The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 260 Excellent Western System

Year 2 of the Holy Dynasty, January 12, morning court
There are more than a hundred more people attending court today than on the eighth day of the first lunar month.

Jia Rong basically went to court once every three or four days, and sometimes he was not seen for two or three months.

Fortunately, if there is any urgent matter, you can go to the Holy Palace and they will basically give you general advice on how to deal with it.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

"Flat body."

All the ministers knew that Jia Rong was neither in a good mood nor in a bad mood today.

It's a normal situation and the person is somewhat willing to do something.

Compared to the previous emperor, the current Holy Emperor is much easier to understand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone quickly went back to sit at the circular conference table nearby, and stared at the steps under the golden throne in front of them.

Looking directly at the emperor is a crime of disrespect, and making eye contact with the emperor is even more offensive, but one cannot lower one's head and not look forward, so according to the rules, one must look at the steps under the emperor's seat and only look up when necessary.

Zong Zheng stayed in the aisle to report the situation.

Generally speaking, Zong Zheng seldom participates in state affairs and has basically no sense of presence.

However, the Zong Zheng during Jia Rong's reign was very active. He was mainly responsible for making suggestions, but he had no real power.

"Your Majesty, you are already twenty-nine years old, and will be thirty next year. Now that the country is stable and the people are at peace, I beg you to appoint a queen and concubines in the harem, so that the royal women and children can also have an order of seniority."

Jia Rong frowned.

You're already twenty-nine?

I thought I was still twenty-four or twenty-five...

Jia Rong touched his chin and thought, "I don't know if it's because I've been refining medicine and keeping healthy these years, or because I don't have to worry about food and clothing, but I always feel very young."

His words were heard by many people nearby.

Zong Zheng said loudly: "The emperor's eternal youth and immortality are a blessing to the country and the world! Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor!"

After Zong Zheng flattered him, the others also stood up and shouted in unison: "Long live our emperor, long live our emperor, long, long live our emperor!"

Jia Rong said casually, "Sit down. I should take care of my harem. I'll think about it after I get back. I'll make a decision in a few months. Anyway, this won't affect the court or the world."

Seeing that Jia Rong was willing to accept his advice, Zong Zheng tactfully agreed, "As you wish!"

The purpose of establishing a queen is to establish a crown prince, but Jia Rong obviously does not want to establish a crown prince so early.

However, everyone does feel that there is no need to appoint a crown prince so early.

Jia Rong looks very young and in good health. He is also an expert in medicine and alchemy.

Next, they discussed the use of military force in foreign wars and the Lantern Festival holiday.

The fact that these two issues were discussed successively in the same meeting is enough to prove that people from top to bottom do not care about the war.

"Your Majesty, the General of Huguang requests to go to the Western Xinjiang to quell the rebellion! We are willing to gather 3,000 elite soldiers from Huguang to expand the territory for Your Majesty!"

"Yes. Military rations, horses, firearms, and armor have already been sent to the Western Frontier garrison. Just let them go there directly."

"According to the order!"

The discussion about the war was finished in one minute, but the discussion about the Lantern Festival holiday took half an hour and was still not finished.

Jia Rong said, "Don't bother yourself. In the future, we can combine the New Year's Day holiday with the Lantern Festival holiday to make a total of 20 days of vacation. This way, you can stay at home to reunite with your family or go back to your hometown to visit relatives. You will have enough time."

The left prime minister immediately objected: "Your Majesty! If the court is left unattended for a long time, things will definitely be delayed. Last year, the Ministry of Revenue randomly checked the population of several counties before the New Year and found that the population in most places was much higher than the actual population."

"Now that the tax burden is being distributed among all the acreage, and the emperor is judging government performance by population, there is no need for local governments to conceal their population. Our holy dynasty has a population of over 100 million, so there are naturally many things to do in various places. How can we neglect the court?"

The Minister of Rites suggested: "Your Majesty, I think that the New Year celebration can be three days, and the Lantern Festival can be one day, so that we can be diligent in government affairs and live up to Your Majesty's grace!"

The Right Prime Minister also thought it would be better to work more, "I second the motion!"

Jia Rong doesn't want to go to work!
Jia Rong scolded, "How can there be so many things? I haven't been to court for several months, and nothing has happened!"

The left prime minister knelt on the ground and shouted, "Your Majesty! When you are not in the court, we are on duty day and night, and we dare not slack off for even a moment!"

"More than 20 days is indeed too much." Jia Rong thought seriously and said, "Then let's celebrate the New Year for seven days, and add up the two days before and after the Lantern Festival to make three days."

After half an hour of hard work, everyone finally managed to shorten Jia Rong's one-month annual leave to ten days.

It would be impolite to continue to suppress it.

"Your Majesty!"

Everyone quickly sang praises to the emperor's wisdom.

Seeing that everything was fine, Jia Rong thought back to what happened a few days ago.

"Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Minister of the Supreme Court, are you able to handle the tasks you have on hand recently?"

The two people who were called quickly stood up from their seats and walked to the middle of the stairs to answer. The Minister of Justice replied: "Your Majesty, the country is peaceful and the people are safe recently, and there is not much work in the Ministry of Justice."

The Dali Temple Minister also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, last year the Dali Temple Minister only investigated a few cases of rape and murder, drunken murder, and murder for money, all of which were minor matters. However, the matter of the three assassins and their clansmen has never been settled. Now they are just under surveillance, and many of them have committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

Zong Zheng heard this and cursed: "These bastards are so lucky! They should be tortured to death, and all their clans should be torn into pieces! To commemorate the tens of thousands of souls they killed!!"

The commander of the five armies suggested, "Your Majesty! Half a year has passed. Your Majesty kept those people just in case, fearing that someone might be wrongly accused. Now that the evidence is irrefutable, the entire clan of those three thieves should be cut into pieces immediately!!"

When Jia Rong shot and killed the prince's third teacher, everyone didn't believe that the assassin died just like that. They always thought that Jia Rong killed those three old men because he didn't like them.

But later on, the assassin refused to show up, as if he had disappeared.

This makes people have to think deeply about this matter.

After all, if you think about it carefully, those three people are indeed the ones with the greatest motive to commit the crime from the former emperor to the late emperor and Jia Rong.

When the emperor was retiring, those three people were important officials in the emperor's study, so there was naturally reason for them to lay off the emperor early.

Also because they are important ministers, they are handed over to the Crown Prince and asked to assist him.

Unexpectedly, the three men were so cruel that they killed the retired emperor in order to support the crown prince to ascend the throne.

As expected, the prince was not beaten after he ascended the throne, but many of his relatives and rivals died, leaving him alone.

After the prince escaped to Jiangnan and got rid of these three old men, they became angry and chased after the prince!
Fortunately, Jia Rong investigated them for eighteen years before he took out his pistol to avenge his father, living up to the reputation of loyalty and filial piety!
Anyway, as long as the assassin doesn't jump out and slap you in the face, this is a reasonable inference recognized by everyone.

Jia Rong frowned and thought, "Nine clans are too many. It has been three years since I ascended the throne. I really don't want to kill anyone. However, these three are indeed extremely evil, so let's count them as three clans."

"My entire clan, my brothers' clan, my sisters' clan."

"Men will be shot, and women will be sent to the Jiaofangsi."

Jia Rong arbitrarily arranged the three families of the three men.

The original intention was to affect only a few dozen people.

But his subordinates didn't think so. Jia Rong underestimated the value of making the entire city wear mourning clothes for more than ten years.

Soon, the son and daughter-in-law of the third teacher of the crown prince, grandson and granddaughter-in-law, granddaughter and grandson-in-law, daughter and son-in-law, grandson-in-law and granddaughter-in-law, granddaughter-in-law and grandson-in-law, great-grandson-in-law and great-grandson-in-law...

Several brothers, dozens of sisters-in-law, dozens of nephews, dozens of nieces, hundreds of nieces-in-law...

Sisters, their sons and daughters, their grandchildren and granddaughters-in-law...

The older they are, the more loss there is in confiscating their property. They confiscated the three families of the three old men and actually shot several thousand people, and stuffed thousands of women under the age of 40 into the Jiaofangsi.

Even the old man's ancestral home was conquered by several princes, and the entire village was exiled to the bitter cold land of Liaodong as slaves, implicating a wide range of people.

After all, he is a veteran of four dynasties, and has been famous and powerful for most of the time. His children are also celebrities in their hometowns, so naturally there is no shortage of people who want to rely on him.

Although Jia Rong only executed the three clans of these three men, the fellow townsmen, classmates, and disciples of these three old men were also quickly rounded up and sentenced to death under various names.

These have nothing to do with Jia Rong. They were all done by powerful officials in the court, royal aristocrats, descendants of founding heroes, and local officials.

Even the common people in Beijing supported it and applauded it.

On the first day of February, Jia Rong looked at the densely packed lists and memorials.

I couldn't help but have a strange thought in my mind.

If my house was raided, they would also shout "Okay"...

Since it's the same no matter who you replace me with, let's treat everyone the same.

Jia Rong casually threw the memorial aside.

"Sometimes I feel like fate is blessing me."

The left prime minister said respectfully: "Your Majesty is wise and brave, and he has turned misfortune into good fortune. It is indeed the will of heaven! He is the true dragon emperor!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I'm not talking about the assassin. I've seen a lot of situations in other families since I was a child. Giving birth to a child is like walking through the gates of hell."

"Even among the nine foreign nations and Western races, many people died when giving birth, and some even died without an heir."

"But I have the most sons among my descendants. The women who gave birth to my children were all safe and sound. There were no difficult births or miscarriages that would happen to ordinary people and noble families."

"Issue an order to select young and beautiful people from the capital and local nobles. From now on, all hereditary nobles of Viscount and above must send their unmarried virgin daughters to the palace to learn etiquette and be nourished by the dragon's energy. Otherwise, they will not be allowed to inherit the title, nor can they get married!"

"If you don't have a daughter, then send your wife over! If you don't even have a wife, then forget about inheriting the family line! Let's end the family line!"

This... I always feel that it is a bit unorthodox and vulgar.

But this was the emperor's good intention, and it was only natural for nobles to send women into the palace to serve the emperor.

The imperial palace guards were also descendants of nobles from all over the place.

If men can sell their bodies, why can't women enter the palace to serve the emperor?
If I'm pregnant with a dragon, wouldn't that mean I've absorbed dragon energy? That's a great thing!
The current emperor is not the kind of unfaithful man who would disown someone just for fun.

The ministers did feel that the emperor was destined to be the emperor. In addition, most of the old ministers who supported the Confucian doctrine had been purged, so no one in the court opposed this.

(End of this chapter)