The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 246: The Sage King of All Ages
Court Meeting
Jia Rong was generally not so diligent in handling official business, and he would not attend court meetings every morning in the hottest weather.

But it’s different when you’re happy.

"A bunch of rubbish! Tell me, what have you done to the Dali Temple and the Imperial Guards over the past decade?!"

"You guys really don't check at all?!"

The Chief Justice of the Dali Temple and the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard quickly stood up from their seats and knelt on the steps next to them.

"Your Majesty, please calm down! I deserve to die!"

Jia Rong scolded coldly: "You don't deserve to die, but you are incompetent! In the past ten years, although I have always ignored it on the surface, I have visited the harem for a long time and investigated many things in depth."

"The murderer committed many crimes, so he naturally left behind a lot of evidence. Three years ago, I found a 35-centimeter-long white hair at the crime scene in the Zhongxiao Palace."

"Subsequently, we conducted a secret investigation at the risk of being killed and concluded that the person was a eunuch or palace maid in her seventies."

"After that, in order to cooperate with the two emperors to thoroughly investigate the matter, I have been constantly collecting evidence, and each time I rushed to the scene to find more detailed evidence."

"The Emperor Emeritus named me the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety. Didn't he think I could die at any time and gave me the title in advance?!"

"You guys are so good! If I don't let you take care of it, you really won't care about it! You are useless!"

After hearing Jia Rong's words, the ministers finally understood why Jia Rong had been so highly regarded over the years.

The Dali Temple official kowtowed and said, "I am incompetent! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Jia Rong felt even better after scolding someone. He came here today just to scold someone and find something to do.

"I will send someone to investigate this matter. Recently, soldiers in the city have been robbing and extorting, bullying men and women, and the influence is bad!"

"Order the Jinyiwei to investigate secretly. Those who disrupt our military discipline will never respect the law! Anyone who robs or extorts in the city, whether they are government soldiers or civilian bandits, should be killed once they are caught and there is solid evidence!"

The Chief Justice of the Dali Temple and the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard breathed a sigh of relief. One of the great things about Jia Rong being the emperor was that he was not as bloodthirsty as the previous emperors.

"I obey your order! Long live the emperor!"

Jia Rong added, "I have received a secret report that the descendants of Confucius harbor evil, set up their own laws, and colluded with foreign tribes."

"To be honest, I don't believe it." Jia Rong, who had not received the secret report, said seriously: "It is very bad to slander someone's innocence with empty words, but I think about it carefully. This family has always been a capitulationist throughout the dynasties."

"When faced with changes in dynasties or foreign invasions, they often surrendered."

"I think Confucius is Confucius, and the Kong family is the Kong family. What do you think?"

Jia Rong, who wanted to be a saint, decided to get rid of another descendant of a saint first.

Everyone reads the books of sages, but they are not familiar with the descendants of Duke Yansheng at all.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Jia Rong smiled.

"Commander of the Imperial Guards."

"Chen is here!"

Jia Rong said hypocritically: "It is said that noble sons come from humble families. I will give the Kong family a chance to wash away the bad reputation of being surrendered slaves in all dynasties."

"Remove all the honors and titles of the nine clans of the Kong family. Go and confiscate all the Kong family's farmland, shops, and family assets and give them to the public. Only ten taels of silver are left for them to live on. If they can pass the imperial examination or make meritorious contributions in the army, I will return their ancestral home to them."

"If anyone resists, they can be killed. I want to see if their family has any backbone."

The commander of the Jinyiwei responded: "I obey your order!"

Jia Rong felt that it was easy for a commander to be partial or show mercy if he was sent alone.

"The Inspector General of the Imperial Guards will go with you! Anyone who dares to leave an extra ounce of silver will be punished by our own Imperial Guards!!"

The Inspector and the Commander both understood very well what their own methods were, and they knelt down hurriedly to receive the order.

"I obey your order! I will not let the emperor down! Long live the emperor, long live the emperor!"

Jia Rong felt much better. It was true that he loved what he did.

Jia Rong, in a good mood, smiled and said, "Minister of Works!"

Jia Zheng stood up and said, "I am here!" Jia Rong looked at his father-in-law and said, "The Ministry of Works has too much to do. Five more deputy ministers will be appointed under the Shangshu. Four of them will be in charge of specific matters and will be of the fourth rank, and one will be the executive deputy minister of the third rank."

"Specifically, they are divided into four departments: construction, steel, chemicals, and manufacturing. The construction department is ordered to build residential buildings in counties 50 miles to the south. Those who have served as officials for ten years, or those who have served as craftsmen, guards, or eunuchs for thirty years can be allocated a room."

Jia Rong knew that his father-in-law was not capable, so he helped him share a lot of work and gave him a lot of subordinates.

Jia Zheng respectfully agreed, "I obey your order!"

Jia Rong left the court quickly.

The other left and right prime ministers are even busier with official duties, but these people do not need holidays. They themselves would like to stay in the position of power for another ten years and do not need holidays at all.

When you need a vacation, it’s usually because you’ve run into trouble or your health is really not good.

After returning home, Jia Rong kindly asked, "Is Second Madam feeling better?"

Lin Hongyu sighed and said, "I'm still sad. I cried again this morning. Now I'm wearing mourning clothes and going out to handle the funeral for my family. I'm just waiting for the emperor's approval."

Jia Rong felt even better.

"How can I not agree to this?" Jia Rong sighed, "Just do it according to my father's scale, and the money will come from my family."

Lin Hongyu was very embarrassed. Jia Rong's father was not a lowly person, but... it was hard to describe.

Jia Rong didn't care about what others thought. He soon continued to escape the summer heat and avoided court under the pretext of refining elixirs and studying medicine.

The power of the court was handed over to the officials again.

Although Jia Rong seems to be a bit unprofessional, the young and vigorous faction in the court is still making efforts.

There were repeated victories in foreign wars. Not only did we expand our territory, but foreign countries also sent us a lot of gold, silver, jewelry, rare treasures, and exotic birds and animals to enrich the national treasury and promote our national prestige.

In fact, people don’t care who becomes the emperor or whether he has royal bloodline.

Jia Rong can build everyone's confidence, so everyone will naturally support Jia Rong.

In the eighth month of the lunar calendar, Jia Rong successfully left the country.

Go to court!

"My dear ministers!" Jia Rong, who had changed into autumn clothes, said happily, "I have made a lot of painkillers to relieve headaches, and I have also made a lot of cigarettes for you, my dear ministers, just consider it as a reward for the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Jia Rong stood in front of the emperor's platform with a smile on his face. On the table were all kinds of delicious things.

Jia Rong took out a cigarette from the box and put it in his mouth, then took out a match and struck a flame in a cool manner. He lit the cigarette handsomely and then shook his hand to extinguish the match.

He held the cigarette between two fingers and puffed out smoke.

"You two prime ministers have been working hard these days. I know you are not in good spirits after staying up all night. Let's try this."

Jia Rong asked the left and right prime ministers to come up and handed a cigarette to the left prime minister, a scholar in his fifties.

The left prime minister was flattered and moved. He quickly stepped back and knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "Thank you, my lord, for your grace!"

The Left Prime Minister will remember for the rest of his life that the Emperor sent him smoking.

Jia Rong handed another cigarette to the Right Prime Minister, who was in his early 40s, and said with a smile, "Hurry up, this is called a cigarette. Different specifications must have different names. This one is the strongest, so let's call it Forbidden City."

"Come on, come on, everyone, come up and claim your prizes. The two prime ministers have worked hard. Each of you can go back and smoke one. Take two boxes of matches as well."

"Come here, Minister of Industry, take a pack of cigarettes and two boxes of matches and study them. We will open a royal cigarette factory in the future. Anyone who dares to open a cigarette factory privately will have their property confiscated and their family exterminated. Men will be sentenced to death, and women will be enslaved!"

Jia Rong not only distributed cigarettes to his subordinates, but also gave them a lot of troublesome things such as vaccines that had just been researched and not confirmed.

After returning to work, the left prime minister could not help but say to the right prime minister who went upstairs to his office: "Your Majesty is truly a wise king of all time!"

The right prime minister smiled and said, "Yes, this is a blessing for the people, the country, and for our loyal subjects!"

A few days later, Zuo Xiang, who was having dinner with his family at home, felt a palpitation in his heart when he stood up. For unknown reasons, he fell to the ground and died.

However, birth, aging, sickness and death are common in life. The Left Prime Minister was already old and often stayed up late to work overtime. Jia Rong said to others that he died of exhaustion, and regarded his son as having sacrificed his life for the country. He promoted his son by one level and allowed him to observe mourning for 36 days instead of months, so that his official work and earning money would not be affected.

Everyone is grateful!

(End of this chapter)