Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 48: The Imperial Edict of Reprimand, the Frustrated Rongguo Mansion

Inside the commander's tent, Wang Ziteng looked at the more than one hundred resignation letters in front of him and said happily.

"My Lord, you are truly a master! You easily intimidated so many of the generals in the Beijing Camp. These over one hundred resignations have essentially wiped out all the generals the Four Princes had planted in the Beijing Camp."

Jia Jue said with a calm smile.

"I didn't expect things to go so smoothly. I have to thank Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion for this. If they hadn't caused this incident, how could I have found such a good opportunity to show my power?"

Wang Ziteng said with emotion after hearing this.

"Speaking of this, I feel a little sad."

"Back then, Dukes Ning and Duke Rong were so high-spirited and ambitious, following Emperor Taizu in his campaigns across the country and the north. They were truly outstanding men of their time."

"How come it's only been passed down for a few generations, and it's just... well, it's hard to put into words."

Jia Jue said calmly.

"No one's ancestral tomb can keep emitting green smoke. If it keeps emitting green smoke, it means the tomb is on fire."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, Lord Wang. With over a hundred resignations, I believe the subsequent restructuring of the Beijing Camp will be much easier."

"I will go to the palace to meet His Majesty later and report on the events in the capital camp."

"What remains is a large-scale reorganization of the Beijing Camp."

"You must cooperate with me. Once the Beijing camp is successfully reorganized, His Majesty will naturally appoint you to another position. Don't worry."

Wang Ziteng nodded and said happily.

"I hope Your Majesty will say a few kind words to His Majesty. I will be grateful."

"Easy to say, easy to say."

After a brief chat with Wang Ziteng, Jia Jue left the Beijing camp and went to the palace to report.

What happened in the Beijing camp soon reached the ears of the four kings.

Not long after, in the study room of Prince Beijing’s mansion, Prince Nan’an and Prince Beijing were discussing matters in the room.

Prince Nan'an was furious, his veins bulging.

"Rebellion, rebellion, these bastards, who gave them the courage to hand in their resignations without even asking for permission? Aren't they handing the Beijing Camp over to us?"

"No, this time I have to find a few of the leaders and give them a good beating. This is really unreasonable."

Looking at the furious Prince Nan'an, Prince Beijing said with a bitter expression.

"Well, what's the point of saying all this now? Well, the bottom line is that the arms case has put us in a very passive position. We can only sacrifice the rook to save the king."

"All four governors committed suicide. How could the people below not be terrified?"

"If you punish them at this time, people's morale will be completely dispersed."

Hearing this, the Prince of Nan'an said unwillingly.

"Is this matter just going to end like this?"

Prince Beijing waved his hand and said.

"This is the only way for now. Not only can we not punish them, but we must also comfort them."

"These more than one hundred generals, from the junior Sima Xiaowei to the senior generals, are all our trusted confidants."

"If they all change their ways, we'll be left with nothing."

"The disappearance of the Beijing Camp is a fact, and we have to accept it whether we like it or not."

"Next we have to find a way to relocate all these people to other places."

"Alas, the Rongguo Mansion is really a bunch of useless people. We arranged for them to give the Champion Marquis a warning, but these idiots actually blatantly violated military law and gave him an opportunity to attack."

"It would have been nice if they could have coerced those dozens of young men from aristocratic families, but they slipped up and were instigated by others, forcing them into a trap and even costing them their lives. How incredibly stupid."

"If all the founding families are like this, our future situation will become even more difficult."

Prince Nan'an said indignantly.

"If it weren't for those useless people in Rongguo Mansion, who let the Marquis of Guanjun kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, it wouldn't be so easy for the Marquis of Guanjun to reorganize the Beijing Camp."

"It was a relief for them to be killed by the Champion Marquis. If they were still alive, I would have to deal with them too."

Prince Beijing waved his hand and said.

"Okay, what's the point of saying all this now? We still have to find a way to get those dozens of noble family children out. This Champion Marquis is really cruel. Not only did he beat them with forty military sticks, he even sent them to the Imperial Prison."

"Just wait and see. Before evening, the thresholds of our homes will be trampled down by these nobles."

Prince Nan'an nodded, and then the two of them discussed countermeasures.

In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Yongping was the first to receive the news from the Beijing camp.

Emperor Yongping thought that the four kings would definitely make things difficult for Jia Jue, making it difficult for him to reorganize the Beijing camp.

However, Emperor Yongping never expected that the Four Princes would have such a stupid teammate as Rongguo Mansion, who gave his head to Jia Jue's knife to establish his authority.

There was a moment when Emperor Yongping thought it would be a good idea to keep Rongguo Mansion. After all, having one more useless teammate on the opposite side would be better than having more great players on his side.

However, this idea was fleeting. As the existence chosen by Emperor Yongping long ago to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, the mission of Rongguo Mansion was to eventually be confiscated and completely brought to dust.

This was to intimidate the founding fathers and make them obedient subjects under Emperor Yongping.

The current restructuring of the Beijing camp is going so smoothly, which makes Emperor Yongping happy.

Just as Emperor Yongping was leisurely drinking tea, Xia Shouzhong, the eunuch of the six palaces, came to the hall, bowed, and said.

"Your Majesty, the Champion Marquis requests an audience."

"Call him in quickly."

"The slaves obey."

Not long after, Jia Jue walked into the hall with all his might, dressed in armor and looking extremely heroic.

Jia Jue came to the hall and bowed before saying this.

"Wei Chen has met your Majesty."

Emperor Yongping said with a chuckle.

"Quickly, please don't be polite. Come and take a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Jia Jue sat down, Emperor Yongping smiled and said.

"I know everything about the Beijing Camp. You have done a great job."

"Using the heads of Jia Lian and others as a sacrifice, I guess your reorganization of the Beijing camp went very smoothly."

Jia Jue nodded and said.

"Your Majesty, the generals of the Four Princes' faction in the Beijing Camp have basically resigned from their posts. I have come to the palace to ask Your Majesty to arrange for the personnel to replace these generals."

"This is the list of generals who have resigned from their posts in the Beijing Camp. Your Majesty, please review it."

Xia Shouzhong took the list handed over by Jia Jue and presented it to Emperor Yongping.

After looking at the list, Emperor Yongping showed a satisfied smile on his face.

"Very good, Champion Hou, you have worked hard."

"Xia Shouzhong, issue an order. Instruct the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War to draft a list of candidates to replace the commanders of the Beijing camp as soon as possible. They must be submitted tomorrow."

"I obey your order." After discussing the succession of the generals of the Beijing camp, Jia Jue looked at Emperor Yongping and asked.

"Your Majesty, besides this incident, there are dozens of young men from aristocratic families in the imperial prison. They are working with Jia Lian and others to resist the reorganization of the Beijing camp."

"Your Majesty, what do you think should be done?"

Emperor Yongping said after a faint smile.

"These people's affairs can be big or small. You have offended many people when you worked for me before."

"I'm only letting you do a favor this time, but you can't really treat everyone as your enemy."

"We should show some leniency to those noble families who are loyal to the emperor and patriotic."

"For those who refuse to repent, don't punish them with one blow, but don't let them go easily either. Just subsidize the family expenses."

Jia Jue said after bowing.

"Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty."

Emperor Yongping's meaning was very clear. He gave the right to dispose of these people to Jia Jue as a favor.

Although the four kings are the main founding fathers, this is not a very close interest group.

Not all founding fathers followed the footsteps of the Four Kings as wholeheartedly as the Rongguo Mansion.

For example, the Duke of England, the British government simply maintained a close relationship with the founding fathers, did not participate in party disputes, and only took care of its own military territory.

Establish your position through real military achievements.

As the prestige of Emperor Yongping grew day by day, the founding fathers became hesitant and no longer had as much faith in the Four Kings as before.

Behind these children of aristocratic families are dozens of marquises and earls. If this incident could divide the founding fathers, it would naturally be great.

For those nobles who took the initiative to express their support for Emperor Yongping, they could naturally be praised highly and then lowered gently.

As for those diehard followers of the Four Kings, Jia Jue would squeeze their marrow out of them and take a huge share of the benefits.

Then Emperor Yongping looked at Xia Shouzhong who was standing beside him and said.

"Xia Shouzhong, issue an imperial decree to reprimand the Ning and Rong mansions and the Divine Martial General Feng Tang."

"These three families have failed to educate their children properly. They dared to allow their descendants to collude with nobles and resist the imperial court's rectification of the Beijing camp. They deserve to die."

"These three families have failed to educate their children properly. The titles of the Ning and Rong mansions will be reduced by one rank, and their property will be confiscated for three years."

"General Shenwu will be demoted one rank and fined three years' salary as a warning to others."

"The slaves obey the order."

After announcing the decision to deal with the three families, Emperor Yongping looked at Jia Jue with a very calm look.

"Marquis Guanjun, just go ahead and do what you want. As long as it's something I assign you to do, even if the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After finishing the business, Emperor Yongping took Jia Jue to play two more rounds of chess. After having dinner together, Jia Jue left the palace and returned to the Marquis' Mansion.

To be honest, Jia Jue currently has a very good impression of Emperor Yongping. Emperor Yongping is very kind to Jia Jue. He gives him a high position and generous salary. After doing something, he never takes the blame for it, but takes on the pressure himself.

There are really few emperors like this, which allows Jia Jue to do his work with full freedom.

Of course, Jia Jue’s confidence in doing this still comes from the system.

After all, Jia Jue has real armed forces that are loyal to him. Among the Praefectus Urbi alone, there are 30,000 troops that Jia Jue has implanted with the military spirit of the Beiwei Army.

It is no exaggeration to say that with these 30,000 troops, plus Jia Jue's own bravery, if Jia Jue wants to change the dynasty, it will be a matter of a moment.

That's why Jia Jue does things so unscrupulously.

Jia Jue also wanted to see whether Emperor Yongping really had enough breadth of mind and tolerance.

To be honest, if the script continues to develop according to this, Jia Jue would be embarrassed to change the dynasty and usurp the throne in the future.

If Emperor Yongping is pretending now, and waits until the world is at peace in the future and cannot tolerate Jia Jue, or uses Jia Jue to appease those conservative elements, Jia Jue will be able to raise an army with peace of mind.

Of course, this is definitely not something that will happen in the short term.

Just after Jia Jue left the palace and returned to the Marquis' Mansion, in the Rongxi Hall of the Rongguo Mansion, all the people from the Ning and Rong mansions gathered in the Rongxi Hall, their faces ashen, as if they had lost their parents.

The ones with the ugliest expressions were none other than Jia Zhen and Jia She.

They never imagined that their son was fine when he left in the morning, but would never come back.

Jia Rong and Jia Lian are the eldest sons of Jia Zhen and Jia She respectively.

In ancient times, how high was the status of the eldest son? Let me give you the simplest example.

If the eldest legitimate son dies young, his parents must wear mourning clothes for him.

In ancient times, mourning clothes were divided into five categories, namely, zhansui, qisui, dagong, xiaogong, and jiema. Among them, zhansui was the most serious mourning clothes. In ordinary families, only sons and unmarried daughters would wear zhansui when their parents died.

However, if the eldest son dies before his parents, his parents must wear mourning clothes for him as if their own parents had died.

This shows how high the status of the eldest son is in the clan family.

After learning the news of Jia Rong and Jia Lian's death, Jia Zhen and Jia She were about to collapse, crying and shouting that they wanted to find Jia Jue and fight him. It was only when Old Lady Jia came forward in person that the two of them calmed down.

Just when the Ning and Rong families were thinking about how to take revenge, the imperial edict from Emperor Yongping reprimanding the Ning and Rong families arrived.

The imperial edict severely criticized the Ning and Rong mansions, and was full of words like "disrespecting the emperor's grace and acting recklessly."

Coupled with the punishment of reducing one rank in rank, the anger of the Ning and Rong families was instantly extinguished by this imperial edict.

At this time, the Ning and Rong families were feeling extremely aggrieved. Not only had a legitimate eldest son died, but their titles were also reduced by one rank and their property was confiscated for three years. It was truly a loss of both the wife and the army, and all their reputation was gone.

At this time, Jia Zhen and Jia She's eyes were red, and Jia Zhen was even more furious.

"Marquis Guanjun has gone too far in bullying me. I will expel all four generations of him from the family tree and move all their remains from the ancestral tomb. This side branch is no longer worthy of remaining in the Jia family."

Seeing that Jia Zhen was furious, Jia Zheng hesitated for a moment and then said.

"Brother Zhen, um, a letter came from Jinling not long ago saying that the Marquis of Guanjun has moved all the graves of their lineage."

"As for removing the family tree, I guess he doesn't care."

Jia Zhen was deeply hurt by Jia Zheng's words and could not help but feel extremely angry.

"Don't we have any way to deal with him, old lady? It was you who insisted that we get involved in the affairs of the Beijing camp."

"Now that Rong'er is dead, tell me what to do about this matter."

After hearing this, Mrs. Jia frowned and didn't know what to say.

It was indeed she who took the lead in getting the Ning and Rong mansions to work together on this matter.

But Old Lady Jia never imagined that what was originally an attempt to intimidate Jia Jue by coercing a group of nobles would turn out like this.

After hesitating for a while, Mrs. Jia looked at Jia Zhen and said.

"Brother Zhen, I know you're sad, but am I not sad too? Rong'er is gone, Lian'er is gone too, and he is the eldest grandson of the Rongguo Mansion."

"Alas, in the final analysis, it is the Champion Marquis who has become so powerful. Now that His Majesty is protecting him, we can't do anything to him for the time being."

"But I sent someone to find out. The original plan was going smoothly. The reason it failed in the end was because of Gu Tingwei, the third son of Ningyuan Marquis."

"Gu Tingwei's second brother, Gu Tingye, has a close relationship with Sheng Changbai, the eldest son of the Sheng family, the Duke of Guanjun's wife. This is most likely arranged by the Duke of Guanjun in advance."

"Since we can't do anything about Guanjun Hou, let's settle accounts with Ningyuan Hou first. We must not let him off easily."

(End of this chapter)