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

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Wang Ziteng detailed his actions in the Beijing garrison, showing no concern about the impeachment brought by Emperor Jingsheng.

Perhaps the only two things that worried him were:

First, Jia Jing's rise was too fast and too strong, to the point that he had completely lost the will to compete with him.

I wonder if Jia Jing will retaliate against me after he gains power.

Secondly, in order to leverage the Jia family's connections in the capital garrison, he recruited members of the Ningguo Mansion into the military camp to assist in reorganizing the army.

The original plan was to find Jia Rong a fifth-rank military officer position, but who knew that Jia Zhen would go crazy after his father died.

He made outrageous demands, wanting to secure a position in the capital's garrison and requiring at least a viscount rank afterward.

In order to ensure the smooth reorganization of the Beijing garrison, he had to first feign compliance and recommend Jia Zhen to the Beijing garrison as his deputy.

However, he was greedy and insatiable, and did not know how to restrain himself. He secretly accepted money and made promises indiscriminately, which caused him a lot of trouble.

Fortunately, the Beijing garrison is now on the right track for reorganization, and Wang Ziteng is planning to find an opportunity to kick the father and son out of the garrison.

As for promises, sorry, the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War does not negotiate with anyone!

Inside the hall,

As Prince Teng spoke, especially mentioning "Loyal and Patriotic Souls," Emperor Jingsheng's tense expression eased somewhat.

He gave a faint "hmm," not immediately expressing his opinion, but instead looked at Chen Tingjing beside him and said:

"Grand Secretary, the key to reorganizing the Beijing Garrison lies in its finances. As long as the pay is paid on time, it should alleviate the resentment and anxiety of most soldiers."

"You are in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. You should provide more support to Minister Wang in terms of provisions and pay, and help him to quickly develop the Beijing Garrison into a fighting force."

"Once the Beijing garrison has completed its reorganization, it can be extended to other areas, with the Five Military Commissions reorganizing local military commands and garrisons."

"Then we will transfer the generals of the Nine Border Army to the capital for training in rotation, sweep away the old problems, and completely restore the Han army to its former glory."

At this point, Emperor Jingsheng couldn't help but show some excitement.

Once the Beijing garrison completes its reorganization and has 200,000 new troops at its disposal, the capital city will be impregnable.

At that time, with the military reforms and the implementation of new policies proceeding simultaneously, the Han Dynasty will truly be close to its resurgence!

Zhang Tingyu, standing to the side, glanced at Emperor Jingsheng, whose face was filled with joy, and his eyes flickered. He secretly shook his head.

He might not fully understand the situation in the Northwest and with Jia Jing, but he was quite clear about what was happening in the capital.

Wang Ziteng, a civil official with mediocre prestige, carried out sweeping reforms within the Beijing Garrison.

His radical style and impulsive actions have made him unpopular, and the risk of a mutiny among the soldiers is not small.

The founding line of the Wu family is deeply rooted and has been operating in the Beijing garrison for many years. How could they be so easily manipulated?

As far as he knew, several disturbances had occurred in the Beijing garrison in the past few days.

Even yesterday, some disbanded soldiers from the Beijing Garrison blocked the entrances of the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions, causing trouble!

However, Wang Ziteng had them all suppressed.

There was also Jia Zhen, a third-class general of the Ningguo Duke's mansion, who was invited by Prince Teng to the capital garrison to help organize the army. He was a debauched man who knew nothing about military affairs.

The practice of accepting bribes to perform official duties within the Beijing garrison caused great resentment among the officers and soldiers, leading to unrest within the army.

The Beijing garrison is like a pile of dry tinder, just one spark away from igniting a raging fire; trouble is imminent.

Seeing Emperor Jingsheng's excited expression, Zhang Tingyu chose not to voice his concerns.

Firstly, I didn't want to make enemies for no reason and offend Wang Ziteng.

Secondly, Emperor Jingsheng's morale was clearly boosted by the battle in the Northwest, and he didn't want to dampen his spirits.

Of course, most importantly, with the Ba Shang camp there, even if the Jing garrison were to become chaotic, nothing serious would happen.

Even if something unexpected happens, Ba Shang camp can easily suppress it.

Perhaps this could be used to thoroughly purge the entire Beijing garrison, which would be a win-win situation.

However, Wang Ziteng may be implicated and held accountable for this matter, but what does that have to do with him!

Upon hearing Emperor Jingsheng's instructions regarding the allocation of funds and provisions to the capital garrison, Chen Tingjing, standing to the side, immediately showed a hint of difficulty on his aged face, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Your Majesty! The Ministry of Revenue is truly out of money due to the war in the Northwest this year!"

Emperor Jingsheng frowned upon hearing this, his expression darkening slightly, and said:

"They've won one battle after another in the Northwest, capturing so much money and grain."

"Since the first batch of provisions was sent over, Zijie has never asked the court for a single penny more."

"They even returned five million taels to the imperial court, so how could the Ministry of Revenue not have the funds?"

Emperor Jingsheng keenly sensed that this was probably a pretext for the cabinet ministers to interfere in the war in the Northwest. This was not the first time that the cabinet ministers had used the shortage of food and supplies as a reason to end the war in the Northwest.

Chen Tingjing calmly explained:

"Although five million taels of silver were sent back to the capital from the Northwest, two million taels of it went into His Majesty's private treasury."

"Another two million taels will be sent to Liaodong and the southwest as military pay."

"In addition, since last winter, there has been no snow in Shandong, Henan and other places. After March, there have only been a few light rains."

"Now that summer has arrived, the drought is getting worse, and we've received seven or eight reports of disaster from various provinces in the last few days!"

At this point, Chen Tingjing paused, then continued in a hoarse voice:

"Just now, the cabinet received a second memorial from Tian Wenjing, the governor of Henan, reporting the disaster."

He said that in the sixty prefectures and counties of Henan, there has been no rain since the beginning of summer. More than half of the wheat seedlings have withered and died, making it impossible to sow the autumn grain.

"He requested the imperial court to reduce or exempt Henan's taxes this year and to allocate funds and grain for disaster relief."

"The imperial court's revenue is meager, while its expenditures are constant. The Ministry of Revenue is running a deficit and is finding it difficult to continue."

After Chen Tingjing finished speaking, he took out Tian Wenjing's memorial from his sleeve, handed it to Xia Shouzhong, and then passed it on to Emperor Jingsheng.

Emperor Jingsheng opened the memorial and flipped through it. Indeed, as Chen Tingjing had said, Tian Wenjing had mentioned the drought in Henan in his memorial.

"How could this be?" Emperor Jingsheng's face was gloomy, his eyes filled with suspicion, and his voice was slightly louder than before:

"At the beginning of the year, I asked the Imperial Astronomical Bureau whether this year would be a year of favorable weather and abundant harvests."

"Furthermore, I recall that two months ago, a memorial came from Henan saying that it had rained several times since the beginning of spring."

Upon hearing this, Fang Congzhe walked out of the hall, his steps heavy and muffled. He cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty! Although it rained in Henan in early spring, it was just a light drizzle, barely wetting the ground."

"An old proverb says that spring rain is as precious as oil, but those few light rains didn't even amount to a drop of oil."

"It is foreseeable that this year's summer grain and tax revenue will be poor."

"The cabinet has calculated that the amount is more than 30% less than last year. Various regions need to build water conservancy projects and provide disaster relief, all of which require money."

"The imperial court is currently beset by internal troubles, the country is weak and the people are exhausted; it simply cannot afford any more trouble."

"It will take at least three to five years to recuperate, reduce taxes and levies, implement new policies, and build up national strength."

"Only in this way can the people live in peace and enjoy their work, and the country become prosperous and strong, and the surrounding barbarians submit to the government."