Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 362 Entering the palace late at night
Jia Lian stood at the door, watching Doctor Wen taking Wang Xifeng's pulse. If it was a real pregnancy pulse, then according to the setting of the fantasy novel, the rules of the world would loosen and the wheel of subversive journey would begin.

Looking at Ping'er and Guixiang standing side by side behind Wang Xifeng, Jia Lian felt a little ashamed, "I have tried very hard!"

"Congratulations, ma'am. It's a pregnancy pulse! Counting the days, it should be the 50th day." Doctor Wen confirmed it again and again and gave his conclusion.

Wang Xifeng stood up suddenly with joy, then sat down slowly when she remembered something, unable to suppress the smile on her face. Jia Lian walked in, and Doctor Wen hurriedly congratulated him.

Jia Lian thanked the imperial physician, and when Wang Xifeng was about to give him a reward, Ping'er said, "Please take a look at me too!"

Normally, it would be difficult to invite Doctor Wen, but today he was just borrowing the light. There was already a happy event, so why not add another one? Double happiness would give more reward money.

Wang Xifeng was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything. Jia Lian held her hand and gave her a warm smile. Wang Xifeng said, "Thank you for your hard work, Doctor Wen!"

Ping'er sat down, and Doctor Wen took her pulse. After a while, his beard was shaking with laughter: "Congratulations, Master Jia, this is also a happy pulse, good things come in pairs!"

A smile appeared on Jia Lian's face and his heart trembled slightly. This time, the wheel of subverting the rules was really moving.

Just as she was about to offer a reward, Guixiang spoke first: "Please, Doctor Wen, take the trouble to serve me again. I want to take a look too."

Jia Lian was slightly delighted. Guixiang had the most difficult time, so he quickly spoke up for her and made a gesture of invitation: "Please show Guixiang first!"

Doctor Wen naturally had nothing to say. If it really was a triple blessing, today's reward money would have to be loaded back by car.

After about a minute, Doctor Wen withdrew his hand, and Guixiang looked anxious.

"Congratulations, Mr. Jia, triple happiness!"

"Wow...!" Guixiang cried for joy, Ping'er also started crying, and the two of them hugged each other and cried bitterly.

Over the past year, the two have heard enough sarcastic remarks, and today they finally let go completely.

........................

Spring is here, and it is here again..., Jia Lian, who has experienced three good things, can only sleep alone in the study at night.

As the weather gets warmer, the need for a warm bed will soon disappear. Xiren on the kang said, "Master is back!"

"Why are you alone?" Jia Lian began to undress, and Xiren came down to serve him: "Madam Feng has caught a cold, Xiangling has gone to accompany her."

After getting on the kang, something seemed different. Jia Lian asked in surprise, "Is the floor heating not burning?"

"Are you cold, Second Master?" Xiren moved back a little, getting closer.

"Don't move, it's cold!" Jia Lian pressed the soft thing in front of him. It was spring now.

After blowing out the lights, the room fell into darkness and Jia Lian, who was tired after a day of work, fell asleep quickly.

He dreamed that he was trapped in a wet and hot vortex that kept sucking everything in. When his sword was about to be unsheathed, there was a hurried knock on the door outside. When Jia Lian woke up and was still a little confused, he heard someone shouting.

"Second Master, someone is coming from the palace." The voice was faint, but the word "palace" could be heard clearly, and Jia Lian was suddenly awakened.

Xiren also woke up, and quickly got up to light the lamp, then went to open the study door and answered the voice outside: "Get up, I'll be right there."

Jia Lian picked up the pocket watch on the bedside table and took a look. It was 10:15 at night. He had just fallen asleep for ten minutes when he was woken up.

Xiren brought the official uniform and helped Jia Lian get dressed. He left the house without washing his face. Standing at the gate of the courtyard was Zhuzi: "Second Master, the eunuch is here. Please enter the palace immediately."

"Let's go!" Jia Lian said briefly and immediately went to the front yard. If there was anything, they could talk about it when he came back.

The horses were ready outside the side gate, and Jia Lian immediately mounted them and ran towards Xihua Gate.

There were eunuchs waiting outside the palace gate. When they saw Jia Lian arriving, they immediately led him inside, walking quickly all the way.

When they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, in addition to the five cabinet ministers, there were also Lin Ruhai, Ning Ke, and Prince Zhongshun.

"Your Majesty, your humble servant greets you!" Jia Lian greeted the emperor first when he entered the hall, and then greeted all the adults.

"Are you asleep already? The situation is urgent, so I have to wake Jia Qing up." Emperor Chenghui spoke faster, but still explained first.

"What orders does Your Majesty have?" Jia Lian asked very straightforwardly, without any dissatisfaction at all.

Being called into the palace late at night with so many people present must be no small matter.

"Prime Minister Kong, please speak!" Emperor Chenghui turned to speak. Kong Zhao stood up and said to Jia Lian, "We received news before dusk. Ten days ago, Li Ni issued a secret decree in the south of the desert, ordering all tribes on the grassland to obey his orders. He called himself the Great General of Protecting the Nation and swore to come to the capital to defend the king. Li Ni issued the order to defend the king. The commander of Shanhaiguan received the news and sent someone to report to the capital urgently. After dark, news came to the capital from the commanders of Datong and Zhangjiakou. They also received a fake order to defend the king."

Jia Lian keenly discovered the key point from this information and subconsciously asked: "Did the Prince of Dongping in Liaoyang not report the news?"

Kong Zhao was not surprised by Jia Lian's reaction, as he had thought so before. Liaodong borders the grasslands of the south of the desert. If there is any disturbance in the south of the desert, the King of Dongping in Liaoyang should know the news first. Li Ni would not let go of such a powerful helper as the King of Dongping. Let's put it this way, if Li Ni failed to integrate the tribes of the south and north of the desert, the two kings of the east and the west would definitely lie dormant. Now Li Ni has raised the banner of protecting the country and incited the tribes of the south and north of the desert. Together, there must be at least 100,000 elite cavalry.

One hundred thousand cavalrymen, if they can fully exploit the advantage of their mobility, will be an almost invincible force.

"At present, the Prince of Dongping has not reported this matter!" Kong Zhao answered truthfully.

Jia Lian looked around and found that he was the only one present who had led troops before. Why didn't he call Yue Qi?

Just as he had this thought, the eunuch announced the arrival of Yue Qi, the Minister of War. Compared with Jia Lian, Yue Qi was in a much more embarrassed state, with sweat all over his forehead that he had no time to wipe off.

"Your humble servant Yue Qi greets Your Majesty. I am guilty of being late!" Yue Qi came in and greeted and spoke.

"Mr. Yue, how is the camp in Tongzhou?" Emperor Chenghui asked. This was a relatively normal tone, indicating that the emperor knew in advance that Yue Qi was going to Tongzhou for inspection.

"The newly established Brave Battalion is short of war horses, its personnel are not well-trained, and its equipment is not enough. I have checked the accounts of the armory and the commander of the Brave Battalion did not lie."

Emperor Chenghui's expression did not change after hearing this. He turned his head and looked at Pan Jixun: "Prime Minister Pan, hasn't the Ministry of Works replenished the inventory of the armory?" "Your Majesty, I know about this. The weapons in the inventory of the Ministry of Works have been kept for more than ten years. They are indeed not well preserved. I have already ordered to renovate them as soon as possible to replenish the armory."

Emperor Chenghui looked at Pan Jixun with dissatisfaction, but thinking that he was a man of achievement and had not been in office for long, and that some things were not his fault, he stopped blaming him.

"Jia Lian, the R&D department is fully committed to producing new-style muskets. What is the production capacity?"

Hearing the emperor calling his name directly, Jia Lian looked at his calm face and knew that he was very anxious.

"Your Majesty, no relevant statistics have been made before, and I don't know what the production capacity is at full capacity. In my opinion, the most urgent task is to determine the specific intentions of the King of Dongping. Shanhaiguan is too important, and we should send someone to confirm it as soon as possible. After the news is sent, the follow-up situation of Shanhaiguan will be determined."

After hearing this, Emperor Chenghui calmed down a little. Jia Lian's words made sense and he wanted to find out the overall situation as soon as possible.

"My two beloved ministers are late. Please read the minutes of the Imperial Cabinet meeting first."

Jia Lian and Yue Qi quickly got the meeting minutes and learned what the results of the previous meetings were.

It was obvious that there were differences in the cabinet meeting. The main debate was whether to immediately increase troops to the nine borders, and whether to focus on the west or the east. The Zhangjiakou-Datong line in the west was the focus of defense, and the east was naturally Shanhaiguan. It was difficult to deploy a large army along the Great Wall in the north, and there was no beacon fire warning from the various passes. It should be fine for the time being, and only personnel needed to be sent to supplement the logistics.

Other arrangements, such as issuing public notices to keep people safe, imposing curfews in advance, and guarding against spies, were not controversial. The current controversy was over how to deploy limited military forces.

"Your Majesty, I think the Great Wall line cannot be neglected. Once we cross the Great Wall, the Zunhua crisis will occur and the steel demand in the capital will stagnate. Without the iron from Zunhua, how can we fully produce military equipment? I suggest that the main force of the Nanyuan camp should be transferred northward immediately to reinforce the various passes along the Great Wall, replenish military equipment and food, and strengthen vigilance." Yue Qi immediately gave his suggestion.

Cabinet minister Li Chi naturally had a bad impression of the new Minister of War, but he did not refute immediately. Instead, Guo Yan stood up and said, "The Great Wall is a natural barrier, so why do we need so many troops? We can just use the garrisons in various prefectures and counties to supplement and reinforce it. For the safety of the capital, we should transfer the troops of the Nanyuan Camp to the capital to deploy defenses."

After Guo Yan finished speaking, Liang Daoyuan stood up and said, "Your Majesty, what Prime Minister Guo said is prudent. The safety of the capital is the most important."

Jia Lian listened quietly. Who could have thought that Liang Daoyuan and Guo Yan, who were once in opposition, would one day recognize each other.

Lin Ruhai and Ning Ke were equally quiet. They both looked at Jia Lian and exchanged glances. Jia Lian responded by slightly shaking his head.

Lin Ruhai thought to himself, "Jia Lian is good because he can remain calm in the face of great events."

Ning Ke thought to himself, "I am not good at military affairs. Your Majesty is right not to ask and not to take the initiative to express your opinion."

As alternate cabinet members, Lin Ruhai and Ning Ke were very satisfied to be able to attend the meeting. Unfortunately, the topic of this meeting was too serious, so they were not allowed to speak easily and had no chance to show their abilities.

The one with the least noticeable presence was Prince Zhongshun, who sat nearby without saying a word, and Emperor Chenghui never asked for his opinion.

Although he had no chance to speak, Prince Zhongshun had been observing and had made a conclusion that his brother relied heavily on Jia Lian on military issues, and that Jia Lian was no less important than Yue Qi.

[Well, Jia Lian may seem reckless, but he actually led troops to war twice, and gained a lot without any defeat. Now the nobles are gone, only Niu Jizong is leading troops in western Sichuan, and Chen Rui, who has experience in leading troops in Beijing, is idle at home. If the emperor wants to balance the civil and military forces, he must use Chen Rui as a commander. The three camps seem to have been restored, but in fact the troops are not as strong as before. The only thing that has not changed is the Imperial Horse Administration, and more than half of the people in the Shenji Camp have been withdrawn. If the emperor asks me, I should suggest recruiting new soldiers immediately to replenish the various units and restore the three camps to their original appearance.]

"Your Majesty, I know nothing about military affairs, but Minister Yue knows about them, so we should pay attention to his suggestions." Pan Jixun stood up and agreed with Yue Qi, which was in line with his usual style of respecting professionals.

When Li Chi saw Pan Jixun speaking, he glanced at Kong Zhao and found that the Prime Minister had been sitting there without moving, only moving his eyes to show that he was not a statue.

"Your Majesty, I have some knowledge of naval warfare. Please transfer the navy to Tianjin. If necessary, we can attack the enemy's rear by sea at any time." Li Chi chose a different track so that he could have a stronger presence.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chenghui stood up and said, "Adjourn for two minutes! Rest for a while and then discuss again."

Everyone stood up, and Jia Lian followed suit to see His Majesty off to the back, then sat down and continued to carefully read the minutes of the previous meeting, as he had only glanced over them when he first arrived.

A careful reading of the minutes of the meeting revealed that the cabinet was not united. The meeting at 6 pm was full of arguments on many issues. If it were not for the strong control ability of Emperor Chenghui, many decisions might not have been passed, and everyone would still be arguing. Judging from the current situation, Liang Daoyuan and Guo Yan are conservatives who advocate stabilizing the capital first. As long as the capital is stable and there are no problems, troops from all directions will enter the capital to defend the king. When the enemy sees that they cannot fight, they will retreat. The idea of ​​using the capital's strong defenses to wait for troops from all directions to defend the king is indeed very prudent. This is how the Ming Dynasty fought in the late Ming Dynasty.

The consequence is that the tribes in the south of the desert are allowed to come and go freely in the capital. Have they not considered the people in the prefectures and counties? Have they not considered the wheat seedlings in the area? Have they not considered that after two or three months of trouble, the farmers' production has been delayed, the summer harvest in the capital has been delayed, and the livelihoods of the people have been affected?
They definitely considered it, but they chose the safest tactic.

The reason is simple: I don’t want to take risks. As long as I don’t take risks, I won’t make big mistakes. When you are an official at this level, you have enough patience to wait for your colleagues to make mistakes and understand their thoughts.

Although he could understand it, Jia Lian couldn't accept it. The number of people in the prefectures and counties around the capital was about 500,000. Not to mention whether so many people could hide in the city in time, where would their food come from? If the farming season was delayed, how many people would have to sell their property and children to survive?

Lin Ruhai and Ning Ke exchanged glances and subconsciously walked towards Jia Lian together. Yue Qi walked up to Jia Lian very decisively. The four of them approached quickly. Although they were not cabinet ministers, they vaguely formed a gang.

The worst off was King Zhongshun. He looked at this and that, but no one paid any attention to him. He could only get up and walk out to go to the bathroom first.

"Do you have any pictures?" Jia Lian asked as soon as he saw Yue Qi. The two had worked together before and had a good relationship.

Yue Qi was stunned: "I'll go find it!"

Watching the two people asking and answering each other naturally, Lin Ruhai and Ning Ke both stopped, as if they had made some surprising discoveries.

What does this show? It shows that in terms of military affairs, Yue Qi recognizes Jia Lian and is willing to cooperate with him.

"My lords, please be patient. In my opinion, His Majesty will make his own decision." Jia Lian calmly reminded the two of Emperor Chenghui's style of doing things.

It seems that Emperor Chenghui is willing to accept advice, but in fact he is a man with strong opinions. The so-called acceptance of advice is what suits his wishes.

Not to mention the people who arrived earlier went to the bathroom, Yue Qi came back with a map, and the eunuch brought the table and unfolded it in time.

Jia Lian and Yue Qi stood in front of the map, which is the habit of military experts.

The two looked at the map in silence, with thoughtful looks on their faces. Lin Ruhai and Ning Ke came back and saw that the two were still looking at the map without talking and had no intention of discussing anything, so they came over to look at the map together.

Finally, Jia Lian looked up, and Yue Qi also looked up at him. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and Yue Qi said, "Please!"

Jia Lian was not modest and pointed at the map and said, "The Imperial Horse Administration and the Nine Gates Garrison are enough to defend the capital. The three camps should prepare for war. Find out the situation in the direction of Shanhaiguan as soon as possible!"

Yue Qi didn't care whether the other two understood or not, and naturally agreed: "That's the truth! The three battalions should be ready to attack at any time. How should the Shenji Battalion be used?"

Both of them were experts, and their behavior quickly attracted everyone in the cabinet. When a group of people were watching, Emperor Chenghui came back and was stunned when he saw this scene.

(End of this chapter)