The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

"Qianshandun, is that the Qianshandun Victory on the North East Road that's been making headlines lately?" Sun Shaozu asked.

"Yes, Duntou is that Jia Chen." The steward nodded and said, "He was the one who stopped the caravan of goods outside Zhenqiang Fort last time, and later that eunuch Hu detained them."

"Oh, you mentioned before that you later brought the people to Qianshandun. Tsk tsk tsk, this Jia family brat is quite capable of causing trouble. I originally wanted to kill him, but unexpectedly he performed a great service. The Chahar tribe is also useless; they can't even flatten a small fire-receiving mound. The Jia family brat chopped off so many northern barbarian heads; no wonder Abunai was furious." Sun Shaozu snorted.

"Master, the number of casualties suffered by the Chahar tribe at Qianshandun is probably much higher than the reported figures," the steward said. "The 12 heads taken from the Chahar tribe at Qianshandun are not enough to make Abunai so resentful that he wants to take revenge personally. Among the so-called hundreds of casualties, there are probably more who were killed."

"Hmm!" Sun Shaozu nodded slightly.

He had dealings with Abunai, not that they had met, but his Sun family's caravan was quite large and frequently passed through the territory of the Chahar tribe. So it was normal for the people in charge of the caravan in the Sun family to have some contact with the upper echelons of the Chahar tribe.

Therefore, he was quite familiar with Abunai and other high-ranking figures in the Chahar tribe.

This time, Abunai sent a message to his side saying that the caravan heading north had been robbed by Qianshandun.

Sun Shaozu didn't quite believe this.

Most likely, they were robbed by Abunai, and later by the soldiers of Qianshandun who raided the camp.

Abunai said all this just to make him resent Jia Chen, so that he wouldn't even have to say anything before he would go looking for trouble with Jia Chen.

In reality, Jia Chen had already offended the Sun family long ago.

In fact, Sun Shaozu was already used to the Chahar tribe looting his goods.

This kind of thing is inherently high-risk, and such losses have already been taken into account.

The occasional robberies were factored into the cost.

"Many of Chen Tai's military achievements were probably at Qianshandun," Sun Shaozu said again. "The Jia family is truly extraordinary. Back then, the two dukes of the Jia family guarded Datong and Xuanfu, causing the northern barbarians to flee in panic and not daring to approach the Great Wall for five hundred li."

"Master, he's just a lowly foreman, how can he compare to those two?" the butler said. "He's just been a bit lucky."

"Haha~~" Sun Shaozu laughed and said, "It's just what I felt. The Jia family is getting worse every year these days."

"Master, what should we do about what Abunai said?" the steward asked. "If this matter is resolved, our caravan will be much safer when passing through the Chahar tribe."

"The northern barbarians are not to be trusted," Sun Shaozu said. "However, I don't like that Jia Chen. What? Just because he's from the Jia family, he dares to block my caravan? He's asking for death! I have dozens of ways to kill him."

At this point, Sun Shaozu's expression turned somewhat gloomy.

The goods that Hu Youcai seized at the time were actually nothing to the Sun family; they were just a drop in the ocean.

What annoyed Sun Shaozu was that in Datong, even generals and lieutenant generals would greet him warmly as "Brother Sun," and no one would dare to stop the Sun family's convoy.

But Jia Chen did just that.

He wouldn't bother with such a trivial matter as moving Jia Chen to Qianshandun. Although it wasn't his idea, he was still quite satisfied with how his subordinates had handled the matter.

Unexpectedly, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Jia Chen, who actually made a contribution.

Isn't this a slap in the face for him?

Even without Abunai saying so, he would find a chance to kill Jia Chen.

"That's not appropriate," the steward hurriedly said. "Jia Chen is currently highly regarded by Chen Tai, and the Beijing garrison values ​​him even more. I've heard that Liu Tianwang and Hu Youcai admire him greatly. Master, it's best if we don't take action ourselves, lest we get ourselves into trouble. There's no need for that. Since Abunai wants to kill him personally to vent his anger, let's leave it to Abunai. That way, we won't be implicated."

"How can we get Abunai to do it himself?" Sun Shaozu said with a dark expression. "Although Liu Tianwang stayed in the North East Road and Jia Chen is also said to stay, given his great contributions, there is no way he can continue to be sent to a front-line beacon tower like Qianshandun."

Abunai's idea was to find a way to keep Jia Chen and the others confined to a platform like Qianshandun.

In that case, Abunai will lead his men to flatten the front hill mound after some time.

But Jia Chen is now highly regarded by Liu Tianwang and Hu Youcai, so it's impossible for him to be sent to such a dangerous place.

With Jia Chen at Deshengbao, it's impossible for Abunai to take revenge personally.

"The old man thought about this matter when he came over and came up with a solution," the butler said.

"Oh? Tell me quickly." Sun Shaozu perked up.

The old butler served three generations of the Sun family, starting with his grandfather and continuing to him.

Sun Shaozu also highly valued the steward's experience.

"A couple of days ago, the General's Office discussed the setting up of those beacon towers outside the Great Wall," the steward said. "During this southward march of the Chahar tribe, all the beacon towers outside the Great Wall, except for the Qian Shan Beacon Tower, were destroyed. Some suggested rebuilding the beacon towers for better warning, while others suggested abandoning the beacon towers outside the Great Wall because they felt they were not very useful, wasting money and food, and would only cost lives."

The Sun family also had many connections in the General's Mansion, and they were very well-informed in the army.

"Rebuilding the beacon tower will cost a lot of money, and we'll need to station people there. Who would want to go to such a place? If things go wrong, it might even cause a mutiny, which would be a real headache for those generals and military commanders," Sun Shaozu said, shaking his head. "But what does all this have to do with Jia Chen?"

"My lord," the steward said, "the General's Office is currently hesitant about this and hasn't made a decision yet. Perhaps you could use your connections, for example, to have a few adjutant generals suggest expanding the front beacon tower. Let those destroyed outer beacon towers remain as they were. If the front beacon tower is expanded into a small fortified village, it will not only serve as a warning but also better block the northern barbarians advancing south—a win-win situation. As long as the General's Office agrees, Jia Chen can be put in charge of the construction and garrisoning of the front beacon tower. After all, he is familiar with that area."

Sun Shaozu's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Brilliant! You should be the commander-in-chief!"

"The old man has just eaten a few more meals," the butler chuckled.

Sun Shaozu fell into deep thought. He felt that this method should be feasible and could be considered a compromise in the dispute within the General's Office. However, it still needed to be carefully considered and further improved.

Jia Chen is now serving as Hu Youcai's personal guard, so will Hu Youcai release him?

After thinking it over, he felt that it wasn't a big problem.

Isn't Jia Chen a hero on Beidong Road now?

Since he's a hero, then Jia Chen should be supported.

If the Qianshandun project is being expanded, wouldn't it be the right thing to do to go to Qianshandun?

"That's settled then. I'll go talk to someone right away," Sun Shaozu said, standing up.

Find a few military officers from Datong Town and have them advise Chen Tai. I believe this matter can be accomplished.

As long as Jia Chen is at Qianshandun, Abunai can take revenge himself.

He didn't believe that Abunai would guarantee he wouldn't harm his caravan after he succeeded.

But he knew even better that if he couldn't satisfy Abunai, the caravan would likely face even greater trouble in the Chahar region's territory.

Therefore, if Abunai can be satisfied, then so be it.

This matter is not that difficult, and besides, he also wished that Jia Chen would die. He could use Abunai's hand to make it happen, so why not?