Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 255: Control of the Nine Towns

Jia Cong was born into a noble family and had an innate advantage. Qin Ye felt that this was the source of injustice.

So he could only rely on his own methods to eliminate this injustice and never let go of such a godsend opportunity. After all, this was not the first time he had sold his daughter.

Qin Ye told his daughter about this matter. Keqing cried and made a fuss for several times and refused to obey.

How could Qin Ye let her do whatever she wanted? Since He Li was treated as a boudoir girl, naturally she had to follow the usual rules. It was her parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, so she had no right to have a say.

So he simply locked his daughter in the room and asked the only two young and loyal servants in the house to keep a close watch on her.

He also called his daughter's two personal maids and ordered them strictly not to release the young lady for personal reasons, otherwise he would sell them all.

But at that time he only found Ruizhu. Baozhu, the maid that his daughter bought herself, had gone crazy and no one knew where she had gone.

He ignored his wife's objection and agreed on a date for the bride with the chief historian of Prince Beijing's Palace.

The palace also held a sumptuous banquet in his honor, and even Prince Beijing came out in person to entertain him, which really made him feel flattered.

But when Qin Ye returned home leisurely, he was stunned by the scene at home.

Two loyal servants who were guarding their daughter's room, one had his ribs broken by a kick, and the other had his legs broken, looking very miserable.

But his daughter and two personal maids had disappeared.

I asked the housekeeper who was scared to death, and he said that the young lady's maid Baozhu suddenly came back home and took the young lady away while the lady went to the temple to burn incense and pray in the afternoon.

The two servants who were guarding the place tried to stop her, but they didn't expect that the seemingly frail little girl was so vicious that she beat the two servants to cripples in a few strokes.

Then he left with the young lady and Ruizhu, and there was a carriage waiting outside the mansion to pick them up.

After Qin Ye found out the whole story, he was panicked. He had already agreed on a date for the bride with Prince Beijing's Palace, so how should he end this now?

So he hurriedly reported the case to Qi Nian Mansion. The daughter of a construction official in the Ministry of Works was abducted in broad daylight. This was no small matter.

The Qinian Mansion even received a note from Prince Beijing's Mansion, paying the utmost attention to this matter.

So the Qinian Mansion dispatched a large number of yamen runners to search the city of Shenjing.

But there was no trace at all, and the three living people seemed to have disappeared out of thin air.

From this we can see that it was a very wise decision for Jia Cong to place Baozhu next to Keqing.

The little girl has a very strong execution ability. She is good at hitting people from behind, cutting off hands and feet in front of others, retaliating, and running away from home.

……

Qin Ye never dreamed that he would suspect Jia Cong of losing his daughter.

Because he had just been appointed by the Emperor as the sixth-rank Director of the Firearms Department, he was busy every day with the research and collection of firearms, gathering talented people from the Western Yi, and training firearms craftsmen.

It is impossible that it is related to his daughter's affairs. Even if it is related, Qin Ye can't do anything to him. First of all, there is no evidence.

Secondly, it is said that he invented a magical firearm, which was highly praised by the emperor and he was favored by the emperor.

The production of this type of firearm is currently being supervised, and His Majesty wants it to be equipped to the Liaodong border troops before the beginning of next spring.

As for what kind of firearm this is, very few people know, and the imperial court has classified it as top secret.

……

At the Xicheng ferry crossing on the Liuyang River in the capital, many merchant ships are moored, preparing to head south.

One of the ships, a brand new double-decker single-sail merchant ship, has been docked here for two days. The three words "Xinchun" are written on the hull, shining brightly with new paint.

In front of the label, there is a badge with a fish head and a dragon body. Knowledgeable merchants can recognize that it is the emblem of the Imperial Household Department.

In other words, this brand new double-decker merchant ship was the flagship of a royal merchant family in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Among the numerous civilian and commercial passenger ships at the ferry, it seems somewhat different.

Things bearing the royal seal always inspire inexplicable awe in common people, and merchant ships docked nearby will deliberately keep their distance from them.

A few days ago, a daughter of an official family in Shenjing City went missing. Government officials searched the entire city and also searched this ferry heading south.

The leading yamen runner saw the shadow of a woman on the ship.

However, many people know that the boss of Xinchunhao, Qu Da, is a woman, and now she is the only female imperial merchant in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

So what's so strange about the appearance of women on the Xinchun merchant ship?

Moreover, behind the Xinchun was the top noble Jia family, so the runners of the Qinian Mansion would naturally not bring bad luck upon themselves.

……

On this day, as the sun was setting in the west, a handsome young man walked down from the Xinchun merchant ship and stood quietly at the ferry.

He watched the brand new double-decker merchant ship cast off the moorings, weigh anchor, and sail out of the ferry. Standing at the bow was a beautiful and heroic young woman, her brocade red cape blowing in the river breeze, looking very graceful and dazzling, and she kept waving goodbye to him.

There was another woman in the cabin, but she was not convenient to show up, and her name would disappear for a long time.

Jia Cong thought of Qu Hongxiu's rather sour words: "I originally thought this beauty of yours was just pretty, but I didn't expect she had a heart of crystal.

I saw that she was very meticulous and careful in her work, and I was in need of a capable assistant, so I showed her the accounts of Xinchun Bank for the past two months.

She only spent a cup of tea to point out three mistakes, and she was absolutely right. She is a first-class housekeeper, and you can trust her to work with her..."

In fact, Jia Cong was not surprised by Keqing's behavior. When Jia Zhen and his son were imprisoned and Youshi was seriously ill and bedridden, Keqing had been the housekeeper in Ningguo Mansion for a period of time.

She was praised by people from all walks of life in Ningguo. They said that she was meticulous, capable, and could do things well. She was compassionate to the poor and humble, and had both kindness and authority.

And she had been married into the Jia family for only a few months, but she was already regarded by Grandmother Jia as the most proud wife among her great-grandson's wives. This person was more than just good-looking.

Jia Cong even felt a little grateful to Qin Ye. If it weren't for this old man's flattery and pushing Keqing to the extreme, Keqing would not have been able to break away from the Qin family's shackles.

And Xinchun will not have such a trustworthy and available talent.

……

What Jia Cong cares about most at the moment is another matter.

The emperor has issued a secret decree, asking him to complete the construction of 3,000 porcelain mines within three months and coordinate other available firearms before the end of the year.

When the imperial court has determined the candidates for the nine-province commanders and he is ordered to inspect the nine border military garrisons, these firearms will be sent along with the nine-province commanders to the various border garrisons for equipment, with a focus on the Liaodong garrison.

……

The Commander-in-Chief of Nine Provinces was ordered to inspect the nine border military garrisons and had the power to supervise and control each military garrison. This was a high-ranking military officer position with great power and had always been the focus of attention of all parties in the court.

Wang Ziteng, who was then the Jiedushi of the Beijing Camp, once wanted to use the Jia family's connections in the army to gain the position of commander of nine provinces.

Later, because Wang Ziteng's wife instructed others to falsely accuse Jia Cong, the matter was exposed and the emperor took advantage of the situation to completely sever the relationship between Wang Ziteng and the Jia family.

After that, the position of governor of nine provinces remained vacant.

Now, the Cabinet, the Ministry of War, court nobles, etc., have proposed two candidates for the command of the nine provinces.

One is Shui Rong, the Prince of Beijing, who inherited his family's military honors, and the other is Gu Yankui, the Minister of War.

Among them, Prince Beijing Shui Rong had a higher voice, and some people in the cabinet and among the nobles proposed that he should patrol the border in accordance with the emperor's order.

It is not surprising that such a situation would occur.

Shui Rongxiang had a reputation for being courteous and virtuous to others. Although he held a high position as a king, he was not arrogant or willful at all, and was well-known among the court and the public.

The Minister of War Gu Yankui is an old official who was born as a frontier general. He is pragmatic and upright, and his personality is strict and upright, which makes him unpopular among people.

Moreover, when Shui Rong heard that he was recommended to be the governor of nine provinces, he submitted a memorial to express his humility, which won praise from many court officials.

In contrast, Gu Yankui made no comment on this, and even submitted several memorials to the emperor to elaborate on the training and military preparations of the nine military garrisons, as if he was fully responsible for the task.

Because of this, he was criticized by the censor for being an old thief and greedy for power.

What was strange was that Emperor Jiazhao was undecided and no one could guess what the emperor was thinking.

Most people believe that although Shui Rong holds a high position, he is humble and respectful, young and virtuous, and a trustworthy candidate.

But Jia Cong didn't think so.

Emperor Jiazhao had been on the throne for more than ten years. His political orders were implemented throughout the country and his prestige was growing day by day. However, he could not fully control the military power.

In recent years, Emperor Jiazhao has promoted the use of firearms to strengthen the army and has vigorously established firearms camps in the Five Military Camps.

Among them was the idea of ​​using the prosperity of firearms to reshuffle the old and complicated systems in the army.

The importance of firearms and a strong army to Emperor Jiazhao is self-evident.

But from the earliest three-stage firing drills and the establishment of a firearms camp, to the later modification and test firing of the Rumi gun and the test explosion of porcelain mines and other important firearms secrets.

As the first person to start, Jia Cong naturally participated in all of them, and the Minister of War Gu Yankui also participated without exception.

However, Prince Beijing Shui Rong has never participated in it once, and now he doesn’t even know what a porcelain thunder is.

Perhaps many people are outside the situation and do not realize this, but Jia Cong, as a participant, can understand it.

Isn’t it already very clear how important the emperor is to you?

In the eyes of others, Prince Beijing's various performances were virtuous and respectful, but in the eyes of the always scheming and suspicious Emperor Jiazhao, they might have been seen as a sign of his desire to kill.

However, as a monarch, the heart of a monarch is as deep as the ocean and cannot be guessed. Even if a wise decision has been made long ago, a suitable opportunity is still needed to weigh the pros and cons of all parties.

(End of this chapter)