The Red Mansions

Chapter 556

Chapter 556

Luoyang

When Gao Yue's troops who captured Kaifeng Mansion were planning to enter Luoyang, Jia Heng had already led the last batch of cavalry from the Beijing camp and quietly arrived in Luoyang City in the early morning of the third day.

Unlike Cai Quan and Shan Ming who rushed to help Luoyang Mansion almost without sparing horsepower, the cavalry led by Jia Heng were relatively slower. This was precisely what Jia Heng did intentionally. The [-] cavalry led by Cai Quan, plus the soldiers and horses of Henan Wei, Luoyang Wei, and Ruzhou Wei, are enough to defend Luoyang, and he can be a little more calm.

Jia Heng reined in his horse and stretched out his hand. The dusty Jingying cavalry behind him paused suddenly. In the flat field, there were only the sound of hunting flags and banners and the sound of horses' hooves hitting the official road. Nose.

Jia Heng looked at the majestic Luoyang City in the distance. At this moment, there were big Han soldiers guarding the crenels and turrets of the city walls. They had already received Jia Heng's scouts and sentry cavalry to report first.

"Sir, Luoyang City is still there." At this moment, a maroon steed with red tassel bells beside Jia Heng heard a cold voice.

Princess Xianning picked up her handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead and temples. Her bright eyes under her thin eyebrows looked at the banner of the Han Dynasty on the tower of the city gate.

It’s almost the beginning of March, although the spring sun is warm and bright, but it can’t hold back all the way. On Princess Xianning’s smooth jade forehead, there are already fine beads of sweat. Her icy skin and bones, her face is greasy, almost like an iceberg. Xue Lian's cheeks, did not know when they climbed up to two clouds like clouds, and she was panting slightly.

Xia Houying behind her was blushing and out of breath, looking at Luoyang City in front of her, the coldness on her travel-stained face faded a little.

Jia Heng said: "Don't be careless, Liu Jixian, send someone to inform Luoyang, just say that the Beijing camp army is here, and let Cai Quan lead people to come and greet him."

On the black horse half a step behind on the left, Liu Jixian clasped his fists as he promised, and ordered his guards in brocade clothes to enter Luoyang City first.

Not long after the Jinyi guards entered the city, they saw a group of cavalrymen with red flags coming from the direction of Luoyang City, where the city gates were closed. General Shan Ming, beside him was Cai Quan, the guerrilla general of the Guoyong Battalion, but Qu Guang, another general of the Guoyong Battalion, was not there.

The two generals were not far away, and saw a young man in a python suit with a sword of the Son of Heaven hanging from his waist, he reined in his horse, "Xi Lv Lv..." he rolled off his horse with a sound of "Xi Lv Lv...", he clasped his fists in salute and said, "The last general Shan Ming (Cai Quan) met Jie Shuai."

Then there were nearly thirty riders behind them, and they dismounted one after another, cupping their fists at Jia Heng in salute.

Only then did Jia Heng heave a sigh of relief, looking at the two generals indifferently, his eyes were somewhat gentle, and he took the reins away with one hand, and supported him with the other hand, and said: "Two generals, get up quickly and enter the city."

"Xie Jieshuai." The two generals got up, got on their horses, and looked excitedly at Jia Heng and the endless cavalry behind him.

The so-called soldiers over [-] are boundless.

Jia Heng turned his head to look at Pang Shili, and said in a deep voice: "General Pang, except for the [-] guards accompanying him, the rest of the soldiers and horses are all stationed outside Luoyang City, setting up camps, burying pots for cooking, and Luoyang will provide military supplies and fodder later. .”

Luoyang, a large city with a population of nearly one million, although there are many planned military training grounds, it cannot accommodate so many cavalry at once, and it is not necessary for the time being.

Pang Shili clasped his fists in response, and then ordered the army to set up camp nearby.

Then, surrounded by the guards of Jinyi Mansion and five hundred guards, Jia Heng lined up in a neat line and slowly marched towards Luoyang City.

"General Shan, how is the situation in the city?" Jia Heng held the rein in his hand, controlled the speed of the horse, and asked Shan Ming beside him.

Shan Ming said in a deep voice: "Jie Shuai, we came to Luoyang yesterday evening and entered the city in the dark. After a day's rest, General Qu has led four thousand cavalry to station at Sishui Pass in Xingyang. I think we should be able to arrive tonight. The soldiers and horses are stationed in Luoyang City according to the wishes of the commander-in-chief, and wait for the commander-in-chief after resting."

Jia Heng pondered and said: "Sishuiguan has been in disrepair for a long time, and there are only thousands of households in Xingyang guarding it, which is easy to be broken by the enemy. Now it is all occupied by its city, which is convenient for defending the eastern barrier of Luoyang."

The trouble of the Han Dynasty lies in the nine borders. It has been a long time since there has been a large-scale rebellion that captured a provincial government. Therefore, the importance of the early pass towns has decreased, and it has gradually become abolished in the local area. Historically, Sishui, known as the Hulao Pass There is only one thousand households guarding the pass, which is used as a lijin tax card. Of course, Henan Wei can provide support at any time during wartime.

Jia Heng said, and then asked: "Why don't you see Meng Jinwen, governor of Henan Province?"

Luoyang is a big city, and it is the governor of Henan Province, and the governor of Luoyang Prefecture is even more high-ranking.

"Meng Fu Yin is raising food and salaries for the army, and went to Wei Fan and Zheng Fan to negotiate with the two feudal lords about the payment of food taxes." Shan Mingweng said in a low voice, "Jie Shuai, Henan Mansion The treasury has not been well-off these years, and it has not been taxed every year. According to the governor of the Meng Mansion, the two vassal mansions have encroached on land and delayed the payment of grain taxes.

The so-called Wei and Zheng two vassals refer to the two branches of Prince Wei Kang and Prince Zheng Cheng. These two vassals are not the brothers of Emperor Chongping, but the brothers of Emperor Longzhi, the Supreme Emperor.

For example, after Emperor Chongping succeeded to the throne, according to the usual practice, he would confer the titles of Yizhong, Zhongshun, and Xinping to Yiying brothers.

After Emperor Longzhi succeeded to the throne, the same was true. The Supreme Emperor was generous and benevolent. He only added a word after Wei and Zheng, instead of changing other miscellaneous names. The titles of the Spring and Autumn Kingdoms are undoubtedly noble.

Of course, this kind of posthumous titles such as "virtuous concubine" and "duanrong" are given to the princes of the Yuan family, which is a major feature of Chen Han etiquette. If posthumous titles are given after death, additional words will be added , At least you have to make up ten characters before giving up, and what's more, you have to make up more than 20 characters for fancy bragging.

Jia Heng frowned, with a serious expression on his face, and said, "Let's go to the city first."

According to the archives of the Jinyi Mansion monitoring Wei and Zheng's two feudal clans, the first prince of Wei and Zheng's two feudal clans has passed away, and now it is the two uncles and brothers of Emperor Chongping who are attacking the prince.

The heirs of these two vassal kings are not easy-going lamps. Their descendants, several county kings, forced to buy good land in Luoyang, bullying men and women. Turn a blind eye to illegal matters, and close one eye.

"If I take Henan as the foundation and echo Shenjing, the two feudal clans will have to be cleaned up." Jia Heng led the guards and drove his horses into the stone and blue brick city of Luoyang. Under the setting sun, the shadow of the city gates, Hiding the flash of sternness in his eyes.

The horses with shiny manes behind them, carrying the soldiers in red uniforms of the Han capital camp, poured into Luoyang City like a ball of bright red flames, and walked along Xuanwu Street to the Yamen of Henan Province.

Row upon row of houses in Luoyang, above the blue tiles on both sides, on the wooden windows pushed outward, the diners watched curiously as another group of knights poured into Luoyang City.

"This is the second call. It seems that something really happened in the Kaifeng Mansion." A middle-aged scholar in a blue and white long robe and a square scarf asked the old man opposite.

The old man said: "This time the imperial court has sent a lot of people. I heard that the Kaifeng mansion is full of bandits and bandits, and more than a hundred thousand rioters have gathered."

Just like that, Jia Heng and Princess Xianning led them into the big city amidst the discussions among the people of Luoyang.

At this moment, the courtyard on the left side of the Henan government office has been temporarily converted into the tent of the Beijing camp. The generals are anxiously waiting when they hear that Jia Heng is coming.

"Jie Shuai is here."

At this moment, a Qianhu official in the robe of a sixth-rank military officer entered the yamen hall and said to several guerrilla generals.

In this trip, apart from the guerrilla general Cai Quan, there are four other guerrilla generals, and the rest are officials from thousands of households and civil servants. A well-chosen general.

The noisy group of generals and school suddenly fell silent and looked towards the courtyard.

In an instant, Jia Heng entered the official hall, led by Shan Ming and Cai Quan, surrounded by guards in brocade clothes and guards.

"The last general has met Jieshuai." The generals who went on this expedition all clasped their fists to salute the boy in python.

Jia Heng entered the yamen hall, turned around and sat down, looked at the generals, saw some familiar faces, nodded, and said: "Everyone, sit down."

"Thank you handsome."

Since the outside of the official hall is the secretary's room, most of the busy civil servants stretched their necks to see what happened in the main hall of the official office.

The Prime Minister of the Henan Mansion, Xie Xingke looked at the young man with a young face in surprise, looked at Wu Zongyi, the general judge of the Henan Mansion, and said in a low voice: "This is the one who wrote the "Cijue Biao". The famous Jia Ziyu? He looks really young, and he rushed six hundred miles this morning, saying that he has received the imperial decree, granting him the power to do things cheaply, and he can kill the local officials first and then report to the local officials."

Fu Yin is a high-ranking official, and there is no co-prefect under his command, but the Fu Cheng is the second assistant, and there are other subordinate officials such as Zhizhong, Tongju, Tuiguan, Zhaomo, and Prison.

Wu Zongyi frowned, and said: "It's true that this man has a literary name, but after all, he was born in Wu Xun, and now he leads so many soldiers and horses, I'm afraid it's not easy to get along with."

Xie Xingke said worriedly: "Now that Luoyang has so many soldiers and horses, there may not be enough grain and fodder in the treasury and Taicang. Mr. Fu Yin just went to Zheng Fan's mansion to urge to pay the grain tax owed over the years. I don't know if it is a What do you say?"

Although Chen Han followed the pre-Ming feudal vassal system, he also learned to a certain extent the lessons of the pre-Ming financial affairs from the sons of the vassals. According to the distance of the branches, the salary of the vassal kings was greatly reduced.

For example, the yearly salary of the one-character prince is five thousand stones, the annual salary of the two-character prince is two thousand stones, the king of the county is one thousand stones, the general of the town is eight hundred stones, the general of the auxiliary country is six hundred stones, the general of Fengguo is four hundred stones, and the lieutenant of the town is three hundred stones. Fuguo Lieutenant two hundred stones, Fengguo Lieutenant Baishi, passed to Fengguo Lieutenant, they will no longer be inherited, and they will be reduced to common people. The embarrassing situation of tens of millions of Lumi offerings.

At the same time, it is also stipulated that the vassal kings enjoy the local vassal treasury to support the salary, except for the designated Juelu land, the other lands, the tax should not be less than a centimeter of the court, but it is said that, few local officials dare to ask The fields purchased by Wei and Zheng were taxed.

Therefore, a large number of poor people donated their land to the vassals to avoid taxes.

Jia Heng glanced over the generals and asked: "You generals have been running around all night to help Kaifeng. You have worked hard."

The generals below did not dare to speak.

Just a simple greeting.

"Start the discussion." Jia Heng said in a deep voice, and gave Liu Jixian a wink. The guards of Jinyi Mansion stood guard on the verandah and dispersed the idlers to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on the military situation.

"General Shan, briefly introduce the situation." Jia Heng sat down with a solemn expression.

Shan Ming clapped his hands together, with a dignified expression, and said: "Jie Shuai, according to reports from the Kaifeng government yesterday, the city of Kaifeng has been destroyed. In addition, Xiangfu, Chenliu, Qixian, and Zhongmou have fallen one after another, and there have been five bandits gathered." There are tens of thousands of people, and the rebels are still gathering in Kaifeng, I heard that the bandits in Shandong and other places are also responding, since the commander-in-chief has led the troops here, do you want to send troops?"

Jia Heng nodded and said: "Sending troops is a must. Tomorrow, the whole army will go to Sishui Pass and push towards Zheng County."

As he said that, he looked at Princess Xianning and said, "His Royal Highness, write the military newspaper and report to the imperial court that Luoyang is safe, and that our troops have arrived in Luoyang City, so please don't worry."

Princess Xianning said: "Sir, wait a moment."

Saying that, after sitting on the desk beside her, she took the military newspaper paper that Xia Houying took out from her leather bag, and began to "scrub" and write, and then sealed and signed it.

Jia Heng turned to look at the map hanging on the screen, and his eyes wandered in Kaifeng.

Now that Luoyang is safe, the next step is to wipe out all the bandits.

Cai Quan's complexion changed, and he cupped his hands and said, "Jie Shuai, the soldiers have just arrived in Luoyang these few days, and there is not enough food and fodder for the army. If our army is going to send troops, we must at least prepare a certain amount of dry food and mobilize civilians to escort the luggage."

Jia Heng asked: "What does the Governor of Henan say about this matter?"

"The government treasury is empty, and the Minister of Meng said that it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice." Cai Quan said in a low voice.

Jia Heng frowned and said: "There are still [-] infantry in the Beijing camp, and they will leave for Henan in a few days. Food and fodder must be prepared in advance."

Shan Ming thought for a while, and then said: "Jie Shuai, now that bandits are getting more and more powerful, should Jie Shuai rectify the cavalry first and attack Kaifeng Mansion?"

When Cai Quan heard this, he agreed: "Jie Shuai, it happens that there is not enough food and fodder. We will gather tens of thousands of cavalry and defeat the bandits in Kaifeng Mansion in one fell swoop, and the infantry will also come to Henan."

Several other generals also whispered.

"Everyone, don't be impatient." Jia Heng looked at the generals and explained: "Although Sun Tzu said that victory is more important than longevity, but in Henan, if you want to reap all the merits, you must not rush forward. We will defeat the bandits. It’s really easy, but it’s extremely difficult to gather them in one place, and as for the supply of food and fodder, even after the bandits are dealt with, it’s necessary to appease the people, these are the top priorities.”

As he spoke, he turned to Yutu and said: "Now, our army is advancing into Zheng County, dividing our troops to the north to encircle Yanjin, and then wait for the Runing Army to report. After Runing, we will defeat the bandits and hunt down Gao Yue. Ministry, they are fleeing everywhere, there are roughly two ways to go."

At this moment, Luoyang and Sishuiguan have gathered more than [-] cavalry soldiers from the Beijing camp, and they can actually launch a tentative attack on Kaifeng Mansion.

It is not difficult to defeat Gao Yue's troops, but it is possible to annihilate its main force so that the bandits do not flee to other provinces, so they need to be carefully arranged, especially not to return them to the Runing Mansion and disrupt the south.

Otherwise, if you press down the gourd and lift the ladle again, the prefectures and counties in other provinces will be broken, and the report will be reported to Beijing. What impression will Emperor Chongping have?

Thieves spread all over the world, and the flames of war are everywhere, so his ability will be doubted.

Therefore, it is necessary to wait for the military situation of the Runing Mansion. Before the encirclement of Gao Yue's tribe is completed, it is not easy to attack Kaifeng directly.

Shan Ming's thick eyebrows were frowned, and Chi asked: "Two ways?"

Jia Heng pointed at the map, and said in a deep voice: "Runing Mansion is destroyed, Gao Yue is bound to get a warning from his subordinates, based on my guess, he will not abandon the city and leave, but will fight with our army, once defeated by our army, They are bound to be broken up into pieces, either crossing the Yellow River to the north, or attacking Shangqiu, and diverting to Jianghuai. The two departments of Xie will also send one to reinforce Shangqiu, and as for the remnants of bandits fleeing into Shandong, Lu Qike, the admiral of Shandong, will lead the troops to block them."

When the generals heard the words, their eyes flickered and they thought about it.

Shan Ming's eyes flickered, and he said, "Surround us on all sides and annihilate the main force?"

"That's exactly what I meant. Otherwise, I would be able to break through Kaifeng in two or three days with all my troops. However, Gao Yue led four or five thousand cavalry to withdraw and go to the north and south. Looking around the surrounding provinces, states and counties, can there be soldiers and horses from the capital to stop it?" Such a group of rogues? They go to a county today and fall into a mansion tomorrow, do we have to follow his ass all the time? Besides, they can eat at any time, but we can't." Jia Heng said coldly.

A small group of mobile troops, as long as they break through the county seat, open warehouses to release grain, kill big households, and take prisoners, they can move to other places. So, after three to five months, Gao Yue revived in other prefectures and counties.

Seeing that the generals had fully understood their strategic intentions, Jia Heng said: "Today, we will discuss here first. The army is stationed outside, and we still need to obtain military supplies, food and fodder. Let officials from Henan Prefecture come over."

"Yes." All the generals took orders one after another.

Jia Heng said, then looked at Liu Jixian, and said in a low voice: "Liu Qianhu, bring the brocade clothes from the Qianhu Office in Luoyang to the back office. I will ask questions later."

Before the fall of Runing Mansion, Shenjing repeatedly urged them a few days ago, but Luoyang Jinyi was too late to investigate, and Shenjing Jinyi Mansion was required to personally send troops to the south, and Luoyang's thousands of households also needed to be strictly rectified.

Liu Jixian left as ordered.

Not long after, Xie Xingke, the Prime Minister of Henan Province, led the general judge Wu Zongyi, and another general judge Xu Zhongqing came, and they all saluted.

"I've seen the imperial envoy." All the officials in Henan Prefecture, headed by Xie Xingke, saluted.

Jia Heng held a booklet delivered by Shan Ming in his hand, and said in a deep voice: "You must have received the official document from the imperial court. The Holy Majesty personally ordered me to supervise the army in Henan to suppress the bandits. They came here on Qingqi, but the food supplies for the march are not yet ready, and tomorrow we will dispatch troops to put an end to the chaos, so I am ordering the Henan government to assist with the food and payment matters."

Xie Xingke didn't dare to neglect, and quickly cupped his hands and said: "Liao Zhizhong has led people to coordinate the grain and fodder in Taicang, but the harvest has been sluggish these years, and Taicang currently only has 45 shi of grain, but these grains must not be moved. 35 shi were allocated for transportation from Bashu, and 33 shi should be set aside here to help the people in the prefecture and county, and finally last until summer grain. I went to Wei and Zheng to urge the payment of food and payment, and I think it should have results soon."

Jia Heng's complexion remained unchanged, and he said in a deep voice: "Taicang is a large warehouse in Luoyang, which is directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. It provides relief to various prefectures and counties. How come there is only so much food, not even a million shi of food."

He actually read some of this matter from the information submitted by the servant of Hubu Cangchang, which was archived in Zhongyuan Pavilion in Beijing. Because of successive years of poor harvests, the summer and autumn taxes in the whole of Henan are now only a little over 100 million shi, or even less than a million shi in extreme cases. , compared with the 200 million stones in the early years of Chongping, which was reduced by half. Of course, there are both natural and man-made disasters here.

Xie Xingke had a bitter face, "Master Jia, the weather has not been good these years, and there are so many people fleeing, the government can't collect much."

Jia Heng looked silent, pondered for a moment, and asked: "If you buy grain with gold and silver, how much grain and rice can you buy in Luoyang City?"

For the people of Henan, it is not only the suppression, but also the suppression, and rice is very important.

Xie Xingke thought for a while, then cupped his hands and said: "My lord, there are sixteen rice merchants in Luoyang, many of them are from Bashu, Shanxi, and Jiangnan, and some are local grain merchants. If your lord wants to buy rice, You can buy from them, but the price of rice is not cheap these days, it has almost doubled in the past few days."

Jia Heng sneered, and said: "It's really a hoarding of goods, and the price is raised on the ground."

This is clearly because the imperial army came, and these grain and rice merchants began to drive up prices.

Seeing the young man sneer, Xie Xingke's heart shuddered, and he dared not say more.

Judge Wu Zongyi not far behind him frowned, his heart was covered with a haze.

I heard that this Jia Ziyu came from Ningguo, and now he came here with the holy order, I'm afraid he won't tolerate these grain and rice merchants.

The general judge Xu Zhongqing, one of the six general judges in the Henan Mansion, had a flickering face, glancing at Xie Xingke from time to time, and peeking at the boy in the python suit from time to time.

At this time, Liu Jixian from a thousand households in Jinyi came in, Jia Heng glanced at Xie Xingke, and said in a deep voice: "When the governor of Mengfu comes, let him come to the back office to meet the official, and you go down first to buy rice, meat, fruits and vegetables from the treasury for supply to Beijing." battalion army."

Xie Xingke clasped his hands and said, "Yes, my lord, but the treasury can only supply the army for five days."

"Understood." Jia Heng waved his hand, signaling them to go down.

Jia Heng followed Princess Xianning to Houya, and Xia Houying followed behind her.

Princess Xianning said in a clear voice: "Sir, the Henan government is short of food and fodder, can you transfer it to Shenjing, Bashu and other places?"

I was full of questions just now, and now I just asked my husband.

Jia Heng frowned and said: "It's too far away, it's a huge waste, and it consumes a lot of people's resources. Luoyang was originally a big city with a population of one million. It saves a lot of effort than losing corn far away."

Therefore, it is all supplied by the local government treasury, and the imperial court allocates silver for purchase.

Princess Xianning said: "But why did you send [-] infantry from the Beijing camp to accompany you? According to your arrangement, only the cavalry is enough to destroy Gao Yue."

This is also where she was puzzled before. From the previous point of view, [-] cavalry soldiers are enough to suppress the Henan rebellion.

It’s hard for Jia Heng to say, he intended to make Henan the foundation of his rule, but he changed his explanation and said: “It’s still for the sake of appeasement. The state of disorganization, I am the minister of military aircraft and the governor of Jinyi, even if I can't rectify immediately, I have to deal with a group of them. Now I am stationed in various places with infantry, first to prevent problems before they happen, and second to do some practical things to restore people's hearts Thirdly, I am still a little worried about Shandong, and now leading the [-] riders is intended to deter Shandong Bailian, so that if the Shandong bandits start an incident, they can be prepared for any danger."

In fact, there is another layer. If they are not brought out in the Beijing camp, they do not belong to his soldiers and horses. Only when they are brought out can they be dispatched by him.

Princess Xianning thought for a moment, and said, "Sir, there is no food in Henan right now, if you need Fuzhen, you will need food and fodder."

"Your Highness is right, so the most urgent thing is to collect violently."

"Violent collection?" Princess Xianning thought about these words, her heart lit up, and she said in a low voice: "The grain tax owed by Wei and Zheng Erfan, sir, is he going to call for it?"

Jia Heng said coldly: "For so many years, there are at least several million shi in arrears. Now that the country is troubled, and those who have suffered from the emperor's grace should take the overall situation into consideration and spit out the money with interest."

Princess Xianning paused for a moment, and said tentatively: "The relatives of the Empress Dowager's family, such as the family of Mrs. Tai of South Korea, and some distant relatives also live in Luoyang. Mister, pack up, let's go visit together?"

Jia Heng was silent for a moment, then nodded and said: "After the deployment of troops is completed, I will follow His Highness to visit Mrs. Han Tai."

When Princess Xianning heard the words, she couldn't help feeling a burst of joy in her heart, and said in a low voice: "Sir, if there are members of the Queen Mother's family to help explain the overall situation, there will be less gossip from Chonghua Palace."

Jia Heng turned his eyes and glanced at Princess Xianning, his eyes were gentle.

Princess Xianning felt uncomfortable at this glance, she lowered her eyes slightly, and a blush appeared on her cheeks.

She just wanted to help her husband as much as she could.

(End of this chapter)