The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 168 Rich People Are Not Stupid

After a few days, Jia Rong, who had changed his sleeping place six times in a row, returned to the front yard.

A few days later, Jia Rong, who was exercising in the Imperial Hospital, was called to the study.

"Why come so slowly?"

After Jia Rong came in, the emperor asked the reason.

Jia Rong replied, "I walked here today."

The emperor frowned, "Why don't you ride a horse?"

When his feet were frozen from riding a horse, Jia Rong would occasionally tell a lie, "I was afraid of dirtying the floor tiles outside the palace."

The emperor ordered, "If it's dirty, have it cleaned. If it's broken, have it replaced with a new one. I called you here to discuss something with you. Sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Jia Rong looked around and saw several university scholars and first-rank officials in the imperial study, including Wang Ziteng.

Wang Ziteng originally didn't want to greet Jia Rong, fearing that excessive familiarity would arouse the emperor's suspicion.

That's what he thought.

"Duke Ningguo!"

"Ning Guogong."

"Duke Ningguo, I haven't seen you for a long time. How have you been lately?"

Several cabinet ministers nearby took the initiative to greet Jia Rong.

Wang Ziteng's heart was in turmoil. Is this a place where he can talk casually? He was sweating profusely...

Jia Rong said nothing and quickly sat down after the eunuch brought a chair.

The emperor saw that there were others present and said, "Please sit down. The rest of you should sit down and listen."

Everyone said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

This was probably the first time Wang Ziteng sat in the imperial study.

But it was obviously not Jia Rong's first time.

After everyone sat down, the emperor asked Jia Rong, "The national treasury is now sufficient, and I don't want to mobilize troops and waste money. I have not been able to come up with a good solution with the officials in the past ten days."

"Lord Jia, what do you think should be done with the money in the national treasury?"

Jia Rong replied: "Of course, we should strengthen the important places in the capital and control the whole world with one place. This is the way to maintain stability."

The emperor became interested, and as expected, some things still needed to be discussed with Jia Rong.

"My dear minister, please continue. How can we strengthen the capital? Should we build a city wall?"

Jia Rong replied, "It's not the city wall. When I was selling coal recently, I heard that blacksmith shops are using coal to smelt iron. Coal is much cheaper than charcoal, and it can produce much more iron."

"With enough iron, we can make more weapons and armaments. The production of the four states near the capital can handle all problems."

The emperor said: "Now that the world is at peace, having too much iron is not a good thing."

Jia Rong knew that the emperor always thought like a ruler.

“We can make more agricultural tools to open up wasteland, increase food production, and grow high-yield crops.”

The emperor shook his head. "I know those high-yield crops. If the refugees plant them in large quantities in the mountains, they will become a disaster."

The emperor had long known about high-yield crops, but did not want to promote them.

People are prone to rebel when they are well fed, especially since some high-yield crops tend to develop in places like mountains and forests that are out of reach. Once the population increases and forms a certain scale, rebellions will occur again and again.

Jia Rong knew that the emperor knew everything and was not stupid, just a little bad. He thought about things from the perspective of controlling people.

"Then build a reservoir for drinking water. The well water in the city is bitter now. The water used by me and many princes is drawn from the mountain springs. The people in the city eat and drink dirty water. Over time, plague and plague will inevitably break out."

“It would be better to build a reservoir in the distant mountains, and then build a special cement sewer to drain the sewage in the city to a special river channel, down the river into the sea, so as to avoid sinking into the underground water veins of the capital and polluting the dragon veins.”

"I have read history books. In most cases, at the end of dynasties, there were problems due to the scarcity of royal offspring. I think it is because millions of people have continuously polluted the water veins for hundreds of years, causing everyone to be affected."

After hearing this, the emperor looked thoughtful and said, "Your Excellency's words make sense. Let's spend money on water diversion and drainage. Take from the people and use it for the people."

Jia Rong said, "Your Majesty is wise!" The emperor continued, "If you have any other suggestions that would benefit the country and spend money, please speak up."

Jia Rong said: "Land is scarce in the city, and many people have occupied a lot of land. I suggest building concrete buildings so that more people can live there."

The emperor shook his head. "My dear minister, you also said that the people in the city are eating horse tussocks, which has polluted the water veins and dragon veins. If we build more houses to let people in, won't it be even worse?"

After thinking about it carefully, Jia Rong found that he actually didn't like living in a building.

It is too troublesome to go up and down the building, it is not as comfortable as living in a big house.

Jia Rong tried to persuade from a different angle.

"People are forced to live together in high-rise buildings, and the redundant space is demolished to build shops or museums. Firstly, concrete buildings are fireproof, so fires are not likely to spread easily. Secondly, it just piles up a group of scattered people together, freeing up space for those who need it more."

"Or plant some trees and flowers, so that the city won't look so bare and ugly."

The emperor thought it was okay, but he was a little worried. "If everyone gathers together, what if there's trouble?"

Jia Rong replied, "The young men of the capital are used to being lazy, and it is time for them to train. Moreover, many of the royal family's sons are neither good at literature nor martial arts, and because they have no title or property to inherit, they live a hard life. The emperor is building a large-scale project this time, and people are needed everywhere. Why not take this opportunity to benefit the idle royal family members?"

"These people have been from the capital for generations. They are the kind of good families that the army needs most. They are all extremely loyal."

"I suggest that His Royal Highness be put in charge of this matter. He will be able to familiarize himself with the operation of fortifications involving tens of thousands of people, understand the things that need to be paid attention to when various tasks are carried out at the same time, and learn how to deal with corrupt and incompetent subordinates."

The emperor nodded and said, "The prince is not capable enough. I don't trust him to do things. My dear minister, please make proper arrangements for the funeral of the three kings first, and then assist the prince in diverting water, building canals, and building tall buildings."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Jia Rong is busy again, but it doesn't matter. He has regular vacations in the summer anyway. Whoever wants to go to work can go. He can just leave now.

The emperor thought for a moment and said, "These things won't cost much money. Last year, the treasury had 80 million taels of silver. Now that the surrounding tribes have surrendered and are unable to fight again, the land and population of various places have been re-registered, and the country is peaceful and the people are safe."

"Lord Jia, think again, is there any place to spend the money?"

Jia Rong has a difficult situation. Various proposals that benefit the country and the people are not good things for the emperor. The most important thing is that this man is not stupid. He will not listen to things that are not conducive to his rule. He can always come up with reasons that are in line with his status as an emperor. He looks at problems from his own perspective and will not promote things that are not conducive to his rule.

Jia Rong said, "I don't know. I haven't spent much money in these years."

The emperor smiled and said, "Keep thinking! I will discuss other things with you, my dear ministers. Just sit aside and continue thinking!"

The emperor wanted to invite Jia Rong to dinner, but Jia Rong didn't like to eat with him.

Jia Rong said, "Why not give all the officials some money and stipulate that they must spend it all? Then we can go to the city to eat and drink and spend it. In this way, those who do business will have money, and more people will have a livelihood. This is to use rewards instead of relief, and the state subsidies will promote consumption."

"If people below have money, taxes will be levied in the future and it will return to the treasury. The money in the treasury is always just stones. After it circulates, it will become the emperor's grace, the confidence of the ministers to eat and drink well, and the hard-earned money of the merchants and the people. When taxes are levied in the future, they will have money in their hands and will naturally not risk their lives to resist taxes."

The emperor thought about Jia Rong's proposal.

Wang Ziteng felt strange. Shouldn't someone stand up and reprimand Jia Rong for his mischief?

Why is it that no matter what Jia Rong says, everyone listens so obediently, and not a single grand secretary comes out to criticize him?
No one dared to do this. Wang Ziteng was not a fool, so he naturally did not dare to speak nonsense at this time.

"My dear minister, what you said is very true. It made me think through many things." The emperor nodded, looked at Jia Rong with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get 10,000 taels of silver. You are not allowed to go home if you can't spend it all."

Jia Rong quickly said, "Ten thousand taels is too much. My annual salary is less than ten thousand taels, and I can't imagine how ten thousand taels could be spent in just a short time."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "Find a way yourself. Stop making noise here. Go away."

Jia Rong had no choice but to go out, and after receiving 10,000 taels, he went to the Music Bureau and bought twenty pretty little maids between the ages of eight and twelve.

The money soon returned to the emperor's hands. After all, these people were seized during the emperor's property confiscation.

The next day when the court was in session, the eunuch read out the imperial edict and distributed money to the court officials according to their ranks.

Wang Ziteng, a first-rank official, received an additional subsidy of 500 taels of silver.

After receiving the cash, everyone in the court knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Your grace is so great!"

Jia Zheng, a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works, also received eighty taels of silver. He could not help showing joy on his face, as he now had rice to eat this month.

Not only did he give out money, but he also raised the salaries of all officials in the capital, which completely boosted the morale of the people who were in a panic because of the emperor's killing spree.

The emperor thought that officials could be changed at will, but the problem of passing down titles from generation to generation was too big and needed to be considered in the long run.

(End of this chapter)