serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 331: Matters in the Capital

The snow was falling one after another, and now the wind was blowing again, and the howling wind carried the snowflakes and hit the doors and windows overwhelmingly.

Looking down from a high place, the small Dragon Head Palace is shivering in the howling wind.

Outside the window there was the sound of wind and snow, but inside the window it was very quiet.

The Supreme Emperor sat cross-legged on the couch, counting rosary beads in his hand, closing his eyes and saying nothing. It was not clear whether he was reciting scriptures silently or suppressing the flood of thoughts.

Xia Shouzhong hunched over slightly and stood cautiously on the edge of the collapse, secretly looking sideways at the Supreme Emperor to observe his reaction.

After a while, the Supreme Emperor slowly opened his eyes and sighed: "As long as it wasn't the Emperor. Is the news reliable?"

Xia Shouzhong quickly replied: "Your Majesty, don't worry. In addition, the Director of Ceremonies is secretly tracking down a mysterious force. The Emperor suspects that the deaths of the third prince, the fourth prince and King Zhongshun are related to them."

After a pause, "The Director of Ceremonies once wanted to monitor the Jia family, but the emperor refused."

Taishang Huang said quietly: "What do you think?"

Xia Shouzhong: "Currently, the Jia family has benefited the most from this whole thing."

The Emperor changed the topic: "Last year, King Yi Zhong said that Shui Rong occupied a large island in Nanyang. What's going on now?"

Xia Shouzhong: "No news. However, the situation at Prince Yizhong's side is pretty good. They occupy a medium-sized island and are developing well with the money they earned from the Manchu Tatars."

The Supreme Emperor nodded.

At this moment, there was a noise outside the hall.

The Supreme Emperor glanced at Xia Shouzhong.

Xia Shouzhong hurriedly walked out and came back soon. He hesitated and said, "Back to the Supreme Emperor, there is good news from outside the customs."

The Supreme Emperor: "Oh? Jia Hu won another battle?"

Xia Shouzhong replied: "Yes. Jia Hu led the army to defeat and capture King Rakshasa, forced him to sign an alliance under the city, and obtained a large area of ​​land."

The Supreme Emperor was stunned and did not say anything for a long time.

Xia Shouzhong: "I heard that the emperor is discussing with the cabinet the establishment of a protective palace in Mobei."

The Supreme Emperor put the rosary beads on the couch, stood up, stomped to the window and looked out at the falling snowflakes. He sighed deeply: "Three years. In less than three years, he swept across the entire grassland outside the pass. Now. They even defeated the Rakshasa people in the north and forced them to cede their territory and pay compensation."

After being stunned for a while, he asked, "Who do you think this Jia Hu is?"

Xia Shouzhong thought for a while and replied: "At first I thought he was a young and energetic nobleman, then I thought he was a brave and extraordinary general. Later, the old slave couldn't see through him."

The Supreme Emperor looked out the window: "I can't see through him either." At this point, he suddenly asked: "I heard that the emperor's body is not as good as before?"

Xia Shouzhong: "Not sure."

The Supreme Emperor looked at him and nodded: "I heard that Daxiangguo Temple got a new volume of Bay-leaf Sutra. I asked people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to bring the sutra." After saying that, he slowly walked back to the couch and sat down, picking up the rosary beads. , and closed his eyes again.

Xia Shouzhong dragged the lame leg out.

Inside the side hall of Qianqing Palace
Jin Shuqing, Ma Ruifang and Zhang Guangru, who were sitting here, saw that the emperor had not shown any intention to summon them for a long time, and they began to lose control.

Ma Ruifang gently touched Jin Shuqing, who was sitting on his left, with her elbow, and then glanced to her right.

Jin Shuqing followed his instructions and saw Zhang Guangru's face was so pale that there was no blood at all. He was sitting upright with his eyes slightly closed, but his lips were moving slightly, and the pair of clothes on his knees were moving. His hands were shaking slightly, obviously trying to calm down his inner excitement.

Jin Shuqing stood up, walked to the window and took a look, then turned and walked to Zhang Guangru: "Don't worry, Duke No. [-]. Even if we can't win the title of Minister of the Ministry of Finance, we can still choose Shuntian Prefecture Yin."

Zhang Guangru looked at him and sighed slightly: "It's not easy to be the governor of Shuntian. It's okay to be angry on both sides. It's possible that Wu Sha will not be saved, or even his life will be lost."

Ma Ruifang on the side smiled secretly, there is no risk, why should this wealth fall on you, a person who has not done anything yet? She smiled and said: "Actually, this job of the Ministry of Finance is more difficult. Nowadays, there is a war between the north and the south. Everyone. A large amount of food and salary are allocated every month. Hey, I heard that there may be a flood in Huguang. Is the Ministry of Household Affairs prepared?" As he said that, he turned to Jin Shuqing.

One sentence reminded Jin Shuqing, and his eyes flashed: "Zhao Zixun used all the food to support the two wars between the North and the South. The food reserves in Sichuan and other places will definitely not be enough for disaster relief."

Just as Ma Ruifang was about to speak, there were footsteps outside the door, and then the door was pushed open with a bang.

The deputy general manager of Qianqing Palace came in with a piece of this chapter and said with a smile: "You three, please come back." He handed the piece of this chapter to Jin Shuqing.A hint of unnoticeable ecstasy flashed in Jin Shuqing's eyes, but he quickly covered it up. He took the memorial from him and Ma Ruifang jointly recommending Zhang Guangru as the Minister of Household Affairs, took out a silver note from his sleeve and stuffed it into the hands of the deputy general manager. Laughing: "Please give me some advice from the manager."

The deputy general manager was not polite, wiped the banknote into his sleeve, and said with a smile: "What a happy event. The king of Beining County won a great victory in Mobei, captured King Rakshasa, and forced the other party to sign a contract. Not only will he compensate us 6000 million taels of silver, and a large area of ​​land was given as compensation."

Zhang Guangru: "Did the emperor say when to summon us?"

The deputy general manager smiled: "The emperor is busy with serious business at the moment." Then he turned to Jin Shuqing: "The Za family has errands to attend to, so I won't send you three off." After that, he turned around and walked out.

Looking at his retreating back, Jin Shuqing smiled bitterly. Unexpectedly, they were ridiculed by a eunuch. The emperor was busy with serious business. How ironic!
Ma Ruifang pinched Jin Shuqing's arm and said with a smile: "Brother Jin, this incredible wealth is going to fall on you."

Jin Shuqing was overjoyed, but he pretended to be silent for a while before saying, "The three of us have agreed that I can't take Brother Zhang's seat."

Ma Ruifang was anxious: "Don't forget, there is also a left minister Jia Lian in the Ministry of Finance. We must make a big contribution before him, so that we can hold the Ministry of Finance in our hands. Besides, isn't there also a Yin of Shuntian Prefecture? .Isn’t it, Zhuangyuan Gong?” After saying that, he and Jin Shuqing looked at Zhang Guangru.

A trace of bitterness appeared on Zhang Guangru's face, then he nodded.

Ma Ruifang then said: "Don't worry, Lord No. [-] Scholar. The three of us will be prosperous and suffer losses. We will take care of you. If you don't believe it, let's high-five!" As he said that, he raised his right hand.

Jin Shuqing also raised his right hand: "Then we will make an agreement!"

Zhang Guangru stretched out his hand and clapped each other's hands with Ma Ruifang and Jin Shuqing: "It's a deal!"

Jin Shuqing's face flushed: "This is not the place to talk. Let's go to the office of the Ministry of Accounts."

Ma Ruifang was startled: "Let's leave quickly." After saying that, she pulled the two of them and walked out quickly.

The side hall immediately fell into silence.

At this time, the side door leading to the apse opened, and Dai Quan walked in. Looking at the heavy snow falling outside the palace door, he smiled, turned and walked towards the apse.

After a while, two waiters came in with trays and put away the tea bowls on the coffee table.
In the study room
A huge map was spread out in the open space in front of the imperial case. Wang Hetang, Niu Jizong and others stood on both sides and looked at the map that was sandwiched in the contract by Jia Hu.

This map was also captured by Jia Hu from the Rakshasa people. He not only circled the land ceded by the Rakshasa people, but also marked the cities, military camps and forts that had been built and were being built.

At this time, Emperor Jianwu seemed extremely excited and agitated. He took off his boots, lifted up the corners of his robe and tucked it into his belt. Then he walked up and measured the land with his feet, and said loudly to several people: "From now on, this place will be called Bei. Tingduhufu is established, and the administrative office is located in Uliasutai City, which is surrounded by mountains on three sides and is also surrounded by rivers. It is a dangerous place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack."

At this time, Wang Hetang had completely forgotten the previous depression and said with a smile: "From now on, the north will be completely peaceful, and there will be no more border troubles on the nine sides!"

Emperor Jianwu nodded and continued: "The Ministry of War will discuss immediately to see where to dispatch troops and horses to garrison."

Niu Jizong replied: "I obey the decree."

Li Shouzhong spoke: "Your Majesty, who should be the governor of Beiting Protectorate? According to the wishes of the prince, a total of 12 officers and soldiers, including the Mongols, are needed. This is an army of [-]. This is not southern Xinjiang. , there are a large number of cattle and sheep that can be used as military rations. The cavalry rushes thousands of miles and can reach the Great Wall Pass in less than a month."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked and all looked at Emperor Jianwu.

Emperor Jianwu's face immediately became serious. He turned to Wang Hetang, Niu Jizong and others and asked, "What do you think?"

Wang Hetang didn't dare to answer directly, so he had to say: "On the shore of Sui Tu, could it be the king's ministers?"

Emperor Jianwu knew that nothing could be gained from asking him, so he turned his attention to the other four people.

Shi Guangzhu and Niu Jizong were both members of the distinguished military and would not get involved in this matter at this time, so they remained silent.

The strange thing is that Zhao Zixun's eyes were drooping, as if he would never participate.

Emperor Jianwu was slightly startled and asked Yang Cifu: "Mr. Yang Ge, what do you think?"

Unable to escape, Yang Cifu had no choice but to reply: "Back to the emperor, this land was acquired by the prince. Naturally, the prince should serve as the governor of the Beiting Protectorate. However, the Yongwei Battalion is the main force defending the capital, and it is not easy for him to do so. Stationed abroad for a long time, and the prince is the chief general of the Yongwei camp, he must also stay in the capital. According to the minister's idea, the prince takes over the post of governor, and the garrison and the new Mongolian army have different generals."

Emperor Jianwu's eyes lit up: "Okay. Just follow Ci Fu's advice!"

At this moment, Dai Quan walked in quickly and silently, whispered a few words in Emperor Jianwu's ear.

Emperor Jianwu smiled faintly, and then said: "Draft a decree to Jia Hu, asking him to temporarily control the military and political affairs of the Beiting Protectorate and wait for my decree."

(End of this chapter)