The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Jia Chen and the other two were naturally unaware of what Liu Tianwang and Liu Guangde had discussed. They were immersed in the joy of their promotion and thought that they would soon be able to return to the capital.

Especially for Liu Cheng and Jia Mao, they were originally just lowly soldiers who didn't even dare to dream of becoming captains.

After all, Liu Cheng had been in the Beijing garrison for so many years; if he had been promoted, he would no longer be a lowly soldier.

But you have no connections; without money to bribe officials, you won't get any benefits.

Jia Mao didn't have many thoughts; he joined the Beijing garrison just to earn some pay.

Now he's become a general, which, although not a formal official position, still puts him in charge of dozens of people.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I heard that the rewards from above are often heavily deducted from the actual amount received, but I didn't expect that we didn't lose a single tael here." Jia Mao kept turning the fifty-tael silver ingot in his hand over and over to examine it.

Although he had previously received 80 taels of silver, which was more than this reward, the nature of the reward was different. This was a reward from the imperial court, a great honor indeed.

Jia Mao really wanted to enshrine the silver ingot in his hand.

"Who said there's no deduction?" Jia Chen laughed. "I heard from Eunuch Hu that the guerrilla commander himself paid for it to cover the difference."

Jia Mao exclaimed in surprise, his eyes widening.

Liu Cheng had a similar expression on his face.

After being promoted, Hu Youcai discussed these matters with Jia Chen.

Also, Hu Youcai subtly mentioned the matter of Jia Chen distributing silver at Qianshandun.

Hu Youcai did not intend to pursue these matters, but only reminded Jia Chen to be careful in the future. How could the news not be leaked if the money was distributed in this way?

Hu Youcai was greedy, but he didn't care about Jia Chen's one or two thousand taels of silver.

Of course, the main reason was that Jia Chen's meritorious service had brought him too much glory, and the benefits he received far exceeded one or two thousand taels of silver, so he didn't care about this little bit of silver.

Similarly, this is also why Liu Tianwang was able to make up for the deducted silver.

"Hehe, this is so prestigious." Jia Mao chuckled.

That's a guerrilla general.

When he gets home, he'll have to tell all the neighbors about it; he can brag about this for the rest of his life.

The food shortage in Datong Town is getting worse and worse.

As for the other military commanders, although the imperial court has not taken any action, they are clearly living in constant fear.

Therefore, he lost interest in military affairs.

The army was already experiencing food shortages, and this panic began to spread.

There are also some unfavorable signs on the Beijing garrison side.

Although Liu Tianwang tried his best to appease him, he was now in a situation where even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice.

Logically, the relief supplies from the capital should have arrived long ago, but only a small portion has reached us so far. Nobody knows where the rest are or when they will arrive.

At this point, even lower-ranking soldiers like Jia Chen had learned quite a bit of information.

In short, none of this is good news.

"I hope there won't be any mutiny," Jia Chen thought to himself.

He just wanted to get back to Beijing as soon as possible; what happened in Datong Town was really none of his business.

Fortunately, he is now by Hu Youcai's side; no matter how tough things get, he can't let his leader suffer.

Although the food here at Hu Youcai's place is not as good as before, it's still enough to fill your stomach.

"Second Uncle, Second Uncle!" Jia Mao rushed in from outside that day.

"What's wrong?" Jia Chen asked, seeing Jia Mao's flustered manner. He wondered if something serious had happened.

"Second Uncle, I finally know why you were brought to Datong Town," Jia Mao said loudly.

"You found out?" Liu Cheng, who was standing nearby, heard this and walked over to ask, "How did you know?"

The group had been wondering why Jia Chen had been chosen to be sent to the border town for rotational training. Logically, Jia Chen shouldn't be here.

"What exactly happened?" Jia Chen asked.

"Wang Chuan just came to me to borrow grain," Jia Mao said angrily. "He told me some things, all the work of that bastard Wang Shen, oh, and that Steward Lai was involved too..."

From Jia Mao's narration, Jia Chen finally understood the reason.

Wang Shen was also a junior officer in the Beijing Garrison.

He is a cousin of Wang Ziteng.

After Wang Ziteng became the military governor of the capital garrison, many of his descendants served in the garrison.

Jia Chen and Wang Shen had a conflict. Before coming to Datong Town, the Beijing garrison arranged a drill assessment because Dai Quan was inspecting on behalf of the emperor.

This was originally intended as an opportunity for Wang Shen, hoping he would perform well and be promoted.

Who would have thought that Jia Chen, who had been practicing martial arts with his father Jia Gan since childhood, would become a dark horse and defeat Wang Shen to win first place?

Originally, Jia Chen could have taken advantage of this championship victory to advance his bid for the general flag.

Unexpectedly, we suddenly arrived in Datong, which delayed the matter. They said we would deal with it after returning to Beijing.

Wang Chuan, like Wang Shen, was a member of the Wang clan, but Wang Chuan's relationship with Wang Ziteng was much more distant than Wang Shen's.

Jia Chen knew that Jia Mao and Wang Chuan had a good private relationship.

If Wang Shen was behind it all, Jia Chen wouldn't be too surprised.

To his surprise, Lai Da, the steward of the Rongguo Mansion, also contributed to the cause.

Some members of the Jia clan, especially collateral branches like Jia Chen and Jia Mao, served in the army, which allowed them to receive an extra salary from the Beijing garrison.

The military preparedness of the Beijing garrison was in a state of disrepair, and there were many times when there was no need to go to the barracks at all.

Even if the rations and pay are reduced, it's still not bad; at least there's some income.

The number of people allowed into the Beijing Garrison each year is limited, and it is usually Lai Da who handles the arrangements.

Because Jia Chen had connections with Wang Xifeng, he was included in Lai Da's list of those who joined the Beijing Garrison this year.

With Jia Chen added to the mix, Lai Da had no choice but to return the person he had originally booked.

This incident made Lai Da feel ashamed; he had taken the money but failed to get anything done.

Not wanting to cause trouble for Wang Xifeng, he vented his anger on Jia Chen.

After learning that Jia Chen had offended Wang Shen by winning first place in the martial arts competition at the Beijing Garrison Training Ground, he colluded with Wang Shen's side, and as a result, Jia Chen was put on the list of trainees for the Beijing Garrison.

"Hmph, they probably never expected this, did they? They wanted to harm Second Uncle, but instead, you've earned merit and become a centurion." Jia Mao snorted. "I really want to go back to the capital right now and see their faces when they find out about this."

"Alright, it's enough to know the truth," Jia Chen said with a long sigh.

"Second Uncle, this matter cannot be left like this," Jia Mao said angrily.

"We'll just have to put up with it for now," Jia Chen said, shaking his head.

"Second Uncle?"

"Jia Mao, calm down. We really have no choice but to endure this," Liu Cheng said. "We can't do anything about Wang Shen and Lai Da."

"I'm just a centurion," Jia Chen said with a wry smile.

Although Wang Shen was a junior officer like himself before, he was clearly one of the more valued members of the younger generation in the Wang family.

If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to climb to a position like a hundred or a thousand households in a few years.

As for what happens next, that depends on the level of support Wang Ziteng provides.

Lai Da's position in the Rongguo Mansion was even more untouchable by Jia Chen.

Let alone a hundred households, even a thousand households couldn't do anything to Lai Da.

Now that I know who was plotting against me in the dark, it's a weight off my mind.

Now that I know, I can better protect myself and won't be as clueless as before.

As for retaliation?

We also need to understand the situation; with our current strength, we simply cannot retaliate.

However, if given the chance, Jia Chen would definitely not let it go.

Jia Mao sighed. He understood all of this in his heart, but he was still angry.

I know perfectly well who the villain is, but I can't get revenge. It's so frustrating.