The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

On the way, Jia Chen asked the people who came to pick up the three of them about the situation at Desheng Fort, especially whether the military merit rewards had been distributed.

Unfortunately, Jia Chen didn't get any useful information.

These people are not of high status, and even if they had such information, it would not be something they could access.

I heard that Datong Town suffered heavy losses this time. Although fortresses like Zhenqiang Fort were not breached, some smaller forts were not so lucky. The people inside the forts were either massacred or captured by the northern barbarians.

As for his military achievements, there is still no news.

Jia Chen inwardly chuckled to himself, realizing he had been too hasty.

It can't be that fast. Only ten days have passed. Even if the court receives the report, it will take at least one or two months to complete the entire process.

It was nearly dusk when we arrived at Deshengbao.

Hu Youcai specially arranged accommodations for Jia Chen and his group.

Liu Tianwang also sent someone to inquire about it.

It is evident that the Beijing garrison indeed attached great importance to the three of them.

Jia Chen did not believe that Liu Tianwang treated him differently because his father had saved Liu Guangde.

If he really wanted to repay his father for saving his life, he would have done so long ago, wouldn't he?

Unfortunately, there was nothing there.

If I hadn't performed such a great service, all talk of saving my father would be nonsense.

Do those high-ranking officials really care about the lives of their lowly soldiers?

Of course, Jia Chen didn't think people were so bad. Perhaps Liu Guangde felt that his side was Jia's family, so he didn't want to show up.

I don't want to think too badly of people, but Jia Chen also doesn't think too well of them.

In short, all these people are in it for profit; only when there is profit can everyone have fun.

At least for now, both Hu Youcai and Liu Tianwang are genuinely taking good care of me.

As Hu Youcai intended, the three of them would then follow him.

Jia Chen finally understood; this was Hu Youcai's personal guard.

That's good. With Hu Youcai by my side, my safety is more guaranteed.

Hu Youcai is basically staying in Deshengbao. As long as he doesn't go out, he will be able to safely make it back to Beijing.

Thinking of this, Jia Chen and the other two all breathed a long sigh of relief.

As a personal guard of the supervising officer, this kind of treatment was not something that ordinary people could enjoy.

This means that Jia Chen has gained special power; he's now a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister!

In the days that followed, Jia Chen and his two companions took time to send silver to the families of the fallen soldiers.

However, when they went to the addresses they found, they only found 6 houses; the families of the other two people had already disappeared.

Due to the raids by the Chahar tribe, their families did not know whether they had escaped, been abducted, or even been killed.

Jia Chen was helpless about this and hoped to hear from them again.

Jia Chen and his two companions had very easy tasks each day; if Hu Youcai went out, they only needed to follow him.

Even when we go out, we stay in Victory Fortress, so there's no danger.

Moreover, Hu Youcai was mostly at home, so Jia Chen and the other two had even less to do.

Jia Chen learned from Hu Youcai about some of the information Datong Town had submitted to the imperial court.

During this southward campaign, the Chahar tribe plundered and massacred more than twenty counties and prefectures in Datong Town. More than a thousand soldiers were killed or wounded, more than 30,000 people were captured, more than 50,000 cattle and sheep were taken away, nearly 10,000 houses were burned down, and countless amounts of gold and silver were looted...

It's truly shocking; the losses suffered by Datong Town this time were far too severe.

This was still reported to the imperial court, and Jia Chen dared to say that it was definitely discounted, and the losses were reported as less.

The real losses would be at least several times greater.

Losses were underreported, but the more war merits were claimed, the better.

Listening to Hu Youcai tell him the head count of various groups, Jia Chen wondered when the Northern Barbarians had become so vulnerable.

When did the border troops of Datong Town become so valiant?

Each of the detachments reported that they had killed hundreds or even thousands of Northern barbarian heads.

According to Hu Youcai, the final headcount was decided upon because the general and the governor felt it was too high, and some reductions were made.

Even so, the various battle achievements were still exaggerated.

However, there was something that surprised Jia Chen: Chen Tai from Beidong Road reported 156 cases, which was far too few compared to other roads.

Besides Chen Tai, Hu Youcai also mentioned the Beijing garrison. He and Liu Tianwang reported the facts truthfully without any exaggeration.

This puzzled Jia Chen greatly.

Isn't exaggerating military achievements an unwritten rule among everyone?

Jia Chen didn't ask any more questions, and Hu Youcai didn't say much either.

The matters at the higher levels were beyond the reach of a lowly soldier like him.

Today, Jia Chen and his two companions escorted Hu Youcai to Liu Tianwang's place.

When Hu Youcai came out, he looked rather grim.

Back at his residence, Hu Youcai couldn't help but start cursing.

"Where are we supposed to get food? In this state of affairs, where are we supposed to get any?" Hu Youcai cursed.

Jia Chen overheard Hu Youcai's cursing outside and immediately understood.

The town of Datong suffered heavy losses after being plundered by the Chahar tribe.

Now there is a need to provide relief to homeless refugees, and the military's food and pay are once again in arrears.

They had only been in the Beijing garrison for a few months, so there shouldn't have been any issues with unpaid wages or rations.

Currently, there is a significant food shortage in the local area, and the Beijing garrison is no exception.

Liu Tianwang sought out Hu Youcai to discuss how to obtain some grain.

The imperial court's allocation of provisions won't be that quick.

Jia Chen had already heard about the food shortage in Desheng Fort these past few days.

Their Beijing garrison was relatively well-off, since they weren't locals and had made some preparations beforehand.

Some of the local fortresses are running out of food.

Jia Chen couldn't help but think of Qianshandun. Perhaps at this time, Qianshandun was the happiest place, with plenty of food, drink, and meat.

The fruits and vegetables that Chen Tai delivered at that time must have been quite a feat.

After all, with such looting, food was scarce everywhere.

However, this was only because they had achieved a remarkable victory at Qianshandun, which is why Chen Tai was so considerate of his soldiers.

The food shortage was still escalating, and Jia Chen and the others could only listen to news from all sides, unable to do anything about it.

These things didn't concern them much; being with Hu Youcai meant they didn't have to worry about food.

For Jia Chen, the most important thing was that he could get promoted as soon as possible.

On the twentieth day after the Chahar tribe returned from their raid, Jia Chen, as before, got up early to wait for orders from Hu Youcai's side.

Most of them were responsible for guarding the mansion, which was quite easy.

Hu Youcai went out for the first few days to get grain, but without any results, so he stayed at home and didn't care anymore.

According to Hu Youcai, that was the business of Liu Tianwang, the guerrilla general; he was just a military supervisor and didn't handle the provisions or pay.

"My God, the sky has fallen!" came a cry of alarm from Hu Youcai's study.

The three people outside, including Jia Chen, looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what major event had occurred.

It seems someone just delivered a message to Hu Youcai, but Jia Chen doesn't know where the message came from.

With a creak, the study door was flung open.

Hu Youcai strode out from inside: "Quick, come with me to find Liu Tianwang."

"Father-in-law, what serious incident has occurred?" Jia Chen asked as he walked. "Should we bring more guards?"

"No need, it's not some northern barbarian invasion," Hu Youcai replied. "Jia Chen, do you know that the sky has fallen in Datong Town? The Imperial Guards just captured the governor and general of Datong, and they are currently being escorted to the capital."

"Huh?" Jia Chen exclaimed in surprise.

It really is a disaster; both the civil and military leaders of Datong Town have been dismissed?