It had been decided earlier that the imperial court would pay homage to the deceased heroes and return their souls to their hometowns, but it was temporarily postponed due to the embezzlement of money and pension money.
Although this matter had twists and turns, and the court's face was damaged due to corrupt officials, it was still a blessing in disguise. Officials in the court who were originally somewhat resistant to this all shut their mouths this time.
The emperor ordered the Ministry of Industry to build a monument to the heroes of the Xia Dynasty outside the Daxia Gate and set up a shrine to store the list of heroes who died in the war.
He also issued a decree to all prefectures and yamen, and each city must build a shrine to worship heroes and martyrs for the common people to pay tribute to.
Jia Cong was ordered to inspect the Northern Zhili and Xuanfu, Datong front-line military guards, and state capitals. Of course, he would not be a member of the Caotai team.
In addition to himself, the emperor responded to his request and transferred two people from the Hanlin Academy to serve as assistant officers to assist Jia Cong in handling official affairs.
These two people are Mu Congying, the darling grandson of Mr. Mu, the Duke of Guizhou, and He Chong, the darling grandson of He Yaomin, the Minister of Rites. Both of them are editors of the Hanlin Academy. They are both literary and military. They are both from high-ranking schools and are of great use.
A group of people arrived at Xuanfu just after the first snow fell at the beginning of winter, and formally inspected the three guards of Xuanfu.
Qi Guoliang, the chief military officer of Xuanfu Town, the commander of the three guards, the deputy general and other generals from the town came out of the city to greet them. The scene was quite grand, but it was unclear whether they were happy to welcome Jia Cong and others.
After Jia Cong left Beijing, Daiyu, who had been delayed for some reason to inspect the compulsory education affairs in Beizhili, went to the palace again.
Soon, the palace sent a decree to the Rongguo Mansion and the Xue family. Jia Tanchun and Xue Shibaochai of the Rongguo Mansion were selected as the princess's companions. They filled the role of praising the left and right princesses of the sixth grade and assisting Princess Wen'an...
Different from other female officials in the palace, Zuo Zanshan is not an ordinary palace female official but a serious court official, ranking from the sixth rank.
Correspondingly, the officials in the East Palace and the left and right sides of the palace belong to the left and right Chunfang, ranking at the fifth rank. They are responsible for delivering orders, admonishing, praising etiquette, and teaching classics to the princes (referring to the prince's son).
In order not to arouse resistance from officials in the DPRK, the emperor demoted him by two levels, but the profound meaning behind it still attracted the attention of many people.
This time, the daughter of the Jia and Xue families is unprecedented. She is a sixth-grade court official, not a court lady who serves people. She has never appeared in the past when selecting companions for princesses and princesses.
For a time, the noble families in Beijing all turned their attention to the palace, waiting for the emperor's next order.
As long as she is not a "maid" serving others, it would be great if her daughter could also be a court official...
It is a pity that Daiyu earned the official status of being praised by both left and right for Tanchun and Baochai, not to accompany her to study, but to implement the century-old plan of compulsory education.
During her previous inspection of Gyeonggi Province, she discovered that although the court waived tuition fees, book fees and provided lunch during compulsory education, 99% of the people who went to school were boys at home, and there were very few girls. few.
The phenomenon of favoring boys over girls is like thick ice. Daiyu also knows that this prejudice cannot be changed overnight, but she has to take the first step.
Therefore, she also plans to leave the city and continue to inspect Gyeonggi. This time, the focus is divided into two: First, to inspect school construction, enrollment rates, and teaching affairs in various states and counties in Gyeonggi; second, to supervise prefecture and county yamen to publicize the benefits of women's education.
In Daiyu's mind, women's education is no less important than men's study.
There is a very obvious example in Rongguo Mansion. Wang Xifeng's lessons left a very deep impression on Daiyu.
What are the consequences of the Wang family's upbringing model in which a woman's lack of talent is considered a virtue? Wang Xifeng, who was illiterate, almost pushed herself and her second cousin Jia Lian into the abyss.
We don’t require women to study for imperial examinations. At the very least, they must be literate, be able to read the law, teach their children a correct outlook on life and values, and prevent them from doing things that violate the laws of Daxia.
This thought had been suppressing in Daiyu's mind for a long time. This time she went to the palace specifically to explain the facts to the emperor, and finally got the emperor's support.
The emperor also knew a thing or two about Jia Lian. Wang Xifeng was coaxed into making loan sharks because he didn't read books and didn't know the rules. He almost killed a whole family of people.
If Jia Cong hadn't reminded him, this alone would have been enough to ruin Jia Lian's future.
When the imperial edict reached Rongguo Mansion, not to mention Tanchun who received the edict, even the old lady was shocked. Her granddaughter was going to be an official? Or a sixth-grade imperial official?
After Daiyu, Tanchun also waited for the civil service uniforms sent by the Ministry of Personnel. They were blue official uniforms with egrets embroidered on them.
"Ah, I'm the only one? Where are the second sister and the others?"
Tanchun held the tray and stared at the blue official uniform. It took him a long time to realize that he was the only one in the house who had been sealed.
Wang Xifeng stepped forward with a smile and pinched Tanchun's cheek.
"Of course you're the only one. You can't let our family take advantage of everything. Besides, your second sister and Sister Yun don't like these things either. Even if they become officials, they can't help Sister Lin. This matter has to be Come here, you, the 'female prime minister' of the Jia family!"
All the girls nodded in agreement and stepped forward with smiles to congratulate Tan Chun.
Just kidding, Tan Chun's talent is second only to Yuan Chun among the four springs, especially in numeracy, he is even better than Daiyu.
He is resolute in his work, quick in thinking, and has received a good education in the past few years. Being a philanthropist in the princess mansion is considered an incompetence.
If you can go to an academy and study the Four Books and Five Classics for a few years, it will not be difficult to pass the exam.
Even Baoyu, a talented man, was not as good as Tanchun in some aspects. It can only be said that the literary spirit of the Jia family is concentrated on these girls.
…
Xuanfu was originally the first line of defense in Gyeonggi facing the Tatars. However, as the imperial court reached a contract with the Tatars in recent years, there has been peace for three years.
Coupled with the discussion of mutual trade, the original chilling atmosphere had long been dissipated by the noisy mutual trade. A large number of merchants from both countries gathered inside and outside Xuanfu City, making it very lively.
After Jia Cong and his entourage arrived at the Xuan Mansion, they directly settled in the General Military Mansion and happily went to the reception banquet prepared for them by Qi Guoliang.
As for the banquet, there was singing and dancing. Except for not accepting the maid sent by Qi Guoliang, after three rounds of wine, the guests and the host were enjoying themselves, and there was a lot of laughter.
That night, Jia Cong, He Chong, and Mu Congying were all drunk, which made Qi Guoliang less vigilant.
It seems that Jia Cong still cares about his old relationship. After all, Qi Guoliang is also the old prince of Rongguo Mansion. No, he is now the old prince's old subordinate. Isn't he just greedy for some money? Is there any need to make such a big fuss?
Jia Cong was sleeping soundly in the warm quilt, but Qi Guoliang would never have thought that Jia Cong did this not because he believed in some old Rongguo Mansion, but because he had already made arrangements.
This time when he left the capital, Jia Cong brought most of the soldiers that the Pardon Master had assigned to him earlier. Except for the fifty people on the surface, the other nearly a hundred people had already entered Xuanyuan in the name of merchants. Fucheng.
While Jia Cong was soundly asleep, these soldiers had gathered in a courtyard to summarize the news they had collected in the past few days.
The Xuanfu did not deduct military pay or pensions from the soldiers, but an even worse situation occurred.
Xuanfu, one of the important towns on the Nine Borders, was less than half as vigilant against Tatars as before.
Originally, the rules set by the imperial court stipulated that mutual trading could only be conducted in the city outside the city, but Qi Guoliang, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, for some reason, acquiesced in allowing the Tatars to enter the city for trading.
This alone was enough for Qi Guoliang to be charged with collaborating with the enemy and have his home confiscated and executed.
All the generals in the Xuanfu turned a blind eye to this, including the Longjin Guard Qianhu Office in Xuanfu Town, who also had the same attitude and never reported the matter to the capital.
In contrast, all the generals of the Xuanfu, including Long Jinwei, were extremely rich, and their family assets increased exponentially in this year.
According to the investigation by the soldiers, Qianhu Chai Chengxuan of Qianhu Station in Xuanfu Town, Longjing Guard, spent eight thousand taels of silver just to take the brothel's maid as a concubine. It can be said that it was a huge sum of money.
What is the concept of eight thousand taels? According to the rules of the imperial court, the pension for a sergeant killed in battle is no more than a hundred taels of silver...
"Ridiculous! Where did they get the money?"
The headache after a hangover disappeared immediately after Jia Cong read the message secretly sent by his own soldiers.
The more he watched, the more frightened he became. He quickly summoned He Chong and Mu Congying to tell them the news. The three of them looked at each other in disbelief.
After only watching half of it, even He Chong, who was well versed in military strategy, saw the crisis in Xuanfu Town.
Where is Xuanfu Town located?
At the northern gate of Gyeonggi Province, the Tatars living in the city account for 10% of the total population.
There are more than 10,000 Tatars. It is true that they are merchants, but who dares to believe that these are merchants who come to do business?
This is why Daxia's military is now so powerful. If the events of the last years of Zhaowu are repeated, who can guarantee that the Tatars will not pick up the butcher's knife again and attack the Central Plains together.
Damn it, is this Qi Guoliang's heart clouded by lard or his brain eaten by zombies?
Mu Congying frowned and said: "The top priority is to drive these Tatars out quickly!"
He Chong shook his head: "No, this will easily scare the enemy. In my opinion, let's stabilize Qi Guoliang first, continue to collect evidence secretly, and then we will catch them all. And...sigh..."
"Brother He, do you have other worries?"
Seeing that his words were not finished, Jia Cong said, "We are all our own people. Brother He, just say it bluntly."
I saw He Chong cupping his hands and saying: "Uncle, Qi Guoliang is an old subordinate of Xian Rongguo. I am worried that his affairs will affect Rongguo Mansion. Now is the time when civil and military forces are fighting. The timing is not right."
Jia Cong smiled and shook his head, and said calmly: "There is no such thing as bad timing. Grandpa has so many old men. There are all kinds of birds in the forest, including him."
He Chong handed over his hand again and admonished: "There is one more thing that uncle must also consider. Tatar, unlike Oara, Tatar is only a nominal vassal state of Daxia..."
"I understand, Brother He, just don't worry."
Jia Cong did not say anything about his plans for Tatar. This matter still needs the emperor's consent. Even if it is to be officially implemented, it will take several months to prepare. Let's talk about it then.
However, we must hurry up and arrange the disposal of Qi Guoliang and others.
In the important town of Xuanfu, it is really a big joke in the world that Wen Tian and Wu were so ridiculous.
For seven whole days, except for a few rounds in the army, Jia Cong did not say a word about the military administration of Xuanfu Town. Instead, he repeatedly praised General Liang of Qi for making Xuanfu Town such a prosperous place. He would definitely look beautiful in front of the emperor after returning to Beijing. Word.
Qi Guoliang was quite proud of this. The prosperity of Xuanfu Town was second to none among the Xuanda line and even among the entire nine-border towns.
With the incorporation of Oara into the imperial court, Qi Guoliang began to sneer at the Tatar threat, thinking that if Oara surrendered, what would the Tatars be?
The wool business in Ningxia is booming, and the money flowing into Ningxia every day is like running water.
He is greedy. They are all doing business with the Tatars. Why can you only harvest the wool?
Therefore, at the beginning of the year, we reached an intention to cooperate with the Tatar envoys and officially opened Xuanfu Town to exchange what we had.
In less than a year, the number of merchants traveling to and from Xuanfu exceeded 100,000, including merchants from the Central Plains, Tatar, Oara, Goryeo and even the Rakshasa Kingdom. They were all attracted by Xuanfu's low taxes.
The huge number of merchants not only made up for the Xuanfu's low tax losses, but also brought it enough popularity that the commercial taxes collected increased instead of decreasing, exceeding 500,000 taels of silver in September.
Five hundred thousand a month, that’s six million a year.
Except for the fixed amount of one million taels to be sent to the capital, the remaining five million taels are Xuanfu Town's balance.
Qi Guoliang took 20%, and the remaining generals shared 80%. With all this money, who would care about the salary and pension of a poor sergeant?
In order to win people's hearts, they even gave the sergeants some mouthfuls of soup and water while eating meat.
Ordinary soldiers in the army did not understand what was going on above them, and thought that the ban on trade in Xuanfu City was decided by the imperial court. After receiving rewards from Qi Guoliang and others, they became more loyal to the generals of Xuanfu.
Little did they know that it was precisely because of this, and the complicity of the Qianhu Office in Xuanfu Town, the Longjing Guard who was originally responsible for supervising the local area, that the court knew nothing about the changes in Xuanfu Town.
Qi Guoliang's confidants once again sent news of the imperial envoy's departure. Jia Cong and others wandered around the city with great interest and bought many interesting gadgets.
During this period, Jia Cong and his party never inquired about anything else, nor did they see any suspicious people. It seemed like they were just shopping normally.
Qi Guoliang was completely relieved now. He said with a smile: "No matter how famous your reputation is, you are still a young boy. If Jia Lian comes here, I have to be careful. Jia Cong is just one thing. You go and make arrangements. , you must serve this young man well and don’t save money. No matter what he likes, if he wants to take a second look, buy it all and send it over! "
…
At the same time, Jia Cong disguised himself out of the General Military Mansion under the cover of his own soldiers.
The person who responded quietly took him to an ordinary courtyard. As soon as he entered, he saw a familiar figure.
Jia Cong grinned: "Second brother came so quickly. I originally wanted to pick up more Qi Guoliang wool..."
Qi Guoliang would never have imagined that the Jia Lian he was afraid of was really here!
Jia Lian went up to him, raised his hand and rubbed Jia Cong's head.
His third brother can really cause big things wherever he goes. I wonder if he is the reincarnation of a bad guy.
"Your Majesty was so frightened by your secret message that he sent me a secret edict overnight. The Xuan Mansion has become a sieve, who dares to delay?"
Jia Cong followed his second brother into the house. The two brothers sat around the stove and exchanged information with each other.
According to the news brought by Jia Lian, only the Second Saint, the British Grand Governor Zhang Yue, the commander of the Long Imperial Guard Cao Jiugong and him, the second master Lian of the Rongguo Prefecture, knew about the Xuanfu Town.
This time, the three thousand cavalry he secretly brought were all Huangling Guards secretly transferred from the Imperial Tomb, and he did not dare to alert anyone in the capital camp.
"Second brother, you are the inheritor of the Rongguo Mansion. Qi Guoliang is my grandfather's old subordinate after all. It is up to you to decide how to deal with him."
Jia Lian snorted coldly: "Is he worthy of being called the Old Ministry of Rongguo? For the sake of money, he even forgot his duty as a soldier. Everyone can see what the Tatars have in mind. Does he really think that the world is peaceful and everything is safe?" "
Jia Lian became extremely angry when he mentioned this. The old man had fought hard in Xuanda to conquer the Tatars and brought decades of stability to the people in Xuanda.
It had only been peaceful for a long time, but the sword of Qi Guoliang, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, was rusty, and Wen Tian was so playful.
He said bitterly: "Xuanfu has become like this. The capital has not received any news. All the generals in Xuanfu are guilty of negligence. Your Majesty has given me a secret edict. Kill! All the generals in Xuanfu Town, not one of them. Keep!"
The murderous words made Jia Cong tremble. The second brother had really become the god of murder. It seemed that the demon king mentioned by the Japanese pirates was about to reappear in Xuanfu.
"By the way, did His Majesty say how to deal with the Tatars in the city?"
Monthly ticket recommendation ticket
I went to the hospital again today and spent a lot of time. After I came back, I was so tired that I slept until midnight. The update is a bit late, sorry.
Lao Miaomiao hereby wishes all readers a happy Mooncake Festival, family reunion, and all the best!
(End of chapter)
