Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 290: Victory Report and Reward

Shenjing, the palace city of the Great Zhou, Qianyang Palace.

Although the fifteenth day of the first lunar month had passed, the weather in the capital city was still extremely cold, and Emperor Jiazhao moved to the warm room in the back hall to handle government affairs.

The fire wall in the warm room was burning warmly, the bronze longevity incense burner was burning the finest red charcoal, and clear smoke was rising from the enameled filigree and blue incense burner, burning the ambergris bait tributed from the West Sea.

Outside, the snow is as sharp as a knife and the cold is bone-chilling, but inside, it is warm as spring and the air is full of fragrance.

What has concerned Emperor Jia Zhao the most recently is the war between Liaodong Town and the Jurchens.

At this moment, there was a memorial on his desk with many red-ink annotations on it. This was a report on the inspection of Liaodong Town sent by Gu Yankui, the commander-in-chief of nine provinces, a month ago.

There were two things in this memorial that caught Emperor Jiazhao's attention.

The first is that after Jia Cong arrived in Guangning City, he proposed to abandon the five major military forts in Liaodong Town, fortify the city walls and clear the fields, cut off the Jurchens' food and looting channels, trap the enemy in a desperate situation, and force a fight under the city.

The second was that the general commander of Liaodong Town asked Jia Cong to stay as the firearms staff of Liaodong Town.

Both of these things were closely related to Jia Cong, which surprised Emperor Jia Zhao.

He only asked Jia Cong to escort a large number of firearms to Liaodong, and as the supervisor of firearms, he preached the key points of firearms use, but he did not expect that he would do something unexpected.

He knew that Jia Cong had always been an outstanding scholar, famous for his calligraphy and poetry in the south of the Yangtze River, and was also an expert in the art of firearms. All of the above was already quite amazing.

Now that he has arrived in Liaodong, he has put forward unique insights on battle formations and military affairs, and has even been praised and recognized by veteran generals like Liang Chengzong, which is quite commendable.

……

The news that Jia Cong proposed to abandon the Liaodong military fort was not only reported to the palace through memorials, but also spread to officials of various ministries through reports from the Ministry of War, causing an uproar.

Since the Great Zhou Dynasty conquered the Northern Mongols and established its rule over the world, it has been established for more than seventy years. In the battles to defend the border, it has been brave and diligent and has never shown signs of weakness.

The bravery of Emperor Taizu of Zhou who conquered the world in the past still leaves a lasting legacy today. It has become a consensus among officials and citizens alike that every inch of land must be defended and fought for.

The five major military forts in Liaodong had been established for fifty years, protruding from the Liaodong border town by thirty to fifty miles, and the territory in between belonged to the Liaodong town.

Abandoning the five major military forts would be seen as abandoning the land and defending oneself.

After the news spread from the slanderous report of the Ministry of War, the censor of the Censorate wrote a letter to impeach Jia Cong, saying that this young boy had made irresponsible remarks about military affairs, abandoned the land to fear the enemy, and damaged the national dignity, and should be severely punished!
Even Liang Chengzong, commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town, was scolded by the censors of the Censorate. It was said that he was arrogant and cowardly in fighting, which led to the continued threat of the Jurchens, which is still rampant today.

In response to these impeachments by the censors, Emperor Jiazhao adopted his usual method of keeping them in his palace without issuing any notice.

He needs the censors to open up channels for communication and guide public opinion, but that doesn't mean he would blindly believe the censors' one-sided opinions and make arbitrary decisions on important military and national affairs.

Back then, he was just an ordinary prince and was never trained as a successor by the retired emperor. Therefore, he did not serve in the army for training when he was young like the King of Wu.

Therefore, Emperor Jiazhao's familiarity with military affairs was far inferior to his outstanding talent in governing the country.

But he was as clear-headed and rational as any wise ruler in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he believed in the vision of military experts such as Gu Yankui and Liang Chengzong.

Since they admired and recognized Jia Cong so much, they must have sufficient reasons, which were enough to make him put aside his doubts.

Moreover, Gu Yankui's memorial recorded an original statement of Jia Cong, which Jia Cong used to persuade Liang Chengzong to accept his suggestion to abandon the military fort and withdraw the garrison.

If the land is lost but the people survive, both the people and the land will survive; if the land survives but the people are lost, both the people and the land will be lost.

This sentence touched Emperor Jiazhao deeply. Being in a high position, he had experienced a lot. Whether in politics or in the military, there was no unchanging method, only the technique to adapt to the situation.

Many times when doing things, you have to take a step back before you can take two steps forward.

……

However, since Gu Yankui sent the report more than a month ago, apart from the daily military affairs reports, there have been no new war reports in Liaodong.

This made Emperor Jia Zhao somewhat uneasy, as Jia Cong's strategy of fortifying the city and clearing the countryside did not seem to have caused any backlash from the Jurchen bandits.

At this time, the Deputy Chief of the Eunuchs Guo Lin entered the warm room and reported: "Your Majesty, Peng Runan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Chen Yi, the Left Military Commander, came to the palace to see you and said that there is an urgent matter in Liaodong!"

When Emperor Jiazhao heard that there was an urgent matter in Liaodong, his eyes lit up and he asked Guo Lin to summon the two men into the palace immediately.

Ever since Gu Yankui was appointed as the commander of nine provinces and inspected the nine frontiers, the daily affairs of the Ministry of War were handled by Peng Runan, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War.

The Left Army Governor's Office was one of the five offices of the Five Army Governor's Offices, and was in charge of military affairs in Liaodong Town.

During the reign of the Supreme Emperor, the Five Military Commanderies Office was in charge of the military affairs of the Great Zhou and was once extremely powerful and had great authority.

Important positions in the government, from the governor-general, the governor-general's associate governor, and the governor-general's assistant, have always been held by the sons of the four kings and eight dukes, or generals who have made military achievements.

However, since Emperor Jiazhao ascended the throne, after ten years of weighing and maneuvering, the foundation of the Five Military Commanderies was continuously weakened, and the power over military affairs gradually became heavier than that of the Ministry of War.

Now, the Ministry of War has completely surpassed the Five Military Commandery in terms of military affairs. Therefore, there are jokes in the court and the country that the Five Military Commandery is now just a place for old nobles to retire.

Even many nobles held positions in the Five Military Commandery, but they never came to work in the government office and just collected a salary.

However, after all, the emperor is still alive, and the outward appearance of the Five Military Commanderies must be maintained.

Therefore, when the Ministry of War reports on major military affairs, it will still call upon the commanders-in-chief of the corresponding armies in charge. In fact, it is just for show and for outsiders to see.

As for the planning of specific military affairs, the emperor, the Ministry of War and front-line generals will make decisions accordingly.

The Five Military Commanderies can only play a supporting role, and the others should just stand aside.

Therefore, when these two people went to the palace to report together, Emperor Jiazhao knew that there must be a major military incident in Liaodong Town.

……

As soon as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Peng Runan, entered the warm room, he excitedly reported: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has just received an urgent military report from Liaodong Town, which is 800 miles away.

On the 28th of this month, a coalition force of more than 7,000 Jurchen three guards invaded Yafu Pass in Liaodong. Our army fought a decisive battle with the Jurchens under the city and won a great victory at Yafu Pass!
In this battle, 3,940 Jurchens were killed, 912 died of wounds, and 1,102 were captured alive.

Li Manzhu, leader of the Jurchen Guard, and Dong Shan, leader of the Jurchen Left Guard, escaped with only a thousand remaining soldiers.

The leader of the Right Guard of the Jurchens, Fanercha, was beheaded by Jia Cong, the Director of the Firearms Bureau, while fleeing.

In this battle, the Jurchen tribes had less than 20,000 households, but they raised 7,000 soldiers. This was the full force of the Jurchens.

However, six thousand soldiers were killed at Yafu Pass. The foundation has been damaged. From now on, the Liaodong border will be stable!
The commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town wrote the memorial himself, and the commander of the Nine Frontiers, Lord Gu, signed it, detailing the circumstances of the battle.

The first meritorious service in this battle went to Jia Cong, the Director of the Firearms Department, the second meritorious service went to Liu Yongzheng, the Lieutenant General of Yafu Pass, and the meritorious services of the rest of the people were reported to the emperor.

This battle was magnificent, and it was truly a great victory unprecedented in our dynasty. I congratulate His Majesty!"

Peng Runan's emotional report made Emperor Jiazhao a little stunned. Winning a battle was naturally a good thing, but he did not expect such a great victory.

The three Jurchen guards raised an army of 7,000, which was almost all the troops available from all the tribes. However, 6,000 of them were wiped out in one battle.

Such a brilliant record had never been seen even a few years ago when Liang Chengzong repelled the Mongolian Tuman army five times.

Realizing the glorious results of the victory at Yafu Pass, even Emperor Jiazhao, who was usually deep and reserved, could not help but laugh out loud.

"Great! The soldiers at the front have fought bravely for their country and won such a great victory. It is a blessing for our country!"

Guo Lin who was standing by was stunned. As far as he could remember, the emperor had never laughed so happily since he ascended the throne. This was really a good thing.

……

Emperor Jia Zhao calmed down a bit and asked, "Why was Jia Cong the first to achieve the first victory in this battle?"

Although there were many things about Jia Cong that surprised him, he could still accept the fact that he was an outstanding scholar or an inspector who was proficient in firearms.

Now he has become the champion of the great victory at Yafu Pass. This is a bit too shocking and beyond common sense, which is why I asked this curious question.

The volume of Liang Chengzong's handwritten report had been in Peng Runan's hands for a long time. Just now, he was busy reporting the good news to Emperor Jiazhao and was too excited, so he actually held it in his hand.

He immediately presented the report and said, "General Liang is personally in Guancheng to lead the battle. All matters are covered in the report. Please have a look, Your Majesty!
Before the battle, Jia Cong went out of the city to investigate and found out the enemy's whereabouts in advance, giving the defenders enough time to prepare for battle.

Moreover, he coordinated the use of artillery, porcelain mines and other firearms before the war, and implemented them during the war, which led to the high number of kills in this battle.

When the Jurchens invaded, Jia Cong led the firearms battalion out of the city to set up an ambush. When the battle was stalemate and the Jurchen army retreated, he personally led 500 cavalrymen to charge into the battle line to stop the enemy.

He personally killed the leader of the Jurchen Guards, Fanercha, in the battle. His strategy and bravery were the best in this battle! He deserves the first merit! "

……

Peng Runan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, was promoted and supported by Gu Yankui. He naturally knew that his superior admired Jia Cong very much, and he was happy to speak well of Jia Cong.

Besides, Jia Cong had made such great military achievements that he deserved all the praise he received. It was natural for Peng Runan to feel at ease when he spoke well of him.

Emperor Jiazhao read the memorial carefully and closed it thoughtfully.

"When someone recommended Jia Cong to join the Imperial Academy as a librarian, I once said that the son of a noble family should not be without courage and bravery!
If he really did it, since he has made such a great contribution, I will definitely reward him generously!"

Chen Yi, the commander of the left army, said, "Your Majesty, Jia Cong is the grandson of the Rong state, and his military strategy is amazing. He has the style of his ancestor, who was a famous general. He can be a role model for the children of the nobles.

In my humble opinion, the person who made the first contribution to such a great victory deserves the honor of being canonized as a hero!"

(End of this chapter)