The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Even with the fastest courier service, it would take more than three days to reach the capital.

Unless there are significant victories, it is unlikely that it will cause a sensation among the officials and people of the capital.

Currently, there aren't many people paying attention to the fighting in the southwest!

It's not that the war in the southwest wasn't important, but rather that it didn't involve any direct or indirect interests of the vast majority of officials and civilians in the capital, so how could it be something that was constantly on their minds?

It's just that the current emperor and the founding nobles are paying special attention to it.

In mid-March, a major battle suddenly broke out on the northwestern frontier!

When the news reached the capital, it immediately caused a sensation throughout the city.

The first thought in everyone's mind was that the northwestern nomadic tribes, who had been harassed for a year or two, had finally lost their temper and launched a fierce retaliation.

In fact, the officials and people of the capital had long been prepared for this, and although they were surprised, they remained calm.

However, the news from the northwestern border did not put the officials and people in the capital in a very good mood.

The northern nomads clearly exerted great effort, managing to capture all of the Daqian's strongholds outside the Great Wall in one fell swoop.

At the same time, 100,000 Hu cavalry raided the border and launched a fierce attack on several Great Wall fortresses!

The border troops were stunned and could only parry, with little power to retaliate.

In an instant, border battle reports came in like snowflakes, almost overwhelming the cabinet ministers and the current emperor's desk. The border troops suffered heavy losses.

Originally, Wang Ziteng, who had made meritorious contributions to the border patrol, was suddenly tied down by the border war and could only stay in the border fortress to command the battle.

At this critical moment in the border war, how could Wang Ziteng possibly escape so easily?

If things go wrong, I might be labeled a "deserter" when I go back, and then what future will I have?

It was at this time that Sun Shaozu, who had been seriously injured by Xue Pan, received a summons from the Ministry of War to quickly go to the border to report for duty and was reinstated to his original position to serve in the border army.

This is the result that Sun Shaozu wanted most!

Despite his injuries, he still had his guards and stewards take him away from the capital to Datong.

The capital is too dangerous; it's safer to stay in Datong.

What he didn't know was that what awaited him was not the usual tyranny, but a direct trip to the front lines, with no idea whether he would come back alive.

A sudden major battle on the northwestern border attracted the attention of almost all officials and civilians in the capital.

There's no other reason than that the fact that the northwestern border is not far from the capital is probably the main factor.

After all, the long period of peace and prosperity in the Great Qian Dynasty was not just a figure of speech, but a reality.

Even the most elite border troops are inevitably affected in terms of combat effectiveness, which is quite normal.

As a result, they were met with a fierce beating from the nomadic cavalry beyond the Great Wall, a truly excruciating experience.

Judging from the current situation, this border war is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

Not long afterward, the imperial court was already feeling immense pressure.

It wasn't that the war was going badly, but rather that the military expenditures of the border troops during the war were simply outrageous, like water flowing away.

At the same time, a shortage of troops began to appear on the border.

Without a doubt, the border troops have all the drawbacks of the Daqian army!

While the situation of receiving salaries without working wasn't severe in the border troops, it became insufficient in the event of a major battle.

The border troops were originally in a defensive posture, and coupled with the court's limited control over them, their troop strength was always stretched thin.

Normally, this wouldn't seem like a big problem, but now that the nomadic tribes from beyond the Great Wall are launching large-scale raids on the border, that's when the problem arises.

The city's defenses are barely adequate, but its mobile forces are quite insufficient.

Simply taking beatings is not in line with the current emperor's wishes, and the border generals dare not remain cowards.

Therefore, it is necessary for the capital to send troops to provide support.

The current emperor acted decisively, immediately drawing troops from the garrisons of northern towns and combining them with some of the capital's garrison to rush to the border to provide support.

Meanwhile, small-scale mobilizations also began in major towns and cities in the north.

The Beijing garrison has 200,000 troops, but unfortunately, it cannot act rashly.

At most, they could mobilize 50,000 troops, but even that was met with significant obstruction from the cabinet.

It's not that the cabinet ministers want to cause trouble, but the situation with the Beijing garrison is... well, too much peace has led to many problems, especially after the rotation of troops between the Beijing garrison and other local garrisons stopped, various issues have quickly arisen.

Putting aside everything else, both the number of people and the combat effectiveness are rapidly declining.

This was still because the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions were controlled by nobles and military generals. If they had been controlled by civil officials like in the Song and Ming dynasties, the rate of decline would have been even more exaggerated.

The Great Qian Dynasty is currently in its middle and most prosperous period. Neither the emperor nor the cabinet ministers are idle figures; it's natural for them to have concerns.

Under such circumstances, the Beijing garrison naturally began conscripting soldiers.

Meanwhile, this year's military examination for the imperial examination was also moved up.

Traditionally, this should be done after the Mid-Autumn Festival, during the late autumn period.

However, the Beijing garrison is currently recruiting soldiers and needs a large number of mid- to low-ranking military officers, so the military examination is naturally a good way to achieve this.

Therefore, the examination for the military officer degree was moved forward to May.

Upon receiving the news, Jia Huan remained calm and unaffected.

Having reached his level of strength, it doesn't matter when the martial arts examination begins.

He has now joined forces with the Xue Family Chamber of Commerce, getting all his men to work.

Grain and supplies were mobilized from the south and transported northwards via the Grand Canal and coastal shipping routes.

Right now, it's another great opportunity to make money off the imperial court!

Of course, this was by no means a bad thing for the imperial court.

If large grain traders in the south were to control grain prices, the problem would be enormous.

At least with Jia Huan and the Xue family's trading company jointly selling grain, the prices wouldn't be too outrageous, since they were supplying military rations.

At the same time, a large amount of grain reserves must be prepared for transport to the open sea, and no problems can occur during this period, otherwise it will be a major disruption to the exploration of the open sea.

There's no need to go into detail about the various power struggles and cutthroat battles that ensued.

In short, Jia Huan, in conjunction with the Xue family's business empire, took advantage of the Beijing garrison's conscription and the large number of troops going to the border to provide reinforcements, and made a good fortune. Their income will continue to grow.

Jia Huan didn't focus too much on making money. Once things were on track, he gradually let his subordinates handle things, and his mind was on the upcoming martial arts examination.

As April arrived, and temperatures rose, the capital city began to bustle with activity.

The martial arts candidates who came from all over the country to participate in the martial arts examination made the inns in the capital very profitable.

Several training grounds, specially set up by the emperor, were bustling with activity and constant shouts every day.

Almost every day, martial arts graduates would come to visit Jia Huan's home.

There's no way around it. Anyone who isn't a fool knows that Jia Huan will definitely pass the military examination. It all depends on his final ranking. The main problem is that outsiders can't gauge his abilities.

But for the brothers in the gang to be so certain that he was a grandmaster of martial arts is quite an exaggeration.

Even martial arts graduates from the Central Plains and the Hunan and Hubei regions wouldn't dare claim that their skills had reached the level of a martial arts grandmaster.

As the number of martial arts candidates coming to the capital continued to increase, the expressions on the faces of Feng Ziying, Wei Ruolan, and others grew more and more grim each day.

At first, they were in the mood to invite Jia Huan to a restaurant for drinks, but later they simply stayed at the martial arts school where their branch was located on Ningrong Street and refused to leave.

According to Feng Ziying, they should make a final push at the last minute.

As the old saying goes, even last-minute sharpening of a spear can be effective, though it may not be the sharpest.

Besides, the martial arts school has complete training facilities and many skilled martial artists who can spar and exchange ideas, making it the best place to train.

At the same time, they also brought Jia Huan a constant stream of news about the martial arts candidates from outside the region.

For example, more than half of the martial arts candidates from the Central Plains and the two lakes regions who came to Beijing were lay disciples of Shaolin and Wudang. It was that exaggerated.

As a renowned and prestigious sect in the martial arts world, it is naturally a powerful and influential force in the local area.

The martial arts level is equivalent to the worlds of "The Sword Stained with Royal Blood" and "The Snowy Mountain Fox". Shaolin and Wudang are still very prestigious, at least their martial arts heritage is quite remarkable.

Feng Ziying had wailed in front of Jia Huan that it was the existence of these martial arts sects that severely squeezed his and his brothers Wei Ruolan's path to the martial arts examination.

In terms of martial arts alone, these sons of noble families were no match for them!

Unless one is willing to put in the hard work to cultivate, like Jia Cong or Jia Huan.

But how many people born into wealth possess such strong willpower?

When he said this, he spoke with a teasing tone. He had heard about Jia Cong's hard work and diligence, and had also witnessed it firsthand.

But he had never witnessed Jia Huan's diligence.

After saying that, he made a funny face, which made his companions burst into laughter.

In fact, everyone knew that Feng Ziying was blatantly testing them!

On one hand, they really wanted to figure out Jia Huan's strength, and on the other hand, they were curious about Jia Huan's cultivation methods, wondering if there was any chance to help themselves and make a significant improvement in a short period of time!

Jia Huan chuckled and said, "If you can integrate your daily training into your daily life, your strength will be constantly improving!"

Then, he slowly shared some of his 'spiritual insights'.