The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 617: Visiting the Troops

As the saying goes: April is the last month for all the flowers on earth, and the peach blossoms in the mountain temples begin to bloom. Liaodi is located at a high latitude, with long and cold winters and relatively short spring and summer. The real spring comes from the end of March to the beginning of April in the lunar calendar.

It is now early April. In Ningyuan City, peach blossoms are in full bloom, willows are green, and apricots are in full bloom. The wheat fields on both sides of the official road are green, and the wheat seedlings are thriving. When the warm wind blows, the wheat waves surge, like a green carpet spreading to the distant horizon and connecting with the azure sea. It is truly refreshing to look at it from afar.

Farmers in the wheat fields are weeding and applying fertilizer, or rushing to plant crops such as sorghum and millet on the stalks of the fields. Merchants and travelers can be seen coming and going on the official road, creating a peaceful and tranquil scene.

Indeed, peace and stability are the cornerstones of all development, and peace is never obtained by begging, but by strength. Only half a month ago, the Jiannu cavalry came to harass and cause trouble every day, and they were extremely arrogant. As a result, after an ambush outside Ningyuan City, they almost wiped out a group of Jiannu Niulu. There was no trace of Jiannu cavalry within a radius of 30 miles, and the people of Ningyuan could finally farm and work with peace of mind.

At this time, a huge team appeared on the official road, with carts and donkeys carrying a lot of supplies, but it did not look like a military food and fodder team. It immediately attracted the attention of the farmers in the fields, and they all stopped to look at them.

This team came from the interior of the country, stretching for several miles and escorted by two thousand soldiers. In addition to the convoy transporting goods, there were also a large number of military horses. The key point was that an envoy's flag was erected in front of the team. This is the flag that only envoys who were ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to a foreign country would fly.

In the team, there were two young officials in official robes riding their horses side by side, looking around and observing the farmers busy working in the fields.

Jia Huan knew these two young officials. One was his senior brother Liu Yi, also known as Liu Shouzheng, and the other was Zhang Pu, a rising star of the Donglin Party, who had been secretly competing with Jia Huan.

At this time, Zhang Pu said, "There are fields all along the way, chickens and dogs can be heard, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. It doesn't look like a dangerous border town at all. It seems that Jia Ziming has really managed Ningyuan in an orderly manner. Brother Ziming can stabilize the country with his literary skills and his military skills. It is really admirable!"

Liu Yi smiled and said, "Ziming is a pillar of talent. I am not as good as him. Zhang Jishi may be able to compare with him!"

Zhang Pu said: "I am ashamed, I am ashamed, how dare I be compared with the six talented scholars? I am really ashamed, brother Shouzheng, you are too kind."

Zhang Pu ranked fifth in the palace examination, and later succeeded in the academy selection to become a Hanlin scholar. Due to his outstanding performance in the past year, he has now been promoted to the position of Dushizhong of the Military Department.

It is worth mentioning here that although the Six Departments Censor-in-Chief was only of the seventh rank, he had considerable power and could "report on matters based on rumors". He was a professional troll with a "license to work" and was responsible for supervising the six ministries, admonishing the emperor, and taunting anyone he disliked, including the emperor, without worrying about being convicted for his words.

In addition, the Six Departments also have the right to cancel the memorials and official documents of the Six Ministries every five days. If the Six Departments have any objections, they can reject the cancellation. The Six Departments are independent departments, not under the jurisdiction of the Six Ministries, and have no direct leaders. Therefore, even the heads of the Six Ministries can only watch helplessly. This design of official positions by using small to control large is a major feature of the Jin Dynasty.

Let's get back to the point. At this time, Liu Yi suddenly reined in his horse and bowed to a farmer who was avoiding him on the side of the road, saying, "Old man, thank you for your courtesy!"

The farmer hurriedly bowed and said, "Hello, Master."

"Excuse me, how far is this place from Ningyuan City?" Liu Yi asked politely.

The farmer replied, "It's about fifteen miles away."

Liu Yi nodded and said, "Thank you. You are farming fifteen miles away from the city. Aren't you afraid of the Jiannu cavalry attacking you?"

The farmer laughed and said, "With Master Xiao Jia here, what are you afraid of? I'm afraid that the Jiannu thieves won't come. Slave, the Jingguan outside the east gate of Ningyuan City is still there. Three hundred bloody heads are piled up several meters high. Now they have all turned into skeletons. The Jiannu thieves are already scared out of their wits. How dare they come?"

Zhang Pu interrupted, "The Jiannu are not that cowardly. How can they be scared away by just a few hundred lives? They may be gathering strength and waiting for an opportunity to strike. We must be on guard!"

The farmer was immediately unhappy. Jia Huan was now deeply loved by the people in Ningyuan. Seeing that Zhang Pu's words were meant to belittle the achievements of Master Jia, the farmer was naturally very unhappy. He glared at Zhang Pu and said, "Last month, the Jiannu bandits came to cause trouble every day, scaring everyone away from going to the fields. Since they were cleverly ambushed by Master Jia and the entire Niulu were wiped out, they haven't dared to come for half a month. If not fear, what is it? I'm wondering, is this gentleman an official of the Great Jin? Or an official of the Jiannu? Why is he boosting others' ambitions and destroying his own prestige?"

Zhang Pu smiled awkwardly but did not argue with the farmer. He still had some broad-mindedness and cultivation.

"Excuse me!" Liu Yi clasped his fists and saluted, and rode his horse forward. The old man hurriedly asked, "Excuse me, sir, why are you here? Are you here to deliver military rations to Ningyuan?"

Liu Yi smiled and said, "We are here to reward the Ningyuan soldiers according to the emperor's order."

The farmer was delighted to hear this and said, "So that's how it is. After winning the battle, it's time to reward him. Your Majesty is wise. Lord Jia is not only good at fighting, but also loves the people like his own children. He is a rare good official. I'd like to ask you to speak well of him when you return to the capital. Please don't transfer Lord Jia away. Please!"

After saying this, he bowed and knelt, showing his heartfelt admiration for Jia Huan. Liu Yi was very moved and was happy for his junior brother Jia Huan. He said with a smile, "Please stand up quickly, old man. I will report the truth to the emperor!" Zhang Pu was surprised and felt quite uncomfortable, or a little jealous. He thought that he had tried to take Jia Ziming as his younger brother, but he was repeatedly defeated by the other in the imperial examinations. After he became an official, he was left far behind by Jia Huan. In just one year, Jia Huan was promoted to the fourth rank, while he was only the seventh rank. There was a huge difference between them.

This huge gap once made Zhang Pu feel seriously frustrated. He thought that with the support of the Donglin Party, he would surely rise to the top and naturally step on Jia Huan. However, Jia Huan rose to the top and now he couldn't even reach him.

In order to comfort his wounded heart, Zhang Pu had always attributed Jia Huan's success to good luck. But now, witnessing with his own eyes how much the people of Ningyuan loved Jia Huan and how good his political reputation was, he was suddenly a little broken!

About an hour later, the team arrived at the foot of Ningyuan City. Looking at the majestic city rising from the ground before them, Zhang Pu and Liu Yi were both shocked.

This is no wonder. After more than half a year of construction and reinforcement, Ningyuan City is now almost armed to the teeth.

First, there are two trenches more than ten meters wide around the city, followed by the moat and the city wall. There are also double walls inside the city, and there is a reinforced enemy tower at intervals on the top of the city, with dark muzzles that are daunting. In addition, there are independent artillery towers at the four corners of the city, each with two red cannons, taking care of all four sides, truly dominating all directions.

Just as Liu Yi and Zhang Pu were shocked by what they saw, Jia Huan and Zu Tianshou had already led their generals out of the city to meet them.

Jia Huan's temperament was still calm, but there was an invisible majesty in him. Liu and Zhang hurriedly dismounted to greet him.

"Big Brother, Brother Tianru, no need to be so polite, please follow me into the city!" Jia Huan returned the greeting with a smile and welcomed Liu Yi and Zhang Pu into Ningyuan City. At the same time, he glanced at the envoy's flag with some confusion.

When everyone entered Ningyuan City, Liu Yi took out the imperial edict of Emperor Qiansheng and read it out.

Because a cavalry unit of the Jiannu Niulu was annihilated in a battle outside Ningyuan City a few days ago, which on the one hand struck a blow to the enemy's arrogance, on the other hand boosted the morale of one's own side and enhanced the national prestige of the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Qiansheng was very happy. He specially dispatched Liu Yi as an imperial envoy to reward the three armies, and promoted Jia Huan to the deputy envoy of the Shandong Judicial and Censorate, with the rank of fourth grade.

Although the Deputy Envoy of Shandong Judicial Commissioner was also of the fourth rank, the same rank as Ning Qian's Military Commissioner, he was a permanent local official position. However, the position of Military Commissioner was not permanent and would only be established when there was a war.

In other words, with the actual position of Deputy Envoy of Shandong Judicial and Surveillance Commissioner, Jia Huan would still be a fourth-rank official even if he resigned and returned to Beijing in the future.

In addition, the imperial edict of Emperor Qiansheng not only gave Jia Huan a higher official title, but also granted him 300 taels of silver and three pieces of silk. General Zu Tianshou, Lieutenant General Wu Sangui and others also received rewards, but they were all money, silver, silk and the like, and they did not receive any promotion.

After Jia Huan received the imperial edict and expressed his gratitude, he distributed the wine and food brought by the imperial envoy to his soldiers. The whole city slaughtered pigs and sheep and was as joyful as if it were New Year's Day.

It is worth mentioning here that Liu Yi also brought two thousand war horses this time. Zu Tianshou was worried about the lack of war horses, so he naturally accepted them with great joy. With these two thousand war horses, they were one step closer to the goal of building three thousand Ningyuan cavalry.

That night, Jia Huan hosted a banquet in the Military Preparations Office to entertain the two imperial envoys, and the generals also attended. After three rounds of wine, Jia Huan could not help but ask, "You two are carrying the envoy flags, but do you have another imperial order?"

Liu Yi glanced at Zhang Pu and said, "Zhang Jishi did have another imperial order. My mission is just to reward the Ningyuan soldiers!"

Zhang Pu saw Jia Huan looking at him, so he smiled and said, "Brother Ziming, why don't you try to guess?"

Jia Huan pondered and said, "Brother Tianru, are you going on a diplomatic mission to Jiannu under the imperial order?"

Zhang Pu shook his head and said, "Of course not!"

"The only option is to go on a diplomatic mission to the Chahar tribe of Mongolia!"

Zhang Pu smiled and said, "Yes, Nurhaci is now using troops against the Khalkha tribe of Mongolia. The officials in the court all think that this is a good opportunity to win over Ligdan Khan. The emperor is eager to accept the advice, so he sent me to the Chahar tribe. If Ligdan Khan can be persuaded to surrender, the Jiannu can be contained from the north, and the pressure on Ningyuan will definitely be greatly reduced."

Jia Huan nodded and said, "Appeasing the Western Barbarians to control the Eastern Barbarians is indeed a good strategy. I wish Brother Tianru success in advance. If this is accomplished, it will be a great achievement!"

Zhang Pu's heart warmed up, and he smiled and said, "I appreciate your good words, Brother Ziming. However, this journey is dangerous, and I need to borrow a brave general and a strong army from Brother Ziming for self-defense."

(End of this chapter)