The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 271: Governing a country is like a child's play

October 1st, the second year of the Holy Dynasty.

The first day of the lunar month is the time for court attendance every month. Except for those who are in seclusion or are sick or having a child, people basically have to attend court.

"Long live my emperor."

"Ah."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The first year, the first year, the second year, now Jia Rong has been in charge for more than three years, and the ministers have become accustomed to Jia Rong's opening remarks.

Good Mood: All My Lovers, Stand Up

OK: Flat

Not good: Yeah
Very bad: No one spoke, and the others spoke while kneeling.

Most of the time, the emperor's mood was between bad and okay. The times when he was in a very bad or good mood were very rare, only once or twice a year.

When you are in a good mood, you process things very quickly and are the most efficient at work, but you also cannot tolerate others interrupting or expressing their opinions.

When he was in a bad mood, it took him the longest time to deal with things, and the things submitted by ministers were often rejected, and they were inevitably scolded.

So most of the time, they would rather delay it for a day or two than submit their memorials when the emperor is in a good or bad mood.

Jia Rong was in a bad mood today, but it was normal weather, enough to handle things.

"Your Majesty! The King of Western Xinjiang has returned to Western Xinjiang, and the foreign states in Western Xinjiang have stabilized. The generals of Western Xinjiang are leading prisoners of war and captured cattle, sheep and livestock, as well as local raisins, cantaloupes and other specialties to offer gifts. It is estimated that they will arrive in the middle of the month."

Jia Rong was in no mood to care about such trivial matters.

Whether it is Western Xinjiang or Western Mongolia, they are all outward expansion and deserve rewards.

"One earl and four viscounts, give them to the soldiers on the front line." Jia Rong said listlessly, "The cattle and sheep are given as rewards to the soldiers in the Beijing camp, the civil and military officials, and the craftsmen as snacks. If they are eaten up, forget it. If not, make them into canned food and give them to the soldiers in the western border as military expenses."

Jia Rong added: "For all the soldiers in the Western Frontier Army, each soldier will be rewarded with five taels of silver, and those who go into battle will receive an additional five taels, and those who kill the enemy will receive an additional ten taels. The general and deputy general will receive a reward of one thousand taels and five hundred taels respectively."

"The deceased will be compensated with 100 taels of silver to his parents, wife and children in his hometown."

Jia Rong thought for a moment and said, "If anyone covets this money, I will kill him and make his wife and children slaves."

Jia Rong gave a lot of money, and he didn't care much about corruption and bribery. He didn't control everything, but when he really wanted to take charge of something, he could kill until rivers of blood flowed.

"The minister obeys the order!"

The ministers under him agreed obediently.

It was obvious that Jia Rong didn't care about the war at all. He usually didn't care about those people and he probably didn't even know the name of the person who made a contribution this time.

The left prime minister suggested, "Your Majesty, now that the nine borders have all submitted, I think that except for the navy in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the rest of the places should rest for a while and not act too hastily."

The Minister of War stood up and said, "I think the left prime minister's words are inappropriate. Now that the battle between Mengxi and Mengxi is still undecided and our army is in high spirits, we should take this opportunity to wipe out all those foreign races!"

The Minister of Industry stood up and said, "I second the motion!"

Zong Zheng also stood up and said: "Those who are not of our race must have different hearts! Besides, there are countless vast lands outside the Western Frontier, rich in cattle and sheep, and countless beauties can be presented to the emperor! I think we should fight!"

The Ministry of Revenue said at the right time: "Your Majesty, the money and business taxes paid by various places in the first half of this year far exceeded last year. In just half a year, it has doubled compared to last year. Now the treasury can no longer hold it. Please make a decision, Your Majesty."

The left prime minister had a very bad expression and the emperor did not say anything.

Everyone in the court knew that the emperor was not that interested in expanding territory.

However, the soldiers and generals in the nine borders, as well as the descendants of meritorious officials from all over the country, are all ready to try, dreaming of being crowned kings and given more titles.

In the past, there was a civil service group that was a constraint, but now the court is not only composed of the civil and military groups, but also a group of meritorious nobles and military and industrial forces.

The meritorious nobles included young men from the royal family, who were young people without any title to inherit, and wanted to try their luck. Although these people had no power or status, their parents, relatives, and representatives all had positions in the court.

Making achievements and establishing careers are positive values, so elders will naturally support it, and it will only benefit the family and not cause any harm.

The Military Industry Group is the group of people in the Ministry of Industry who manufacture arms. These people have been reaping dividends for many years, and now it is time to charge at full speed, so they are not willing to stop.

Except for the prime minister and his civil servants, everyone else wanted to win merit by fighting in the war.

Jia Rong casually said, "The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Internal Affairs should exchange the silver for silver notes as soon as possible. From now on, the treasury will only store gold, and the tax silver from various places will be exchanged for 100-yuan notes at the local banks."

"Let's continue the war. Anyway, we have more money and rice than we can spend. Haven't we fought against Goryeo yet?"

The Minister of the Honglu Temple stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the King of Goryeo has been paying tribute every year since five years ago, and there has been no rebellion on the border."

Jia Rong casually said, "Just because there is none now doesn't mean there won't be any in the future. Let's give the young people a chance this time. One third are veterans from Xinjiang, one third are young men from the capital, and one third are Liao soldiers."

"The general commander will be selected from the lieutenants with good performance and the soldiers who have fought in battle. After the selection, a 10,000-man army will be formed and trained in Liaodong for a year to learn how to use muskets and artillery, and then train their physical fitness to familiarize themselves with the terrain. The battle will begin in March next year."

Seeing that Jia Rong had given the order, everyone could only respond in unison: "I obey your order! Your Majesty is wise!"

The Grand Secretary stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the foreign states have already surrendered but we still want to fight. If this gets out, there will be more trouble around us."

Jia Rong said disdainfully: "A bunch of barbarians who don't speak the same language, talking at the same time, can they unite to attack me?"

"Just beat me, and I'll take the blame!"

Jia Rong didn't care about his reputation at all, and he didn't care about the fact that his warmongering had ruined the country.

It's not our own kingdom, so if it's ruined, it's ruined.

Although he is the emperor, Jia Rong's way of thinking is different from that of traditional rulers.

Although he enjoyed the welfare benefits of a family empire, he did not regard the money and land as part of his own because he had not been educated in the way of thinking as an emperor since childhood.

Whether it was expanding territory or having the land occupied and the prince killed, it didn't matter to Jia Rong.

The infamy is even more unjustifiable. Jia Rong not only surpassed the sum of feudal emperors for thousands of years in power, but also surpassed the limitations of traditional emperors in thought.

A bad reputation is still a reputation.

Only after hearing these words could the ministers with limited thinking understand how shitty what Jia Rong did was.

Seeing that Jia Rong was determined to go his own way, the Left Prime Minister changed his proposal.

"Your Majesty, there are many things to do in the court right now. All departments have expressed their hope for more personnel to help, but there is really no one available."

Jia Rong said directly: "From now on, the imperial examination will no longer be held every three years, but every year. First, expand the Hanlin Academy to a thousand people."

"Don't work near the palace anymore. There are too many people here. Order the Ministry of Revenue to build Yenching University and Imperial College of Technology in the suburbs, at least fifty miles away from the Forbidden City."

"The six ministries have also started to relocate. First, roads will be built to facilitate traffic. No more than 50 people will be allowed to work in the city. In the future, schools will be located outside Beijing, and workshops will be opened in Jizhou so that people and materials can be used locally. Farmers will be relocated to the northeast, leaving land in the city for the construction of buildings and roads."

Jia Rong didn't like the large number of vehicles blocking the road, so he quickly started to drive people away.

The Minister of Revenue quickly said, "Your Majesty, it may not be appropriate to move all the scholars outside the city. Now the land outside the city is all wasteland, which is too far from the capital."

Jia Rong did not accept the rebuttal. "Evacuating in advance will help ease the water pressure. Too many people gathered in the city, and it would be a problem just to get water from the fields every day."

"Moreover, so many people eat and drink excessively all day long, producing too much feces. We have to use vehicles to transport their feces to the fields in the suburbs to fertilize them. It would be better to arrange for these people to study poetry and books, research agriculture and industry, and practice horsemanship, martial arts, and gun technology in the suburbs of Beijing."

Everyone found that this was indeed the case. There were indeed too many people gathered near the palace.

Jia Rong turned the imperial examination into an annual college entrance examination. Although he drove a group of manure-making machines to the suburbs, people who had never enjoyed life naturally did not mind these things and were happy to go to the suburbs.

(End of this chapter)