The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 257 The Master

On the eighth day of the first month of the second year of the Holy Dynasty, the morning court
Jia Rong entered the palace wearing a golden sweater with a dragon print and a gold-threaded hat on his head.

The sweater was made by an embroiderer in the palace. Qingwen's little craftsmanship was nothing compared to these embroiderers in the palace.

Not to mention the embroidered clothes, shoes and pants and the jade pendants on them, the gold-thread hat on Jia Rong's head alone is a symbol of power and strength!

The hat is woven with extremely fine gold wire. Not to mention how much the gold wire cost, let alone the lifelike double dragons playing with a pearl on the hat, which looks like a fire-breathing pattern.

The most amazing thing is the workmanship!

It is woven with 518 0.2 mm thin gold threads into a "lantern hollow" pattern!
The woven patterns not only have even gaps and consistent density, but also have no joints or broken threads, and it is impossible to see the ins and outs of them. They are as light and transparent as wings of gauze.

The dragon pattern on a hat embodies the top craftsmanship of this era.

The hollow parts of the hat are woven with gold threads.

The dragon head, dragon claws, and the dragon ball between the two dragons are carved using the positive chisel technique to create a relief effect, giving people a feeling of being alive.

The dragon's body and legs are made using filigree, wire stacking and wire stacking techniques. Each scale is made of filigree twisted with gold wire and then welded into shape. Because the craftsmen have perfect control of the temperature during welding, such a complex pattern decoration does not reveal any traces of welds.

The craftsmanship of this golden-thread coiled dragon winged crown has reached the pinnacle of perfection.

If he hadn't been an emperor, it would be unimaginable that such a thing could be created in this era.

What's even more bizarre is that this hat is stock from ten years ago and was not made in recent years.

The gold-thread sweater, trousers, warm shoes and some simple items that Jia Rong wears now are the culmination of the craftsmanship of recent years.

Jia Rong was famous for being unpicky about his clothes. Even the famous sword given to him by the retired emperor was secretly replaced with a wooden sword because it was inconvenient to carry.

But even so, his subordinates were working hard to improve Jia Rong's clothing style.

It's just that slow work makes perfect. Jia Rong has only been on the throne for more than two years, and it's not yet time for some good things to be completed.

At this moment, Jia Rong looked sleepy and seemed to be in low spirits.

"Long live my emperor! Long live! Long live!"

"Ah."

Jia Rong was as easy to understand as ever, and he didn't hide anything.

Everyone quickly stood up and returned to their seats.

Because it is the first day of work after the Chinese New Year, there are only more than 300 people coming to the meeting today.

Generally, if there is no big event, so many people will not be called over. Anyway, all the big and small matters in the court are decided by a few people.

Logically speaking, Zuo Xiang should be the first to report the news today.

But some things take priority.

Anyway, all kinds of accidents happen frequently.

Zong Zheng stood up, holding the notebook in both hands to report the situation to prevent someone from suddenly pulling out a gun.

Everyone who comes into a meeting must be searched. This has been going on since ancient times and will not be rare in the future.

Except for a few guards, no one else is allowed to carry any weapons here.

Jia Rong was the only exception. No one searched for him when he was not emperor, and naturally no one searched for him after he became emperor.

"Your Majesty, the Luoyang Censor impeached King Zhou for treason, illegally buying imperial wood to make a coffin, and also bought ninety-nine Eight Treasure Yellow Dragon Umbrellas, befriended the Luocheng garrison commander, had a thousand soldiers at home, hid two thousand horses in a farm outside the city, and privately forged iron armor!"

After Zong Zheng finished speaking, everyone in the court quickly became alert.

Many high-ranking officials of the royal family were frightened at this time.

An old general from the royal family quickly stood up and shouted, "King Zhou must be plotting a rebellion! Your Majesty! I beg you to wipe out this traitor!!"

Jia Rong still looked listless, leaning with some boredom on the sea-skin dragon chair built for him by the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works.

"Forget it, we are all brothers." Jia Rong said indifferently: "Who reported it?"

The Zongzheng replied, "Zhuang Zuyao, the Imperial Censor of Luoyang."

Jia Rong said casually, "Promote him to be the prefect of Luoyang. After ten years, he can enter the cabinet. As for King Zhou, let him go. I will allow him to be buried with the emperor's standards after his death. However, if he makes a mistake, he must be punished, otherwise everyone will lose their manners and chaos will arise."

"The court will not give him a penny. After his death, his son will give him money as usual. At the same time, he is not allowed to collect money from the country."

"Also, have the local generals guard that area. If anyone dares to lead troops into the capital or attack nearby villages and counties, don't say that I must kill him."

The local censor was of the seventh rank, and the prefect was of the fourth rank. Jia Rong promoted the whistleblower out of turn and allowed him to remain in office in the same place, obviously to allow him to check and balance the King of Zhou.

Jia Rong really had no intention of messing with them, and Prince Zhou was asking for trouble by breaking the rules, making the other princes and clan members very uncomfortable.

Now the emperor has spared him and not revoked his title of king, which is already a great favor to him.

Zong Zheng replied: "As ordered!"

The Minister of Personnel stood up and said, "Your Majesty, what should be done with the former Luoyang prefect?"

Jia Rong frowned and thought for a moment, "Is the Luoyang prefect still competent? What are his achievements?"

The Minister of Personnel did his job very well and answered directly: "My achievements are mediocre, nothing special. I have been in office for five years and I am fifty-nine years old this year."

Jia Rong asked: "Where is your ancestral home?"

The Minister of Personnel answered directly: "Donglai."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I remember there was a Taishi Ci in Donglai. Is there any position in the Imperial Observatory?"

The Imperial Observatory was formerly the Grand Historian. Previously, a fourth-rank official of the Imperial Observatory was transferred to the Meteorological Bureau as a researcher.

The Minister of Personnel replied, "Your Majesty, there is no position available. The previous vacant position was filled by the editor of the Hanlin Academy. This person compiled the "Nongshu" on water conservancy and agriculture in the Yuan Dynasty. He is already 63 years old and understands astronomy, geography and water conditions. I decided to let him take the position of the director of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory."

Jia Rong said indifferently, "Okay, from now on, anyone who compiles and writes books on craftsmen, agriculture, military science, mathematics, and other educational books will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver as a reward. Ministers in the court or those who are idle at home should also read more books."

"Later, take one hundred taels from the Holy Palace subsidy that I have reserved in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and give it to the person at the Imperial Observatory. Put it in a gold-thread bag and give it to him for the New Year ancestor worship."

As soon as Jia Rong finished speaking, an old man stood up and excitedly moved to the open space next to him, knelt down and kowtowed.

He looked up and said, "I thank the emperor for his grace!"

"Bang!" Kowtow.

"Long live the Emperor!"

Bang, kowtow
"Long live!"

Bang, kowtow
"Long live!"

boom!
Jia Rong forgot that the Director of the Imperial Observatory was a fourth-rank official and was qualified to attend court.

"No need to be polite." Jia Rong was a little annoyed and continued, "Where were we just talking about? What did the Luoyang prefect arrange?"

The Minister of Personnel replied, "Your Majesty, the former prefect has not yet made any decision."

Jia Rong said casually, "Since he has done nothing wrong, he should finish his term first. He is already old, so it would be better to be more respectable. The former censor should be a deputy first and enter the cabinet in ten years." The Minister of Personnel said respectfully, "As you wish."

After the King of Zhou's rebellion was resolved, the Left Prime Minister reported his work in the normal order.

"Your Majesty, the magistrate of Liuyang County has investigated eleven private gunpowder and firecracker workshops in the area and confiscated more than seven thousand taels of silver. Please deal with it, Your Majesty."

Jia Rong had no good expression. "Let them make meritorious contributions while serving their sentence. The five with the best gunpowder quality will be kept. They will be used to make gunpowder for the court and incorporated into the government camp. They can also reduce the agricultural tax pressure on the private sale of fireworks and firecrackers in the county. The rest will be sent to the quarry to serve for three years. If they are not dead after three years, they can go back and be honest people."

The left prime minister responded: "As ordered."

Fireworks and firecrackers are officially controlled. If you are caught making them in a private workshop that is not officially licensed, you will be sentenced to death.

Our ancestors had already started using registration a long time ago, so Jia Rong didn't need to give any orders, and his subordinates would apply all kinds of techniques and rules and regulations.

Wherever the problem occurs, it must be investigated.

Some modern systems did not exist in ancient times. That was mostly because the conditions did not exist in ancient times, not because they were unthinkable.

For example, civil servants were asked to appease local troublemakers. This was because there were not so many officials in ancient times, and most of them were officials in other places. Even factories were very few, so there were not so many connections to use.

When the county magistrate governs the local area, he seeks cooperation from local gentry, which is actually a degraded version of this.

It was not difficult for Jia Rong to govern the country because most of the systems in a normal dynasty were sound.

It's like a normal machine. Although it will break down in the future, it is in good condition now and some bumps and stumbles don't affect its use at all.

Even if its owner is a lazy person, as long as he doesn't mess around, there will generally be no problem.

Whether it was craftsmanship, bureaucracy, or finance and funding, Jia Rong took over a unified country that was prominent, healthy, and powerful.

There are no powerful enemies outside, and no worries inside... If there is a worry, the only worry is a powerful assassin who makes the royal family members afraid to come and become the emperor.

If King Zhou wanted to rebel, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg. He was totally unaware of the power of the current Holy Emperor.

If he had known the terrifying power of this Saint Emperor, he would have been frightened to death that night.

Wang Ziteng stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Mongol Khanate has invaded our border!"

Jia Rong was confused, "What foreign country? Why haven't I heard of it?"

Wang Ziteng replied, "It is a small country in the western border area, living on agriculture and animal husbandry. It has been established for about a hundred years. Most of the people in the country are foreigners with blond hair and eagle noses."

Jia Rong now knew where it was.

"The journey is too far, so I won't ask about it. I will select from the sons of the hereditary military households those who are skilled in archery and horsemanship and can lead troops to quell the rebellion."

"Those who can conquer the country before the New Year, lead troops to fight, and personally participate in the battle will be promoted to a higher rank."

"If they gather their own local warriors, and inherit the glory of their ancestors like Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, and fight for the country and make great contributions to expanding the territory, I will allow them to migrate their people to the new land, spread out their branches, and be named kings of different surnames."

Jia Rong was still very boring, but the ministers were directly pissed off!
Wang Ziteng opened his eyes wide, immediately knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty! Absolutely not! That's just a small country in the western border that not many people know about. There is no difficulty except that the journey is a little long. How can you make him a king just for such a small achievement?"

The Minister of War also became anxious, and hurriedly knelt down and shouted: "Your Majesty! Western Xinjiang is just a tiny place. I think even if we conquer it, we can just make him a third-rank general! The title can be upgraded one level, don't rush it!"

It was a taboo for a military general to be crowned a king. Not only did a few civil officials strongly oppose it, but the military generals also joined in the opposition.

Since ancient times, kings of different surnames have never had a good ending.

Jia Rong is an exception, but he also set a strange precedent, which absolutely cannot continue!
Jia Rong thought for a few seconds, "That's right. It's a small place I haven't even heard of. It won't be much credit to conquer it. So I'll issue an order that whoever conquers this small country, as long as it is not a tragic defeat or a tragic victory, will be promoted to the second rank and rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver."

Although the reward given by Jia Rong was a bit too much, the ministers still accepted it politely.

If military generals are really given titles of king and granted the right to expand territory, the border troops will be out of control and will be constantly looking for trouble to start wars.

After chatting for a while, Jia Rong was no longer sleepy and asked, "Is there anything else?"

The left prime minister shouted happily: "Your Majesty! The Governor of Luzon has discovered a silver mine on Luzon Island, which is the fief of the emperor. This is a good omen sent by heaven!"

Jia Rong frowned, "What good or bad omen? I don't believe in that. If we find a silver mine, we should protect it and mine it. The Governor of Luzon should be rewarded for his meritorious service. The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works sent people to investigate the silver mine and send a reward to the Governor of Luzon. He will be made a third-class baron, and his title can be inherited for three generations without being reduced."

The Minister of Works and the Minister of Personnel said respectfully, "As you wish!"

Jia Rong looked at the Minister of Personnel again, "How many dukes are there now?"

The Minister of Personnel replied, "Your Majesty, there is not a single one left."

All the officials in the court and Jia Rong were silent for more than ten seconds.

Jia Rong sighed and said, "I am also one of the Eight Dukes of the capital, so I know a little about the other dukes' descendants. Most of them are useless. If there were any useful ones, I would have promoted them long ago."

"Forget it, forget it. I won't talk about those rubbish anymore. It makes me angry just thinking about it."

Jia Rong did not shy away from the fact that he was a person of a different surname in the past, and was not afraid of others knowing or mentioning this matter.

Jia Rong added, "I remember the King of Donghai sent a message a while ago saying that because of the capture of Fusang Wa, many ronin were robbing some seaside towns."

"Zongzheng, you should discuss with a few generals of the imperial clan and send a few capable and brave men to the southeastern coastal areas to eliminate pirates and bandits. Once the situation on the coast is settled, you can attack Goryeo. I want to confer the title of Duke on a few men who can lead troops to fight."

Zong Zheng immediately responded: "As ordered!"

What followed was a bunch of messy little things, which Jia Rong didn't want to deal with, so he let everyone go and deal with them themselves.

Jia Rong was extremely generous. Plus, there were very few princes and dukes in the court now, so everyone could naturally feel that Jia Rong was sincere.

Compared to the retired emperor who would blame himself as the Holy Emperor when something went wrong, call others trash, and kill people to vent his anger.

And the previous emperor was lazy, listened to slander, and was as bloodthirsty as his father.

Today's emperor is simply a sage!

Although Jia Rong had been emperor for less than three years, both the imperial court and the border troops did not want the original family to hold imperial power again.

Of course, what the Left Prime Minister could not forget the most was the scene where Jia Rong, wearing a dragon robe, happily gave him a cigarette.

A scholar dies for a confidant!

If the former royal family rebelled, the Left Prime Minister would definitely be the first to report it!
Today's Holy Dynasty is incredibly powerful, whether it is technology, wealth, cohesion, population, or land, it is first-class strong.

Even if war breaks out in nine places at the same time, we can fight against them, let alone a backward grassland tribe.

Jia Rong relaxed the restrictions on high-yield crops and opened up grain outlets in Liaodong, Luzon, and South Vietnam. Over the next few years, grain production increased rapidly, while the population growth rate was much lower than grain production. It was the most peaceful time.

The population of the imperial family had been increasing for over a hundred years, but most of them died at the hands of Jia Rong?

There are only seven or eight generations in more than a hundred years, so the number should be very large, and more than thirty branches have been directly produced.

But thanks to the joint efforts of two emperors and Jia Rong, there are not many left now.

Jia Rong quickly set a red line for the land of the other seven kings: only wheat can be grown!

This red line did not attract anyone's attention. Although vegetables cannot be grown there, it is a good place for growing wheat.

At most, it will affect rice planting, but it won’t have any significant impact.

Only after a few decades would the royal descendants discover how vicious this policy was.

(End of this chapter)