I'm in the Red Mansion

Jia Cong was angry, but he could also understand that Emperor Yonglong sent a prefect to Jizhou to check and balance him.

How did the Anshi Rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty occur?
That is, the border governors were given too much power. They were given the power to control the military, politics, and economy, which was equivalent to being local emperors.

Because of the imbalance of power, in the late Tang Dynasty, the military governors in various places became warlords.

They ruled the country according to local conditions, formed warlord separatist forces, and completely ignored the orders of the central government. Ultimately, the Tang Dynasty perished because of this.

Although the situation in Jizhou was different, it still faced the threat of the approaching Qing army.

However, if Jia Cong was appointed as the Jiedushi of Jizhou and given the power to hold the Jiedushi.

It won't be long before Jia Cong becomes the local emperor of Jizhou.

He will even recover other states among the Sixteen States of Yanyun later.

If he could regain all of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, his power would even be comparable to that of a small country.

By then, Jia Cong will become a figure similar to the Three Feudatories for Daxia.

Taking these into consideration, Jia Cong could understand why Emperor Yonglong would send a prefect to Jizhou.

It's just that the behavior of the prefect sent this time was a bit too bad.

As soon as he arrived in Jizhou, he thought about collecting taxes and making money.

They didn't know what actions they would take afterwards.

They must be stopped.

But we can’t let them die in vain.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong went to the study and wrote a few articles.

Then he found Jia Huan and asked him to deliver the article back by carrier pigeon.

After receiving the task, Jia Huan was very happy.

He hurried back and sent these articles back by carrier pigeon.

The speed of carrier pigeons is much faster than the 800-mile express.

In fact, if we simply compare speed, the flying speed of a homing pigeon may not be much faster than that of a galloping horse.

But pigeons fly in a straight line, but horses can only run along a track.

It is not surprising that carrier pigeons can travel faster than an express train of 800 miles.

Two days later, the carrier pigeon flew back to Ningguo Mansion.

Not long after, Jia Cong's manuscript and a letter were delivered to Lin Daiyu.

When Lin Daiyu saw it, she did not dare to neglect it. She hurriedly sorted out the manuscript, made an additional edition, and quickly handed the manuscript to Xue Baoqin.

Xue Baoqin took the manuscript and quickly ordered it to be printed.

At the same time, the manuscripts were sent to several other printing branches by express horses and carrier pigeons.

Order them to print it simultaneously.

There have been some minor changes to the serialized content of Daxia Monthly recently.

These changes are to increase the serialized amount of the novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes in each issue.

From the original one chapter per issue, it has now become two chapters per issue.

Even the current supplement contains two chapters of content.

Today, The Legend of the Condor Heroes has become popular throughout Daxia.

Among the nursery rhymes sung by the children, there is another one:
Ouyang Feng, the East Evil and the West Poison, Hong Qigong, the South Emperor and the North Beggar, the old naughty boy with a childish temper, and the silly boy Guo Jing loves Huang Rong.

Nowadays, the thing that the people of Daxia look forward to most is probably listening to the story of The Legend of the Condor Heroes once a month.

Therefore, this supplement has also aroused the expectations of countless people.

In this supplement, except for The Legend of the Condor Heroes, all other articles describe the stories of the common people in Jizhou City.

Some of them are articles written by the people of Jizhou, who have been looking forward to the royal army's recovery of Jizhou for ten or twenty years.

After Daxia recaptured Jizhou, many people in the city were so excited that they cried bitterly, and some even lamented that the imperial army came too late.

Such articles silenced other people.

This also made them look forward to the imperial court recovering the other fifteen states as soon as possible.

Others describe the miserable lives of the people in Jizhou under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

Then I made a comparison with my life today.

This made countless Daxia people who read the article hate the Qing Dynasty even more and feel extremely sympathetic towards the people of Jizhou.

The last few chapters are about the newly appointed prefect of Jizhou City, who levied a war tax of one or two taels of silver from every citizen in the entire Jizhou city.

In Jizhou City, the people responded positively.

Many families, unable to escape the burden of paying so much silver, were willing to borrow money at high interest rates to pay the full amount of taxes.

There were even some ordinary people who were willing to sell their fields, land, children and daughters to support the government and fight against the Qing Dynasty.

In fact, these things do not exist.

In Jizhou City, the tax had only been levied a few days ago.

The people in Jizhou City did not respond positively, but were very resistant.

The new prefect Fan Cheng did not bring many people with him.

Even the minor officials who collected taxes were newly promoted from Jizhou City.

It would be too much to expect them to work hard to collect taxes.

However, this is not the way to write articles in newspapers.

If written like this, it is not enough to attract everyone's attention.

As Jia Cong had expected, when the people heard about this, they became extremely angry.

The people of Jizhou lived such a miserable life under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

It had just been taken back, and the newly appointed prefect of Jizhou was already shamelessly levying war taxes.

The people of Jizhou were forced to sell their fields and land, and even their children to pay taxes.

These corrupt officials really have no humanity at all!

For a while, the new magistrate of Jizhou City was scolded by the people.

Soon, the censor in the capital also heard about this matter.

He immediately submitted a memorial to impeach the prefect of Jizhou and all the officials above and below him.

After hearing this, Emperor Yonglong also became furious.

He immediately issued an imperial decree to severely reprimand Fan Cheng and ordered him not to collect taxes from the people of Jizhou for three years.

At the same time, Emperor Yonglong was also reflecting.

Is it the right choice to send a prefect to Jizhou?

At the same time, Emperor Yonglong was also thinking about the Daxia Monthly Report.

A few days later, Fan Cheng, the prefect of Jizhou, received the imperial edict and stopped collecting war taxes in a dejected manner. At the same time, he returned the collected taxes to the people intact.

At the same time, Fan Cheng also learned that all this was due to Jia Cong.

In his heart, he couldn't help but gnashing his teeth in hatred.

For the moment, there was no better way to deal with Jia Cong.

……

At this time, the Qing army was defeated, Jizhou City was captured, and the news of Tu Hai's death had already been passed back to the Qing Dynasty.

This caused an uproar across the Qing Dynasty, and it was difficult to accept this fact.

Over the years, when they went to war with Daxia, they had always gotten what they wanted. They fought when they wanted to and stopped when they wanted to.

When have we ever suffered such a great defeat?
For them, it was a great humiliation.

Moreover, the loss this time was really too heavy.

Losing Jizhou City would be fine.

For them, the loss of hundreds of thousands of troops was a heavy burden that they could not bear.

You have to know that the number of their orthodox Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing Dynasty was less than 200,000.

Although the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of troops lost this time were ragtag troops.

But more than 10,000 Eight Banners soldiers were killed.

Such a loss is already a serious blow to them.

In recent days, the Qing Dynasty has been clamoring for revenge tenfold or a hundredfold.

And for Kang Mazi, the new emperor of the Qing Dynasty, this humiliation must be avenged.

After he came of age, he planned to get rid of Ao Zang and take back power.

Now is the time when his prestige is at its peak.

He was preparing to launch an attack on Daxia, striving to occupy half of Daxia's territory north of the Yangtze River within ten years.

Unexpectedly, we suffered such a huge loss just after launching the war. It was simply a great shame and humiliation.

This was also a huge blow to his prestige.

If he fails to retaliate in time and wash away this shame, he, the new emperor, will surely be looked down upon.

This is also extremely disadvantageous to him.

However, Kang Mazi is a steady person who thinks carefully before taking action.

When he got rid of Ao Zang, he patiently endured for several years.

He was well-versed in the art of war and naturally knew the principle of knowing yourself and the enemy, and thus being able to fight a hundred battles without danger.

Therefore, before preparing to launch a full-scale war against Daxia, they naturally sent people to investigate Jia Cong's past in detail.

After the investigation and some contemplation, Kang Mazi summoned the Grand Councilor, officials from the Ministry of War and several flag owners in his study.

Summoning them means that the Qing Dynasty is really going to declare war on Daxia.

After everyone arrived, Kang Mazi couldn't help but say, "This time, our Qing Dynasty was defeated in Daxia. Not only did we lose soldiers and generals, we also lost the city of Jizhou."

"What should we do next? Let's discuss it together."

After Kang Mazi finished speaking, all the ministers in the room were outraged and kept demanding to send troops to attack Daxia, and they all rushed to do so.

At this time, Kangxi could not help but ask: "Who among you knows Jia Cong, the young general who led the attack on the city of Daxia this time?"

"This man has fought against the Qing Dynasty many times, and each time he won a great victory. What would you do if you met him?"

At this time, the most powerful general of the Qing Dynasty, Gestai, said loudly: "Your Majesty, this yellow-haired kid is not worth mentioning."

"Let me lead the charge, and I will easily chop off his head and present it to Your Majesty."

The rest, including Mingzhu, Soltu and others, also denigrated Jia Cong.

It’s not that they intended to show off in front of Kang Mazi.

But they really didn’t think that Jia Cong was that powerful.

It's just because Tu Hai is such a waste that this kid became famous.

They were confident that if it were them, they would have killed the kid on the horse long ago. How could they suffer such a great defeat?
At this time, Kangxi suddenly slammed the table and said dissatisfiedly: "If you all have this mentality, this time we will definitely fail!"

"Tu Hai is not an incompetent person. His strategy and bravery are not inferior to yours."

"Tu Hai's defeat was due to his arrogance. I didn't expect that you guys didn't take the bloody lesson that Tu Hai learned at the cost of his life to heart."

"Let me ask you, let alone the two fires that happened later, even the two ambushes that happened earlier, if it were you, would you have been able to avoid them?"

As soon as Kangxi got angry, the whole room fell into silence.

The people in the room really didn't dare to say that if they were replaced by Tu Hai, they would not suffer any loss. Kangxi continued to ask: "Also, if you didn't know in advance, would you have been able to avoid the two big guys later?"

"Even until now, have you figured out how that young general set fire to the city?"

The room was silent again.

They did not visit the scene in person, but only heard some descriptions from the withdrawn soldiers.

This made them very confused, and with their brain capacity, it was difficult to figure out what was going on.

At this time, Kang Mazi asked again: "If it were you who attacked the city, how would you deal with that young general's fire attack?"

How to deal with it?

How can they deal with it when they don’t even understand the reason?
At this time, Princess Gulun suddenly said: "Perhaps, I can guess something, and I have also found Jia Cong's weakness."

Hearing this, Kang Mazi's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Royal sister, have you really found the reason and the weakness of that boy? Tell me quickly."

Princess Gulun said: "The reason why the city was set on fire is that he sprinkled sulfur, saltpeter and other substances beforehand, and when they poured kerosene, they also sprinkled some phosphorus powder."

"These are extremely flammable and difficult to guard against without precautions."

"However, if we had taken precautions beforehand, we could have laid a layer of earthen mounds or something like that under the city wall to block the ground."

"That way they can't start a fire."

After listening to this, Kang Mazi couldn't help but praise: "Saltpeter and sulfur are used to make gunpowder, and phosphorus powder is very easy to ignite."

"No wonder he was able to start such a fire. Yes, as my sister said, as long as we take precautions in advance, it will be difficult for them to repeat the same trick."

"By the way, sister, I wonder what the weakness of the young general of Da Xia is. Why don't you tell me about it?"

Princess Gulun couldn't help but say, "I have carefully studied Jia Cong's several surprise attacks. All of them were very clever and the timing was very clever."

"This person is good at seizing opportunities and has an extremely keen control over the battle situation."

"However, he is not without weaknesses. The first one is that he is too soft-hearted."

"Every time he chooses the timing of a battle, he will take his own casualties into consideration and try to avoid them as much as possible."

"As the saying goes, kindness does not command the army, and righteousness does not command wealth. This is actually his biggest weakness."

Having said this, Princess Gulun paused for a while to give everyone time to digest the words.

And everyone, including Kang Mazi, nodded thoughtfully.

Yes, looking at the several times Jia Cong took action, the number of casualties on the Daxia side was extremely small each time.

Moreover, in these wars, as long as Daxia took the initiative, it could achieve greater results.

However, their casualties will also increase.

And every time, Jia Cong gave up the opportunity to expand his victory.

From this point of view, it is indeed his biggest weakness.

Kindness does not allow one to command the army, and righteousness does not allow one to command wealth. As a general, one should pursue the greatest victory in battle and not be too soft-hearted.

After a while, Princess Gulun continued, "His second weakness is that he can only control a local battle situation."

"He doesn't have the ability to command a large-scale battle, so we can try to force him into a large-scale head-on decisive battle."

If Jia Cong was present and heard what Princess Gulun said, he would definitely laugh.

Jia Cong could only generally admit the first point, that he was indeed influenced by the people-oriented approach of later generations.

During the battle, he tried his best to achieve zero casualties.

But when necessary, he would never show mercy.

As for the second point, it is only because of the defects of their military types and the fact that their military strength is not as large as that of the enemy.

Currently, his command ability has reached perfection. Of course, it was not his initiative but the result of his passive effort.

As long as the generals below are trained, he can slowly gain experience.

With his perfect command ability, how could Jia Cong not be able to command large-scale operations?
Jia Cong could only laugh.

However, Kang Mazi and the Qing ministers' eyes lit up after hearing what Princess Gulun said.

After thinking about it carefully, they had to admit that what Princess Gulun said was right.

Kang Mazi couldn't help but say: "Now that we have found his weakness, it will be easy to deal with."

"Next, the Qing Dynasty will send troops to seize Jizhou first, and then continue to send troops to occupy more of their cities and defeat them until they are terrified."

"According to our intelligence, there are about 60,000 defensive soldiers in Jizhou City now."

"But the city doesn't have a lot of food reserves. There are only a month or two's worth of reserves."

"In that case, we can divide our forces and guard Liangcheng all the way to prevent Niu Jizong from going to rescue."

"On the other side, we must keep an eye on the reinforcements and food supplies sent by Daxia, and make sure that Daxia's reinforcements are not allowed to go through."

"And here in Jizhou City, with 150,000 soldiers and horses, can we break the city?"

At this time, Princess Gulun couldn't help but say: "Just rest assured, the reinforcements and food from the Great Xia court will not arrive in time."

"There are people from the Qing Dynasty supporting us in the court of Daxia. They will find a way to delay the support."

Hearing this, Kang Mazi couldn't help but sneer and said, "The number of Han people is a hundred or a thousand times ours."

"If they work together, we will never be their match."

"It's just that the Han people are not united and love to fight among themselves. Therefore, they are not worthy of controlling the Central Plains."

"This fertile land of the Central Plains should be controlled by us, the Qing Dynasty!"

All the ministers in the room echoed.

Next, they began to discuss how to send troops.

Finally, they decided to fight with all their might.

For this battle, they decided to split their troops into three groups.

One of them led an army of 100,000 and kept an eye on the 100,000 troops led by Niu Jizon in Liangcheng, preventing them from providing support.

The second route of 50,000 troops was stationed in Mozhou to hold off Daxia's support troops and prevent Daxia from sending any support troops.

The third route of 150,000 troops, led by Geste, the most powerful general of the Qing Dynasty, besieged Jizhou and was determined to capture it.

Once Jizhou was captured, Geste immediately led his troops to join the first army and captured Liangcheng in one fell swoop.

Once Liangcheng is captured, Daxia will lose 150,000 to 160,000 soldiers and horses.

It's hard to compete with them anymore.

Next, they swept through the area north of the Yangtze River in Daxia with great force and occupied half of Daxia.

The plan was set, and next, the generals from all directions quickly deployed their troops and prepared to take action.

The speed at which the Qing army was mobilized was far greater than that of Daxia.

They are extremely mobile.

In half a month, they had assembled their army and advanced in three directions.

There were three armies, totaling 300,000 soldiers and horses.

This time, the Qing Dynasty did not mobilize the entire country's strength, but it was almost there.

Soon, Daxia got the news and became panic-stricken again.

The first place to receive the news was Jizhou City.

After all, this is the place closest to where the Qing Dynasty sent troops.

Fan Cheng, the new prefect of Jizhou, was shocked when he heard the news.

While reporting to the court and asking for help, he also hurried to find Jia Cong to ask for countermeasures.

Qianli became an official just for money. He is a civil servant and doesn't want to lose his life here.

Jia Cong had long anticipated that the Qing would invade Daxia again, so he was not surprised.

In fact, Jia Cong has been preparing for this in recent times.

When he heard that the prefect Fan Cheng wanted to see him, Jia Cong suddenly had an idea.

Jia Cong ordered someone to invite Fan Cheng into the study.

Fan Cheng didn't bother to exchange pleasantries, and hurriedly asked, "General Jia, the Qing Dynasty is making a comeback."

"This time, I heard that the Qing Dynasty's most powerful general, Gestai, led an army of 150,000 and is coming aggressively. I wonder if General Jia has any plan to repel the enemy?"

Jia Cong shook his head and said, "The enemy is coming with such force, how can there be any good strategy? We can only stop them with troops and block them with earth!"

Hearing this, Fan Cheng couldn't help but get anxious and asked, "General Jia, last time you set two fires and killed 100,000 Qing soldiers, can't you do the same thing again this time and kill another 100,000 of their troops?"

Jia Cong smiled bitterly and said, "It's a one-time thing, but it won't happen again. They're not stupid. They've been fooled once. Do you think they'll be fooled a second time?"

Fan Cheng asked anxiously: "What should we do?"

Jia Cong said calmly: "Sacrificing one's life for the country is like returning home. Although they have many soldiers and generals, it is not easy for them to capture Jizhou City."

"I swear to live and die with Jizhou City. If you want to take Jizhou City, you must step over my corpse first!"

"Master Fan, are you ready to sacrifice your life for your country?"

Hearing this, Fan Cheng couldn't help but shudder.

Then he said righteously: "Although I am a civil servant, I also have a strong character. The city survives as long as the people are there, and the city is destroyed and the people die!"

After Fan Cheng left, Jia Cong couldn't help but sneer a few times.

There are more than 60,000 soldiers and horses in Jizhou City.

If more than 60,000 people went out of the city to fight against the Qing army of 150,000, they would naturally be defeated.

But if it was just about defending the city, Jia Cong was absolutely sure that he could do it.

When Fan Cheng came, Jia Cong said this just to test him.

The result of the test made Jia Cong very satisfied.

This guy is definitely afraid of death.

I'm afraid they will run away before the Qing army arrives.

And this is naturally what Jia Cong hopes to see.

As long as this guy can't help but run away, he will be skinned alive even if he doesn't die when he returns to the court.

And it is definitely impossible for him to come back and continue to serve as prefect.

Next, the imperial court had to either send someone else or take control of Jizhou City itself.

Even if the imperial court sends more people, I'm afraid they won't send this kind of people.

The Qing army was getting closer day by day.

It seemed that the front army was almost reaching the city of Jizhou.

The prefect Fan Cheng and several other civil servants finally could not withstand the pressure and finally decided to abandon the city and flee.

And when they fled, they took away all the silver in the treasury.

After arriving in Jizhou City, they first failed to collect war taxes.

Since they haven’t gained any benefits so far, they can only abandon the city and flee in embarrassment.

This made them very unwilling, so when they left, they looted all the silver in the treasury.

Jia Cong had been watching these people's every move.

Seeing that they really wanted to escape, Jia Cong was too lazy to stop them.

If we really keep them, it will actually be a blessing for them.

But they actually wanted to run away with the silver, and Jia Cong was not happy about it. (End of this chapter)