Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 344 It’s not your turn
The origin of the war in western Sichuan is neither complicated nor straightforward. It was simply that the policy of converting native chieftains into civilians affected the interests of local chieftains.

But this is only the official statement, and the specific details are unknown. It can only be said that in the process of policy implementation, discrimination and other behaviors that arouse public anger will inevitably occur, and the chieftains will incite everyone to rebel.

Looking at the problem from a high-level perspective, rebellion must be suppressed, and if problems among officials are to be investigated, that must be done after the situation is quelled.

Last month, there was news from western Sichuan that everything was going smoothly, they were already approaching the bandit’s lair, and were about to win a great victory.

In view of this, Li Heng and Jia Lian knew just by looking at the eunuch's expression that the news this time was not good news.

Considering that the emperor had the habit of summoning Jia Lian to attend cabinet meetings, he could not continue drinking, so he quickly said goodbye and went home to wait.

As soon as Jia Lian arrived at the door, Xia Shouzhong stopped him before he could even enter the house: "Your Majesty has urgently summoned you, hurry into the palace."

"Why is the governor here in person?" Jia Lian asked knowingly, believing that the emperor was really anxious this time.

"It's hard to explain in a few words. Let's talk on the way." Xia Shouzhong didn't say much. Jia Lian didn't even get off his horse and turned around to leave.

"Battle report from western Sichuan, His Majesty is furious! An emergency cabinet meeting is held to discuss the suppression of the rebellion in Jinchuan. This time, I'm afraid we have to make a trip to Sichuan, so we don't die on the way." Xia Shouzhong and Jia Lian rode side by side on horseback. After signaling the people behind to keep their distance, he spoke quietly in a low voice.

"Well, did anyone suggest that Jia lead the troops to the battle?" Jia Lian asked with a half-smile. Xia Shouzhong nodded: "Liang, Li, and Guo all have the same idea. Kong and Pan have ambiguous attitudes."

Jia Lian smiled at Xia Shouzhong and said, "Thank you, Governor. I accept this favor." Xia Shouzhong smiled back, "I spent a lot of your money, it's my duty!"

The two stopped talking and sped up. On the way, Jia Lian analyzed the suggestions of the three elders in his mind. They were really vicious.

Regardless of their original intentions, these three people all have some degree of bad intentions.

These three should have noticed something. Whenever the emperor wanted to do something and encountered resistance, there was always a guy named Jia Lian who jumped out to help.

Getting Jia Lian out of the capital might be the first step, and there are other means waiting for him. As long as he leads the troops to attack, no matter he wins or loses, he can find some charges against Jia Lian.

If there is no obvious crime to be found, that is not a problem. It is also easy to accuse someone secretly, for example, there are rumors that the Jia family has a tradition of maintaining military power.

Once the seeds of doubt are planted, they will never be eliminated. Over time, even if there is nothing wrong, it will turn into something wrong.

This is what is called killing without a knife! When that day really comes, Jia Lian can only learn from Wang Ziteng and hide outside and not come back.

Why is it that people's hearts are hard to predict? Because people's hearts can change. What they are like now does not mean they will never change. But if someone wants to manipulate your heart, it will never change.

As long as you are in this vortex, there will always be someone who wants to mess with you and will take action.

After entering the palace, he arrived at the cabinet meeting place soon. After signing up for an audience, Emperor Chenghui allowed Jia Lian to enter.

"The battle report of western Sichuan is there, take a look first." Emperor Chenghui did not give orders in a hurry. Jia Lian sat down in the corner and picked up the battle report on the table.

The Governor of Sichuan impeached Niu Jizong, saying that he was afraid of the enemy and did not advance, which led to the failure of the plan of attacking from two directions?

I continued to flip back and found Niu Jizong's battle report. In the early stage, Niu Jizong adopted a steady and steady tactic, setting up many military stations along the way and stockpiling military supplies such as food and medicine. The military stations in various places continuously repelled the attacks of the rebels to ensure the safety of the grain route. Niu Jizong led the main force all the way to the thieves' nest less than 100 miles away. In this matter, Sichuan Governor Zhao came to the front line without asking, seized Niu Jizong's command, and made a two-way march and attack tactics. Zhao personally led an army to attack and ordered Niu Jizong to order 5,000 people to attack from the side.

Victory was in sight. Niu Jizong accepted the fact that Zhao had seized the command for the sake of the overall situation. After three days of roundabout attack, he received the news of the defeat of the frontal attack and immediately turned around and retreated, abandoning the baggage and taking a small road to a subsequent military station. This move timely guarded the rear of the main force and prevented the main force from being surrounded and annihilated. However, the main force of 25,000 people was defeated, with countless casualties. Zhao was able to escape safely and gradually gathered nearly 10,000 defeated soldiers. In other words, this battle lost more than 15,000 people, and countless weapons and food were abandoned.

Now both of them have submitted memorials saying that the other is the culprit for the defeat! In layman's terms, it is to pass the buck.

While Jia Lian was reading the memorials, the cabinet meeting was going on smoothly. They were discussing how to remedy the situation, where to send troops for reinforcement, how to solve the problem of food, fodder and ammunition, etc.

Perhaps the issue of who was responsible had already been discussed, or perhaps there was not enough time to argue about it, and Jia Lian, who arrived late, did not understand the situation. He only knew that at the beginning of the meeting, Guo Yan suggested that Jia Lian lead the army to attack, and the two agreed.

Jia Lian didn't quite understand Guo Yan's behavior. His vague judgment was that he was worried that Jia Lian's presence would affect his performance. After all, there were also big and small princes within the imperial party.

"Have you finished reading it?" Emperor Chenghui had been paying attention to Jia Lian and asked in time.

Jia Lian stood up and greeted him, then replied, "I've finished reading it!"

Emperor Chenghui ignored the cabinet ministers and said to Jia Lian, "Go out and talk!"

At this moment, the faces of the cabinet ministers were extremely ugly, and Pan Jixun's eyes unexpectedly showed a bit of gloating.

After leaving the meeting room, Emperor Chenghui immediately took the initiative to speak: "Except for Lord Pan, the others all agreed with Zhao's report. Lord Pan said he wanted to find out who was lying. Lord Guo advocated that Lord Jia lead troops to reinforce western Sichuan. Liang and Li agreed, while Kong and Pan abstained. Then I put the war first and did not discuss the crime for the time being. The ministers gave up and discussed where to transfer troops, how to solve the follow-up food and grass, and whether to continue, etc."

After briefly introducing the situation of the previous meeting, Emperor Chenghui felt it was a wonderful feeling, but Jia Lian was a little numb.

When Emperor Chenghui couldn't make up his mind, he would always do this: he would find someone he trusted to talk to, but he would still make the final decision himself.

"I think that neither Zhao nor Niu can be fully trusted. If we are to investigate the guilt of this matter, we can only hold the local officials headed by Zhao accountable for the time being." Jia Lian gave his advice decisively.

Emperor Chenghui hummed, took a few steps forward, then stopped and asked, "Tell me the reason."

"The reform of the native system and the registration of households as equals the people is the major policy of the court in the frontier. Good execution will be rewarded, and problems will naturally be punished. Previously, Sichuan concealed the truth and sent troops to suppress it, but they were defeated. From the battle report this time, it seems that Governor Zhao is still in command. No matter how big or small his responsibility is, he must be held accountable for his crimes. It can't be that because your majesty is kind, the frontier officials below can do whatever they want, right? As for Niu Jizong, he was originally an external reinforcement and has no roots in the local area. It is not impossible to punish him, but I think it is more appropriate to make up for his crime. After all, everyone is responsible for the defeat."

Hearing this, Emperor Chenghui suddenly turned to the eunuch beside him and said, "Go and check the detailed information of the officials in western Sichuan." When Jia Lian heard this, his face was bitter. The emperor has the black account books of Sichuan officials, how could I listen to this?

What did Emperor Chenghui think? His viewpoint was obviously different from Jia Lian's. He was concerned about the balance between the nobles, the civil officials, and the emperor. In the past, the nobles seemed to be powerful and had a head start over the civil officials. After the Li Rebellion, it was suddenly discovered that the power of the civil officials had skyrocketed. Emperor Chenghui realized it later and found that the civil officials produced a batch of Jinshi every three years, and the nobles were basically left over from the past, and the fresh blood could not keep up.

Therefore, the balance in Emperor Chenghui's heart was skewed from the beginning. Even though Niu Jizon was the culprit of the defeat, Emperor Chenghui had no intention of punishing him severely.

What really touched Emperor Chenghui's heart was Jia Lian's words: [It can't be that just because your majesty is kind, the provincial governors can do whatever they want, right? ]

Emperor Chenghui felt extremely bitter at this time. The court treated scholars well. A few days ago, Wang Jin committed such a serious crime, but he was only dismissed from office and stripped of his honors, and his property was not confiscated.

As a result, this is how you repay my kindness. You didn't punish me for the last defeat, and you didn't take the initiative to take responsibility this time, and you even tried to clear yourself of all responsibility.

Although civil servants will not rebel, they really cannot be trusted when something happens.

"In your opinion, how should the subsequent war proceed?" Emperor Chenghui asked calmly while remaining emotionally stable.

"Sun Tzu said: War is a major matter for a state. War is an extremely complicated matter. The actual battle between the enemy and us on the battlefield only takes up a very short time in the entire war process. The victory or defeat on the battlefield is often decided outside the battlefield. It is completely different from the situation in storytelling books where most of the words are spent on the battlefield. They are written because readers like to read. Marching and fighting are one and the same, and are very professional matters. The terrain in western Sichuan is extremely complex, and the roads are difficult. It is not suitable for large-scale military deployment. Tens of thousands of people go up, and the actual enemy may be only a few thousand. From the battle report, the main force of more than 20,000 people is likely to be defeated in one battle. In my experience, there are only a few possible situations."

After going around in circles, Jia Lian finally said what he wanted to say.

Emperor Chenghui was still not satisfied with what he had heard. Seeing him stop, he could not help but ask loudly, "Why don't you continue?"

"Your Majesty, when two armies were facing each other, the battle report did not describe in detail the process of defeat. Is this normal? My analysis is that Governor Zhao did not mention it because he did not dare to say it. Niu Jizong did not mention it because he did not understand the situation and did not dare to say anything for fear of being caught. Therefore, my analysis shows that there are probably two possibilities for the defeat of the main force on the front. One is that the morale of the army was unstable and the camp was attacked at night. The other is that the front army suffered a setback and the commander fled first, causing the entire army to collapse. Apart from these two, I really can't think of any other reasons."

Emperor Chenghui understood, and still believed that Governor Zhao was the culprit of the defeat. Thinking of this, Emperor Chenghui was a little unhappy: "You are speaking for Niu Jizong, the two families have a good relationship."

His fist is hard, Jia Lian’s fist is hard!

Annoyed, Jia Lian did not dare to take action, but spoke very impolitely: "Your Majesty, if I were in Niu Jizong's position and was forced to set out early, I would not really attack at all. Instead, I would lead the troops out of the camp, hide somewhere for a day, and then turn back, or turn back halfway to defend the camp."

Hmm? Emperor Chenghui heard the dissatisfaction in Jia Lian's tone and couldn't help frowning, but he soon understood what Jia Lian meant.

【Because he was dissatisfied with Governor Zhao's behavior of stealing credit, Niu Jizong, as a detachment, naturally would not be proactive. Out of distrust of Zhao's ability, Niu Jizong, who set out first, advanced cautiously, and turned back to guard the rear after the main force left the camp. Then a new question arose: How could Sichuan Governor Zhao have the ability to force Niu Jizong to submit? In other words, the seeds of conflict between the two sides were probably planted from the beginning. Governor Zhao pulled up officials from all levels in western Sichuan to force Niu Jizong to bow his head. When the battle was going well, he cooperated happily. When he was about to win, Governor Zhao couldn't help it and came out to steal the credit. 】

Now the logic makes sense!
Why was it stated in Zhao's memorial that Niu Jizong's troops were arrogant and domineering, did not obey orders from their superiors, disturbed the local area, plundered the people, aroused public anger, and only calmed down after several rounds of appeasement?

Whether Niu Jizong's troops disturbed the people or not was actually a trivial matter. The real problem was the discord caused by the division of spoils.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chenghui stopped and said, "Go back!"

Jia Lian looked at Emperor Chenghui with mixed feelings and remained silent for a long time. Emperor Chenghui greeted him with a smile, as if waiting for his subjects to pay their respects.

"Your Majesty, I would like to thank you for your sincere love and care!" Jia Lian bowed very formally with his arms folded at a 90-degree angle!

Emperor Chenghui smiled with satisfaction and waved his hand: "Go back. There are so many important officials in the court. It won't be your turn anyway."

After Jia Lian thanked him and left the palace, the smile on his face disappeared instantly. [What do you mean it's not my turn? What about Yunyang? What about Jining? ]

To put it bluntly, Emperor Chenghui currently has no reliable generals. Although Jia Lian is young, he is reliable. Looking east, the Dongping cavalry is ready to fight at any time, so how dare they let Jia Lian go?

What's more, among the five cabinet ministers, three suggested Jia Lian to go to war, and two abstained. How could the cabinet have the right to make decisions on matters related to the army? Emperor Chenghui must have been furious at the time!

So, whoever believes the emperor’s lies is a fool!
Of course, what you think in your heart is one thing, but expressing it is pure stupidity!
Jia Lian was not too happy about not having to travel far, but instead became highly wary of Guo Yan.

This is a well-known fence-sitter! He jumped out to suggest Jia Lian to go to war. If it was Emperor Chenghui's fishing enforcement, it would be fine. But if it was his own spontaneous behavior, it must be treated with caution.

In any case, his behavior has touched Jia Lian's bottom line. It depends on how the emperor will deal with Guo Yan next.

If the emperor did not punish Guo Yan within the year, it meant that he was just trying to sting the law. If he found an excuse to punish Guo Yan at every turn, it meant that it was his subjective behavior and he did not ask the emperor for permission in advance.

If it's the latter, then it's going to be fun.

After returning home, Jia Lian found it a bit fun to watch the show. It was still early, but he had no intention of paying his respects to Lady Jia, and went straight home.

Wang Xifeng and Ping'er were not at home. Only Guixiang heard the noise and came out to greet them and help them change clothes.

After changing into casual clothes, Jia Lian spent some time with Guixiang, and after calming her down, he went to the study with a smile on his face.

Xiangling was not in the study, and Xiren was sitting alone on a chair doing needlework.

Seeing Jia Lian coming, Xiren quickly stood up to greet him. Jia Lian asked, "Why don't you see Xiangling?"

Xiren felt sour in her heart, but she answered honestly, "She said her mother was not feeling well, so she went to take care of her."

Jia Lian said nothing, and took out a silver dollar from the drawer and gave it to Xiren. "Send it to Feng and say it's money for seeing the doctor."

(End of this chapter)