The Red Chamber: Starting from Saving Xue Baochai

Chapter 99 No national justice in mind

After breakfast, Shen Yuan left the house with his wife watching him, and rode to the new army guard camp in the southern suburbs.

Although Emperor Yuanzhen did not specify when to hold the military parade, it does not mean that the matter is not urgent. The emperor should be extremely concerned about it.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the military camp and went straight to the parade ground.

"How's the training going?"

Feng Ziying, Jiang Fan and others who were issuing orders turned around to look, only to find that Shen Yuan was standing beside them without them noticing.

"Sir." Several people bowed.

Jiang Fan said with a smile: "Since you are newly married, why don't you stay at home for a few more days to rest? We are here to watch over you, so there won't be any major problems for the time being."

Shen Yuan said: "The soldiers are fighting for their lives, how can the commander be idle alone?"

A few people knew that Shen Yuan always set an example and was strict with himself, so they did not try to persuade him much.

Feng Ziying pointed to several neat square formations on the parade ground and replied, "When we learned that the emperor specifically wanted to review our new army, all the soldiers were excited and worked harder than the other. We have been practicing according to the review drills of the emperor these days, and it has been quite effective."

In order to prepare for this military parade, Shen Yuan refined a set of parade drills based on the original new army drill manual, hoping that within the one or two hours of the parade, the new army's discipline, momentum and combat effectiveness could be fully demonstrated to the world, hoping to make a big splash.

He knew very well that the purpose of Emperor Yuanzhen's military review was not only to simply test the results of training the new army, nor was it just to enhance the emperor's prestige, but more importantly to clear the public opinion obstacles for the subsequent reform of the Beijing camp.

What the emperor wants is far more than just thousands of strong soldiers. Instead, he hopes that the combat effectiveness of the entire army of the Great Zhou can be taken to a new level.

Shen Yuan raised his eyes and scanned several military formations, and saw that the array was neat, the commands were consistent, and the momentum was building.

"Choose five square formations at random and practice them."

Feng Ziying and the others bowed and said, "As you command."

He then took orders and went to the parade ground to count the troops and prepare for a small military parade.

Shen Yuan stepped onto the platform and watched every move on the training ground intently.

After a while, Feng Ziying and his generals randomly selected five square formations of one hundred men.

As the flags were waved, the troops were arranged in neat and orderly lines, moving in unison from west to east towards the school platform. The changes in the ranks were so smooth that even Shen Yuan, who was used to watching military parades in later generations, found it pleasing to the eye.

Strict discipline, strict enforcement of orders, and orderly transitions are the signs of a strong army.

More importantly, these people had just experienced an actual battle not long ago. At this moment, every soldier's face showed fortitude and decisiveness, and a murderous aura was particularly evident.

After the parade, he reviewed the combat confrontation and archery and crossbow attack and defense. Overall, he was quite satisfied with the training results.

After the review, Shen Yuanfu encouraged all the soldiers again, and then entered the commander's tent with Feng Ziying and other generals.

Shen Yuan sat in the main seat, with Feng Ziying, Jiang Fan, Liu Xianglian and Zhao Huan sitting on his left and right.

"I will discuss the date of the military parade with your Majesty as soon as possible."

When Feng Ziying and the others heard this, their eyes flickered, their faces flushed, and their hearts were excited. It was obvious that they were looking forward to this day and night.

Shen Yuan paused for a moment, then suddenly his face became serious. He looked at Jiang Fan and said solemnly, "Mr. Jiang, I have an important matter to entrust to you."

Hearing this, Jiang Fan said sternly, "My Lord has ordered you to do so."

"Your Majesty has made up his mind to review the new army in a hot air balloon on the day of the parade. I have always been worried. After thinking it over, I decided that you should accompany His Majesty."

Shen Yuan told his plan in detail.

Since it is impossible to dissuade the emperor from riding a hot air balloon, we can only make some preparations and precautions in advance.

After listening to Shen Yuan's words, Jiang Fan did not hesitate and decisively accepted the order. For him, this matter had both gains and losses.

The benefit is that you can be close to the emperor, which will definitely be beneficial to your future career.

The loss is that he cannot show his talents together with other soldiers of the New Army in front of the civil and military officials of the court and the people of the whole city. Jiang Fan must be somewhat regretful about this. After all, this military parade only happens once every ten years and there may not be another opportunity in this lifetime.

But Jiang Fan could also understand why Shen Yuan made such arrangements. Besides him, the only two people suitable for this task were Feng Ziying, because their fathers were deeply trusted by the emperor, and as a result, they also had a natural trust in the emperor's heart.

After all, he is the emperor's personal bodyguard. If the necessary trust is lacking, the emperor will not feel at ease.

Feng Ziying had heavier responsibilities in the military camp, so the responsibility of protecting the emperor fell on Jiang Fan.

After arranging many matters, Shen Yuan rode his horse directly to the palace gate.

He planned to report to the emperor on the preparations for the parade and agree on a specific date for the parade.

Qianqing Palace, Imperial Study.

Emperor Yuanzhen was not reviewing the memorials, but was quietly listening to the two ministers below discussing the affairs of Jiangnan. His expression gradually became solemn.

These two people were none other than the Jinling Governor Jiang Zhongnian and the Jinling Commander-in-Chief Shi Ding.

At this moment, a eunuch came in and reported carefully: "Your Majesty, the new army commander, Lord Shen, wants to see you."

Emperor Yuanzhen was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then said, "Let him in."

Jiang Zhongnian and Shi Ding looked at each other, feeling confused.

After a while, Shen Yuan entered and saw two familiar faces at a glance. He was stunned, but quickly collected his thoughts and paid his respects to the emperor.

"See Your Majesty."

"Sit down and talk."

Shen Yuan sat down next to Jiang Zhongnian and was about to report on the military parade, but was interrupted by the emperor.

"We'll talk about Huaizhong later. Since you're from Jinling, why don't you listen to it together?"

After Emperor Yuanzhen finished speaking, he turned to look at Jiang Zhongnian and Shi Ding, motioning them to continue.

Jiang Zhongnian said, "In the past six months, I have cooperated with Marquis Zhongjing and have found most of the members of Fusheng Society, including more than 200 officials, some Confucian scholars, many wealthy merchants, and even military generals."

Shen Yuan was a little surprised when he heard this. The Fu Sheng Society had penetrated so widely, involving not only civil officials and military generals, but also nobles and wealthy merchants.

Emperor Yuanzhen said coldly: "What are they trying to do? Form an underground small court? How can I be at peace if Fushenghui is not eliminated?"

Jiang Zhongnian continued, “Your Majesty, it is easy to punish these people, but I am worried that it will cause other disasters.

A few months ago, I punished a group of county officials, and a few days later, banditry broke out in this area."

Emperor Yuanzhen seemed to realize something after hearing this and confirmed, "Jiang Qing means that Fusheng will coerce the people to create banditry and use this to threaten the court?"

At this time, Shi Ding added: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's even more serious. I originally planned to send troops to suppress them, but unexpectedly these bandits joined forces with the Japanese pirates. This shows that the people of Fushenghui may have colluded with the Japanese pirates."

When these words were spoken, both Emperor Yuanzhen and Shen Yuan felt a chill in their hearts.

These people in Fu Sheng Society are really just pursuing their own interests and disregarding everything else. Do they have any sense of national justice in their hearts when they act like this?
If this happened in later times, this would be considered a complete traitor.

It is understandable to seek selfish profit. Even if it is a counterattack against the imperial court, it is an internal struggle. Why should we choose to give advantage to those Japanese pirates?

After a moment of silence, Emperor Yuanzhen looked at Shen Yuan and said thoughtfully, "Huai Zhong has a lot of experience in suppressing bandits in the past. What do you think of this?"

(End of this chapter)