Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 221 Going to Liaohai 2
  Two days later, Jia Cong returned to Fengtian, greeted Yang Xiong, took the blank declaration document stamped by the General Military Mansion, and brought the original team of Shifang Sibao and two thousand elites newly allocated by the General Military Mansion. , five thousand horses, baggage, etc., rushed to Liaohaiwei.

Liaohaiwei is not too far from Fengtian, about 300 miles away, and Tielingwei is right in the middle of the two.

A few days later, Jia Cong and his party passed through Tielingwei, which was slightly dilapidated after the military disaster, and arrived at Liaohaiwei.

The place assigned to him by Yang Xiong was very good. It had not been invaded by the Tatars. The streets in the city were clean and tidy, and the soldiers and civilians were all happy.

Jia Cong saw that the Liaohai Acropolis was located at the intersection of Daqing River and Xiaoqing River. The wall was four feet high and the circumference was ten miles. He also diverted water from the river to dig a moat three feet wide and two feet deep. No wonder the Tatars didn't come to take advantage of it. Hard bones.

Let's not talk about whether we can defeat it. Just cutting off the river water and filling in the moat will take a lot of time. Even if we defeat it, it will be thankless.

I heard that he was the new garrison master, and some soldiers from the city guards had already rushed to report it. The civil and military officials who had been waiting for many days in the garrison hurriedly came out to meet Jia Cong and his party on the main road in the city.

"The Lord Guard is here, and I didn't come far to greet you because I was a low-ranking officer. I am really rude. I hope you will forgive me." Assistant Guard Hao Tiancheng and Chief Secretary Rong Liu led a group of people to kneel by the road.

The chief secretary of the garrison is also a sixth-grade civil servant. He is in charge of all civil affairs of the garrison. He is equivalent to the co-president and general judge of the yamen in the inland prefecture. Logically speaking, it is impossible to kneel down to welcome the garrison. This also shows the importance of the border garrison.

Jia Cong sat high on his horse, raised his hands and said, "No need to be polite, we'll talk about it when we get home."

"Yes, yes, I will lead the horse to lead the way for you." Hao Tiancheng, the assistant guard, was very good at handling matters and rushed over to lead Jia Cong's horse himself.

Jia Cong smiled slightly. It's useless to be a human being again. I have brought so many direct descendants this time, and there are only so many black hats. If the old ones are not gone, how will the new ones take over?

On the way, Jia Cong asked everyone's names and asked casually: "How many people, how many soldiers, how many fields and how much taxes does this guard have?"

"Your Majesty, our guard has a total military and civilian population of 527864, and there are 331 exiled prisoners. There are actually 5432 soldiers. There are more than 164 million acres of farmland, including more than 39 acres of paddy fields, and more than 125 million acres of dry land, % of which belong to Excellent fields.

On average, more than 25 taels of tax silver and more than 30 shi of grain were collected every year, % of which were paid to the general military office, and % for personal use. "The chief clerk, Rong Liu, had obviously done some homework in advance and answered fluently.

Jia Cong nodded, looking like an official, and said, "How much will the general military office pay to the court?"

Rong Liu said: "Just pay about 15% and go to the court as you wish."

"Can we do business at such a low price?" Jia Cong asked doubtfully.

Rong Liu said with a smile: "My lord, I don't know. Jiubian is an important military town. The military is the main force and the people are secondary. It is also a bitter cold place. We have done a great job by guarding the peace and tranquility of the border for the imperial court. How can we compete with Jiangnan?" Compared to places with abundant taxes?
  The military expenses of the Nine Borders are now self-financed. It is already very rare that we do not ask the court for money. Instead, the court asks the border for money? There is no such thing as this. "

Jia Cong smiled and said: "This statement makes sense, makes sense."

Everyone laughed. No wonder it is said that General Jiubian is a local emperor and a grass-headed king. He has a large number of soldiers and pays neither taxes nor food. How can he be unhappy?

Jia Cong thought about it and said: "Just now you said that our 164 million acres of land are almost all of high quality. Why is the land tax only more than 30 shi?"

Rongliu said: "Your Excellency, because most of the land in our country is concentrated in the hands of gentry and officials, the state's preferential and exemption policy stipulates that Confucian households and eunuchs do not have to pay taxes and grain, so we can only collect this small amount of land tax."

Jia Cong suddenly realized that he was a vested interest in this policy. He did not have to pay a grain of land for hundreds of thousands of acres of land at the foot of the Black Mountains. Only the poor need to pay land rent and land tax.

No wonder Emperor Xifeng wanted to implement the new law, but it was really to the point where it couldn't be done without reform. There were large border households and few gentry, and land annexation was relatively not that serious.

In Jiangnan, Zhili and other places, 90% of the people have no land, and 90% of the land is concentrated in the hands of a very small number of people. They do not pay any taxes. No wonder the national treasury is impoverished.

Jia Cong was deep in thought, and after a while he arrived at the garrison yamen. He entered from the middle door first and sat down in the lobby. On his head was a large plaque made of ebony, which read four characters: "Protect the environment and the people."

Seeing Jia Cong sitting down, everyone paid homage and said in unison: "I'm sorry to see you, Lord Guard. I congratulate you on your promotion. I wish you gallop thousands of miles on the battlefield and reach the high heavens!"

"Get up, since we are colleagues, why should we be so polite?" Jia Cong smiled slightly.

"Thank you sir."

"Now let's get down to business. As you all know, our army defeated the Tatars a while ago, and Liao Haiwei was not affected by the military disaster this time. This is a good thing for the people, but it means that our colleagues have lost an opportunity to make meritorious service and get promoted. "Jia Cong said.

Everyone's hearts trembled, knowing that the guard master was going to make some changes.

"Master Chief, how many generals are there who are above the rank of General Qian in this army?" Jia Cong asked.

Rong Liu hurriedly replied: "My lord, our guard has jurisdiction over nine forts including Qingyang, Weiyuan, Jing'an, Songshan and Qingyun, and three passes including Zhenbei, Guangshun and Xin'an. There are 12 defense officers in total, and there are There are two generals, one assistant guard, and the deputy guard is vacant." Then he asked someone to hand over the map of the jurisdiction.

Jia Cong looked at the map, nodded, and said: "This time I came to take office, and I brought with me several generals who have made outstanding achievements in this battle. Some of them are veteran generals in the army, some have passed the military examinations, and some have won the military examination. Some of them have committed crimes and performed meritorious service, and they all hold military positions, so it is inevitable to occupy some official positions. As we all know, there are only so many official titles, and if you want a group to come, you have to leave a group first."

"My lord is wise." Rong Liu felt relieved when he saw that Jia Cong only used his military duties.

"Your Excellency, you can see thousands of miles away." Officials such as the experience, the governor, Zhao Mo and Liufang Jingcheng also congratulated each other and followed suit.

Several generals in the hall had bitter expressions on their faces. The good old days were over. These days, no one would use their own people.

Jia Cong said: "To ensure fairness, please call me all the officials of all sizes in the government, the clerk's office, and the officers above the sentinel commander in the city."

Not long after, people arrived.

Jia Cong looked at these dozens of key officials and said: "You are the backbone of the Yamen of our army. Now I am ordering you to write down the eight weakest generals of Qianzong and above. You must be fair and honest." Public revenge for private revenge.

If this person is obviously very good, but no one else writes, and he writes alone, and cannot explain why, I will definitely punish him severely. Did you hear that clearly? "

"I hear you clearly."

"Go ahead. Write it down quickly, and the bookkeeper will calculate it and report back."

"Yes."

Jia Cong calculated that he would need 12 hats in total with his five sworn brothers including Su Can, Bing You and Yu, two thousand generals, plus Lei Tai, Kong Xing, Xie Hui, Wang Fei and Fan Ming. Fan Ming is a civil servant, so he can be easily placed. He has brought more than 3000 people and horses, which can solve three hats. Now he still needs eight positions.

Not long after, the results were presented, and Hao Tiancheng, the assistant guard, was on the list of two thousand generals in the city, as well as the names of five fort and gate guards.

Jia Cong read the list again and said, "This is a public discussion. Does anyone have anything to say?"

"Your Excellency, you are fair in your dealings, and I am sincerely convinced of my humble position." Everyone hurriedly bowed.

"Well, whoever's name was read just now, pack your things immediately, take my documents, report to the General Military Mansion, and find another position. Go ahead."

"I resign from my humble position." Hao Tiancheng and the two presidents smiled bitterly and bowed down.

Jia Cong waved his hand, and Yan Shuangying hurriedly presented a stack of blank petitions stamped with the general's seal.

The officials below all swallowed their saliva. They were worthy of being from the Rongguo Mansion, and they held their official hats in their hands as if they were free of money.

Jia Cong picked up his pen, looked at the map, and wrote as he wrote: "Deng Lei is appointed as General Qian of our army to lead the defense of Zhenbeibao."

"The general has the order!" Deng Lei stepped forward to receive the document and seal.

"Wei Wuji appointed General Qian to lead the defense of Weiyuan Fort."

"The end will be ordered!"

"Zhang Yi is appointed as General Qian of the Guard and will lead the defense of Zhenbeiguan."

"The end will be ordered."

"Su Can is appointed as the Chief of Defense Forces to lead the defense at Guangshun Pass."

"The end will be ordered."

"Zhao Lingkong is appointed as General Guard Qian to lead the defense of Yongning Fort."

"The end will be ordered!"

Jia Cong looked at the five of them and said: "The five of you will be responsible for your duties from now on. You should be diligent in the king's affairs. You should practice hard and apply what you have learned. You must not waste your time and slack off in military affairs. Chief Secretary, if you are already at the dangerous strategic point of the city pass, If there are guards, you can deploy them yourself."

Rong Liu hurriedly bowed in response.

"General, I obey your order! Take care, sir!" The five of them were all a little excited. Brothers who had been born and died together were suddenly separated, and they couldn't help but burst into tears.

Jia Cong took a deep breath, suppressed his fluctuating emotions, and said, "No need to be sad, you have some free time, just remember to come see me."

"Yes. I'll wait." The five people turned and left.

"Only one person is allowed to select twenty people in the army, and no one is allowed to poach me." Jia Cong said hurriedly.

As soon as the five people went out, they stumbled at the same time, turned around and smiled bitterly: "I know."

Jia Cong smiled and said: "You go to the place and train your own elite soldiers. There will be a competition every six months. The superior will be rewarded, the weak will be punished, and the inferior will be eliminated. Don't say I didn't remind you. Brothers, I will give you three hundred horses each, and Corresponding food and grass.”

The five people were overjoyed and said, "That's enough." They ran away with a clatter.

Jia Cong smiled and then wrote: "Lei Tai, Mr. Ren Wei Qian."

"The end will be ordered."

"Emptiness, Ren Benwei Qianzong."

"The end will be ordered."

"Xie Hui, Ren Wei Qianzong."

"The end will be ordered."

"Wang Fei, I will serve as General Manager Qian Wei."

"The end will be ordered."

"Yu Hong, be appointed as the guardian of this Wei Association and concurrently with the general duties of Qian. Provide some advice on public security, defense, and anti-theft matters."

"The end will be ordered."

"You Jia is pleased to appoint me as the guardian of the Wei Association. I will take charge of the army's food and salary, military horses, equipment, procurement and other matters."

"The end will be ordered."

"Your Majesty, according to the regulations, there can only be one assistant guard in the garrison and garrison city. You see..." the chief secretary Rong Liu reminded in a low voice.

Jia Cong smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, you can just report it to the General Military Mansion according to the facts."

"Yes." Rong Liu secretly exclaimed, this is the style of a noble and wealthy family, doing whatever they want, unscrupulously, and treating the court system as nothing.

(End of this chapter)