The Overlord of the Red Mansion

May 3rd, the sixth year of the Holy Emperor.

Today is a holiday because of the Holy Emperor’s birthday and coronation day, which means there is a seven-day holiday, which coincides with the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of May.

Except for a few people on duty in various departments in Beijing, most people are at home to escape the summer heat, or are accompanying their families to visit zoos and botanical gardens.

Nowadays, we have advanced products such as airplanes, cars, trains, and ships, as well as viewing facilities such as zoos, amusement parks, botanical gardens, and Central Park.

The products of the old era still exist, such as the prohibition of physical contact between men and women.

The rule of physical contact between men and women could not control Jia Rong. Jia Rong had never had this concept since he was a child and often played with unmarried girls.

After becoming emperor, he became even more unbridled. He kissed whomever he wanted. The taboo of physical contact between men and women never stopped Jia Rong.

But Jia Rong supports using it to manage others.

We can’t control the ordinary people on the street. They will still buy vegetables when they need to, and go out when they need to.

Real ladies and noble ladies would certainly not travel with people from the lower class. Ordinary men and women can also travel together and buy tickets to go to the zoo to see chimpanzees.

The ethics and morals have been somewhat destroyed by the reckless Jia Rong. Now the reputations of the daughters mainly depend on their parents or their own social skills.

Jia Rong always plays with other people's wives and daughters, which has more or less broken the barriers between men and women. In recent years, the constraints on women in the court have been weakened.

Even if a woman stays indoors, if she wants to be granted an imperial decree, she must go to the palace to see the Holy Emperor.

Or it could be the inheritance of an old meritorious family, which must send unmarried or married women into the palace to serve the royal family, to prove their loyalty and the fertility that women should have.

What Jia Rong did in the inner palace was no secret. The royal family and some people in power knew what Jia Rong asked the women who entered the palace to do.

Some people don't care, some people are eager to send their wives and daughters in, and some people are ashamed and angry.

Anyway, the defense is broken...

Even if they don't care, it has indeed broken the traditional separation between men and women.

Nowadays, this concept of strict separation between men and women still exists, but it is not as serious as before, and people no longer stay in their small courtyards all their lives without going out of the front door or the back door.

When it was time to go out and play, they would go. Normally they would go into the palace in the morning and go out to play with friends in the afternoon. There would be a special day open to the wives of officials from inside and outside the capital.

In the home of the Minister of Works, the Minister of Works, who is already in his forties, is writing something with his daughter.

In addition to the Minister of Works and his beautiful eighteen-year-old daughter, there were also his mother and son, and an old nanny standing by.

I have more than one daughter, but only one is beautiful and smart.

The Minister of Works quickly stood up and walked to his beautiful daughter to watch her do the questions.

When the Minister of Works saw that there were problems with his daughter's test answers, he pointed at the wrong places with a ruler and corrected them.

“The action and reaction are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.”

"Yes, father."

My daughter quickly took the eraser and covered up the correct answer.

She has good handwriting and has been practicing pencil writing diligently over the years.

The wife of the Minister of Works was sitting next to him, listening to something she didn't understand while sharpening pencils for her son and daughter.

Pencils need to be sharpened, but it doesn’t happen that often. The sons and daughters who don’t have time to sharpen their own pencils are doing their homework with frowns on their brows.

On the contrary, the maids who were sharpening pencils were very leisurely.

The Minister of Works quickly went to look at his son's answers and felt a little comforted.

"Your eldest brother is already working in the Ministry of Industry. Your second and third brothers also have good grades and all have a talent for science."

The Minister of Industry walked over to his mother again and said with a smile, "Although our daughter is not as good as our son, she is still good compared to other families. The Holy Palace is in need of female drivers, female electricians, and female repairmen. If she learns some of my skills in the future, it will be convenient for her to enter the palace."

The mother of the Minister of Industry asked, "Are you planning to send your daughter to the palace? I heard that the emperor has no intention of appointing any more concubines."

The Holy Palace already has two queens, and the Holy Emperor has dozens of concubines, and there is no shortage of offspring.

Sending my daughter to the palace is not the best choice, and sending her there now won't help much. At this time, a housekeeper came in and said quickly, "Master."

Seeing the housekeeper who was in charge of external affairs coming over, the Minister of Works quickly went out to handle official business.

After the Minister of Works left, his wife said to her mother, "The daughters of the previous two Ministers of Works were both women of the Holy Palace. Now our master has just served as the Minister of Works for a five-year term. It is still unclear whether he can be re-elected next year. It doesn't hurt to be more prepared."

The mother of the Minister of Industry was an old lady. After hearing this, she suddenly understood and nodded, saying, "I was confused."

A daughter in exchange for a five-year term as Minister of Works is definitely worth it.

From the first year of the Holy Emperor to the sixth year of the Holy Emperor, the changes in these five years can be said to be earth-shaking.

The family went from being an ordinary family living in one courtyard to being one of the six ministers, and now the most profitable minister of the Ministry of Works!
She had a mansion, maids, a wet nurse, a housekeeper, and a nanny, as well as a bunch of relatives, disciples, and too many wives and daughters of officials to remember.

These five years have definitely been the most important five years for the whole family. Now that the term is about to expire, the more possibilities there are, the more peace of mind we can have.

Not long after, a maid came in and whispered, "The master went to the palace. He said he had something to ask for help in the palace."

The old lady nodded. This kind of thing was normal for the families of several important officials in the court, and the Ministry of Works had always been famous for its complicated and numerous affairs.

紫禁城

The afterglow of the coronation ceremony has not yet faded, and the magnificent palace is still filled with a solemn atmosphere.

However, undercurrents have been surging in the court since yesterday.

Several court officials and nobles dressed in gorgeous clothes gathered in the Hall of Hundreds where small meetings were usually held.

The leader was no longer the left and right prime ministers, but the Inspector General of the Embroidered Uniform Guard wearing a flying fish costume.

The left and right prime ministers and others seemed calm, but there was a hint of uneasiness between their brows.

The Minister of Works came in quickly and sat next to the Right Prime Minister.

"What's the matter?" The Minister of Works felt that the atmosphere was a little abnormal. The meeting had not yet officially started, but the atmosphere was already very depressing.

"I heard that the emperor recently sent people to secretly check the accounts, apparently to investigate corruption, bribery, and private distribution of money beyond the standard..." The right prime minister lowered his voice and glanced around vigilantly.

The Minister of Works' face suddenly changed, the teacup in his hand trembled slightly, and the tea almost spilled.

The left prime minister looked over here and said calmly: "Be careful with your words!"

Everyone stopped talking, but their hearts sank.

Although they are in high positions and have great power, they know that Jia Rong is a ruthless person and is definitely not a hesitant person.

Although the Holy Emperor is known for his kindness, unless it involves the businesses of several of his subordinates and someone is trying to steal his business, even if it is a case of treason, it will not be a capital crime.

But if something is found out, at the very least, he will be dismissed from his post...

There are many deputy ministers in the Ministry of Industry. At this time, one of them whispered, "We are all doing things according to the rules. There shouldn't be anything wrong, right?"

A young official couldn't help but ask, with a hint of luck in his tone.

"Follow the rules?" A nearby official sneered, "Since the emperor has sent people to investigate, he must have heard some rumors. Do you think those tricks can be hidden from the emperor?"

Everyone was silent, and the atmosphere in the hall became increasingly solemn.

Those Jinyiwei and Inspectors who usually fawned over them didn't smile today.

As if to remind them that a storm was coming.

The storm soon came, and with the Inspectorate's solid evidence, the Imperial Guards directly arrested the Minister of Works and the Minister of Justice.

On the contrary, the Minister of War and the Minister of Revenue who were in charge of money, who should have been arrested, were not arrested.

The Minister of War turned pale. Although he was not caught on the spot, he was almost scared to death.

The Minister of Revenue also couldn't understand why he was not arrested... (End of this chapter)