serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 115
It was gray, cloudy and cold, and the cabinet office was crowded with officials.

The six officials who were on duty in the cabinet all came, and they all looked nervously at the closed door.

Mei Changwen, Zuoqian capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, also came, standing there silently with a dazed face.

Half an hour ago, a news spread throughout the yamen of the capital. Zhao Xi died in Suiyuan City. There are more than [-] charges, among which there are three serious crimes of killing the clan: deceiving the emperor, desecrating the imperial power, and cronyism.

It has nothing to do with them whether the Pei family punishes the family or not. What everyone is worried about is whether the emperor's knife will be cut on their body. Qian Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials was suspended from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials and waited at home for review.

Thinking of the Jia family again, Mei Changwen's eyes dimmed. That day he went to Qingxu Temple with a gift himself, and met Jia Lian, the second son of the eldest son of the Rongfu, and he had a relationship with him. Later, when he visited, it was Jia For the government reception, the Jia family's intentions are obvious, they will not go through this muddy water.

At this time, the censor Wang Rulin who was on the side said, "Why don't you go to Prince Zhongshun's mansion to have a look."

Mei Changwen moved slightly, but did not answer.

Wang Rulin: "Prince Zhongshun just lost the infantry commander's yamen. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we must not miss it!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and squeezed out.

Mei Changwen pondered for a while, squeezed out of the crowd, and walked outside the imperial city.

Qianqing Palace, go to the study.

Emperor Jianwu got up before dawn, and was sitting in front of the imperial case reading eunuch Zhao's secret books.

Jia Hu actually left Prince Teng in Suiyuan City, which disrupted Emperor Jianwu's plan.

At the end of October, King Zhongshun took the initiative to resign from the post of commanding the infantry in the yamen.

From then on, the King of Yizhong County rushed to the Dragon Head Palace, but fortunately, the Supreme Emperor did not let go.

However, the day before yesterday, the King of Yizhong County presented a thousand-year-old mountain ginseng. After the Supreme Emperor took it, his complexion improved a lot. He praised him for his filial piety and asked him to contribute more to the country and society of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The Supreme Emperor seemed to be letting go of this matter.

So Emperor Jianwu had to give up looking for suitable candidates in the clan, and set his sights on the honorable military. He selected two people, one was Baoling Hou Shi Nai, and the other was Wang Ziteng.

Among them, Emperor Jianwu preferred Wang Ziteng because he was easier to control.

The Shi family brothers were too thoughtful, if they betrayed their relatives for several lifetimes for their own interests, they might betray themselves, the emperor.

The [-] soldiers and horses commanding the yamen of the infantry are in charge of the nine gates, which is so important!
At this time, Dai Quan walked in: "Your Majesty, there is news from Rongguo Mansion that Mrs. Tai has not seen Marquis Baoling."

Emperor Jianwu: "Oh? Where's Shi Nai?"

Dai Quan: "I kowtowed outside Rongqing Hall and went back home."

Emperor Jianwu thought for a while: "Keep an eye on it, and the Zhongjinghou Mansion is the same, any news must be sent to the palace."

Dai Quan: "Yes."

"Your Majesty, the Chief Assistant is here." The eunuch on duty reported from outside the palace.

Emperor Jianwu: "Please come in."

After a while, Chief Assistant Song Chengliang came in holding the memorial, saluted, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the list of rewards for the Yongwei Battalion and the Three Thousand Battalion drawn up by the cabinet."

Emperor Jianwu said to Dai Quan: "Bring a chair to the chief assistant."

Dai Quan: "Yes." Turning around and walking into the cubicle, he moved a chair over by himself.

Song Chengliang: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness." He nodded to Dai Quan again, handed him the memorial, and then sat down next to the edge of the chair.

Emperor Jianwu unfolded the memorial and said, "How is the cabinet's discussion on the Pei party?"

Song Chengliang: "Going back to the emperor, we are still discussing. Pei Yan is not only the royal historian of the imperial court, but also a giant in the Jiangnan literary world. His disciples and old officials are all over the court. Many local officials are Pei Yan's disciples. The cabinet means , the place can’t be messed up, at least not now.”

Emperor Jianwu looked down at the memorial, but did not speak.

After reading the memorial, Emperor Jianwu pondered for a while, and said to Song Chengliang: "The second son of the old Duke was secretly granted the title of third-class uncle, and Zhao Yi, the commander-in-chief of Datong, was also awarded the title of Uncle Zhongqin. Jia Hu, the third-ranked uncle Waiting is a bit inappropriate.

In this way, Jinjue will be the first-class marquis, and then he will be named Mrs. Gaoming, the first mother. "

Song Chengliang nodded, the first-class marquis is normally rewarded for meritorious service, and the latter's posthumous gift to his mother is the emperor's grace.

Emperor Jianwu put the memorial together: "What should I do with the Three Thousand Battalion?"

Song Chengliang was taken aback, but he didn't expect that the emperor still didn't plan to let the three thousand battalion go.

Emperor Jianwu looked closely at Song Chengliang: "Shoufu?"

Song Chengliang breathed a sigh of relief, and said after deliberation: "The 2 Battalion at its peak had [-] elite cavalry, which once became a nightmare for the Mongols and Manchus. Jia Hu said in the military newspaper that the [-] Battalion only Less than [-] people have been deployed, and thousands of them will never be able to return to the battlefield.”

After a pause, "They have fought for the court all their lives, so they can't be dismissed in such a vague way. Otherwise, the morale of the army will be unstable, and there will be endless troubles."

Emperor Jianwu was silent. The first sentence of Song Chengliang's two sentences was to tell himself that the three thousand battalions were no longer threatened.The second sentence is to alert yourself.

What Song Chengliang said was right, but the secret papers written by Eunuch Zhao and Wang Ziteng said that the surname of Sanqianying was Jia, and no one could command them except Jia's family.

This is unacceptable to any emperor, especially an elite cavalry.

Song Chengliang glanced at Dai Quan first, and then said: "The Battle of Yinshan exposed the shortcomings of the firecrackers. They are afraid of rain. At this time, they need the protection of cavalry. The Yongwei Battalion only has [-] cavalry. It is better to have [-] cavalry. The remnants were merged into the Yongwei Battalion, which not only made up for the shortcomings of the Yongwei Battalion, but also prevented the Jia family from extending their hands into the Beijing Camp again."

Emperor Jianwu: "In this way, there will be nearly 8 horses in the Yongwei Battalion."

Song Chengliang shook his head: "The Yongwei Battalion is in the hands of the imperial court, not in His Majesty's hands."

Emperor Jianwu: "Oh?"

Song Chengliang looked at Dai Quan: "Director Dai!"

Dai Quan: "The ammunition consumption of the Yongwei Battalion is very large. At the most, it consumed half a month's production of the Military Weapons Bureau in one day. Without ammunition, the firecrackers of the Yongwei Battalion are not as good as spears!"

Emperor Jianwu was enlightened, no longer hesitated, and said to Dai Quan: "Let's draw up an order according to Shoufu's opinion."

Dai Quan quickly replied: "Yes."

Emperor Jianwu turned his attention to Song Chengliang again: "Pei Yan's case must be seized, and all officials involved in the case of rank four or above will be sent to prison, and those who should be ransacked!"

Song Chengliang was shocked after hearing this: "Your Majesty, think twice, doing so will cause shock in the government and the public."

Emperor Jianwu waved his hand: "Copy it first and then talk about it."

Song Chengliang was startled for a moment, just about to speak.

The eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate came in hurriedly holding a memorial with chicken feathers on it: "Six hundred miles from the Water Transport Yamen, hurry up!"

Emperor Jianwu took the memorial, tore open the seal and opened it, his face suddenly became very ugly, and after a long while, he said to Song Chengliang: "The main rudder of the Cao Gang is out of water, and neither the leader of the Cao Gang nor the family members are there. Get out."

Song Chengliang frowned, and blurted out, "I finally couldn't bear it anymore."

Emperor Jianwu pondered for a while, and then said coldly: "I have no excuse for worrying." Turning his head to Dai Quan, he said, "Immediately draw up a secret decree to Ouyang Lin, governor of Liangjiang, and let him do things cheaply!"

In less than half an hour, the news of Jia Hu Jinjue first-class marquis spread all over the capital, some people were happy, some people were sad.

When the news reached Jia's house, Ningrong and Rongfu were as lively as a festival, from Jiamu and others, down to the servants and servants, everyone had a look of complacency on their faces, talking and laughing endlessly.

What pleased Mother Jia the most was that the emperor merged the remnants of the Three Thousand Battalion into the Yongwei Battalion. She knew very well the strength of the Three Thousand Battalion.

Everyone knows that when Jia Mu is happy, she is generous, and those daughters-in-law and maidservants come to congratulate Jia Mu and ask for rewards.

Jia Mu was happy, so she said "reward".

Yuanyang had prepared a reward for a long time ago, and when she heard Jia's mother say "reward", she hurriedly ordered the mothers-in-law to spread the money.

Just hearing the sound of money in the yard, Jia's mother was even happier, and ordered Li Wan and Youshi to hold a banquet to celebrate.

Hearing that her brother was made a Marquis, Xichun was overjoyed, and also heard that Mother Jia was giving out money, so she took the pocket money that Youshi gave her, and just said "Congratulations girl." As a result, all the maids came to ask for rewards, and Xichun's pocket money was gone before they walked out of the courtyard where their sisters lived.

Fortunately, Lai Sheng's family sent the money in time, which saved her face as the eldest lady of Ningguo Mansion.

The two houses were beaming with joy.

On the other side, the Beijing Palace was gloomy and gloomy.

Princess Beijing's illness has never recovered, and now even Prince Beijing Shui Rong has fallen ill.

The imperial physician said that it was due to anger and anger, and it would be fine to take a few doses of medicine and recuperate.

In the afternoon, the sky gradually began to snowflakes, and the first winter snow in Beijing came.

On November 21st of the second year of Jianwu.

There was a lot of snow, and there was a vast expanse of whiteness everywhere.

In the vast snow curtain, the narrow and long valley road of Juyongguan was set off even darker.

Wrapped in the flying snow all over the sky, a large army marched hard in the snow-covered valley road.

Under the city of Juyongguan, Jia Hu was sitting on his horse. He had already received the imperial decree and official documents from the Ministry of War. He thought that the emperor would detain the [-] battalion in Datong, or even disband it. He did not expect that it would be merged into the Yongwei battalion. It seems that he still overestimated it. his courage.

Looking at the densely packed soldiers marching in the heavy snow, Jia Hu squeezed out a smile on his thin face. Originally, the guard at Juyong Pass had already prepared his camp, but no matter how heavy the snow was, he couldn't stop his desire to go home.

Therefore, no matter how heavy the snow is, the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion are willing to brave the snow to pull out the camp.

Finally, the last baggage cart drove out of Juyong's Guanmen Cave. Jia Hu's legs slightly pinched the horse's belly, and the horse under his crotch moved slowly.

The soldiers behind him followed closely behind the reins.

Come back home!

(End of this chapter)