It was in the afternoon, and the beauty in a light blue dress was sitting on the Taishi chair. She held the table with one jade hand, raised the brush with the other hand, and looked at a copybook.
It is Princess Zhenxue of Beijing.
The princess was still practicing Song Huizong's thin gold body. At this moment, the sleeves decorated with blue water clouds were rolled up. The soft afternoon sunlight passed through the carved windows and fell on the frosty white snow arm, reflecting on a jasper bracelet. Faint light.
The beauty has crescent eyebrows and starry eyes, and under the willow-leaf slender eyebrows, she looks attentive, her lips painted with light red rouge are slightly pursed, and her white face has dimples as shallow as crescent moons.
At this time, the maid came in and reported: "My dear, Princess Chu is here."
Zhen Xue turned around, raised her beautiful face, put the brush in her hand on the pen holder, and said softly, "Welcome them to the side hall first, I'll be there right away."
After saying that, he opened the Taishi chair behind him and got up to go. It was also because he didn't pay attention that his hip touched the corner of the mahogany desk, which made him say "ouch" in pain. His beautiful eyebrows were frowned tightly, and his tears hurt. It came out and rolled on the eyelashes, and a look of pain could be seen on the white and greasy cheeks.
"Empress..."
At this time, the maids and nuns who were standing under the curtains and at the door of the study, with their hands hanging down, saw this scene, their expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly moved forward to check.
Zhen Xue's gentle and gentle face was pale. She held her hip with one hand and waved her hand: "I'm fine. Help me to rest on the bed. Go talk to Princess Chu and move to the study." Meet."
"Your Majesty, it's time for the medical officer to come and take a look." The maid whispered.
After a while, after hearing the news, Princess Chu followed her mother to the study room titled "Mo Yun Study" and saw Zhen Xue sitting on the bed. Her beautiful face changed slightly and she asked with concern: "Sister, listen. Grandma said that my sister bumped into her just now, why was she so careless?" As she said that, she came closer to take a look.
"Sister, I'm fine. Sister, why are you here?" Zhen Xue felt better now and asked curiously.
Princess Chu sat down and said, "Your Majesty went to Gongling. He had nothing to do at home, so he came over to see you. Where is Xinxin?"
"She has homework in the afternoon, reading and literacy." Zhen Xue said softly with a sweet smile while instructing the maid to prepare tea for Princess Chu.
Noble ladies have been well-educated since childhood.
Zhen Qing nodded and suddenly asked: "Does my sister know Jia Heng's father-in-law?"
Zhen Xue frowned and said, "Why did sister mention Jia Ziyu again?"
"Sister, do you still remember what I told you the day before yesterday? Jia Heng is indeed famous. Today, his father-in-law Qin Ye has become the right minister of the Ministry of Industry." There was a sneer in Chu Princess Zhen Qing's phoenix eyes under her willow eyebrows. meaning, as if he had expected it.
"This..." Zhen Xue's face was stunned for a moment, her pink lips slightly opened, and she asked doubtfully: "Normally, military generals will not participate in court promotions. Does the Minister of Military and Aircraft still have exceptional preferential treatment?"
"Sister, you said you don't pay attention to the imperial court? She even knows the process of court promotion." Zhen Qing quirked her eyebrows, smiled, and said jokingly
"I heard it mentioned by the prince, so I was influenced by it." Zhen Xue explained.
Zhen Qing said coldly: "Sister, now Jia Zheng has gone to the General Affairs Department, and Qin Ye has stayed in the Ministry of Industry and been promoted to a ministry. If there is no conspiracy behind this, I will not believe it." !”
The more I thought about the person named Jia, the more I felt that all this was probably planned by the Ministry of Works. Otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence, wouldn't it?
Zhen Xue looked at her beautiful and cold sister and said, "Sister is really crazy. Even if she has a plan, it's not surprising."
"Sister, you don't know that among the court recommendations, not only the people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate spoke for him, but also the Minister of Industry, Mr. Zhao, helped him recommend Qin Ye, and finally the people in the cabinet agreed." Zhen Qing's eyes were clear and clear. Thin rose lips pursed, and she whispered: "I originally thought it was Mr. Shi from the Military Aircraft Department who would help me speak, but it turned out to be these people. How deep do you think this man's city is?"
Zhen Xue said: "Sister, Jia Ziyu can have such a high status at his age, how can the city be so shallow?"
In fact, I vaguely guessed that some of my sister's thoughts were just to win over Jia Ziyu to be used by the King of Chu's brother-in-law, but I was afraid that the authorities were confused. If nothing else, how could someone in such a crucial position end up so easily?
Zhen Qing sighed: "Yes."
How could she not win over such a person, who holds a key position, but she would not use the stupid method of "marriage" like that of a prince.
Instead, she wants to use Jia Ziyu as an important chess piece. As long as she leaves a back-up for the prince and helps him at that critical moment, then her goal will be achieved.
Thinking of this, Zhen Qing's heart moved, and she couldn't help but glance at her beautiful sister, wondering...she was going to do this. ...
Afternoon, Jingying, Jieshuai camp
The bright spring light in mid-spring shines lazily around the barracks in the afternoon. The lush willow trees, their branches and leaves swaying in the wind, are bathed in the spring light. The spacious main hall of the barracks is crowded with people, all of whom are high-ranking generals from the Beijing camp.
There are all generals with the title of "commander" in the 12th regiment camp. In addition, there are four generals from the Guoyong camp, Qu Guang, Shan Ming, Xiao Lin, Shao Chao, etc., as well as guerrilla generals Cai Quan, Xie Zaiyi, and Yangwei camp generals. Pang Shili gathered together to discuss the rectification of the Beijing camp.
After several months, the vigorous and even bloody military reorganization in the Beijing camp finally came to an end.
Jia Heng looked at Song Yuan and said: "Now, the number of troops assigned to the 12th regiment camp will be explained to the several governors present."
At this time, Song Yuan's firm voice came from the field, saying: "Commander Jie, the 12th Regiment of the Beijing Camp has been reorganizing the army since last winter. After several months, it recruited young and strong refugees from Shaanxi, Luo and other places, and recruited and trained ten soldiers. Ninety-seven thousand five hundred, to expand the twelve regiments and battalions, all of which are actual troops with real pay. They have been trained in advance, equipped with armored soldiers, and have begun to have combat effectiveness. Due to the follow-up troop sources, in line with the commander-in-chief's words, it is better to have a shortage than to overfill, and they have not been included in the actual amount. To make up for it...it’s just that there are more and more people in Henan and other places who heard about the recruitment of troops by the Jing camp and fled to Guan and Shaanxi."
At the beginning, Jia Heng and Shi Jie discussed the number of troops in the capital camp. Shi Jie believed that each battalion should have 50,000 troops, and the final 12 regiments would have 180,000 troops. Jia Heng thought that 250,000 troops would be enough. .
Jia Heng's original premise was to use the heavy troops in the capital to deter the world, and to support border wars at any time. While mobilizing the army to march north, he also needed to maintain a certain strength advantage in the center.
At the local level, it was mostly solid inside but weak outside. We strengthened the weak branches at the local level, cut and repaired the border areas at the same time, and removed the young refugees from the three northern provinces from the root. They were organized by the court to provide military pay or production. It is better to save oneself or fight against foreign enemies than to obey the thieves in the prefectures and counties.
Otherwise, waiting for the civil unrest to be suppressed by the rebels, it will become a force against the imperial court.
At the same time, there is also a principle that is consistent with the political operation of Emperor Chongping or the Han Dynasty, which is to use the northern troops to shock the southerners, and to use the taxes from the southern provinces to support the northern soldiers and whip the world.
But correspondingly speaking, the pressure on the finances of the Ministry of Household Affairs due to actual troops and real wages is greater than in the past, when the Beijing camp's salary arrears were frequently owed for one year. First, the Dongcheng Sanhe Gang obtained a windfall from the inspection, and then there was the Zhongshun Prince's Palace and related corruption. Zhiguan's house raids added that it would take several consecutive windfalls to bridge this gap.
More than half of this money came from the internal funds of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was for this reason that Emperor Chongping asked Jia Heng to focus on the capital camp the day before yesterday.
Jia Heng nodded and said in a deep voice: "Now two hundred thousand soldiers and horses are not enough. All camps have suspended recruitment and training. As for the refugees, I will advise the court in the near future to build water conservancy projects in Sanfu, Henan and other places." , dig water wells in preparation for drought, these will recruit a large number of civilians and can alleviate the people's livelihood difficulties."
At the beginning, he was talking to the emperor about building water conservancy projects and hoarding grain to prepare for shortages, so he should be here.
Nowadays, the work-for-relief method is being used to alleviate the impact of the disaster. Of course, this requires a new approach. This money cannot be directly allocated to the local government. Otherwise, there will be no sound of water, and it will easily become an excuse for the gentry to intensify their exploitation of the people.
If you use work in exchange for relief, if you are greedy for money, you will be paid more than you need.
At this moment, the minister of the Ministry of Industry was his father-in-law, so this became a practical possibility.
As for Henan, he also needs to make achievements in local internal affairs, or to have his own basic base. Henan is where he is targeting.
Without him, it is close to the capital and separates the north and the south. Luoyang echoes the sacred capital.
It's just that Henan has been suffering from drought and locust disasters in recent years, and natural and man-made disasters have continued.
"Jie Shuai, the key is that people from Henan, Shandong and other places are fleeing like this. It won't be a problem if it goes on for a long time." Song Yuan hesitated and said.
Jia Heng said: "I will report this matter to the Holy One in the next two days." The problem in Henan and Shandong is that natural disasters are frequent and officials are corrupt. Although a lot of taxes have been collected, the local gentry's exploitation has not been reduced, and the people have no livelihood. Either flee to the south or flee to Guanshan.
In the former case, Shen Fang, the governor of Liangjiang, strictly ordered local prefectures and counties not to allow people from Shandong, Henan and other places to cross the Yangtze River and go south.
Although this point is a bit harsh, Jia Heng still agrees, because the refugees going south will have an immeasurable impact on the three southeastern provinces, not only the deterioration of public security, but also the gentry keeping slaves and hiding their households, and the proliferation of armed private servants. and a series of serious problems. After that, Jia Heng discussed the operational training manual with the commander of the 11th Regiment Battalion, and made deletions and adjustments based on the actual problems encountered during the training. This has also been a habit of Jia Heng since he took charge of the Beijing camp, and is conducted once every half month. .
After discussing it for about an hour, there were no other opinions. Jia Heng read through several revision opinions compiled by the army in the recording office, added them, and then said: "Everyone, the Eastern captives are eyeing the north, and there is always the worry of intrusion from the south. We must not slack off in preparing the captives for the drill. The recent operations have been For training, just follow this revised code of conduct first, and then we will summarize the pros and cons next month."
"Yes." The generals accepted the order in unison and left the official hall in twos and threes.
After the generals dispersed, Jia Heng, Song Yuan, Xie Zaiyi and other trusted generals from the Guo Yong camp also left the barracks and walked around the camp along a long road paved with blue bricks, walking and talking.
Jia Heng stood by the road, looking at the soldiers who were practicing in the school field in the distance, and said to Song Yuan, Cai Quan and others who were following closely: "Although the soldiers are practicing non-stop, they have not experienced actual combat after all, and they do not yet know their combat capabilities." How many times? General Xie, you have fought against the Donglu, where do you think our army's combat power can be improved?"
Xie Zaiyi straightened his face and calmed down his expression, and said: "Sir, the generals of the nearby regiments and camps don't know. The soldiers of Guoyong camp have been trained by Cai Tai and Drilling, and their combat power is the best among all the camps. Even if they go north to compete with Donglu, they can compete with each other."
Song Yuan frowned and said loudly: "Commander, the twelfth regiment has been initially reorganized during the camp. The army has been formed at different times. I am afraid that it will take at least half a year of training. Now that the bandits in various places are causing chaos, we might as well go to the capital." Are the battalion officers and troops coming out of Shaanxi to suppress arrests?"
Jia Heng said: "That's what I have in mind. Is it possible to send soldiers to Henan to assist in the suppression? The combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers of the Henan Dusi is doubtful."
On February 2, he read in the military dispatch from the Military Aircraft Department that Niu Jizong had led the generals of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion to the Runing Mansion to supervise the army, and he paid attention at that time.
In his position, he plans his political affairs, and as the Minister of Military and Aircraft, he must pay attention to this matter, otherwise, if something really happens, he will not know if he asks three questions.
"Henan? What does Jieshuai mean?" Song Yuan frowned and asked.
Jia Heng said: "Niu Jizong went to Henan to suppress the bandits. It has been two months since he left. Henan has mobilized troops and generals in full swing. There is no news at the moment. They will be sent to Shenjing via express. I just called Qu Zhen of Jinyi Mansion. Fu, pay attention to the situation in Henan. If the suppression of the bandits goes well, that's it. If not, I plan to send two battalions of officers and soldiers out to Shaanxi to assist in the suppression, and at the same time, we will rectify the military affairs of the Henan capital."
The latter's real purpose was to rectify military affairs. Taking advantage of the absence of the two kings of Nan'an and Beijing, he used the military aircraft department to usurp the authority of the Fifth Army Commander's Office.
Song Yuan thought for a while and said, "I'm afraid we still have to discuss this matter with the palace."
It's hard for them to talk about matters in the court.
While he was talking, a young man ran quickly from the direction of the camp gate. It was Jia Fang, a member of Jia Heng's tribe. He had been promoted from the general banner to the military rank of Baihu not long ago, and he learned riding and archery from Xie Zaiyi. Compared to the first time I came to Jingying, my childishness was completely gone.
Not only Jia Fang, many of the Jia clan members who stayed in the capital camp have been promoted to the general banner or to the trial of hundreds of households. If they want to be promoted further, they need military merit as a basis.
Jia Fang clasped her fists and said, "Commander Jie, envoy Qu Zhen from Jinyi Mansion is here."
Jia Heng nodded and said, "Lead him to the barracks."
In the barracks, Qu Lang took out the book summary from the cowhide bag beside him, handed it over and said: "Captain, the properties of the criminals related to the Gongling case have been confiscated, except for Liang Yuanshang who has not yet been brought to justice in Nan Province. Officials in Beijing, these days, Those sentenced to death and exiled are all on the list, and the amount of confiscated property is also recorded, please read it."
According to the original court discussion about the criminals related to the Ministry of Works, for a few days, Emperor Chongping personally sentenced the two ministers of the Ministry of Works, the ministers of the Tuntian Qing Dynasty, the ministers of the Yuanwailang, the Zhou Changshi of the Zhongshun Palace, and several doctors of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were all executed. The remaining The subordinate officials were also exiled. As for the house raids, they were carried out in an orderly manner these days. However, Jia Heng did not do it himself. Instead, he ordered the Jinyi Mansion and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to handle the errands and check on the progress at any time.
Jia Heng quickly browsed through it, nodded, and said: "Continue to follow up on this matter. Don't rush to sell those antique calligraphy and paintings. They won't fetch a good price in the capital. I'll find someone to send them to Jiangnan to sell them."
Another one to two million yuan worth of property was confiscated from the property of these prisoners. However, due to several consecutive house raids, the east and west markets were gradually unable to sell for good prices. After all, the consumer market was almost saturated.
After Jia Heng finished speaking, he put the book aside, turned to Qu Lang, and ordered: "In the past few days, the Ministry of War has not received any urgent military information from the Henan Dusi. Please ask thousands of households in Luoyang and Kaifeng to Keep an eye on Runing Mansion and pay attention to the movements of the officers and soldiers of the Henan Dusi Department. If there is anything unusual, send a letter to report via flying pigeons."
Qu Lang clasped his fists and said: "As a humble post, Feige will send a letter to Fang Shaoyong, a householder in Jinyi, Henan, to pay close attention to the movements of Runing Mansion."
Jia Heng nodded and said, "Besides, people in Beiping should also keep an eye on it."
Li Zan went to Peiping. In the next half year, he will prepare for the establishment of the Economic Strategy and Appeasement Department. He also needs to keep in touch with the direction of Peiping at all times.
After Qu Lang left, Jia Heng's expression paused, but he was still a little unsettled.
In other words, it was more like a strong premonition of the development of the situation, because Niu Jizong had not given him a good impression when he commanded Guoyong Camp. There was no guarantee that there would not be any major mistakes during this trip to Henan.
Jia Heng did not return home in the evening, but went to Jinyang Princess Mansion for dinner. At noon, Mrs. Wang acted like a demon, and he needed to have a good "talk" with Yuan Chun.
