serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 84 Water-Soluble Transaction (Two in One)

Ningguo Mansion now raided the third-rank Bo Jiahu and King Zhongshun to fight in the upper study room, and the news of being imprisoned by the emperor in the clan's mansion was like a gust of wind blowing through the imperial city.

All the relatives, nobles and military officers of the emperor were all shocked.

Many civil servants were overjoyed.

The news also reached the Ministry of Industry. Jia Zheng, who was inquiring about the progress of the construction of the provincial villa, rolled his eyes and fell to the ground with his chair.

In the duty room of the Metropolitan Procuratorate

Yushi Zhao Xi and Yushi Wang Rulin walked in quickly, "Old Pei, this is an opportunity, we can use this opportunity to move the Jia family down!"

Wang Rulin nodded: "You can still strive for loyalty to the prince."

Imperial envoy Pei Yan sat quietly with his eyes closed on the chair in front of the desk.

Zhao Xi: "Rowing up in the palace, beating the royal family, despising the imperial power, and humiliating the royal family are all serious crimes. At the least, you can be dismissed from your post and rank, and at worst, you can exile the whole family. This depends on the past achievements of the Jia family."

Pei Yan slightly closed his eyes: "It was King Zhongshun who moved first."

Zhao Xi hesitated for a moment, "It is always necessary to talk about superiority and inferiority. According to the etiquette of the Manchus, Prince Zhongshun is the master and Jia Hu is the slave. It is only natural for a master to beat a slave, so there is no reason to fight back!"

Pei Yan suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him: "What did you say?!"

Zhao Xi panicked: "I, I"

Wang Rulin helped to speak: "Old Mo Pei is going to be angry, because of what happened last time, Zhao Yushi was so angry that he said the wrong thing."

Zhao Xi quickly said "yes" a few times.

Pei Yan snorted coldly, "Although the old man said he has a grudge against the honorable military, I still have a clear stance when it comes to national and family feuds. You heard me clearly, we have bloody feuds with the Manchu Tartars. This revenge must be avenged!"

Zhao Xi and Wang Rulin quickly responded, "Yes."

Pei Yan went on to say: "Your Majesty sent them to the prison of the Clan Mansion, just because he didn't want foreign courts to interfere in this matter. Because they are not only relatives of the emperor, but also generals who are about to lead the army to the north."

After a pause, "If there is a big trouble at this time, it is a small matter to stir up disputes between the royal family and the nobles, but it is not good to affect the morale of the army. We must let His Majesty see that the censor of the Procuratorate is Ming Reasonable and righteous. Do you understand?"

The two nodded in admiration.

Pei Yan's expression softened, and he asked Zhao Xi, "How's it going?"

Zhao Xi: "Li Shouzhong didn't want to go into our muddy water at all. As for that Li Mao, heh, he managed to win over a few censors from Jiangsu with the power of the Jia family."

Pei Yan nodded: "The current national policy puts war first. Touching him at this time is not worth the loss. Let's talk about it after the war."

Beijing Palace
Shui Rong sat in front of the desk, flipping through the fake account book.

Chang Shi came in sweating profusely, and reported: "My lord, Jia Hu has been sent to the prison of the clan's residence." Then he told what happened.

Water soluble stunned on the spot.

When I came back to my senses, my eyes were wide open, and I couldn't tell the surprise!
Chang Shi: "My lord!"

Shui Rong stood up, paced back and forth quickly, and said as he walked, "Are you sure King Zhongshun made the move first?"

Chang Shi nodded.

Shui Rong couldn't restrain his excitement and said loudly: "Great! From today, all we have to do is one thing, to accumulate strength and wait for the opportunity. The crisis is over."

Chang Shi didn't understand, but he didn't dare to ask more.

Shui Rong stopped in his tracks, took a deep breath, and continued, "With this matter, no matter whether Jia Hu knew about the Manchu Tartars or not, he would not be able to report us to the emperor. They turn a blind eye to such things.”

After a pause, "He must have understood my king's phrase 'Small water flows long'."

Chang Shi smiled and said, "Your Highness is really powerful, and his word is a prophecy."

Shui Rong smiled: "We must also thank our wise and mighty Emperor!" Then he said to Chang Shi: "Go and keep an eye on it. Once Jia Hu is released from prison, notify the king immediately."

Chang Shi: "Yes." After thinking for a while, he asked: "Should we contact each family to submit the book together, Bao Jiahu?"

Shui Rong shook his head: "The book must be included, but it can't be mixed in one place." Picking up the account book, he said, "Jia Hu is our future backer, we must not let him be feared and suspected by the emperor."

Chang Shi: "Yes."

In the upper study
Emperor Jianwu was sitting in front of the imperial case and flipping through the memorial, but his mood was a little disturbed, his eyes were on the notebook, but his eyes were not on the notebook.

Chief Assistant Song Chengliang was right. The contradiction between Jia Hu and King Zhongshun was too deep, and it was not suitable to lead the army together. One mistake would cause great changes.

Jia Hu is the leader of the Yongwei Battalion, and he must lead the army, so he can only replace King Zhongshun.

But who can replace him?

Thinking of this, he raised his head and asked, "What time is it?"

Dai Quan glanced at the chiming clock next to him, and replied, "Return to Your Majesty, the application time is almost over."

At this moment, the deputy chief eunuch of Qianqing Palace called two young eunuchs to come in with a basket and put it in the hall, "Your Majesty, this is a note from Prince Bao Zhongshun and Lord Jia from Wenyuan Pavilion."

Emperor Jianwu was startled: "They all speak for them?"

The deputy chief eunuch: "Yes." After hesitating for a while, he said, "It's all from the honorable clan."

Emperor Jianwu: "Where are the civil servants?"

Deputy chief eunuch: "Not one."

Emperor Jianwu nodded in satisfaction, and smiled at Dai Quan who was standing next to him: "Finally, I'm enlightened!"

Dai Quan smiled slightly: "Your Majesty is wise."

Emperor Jianwu stood up and said, "Go and release those two evils, and each of them will be fined for one year." After speaking, he went straight to the apse.

Honor Hall

At this time, Jia Mu's house lost the previous laughter and laughter, and was shrouded in sadness.

Half an hour ago, Jia Zheng was sent back from the Ministry of Industry, and then Jia's mother and the others heard that Jia Hu was imprisoned in the clan's prison for beating King Zhongshun.

Fortunately, the chief assistants Song Chengliang and Niu Jizong both sent letters, saying that Jia Hu was fine and that the emperor was in a fit of anger and he would be released soon.

The Jia family did not become chaotic.

Jia Mu sat on the couch in the middle, closed her eyes and meditated.

Mrs. Xing was sitting there with her head bowed, Xichun was sobbing in Youshi's arms, Yingchun, Tanchun, Daiyu and Xiangyun were all sitting there wiping their tears with handkerchiefs.

The most embarrassing ones were Grandma Liu and Xing Xiuyan. Grandma Liu was at a loss, but Xing Xiuyan was really embarrassed.

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps.

Mother Jia suddenly opened her eyes.

All raised their heads.

Everyone from Lai and Lin Zhixiao's family broke in sweaty and panting, "I'm back, I'm back, the second master is back."

Mother Jia stood up abruptly: "Really?"

Everyone stood up.

Everyone Lai and Lin Zhixiao's family nodded together.

Xichun anxiously asked, "Where is brother? Where is brother?"

Lai everyone: "Prince Beijing Jing is here."

Lin Zhixiao's family: "Second Master said, he is the host and invites Grandma Liu to have a drink and watch a play."

A smile appeared on Jia Mu's face again: "Hurry up! You go and tell the kitchen to prepare a banquet, and immediately invite a group of little actors. Hurry up!"

Everyone Lai and Lin Zhixiao's family replied excitedly: "Yes."

Ningguo Mansion, Outer Study Room

A trace of air-conditioning came out of the ice mirror, making the outside study room cool and comfortable.

Shui Rong sat on the chair against the wall, and Jia Hu sat beside him.

The servant brought tea to the two of them.

"Go out." Jia Hu said to the boy, "Close the door."

"Yes." The boy backed out and closed the door behind him.

"Brother Shi not only vented his anger today, but also won people's hearts. It is really a good strategy to kill two birds with one stone without showing any trace."

Shui Rong took a sip of tea, put it down, then lowered his voice and said: "The emperor is considering choosing a stable person from the royal family or nobles to replace King Zhongshun to lead the army to go north."

Hearing this, Jia Hu withdrew his eyes from the account book on the case table and looked at Shui Rong. He was telling himself that he had placed eyeliner beside the emperor.

After thinking about it, he closed the account book and asked Shui Rong, "Where did the prince get this account book?"

Water soluble: "South City, Caobang stronghold."

With such straightforward words, Jia Hu couldn't help but laughed directly.

Jia Hu's laughter made Shui Rong a little embarrassed, coughed, and said, "There's no need to hide between us."

As he said, he opened the account book, "Look at these accounts, they were all withdrawn by Yang Kaiwu, the deputy leader of the Cao Gang, especially the last time, 10 taels, and this time, it was not the day when the elder brother was assassinated. "

Jia Hu: "What does the lord mean, that Yang Kaiwu colluded with the eunuch in charge to steal the blueprint of the self-generating firecracker?"

Shui Rong asked back: "Except for rich and well-off rebels like the Salt Gang, who would be interested in this thing?!"

Jia Hu smiled: "What exactly does the prince want to do?"

Shui Rong was taken aback for a moment.

"I'll just talk about this account book." Jia Hu picked up the account book and slowly flipped through it, then pointed at the middle rows of accounts and said, "I've looked through the account book that Feng Tang brought from the White Lotus Sect stronghold. These sums of money are not The ones from the Salt Gang were not sent by Yang Kaiwu himself.

It was the White Lotus Sect who advocated that Xuesheng used a tanker to send it to the White Lotus Sect to buy court officials, among them was Ma Maocheng, the former right servant of the Ministry of War. "

Throwing the account book on the table, he said with a smile: "The paper is old paper, but the words are new."

Shui Rong's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Jia Hu in surprise.

Jia Hu looked at him for a long time before saying anything: "My lord, the case of the Weapons Bureau will not be related to you!"

Shui Rong's eyes widened: "How is it possible?!"

Jia Hu: "Okay, okay. My lord, just do what you think, how do you want me to help you?"

Shui Rong couldn't put his face down anymore, and stood up: "What are you talking about? If you don't believe me, I'll just leave." Saying that, he turned around and left.

Jia Hu watched him walk slowly to the door with a smile, and then said slowly, "My lord."

Soluble stood still.

Jia Hu: "Your Majesty, don't blame me for being careless. I can't do anything about it. The lives of thousands of members of the Jia family are on my shoulders. One accidentally stepped on a foot and fell down. There is no chance of turning over.”

Shui Rong turned around slowly, looked deeply at Jia Hu, and then nodded: "Okay! I won't hide it anymore. To tell you the truth, my surname is Hong, and my ancestral home is Fujian. You can read the stories in it. Ask Mrs. Tai or General Jia."

Speaking of this, he sighed, "The world is hard to understand! Back then, the Shui clan encountered a big crisis, the crisis of extermination, but fortunately, there was no danger in the end. But since then, the Shui clan has died one after another inexplicably.

I remember that time I told you that the ancestor suspected that it was the royal family's secret murder.So he took the opportunity to let the descendants of the direct descendants feign death and get away.

These people changed their names and changed their surnames and returned to the south. Later, they joined the Cao Gang and gradually took over the power of the Cao Gang. The current leader of the Cao Gang is my uncle. "

Jia Hu was secretly startled: Shui Rong is really going to rebel!

Shui Rong seemed to have seen through Jia Hu's mind, and then said: "You may think, what does the Shui clan want to do? In fact, we just want to protect ourselves and leave a way out for the clan. The royal family can't be trusted!
Brother, the matter has reached a point where no hesitation is allowed. If we are not careful, our honorable lineage may soon decline. "

Saying that, he walked back to the chair and sat down, "You should have heard the rumors outside. The remnants of the White Lotus Sect and the Salt Gang have all joined the Cao Gang. I won't say much about the past.

.The White Lotus Sect was determined to rebel, and even colluded with the Manchu Tartars, bought officials for them, collected intelligence, and even assassinated court officials.Now even Yang Kaiwu has a different heart.

I got accurate information that he is not only hurrying to build firearms, but also plotting to seize the power of the Cao Gang, and then inciting Cao Ding to rebel on the grounds that the imperial court abolished water transportation. "

Jia Hu: "What does this have to do with Xungui?"

Shui Rong was in a hurry: "Why is it okay!" He was also stunned as he said that, not knowing what to say.

Jia Hu added some tea to him, and said, "The gunpowder keg of the Cao Gang will explode sooner or later, and the court is worried that there is no valid excuse. At most, there will be chaos in Huai'an for a while, it's nothing."

Shui Rong looked at Jia Hu, but his heart was overwhelmed.

Jia Hu just didn't answer, and he couldn't say more, he couldn't admit that he was going to rebel.

Thinking of this, Shui Rong cleared his throat: "Well, I'll be responsible for Yang Kaiwu's forging of firearms and plotting a rebellion. You can help me in the matter of exterminating Yang Kaiwu. How about it?"

Jia Hu thought for a moment and said, "What do you want me to do?"

Shui Rong: "Yang Kaiwu's strength has already threatened the status of the clan uncle and must be removed. Right now only the imperial court has this strength, but I don't want to implicate the entire Cao Gang. Therefore, you send troops to destroy Yang Kaiwu and prevent him from being captured by the imperial court." , and you’re done!”

Jia Hu blinked, and said evasively: "First, the army will soon go north to wipe out the Chahar tribe. No one knows when this battle will end. Second, what do you say about this matter?" Forget it, are you sure about His Majesty's side?"

Shui Rong smiled: "The matter of self-generated firecrackers is like a thorn in His Majesty's heart. He is more anxious than anyone else. Because this is an invisible enemy. As for who to send, hehe, the entire Gyeonggi 30 army , no army knows more about firearms than the Yongwei Battalion. With two thousand cavalry, one man and three horses, with the capabilities of the Yongwei Battalion, I believe that the army can reach Huai'an within five days. With the accurate information provided by the Cao Gang What about the information?"

Jia Hu: "That's true, but"

Shui Rong gritted his teeth: "All the properties of the Cao Gang in the capital."

Paused, "In addition to a coal mine in Xishan."

Jia Hu: "What industry do you have?"

Shui Rong was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect Jia Hu to ask this face to face, so he could only answer: "There is one restaurant, one medicine store, one jewelry store, two grocery stores in the West Market, two restaurants, one teahouse in the East Market, There is a rice shop, a salt store, and a grocery store."

Jia Hu shook his head: "Not enough."

Shui Rong looked at Jia Hu, and then smiled: "Okay! It's refreshing!" Then, he took out a bank note from his sleeve: "Take this money for everyone to drink."

He said in a low voice, "I heard that Yang Kaiwu built thousands of self-generating guns."

Jia Hu glanced at it, and there were three large characters of "hundred thousand taels" printed on the bank note!
"Thank you, my lord!"

Jia Hu took the bank note and stuffed it into his sleeve, "I'm waiting for the good news from my lord."

"it is good!"

Shui Rong clasped his hands together and said, "From today onwards, if there is any difficulty, please take care of me!"

Jia Hu hurriedly bowed his hands in return: "Your Majesty, you are serious. We are all relatives for many years, and it is right to help each other."

Shui Rong nodded with a smile: "It's getting late, so I won't bother you. By the way, I'll send over the deeds and land deeds after I dismiss those managers."

Jia Hu stood up and handed him the account book on the case table, "That's it, thank you lord. I'll see lord off." He gave up his hand and walked out with Shui Rong.

Zhongshun Palace Backyard
King Zhongshun was lying on the bed with a towel on his head, staring blankly at the top of the bed.

Xu Yuanlu, the director of the imperial hospital, was sitting by the bed and taking his pulse.

Dai Quan, Shi Nai and several clan princes stood beside them.

Xu Yuanlu lowered his head and examined for a while, frowning, and carefully inspected the bruise on King Zhongshun's chest, and then began to write the prescription.

"My lord has hurt his heart and lungs, he needs to recuperate well and take a good rest, otherwise the root cause of the disease will fall."

Xu Yuanlu handed the prescription to Dai Quan, "The prince will cough up blood at night these few days, so you can't cut off people around you."

Dai Quan looked at the prescription and said, "Then arrange several imperial physicians to serve in two shifts every day."

Xu Yuanlu nodded.

Shi Nai: "How long will you rest?"

Xu Yuanlu thought for a while and said carefully, "My lord is auspicious, as long as he takes good care of him, it will be about three to five months."

Several clan princes were surprised:
"What? The injury is so serious?"

"Three to five months! Isn't it impossible to lead the army?!"

"This little woman raised her! You are so ruthless!"

Dai Quan: "My lords, please be careful!"

Suddenly, King Zhongshun coughed violently.

Shi Nai quickly helped him up, Dai Quan took the spittoon and put it near his mouth.

With a sound of "Wow", a mouthful of blood spit out from King Zhongshun's mouth
(End of this chapter)