The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 108: Filial piety again?
Just after the first month of the lunar year, the emperor executed another family.

Maybe he finally realized that something was wrong.

"Lord Jia, I know you are the only one who is willing to tell me the truth."

The emperor looked at Jia Rong with some concern.

"Am I a tyrant now?"

Not only was Jia Rong nearby, but there were also several of the emperor's recent confidants.

Some of these people have already begun to eagerly try, wanting to speak some truth to the emperor and persuade him not to be so murderous.

Jia Rong said, "No, why does the emperor say that?"

The emperor quickly said, "I have thought about it carefully. I have killed many people in recent years."

Jia Rong said: "If you are ill, you must first take strong medicine to treat the disease, and then recuperate. Although the emperor does not know how to treat illnesses, he knows how to govern the country. I do not know how to govern the country, but I know how to treat illnesses."

"I think about it carefully, the principles here are the same."

After hearing this, the emperor felt much better.

"What Lord Jia said makes sense. I just got rid of some pests, some diseases that were harmful to the country and me! What's wrong with that?"

Jia Rong said: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Several trusted ministers and princes were sweating profusely at this moment.

The emperor’s words really cannot be trusted.

Even if you are a loyal minister, you cannot do everything as instructed, otherwise you will be blamed and have to pay off your debts.

Non-founding emperors are just like the rich second generation. They think that it is normal for others to be loyal like dogs, and there is no shortage of loyal dogs.

Jia Rong was holding his life in his hands, so he did not dare to act recklessly.

Without Jia Rong, there would be no one to give medicine to him in the future.

Jia Rong said, "Your Majesty, a few days ago, the wall of my house was damaged and I repaired it myself. Because it was difficult to buy glutinous rice and straw during the New Year, I mixed lime, gravel, mud and sand, and accidentally discovered a kind of soil that can be used to paste the wall, which can be called cement."

The emperor was not interested in such things. After hearing about it, he thought Jia Rong's family was too shabby.

"Why did Lord Jia repair the wall himself? Don't you have any servants at home?"

Jia Rong explained: "Yes, but there are many things to do during the New Year, and some people have asked for leave to go home for the New Year. I took a few servants to repair the wall. It's not hard and it will be done in five or six days."

The emperor felt that Jia Rong's family might be worse than he had imagined.

"In the future, if something like this happens, just report it to the Ministry of Works and let them fix it."

Jia Rong said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace. However, I want to say that there is a lot of lime and mud everywhere. If we want to build houses or city walls in the city, we need a lot of materials. There are many refugees outside now, so why not let them collect and dig soil to build houses, so as to avoid them causing trouble."

The emperor looked at the cabinet ministers.

"Where are the refugees?"

The cabinet minister quickly said: "There was a snowstorm in Qingzhou and Suzhou. There were a large number of refugees in Yunnan due to banditry. There were also shanty dwellers in the mountainous areas of the three provinces of Central and South China who were rebelling. In the South..."

The emperor looked very unhappy and the minister did not dare to continue speaking.

Besides, you might lose your head.

Jia Rong said, "Why should we fear the people in the mountains? Sending troops to wipe them out will be time-consuming and laborious. It would be better to first grant them household registration, let them find a place to live in the mountains, cultivate good farmland, and exempt them from taxes for four or five years. After they settle down, they will definitely want more. Then we can use the imperial examination to appoint officials and encourage the leaders among them to send their sons to school to study and serve the court."

After hearing this, the emperor quickly asked, "What if he is greedy and colludes with local officials, or causes trouble to the local area?"

Jia Rong said, "Four or five years is enough time for other places to be at peace. When treating a disease, we should cure one patient first and then talk about other diseases."

"Besides, studying is not something that can be done overnight. The imperial court allocates the number of juren and scholars to various places based on money and taxes. How can those bandit families cultivate virtuous people?"

"Besides, studying for the imperial examinations costs money. Where would the refugees in the mountains get the money? They must do business with people outside."

"It is the county magistrate's job to turn the mountain people into good citizens. If he does a good job, he will be promoted. If he does not do a good job, that is another matter. If the mountain people do not obey the discipline, they should be punished. Then the rest of the people will obey."

Jia Rong was bored at home and wanted to go out for a walk.

"I am willing to be a county magistrate and help the emperor with his worries!"

The emperor quickly said, "You are the Minister of War, and you are in charge of the Imperial Hospital and the Imperial Pharmacy. How can you be a county magistrate? I will let someone else handle this matter. You stay in Beijing with me."

Jia Rong didn't like this kind of thing very much, but he still agreed. "As you wish."

The emperor quickly assigned someone to handle the matter.

Jia Rong quickly said, "Your Majesty, my title comes with 500 taels of silver and 250 dan of rice per month. Can you give me something else?"

The emperor looked at Jia Rong and said with a smile, "Has your money for the New Year been spent? I just happened to have a job to confiscate property, and I was thinking about who to find."

Jia Rong said hurriedly, "No, there is a coal mountain near the capital. I saw a lot of coal when I passed by last time. I just found out that these things are everywhere in Jizhou and other places. They are cheaper than firewood, so I thought I might as well take these cheap coal blocks directly."

The emperor asked his ministers, "What is the price of coal?"

How could the minister answer such a tricky question?

"This...I don't know. I burn charcoal at home."

Jia Rong replied, "Charcoal is three or four hundred coins per hundred catties, and coal is one hundred and thirty or forty coins per hundred catties."

The emperor now understood that the ministers burned charcoal that cost three or four cents per pound, while Jia Rong's family burned coal blocks that cost more than one cent per pound.

Jia Rong added, "The low-quality rice that the common people eat costs 1,200 coins for 100 catties."

The emperor almost understood the price of this coal.

"Lord Jia, you said this kind of coal is everywhere in Jizhou?"

Jia Rong said: "Although they can't be seen everywhere, there are indeed a lot. It would take ten thousand years to dig up all the ones in Jizhou alone. There are also a lot in other places."

According to the current excavation efforts, it would take 10,000 years to completely excavate the area.

The emperor quickly said, "It doesn't sound worth much. I'll ask the Governor-General of Zhili to find you a place with coal. You can dig the coal there in the future. You can make some money by yourself."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jia Rong thanked calmly.

There's nothing to be thankful for.

The emperor also felt that there was nothing to be grateful for, and it was not worth much, so he just regarded it as a reward for his suggestion just now.

Jia Rong is too young, and it will be difficult to reward him if he is promoted too quickly. It would be much more appropriate to reward him with coal than to promote him.

The positions of the Imperial Medical Bureau and the Imperial Pharmacy cannot be moved, and there is absolutely no replacement.

Although the assistant minister of the Ministry of War can be promoted, I don’t want to touch this.

The emperor himself had thought about it many times. According to the rules, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War should be transferred to other departments for promotion. He would stay in a position for one or two years, and by the time he reached the first rank, he would be almost thirty years old.

If I am sent abroad to solve some problems, I will be in my 40s or 50s when I come back.

Now Jia Rong is just 24 years old and still young and energetic. The emperor plans to promote him when he is 26 years old.

After the court session, Jia Rong was about to go home when the emperor called him back.

The emperor asked, "Lord Jia, someone just came to the palace of the Concubine Dowager asking for medicine. Lord Jia, do you have any medicine at home?"

Jia Rong said, "There are twenty pills, all left over from last year's medicine refining. I have elderly people and children at home, so I left them for emergency use. If you take too much of this medicine, it will not work well, so I won't use it unless it's a serious condition."

The emperor said, "I have distributed some of my medicine. Over the past six months or so, I have been unable to sleep or eat due to state affairs. Whenever I have a splitting headache, I rely on Lord Jia's medicine to relieve it."

Jia Rong said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to be polite to me. I can refine it after I finish taking the medicine. It will be ready in March this year. By then, more than 600 pills should be enough."

The emperor was delighted and asked, "Why not start refining tomorrow?"

Jia Rong explained, "We also need to prepare the herbs and stoves, and some leaves need to be sent from the south. If the emperor is in a hurry, you can send someone to get the medicine and send it to the emperor."

The emperor said happily: "Lord Jia is so loyal and brave!"

Jia Rong didn't care. He gave the emperor as much as he wanted to eat.

I'm not responsible if someone dies from eating it.

A month later, spring came and the flowers bloomed, and the sun was shining brightly.

Jia Rong was busy working as a coal boss when he was called away by the emperor.

Fortunately, we walked slowly on the road. When we arrived, the old concubine was... dead.

Damn, it’s time to be filial again. Oh my god.

(End of this chapter)