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

A few days later, at the Zongli Yamen (Office of Military Affairs).

Instead of going through the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions, Jia Jing requested an imperial decree from Emperor Jingsheng, requesting that the Censorate and the Imperial Academy be dispatched in the name of the General Office of Military Affairs to assist in investigating the military farms, households, and weapons in the capital region.

This arrangement may seem like a step back, but it actually has a deeper meaning.

The Imperial Censor had the responsibility of "inspecting the land on behalf of the Emperor," while the Imperial Academy Students were students who had not yet entered officialdom. They both had similar functions in the history of the Han Dynasty. For example, in the early Han Dynasty, the Imperial Academy Students were sent by Emperor Taizu to measure land and investigate fields.

Let them confront those long-established powerful garrison commanders; this will not only ascertain the true attitudes of each garrison but also allow the world to see clearly...

Whether the imperial court's investigation was too hasty, or whether the local garrisons had become lawless, this further expands the public opinion battle.

On the Censorate side, Jia Jing personally selected more than a dozen censors, led by Sun Jiacheng, who were known for their upright character and incorruptibility.

The Imperial Academy selected over two hundred students with clean backgrounds and upright character, divided them into more than twenty teams, each with ten soldiers and ten Imperial City Guards, and sent them to various garrisons around the capital.

Most of these students were from poor families, around twenty years old, and still carried the spirit of those who hadn't been worn down by officialdom.

When they heard that the military farms were to be investigated and the garrisons to be reorganized, they were all eager to get started, saying it was a great opportunity to learn both literary and martial skills and then sell them to the emperor.

On the day of departure, some people even specially packed a few extra copies of "The Great Ming Code" and "The Fish Scale Register" in their luggage, preparing to put them to good use once they arrived at their destination.

However, what awaited them was a confrontation that was even more frenzied and brutal than the last one.

The various garrisons had already received the news and knew that this time Jia Jing had bypassed the old government offices and directly transferred people from the Censorate and the Imperial Academy.

The garrison commanders were both shocked and furious. The officials from the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions were easy to deal with, but these censors and students, especially those hotheads from poor families, were the most difficult to talk to.

They have no family ties, no knowledge of officialdom, and their minds are full of "law" and "right and wrong." Once they get serious, they are even more troublesome than the Imperial City Guard.

Consequently, under the guidance of certain individuals, the various garrisons adopted even more insidious and despicable countermeasures.

The military officers of the garrison secretly conspired and deliberately spread rumors, stirring up trouble by saying that the people from the imperial court were going to confiscate the land of the military households, impose additional taxes, and take away all the farmland of the garrison.

They mobilized all their household servants, personal guards, and garrison soldiers, each armed with clubs, swords, and some even brought out old muskets and hunting bows.

When the inspection team, composed of imperial censors and students, arrived at the gate of the garrison, they were greeted by a dark mass of rioters.

Some of these people were wearing tattered uniforms, some were servants of the garrison officers, and many were local ruffians and tenants incited by the military officers.

They carried various white cloth banners with slogans such as "Investigation and seizure of land, people are suffering," "Protect our military farms, defend our military households," and "The court is inhumane, taking away our way of life." They lined up in the streets and alleys, shouting and cursing, and rushed towards the inspection team in a chaotic manner.

"Get out! You're not welcome here!"

"Why should we just take away the land that we've worked so hard to cultivate for generations?!"

"What kind of investigation is this! They just want to squeeze every last drop out of us!"

"You poor wretch! Bookworm! Get out!"

"The fields of Tianjin were earned through the lives of generations; why should you corrupt officials be allowed to measure them?"

"If you know what's good for you, get back to the capital right now! If you dare come back again, I'll break your legs!"

People in the crowd occasionally threw stones and rotten vegetable leaves at the imperial censors and students of the inspection team, which hit the armor with a "thud".

Several desperate men mingled in the crowd rushed forward to snatch the official documents presented by the censor and slashed at the armor of the guards.

The inspection team had no choice but to form a circular formation, draw their swords, and slowly retreat. The imperial censor leading the team shouted the order:

"Disperse! We are carrying out official duties of the imperial court! Anyone who obstructs us will be severely punished according to the law!"

But his voice was immediately drowned out by the shouts and curses of hundreds and thousands of people.

Stones and tiles rained down, injuring several students.

An imperial censor was struck in the forehead by a flying stone, and blood gushed out immediately.

Such scenes were repeated in various military garrisons in Tongzhou, Baoding, Hejian, and Zhengding.

Some inspection teams were surrounded outside the health station for a whole day, unable to move forward or backward;

Some of their temporary tents were set on fire while they were spending the night there. Although no one was injured or killed, a lot of documents were destroyed.

Other teams were lured into pre-arranged ambush zones, where they were attacked and threatened by a group of masked men wielding weapons, resulting in injuries to three or four people.

Sun Jiacheng was more capable than others. When he led several students to audit the accounts in Dingzhou Guard,

Through careful investigation, they obtained a secret register and account book of the garrison, which clearly recorded the amount of military land embezzled and bribes accepted by Commander Ma Baoguo and other officers over the years.

Sun Jiacheng was overjoyed and immediately copied the bottom register and account books. Fearing that things might change if he delayed, he ordered his men to seal the original documents overnight and rushed back to his residence with the copy to write a memorial to the throne.

However, his whereabouts had already been spotted by the guards of the garrison.

That night, a fire suddenly broke out in the courtyard where he was staying. The fire was not large, but it burned down the room where he kept his documents.

Sun Jiacheng escaped the fire in disheveled state, risking burns to his arms to rescue a copy of a book that had been burned several pages from the table.

Before he could catch his breath, a cold arrow shot from the shadows, grazing his ear and embedding itself in the door frame behind him.

After several assassination attempts, Sun Jiacheng was escorted out of Dingzhou City overnight.

After leaving the city, he looked back at the garrison walls in the night and saw that several lanterns were still lit on the walls, like a row of eyes watching a play, coldly looking down on his disheveled state.

For the first time, this censor, who had been rigid and inflexible for half his life, felt a chill run through his body and couldn't help but shout:

"Lawless! Inhuman! They deserve to die! They deserve to die!"

Even more alarming was the fact that the commanders of the various garrisons remained silent about this chaotic situation.

Some of them claimed to be sick and asked for leave to stay home; others simply closed their doors to visitors, saying they couldn't control them.

Even more audacious were those who, on the one hand, secretly sent people to condone the disturbances, and on the other hand, wrote memorials to the court, claiming that "the morale of the army is wavering, and there is a risk of mutiny," "it is understandable that the people are gathering to protect their fields," and "I am truly unable to control them, and I humbly request that the investigation be postponed."

In short, if the investigation continues, the army will mutini, and the capital region will be in complete chaos!

After all, based on past experience, what the emperor fears most is a mutiny in the army. Last time, when the Beijing garrison mutinied, didn't Prince Teng get dismissed?

In just a few days, chaos broke out in the various garrisons around the capital, and the impeachment memorials sent to the Qianqing Palace piled up one after another!

Several investigation teams composed of censors and students of the Imperial Academy suffered setbacks one after another. The most serious one was besieged overnight in Hejian Prefecture, where dozens of people were trapped in a dilapidated temple outside the garrison city by hundreds of rioters.

When they finally broke through the encirclement, everyone was wounded, their armor was tattered, and they were starving and freezing.

Jia Jing, the governor of the military administration, received reports from various places every day. Sensing that the time was right, he first went to the palace to have a secret discussion with Emperor Jingsheng, received the order to mobilize troops, and then headed directly to the Twelfth Battalion.

On the way to the military camp, Zhuque, who was following along, couldn't help but say:

"My lord! These garrison officers are going too far! First, they incited their servants and soldiers to cause trouble, creating public opinion, fanning the flames, and adding fuel to the fire. Then they dared to directly beat officials and shoot arrows from the shadows. They have completely disregarded the imperial court!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Jing smiled and said calmly:

"Isn't this exactly what we wanted? Now the entire court is in uproar, and the capital is in turmoil. It would be perfectly justified for us to send troops to quell the unrest!"

Zhuque remained silent for a moment, then said:

"This humble general simply didn't expect them to be so reckless. The Embroidered Uniform Guards didn't even have to exert much effort, and they just started moving on their own!"

Originally, they planned to have the Embroidered Uniform Guard secretly give them a push, but it wasn't really needed.

Jia Jing's gaze deepened as he said:

"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad! Never underestimate the counterattack of the old forces if you want to reform and reorganize!"

In fact, given the current situation of the Great Han Dynasty, it might be simpler to just demolish and rebuild. Renovating an old house is not so easy!

Just like this time, we could have simply mobilized a large army and swept through, but considering the various impacts of wielding the sword internally, we had to lay the groundwork twice in terms of politics and public opinion.

"By the way! The Prince of Nan'an, the Heir Apparent of Dongping, and their entourage have all gone to Tongzhou and Jizhou?" Jia Jing suddenly asked.

Since the two princely mansions were given a three-day ultimatum on the day of Grandmother Jia's birthday banquet, they felt the pressure, secretly plotted, and adjusted their strategies!

Originally, it was too late to burn the land reclamation registers or create public opinion. Seeing that Jia Jing was serious, Wu Xun, a member of the founding lineage who was unwilling to sit and wait for death, chose to take a risk!

Therefore, when the three days were up and the Imperial City Guard arrived at the gate, the Prince of Nan'an, the heir of the Prince of Dongping, and their entourage had already disappeared.

Zhuque sneered and said:

"Yes! If it weren't for the Duke's orders to let them go, how would they have gotten out of the capital! What kind of trash do they think they can fight the Duke!"

"They have now secretly contacted more than a dozen trusted garrison commanders, preparing to take control of several strategic locations such as Tongzhou and Jizhou."

"Then they issued a proclamation to purge the court of corrupt officials, calling on all garrisons to respond. At the same time, they were also contacting some of their former subordinates in the southeast and southwest. If the war was lost, they planned to flee to the southeast and establish a separate regime!"

Jia Jing nodded and chuckled:

"If they advance, they can successfully purge the court of corrupt officials and seize power; if they retreat, they can establish their own independent regime. They've thought of everything!"

He paused, then said coldly:

"Their usefulness is almost over, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard is keeping a close eye on them. This time, we'll wipe them all out in one fell swoop, and not let a single one escape!"

"yes!"

"Let's go! Go to the main camp to mobilize troops and quell the rebellion!"

……