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

"Yes, sit down! Let's not stand on ceremony." Jia Jing waved his hand.

Zhuque has been transferred by Emperor Jingsheng to serve under Jia Jing and will go to work at the Ba Shang camp.

"Now that we're back in the capital, there are many things we need to arrange!" Jia Jing said in a deep voice.

"My lord, what are your orders?" Zhuque's expression turned solemn.

Jia Jing sat down at the table, looking intently at Zhuque, and said:

"The capital may seem more peaceful than the border regions, but in reality, it is rife with undercurrents and even more dangerous."

"The first issue is intelligence. The Embroidered Uniform Guard only has five hundred men, and they also have to cover Liaodong and the capital. They are too short-handed!"

"You should use these 500 people as the core and secretly develop your own forces. Since it's difficult to develop them in the capital with the Imperial City Guard and the Secret Service, go to other provinces."

"Now the Han Dynasty is plagued by natural disasters and constant warfare, and there are starving refugees everywhere. If you choose someone with a clean background, you can expand the Embroidered Uniform Guard to at least five thousand men within a year."

"Not only should we establish a dense network of outposts in the capital and Liaodong, but we should also have outposts in both capitals and thirteen provinces. I must receive news of major events before the court does."

"Even in the surrounding areas of the Han Dynasty, such as the puppet Qing, Mongolia, and Annam, we need to first deploy a few spies, and then expand as needed. Is that possible?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuque's expression changed drastically, and he responded repeatedly:

"Your subordinate obeys!"

He had long wanted to expand the Embroidered Uniform Guard; as its commander, having only five hundred men under his command was truly frustrating.

It's just that the conditions weren't right and the timing wasn't right before, so Jia Jing kept telling him to wait. Now, he can finally show his skills.

Seeing Zhuque's excited expression, Jia Jing couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.

He knew, of course, that Zhuque had long wanted to expand the Jinyiwei's manpower, but in the past, without money or power, he couldn't just expand whenever he wanted.

Most importantly, if the imperial court finds out about secretly developing the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it will be considered treason, a crime punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family.

Even if Jia Jing had the system before, he wouldn't dare to take such a big risk to do this.

As for why we dare to do it now?

Of course, it was because Jia Jing's confidence greatly increased after inheriting the martial prowess of Lü Bu and Xiang Yu.

With his current strength, capable of fighting ten thousand men, he believed that even if he were truly not accepted by the court, he could still lead troops to dominate a region and protect himself.

Therefore, with a way out, Jia Jing dared to take risks, plan for the world, and truly make a name for himself.

The Han Dynasty is now in a perilous state of imminent collapse. Although Emperor Jingsheng is determined to reform and strengthen the country, the outcome is uncertain, so he has no choice but to take precautions and make plans in advance.

Jia Jing spoke again:

"We've captured quite a lot in Liaodong, so we should have enough money and supplies for the initial period."

"But this is like water without a source; once it's used up, it's gone. Those secret factories in Liaodong can start operating now. Taking advantage of the expansion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, we should open our businesses in various places."

"We do business to earn money to support the army, and at the same time, we use people from all over the country to protect and support the business, thus forming a virtuous cycle."

"While you're at it, gather some people to do business and get things ready."

Jia Jing won a series of victories in Liaodong, slaughtering over 100,000 Qing soldiers and reaping a great deal of spoils.

It should be noted that wherever the Qing army went, they carried out a thorough search, burning, killing, and looting, accumulating countless amounts of gold and silver treasures.

Even after distributing a portion of the profits to the imperial court and the Liaodong General's Mansion, Jia Jing still had nearly a million in cash and goods, which was more than enough to support the early development of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

As for the factories in Liaodong, they were naturally established using the recipes for making wine, sugar, soap, glass, and salt, which were awarded by the system.

Although Jia Jing did not open a business in Liaodong, he had secretly found craftsmen to develop the finished products according to the formula!

After all, many products, even with a recipe, require repeated experiments to succeed, and alcoholic beverages, in particular, need to be stored for a period of time before they can be sold.

Now that we have enough strength, we can gradually begin to expand our business.

Zhuque looked at Jia Jing and said calmly:

"Gathering some manpower is not a problem, but doing business is something I'm really not good at. Your Excellency should find someone else to take charge."

Jia Jing smiled and said:

"Just find some capable people to manage things first, and I'll have someone else take charge of this later!"

"Finally, there's the issue of intelligence. In the next few days, you should focus on gathering intelligence related to the Jingnan Wuxun and the Bashang Camp."

"Now that His Majesty has appointed me to oversee the Bashang Camp, I anticipate that conflict with the Jingnan faction is inevitable. You should first find out their strength so that I can address the problem accordingly."

"Also, organize the intelligence on the Rong and Ning residences. We need to find a time to clean and tidy them up so we can properly entertain guests!"

Zhuque took a deep breath and bowed, saying:

"Your subordinate will gather the intelligence as quickly as possible!"

Jia Jing nodded:

"Okay, then you figure out how to proceed. Report back immediately if you have any news."

After Jia Jing finished speaking, he got up and left.

He went to practice martial arts under the jujube tree in the front yard by himself, took a bath, changed out of his armor, and then returned to his room in the back yard.

It was almost midnight. Xiangling and Xiaohong had already returned after delivering the items. Now, only Xiangling was left in the room, dozing off against the table, clearly very tired.

The sound of Jia Jing opening the door startled her awake. She quickly got up to pour him water, but Jia Jing waved his hand and said:

"No need! I've already had some! It's getting late, go and sleep with Xiaojiao'er! I don't need you to wait on me!"

"From now on, you can move around freely in the courtyard without being so restrained! As long as you don't cause trouble, I'll protect you!"

Xiangling nodded shyly and slowly went to the cubicle to wash up and go to bed.

…………

One quarter past midnight.

At this time, candlelight still shone in Daiyu's courtyard.

Daiyu was half-lying on the canopy bed, wearing a robe and covered with a thick brocade quilt, reading a book.

She didn't turn a single page of the book for a long time, and her eyes remained fixed on the pages, clearly lost in thought.

Zijuan, holding a small bowl filled with steaming bird's nest, approached Daiyu and said with a light laugh:

"Miss didn't eat much tonight, she must be hungry! Try the bird's nest that the Marquis sent, I heard it's top-quality from Liaodong! It's not easy to get this kind of thing at the manor."

Daiyu's thoughts were interrupted by Zijuan, and she snapped out of her reverie, asking casually:

"Did you only give me one, or did all the other sisters get one?"

When Xiangling and Xiaohong came over, it was already late. They only chatted with Zijuan for a few words at the door before leaving, so Daiyu was unaware of the details.

Zijuan chuckled and said:

"Although other girls have bird's nest, Xiangling and Xiaohong were the first girls to receive it as a gift."

"Furthermore, there are rare treasures such as ginseng and deer antler, but only you, young lady, possess them. The Marquis shows you 'extraordinary' care, so surely you won't worry that you, my cousin, are inferior to my other cousin!"

Daiyu's cheeks flushed slightly, and she spat out in an annoyed tone:

"So it seems I'm being petty! It's all your fault for being so talkative, telling Third Brother why I wasn't feeling well! He just got back and he's already worrying about this little thing!"

Zijuan's smile faded, and she said seriously:

"I see that although the Marquis is even more imposing and dignified than the gentlemen of the manor, he cares deeply for and cherishes you younger sisters. Otherwise, how could I dare to speak up so casually!"

"The young lady is already in poor health, and these days she has been eating and sleeping very little, and the old women in the manor are not taking good care of her."

"When we asked them to prepare some light meals for the young lady separately, they dared to make excuses! Now that the Marquis is back, let's see who dares to neglect the young lady!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu's expression darkened slightly. Her gaze remained fixed on the rising steam from the porcelain bowl in Zijuan's hand, her eyes seeming to mist over.

He said softly:

"We are just guests here, not their masters, so how can we blame them for being disrespectful!"

"I think you'd better not trouble them too much! They already say I'm a petty and difficult girl, unlike Miss Bao who is generous and considerate in her dealings with others. If I cause any more trouble, who knows what they'll say about me behind my back!"