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

The next day.

The three military orders from the Prime Minister's Office had spread throughout the capital region within two days.

The Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions, acting on orders from the Governor-General's Office for Military Affairs, organized their personnel and began dispatching officials to over a hundred garrisons in Shuntian, Baoding, Hejian, Zhengding, Yongping and other prefectures to conduct a thorough investigation of land reclamation, military households, and military equipment.

However, this investigation seemed destined to become a joke from the very beginning.

Before the inspection team arrived, the various garrisons in the capital region had already communicated with each other through secret envoys from the major military commands in the capital.

None of the garrison commanders wanted to lose their source of income, so they all followed the instructions of the Prince of Nan'an and others, preparing to adopt strategies such as delaying, concealing, and bribing as much as possible.

What they were thinking was that this wasn't the first time the imperial court had said it would investigate military farms over the years, but every time it was all bark and no bite.

As long as the officials conducting the investigation are appeased and kept in the dark for ten days or half a month, and the Prince of Nan'an and others in the capital exert their influence to bring Jia Jing down, everything will be fine.

Moreover, most of the officials sent to investigate, especially those from the Five Military Commands, were related to them in some way.

Whether it's a family friendship or past exchanges of gifts, who would truly offend a long-time relative for a job?

As a result, the inspectors were treated as honored guests as soon as they arrived at the local garrison.

The garrison commander personally came out to greet them and hosted a banquet. Fine wines and delicacies were served in a continuous stream. Amidst the clinking of glasses, the officials who came to investigate had long forgotten about the matter.

After a hearty meal, carefully selected maids led them to the prepared rooms to rest. Whispered words and fragrant scents filled the air, and no one remembered anything about military farms or military households.

The next morning, the garrison clerk handed the meticulously copied "investigation register" to the officials; the ink on the register was still fresh.

It was obvious that it had just been produced yesterday. The numbers matched the old records perfectly, as if no land had ever been encroached upon or a military household had ever been forced into private service in the past few decades.

The inspectors tacitly accepted the booklets, without even setting foot in the fields, and then sat down to continue drinking and watching the dance.

Some people would even pretend to flip through a couple of pages of the booklet, furrow their brows slightly, and ask a few trivial questions, to which the clerks at the garrison would answer fluently.

Many others didn't even bother with the pretense; they simply tossed their booklets on the table and began befriending the commander.

When it came to investigate the matter of the officers and soldiers of the garrison encroaching on farmland and privately employing military households, most of the officials who knew the situation chose to turn a blind eye.

As for the reason?

Firstly, most of the commanders of the garrisons in the capital region were hereditary military leaders who had been operating in the area for generations and had long since become deeply entrenched powerful clans.

They commanded private armies and occupied fertile land, so local officials dared not provoke them easily, let alone these civil officials from the capital.

If I offend them, not only will I be unable to complete my mission, but it's also uncertain whether I can return to the capital unscathed.

Secondly, these officials who conduct investigations—if you trace their families back a few generations, which of them doesn't have a few acres of land connected to military settlements? When investigating others, they inevitably end up investigating themselves.

Thirdly, the garrison commander was extremely generous with the silver this time. After one inspection, the amount was either over a thousand taels or over a hundred taels, which was equivalent to several years' salary.

Why not do it if you can gain benefits without offending anyone?

Only a very small number of ignorant people took it seriously, and Yao Qisheng, the secretary of the Ministry of War's Department of Civil Affairs, was one of them.

This person is a proper scholar who passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. He has been working in the Ministry of War for more than 20 years, but because he has always carried the stubbornness of a scholar who sticks to his principles, he has never been promoted.

He was assigned to Dingzhou Guard in Baoding Prefecture. After arriving at the guard post, he neither accepted banquets nor gifts, and he didn't even give face to the guard post commander. He immediately asked for the fish scale register and the register of military households' names and rations.

The commander of Dingzhou Guard was surnamed Ma and named Ma Baoguo. He was a distant relative of the Ma family, the family of the Duke of Zhiguo.

Seeing that Yao Qisheng was so ungrateful, he first coldly advised him, saying, "Why take it so seriously?" and "Everyone has their difficulties." He then hinted that he could give him more "travel expenses."

Yao Qisheng remained unmoved and insisted on checking the original records.

Ma Guozhu's expression changed, and he sneered:

"Since Doctor Yao is so impartial, then go and investigate yourself. But my men are all rough men, so if there is any offense, don't blame me for not giving them a heads-up beforehand."

That afternoon, Yao Qisheng, accompanied by several officials, went to the garrison's storehouse, but was stopped at the gate by the guards.

The soldiers said the key was in the commander's hands, while the commander said the key was in the clerk's hands, and they passed the buck to each other.

Yao Qisheng stood outside the cabinet storehouse for half an hour, but couldn't even get inside.

He forced himself to return to his lodgings, only to find the place in complete disarray. His luggage had been ransacked, his documents were scattered all over the floor, and even the legal codes he had brought with him had their covers torn off and were covered with threatening words written in blood.

Yao Qisheng's men were terrified and advised him to return to Beijing.

Yao Qisheng gritted his teeth and said he would submit a memorial to impeach him, but he couldn't even leave the garrison. Ma Baoguo had already sent people to block the garrison's several roads leading to the outside world.

Even more chilling things were yet to come.

That night, a junior official from the Ministry of War who had come with Yao Qisheng went out to use the restroom alone, but did not return all night.

The next morning, his body was found in a dry well behind the garrison, with blunt force trauma to the back of his head.

The coroner at the ward examined the patient and concluded that he suffered from somnambulism, fell into a well, and committed suicide.

Meanwhile, Pan Yong, the officer in charge of the Five Military Commands who was sent to Tianjin Wei in Hejian Prefecture, got drunk at the welcoming banquet and was sent back to his residence.

The next morning, the servants found him lying face down in a shallow pond in the backyard of his residence, already lifeless, with ligature marks on his neck.

The pool was no more than three feet deep, not even enough to drown a three-year-old child, yet Pan Yong died in it.

The conclusion reported by the garrison was "drowning after drinking alcohol while playing in the water".

Just two days later, Jia Jing received secret reports from various Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards). He snorted coldly but did not choose to immediately send troops to suppress the situation.

Because all of this was actually within his expectations.

The reason he first sent officials from the Five Military Commands and the Ministry of War to investigate was, in fact, to fish out how many capable people the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commands still had.

After all, the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions were also among the targets of his rectification this time!

At the same time, this step is also a political preparation, on the one hand luring the enemy deep into the territory and drawing out all the "enemies" hiding in the shadows.

On the other hand, it is also about gradually applying pressure to solidify the reputation of the officers and soldiers of the garrison for "violently resisting the law," creating public opinion, collecting more evidence, and providing legitimacy for the subsequent deployment of a large army to suppress the situation.