serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 3
The eighteen provinces of the Great Zhou Dynasty were really too big. In Liaodong at this time, the wind was howling, but in the capital it was clear and clear.

At this time, the Yongding Gate of the capital was bustling with many people waiting to enter the city.

The two sides of the post road between the city gate and the suspension bridge have already been filled with officers and soldiers at three steps and one post, and a man who looks like an officer is sitting lazily at a table under the pergola next to it.

Suddenly, his ears moved, and the sound of horseshoes could be faintly heard from the official road in the distance.

At this time, the people under the city gate were still silently lining up to enter the city.

The officer stood up abruptly, and the sound of countless horseshoes was getting closer and clearer. Only then did the crowd under the city gate feel it, and immediately there was a commotion.

On the official road, a troop of cavalry came from afar at lightning speed, kicking up dust all over the sky. The leading cavalry held up the command flag and shouted: "Emergency military situation in Liaodong, get out of the way!"

The officer heard clearly that it was Liaodong's army report, and rushed over, "Quick! Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" Frantically pushing away the pedestrians in the city gate, the cavalry galloped into Beijing City, heading towards the imperial city rush away.

The officers, soldiers and common people all showed expressions of astonishment.

"Cifu, the Yanyin of Lianghuai, in the Taizong Dynasty, there were 600 million taels of tax revenue every year, even in the Gaozong Dynasty, there were more than 300 million taels. Since then, it has decreased year by year, although some of them are indeed transferred to the government. The Tirenyuan has been used for public use, but no matter what, it should not be less than [-] million taels."

Zhao Zixun, Minister of the Household Department, followed behind Zhang Shangwen, the second assistant to the cabinet, and said with a solemn face.

Zhao Zixun is Jian Ba's confidant today, not because of his ability, but because of his loyalty to the emperor, following the emperor's thoughts and steps, for example, now, the emperor needs money and food to support the war in Liaodong, he immediately allocated money from the Ministry of Households 30 taels, and another [-] shi grains and rice were shipped out this morning, all of which were squeezed out from between the teeth.You must know that Shanxi has experienced a severe drought in the past few years, and the Yellow River and Huaihe River have flooded one after another, affecting Shandong and Henan provinces with poor harvests. If the war in Liaodong cannot end before the end of October, the imperial court may not be able to guarantee the military supplies of the army.

In order to fight this battle, Song Chengliang, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was ordered to recuperate from his illness.

"The Taishang Emperor promoted benevolent government and governed with leniency. Although it has won people's hearts, it has also caused irreparable disadvantages. Corruption of officials, land annexation, loss of tax revenue, and emptiness of the national treasury are really a situation with deep-rooted disadvantages."

Zhang Shangwen said as he walked: "It's a bit too hasty to say something that is taboo."

Zhao Zixun was silent. He did not support the war in Liaodong at this time in his heart, but the emperor needed a big victory to consolidate his position. The Dragon Head Palace had too much influence in the army. It has been a year and so far no A general of the noble army publicly stood in support of the emperor.

Zhang Shangwen was walking, and suddenly stopped and asked, "How much tax money did Lianghuai collect last year?"

Zhao Zixun thought for a while and replied, "It seems to be more than 230 million taels."

Zhang Shangwen nodded and walked quickly into Qianqing Palace.

In the past few days, Jianwu Emperor Wu Rui felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He knew very well that once Liaodong was defeated or Ningyuan City was not captured, both foreign and internal troubles would erupt, and even the throne would be unstable!
Emperor Jianwu paced back and forth in the upper study, thinking about countermeasures.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the second assistant and Tang Zhao from the Household Department are here." The voice of the eunuch on duty came from outside the main hall.

Emperor Jianwu came back to his senses, "Call them in." Then he turned around and walked back to the imperial case and sat down.

"Yes."

After a while, Zhang Shangwen and Zhao Zixun walked in, greeted Emperor Jianwu, and then walked over, presented the memorial with both hands, and reported: "Your Majesty, Lin Ruhai, the inspector of the Yan Dynasty, handed over the paper from Yangzhou."

Dai Quan, the eunuch in charge of the official seal, hurried forward to take the memorial and presented it to the imperial case.

Emperor Jianwu unfolded the memorial and said, "Give me a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!" The two quickly thanked each other.

Suddenly, Emperor Jianwu let out a "huh" and his face suddenly became solemn.

Zhao Zixun's heart suddenly rose, and he quietly looked at Zhang Shangwen, who was looking calm beside him.

After reading the memorial, Emperor Jianwu showed a blank look in his eyes, thought for a moment, and asked, "What do you think?" This was obviously asking Zhang Shangwen.

Zhang Shangwen thought for a while before answering: "Lin Ruhai has been in Yangzhou for four years, and he still has some credit." Speaking of this, he glanced at the emperor sideways, and then continued: "The imperial court sent the patrol salt censor to Lianghuai to collect The salt tax has decreased year by year. After Lin Ruhai took office, although there has been little change, it has finally stopped the downward trend, and this year it has collected more than 50 taels more than last year. It is already very rare."

Emperor Jianwu was silent, and looked out of the window: "I heard that Lin Ruhai's wife has a strange disease?"

Zhang Shangwen was stunned for a moment, and then said: "The year before last, Lin Ruhai's youngest son died in the same way."

A look of sadness immediately passed over Zhao Zixun's face, loyal ministers who work for the court always have bad endings.

Emperor Jianwu's face became more and more ugly, he pressed his palm on the imperial case, and stood up, "The Supreme Emperor is too lenient in his administration, too indulgent, and treats people with generosity everywhere. Officials from various yamen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces colluded with salt merchants, They have been greedy for money layer by layer. Their hands are monolithic, and they sent people to find out nothing."

Zhao Zixun: "The officialdom in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is rotten from the root. Lin Yanzheng has organized three operations to clear up private salt in the past three months, but all of them have returned without success. Private salt dealers, they are all in the same group. He can't move the soldiers of the Hefang Yamen, but the people from Jiangnan Daying helped him once in the face of the Rongguo Mansion, otherwise they wouldn't be able to get the salt merchants this year. pay so much money."

Zhang Shangwen sighed, "So his wife is sick."

After a pause, he continued: "At the end of the day, the power of the Jia family has declined too much in the past few years, and they can no longer protect Lin Ruhai."

Zhao Zixun thought for a moment and said, "The imperial court needs money, maybe the Zhen family can find a way."

Emperor Jianwu glanced at Dai Quan, and Dai Quan said, "A secret report came from the Jinling Town Guard's Office, saying that the Jiangning and Suzhou Weaving Bureaus under the jurisdiction of the Tirenyuan have at least four to five million taels of surplus this year. The Ministry of Internal Affairs only accepts When it reached 500 million taels, at least 270 million taels were concealed privately. Yesterday two boats from the Zhen family arrived at Chaoyangmen Wharf and unloaded many large wooden boxes, saying it was a gift for the Supreme Emperor."

Zhang Shangwen and Zhao Zixun quickly exchanged a knowing glance.

At this moment, the chief eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate came running out of breath, "Qizou Your Majesty, the six hundred li from Liaodong hastened the memorial!"

Zhang Shangwen and Zhao Zixun stood up abruptly.

Dai Quan snatched the memorial from him and presented it to the emperor.

Emperor Jianwu took the memorial, tore open the seal and showed it, with an undisguised expression of excitement on his face.Then he put down the memorial and said loudly to several people: "The vanguard army has broken through several forts around Ningyuan City, and the main force of the army can besiege Ningyuan City tonight."

Zhao Zixun said excitedly: "Heaven bless you, the battle in Liaodong is half the battle!"

Zhang Shangwen: "Your Majesty, can you show me the military report?"

Emperor Jianwu waved his hand, "Look."

Zhang Shangwen took the military newspaper exhibition that Dai Quan handed over to read, and Zhao Zixun hurriedly surrounded him.

After reading the military newspaper, Zhang Shangwen pointed to the list of meritorious soldiers attached to the back of the military newspaper, and asked Dai Quan: "Director Dai, is this Jia Hu, the commander-in-chief who pioneered the way and fought bloody battles in Xingshui County Fort, the same Jia Hu?" Hu?!"

"Oh?" Dai Quan took the list and looked at it, his brows twitching.

Emperor Jianwu's eyes flashed: "Check!"

"Yes." Dai Quan walked out with the military newspaper.

Soon after a stick of incense passed, Dai Quan rushed in like a gust of wind, raised the secret document in his hand, and said anxiously: "Yes, it is the same person who accumulated 120 war exploits on May [-]th of the first year of Jianwu." The head of the son, since then, has taken off the body of guilt. On July [-]th, he was promoted to Baizong because of his meritorious service, and he was stationed in Gaotaibao." While speaking, he submitted the secret file to the imperial case.

Emperor Jianwu was still sitting, but his eyes were fixed on the secret file on the imperial case. Unexpectedly, a cowardly bastard would become the vanguard officer of the former Tunwei. After making great contributions and being promoted to general manager, it seems that the descendants of Jia Yu's generation are not all licentious, and thinking of Wang Ziteng and the deposed Jia Jing and Jia She, a wry smile came to the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Shangwen quickly laughed and said: "This child can be properly cultivated, maybe it will be of great use in the future."

Emperor Jianwu nodded, suddenly remembered something, and asked Dai Quan: "Is the flower cake given to the officials a share for the Jia family?"

Dai Quan thought for a while before answering: "There must be a reward from Daming Palace."

Emperor Jianwu waved his hand: "In the name of the queen, send a copy to Ningrong and Rongfu respectively. In addition, send someone to tell Jia Jing that he gave birth to a good son."

Chongyang Festival every year, today it is Chongyang Festival again.

Whether it is a wealthy family in the government or an ordinary family, they stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on the doors and windows early to "remove the evil and filth and attract auspiciousness".

Ningrong Street is still very lively, except that there are no stalls in front of the two houses of Ningrong, there are sheds and umbrellas on both sides of the street, chicken, duck, fish, meat, vermicelli, dried fruits, vegetable vendors, sundry vendors, what do people want to buy? There were shouts and shouts one after another.

At this moment, Jia's family is gloomy and gloomy.

Ningguo Mansion, Ning'an Hall.

Under the hall, Jia Amnesty and the others were waiting anxiously.

Jia Dairu, Jia Daixiu and other men from the eight households in Beijing have come.

Just when everyone was in torment, Jia Lian, the second son of the eldest son of Rongguo Mansion and the son of Jia She, came in with the imperial physician.

Everyone stood up:
"How about it?"

The imperial physician looked at Jia Zheng and replied, "I'm afraid that Uncle Zhen is ill."

Jia Zheng was startled and asked anxiously, "What are you afraid of?"

The imperial doctor thought about it and said: "It's better to make preparations early, I'm afraid that Uncle Zhen's deadline is only one or two days away."

Jia Zheng closed his eyes sadly, and murmured, "How could this happen?"

Jia She let out a long sigh, and nodded to the imperial physician, "It's time to work. Lian'er, please go out and watch tea."

"Yes." Jia Lian quickly replied, and then led the imperial physician out.

At this time, Lai Sheng, the chief steward of the Ningguo Mansion, led a person in to salute everyone, looked at Jia Zheng and said, "Second Master, this is the steward of the Zhen Guogong Mansion."

The butler stepped forward and saluted, then took out a letter from his pocket and presented it, "This is a letter from my master to the family."

Jia Zheng took the letter and tore it open to read it, then clutched the letter tightly to his chest, coughing violently.

Jia Dairu and Jia Daixiu quickly surrounded him and asked together, "What's wrong?!"

Jia Zheng calmed down, turned to Jia She, and said, "It's news from Brother Hu."

Jia Amnesty strode over, snatched the letter, quickly read it, looked at it, his eyes sparkled, his cheeks flushed, and he said with great joy: "Good! Good! Good!"

Seeing Jia Amnesty so excited, Jia Dairu and Jia Daixiu moved their heads closer.

After reading the contents of the letter, the two of them stood there in a daze. It had been a year and they hadn't received a single letter from him at home, and the people they sent had never seen him in person. Being the head of the hundred in the former Tunwei, although the official position is not small, but the meaning is different. It is a miracle that a frail young man with no hands and strength went to the Liaodong Army to atone for his crimes.

Suddenly, Jia Lian rushed in like a gust of wind, panting: "Kun, Kun Ning Palace rewards, rewards our Double Ninth Cake, His Majesty's meaning."

Everyone showed a look of astonishment.

Ningguo Mansion, You's Courtyard.

The imperial doctor said that the wind cannot be seen, the door curtains and curtains are tightly closed, and the light in the bedroom is dim.

Behind the screen, on a small stove, medicine pots are steaming, filling the room with the fragrance of medicine.

Jia Zhen, the patriarch of the Jia family and the successor of the Ningguo Mansion, is lying on the bed at the moment. If anyone comes to see him now, they will be shocked. The scrawny person lying on the bed is actually Jia Zhen in her prime.

Jia Zhen's stepwife Youshi sat by the bed in a daze.

Xichun stood behind Youshi and quietly wiped away tears.

Suddenly a ray of light came in directly, and the door curtain was lifted.

I saw a young and beautiful woman with an enchanting figure and unparalleled glamor walked in.

"Mother-in-law!"

Qin Keqing bowed to Youshi, then turned to Xichun and said softly, "Fourth aunt."

Youshi nodded numbly, Xichun raised her teary little face, and looked coldly at the "enemy" in front of her, because of her, her two elder brothers were lying unconscious on the bed, and the other was going to the Liaodong battlefield to fight against the Manchus. Fight for your life, Hu Meizi.

With a "humph", Xichun turned around and walked out.

Qin's face was as white as snow, You's sighed, and fell silent for a while.

You Shi asked, "Sent away?"

Qin's: "Send it off. Director Lai is leading people to prepare things, and the uncle is out of town to invite the grandfather."

Hearing this, You Shi slowly closed his eyes, and two tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes.

(End of this chapter)