The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 619 On the eve of the war
Liu Shouzheng was ordered to visit Ningyuan to comfort the troops and probably also to carry out an inspection mission, so he stayed for ten days before returning to Beijing to report. During this period, he not only visited Ningyuan City and Juehua Island, but also visited various villages, gaining a comprehensive understanding of Ningyuan's military, economy, rule of law, and people's livelihood.

There was a drizzle in the sky. Jia Huan accompanied Liu Yi to the Ten-mile Pavilion in the west of the city. He then waved goodbye and said, "I wish you a safe journey home. I have a duty to guard the border, so I am afraid I will not be able to return to Beijing this autumn to attend the wedding banquet of my elder brother and second sister. I can only wish you a happy marriage and a son soon."

Liu Shouzheng's handsome face was slightly hot. He and Jia Yingchun's wedding date was set for August 16 this year, when the flowers are in full bloom and the moon is full. There are still about four months left. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Ziming."

Jia Huan took out a stack of letters sealed with brown paper and said, "I have a few family letters here. I'd like to trouble you to take them back with me, Senior Brother. Please be sure to hand them over to the chief steward, Lin Zhixiao."

"It's just a piece of cake!" Liu Yi took Jia Huan's letter and handed it to his long-time servant to put away. He hesitated for a moment and said, "There is one more thing I should tell you first, Ziming."

Jia Huan raised his sword-like eyebrows and asked, "What's the matter? Don't tell me that you are marrying my second sister out of apology for Miss Qi Wanruo. If that's the case, you'd better call off this marriage as soon as possible!"

Liu Yi's face flushed, and he shook his head, "Ziming, you misunderstood. I admit that I still can't forget Wanruo, and maybe I won't forget her in this life, but I absolutely have no intention of using your sister as a substitute for Wanruo. After we get married, we should love and respect her, and never let her suffer any grievances."

Liu Yi was a gentle and honest person, and Jia Huan had great confidence in his character, otherwise he would not have promoted this marriage, so he nodded and smiled, "That's more like it, but what did the senior brother just say about the explanation?"

Liu Yi said: "The old headmaster may have to retire, before the end of the year at the latest."

The old headman Ye Gao is currently the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. He is already over 80 years old. He was reluctant to return to office at first, but after Emperor Qiansheng suppressed the rebellion, he needed a respected old minister to stabilize the situation. After repeated requests, Ye Gao had no choice but to come out of retirement. Therefore, he is destined not to be the Prime Minister of the Cabinet for long.

However, Ye Gao was retiring less than a year after taking office, which was beyond Jia Huan's expectation. He frowned and asked, "Why did the old headmaster resign?"

Liu Yi said: "The old headmaster is already in his eighties, and his energy is running low. He has long wanted to retire, and something happened in the court recently, which has made him even more determined to leave."

Jia Huan's heart moved, and he asked hurriedly, "What's the matter?"

"Establish a crown prince!" Liu Yi uttered the two words, and then said in a deep voice: "As the saying goes, a country cannot be without a king for a day, and the crown prince is the foundation of a country. Now the position of crown prince has been vacant for more than half a year. The court officials have submitted petitions to establish King Min as the crown prince, but the emperor has kept them in his hands and has no intention of appointing a crown prince.

The old sheriff was entrusted by all the officials to ask for the appointment of a crown prince in person before the emperor, but the emperor just brushed it off and seemed to be blaming him. The old sheriff had already intended to leave, so he took the opportunity to resign on the pretext of being old and confused, but the emperor did not approve it.

Jia Huan could not help but frown. Emperor Qiansheng originally pulled Ye Gao out to be the chief minister of the cabinet just to save the situation temporarily. Now that the domestic political situation has stabilized, Ye Gao has naturally become dispensable. It is estimated that if he submits a few more letters of resignation, Emperor Qiansheng will approve it. This hypocritical trick of "three resignations and three declines" has been like this since ancient times!
But why was Emperor Qiansheng unwilling to appoint a crown prince? Was it because he was resentful of the betrayal of the former crown prince Xu Wenhong, or did he look down on the cowardly Min Wang Xu Wenhou?

If it was the former, Emperor Qiansheng would probably not appoint another crown prince in the short term, after all, he was in his early forties and in his prime. If it was the latter, besides the fat boy Xu Wenhou, did Emperor Qiansheng have any better choices? Prince Qing was captured by the Jurchens, and his life or death was unknown, and the twelfth prince born to Jia Yuanchun was less than two years old.

As the saying goes: If there is a legitimate heir, the legitimate heir shall be appointed; if there is no legitimate heir, the eldest son shall be appointed. This has been the rule since ancient times and is also the ancestral system written in the "Laws of the Great Jin Dynasty". Now the seventh prince Xu Wenhou is the existing eldest prince. Unless Prince Qing returns to the court alive, Xu Wenhou is the natural heir to the throne. As for the young twelfth prince, it is not his turn to take the throne yet.

"If the old headmaster retires, it is estimated that the position of Prime Minister will be taken over by Zhao Mingcheng. Ziming should make preparations early." Liu Yi reminded in a low voice.

Jia Huan nodded slightly. Zhao Mingcheng was the leader of the Donglin Party. He had tried to persuade him to join the Donglin Academy, but he had refused. So if this man became the Prime Minister, it would not be a good thing for him.

Of course, Jia Huan was not worried that the other party would make things difficult for him, but without the old headmaster in charge of the court, it would certainly not be as easy for him to ask for money and food in the future.

"After sending you thousands of miles away, we must eventually say goodbye. Ziming, please go back. Take care!" Liu Yi clasped his fists and bowed, then rode his horse westward.

Jia Huan watched Liu Yi and his party disappear in the misty spring rain, then turned his horse around and returned to Ningyuan City.

…………

Time flies, days and months pass by, the stars shift, and the seasons change. In the blink of an eye, it was August of the tenth year of Qiansheng, and Jia Huan had been serving as the Ningyuan Military Preparations Commissioner for nearly two years.

It is said that in April last year, Zhang Pu went on a diplomatic mission to Chahar and successfully persuaded Lin Dan Khan to submit to his country. On the one hand, it was because Zhang Pu had great eloquence, and on the other hand, it was because the reward from the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty was very generous. Lin Dan Khan only needed to pay a symbolic tribute of dozens of horses every year to get a reward of a hundred times more in gold, silver and other goods. Who would refuse such a good thing?
There is another most important reason, that is, Nurhaci was too powerful, and the momentum of the Jurchens' rise was unstoppable. Lin Danhan was naturally afraid that Nurhaci would attack him, and hoped to use the power of the Jin Dynasty to check and balance Nurhaci, so the two families hit it off.

Once the Jin Dynasty and Ligdan Khan formed an alliance, Nurhaci did not dare to act rashly. He decisively stopped attacking the Khalkha tribe in the north and turned to send troops to Korea in the southeast.

Korea was originally a vassal state of the Jin Dynasty. Under the attack of the powerful Jurchen army, it had to sign a peace treaty with Nurhaci, promising to submit to the Jin Dynasty and no longer pay tribute to the Jin Dynasty. Korea's betrayal was undoubtedly a blow to the Jin Dynasty, but Ningyuan also gained a two-year opportunity to recuperate. Now the Liaoxi defense line from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan has been completely repaired and is more solid than when Xiong Tingbai was in office. It is really full of fortresses and towers, like a porcupine covered with thorns.

In addition, more than 200 miles of border walls were rebuilt in the area from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan, hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland were reclaimed, 18 granaries were added, storing 200,000 shi of grain, and the garrison outside the pass was increased to 100,000. Together with the garrison inside Shanhaiguan, the total strength reached 150,000. It can be said that the army was well-trained, well-fed, and powerful.

The golden autumn brings coolness. Outside Ningyuan City, golden wheat waves roll and the fragrance of fruits fills the air. After two years of recuperation and Jia Huan's loose stimulus policy, Ningyuan City is now more than ten times more prosperous than before. The number of military and civilian households has reached an astonishing 50,000, and the area is 50 miles around. People from far and near have come to Ningyuan City. It is truly a land of happiness for merchants and travelers.

It was noon, and the autumn wind was howling. The sixteen-year-old Jia Huan, who had grown to about 175cm tall and looked more stable and vigorous, was standing on the top of the city wall, holding the parapet with both hands, staring at the golden wheat fields in the distance, as if thinking about something.

Tie Niu, the captain of the personal guards, stood behind Jia Huan like a mountain, and his personal guards were like stars surrounding the moon, respectfully guarding around him, keeping their breath low so as not to disturb the military commander from thinking about something.

There is no doubt that the unprecedented prosperity of Ningyuan City also made Jia Huan, the Ningyuan Military Preparations Commissioner, more prestigious and he was deeply supported by the military and civilians.

Suddenly, a horseman appeared on the busy official road, galloping from the east like an arrow. The flying horse hooves kicked up billowing dust, and the people and merchants on the road all dodged.

In the blink of an eye, the fast horse rushed to the city gate and galloped straight into the city. It could be seen that the knight on the horse was carrying a bamboo tube and a small triangular flag on his back. He must be a scout in the army.

Jia Huan frowned, turned around, went down the city wall and headed towards the general's mansion. As a result, as soon as he arrived at the door of the general's mansion, he met a personal soldier under Zu Tianshou.

When the new soldier saw Jia Huan, he saluted and said, "It's an urgent military situation. The general is just about to ask the military commander to come and discuss it."

Jia Huan nodded and walked quickly to the general's mansion. As soon as he entered the hall, he found that all the generals had arrived. General Zu Tianshou said solemnly: "Master Jia, something bad has happened. Lin Danhan has escaped!" He handed Jia Huan a piece of information.

When Jia Huan took the information and looked at it, his sword-like brows immediately frowned. This Lin Danhan was really ambitious but incompetent. He was too useless, greedy and cowardly. He even fled in panic after suffering a small setback. Pah!

It turned out that since Lindan Khan formed an alliance with the Jin Dynasty, Nurhaci stopped expanding to the north and turned to attack Korea in the south. As a result, Lindan Khan became more cautious and took the opportunity to annex several nearby small tribes, causing panic in other tribes.

Recently, Lindan Khan's appetite has been growing. He even sent troops to the Khalkha and Khorchin tribes, trying to annex these two tribes. As a result, the Khalkha and Khorchin tribes turned around and defected to Nurhaci.

Nurhaci was overjoyed. This was simply a godsend. He immediately accepted the two Mongolian tribes, treated the leaders of the two tribes well, and sent troops to support them. So the two tribes immediately turned their guns on the Chahar tribe of Ligdan Khan and counterattacked.

Lin Dan Khan failed to gain the advantage and ended up losing the rice instead. He was quickly defeated under the joint siege of three parties and even lost the Khan's tent upstream of the Daling River. In order to preserve his strength, he could only flee westward with the remnants.

Now that Lin Dan Khan had fled, the alliance between the Jin Dynasty and the Chahar tribe would collapse. When Nurhaci had time, the probability of using troops to attack Ningyuan would naturally increase greatly. Therefore, all the generals present were looking at Jia Huan with serious expressions.

Jia Huan, however, was calm and composed. He said calmly, "Immediately pass on my order. All grain crops must be harvested within ten days. All passes along the Great Wall must be closed, the horse market must be suspended, and all outsiders must be cleared out of the city to prevent spies from sneaking in..."

As the saying goes, "If you plan ahead, you will succeed; if you don't plan ahead, you will fail." What is coming will eventually come. Jia Huan obviously had a detailed plan in advance, so he could deal with it naturally like strolling in the garden.

Seeing Jia Huan issuing various orders in an orderly manner, the soldiers gradually calmed down and were even eager to try.

"Hehe, we've been preparing day and night for two years, and it's time to show off our skills with the Jiannu Tartars." Tiehu grinned and clenched his fist, and his knuckles made a popping sound.

Xing Wei licked his lips cruelly: "Brother Hu, don't say anything, I'm almost too idle!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals laughed, especially young generals like Wu Sangui and Man Gui, who were eager to make achievements and were ready to fight.

Today, Ningyuan City has more than 20,000 troops, including 3,000 cavalry and another 2,000 musketeers equipped with new flintlock rifles. The city is impregnable, with twenty red cannons on the top of the city, which can be said to have unprecedented firepower.

In addition, there are 5,000 naval forces on Juehua Island, with sufficient food and supplies, and there are hundreds of thousands of troops backing them up. When everyone thought of this, they were even more eager to fight and full of confidence, and they couldn't wait for the Jiannu army to attack immediately.

(End of this chapter)