The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The current emperor is no longer a puppet ruler, and his control over the court is gradually increasing!

He did not take any action against the entire bureaucratic group, and the current situation in the court is quite stable.

Under such circumstances, the current emperor's safety is quite guaranteed!

Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to frequently leave the palace for a stroll, ostensibly under the pretense of 'incognito visits'.

What kind of nonsense is this incognito visit? With such a large group of imperial guards around him, did he really think those ministers wouldn't recognize him? Many of them are sons of nobles!

Jia Huan himself was quite conspicuous, after all, he was a martial arts champion and was known by many officials and commoners.

Knowing his current identity as a palace guard, one can naturally guess that the wealthy middle-aged man he is subtly protecting is the current emperor, though he has not said it outright.

There are many benefits to being valued by the emperor. The most obvious one is that he can know firsthand information about what is happening all over the country, which is quite remarkable.

For example, he received news of the battle situation in the southwest faster than even the Second Master Zheng!

Chapter 336 Planning Ahead (Please Subscribe)

It was just the beginning of June when bad news came from the southwest!

The advance of the army led by the Prince of Nan'an has been halted!

Detailed battle reports came in, saying that the area was constantly rainy and the complex and unpredictable mountain and forest environment was simply unsuitable for marching and fighting.

In just over a month, non-combat casualties have been extremely high!

In other words, even though the army of Qianxiang Kingdom did not mobilize, several thousand soldiers under the command of the Prince of Nan'an fell victim to the harsh climate and complex environment.

When the news reached the imperial court, it inevitably cast a shadow over the minds of some rational ministers.

This is not a good situation. If the weather there doesn't improve in the short term, things could get really messy, and there might be serious trouble.

I'm in a really bad mood right now!

"Didn't Nan'an properly investigate the specific situation of Qianxiang Kingdom beforehand?"

When there were no court officials in the Daming Palace, the Emperor could not contain his displeasure and asked himself the question.

No one answered. The eunuchs around them all kept their eyes down, pretending to be invisible.

No wonder people are so unhappy these days. Anyone who has read a few books on military strategy knows the importance of "favorable timing, advantageous location, and popular support," which can completely influence the outcome of a war.

The so-called "timing" is naturally related to the weather; otherwise, what is it?

Of course, some say that the timing of the day is related to the situation or people's hearts, but in any case, it is still quite related to celestial phenomena.

Even today, people know these things. How could the Prince of Nan'an, a veteran general in the army, not know them?

Feeling agitated, he paced back and forth in the main hall. Upon seeing Jia Huan standing guard at the door, he instinctively asked, "Jia Huan, what do you think of Nan'an?"

"I estimate that the Prince does not take his opponent seriously!"

Jia Huan spoke calmly, saying directly, "In addition, the southwestern border troops are familiar with the geographical environment, so they did not conduct detailed reconnaissance before the battle and lacked preparation for dealing with various troubles!"

"Yes, Nan'an probably made the mistake of underestimating their opponent!"

Jintian was startled, and his eyes were full of admiration as he looked at Jia Huan. He stopped and pondered, "Should we write a letter to remind this fellow?"

Don't be too reckless, or it will be difficult to speak up for you later.

He had no intention of taking advantage of the situation for the time being. After all, the Prince of Nan'an had been instructed by him to lead his army south. If something went wrong and he tried to shift the blame, would anyone still believe him as the emperor?

Besides, the current forces under the Prince of Nan'an are only hampered by the harsh environment and weather, and their advance is only slowed down. It's not like they've suffered a major defeat.

Jia Huan remained silent, but inwardly he was quite disapproving.

The Prince of Nan'an is a powerful regional warlord, not a trusted general under the current emperor.

They have their own way of doing things, so how could they easily listen to current advice?

I fear that after receiving the letter from the current emperor, he might even ridicule him for pretending to know everything and giving orders blindly.

If someone is more cunning and malicious, and something unexpected happens or they are truly defeated, they could use the current emperor's letter to shift the blame, leaving the current emperor to suffer in silence.

Jia Huan predicted that with the prolonged rainy season in Qianxiang Kingdom, the army under the Prince of Nan'an was likely not far from defeat.

It's funny, even though Qianxiang Kingdom and the southwestern border are right next to each other, the weather in the two places is quite different. At least the southern border doesn't have a long, abundant rainy season that lasts for half a year.

At this point, the Prince of Nan'an was not in a hurry to establish a solid base to avoid the prolonged rainy season. It is estimated that the final outcome will not be much different from that in the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, and he will definitely not escape defeat.

We need to get Cong-ge'er's side to start making preparations in advance!

After serving by his side for about a month, he understood many things.

For example, Jia Cong's troops were temporarily stationed in Nanyang on a specific mission.

The previous mission was naturally to deter bandits in the two lakes and even the south!

The two lakes have well-developed water systems and are renowned as a land of fish and rice, making them a major grain-producing area in the Great Qian Dynasty.

With its astonishing grain production, this place naturally also had its share of powerful gangs and bandits.

Sometimes, no one can tell whether those gangs are the backers of local bandits.

Jia Cong led his 3,000 men to sweep away bandits in Zhili and the Central Plains, and had already demonstrated his formidable power.

At the very least, its deterrent effect on江湖 (jianghu) forces and bandits is quite astonishing!

Even the banditry in the south was somewhat curbed during Jia Cong's tenure in Nanyang!

Working alongside the current emperor, Jia Huan gradually figured out some of his thoughts and ideas.

There was nothing he could do; his ears were just too sharp, allowing him to hear a lot of secret information.

When dealing with salt administration in the south today, they were thoroughly humiliated by the Yangzhou salt merchants!

Among them, the salt gang was the most active, acting as the henchmen of the salt merchants!

The current idea is for Jia Cong to lead his troops south directly, and before the salt merchants can react, to severely damage the salt gang and cut off their military support.

Such a plan is quite feasible.

After all, Jia Cong's army was small and specialized in suppressing bandits, so it wouldn't attract too much attention or be targeted by local powerful families.

At that time, catching the opponent off guard could lead to significant results!

Even if the local government doesn't cooperate, it doesn't matter, as Jia Cong's troops are already very familiar with bandit suppression.

However, it seems that Jia Cong's troops will likely be transferred to the southwestern border for support as soon as possible.

Who could blame them when Jia Cong's troops were a rare and highly mobile force, covering several surrounding provinces!

Anyone familiar with the Wokou (Japanese pirates) raids during the Ming Dynasty knows how rotten the southern garrison would become if there were even a few long years of peace!

In any case, Jia Huan didn't even need to inquire about the situation of the local garrison in the south; he already knew they were unreliable.

It is estimated that the current government and the cabinet are well aware of the situation, and when the time comes, wouldn't Jia Cong's troops be the most reliable?

Taking advantage of his day off, Jia Huan left the palace.

He went straight home and instructed his younger brother to invite Xue Pan over.

Xue Pan was in the capital at the time. Since his engagement to Yingchun was successful, he had not been traveling around. Instead, he planned to stay in the capital and wait until after the marriage to discuss other matters.

Anyway, most of the Xue family's businesses are on track, so there aren't many things he needs to handle personally.

After the New Year, he not only had to deal with his own wedding, but also help with his sister's wedding. How could Aunt Xue possibly feel at ease leaving him alone?

My cousin Xue Dou is currently preparing for the imperial examinations, but although he is old enough, he doesn't have the extra time and energy.

As for his second uncle, he needs to stay in Tianjin and be in charge of the overseas fleet affairs. That is the key to whether the Xue family can rise to prominence in the future, so he cannot be moved lightly.

After much deliberation, I realized that I had no choice but to stay in the capital. What else could I do?

The Wang family, being the maternal uncle's family, is unreliable, and there's even less reason to count on Madam Wang's side.

If it weren't for the fact that he had followed Jia Huan to reorganize the Xue family's businesses in the previous few years, Xue Pan would have been too busy to manage everything even if he had three heads and six arms.

In the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, this guy actually had to personally run business in Ping'an Prefecture, which is simply a joke.

At that time, the Xue family had reached a point where it was running out of successors and could no longer sustain itself.

The current situation is naturally different. Like the Rong family, the Xue family can be said to be thriving.

Although when it was making a ruckus in Nanjing, it handed over almost all of the business south of the Yellow River to the branch in Nanjing, while the main branch only controlled the business north of the Yellow River.

But Xue Pan was doing very well; every year, the fleets transporting grain and supplies from the south would make at least dozens of round trips on the Grand Canal.

When the southern branch saw that the main branch was doing very well in the capital, they naturally tried to curry favor with them.

Although it's impossible to give up a business deal that's already secured, cooperation is still an option.

They helped Xue Pan procure various supplies in the south. It can be said that the successful formation of the Xue family's overseas fleet was largely due to the contributions of these branches in Jinling.

Under Jia Huan's guidance, Xue Pan did not abuse his power or bully others.

The business dealings with the southern branch were quite fair, which pleased and greatly shocked them.

They did not expect that Xue Pan, known as the "Foolish Tyrant" in Jinling and famous for his recklessness, would become a completely different person after arriving in the capital, and would actually be able to support the crumbling Xue family business empire.

At this time, the Xue family, though not particularly powerful in the capital, was still considered a fairly wealthy family.

Once fully operational, its ability to allocate resources will be the envy of even Prince Chungshun.

Without going into details, Xue Pan, having received the invitation, did not dare to delay and rushed to Jia Huan's house immediately.