serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 165
Imperial City
Outside the gate of Qianqing Palace

"The emperor has a decree, Xuan Wang Ren has an audience!"

"See you, King Xuan!"

The sound of shouting and shouting spread outside the gate of Qianqing Palace. Seeing that Wang Ren was in a daze, the chief eunuch on duty hurriedly greeted with a smile, "Little General Wang, please."

Wang Ren just woke up, and hastily arranged the black yarn official robe, fearing that it would not fit properly.

The eunuch on duty: "Your Majesty is waiting. Please come with the miscellaneous family." Then he walked towards the Qianqing Palace.

Wang Ren took a deep breath and walked in.

Dongcheng
Meifu
In the living room in the front yard, there was a lot of voices.

The servants of the Mei Mansion were busy serving bowls of tea, and the living room was full of officials, all of whom were civil servants from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Imperial Academy, and the Imperial Academy.

Accompanied by Wang Rulin, Mei Changwen walked in with a smile on his face.

Everyone stood up quickly.

Mei Changwen smiled and stretched out his hands in greeting: "Please sit down, please sit down, everyone please sit down."

All the officials sat down again in a hurry.

Mei Changwen sat down at the main seat, and took the tea bowl from the butler: "Please, please drink tea."

All the officials held up the tea bowls together, and there was a sound of clinking bowls and lids and drinking tea in the living room.

Mei Changwen put down the tea bowl, cleared his throat, and said, "By the grace of the emperor, Prince Zhongshun strongly recommends me to be promoted to the left deputy capital censor. Originally, Prince Zhongshun wanted to pay for a grand promotion banquet for me. I will give it to you." Refused. Now the north and the south are fighting, and they are still big wars. Everything is focused on the north-south war. I accept everyone's wishes, and go back after drinking a bowl of tea."

After a pause, "I said hello yesterday, don't give me gifts. Why didn't you listen?"

At the beginning of the month, Li Shouzhong was promoted to the censor of Youdu from the second rank, and Wang Rulin was promoted to the censor of Youqin from the fourth rank, taking over Zhao Xi's class.

Yesterday afternoon, King Zhongshun recommended Mei Changwen to be promoted to the third-rank left deputy capital censor, taking over Li Shouzhong's previous position.

Wang Rulin exchanged glances with all the officials, and then replied: "Your Excellency is known to everyone. It's not an out-of-the-box filial piety, just a little courtesy, just to celebrate."

Mei Changwen nodded: "Okay. I won't follow your wishes this time. Don't make an example!"

All the officials answered in unison: "Yes."

Wang Rulin went on to say: "Everyone is here today for the sake of Wang Ziteng. The title is a famous weapon of the court, how can it be awarded to such a person?! It is still titled earl! What do those border guards who guard the border and fight with foreigners think? What will the people of Anhui think? People’s hearts are like water, and people’s movements are like smoke. When this incident spreads to Anhui, the people will change as soon as they say it.”

As soon as the words fell, many officials shouted:

"We can't let Wang Ziteng, a shameless villain, steal the royal treasure!"

"Innocent people in Anhui can't just die like this!"

"This butcher must be impeached!"

"All right!"

Mei Changwen's eyes slowly swept away to the crowd, and he continued, "As the saying goes, red-clothed official robes are blood-stained by the common people, and the moment they fall to the rebel bandits of the Cao gang is doomed to such an ending."

"The official documents of the governor's office in Anhui clearly stated that what Wang Ziteng killed was not the rebel bandits of the Cao gang, but the ordinary people in Anhui. Today, Wang Ziteng was rewarded, and the generals below have followed suit. The common people will definitely rebel if they have no way out. Yes. This is the government forcing the people to rebel!"

An official of the Hanlin Academy stood up and said excitedly.

Mei Changwen stood up, walked to the door, looked at the distant sky, and said, "You guys are too hasty in doing things. Why did the Ministry of War approve Wang Ziteng's military achievements? Because these people in Hefei City participated in the defense of the city. Whether they were coerced or lured, from the moment they stood on the city wall and took up their weapons, they were rebels.

In order to break through Hefei City, the Jiangnan Camp and the Patrol Battalion suffered heavy casualties. If they are not killed, the morale of the army will be unstable! "

An official of the Imperial College sighed: "10 people, 10 people! Kill as soon as you say, Wang Ziteng is too cruel."

All the officials were excited again, and shouted one after another.

Mei Changwen did not speak. As the right-hand man of King Zhongshun, he knew many things that the outside courts did not know. Killing people was not the emperor's will, let alone Wang Ziteng's original intention, but the old emperor's intention.Even Zhang Shangwen, the second assistant who sits in Jinling, refused to allocate disaster relief food to Anhui, which was the old emperor's intention.

Wang Ziteng's military report was delivered after eight hundred miles of express delivery from Liangjiang Governor's Yamen and Anhui Governor's Yamen. The army regained Hefei City, which was occupied by the rebels of the Cao Gang a month ago, and won [-] heads!
According to King Zhongshun, less than 10 of the [-] people were refugees who really took refuge in the Cao Gang, and the rest were either the people of Luzhou Prefecture, or Sizhou, Chuzhou, Fengyang, and Luzhou who were driven by the Cao Gang. A big gentry in the government.

Wang Ziteng kept [-]% of the seized property to reward the army, and the remaining [-]% was transported to Beijing by warships from the Yangtze River Navy.

There were rumors that the royal family had seized tens of millions of property from Haizhou and Huai'an. If the salt merchants in Yangzhou hadn't run fast, the Yangzhou government would have been in bad luck.

Half an hour ago, a decree came out from the Qianqing Palace that Prince Teng would be bestowed with the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, and be rewarded with a bullfighting uniform!
Thinking of Jia Hu outside the pass again, Mei Changwen's face darkened, what a great opportunity, but unfortunately the old emperor specifically warned King Zhongshun that he was not allowed to take action against Jia Hu and Yongwei Ying at this time.

From this, we can see the old emperor's mind, the north is the foundation, and the south is the granary and money bank, which can be harvested at any time.

Mei Changwen pondered for a while, and said: "The state affairs are difficult, and we have to wait until the war is over to discuss the big things. Let's all go back."

"Yes."

The officials had no choice but to get up and walk out.

"Wang Yushi stay here for a while." Mei Changwen added.

Wang Rulin stopped.

Mei Changwen: "Tell the big guys, don't get involved in this matter! Let those clear streams make trouble, and we must understand the overall situation."

Wang Rulin: "Okay, I will inform them now."

Qianqing Palace

study room

The deputy head of the Qianqing Palace greeted several little Huangmen and walked in carrying two baskets, put them in the hall, and then retreated.

Dai Quan stepped forward to look, and looked at it, his face became more and more serious.

While reviewing the memorial, Emperor Jianwu asked, "Are you impeaching Prince Teng?"

Dai Quan: "Yes."

Emperor Jianwu didn't look up, "Carry it down."

"Yes." With a wave of Dai Quan's hand, those little yellow gates walked in again and carried out the baskets.

At this moment, a senior eunuch from the Criminal Division hurried in, walked to the imperial case, took out a list from his pocket, and said, "Your Majesty, it was sent from the Zhenfu Division."

Dai Quan took it and held it in front of Emperor Jianwu.

Emperor Jianwu took a look at the list, his eyebrows twitched, and then he picked up a pen and began to write on it.

The two red letters "Mei Dang" appeared in the upper left corner of the list.

Every May, the grasslands gradually turn green, presenting a scene full of vitality.

However, at this moment, a bloody and cruel scene is taking place on this beautiful prairie.

In ancient times, it would not happen that the two armies would meet suddenly, charge and fight without knowing the reality of the other side. In serious large-scale wars, scouts and scouts should be sent first to investigate the other side's intelligence. As the battle approached, the more scouts and scouts sent by both sides, and the scope of investigation was expanded as much as possible to avoid being raided and ambushed by the other side.

The first battle between the two armies is the scouts and scouts on both sides. This is what people often say, when the two armies fight, the scouts die first.

In this battle, the size of the two armies was more than 10, and the battlefield was more than ten miles long. Countless scout teams galloped back and forth on the battlefield, engaging in bloody and tragic fights.

After a short but intense fight, Liu Xianglian wiped off the blood on the saber and asked with a smile, "How is it?"

"Cool!"

A group of sentries who were harvesting the heads roared loudly.

Liu Xianglian had just returned from the Chahar Grassland, and happened to encounter a group of Sauron soldiers in colorful armor besieging and killing a group of guards sentry. There were less than 50 people on the other side. Sauron's soldiers were divided and surrounded, four against one, and Sauron's soldiers had no power to fight back.

Suddenly, the ground shook slightly, and the other side of the grassland was dusty.

Liu Xianglian watched from the horse and found a group of cavalry rushing towards this side, the number of which was about a hundred.

It's just that this outfit is very strange. It's not Mongolian, nor does it look like a Manchurian. Could it be a Rakshasa?
Thinking of this, Liu Xianglian immediately ordered: "Change horses, form an formation to meet the enemy!"

Because it was a mission, Liu Xianglian's men were equipped with two horses. At the command, they changed horses one after another to form a cavalry battle formation with both offensive and defensive capabilities.

"Master Sun, I feel a murderous aura coming towards us!"

Hearing this, Liu Fang glanced at the middle-aged man next to him. This man had followed Liu Fang for more than ten years, and it was the first time she heard such words from him, and immediately cheered up.

Soon, the cavalry on the opposite side rushed to less than two miles away from them. When they saw the Zhou army waiting in formation, they calmed down calmly, and then slowly pressed up.

Seeing the Luocha people attacking actively, Liu Xianglian was taken aback, and then shouted loudly: "Draw the sword!"

With a bang, more than two hundred Zhou Jun drew out their sabers together, the cold light shone, and there was deathly silence!

The Raksha cavalry on the opposite side first jogged, and after entering a mile, they began to speed up their horses, waving their long knives and charging over.

There are not many people, but the momentum is amazing!
Liu Xianglian waved her saber: "Kill!" and rushed out first.

"Kill!"

More than two hundred Zhou army cavalry launched a fierce charge against the Luocha cavalry, and the Luocha cavalry on the opposite side also began their final charge.

The cavalry charged and fought, and life and death were only a blink of an eye.

While the iron hooves were flying, two cavalry collided fiercely. A Zhou army cavalry and a Luocha cavalry collided directly. There was no scream. Amid the dull impact sound, the horse and the knight on horseback Blood was sprayed from the mouth, and he fell to the ground without breath.

Liu Xianglian slashed across, and the head of a Rakshasa cavalry flew up. The cavalry from both sides passed by in an instant, and they were all reorganizing their troops.

Looking at the army formation that was obviously much smaller, Liu Xianglian's heart skipped a beat. Why were there so many casualties?Looking at the Raksha people on the opposite side, their eyes widened suddenly, and our side suffered a big loss by hitting more and hitting less.

Liu Xianglian immediately understood that the Raksha cavalry were better at close combat.

Thinking of this, Liu Xianglian ordered: "Come closer, people fight people, horses fight horses. Line up and charge."

The Rakshasa people on the opposite side charged again, Liu Xianglian waved his saber, and the cavalry rushed in like a wall. It was too late for the Rakshasa people to react, and the dense cavalry formation broke up in an instant. Sha Ren chopped down a cavalry soldier of the Zhou army with one knife, and three or four sabers fell on him in the next moment.

Liu Xianglian's plan came to fruition, the number of Raksha people was reduced by half, but Zhou's army suffered very few casualties.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining Rakshasa people withdrew immediately.

Looking at the fleeing Rakshasa, Liu Xianglian sneered: "Take the Rakshasa equipment and retreat!"

Yongwei Camp

Inside the big tent of the Chinese army

At this time, there was a fierce quarrel in the big tent. Because they didn't know the strength of the Raksha people, Lieutenant General Datong, Lieutenant General Xuanfu, Liu Kun and others disagreed on whether to fight the Eight Banners soldiers or the Raksha people first.

There is a saying in the art of war, "Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger." When he learned that the Manchus arrived at camp thirty miles away in the early morning, Jia Hu sent a large number of sentries, not only to find out the distribution of troops of the Manchus , I also want to know the weapons and equipment and combat effectiveness of the Raksha people.

Half a day passed, not only did not get any news about the Rakshasa people, but also lost hundreds of elite sentinels.

Seeing that everyone was still arguing, Eunuch Zhao couldn't bear it any longer, and said to Jia Hu: "Marshal, it's not an option to keep arguing like this, please say something."

Jia Hu glanced at him, but said nothing.

At this moment, Lin San walked in and whispered something in Jia Hu's ear.

Jia Hu's eyes lit up: "Oh? Hurry up and bring it in!"

Eunuch Zhao, Liu Kun and others were taken aback.

After a while, Lin San led Liu Xianglian in, followed by several officers carrying the weapons and armor seized from the Raksha people.

Jia Hu strode over and took the saber from an officer. The head of the saber was hook-shaped and very thick. It could be easily switched between a pronated grip and a reversed grip. It had a thick back and a wide blade. The arc of the sword, with the center of gravity at the back, is longer than the sabers of the cavalry of the Zhou army. As the saying goes, one inch is longer and one inch is stronger. Zhou Jun will definitely suffer a big loss in the fight.

Eunuch Zhao, Liu Kun, Xie Qiong and others quickly surrounded them and asked together, "Is this the equipment of the Raksha people?"

Liu Xianglian replied: "Yes. Raksha people's equipment."

At this time, Jia Hu swung his knife and slashed on the Raksha people's uniform, exposing the armor plate on the chest, and slashed on the back, directly cutting a gap.
Everyone showed a look of astonishment.

Jia Hu smiled, and said to Liu Xianglian: "Tell me, what is the fighting power of the Raksha people?"

Liu Xianglian: "Yes. Compared with the grassland people who are good at riding and shooting, the Raksha people are better at close combat. In the battle just now, our army is twice as large as the Raksha people." Simply told the battle process.

After listening to his words, all the generals fell into deep thought.

The combat power of the Rakshasa people exceeded their expectations.

Jia Hu played with the saber in his hand, and asked Liu Xianglian, "Did the Raksha people retreat after suffering a loss?"

Liu Xianglian was taken aback for a moment, then replied: "Yes."

Jia Hu smiled: "It's much easier if you know how to run."

Liu Xianglian said again: "The Raksha people's war horses are extremely fast, and in the final stage of the charge, they rushed in front of us almost instantly."

Jia Hu nodded slowly, and said to everyone: "Go down and prepare, the battle will start in a few days."

"No!" Everyone walked out one after another.

Seeing Liu Xianglian standing there motionless, Eunuch Zhao glanced at Jia Hu before walking out.

Liu Xianglian took out a letter from her bosom and offered it with both hands.

Jia Hu took it and opened it to read it. After thinking for a while, he asked Liu Xianglian, "How is the opponent's weapons and equipment?"

Liu Xianglian understood, and immediately replied: "Whether it is the 1 cavalry of the Datong Guard or the [-] cavalry of the Xuanfu, they can easily defeat the [-] cavalry of the Tuxietu Department."

Jia Hu felt relieved when he heard the words, and suddenly remembered something, and said to Liu Xianglian with a smile: "For the sake of bringing information about the Raksha people, I will send you this beating. Next time you commit a crime, you will be punished twice. go down."

Liu Xianglian was taken aback for a moment, and after thinking about it, she understood that this was punishing herself for risking herself even though she knew she was carrying important information, so she replied with a bitter face: "Yes."

(End of this chapter)