Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

Jia Jing was delighted with these rewards from the system.

Needless to say, the Xuanjia Army was Li Shimin's elite cavalry force, with both men and horses fully armored. It once defeated Dou Jiande's army of over 100,000 with only 3,500 men, and also played a decisive role in the campaigns against Wang Shichong and the Turks.

Not to mention, at this time his commander was Qin Qiong, Qin Shubao, a famous general from the early Tang Dynasty.

It can be said that the combat power of this cavalry force was absolutely the pinnacle of the entire world at that time.

With these 1,500 Xuanjia soldiers, plus his own martial prowess, he was able to establish a foothold in the world of Dream of the Red Chamber.

There's no need to worry as much as before about the Jia family being raided and him being implicated after the Qing army conquered the Han dynasty, with no one left unscathed in the face of such a devastating event.

The five hundred Imperial Guards were no ordinary men; their commander, Zhuque, was not only highly skilled in martial arts but also adept at intelligence gathering.

In the past two years, Jia Jing has been able to defeat the Qing army many times, largely thanks to the accurate intelligence provided by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which allowed Jia Jing to anticipate the enemy's moves.

Those recipes are each worth a fortune.

Each one, if it can be sold to the national market through the business, can reap huge profits; this will be Jia Jing's future money bag.

The importance of money is absolutely unquestionable in any era.

One of the most important reasons why the Han Dynasty was in decline was that the national treasury was empty.

Therefore, Jia Jing was very satisfied with the rewards of these three promotions, and it further strengthened his resolve to continue to make promotion the core of his behavior.

"As expected, the system is the foundation of my existence in this world."

Jia Jing was clearly aware of this.

"General, intelligence has also arrived from the capital city today!" Just as Jia Jing was pondering, Zhuque reported to him again.

"Is there something important?" Jia Jing asked.

Jia Jing divided the 500 members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard into two groups.

Some developed their businesses in Liaodong, while others went to Shenjing City to lie low.

After all, Shenjing City was the political center of the Han Dynasty, and it was essential to keep track of news from there.

"He mainly talked about two things concerning the manor. One was that Madam Wang's younger sister, Madam Xue, and her family had come to the capital and were currently residing in the Pear Fragrance Courtyard of the manor."

"Xue Pan, the son of the Xue family, killed someone in Jinling while his servants were killing him. At this time, the Xue family came to the capital for three reasons: first, to seek the protection of relatives and friends and avoid the lawsuit; second, to manage the Xue family's business in the capital and to settle old debts; and third, to select Xue family daughters for the imperial concubine selection."

"It is Suzaku," he said slowly.

Jia Jing nodded in understanding.

According to the timeline of the original novel "Dream of the Red Chamber," the Xue family should have entered the capital long ago.

In the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, the Xue family arrived in the capital about two years after Lin Daiyu arrived, before Granny Liu went to the Jia family mansion, probably in late autumn.

As far as Jia Jing knew, this was the fourth year Lin Daiyu had been in the Jia family, and it was early autumn, which was different from the original story.

Over the past two years, Jia Jing has come to realize that this world is not entirely the same as the original Dream of the Red Chamber world, especially in terms of its background, which is a hybrid of the early Qing Dynasty and Dream of the Red Chamber.

In addition, although most of the characters in Dream of the Red Chamber exist, many details are not exactly the same.

Therefore, he no longer blindly believes in the original text.

The Xue family's move to the capital didn't have much impact on him.

At this moment, he had no time to think much about Xue Baochai, the most famous of the Twelve Beauties, who was on par with Daiyu. He simply said:

"Next time you send festival gifts to your household, remember to send a portion to the Xue family as well. They're all relatives; don't be slighting them!"

"What's the other thing?"

Zhuque nodded to indicate that she understood, and then said with some caution:

"Another matter concerns the master of the household..."

"Who does he think he is, acting like some kind of big shot? Does he even deserve it?"

Jia Jing snorted coldly and retorted. Judging from Zhuque's expression, he knew Jia She was up to his old tricks again.

In the past two years, Jia She has not brought him any good news.

At first, the letter only instructed Jia Jing to send the spoils and rewards captured on the battlefield back home, and not to keep them for himself.

The Book of Rites states that one should not keep one's property while one's parents are alive.

However, the laws of the Han Dynasty only stipulated that while the parents were alive, the children could not use the family's public property without authorization.

There was no requirement for adult children to hand over all their private property to their parents, let alone battlefield spoils.

For the sake of his own reputation, Jia Jing did not argue with Jia She and sent some of the goods to the Jia family.

Who knew that Jia She would not restrain himself and would become even more outrageous?

Later, he even sent his trusted retainers to Liaodong, demanding that Jia Jing give him special treatment in his smuggling business.

In other words, Jia Jing was fighting the Manchus on the front lines.

Jia She, however, was smuggling strategic materials such as ironware, grain, and salt to the Manchus from the rear, and even had Jia Jing cover for him.

Jia Jing was so angry that he almost led his troops back to kill Jia She.

He never considered Jia She, that scumbag, as his father.

However, being far away in Liaodong, it was not appropriate to make a scene, so for the sake of his reputation, he made a compromise.

Who knew that Jia She was a man with absolutely no bottom line, acting recklessly and without restraint.

After that, Jia Jing ignored Jia She's letters and personal attendants.

Aside from the customary gifts of filial piety, no other valuables were given to Jia She.

Who knew that something else would happen?

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard intelligence reports that... Jia She has recently been getting very close to Cao Guogong and others, holding frequent private banquets, and often slandering the current emperor while praising the retired emperor, which is seen as an attempt to help the retired emperor restore his throne..."

Zhuque finished speaking with her head down, expecting Jia Jing to be furious, since Jia Jing's rapid rise in rank over the years was due to the strong support of the current Emperor Jingsheng.

Before arriving in Liaodong, Emperor Jingsheng promoted Jia Jing by two ranks, bestowed upon him a set of precious armor, and issued an oral edict with much encouragement.

Afterwards, Jia Jing repeatedly distinguished himself on the battlefield, and Emperor Jingsheng was generous in promoting and rewarding him, even issuing imperial edicts to commend him on several occasions.

Jia Jing was able to attain the rank of fifth grade at the age of twenty.

It should be noted that at this time, Jia Zheng, the head of the Jia family, was only a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works.

Furthermore, the Tiger-like Colonel was originally the head of the eight founding colonels.

This position was usually reserved for a fifth-rank military officer, but Emperor Jingsheng exceptionally granted it to Jia Jing, which can be considered an excessive favor.

Therefore, Jia Jing was definitely one of Emperor Jingsheng's own people, whom he promoted single-handedly.

But now, the struggle between the two emperors in the court is intensifying, and Jia Jing's father, Jia She, has gone to support the retired emperor.

Such behavior is tantamount to killing Jia Jing.

Zhuque, head bowed, awaited Jia Jing's furious outburst, only to find the hall eerily quiet.

He glanced furtively at Jia Jing, who was seated on the throne in the hall. Jia Jing's face was terribly gloomy, and a hint of bloodlust flashed in his eyes.

Zhuque knew that Jia Jing was extremely angry and had already decided to kill him.

After a long pause, Jia Jing's cold and murderous voice rang out:

"I originally planned to deal with him after returning to Beijing, but I've been holding back... Oh well, you can't reason with a damned devil. Since he doesn't want to live a good life, I can't force him..."

In the original novel, the reason for the decline and eventual confiscation of the Jia family's property is said to be that Jia She's association with the military governor of Ping'an Prefecture led to smuggling.

Some say it was caused by murders committed by the Jia family, such as Shi Daizi and the abuse of power at the Iron Threshold Temple.

Others say it was to help the Zhen family of Jinling transfer their assets, and so on!

However, through years of observation and research, Jia Jing has discovered that these reasons may all have merit.

But the most important reason is that the Jia family chose the wrong side politically, and that is the root cause.