I'm in the Red Mansion

However, the Jia family has now fallen to the point where the whole family has to eat porridge, and now the entire second branch of the Jia family has to rely on Jia Huan for survival.

Mrs. Wang is not a stupid person, so she would not make trouble about such things.

After hearing this, Jia Huan couldn't help but frown.

The Niu family is naturally of good family background, and this marriage is actually too high for him. Fortunately, it was the Niu family that proposed it first, so they don't have to worry about gossip.

What Jia Huan was considering was whether Miss Niu was pretty.

Thinking of this, Jia Huan couldn't help but say, "Brother Cong, General Niu Jizong is really ugly. I'm afraid his little girl will also take after his appearance."

"If I marry this girl, I'll get bored just by looking at her. How can we stay together forever?"

Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh and scolded, "As the saying goes, marry a virtuous wife and take a beautiful concubine, as for this wife, it is enough for her to be dignified and virtuous."

"If you want good-looking girls, you can just take in a few concubines later. Besides, a girl takes after her mother. Earl Niu is just a little rough, but he is not ugly."

Jia Cong himself was very dissatisfied with this.

However, this is the view on marriage and love and the values ​​of this era.

Jia Cong saw that Jia Huan was distracted and didn't listen at all.

He couldn't force her into marriage, so he couldn't help but say, "Forget it, forget it. If you're worried, I'll find a reason to find out what happened to the young lady from the Niu family."

"If I'm really ugly, I'll refuse this marriage proposal. Will that satisfy you?"

Hearing this, Jia Huan was overjoyed. He held Jia Cong's hand and said gratefully:
"Third Brother Cong, you are my real brother. I leave everything in my hands, Third Brother."

Next, Jia Cong really asked someone to investigate.

And the fact was just as Jia Cong had expected. Miss Niu was not ugly. On the contrary, she was quite beautiful. She just loved martial arts since childhood and had a grand temperament.

If he married her, I'm afraid she would dominate Jia Huan.

But this may not be a bad thing for Jia Huan.

Jia Huan had a naturally eccentric personality, although he changed a lot after becoming a general.

After all, it is easy to change the country but difficult to change one's nature.

It would be a great thing if someone could discipline us nowadays.

Therefore, Jia Cong painted a picture based on the information he had obtained.

Jia Cong did not embellish the picture. After all, after marrying her, Jia Huan still wanted to see her in person, so it was not easy to deceive him.

After finishing the painting, Jia Cong showed it to Jia Huan.

When Jia Huan saw her, he fell in love with her immediately and agreed without hesitation.

After receiving the reply, Niu Jizong was very happy and started to prepare a dowry for his young daughter.

Jia Huan went back to the Jia family again and told Grandmother Jia, Lady Wang and Aunt Zhao about the marriage.

When Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang heard this, they were happy but also felt a little sad.

They were happy that the Niu family was fond of their family. Their family had fallen on hard times now, and marrying into the Niu family was really a step above their station.

The sad thing is that Huan Ge'er is just a bastard's son.

Jia Baoyu, the legitimate son of the family, just married a beautiful girl from a humble family.

Jia Huan, the illegitimate son, suddenly surpassed Baoyu.

But for their family, this is a good thing, so there is no reason for them to refuse.

Therefore, the Jia family hurriedly sent a matchmaker to propose marriage.

During this period, the Jia family was unable to come up with the betrothal gifts and other items.

After all, their in-laws are from the Niu family, and their betrothal gift cannot humiliate them.

Unlike Jia Baoyu who married a beautiful girl from a small family, he didn't need much betrothal gift.

Jia Huan could afford the betrothal gift.

He has received a lot of rewards in the past few years, and there are several thousand taels of silver in his small treasury.

But now that the family business has not been divided, his private wealth cannot be seen in public and it is difficult to take it out.

Jia Cong had no choice but to take out some money and pay it first.

Next, the two families exchanged their horoscopes and quickly finalized the marriage.

Niu Jizong was also an impatient person and urged them to get married while they were young.

Niu Jizon had good intentions. Jia Huan was now eighteen years old, and Miss Niu was the same age as him.

Both of them are already old, and Jia Huan is a border soldier who rarely comes back once a year.

If you don’t get married before the New Year, it will have to be postponed until after the New Year.

Moreover, after the New Year, if there are factors such as war, we may not be able to come back.

As time goes by, you will inevitably get older.

Both families were military families, not poor scholars, so there was no need for so many red tape.

Therefore, it would be better to let them get married earlier.

However, the Niu family did put forward a request, which was that Jia Huan should separate his family after getting married.

Jia Huan didn't need anything from the second branch of the Jia family, even his heart, the Niu family was willing to give it to him.

After hearing this, Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang felt ashamed and angry.

But in the end he still agreed.

According to the rules of their Jia family, concubine's sons should be separated after they grow up.

The reason why the Niu family made such a request now must be that they knew the true situation of their family.

I'm afraid that after the marriage, the Jia family will become a burden to my son-in-law.

However, the Niu family did not give this house as a gift.

After learning about this, Jia Cong directly gave Jia Huan a luxurious house with five entrances.

And all the necessary furnishings are ready.

Jia Huan did not thank Jia Cong either.

Such kindness cannot be repaid with just a few words of thanks.

Ten days later, it will be stuck during the New Year.

Jia Huan wore a red flower on his chest, rode a tall horse, and went straight to the Niu family to welcome his bride with music and dance.

The Niu family also prepared 128 sets of dowry, which covered the entire ten miles of red wedding dress, once again stunning the people of the capital.

After they got married, they were as close as honey and glue as honey, and there was no need to overdo it.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Jia Huan brought his new bride to Ningguo Mansion to pay New Year's greetings.

Jia Huan also met his sister-in-law, who looked almost the same as the one he had drawn. She was indeed a heroic woman.

Moreover, after the Chinese New Year, banquets and social events are inevitable.

Jia Cong pushed it off as much as he could, he just wanted to stay at home and spend time with his family.

During these days, he spent more time with Xue Baochai than with his wife Lin Daiyu.

It’s not that Jia Cong prefers Xue Baoqin as his second wife.

But firstly, Lin Daiyu was of a calm nature and was not fond of sexual pleasure.

Secondly, Lin Daiyu already had a son, Xiangling had a daughter, and even Xue Baoqin had a son.

Qingwen is also pregnant and will give birth in a few months.

However, Xue Baochai had been married for several years but her belly had not shown any signs of pregnancy, which naturally made her very embarrassed.

Lin Daiyu was understanding and advised him to spend more time with Xue Baochai.

We must make Sister Bao pregnant.

And Xue Baochai is also a strong-willed person.

Therefore, he spent half of the ten days staying at Xue Baochai's place.

After the tenth day, Emperor Yonglong summoned Jia Cong.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Emperor Yonglong asked Jia Cong to sit down and talk.

Emperor Yonglong could not help but ask: "General Jia, when can we take back the land of Yanyun?"

Jia Cong cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think this year is a great opportunity."

"Now, after a few months of training, the new recruits will be able to join the war. After the autumn harvest, it will be a good time to raise troops!"

After hearing this, Emperor Yonglong could not help but slam his hands on the table and said, "Great! I and the people of Daxia have been waiting for this day for a long time."

"If we can recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, General Jia will surely go down in history, and I will definitely not treat General Jia unfairly!"

Jia Cong could not help but clasp his fists and say, "This is all thanks to your majesty's planning and winning the battle thousands of miles away. I am just a lucky coincidence."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yonglong couldn't help laughing and encouraged Jia Cong a few more words.

After leaving the palace, Jia Cong visited Prime Minister Kou and Lin Ruhai respectively.

When Kou Xiang and Lin Ruhai learned that Jia Cong was planning to fully recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun this year, they became solemn.

Neither of them was afraid that Jia Cong would fail to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and they did not doubt Jia Cong's ability at all.

They just reminded Jia Cong that he should not only plan for a job, but also learn how to plan for himself.

Be careful: when the birds are all gone, the good bows are put away; when the cunning rabbit is dead, the running dog is cooked.

Hearing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but show a thoughtful look on his face.

Yes, if he could fully recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, his reputation would be unparalleled.

But this achievement has probably reached the point where it is so great that it threatens the master.

The Jizhou army under his command could defeat the Qing army, and the Qing army could defeat the Xia army.

If we calculate it this way, if he led the Jizhou army to rebel, Daxia would be unstoppable.

In this situation, not to mention Emperor Yonglong, I am afraid that any emperor in history would be suspicious of himself!
Even if he were the emperor, he would probably be suspicious of such ministers.

The tiger has no intention to harm people, but people want to harm the tiger.

I have to prepare early.

However, as long as he does not leave the Yanyun area, the army in his hands will be trained by himself.

He held his own army and only followed orders but not decrees. Even Emperor Yonglong could not do much about it.

I never thought it would end up like this.

Next, Jia Cong stayed at home to accompany his family.

Among the little guys, the eldest one, Jia Cang, has become Jia Cong's shadow and stays around Jia Cong every day.

Jia Cong would always do a high toss, which made the little one giggle every time, while Lin Daiyu on the side would be worried and scared.

As for the eldest daughter, Jia Wei, she had already started babbling, but she could only crawl and could not walk or talk yet.

Jia Xiao was a little younger, but he learned to crawl.

These two little guys are not as outgoing as their big brother Jia Cang.

Jia Cong spent a lot of effort before he became proficient with the two little guys.

However, these two little guys are now very attached to Jia Cong.

This is also the reason why Jia Cong likes to hug them.

Now, these brothers and sisters all have their own wet nurses to feed them and little girls to hold them.

Even Lin Daiyu, Xiangling and Xue Baoqin rarely hug them on weekdays.

It was the old lady, Mrs. May, who held them more.

But now, even Mrs. Mei has retreated to the second line, and these three little ones are almost all taken care of by Jia Cong.

He often carried the eldest brother Jia Cang on his neck, and held Jia Wei and Jia Xiao in his arms, playing with the three little ones happily.

This scene is extremely rare in this era.

Especially in the Jia family.

They emphasize holding grandchildren on their laps and educating children under their laps, and they embrace grandchildren but not their children.

The masters of the East and West Mansions of the Jia family treated their sons like thieves, and would beat them to death immediately if they did something wrong.

How could there be someone like Jia Cong who wants to hold someone in his arms and not let go?
But Jia Cong enjoyed it.

This made the girls quite happy.

……

After the fifteenth day, Jia Cong took Jia Huan, Mei Shiming and Liu Xianglian back to Yanyun. After nearly a month of hard work by Jia Cong, Xue Baochai finally got pregnant as she wished.

Jia Huan and his new wife were deeply in love and reluctant to part.

Ten days later, the group went directly from Zhuozhou to Youzhou.

Now Jia Cong has moved the governor's mansion to Youzhou.

Youzhou was originally the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and it had a variety of very complete infrastructures.

Moving the Jiedushi Mansion here will naturally be more conducive to controlling the overall situation.

After returning, Jia Cong called Fu Cha Chusheng over.

Now, Fu Cha Chusheng almost regarded Jia Cong as his adoptive parent.

After being summoned by Jia Cong, Fu Cha Chusheng hurried over.

After the greeting, Jia Cong asked Fu Cha Chusheng to sit down and talk.

Jia Cong could not help but say: "General Fucha, in the next two years, I plan to make every effort to recover the Yanyun area."

"I have an important task for you to do, and only you can do it."

Fu Cha Chu Sheng knelt down and said, "Master, if you have anything to say, just tell me. I will go through fire and water for you without hesitation."

What a good servant indeed!
Among Jia Cong's subordinates, only Fu Cha Chusheng considered himself a servant.

Even the Jia family's retainers didn't do as well as he did.

However, Jia Cong didn't think of correcting him.

For Fucha Chusheng, his servile nature made it easier to control him.

Jia Cong couldn't help but say: "That's right. Although we have been fighting against the Qing Dynasty in recent years, whether it is field battles or sieges, we have been successful in almost every battle."

"The Qing soldiers are not stupid. They are familiar with our tactics and must be on guard."

"As the saying goes, knowing yourself and the enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles. If we don't know in advance what tactics they will use."

"Once the war breaks out, we might suffer a great loss."

"Therefore, I thought of sending a large number of people in advance to secretly gather information from the Qing Dynasty."

"And this mission is only capable of being undertaken by your Fucha Army."

"I want you to select a group of loyal, reliable, and flexible personnel to sneak into various states and wait for an opportunity to gather military intelligence."

"The more detailed information you gather, the more we will be able to gain the upper hand in battle."

"If the information you gather is good, you can at least defeat 100,000 elite soldiers. When the time comes, I will definitely commend you for your contribution!"

This is something that only Fu Cha Chu Sheng can do well.

After all, all the soldiers under his command were surrendered soldiers from the Qing Dynasty.

They went to get information and didn't need to put on any makeup.

And they are not too afraid of being exposed.

After all, there were too many Qing troops who surrendered, totaling as many as 60,000 to 70,000.

With so many people, even the Qing Dynasty would not be able to find out everyone's names.

Even if we know their names, it is impossible to draw portraits of all of them.

Even if portraits were drawn, it would be impossible for anyone to remember the portraits of tens of thousands of people.

Therefore, the Fucha Army was undoubtedly the best target for action.

After Fu Cha Chu Sheng heard this, he patted his chest and assured, "Master, don't worry. I will definitely handle this matter properly."

"Also, among the remaining cities, there are families who are on good terms with my Fucha family."

"I can contact them secretly and may be able to persuade them to rebel."

The Fucha family was implicated by Fucha Chusheng, and the entire family was executed by Kang Mazi.

However, the Fucha family also had several close families in the Qing Dynasty.

It is true that Fu Chachusheng may be able to incite them to rebel.

After hearing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but say, "It's better to focus on gathering information and instigate rebellion as a supplement."

"If the rebellion fails, our whereabouts will be exposed, which will probably make them alert."

After Fucha Chusheng heard this, he hurriedly said, "Master, please rest assured. I will only let you know the limits."

After listening to this, Jia Cong nodded and waved his hand to let Fu Cha Chusheng leave.

You know what, when Fu Cha first promoted this person, he was afraid of death.

But he is quite good at playing tricks.

Jia Cong felt quite relieved to hand this matter over to Fu Cha Chusheng.

It is only right to leave professional matters to professionals.

In the blink of an eye, it was already February.

Nine-nine plus one-nine, cattle walk everywhere.

Ordinary people began to get busy.

Jia Cong also personally supervised the farming situation of the people of Daxia in the five states.

After all, once the entire Yanyun territory is recovered, the entire Yanyun will become his territory to rule.

At the very least, he must achieve self-sufficiency in food and not be choked by food.

Therefore, farming is of vital importance.

This year, some people have already started planting spring corn, spring sweet potatoes and spring peanuts.

These three crops can be planted in spring or after the wheat is harvested.

The advantage of farming after harvesting the wheat is that you can achieve three harvests in two years.

In two years, you can harvest one more crop.

The advantage of farming in spring is that the yield per mu is higher.

In addition, the three crops planted in spring can continue to be cultivated as crops.

The wheat stubble, after harvest, cannot be used as crop.

If you force yourself to grow crops, they will become inferior crops.

That's the difference.

After farming, Jia Cong found the master and apprentice, Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest.

Let them start compiling teaching materials.

Next, Jia Cong decided to implement reforms in the five states.

For example, the five states can develop a new system to attract talent.

This system also requires examinations, but it relies on new knowledge.

After passing the exam, you can go directly to the Craftsmen's Camp to serve as an official.

At the same time, if there is any new scientific research, there will also be rewards, and you can even become an official.

Although the future of these officials is not as bright as those who passed the imperial examination, at least it provides another way to become an official.

And this road is easier to travel.

Jia Cong is prepared to vigorously promote the development of science and technology in this way.

At present, he naturally did not dare to abolish the imperial examination system directly in the five states, but he could also weaken the influence of the imperial examination system.

Jia Cong's focus has never been on Daxia, but on the entire world.

Western technology is developing at a rapid pace, but they are greedy and trying to colonize the world.

There will inevitably be a battle between Daxia and these jackals.

If you fall behind, you will be beaten, so it is better to develop technology quickly.

In the following time, Jia Cong began to urge the firearms battalion to vigorously produce bullets and artillery shells.

At the same time, he ordered Tang Ruowang and Nan Huairen, his apprentice, to develop a more powerful cannon.

Soon, it was March, and Qingwen gave birth to a son safely.

Jia Cong named him Jia Xun, and Mrs. Mei gave him a nickname called Changsheng.

For several months, the five states of Jizhou were all gearing up for war in the autumn.

Of course, the generals of the eleven states of the Qing Dynasty were also not idle.

They began to carry out targeted prevention and control measures based on the siege characteristics of the Jizhou army.

For example, to thicken the city gates, there are a large number of huge stones reserved behind each gate.

Once the Jizhou army attacked the city, they could quickly block the gate with boulders.

At the same time, they were also thickening the city walls.

Of course, thickening the city wall is not a matter of overnight, so they can only choose to reinforce the weak points.

At the same time, they also buried a large amount of gunpowder in strategic locations within the city.

They planned to retreat if they were defeated, and then secretly ignite the gunpowder, which would surely kill a large number of the Jizhou army.

I believe that it won’t take more than a few times to scare the Jizhou army into submission.

However, their large-scale construction projects brought suffering to the people of Daxia under their rule.

Because all of these are labor.

Many Daxia people were worked to death or beaten to death by them.

The people of Daxia were praying secretly, hoping that Marquis Guanjun would be able to capture the city as soon as possible and kill these Tartars.

What the Qing Dynasty didn't know was that there were already many more Lao Liu in each of their cities.

In this era, there are spies and intelligence personnel.

But their intelligence prevention work was not detailed enough after all.

Moreover, these old men were originally Manchus, and were impossible to guard against at all.

These old men could easily record the changes in the city.

There is a lot of information that you don’t need to find out specifically.

As long as the ground is broken, it will be impossible to hide it from others.

Even if there are some other secrets, they can be found out from those small generals and leaders by just treating them to a few drinks.

These people from the Fucha Army were gradually finding out news from various cities of the Qing Dynasty.

But as for the Qing Dynasty, I thought they were secretive enough.

As long as the Jizhou army dares to launch an attack on them, they will be hit hard.

What they didn't know was that their every move was almost completely recorded by Xia Jun.

In Xia Jun's eyes, they have no secrets at all.

Both sides are wrestling.

Time flies by like a fleeting moment.

Soon it was May, the apricots turned yellow, and it was time to harvest the wheat.

After harvesting the wheat, it’s time to plant sweet potatoes, corn and peanuts.

The people of Daxia in the five states were all busy.

But the smiles on their faces were sweet.

Because this year is a year of bumper harvest.

The crops they planted will have another good harvest in more than three months.

This year, they no longer have to worry about having no food to eat.

……

Time flies by like a fleeting moment.

The grass is green for a few times, and the maple leaves are red again.

Before we knew it, it was the autumn harvest season.

This year has been a year of good weather and a bumper harvest.

The people of the five states of Jizhou all had smiles on their faces that they couldn't hide. (End of this chapter)