From the Red Mansion, you can travel through the world of martial arts

Chapter 401: Disaster at Rongguo Mansion

Now that Jia Wei is in mourning, he certainly cannot obey the order at the first time. Even if the emperor seizes his love, Prince Zhongshun has bought a lot of time to escape...

"What does he want to do going south?"

Jia Wei's face was gloomy, but he suddenly smiled again: "Rise up an army to rebel, purge the emperor, obey the will of heaven and quell the rebellion?"

The Record of Ancestors’ Instructions, compiled under the supervision of Emperor Taizu of the Chen Dynasty, states:

If there are no loyal ministers in the court and there are traitors within the court, the princes will train the troops and wait for orders, and the emperor will secretly order the princes to lead the troops to suppress the traitors...

Prince Zhongshun could have raised an army to punish the treacherous officials around the emperor under the pretext of clearing the emperor's side, which would have been completely procedural justice.

Jia Wei pressed Baoqin's head unhappily, and suddenly thought: "Oh no, I won't become a treacherous minister beside the emperor, right?"

"This……"

Ding Baiying could only remain silent for a while. Jia Wei was a close minister of the emperor. He was young and held a high position.

If Prince Zhongshun issued a manifesto to purge the emperor's court and punish traitors, he would definitely be on the list, most likely the first...

Ding Baiying pursed her lips and said, "The East Factory was responsible for raiding Prince Zhongshun's mansion. Although both the First Guard and the Second Factory sent troops to hunt him down, Prince Zhongshun has been on the run for many days and has made careful plans, so I think he will be able to escape successfully."

Jia Wei had a grim expression. As the emperor's top henchman, he had fought with the Prince Zhongshun's Mansion many times, both openly and covertly. Now the prince of the Prince Zhongshun's Mansion was still in the Jinyiwei's prison. It was all caused by him. The two families had a deep blood feud.

If Prince Zhongshun really seized the world, he could only take Chai and Dai to hide in the forest for a while and then plot his plan...

"Is there any news from the palace?" Jia Wei asked calmly.

According to common sense, after such a big incident, the emperor would most likely deprive him of his love, restore him to the throne and hunt down Prince Zhongshun.

After all, it was he who dealt with Wei Ao previously.

"There is no news from the palace..." Ding Baiying also frowned slightly.

Dai Quan is on good terms with the Yong'an Marquisate. If Emperor Xuanwu intended to seize Jia Wei's affections, Dai Quan would have informed him in advance even if he had not issued an edict yet.

There was no movement at all, and Jia Wei couldn't figure out the deep meaning...

Could it be that Emperor Xuanwu was afraid that he would become too powerful, and was using this period of mourning to reduce his power? But now that Prince Zhongshun had fled, the most anxious person was the emperor, so could he have the fortitude to do so?
Ding Baiying saw that Jia Wei looked unhappy, so he asked tentatively, "Should I send someone to find out?"

"Forget it," Jia Wei shook his head, "Let's just wait and see for a while and wait for the news to come back."

Now that Emperor Xuanwu's throne is stable and the world is at peace, although the defense of the nine borders is under great pressure, even if Prince Zhongshun rebels, Emperor Xuanwu can easily put down the rebels by calling on the Beijing camp.

Perhaps it is because of this that the emperor can be so patient?
But these are all superficial. From Jia Wei's perspective, we can see more deeper problems.

Shenjing has little real estate and is short of material resources, but it has gathered millions of people to support one city. Without the supply of resources from the south, it would be impossible to maintain stability.

Not to mention other resources, even the most basic and most important food, rice, is mostly transported from the south to the capital by water transport.

Once Prince Zhongshun raises an army in the south, the first thing he will do is cut off the grain transport to the capital!
The emperor could only hurriedly transfer grain from various provinces to the capital, and the various troubles involved were enough to make him anxious for a while.

Since the previous dynasty, the south has been rich and the north has been poor. As for the current dynasty, the taxes in the south of the Yangtze River account for 40% of the national total.

Moreover, during the reign of Emperor Xuanwu, the suppression of the gentry and powerful in the south of the Yangtze River by the capital never stopped. First there was the rebellion of Wei Ao, and then Emperor Xuanwu himself promoted the salt tax reform, donations, and anti-corruption implemented by Jia Wei and others...

Coupled with the huge benefits of being a dragon's servant, it can be said that the gentry and powerful people in Jiangnan have long been resentful of Emperor Xuanwu. If Prince Zhongshun raises his arm and calls for help, there will be responses from all sides. In this way, if Emperor Xuanwu cannot wipe out Prince Zhongshun in one go and fights a protracted war, the success or failure of both sides is still unknown!
Jia Wei frowned. Fortunately, he had started "building high walls and storing up grain" a long time ago, so he had accumulated some capital.

After Ding Baiying reported everything, he glanced at the desk, said goodbye and left.

"Brother-in-law..." Baoqin's eyes flickered, and she was a little at a loss when she saw Jia Wei, who had a bad complexion.

Baoqin shuddered slightly. Hearing such confidential information was not a good thing. Whether she heard it intentionally or passively...

Jia Wei didn't say anything, but just pointed to the soft couch beside him.

Baoqin heaved a sigh of relief, lifted her skirt and slowly walked over.

Jia Wei knocked on the screen beside him and said, "You two should line up as well."

Prince Zhongshun fled, and he was not angry. But for some reason, he always felt a kind of evil fire.

When Jia Wei turned around, Bao Qin was already kneeling on the edge of the couch.

A snow-white, perky pig with a hint of powder.

……

Although such a big event happened in Shenjing, it was handled by the Jinyiwei and the East and West Factories.

Prince Zhongshun's escape from the capital was kept extremely secret. Not only the powerful families like Rongguo Mansion, but even the ministers of the court were unaware of it!

Therefore, there is still peace and prosperity in the city of Shenjing.

Ten days later, Jia Wei obtained the latest intelligence that Prince Zhongshun lived in Jinling and had taken control of the Southern Province.

Moreover, the Prince of Ningjing, who was supposed to have died in the fire, suddenly showed up...

Looking at the secret letter, Jia Wei couldn't help but frown.

It turned out that Prince Zhongshun's rebellion was premeditated.

Among the only five remaining salt merchants in Jiangnan, Zheng, Wang and Bao responded immediately and provided countless supplies of grain and other valuables. As for the rest of the landlords and powerful people in the southern province, countless of them attached themselves to Prince Zhongshun!
In addition, there were also the Tianli Sect, the Shenlong Sect, the Tiandihui, and the White Lotus Sect who surrendered!
At this point, the powerful people in Beijing also received some news, and rumors spread everywhere. Everyone rushed to buy grain and rice and hoarded supplies, causing the price of rice to soar. Ordinary people could not afford rice...

The Rongguo Mansion also sent people to the Marquis' Mansion to inquire about the news, but Jia Wei sent them away on the grounds that he was in mourning and had no time to spare.

A few days later, news came back that Prince Zhongshun had raised an army in the southern province. The slogan "clear the imperial court and quell the national crisis" shook the entire Shenjing City!
Along with this, news from all sides also reached Shenjing.

The most influential one about Jia Wei is that Jia Zheng, who was demoted to the southern province, was appointed as the Minister of Works in Jinling! Jia Lian was promoted to the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!
Moreover, the Zhen family had just been raided, and Prince Zhongshun ordered that the Zhen family were loyal to the country and that Emperor Xuanwu had been bewitched by treacherous officials, so all the property of the Zhen family was returned and Zhen Yingjia was reinstated.

This move drew praise from the gentry in the south, and in the capital city of Shenjing, the two factories in the east and west reported another incident.

It turned out that before the Zhen family's property was confiscated, Zhen's Su family brought two large boxes of valuables with them when they entered Beijing and secretly stored them in Rongguo Mansion!

There is also evidence that Jia She violated laws and disciplines, colluded with local officials, and smuggled ironware and tea into the grasslands!
Emperor Xuanwu was furious when he heard this, and immediately issued two decrees. Dai Quan also sent a message to Jia Wei as soon as possible.

First, Jia She was stripped of his title and imprisoned;

Second, search and confiscate the Rongguo Mansion!

(End of this chapter)