorial that there are more people in Shandong than there are fields, because the tax paid to the state treasury in the second half of the year was nearly 30 less because the poll tax was allocated to the fields.

When he saw the memorial, Emperor Jianwu was stunned. There are more people in Shandong and less fields?

After a final investigation, I found out what was going on. It wasn't that there were few farmlands in Shandong, but those high-quality fields were no longer in the hands of ordinary people, nor were they in the hands of officials and gentry. Almost all of them were in the hands of the Confucian government.

The Confucian Mansion actually owned more than 100 million mu of land, of which the sacrificed land reached more than 64 mu, covering more than 30 prefectures and counties in the five provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Anhui, and Zhili. These fields were rewarded by emperors of all dynasties. No tax can be levied on those given to the Confucian government. Although the property rights belong to the imperial court, no emperor dares to take it back.

The Confucian government also purchased more than [-] mu of private land through various means in Shandong Province. People in the Confucian government pretended not to know about the new policy of the imperial court, and officials from the Shandong governor’s office did not dare to come to register.

In addition, Confucian Mansion also has 10,000+ tenants.

Regarding this matter, Emperor Jianwu had no choice but to pinch his nose and acquiesce.

Dai Quan walked in leading the long history.

The long history knelt down: "I see the emperor."

While reviewing the memorial, Emperor Jianwu asked, "How is King Zhongshun's condition?"

Na Changshi: "It's not good to go back to the emperor."

Emperor Jianwu raised his head: "What do you mean?"

Na Changshi: "My lord is coughing up blood again."

Emperor Jianwu's face suddenly became serious: "What's going on?" He asked Dai Quan again: "Didn't the Tai Hospital say that it is out of the way?"

Dai Quan was taken aback, thought for a while, and replied, "Could it be because the dressing has just been changed?"

Na Changshi: "My lord hasn't coughed up blood for nearly 20 days."

Emperor Jianwu stood up: "What did Xu Yuanzheng say?"

Na Changshi: "Still asking for pulse."

Emperor Jianwu said to Dai Quan: "Go there yourself and see what's going on?"

Dai Quan replied softly: "Yes"

Prince Zhongshun's mansion, in the bedroom.

King Zhongshun coughed violently, and spit out a mouthful of bloodshot sputum.

After coughing, King Zhongshun rested his head on the high pillow at the head of the bed.

Then, he looked at the imperial hospital and several attending imperial physicians who were standing by the door and quietly discussing, and asked, "What's going on?"

The Tai Hospital hesitated for a while before he said: "It doesn't matter, the prince takes medicines on time, recuperates well, and breathes well."

King Zhongshun became impatient: "Why is this king coughing up blood again?"

"This" is too embarrassing for the hospital.

An attending physician hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Could it be that the medicine has been tampered with?"

Several people were surprised.

The butler hurried out and shouted loudly, "Get the dregs quickly."

After a while, the housekeeper came in with a medicine jar, and poured the medicine residue on the tray beside it under the signal of an attending physician.

The imperial hospital is leading several attending imperial physicians to check the medicine residue bit by bit.

At this time, Dai Quan walked in, saw the situation and did not speak, only bowed to Zhongshun Wang Mo.

Suddenly, one of the attending imperial physicians gave a "huh", his face suddenly became serious, and he picked out a small piece of black thing from the medicine dregs.

Taiyuan Hospital was taken aback, staring at the black thing closely, the medicine was prepared by several of them together, there is no such thing.

Dai Quan spoke: "What's wrong?"

Taiyuan Hospital was trembling all over, and shouted in shock: "Oops! Don't let people run away!"

Dai Quan: "What."

One of the attending physicians came back to his senses and immediately said, "It must have been secretly added to the medicine by the doctor following the courtyard."

Another attending physician: "No wonder he became uneasy when he heard that the prince was coughing up blood, and he immediately asked for leave."

Dai Quan stomped his feet: "Then don't arrest people."

Rongguo Mansion, Jia Amnesty Court.

big study

Jia Amnesty didn't drink and have fun like in the past, and was sitting in front of the desk with a solemn expression at the moment, copying Buddhist scriptures.

On the desk, a stick of Tibetan incense is floating with green smoke.

After a while, Jia Amnesty put down his pen, picked up the volume of scriptures and blew gently, then put it in a box beside him.

At this time, Jiao Da's voice came from outside the door: "Master, Jiao Da is back."

Jia Amnesty: "Come in."

The door opened with a click, Jiao Da came in, walked to the desk, and said to Jia She: "The person has already dealt with it."

There was silence.

Jiao Da: "Only the dead can keep secrets forever. Besides, this is the path he chose. In less than half a month, he has earned wealth for his family for dozens of lifetimes. It's worth it."

Jia She thought for a moment and asked, "Is there any problem?"

Jiao Da: "No problem, this problem of coughing up blood will always follow him, and if he can live past fifty, his family's ancestral grave will smoke."

Jia Amnesty nodded, and asked again, "Where is that person's family?"

Jiao Da: "Second Lord has several villages in Jiangning, and they sent them there by boat."

Jia Amnesty slowly closed his eyes, and said, "This incident is too dangerous, and there must be no hidden dangers left behind. Take someone on horseback to catch up, and don't leave any traces behind."

Jiao Da was startled, took a deep look at Jia She, and replied, "Yes." He turned around and strode out.

Beijing Palace Back Garden

The sun is very good today, and King Beijing is walking on the stone path with one hand behind his back.

The palace chief Shi carefully followed behind him.

More than a month has passed since the assassination case, and King Beijing Jing also successfully lowered the suspicion of the Supreme Emperor, which made King Jing heave a sigh of relief.

However, bad news came from the south again. Yang Kaiwu got the news from nowhere, and led the remnants of the Salt Gang to raid the workshop of King Beijing in Gunzhou Prefecture, killed all the guards, burned the workshop, and sent the craftsmen and firearms to the ground. It was looted, but fortunately they did not find the basement where the firecrackers were buried.

In Lianghuai, Yang Kaiwu and Zhang Xuesheng of the White Lotus Sect continued to erode the power of the Shui clan in the Cao Gang, suppressing and annexing other forces attached to the Cao Gang.

Now that the two sides have torn their faces apart, they are almost directly annihilated.

Shui Rong was very troubled. On the one hand, he was unwilling to be snatched from these forces by Yang Kaiwu, and on the other hand, he was worried that the attention of the court would be drawn if there was a commotion.

The [-] Jiangnan battalion elite soldiers stationed in Yangzhou have been waiting for the emperor's will.

Shui Rong was walking, suddenly stopped and asked, "Do you think we should give up the Cao Gang?"

Chang Shi was startled, and quickly replied: "My lord, once the Cao Gang is gone, the Manchus will sell us immediately."

Shui Rong: "What do you think?"

Chang Shi thought for a while: "If you fight with them, the bigger the fight, the better. Only when the fight breaks out, will the Manchus turn their heads and beg the prince."

Shui Rong: "How to say?"

Chang Shi smiled secretly: "The White Lotus Sect and the Salt Gang are rebels against the imperial court's clear orders."

Shui Rong nodded, and said as he walked: "We still have to make two preparations. I suspect that the Manchus will suffer a lot in the grasslands. In this way, the imperial court will be free to clean up the Cao Gang. Without external support , The Cao Gang can’t make big waves. We have to preserve our strength for the future.”

Chang Shi nodded.

"My lord!" From a distance, the housekeeper waved his hands excitedly, and ran over panting: "Good, good news that King Zhongshun has been poisoned!"

Shui Rong was startled: "What's going on?"

Butler: "I don't know the details. I only know that King Zhongshun was poisoned by the people in the Tai Hospital, and his heart and lungs were inflamed. He would cough up blood and never get better. It's like, like tuberculosis."

Water Melting: "Really?!"

The steward nodded, and continued: "Because of this incident, the Supreme Hospital is being sent to the prison of the Criminal Division, and the Imperial Army is hunting for the escaped doctor."

Chang Shi sighed and said, "What a good general is just useless."

Shui Rong laughed: "It's a good way to directly cripple one of the emperor's arms, I don't know where it is!"

Steward: "The job of commanding the yamen of the infantry should be free now."

Shui Rong withdrew his smile: "Go and invite King Yizhong." Looking at the distant sky, he murmured: "The emperor has many enemies."

(End of this chapter)