serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 91

The eighth day of July in the second year of Jianwu.

On the official road leading to Juyongguan, the grain transport convoy stretches for more than ten miles, mighty and mighty.

At Chaoyangmen Wharf, horse-drawn carts and mule carts full of grain and grass were driven onto the official road and headed for Juyongguan.

On the Yongding River, boats full of food are heading towards Chaoyangmen Wharf.

Yongdingmen Tower
Niu Jizong, Shangshu of the Ministry of War put down his clairvoyance, and asked Zhao Zixun, Shangshu of the Ministry of Household, "How long will it take to finish the shipment?"

Zhao Zixun: "Two months' food for the 20 army, even if it is shipped day and night, it will take ten and a half months."

Niu Jizong thought for a while: "It's too slow, can you think of a way?"

Zhao Zixun pondered for a while, and then replied: "You can first adjust the grain from the official warehouses in the prefectures and counties of the capital, and then supply them with the Annan rice."

Niu Jizong: "Okay. The Ministry of Households will draft the paperwork, and the Ministry of War will use the seal. Let the cabinet approve it immediately."

As soon as the words fell, there was an earth-shattering sound of horseshoes in the distance, and a yellow dragon several miles long rolled up on the official road, rolling loudly, with an astonishing momentum!

Niu Jizong raised his clairvoyance, looked at it, and said with a smile, "Xie Qiong is back."

Zhao Zixun was a little surprised. Xie Qiong came back so quickly after traveling thousands of miles on such a day. Although it was one person with three horses, it had only been ten days since he set off.

After two months of investigation, the case of the Weapons Bureau finally came to a conclusion.

With the cooperation of the Yongweiying, the Ministry of Criminal Justice destroyed the secret spot of the Salt Gang hidden in Daxing, copied a large amount of stolen goods, and even found letters and account books. It was finally determined that the remnants of the Salt Gang bought and colluded with the former chief eunuch of the Military Bureau. , stole the blueprint of the self-generating gun.

He also learned about the stronghold of the Yan Gang hidden in Nancheng from the remnants of the captured Salt Gang. Unfortunately, he was a step too late and failed to catch any survivors. However, he found an important message from the letters that were not completely burned: the Salt Gang was in Huai'an. Build self-generated firecrackers at the junction of Yangzhou Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture.

After the efforts of King Shuirong of Beijing and the Ministry of Criminal Justice, the general location was finally determined. The workshop where the Yanbang made self-generated firecrackers was hidden in certain villages along the Baoyingjing section of the Grand Canal.

Because he was worried that the news would leak out, the emperor agreed to Shui Rong's suggestion, and ordered Xie Qiong to lead two thousand cavalry from the brave guard battalion, each with three horses, to raid the workshop of the Salt Gang and wipe out the remnants of the Salt Gang hidden there.

Not to mention the combat capability, just relying on this kind of surprise attack capability, the cavalry of the Yongwei Battalion has almost caught up with the [-] Battalion.

It is no wonder that the emperor sent internal officials to the Yongwei Battalion to supervise the army.

Thinking of Zhao Xi, the censor of Youqian Capital, he couldn't help shaking his head and smiling wryly.

Because of his affairs, the military had a big fight with the civil servants, and in the end the censor Pei Yan pledged the lives of more than a hundred members of Pei's family as a guarantee, which allowed Zhao Xi's family to leave Beijing and go to Qiantang.

Just when everyone thought the matter was over, Zhao Xi had just taken office, when he was disowned, broke into the ammunition warehouse, was beaten with fifty army sticks in public, his ass was smashed, and he was barely able to get out of bed yesterday.

Such a fierce confrontation made him very worried, and he hoped that it would not affect the battle!
Niu Jizong spoke: "Zhao Shangshu?"

Zhao Zixun came back to his senses: "Yeah." Then, he smiled awkwardly: "I was just thinking about the expenses of the army. Once the war starts, it will cost nearly 10 taels a day!" By the end of the year, it is estimated that the 500 million taels of bank silver will be used."

Niu Jizong glanced at the cavalrymen of the Yongwei Battalion who were approaching, turned around and said to Zhao Zixun: "If we don't fight this battle now, we will have to be beaten passively in the future!"

"Ah!" Zhao Zixun sighed, but he had no choice but to ask, "Can we end the war before the first snow falls on the grassland?"

Niu Jizong replied flatly: "This battle is mainly to eliminate the main force of Chahar."

Zhao Zixun was stunned, stood there silent for a long time, then nodded.

"Old cow!" Xie Qiong's voice came from below the city.

Niu Jizong smiled: "Come on, let's enter the palace!" He turned around and strode down.

Ningguo Mansion, meeting hall.

The door of the hall is open, and the four large bronze ice mirrors at the four corners of the hall are emitting white air.

Jia Hu sat at the head, holding an account book, and slowly flipping through it.

In front of the two accounting desks on the left and right, two accountants are quickly counting the accounts sent from Jiangsu and Zhejiang with their left hands and right hands.

In the middle of the hall stood a large wooden box rimmed with copper skin. Lai Sheng and Lin Zhixiao personally took out the account books from the large wooden box and sent them to the account table, and put the account books that had been calculated from the account table back into the large wooden box.

Jia Rong presented the calculated account pages to Jia Hu who was sitting at the top.

Jia Hu compared the account pages with the general ledger in his hand one by one, and found no problems so far.

These are Jia Hu's accounts in the first half of the first half of the year in more than a dozen villages and [-] mu of high-quality paddy fields in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Some were rewarded by the royal family, and some were given by salt merchants. Excluding expenses, they sent a total of more than [-] taels .

Much more than expected.

The sound of counting beads gradually faded away, and after a while, the two accountants finished all the accounts.

Jia Rong took the last two account pages: "Go down."

The two accountants walked out with their own calculations.

Lin Zhixiao directed the servants to pack up the pens, ink, papers and inkstones, and gently carried the two tents out.

After reading the last account page, Jia Hu put these account pages in the general ledger, and said to Jia Rong: "These money should be put into the public account and used as the government's expenses."

Jia Rong: "Yes."

At this time, a group of daughters-in-law and maids surrounded You Shi and came in through the back door, and Jia Rong hurried forward to salute.

You Shi waved his hand, walked over and said to Jia Hu: "The things have been delivered to all the rooms, and the old lady asked if the second uncle would come to have dinner."

"Sister-in-law, please sit down."

Jia Hu smiled, took out a bank note from his sleeve and handed it to Jia Rong, "Take someone to take out the bank note."

One hundred thousand taels?
Jia Rong was startled at first, and then asked, "Did uncle say hello?"

Jia Hu nodded: "2 taels will be sent to the Military Weapons Bureau, and the rest will be sealed in the treasury."

"Yes." Jia Rong agreed, saluted You Shi again, turned and walked out.

Jia Hu took the tea bowl from Yindie, took a sip, and said, "You all go out, I have something to tell your grandma."

"Yes." Yindie led his daughter-in-law and servant girl out, the door was not closed, and she stood far away under the corridor.

Jia Hu stood up, took a tea bowl, walked to Youshi and sat down, and said: "The army is about to start, I have two things to tell my sister-in-law."

Youshi: "What's the matter?"

"Grandpa Jiao is helping me with a very important matter, which may require a lot of money. I told the soldiers guarding the bank that my sister-in-law can withdraw it directly if it is less than 5 taels."

Youshi was startled, and Jia Hu continued: "The other thing is, if Cheng Shiyao and the others have a letter, sister-in-law can just send it to the elder."

Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice: "If there is any bad news from the grassland, sister-in-law, don't worry, and tell the old ladies not to worry, I will be fine."

After a pause, "it will be fine."

How could You Shi not understand?But he was still a little worried, and he clenched his hands tightly, "You must be careful!"

Jia Hu nodded, suddenly remembered something, and asked, "What happened to his second aunt?"

Mrs. You clearly referred to Second Sister You, sighed, and said: "The child of a small family has never seen the world, and is blinded by wealth, making her unable to see herself clearly, and pretending to marry into the Hou Men's mansion." Dream."

Jia Hu splashed a sip of tea on the ground, then looked at Youshi in shock.

Youshi was startled for a moment, then smiled: "Second Uncle thinks too much, she doesn't have the guts yet."

As she spoke, she sighed in her heart, if she could, she hoped to have a younger sister to marry Jia Hu, even though she could only be a concubine.It's a pity that Jia Hu is not like other honorable children. Up to now, there is only Amber by his side.

Jia Hu's expression became serious: "She couldn't be more attracted to Jia Lian, right?!"

Yushi nodded awkwardly.

Jia Hu's expression changed: "Then hurry up and find someone to marry her."

Youshi nodded numbly.

At this time, Lin San led the cavalry camp guerrillas who followed Xie Qiong to the south and came in through the moon gate of the yard.

You Shi hurriedly got up: "Second Uncle is busy first." Then he asked: "How about the old lady?"

Jia Hu thought for a while, "Let's talk about it."

"Okay." Youshi waved to Yindie and the others, turned around and walked towards the backyard.

"Big guy!"

The cavalry guerrilla strode in and gave a military salute, "The last general was ordered to accompany General Xie to go south to encircle and suppress the remnants of the Salt Gang and he has returned."

Jia Hu: "How is it?"

Riding camp guerrilla: "The end will be equal to the third day of July when I arrived in the northern part of Baoying County. With the support of the Cao Gang, I successfully raided the salt gang workshops hidden in two villages. According to the command of the commander, all the remnants of the salt gang All were beheaded. A total of 130 five-barreled self-generating guns were seized, and a large number of unassembled gun barrels were also seized."

Jia Hu nodded: "How about the warehouse?"

Riding camp guerrilla: "A total of 750 shots of self-igniting guns were obtained. Except for the rough workmanship, it is a bit cumbersome, but the power is not bad."

A smile appeared on Jia Hu's face: "You have worked hard, and each of you will be rewarded with 50 taels of silver. I have several villages in Jiangning, and I will give you 5000 acres to support your family, and I will reward you with another [-] taels of silver."

The guerrilla of the riding camp knelt down and kowtowed excitedly: "Master Grace, I will repay you for going up the mountain of swords and going down the sea of ​​fire in a humble position."

"Get up." Jia Hu asked again: "Have you found any important figures from the Salt Gang?"

Cavalry Guerrilla: "No." He hesitated for a while, "I suspect that the Salt Gang has other workshops."

Jia Hu: "What did you find?"

The guerrilla of the cavalry camp was silent for a while, and replied: "Among the hundreds of firecrackers recovered from that warehouse, the workmanship is obviously more refined. I tried it in a humble position, and the power is similar to that of the Military Weapons Bureau."

Paused, "It's not the same as the ones in the workshop."

"Oh?"

A cold light flashed in Jia Hu's eyes, and he stood up slowly. As expected, Shui Rong lied, and he had an unusual relationship with Yang Kaiwu.

It's just that I don't know why Yang Kaiwu was weakened by the court's hand. It seems that there is a conflict between them.

Those unusual firecrackers were probably made by Shui Rong, and I don’t know how many self-generating firecrackers he made, so everything made sense now, Zhen Fu transferred the money from the weaving bureau to Shui Rong.

It seems that he is another person who does not believe in fate!

Thinking of this, he asked the guerrillas in the cavalry camp: "Where are these firecrackers?"

Guerrilla in the riding camp: "It has been sent to the camp."

Jia Hu: "No one saw it?"

The guerrilla of the riding camp replied loudly: "Don't worry, Commander, no outsiders will see it."

"We're about to go on an expedition, go down and rest."

"promise!"

Looking at his back, Jia Hu calculated in his mind that the Yongwei Battalion now has four firearms battalions, and has received another two thousand Xiyi muskets. With this batch, two more firearms battalions can be formed. , If you count the [-] Xiyi muskets in the cavalry camp, the Yongwei Battalion has more than [-] self-generating guns.

With the addition of 250 cannons, as long as they are not beaten by the prairie crowd, the battle will be stable.

East City, Zhao Xi Mansion.

Zhao Xi was lying on the bed, and the doctor was changing his dressing.

The doctor: "There is another reminder."

Zhao Xi sullenly said, "It's not like you don't know about my situation!"

The doctor smiled wryly: "There is no way, the war is about to start. The Manchus asked us to find out the weapons and equipment of the Yongwei Battalion."

Zhao Xi waved his hand impatiently: "Okay, I want to kill Jia Hu more than they do. The problem now is that even if I go to the military camp, I can't get close to the ammunition warehouse, and I can't even tell those people about the firearms camp. The soldiers inquired. Jia Hu is too strict in governing the army."

The doctor: "Then think of a way."

Zhao Xi sneered: "What is the solution? I can't force my way into Jia Hu's Chinese military tent again! I will die."

"All right."

The doctor tidied his clothes, packed the medicine bag, and said: "Your family should have passed Yangzhou, as long as the boat enters the Yangtze River, it will be safe."

Zhao Xi stared at him and said viciously, "Then what do you think should be done?"

The doctor smiled at him and said, "That's right. We are in a boat. If the boat capsizes, everyone will die. Your life is precious. Even if everyone dies, you must live."

Zhao Xi was taken aback: "Why?"

The doctor said in a low voice: "Since they learned that the Yongwei Battalion was going out alone, the Manchus have been quietly mobilizing troops to wipe out the Yongwei Battalion in Suiyuan and Guihua, cut off Jia Hu's head and bring them back to Shengjing. "

Zhao Xi was startled, and asked anxiously, "Why is there no news at all?"

"Do you think that the Manchu Qing Dynasty is still the Great Jin Kingdom of the former Ming Dynasty?" The doctor interrupted him, "It is estimated that the Yongwei Battalion will be more or less fortunate this time, with [-] elites, it will severely weaken the strength of the imperial court. Heh, I guess the dog The emperor can cry."

Zhao Xi stood up with a limp: "You want me to bring the Yongwei Battalion into the encirclement that the Manchus set up in advance?"

The doctor nodded.

Zhao Xi asked again: "Then what should I do?"

The doctor was silent.

Zhao Xi laughed, and his hands trembled a little, "I expected it a long time ago, but you think highly of me, Zhao Xi, and I don't have the ability."

The doctor patted him: "You don't need to worry about this."

Zhao Xi swallowed and asked, "What will you do with my family?"

The doctor smiled wryly: "You think too badly of our Bailian sect, we are not those civil servants." He said to Zhao Xi seriously: "Your family will be sent to Taiwan, our family is all there, we will Take care of them."

Zhao Xi breathed a sigh of relief, and asked again: "What should I do? Why don't I take the risk again!"

The doctor hesitated for a while before replying: "Forget it. Since the Manchus dared to say that they would wipe out the Yongwei camp, they must have been well prepared. It would be bad if Jia Hu was shocked. As for the Yongwei The battalion’s weapons and equipment. You can guess the number and report it.”

Zhao Xi was stunned for a moment, is this okay?The most powerful firearms of the Yongwei Battalion cannot be guessed based on the number of people. There are rumors that the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion can handle firearms proficiently.

The doctor smiled coldly, and continued: "If the Yongwei Battalion can severely injure the Manchu Tartars before it is destroyed, it might not be a good thing!"

Qianqing Palace, go to the study.

Emperor Jianwu put Xie Qiong's memorial into the cabinet, locked it, hung the key on his waist, turned around, walked back to the imperial case and sat down, took a sip from the tea bowl.

Destroyed the workshop of the Salt Gang, which made Emperor Jianwu feel a lot more comfortable, but unfortunately he failed to catch Yang Kaiwu, the traitor.

Let this rebel live for a while longer, and when the Chahar tribe is settled and the grassland tribes are deterred, he will immediately solve the matter of the Cao Gang. They were all sent to Caishikou Lingchi.

Thinking of this, Emperor Jianwu felt a little more at ease.

Dai Quan walked in and said, "Your Majesty, Changning County Ma sent 2 taels of cash to the Armament Bureau."

Emperor Jianwu came back to his senses: "Who?"

Dai Quan: "Jia Rong."

Emperor Jianwu was stunned for a moment, and asked Dai Quan, "He really sent the money."

Dai Quan helped to speak: "Uncle Jia has a kind heart and treats the servants of the mansion very well, let alone these artisans who rush to produce ammunition for the Yongwei Battalion."

Emperor Jianwu couldn't let go of his face, and scolded: "It's outrageous!"

Dai Quan shook his head. As early as the end of June, the Ordnance Bureau put aside everything and devoted all its efforts to producing firecrackers and artillery ammunition for the Yongwei Battalion.

Jia Hu went to have a look and found that the craftsmen were working very hard, so he asked them what they wanted, and someone replied casually: "Give me a reward."

Who would have imagined that Jia Hu would write a special memorial and tell the emperor that he would give 2 taels to the craftsmen in the Military Armament Bureau as a reward. The emperor thought he was joking, so he approved three words: Got it.

Let's say he has ulterior motives, these ammunition are for fighting the Mongols.

It's just that it was too careful to glance at the emperor.

Emperor Jianwu suddenly asked: "The number of firearms in the Yongwei camp exceeds [-], right?"

Dai Quan nodded: "Counting the ones just seized from the Salt Gang, it is indeed more than [-]."

Emperor Jianwu pondered for a while, and said: "Let the people in the Military Weapons Bureau hurry up to produce the ammunition needed by the Yongwei Battalion. I want to see how much trouble Jia Hu can make!"

At this moment, the deputy chief eunuch of Qianqing Palace hurried over and reported: "Your Majesty, Uncle Jia has gone to Longshou Palace."

(End of this chapter)