The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 262 The Age of Discovery

The Holy Palace will be much quieter starting from February.

The weather will gradually get better during this period, and you don’t have to be busy with New Year and other festivals. You can be happy just eating, drinking and having fun at home every day.

Especially after the children went to school and lived in the palace to study, the women in the family had an easier time.

You don’t have to worry about whether your children do their homework or not, or where they go to play, or whether they have enough pocket money.

Every day I eat and sleep, and when I wake up I play cards and take a walk, enjoy the beautiful scenery, play with the koi and herons in the pond, or chat with my sisters while holding the kitten, and go to a special room to exercise and keep in shape.

Jia Rong, on the other hand, has something to do every day.

I am not interested in court affairs, but in order to distribute eggs, I have to increase egg production and engage in breeding management.

Various types of medicines are indispensable for breeding management.

Although Jia Rong is a human, he is still an animal, and human medicine and animal medicine are more or less the same.

Jia Rong was brave enough to give people strong medicine, so how could he be reluctant to use a few chickens for experiments?

Relying on his previous experience as a doctor, Jia Rong easily developed many medicines that were up to standard for the time period.

By the time Jia Rong had finished writing a simple book called "Sheng Rong's Guide to Livestock Breeding", it was already Mayday, which Jia Rong hated the most.

“Print, publish, expedite, and send to various counties to guide agricultural breeding.”

Jia Rong quickly relied on the emperor's privilege to promote his best-selling book.

May 1st of the Holy Dynasty is the day when Emperor Shengrong ascends the throne, and it is also Emperor Shengrong’s holiday.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

"Everyone loves you."

The ministers knew that Jia Rong wanted to resolve the matter quickly.

Jia Rong would usually work so hard only on holidays or the day before a break.

Everyone was used to Jia Rong's troubles, and there was nothing big happening in the court anyway.

"Your Majesty." Wang Ziteng first reported the situation. "At the beginning of the year, the Spanish fleet attacked the port of Luzon, killing and injuring more than 100 civilian boatmen and 10 fishing and merchant ships. The Governor of Luzon personally led the fleet to pursue and capture the thieves. A total of 7 gunboats and more than 300 barbarians were seized. One small boat escaped and is now missing."

Jia Rong said indifferently: "Don't kill them. Let them learn the language and technology there. Order Songjiang Shipyard to build steam gunboats. Order the Governor of Luzon to train troops in Luzon Port and prepare for war. I will send a group of people to assist him."

"Yes, sir!" Wang Ziteng responded quickly.

Jia Rong thought about it and found that his memory was still not very good.

"What was the last name of the Governor-General of Luzon?"

"My last name is Zheng."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Luzon is my fiefdom. He has made great contributions in defending my territory, so I will grant him the title. In addition, I will ask him to prepare for war and he can go to Songjiang Prefecture to personally supervise the production of warships."

"Spain is almost a year away from here, and I can't take care of it."

"Whoever can conquer the overseas power of Spain will be crowned the King of Spain."

Wang Ziteng quickly advised: "Your Majesty! Expanding the territory and conferring the title of king is absolutely not advisable! If this continues, the people of the country will surely flock overseas and ignore the teachings of the court! They will betray their ancestors and bring disaster to the country and the people!"

If Jia Rong were the emperor emeritus, his suggestion to expand the territory and confer the title of king would definitely be considered treason.

No normal ruler would support his people in establishing a country overseas.

Jia Rong's brain was not normal. Jia Rong smiled and said, "I have made up my mind. You guys just need to do as I tell you. If you bring disaster to the country and the people, I will take the blame!"

"Next! What else?"

The Minister of Rites stood up to report the situation. "The British have sent a group of nuns to pay homage to the Holy Emperor, hoping to build a church in Guangzhou to preach."

Jia Rong said indifferently: "If they provide money and people, and are willing to pay the land rent, I will naturally allow it. I also hope that the people will have more exchanges and exchange my tobacco fairy tablets with gold and silver objects from Western countries."

Jia Rong is too lazy to fight now, so if others want to build a church, let them do it and he can take it back after a few years.

Besides, it’s good to preach. After preaching, you can just distribute eggs.

It is still a feudal era with strict separation between men and women. Without Jia Rong's intervention, these foreigners would have no chance of preaching!

Jia Rong first won over those wealthy widows. Most of these widows were literate and had their own team, but they lacked a status.

In this age of unenlightenment, it is of no use to win over the lower class people, who might even sell them out.

The idea of loyalty to the emperor was very serious in this era, and the holy emperor selected talented and virtuous people for appointment, so naturally he was not afraid of rebellion from his subordinates.

Jia Rong was indeed not afraid of rebellion from his subordinates. He was not afraid at all.

The Minister of Revenue stood up and said, "Your Majesty, summer grain has been harvested in various places. According to the calculations of the Meteorological Engineering Department, about 300,000 acres of farmland will be affected this year. The rest of the country will be peaceful and worry-free, with good weather and good harvests."

Jia Rong frowned, feeling that it was not small.

"Issue an imperial decree, ordering the Meteorological Department, the Imperial Observatory, the Thousand Households Office, and the Inspection Department to each send one person, and then bring fifty Beijing camp soldiers to inspect the disaster-stricken areas, and decide on agricultural tax reductions and exemptions based on the disaster situation."

"If there are places that require tribute, they can be exempted completely, and tribute can be ensured to be paid as much as possible."

"The rest of the country can be exempted up to 70%. If there are too many deaths of people and animals, we can open the warehouses and distribute food to the victims."

"If the matter is urgent, the people in charge can discuss it among themselves. There is no need to consult me or the capital to prevent civil unrest."

Several departments that were called came out quickly to answer the call.

"According to the order!"

Jia Rong asked again, "Is there anything else? I will probably be in seclusion for three or four months. All departments should handle their own affairs. If you encounter any troubles, please discuss them with me. If there are any problems that you cannot solve yourself, just ask me."

Zong Zheng came out and said, "Your Majesty, the son of the King of Donghai has completely pacified the bandits on the Japanese island and is willing to guard the Japanese island for the emperor for generations."

Jia Rong nodded and said, "Appoint him as the King of Dongying, order the Ministry of Internal Affairs to grant him the prince's clothes and imperial robes, and also reward him with a box of Forbidden City, a box of magic tablets, 100 painkillers, five bags of cold medicine, 10,000 taels of gold, three rickshaws, and 100 muskets and cannons."

"Allow them to temporarily manage the internal affairs of Dongying, teach the Japanese to farm, gather the Japanese to build cities, and allow the soldiers of the King of Donghai to marry local women and have their children become Han Chinese."

"It would be a pity to kill those people in the prison. Keeping them here would take up space and waste food. Send them to Japan to make amends for their crimes and assist the King of Japan in building the local area. In a few years, I will send officials to take over the internal affairs."

"Exempt the land of Japan from taxes for ten years, but tribute must still be paid. Whether it's beauties or precious treasures and exotic animals, let the King of Japan decide for himself, but the thought behind it must be there."

"Allow the King of Japan to return to the Central Plains, but the affairs of Japan must be properly handled. I have long allowed the princes of various places to gather at will. They are all brothers, and there is nothing wrong with meeting and reminiscing about the past."

"Now that the court is stable, it is the right thing for you to come back for medical treatment, retirement care, or to send your children to school."

"Pass the decree down, all the princes should come together for the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. It doesn't matter if you can come, you can just send some tokens of your appreciation."

Jia Rong doesn't care at all about how he becomes the emperor, so he looks extremely free and honest.

And encourage people to go abroad.

When Jia Rong was in seclusion to escape the summer heat and Jia Tanchun gave birth to a child, a sentiment of establishing a country overseas and becoming a legitimate king quickly spread among the people and the hereditary aristocracy.

Even if you rebel against another country overseas, you can still choose to return to your country and live a good life! !

For the Chinese people who have a strong attachment to their hometown and cannot leave their homeland, the Holy Emperor's promise and encouragement directly ignited their dream of conquest.

The countries on land had long been defeated, and several foreign states had also surrendered. Now the ones expanding their territory and establishing kings were all overseas countries.

The Age of Discovery has arrived!
(End of this chapter)