The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 893 The Plan
Just as Emperor Ningkang finally erupted in his rage after days of anger, the eunuchs were extremely cautious in cleaning up the porcelain shards, fearing they might bring trouble upon themselves.

A eunuch entered hesitantly.

Emperor Ningkang was looking for someone to vent his anger on, and upon seeing this, he immediately glared at him menacingly.

The eunuch was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud and reported, "Your Majesty... the Duke of Rong requests an audience."

Emperor Ningkang was taken aback, then roared angrily, "I won't see him!"

The young eunuch dared not ask any more questions, simply responded, and got up to leave.

"return!"

The little eunuch could only stand still.

Emperor Ningkang hesitated for a long time before finally sitting back down behind his desk and saying in a calmer tone, "Let him in."

"Yes……"

The young eunuch left, full of doubt.

Seeing that Emperor Ningkang's anger had clearly subsided, Kong Si dared to tentatively ask, "Your Majesty, shall I go and sound out the Jurchen envoy's intentions again?"

"No need."

"Yes."

"He needs to recover from his injury, so let's wait until he's fully recovered before discussing peace."

"Yes."

"You've worked hard too, you can go now."

"Yes, thank you Your Majesty."

As soon as Kong Si stepped out of the South Study, he bumped into Jia Lian, who was coming from the opposite direction.

Although Kong Si belonged neither to the pro-war nor the pro-peace faction, he had heard of Jia Lian's repeated visits to the palace to request permission to fight.

He praised Jia Lian's dedication to serving the country.

So when Jia Lian passed by him and they exchanged greetings, he whispered a reminder: "His Majesty is in a very bad mood right now, Rong Gong, please be careful."

Jia Lian was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you for reminding me, Lord Kong. However, if His Majesty is in a good mood, I might not have come."

After Jia Lian finished speaking, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and walked over.

This surprised Kong Si.

It took him a while to understand what Jia Lian meant, and he couldn't help but give Jia Lian a thumbs up in his heart.

He immediately felt a pang of envy.

As expected of His Majesty's favorite minister, he is not afraid of offending the emperor at all.

He shook his head and left the palace, heading towards the Ministry of Rites.

As Jia Lian entered the Southern Study, he was met with Emperor Ningkang's cold, aloof face, as if someone owed him money.

Jia Lian ignored him and, after paying his respects according to custom, was surprised when Emperor Ningkang asked him a question first.

"What are you here for?"

"Your subject has come to request permission to fight."

The blunt answer made Emperor Ningkang's expression visibly darken.

"You keep bothering me with this, are you taking advantage of my favor, or do you think I'm patient and are therefore testing my limits?"

"Neither. I am doing this to share Your Majesty's burdens and to help the court resolve its difficulties."

Besides…”

Jia Lian glanced at Emperor Ningkang and said in a weaker tone, "My request to fight is only to show that I have a heart to serve the country."

As for whether or not to grant permission, that is ultimately up to His Majesty.

I did not force Your Majesty to agree to my request. Every time Your Majesty asked me to leave, I would stay in the palace and refuse to leave.
The reason I come to see you every day is not because I think that if Your Majesty changes your mind and decides to conquer the Jurchens, I can share your burden in time.

I hope Your Majesty will not misunderstand my sincere intentions.

Jia Lian's words made Emperor Ningkang glance at him sideways.

Especially his last words, "what if he changes his mind?", left him feeling quite uneasy.

Because he knew in his heart that he did want to change his strategy.

But this kid said it to my face, doesn't he, the emperor, have any dignity?
He then feigned indifference and said, "Absurd. Even if I were to wage a large-scale war against the Jurchens, why should I necessarily use you among all the officials of the court?"

Jia Lian said, "Because I know best the harm the Jurchens can cause, and because I know best Your Majesty's difficulties, I am definitely Your Majesty's best choice."

"Oh?"

Emperor Ningkang almost laughed, then sat up straight and said, "Tell me about it."

Jia Lian was immediately delighted upon hearing this.

Without needing any instructions from Emperor Ningkang, he immediately took out a map from his robes and walked directly toward Emperor Ningkang.

Seeing this, Dai Quan, who was standing nearby, wanted to remind Jia Lian not to overstep his bounds.

Emperor Ningkang waved his hand at him, indicating that he did not need to say anything more.

Dai Quan shut up, but Jia Lian found the eunuchs in the hall an eyesore, so he turned around and said, "Eunuch Dai, what I am about to say to His Majesty should not be known by any other people. Please have everyone else leave."

Dai Quan was helpless.

If it were anyone else, he would have thought the other person was courting death.

However, this wasn't the first time Jia Lian had danced on the edge of Emperor Ningkang's knife, so he was momentarily at a loss for how to react.

Fortunately, Emperor Ningkang immediately said, "Listen to him, all of you step down. Dai Quan, you step down as well."

Emperor Ningkang wanted to see what kind of wicked scheme Jia Lian was plotting behind all this secrecy.

After Dai Quan and the other eunuchs withdrew, Emperor Ningkang said in advance, "Since you just said that you know my difficulties best, then I will say this in advance."

With the imperial treasury empty and the Tatars eyeing the country covetously from the outside, the court is simply unable to launch a large-scale war.

Therefore, if you cannot come up with a practical and feasible solution, I absolutely cannot agree to it.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian smiled and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. If Your Majesty appoints me as general, I will absolutely not ask for more troops."

"Your Majesty only needs to give me the musketeers from the musketeer battalion, plus the eight thousand naval officers and soldiers of Tianjin Garrison, and that will suffice."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Ningkang's heart stirred.

Without diverting troops from the border regions or moving the Beijing garrison, and only involving the musketeer army and the Tianjin naval force, the overall situation would indeed have little impact...

However, Emperor Ningkang immediately shook his head.

how is this possible.

With only ten thousand soldiers, how could they possibly be a match for the Jurchens!

So he said, "There is no joking in the army. Do you know that Huo Zhao personally led 20,000 elite troops out of the pass and also drew a lot of troops from the military towns along the way, and still lost under such circumstances?"

With only these two armies, totaling only ten thousand men, how can you possibly win?
Since you are paying attention to the situation in Liaodong, you should know that the Jurchens and the Tatars have long been in cahoots.

The reason the Tatars have remained inactive is simply because the court has not yet mobilized the northern border troops, so they dare not act rashly for the time being.

The imperial court has now suffered a defeat in Liaodong.

If we lose again... do you know the consequences?

Emperor Ningkang stared intently into Jia Lian's eyes.

This world belongs to him, and in the face of such a major event, he has no choice but to be extremely careful.

Jia Lian replied solemnly, "Of course I know. If I suffer another defeat in Liaodong, the Jurchens will be able to advance unimpeded."

At best, the entire Liaodong region will be lost; at worst, the Tatars and Jurchens will launch a two-pronged attack southwards, their forces threatening the capital of our Great Wei and the safety of Your Majesty!

Emperor Ningkang nodded: "Since you know the consequences, why do you still insist that I send troops?"

"Yes."

"reason."

Jia Lian replied, "As long as the Jurchens are not destroyed, Liaodong will never have peace, and neither will our Great Wei."

Jia Lian didn't say much, such as that the Jurchens would eventually enter the pass.

That's too fantastical. If it weren't for people from later generations, who could believe that a mere few hundred thousand Jurchens could rule over the Chinese people for hundreds of years?
If the court had previously underestimated the Jurchens, after Huo Zhao's defeat, it is believed that both the court and Emperor Ningkang began to take the threat posed by the Jurchens seriously.

After pondering for a moment, Emperor Ningkang suddenly asked, "You want me to understand the firearms battalion, probably because you believe that firearms can counter the Jurchen cavalry."

"What is the meaning of your request for a navy?"

Jia Lian smiled slightly and finally decided to unfold the geomantic map he had prepared, which covered the entire terrain of Liaodong.

"Your Majesty, do you know that the Jurchens, though seemingly fierce and claiming to have a strong army, actually have a population of no more than 100,000 in all the Jurchen tribes in Liaodong and beyond, including the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River region?"

Although every household in these countries raises horses and every person is a soldier, they have now joined forces to invade our Great Wei.

But according to my estimation, their total fighting force is at most twenty to thirty thousand cavalry!

The cavalry charges across plains and mountains were indeed earth-shattering and unmatched.

But I think we don't need to confront them directly.

Your Majesty, I plan to draw fifty Zhenyuan cannons from the artillery battalion, escorted by several thousand soldiers, and send them out of Shanhaiguan Pass. They will eventually join forces with the Prince of Beijing in Liaocheng to form a main battlefield and draw the attention of the main Jurchen force.

Secretly, I led several thousand musketeers and naval officers and soldiers from the sea, passed through Liaodong Bay, landed by sea, and plunged straight into the enemy's heartland.

The Jurchens, having won a great victory in their first battle, will surely become arrogant. With the Tatars acting as a cover, they will never expect us to launch a surprise attack by sea… Once this cavalry lands by sea and penetrates deep into enemy territory, while the main Jurchen force is tied down on the main battlefield and unable to return in time, the Jurchens will be annihilated.”

Emperor Ningkang perked up: "What do you mean?"

"As I said before, the Jurchen population is very small. The reason they can pose a certain threat to our Great Wei is that they are just a temporary tribal alliance."

In such a tribal alliance, if the war goes smoothly, everything will be peaceful.

If things don't go smoothly, such as if their rear base is destroyed, morale will instantly collapse and disintegration will be inevitable.

After my cavalry force penetrates deep into the Jurchen territory, it will not turn back to seek out the main Jurchen force and attempt to annihilate it through a combined attack from within and without. Instead, it will divide its forces into multiple routes, heading straight for the strongholds of the major Jurchen tribes and destroying their foundations.

"How to eliminate them?"

A hint of compassion flashed in Jia Lian's eyes: "If my elite force had five thousand men, regardless of the old, weak, women and children, each of them would only need to kill ten people, and we could behead fifty thousand."

If my elite force had eight thousand men, it could behead eighty thousand.

"In that case, how could the Jurchens not be destroyed?"

Emperor Ningkang was deeply shaken.

He understood what Jia Lian meant.

To put it simply, Jia Lian's tactics were to use his strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

Weren't the Jurchens known for their numerous and formidable cavalry?

Surely you can't have men, women, young and old all with formidable fighting power, right?

I will not fight your organized cavalry; I will simply destroy your stronghold and slaughter your people.

If Jia Lian's speculation is true, and the total population of the Jurchens is indeed less than 100,000, then there would be no need for each person to kill ten people.

All it takes is killing tens of thousands of Jurchens, and the Jurchens will be annihilated.

He stared blankly at Jia Lian, as if he were seeing this young man he had personally promoted for the first time.

"If that's really the case, aren't you afraid of being condemned for all eternity?"

Jia Lian said, "Extraordinary matters require extraordinary measures."

If these Jurchens had simply stayed obediently in the land between the white mountains and black waters, and had not invaded my borders or killed my people, why would I have to do this?

My strategy is simply to use their own methods against them.

As for the bad reputation...

As the saying goes, a great achievement for all ages will be judged by future generations.

"I only know that for the sake of the court and Your Majesty, this strategy can resolve the Jurchen threat at the lowest possible cost."

Emperor Ningkang took a deep breath.

He was not one to be easily swayed by sentimentality; he immediately saw the ruthlessness and feasibility of Jia Lian's plan.

It can be said that if Jia Lian's plan succeeds, he will not even need to achieve full success.

By simply annihilating a few Jurchen tribes, the Jurchen army would inevitably be filled with fear, and the alliance would collapse without a fight.

Once the main force of the Jurchens falls into disarray, the imperial court will be in an invincible position on the main battlefield, able to attack or defend as needed!
The only concern is that if the Jurchen army returns to reinforce, this isolated force will risk being completely annihilated.

However, if the problem of the Jurchens could be resolved, even temporarily, it would give the court and him a much-needed respite.

Even if all these thousands of men were to perish, it would be worth it!
Emperor Ningkang voiced his doubts and discovered that Jia Lian had made a budget, and that the plan was not made on a whim.

His heart was also completely ignited.

He was an emperor, and in everything he did, he considered failure before victory.

He had initially planned based on a less favorable scenario.

If Jia Lian could truly manage to annihilate the Jurchen population, it would be tantamount to inflicting another heavy blow on this foreign race that has had a profound and negative impact on China since the Song Dynasty.

This achievement deserves to be recorded in history.

After pondering for a long time, Emperor Ningkang said, "In that case, in addition to the musketeers, I will grant you permission to take an additional one hundred Zhenyuan cannons out of the pass..."

Just as Jia Lian was about to refuse, he said, "Your Majesty, the journey is fraught with danger and the mountains are high. Bringing so many heavy cannons would be inconvenient."

Emperor Ningkang shook his head and said, "According to your plan, we must not lose on the main battlefield."

If the frontal assault is like Huo Zhao's, collapsing as soon as it meets the enemy, without giving the surprise attack any time, then this plan will absolutely not work.

Only by ensuring that the Jurchen main force is not routed in a direct confrontation can we put them in a dilemma!

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian understood Emperor Ningkang's meaning.

Anyway, there's no requirement for marching speed on the front lines; just let the Jurchens know that the imperial court has sent a large army to conquer them again.

With so much heavy artillery threatening them, the enemy cavalry dared not charge recklessly.

"In addition, I will transfer another 5,000 men from the Beijing Garrison to escort this batch of heavy artillery to Liaocheng."

When Jia Lian heard that Emperor Ningkang was willing to give him another 5,000 soldiers, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

This also solved the problem of his limited troop strength.

So he smiled and cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "In that case, thank you very much, Your Majesty."

Emperor Ningkang snorted, feeling somewhat displeased.

He hadn't even agreed to Jia Lian's request to fight yet, but as they talked, the conversation had already turned to how to plan and how to send troops.

I have a feeling that I've been tricked by this kid.

"The court is also facing difficulties right now, so I can't do too much for you."

"What other requests do you have? Just say them. As long as they are not excessive, I will grant them."

Jia Lian, oblivious to formalities, laughed and said, "Your Majesty, I do indeed have two requests..."

Before Emperor Ningkang could change his expression, Jia Lian hurriedly said, "Firstly, Your Majesty knows that I am taking a risky move this time, and my forces are not many to begin with."

If all troops cannot be deployed as effectively as an extension of one's own arm, things will certainly go wrong.

Therefore, in order to prevent others from hindering my work, I humbly request that Your Majesty not appoint a commander for the five thousand troops you are allocating.

Emperor Ningkang frowned and looked at Jia Lian with displeasure.

If anyone else had said this, it would have been clear that they wanted to monopolize military power, which the emperor would not allow.

However, considering that Jia Lian's demands were indeed very low and that he had done what he said at the beginning—to do his best for the court and for him—he nodded and said, "Alright," even though he was displeased.

"Secondly, the Jurchen envoys are still in the capital, and the court officials have not yet reached a consensus on whether to fight or make peace in this war."

Therefore, in order to give Your Majesty more time to prepare, I suggest that Your Majesty temporarily conceal the news of the military expedition.

Take those five thousand men for example. My suggestion is that they should not be transferred from the capital garrison. Instead, I should secretly borrow them from other military governors and garrisons..."

Emperor Ningkang began to ponder.

Indeed, the imperial court is still negotiating peace, so the Jurchens are probably quite relaxed in their guard.

Once they know that the court has broken off relations, the Jurchens will be prepared.

This is indeed detrimental to the implementation of the plan.

Emperor Ningkang then asked, "If you are keeping this from the court, where will your army's provisions and supplies come from?"

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Your Majesty need not worry about that."

Tianjin is currently undergoing a major construction project. I have gathered thousands of craftsmen there and also stockpiled a large amount of grain.

I suggest we move this batch of grain away for use as a surprise attack.

As for the main force, I never intended to keep it a secret indefinitely; at most, it would become known to everyone when we crossed Shanhaiguan Pass.

Secondly, the army is not large in number, and even if reinforcements are needed later, there will be enough time.

What could Emperor Ningkang say upon hearing this?
This is the difference between a capable minister and a mediocre minister.

Mediocre officials always wait for the court to arrange everything.

A capable minister is one who has done all the preparation before taking on any task.

Without further ado, he said directly, "In that case, I will issue an edict to Su Keguang regarding the firearms battalion, instructing him to take his troops out of the city under the pretext of intensive training."

As for the five thousand soldiers, since they weren't drawn from the capital garrison..."

Emperor Ningkang thought for a moment. Although the Guan Ning Army was on the way, some of them had been drawn from Huo Zhao's expedition last time, and the rest were still needed to guard local areas, so it was inconvenient to draw troops from there again.

So he said, "Isn't your Jia family closely associated with Yun Guang? In that case, let's draw these five thousand soldiers from Chang'an."

It's a bit far, but Jia Lian thinks he'll need a few more days to prepare, so it should be enough time.

When Jia Lian heard Emperor Ningkang say that the Jia family and Yun Guang had a good relationship, he knew that this was a deliberate reminder from Emperor Ningkang to show his omniscience as an emperor and to warn his subordinates to refrain from making any underhanded moves.

They didn't show the same fear and trepidation as Jia Zheng. After all, having spent so much time with the emperor, they were used to such imperial methods.

He showed a slight change in expression, then repeatedly praised the emperor's wisdom.

With all negotiations completed, Jia Lian prepared to take his leave and make preparations.

But Emperor Ningkang stopped him.

Emperor Ningkang looked at him intently, with a hint of earnestness in his eyes: "This battle is of great importance. I hope you will continue as always and live up to my expectations!"

Jia Lian knelt on one knee and solemnly said, "I will never fail Your Majesty!"

After saying that, he got up and strode away.

(End of this chapter)