Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 114 Taking office
For several days, the capital city made war preparations in an orderly manner.

The granaries and supplies from the south of the Yangtze River were transferred to the capital, the thousand-household units in various places were ready to go, and the Beijing camp was also training non-stop, awaiting the order to march north.

As a result, the Datong River, which was about to freeze, was even busier than before.

The people all felt that things were different from the past, but they didn't know what would happen.

A horseman came at high speed, and even when he reached the city gate, no guards stopped him.

Passing through the city gate, the horse's hooves raised a cloud of dust that dazzled the people around.

After a burst of heavy coughing, someone shouted, "This is the emperor's territory, how can there be officials and officials' children who act so recklessly? The flying cavalry can enter the capital, why don't you soldiers guarding the city gates dare to set up checkpoints?"

Some people complained, while others expressed their support, and soon there was a huge uproar under the city gate.

The guards had no choice but to beat the gong to maintain order and shouted, "Everyone, be quiet. Didn't you see that rider had a red silk tied around his neck and a yellow flag stuck behind him? He was an 800-mile express cavalryman entering the capital. Even if he killed someone, it wouldn't be against the law. Why are you stopping him?"

The people suddenly realized, "Is there going to be a war?"

……

In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Prince of Qin was reviewing memorials in a side hall as usual. He had just circled a few words when he heard a horse roar outside the hall gate, and then it fell down with a loud bang.

Even the man on horseback was thrown out and fell to the ground, unable to get up. He just took out the letter from his body and threw it on the ground.

The eunuchs quickly surrounded them, not knowing what to do.

The King of Qin heard the noise and came out quickly, ordering: "Don't move him yet, call the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital to come and treat him right away. Send me the letter as soon as possible."

The eunuch quickly collected the letter in his hand, shook off the dust, ran quickly to the stone steps, and presented the letter with both hands.

The King of Qin tore the letter, turned around and read it from top to bottom. After a while, he clenched his fists, and the letter was wrinkled.

"I really overestimated Geng Bingwen's loyalty and underestimated his greed. He even cooperated with the Jurchens to use such means!"

The King of Qin then instructed the eunuchs around him, "Call the ministers to discuss matters quickly."

"The slaves obey."

Similar to the arrangement of the previous small court meeting, the two governments and six ministries, the Censorate, the Jiedushi of the Beijing Camp, and the Honglu Temple gathered in a side hall again, waiting for the King of Qin's orders.

Unlike the previous time, the King of Qin was obviously a little furious, but he held back his anger and suppressed it.

After the ministers stood in line, the King of Qin spoke: "Geng Bingwen had evil ambitions and staged a big show with the Jurchens to deceive everyone. He first led the troops to fight a battle at the border, and then summoned the garrisons of the six Liaodong towns to gather in Liaodong Town with the battle report to discuss strategies to resist the enemy. As expected, everyone was detained by him, and with the help of Liu Qian, the garrison commander of Guangning City, he quickly controlled all the Liaodong troops and those who were unwilling to rebel were all executed."

"Under coercion and inducement, Liaodong is now full of rebels, and some are even marching south to Shanhaiguan. Fortunately, the Shanhaiguan garrison commander Yan Song had received my secret letter and was more cautious about Liaodong, otherwise he would have tricked them out of the city."

"They even used elite soldiers to pretend to be deserters, and claimed that they would never rebel and would come to Yan Song for help, but in fact they were just entering the city to act as an insider. Fortunately, Yan Song was smart enough to see through the conspiracy, which ensured that the border was safe for the time being."

Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect that in just a few days, Liaodong had already been hit by such a huge wave.

The deputy envoy of the Privy Council, Chai Pu, stepped forward and said, "Your Highness recently sent people to Liaodong to transport supplies and prepare for the Jurchen invasion. We need to stop it as soon as possible."

The King of Qin nodded and said, "Fortunately, only a small amount has been transported out of the country, and many are still stored in Shanhaiguan for inspection."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The King of Qin said, "Geng Bingwen has colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country. He must be eliminated. I will select the troops and generals from today, and lead them to Shanhaiguan in seven days. According to the previous discussion, a Grand Commandery will be set up in the capital, and a Grand Commander of the Capital will be appointed to lead the war around the capital and protect the capital in times of war."

At that time, the ministers all took a deep breath, waiting for the King of Qin to announce the candidate for the Grand Commander.

"The position of Grand Commander is of great importance. It requires both extraordinary ability and loyalty to the people. Therefore, I entrust this important task to Yue Ling, the co-chairman of the Privy Council. Gentlemen, you need to cooperate with him."

After hearing what King Qin said, the ministers all showed surprise on their faces.

Yue Ling is the person with the least experience in the field. In other words, in the eyes of the ministers, Yue Ling is the least suitable to sit in this position, even though he has the merit of following the emperor and is trusted by the King of Qin.

The left minister An Jingzhong stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I have no objection to the creation of the position of Grand Commander. After all, the court is in a critical moment and we have to abandon some red tape. But we need to reconsider the candidate. As far as I know, although Yue Tongqian is a promising young man, he has never achieved any merit on the battlefield."

"Even an old minister knows that the fight between a few thousand people and the dispatch of tens of thousands of people are very different." Yin Taihe, the governor of the Beijing Camp, was stunned for a moment after hearing what the King of Qin had just said. He came back to his senses after hearing An Jingzhong's words and hurriedly stepped forward to advise: "Your Highness should indeed carefully consider the selection of candidates. Yue Ling is really too young."

At that moment, something that Yue Ling had not expected happened. Feng Tongchen, who was standing beside him, suddenly stood up and refuted the two people's words, saying, "The voice of a young phoenix is ​​clearer than that of an old phoenix. How can we look down on him because of his age? The position of Grand Commander depends on one's ability. If it depends on one's age, which old man in the city should be chosen to take the position?"

The left prime minister An Jingzhong knew that Feng Yu was a stone in the toilet, so he did not argue with him. He just said: "When did I say that we should rely on age? How can we seek help from an old man just because we are young?"

Lu Yuan, a member of the Privy Council, also stood up to support Yue Ling and said, "Although Yue Tongchen is young, after working with him for many days, even I can see that he has real talent and knowledge. Your Highness is naturally more aware of Yue Ling's ability than we are when employing people, so I support your decision."

Even the King of Qin was slightly surprised that Yue Ling would get the support of the Privy Council, so he suppressed his anger and said, "If Yue Ling is not chosen, you can recommend someone if you have one in mind and discuss it with me on the spot. But time waits for no one, so we should decide on this matter today, and then coordinate the defense of the border, the inner border and even the capital."

The important officials in the court looked at each other, and for a moment they could not think of a suitable candidate.

Those with experience are now guarding the borders. Even if they rush to the capital, it will take more than a month. By then, the children will be dead and there will be no use for milk. Those who can fight a little in the capital are all royal relatives, and they need to avoid suspicion. As for the lineage of the four kings and eight dukes, compared to Yue Ling, the civil officials don’t want to eat that shit, so they might as well hold their noses and recognize this prince’s confidant.

After much thought, no one could come to a conclusion.

Left Prime Minister An Jingzhong looked at Deputy Privy Envoy Chai Pu and whispered, "Deputy Envoy Chai, are you interested?"

Chai Pu smiled and said, "Left Prime Minister, please don't make it difficult for me. It's ok for you to just give me some advice, but you still have to select a great commander who is familiar with the battlefield and can lead the troops. Even His Highness went to the battlefield in person. How can we, the civil officials, boost morale if we are the commander?"

An Jingzhong sighed, and when he heard that Chai Pu also supported Yue Ling, he shook his head and said nothing more.

The King of Qin finally smiled slightly, but it disappeared after a moment. He coughed and said, "In this case, I will appoint Yue Ling as the Grand Commander of the Capital and grant him the seal of the commander. He can mobilize the soldiers in the capital, including those around the capital."

Yue Ling bowed and said, "I obey your command."

……

Yue's house,

Early in the morning, the outer room became busy. At Yue Ling's instruction, the mansion began to stockpile food for the winter.

Xueyan and Baozhu were guarding the second door, looking outside.

"Sister Xueyan, why did the mansion bring in so much food? Can we eat it all?"

A maid younger than Xueyan finally came to the mansion, allowing Xueyan to hold her head high and act like an older sister. Before, she could only act like a big shot in front of Ni Ni.

Xueyan taught Baozhu in a serious tone, "You haven't experienced this, right? It's a good thing if you can't finish it. If you can finish it, it proves that you can still eat. It doesn't mean you haven't eaten enough. One year, there was a flood in Yangzhou Prefecture, which submerged many hectares of fertile land. There were refugees everywhere in the city, and people starved to death in front of the Salt Inspectorate every day."

"It was a time of great suffering and starvation."

Baozhu corrected him, "It's shredded corpses. Starving people are everywhere. Miss Lin just told us the origin of this word not long ago."

Xueyan waved her hands and said, "Yeah, that's about right."

Baozhu asked again, "Has Sister Xueyan done the homework assigned by Miss Lin? We don't know many words, so we can't help Miss Lin. Miss Lin is kind enough to teach us, so we must not waste this kindness."

Xueyan frowned, "Homework? Don't always say this unlucky word. Let's go to the garden to play."

Baozhu hesitated and said, "We haven't learned anything yet. Will we be kicked out by the master?"

Xueyan patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, General Yue won't do such a thing. Besides, who will eat without all our food? Let's go. There is a plum blossom at the foot of the rockery. It's very beautiful."

Baozhu also laughed, "Okay."

After the two maids left happily, Ruizhu came in from the outer curtain with a frown on her face. She looked at the two people's backs and said in her heart, "What kind of hearts do these two have? If you dig them out, they would be as big as a cow's."

Flipping through the thick stack of accounts in her hand, Ruizhu couldn't help but sigh, "Maybe something big is going to happen outside, so the mansion has stored so much grain at once. It's really not easy for Miss Lin to manage such a large mansion. I'd better send the accounts over quickly."

She looked outside the house again, and saw Yue Ling's figure vaguely. Ruizhu remembered the promise between Yue Ling and her, and her cheeks flushed. "The master is good to me, and the master values ​​Miss Lin, so I will help Miss Lin more. And the matter of Yurong Powder must be kept secret from the girl, otherwise I will be in trouble..."

　It’s the ninth day!!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)