Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 56: Old Relatives in Beijing
But after Wu Yuan offered advice to Fang Yong that day, Fang Yong sent his trusted aides Li Ni and Jia Yucun to the capital.

After receiving the order, the two men did not dare to delay and each took a few men with them to go to Beijing. They happened to arrive in Beijing today.

The streets of the capital are wide and clean, with many shops.

Li Ni observed the situation in the city.

Although the people in the capital looked hungry, there was still some spirit in their eyes. They were not as numb and desperate as those areas they encountered when they came here.

When we reached a busy intersection called Ningrong Street, we could vaguely see a corner of the Ning and Rong Dukes' mansions.

"Mr. Jia, Mr. Xue reminded me before I came here not to forget to visit my old relatives here. You and I each have our own missions, so let's separate now."

Upon hearing this, Jia Yucun smiled faintly and nodded.

The two separated.

Li Ni brought several of his men into Rongning Street, arrived at the gate of Rong Mansion, and delivered a visiting card.

"Please leave it to the master, Jia Gong."

Li Ni said politely and stuffed an extra small piece of silver into the bag.

The doorman smiled happily when he saw the silver. Seeing that Li Ni was dressed elegantly, he immediately bowed and said, "Please wait a moment, sir. I'll bring it to you right away."

after awhile.

I saw a handsome young man with a handsome face coming to greet me hurriedly. He was tall and slender and very handsome.

After coming over, he bowed first.

"Jia Lian greets you, brother. I am sorry for not coming to greet you in person. I hope you can forgive me!"

Li Ni responded politely:
"No, no, I am here without permission. I hope you will forgive me for any intrusion."

The two exchanged greetings for a moment, and then Jia Lian welcomed Li Ni into the mansion.

"Father has been waiting for you, brother. Please come in."

"Brother Lian, please."

Li Ni was invited to a guest hall and met Jia She.

Jia She is old, with a white beard, a slightly plump figure, and a hint of instinctive sophistication and greed in his eyes.

"Meet Mr. Jia."

Li Ni bowed and said.

Jia She was very enthusiastic and said with a smile:
"Nephew, please get up quickly."

Because of the relationship between Xue Dacui, the two of them had a very pleasant conversation.

Li Ni brought Jia She a painting of an eagle in ink by Bada Shanren. This was a rare masterpiece that had never been passed down from generation to generation. It was a priceless item that Fang Yong had obtained when he confiscated the Yang family in Huaizhou.

When Jia She saw it, his love for it was beyond words.

Li Ni then talked about business issues.

Jia She readily agreed to increase the scale of smuggling by another 30%.

Although the Jia family seems to be in decline now, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. The Jia family, who once had two dukes, have unparalleled connections and prestige in the army. With just one word, checkpoints in various places will be unobstructed.

In the past, Jia She often used this to do some small business, such as selling some contraband materials to the Jurchens. This kind of business had low profits and high risks, and was a hard job.

It was not until later that Xue Dacui contacted Jia She. As they were old relatives, there was a natural trust between the two parties. In addition, they each got what they needed and shared the profits, so the deal was quickly reached.

Jia She used the Jia family's connections in the military to help Xue Dacuizi smuggle weapons. These weapons were equipment issued by the Ministry of War and were a no-cost business. Xue Dacuizi could even get them at prices below cost.

Since the New Deal, if there is any truly good reform policy of Emperor Longqing, it is the Ministry of Works.

In the past, the Ministry of Works had the lowest status and was the least valued among the six ministries.

After the New Deal, Emperor Longqing paid much more attention to the Ministry of Works. The Ministry's remuneration kept increasing, and the various weapons and artifacts produced became more and more reliable.

Taking artillery as an example, the range of the new artillery built by the Ministry of Industry is twice as long as before, and the power is also doubled. The rate of bursting during intermittent firing is almost zero.

Nowadays, this kind of artillery has been widely used in the Huaiyin army and has become a powerful weapon for Fang Yong.

After leaving Rong Mansion, Li Ni went to Ning Mansion to visit Jia Zhen, and then went to Wang's house.

Yes, the Wang family was also involved in this matter.

The weapons and equipment of the Beijing Camp are of the most sophisticated kind. Emperor Longqing used most of the weapons produced by the Ministry of Works in the Beijing Camp, aiming to build the Beijing Camp into a powerful royal army as strong as steel!

But think about it, the original equipment of the Beijing Camp was already very good. Although the swords and guns were covered with a few pounds of rust, they could still be used after a good polish. Wouldn't it be a waste to just leave the new equipment like this?
Wang Ziteng, who has always been a man of change, is well versed in the ways of being an official.

Being an official is not about being loyal to one's duties, nor is it about how strong one's troops are trained. As we all know, Emperor Longqing has never left the palace to visit the Beijing camp in the 16 years since he ascended the throne, so it is useless to be loyal to one's duties. The emperor cannot see your achievements.

It would be better to exchange these new equipment for some real silver bills.

After all, banknotes are the truly indispensable hub for improving political performance.

When he arrived at the palace, Li Ni met Wang Ziteng's son Wang Ren.

After a brief conversation, Wang Ren looked embarrassed when talking about the issue of arms smuggling.

"Brother Li, this matter would not be a big deal under normal circumstances, but I'm afraid it's a bit difficult now."

Wang Ren sighed and spoke.

It turned out that in recent days, the imperial court received news that a large number of uprisings had broken out in Shanxi.

The leader of the bandits was named Wu Sheng. He led his men to capture Xinzhou, then proclaimed himself King of Jin. He raised the slogan of equal distribution of land and opposition to Daxi, and won widespread support from the people in Shanxi.

Since the winter solstice, Shanxi has been hit by continuous heavy snow, which has caused a snow disaster. A large number of people have frozen to death from hunger and cold. After the spring, there has been another severe drought, and not a drop of rain has fallen since then.

There was no hope for spring ploughing, and the court was arresting people everywhere to do corvée labor. The people had been oppressed to the extreme.

At this time, Wu Sheng stood up.

The people who had been oppressed to the extreme suddenly flocked to Wu Sheng in large numbers as if they had seen the fire of hope.

Wu Sheng's power expanded rapidly, and almost all of Shanxi was destroyed.

The anti-Xi songs he fabricated were widely circulated in the local area, and some even reached the capital.

"There is no rain, the ground is dry, all because of the tyrant king who blocked the sky.

The universe is turned upside down, confusing the foolish and the wise, and thousands of miles of fertile land are fruitless.

The grass and trees all over the ground turned into soldiers, taking away my country and returning my power.

I dare to go through mountains of swords and seas of fire, and I will not return until I have killed the emperor!"

Shanxi is close to the capital. Once Shanxi falls, the capital will be exposed to the enemy at any time, and Emperor Longqing will likely face the dilemma of moving the capital.

Therefore, Emperor Longqing now attaches great importance to the situation in Shanxi, even more than Fang Yong in Huaizhou.

According to news from the palace, Emperor Longqing planned to let Wang Ziteng lead troops to quell the rebellion in Shanxi.

After receiving the news, Wang Ziteng was overwhelmed.

Asking him to lead troops to pacify Shanxi is not possible!
Wang Ziteng has been very worried about this recently.

Go ahead, there's a high probability that you won't be able to defeat the rebels.

If he doesn't go, the angry Emperor Longqing will most likely dismiss him from his post.

After listening to Wang Ren's story, Li Ni's eyes rolled.

This is a coincidence, and this matter may be in line with the military advisor's plan.

It might be more appropriate to let Wang Ziteng be the Governor of Suzhou than anyone else.

At that moment, Li Ni bid farewell to the palace and sent Wang Ziteng's message back as soon as possible.

On the other side, Jia Yucun went to Guo's Mansion.

At the Guo Mansion, Shangshu Guo Bai had no good feelings towards Jia Yucun's arrival.

"I am the Minister of War, how can I be in league with you bandits?"

Guo Bai said this with contempt, and then silently took the 50,000 taels of gold notes brought by Jia Yucun.

"Only this occasion, I did not collude with the bandits, but because the Duke of Shan Guo rebelled against the Heavenly Gang and committed a heinous crime. I was actually punishing the traitor for the court!"

Jia Yucun smiled and nodded.

"I have great respect for Lord Guo's character. If General Fang were to take over the capital in the future, he would not forget Lord Guo's contribution today."

Guo Bai's eyes flickered.

The current situation in the world is in turmoil, and people of insight have realized that troubled times may be coming soon. At this time, making friends with people like Fang Yong may not be a bad thing...

After leaving Guo’s house, Jia Yucun went to the residence of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

In addition, those small censors, scholars, doctors and the like naturally cannot be ignored.

Jia Yucun and Li Ni began to visit in turns.

(End of this chapter)