serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 290
The sky was gloomy, and there were bursts of thunder.

Dai Quan came out from the upper study room, looked up at the sky, the sky had been gloomy early in the morning, now the dark clouds were thicker and thicker, and there was thunder.

Far away, two small yellow gates came in from outside the palace gate carrying a carriage.

Song Chengliang's health became worse and worse, and the emperor specially rewarded the two men for carrying their husbands into and out of the imperial city.

The so-called two-person lift is actually a special chair, with two bamboo poles passing through the two sides of the chair, and carried by two small yellow doors or hands or shoulders.

Dai Quan hurriedly walked down the steps and greeted him.

Song Chengliang saw Dai Quan who was coming to meet him, and quickly ordered: "Quick, help me down." The lift stopped.

"Don't move, chief assistant don't move!"

Dai Quan trotted to the side of his father, grabbed Song Chengliang's arm, and said to the two little yellow men, "Lift up."

"Spring rain is as precious as oil. Once it rains, it will be another good harvest year!"

Dai Quan walked up to the study with his mother in his arms, and said with a smile.

Song Chengliang also said with a smile: "The emperor is virtuous! In the past few days, good things have happened one after another. I ate half a bowl of rice happily last night."

Dai Quan smiled all over his face, "Yo, this is a great joy, the emperor will be happy to find out later!"

While speaking, a group of people came to the side hall, and the car stopped again.

"Slow down, watch your step."

Dai Quan helped Song Chengliang get off the car and walked up to the study.

At this time, Wuya Ruixing came out from the upper study room, met Song Chengliang and Dai Quan, and stopped.

"Shoufu." Wuya Ruixing saluted.

Dai Quan smiled at Wuya Ruixing, but Song Chengliang walked in without looking.

Wuya Ruixing's face darkened for a moment, then he glanced at Song Chengliang's back, turned and walked out.

Emperor Jianwu was in a good mood, sitting in front of the imperial case and flipping through an official document.

"Your Majesty, the chief assistant is here!" the eunuch on duty reminded in a low voice.

Emperor Jianwu raised his head and said to the chief eunuch on duty, "Quickly, bring a chair for the chief assistant and serve tea!"

Song Chengliang: "Your Majesty, this Zhen Fu is a man with a wicked mind. He doesn't care about family affection, and he has no sense of responsibility. Such a person is not even worth using, so we must stay away."

Emperor Jianwu kept nodding: "I know this, I know this"

Dai Quan assisted Song Chengliang to sit down on the chair, held the tea for him, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, don't say that he is just a little mouse, even Sun Monkey, he can't find the palm of your majesty." !"

Song Chengliang thought for a while and stopped talking.

Emperor Jianwu spoke: "Zhen Fu sent the latest news from North Korea. The outer fortifications of the Tartar Emperor in Shangjing were all breached by the Liaodong Tartars, and Shangjing was besieged."

Song Chengliang: "Oh? The Korean War is coming to an end?"

Emperor Jianwu shook his head: "It's not that simple. Zhen Fu said that the emperor of the Tatars has already made preparations. He is not in the upper capital. Perhaps he has led the main force to cut off the retreat of the Liaodong Tartars."

Song Chengliang was secretly shocked. It was true that the imperial power had no father or son.Then he glanced at the emperor subconsciously.

Emperor Jianwu saw it, smiled, and continued, "Even if the Liaodong Tartars succeed in breaking through, they will suffer heavy losses. A group of remnants defeated will not change the situation in Liaodong."

Song Chengliang seemed to understand, "Your Majesty, you are not going to transfer the Yongwei camp north to Liaodong?"

Emperor Jianwu: "The Yongwei Battalion still has to go north, but not all of them. Liu Kun leads some cavalry to cooperate with Ningyuanhou."

Song Chengliang: ".This?"

Emperor Jianwu sighed softly: "The plan can't keep up with the changes! Now there are only [-] imperial guards guarding the imperial city, and the main force of the Beijing camp has been dragged to Shandong, so we must guard against it!"

Song Chengliang nodded.

"Has the chief assistant heard about the matter in southern Xinjiang?" Emperor Jianwu asked suddenly.

Song Chengliang replied: "Because I've been feeling unwell for several days, I haven't gone out, and I haven't even seen my visiting colleagues. Just now when I entered the palace, I heard a few words, but I didn't understand them very clearly."

Emperor Jianwu sighed: "I won't pursue how the news got to the Prince's Mansion in Nan'an County. I just want to know the opinion of the chief assistant, and how to deal with this matter."

Song Chengliang thought for a while and replied: "The southern Xinjiang area is mostly mountainous and forested, and the transportation of grain and grass is very inconvenient. In wars, money and food are used for backup, especially when entering the enemy's territory, there are enemies everywhere. Tens of thousands of troops , Once the food and grass are cut off, the whole army will be in danger of being wiped out. We must carefully consider it!"

Emperor Jianwu frowned.

Song Chengliang went on to say: "The imperial court needs Annan's food, so Annan must be in the hands of the imperial court. There is no rush for this matter, and adequate preparations must be made. Annan is not Liaodong, and has huge potential for war. Once war starts, it is likely to For three or two years, the expenditure is too great."

Emperor Jianwu: "Yes. The court is not ready yet."

Song Chengliang: "The king of Nan'an County has guarded southern Xinjiang for decades and has made great contributions to the court. He cannot refuse directly. This will chill the hearts of soldiers in the frontier. The minister's idea is to first praise the soldiers in southern Xinjiang and affirm their achievements. , Praise them for their dedication to the country. In addition, order them to comprehensively collect intelligence information on Annan Kingdom, draw a topographic map of Annan Kingdom, and prepare for the next battle to destroy the country."

Hearing this, Emperor Jianwu stood up, paced, and said: "The prince of Nan'an has been guarding southern Xinjiang for decades. Water can't be poured there, and needles can't be inserted. There is no way for me to continue like this. What I'm worried about now is whether he will comply with the order. There is a saying in the army: 'If the general is outside, the emperor's orders will not be accepted.' It's easy to say that if you win, if you lose these 10,000+ elites, the gate to the southwest border of the Great Zhou Dynasty will be destroyed. It’s open.”

Song Chengliang: "That's self-inflicted evil!"

Emperor Jianwu pondered for a while, and then said decisively: "No! I have to send a secret decree to the king of Nan'an County immediately, no matter what happens in Nanjiang."

Suddenly, a sound of Shen Lei came in from outside the hall with a long tail, followed by another sound of thunder!
Emperor Jianwu walked to the window with his hands behind his back, and it was raining heavily outside, and he said softly, "The banquet at Nan'an County Prince's Mansion should begin."

At this time, the hall of Nan'an County Prince's Mansion fell into a strange atmosphere. The sumptuous banquet tables were full of people. The strange thing was that the food and wine on the tables did not move at all. The prince of Nan'an County at the table.

The crown prince of Nan'an County sat there with a calm face, but his hands were clattering under the table. The seats beside him were all empty, which were the seats of Jia Hu, Niu Jizong and Shi Guangzhu.

After seeing off Niu Jizong and Shi Guangzhu, Jia Hu walked in.

The crown prince of Nan'an County regained his smile and stood up, followed by Marquis Bao Ning, Bo Lin'an and others.

Jia Hu smiled and waved his hands: "Sit down, sit down." He went straight to Nan'an County Wang Shizi and sat down, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, don't worry, they are not against the county king's use of troops against Annan, they just feel that the current It's not the time yet. They will go back to discuss and give an accurate answer in two days."

The crown prince of Nan'an County felt relieved when he heard the words, he glanced at Jia Hu gratefully, and raised his glass: "Everyone, please."

Only then did the faces of the people relax, and they all raised their wine glasses and stood up.

Jia Hu also stood up holding his wine glass, and said with a smile, "Please!" He drank the wine in the glass, looked at the endless rain outside the door, and smiled bitterly in his heart. Shi Guangzhu and Shi Guangzhu also disapproved of using troops against Annan at this time, but others were different. For various purposes, they all agreed with this matter. Not a good thing!

(End of this chapter)