Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 100: Ministers’ Support

The tide of the times is rolling forward, and no one knows where they will be swept to.

Just like Mao Cheng who was in excruciating pain in Hejian City, he didn't know what he would face at this moment.

Before that, he was shot in the shoulder by an arrow from a bandit soldier in the forest.

The arrows shot by the bandits were just ordinary iron arrows, without any edges or barbs, so Mao Cheng did not take them seriously at the time.

After pulling out the arrow and applying medicine to the wound, they pretended that nothing was wrong.

However, what Mao Cheng didn't know was that although the bandits' arrows were ordinary, the substance coated on the arrows was not ordinary.

It's not poison, because good poison is very valuable.

However, there is a method that is cheaper and more effective than poison and is widely circulated among the bandit army.

That's smearing shit on the arrow.

Although this method sounds a bit funny, it is a very terrible method in this era.

Once an arrow containing bacteria enters the human body, infection is very likely to occur if not treated in time.

Ordinary doctors have no good way to deal with this kind of bacterial infection.

However, it is difficult for ordinary soldiers to get access to powerful doctors.

This often results in a very common wound turning into a fatal or disabling situation.

Fortunately, Mao Cheng was not an ordinary soldier. His status and position were enough to allow him to be treated by top doctors.

However, he delayed a little too long, and the arrow wound had begun to fester.

In Hejian City, there was a miracle doctor named Liu, also known as Liu Yishou.

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that he has a trick up his sleeve when practicing medicine, but that when he treats patients, he is often able to cure the disease with just one treatment, without having to use the medicine a second time, so he is called Liu Yishou.

After seeing Mao Cheng's condition, Liu Yishou frowned and said that the injury was quite serious. If he were to treat him, he would need to be treated with medication and acupuncture to strengthen the body and eliminate evil. It would take a long time to heal.

Mao Cheng asked roughly how long it would take.

Liu Yishou replied that it would take at least three months and at most half a year, and during this period one must rest well and not move around casually.

Mao Cheng couldn't accept it after hearing it.

Now that troubled times have arrived and the world is changing every day, how is it possible for him, a military commander, to recover from his injuries for half a year?

So I asked Liu Yishou if there was any other way to cure it faster.

Liu Yishou said truthfully that there is a kind of foreign doctor who is good at treating this kind of injury. If the patient is healthy, the patient will be able to walk freely in half a month.

Liu Yishou had met foreign doctors before. Once, a foreign doctor came here specifically to communicate with him after hearing about Liu Yishou's name. However, in the end, the two sides did not get along well and had a big fight because of different concepts.

However, as the saying goes, a doctor has a kind heart. Although he has different ideas, Liu Yishou admits that Western medicine does have its merits. When facing patients, he will not let his prejudice affect the patient's condition.

Mao Cheng was still a little skeptical after hearing what Liu Yishou said.

He found it difficult to accept that those barbarians could cure diseases.

Liu Yishou personally guaranteed it, and Mao Cheng finally felt relieved.

The foreign doctor was living in the capital at the time, and Mao Cheng needed to rush to the capital, so he explained the reason to Wang Ziteng.

It just so happened that Wang Ziteng was about to send someone to the capital to claim credit.

At this time, the Jin bandits had already begun attacking Hejian City. The two sides had already torn their faces apart and no longer cared about anything.

Even if he lost the battle against the Jin bandits, the worst that could happen was that he would go south to seek refuge with Marquis Huaiyin.

Baochai was given to the Marquis of Huaiyin as a concubine. From this point of view, he and the Marquis of Huaiyin were still related, and it was always a way out.

It just so happened that Mao Cheng had just fought a muddled battle with the Jin bandits, killing several thousand people and capturing several thousand more, amounting to nearly 10,000 heads. Wang Ziteng also took some prisoners from the prison in Hejian City, captured some thugs on the streets, and busted a few beggar gangs, gathering a total of 10,000 people, killing them all, filling several large ships, and sending them to the capital to seek credit.

Mao Cheng wanted to go to the capital to treat his injuries, so he escorted the boat to the capital.

The ship went all the way to the capital, passing through Jinhai.

Mao Jie, the general of Jinhai, is Mao Cheng's biological father, so Mao Cheng naturally has to stay for a while.

Then Mao Jie heard about Mao Cheng's situation, and without saying a word, he inflicted six or seven more wounds on Mao Cheng, for no other reason than to protect his future.

So, we arrived at the capital again.

It was already late at night when Mao Cheng arrived in Beijing, and he went to visit Cheng Fan overnight.

Grand Secretary Cheng Fan already had some relationship with the Mao family. Later, Mao Cheng helped Cheng Fan's disciple Yan Hongzhang to get rid of the crime, and the relationship between the two families became closer. Therefore, after arriving in the capital, Mao Cheng was the first to visit Cheng Fan.

After meeting Cheng Fan, Mao Cheng had more than a dozen scars on his body.

Future, future!
What does it matter if you get hurt for the sake of your future?
What’s funny is that Emperor Longqing only found out about the general’s arrival in Beijing the next morning.

Upon hearing the news of the great victory at the front, Emperor Longqing was overjoyed and felt that his efforts had paid off.

During this period, the Jin bandits on the front line were approaching aggressively, and the Huaiyin bandits in the south surrendered and rebelled again. These two blows made Emperor Longqing even doubt himself and wondered if he had done something wrong.

Fortunately, the news of the great victory restored Emperor Longqing's confidence.

There were actually 10,000 heads lying there. According to military common sense, if more than 10,000 heads could be beheaded, then the number of defeated enemy troops would at least reach 100,000, which could indeed be considered a great victory.

But Yu Lian still had some doubts in his heart, because he vaguely sensed a bad trend.

The forces in the court seemed to gradually form a faction.

All the reports indicated that there was no problem with the new policy, that the world was full of vitality and all things were flourishing; but the reality was quite different. The whole country was in turmoil and the rebels had already reached Zhili.

Isn't this contradictory?
Someone must be hiding the truth!
But now he doesn't know whether it is a few groups that are concealing the truth or everyone is concealing the truth.

During the period of the Emperor Retired, although the forces in the court attacked each other and often dragged down the government, it was generally not a big deal and corruption was not too serious.

Now, without the inspection of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, all the officials in the court seem to have formed a whole, advancing and retreating together. Once such a behemoth unites, I am afraid they will be able to play with the imperial power in the palm of their hands!
If this happens, Daxi will probably be on the verge of destruction.

But when he advised the emperor, the emperor did not agree...

On that day, Mao Cheng met the emperor, revealing a body full of new and old scars. Emperor Longqing was deeply moved and immediately announced that Mao Cheng would be conferred the title of first-class earl.

Wang Ziteng naturally also received rewards, granting the Wang family the right to inherit the throne for a generation.

In addition, Wang Ziteng also requested a large amount of money, food and grass in his report, and requested to send another troop to support the Jin bandits. Emperor Longqing felt a headache, but for the sake of the front line, he had to bite the bullet and agree.

As long as the Jin bandits are pacified, the court will be able to free up its hands to eliminate the Huaiyin bandits in the south. With the strong national support brought by the new policy, he will still be the eternal sage monarch!

In order to raise food and military pay, the imperial palace had to sell many assets, and Emperor Longqing called on ministers and nobles to donate.

The court of Daxi was full of people, and when they heard that the court was in trouble, they naturally donated money and manpower.

In order to support the military pay, Minister of War Guo Bai sold many items in his home and even the jewels on his head for money, and finally donated a full 1,000 taels of silver!

Emperor Longqing was deeply moved by this and praised Guo Bai's style in the court.

On the other hand, Yu Lian, who always claimed to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic, only donated 150 taels in the end, which made Emperor Longqing very dissatisfied.

Yu Lian explained that this was all the savings of his family.

Upon hearing this, an official stepped forward to report that Yu Lian had a painting by the famous artist Jiao Ding, which was worth a fortune.

Yu Lian blushed and explained that Jiao Ding was a good friend of her father and that the painting could not be sold.

Although Emperor Longqing was dissatisfied, the donation was a voluntary act after all, so he did not say much and just kept the matter in mind.

(End of this chapter)