The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 249 Decaying Leaves

"You are such a bunch of rubbish! Assholes!"

During the morning court session, Jia Rong, in a good mood, started cursing again.

The ministers knelt on the ground and dared not to talk back.

Although I knew something might happen during the Mid-Autumn Festival, I didn’t expect it to actually happen.

Jia Rong sat on the supreme throne and cursed: "Where is the commander? Was he also beaten to death?!"

The deputy commander kowtowed hurriedly, "Your Majesty, calm down! The commander and the inspector are still in Shandong handling matters and have not returned yet."

Jia Rong nodded, "Now I remember, it was indeed my arrangement. If that's the case, you can't blame them. You just took over some things, so ignorance is not a crime."

The deputy commander kowtowed hurriedly, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Jia Rong quickly looked at the Dali Temple Minister.

"Your Excellency! Something happened at night and it's already eight o'clock. Do you have anything to say?!"

The Dali Temple Minister was under great pressure and cried out, "Your Majesty, please understand! After hearing that something happened at night, I desperately went to check the situation, but at night, the people from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Inspectorate refused to go over. I couldn't even call the doormen in the Dali Temple! Damn it!!"

Jia Rong frowned, "I didn't expect the soldiers in the city to be so cowardly. Since this is not the fault of one person, I will not blame you alone. You should stand up too."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The Dali Temple Minister cried with emotion, then wiped away his tears. "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long, long live the emperor!"

Jia Rong was in a very good mood and sat in a very undignified manner on the large golden couch.

"Is the Prince of Zhenxi okay?"

The Minister of War raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Zhenxi left the capital yesterday afternoon. Thanks to the grace of the Emperor that he was allowed to return to where he was, nothing happened."

Jia Rong sighed, "Something always happens during the Mid-Autumn Festival every year. I don't hold a banquet and don't let the Prince of Zhenxi come in because I don't want the incident with the Prince of Zhou to happen again in the Zhenxi family."

"Send someone to check on the Prince of Zhenxi. If he is safe, come back and report. I will feel more at ease."

The Minister of War replied: "I obey your order!"

Jia Rong raised his hand and said, "Everyone, please stand up and sit down. Minister of Works Jia Zheng and Deputy Minister of Works Qin Ye should not go back yet."

The kneeling ministers said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After only Jia Zheng and Qin Ye were still kneeling on the steps, Jia Rong, who was more than ten meters away, slowly opened his mouth and spoke condescendingly to his two fathers-in-law.

"Becoming an emperor probably means being alone. I have been trying for half a year but still don't have any offspring, and my relatives have had problems one after another."

"This matter is beyond human control, and I cannot bear to see you two lose your sons in old age."

"Draft an imperial decree to appoint Jia Zheng, the Minister of Works, to take charge of the Jinling Weaving Factory, responsible for producing royal weavings and improving the mechanical weaving technology."

"I ordered Qin Ye, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Industry, to take charge of the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau and replace traditional textile looms with water-powered and fire-powered looms."

"You two are given three days to take your sons and leave the capital to take up your new post. No mistakes!"

Qin Ye and Jia Zheng were also deeply moved after hearing this, "Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

All the ministers thought this was reasonable, as Jia Rong's family used to be prosperous and had sons every year.

After becoming the emperor, not only did it become difficult for him to have children, but even his family relatives began to gradually wither away like falling leaves.

It is only natural to arrange the two fathers-in-law and brother-in-law to a safe place now.

You can't just keep these two people alive knowing they're going to die, right?

Besides, in this era when imperial power is supreme, royal relatives are superior to others, and no one thinks there is anything wrong with it.

Jia Rong continued, "The positions of Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry will first be replaced by the Executive Vice Minister, and the remaining positions will be filled by the best from the next level."

"The aura in the capital is too strong. It's easier to encounter ghosts at night when there are few people. Pass the order down that drugstores, brothels, wine shops, teahouses, gambling houses and other businesses in the city can be open all night, but they need to pay nighttime protection fees and order patrol police to patrol and go out on time to maintain law and order."

"The fees will be collected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will select 20 people with good mathematics from this year's candidates to form a retail bureau to manage the taxes of retail stores. From now on, merchants in the city will be ordered to pay taxes at designated locations, and the fees paid will not pass through the hands of others."

"The specific tax is calculated based on the size of the store, one tael per square meter per year."

Jia Rong thought about it and found that it was very troublesome to communicate with these people. So he said, "Let's use the same writing system and the same ruler. Let's pass down the order that the Ministry of Works' rulers should be used as the main measure from now on. We can discuss the specific matters later."

No one had any objection to this. Until now, many things in the court were arranged by Jia Rong and everyone did the work.

Anyway, it was the emperor's family who died. The emperor is no longer the bloodthirsty and angry emperor who took his anger out on others. The treatment they receive is much better than before. He also gave them a Beijing household registration and a house, their salary increased a lot, and they have more luxury goods.

The left prime minister was exhausted, but the new left prime minister was still working very hard.

The current Left Prime Minister is the former Right Prime Minister, and the position of Right Prime Minister was given to the Grand Councilor Wang Ziteng.

In any case, Jia Rong was in a good mood today and handled many things happily.

After returning home, Xue Baochai, dressed in mourning clothes, came to greet Jia Rong.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully welcome you back to the palace!"

Jia Rong looked at Xue Baochai, who was dressed in mourning clothes, and for some reason he felt nothing at all.

"Ah."

Jia Rong walked straight in.

Xue Baochai felt very strange and became nervous again.

After the emperor left, Xue Baochai's maid Ying'er whispered, "Madam, other madams all said that the emperor liked to do that kind of thing at that time. Why does it seem wrong?"

Xue Baochai was also very confused.

You Erjie, You Sanjie and Wang Xifeng all said that Jia Rong liked to do that kind of thing when others were in mourning.

After Xue Baochai's brother died this time, Wang Xifeng, You Erjie and You Sanjie took the initiative to come and say hello in advance, asking her to obey the emperor, otherwise if she offended the emperor, not only would she suffer, but her child would also be implicated.

Xue Baochai followed Jia Rong carefully and saw Jia Rong go to Nuanyang Palace.

When Xue Baochai came in, Jia Rong was already talking with Jia Yuanchun on the bed.

Xue Baochai walked to the table where Lin Daiyu, Tanchun and Xiangyun were sitting.

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

Lin Daiyu whispered, "The Emperor asked my uncle, Baoyu, Lord Qin, and the young master to take refuge as officials in Jinling and Jiangnan to avoid any more trouble."

Xue Baochai nodded and said sadly, "It would be better if my poor brother could go to Jiangnan earlier."

Lin Daiyu comforted him, saying, "There is nothing we can do now. The emperor has done his best. Sister, please take good care of the child. It will be great if you can have another son in the future."

Xue Baochai's first child is a daughter, and she became even sadder after hearing Lin Daiyu's words.

"Since the Emperor ascended the throne, no one has been pregnant for almost half a year, and the Emperor hasn't come to see me for a long time. I am unlucky, it's my fate."

Lin Daiyu comforted her, "Sister Mochou, we don't know why we haven't gotten pregnant. There's nothing wrong with your body, and there's nothing wrong with the emperor's body either. You can stay with us for the next few days, so you can have more opportunities to be favored by the emperor."

Xue Baochai achieved her goal and said gratefully, "Thank you, sister!"

Now that Jia Rong has too many women and he is the emperor, Xue Baochai just wants to give birth to a son for Jia Rong as soon as possible so that she can settle down.

My brother is dead and gone. The dead cannot be resurrected. It is more important to have a son as soon as possible.

On the other side, Jia Yuanchun also discussed things with Jia Rong.

"That's good. Baoyu is better off in Jinling. Father has often said that he wants to go back to Jinling to have a look."

After Xue Baochai and Wang Xifeng's brothers died, Jia Yuanchun naturally wanted Jia Baoyu to leave the dangerous capital.

Jia Rong said, "I think so too."

Having just relaxed this morning, Jia Rong is now in his sage time.

Jia Rong doesn't have many relatives left.

(End of this chapter)