The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 631: The vassal states came to the capital to offer captives

It was late at night. The cold wind outside the window swept through the courtyard trees wantonly, and the chill penetrated the bones and skin. Even though he was warmed by the stove, Jia Huan's hand holding the pen was still a little numb from the cold. The ink in the inkstone froze in a moment, and Qingwen had to hold the inkstone over the candlelight from time to time to warm it.

"It's so cold! It's only mid-October. If we wait until the coldest month of winter, I don't know how cold we will be. No wonder it is said that the area outside the Great Wall is a bitterly cold place." Qingwen complained while roasting the inkstone. Under the light, her slender fingers looked as white and tender as spring onions.

While reviewing the documents, Jia Huan said jokingly, "Do you regret leaving the confinement? It's not too late to go back now!"

Qingwen snorted slightly, "I am a poor talker and I can't serve anyone. I didn't want to come at first, but Aunt Ping insisted on me coming. Now, on the first day, I'm rejected by the Third Master. Well, let Caixia serve me now. I'll go back to my room and sleep. I'll pack up and go back to Beijing tomorrow morning. There's a lot to do!"

Jia Huan reached out and grabbed Qingwen's sleeve, saying with a smile, "My dear sister, what are you busy with? It was just a joke, but you took it seriously. I can dislike anyone but you."

Qingwen turned from anger to joy when she heard this, but she still deliberately put on a straight face and said, "The Third Master is now the Governor of Liaodong, a high-ranking official. I dare not joke with the Governor."

Jia Huan exerted a little force and pulled the pretty maid into his arms. He immediately embraced her warm and soft body, put his cheek against hers, and said with a smile, "You're itching again. Do you want to be punished?"

Qingwen's cheeks were flushed instantly. She struggled several times but couldn't get free. Finally, she could only accept her fate and spat softly, "Third Master, please stop making trouble. Be careful that Caixia comes in and sees."

Jia Huan's heart was moved when he heard this. He lowered his head and pecked the pink lips. Then he let go of the maid's slender waist and whispered, "Good sister, go warm the bed first. I'll be back soon. Let's squeeze together tonight. It'll be warmer if we sleep together."

Qingwen's face turned red and her heart was pounding, but she was a straightforward person. She was mentally prepared for some things when she went out to serve Jia Huan. So she nodded shyly, took off her fox fur coat and outer dress, revealing her slim figure in only her inner clothes, and went into bed first.

Jia Huan is now the governor of Liaodong, and his position is second only to Sun Chengzong, the governor of Liaodong. He is in charge of military, government affairs, economy and justice, so he is naturally very busy. He has to deal with a large number of official documents every day. So Qingwen was eagerly waiting in bed for a long time. She fell asleep in a daze without realizing it. She didn't wake up until the next morning, then she found Jia Huan sleeping peacefully beside her.

"Oh...how did I fall asleep?" Qingwen touched her pretty face which seemed to have a fever, feeling both happy and a little disappointed. She was hesitating whether to sleep for a while longer when she heard footsteps and a light cough outside.

Qingwen hurriedly got up and put on her outer garment. Just as she tied on her sweat towel, Caixia came in with a basin of hot water and said with a smile, "Hey, Aunt Qing is up!"

Qingwen's face immediately turned red. She stepped forward and tried to tear Caixia's mouth, saying in a low voice, "You are talking nonsense, you bitch. It's you who wanted to be a concubine, but you are making up stories about others."

Caixia dodged and said with a smile: "I just want to be the Third Master's concubine, otherwise why would I come to this dangerous place with swords and sabers? Do you dare to say that you don't want to be one?"

Qingwen was stunned for a moment and spat, "Bah, what a shameless bitch."

"Who just crawled out of the Third Master's bed? And you still have the nerve to call others a slut!" Caixia retorted with a smile.

"I...the Third Master just asked me to warm his bed, and I fell asleep without realizing it. The Third Master was considerate and didn't wake me up!" Qingwen defended herself with a blushing face.

"What a careless person! He even accidentally went to Room D and became a mother without realizing it!" Caixia clapped her hands with a smile.

"You are such a foul-mouthed and poisonous little whore!" Qingwen was so angry that she tried to tear Caixia's mouth again.

The two maids were quarreling, and Jia Huan sat up on the bed, yawned, rubbed his eyes and said, "What are you two sisters quarreling about so early in the morning?"

Qingwen rolled her eyes at Caixia and whispered, "It's all your fault for waking up the Third Master. He was busy until the fourth watch last night."

Caixia glanced at the piles of documents on the desk and finally believed it. She said hurriedly, "Third Master, why don't you sleep for a while? It's still early!"

Jia Huan stood up and stretched, saying, "I'm not going to sleep anymore. I still have a lot of things to do today."

Qingwen hurried forward to help Jia Huan dress, and asked, "Is the Third Master so busy every day?"

Jia Huan yawned and said, "Basically, it's easy to recover the homeland, but it's not easy to govern it. After a while, when it's on the right track, I can relax a little." Caixia stuck out her tongue and said, "It turns out that being a high official is not easy."

Qingwen pouted and said, "What do you think? The higher the official rank, the greater the responsibility. Mandalin is really something. The Third Master is so busy every day, but she only cares about herself. I don't know how she has served the Third Master in the past two years. She also stays in the weapons workshop at night. No wonder there has been no..."

Qingwen stopped talking here, her cheeks flushed, and she just lowered her head to tie Jia Huan's belt.

Jia Huan naturally knew what Qingwen wanted to say, and he also knew the reason why Qingwen was sent to serve him this time, but he could only play dumb at this time. After all, this topic was very embarrassing.

Jia Huan dressed and washed with the help of two beautiful maids, and had breakfast. Then a personal soldier came to report: "Admiral Zhang Guizhang of the Navy wants to see the governor."

Jia Huan then went to the lobby of the governor's office to meet him. When Zhang Guizhang saw Jia Huan, he hurriedly bowed respectfully and said, "I am here to see the governor."

At the same time, a middle-aged man who came with Zhang Guizhang was standing behind him, looking at Jia Huan with a look of slight surprise and awe.

Jia Huan actually noticed the middle-aged man as soon as he came in. He nodded slightly and said, "General Zhang, please don't be polite. This gentleman doesn't look like a stranger. Who is he?"

Zhang Guizhang quickly introduced: "Your Excellency, this Li Guangzuo is the envoy from Korea. He came by sea, and his documents and seals have been verified to be correct."

At this time, the Korean envoy also took the opportunity to step forward and greeted, "Li Guangzuo, the Korean envoy from the vassal state of the Great Jin Dynasty, pays homage to the governor. I have heard of your great reputation for a long time, and I am honored to meet you today!"

The Korean envoy spoke fluent Chinese. Jia Huan raised his sword-like eyebrows and snorted coldly, "I heard that your country has surrendered to the Jiannu. Is this true?"

Li Guangzuo originally thought that Jia Huan was young and gentle, and was easy to talk to. Unexpectedly, Jia Huan raised his sword-like eyebrows, and suddenly he was as sharp as a sword out of its sheath. He couldn't help but feel startled and said, "Please calm down, Governor. The Jiannu are powerful, and Korea is small and weak. We have no choice but to feign compromise with them. In fact, the whole country of Korea is still loyal to the Great Jin. This time, my king sent me to meet the Emperor of the Great Jin, intending to ask for forgiveness from the Emperor. I hope Governor can say something good about it."

Jia Huan said softly, "How does Li Zong plan to apologize to the Emperor of Great Jin?"

Li Jong was the current King of Joseon. Jia Huan called him by his name, and the envoy Li Guangzuo did not dare to show his displeasure, because although the man in front of him had not even grown a beard yet, he was an extremely powerful figure. Even Nurhachi had suffered a great defeat at his hands, so how could he offend him easily?
So Li Guangzuo said carefully: "This is the list of gifts that my king pays to His Majesty the Emperor. Please have a look at it. In addition, my king has also recruited 100,000 troops, and we will cross the river and attack the rear of the Jiannu as soon as the emperor gives the order."

"Really?" Jia Huan looked at Li Guangzuo with a sneer on his face. Li Guangzuo could only bite the bullet and say, "It is absolutely true. How dare I lie?"

Jia Huan then took the gift list and glanced at it. It consisted of nothing more than jewels, jade, corals, and animals, which was quite generous. However, the Jin Dynasty had always treated its vassal states with generosity. After paying tribute, those small countries would often receive a hundred times the amount in return, so these small countries were also happy to be "generous".

As for Li Guangzuo's so-called "recruiting 100,000 troops to obey orders at any time", just listen to it. If North Korea was so courageous, it would not have kneeled so quickly!
Of course, changing course with the wind is the way for these small countries to survive. As long as they do not become fake troops to attack their original suzerain country, they are considered kind. For the Great Jin, it is naturally better to have one more younger brother than one more enemy country. Therefore, Jia Huan did not expose Li Guangzuo's empty words. He returned the tribute list to him and said calmly: "The envoys will wait in Jinzhou for the time being. I will write a letter to ask for instructions. You can enter the capital only after the emperor's approval!"

Li Guangzuo hastened to express his gratitude, and Jia Huan had someone take him away and settle him down, so he would not go into details for now.

In the next few days, a number of small Mongolian tribes such as the Khalkha, Khorchin, Yehe, and Huifa all sent envoys to the court, expressing their desire to make friends with the Jin Dynasty. They bowed their heads and flattered Jia Huan, the governor of Liaodong, and begged him to open the border trade horse market.

This was not a coincidence, but the inevitable result after the great victory in Ningyuan. The small Mongolian tribes were originally a group of fence-sitters. Seeing that the invincible Nurhaci was defeated by Jia Huan (it was rumored that Nurhaci himself was injured by artillery and was on the verge of death), the invincible Jurchen army lost nearly 100,000 soldiers and its strength was severely damaged. On the other hand, the Great Jin, which had been weak for seven or eight years, now seemed to be strong again, so the small countries turned around and curry favor with the Great Jin.

Jia Huan wrote a memorial about this matter and submitted it to the court. Emperor Qiansheng was naturally very pleased, and all the civil and military officials in the court were also proud. After all, this was a very proud thing.

Thus, in just eight days, Jia Huan received a reply from Emperor Qiansheng, allowing all countries (tribes) to come to the capital to pay tribute, and instructing Jia Huan to personally escort Manggurtai and other Jiannu captives to the capital. At that time, a grand ceremony of presenting captives will be held to enhance the country's prestige in front of the envoys from vassal states.

Jia Huan had been guarding the city for nearly two years, and he was happy to go back to the capital to see Dai and Chai and ease his homesickness. So he ordered people to make a prisoner cart and speed up the construction of city defenses. He also ordered General Zu Tianshou to move the garrison from Ningyuan to Jinzhou, Lieutenant General Wu Sangui to garrison Guangning City, Tiehu to garrison Xiping Fort, Man Gui to guard Sanchahe Fort, Xing Wei to guard Yizhou, and Zhao Luejiao to guard Youtun.

As a result, the number of troops along the Liaohe River was nearly 100,000, and they were all led by the brave generals under Jia Huan. They were not only well-equipped, but had just won a great victory in Ningyuan not long ago. The morale of the entire army was high. At this time, unless Nurhaci did something stupid, he would definitely not dare to take the initiative to counterattack. Instead, he should have been more worried about whether the Jin army would cross the Liaohe River and attack his old nest - Shenyang.

In other words, after the Battle of Ningyuan, the offensive and defensive situation between the Jin Dynasty and the Jurchens changed!
(End of this chapter)