Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 452: Imperial Edict to Honor Meritorious Service

Jinling, Zhen Mansion.

In Hongxuan Hall outside the second gate, Zhen Fangqing, dressed in men's clothing, was looking through the store accounts sent by Liu Xian.

When Liu Xian looked at Zhen Fangqing's focused expression, he was often reminded of the second master of the Zhen family.

Liu Xian was also surprised by what Zhen Fangqing had been doing recently.

Recently, she has used various methods to withdraw the money that the second wife had deposited in five old shops and this year's dividends, totaling more than 600,000 taels.
She used the excuse of doing business together with Xinchunhao and got the approval of Old Lady Zhen, so the wife of the first house and Zhen Shiwen could do nothing about it.

The second branch of the Zhen family also has many real estate and shops in Jinling and various places in the south of the Yangtze River, which have also been gradually liquidated by Zhen Fangqing in various ways.

Now, Zhen Fangqing's newly opened Xiuyun Pavilion has accumulated a huge amount of silver in its account, and all of it has been exchanged for silver bills from Huanming Money House.

Seeing these things, even Liu Xian, who had seen a lot of the world, was secretly shocked.

Zhen Fangqing put down the account book and asked, "Uncle Xian, is there any news about the batch of fine iron that was robbed from Haiyun Pavilion? What has the third brother of the eldest house been busy with recently?"

Liu Xian replied: "I have asked many people about that batch of fine iron, and even went through the black market, but I have not found any trace of this batch of fine iron.

I heard that the Royal Guards are also looking for the whereabouts of this batch of fine iron, but have found nothing so far.

My acquaintance in the Maritime Customs told me that Liu Hai, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, obtained the documents about the smuggling of muskets by the Third Master from them a few days ago.

The Third Master's comings and goings have been pretty normal these days. He would go to the store a few times a day, and the rest of the time he would often go to the outer house on Xiuchun Street."

Zhen Fangqing was slightly stunned when he heard this and asked, "Does he have a second house on Xiuchun Street?"

Liu Xian replied, "I heard that the Third Master fell in love with a singing girl in Hongyu Tower. He paid money to redeem her last month and she is now kept in Xiuchun Street."

Zhen Fangqing frowned when he heard this, and a look of contempt appeared on his face.

Although the Zhen family was a wealthy family, it was common for brothers and elders in the family to have concubines.

But the Zhen family had very strict family education and did not allow their children to have mistresses privately to avoid bringing disgrace to the family.

My third brother has his wife and concubines in the room, but he is doing such ridiculous things outside.

However, this kind of thing is common in aristocratic families. As an unmarried girl, she would not care even if she knew about it.

……

Zhen Fangqing frowned slightly and said, "That batch of fine iron has been in the Haiyun Pavilion warehouse for a long time, and there has been no movement. Suddenly, someone took advantage of the fire to steal it. It seems a bit strange no matter how you look at it."

Then he asked, "Uncle Xian, have you asked the chief manager of Haiyun Pavilion how the fire in the warehouse happened that day?"

Liu Xian replied: "According to the head shopkeeper, the second shopkeeper Wu Guiqing went into the warehouse to pick up goods and accidentally knocked over a candle, which ignited the curtain.

After the incident, the third master took the initiative to report the case to Yingtian Prefecture. The Yingtian Prefecture yamen questioned the people in the store and confirmed that it was premeditated by the thieves. "

Zhen Fangqing's eyes flickered as he said, "Wu Guiqing is Third Brother's man, but he was the one who caused the fire, giving outsiders an opportunity to take advantage of it!"

Liu Xian asked, "Miss San suspected that Wu Guiqing deliberately caused the fire, colluded with outsiders, and stole the fine iron?"

Zhen Fangqing shook his head and said, "This batch of refined iron was put into the warehouse by my third brother, who said it was used to cast anchors. Wu Guiqing was just a runner, so what right did he have to communicate with outsiders to rob the refined iron?"

Liu Xian's heart skipped a beat and he said, "Miss San means that Third Master did this behind the scenes, but why would Third Master do this? It was he who took the initiative to report the case to Yingtian Prefecture that day."

Zhen Fangqing sighed, "He took the initiative to report the case to Yingtian Prefecture, which might be a way to retreat and clear himself of suspicion.

The Jinyiwei were not as easily fooled as the Yingtian Prefecture. They must have seen through the clues, but because they had no actual evidence and were intimidated by the power of the Zhen family, they did not dare to question the third brother casually.

But he had been investigating his background behind the scenes, otherwise why would he have gone to the Maritime Customs Office to retrieve the documents showing that his third brother was smuggling muskets.

What I am worried about now is not only that my third brother is involved in this matter, but also those people who robbed the fine iron by fire. They did things so covertly, simply because they did not want people to know their identities.

Such secretive behavior can only mean that the purpose of this batch of fine iron is not to be made public. It must be used to cast musket barrels, there is no doubt about it.

Now I can only hope that the Jinyiwei don’t find out the whereabouts of this batch of fine iron, otherwise my third brother will definitely not be able to escape responsibility, and our entire Zhen family will be implicated by him.

Ever since I learned that my third brother had lost his musket and stored this batch of fine iron in the warehouse, I have been unable to sleep or eat...

I have also thought about disposing of this batch of fine iron myself, but the Jinyiwei has spies all over Haiyun Pavilion. If I do this, I will get into trouble.

We knew it was a disaster, but we could only watch it lying in the warehouse!"

After listening to Zhen Fangqing's words, Liu Xian felt a chill in his heart. He knew that Zhen Fangqing was intelligent and resourceful, had a sharp eye, and was very accurate in making judgments.

The analysis just now is insightful and very reasonable. I am afraid that the actual situation is roughly the same as what the third girl thinks.

If this incident eventually came to a head and involved the private manufacture of muskets, which would be a serious crime tantamount to treason, then the Zhen family would be in real trouble.

He suddenly understood why Zhen Fangqing had been so busy during this period of time mobilizing the money from the old shop and liquidating the idle properties of the second room.

……

There is a restaurant at the foot of the city wall at Yinghua Gate, West City of Jinling.

Early this morning, Liu Hai brought five or six of his capable subordinates into the restaurant, and each of them found a seat and sat down to wait.

According to the restaurant owner, the Englishman had no access to the rice from the Great Zhou Dynasty, so his servant would come to the restaurant every three days to buy food from the Western barbarians.

According to the time, that person will definitely come again today.

Just after two quarters past noon, Liu Hai saw a boy of about seventeen or eighteen riding a skinny horse, entering the city from Dinghuai Gate and walking slowly to the restaurant.

He got off his horse and shouted to the store, "Boss, I'm from the western suburbs. I still follow the old rules. Ten catties of smoked meat, five catties of Hu naan, and five catties of cooked milk. Everything must be the freshest."

The shop owner told his waiter to prepare something while walking up to Liu Hai and whispered, "Sir, this boy is the servant of the white barbarian. Today he is buying food for the barbarian as usual."

Liu Hai said: "Prepare things for him as soon as possible, everything will continue as usual, and you don't have to worry about anything else."

After receiving Liu Hai's instructions, the shop owner prepared two large bags of food as usual. The servant hung the food on the horse, then slowly left the shop and went out of the city through Dinghuai Gate.

Liu Hai and several of his men exchanged glances and followed...

……

Jinling, the official post station of the imperial envoy.

After the Dali Temple completed the interrogation of the case, a three-day city-wide manhunt, although it caused quite a stir, was ultimately passed smoothly.

At this point, Guo Lin issued an imperial decree to Nanjing, and in less than five days, all matters concerning the major case in Nanjing had been brought under control.

All 150 suspects were arrested, and the shadow and poison that the Water Conservancy case had cast on the officialdom of Nanjing was swept away.

Such a swift, efficient and decisive manner was really dazzling and surprised Guo Lin.

Before he left the capital, Jia Cong was investigating a case in Nanjing, but apart from finding Luo Xiong as a suspect, there were no other breakthroughs.

He originally thought that this trip to Nanjing would most likely be a difficult task that would take a long time, and he was really unsure.

Moreover, the emperor's attitude towards dealing with Du Hengxin was subtle. Even though Guo Lin had served the emperor for many years and knew his character well, he still found it difficult to deal with the matter and it was really a headache.

Unexpectedly, Jia Cong had just captured Du Hengxin and handed him over to the Jinyiwei for less than half a day, but he was assassinated on the way, and there is still no clue to catch the murderer.

Although this cast a blemish on the investigation of the Nanjing case, Guo Lin privately believed that it would be cleaner if this man died.

If he was really taken back to the capital, the emperor would conduct a special trial, and who knows what kind of trouble would be revealed. Guo Lin knew the events of fifteen years ago very well, and he still felt a chill when he thought about it now.

For him, the death of this evil Du Hengxin in Jinling was the last resort.

Besides, the man lost his life at the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and it had nothing to do with him as the imperial envoy. It was really straightforward.

Therefore, when everything was settled, he immediately wrote an imperial edict, detailing the entire investigation and prosecution of the Nanjing case, and prepared to send it to the capital as soon as possible.

Among the imperial edicts, Jia Cong was undoubtedly the first to make the contribution.

For example, when he was in charge of the Jinling Zhongche Division, he investigated the crimes of Zhou Zhengyang and Luo Xiong;

He led his troops to sneak into Gusu, captured Zhou Zhengyang at night, and withdrew from Gusu City with all his might. He then set up an ambush and captured Luo Xiong alive 50 miles outside the city.

Afterwards, he uncovered the assassination plot in Fenglefang and captured Du Hengxin alive along the river.

Each of these events is full of twists and turns, and the sudden emergence of ingenious strategies is dazzling, almost stealing all the limelight from the investigation of the Jinling case.

Not to mention that when the search was carried out in the city, eight hundred musketeers were used to suppress and intimidate the villains, making the final search in the city a complete success.

Guo Lin could foresee that as long as this imperial edict was reported to the palace, Jia Cong's name would once again resound throughout the capital, and the emperor's reward would probably not be light.

……

Of course, Guo Lin also had a share of the credit for the whole thing. He was an imperial envoy and was granted the power to control the six government offices of the secondary capital.

If he had not delegated power to Jia Cong, Jia Cong would not have been able to quickly control the Thirteen Gates of Jinling and urgently dispatch musketeers into the city. The subsequent interrogation and arrest would not have been so smooth and effective.

As for Yang Hongbin's interrogation of the criminals in moderation and obtaining all the confessions very quickly, Guo Lin believed that it was just to make up for the crime of leaking secrets to the Dali Temple that led to Zhou Zhengyang's escape, which was considered to be a good thing. Zhang Kangnian was also mentioned in this memorial.

This former deputy commander of Jinling had once incurred the greatest suspicion from Jia Cong and Zou Min'er.

That day, a bloody fight broke out in front of Zhang's mansion in Fenglefang. The twenty soldiers of the Five Cities Army and five Jinyiwei guards who were guarding Zhang's mansion were all hacked to death in front of the gate.

Zhang Kangnian was rescued by an assassin and has not been heard from since.

It was not until the end of the three-day search in the inner city that a bailiff from Yingtian Prefecture accidentally discovered Zhang Kangnian's body in an abandoned old house in the city.

After the coroner's examination, it was found that Zhang Kangnian was murdered and had been dead for many days, with corpse spots all over his body.

Judging from the time, he was killed in an abandoned old house after he was rescued from Zhang's Mansion that day, which is not far from Fenglefang.

No one knew how he was killed, but Jia Cong and Yang Hongbin knew the situation and could roughly infer what happened.

Until Jia Cong escorted Zhou Zhengyang to Jinling, it was not finally confirmed who was the real mastermind behind the Water Conservancy case between Du Hengxin and Zhang Kangnian.

Du Hengxin and Zhang Kangnian lived together in Fenglefang. Before Du Hengxin escaped from the port, he sent his trusted henchmen to kill the soldiers guarding Zhang's house and abducted Zhang Kangnian.

The plan of letting Zhang Kangnian attract all the attention in the city so that he could escape from Jinling calmly was actually a very clever one.

But at this juncture, Jia Cong suddenly received a letter of denunciation, which made Du Hengxin's plan fail.

Therefore, after Zhang Kangnian was kidnapped, he was quickly killed to silence him, and his body was abandoned in an abandoned old house, making him a scapegoat for Du Hengxin.

It is a pity that the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War in the Temporary Capital ended up like this.

However, according to the confessions of Zhou Zhengyang and Luo Xiong, as well as the secret account left by Zou Huaiyi.

Zhang Kangnian had served as the deputy commander for several years and had been implicated by Du Hengxin a long time ago. He was an insider and accomplice of the major case at the Water Supervision Bureau that year, so Jia Cong's suspicion of him was not unfair.

Zhang Kangnian's cousin is the current Princess Zhao. Jia Cong has a deep memory of the eldest prince, who is both talented in civil and military affairs. It is widely rumored in the court and the public that he will be the future successor to the throne.

Zhang Kangnian was able to become a third-rank military officer and then the third-rank right vice minister of the Ministry of War in the secondary capital, which was a rare career transition from military to civil service.

Jia Cong was not sure whether it was because he was a relative of King Zhao that he was able to have such a successful career and was valued and recommended by King Zhao.

If this was really the case, Zhang Kangnian, as an accomplice in the Water Supervision Bureau case and holding such an important military and political position in the secondary capital, would most likely make Prince Zhao a target of suspicion from Emperor Jiazhao.

Knowing Jia Cong's understanding of Emperor Jia Zhao's gloomy and suspicious nature, such a thing was probably inevitable. However, this kind of thing had nothing to do with him, so he naturally would not take it to heart.

……

After Guo Lin had someone write the imperial edict, he asked Jia Cong to review it, and the two of them signed their names together and submitted it.

After all, Jia Cong went to Nanjing this time on a secret mission to investigate a major case. Jia Cong was undoubtedly the protagonist of the entire Nanjing case.

Without his name on Guo Lin's edict, its weight and persuasiveness would be greatly reduced.

Guo Lin knew very well that Emperor Jia Zhao was a meticulous person who would not tolerate any injustice and that he had an unusual regard for Jia Cong. Naturally, he would not omit Jia Cong's name in the imperial edict.

Jia Cong read the imperial edict and suddenly said, "Eunuch Guo, this time we are investigating a major case in Nanjing, and the Central Vehicle Division of the Shenjing Division has sent Miss Zou Min'er to Nanjing to assist me in investigating the case.

Du Hengxin realized that Miss Zou was the daughter of Zou Huaiyi, and sent assassins to interrogate Miss Zou about the whereabouts of the secret account of the Water Conservancy Bureau. When the assassin failed, he killed Miss Zou.

Before Miss Zou came, she told me the clue about the secret account of the Water Conservancy Bureau, which enabled me to find the secret account. Otherwise, this major case would not have been solved so quickly.

I have worked with Miss Zou for many days. Now that she has passed away, I want to leave a mark on her. Should I add this to the imperial edict?"

After hearing this, Guo Lin straightened his expression and said, "What Jia Jianzheng said makes sense. Miss Zou is from the Central Vehicle Department. She is still my subordinate, so I should add this."

For Guo Lin, it was an honorable thing for him that his staff members from the CRRC Corporation Limited sacrificed their lives in solving a major case, so he naturally could not save on this icing on the cake.

The reason why Jia Cong said this was not to commend Zou Min'er, but to use this imperial edict to confirm the fact that Zou Min'er was dead, so that she could completely get rid of her status as a slave and gain a new life.

……

Jia Cong and Guo Lin supplemented and polished the imperial edict and had it rewritten.

The imperial edict would be sent to the capital via military post stations along the way. After the imperial edict was received from the capital, Jia Cong and Guo Lin would be able to return to the capital to submit the edict.

The two were discussing the details of the matter when suddenly the guard came to report that Ge Zhicheng, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, wanted to see the Imperial Envoy and Lord Jia.

Guo Lin frowned when he heard this. Ever since Du Hengxin was assassinated by the Jinyiwei, Guo Lin no longer had a good attitude towards Ge Zhicheng.

Now that Du Hengxin is dead, Guo Lin has one less trouble, and the blame does not lie with him, as the Jinyiwei will take the blame.

Therefore, Guo Lin had no interest in meeting Ge Zhicheng at all. However, the other party was the chief officer of the Jinling Jinyiwei after all, and it would not look good if he avoided meeting him.

He also noticed that the guards had conveyed that the other party did not want to see just him, but also Jia Cong, so he reluctantly allowed someone to let him in.

After Ge Zhicheng entered, he saw Guo Lin and Jia Cong, and his face was excited.

He said: "Eunuch Guo, Earl Weiyuan, a batch of fine iron was robbed from the Haiyun Pavilion of the Zhen family in Jinling the other day. I ordered my Jinyiwei to conduct a thorough investigation.

A workshop for privately manufacturing muskets was discovered in a valley on the west outskirts of the city. There were more than a dozen guards equipped with muskets in the workshop. Because this matter is of great importance, I have come to report it to Eunuch Guo.

Jinyiwei has arranged personnel to wipe out the musket workshop here, but the other side has musket guards. In order to avoid too many casualties, I want to ask Jia Jianzheng to send musket soldiers to assist. "

Guo Lin was shocked when he heard this. Setting up a workshop privately and making muskets secretly was a serious crime tantamount to treason.

However, Jia Cong heard something else in Ge Zhicheng's words. Ge Zhicheng said that he discovered this private workshop for making muskets while searching for the fine iron that was robbed from the Zhen family. This obviously implicated the Zhen family.

Guo Lin had just arrived in Nanjing and was not clear about many things, but Jia Cong knew that the Zhen family's Haiyun Pavilion stored a batch of Ottoman fine iron, and that this fine iron could be used to make musket barrels.

However, this batch of fine iron cannot be completely equated with the privately-established firearms workshop. Jia Cong keenly sensed Ge Zhicheng's sinister intentions.

He had not yet obtained any concrete evidence, but he had already linked the Zhen family to this private firearms factory.

……

This morning, Liu Hai led his men to follow the Englishman's servant at a restaurant in Yinghuamen, all the way to a remote valley at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain on the outskirts of the city.

In this sparsely populated valley, they discovered a large construction workshop.
There were more than a dozen guards armed with muskets around the workshop, patrolling everywhere and keeping a close watch on the place.

If Liu Hai had not come from the imperial guards and had not been immersed in the Imperial Guards for several years, he would have seen many risks and been a cautious person.

As soon as he noticed something unusual, he hid his tracks in time and was almost discovered by these musket guards.

This discovery shocked Liu Hai beyond words. Since the rise of firearms in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the art of firearms has become a national weapon. The possession and circulation of firearms by the public is prohibited, and any violation will be severely punished.

This private workshop is not only located in a remote area and hidden from the public, but also has more than ten musket guards.

Liu Hai and Jia Cong were familiar with each other and interacted with each other on a daily basis. He had seen the musket guards around him more than once.

Therefore, he was very familiar with the shape of the Firearms Bureau's new Rummit gun. The muskets held by the guards of this workshop were almost exactly the same as the Firearms Bureau's new Rummit gun.

Although they could not get close to the workshop, they could see from afar that craftsmen were transporting molds similar to musket accessories between several independent houses in the workshop.

This turned out to be a workshop that made muskets, and was able to produce the Great Zhou's latest improved Rumi gun.

Liu Hai knew that although Jia Cong went to Nanjing to open a branch of the Firearms Bureau in the secondary capital, he was not ordered to establish a firearms workshop in Jiangnan.

Therefore, this was a privately-run firearms workshop that was prohibited and even equipped with a large number of musket guards, which was tantamount to an act of treason.

Liu Hai really didn't expect that the fine iron of Haiyun Pavilion was robbed. He was at a loss and went to check the English silversmith that Zhen Shiwen brought into Jinling. Unexpectedly, by accident, he discovered such a big thing!
He hurried back to Nanjing and was overjoyed to Ge Zhicheng, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, as the development of things was exactly in line with his expectations.

……

When Ge Zhicheng received the report from Liu Hai, he was very excited and wanted to immediately gather the Jinyiwei soldiers and rush to the valley outside the west city to destroy the private firearms workshop.

This great achievement will definitely offset the crime of Du Hengxin's murder, and it is even possible that he will be praised by the emperor and promoted.

But when the time came, he calmed down.

Because this private firearms workshop was accidentally discovered by Liu Hai when he was investigating an English silversmith, and this English silversmith was brought to Nanjing by Zhen Shiwen from the open sea.

Once the private firearms workshop is raided, the Jinling Zhen family will definitely be involved if the root of the problem is traced back to the source. This is also the result that Ge Zhicheng wants to see.

But behind the Zhen family are the old Concubine Zhen and the retired emperor in the palace. Such a serious connection seems difficult for Ge Zhicheng, a fourth-rank captain.

He didn't want to go too far in his attempt to seek credit and exonerate himself, and end up ruining his life and property.

The private firearms workshop must be raided, but the unpredictable consequences it will cause cannot be borne by Ge Zhicheng alone. He must find others to shoulder the responsibility.

Guo Lin was an imperial envoy with great power to control all government offices in Nanjing. It was only natural to report the matter to him and get his approval.

Jia Cong was the Earl of Weiyuan, a young nobleman in the emperor's favor, an expert on firearms in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and had 800 musketeers under his command. It was his duty to help eliminate the private firearms workshops.

Regardless of their age, both of them were the perfect candidates to take the blame together with Ge Zhicheng...

(End of this chapter)