serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 390 Inquiry
Outside the gate of the Ministry of War, Niu Ben, covered in snowflakes, strode in with a knife in his hand.

The hardest part these days was the bull rush. Just after the fright had passed, it fell to him again to expand the Forbidden Army.

After coming out of the Forbidden Army camp, Niu Ben went straight to the Qianqing Palace to review the order and report on the reorganization of the Forbidden Army.

It was already the beginning of this mission. Last night, the palace was on duty again. I was already exhausted physically and mentally. I went back to the duty room and ate breakfast in a hurry, then lay down to rest.

As soon as he lay down and took a nap, the emperor sent another decree, asking him to go to the Ministry of War to attend a meeting.

At this time, Niu Ben's eyes were bloodshot and his face was full of tiredness. He stopped before he reached the door of the second hall.

Outside the gate, twenty or thirty soldiers wearing large-brimmed winter hats and cloaks were standing upright in the swirling snowflakes, holding knives.

A military general wearing red official uniforms and a cloak on his back was walking in front of the gate with a knife, looking here from time to time.

Although it was snowing heavily, Niu Ben recognized the other party through the snowflakes. He was the personal soldier of Lin San and Jia Hu.

Since the Autumn Hunting in Xishan, Jia Hu has never set foot in the Imperial City again, not even the various government offices located at the south gate of the Imperial City.

Today, he took the initiative to come to the Ministry of War for Jiangxi matters. Not only the emperor, but also he was a little surprised.

In Niu Ben's impression, Jia Hu is a person who never puts himself in danger.

Regardless, this is a good start.

Niu Ben took a deep breath and walked over quickly.

"General Lin." Niu Ben raised his hand from a distance.

Lin San only nodded to Niu Ben, and then stretched out his hand.

Niu Ben understood and took off his saber without any care, then handed it to Lin San. Just as he was about to go in, he was stopped by a soldier.

The soldier said: "Raise your hands."

Niu Ben's face turned pale, he gritted his teeth and raised his hand.

The soldiers searched the body very skillfully.

Niu Ben: "You should search carefully."

The soldier didn't say anything. After searching, he stepped aside.

Lin San glanced at him: "Go in."

Niu Ben snorted and turned away.

With a faint smile, Lin San turned his head and looked into the hall in the distance. He vaguely noticed a figure flashing past there.
In the duty room of the Ministry of War, Jia Hu and Niu Jizong sat in silence facing each other.

Suddenly the thick door curtain was lifted and a gust of cold wind came in. Niu with a livid face ran in, looked at Niu Jizong who was silent, walked up to Jia Hu and saluted: "Commander."

Jia Hu looked at him with a smile, and then asked Niu Jizong, "When will you get married?"

Niu Jizong smiled bitterly and said: "Princess Anle is still young, and Your Majesty is like this."

Jia Hu smiled and looked at Niu Ben again: "I was lucky enough to meet Princess Anle once, but you are really lucky."

Niu Ben smiled naively: "I, I have seen the portrait."

Jia Hu: "Is everything going well with the Forbidden Army?"

Niu Ben: "Fifty thousand veterans, [-] cavalry, and [-] infantry have been selected from the three towns of Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhou."

Jia Hu pointed to the chair, "The Forbidden Army is responsible for defending the capital and the palace. Their tactics and war skills are different from those of the border army. They don't need to go out to fight in the city, and they don't need so many cavalry. In addition, you need to focus on training their ability to defend the city. .

The city defense forces need to undergo professional training so that they can be able to respond to emergencies.Understand? "

Niu Ben listened and stood up quickly: "Yes."

"How do you arrange these infantry troops? How many fire rifle soldiers are there?" Jia Hu asked again.

Niu Ben replied: "Four firearms battalions. Since all the firearms in the Ordnance Bureau's inventory have been transferred to the Navy and the Liaodong Army, only two thousand breech-loaded firearms are currently equipped."

Jia Hu's eyes lit up, he nodded, and then asked: "I heard that the Supervisor of Ceremonies also formed a fire gun army. Is this true?"

"That's what happened."

Niu Ben came close to Jia Hu and whispered: "General Manager Dai had a group of red eunuchs who were highly skilled in martial arts. However, they were massacred by Prince Yizhong's people that night, and there were only about thirty of them left. "

Jia Hu glanced at him: "How do you know so clearly?"

Niu Ben smiled: "I arranged for them to go to the Western Mountains mixed with the imperial army, and I led others to bury their bodies." Niu Jizong grinned.

Niu Ben suddenly remembered: "When I went to the palace to return the order this morning, I vaguely heard Zhen Yingjia's voice."

Jia Hu: "Oh?"

Niu Jizong was afraid that Niu Ben would say something shocking again, so he hurriedly interjected: "I haven't poured tea for the prince yet!"

Niu Ben knew this was a reminder to himself, so he turned around and walked to the corner, picked up the copper kettle on the small stove, and poured tea for Jia Hu and Niu Jizong.

Jia Hu picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, put it down, and said to Niu Jizong, "I estimate that Niu Ben is right. Niu Ben will be awarded the title of Commander of the Forbidden Army in a day or two, and he will marry Princess Anle."

Niu Jizong glanced at him but said nothing.

Niu ran confused: "But the princess is only fourteen years old after the Chinese New Year!"

Jia Hu looked at Niu Jizong.

Niu Jizong: "Without this title, the emperor will not hand over the imperial army to you. As for Princess Anle, we will consummate the marriage later."

Niu Ben nodded, turned around and poured himself a bowl of tea. As soon as he took a sip, he immediately felt footsteps outside the door and quickly looked towards the door.

As expected, Lin San's voice soon came from outside the door: "Your Majesty."

Jia Hu: "Come in."

Lin San walked in and handed an official document in his hand to Jia Hu: "This was sent by Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites."

Jia Hu took the official document and read it. After reading only a few lines, his expression changed.

Niu Jizong: "What's wrong?"

Jia Hu looked at the official document: "According to the news from the French, Queen Rakshasa sent people to Qinghai and other places to instigate rebellion against the local tribes, and it has achieved results."

After hearing this, Niu Jizong's face suddenly darkened, "No wonder Dunhuang was attacked!"

Niu Ben immediately said: "If the rebels cut off Gansu's grain route, Shi Ding and Zhao Yi who penetrate deep into the northwest hinterland will be in danger."

Niu Jizong nodded.

Niu Ben: "Add more troops. Send troops from Sichuan and Shaanxi for reinforcements."

Jia Hu glanced at him and said to Niu Jizong: "Let Shi Ding and Zhao Yi withdraw their troops and retreat to Gansu."

Niu Ben was surprised: "Wouldn't the rebels in Xinjiang and Qinghai get together in this way?"

Niu Jizong understood: "The whereabouts of the rebels in Xinjiang are erratic. The government and army have never been able to find their main force and cannot fight the rebels. Moreover, the battle line is too long, making it very difficult to transport food and grass.

Exit first, mobilize the army, food, grass and ammunition, and when the rebels from the two places join forces, we will immediately attack with the whole army and wipe out the rebels in one fell swoop!Completely solve the problem in the northwest. "

Niu Ben also realized that with the combat power of the Beijing camp and the cooperation of Zhao Yi's cavalry and Gansu guards, even if Xinjiang and Qinghai rebelled, they could still wipe out the rebellion.

They were afraid that the other party would hide around and not engage in a decisive battle with the officers and soldiers, thus engaging in a war of attrition.

Niu Jizong stood up and looked at Jia Hu: "Enter the palace."

When Niu Ben heard this, he also looked at Jia Hu.

Lin San spoke: "Your Majesty, the princess is still waiting for you to go back for dinner."

Jia Hu: "Yes." He handed the official document to Niu Jizong, and said to Niu Ben: "Waiting for your good news." After that, he walked out.

Lin San said to Niu Ben: "I put the knife outside for you." After saying that, he hurriedly chased after him.

Niu Jizong sighed.

Niu Ben suddenly remembered: "Hey, didn't you talk about discussing the Jiangxi civil uprising?"

Niu Jizong glared at him: "Lin Ruhai holds the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, and Shi Nai of Jiangnan Camp is from the Jia family. What is there to discuss!"

Niu Ben: "That handsome man"

"Hmph", Niu Jizong said: "What a mouthful! I will be killed by you sooner or later!" He said and walked out quickly.

Niu Ben smiled, of course he knew that Jia Hu was waiting for him.

(End of this chapter)