Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 815: Prepare for the next step
In Jinling City,

The residence of the Jiangnan Governor.

This is a quiet and peaceful place, and it is still lush and green. Occasionally, the sound of insects or the cry of unknown birds in the distance can add a touch of vitality to this quiet courtyard.

In the study, Jiangnan Governor Zhuang Shouzhi, dressed in an official robe, stood in front of a desk, holding a brush, quietly writing the word "forbearance". The tip of the brush was dipped in thick ink in the ink pool, and the strokes on the paper seemed to have a deeper meaning.

And downstairs,
There stood a man, it was the dusty county magistrate Zuo Sangui who had rushed over from Chunyang County.

After entering the study, they stood there with bated breath, not knowing how long they had been waiting, as if they each had something on their mind.
a long time,

Master Zhuang finally finished writing the calligraphy, which ended up being the word "忍". He suddenly put down his brush, and without looking up at the people in the hall, he sighed quietly and said;

"Five days ago, I submitted a memorial to the cabinet. One of them was to request officials to fill the vacancies in Jiangnan, and the other was to submit a petition to express my opinion on the public opinion in Jiangnan. Now that so much time has passed, the court has not responded. Do you know the court's intention?"

Zuo Sangui was standing in the hall. When he saw the adult asking questions, he felt his body relax and his legs and feet became a little weak. However, since the adult asked questions, he must know what happened here. Thinking about the words of the prefect Ma Guangcheng, he suddenly thought that it should be the cabinet's side. Lord Lu should agree, so why did Lord Zhuang still stop it?

"Sir, I came from Chunyang County. The prefect, Mr. Ma, said that both Mr. Jing and the prefect had submitted reports. I was also reported and my position was taken away. I have already found the transfer order. If that is the case, it means that the cabinet supports Mr. Jing's move."

After a pause, he still asked the question in his heart.

"Since the court has such intentions, why would Your Excellency ask us to stop it?"

Zhuang Shouzhi put down his brush and waved to the butler outside the curtain. Then, a servant brought a chair and placed it behind Lord Zuo. Lord Zhuang lifted the hem of his chair, slowly sat down, and pressed his hands. Zuo Sangui understood and sat down as well.

"That's a good question. To be honest, I have my own selfish motives. This year is the last year of my term of office, and I want stability. Who would have thought that Lord Jing would arrive in Jingnan at this time and make major changes? You know, if Jiangnan wants stability, it needs to have enough food. If it doesn't have enough food, how can it be stable?"

This is also what Lord Zhuang is extremely worried about. After all, the taxation in Jiangnan has reached the limit. What needs to be stabilized now is a balance. Not a penny of tax can be collected from the land of the aristocratic families and nobles. The only thing that matters is the number of lands in the hands of the people. If these are touched, the consequences will be disastrous.

Others may not know how serious this is, but Zuo Sangui knows it, and he is vaguely worried. Since the beginning of this year, the rain has been frequent, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a disaster year, but the order of the court cannot be disobeyed. Now it seems that it is hard to predict whether it will be a blessing or a disaster.
"Then, sir, what should we do? Looking at Lord Jing's decision, the government troops have been dispatched. I'm afraid we have to change it."

"Since we can't stop him, we have to protect ourselves. Yesterday, I submitted a memorial to the emperor overnight, telling him the truth. If Jing Cunliang insists on doing what he wants, Jiangnan will be in chaos. So, even if the court doesn't accept him, we have already distanced ourselves from him. We can just retreat to advance. As for the government troops, they are from Yangzhou."

Lord Zhuang smiled. Since he couldn't stop it at this moment, he might as well lie dormant. Jing Cunliang was nothing, but he was afraid of the one behind him. Although Eunuch Yang represented the palace, he didn't necessarily represent the emperor.
Ning Kai, the thrifty official of the Jinling Imperial City, has taken all the prisoners from the county city to Jiangbei. It is absurd to mine jade for the emperor as the foundation of his cultivation. Isn't this a replica of the birthday gift of the Song Dynasty? I don't know why the royal family does this.

This matter was buried deep in my heart and could not be told to outsiders.

Zuo Sangui understood that Lord Zhuang wanted to preserve his strength, and those soldiers were, as he expected, the government troops from Yangzhou. He just didn't know where he should be assigned. He clasped his fists, stood up and bowed.
"Master Zhuang is right. I wonder where I should go after I resign from the post of county magistrate?"

"Ahaha, of course there is a good place to go. The county city's official warehouse is still short of a grain depot commander. You go there and just lead the soldiers in the granary to collect the grain. All the major warehouses in it are full. We have checked it, so you should know how serious it is."

Zhuang Shouzhi smiled meaningfully. There are two granaries in Jinling County. One is the official granary, which has a lot of grain, occupies a large area, and is guarded by grain soldiers. It only obeys the orders of the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court. The other is the granary of the prefectural government. Although there is a lot of grain, there is not much space to store it. The prefectural government can allocate it at will, so let's wait and see.

Zuo Sangui was also surprised. The grain bureau had issued an order and the official warehouse had been checked, which meant that there were no false numbers. It seemed that the adults had already thought of a way out. He looked happy and knelt on the ground.
"Thank you for your cultivation!"

Beijing,

In the Li Residence on the east bank of Qinghu Lake, the eldest son, Li Chaosheng, dressed in Confucian clothes, brought a few servants and prepared to go out to find an excuse to go to Luo Yunhou Mansion.

Who knows,

Just after passing the courtyard, I saw my father half asleep under the pavilion. I walked over, took a blanket, covered him with it, and turned to leave.
The Prime Minister, who was lying on the recliner, suddenly asked;

"Where to?"

Seeing his father asking, Li Chaosheng, who was about to leave, stopped, turned around and replied;
"Father, I want to discuss something with Luo Yunhou,"

Li Chaosheng did not deliberately conceal the fact that what was being discussed was the strategy that he and several of his senior brothers had agreed upon last time, to join forces with Marquis Luo Yun and even Lord Nan to arrange for the new officials to go to Jiangnan to form a coalition.

Little did he know that his thoughts had long been seen by the Prime Minister. He had been lying here this morning just waiting for him to come over. As if he had not heard anything, Li Chonghou closed his eyes again and fell asleep.

The eldest son was a little worried. He wondered if his father would disagree with this matter or if he had other ideas. But when he thought about it carefully, there was nothing wrong. After all, it was agreed upon in advance.

"May I ask, father, is there something wrong?"

After asking the question, he moved a stool and sat next to his father.

The Prime Minister leaned to the side, opened his eyes slightly, and asked;
"You're so anxious, have you thought it through?"

"Replying to Father, think carefully. If you want to join the cabinet, you need some means."

Li Chaosheng nodded. He thought that he would have to reach that step sooner or later. It would be better to go early than late and make arrangements in advance.

"Well, that's right. Now that you are ready, don't hesitate. Three days ago, an urgent letter from Jiangnan, six hundred miles away, was sent to the cabinet. One letter was from Jiangnan Governor Zhuang, and the other was from Inspector General Jing. The two spoke fiercely and accused each other. Even the prefectural government began to submit memorials to report on each other. I thought about it and changed the positions of their people, especially the position of county magistrate."

The Prime Minister spoke softly and slowly, as if giving some advice, which made Li Chaosheng's heart move. Many people in Jiangnan have changed their positions, and this one is the county magistrate. In this case, his father has already seen through his affairs.
"Father, the first thing I would consider is to fill the post of Jiangnan County Magistrate. This way, many things will be easier to handle."

"Yes, it is easy to handle, but it is difficult to handle a good thing when it involves the Emperor. They must first prepare for the Weaving Bureau and also keep the people of Jiangnan safe. Both are indispensable, remember."

Li Chonghou was still somewhat worried. How could he not know the moral character of those people under him? They were corrupt, eloquent, and very bold. So he had to prepare for some things in advance.

The eldest son nodded. Many things do need to be prepared. I think they should be prepared. But it is better to be safe than sorry.

"Father, what if something goes wrong?"

"You, what does this have to do with you? Sacrifice the car to save the driver."

With a sigh, the courtyard fell into silence again.

Luoyunhou Mansion,

The sky cleared up.

Zhang Jinyu was tired after a night of sleep yesterday and didn't get enough rest. He got up early and dressed as usual to go to dinner. When he entered the west courtyard, before he sat down, he didn't know whether someone was trying to please him or did it on purpose. The first person to enter the house was Song Xingjun from the Chengyi Marquis's Mansion. As soon as he entered the house, he asked the servants who accompanied him to bring the big and small bags of things into the house. If you didn't know, you would think he was moving.

Entered the house,
Song Xingjun bowed his head directly.
"Student Song Xingjun, I am here to meet my teacher. Let's have some tea."

After all, Zhang Jinyu had only been sitting for a short time, so he could only nod helplessly when asked to serve tea. Seeing this, Song Xingjun stood up happily and served tea.

After Zhang Jinyu took the tea, he took a sip and accepted it.

"Why are you here so early?"

"Teacher, I went home last night and told my father about this matter. My father told me that I must be the first one to come, so I got up early and came here."

After saying that, he smiled foolishly, which made Zhang Jinyu roll his eyes. Cheng Yibo, that fellow, was thinking of good things;
"Okay, after you've paid your respects to the master, go back. I won't keep you for dinner today."

The first thing he said was to chase him away. Before Song Xingjun could react, he stammered, "Uh, teacher, if that's the case, then I'll take my leave."

He bowed again without delay, knowing that the Marquis had a lot of things to do today, and after saying goodbye, he saw the Marquis nod and then left.
As soon as he stepped out of the door, no one knew whether someone had started it or if the magpies had welcomed him, but candidates who had passed the imperial examination came one after another to become his disciples. Seeing this, Zhang Jinyu did as he was told, accepted all of them, and then sent them away.

Even if I only took a sip of the tea, my stomach would feel bloated. Coincidentally, the last three people, Xu Changwen, Gao Wen, and Jia Lan, did not come.
After waiting for a while, Zhang Jinyu asked;
"Ningbyon, what's going on? Why haven't the remaining three arrived yet?"

Of the three people who asked, Ning Bian naturally understood who the Marquis was asking about, nodded, and replied;

"My Lord, don't worry. The three young masters are probably walking too slowly. Xu Changwen and Gao Wen live in the South City and don't have a carriage, so they are late. Jia Lan should not have left the house yet."

Zhang Jinyu heard the explanation and thought it made sense. As the saying goes, the last one to come out has the most status. He wanted to ask again,

Suddenly, a report came from the personal guards outside the door;

"Report, Lord Marquis, the captain of the Imperial City Gate outside the palace, Shen Baoan, wants to see you."

The sudden report made Zhang Jinyu and Ning Bian alert at the same time. Shen Baoan was here, so the things he had asked them to do should have been done almost.

"Quick, invite the people in,"

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

With a response,
After a while,
A familiar figure walked into the room. Zhang Jinyu quickly stood up to greet him. He saw Shen Baoan with a tired face. He was wearing a gray robe and a pair of hard-soled boots. There was a lot of mud on his feet. There were also some fallen leaves on his clothes. He looked very tired. He had just come back.
"Brother Shen, did you just come back from outside the city?"

Captain Shen, who had just come in, was so excited when he saw the Marquis coming to greet him that he quickly clasped his fists and bowed.

"Greetings, Lord. I just came back from the official road outside the East City."

Just mentioned it, didn't say much.
Zhang Jinyu's heart moved, and he looked at the servants and boys serving around him and gave an order;

"Go out and close the door,"

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

Then, the maids and servants who were waiting around all bowed and left the room. As the door closed, Zhang Jinyu directly pulled Captain Shen and sat down.

"What happened?"

Shen Baoan patted the fallen leaves on his shoulders, moved closer, lowered his head and replied;

"I have investigated what the Marquis asked me to do. Jia Zhen of Ningguo Mansion was exiled to Lingnan. He will leave in five days. He will go through the east gate. There is a valley a hundred miles away on the official road. If you go through the valley, you can go south and the official road will lead directly to Xihe County."

This time we went out to scout the place for the Marquis. If we want to ambush the imperial criminals halfway, we need to find a good place, because the exiled people of the imperial court are not allowed to travel by water and can only take the official road. Therefore, the place to attack must be far away to avoid being discovered by the imperial court. So we went out at night to find a place to ambush.

"Okay, if that's the case, let's stay there. Brother Shen, are you sure?"

What Zhang Jinyu wanted was to be foolproof. Once he decided on a place, he had to do it cleanly without leaving any clues.

"My Lord, the men are ready. We are just waiting for Jia Zhen to pass by here in five days. He will definitely spare his life."

Shen Baoan replied decisively that these people were all his brothers who had sworn to be with him for a lifetime. Their families were not living in good circumstances, so why would they not agree to a profitable business?
After listening to this, Zhang Jinyu did not hesitate to take out 30,000 taels of silver notes and put them on the table, pushing them over.
"These are the hard-earned money for the brothers. Remember to cook them cleanly."

"Yes, Lord, I understand and will never drag you down. Besides, there is one more thing. Since yesterday, some children's songs have been circulating in the capital. I wonder if Lord knows about this?"

Shen Baoan nodded and carefully put away the banknotes. The Marquis was generous and never kept the money overnight. He also mentioned the nursery rhymes that were popular in the capital these days.
Zhang Jinyu was a little surprised. What nursery rhyme? Could it be that someone couldn't sit still? She was quite interested.
"What nursery rhyme? Tell me, I really didn't pay attention to it."

"My Lord, this is about Ningguo Mansion. Since yesterday, many children have been singing on the street corners, saying that the general risked his life to wrap his body and that his family members were implicated. The tyrant emperor believed the rumors and forced the nobles to death and took away their titles."

Shen Baoan thought for a moment before he began to recite the nursery rhyme verbatim. It was simple and catchy, but it also implicitly referred to the Jia family of Ningguo Mansion and the Wang family of the capital. This was quite interesting.

Zhang Jinyu repeated it and memorized it immediately. It was so catchy that no one knew which talented person wrote it.
"The person who can make up this nursery rhyme is quite talented. You don't have to worry about these. Just do this job well. Be careful. You came in a bit rashly today. Next time, come in through the corner door in the backyard. There are many people at the front door."

After giving instructions, he turned around and asked Ning Bian to send someone to lead Captain Shen away from the backyard.

"Yes, sir, I understand."

Shen Baoan nodded, knowing that today's arrival was a bit sudden. So many students left in front of the door, probably to come and become his disciples. Seeing that the power of the Marquis was growing, how could Shen Baoan not be anxious, fearing that he would fall behind and become useless.

After getting up and saying goodbye, he followed the corner of the wall and, led by his personal guards, left through the back door.

After the person left, Zhang Jinyu touched his chin, still feeling uneasy, so he gave some more instructions.
"Ningbian, remember, in five days, ask Duan Hong to prepare early and send people to ambush in the valley in advance. If Captain Shen's men are clean, don't show up. If not, he knows what to do."

"Yes, Lord Marquis, I will send someone to tell General Duan. There is one more thing. Last night, someone came to the Prime Minister's residence and said that the eldest son would come to the mansion to celebrate with you. I don't know when he will be back."

Ning Bian also touched his body, took out a visiting card from his arms and handed it over. Zhang Jinyu took it and took a look. It turned out to be from the Prime Minister's residence. The eldest son was Li Chaosheng, who came to congratulate him today.

Li Chaosheng came to the house to celebrate. He was probably here to question his three senior brothers. Also,
"That's not right. Why are you taking out the visiting card that I sent last night only now?"

Zhang Jinyu left the visiting card on the table and glanced at Ning Bian.
Ning Bian's expression remained unchanged, and he clasped his fists and replied;
"My Lord, I received this invitation last night and went to the backyard to report to you, but Miss Baozhu was guarding the door, so I couldn't get in."

This answer instantly made Zhang Jinyu feel a little embarrassed, as he was talking about something that was not relevant.

at the same time,

The sky in Rongguo Mansion also became lively early. As the East Mansion began to perform rituals, the trumpets, erhu and other instruments were played without stopping.
At Li Wan's urging, Jia Lan washed up and left the house to go to the Marquis's residence to become his disciple. However, Jia Baoyu's courtyard seemed lifeless.
There was so much noise outside, Jia Baoyu didn't know whether he was tired or too exhausted. At this time, he had just gotten up to change his clothes.

Xiren's face was dark with worry, and she asked;
"Master Bao, where do you feel uncomfortable?"

After Jia Baoyu changed his clothes, he shook his head.
"I'm not feeling unwell, I'm just a little tired from the scientific expeditions these days."

Although I said this, when I thought about Lang Ge'er's high school graduation, I felt that something was wrong. However, fame and fortune had nothing to do with me, so I felt relieved after thinking about it.
On the other side, Musk Moon was harsh in her words.

"Hmph, I don't know how Marquis Luo Yun chose the quota. If Brother Lan can get third place, why can't Master Bao get first place?"

With a look of indignation on his face, he thought about how much hardship Bao Erye had gone through in his studies, and how he could not compare to the younger Lang Ge'er.

However, Jia Baoyu felt uncomfortable because of these words of defending the injustice. He waved his hand and walked out of the door.
"I'm not going to eat anymore. I'm going to go to the East Palace to see if there's anything I can help with."

She walked out of the room, leaving the maids looking at each other in bewilderment. Xiren even complained.
"Look at you. You just can't control your mouth. You don't know what you can and can't say. Do you need others to teach you?"

"I, I am speaking up for Master Bao."

(End of this chapter)