The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Jia Cong was initially reluctant, but with his wedding date approaching, Jia Huan didn't want him to postpone it and suggested that he return early to help with some tasks.

This time, Jia Cong led three thousand infantry and cavalry on a leisurely northward journey along the river instead of a hasty march.

It was imposing and menacing all the way, attracting countless eyes.

After all, he had just come down from the battlefield not long ago, and naturally carried the unique, tragic aura of the battlefield.

Just by looking at them, you can tell they are elite soldiers!

However, what attracted the most attention was the hundreds of large wooden crates they were carrying!

These boxes were all extremely heavy, and when loaded onto the carriage, the wheels sank deep into the ground.

If the ground is not firm enough, soldiers may even need to help push them forward.

When passing through Jinling, one of the carriages carrying these large wooden boxes suddenly broke down, and one of the large boxes on the carriage overturned, spilling all the gold and silver inside.

This caused a sensation throughout Nanjing!

It turned out that the hundreds of large wooden crates transported with the army were filled with gold and silver, half of the spoils from the southwestern war, which were to be delivered to the capital and handed over to the current emperor.

This had become Jia Huan's habit when leading troops into battle: he would keep half of the spoils for himself and hand over the other half to the current emperor.

The current emperor is quite satisfied; there are few generals in the army who are as 'disciplined' as Jia Huan.

The key difference is that while other generals might not necessarily win battles, Jia Huan was victorious in every single one.

Since Jia Huan took command of the army, the current emperor has already received more than a million taels of silver in spoils of war alone, and it's all been done in such a simple and unpretentious way.

It wasn't that no one was gossiping to the current emperor about the distribution of the spoils of war.

The emperor believed that Jia Huan was too generous and suspected that he was trying to win over the army, so the emperor had to be wary of him.

Jia Huan made it clear that the carriages and horses would be split 50/50 with the current emperor, which some veteran generals thought was "not in accordance with the rules".

How can you split the spoils with the emperor 50/50? It should be at least 30/70, right?

The emperor received seven, and the soldiers received three. Regardless of how much the soldiers secretly pocketed, the emperor's face still had to be preserved.

Jia Huan naturally scoffed at this!

He didn't bother with any tricks; he simply gave the emperor five layers of spoils—something no one else could do so openly and transparently.

It's like when the government confiscates property. They could have found a million taels of silver, but when it reached the emperor's desk, it became only three hundred thousand taels. That's still considered having a conscience.

Some unscrupulous people would simply give 50,000 or 100,000 taels of silver to get rid of him.

Unfortunately, most emperors had little concept of this and thought the officials in charge of confiscating property were highly capable and loyal ministers.

The spoils seized from the army of Qianxiang Kingdom this time are truly valuable.

Don't forget, these guys have marched all the way into the heart of the southwest, and many towns have been looted.

As I said before, the Prince of Nan'an's Mansion has accumulated considerable wealth in the southwest region over the past century.

The financial gains alone, even with a simple estimate, exceed two million taels.

When Jia Huan started to finish up, he distributed the soldiers' share in advance, and packed the remaining half into boxes and sent it to the capital to be presented to the emperor.

The current emperor was quite satisfied with Jia Huan's 'honest' performance.

He was no fool; he was well aware of some of the bad habits in the military.

After all, it's not easy for others to fool someone who has been able to endure the pressure of the retired emperor for twenty years.

During that period of forbearance, the current emperor could not have done nothing; at the very least, he would have gained a thorough or approximate understanding of the specific circumstances in all aspects.

Therefore, they didn't take the impeachment and slander of Jia Huan regarding the distribution of spoils of war to heart at all, especially those with ill intentions.

Damn, when they speak, they all speak with such logic and eloquence, it's all so beautiful and persuasive.

But when it really comes down to it, they all become greedy and incompetent.

If you're truly capable, you should learn from Jia Huan and keep winning battles to reap the spoils of war!

At that time, let alone a 50/50 split, even a 40/60 split wouldn't bother us!

At least, Jia Huan handed over a lot of solid silver and didn't try anything funny about it!

In this respect alone, he is far superior to those old foxes in the imperial court.

This time, Jia Huan is preparing to present the Emperor with another grand gift!

A million taels of silver entering the current imperial treasury can play a very important role!

If we want him to take it out again, we would have to leverage at least several million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue and local governments; otherwise, it would be a complete failure.

Jia Cong led three thousand infantry and cavalry, escorting goods worth a million taels of silver to the capital. His presence in Jinling caused a great sensation.

Some people who heard the news were green with envy.

In particular, the prefect of Jinling, I don't know if he's lost his mind, actually suggested to Jia Cong that the Jinling government send soldiers to escort him, so that Jia Cong could travel light and quickly to the capital to report.

"These are spoils of war for the army, not local taxes!"

Jia Cong didn't know what to say, and said irritably, "This matter doesn't need to trouble the local government; it won't take much effort!"

Suspicion inevitably arose in his heart, so he quietly inquired with the main sect in Jinling about the matter.

The Jia family's main branch in Jinling was also baffled and found it very strange.

Anything that seems out of the ordinary is suspicious!

Faced with the inquiry from Jia Cong, a rising young general from the same clan, the Jinling clan dared not be negligent in the slightest and was determined to give a satisfactory answer.

Otherwise, wouldn't it make the Jinling clan seem too incompetent?

That's why they say a local bully is a local bully!

Jinling is the Jia family's stronghold, and the other three of the four great families also wield considerable influence there. Unless it involves confidential matters at the level of a provincial governor, it's relatively easy to find out information there.

However, the results of their inquiries were quite unbelievable to the Jinling clan.

"The Zhen family? They want to get their hands on these spoils of war? Are they crazy?"

When Jia Cong heard the news, he also felt it was unbelievable, thinking that such a thing was unlikely to happen.

"I've heard that the Zhen family's deficit is too great, and they have no choice but to find a way to raise money to get through this crisis!"

The person in charge of relaying the information was the head of one branch of the Jinling clan. His tone was quite unstable as he spoke, clearly indicating that he also found it unbelievable.

But he still revealed the information he had gathered: "When the Emperor traveled south to Jiangnan, the Zhen family was responsible for hosting him four times, spending money like water."

"I've heard that the deficit from the entertainment alone amounted to a staggering three to four million taels!"

At this point, there was a hint of envy in his tone and expression, clearly showing his longing for the Zhen family's former glory.

Very good.

"Of course, the Emperor did not mistreat the Zhen family afterwards!"

"Not only did they bypass the normal palace entry process and directly take the eldest daughter of the Zhen family as a concubine, but they also allowed the Zhen family to control the textile manufacturing bureau for more than ten years!"

"That's the Imperial Textile Bureau! Every year, they can rake in at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from it, and the total amount they earn is probably no less than ten million taels!"

"Unfortunately, the Zhen family thought this was a reward from the Emperor and pocketed the silver they received from the Imperial Textile Bureau, but they showed no intention of repaying the deficit they had borrowed from the national treasury!"

"Last time, when the imperial court pressed for repayment of the debt owed to the national treasury, the retired emperor spoke up for them, and the current emperor did not intend to be too harsh on the Zhen family. He simply told them to repay the money gradually!"

"What a pity, the money's already in my pocket, how could I be willing to take it out?"

"Besides, the Zhen family is such a large operation, their annual expenses alone are not a small amount. How could they possibly raise the national treasury's debt if each branch of the family is unwilling to contribute from their private coffers?"

"Their plan is quite simple: with Consort Zhen backing them up and the prince born to her helping them, the current emperor will still have to give them some face!"

What happened next was quite simple. The Zhen family kept refusing to repay the money, and as a result, it dragged on until now. The Emperor's health was deteriorating day by day, and Consort Zhen was also frequently ill.

In addition, the prince born to Consort Zhen also got involved in the overseas trade at this time, which can be said to have put him at odds with the current emperor.

That prince was ruthless; he participated in overseas trade without spending any of his own money, with all the funding coming from the Zhen family, which was a money-devouring beast that required continuous and large-scale investment over many years.

Over the years, at least a million taels of silver would have been spent.

At this time, the Zhen family sensed the danger and began to secretly raise money, intending to first pay off the debts owed to the national treasury, so as not to give the current emperor an excuse to openly manipulate the country.

According to this prominent figure from the Jinling clan, the current authorities are quite dissatisfied with the Zhen family because of the Jinling Imperial Textile Bureau and the Yangzhou Salt Commissioner.

Unfortunately, the Zhen family had become accustomed to an extravagant and decadent lifestyle.

In addition, the crackdown on official business has greatly affected both normal and abnormal income, making it no easy task to quickly raise several million taels of silver.

Seeing Jia Cong leading his troops to escort spoils of war across the border, he began to harbor some bold ideas.

Chapter 371 I Don't Want to Suppress Myself (Please Subscribe)

The Zhen family of Jinling is on the verge of collapse.

Jia Cong had never come into contact with the Zhen family of Jinling, but he had heard Jia Huan mention it once.

When the current emperor pressed for repayment of the national treasury's debts, the retired emperor fell seriously ill. At that time, the Zhen family sensed that something was wrong and even secretly made arrangements for a backup plan.

Among them, tens of thousands of taels of silver were secretly sent to the Rong Mansion and entrusted to Lady Wang for safekeeping.

Given Madam Wang's greedy nature, this money would definitely be a one-way street, but the Zhen family was unaware of this.

Madam Wang's bold move put the Rong family in danger!