The bear child of the Red Chamber, Jia Cong

"Yanjing Weekly" published a customer feedback in the third issue in March.

The Wu family in Cangzhou posted a reward for family tracing on the headline of the last issue of the newspaper, willing to spare 21 silver for clues to their grandson who disappeared near the west gate of the capital [-] years ago.A few days later, a young man came to the door, suspecting that he was the person the Wu family was looking for.This young man was an abandoned baby, who was thrown at the gate of a temple in the west of Beijing. The baby was just as the newspaper said, and he provided his own date of birth.The steward of the Wu family matched it with the missing Master Fang, exactly.So he rushed inside and invited Mr. Wu Tianyou out.

Master Wu shed tears when he saw the young man, stroked his head and neck and said, "It must be my grandson, who looks exactly like my daughter!" Someone took a portrait of Grandma Wu when she was young and came out with a pair of them. Extremely!On the contrary, Mr. Wu Rui, the eldest son of Mr. Wu Tianzuo of Donghai Academy who just passed away, said that even though the young man could match all kinds of clues, it is still good to recognize his relatives once.Then he confessed his relatives with a drop of blood, and it turned out to be the child their family was looking for.Grandpa and grandson hugged each other and cried.Because Mr. Fang had not been named when he was lost, and Fang's family was far away in Luo State, Wu Tianyou named his grandson Hepu, which means Hepu Huanzhu.

After hearing this, the regent Jia Cong praised the word "good" three times, and rode a fast horse to Cangzhou to congratulate him.The "Yanjing Weekly" photographer who went with him took a group photo at the gate of Wu's house.In the middle is Jia Cong, on the left is Mr. Wu Tianyou and his newly found grandson Fang Hepu, on the right is Wu Rui and his eldest son Wu Chengze.

As soon as this article was published, Shilin in the capital set off a huge wave.It should be noted that since Jia Cong took over the country of Yan, there have been no great Confucian scholars working in the country of Yan.His uncle Lin Hai and his husband Su Zheng, who lived far away in Jiangxi, did not become official.And the Donghai Academy of the Wu family in Cangzhou is very famous, and it is the highest ranked academy in the whole country. I don’t know how many scholars it has taught.In detail, it is more than enough to form a Donghai Party.Furthermore, Wu Tianyou was an important minister of the imperial court in his early years, and many people under his command were able to do things. The photo in the "Yanjing Weekly" was like pouring a pinch of water into a boiling oil pan, and it exploded—the Wu family took refuge in Jia Cong, and Donghai Academy took refuge in Jia Cong.

It took Jia Cong only one and a half years to occupy the country of Yan. The abolition of land tax exemption in the old year had just offended the scholars of the country of Yan.I never dreamed that the great Confucianism would be conquered so quickly.Next year will be Chunwei, and the kings will have to send people to Beijing to grab talents.I thought that this time there must be nothing wrong with the Yan State, the King of Qi's favored concubine Ma Shi persuaded the King of Qi a few days ago, and then people can persuade the kings to change their examinations to the State of Qi; the court of the State of Qi also made some preparations.If Jia Cong subdued Yan Confucian scholars, the calculation would be in vain.

Newspapers are sent to various countries by fast horses, including the Kingdom of Shu.Situ Cen sighed several times while reading the newspaper.His daughter-in-law, Qiu Shi, felt uncomfortable, and said: "There is nothing to sigh about. It is obvious that Jia Cong's idea of ​​the Wu family's finding his grandson in the newspaper. Now that it is done, it is only natural for him to thank him."

Situ Cen smiled wryly and said, "That's what I'm worried about. He can help people like this every time - ordinary people can't help if they want to help, and even if they want to pay back the favor, they won't be able to pay back the favor at all. Just like last time without his help I don't know if I'm married to a wife until the day I get married. How can I repay this kind of favor? I heard that Mrs. Wu and the old lady are deeply in love with each other. One daughter died in the palace, and the other daughter was killed by robbers. Then The grandson must be the old man's heart." I couldn't help sighing again, "My old man also wooed Wu Tianyou and his brother earlier, and the two brothers were not moved at all. I don't want him to take it away."

Qiu said: "Why didn't the lord think of helping their family find their grandson?"

Situ Cen pursed his lips: "He probably never thought of asking about such things."

Qiu thought for a moment and said: "Since that's the case, even if the prince loses, there is nothing to complain about. The skills are not as good as others."

Situ Cen sighed again: "That being said..." He shook his head.

But at this moment, there was something going on outside, and someone came in and said that the son was invited, so Situ Cen had no choice but to clean up.

When I arrived at Shizi Mansion, I saw that there was a room full of staff members, and I felt something was wrong.He only heard the son cough twice and asked him to sit down, took another sip of tea, then turned his head down and said: "After all these years of enduring, the son of Da Da Xing finally started to bully the people."

Situ Cen frowned slightly and said: "The Pang family has led the army for three generations, and Da Daxing also loves soldiers like a son. It's probably useless to use such an idea as an excuse. How is the son preparing?"

The prince said: "So let's discuss it. Since the Pang family army has the first flaw, it is inevitable that there will be a second one."

"It's so difficult to guess..." Situ Cen spread his hands, "It's better to wait for a few more loopholes before discussing."

The prince glared at him: "Shut up." Situ Cen obediently shut up.

Behind them, all the staff discussed how to deal with Pang Daxing and how to leverage Pang's army as a whole.Situ Cen dozed off listening to it.After everyone finished talking, Shizi took a look at Situ Cen and ordered everyone else to disperse.Nai asked Situ Cen: "Third brother, what do you think?"

Situ Cen spread his hands: "I don't know. I don't know how to make clever calculations. Why do you need to worry, brother? I have been waiting for so many years."

The prince sighed: "It's just waiting for many years to get the clues, I can't bear it."

Situ Cen was stunned for a while, resting his cheeks, and said, "Second brother, I want to take a trip to the capital."

The prince had just picked up the teacup to eat, but he put it down when he heard the words: "Why are you going to the capital?"

Situ Cen grinned: "Would you believe me if I said I miss Jia Cong?"

"I don't believe it." The prince said, "You want to ask him for advice. This person has the most ghostly ideas."

"Don't expose it so bluntly."

"Hmph. I don't know you yet."

Situ Cen was also a refreshing person, he went back to prepare for two days, and on the third day he brought a few guards, rode fast horses, ate and slept in the open, and arrived in the capital in less than [-] days.Over the years, Prince Ning's Mansion in the capital city had been cleaned and repaired, so he went straight back to live there, and sent someone to deliver a post to Rongguo Mansion.

When Jia Cong returned home that night, he was slightly startled when he received the post.There are so many descendants of phoenixes and dragons in the world, Situ Cen is one of them who knows himself quite well, and he must know that Jia Cong has rebelled.It will be Chunwei next year, what is he doing here now?So I asked him to meet at Yihong Courtyard tomorrow.

The next day, the two arrived at Yihong Courtyard as agreed.The old bustard prepared a quiet place for the two of them at the back, and she didn't dare to serve the wine, so she just made a cup of tea and left.Jia Cong looked up at Situ Cen for a long time, and sighed: "You really have matured a lot. The aura of the prodigal son in the early years is gone, and you are full of official authority. You are a good official."

Situ Cen said with a bitter face, "Tired."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "I'm not as tired as you."

Situ Cen snorted, "Of course you're not tired, you have so many helpers." He suddenly fell silent.After waiting for half a day, Jia Cong was preparing a whole set of excuses, and when he asked himself why he rebelled, Situ Cen finally said, "I want to ask you for an idea."

"Ah?" Jia Cong was taken aback, "What idea?"

"A while ago, something happened to us in Shu." Situ Cen said, "There is a family who has been waiting for many years, and finally something went wrong."

Jia Cong blinked: "Who is it?"

Situ Cen said seriously, "Have you heard of Pang Jiajun?"

"No." Jia Cong said aside.Situ Cen glared at him.

There are many Qiang people in the Kingdom of Shu, and many Qiang people are brave.In order to prevent them from disobedient, Grandpa Tai sent a troop to station in the land of the Qiang people when he was alive.Its leader, surnamed Pang, has been in the third generation so far. His soldiers include Qiang, Han and Miao, with strict military discipline and high martial arts skills.Relying on various native tribes, they are self-sufficient and do not need food and grass from the imperial court. They call themselves the Pang Family Army.Although they can protect one side's peace, they are like thorns in the flesh to the king of Shu, and it will be very uncomfortable if they are not removed.When the late emperor was alive, he wanted to gather them for his own use, but the one named Pang actually took out the gold medal given by the grandpa, saying that he was ordered by the grandpa to guard the Qiang people for generations, and he did not listen to the imperial court.Now that the Kingdom of Shu has firearms, they are not afraid to beat them.It's just that the king of Shu was born in martial arts, and he cherishes soldiers the most.Seeing that all of the Pang family's army are elite soldiers, if a pawn is released at random, he can be a general at least, so he is reluctant to kill him and wants to get it.

After waiting for so many years, it can be said that the son of the leader of the Pang family army has been forced to buy other people's land at a low price.Although such an idea alone can't make trouble for their family, at least there are some clues.

After hearing this, Jia Cong rubbed his chin: "It's starting to buy land by force...that's..." No one gave them money~~It's so fast!

Since ancient times, military expenditures have been the most expensive.This Pang Jiajun is one of the eighteen hole cards left by Grandpa Tai.Although they also sent people to Beijing to send incense money to Wanshou Temple every year, they took more away.How much does the Monk Temple cost?The money sent in by those gold mines and silver mines and gambling houses had to be used to raise soldiers.On the surface, the Pang family army did not spend the military pay of the imperial court, but in fact they used the small treasury of the grandpa.

Now Wanshou Temple is really a temple.At the beginning of March, people from the Pang family army rushed to donate merit, and the new monk who received the money was replaced by an unfamiliar monk.Although the accounts are published on fine silk, they are only collected but not vomited.Master Chen and old monk Li En, who was in charge of the account, all went out for a wandering, and the other monks didn't know where they were, and they didn't get the silver notes for the major general who was ordered to come from Shu.Therefore, General Pang's family ran for nothing and returned empty-handed.

Only after I went back did I know that their gardener had died.It was obvious that something serious had happened in Beijing, and the Pang family had guessed for many days but could not figure it out.It's just that the military salary really can't be changed out of thin air, can it?Therefore, it is unavoidable to start doing something to bully the good people.

Situ Cen waited for a long time, Jia Cong didn't finish his sentence, but urged: "What is that?"

"That's poor." Jia Cong said, "The king of Shu always knows about military affairs. To raise an elite soldier, he doesn't need the court to pay the soldiers. Where do they get the money? Either they have other sources of money in their hands, or It’s just that they often pretend to be bandits and go out to rob. No matter what the reason is, since they start to get money from outside, it means that they are poor inside, and they have no money to buy meat for the soldiers, and no money to pay the soldiers.”

"According to the meaning, we should pay them soldiers?"

"Of course not." Jia Cong said, "Even the first emperor didn't pry, such an army must be united as a whole. Even if the king of Shu paid them soldiers, it was nothing more than free money. They won't have a single soldier. Listen to orders." He thought for a while, "Hey, according to the cunning temperament of the late emperor, why didn't you assassinate the leader of the Pang family army?"

Situ Cen smirked: "Why not? It didn't work even once, but several assassins died instead."

Jia Cong rubbed his chin: "You must have assassins in your hands. How about trying again?" He stretched out a finger, "Just once. Those sent by the late emperor must be masters. I think it can Only masters of the same level or even higher can survive and fight back from the masters of the inner circle. Raising these people is more expensive than raising elite soldiers. Since the Pang family has no money—they probably won’t become poor all of a sudden , There must be a process. For some reason, I gradually became poor. Then, raising soldiers is much more important than mastering them. They have started to bully the common people, which shows that the Pang family army has reached the point where they can't even maintain their noble posture. Hmm... It is most likely that the master has already been dismissed. If you try to assassinate that General Pang again, maybe you will succeed."

Situ Cen said: "Even if General Pang is dead, he is too popular, and it is difficult for my father to subdue him. It's not like he has no sons."

Jia Cong sneered: "You are stupid! Since you want his soldiers, you can't keep his sons! The Pang family's children are all dead or scattered, and the rest of the soldiers will be leaderless. When the time comes, will you pay the soldiers? Just took it?"

Situ Cen thought for a long time: "Do you really think that their family has no more masters?"

"I didn't say for sure!" Jia Cong hurriedly said, "I'll let you try. It should be gone after reasoning."

After a long time, Situ Cen said, "Let's try it and see. What if it still doesn't work?"

"Then you don't want to get their ideas for the time being." Jia Cong said, "If it's not yours, don't force it."

Situ Cen rolled his eyes at him.After a while, he suddenly asked: "Did you really collect so much land tax?"

Jia Cong nodded: "Really."

"How did you get it?"

"That's how it is collected!" Jia Cong spread his hands, "How the petty officials collected taxes in the past, they still collect taxes now. How they used to collect taxes from ordinary peasant households, now they still collect taxes from high-ranking households. Yes, don't we have an army?"

Situ Cen sighed: "You have brought our Shu Kingdom a lot of trouble...Many people have come to the Shu Kingdom to buy land."

Jia Cong said with a smile: "Shu can also collect their land tax, and the tax will be heavier, and then drive them to other countries."

Situ Cen shook his head: "It's too difficult." Nai silently ate his tea.Jia Cong waited for another half a day, but he heard him say, "You are really rebellious."

"Yes." Jia Cong said leisurely, "It's really the opposite. Hey, can we still be friends?"

Situ Cen stared at him for a long time: "I have to think about it."

"Think about it slowly." Jia Cong took a sip of tea, "By the way, the disciples of Shan Guofu who stayed in the capital are going to meet the middleman and are going to sell Shan Guofu." Situ Cen frowned slightly.Jia Cong continued, "I'm going to buy it and turn it into a museum for ordinary people to visit."

Situ Cen snorted, "Your one-day tour of the Forbidden City has gone to the Kingdom of Shu."

Jia Cong immediately smiled: "The business is really booming. Are you going to swim?"

"Is there a discount?"

"Do not hit."

"Then I won't go." Situ Cen said, "It's not like I never went there when I was young."