I'm in the Red Mansion

Emperor Yonglong said it was ridiculous, but there was no smile on his face.

At this moment, all the civil and military officials in the hall were trembling with fear.

The officials from the Ministry of War, in particular, could not stand steadily and fell to their knees on the ground.

This matter is really terrible.

The grenades manufactured by the Daxia Firearms Battalion have not yet been distributed to the Daxia armies.

Now it has appeared in the Qing army first, and has been used on the battlefield against Daxia's own army.

This is a crime of treason and the consequences are no less severe than treason.

Once this incident happened, the people in the Ministry of War would definitely be in trouble. This time, I'm afraid there would be countless heads rolling and rivers of blood.

At this time, Prime Minister Kou stood up and said, "Prime Minister Qin, I remember that it was you who insisted on asking Marquis Guanjun to hand over the grenade blueprints."

"Now that a firearm, a flintlock rifle, has appeared in Guanjun Hou's army, you have also stepped forward to ask Guanjun Hou to hand over the blueprints, and you have also maliciously slandered Guanjun Hou."

"If it weren't for the duds that occurred when the Qing used grenades this time, I'm afraid that everyone in Daxia would still be kept in the dark."

"I'm afraid that the flintlock rifle will soon appear in the Qing army, right?"

"Prime Minister Qin is truly loyal, but I wonder who you are loyal to, the emperor of Great Xia or the emperor of the Qing Dynasty?"

On the 100th day of the first lunar month, light lanterns.

Just now, Prime Minister Qin maliciously slandered Jia Cong and made him suffer for the first day of the month. Now, Prime Minister Kou is using the same method to retaliate against Jia Cong and made him suffer for the fifteenth day of the month.

What's more, Prime Minister Qin was already highly suspected in this matter.

If it is said that Prime Minister Qin maliciously slandered Jia Cong and used false charges.

Well, now, Kou Xiang's attack on Qin Xiang was not just groundless.

Kou Xiang’s counterattack was quite vicious.

Qin Xiang was shocked and angry. He could not help but said in a deep voice: "Mr. Kou, how dare you!"

"As the Prime Minister, how can you be so reckless and make false accusations?"

Prime Minister Kou laughed and said, "Prime Minister Qin's skill in cultivating his Qi is unmatched, yet he is so angry right now. Could it be that he is angry because of what I said?"

"Just now, Prime Minister Qin framed Marquis Guanjun in this way. I am just giving him a taste of his own medicine."

Prime Minister Qin wanted to say something, but Emperor Yonglong frowned and slammed the imperial desk.

All the officials in the palace were afraid to speak.

Emperor Yonglong sneered and said, "Minister of War, how do you explain this matter?"

Minister of War Ding Lei knelt on the ground with tears streaming down his face. He took off his official hat with both hands and slowly placed it on the ground.

Then he said, "Your Majesty, this is all my fault for not supervising. I deserve death. I will let Your Majesty punish me!"

This incident happened too quickly and too hastily, leaving the Ministry of War no time to react.

The grenades from the Firearms Battalion were able to flow out and reach the Qing Dynasty.

It certainly could not be accomplished by just a few craftsmen in the Firearms Battalion.

Even, it is not something that one or two officials in the Ministry of War can do.

Even if the Minister of War was not involved in this matter, he still cannot escape the crime of negligence.

Upon hearing Ding Lei's words, Emperor Yonglong couldn't help but reveal a look of disgust on his face.

He couldn't help but say: "You deserve to die. As the Minister of War, you were kept in the dark about such a terrible thing. You are incompetent as the Minister of War."

"Come here, take him away, throw him into jail, and wait for trial."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Soon, the imperial guards came forward and dragged the Minister of War away.

Next, Emperor Yonglong ordered Prime Minister Kou to take charge and investigate the matter thoroughly.

The Ministry of War had been run by Prime Minister Qin as an iron plate that was impenetrable.

Emperor Yonglong had always tried to place a sting in the Ministry of War, but he never succeeded.

Now, with the help of this incident, we can clean up the Ministry of War and easily place people in it.

Controlling the Ministry of War would also allow Emperor Yonglong to further control the court.

Therefore, the grenade leak was not entirely a bad thing for Emperor Yonglong.

However, this incident was undoubtedly a devastating disaster for the Ministry of War.

As Kou Xiang's investigation unfolded, officials from the Ministry of War were arrested one after another.

This was not a frame-up by Prime Minister Kou, nor was it all related to the grenade reselling case.

He is actually an official of the Ministry of War, and he himself is not clean, so how can he withstand investigation?

If they were not afraid that the large-scale arrests of officials would cause turmoil in the court.

I am afraid that all the officials in the Ministry of War, big and small, will be arrested.

……

A few days later, the Daxia Monthly Report was released again.

The Smiling, Proud Wanderer replaced The Legend of the Condor Heroes and once again became the focus of the nation.

An article in the Daxia Monthly also made countless people marvel.

It turns out that this article is about Jia Huan's achievements, but Jia Cong, instead of giving him any preferential treatment because he is a member of the Jia family, deliberately suppresses him.

Even the fact that Jia Huan knelt for a whole night was described in detail.

People who read this article or heard this story all admired Guan Jun Hou even more.

No wonder Marquis Guanjun was invincible on the battlefield. Even the Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty was powerless in front of Marquis Guanjun.

It turned out that it was all because of the clear rewards and punishments of the Champion Marquis and the strict military discipline.

However, Marquis Guanjun was a little too harsh on his cousin.

Because of this little story, Jia Cong's image in the eyes of the people of Daxia was further enhanced.

However, some people who heard this story were so angry that one Buddha ascended to heaven and two Buddhas were born.

This person was none other than Jia Huan’s biological mother, Aunt Zhao.

Although Aunt Zhao was fierce, she was not stupid, and she didn't dare say anything outside.

But in his own yard, he could no longer bear it.

"That little bastard who is hated by everyone has now climbed up the ladder step by step and is taking people less and less seriously."

"Huan'er is still your cousin, if you just take better care of him, who else would dare to say anything?"

"This little bastard not only has no regard for brotherhood, but also deliberately suppresses me and makes me kneel outside for a whole night. He is truly an ungrateful person."

"He never thought about it. Before he became successful, wasn't it Huan'er who took care of him the most? When that whore was sick, Huan'er even gave her all her wealth to help her!"

"Humph, all this money is just fed to the dog..."

"Aunt, what are you scolding?"

Just when Aunt Zhao was scolding happily, she didn't hear Tanchun coming.

It was not until Tanchun spoke that Aunt Zhao was awakened.

It turned out that since Mrs. Wang's status declined, Jia Cong's status continued to rise, and even Tanchun's status also rose.

Tanchun no longer tried to please Lady Wang blindly, but her relationship with Aunt Zhao became much more harmonious.

Normally, he would often come to visit Aunt Zhao.

But when I just arrived today, I heard her cursing Third Brother Cong in the house.

Tanchun felt both angry and amused, and quickly interrupted Aunt Zhao.

Seeing Tanchun coming in, Aunt Zhao couldn't help but stand up, took Tanchun's hand and said, "Third girl, come and judge for yourself."

"Tell me, before that little bastard became successful, was your brother the best to him?"

"Now that he has become successful, instead of taking care of your brother, you are suppressing him."

"Third girl, do you think he should be scolded?"

After hearing this, Tanchun couldn't help but take Aunt Zhao's hand and sit down, laughing softly:
"Aunt, as the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his mother. Tell me yourself, if it weren't for Third Brother Cong, would Huan have been able to be promoted to centurion in less than a year of military service?"

Aunt Zhao snorted twice and said, "Although Huan'er was promoted because she joined the army with him, wasn't it because of her own ability that she became successful later?"

Tanchun continued, "Aunt, what do you think? After the Daxia Monthly Newspaper published this story, everyone in the world knew about it."

"If Huan Ge'er makes another contribution in the future, will Third Brother Cong still give him more credit?"

"Does anyone else say that Huan Ge'er was promoted so quickly because of the support of Third Brother Cong?"

"Think about it again, Auntie. Without Third Brother Cong's care, would Huan really have such great abilities and be able to be promoted so quickly?"

Aunt Zhao is really not stupid. On the contrary, she is quite smart when it comes to playing tricks.

Now, after being reminded by Tanchun, Aunt Zhao gradually came to her senses.

She couldn't help but ask, "Third girl, are you saying that Congge deliberately suppressed Huaner and spread the news so that everyone knows about it? Are they putting on a show?"

Tanchun smiled and said, "Aunt, you have watched Third Brother Cong grow up. Don't you know what kind of person he is?"

"Is he a heartless person? Since Third Brother Cong became successful, has he ever treated Huan'er with disrespect?"

Hearing this, Aunt Zhao suddenly understood.

She said in annoyance, "Oh my, it's all my shrewish guessing. Look at my broken mouth. I just scolded Cong. I deserve to be beaten, I deserve to be beaten!"

As she said this, Aunt Zhao slapped herself lightly a few times to show her regret.

While trying to stop Aunt Zhao, Tanchun said, "With Third Brother Cong's support, Aunt Zhao no longer needs to worry about Huan'er's future."

"Auntie, just enjoy yourself at home and stop gossiping outside. When Huan-ge'er becomes successful, good days are still to come for you!"

These words made Aunt Zhao very happy.

She said repeatedly: "Third girl is right, I will listen to you."

……

Now the entire Jizhou has been recovered by Jia Cong.

Next, the entire Jizhou entered a stage of rapid development.

First, Jia Cong redistributed the land of the entire Jizhou.

Except for some public rent land, the rest of the land was equally distributed among the people.

The people only have the right to cultivate these lands, not the ownership.

The land will be reclaimed after death, and distributed when a new baby is born.

Moreover, in Jizhou, the buying and selling of land was strictly prohibited.

Jia Cong also promised that no taxes would be collected in Jizhou this year.

After the harvest next year, agricultural tax will only need to be paid once a year, and no other taxes will need to be paid.

This strategy made the people of Jizhou all grateful to Jia Cong.

Even every household built a shrine for Jia Cong and regarded him as a living Bodhisattva.

And because every family had land, it greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of the people.

Now, they finally have their own land.

And in the future, you will no longer have to pay exorbitant taxes and levies, only agricultural taxes once a year.

In the past, they would never have dared to dream of such a good thing.

Therefore, the entire Jizhou was revitalized.

Countless people work hard, just wanting to make their whole family live a good life through their hard work.

The reason why this was possible was actually inseparable from several government orders issued by Jia Cong.

These decrees undoubtedly carried out drastic reforms in Jizhou.

The first thing was to nationalize the land and redistribute it, so that the people were not allowed to buy or sell the land. This reform would never have succeeded in any other state in Daxia.

Because in other states, 90% of the land is concentrated in the hands of large landowners and gentry.

To take the land back from them?

It's nothing more than a fool's dream.

As for Jizhou, it was seized back from the Qing Dynasty.

Only when all these lands became ownerless could Jia Cong be allowed to redistribute them.

The subsequent tax reform is somewhat similar to the Single Whip Law, but also different from it.

This kind of reform cannot be achieved anywhere else.

And because Jizhou had just been recovered, the imperial court not only did not ask for Jizhou's taxes, but instead provided subsidies every year until Jizhou developed.

Also because Jia Cong was the governor of Jizhou, he was almost equivalent to the local emperor of Jizhou.

Therefore, Jia Cong was able to issue these decrees and implement them quickly.

These changes in Jizhou were soon known to the people of several states adjacent to Jizhou.

The people of these states were all under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

Their status is almost worse than that of pigs and dogs, and they can only barely survive.

Even for many ordinary people, life is already very difficult.

Therefore, when the people in these places heard about the reforms in Jizhou, they were envious to the point of going crazy.

So, some brave people took advantage of the cover of night and secretly ran to Jizhou with their families.

All the local officials in Jizhou were promoted by Jia Cong.

They all actively accepted these people who had sneaked in.

Firstly, these people are all citizens of Daxia. As officials of Daxia, there is naturally no reason for them to be abandoned.

Secondly, Jizhou itself was short of people, so they were naturally very happy to have people come to surrender.

At this time, the public rented land that had been reserved in advance came in handy.

It can be distributed to those people from Daxia who have sneaked here.

As a result, more and more people began to sneak into Jizhou.

As a result, in the border areas of Sanzhou adjacent to Jizhou, five to six out of ten people fled in just one or two months.

If this continues, there will be no one left to escape.

And people from more distant places also learned the news and began to prepare to flee.

Under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, they were treated worse than pigs and dogs, and their lives were in danger at any moment.

As long as they went to Jizhou, they could get land and only had to pay agricultural taxes once a year.

Almost with their eyes closed, these people knew how to choose.

However, this situation soon attracted the attention of Manchu officials in these three continents.

They immediately strengthened border management, and any civilians caught running away were executed, and their bodies were hung at the entrance of the village to intimidate other civilians.

But even so, it can only be an indicator and not a cure.

There were still some daring people who tried every possible means to sneak into Jizhou.

This made the Manchu officials in the three states extremely angry.

They even wanted to kill people.

But they just can't really do so.

You can conquer a country right away, but you cannot rule it right away.

If they massacred all the people of Daxia under their command, wouldn't they, the officials, be left alone?

Although there were also descendants of the Eight Banners who migrated to these three continents.

But these Eight Banners descendants are all great masters with strong backgrounds.

Each of them controls a large amount of land and shops, but they only know how to enjoy themselves and don't know how to work.
Asking them to farm and work is nothing but a foolish dream.

Therefore, the massacre in the competition could not be carried out, and the people of Daxia kept running away, which was difficult to stop.

If we think about the future, I am afraid that the people of Da Xia in their three states will become increasingly scarce.

Unless they keep their troops stationed on the border and guard it strictly.

But doing this requires a lot of money.

And it is impossible for them to station soldiers on the border for a long time.

For a time, the chief officials of these three states all had a headache.

They reported the matter to the court and sought support.

When Princess Gulun learned about this, she actually came up with a brilliant idea.

The idea is to have these three states send troops to continuously harass the people living on the border of Jizhou.

As long as Jizhou sends troops, they will get on the car immediately.

Anyway, with the military strength of Jizhou, it is impossible to counterattack them.

If Jizhou also wants to massacre the people in their three states, then let them do it.

Anyway, the people in these three states are all people of Daxia.

If the Daxia army really dares to massacre the people in the three states, it will be a good thing for them.

If Daxia wants to protect the people of Jizhou, it has to pull all its troops to the border to guard it.

Even so, we will lose sight of the big picture and have to be on guard against their sneak attacks at all times.

In this way, everyone living in the border area will inevitably feel insecure.

By then, no common people from Daxia would dare to sneak into Jizhou?
When the Manchu officials in these three states heard Princess Gulun's evil plan, they all clapped their hands and cried out in outrage.

I have to say that the eldest princess's plan was really cruel.

And it is basically in an unsolvable state.

The military strength of Jizhou was not enough to support them in attacking cities and looting strongholds.

Therefore, they did not have to worry that Jizhou would send troops to capture the cities in their three states.

If Jizhou wants to protect its people, it has to deploy all its troops on the border.

However, doing so would incur huge costs, and one must always be on guard against their sneak attacks.

In this way, Jizhou will inevitably be dragged down by them.

Thinking of this, the Qing officials in these three states could no longer hold back.

They quickly dispatched small groups of troops and began to launch surprise attacks on the people living in the border areas of Jizhou.

They rushed into the village and began burning, killing and looting.

By the time the county received the news and hurriedly sent troops to rescue, the looting Qing troops had already evacuated.

They come and go like the wind and are impossible to guard against.

For a time, the people of Daxia on the border of Jizhou suffered heavy casualties.

Soon, Jia Cong learned the news.

Jia Cong's face turned pale.

The Qing Dynasty is a beast!

How dare these beasts do such a thing.

However, they were so used to doing evil in the past that they have not yet figured out the truth.

That is, if the enemy can go there, I can go there too!

In other words, Da Xia was too weak in the past and could only be bullied passively, and did not dare to fight back actively.

Of course, before, they did not occupy Jizhou and it was difficult for them to reach the territory of the Qing Dynasty.

In this case, let them learn a lesson this time and make sure to give them a thorough beating!

Thinking of this, Jia Cong quickly gave the order.

He ordered all the border counties to bring their people into the county towns and to guard the area strictly.

Jia Cong's move was equivalent to clearing the countryside.

This move was very effective in dealing with the invading army's isolated advance.

However, in dealing with this situation, we can only treat the symptoms and not the root cause.

You can't let all the people living in the border areas live in the county town forever, right?

So how do they come out to farm?

Without land and income, how are they going to survive?

After receiving Jia Cong's order, the counties in the border areas of Jizhou began to relocate their people.

He also assured the people that if their houses were destroyed, the Marquis of Guanjun would rebuild them.

If the crops were destroyed, Guanjun Hou would compensate them according to the area of ​​land.

After arriving in the county town, they will be properly accommodated and will never be left to starve or cold.

If another official said such words, no one would believe such nonsense.

But now that it was the Marquis of Guanjun who made the guarantee, all the people believed it.

It has to be said that the image of Marquis Guanjun is like a god in the minds of the people in Jizhou.

And because the people were willing to trust Marquis Guanjun, the officials at the Jizhou border easily brought all the people at the border into the county town.

They voluntarily gave up the border villages and even the crops they grew on the border.

Of course, if the Qing Dynasty had not carried out the destruction, these people would have been able to return and continue living there in the future.

When the Manchu officials in these three states heard the news, they all burst into laughter.

While they laughed at Daxia's incompetence, they praised Princess Gulun for her perfect strategy.

The Marquis of Great Xia, with a great reputation and unparalleled military exploits, is he not being schemed against by their eldest princess now?

Once the eldest princess came up with her plan, even the Great Xia Champion Marquis had no choice but to retreat.

But how long can they retreat?

Unless they really give up so much of the border land.

Next, the Manchu officials in the three states decisively dispatched small groups of troops to continuously burn the empty villages that Daxia had already evacuated.

They just want to continue to destroy.

They just like to see Daxia being angry but having no way to deal with them.

The Qing Dynasty did not destroy the crops in the fields.

It’s not that they are kind, but when the crops are ripe, they can definitely harvest them.

Or if the people of Daxia come to harvest, they can come out and massacre them again.

If the Daxia army came to defend, they could also set fire directly.

In short, if they keep these crops and wait for them to mature, they will have countless ways to disgust Daxia.

What they didn't know was that at this time, the 3,000 cavalrymen of the Blade Legion led by Liu Xianglian were already ready and preparing to set off.

Each of these soldiers brought half a month's worth of food.

Their mission was to enter the Qing territory and burn, kill and loot everywhere.

Weren't the Qing Dynasty inhumane and wantonly massacred innocent people of Daxia?
Now, it’s our turn!

It is disrespectful to come and not go! (End of chapter)