The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 745 Success is achieved, time to return to the capital.

Zhang Xianzhong actually died, and in such a pathetic way!
At this moment, Jia Huan, who had just received Man Gui's report of victory, was somewhat dazed. He remembered Zhang Xianzhong from the late Ming Dynasty, who did not die so easily. He not only established the Great Western regime and rivaled Li Zicheng, but also fought against the Qing army that entered the pass for several years before finally dying on the battlefield. He transformed from a rebel into a national hero who resisted foreign invasion.

This world of Dream of the Red Chamber is indeed distorted and disordered in terms of time and space. Although it has many similarities with the late Ming Dynasty, its final outcome is unpredictable.

Next, Jia Huan ordered Man Gui to be commended, his title of general restored, and ordered him to lead troops to continue the pursuit of Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons. As for the supervising officer Duan Yong, who died a heroic death, Jia Huan naturally gave him a grand funeral and set up a mourning hall outside Huan County for people to pay their respects. After seven days of mourning, his body was transported to the capital for burial.

Subsequently, Jia Huan took the initiative to write a letter to Emperor Qiansheng to apologize. After all, the supervising officer had died in battle, and as the commander-in-chief, he also bore responsibility. However, compared to the merits he had made, the death of a trusted eunuch was something Emperor Qiansheng could accept. Therefore, there was no punishment, not even a reprimand. Instead, an imperial edict was issued to comfort and encourage Jia Huan, roughly meaning that Jia Aiqing should not feel guilty, but continue his efforts to completely wipe out the rebels. The emperor awaited his triumphant return to the capital and then rewarded him according to his merits.

It is worth mentioning that Emperor Qiansheng did not mention sending another supervisor in his imperial edict, and it is unknown what he was thinking. However, for Jia Huan, with Duan Yong eliminated as a potential threat and no supervisor to restrain him, he naturally had more freedom to act.

Therefore, Jia Huan, in his capacity as Governor-General of Shaanxi, ordered a sweeping overhaul of officialdom, dismissing all mining supervisors and tax supervisors in his jurisdiction, re-surveying land, investigating household registrations, resettling displaced people and captured bandits, and promoting the planting of corn and sweet potatoes throughout the province.

As a series of policies aimed at reforming malpractices and resolving social conflicts were implemented, Jia Huan's reputation and standing among the people of Shaanxi rose rapidly, just like his illustrious name in the army.

Of course, any reform will inevitably offend vested interest groups. Jia Huan's abolition of the mining and tax supervision authorities will first offend the eunuch group. Shi Dayong, the director of the Eastern Depot, was furious about this and regarded Jia Huan as a thorn in his side.

Originally, the mining and tax supervision were national policies, and the decision to abolish them had to be made by the imperial court. The key was to get Emperor Qiansheng's approval. However, the money amassed by the mining and tax supervision would eventually go into Emperor Qiansheng's private treasury, so Emperor Qiansheng was the biggest beneficiary.

For this reason, in recent years, the civil service group, especially the Donglin faction, has repeatedly and strongly demanded the abolition of the mining supervisors and tax supervisors that are spread all over the country, but they have not been granted permission by Emperor Qiansheng!

The reason why Jia Huan was able to so easily drive away the mining and tax supervisors in Shaanxi, and why Emperor Qiansheng could turn a blind eye, was ultimately because of his military achievements. To put it bluntly, Emperor Qiansheng now had to give him some face.

Of course, Jia Huan was not acting recklessly. His reasons were very valid. The Shaanxi region had suffered from natural disasters for years and had just experienced the calamity of war. The people were already overburdened. At this time, taxes and corvée should be waived to allow the people to recuperate. Otherwise, the people would have no way to survive and would take the path of rebellion again. Then the rebel army would never be able to suppress them!

Emperor Qiansheng was probably terrified by the constant uprisings in the past two years, and he couldn't even protect his own ancestral graves. So he could only reluctantly allow Jia Huan to abolish the mining and tax supervisors in Shaanxi, and even agreed to let Jia Huan promote sweet potatoes and corn in Shaanxi.

As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Even the best policies don't take effect overnight. Therefore, the effects of Jia Huan's policies will probably take at least a year or two to become apparent, so we won't discuss that further here.

Meanwhile, Xing Wei had cornered Li Zicheng's forces on the banks of the Yellow River, where Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces meet. He planned to rest for a few days until his troops had recovered their strength before finally eliminating Li Zicheng. However, things often turn out differently. At this moment, a cold front suddenly swept in, the temperature plummeted, and heavy snow fell for a day and a night, accumulating to a depth of four feet, almost burying the military camp. Many soldiers who slept outdoors suffered frostbite, and quite a few even froze to death.

Five days later, when the snow melted, Xing Wei sent out scouts to investigate. To their dismay, Li Zicheng had vanished without a trace, leaving only hundreds of frozen corpses in the camp.

It turned out that the Yellow River was frozen over, and Li Zicheng escaped by crossing the ice with his remaining forces. He probably guessed that government troops were out to surround him in Shanxi Province on the other side, so he did not go deep into Shanxi territory. Instead, he went south along the Yellow River, crossed the ice again, landed in the Mianchi County area, and entered Henan Province.

Seeing his prize escape, Xing Wei was both angry and frustrated, feeling as if he had swallowed ten pounds of flies. Since Henan was not under the jurisdiction of Jia Huan, the governor of Shaanxi, Xing Wei naturally could not pursue them on his own. Helpless, he could only report to Jia Huan and dejectedly withdraw his troops back to Qingyang Prefecture.

Li Zicheng escaped, but Zhang Xianzhong died. Jia Huan was increasingly confused. However, Li Zicheng's escape might not be a bad thing. As the saying goes, "the bow is put away when the birds are all gone," once even Li Zicheng was dead, Jia Huan's value in Emperor Qiansheng's eyes would greatly diminish.

So, let Li Zicheng run away if he wants; Jia Huan is too lazy to care. Let the governor of Henan deal with the headache himself. As the governor of Shaanxi, he only needs to manage his own little territory in Shaanxi.

It was already December of the twelfth year of the Qiansheng era, and there was less than a month until the New Year. Jia Huan had promised when he parted ways with Daiyu and Baochai that he would return to the capital before the New Year. Now it seemed that he should still be able to make it, but there was one condition: Feng Ziying had to be quicker!
That night, during the decisive battle, Wang Ziyong led his remaining troops northward, while Feng Ziying led the elite troops of the capital garrison in hot pursuit. Wang Ziyong fought and fled, but even at the foot of the Great Wall, he could not shake off Feng Ziying's pursuit. He had no choice but to fight a desperate battle with his back to the wall. Although he suffered heavy casualties, he still managed to break through the encirclement with more than a thousand men, cross the Great Wall, and escape into the desert.

Feng Ziying was a ruthless man and still had no intention of letting Wang Ziyong go. After all, this guy was one of the main culprits who destroyed the imperial tomb. If he were killed, the emperor would be overjoyed and reward him handsomely. So Feng Ziying personally led five hundred elite cavalrymen to chase him into the desert.

At this time, a cold wave struck, and heavy snow fell. Wang Ziyong's remaining troops, lacking clothing and food, suffered heavy losses, with more than half freezing to death. He himself also fell ill. When Feng Ziying caught up, Wang Ziyong's remaining troops abandoned him and scattered in all directions.

At this time, Wang Ziyong was already critically ill. Feng Ziying originally wanted to try to save him, but on the way back, Wang Ziyong finally passed away. So, Feng Ziying could only take a stiff corpse back to report to Jia Huan.

Thus, all three "sixth brothers" who participated in digging up the emperor's ancestral tomb in April of this year have fallen. Wang Ziyong and Wang Jiayin lost their lives, while Gao Yingxiang suffered the worst fate, being captured alive and likely to be executed by slow slicing.

Therefore, one should be cautious about digging up other people's ancestral graves, especially the ancestral graves of emperors. The Qing army did not touch the Ming Tombs when they entered the pass, but Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong dug up the ancestral graves of the Zhu family in Fengyang. Such rogue behavior also reflects the limitations of the two, and it is not surprising that they could not rule the country in the end.

(End of this chapter)