pappabearbooks Chapter 77: Meeting Prince Teng
Chapter 77: Meeting Prince Teng
Just now, in front of Dai Quan, Xia Chengzong did not directly uphold justice for Yuan Chun; doing so would have been a poor choice.
But he instructed Yuan Chun that if anyone bullied her, she should go to Dai Quan.
Dai Quan must have understood what he meant.
Yuan Chun still had two bright handprints on her face.
Dai Quan will definitely avenge her afterwards, and he won't be the subject of gossip.
After entering the main hall, Xia Chengzong paid his respects to Emperor Yonglong and the Empress.
Then, Xia Chengzong brought up the matter of personally selecting the guards.
After hearing this, Emperor Yonglong said, "Then you can go and choose. By the way, Prince Teng is currently in charge of the Beijing Garrison. I'll give you a note; you just need to go and ask him for the person."
Xia Chengzong said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
After Xia Chengzong left the palace, the Empress asked Dai Quan, "What were you talking about outside just now?"
Dai Quan bowed and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, when the Third Prince entered the palace, he encountered a newly arrived palace maid being bullied by an older palace maid."
"His Highness the Third Prince stood up for her and even instructed this old servant to look after her from now on!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress laughed and said, "Oh, is that so? Go and bring that palace maid here so I can take a look."
"yes!"
Dai Quan chuckled and bent down to go out, quickly bringing Jia Yuanchun in.
After entering the palace, Jia Yuanchun knelt down tremblingly to pay her respects to the Emperor and Empress.
The Empress said gently, "Rise and speak."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Raise your head."
Jia Yuanchun raised her head upon hearing the sound.
The Empress glanced at him and laughed, "He is indeed handsome; no wonder Zong-ge'er stood up for you!"
"Go and tidy things up, and you can come work for me tomorrow."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Jia Yuanchun retreated, both surprised and delighted.
She knew that all of this was brought to her by Prince Ping'an.
If it weren't for Prince Ping'an, she would probably still be being bullied right now.
Prince Ping'an was indeed handsome.
For a moment, Yuan Chun's heart and eyes were filled with his image.
An old artist from later generations once said: "When you achieve success and fame, you will be surrounded by good people."
Although Yuan Chun had never heard this saying before, she truly enjoyed such treatment.
After she came down, the palace maids who used to be aloof and indifferent to her now flocked around to congratulate her.
Everyone gave her a gift to congratulate her on her promotion.
As for the old palace maid who bullied her, she never saw her again after she came down from the palace.
She guessed that she probably wouldn't see her in this house again.
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, her life underwent a dramatic transformation.
All of this was brought to her by Prince Ping'an.
Before she knew it, the image of Prince Ping'an appeared before Yuan Chun's eyes again.
……
After leaving the palace, Xia Chengzong went straight to the Beijing Garrison Office.
Xia Chengzong had not expected that after the death of the Duke of Ningguo, Prince Teng would take over the Jingying almost seamlessly.
However, the timing is roughly the same. In the novel Dream of the Red Chamber, when Baochai went to the capital, Wang Ziteng was promoted from the military governor of the capital garrison to the commander of nine provinces and was ordered to go out of the capital to inspect the border.
He was later promoted to Inspector General of Nine Provinces and eventually rose to the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.
But in reality, they were all nominal positions in the later stages.
His greatest power was when he served as the military governor of the capital.
However, it was clear that his grandfather did not trust him.
He was only given the position for a few short years before being demoted in name only and transferred away.
Later, he suddenly died.
Well, what happened later might have been done by his cheapskate father.
With these clues in mind, Xia Chengzong arrived at the Beijing Garrison Office before he knew it.
Xia Bei led the way with the royal token, and the master and servants entered the yamen. They had just finished drinking a cup of tea when Prince Teng rushed over.
He bowed as he entered and said, "Your Highness, it is an honor to have you here. I am so sorry that I was unable to greet you properly."
Xia Chengzong stepped forward and took his arm, saying with a smile, "I was not informed beforehand, General Wang, what crime have you committed?"
"I've come here this time because I need General Wang's help with something. Could you please do me a favor?"
As Xia Chengzong spoke, he took out the note that Emperor Yonglong had approved.
Wang Ziteng took the note, glanced at it, and hurriedly promised, "Your Highness's affairs are my affairs; how could I not do my utmost?"
"How will Your Highness choose? This humble official will do his utmost to cooperate."
Xia Chengzong secretly sized up Wang Ziteng, noticing that Wang Ziteng was tall and imposing.
He had a fair complexion with a light beard, and his triangular eyes were deep and unfathomable, while his face was as gentle as a spring breeze.
He lacked the ruggedness of a military general, but possessed a rather refined and scholarly air.
Xia Chengzong thought to himself, "You really can't judge a book by its cover."
I originally thought that Wang Ziteng, the main villain, must be born with a hawk-like gaze and a sinister look.
I never expected it to look like this.
However, he showed no sign of it on his face. He said, "General Wang, I want to select able-bodied soldiers who are between eighteen and twenty-five years old."
"And they don't want sons of the powerful and wealthy; they only select soldiers from ordinary people, and their service period shouldn't exceed three years. I wonder how many people that would be?"
The Beijing Garrison had a full complement of 130,000 to 140,000 men, but the actual number of soldiers was probably only 60-70% or even less.
The remaining positions were all for empty salaries, which were divided up among officials from the Ministry of War and the Beijing Garrison.
This is a legacy issue from history. There have always been people who wanted to thoroughly investigate the Beijing Garrison, but it has been shelved for various reasons.
Not being in a position of authority, Xia Chengzong had no intention of getting involved in this mess.
He knew that there must be another roster within the Beijing garrison, and that the best way to select suitable soldiers was with the full cooperation of Prince Teng.
After hearing this, Prince Teng said, "Your Highness, please wait a moment while I examine the roster."
Xia Chengzong nodded, and Wang Ziteng turned and left.
The selection criteria he listed were intended to select soldiers with clean records, who had not yet become seasoned veterans, and who were easy to train.
Such soldiers are highly adaptable and easier to train into tough, disciplined soldiers.
About half an hour later, Wang Ziteng came out covered in sweat.
He reported: "Your Highness, because the Beijing Garrison was implicated in the treason case a few days ago, most of the soldiers in the Beijing Garrison have undergone a major reshuffle."
"Some were exchanged with the border troops, and some were newly recruited soldiers."
"Recently, we have recruited more than 5,000 soldiers, and when we add other people who meet the requirements for a prince, the total number is about 26,000."
"How does Your Highness intend to select the soldiers?"
Upon hearing this number, and combined with his careful observation, he judged that Wang Ziteng was not just giving him a perfunctory answer.
He nodded and said, "Thank you, General Wang. I plan to select directly from the five thousand newly recruited soldiers."
"My selection method is to have them run ten miles, and I'll be among the first thousand to run that distance, how about that?"
Upon hearing this idea, Wang Ziteng was taken aback, finding it quite novel.