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

"That's enough!"

Inside the main hall of the Prince of Nan'an's mansion, just as everyone was making a ruckus, the Prince of Nan'an, whose expression had changed several times, suddenly shouted in a deep voice.

Then, he took a deep breath, glanced around at everyone, and said in a deep voice:

"What are you talking about?! What do you have to fight with? Do you really think the 180,000 troops in the 12th Regiment are just for show?"

No matter how you look at it, the Prince of Nan'an had to admit one thing: Jia Jing, who held the power of twelve battalions, was not easy to deal with!

Chen Ruiwen looked indignant and said angrily:

"Your Highness! It's not that we want to cause trouble for him, it's that he's leaving us no way out! It would be one thing if it were just a simple investigation of the military farms."

"I fear the 'clearing out' of the garrisons is just a pretext; the real purpose is to audit the accounts. All the grain we've transferred from the garrisons over the years, the pay we've allocated, the equipment we've intercepted… the accounts… they won't stand up to scrutiny!"

"It's more than just unable to withstand scrutiny!" Qi Jianhui stopped and turned around, a smile on his face, but a smile as cold as the winter wind:

"There are simply no accounts to check! If he were to investigate further, given the Emperor's current temperament and the things we've done, every one of us would, at the very least, be dismissed from our posts and have our property confiscated. At worst..."

He ran his hand lightly across his neck and said, word by word, "Your whole family will lose their heads!"

Upon hearing this, a series of heavy breathing sounds filled the hall, and everyone's expression changed drastically!

The Prince of Nan'an lowered his eyes, his gaze becoming increasingly profound, his face displaying a shrewd and calculating air, and slowly spoke, word by word:

"The imperial court's order to investigate and eliminate military farmland is not a good policy and is absolutely unacceptable! Jia Zijie's idea that we should voluntarily relinquish our land is nothing but wishful thinking!"

He first made a statement, then the Prince of Nan'an said solemnly:

"However, Jia Zijie has the moral high ground of the imperial court and holds military power, so we don't need to confront him openly! After all, if we really go to war, the outcome is unpredictable, and it's too risky!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Chen, the heir apparent of the Prince of Dongping, glanced thoughtfully at the Prince of Nan'an and said:

"What does Uncle mean?"

Mu Chen always prided himself on his intelligence, and the Dongping Prince's Mansion was large and powerful. If he had any other choice, he would not want to risk the extermination of his entire family by raising an army and confronting Jia Jing head-on!

The Prince of Nan'an raised his eyelids, glanced at everyone, and slowly picked up the newly replaced teacup. He used the lid to stir the foam on the surface and said in a low but steady voice:

As the art of war says: "The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; and the worst is to besiege their cities!"

"You must understand... there are over a hundred garrisons around the capital, with hundreds or even thousands of officers and soldiers. Which one of them wasn't supported by encroaching on and cultivating land?"

"If Jia Zijie were to take it back with a single word, what would those officers eat? What would they drink? How would they support their personal guards? Would they agree to that? That's the nature of human nature."

"Jia Zijie has a strong sense of righteousness towards the court, but the officers' hearts are with us! There's a lot we can do here!"

Chen Ruiwen, somewhat puzzled, leaned forward and asked, "Does Your Highness have a plan?"

"Indeed!" The Prince of Nan'an nodded, his expression solemn, and said in a deep voice:

"I think we can take advantage of the fact that Jia Zijie's men haven't gone down yet and clean up the land registration records of each garrison."

The fish-scale register is an archive that records the area, shape, boundaries, and ownership of land. It is called the fish-scale register because the plots drawn on it are layered like fish scales.

The number, dimensions, east, west, north, and south boundaries of each plot of land belonging to the military garrisons near the capital region, as well as the name of the landowner, are all recorded in detail in the fish-scale map book.

This is the most authoritative evidence to confirm that "this land is military farmland." Without the fish-scale map, it is impossible to prove whether this land is military farmland or civilian farmland.

Chen Ruiwen's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood the meaning behind the Prince of Nan'an's words, praising:

"The prince intends to burn...burn the fish-scale register?...That's a brilliant plan!"

He paused, then hesitated, and said:

"However, we do have a way to burn the registers of the various garrisons and governor's offices, but if these places catch fire at the same time, the imperial court will definitely investigate thoroughly..."

"A thorough investigation?" The Prince of Nan'an glanced at him indifferently, his gaze calm, yet it made Chen Ruiwen swallow the rest of his words:

"Most of the people in the garrisons are our people, and so are those in the Five Armies Commandery. If we investigate, all we'll find is 'negligence on the part of the guards.' Then we can just find a few insignificant people to take the blame!"

Qi Jianhui, who was standing to the side, also looked surprised and patted the armrest of his chair, laughing:

"Brilliant! Without the fish-scale register, it will be much harder for that brat Jia Jing to investigate!"

"Even if there is a copy of the fish-scale map in Nanjing, it is a general map of the whole country. The specific records of the handover of each garrison and each piece of farmland over the years are only kept by the garrison itself."

"Those occupied fields have been bought, sold, mortgaged, and exchanged over the decades. Without the records of the military garrisons, just verifying the boundaries would take a year and a half!"

According to the system of the Han Dynasty, there were multiple copies of the Fish Scale Register, which were stored in different places: namely, the garrisons, the Five Military Commissions, the Ministry of Revenue, Nanjing and other places.

Among them, the Yellow Register Archives at Houhu in Nanjing was the largest archives of the Han Dynasty, storing copies of Yellow Registers and Fish Scale Registers from all over the country, as well as backups of the military farm archives of various garrisons in the capital region.

Xie Jing pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded and said:

"Your Highness's method is indeed feasible. The military farms in the capital region have been bought, sold, and resold many times over the decades, and the borders have long been a mess. If the fish-scale register were removed, there would be much more room for manipulation!"

Ma Shang's cloudy eyes darted around, and he slowly began to echo:

"Your Highness's move is brilliant. That brat Jia Jing is demanding the return of the land within a limited time; he's probably planning for a quick and decisive victory."

"If he wants to be fast, we'll deliberately prevent him from being fast. If we can't make the first move, and things drag on, the obstacles to his reorganization will only grow stronger!"

Chen Ruiwen also laughed, the hostility on his face dissipating somewhat, replaced by a knowing and certain understanding:

"That's not all! Although Jia Jing has military power and is indeed good at fighting, can his soldiers really be capable of surveying fields and checking accounts?"

"In the end, we might still need people from the Five Military Commands and the Ministry of War to do the work, and most of these people are our own people. We can just give them some benefits to go through the motions!"

Qi Jianhui also put his mind to work and offered suggestions:

"At the same time, we can also have our people from the Jingji garrisons spread rumors and cause trouble in various garrisons."

"Then we'll submit a joint memorial stating that the soldiers' morale is low and that clearing the garrisons is not feasible! When the opposing memorials pile up in the Office of Transmission, His Majesty will likely have to consider the matter to some extent!"

As the group talked, their ideas became more and more diverse, and they no longer felt as threatened as when they first heard the news!

At this moment, Mu Chen, the heir of the Prince of Dongping, who had been leaning back in his chair listening quietly, suddenly coughed lightly and said, his slender eyes gleaming in the dim light:

"After listening to what my uncles have said, I've also come up with an idea, but I don't know if I should say it!"