Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 276 Leading Troops to Gaomi County

Laizhou Prefecture, Gaomi County, Jiaobei Official Post Station.

Gaomi County has frequent cold waves in winter. Coupled with the abnormal climate in the Great Zhou Dynasty in recent years, there has been freezing rain for more than ten days in a row recently, making the weather even colder and damper.

This is not a big county, and not many official business pass through here, so this official post in the north of the city is usually deserted.

But early this morning, five heavily covered large carts, escorted by hundreds of government soldiers carrying muskets, arrived at the Jiaobei Post Station, looking very imposing.

This scene frightened the postmaster Qiu Fu, who hurriedly took the postmen to receive him.

After checking the official documents, Qiu Fu realized that these were the firearms soldiers from the Fifth Army Camp in Shenjing, heading to Liaodong for a rotation.

The team was led by Wei Yongzhou, commander of the Fifth Army Firearms Battalion, a seventh-rank military officer, who made Qiu Fu somewhat respectful.

He had been in this post station for more than ten years and had never seen any scenes, let alone any officials. In his impression, the magistrate of Gaomi County was a high-ranking official, but only of the seventh rank.

As a post station manager, he was at best a post station manager and had no rank at all.

This Captain Wei was actually of the same rank as the county magistrate, which meant he was a high-ranking official to him, so naturally he treated him with great hospitality.

Qiu Fu arranged the best official room in the post station for this Captain Wei, and took him to check out the room. He could see that Captain Wei was very satisfied.

In the eyes of a postman from a small county like Qiu Fu, officials from the capital like Wei Bazong were all high and mighty, and it was rare to meet one in this remote post station.

If you meet someone, you should of course try to curry favor with him. It never does any harm. If you can build some friendships with him, you will be considered an acquaintance in Beijing in the future.

But what happened later surprised Qiu Fu greatly.

After seeing the upper room, Captain Wei did not move in himself, but gave it to a teenager who was traveling with him.

In fact, Qiu Fu had noticed this young man when the team of officers and soldiers from the Fifth Army Battalion first arrived.

The main reason is that among this group of burly soldiers, this young man stands out too much.

Qiu Fu had never seen such a handsome man in his life. Although he was only wearing ordinary tight clothes that were convenient for riding, it was still difficult to conceal his elegant and outstanding demeanor.

Qiu Fu originally thought that the young man was the nephew of General Wei, otherwise why would he take such good care of him? But then he thought that was not the case.

General Wei is a rough and powerful military officer. How could he have sons and nephews with such outstanding temperament and bearing? It doesn't seem to match them at all.

Later, he heard General Wei call the young man Jia Jianzheng, and only then did he realize that the young man was actually General Wei's colleague.

Qiu Fu had lived in a small county all his life and had no experience. He also didn't know what a supervisor was.

However, judging from the respectful attitude of Wei Bazong towards the young man, it should be that the young man's official rank is higher than that of the Bazong.

But how is this possible? This young man looks only fourteen or fifteen years old, but he is an official higher than the county magistrate.

……

Not to mention the surprise of Postmaster Qiu, the group of people were none other than Jia Cong, the Director of the Firearms Bureau, and 500 firearms soldiers from the Five Army Battalions who were escorting firearms.

They set out from the capital, travelled day and night for more than ten days, and had already covered most of the journey.

The captain Wei Yongzhou, who led 500 firearms soldiers, was a trusted officer promoted by Shi Ding, Marquis Zhongjing.

Wei Yongzhou had been in the Five Military Camps of Shenjing for many years, so he naturally knew that the Jia and Shi families in Shenjing were both top noble families, and were also very close relatives.

This Jia Jianzheng was the nephew of his superior, and also the legitimate descendant of the eldest branch of the Rongguo Mansion. He was also well aware of Jia Cong's reputation in the capital.

He also knew that Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding thought highly of this nephew, and even the establishment of the Firearms Camp was due to this Jia Jianzheng.

Although Wei Yongzhou was a brave warrior.

But the fact that he was able to gain the favor of Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding from a small soldier and be promoted to the commander of 500 soldiers shows that he is definitely not a fool.

Jia Cong has such a deep background, which makes him respect Jia Cong both in public and in private.

Because the Ministry of War has strict time regulations for the rotation of firearms soldiers, if there is any delay, he, the leader of the team, will be punished by military law.

And they also have to go to Dengzhou to receive artillery, which will delay them a lot of time.

Therefore, after setting out from Shenjing, Wei Yongzhou worked day and night to speed up the march to ensure that the change of guard could be completed on time within the time specified by the Ministry of War.

Originally, he saw that Jia Cong was well-mannered and a pampered nobleman, so he was afraid that he would not be able to withstand such a rapid forced march. But the reality was completely the opposite. After more than ten days of forced march, even his elite soldiers could not stand it.

However, Jia Jianzheng had no complaints and supported himself all the way without falling behind at all, which really impressed everyone.

When Wei Yongzhou asked him for his opinion on the march, Jia Cong said that as long as it did not affect the safety of the transportation of firearms, all actions would be decided by him.

This surprised Wei Yongzhou a little. In theory, Jia Cong was the highest-ranking official in this team.

Moreover, the main responsibility of the firearms soldiers at present is to transport firearms, and Jia Cong only requires to ensure the safety of the firearms, and the rest is completely handed over to him.

This provided the greatest guarantee for him to arrive in Liaodong on time for the rotation of defense, and he was very impressed with Jia Cong.

Moreover, he also realized that this young master of Rong State, who was a man of outstanding literary talent, was not as weak as he looked.

Everyday we see him riding a horse, and his agility in getting on and off the horse shows that he is definitely not a weak person.

And there is the scimitar that he never leaves behind, which has a strange shape and a heavy blade.

Wei Yongzhou was an expert in military affairs, so he could naturally see that it was not just a decoration but a real killing weapon.

But it is not surprising if you think about it. The Ning, Rong and Jia families are a family with a tradition of military merit. The dukes of each generation have been outstanding generals with a long and profound cultural heritage.

It is normal for this young man to have some family martial arts skills.

……

Jia Cong looked at the continuous freezing rain, rubbing his fingers constantly, then ran to a cart and opened one of the boxes of porcelain bombs.

He pushed aside the shock-proof cotton and touched the surface of the porcelain shell. He felt obvious moisture with his fingers and looked a little solemn.

Wei Yongzhou, who was standing by, asked curiously, "Jia Jianzheng, is there anything wrong?"

"Captain Wei, it has been rainy for four consecutive days since we entered Laizhou Prefecture. The air is humid, and there is condensation on the surface of the firearms we are transporting."

Although Wei Yongzhou did not understand what "water condensation phenomenon" meant, he understood its meaning, which was that the continuous rain had caused the firearms to become damp.

As the commander of the firearms battalion, he knew that rain and moisture were the biggest enemies of firearms, turning the originally extremely sharp firearms into useless fire sticks.

"Captain Wei, please select fifty careful soldiers and have the postmaster prepare two clean empty rooms.

A fire was burning in one room, while the other was not used. The soldiers were asked to separate the cotton wrapped around the firearms from the firearms and send the cotton to the fireroom to be carefully dried.

In a fire-free room, wipe the moisture off the surface of the firearm with a dry cloth before repackaging.

"Also, spare one hundred military blankets to wrap the repackaged firearms to prevent moisture from infecting them again. I hope the weather will be better after we leave Laizhou."

As the commander of the firearms battalion, Wei Yongzhou knew that these firearms were the foundation of their firearms soldiers. If something went wrong, going to the battlefield would be equivalent to losing half their life.

Naturally, he agreed readily, personally selected fifty soldiers, and arranged suitable rooms for them.

In the room without a fire, in order to deal with the damp firearms as quickly as possible, we should leave this rainy and gloomy place as soon as possible.

Jia Cong and Wei Yongzhou both personally wiped the damp muskets and porcelain mines.

When Jia Cong opened one of the boxes of porcelain bombs, what appeared inside was different from ordinary porcelain bombs.

Ordinary porcelain mines have white porcelain shells, but this box of porcelain mines has black-brown porcelain shells.

These black-brown porcelain mines are filled not with iron filings, but a mixture of powders including dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, and dogwood.

The lethality of this type of porcelain mine is far less than that of ordinary porcelain mines, but after the explosion it will produce smoke that obscures the vision and can also make people lose their ability to move instantly.

This is equivalent to the combination of tear gas and smoke bomb in later generations.

Jia Cong naturally knew the practicality of this thing better than anyone else.

It can be used to stop the enemy at critical moments and is even more effective than ordinary porcelain mines.

This was also a new sample created by the firearms workshop at Jia Cong's suggestion. There were only two hundred porcelain mines transported this time.

(End of this chapter)