The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 150: The Wind of Comparison

imperial study room

Jia Rong didn't come today.

Not only did Jia Rong not come to the Imperial Study to discuss matters, he also did not go to the Golden Palace to discuss state affairs. Every day when he went to work, he would go to the Imperial Hospital, or wait until noon to stroll around the harem.

Only the harem is occupied, and the front and middle areas are not suitable for wandering around.

The Golden Palace is a more formal place where various policies and state affairs are discussed.

The Imperial Study is like a small meeting not open to the public. It is more casual and has no time limit.

"Meet the Emperor!"

Mr. Hong, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, bowed and greeted.

The emperor said nothing and continued to review the memorials.

Lord Hong immediately knelt down and supported his old bones with his knees and hands.

Generally, there is no need to kneel or kowtow in the Imperial Study. Everyone can stand upright like Jia Rong.

Lord Hong wouldn't dare.

Even the princes of the royal family who enjoyed judicial immunity did not dare to stand up and speak so arrogantly, let alone him, a slave.

The imperial study was still very quiet. The only person who came today was Lord Hong, and the rest were eunuchs and guards.

After more than half an hour, it was fortunate that Lord Hong was kneeling. If he had been standing, he would probably have collapsed under the tremendous psychological pressure.

Soon the emperor finished dealing with the last memorial in his hand, and then looked at the person kneeling on the ground.

"Minister Hong, have you had breakfast?"

Lord Hong is the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and also the Minister of Personnel. He is in charge of the promotion of officials across the country and is one of the top civil servants.

"Your Majesty, I have already eaten." Lord Hong felt something was wrong.

There were too many things to do, and Lord Hong had no idea where he had gone wrong.

There are too many problems, so you don’t notice them. You just think you are unlucky and have trouble with them, or that a small problem has become a fatal problem.

The emperor picked up a piece of paper and stood up.

Lord Hong knew that he was doomed at a glance, because that was not a memorial, but a report note from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

It was the Embroidered Uniform Guards who were sent to the Jia Mansion when the family property was confiscated. It was also the Embroidered Uniform Guards who were sent to the palaces of various princes, marquises, and ministers in the capital when their property was confiscated and they were sent to prison.

The emperor was often beaten and injured, but his control over the court's military power was absolutely impeccable.

Precisely because he was often beaten, the emperor was able to hold on to various military organizations tightly. Even the ministers and princes who held military power could be replaced at will, and he even set up several independent intelligence and security agencies that specifically obeyed his orders.

But with absolute strength and speed, it is completely useless and can only be used to bully ordinary people who cannot jump out of the fire pit.

"Panlong dish, cooked tiger meat, cooked dragon liver, cooked bear paw, camel hoof, stir-fried phoenix intestines, crystal goose, king melon mixed with golden shrimp, eight dishes and a bowl of Imperial Field Rouge Rice. Minister Hong spent a hundred taels of silver for breakfast, right?"

Lord Hong was sweating profusely, as if he was falling into an icy cave in the middle of winter.

"Your Majesty, please understand! These are leftovers from last night. It just so happened that my family had a grandson the day before yesterday, so I cooked some extra food. We haven't finished it after three days. I don't eat this much every day. Your Majesty, please understand!"

Lord Hong kowtowed hurriedly and shouted on his knees.

The emperor sneered, "Was it yesterday or the day before yesterday? Was it one day or every day? What do you eat every day at home? Do you think I don't know? A meal costs a hundred taels of silver. Every month, you alone, a glutton, will spend ten thousand taels of silver, not to mention that there are hundreds of people in your family!!"

It's over! Lord Hong felt that his family was doomed.

At this moment, she couldn't help but burst into tears and cried out, "Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! I am a loyal servant. These were given to me by my subordinates. I don't know how much money I spent. I deserve to die! I deserve to die! I took the money because I had children, grandchildren and an old mother. I was blinded by greed and accepted the money. I deserve to die!"

In the end, Lord Hong still had some backbone. He was no longer afraid of death and only asked the emperor not to implicate his family. In fact, many people who hold high positions in the court and outside the court have already arranged their funeral affairs in advance.

Every year, at least two hundred officials above the rank of prefect were killed, especially in the capital.

Facts have proved that as long as the emperor is ruthless, he is not afraid of rebellion from his ministers. After all, there is no shortage of emperors in history who remained firmly on the throne after carrying out large-scale purges of officials and meritorious households.

This is the true ancestral law.

The emperor said coldly: "As the Minister of Personnel, he does not know how to be frugal, promotes the unhealthy trend of comparison, confuses people's minds, and also keeps servants, forcibly hires married women as concubines, embezzles and accepts bribes. He only has three sons and one grandson, but the wet nurses have raised more than a dozen!!"

Lord Hong had been an official for many years and quickly found the only possible problem.

It has led to an unhealthy trend of comparison...

Jia Rong!

Lord Hong quickly remembered that one of his subordinates had heard that Duke Ningguo had ignored the delicious delicacies he had prepared in the past and had been cooking the same meals as his family these past few days.

No one takes this kind of small matter seriously. Others think the food at his house is good and want to go home and cook too. What kind of big deal is this?

"Drag him away! Chop him up!"

Lord Hong suddenly heard the emperor's rebuke and was immediately struck by lightning.

"It's unfair!" Lord Hong cried out, "Your Majesty! I am wronged! I am wronged! It's a huge injustice!!"

The guards didn't waste time talking to him. These guards who were responsible for protecting the emperor's safety were regularly trained. At this time, they didn't give the old man a chance to speak. They just covered his mouth and dragged him away, not giving the old man any freedom to defend himself.

***
As soon as Jia Rong walked out of the palace after get off work, he met Lord Ling, who was in charge of major cases of the court, at the door.

Lord Ling came out of the sedan chair, walked up to Jia Rong who was riding a horse, and looked up at the lord.

"Duke Ningguo, the Minister of Personnel, Lord Hong, was just thrown into prison this afternoon. He will be beheaded in a few days. The emperor has already sent the Jinyi Army to confiscate his property."

Jia Rong was speechless and said, "Oh, this has nothing to do with us."

Jia Rong didn't care. The country was now at peace and the treasury was full.

The emperor not only obtained huge amounts of wealth from his relatives, but also collected huge amounts of military funds from corrupt officials from all over the country, enough to support the army for several years. Now he has no shortage of money at all.

In fact, everyone knows that the emperor is not short of money, and he is not that malicious about corruption. It will be fine as long as you don't go too far.

Most of the people who died in the court were incompetent. For example, if the emperor personally commanded a battle and suffered a defeat, then these people would be in trouble.

The emperor personally ordered disaster relief, but the problem was still not solved. So we had to investigate thoroughly and find out that another group of people had died.

The emperor never investigates corruption when he has nothing to do. As long as the project can continue, he will not care about it. What he hates most is those who neglect their duties and end up being beaten up.

Jia Rong didn't know what had happened to Lord Hong, but the old man was in charge of so many people, and he was always recommending talented people to the court and forming cliques for personal gain.

In short, if you die, you will find that there are countless reasons for your death.

Lord Ling saw that Jia Rong had no self-awareness at all, so he reminded him, "The emperor said that he promoted comparison and taught people unhealthy habits."

Jia Rong frowned, "I heard that Lord Ling's family has more than a dozen young and beautiful wet nurses who have just given birth, and they give him a bucket of milk every day. Didn't Lord Hong learn from you after tasting it?"

Lord Ling was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and said hurriedly, "Don't talk nonsense! My family had already driven them away! This is absolutely not the case!"

Jia Rong had no intention of paying attention to the old man and rode away on his horse.

He is such an arrogant person that he dares to show such a cold attitude to the top boss of the procuratorate.

But Lord Ling didn't care about this at all. He hurried home and dismissed all the wet nurses.

Although some wet nurses cried and didn't want to leave, Lord Ling was not willing to talk to them and just gave them money to send them all away.

(End of this chapter)