The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 625: The Rise of the Eunuch Party
That night, a howling cold wind blew through the trees in the courtyard, making a humming sound. The first cold wave of the tenth year of Qiansheng arrived unexpectedly, and the temperature dropped sharply. The temperature outside was estimated to have reached freezing point.

There was a stove burning in the room, which made it warm. The maid looked even more rosy and pink after taking a bath. Her pear-shaped figure, which was already very tempting under her tight pajamas, became even more voluptuous after being developed by someone for a long time. Coupled with her stunning face full of exotic charm, even Mou Huan couldn't help but feel hungry.

The foreign maid obviously felt the heat in someone's eyes, and she felt a little proud. She tied her half-dried golden hair behind her head, licked her lips with a dazed look, hooked her fingers and smiled, "The governor is busy with all kinds of affairs and doesn't even pay attention to me."

Tsk tsk, this hoof is really deadly!

Jia Huan was immediately aroused, and he put down the map he was studying and walked forward. He bent down, grabbed the foreign maid's legs and picked her up, then strode towards the kang...

After the incident, Mandalin lay motionless in a strange position. Jia Huan couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing? Be careful not to catch a cold!"

Mandalin smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. Someone told me this method."

Jia Huan couldn't help sweating and asked, "Did someone else tell you about those messy tonic soups you usually let me drink?"

Mandarin nodded, and touched her flat belly a little frustratedly: "But it seems to be useless, Jia, maybe it's because you can't do it?"

Jia Huan spat out a mouthful of tea and cursed with a smile: "Bullshit, do you think I am incompetent?"

Mandalin chuckled and said, "That doesn't seem like it, but... but it's been two years, why is there no movement in my stomach? The same goes for Sister Ping'er. It's impossible that there are problems with both Sister Ping'er and me, so it must be your problem."

Jia Huan shrugged and said, "Maybe!"

In fact, Jia Huan himself was also very confused. Why Ping'er and Mandalin had never gotten pregnant? Was it really a problem with this body? Or was it that his soul had traveled through time and occupied this body, causing it to be infertile?
Mandalin pouted her lips and said worriedly, "Jia, why aren't you worried at all? Sister Ping'er asks me every time she writes to me. I'm getting annoyed. Why don't we bring Qingwen over to try? If Qingwen can't get pregnant either, then it must be your problem. Find a doctor as soon as possible."

Jia Huan touched his chin awkwardly. Although he was an open-minded time traveler, if he was infertile, this problem was indeed a bit difficult to talk about. How could he have the nerve to seek treatment from a doctor? He coughed lightly and said, "Let's talk about it later. I'm still young. Let's wait and see in a few years."

Mandalin burst out laughing, Jia Huan blushed and said angrily: "What are you laughing at? Is what I said unreasonable?"

Mandarin said with a smile: "That makes sense, how about the master pamper me again!"

Jia Huan could not help but laugh and cry. He was about to teach this ignorant foreign maid a lesson again when the voice of the maid came from outside the door: "Third Master, there is someone outside who wants to see you!"

"Who?" Jia Huan asked.

"The other party refuses to reveal his identity. If Third Master doesn't want to see him, I will have him sent away."

It is said that this old woman's surname is Gu. She was originally from the Jia family, so she was used to calling Jia Huan "Third Master". She was specially sent by Grandmother Jia to serve Mandalin. It was this old woman who told Mandalin those strange tonic prescriptions, which shows that Grandmother Jia was also eager to have a great-grandson.

Jia Huan hesitated for a moment and said, "Tell them to wait a moment. I will be there shortly."

"Okay!" The old woman responded and turned to leave.

Mandarin reluctantly got up and cleaned herself, then helped Jia Huan change his clothes and put on a cloak.

Let’s talk about Jia Huan leaving the back house and coming to the front hall of the military headquarters. Sure enough, he saw a man in plain clothes standing there waiting. He looked familiar and it seemed that he had seen him there before.

"My humble servant greets His Excellency the Governor!" As soon as the man saw Jia Huan, he bowed immediately.

Jia Huan nodded slightly, and asked secretly, "Who are you? You look a bit familiar!"

The plainclothes man smiled and said, "Master Jia has a good eye. I was present when the imperial edict was read out today!"

Jia Huan suddenly had an idea. Today, when the leading Jinyiwei read the imperial edict, there were indeed several Jinyiwei officers standing behind him. One of them seemed to be the plainclothes man in front of him. He nodded and said, "I remember now. You are the Jinyiwei officer behind you!"

The plainclothes man saluted again and said with a smile: "My name is Zheng Dacai, Lord Jia, you can just call me Xiao Zheng." Jia Huan's heart moved, and he asked: "Did Commander Yi send you here?"

Zheng Dacai nodded and said sadly, "That's right, but Master Yi has been demoted and is now imprisoned in the East Factory prison, waiting for Master Jia to save his life."

Jia Huan frowned and asked quickly, "What happened?"

Zheng Dacai then told the whole story in detail.

It turned out that last year, Shi Dayong, the governor of the East Factory, had urged Emperor Qiansheng to investigate the tax evasion of the Jingxi coal mine, and it turned out to be true. Emperor Qiansheng was naturally furious and ordered the East Factory to supervise and thoroughly investigate the mines across the country. This was a big deal. The eunuchs in the East Factory usually used chicken feathers as a token of authority, but now they were ordered to investigate taxes, so why didn't they slash the ground?
Apart from lacking the parts of normal men, eunuchs basically have one thing in common, and that is greed for money. After all, they cannot be officials and cannot touch women, so they can only be greedy for money.

You have to know that those who opened mines were all wealthy families with plenty of money to make. At the command of Shi Dayong, the governor of the East Depot, the eunuchs and their men would rush out in full force, sharpening their knives and rushing to all parts of the country. They would not let go of any mine. If the mine owners were sensible and paid them a lot of silver, they would be let off. If they were not sensible, they would suffer.

In just half a year, countless mine owners had their families ruined and their lives destroyed by the East Depot, and many officials were also dismissed. In order to save their lives and escape punishment, some people tried to curry favor with Shi Dayong, the governor of the East Depot, and this eunuch became a popular and powerful figure.

Having tasted the sweetness, Shi Dayong became even more outrageous, allowing his subordinates to extort money at will and use every possible means. Many people who were once wealthy had their families broken up and countless people died unjustly.

Shi Dayong did not embezzle all the silver he obtained from all over the country. Instead, he handed most of it over to Emperor Qiansheng's private purse, the Neiku, and claimed that it was stolen silver obtained through the recovery of stolen goods.

Emperor Qiansheng was short of money, so he was naturally delighted to see that Shi Dayong was so good at making money that he could earn several million taels a year. You should know that the annual tax revenue of Dajin was only about 30 million taels, and Shi Dayong earned one-tenth of the fiscal revenue just by investigating cases and recovering stolen money. It can be seen how serious the embezzlement of state property was due to the mining!

Therefore, Emperor Qiansheng simply issued an order that mine supervisors and tax collectors must be stationed in mines across the country, and this good job naturally fell on the East Factory. This was the end of it. The Jin Dynasty had been established for 90 years, and the officialdom was not clean to begin with. Emperor Qiansheng made such a stupid move. Soon, the whole country would be messed up by these eunuchs, and the people would suffer!

Of course, this is a later story, so I won't discuss it here for now. In the beginning, Jinyiwei Commander Yi Hong was not implicated by the coal mines in western Beijing, because the mine owners did not dare to offend Jinyiwei and concealed the fact that they paid a large amount of money to Jinyiwei every year.

However, the truth will eventually come to light. After Emperor Qiansheng handed the case over to the East Factory for supervision, how could Shi Dayong miss the opportunity to bring Yi Hong down? So he ordered severe torture to extract a confession. The coal mine owners could not bear it and gave Yi Hong away.

Shi Dayong immediately showed the prisoner's confession to Emperor Qiansheng, who was furious and ordered the dismissal of Yi Hong from his post as commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and handed the case over to the Eastern Depot for trial.

Yi Hong was in a miserable state now. He was tortured to death, but he was a cruel official who had done so many evil things that no one would plead for him. On the contrary, his enemies jumped out to add insult to injury. Many unjust, false and wrong cases he had handled in the past were also dug up. Censors and imperial censors wrote to the emperor one after another, gritting their teeth and demanding that Yi Hong be executed by slow slicing immediately.

However, although Emperor Qiansheng was angry, he also knew that Yi Hong was a sharp knife in his hand, which was very easy to use. It would be a pity to kill him. The key point was that most of the evil things Yi Hong did were to maintain his rule, so Emperor Qiansheng was always hesitant.

Yi Hong knew that his life was hanging by a thread and he could not find anyone to plead for him. At this critical juncture, he thought of Jia Huan. This kid was now doing well on the front line and it was time to repay his original favor. So he asked the Jinyi Captain Zheng Dacai to find a way to ask Jia Huan for help.

It is said that since Yi Hong was imprisoned, his trusted backbone members were either crippled by Shi Dayong or betrayed him and were recruited by Shi Dayong. It just so happened that Yi Hong had done a favor to Zheng Dacai, and the latter still had a conscience and agreed to help him find Jia Huan for help.

It happened that Emperor Qiansheng sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to Ningyuan to convey his imperial edict, and Zheng Dacai was also assigned to accompany him. He secretly visited Jia Huan at night and informed Jia Huan of Yi Hong's request for help.

After listening to Zheng Dacai's retelling, Jia Huan couldn't help but frown. He didn't expect that the East Factory would rise so quickly. Even an old veteran like Yi Hong had fallen into trouble. It seems that the eunuch party is about to take shape. The world of Red Mansions is really becoming more and more like the late Ming Dynasty.

Seeing Jia Huan frowning and not saying anything, Zheng Da thought that he was unwilling to help, so he said awkwardly, "I have already told you what you are talking about. In order to avoid arousing suspicion from my companions, I cannot stay any longer. Goodbye!"

Jia Huan said calmly, "Wait a minute, please tell Brother Yi when you get back that I have done you a favor, and from now on we owe each other nothing!"

Zheng Dacai couldn't help but say happily: "Master Jia is indeed righteous. I will tell Master Yi when I get back."

Jia Huan asked his servant Jin Bao to give him two taels of silver as a fee for running errands, and then he sent Zheng Dacai away.

After returning to the rear residence, Jia Huan immediately wrote a letter and sent Mu Ye to Beijing to find Min Wang Xu Wenhou. As to whether it would work, it depended on whether Yi Hong himself was lucky enough.

(End of this chapter)