Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 216 4.12 Don’t forget the eldest lady of the Hou Mansion
Volume Four

4.12 Don’t forget the eldest lady of the Hou family
Time passed by. Zhou Yang originally thought that he would transfer the news from Lin Ruhai to the Duke of Qi, and arrangements would be made there soon. However, he did not want to overestimate the efficiency of work in this era. Five days later, He just received Chen Yejun's post, but it was a gathering of Eighth Prince's children, inviting him to a banquet.

So, after an unsatisfying banquet, Chen Yejun personally sent away Jia Zhen and his son, who were basically "foils", and then took him to the study room in the Duke of Qi's mansion, where Chen Ruiwen was already waiting with other children from various families. .

"What Ziyang means is that this is actually the news that Lin Hai deliberately released on behalf of His Majesty?" Seeing that everyone was in place, Chen Ruiwen stroked his small goatee and asked, "Is it possible that Lin Hai did this in private?"

"Teacher, Mr. Lin is just a bachelor's student. Although he is a close minister of His Majesty, he has no power in name, let alone interfere in military affairs." Zhou Yang said seriously, "Otherwise, as long as it is spread, even in his capacity, At least it’s a devolution, unless someone asks him to send a message!”

"Uncle Chen, what Brother Zhou said makes sense." Liu Dong, who has been creating a "think tank" character, said lightly, "Lin Ruhai's daily habits are not a secret. He is not a talkative person, and he will not blindly interfere with things he shouldn't touch. "If he suddenly spoke, he could only be following His Majesty's instructions."

"What do nephew Liu Xian mean?" Chen Ruiwen frowned and asked.

"It is indispensable to renovate the fifth military camp first." Obviously, the time these days has not been wasted. At least Liu Dong has indeed made certain preparations. "But we can extend the time appropriately and renovate while doing so." Just solve the previous problems and just say there is no problem when you finally report it.”

"Brother Liu, you don't know the situation in the army, how can you really solve it?" Hou Yuan said dissatisfied, "Let's not talk about anything else, let's just talk about the number of troops. How should we solve it? It can't be done. Recruit people now to fill up the positions, right? Not to mention the consequences of doing so, what about the next step of "selecting forwards"? Is it possible to count on these newcomers? "

"Brother Hou, you care so much, the problem has to be solved step by step, right? Otherwise, if it's just an empty salary, once it is pulled to the table by those poor people, even if it is His Majesty's favor, how can we just let us go?" Shi Meng said dissatisfiedly, "You must at least get past this first step before you can talk about the rest, right?"

"This -" It was obvious that Liu Dong had not thought of any feasible solution.

"Ziyang, since you have passed on the message, shouldn't you just say nothing?" Chen Ruiwen saw that no one had come up with a solution, so he could only turn his head and ask Zhou Yang helplessly, "If this matter cannot be resolved this time, what will happen last time?" The talk of rectifying the entire army has naturally become empty talk, and I’m afraid His Majesty won’t be able to explain it to you.”

"Teacher Rongzhen, my disciple has thought about it repeatedly after hearing what Master Lin said, but he can't come up with any good ideas because he knows too little." Zhou Yang was also helpless about this, just like Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan at the time As others have said, the current army of the Zhou Dynasty is really hard to come back from. "At least, I can ask this disciple, what is this staff like? Is it really as powerful as the outside rumors say?"

As soon as his question came out, everyone at the scene avoided looking, including the cunning Chen Ruiwen. At this time, he also picked up the teacup to cover up in embarrassment, but no one was willing to speak. Zhou Yang could only look at Chen Yejun helplessly. , indicating that he should make a start at least.

"This." Mr. Chen smiled bitterly for a long time, and finally said helplessly, "At present, whether it is the Beijing camp or the surrounding major camps, the situation is actually the same. The number of posts is basically about half, and there is a certain difference between the upper and lower levels."

"That is to say, there is no possibility of solving it just because of the vacancy issue?" Zhou Yang was really helpless. He was short of half of the salary, saying that the solution was completely nonsense. Fortunately, he did think about it a lot these days, "It's okay. , but for any problem, if there is no way to solve it directly, then find a way to solve the problem."

"Brother Zhou, this army reorganization is no small matter. It's not like I haven't thought about the method you mentioned, but in the end it has to come back to me." Niu Ben said with a wry smile, "Because this army reorganization is the general trend, not a single person. can decide.”

"No, Brother Niu misunderstood. The younger brother is not trying to take action, but pushing the problem back to where it started." Zhou Yang said with a smile, "The bottom line of this army reorganization is that the court has no money and cannot act like before. No matter how you operate, you have forgotten that the people who can waste the most money are not us."

"Of course, those poor people are probably qualified to talk about who has made the most money." Shi Meng said dissatisfied, "These things are indeed not things. They obviously made enough money, but they put the blame on us. .”

"Zi Yang, it's not like I haven't thought about this matter as a teacher. After all, the rules of the Ministry of Revenue have always been that [-]% is required for going out." Chen Ruiwen said helplessly, "But this account is based on the full amount. Yes, when receiving pay, the commander-in-chief of each battalion must sign and pledge it, and the money claimed in the account will not be less than a penny."

"Teacher has misunderstood. Of course the disciple knows that if the accounts cannot be evened, there is no way those poor people can be so presumptuous." Zhou Yang said with a smile, "However, many things do not require evidence at all. It depends on who has the loudest voice and who is the best." It is more reasonable, but whether it is right or wrong is actually not that important.

Just like this matter of wages, if the uncles open their mouths, no matter how much they say, it will be nothing more than a quarrel between the two sides in front of His Majesty. In the end, each can fight fifty times, which is a great favor from the emperor; but if the matter gets serious, no matter what No matter how many people have to be dealt with, the difference is nothing more than which level they deal with and which one is more unlucky. "

"Zi Yang, if this really happens, I'm afraid the first person your Majesty will deal with is the person who takes the lead in the army." Liu Dong said dissatisfied, "But if no one takes the lead in this matter, what do those Qiu Ba know? They can't count on themselves. Take the lead?"

"Brother Liu, have you forgotten that not all of the army's food and salary are controlled and distributed by us?" Zhou Yang said with a smile, "If something happens to them, what does it have to do with us?"

"The Ministry of Household Affairs always distributes salary to each battalion, right? Brother Zhou means, those disabled sergeants." Niu Ben's eyes lit up immediately, not just him, but others as well. "This amount of money has always been reported to us and distributed by the Ministry of Household Affairs. The military has never been allowed to get involved in the money. But to say that they paid it out in full and with full pay, I'm afraid even a fool wouldn't believe it." Zhou Yang said with a sneer, "The imperial pension is self-paying. It is certain that the people below will not receive the full amount, and it will not be a trivial matter to cause trouble; when the time comes, uncles will speak up for these brothers, as is natural and right!"

"Not bad!" Chen Ruiwen nodded with satisfaction, "Since we want the brothers below to work hard, it is natural to have silver rewards and pensions. When the time comes, it will be logical to take the opportunity to mention the vacancy. No matter how the Ministry of Accounts investigates, It's enough for us to solve some of the problems. With this beginning, the rest of the play will be easy to sing."

"We will train as many soldiers as the Ministry of Household Affairs distributes the salary." Zhou Yang said with a smile, "It's just that the salary has a fixed quota, which has never changed since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, but the prices in the market have changed unexpectedly. How many times have each battalion been able to survive only on the basis of what the existing food and salary can support, and there is no way to deal with some shortages!"

"There are also these three-day drills and all-out training, which also consume a lot of money." Liu Dong immediately added, "If you want to train troops, you must set aside sufficient preparations, which will also affect the recruitment of personnel. These are all recorded in the accounts of each battalion. Certificate, this calculation is based on the existing number of posts in each battalion."

"Another [-]% to [-]% will be enough!" Chen Ruiwen nodded with satisfaction, "As long as the Ministry of Revenue cannot solve the problem of pensions for disabled brothers within half a month, we will not have any more problems here; What's more, as long as the reason is acceptable for this kind of thing, no one dares to bite the bullet!"

"There are still some details that need to be added." Zhou Yang continued to instigate.

At the same time, the inner courtyard of the Xue family in Jinling was the Xue Baochai courtyard.

"Girl, the letter from the capital has arrived." Ying'er walked into the yard excitedly holding a dozen envelopes, "I thought the uncle forgot to write it, but it turned out that it was delayed by our own trade route. "

"Seriously?" Xue Baochai didn't care about being reserved for a moment. She grabbed the envelope and held it to her chest. After a while, she breathed a sigh of relief and read through them one by one. However, she put most of Zhou Yang's letters aside and opened the thickest one first. "No wonder Manager Zhang has been inspecting the shops below these days and has not stayed in the capital."

"This old guy, it's just a few letters, but he actually has to arrange the delivery himself, even if he appoints someone in advance." Ying'er said dissatisfied.

"But it's nonsense again. How can others see Brother Zhou's letter?" Xue Baochai glared at the maid angrily before continuing, "What if it gets spread?"

"Okay, girl, take a look, did the old guy say anything?" Ying'er didn't have the determination of her own girl, she pointed at the letter impatiently and said, "Has anything good happened recently?"

"It's just some ordinary things, what could happen? Besides, okay?" Xue Baochai was about to teach her girl a few words, but when she turned to the second page, she had an expression of disbelief on her face, "Brother Zhou, he...has been awarded an official title? On the second day of this month, you already received a petition from the Ministry of War?"

"Seriously?" Ying'er was also unsteady. She went up and grabbed the letter, read it carefully and said with surprise on her face, "Girl, he will take office in August, and he will be stationed in Daye, Xiangbei Province - then he Isn’t it coming soon?”

"Yes, okay?" Xue Baochai barely controlled her emotions. With blushing cheeks, she snatched the letter back from her girl's hand, read it carefully two or three times, and then read all the other dozen or so letters from Zhou Yang. He put it down reluctantly, "Ying'er, what do you think Brother Zhou is doing now?"

"Humph, I remember that Manager Zhang said that the uncle has made such a big name in the capital that even the eldest lady of the Hou Mansion doesn't know anything about him." Ying'er read the letter Xue Baochai opened before she was dissatisfied. He pouted and said, "What about the princess and princess? If he hadn't written a letter every few days, I would have thought that the poor people in Jinling have been forgotten."

"You damn hooves, you don't know how to be more reserved!" Xue Baochai knocked the maid angrily, "Brother Zhou is also looking for a future. After all, although we don't understand the affairs of the court, we also know the importance of connections. Listen to what Manager Zhang wants, Without the support of His Highness Yongchang, Brother Zhou might not be what he is now."

"My girl, don't forget about that young lady of the Hou Mansion!" Ying'er obviously lost her composure, "Now you are far away in Jinling, thousands of miles away, but she is in the capital near the water tower, and she is Yongchang. His Highness’s trusted female officer, if the princess lets the news go, please tell me”

"Shut up!"

"Huh?" Ying'er was stunned for a moment, then said uneasily, "Is this appropriate? Although I don't object to it, but after all, miss, you are not here yet. Should we discuss it with Madam?"

"Mother, she won't object." Xue Baochai's expression became more complicated, "That's it, just pretend I didn't say anything."

"Ah?" Ying'er didn't understand at all, but Xue Baochai obviously lost interest in talking and went back to the bedroom.

(End of this chapter)