The Concubine Wushuang of Red Mansion

Chapter 145 The blessed general Jia Cong
As soon as Jia Yucun came out of the Yamen and went to the General Military Yamen, Jia Cong knew about it.

He now has many people at his disposal. Every move of several heavyweights in Jinling City falls in his eyes. Seeing that Jia Yucun has taken the bait and colluded with Tan Jing and others, he is relieved. Take a breath.

In the southeast, there isn't much to do now.

The framework for making money has been set up, and a group of people are working for him. Basically, he doesn't need to micromanage or worry too much.

After the Zhen family's land was redistributed, the people became grateful to him, and he gained fame.

Although there is only one general, in addition to the 4000 people he has assigned, he also has thousands of private soldiers he has gathered.

Others commanded soldiers for free, but he commanded soldiers on the contrary. He held nearly 5000 people in a cage of [-].

Leading troops is difficult to say, but it is actually very simple to say that it is simple. In this matter, Xia Jin basically taught him step by step. Jia Cong himself is also talented, with clear rewards and punishments, sufficient food and salary, and opening up channels for promotion, so that the brave can Those who are good at fighting cannot see the ceiling. There must be brave men under heavy rewards. In this way, how dare there be people who do not fight to the death?
Not only that everyone in his group of soldiers was loyal to him, but if anyone wanted to bribe them to betray him, they would have to do a lot of work.

After the team was gathered together, Jia Cong also gained confidence.

He originally had a plan to sort out these messy things in Jiangnan as soon as possible. Now this group of people are joining forces, which just saves him time and catches them all. He can also plan to return to Beijing as early as possible.

Otherwise, tampering with a family of civil servants today and involving military officials and nobles tomorrow would be like shitting a donkey. It would take both thought and time. He didn't have the patience.

Jia Cong went to the Shenba camp to see the progress of artillery and fire guns. After the alchemy Taoist priest improved the gunpowder, the power was increased, the performance was more stable, the range was increased, the smoke was reduced, and it was no longer affected by climate and humidity.

In mid-September, a total of 15 pieces of winter clothes, a thousand muskets, 300 artillery pieces, and [-] million taels of silver were loaded on the ship and shipped to the capital in the name of sending military supplies to Liaodong.

Winter clothes and firearms will be transported in the capital, but few people know about the transportation of silver.

Originally, the dispute over the distribution of silver in the capital had not come to a conclusion. The emperor put almost all the pressure on Jia Cong alone. The Supreme Emperor insisted on asking for 150 million taels, but the emperor refused to give it. There was a stalemate, and Jia Cong took the blame.

The emperor will live up to me, and I will live up to the emperor, but obviously now, Jia Cong is no longer willing to take the blame for the emperor. After sending all the money to the capital, it is none of his business how to distribute it.

To avoid long nights and many dreams, something else might happen. Dashun is now riddled with holes, and Liaodong is not the only one.

In the Linjing Hall, it was the time of the great court meeting held every five days. Emperor Taiqi was sitting on the throne with a high-sounding crown, and a pair of weak eyes slowly swept over the civil and military officials under the jade steps.

Among the civil servants, standing at the head was Zhao Song, the chief assistant. He was wearing a scarlet robe, a golden pheasant patchwork suit, and holding a wat board in his hand. He had a thin face and bags under his eyes. Although he looked old, his triangular eyes were shining brightly. Flash, hide the essence in the clumsy.

There was a row of nobles, and the one standing at the head was Prince Zhongshun. He wore a winged crown, a red robe with a coiled collar and narrow sleeves, embroidered red gold dragons on the front, back and shoulders, and leather boots with jade belts. He showed a bit of laziness despite his honor.

Although Prince Zhongshun is calm on the face at this time, he is uneasy in his heart. At today's court meeting, the emperor will throw out Zhao Zibi's salt reform policy. If he is not mistaken, this will trigger a political wave. , the Supreme Emperor looked at him sideways, and he was worried that his brother would not be able to suppress him.

At the meeting, the collection of autumn grain was discussed first, and after discussing disaster prevention this winter, Yan Weiyong, the Minister of Industry, once again wanted to talk about the emperor's construction of the building. The emperor interrupted him at the right time and picked up the dragon case. Handed a copy of the book to Song Hong.

"Song Hong, please read this excerpt to all the ministers."

Song Hong gently flicked the fly whisk in his hand and held it in his arms. He took the booklet with both hands and glanced at the title "Pros and Cons of the Salt Policy in the Huaihe River". He was startled and calmly cleared his throat. Read it:
"It is said that the legislation must be public and open, and the implementation of the law must be strict and close. However, the power of adapting to changes can be used for a long time without any disadvantages. In the Tang Dynasty, Liu Yan only used Huai salt to benefit the country. Now I will discuss the Huai salt The pros and cons of salt can be judged in the world. In the early days of the Kingdom, the people were given salt from the land of the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River. There was a difference in the annual salt collection. It was still like giving the people the land and collecting the tax. ...The number of places where salt is produced in the Lianghuai River. Thousands of miles away, there are hundreds of millions of people, but only 70 people rely on salt... The rich and powerful take the risk of the sea, recruit more poor people to occupy the brine land, fry the salt and sell it privately, and the rich are enemies of the princes. Therefore, the stricter the salt ban, the rich will The more horizontal it is, the reason for this is... prohibition is not as good as sparseness, the salt law is unblocked, private traders are public, not only to benefit businessmen, but actually to benefit the poor, to save disadvantages and promote benefits, nothing is good..."

Dashun's salt policy was based on the previous dynasty and adjusted according to the actual situation in the early days of the dynasty.

Emperor Gao, Emperor Taizu of Dashun, had great talent and great strategy. In the early days of the founding of the dynasty, the people's livelihood was in decline, and foreigners were eyeing them. The northwest border towns along the Great Wall were uneven, and the Yi people often knocked on the border. The soldiers guarding the border were stationed on the first line of defense, and material supplies were a priority. Big difficulty.

The country is weak and the people are weak, the border defenses are long, the south is rich and the north is poor, the border towns have huge military needs, and the supply is seriously insufficient.

The salt policy promulgated by the imperial court took this actual situation into consideration. The Ministry of Household Affairs transferred the monopoly rights of salt, invited merchants to bid, and transported military supplies to the border in exchange for an equivalent amount of official salt. Legal right to sell.

To put it bluntly, it is a private sale of official salt.

This policy was a good one at the time. In order to obtain higher profits from salt imports, businessmen traveled to and from major towns in the northwest. They raised their own funds and actively recruited laborers to go to border towns to develop and build merchant villages, which also stimulated the economic development of border towns.

At one time, food prices in border towns were the same as those in the mainland.

But salt is different from food. As long as farmers have land, they can grow food. But salt is not the same. Although Dashun is a vast country, the area that can produce salt is limited. The demand is huge, the output is limited, and the profits are considerable. .

Since the Wanqing reign of Emperor Taishang, illicit salt sales have become prevalent. The Emperor is accustomed to using yinwo to show favors, causing the amount of salt yin distributed to exceed the production capacity of the salt industry, forcing border merchants to have no salt yin. This is one of the reasons.

Secondly, there was collusion between businessmen, dignitaries and the governors of border towns. Private salt was everywhere, but official salt was not enough. The salt tax was getting lower year by year, and the court was harmed.

The salt tax is the most important and the world's endowment, and salt benefits account for half of it. The palace guards, military pay, and the salaries of hundreds of officials all depend on it.

In the salt industry, Lianghuai River is the top priority.

During the reign of Emperor Taizu, the total quota of the Salt Department was 120 million yuan, of which the Lianghuai Salt District had more than 35 yuan per year, accounting for about one-third of the total.

Before Song Hong could even pronounce the last word, the whole hall was noisy. Everyone was shocked. Who would have thought that such a huge thunder would suddenly break out without any news in advance.

After the quarrel for about a while, the ministers remembered the emperor sitting on the throne, and hurriedly returned to their seats, bowing their heads to wait. After all, at this time, these people were not sure about the emperor's attitude.

But the eyes of all civil servants were inevitably focused on Zhao Song, the chief minister. The elders of the cabinet were also very dissatisfied. Zhao Zibi and Zhao Song were originally from the same family. It was impossible for Zhao Song not to know about such a big matter. But he didn't say hello in advance. What was his intention?

Zhao Song actually died unjustly. Zhao Zibi's memorial came from a side door and passed through the cabinet. He didn't know at all. If he knew, he would definitely suppress it and not send it to the Daming Palace. He would not send it to Lin. Respect the palace.

Now that the thunder had sounded, Zhao Song was thinking about how to break this situation.

The Lianghuai Salt Administration cannot be moved for the time being, and Zhao Zibi, the salt transport envoy, should also come to an end. Lin Ruhai was originally a member of the emperor, with a criminal record. He has a lot of talent and learning, but his abilities are limited. He is also the son-in-law of the Rongguo Mansion. Over the years, In the position of Yangzhou Salt Patrol, there was a lot of splashing up and down, but there was no splash, so it didn't matter.

Although Zhao Zibi was an anomaly, Jia Cong was the biggest threat. Without Jia Cong in Jiangnan, Zhao Zibi would be unable to stand alone no matter how dissatisfied he was.

Zhao Song was thinking quickly in his mind, and the hall suddenly fell silent. His last thought was that the emperor could not be completely separated from the control of the cabinet. Before Jia Cong gave them a headache, there was another Zhao Zibi, and the Ming Dynasty The palace should be dissatisfied.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the reform policy mentioned in Zhao Zibi's memorial is really inappropriate..."

The emperor looked at Zhao Song's old face, with his shriveled lips, and kept talking about 5000 years of quotations from scriptures. He had a headache and simply stopped listening. He remembered another booklet written by Jia Cong, which contained a concise analysis for him. The advantages and disadvantages of the two salt policies before and after are explained.

The Kaizhong Law during the Taizu period can be said to be a very good salt policy. As mentioned before, its shortcomings have also increased dramatically with the weakening of the government and the corruption of official administration.

The salt policy in Zhao Zibi's memorial was also based on the Kaizhong method. Some changes were made to adapt to the needs of the times, that is, the salt policy was confiscated and the salt code was released.

To seize the salt nests, you need to use thunderous means to take back all the bait nests once given by the Supreme Emperor. This is affecting people's interests and will naturally arouse public outrage and targeting.

To release the Yanyin, it means dividing the Yanyin into two pieces. One piece still implements the Kaizhong method. The grain transported to the border towns is not delivered directly to the army. Instead, the imperial court sends people to receive and distribute the Yanyin.

The other piece can be purchased with silver. It is not limited to businessmen's qualifications. Anyone with money can buy it, even if he is an ordinary person, a small businessman or a hawker.

The price of salt transported to border towns is much cheaper than the price of salt purchased with silver. This also protects the interests of merchants and makes the policy more inclined.

As for not handing it over directly to the military, but having the court send people to deliver it, it only limits the collusion of interests between merchants and powerful military officers to a certain extent, and the military can also play a supervisory role.

Of course, this does not guarantee integrity.

Jia Cong's secret calculation made a calculation. If this policy can be implemented, the annual food and salary for the border town can be guaranteed, and the annual income from the salt tax can be increased by 150 million taels.

Inside and outside, you can earn an additional two to three million taels of silver.

Nowadays, the food and salary for the border troops are always running out, and they have to buy it with real money from the Ministry of Household Affairs.

When Emperor Taiqi read the secret book, he already had a plan in mind. The sword of Zhao Zibi should not be used in vain. Anyway, this man originally belonged to the Supreme Emperor, because his son rebelled and came to his side. This plan was betrayed. Thorn, he also likes to hear it.

Jia Cong is truly one of his blessed generals!

The emperor thought of Jia Cong and felt better for no reason. At this time, Zhao Song had finished speaking. Gu Mingchen, the Minister of Rites, had sweat rolling down his forehead. He didn't care about the emperor's disrespect and stepped forward to catch the words.

The emperor sat on the throne, with his hands on his knees, watching these nominal ministers come forward one by one to perform. After talking for nearly two hours, the ministers discovered that something was wrong with the emperor.

It was too quiet, they had said so much, and the emperor didn't say anything.

Xu Chang, Minister of the Ministry of War, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I think that if Zhao Zibi's method works, merchants will directly use silver to buy salt, and the grain transportation in the border towns will be in vain. By then, the border garrison will have no food to eat. It’s hard for me to imagine the serious consequences!”

"Zhang Qilin, what do you say?" the emperor asked.

Zhang Qilin calmly stepped out of the queue and said, "Your Majesty, the amount of food stored by the Liaodong Guards Station reported to the Ministry of War last spring. I remember that it was 120 shi. If the current number of soldiers in the Guards is used, the total is 30. Just last winter. , the soldiers in Liaodong will have no food to eat. I believe that the salt administration needs to be clarified and the private salt industry needs to be rectified. Now that the country is starved and the people are impoverished, I believe that if it continues to be delayed, the consequences will be unimaginable." It was a matter of public notice. Jia Cong estimated that the number of 10 soldiers in Liaodong was great.Even if 30 people were to eat 120 shi of grain for a year, 30 people would have to eat more than one liter of rice a day, which is seven taels of grain per catty.

The emperor did not settle the account, but he understood what Zhang Qilin meant, and his eyes fell on Prince Zhongshun, which put him under great pressure, but he had to stand up to the eyes of the civil servants and generals, "Your Majesty, I thought , while Jia Cong is in Jiangnan, he may be able to assist Zhao Zibi in promoting the salt tax reform."

The emperor's goal was achieved, and Prince Zhongshun thought about it for a long time before tentatively giving this opinion.

Obviously the emperor was very satisfied and nodded and said, "Please make a copy of Zhao Zibi's memorial for the cabinet. You guys can discuss it and end it today. We will come up with a suitable solution within two days. Just as Zhang Aiqing said. , the matter of the salt administration cannot be delayed, I hope that all of you, my beloved ministers, will address the court's urgent needs and live up to the expectations of me and the people."

Zhao Song moved his eyes and happened to face Xu Chang, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, who was standing next to him. Both of them were helpless. The emperor's attitude was already very strong and he did not listen to the advice they had just two hours ago.

What Jia Cong did in Jiangnan gave Emperor Taiqi too much confidence. This young man who didn't play his cards according to the rules disrupted the chessboard. Now the game is in chaos.

The emperor stood up and left. The ministers were stunned for a long time, and then they made an appointment with their eyes to go out. Even if there were too many things to say in their hearts, the Linjing Palace was not a place for discussion.

Just as King Zhongshun and Zhang Qilin were about to leave, Song Hong came over in person to stop them, "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang, your Majesty, please stay here while Dong Nuan Pavilion speaks."

Emperor Taiqi is very pitiful now. The cabinet was left by the Supreme Emperor. There are five cabinet ministers in total. None of them are his, so naturally they don't listen to him.

Zhang Qilin, the left minister of the household department, was considered to be the same disciple as Jia Cong. They both studied under Xiong Bichen. He had both talents and virtues and was always ambitious. Emperor Taiqi had long wanted to let him join the cabinet, but he was difficult to pass by the imperial examination.

Therefore, this idea can only be kept hanging.

The two entered Dongnuan Pavilion one after another. Without the emperor's instructions, Song Hong asked two young eunuchs to bring the embroidered pier over. King Zhongshun sat down without being polite, but Zhang Qilin did not dare.

"Sit down, don't be restrained."

The emperor had spoken, and Zhang Qilin could no longer refuse.

"Let me tell you something, I'm afraid you guys will find it funny. Jia Cong disobeyed my order and secretly transported the more than 300 million taels of silver from the Zhen family to Beijing and arrived at the big pier. , I just know.”

Zhang Qilin's heart skipped a beat and his heart stopped beating. He couldn't help but raise his head and glanced at the emperor. When he saw a smile in the emperor's eyes, the prudent and respectful left minister of Hube, he relaxed. After taking a breath, I thought, Jia Cong's holy love is still very strong. Looking at the emperor's appearance, I don't mean to blame him at all.

King Zhongshun was also stunned and asked inexplicably, "Is Jia Cong so considerate? He was afraid that the emperor brother would have no money to spend, so he sent it here without any hesitation?"

Emperor Taiqi smiled and seemed to be in a good mood. He picked up the tea cup and took a big sip. Then he said, "I am indeed short of money. I have 300 million taels of silver. I can be of great use. The Supreme Emperor is waiting for you. With 150 million taels of silver, I don’t know. Jia Cong sent these 300 million taels over. Where did he raise the money from the Supreme Emperor?"

Zhang Qilin was shocked again when he heard this. Hearing this, if the Supreme Emperor wanted money, would he go to Jia Cong?

King Zhongshun also heard the implication. Although he could not help but mourn for the boy in his heart, he also wanted to know how the boy would solve this situation.

Speaking of which, it was strange. His daughter, who had not loved red clothes and loved armed weapons since she was a child, had recently started to learn embroidery. She embroidered with a purse all day long. At first, he thought that her daughter had embroidered it and given it to him. Who knew? Only when he saw his daughter learning to make socks again and asked about the purse did he realize that it had been "lost".

There was nothing that could be hidden from him in Prince Zhongshun's palace. Even though Prince Zhongshun was unwilling, he had to accept the truth. The purse was "thrown" to Jinling by his daughter. At this moment, I'm afraid it has already arrived. In Jia Cong's hands.

The boy deserved to be tortured like this for seducing his daughter.

"Hahaha, the emperor's move is really good!" King Zhongshun laughed heartily.

Zhang Qilin couldn't help but follow Wan'er and asked, "Your Majesty, 300 million taels of silver, do you want all the [-] million taels of silver to be transferred to the Household Department or how to distribute it?"

"Half will go to the Household Department, and half will go to the internal treasury. Before entering the Household Department, the use of the money must be planned. At the beginning of the year, the various expenditures planned, which ones have been spent, and which ones have not been touched, are all drawn up. Send it up, and I will see where it goes for every piece of money."

Zhang Qilin understood that the emperor was worried that the money would go into the household department, and Zhao Song could not resist the pressure and allocated it to the Supreme Emperor.

He hurriedly responded "Yes".

"Let's talk about the salt policy. At the court meeting, you were all in favor of the reform of the salt policy. I know that you are probably trying to figure out my thoughts and just talk to me. There is nothing else at this moment. People, please speak your mind, I want to hear the truth."

After all, reform always involves a wide range of things. If it succeeds, it will be like Shang Yang, and Qin became a powerful country in one fell swoop; if it does not succeed, it will be like the previous dynasty, where the monarch and his ministers vacillated between reforming and not reforming. In the end, the country's power will decline and the country will eventually fall. .

King Zhongshun could not hold too many things in his mind, and his position did not allow him to worry too much. He expressed his position first, "Brother, this matter is not a trivial matter. If it really doesn't work, I will not dare to risk my ancestors' country or my own life." Just kidding. Didn't my brother say what the border town is like now? The salt tax is getting less and less every year. What's the reason? Didn't the emperor himself say it before?
Private salt is prevalent, official salt is abolished, and powerful businessmen collude.Now that we have reached this point and there is a way, why not give it a try?But it won't be any worse than it is now.

Oh, by the way, I remember that Yangzhou Salt Patrol Censor was appointed by the emperor in order to smooth over the salt tax issue. As a result, what did Lin Ruhai do in Yangzhou?Is he Jia Cong's father-in-law?My younger brother looked at him and saw that he was also a useless nerd, so why not quickly move to a new position and look for someone with skills who could still be useful. "

The following words were a bit grumbling. Emperor Taiqi didn't want to know why his younger brother had objections to Jia Cong. It was a good thing to be left or right. It didn't matter if it didn't affect political affairs anyway.

He looked at Zhang Qilin and said, "Zhang Aiqing, please tell me."

Zhang Qilin also meant the same thing, "Your Majesty, the border affairs are urgent now. Fortunately, with General Jia Shen here, the Japanese invasion in the southeast has calmed down for the time being, and we can finally free up one hand to use our combined efforts on border affairs.

But when the war breaks out, food and grass go first. You can't let Jia Shen raid every house. This is not the right way after all.My intention is the same as that of the prince. Since the situation is already like this, it is better to give it a try.Now, General Jia Shen's power in Jiangnan has been established and unstoppable. He just takes advantage of the situation to innovate, which will be effective. "

Emperor Taiqi nodded, with a look of relief on his slightly pale face, and said, "This Jia Cong is also a young man, and he does things as he pleases. However, he is loyal to the country, and he is better than me." The fifth prince is a few years younger. Let him practice in Jiangnan for another two years, complete the Jinghai and Yanzheng affairs, and then come back. I will reward him then."

Seeing that the emperor had forgotten Lin Ruhai, King Zhongshun quickly reminded him, "Brother, what about Lin Ruhai? Since we want to rectify the salt administration, I thought that Lin Ruhai would not only be ineffective, but would also be a hindrance."

"Let him return to Beijing and be transferred to the Imperial Academy as a lecturer."

Lin Ruhai, the salt inspector, was originally a seventh-rank official, and the Imperial Academy lecturer was a sixth-rank official. He was promoted to two ranks at once. It seemed like a favor, but in fact, compared to the Imperial Academy official, the salt inspector was a fat vacancy. , holding real power.

King Zhongshun was very satisfied with this clear praise. If nothing unexpected happened, pedantic scholars like Lin Ruhai might die in the Hanlin Academy in this life.

Zhang Qilin also understood the connection. He couldn't understand why King Zhongshun was so impressed by Lin Ruhai. He might have a big opinion, but he couldn't see it. He kept degrading Lin Ruhai as worthless.

Lin Ruhai's abilities may be limited, but it is basically impossible to expect him, a civil servant, to leverage the entire Jiangnan salt administration and comply with the emperor's needs with his position as Yangzhou Salt Patrol Censor.

Emperor Taiqi actually understood this truth.

As for the position of Yangzhou Salt Patrol Censor, the emperor had no idea who would fill it for the time being. After Zhang Qilin and King Zhongshun left, he ordered Song Hong to go to the inner treasure house to select two head and face jewelry, and twenty pieces of Shu brocade were delivered to him. In the Queen's Palace, Jia Cong's wife Lin was given in the name of the Queen.

The emperor himself wrote a secret edict and rushed it to Jinling over [-] miles away.

In the Jia Family Courtyard, Jia Cong was testing the improved fire gun on the newly opened school ground. The range and accuracy have been increased, but Jia Cong was still a little dissatisfied. He said to Jiang Xiang and others, "You can try it here." By adding a rifling, if the bullet rotates during flight, the bullet will become much more stable when flying along the ballistic trajectory."

Seeing that Jiang Xiang and others didn't understand very well, Jia Cong asked for a pen and paper and drew a simple diagram.

In his previous life, he was just a military enthusiast, and his knowledge was very limited. He could only provide ideas and thoughts, and concretely solve some practical problems in the process. He didn't know how to do it at all, so he had to use the ingenuity of everyone in the Shenba camp.

Just as he was talking, Scout Goudan came excitedly, "General, the uncle of the Xue family came out and went to a quiet alley behind the prefect's Yamen. He said he was looking for a kidnapper to buy someone."

Jia Cong put down his pen, glanced at the picture on the paper, and after seeing that it was correct, he took the handkerchief and wiped his hands, and asked, "Have you found the Zhen Feng family that I asked you to look for in Daru Prefecture before?"

"I told you that I found it and brought it to the Zhen family next to the Gourd Temple."

The original site of Zhen's house was Zhen Shiyin's house. After a fire, Zhen Yingjia took over the house and rebuilt it to live in the outer chamber of the Jin family. The situation has long since changed.

After Jia Cong raided Zhen's house, he took possession of this house.

Before Jia Yucun came, Jia Cong had already made preparations to touch him. After all, this kind of person is a heroic figure. In "A Dream of Red Mansions", Jia Yucun was awarded the title of Grand Sima three times, and he was appointed as assistant military counselor and counselor of the government.

Later, the Jia family was fired, and Jia Yu's village was in trouble.

If Jia Cong doesn't get rid of such a villain now, will he give himself a powerful rival in the future?

Jia Cong's plan was to peel off Jia Yucun's skin first and then kill him.

"What time is it? Jia Yucun's full moon party is about to begin, right?"

"General, the time is coming. If the general doesn't go, they won't dare to start!" Goudanba said. He didn't know what was wrong in Jia Yucun's mind. The son he had finally longed for was full moon. Why should the general be invited to the banquet?

Today, I'm afraid I won't be able to eat and I'll have to walk away.

"Let's go to the magistrate's Yamen for the banquet. Daniel looked over at Xue Dashan, don't let anyone die. Goudan sent people to protect the Zhen Feng family and beat the drum at the right time."

(End of this chapter)