The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Xue Pan shook his head and said, "Sister should also know that the Rong family's treatment of illegitimate sons is truly indescribable!"

"Taking the literary path is too mentally and physically exhausting, and it's also easy to attract the attention of the old lady of the Rong family, which could lead to unnecessary suppression!"

"Of course, I've known Brother Cong for a long time, and I know that this kid isn't very interested in the Four Books and Five Classics, but he is very interested in martial arts, and he can even endure the hardships of martial arts training!"

"I've only heard that, in order to provide Brother Cong with better cultivation resources, Brother Huan even went to the Ning family to request the martial arts legacy left behind by the late Duke of Ning!"

Xue Baochai was taken aback and was about to ask why he didn't seek the military succession of the Rong family, but then she understood and chuckled, "Brother Huan is really interesting!"

"Isn't that interesting!"

Xue Pan said leisurely, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have achieved what I have today!"

Xue Baochai seemed to be deep in thought, and she felt even more respect for Jia Huan, becoming even more determined not to underestimate him.

On the other hand, Jia Cong was so excited about his appointment that he couldn't calm down for several days.

He never expected that following Jia Huan's instructions would bring him such great benefits!

His official position went directly from nominal to real, which is simply unbelievable!

Didn't you see? The top two scorers from the same cohort looked at him differently, though of course, they offered their congratulations verbally.

Unfortunately, such opportunities are rare, and they don't have someone like Jia Huan to help them devise strategies, so they can only proceed step by step.

Although Jia Cong knew about Huan Ge'er's plan, he didn't expect it to be so effective.

Of course, ordinary people cannot command Prince Zhongshun, and his cronies also play a role in this.

Indeed, Jia Cong knew perfectly well that Jia Huan had put in a lot of effort this time, using Prince Zhongshun to gradually create a great opportunity; it wasn't a windfall.

Of course, this was merely going with the flow; there was no crazy move like intercepting several imperial envoys.

Although Huan-ge'er had mentioned beforehand that he didn't think highly of the imperial envoys sent out, no one expected that the local salt smugglers would be so audacious.

That's right, when Huan Ge'er discussed this matter in private, he insisted that it was the salt smugglers who did it!

The so-called salt smugglers encompassed all the large, medium, and small salt merchants in Yangzhou, as well as various salt gangs and other forces, forming an entire industrial chain for the smuggling of salt. In short, no one could clear their name of suspicion.

According to Huan Ge'er, now that the opportunity has come, they should naturally seize it.

I never expected them to be so generous this time!

After receiving the order and resting for a few days to settle things at home, he immediately went to the Beijing garrison camp.

With the help of a battalion commander named Baolinghou, a thousand strong men were quickly selected, including officers of all ranks. According to Baolinghou, they were all considered the elite of the camp.

Since they are elites, they are naturally all unruly and arrogant, making them very difficult to subdue.

"Do you want my help?"

Lord Baoling said with some concern, "These guys are not easy to deal with!"

"Don't worry!"

Jia Huan, who came along, chuckled and said, "If you can't even handle something this small, what future do you have? You'll be doomed sooner or later!"

"How old is Cong-ge?"

Lord Baoling disagreed, saying, "Isn't the requirement a bit too harsh?"

"We could be on the battlefield at any time, so we have to be rigorous!"

Jia Huan chuckled and said, "It's already quite an achievement to give him the opportunity to suppress bandits and accumulate practical experience!"

"It's better than going directly to the frontier battlefield. I've heard that several border areas are not peaceful!"

Some of Jia Cong's personal guards were all martial arts school disciples, and were definitely his own people.

The other part of the personal guards were descendants of the old personal guards of the Rong family, sent by the master.

As for the remaining spots, they were reserved for the soldiers under his command. After all, new recruits should be given a chance to advance.

Jia Huan also came to take a look, and he still had a lot of confidence in Jia Cong.

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind Lord Baoling not to follow the crowd like his other colleagues in the Beijing Garrison.

While it's not necessary to conduct rigorous and serious training for one's men, at least one's own personal guard and troops must maintain sufficient readiness to avoid being caught off guard if suddenly transferred to the frontier.

I believe news will come from southern Xinjiang soon.

On the northwestern frontier, as small-scale battles continued for more than a year, the tribes beyond the Great Wall had already reacted and were planning a counterattack.

All of this information was obtained through the Xue family's business network.

I'm just not sure if the intelligence agencies affiliated with the royal family and the court have any relevant information.

In short, Jia Huan didn't feel very good!

In the era of underdeveloped transportation, information was blocked far too much.

It's possible that some individuals or forces have made underhanded moves behind the scenes; who knows?

In short, it's always good to give Bowling Hou some mental preparation.

"Huan-ge'er, do you mean there might be a large-scale mobilization of the Beijing garrison?"

Lord Baoling was taken aback, and his expression immediately turned serious.

Having learned from his previous experience, he dared not disregard Jia Huan's opinions in the slightest.

If Jia Huan hadn't forbade him from interfering, he would have transferred Jia Cong to his subordinates the moment Jia Cong passed the martial arts examination and become a powerful captain. It would have been easy for him to be promoted to garrison commander within two or three years.

It can only be said that everyone underestimated the alliance of interests among the four major families of Jinling; their strength at this time was still quite formidable.

He has connections in the imperial court, and he also has connections in the military.

In other words, Wang Ziteng held the highest and most prominent position, and all eyes were on him.

It was believed that Wang Ziteng was still the leader of the four major families in Jinling.

Since Wang Ziteng is still lingering on the border, the alliance of interests among the four major families of Jinling is nothing to fear.

In fact, Wang Ziteng has been excluded from the core of the four major families in Jinling.

The four major families of Jinling at present are an alliance of interests with the Ning and Rong families at the core and the Shi family as an auxiliary.

I'm not qualified to get involved in big matters, but it's easy for me to take some action.

For example, they could help Jia Cong with his job assignment and plan his future career path.

However, Jia Huan had his own ideas and plans, and the results were already evident.

Putting everything else aside, Bowling Hou was quite impressed.

Some of the historians' sons served in the Beijing garrison, and there were also military graduates who passed the imperial examinations in the same year as Jia Cong.

Neither of the two marquises from the Shi family considered using court infighting to help their own sons rise to power quickly.

But Jia Huan did it, and did it very well.

You see, Jia Cong was already a powerful military commander at this time, only one rank lower than him.

Nobody knows when he will rise to the rank of a third-grade military officer.

Jia Cong's performance naturally did not disappoint Jia Huan; he was quite outstanding.

Since ancient times, in the military, the strong are respected, and relying on superior martial arts skills is the best choice to establish authority.

Even though the Imperial Guards of the Song Dynasty were notoriously incompetent, Lin Chong, a truly skilled instructor, was quite famous in the martial arts world.

At this time, Jia Cong's martial arts skills, while not necessarily on par with Lin Chong's, were certainly among the best in the army.

And indeed, that was the case; Jia Cong chose to establish his authority through a martial arts competition within the army!

Chapter 282 Let's Get Moving (Please Subscribe and Vote)

We'll compete in fistfights, weapons, and archery!

With an overwhelming victory, Jia Cong easily crushed the thirteen military experts who had jumped out.

Such strength immediately instilled awe in the thousands of selected soldiers.

That's why he easily took control of this thousand-strong force.

Jia Huan and Baolinghou were very satisfied with what they saw; Jia Cong had done a very good job.

"I never imagined that Cong-ge'er's martial arts skills had reached such a level!"

Pauline Hou exclaimed, "I underestimated him before!"

"If a martial arts champion doesn't have some skill, wouldn't that be a joke?"

Jia Huan said with a smile, "Uncle, you should be able to rest assured now!"

"I'm truly relieved!"

Marquis Baoling laughed and said, "I just don't know how good he is at managing troops."

"I definitely won't let my cousin down!"

Jia Huan laughed heartily and said leisurely, "After all, Cong-ge'er has been well-versed in military strategy since he was a child!"

That day, Jia Huan did not stay at the Beijing garrison for long. He simply told Cong-ge'er to behave well and then returned to the capital with his guards.

Next, it was Cong-ge'er's turn to govern the army.