The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 295 Middle Age
The fourth year of the Holy Dynasty, the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.

All the ministers arrived outside the palace early in the morning waiting to attend court.

Today is the first day of work in the new year, and it is said that the emperor has come out of seclusion, so naturally I have to come here in time.

Soon, three thousand ministers and many princes and nobles entered the palace together.

After waiting for a few minutes, the eunuch shouted.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

Accompanied by the eunuch's loud calls, Jia Rong went to court with his guards, palace maids and the queen.

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

All the ministers, princes and nobles knelt down and saluted, and they only needed to salute Jia Rong.

Jia Rong walked to the emperor's throne and sat down, while Empress Shengren continued to sit behind the curtain.

"Flat body."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone who stood up breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s good that the emperor is back. He gives people a more dignified and down-to-earth feeling. You can tell at a glance that he is a benevolent monarch!

Jia Rong sat casually on the dragon throne, giving orders to the people below.

"The prince is still too young. He is fourteen or fifteen years old and still immature. I have sent him to the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau to learn about factory affairs, to train at the grassroots level, and learn basic organization. After a few years, he will start from a county and slowly become familiar with county affairs."

"But I still have too much to do. From now on, when I go to court, I will bring Empress Shengren with me to familiarize myself with some things. If I have something to do and cannot go to court in time, the Empress will handle it temporarily."

All the ministers said in unison: "As ordered!"

Although there are some of the meanings of Wu Zetian, Empress Shengren is not Wu Zetian.

First of all, her family had been dealt with by the previous emperor, so there was no external influence.

Secondly, Jia Rong had many women, and he also had the power of Jia Yuanchun, who had both the empress and the crown prince, so he was not worried that Empress Shengren would imitate Empress Wu.

Empress Wu was able to seize power because no one else had done so before. Now with the example of Empress Wu, those behind her can come up with a plan to kill the mother and keep the son at the critical moment!

The predecessors have blocked the road, and it will be very dangerous for future generations to approach it.

Not only is the Queen regent, but the matter of bestowing surnames will also be handled with extreme caution.

Jia Rong took care of his own affairs, and continued, "I have received a secret report that recently someone has been using my Jiaofang Bureau as if it were their own, and has colluded with some remnants of evil."

"Pass the decree down. From now on, the Jiaofangsi is not allowed to receive guests, let alone use their beauty to serve others. All the women in the Jiaofangsi must practice singing and dancing diligently, learn how to be loyal to the emperor, and perform a song and dance show in the Jiaofangsi every month. They sell their skills but not their bodies."

"I will arrange the specific matters. I cannot control the affairs of the people, but I forbid the existence of state-owned brothels! Whoever uses the name of me and the court to force women to work in brothels will die!"

Jia Rong began to crack down on prostitutes and human trafficking, and suppressed the brothel business that had flourished due to the prosperous times.

No one would object to such a thing. Brothels are not decent things in the first place, and the scholar-official class would not support such a thing.

The right prime minister knew that this was his own business.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Jia Rong looked at the others again, "Anything else?"

The left prime minister said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Goryeo was conquered years ago, but only rewards were given, not titles."

Jia Rong asked casually, "So what title is it?"

Left Prime Minister: "So it's the Baron."

"A third-class earl." Jia Rong thought about it and said casually, "His parents can be buried according to the rites of a duke. The specific expenses will be calculated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs according to the funeral expenses of a general duke and his wife, and doubled."

Being promoted across ranks and being given ample rewards and courtesies is naturally considered a great favor.

Jia Rong added: "The rest can be rewarded according to the previous ones. Expanding the territory is beneficial to the country, and the place where his ancestors came from can also be rewarded."

Nowadays, productivity has increased, and the cost and farm tools have increased a lot. A lot of unused iron tools have been turned into farm tools and sold to farmers, which has brought in a lot of income. Other emperors were afraid that their subordinates would rebel if they had too many weapons, so they dared not sell too many kitchen knives, but Jia Rong didn't care. He bought and sold kitchen knives and sickles at will.

The state-owned ironworks had become a money-making machine, and output was constantly increasing, producing more ironware to increase national revenue.

Jia Rong can print money as much as he wants as long as others recognize the money.

Even now, the agricultural tax of a county is less than tens of thousands of taels. To collect this money, people have to be sent to collect it personally and supervise its transportation. It would be better to exempt it.

The military force of a county can be used to expand the territory, which is a great profit for Jia Rong.

The left prime minister looked at Jia Rong and said, "Your Majesty, there is a county in Guangdong where bandits rebelled but failed. They fled overseas and occupied the Southeast Borneo Island. They wrote a letter saying that they are willing to capture the island for the court."

Jia Rong was not interested and had no idea what this Borneo Island was.

Anyway, if you don’t know them, just count them as small places. There are so many islands overseas, how can you know them all?

"Pardon their death penalty and allow them to return home and farm normally. As for the island, just let the local county magistrate send people to occupy it. It's just a small island and there's no need to make a big fuss. In the future, we can relocate coastal residents there to farm."

"Farming will be tax-free for ten years. Send people to investigate the island's minerals and population. Take your time. We still need to prepare for the attack on Spain this year."

Zuo Ying said in a voice: "I obey your order!"

The Minister of War stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the gunboats in Songjiang Prefecture have not yet been completed. It may take some time."

Jia Rong was not in a hurry. "Then we can fight again next year. I have plenty of time to wait."

The appointments of some officials were quickly resolved, and the rest were still about encouraging education, establishing schools, developing science and technology, building railways, encouraging childbirth, dispelling superstitions, building hospitals, promoting smallpox vaccines, and other endless things to talk about.

Finally, when it was almost time for lunch, the Minister of Revenue, who had been waiting for this opportunity, quickly stepped forward.

"Your Majesty! I have something to report!"

"Your Majesty! I have something to report!"

The Minister of Revenue looked at Zong Zheng, and sure enough, the other party was also waiting for this opportunity.

Jia Rong didn't want to talk nonsense until it was almost time to get off work.

"Hurry up and tell me, why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

Jia Rong cursed.

The Minister of Finance quickly rushed to say, "Your Majesty, the taxes sent by various provinces before October last year have arrived one after another, and this year's amount is one third more than last year. This is a sign of prosperity! Long live the emperor! ”

Jia Rong looked at Zong Zheng, "What about you? What's the matter?"

The Minister of Revenue who announced the good news did not receive any reward, and Jia Rong was not happy either.

The chief of the imperial clan said quickly, "Your Majesty, you are in your prime, young and strong, and you should select virtuous and beautiful women from all over the world to serve in the palace. I think it is time to start the selection."

There are indeed many women around Jia Rong, but they are all older.

Women over 28 are considered old women and are definitely not as good as girls of 18 or 19 who are in their childbearing years.

Thirty is just self-consolation, twenty-eight is already an old woman.

Twenty-eight is sixteen, thirty-eight is twenty-four. Over eighteen you are no longer a girl, and over twenty-five you are an aunt.

Jia Rong, 31 years old, is in his prime, but among the women around him, Jia Yuanchun is already in her thirties, Wang Xifeng is one or two years older than Jia Rong, and the rest, even the youngest, Tanchun, is in her twenties.

Qiaojie is now a young girl of fourteen or fifteen years old. In two years, she will be a virgin, and the others will naturally be old virgins.

The emperor's harem needs young girls, just like those lively, tender and beautiful girls with their own characteristics.

Although princesses, princes' wives and noble ladies from all over the country would also enter the palace to serve, these people were only palace maids in name, at least not the emperor's concubines in name. They were just there to be examined by the emperor to see if they could have children.

For the court officials, it was better for Jia Rong to play with women in the capital than to run away from home and be ignored.

After Jia Rong ran away from home, many things that originally needed to be discussed no longer needed.

"Okay." Jia Rong just wanted to have dinner after get off work and didn't want to waste any more words.

(End of this chapter)