Chapter 2021 Wang Ziteng
One day.
Jia Mansion.
Prince Teng is here.
After greetings and meeting with his ancestor, Jia Baoyu personally received him in the study.
Wang Ziteng, who had been promoted all the way to the cabinet bachelor, was the real protector of the four major families, but Jia Yuanchun, the noble concubine, was not.
Zhao Han knows this very well.
"My dear nephew, there is unrest in the north, and troops are about to be mobilized. However, the court is short of silver." Prince Teng said.
"Uncle, but the court needs to report something?" Zhao Han asked directly.
"That's right. Every time I went on an expedition before, I always asked the salt merchants to respond. This time we were in the north and had little relationship with the salt merchants. They responded very little." Wang Ziteng shook his head.
"Then how many thousand taels does a noble family like ours need to repay?" Zhao Han asked again.
"Ten thousand taels? It seems that the rumors outside are good," Wang Ziteng said with a smile, "Since the wise nephew took charge of the family, your Jia family has become rich again."
"It's not bad. ," Zhao Han said modestly.
With Jia Rong and Jia Lian doing overseas trade, money is no longer a problem for her.
You can’t get out millions at the moment, but you can get around 100,000 yuan, no problem.
"Ten thousand taels is enough. Even the queen's father, the head of the dynasty, only donated 30,000 taels." Wang Ziteng gave him an amount.
Zhao Han shook his head in his heart.
Eunuch Xia used to pay one thousand or fifteen hundred every time he came to Jia's house to ask for money, and he basically came once a month.
Of course not anymore.
The court needs military expenses, and each household only contributes a few thousand taels, or even tens of thousands taels. This shows that the court is not running smoothly.
"Is it already so difficult in the imperial court?" Zhao Han asked.
Although Wang Ziteng was low-key and scheming, he never expected that his nephew was determined to rebel, and everyone knew about it.
"There are too many deficits, everywhere in Taicang and the inner palace. Many ministers borrowed money from the Ministry of Household Affairs and have not paid it back. This is especially true in various places, with deficits year after year." Wang Ziteng shook his head.
"No wonder if something happens, everyone needs to report." Zhao Han felt that it was time to chop down the tree.
But don’t do it too harshly, do it slowly.
Mainly by occupying the silk, tea, and porcelain production areas, it can realize the freedom of distribution with the West.
Specialties like tea were only learned by Westerners in modern times and successfully grown outside.
The same is true for porcelain.
They all came from behind.
Only silk, because it requires a lot of technical chains, until modern times, Westerners still have not formed a famous industry.
Because all kinds of embroidery are troublesome and require a sufficient population to operate.
Now these three items are important bulk materials for them to achieve trade balance. They are almost hard currency. They basically sell as much as they ship out.
Because the main consumer target is the Western aristocracy.
These three things are basically in the southeast.
It is not easy to seize the southeastern land, which is the basis of taxation for the imperial court.
"Yes, the emperor is in a difficult situation, and ministers must be considerate. Our Wang family is also prepared to pay 20,000 taels." Wang Ziteng followed.
"If we go out too much, will the emperor think that we are too extravagant?" Zhao Han asked directly.
There are some things that a veteran official like Wang Ziteng understands.
"Ten thousand to twenty thousand is still within the tolerance of the emperor. Buildings like the Grand View Garden can no longer be used." Wang Ziteng said.
Zhao Han nodded.
Jia Mansion is too high-profile.
While Wang Ziteng was promoted, he never celebrated.
However, even so, he could not escape the cold. He took the wrong medicine and died in a daze...
That must be the emperor's hands and feet, or it may be the fickleness of fate.
In short, it is useless no matter how big your official position is, it will still be in vain.
However, after Wang Ziteng's death, huge deficits were exposed in the area under his jurisdiction, and he was impeached by the censor.
This may have been left by the predecessor, or more likely, the prince used the money from the territory to make up for the emperor.
In short, with Wang Ziteng's low-key style, it is impossible for him to be too extravagant.
"I see, uncle, I wonder what benefits will come after we serve?"
"The benefit is that Jane is in the emperor's heart. For example, your sister's status can be upgraded to another level. .”
"So that's it, then let's repay the favor." Zhao Han said, taking out a banknote and giving it to Wang Ziteng.
The above is twenty thousand taels.
Ten thousand is for the emperor, and naturally ten thousand is for my uncle.
Now she has to rely on this uncle as a cover.
As long as Wang Ziteng survives, the decline will not begin.
And she was able to continue to be promoted, and she knew a lot under the guidance of Wang Ziteng.
It’s just the same sentence, no matter how high it is, it will eventually turn back.
After all, Prince Tengdu’s cabinet bachelor is still over.
Then Wang Ziteng left.
And Zhao Han began to organize the housework and collect the debts owed by the slaves.
Use to reduce extravagance.
Except the old lady, everyone else must be frugal.
She went to see Mrs. Wang personally.
Jia Mu is also reasonable.
I know that the emperor will use troops recently, so I can't afford to be extravagant.
As a result, the food standards were lowered a lot, and the number of servants and girls outside was also reduced a lot. .
For example, Grandma Liu said at the crab feast: "The crabs are worth five cents per catty this year. Ten catties are five cents, five five two two five, three five one fifteen, and then With the food and drinks, there are more than twenty taels of silver in total. Amitabha! This meal is enough for our family to live for a year."
Mrs. Wang has to rely on her airs.
Only Jia Baoyu can convince the two of them to lower their arrogance.
It’s difficult for the emperor to live in such a luxurious place. How can he still live a good life?
This time is a reflection of Yongzheng's pursuit of shortfalls and arrears.
…………
Six months later.
There is something going on in the north.
Wang Ziteng is leading the army. This time the enemy is the place where Jia Baoyu's rare golden fur was made.
They used muskets, built a strange kind of fortress, and had cannon.
There are very few people, but they are very strong.
There are only about 1,500 people, but Wang Ziteng brought more than 10,000 troops and horses, but they couldn't attack them.
Of course it is a long way and supplies are inconvenient.
Among the more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, there are only just over 8,000 regular soldiers, which is more than 5 times more than the defenders. Sun Tzu's art of war is to attack an enemy by ten, and surround it by double.
This strange fortress is located at the intersection of two rivers. When they came here, they wanted to go southeast along the river.
But the southeast is an important town, so the court cannot tolerate it.
Wang Ziteng finally accepted the advice of his staff and relied on his large number of troops to build two large camps on the north and south banks. He led troops to surround the fortress and built pontoons upstream and downstream to block traffic.
It must be said that the combat effectiveness of these people is far better than that of the cavalry on the grassland.
Even though the opponent was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of manpower, Wang Ziteng was still in a dilemma.
The siege lasted three full months.
But the opponent's muskets and cannons made it impossible for Wang Ziteng's soldiers to attack.
It's not that we can't attack, but many people will die at one time. If we hit, we will be injured, and if we are injured, we will die.
"The firearms in the past were not so sharp, why can't theirs be shot down?"
No one was willing to attack forward, and the court became more and more irritable.
Even an absolutely superior force cannot defeat the enemy.
They thought about digging a tunnel, but it was useless. This is a river bank, and water will appear after digging three meters.
Just when Wang Ziteng was in trouble, Jia Baoyu replied to him after receiving the letter home from him.
Told Wang Ziteng about a zigzag trench digging method.
That is to say, first dig a trench in the distance, and then keep approaching the city wall in the form of a "zig".
After discussing with his staff, Wang Ziteng decided to use this method of warfare.
Use trenches to cover soldiers and engage the enemy at close range. Of course, the opponent is condescending and has an advantage when approaching and shooting.
So movable wooden boards and thick floating soil were laid on the trench.
This was used by later generations to defend against artillery.
It can defend against howitzers, let alone cannons and muskets at this time.
Sure enough, the enemy's cannons and muskets couldn't hit the soldiers digging trenches.
They gradually approached in this way, all the way to the bottom of the city wall.
The enemy tried to hit him with stones, but it was ineffective.
There is a lot of wood nearby.
Wang Ziteng has enough offensive materials.
After arriving under the city wall, I was finally able to dodge the enemy's cannons and exchange fire with the enemy.
Once you engage in a shooting exchange with the enemy, the opponent is doomed.
The opponent's firearms are powerful, including flintlock guns.
But they also have muskets, and their bows and arrows are not bad either.
The key is that he has enough manpower, but if the other party dies, one of them will be missing. He can keep bringing people here.
The reason why I couldn't rush up before was because the opponent had cannons, which could destroy his siege tools such as towers and carts.
Without siege tools, soldiers are exposed to the enemy's shooting range, and morale will quickly decrease.
No soldiers are willing to attack the city like this.
Now you can rush up by adding wooden planks to the ditch.
If he wanted to force the attack, everyone below might mutiny.
With the help of Jia Baoyu's tactics, the opponent's strength was reduced from more than 1,500 to more than 200.
At this time, the other party finally sent someone out to request surrender.
They persisted for five whole months, but they really couldn't hold on.
However, it seems to be a failure, which also proves their success.
It's just that there are fewer of them, and they have temporarily given up their ambition to continue colonizing here.
Because these 1,500 people are all gathered in a large area nearby.
As for Wang Ziteng's more than 10,000 people, as long as he still has money and food, he can summon several more than 10,000 people.
After Wang Ziteng's victory, he prepared to return to the court and sent people eight hundred miles in advance to rush back the victory news.
The saint was overjoyed, and at that time he made Prince Teng the Marquis of Dingbei and became a bachelor in the cabinet.
But the Jia family was not very happy.
Because they did not benefit from it.
Jia Mu didn’t say much, but she didn’t send anyone to congratulate her. She just mentioned that after Prince Teng came back, she would ask Jia Baoyu to visit her uncle alone.
Other women are inconvenient to go out.
Then the imperial court issued an edict to announce to the world that sacrifices should be made to the Ancestral Temple.
Everyone in the capital rejoiced.
Only Zhao Han shook his head.
This means that Western military technology has surpassed the East.
This is also the reason why they were shocked.
……
It is said that on his way back to Beijing, Wang Ziteng received an imperial edict and was awarded the title of Bachelor of the Cabinet.
"The emperor attaches great importance to the prince, and I hope that the prince can meet you as soon as possible." The eunuch said.
"It's easy to say, I can hurry up and go to see the saint in advance." Although Wang Ziteng was tired from the long battle, he held on his body for the sake of the emperor's favor.
Then he abandoned the army and drove quickly with the eunuch.
The great eunuch was accompanied by an imperial physician. It was said that the emperor valued the general's health, so he sent an imperial physician to diagnose and treat him along the way.
When we were only two hundred miles away from the capital, it rained heavily.
Overjoyed, Wang Ziteng drove all night again. He was tired and suffered from the rain in the carriage.
As a last resort, on this day, I caught wind and cold in a place called Shilitun.
So I could only stay nearby temporarily, and then go to see the saint after I was cured.
There are no famous doctors nearby, but fortunately there is an imperial doctor in the car.
After a thorough diagnosis and treatment, the imperial doctor set up a house and asked people to get medicine.
That night, in a residential house.
Under the dim candlelight.
A trusted guard whispered: "Commander, someone from the Jia family is here."
Wang Ziteng said quickly: "Quick, let people come in."
Two people walked into the house one after another.
The old man is in front and the young man is behind.
The young man is carrying a medicine box.
"This is a special wind-cold medicine from our Rong Pharmaceutical Company. It's called aspirin. It can treat the prince's wind-cold." The old man came in to make a diagnosis and took out a bottle of medicine.
Wang Ziteng said happily on the sickbed: "Are you sent by Baoyu?"
"Exactly."
"Well, hurry up and give me this medicine."
However, the imperial doctor next to you said: "This is a strange medicine of Westerners and cannot be relied on. . The old prescription we have used for more than two thousand years will work."
"This medicine can treat colds," the old man said doubtfully, "Why divide things?"
< br>"Our two thousand years old prescription has helped us pass it down to this day, which shows its effect." The imperial doctor insisted.
Wang Ziteng said angrily: "I don't care about you east or west, I only believe in Baoyu."
The imperial doctor suddenly looked stern and walked out of the house.
The old man wondered: "This man is just a doctor, how dare he be rude in front of the prince?"
Wang Ziteng said nothing and just asked him to get the medicine quickly.
Then he took aspirin.
My headache disappeared and I slept peacefully.
Early the next morning, Wang Ziteng felt light-headed and light-sighted. His headaches were relieved, and the heat was no longer there. He had the strength to get out of bed and was able to take a few more mouthfuls in the morning.
Seeing this, the imperial doctor had nothing to say.
He looked ashamed and then left.
The prince, a shrewd man, felt his heart sink.
Then the young man saw that no one was there, so he pulled out a letter and handed it to him.
Wang Ziteng opened it and took a look.
There are no words in the letter.
There are only some animal hairs, feathers, and a bow and arrow used by children to catch Zhou.
White and yellow.
White rabbit and yellow dog.
When Wang Ziteng saw this, his heart suddenly hurt.
He, an expert in officialdom, immediately understood Jia Baoyu's hint.
The rabbit is dead and the dog is cooked, and the bird is hidden behind its bow.
Wang Ziteng immediately wrote a letter saying that he was seriously ill and could not go to Beijing immediately, and hoped that the emperor would choose someone else.
Of course, the emperor's gift cannot be rejected directly.
Although he just declined tactfully, the emperor issued an order to comfort him.
He was ordered to take up the post after he recovered from his illness.
Wang Ziteng finally returned to Beijing.
Jia Baoyu comes to see you again.
At this time, the two people's mood was very different from half a year ago.
“Hey, I didn’t expect that after all my hard work for the emperor, I would be killed by a quack doctor in the end.”
“Uncle, when you lose Jingying Jiedu, then you As he was promoted along the way, he lost his foundation," Jia Baoyu sighed.
"Alas, I feel sorry for the Second Duke Rong Ning in this matter. Without the safety and military power of the capital, I am also a rootless duckweed, so I will get this reward."
( End of chapter)