The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 110 Returning to the Capital

Upon hearing what the other person said, Wang Baisheng walked up to him and stared at him.

The burly man felt a chill run down his spine as Wang Baisheng stared at him.

Although he was quite muscular, Wang Baisheng was a head taller than him and had an imposing presence.

"You mean it's hard to dig?" Wang Baisheng asked casually.

"This is Master Sun Tieyi's field; the ditch cannot pass through here." The burly man quickly came to his senses.

With the Sun family behind him, what was there to care about these scoundrels?

If you call him "sir," he'll actually put on an act?

It was just a way to scare ordinary laborers; to them, it was nothing.

"If the garrison commander's orders are delayed, will you take responsibility?" Wang Baisheng snorted.

"This is none of our business," the burly man said with a smile.

He wasn't afraid of Wang Baisheng's threats.

"Men, dig a ditch! Who dares to stop us?" Wang Baisheng shouted to the laborers.

These laborers were afraid of the Sun family and also of the soldiers.

So he moved forward a few steps, but dared not actually start digging the ditch, and remained hesitant and stagnant.

"Sir, don't act rashly. You have to think about your future," the burly man said, his tone becoming somewhat forceful.

Wang Baisheng was so angry he laughed. How dare they threaten him?

"You have quite the nerve." Wang Baisheng spread his hands, and one of his men handed him the three-eyed dagger.

Wang Baisheng aimed the three-eyed spectacles at the man's chest.

The burly man couldn't help but take a step back, but he quickly came back.

He didn't believe this guy would actually dare to activate the Three-Eyed System; they were Master Sun's men.

"Sir, you can't scare me. You dare to kill me?" the burly man sneered.

Wang Baisheng grinned and lit the matchlock of the three-barreled gun.

Seeing this, the burly man panicked, but he still felt that this guy was just trying to scare him and would most likely shoot into the air at the last moment.

Are these guys going to mess with the Sun family?

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" The three eyes fired almost simultaneously, the strong man's eyes widened, and his chest was already stained red with blood.

He didn't expect the other party to actually make a move.

"I've even killed the northern barbarians, what are you scumbags afraid to kill?" Wang Baisheng threw the three-barreled gun back to his men and looked at the remaining members of the Sun family.

The men's faces showed terror; they never imagined that these soldiers would actually dare to kill.

They usually act arrogantly and domineeringly, relying on the Sun family's backing, and they don't care about even some officials.

Today we really hit a brick wall.

"Sir, shall we kill them all?" asked one of the men behind Wang Baisheng.

They held their three-eyed guns, pointing the barrels forward, ready to ignite the fuses at any moment.

This scene caused the Sun family members' expressions to change drastically. They wanted to escape, but they knew that they probably couldn't.

"Killing them would be a waste. We're short-handed for digging ditches right now, so let them go dig them," Wang Baisheng said calmly.

Upon hearing this, the men behind him immediately stepped forward and disarmed the Sun family members of their knives, clubs, and other weapons.

"You guys keep watch here. If you find them slacking off and not digging the ditch properly, kill them on the spot," Wang Baisheng said coldly.

The Sun family members were so frightened that they knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, promising to work hard.

Wang Baisheng quickly returned to report to Jia Chen.

"Just as you said, the Sun family sent people to stop them," Wang Baisheng reported.

"That's normal. They're used to running rampant here." Jia Chen sat in the chair behind his desk, looking at a picture on the table, and said with a faint smile.

"Domineering?" Wang Baisheng sneered. "Sir, that was in the past. No matter how domineering they were, could they compare to the swords and spears in our hands?"

Jia Chen laughed heartily.

That's the point. Having people and force is the only true advantage.

"Sir, why don't we take back the Sun family's land?" Wang Baisheng asked again. "We don't need to go through all that trouble. I doubt they would dare not refuse to give it up."

Jia Chen glanced at Wang Baisheng and said, "Is it enough to just give back the land?"

"Huh?" Wang Baisheng was taken aback.

Isn't that what it is?

In his view, the main purpose of this operation was to reclaim some of the occupied land, which should be the adults' objective.

But now it seems that I was wrong.

"We need money everywhere." Jia Chen circled several areas on the map with his pen. These were the ownership and distribution of the military farms that Ma Du had given him. "We're poor."

"Sir, what do you mean?" Wang Baisheng had a vague idea in his mind, but he wasn't quite sure.

"We can't touch the Sun family for now, but Sun Tieyi is just one branch of the Sun family. Are we really not allowed to touch him?" Jia Chen put down his brush and stared at Wang Baisheng.

Wang Baisheng's eyes lit up with delight, and he said, "The Sun family is incredibly wealthy. Even a branch of the family must be quite rich."

"Sir, when are we raiding his house? Let me lead the raid. Oh, by the way, that guy is Old Man Sun's enemy; I'm just helping him get revenge."

"Don't rush, we need to have a legitimate reason for our actions, we can't wrongly accuse them," Jia Chen said with a slight smile. "We're not robbers, everything is based on evidence."

Hearing this, Wang Baisheng said anxiously, "Sir, what's the point of talking about evidence? Just fabricate a charge against them and arrest them. Even if they have evidence of wrongdoing, it probably won't be easy to get it."

"Don't worry about not having any," Jia Chen said. "The Sun family has smuggled countless goods to the border regions. Do you think Sun Tieyi wouldn't? Old Sun knows Sun Tieyi well; he knows a thing or two about what they've done. They were too arrogant in the past, leaving too many traces. We're not worried about not finding evidence. Colluding with the people outside the border is a crime of treason, a capital offense punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan. As for confiscating their property, I'll leave that to Old Sun; you'll assist him."

Jia Chen had planned this all along.

A campaign needs a legitimate reason, and Sun Tieyi has too many weaknesses that can be exploited.

The simplest explanation is that they smuggled goods across the border. They had various connections in the past, and these things were kept secret.

However, Jia Chen could report the matter to Chen Tai and ask Chen Tai to make the decision. He believed that Chen Tai would be willing to take the opportunity to deter these local powerful families.

Jia Chen didn't say he wanted to take over all these powerful families who occupied the land; that was unrealistic.

If they all join forces, it will be quite troublesome.

However, he also had to make those guys understand that he wasn't someone who was easy to talk to.

Making an example of Sun Tieyi was also a way to avenge Sun Tiechong.

Of course, more importantly, Jia Chen wanted to take the opportunity to make a fortune.

He has no other ways to make money right now, and he can't just sit around and do nothing.

With Sun Tieyi as an example, I believe the other guys who have been occupying the land should wake up a bit. If they give back the land, the matter will be over.

"That's true." Wang Baisheng grinned. "Forget it, let's not fight with that old man Sun this time. Let him get his revenge. I'll help him out. I've been fed up with these bastards for a long time. My brothers have suffered at their hands everywhere before."

97

Wang Baisheng felt that he and his group had finally gotten their revenge and turned their lives around.

In the past, when faced with these powerful families, even if their land was taken away, these lowly soldiers had no way to do anything about it.

Things are different now. With the support of adults, he dares to storm their doorsteps. Those so-called wealthy and powerful families aren't so scary after all.

After Wang Baisheng took down the Sun family's wicked servant, the Sun family didn't react for the time being, and the work of digging the ditch went much more smoothly.

With Ma Du's help, Jia Chen finally felt a little more at ease.

It has been a month since Jia Chen took office at Juqiangbao. He has basically become familiar with the place. The army training and the digging of ditches are all proceeding in an orderly manner.

Of course, the evidence regarding Sun Tieyi's family's crime of colluding with the enemy had been almost collected, and Jia Chen, together with Ye Fandong, reported the situation to the military commander's office.

The situation at Zhenqiang Fort was similar. Ye Fandong was naturally willing to let Jia Chen take back some of the occupied settlements.

He wouldn't have dared to do it before, but now that Jia Chen is leading the way, he can cheer from behind.

Jia Chen's choice to take action against Sun Tieyi at this time was not a reckless act.

Besides having some strength now, there's also the fact that the Sun family is currently facing considerable trouble.

The murder of Wei Ya has implicated the Sun family, and Sun Shaozu is now running around trying to pull strings.

It is said that Sun Shaozu visited Liu Tianwang countless times, and he almost wore down the threshold of the military commander's mansion.

Although no one mentioned the relationship between Beifeng Village and the Sun family much, this matter still put a lot of pressure on the Sun family.

At this point, if I deal with Sun Tieyi, Sun Shaozu probably won't react much.

That is why Sun Tieyi did not put up any resistance.

He probably received a warning from Sun Shaozu, telling him not to cause trouble now.

Making a big fuss about it will not benefit the Sun family.

Jia Chen didn't think he could bring down the Sun family by relying on Wei Ya's affair, but at least he could disgust the Sun family and make them pay a heavy price.

Liu Tianwang's attitude toward taking back the military farmland disappointed Jia Chen.

He sent someone to tell Jia Chen that if this matter were to unfold, it would cause too much of a stir and affect local stability.

Liu Tianwang meant that the matter should be put aside and left at that point.

Jia Chen sighed inwardly.

Sure enough, Liu Tianwang and Sun Shaozu have gotten together.

Sun Shaozu's recent frequent visits to Liu Tianwang likely indicate that he has offered Liu Tianwang considerable benefits.

Jia Chen doesn't yet know the exact amount of the benefits, but based on the information he has received, the two families have joined forces.

Jia Chen couldn't say he was too surprised by this result.

The relationship between Liu Tianwang and Chen Tai has clearly broken down, and he has turned to seeking cooperation with local forces, which cannot be said to be a problem.

It's all for the sake of gaining a firm foothold.

Reporting to the military commander's office was a clear statement; they had never placed their hopes on Liu Tianwang.

Since Liu Tianwang disagreed, he and Ye Fandong had no choice but to report it to the General's Office.

Just then, Jia Chen received some good news: Feng Shan had been promoted and became the Grand Secretary of the Daming Palace.

As expected, Feng Shan's original position as the eunuch in charge of Datong Town fell to Hu Youcai.

As expected of someone with connections, Jia Chen believed that Hu Youcai's rise to power was closely related to Dai Quan.

With Hu Youcai's promotion, my situation in Datong Town will improve.

Hu Youcai was promoted, and Jia Chen dared not be negligent. He prepared some gifts and rushed to Deshengbao to congratulate him.

Many people came to congratulate Hu Youcai. In some ways, the garrison eunuch held more power than General Chen Tai.

Since he had just received the imperial decree, Hu Youcai had not yet gone to Datong Prefecture.

This place needs to be tidied up; we'll be leaving in a few days.

Jia Chen was received by Hu Youcai.

"Jia Chen, you've come at the perfect time. I was just about to send someone to inform you that I wanted you to come back to the capital with me," Hu Youcai said with a smile as soon as he saw Jia Chen.

Jia Chen was quite surprised and didn't know what was going on.

"Father-in-law, shall I escort you back to the capital?" Jia Chen asked.

"You're a city garrison commander now, not one of our personal guards," Hu Youcai said, shaking his head. "It seems that Abunai specifically requested to see you. His Majesty agreed."

>