serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 134 The Messy Capital City
It was almost daylight.

A gust of cold wind blew, and the snowflakes floated down sparsely.

The lanterns on the gate tower were still lit, and the Andingmen gate tower looked extraordinarily tall in the light.

There were many people, and the snow under the city gate was full of people waiting to enter the city. They lined up in the wind and snow, with longing eyes, all looking at the city gate that had not yet opened the Anding Gate.

So many people came from outside the city at once, the generals and soldiers were frightened.

Anding Gate Guard: "Quick! Immediately notify the Infantry Yamen and the Ministry of War to let people from Shuntian Mansion come. No one is allowed to open the city gate without orders!"

The same scene also happened at several city gates such as Deshengmen and Chaoyangmen.

The fast horses rushed to the imperial city!
Imperial City
Qianqing Palace

Before dawn, the door of the temple opened with a click.

Dai Quan, the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, held a lantern in front of him, and escorted Emperor Jianwu into the gate of the palace.

The upper study room was brightly lit, and two large pots of charcoal fire were burned early, making it as warm as spring.

Emperor Jianwu sat down in front of the imperial case, and Dai Quan hurriedly brought a copper pot from the cubicle to make tea.

"Your Majesty, the chief assistant is here." The voice of the chief eunuch on duty came from the outer hall.

Emperor Jianwu: "Come in." As he spoke, he picked up the tea bowl and took a few sips before putting it down.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Song Chengliang, came in and bowed to salute: "I see Your Majesty."

Emperor Jianwu: "No courtesy, but a seat."

"Yes." Dai Quan quickly moved a chair from the cubicle and placed it on the left side of the case. Song Chengliang saluted again before sitting down.

Dai Quan moved another low table and made a bowl of tea.

Song Chengliang leaned down and said to Emperor Jianwu: "Your Majesty Qizuo, I called all the officials on duty last night to do a general calculation. Except that the Ministry of Industry could not reduce the budget due to the disaster in Gyeonggi, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Punishment jointly It can be reduced by 300 million taels."

Emperor Jianwu immediately looked at him: "Why is there no military department?"

Song Chengliang was silent for a moment: "Not only can the budget of the Ministry of War not be cut, it has to be increased, and the 21 military salary of the Yongwei Battalion must be reissued."

Emperor Jianwu was surprised: "What's going on?"

Song Chengliang: "The Yongwei Battalion belongs to the frontier army, and each person receives 30 taels of salary a year, while the Beijing camp is 22 taels. These are just ordinary soldiers, and the difference is even higher for senior officers. Jia Hu's military salary is Zhongjing Hou Shi Ding more than double that."

After a pause, "Those soldiers from the original Beijing camp who merged into the Yongwei camp have been receiving the military salary of the Beijing camp last year, and this money must be made up. In addition, the military salary of the Yongwei camp next year will be about 260 million."

Emperor Jianwu frowned again. The reason why the Yongwei Battalion was included in the frontier army was because of compensation for Jia Hu's military position. In half a year, the number soared to more than [-].

This is what no one expected.

There was silence.

Dai Quan coughed.

Song Chengliang went on to say: "The minister and several officials of the Ministry of War have recalculated carefully. The budget of the Ministry of War cannot be cut."

Emperor Jianwu sighed softly. The reason why he asked Song Chengliang to calculate the budgets reported by the six newspapers overnight was to reduce a sum of money to deal with the chaos in the Huaihe River. Daying was transferred from Jiangsu, and there was also the Yangtze River Navy.

With them around, elites like the Yongwei Battalion and the Liaodong Army would not be able to cross the Yangtze River, let alone a group of mobs who are not even counted as shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

So he decided to clean up Lianghuai first, and then it would depend on the situation.

Originally, I thought that I could reduce by 400 million, but I didn't expect to kill another stumbling block.

The money cut from the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Officials, and the Ministry of Punishment was just enough to pay the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion.

As the sky gradually dawned, Emperor Jianwu raised his head and said to Dai Quan, "Call the cabinet and officials from the six ministries to discuss matters."

Dai Quan: "Yes." Withdrew.

At this time, the voice of the chief eunuch on duty came from the outer hall again: "Your Majesty, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture is here."

Emperor Jianwu was surprised: "Come in."

After a while, Li Mingbo, Yin of the Shuntian Mansion, walked in with a bowed body, "I see Your Majesty!"

Emperor Jianwu: "What's the matter?"

Li Mingbo: "Your Majesty Qizuo, many disaster victims have come from outside the city."

Emperor Jianwu and Song Chengliang looked at each other and asked, "What's going on?"

Li Mingbo: "I personally went out of the city to ask. These victims are from the surrounding counties where the official roads have just been dredged. The local government's porridge and rice are not enough, so these people all came to the capital."

Emperor Jianwu frowned, and was about to lose his temper.

Song Chengliang hurriedly took the conversation: "Since this is the case, you should hurry to get some grain and rice from the official warehouse, and quickly set up a porridge shed, so that no one will starve to death anymore."

He also said to Emperor Jianwu: "This snowstorm came too suddenly. At the end of the year, the state and county officials didn't have much food in their warehouses. It's pretty good to be able to persist until now. On the day of great joy, the cabinet will just write and teach. "

Emperor Jianwu nodded, and seeing the worry on Li Mingbo's face again, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Mingbo: "I have ordered people to set up porridge sheds outside the gates of the cities, but how should I arrange them for so many people? Look at the weather, there must be heavy snow, and the air is freezing at night, and there is no shelter in the countryside. Dare to ask Your Majesty to order the disaster victims to enter the city!"

Hearing this, Song Chengliang's face turned cold: "So many people have entered the city, how can we arrange them?"

Li Mingbo lowered his head.

Emperor Jianwu looked at Song Chengliang, who was not looking well, then smiled lightly, and asked Li Mingbo, "What can you do?"

Li Mingbo glanced at Song Chengliang, swallowed, and replied: "Daxiangguo Temple, Taoist temples everywhere, and several idle military camps can accommodate a large number of victims. In addition, the Pei Party case, Dongcheng is empty There are more than a dozen three-entry mansions, all of which can be accommodated by disaster victims."

Song Chengliang couldn't help it: "Do you know what you're talking about! The law and order at the end of the year is not good, and letting the victims into the city at this time is tantamount to adding fuel to the fire."

Li Mingbo: "It can't let them freeze to death outside the city."

Song Chengliang's face darkened: "Are you accusing the old man?!"

Li Mingbo knelt down with a plop, without saying a word.

"All right!"

A smile appeared on the corner of Emperor Jianwu's mouth, and he said to Song Chengliang: "Hello, student! This is what a parent and official should look like." Then he turned his gaze to Li Mingbo: "Get up, get up and talk."

Li Mingbo kowtowed and stood up.

Emperor Jianwu thought for a while and said: "Your teacher is right, but the victims of the disaster must also be resettled. In this way, the victims of the disaster should be resettled together, and the soldiers and horses should be arranged to help maintain public order."

"Follow the order." Li Mingbo cheered up.

Emperor Jianwu: "Go. Don't starve to death, freeze to death."

Li Mingbo: "Yes." He bowed and retreated.

Song Chengliang sighed in his heart. There are not many soldiers and horses who can move around at will in the city. If there are fewer people, there will be negligence. I hope there will be no problems.

Dai Quan walked in: "Your Majesty, officials from the cabinet and the Sixth Ministry are here."

Emperor Jianwu: "Come in."

Rongguofu

A carriage was parked outside the newly opened corner gate, not far away, Xue Pan was instructing the servants to load boxes and cages onto the cart.

At this time, several mothers-in-law of the Xue family came out of the corner door carrying a small stove.

"Why did you turn on the stove?" Xue Pan came over and asked.

Mother-in-law: "Grandma is still in the girl's room."

After a while of silence, a trace of complexity flashed in Xue Pan's eyes, and then he clenched his fists tightly.

On the other side, Baochai was sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, on which was a brand new long jacket with a pink print and a stand-up collar.

Aunt Xue and Baochai were the only mother and daughter left in the room.

Aunt Xue took Baochai's hand and sat down, sighing: "You are my mother's heart, and my mother doesn't want you to go. It's just that your grandmother asked you to go by name, and your uncle also specifically explained. Your aunt has been Stare at our house, just take a wrong step. You are a sensible child, you should be able to understand."

A look of sadness flashed in Baochai's eyes. She leaned against Aunt Xue's arms and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll just go."

Aunt Xue hugged Baochai distressedly, and said softly: "Your uncle is sensible and will not force us orphans and widowed mothers. I have asked, Tan Yatou will go with your aunt. Then you will stay in Just talk together. And Baoyu."

After a pause, "If they don't want to be shy, Mom will be willing to let it go. At worst, everyone will tear their faces."

Baochai stood up silently, and picked up the long jacket.
Hearing that Jia Hu was going into the garden to step on the snow to admire the plum blossoms, the brothers Lai Da and Lai Sheng led a group of stewards into the garden to sweep the snow.

Snowflakes were falling sparsely, and a group of women at the foot of the mountain were still sweeping snow on the various passages.

Nanny Wang, Lai Sheng's family and several women gathered around a sedan chair and laughed.

At this time, Zijuan and Qingwen came down from the mountain along the steps, wearing cloaks and holding hand stoves.

Nanny Wang, Lai Sheng's family and others went up to welcome them: "Why did you come down?"

Qingwen laughed and said, "Second Master dislikes us for talking too much, so he only let Xueyan serve him."

Wang Momo smiled and said, "Xueyan is a good boy."

Everyone in Lai Sheng's family laughed.

Seeing Zicuckoo staring into the distance in a daze, Wang Momo turned her head to look, and exclaimed, "Yo?!"

I saw Lin Daiyu standing on the hillside wearing a red-feathered veil and a white fox-like crane cloak. Surrounded by several bright-coloured wintersweet plants, the flowers of wintersweet are white and rosy. Coupled with the snowflakes flying all over the sky, it is a beautiful snow scene picture. .

Everyone was having a good time watching it, when they suddenly saw a familiar figure climbing a tree to fold plum blossoms, oh, what a disgrace!

"Snow skiing, slow down!"

Looking at Jia Hu who was folding plum blossoms on the tree, Lin Daiyu shook her head with a smirk, and said as she walked over, "I said no, you have to climb the tree to fold it."

"Don't come here!" Jia Hu stopped Lin Daiyu, and jumped down from the tree with a two-foot-tall plum blossom in her arms, "Okay, do you want to smell the fragrance?"

Lin Daiyu looked at his wet and red hands, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, and said distressedly, "Come on, let me wipe it for you."

Jia Hu: "It's okay." Seeing that Lin Daiyu was looking at her fixedly, she could only step forward and stretch out her hand.

Carefully wiped Jia Hu's hands clean, then put the fox fur sleeves on him, and then said to Xue Yan: "You look at the flowers here, we will come back after a stroll." After that, leave the poor Xue Yan behind Go up the hill.

The ground has turned white, and there is a creaking sound when stepped on it, which is very special on a quiet mountain road.

"Sparse branches are bright and flowers are beautiful, and the children of spring make up are luxurious."

Lin Daiyu was very excited at this time, "There is no snow on the sills in the courtyard, and there are sunsets in the flowing water and empty mountains."

In this situation, Jia Hu could only shout loudly: "Okay!"

With a "puchi" smile, Lin Daiyu gave him a blank look, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the closed mountain gate at the end of the mountain path, and said, "I won't go up, let's just sit down and go back. It's so cold!"

"Row."

There were several stone benches right here. Jia Hu found some branches and swept the snow off the stone benches. He took off his cloak and folded it into several layers to lay on the stone benches: "Sit down and rest."

Lin Daiyu stared at Jia Hu intently, and also went to take off the cloak on her body.

"Don't catch a cold!" Jia Hu hurriedly stopped Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu still untied the cloak, and said in a low voice, "Let's put on a cloak."

Jia Hu looked at Lin Daiyu with a smile on the corner of his mouth, and walked over.

"Ah!" Lin Daiyu cried out, was picked up by Jia Hu, and walked towards the stone bench.

Jia Hu was wearing a cloak, holding Lin Daiyu and sitting on his lap.

Lin Daiyu buried her head in Jia Hu's arms, and said in a muffled voice, "It's broad daylight so people can see the joke."

"Who dares?!"

Jia Hu tightened her cloak and pushed her tighter, "Besides, there is no one here. As for Xueyan, if this girl doesn't know how to play, I will silence her later."

"You are not allowed to bully Xueyan!"

Lin Daiyu raised her head, and thumped Jia Hu's chest, "You bully Xueyan if you have nothing to do, she hates you to death. Well, I. Let me go."

"Well"

Lin Daiyu broke away with great difficulty, her face flushed and out of breath, she said angrily, "I won't come out with you anymore!"

After a pause, "I just put on the rouge."

Lin Daiyu pursed her lips, twisted her body, and was about to stand up.

Jia Hu still hugged her: "Be good, sit down for a while."

The snowflakes are slowly getting bigger.

Lin Daiyu stretched her head out of the cloak and leaned on Jia Hu's shoulder, looking at the gray sky in the distance, snowflakes were falling on their heads and bodies.

Dongcheng
Outside a three-entry mansion
Two Shuntian government officials opened the door, turned around and said to a group of victims: "You all signed the contract, and you will be compensated according to the price if you damage something. Sooner or later, someone will bring you food, and you can also go to the east and west cities Begging. But no harassment of ordinary people. Understand?"

All the victims shouted in unison: "Yes!"

Guard: "Go in."

The victims cheered thunderously and rushed in.

Outside the mountain gate of Daxiangguo Temple

All the monks looked at the approaching victims one by one with sad faces, and the government issued an order to Daxiangguo Temple to take in [-] victims.

There was a burst of noise from the idle military camps in Guang'anmen, Xuanwumen and Guangqumen.

More than a dozen porridge sheds have been set up, and dozens of large pots are cooking porridge over the fire.

West city
Wang Ziteng Mansion
A middle-aged man was standing in front of the steps, looking into the distance worriedly.

"Second Master, it's snowing heavily, let's go back!" The housekeeper reminded him in a low voice beside him.

This person is Wang Ziteng's younger brother and Wang Xifeng's uncle, Wang Zisheng.

Wang Zisheng took a deep breath. Today was a day of great joy, but because of Xue Pan's words, it became a joke all over the city.

Today, Wang Ziteng adopted Wang Ren. He not only invited old relatives like the Jia family and the Xue family, but also invited many court officials.

After the ceremony, Wang Ziteng came out to accompany the guests in person. When the banquet was half full, someone from the Ministry of War came to invite Wang Ziteng to the Ministry of War to discuss matters. This trip lasted for more than half an hour.

Without Wang Ziteng, everyone let go, and something happened.

At this moment, dozens of cavalry escorted a carriage galloping up, the carriage stopped in front of the gate of the mansion, the door opened, Wang Ziteng came out with a livid face, and asked Wang Zisheng: "Everyone arranged to leave? "

Wang Zisheng: "Yes. They arranged to leave, and they all gave a gift."

Wang Ziteng nodded: "What about the Xue family?"

"Leave too."

Wang Zisheng sighed: "This time I offended the Xue family severely!"

"Damn evil!"

Wang Ziteng cursed bitterly, and then asked, "Is Pan'er alright?"

Wang Zisheng smiled bitterly: "The doctor said, the injury is not serious. But in front of so many old relatives and officials, Brother Ren broke Pan'er's head with a jug. Anyway, Pan'er belongs to the Xue family Homeowner."

Wang Ziteng: "What's going on?"

Speaking of the topic, Wang Zisheng looked at Wang Ziteng with a serious face: "After entering Beijing and seeing the big world, the Xue family also has ambitions. We missed Xue Pan." Things have been said in general.

Wang Ziteng was taken aback. He didn't expect his "fool" nephew to have such a scheming plan.

Wang Zisheng: "About the marriage between Wang and Xue's two families, my elder brother specifically explained to Ren'er before he left. I was worried that Ren'er would slip up after drinking, so I specifically told him to drink less. Unexpectedly, Xue Pan said, 'Toad thinks I was enraged by eating swan meat, and I said in front of so many people that the Xue family is just a merchant family, and if he hadn't had two concubines, the daughter of the Xue family would only be worthy of being a concubine. This is an act of enmity!"

Paused, "General Feng's young master and Wei's young master changed their faces at that time, and later they even helped Xue Pan beat our Wang family's children without even putting on a show."

Wang Ziteng sighed. Originally, he planned to discuss with the Xue family about the marriage of the Wang and Xue families after seeing off the guests. The Wang family needed the financial support of the Xue family.

Don't talk about kissing and kissing now, it's not bad if there is no enmity.

Thinking of this, Wang Ziteng grabbed the whip from the soldiers and walked in with a sullen face.

Father-in-law Villa
Jia Hu led Lin Daiyu down the mountain.

Lin Daiyu lowered her head, looking guilty.

Behind her, Xueyan hugged the plum blossoms, and looked at her own girl suspiciously. Why did the fragrant rouge that was applied this morning disappear?

The three of them walked down the mountain, and Mother Wang and others had already greeted them.

Without saying a word, Lin Daiyu directly got into the warm sedan chair.

Nanny Wang and the others were taken aback for a moment, then turned their attention to Jia Hu and Xue Yan.

Jia Hu was not stage-frightened: "What are you looking at, go back and eat."

Lai Sheng's family hurriedly greeted his wife to lift the sedan chair, and a group of people walked out of the garden protecting the warm sedan chair.

(End of this chapter)