The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 103 Defense of Zhenqiang Fort

After visiting Ye Fandong, Jia Chen went to visit Hu Youcai in the city.

Jia Chen still had some goodwill towards this eunuch in charge of the duties.

Just because he didn't kick me when I was down in front of Qianshan Fort and even spoke up for me, even if his words didn't have much effect, his intentions were there.

Furthermore, Jia Chen was also concerned about the relationship between Hu Youcai and Dai Quan.

Dai Quan will become the Grand Chancellor of the Daming Palace, the first among the eunuchs.

By leveraging Hu Youcai's connections, I could indirectly get in touch with Dai Quan, so naturally, I had to make this investment as soon as possible.

As they spoke, Jia Chen subtly mentioned the defense of the Fortified Wall.

Hu Youcai understood what Jia Chen meant.

He had already heard about Wei Ya's death.

Ye Fandong's succession as the garrison commander of Zhenqiang Fort was, in his view, a foregone conclusion.

So, just as Jia Chen said, there are gaps in the defense of the fortress.

Jia Chen is now interested in this position.

"Jia Chen, you should have consulted Lord Liu about this matter. Why did you go to all this trouble to come to us? Besides, this matter is not under our jurisdiction," Hu Youcai said with a smile.

He thought to himself, "That kid Jia Chen is quite ambitious."

Although there have been precedents of a commander of a thousand serving as the garrison commander of a fortress, they are few and far between, and it is still very difficult to rise to that position.

However, he still admired Jia Chen's ambition.

Only capable people have ambition.

"Lord Wei was killed by bandits, and Lord Liu is busy, so I shouldn't bother him any longer," Jia Chen said respectfully. "With Your Excellency in charge of the Northeast Route, military affairs naturally cannot be separated from Your Excellency. I'm afraid Lord Liu can't get anything done without Your Excellency's approval."

Hu Youcai laughed heartily.

Jia Chen was quite direct. Although it was both the truth and flattery, Jia Chen's way of speaking about Liu Tianwang in front of me was actually a way of belittling Liu Tianwang.

Doing so is a way of showing that they are siding with me.

Hu Youcai valued Jia Chen quite a bit.

Although Jia Chen is young, he is really daring and willing to fight.

Even Hu Youcai found Liu Tianwang's actions somewhat unacceptable.

That's why he spoke up for Jia Chen back then.

Since Liu Tianwang dared to do that, he naturally had to bear some consequences.

Jia Chen was more inclined to side with himself.

"I can't guarantee anything about this either. The appointment of the garrison commander requires the approval of the General's Office," Hu Youcai said.

"With your words, Father-in-law, I am content regardless of whether it succeeds or not, and I dare not hope for more," Jia Chen replied.

The selection of garrison commanders was generally made by the deputy general and the eunuch in charge of the garrison, and then reported to the General's Office.

Under normal circumstances, the General would not object and would approve it.

Of course, if the general is dissatisfied, he can object, and may even appoint someone himself.

For positions below the rank of garrison commander, the deputy commander had the authority to make his own decisions.

Previously, Liu Tianwang had wanted to bring Jia Chen to Zhenqiang Fort as a discipline officer, which would fall within his sphere of authority.

Therefore, Hu Youcai had a great deal of say in the selection of the defenders of the fortified position.

Because Hu Youcai came from the palace, Liu Tianwang generally wouldn't dare to offend him.

With the support of Hu Youcai and Chen Tai, Jia Chen felt confident about the matter.

Hu Youcai smiled with narrowed eyes, quite satisfied with Jia Chen.

"Your Excellency, I heard that Eunuch Feng might be given a more important position in the palace after his meritorious service this time?" Jia Chen asked again.

Jia Chen heard about Feng Shan's return to the palace and promotion from among the people who had previously participated in the ceremony of presenting prisoners of war.

Apart from him, the others all have some connections and are well-informed.

Even without news, Feng Shan would certainly be richly rewarded for his merit in capturing Abunai.

Chen Tai, who had only performed a minor service, was granted a noble title, while Feng Shan received no reward despite his merit.

However, Feng Shan was a eunuch and could not be granted a title, but the other rewards would certainly be substantial.

If a garrison eunuch is promoted, he usually becomes the Grand Secretary of the Daming Palace, reaching the central power of the Great Hong Dynasty.

"Yes, that's a saying." Hu Youcai nodded and said, "It's a pity that the negotiations with the Chahar tribe went smoothly this time. If something had gone wrong, all his achievements would have been for naught."

Hu Youcai still felt some regret.

He was hoping Feng Shan would mess up the negotiations, because that would be Feng Shan's downfall.

Unfortunately, the negotiations went smoothly, so there was little doubt that Feng Shan would be rewarded for his meritorious service.

He was annoyed by Feng Shan's smug look, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"If that's the case, then wouldn't Eunuch Feng's position be vacant now? Eunuch, don't you have a chance?" Jia Chen asked.

Hu Youcai just smiled and didn't answer.

Jia Chen felt a little disappointed.

To be honest, he was testing Hu Youcai a bit.

He wondered who would take over the position of garrison eunuch of Datong Town if Feng Shan were to be promoted and leave.

Given the relationship between Hu Youcai and Dai Quan, Jia Chen felt that he had a very good chance.

Hu Youcai has not yet responded.

However, since he neither said nor directly denied it, it is still possible.

Jia Chen didn't believe that Hu Youcai had no interest in this position.

"Jia Chen, do a good job. As long as you make contributions, our family will guarantee your continued advancement," Hu Youcai said with a smile.

His adoptive father had already mentioned the matter of the eunuch in charge of the garrison to him privately.

This has been approved by the Emperor. As long as Feng Shan leaves, the eunuch in charge of Datong Town will be his.

Therefore, although he was very unhappy that Feng Shan received such a large reward, Feng Shan probably wouldn't have been transferred from Datong Town if it weren't for this.

Then there's nothing for me to do.

He realized he had gained a great deal, which calmed him down considerably.

However, this matter requires a considerable handover process. Feng Shan is currently in Beijing reporting and handling some matters related to the negotiations with the Chahar tribe, and it will probably be some time before he can return to Datong.

It won't be long, about a month should be enough.

Hu Youcai remained cautious. Although the matter was basically settled, he couldn't reveal it to the public carelessly, lest it cause various unexpected incidents.

Even though he favored Jia Chen, this matter concerned the position of the garrison eunuch, which was far too important. There was no room for the slightest carelessness.

At this crucial moment, this information cannot be revealed to anyone.

Jia Chen and the others stayed at Desheng Fort for half a day before returning home.

After all, they each had their own tasks.

Liu Tianwang personally took charge of investigating the murderer of Wei Ya and said he would report to the General's Office and seek cooperation with other military commanders to jointly suppress the bandits.

In particular, we must join forces with the Eastern Route Commander to find out the lair of Beifeng Village.

These all need to be coordinated through the General's Office.

Jia Chen and Gao Gou parted ways at Zhenqiangbao.

When Jia Chen returned to Qianshanbao, he did not see Liu Cheng and the others.

However, he wasn't too worried, since they wouldn't be able to come directly to Qianshan Fort after killing people.

We need to take a detour to avoid attracting attention.

Finally, they had to dispose of all the horses, weapons, clothes, and so on before they could sneak back.

That night, Liu Cheng and his party returned to Qianshanbao.

"My lords, we have fulfilled our mission!" Liu Cheng and Zhao Zheng said.

They erased all traces, destroyed everything that needed to be destroyed, so that Wei Ya's murder could only be related to Beifeng Village, and had absolutely nothing to do with their Qianshan Fortress.

"Alright, we'll be waiting for you guys." Jia Chen told the others to go and rest first, and once again reminded them to keep this matter to themselves.

The thirty-eight men who followed Liu Cheng and Zhao Zheng out naturally understood the seriousness of the matter, so how could they dare to say anything more?

Those who are chosen are naturally reliable people.

Jia Chen summoned Wang Baisheng and other trusted confidants again to give a briefing on the events of the day, so that everyone would know the specifics of the situation.

When Jia Chen returned during the day, he privately told Wang Baisheng that Wei Ya was dead. As for other details, such as how he was killed, Jia Chen did not know and could only wait for Liu Cheng and Zhao Zheng to return to find out.

"Oh dear, I really wish I could chop that guy's head off myself," Wang Baisheng said with great regret as he listened to their story.

"If you go there, you might expose yourself," Zhao Zheng said with a smile.

Wang Baisheng could only shake his head helplessly. Was it wrong for this person to be tall and strong?

"My lord, who will take over the garrison of Zhenqiang Fort? If the next one is like Wei Ya, won't Qianshan Fort be in trouble again?" Huang Xiuer asked.

"Then kill him again," Wang Baisheng said viciously.

"That's right, anyone who dares to harbor any wicked thoughts about Qianshan Fortress will be killed," Ding Heihu said.

He and Wang Baisheng usually didn't get along, but on this matter, they were completely on the same page.

The others thought roughly the same thing.

Looking at everyone's expressions, Jia Chen secretly shook his head.

Not everything can be solved by killing.

This time it was resolved, but to kill superiors again and again, do they really think the people above are fools?

"This matter can only be done once, not twice," Jia Chen said. "As for who will be the garrison commander of Zhenqiang Fort, I don't think he can be worse than Wei Ya, right? Everyone, just wait patiently for news."

There were some things he couldn't say too much about, such as his desire to vie for the position of garrison commander of the fortress.

If it actually works out, that would be great. But if it doesn't, wouldn't it become a joke?

It's not too late to talk about it after things have settled down; he's not the kind of person who publicizes things before they've even happened.

The murder of Wei Ya shocked the entire town of Datong.

Even during the two major southward invasions by the northern barbarians, no one was killed while guarding the position. Unexpectedly, they died at the hands of bandits.

Chen Tai has summoned all the military commanders to the General's Mansion, indicating that he intends to wipe out the bandits of Liuleng Mountain.

The bandits of Beifeng Village, in particular, were the main targets of the extermination efforts.

Datong Town also issued a reward: anyone who reports the location of Beifeng Village's stronghold will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver once the location is confirmed.

The bounty notice has been posted in all the major fortresses and towns.

It can be said that the people of Datong Town knew about Wei Ya's murder, which had a very bad impact.

However, the task of eliminating bandits will certainly not be completed so quickly. It will require troop deployment, food preparation, and, more importantly, coordination among various forces.

In short, this matter will not be resolved anytime soon.

Especially since the exact location of Beifeng Village's stronghold is still unknown, even if all the troops are assembled, it's unclear who they'll be eliminating.

With such a large-scale operation by Datong Town, those bandits will surely back down and avoid their attacks.

Some may even temporarily evacuate, moving to areas outside the jurisdiction of Datong Town.

This kind of thing is all too familiar to bandits.

Often, they relied on this loophole of difficulty in uniformly enforcing regulations across different jurisdictions to evade the suppression by local governments and armies.

If various factions in the same town join forces, things will be fine. The General's Office and the Governor's Office usually discuss things and things will generally be approved.

Getting different towns to join forces is not so easy.

We need authorization from the imperial court; otherwise, what will the court think if we act without authorization? What will the emperor think?

The suppression can be delayed, but some things cannot be delayed, such as the selection of a garrison commander for Zhenqiang Fort.

The selection of this person was mainly a result of a power struggle between the Northern East Road Military Command and the General's Office.

The other groups remained indifferent, watching the spectacle unfold.

After several days of debate, the choice of the garrison commander of Zhenqiang Fort was made on the fifth day.

Ye Fandong, the garrison commander of Juqiangbao on Beidong Road, was transferred to the position of garrison commander of Zhenqiangbao.

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