The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 86 I plan to review the troops on a ball

The imperial edict was not long and was concise and easy to understand.

First of all, he praised Shen Yuan for his ability to train soldiers, and even compared him with the military saint Sun Wu.

Then, the New Army Guards were rewarded for their achievements in suppressing the bandits.

Shen Yuan was originally a fourth-rank deputy commander, and was promoted to a third-rank commander.

Feng Ziying and Jiang Fan were originally fourth-rank pacification envoys, and were promoted to third-rank commanders.

Liu Xianglian and Zhao Huan were promoted from fifth-rank captains to fourth-rank assistant commanders.

It was also expected that all five of them were promoted twice.

When the new military guards were first established, these positions were reserved for them, waiting for them to be selected after they had made outstanding contributions.

For the other soldiers of the New Army, it was also a fruitful harvest.

Fifty thousand taels of silver means that each person can get ten taels on average, which is equivalent to several extra months' wages. This is already quite generous when other troops are struggling to guarantee normal food and wages.

Of course, those soldiers who died in battle will receive a large amount of compensation. This is also the promise made by Shen Yuan at the beginning of the establishment of the army, so that the soldiers of the new army will have no worries.

In addition to the above, the last grace of the imperial edict also gave Shen Yuan the right to select officers of the rank of Qianhu and below.

This gave Shen Yuan enough autonomy and fully demonstrated the emperor's trust in him.

"I thank Your Majesty for your grace. Long live Your Majesty." Shen Yuan accepted the order and expressed his gratitude.

The soldiers behind him also followed suit to express their gratitude and shouted "Long live the emperor". Everyone couldn't help but smile.

Thousands of people who came to welcome the army were all amazed. Shen Yuan won the title of top military champion, and in just over two months, he had become the third-rank commander of the new army, a military general with absolute power.

This should have only happened at the beginning of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, right?
After thinking about it carefully, he quickly accepted it. After all, a new army that had only been formed for two months had solved the stubborn problems that had plagued the capital for many years with lightning speed. No wonder even His Majesty praised this young man for having the talent of Sun Wu.

"Everyone, get up."

Dai Quan said as he dismounted and handed the imperial edict to Shen Yuan, saying with a smile, "Your Majesty has another oral order, asking Huaizhong to accompany me to the palace to see the emperor. Let's go now and don't keep His Majesty waiting."

"Thank you, eunuch." Shen Yuan nodded.

He asked Feng Ziying and others to escort the spoils to the Ministry of War, and then he and Dai Quan entered the city and rushed towards the imperial palace.

Qianqing Palace, Imperial Study.

Emperor Yuanzhen was delighted when he saw Dai Quan leading Shen Yuan here.

"Huai Zhong is here."

He didn't know when it started, but he was very happy to see this young boy who was not even twenty years old.

Perhaps it was because he had been receiving good news one after another since he first met this young man.

This time, the new army swept through the bandit dens in various parts of the capital with a strong attitude, completely eliminating the bandit problem, and gave Emperor Yuanzhen hope for a strong army.

Not to mention, an additional 200,000 taels of money were paid, plus the nearly one million taels previously confiscated from the three prefectures of Ning, Zhi, and Qi. The empty national treasury finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Yuan stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty, I wish you the best of health."

"Huaizhong, you have worked hard these days. Please sit down." Emperor Yuanzhen gave Shen Yuan a false support, motioning him to sit down, and then said, "According to Huaizhong, the success of the bandit suppression this time was largely due to the telescope and the hot air balloon?"

Shen Yuan nodded and said, "One of the great gains this time is that the use of this hot air balloon in actual combat has been initially verified, and I am also very happy about it."

"Did it really carry people and stones and fly a hundred feet high?" Emperor Yuanzhen showed anticipation on his face.

He had seen telescopes a long time ago, and at this moment, there were two newly made ones on the imperial desk.

But he had never seen the hot air balloon that carried people into space with his own eyes.

"To be honest, Your Majesty, it is true."

Shen Yuan was paying attention to Emperor Yuanzhen's expression, and he couldn't help but feel worried. "I have an idea to discuss with you." Emperor Yuanzhen thought for a moment and said seriously, "I plan to review the new army outside Chaoyang Gate in a hot air balloon. What do you think, Huaizhong?"

Shen Yuan was quite surprised when he heard this.

He had long noticed that the emperor wanted to try riding a hot air balloon, but a military parade in a hot air balloon was beyond his expectations.

Shen Yuan wanted to explain, but when he looked up and met the burning gaze of Emperor Yuan Zhen, he didn't know where to start.

He could understand the emperor's thoughts. What kind of prestige would it add to the emperor to sit in a hot air balloon and review a new army with strict military appearance and high morale in front of all the civil and military officials in the court and millions of people?
How much encouragement will it bring to Da Zhou?

"I still need some time to prepare for this matter." Shen Yuan no longer objected and said solemnly: "After all, this concerns the safety of Your Majesty. I must do my best to ensure that everything goes well."

"The Great Zhou has been silent for too long, and we urgently need to find an opportunity to boost our energy." Emperor Yuanzhen said in a gentle voice, "It's difficult for Huaizhong."

"I understand that it has not been easy for Your Majesty these years."

Shen Yuan's words were not empty talk. The Great Zhou of today was facing a situation very similar to that of the late Ming Dynasty in the previous life, with constant natural disasters, external enemies all around, and a complicated political situation.

Even though Emperor Yuanzhen was diligent and caring enough for his people, he was still unable to reverse the downward trend.

As a result, the emperor's desire for change grew stronger and stronger, and he gradually began to move towards autocracy.

Seeing that Shen Yuan agreed, Emperor Yuan Zhen said no more, nor did he ask the young man how long it would take to prepare. He knew that it wouldn't take too long, and there was no need to add more pressure to the young man.

After saying this, Shen Yuan turned the topic back to the bandit suppression, and said in a clear voice: "Your Majesty, during this bandit suppression, I have another discovery."

He recounted in detail how Li Yuan, the deputy commander of the Yangwei Camp, had colluded with the bandits in Fenghuangling.

These included the contents of letters between Li Yuan and Jiang Shan, as well as the confession of bandit leader Jiang Shan.

After listening to Shen Yuan's report, Emperor Yuanzhen was speechless for a moment.

I don’t know whether I should be happy that the cancer has been uncovered, or sad that the whole court is corrupt?

It is so ironic that the senior generals of the Beijing camp are in collusion with mere bandits.

After a long silence, Emperor Yuanzhen said in a very low voice: "I'm afraid this matter involves more than just Li Yuan."

Shen Yuan also felt so. There were twelve regiments in the Beijing camp, and each regiment was headed by a governor, assisted by an associate governor, and the power of the assistant governor was not great.

If the Yangwei Camp is the protective umbrella for the Fenghuangling bandits, then it is definitely not something that Li Yuan, a deputy governor, can resist.

In all likelihood, the commander-in-chief of the Yangwei Camp is the big hand behind the scenes.

Emperor Yuanzhen pondered for a moment and his face turned cold.

"Dai Quan, go call Zhao Quan."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Dai Quan obeyed the order and left. About half an hour later, he entered the imperial study with Zhao Quan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Your Majesty." Zhao Quan bowed in greeting.

"Zhao Quan, take my handwritten order and swap Wang Xian, the governor of Zhenwei Camp, with Wei Zhong, the governor of Yangwei Camp, on the pretext of strengthening the military training of the Beijing Camp." Emperor Yuanzhen paused and added, "Give Wang Xian a secret order separately."

"I obey your command." Zhao Quan received the order.

Shen Yuan listened quietly at the side, trying to figure out what the emperor was thinking.

Emperor Yuanzhen did not arrest Li Yuan directly for trial, probably because he was worried that Wei Zhong, the commander-in-chief of the Yangwei Camp, would take risks and launch a mutiny.

Therefore, Wang Xian, the commander-in-chief of Zhenwei Camp, was first swapped with Wei Zhong, the commander-in-chief of Yangwei Camp, and then Wang Xian was asked to secretly interrogate Li Yuan.

If Shen Yuan's guess is correct, this Wang Xian must be the emperor's confidant.

In this way, the risk of unrest in the Beijing camp was greatly reduced.

(End of this chapter)