The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 79: Changes in Rongguo Mansion 4
Hall of Mental Cultivation, West Warm Pavilion.

Emperor Yongchang was obviously in a good mood and was painting with ink.

Dai Quan walked in and saw that Emperor Yongchang was still painting, so he went to the compartment, picked up the copper kettle, and made tea in front of the imperial desk.

Emperor Yongchang's pen completed the last stroke!
On the huge piece of rice paper on the imperial desk, there is a lifelike image of a birthday god with a longevity peach in one hand and a cane in the other, with white hair and a youthful face, a huge forehead, and kind eyes. He seems to be about to jump out of the tree!

"The birthday god has been born!" Dai Quan said with a smile.

Emperor Yongchang rolled his eyes at him, put down his pen, and washed his hands in the copper basin beside him. As he wiped his hands, he said, "Stamp my seal on it and send it to the emperor."

Dai Quan smiled slightly: "Yes."

Emperor Yongchang threw away the face towel in his hand, picked up the tea bowl, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Dai Quan smiled and replied, "The emperor was right about everything. Shui Rong went to Rongguo Mansion."

Emperor Yongchang smiled faintly: "If he doesn't go, he won't be a 'virtuous king'. By the way, did Jia She meet him?"

Dai Quan: "No. He said he sprained his ankle."

Emperor Yongchang was startled: "You sprained your ankle?"

"No, he is in the back hall of the living room talking to Li Hu."

"This old thing!"

"It seems that Jia She also knows that Prince Beijing has bad intentions."

"He's scared!"

".This is understandable. After all, the Jia family no longer has real power."

With a humph, Emperor Yongchang said: "As long as the Jia family can sit upright, I don't have to keep them away from the court."

Dai Quan didn't know how to respond, so he lay on the imperial desk and blew gently at the ink.

"What exactly does he want to do?" Emperor Yongchang suddenly asked.

Dai Quan understood that the emperor was asking about Shui Rong, but he couldn't figure it out. Could it be that Shui Rong wanted to rebel?
After a moment of silence, Emperor Yongchang spoke: "Withdraw those people you sent. Find an opportunity to let Shui Rong enter the court. Throw him into the big dye vat of the court, and he will naturally reveal his flaws."

Dai Quan was shocked: "The military forces behind Beijing Palace are much greater than those behind Ning and Rong Palaces."

Emperor Yongchang waved his hand and said, "Nothing can happen. As long as we control the Imperial Guards and the Beijing Camp, no one can cause trouble in the capital."

Dai Quan nodded solemnly.

Emperor Yongchang suddenly thought: "What's the news from outside the Great Wall?"

Dai Quan: "There is no news from Shengjing yet. As for Daqingshan, the Mongols are still gathering, and their intentions are still uncertain."

Emperor Yongchang: "Let's explore again."

"Yes."

Dai Quan opened the box containing the seal, took out the seal with both hands, stamped it heavily in the cinnabar ink box, then put his hand to his mouth and blew out a breath, then stamped it neatly on the upper right side of the painting.

Emperor Yongchang looked at it carefully again and nodded with satisfaction.

Dai Quan asked, "Shall I send it over now?"

Emperor Yongchang thought for a moment and said, "Go ahead. Oh, and let that 'Dai Ba Wang' go free."

After a pause, he said, "Isn't Li Hu in Rongguo Mansion? Let his soldiers strip Xue."

Dai Quan: "Xue Pan."

Emperor Yongchang: ".Take off Xue Pan's pants and give him fifty strokes of the cane to teach him a lesson!"

"Yes."

Dai Quan smiled. If the Imperial Household Department carried out the fifty canings, the least that could happen was that the skin would be torn and the flesh on the buttocks might even be beaten off. It was normal for someone to die. Letting Li Hu's personal soldiers carry out the execution would not only teach Xue Pan a lesson, but also make the Jia, Wang, and Xue families owe Li Hu a favor. Dai Quan suddenly remembered: "Will the Censorate impose a slight punishment?"

Emperor Yongchang: "No! Let them scoop as much as they want. When I have time, I will settle accounts with them."

Dai Quan made clear the intention of Emperor Yongchang, and he no longer concealed it: "If you do too much evil, you will eventually perish. Since Li Hu accidentally destroyed the intelligence network of the Jurchens last year, and the Imperial Household Department arrested more than a dozen traitors who provided the Jurchens with information about the court's internal affairs, Shengjing has been unable to obtain important information in a timely manner for more than half a year. But since last winter, Shengjing has been able to obtain information about the court in a timely manner again."

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flashed with ferocity: "Someone in the Censorate has become a traitor again? Who is it?"

Dai Quan: "It cannot be confirmed yet. We only know that some of the information was leaked from the Censorate."

The Censorate was not only responsible for supervision, impeachment and advice, but also participated in the trial of major cases. In addition, the Censors of the Censorate could participate in court meetings, and even the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief could participate in major government affairs discussions such as the Nine Ministers' Meeting and the Court Meeting.

Emperor Yongchang thought for a moment and said: "Let's stop the court meeting first and see if the left and right censors have any questions."

Dai Quan hesitated for a moment and replied, "Yes."

As he was speaking, footsteps were heard outside, followed by the voice of the eunuch on duty reporting: "Your Majesty, Zhen Yingjia's memorial has arrived!"

Dai Quan hurried to the door: "Quick! Express delivery!"

The eunuch on duty hurriedly handed the memorial to Dai Quan.

Dai Quan walked quickly to the imperial desk holding the memorial and handed it to Emperor Yongchang.

Emperor Yongchang took the memorial, tore open the seal and read it.

After reading it, Emperor Yongchang handed it to Dai Quan calmly: "It's about the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, you can take a look at it too."

"Yes."

Dai Quan quickly bent down and took it with both hands. He unfolded it and was stunned after reading a few lines. He could not help but look towards Emperor Yongchang.

Emperor Yongchang: "Let's see first."

Dai Quan quickly glanced over and his face became serious.

Emperor Yongchang has stepped down from the dragon throne and started to wander around the western warm pavilion alone. "The entry, storage and use of weapons and supplies in the armory must be recorded in detail to prevent people with ulterior motives from using them or losing them among the people. There is a strict process for the entry and exit of weapons. Those who make mistakes will be punished with fifty strokes of the cane! The storage of materials in the warehouse needs to be checked and tested regularly. If weapons are lost or damaged due to dereliction of duty or poor storage, the lighter punishment is imprisonment, and the heavier punishment is beheading! In addition, the armory has three keys, and they are managed by three key officers. Logically, no one can steal weapons from the armory!"

Dai Quan was silent. Because of this, they all focused their attention on the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau. As a result, there was a problem with the arsenal. Someone was able to get the keys from the three key officers and successfully copy them, and also steal thousands of waist knives and hundreds of cloth armors from the arsenal without anyone noticing.

Maybe the number is far more than this!
Emperor Yongchang stopped walking. "Since Zhen Yingjia took the initiative to ask for an imperial decree to investigate this matter, why did he say it was an old matter and the parties involved had passed away, making it difficult to verify. Is it really difficult to investigate, or does he not want to investigate, or does he not dare to investigate?"

Dai Quan thought about it and replied, "Maybe both."

Emperor Yongchang looked out the window and said, "I have asked the Armory Department about this. Those swords were made in the past one or two years."

Dai Quan was shocked to hear this. He didn't even know about this. The lost sword was newly made in the past one or two years. The only person who could make Zhen Yingjia dare not investigate further was the one in Daming Palace.

But, what does he want these weapons for? Rebellion?! It's ridiculous to think about it. Prince Zhong can't make any waves even with so many imperial guards. How can he command his troops to enter the imperial city alone?

Could it be that Zhen Yingjia found out about Zhen’s family members?

Thinking of this, Dai Quan shook his head. Even if those useless people from the Zhen family had the guts, they wouldn't dare to steal weapons from the armory.

Emperor Yongchang looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Dai Quan came back to his senses and said, "I was wondering if I should arrange for someone to go to Jinling to take a look."

Emperor Yongchang hesitated for a long time before saying, "Forget it. It took a lot of effort to subdue Zhen Yingjia. This incident won't have a big impact. There's no need to turn against him over such a small matter."

He paused, "If you point it out to him in the secret decree, he will naturally be in awe of your authority and be willing to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence."

Dai Quan: "Your Majesty is wise!"

At this moment, a red-robed eunuch from the Imperial Household Department hurried in and reported, "Your Majesty, Prince Beijing has left Rongguo Mansion."

Emperor Yongchang said to Dai Quan: "Send someone to pass on the order."

(End of this chapter)