The Overlord of the Red Mansion

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, the palace was filled with flowers and it did not feel like winter at all.

The prince entered the palace in a special car.

The soon-to-be eighteen-year-old Crown Prince Jia Ben sat in the passenger seat. In the back seat were Lady Wang, who was in her sixties, and Jia Zheng, who was about the same age.

Jia Zheng looked at the flowers outside the palace that shouldn't be blooming in winter, and couldn't help feeling a little surprised.

"I heard that the Herb Palace of the Holy Palace is full of flowers, and even in the cold winter, there are fragrant flowers blooming. It turns out it's all true."

Jia Zheng stroked his beard gently, showing an expression of emotion.

Since leaving the court, Jia Zheng has grown a beard and long hair, returning to his classical beauty.

Although short hair and no beard have long been the mainstream in the court, some people just don't want to change.

Jia Rong was very tolerant of this and ignored this kind of thing completely. He even severely reprimanded those idiots who insisted on shaving everyone's heads and beards and making a fuss about it.

Although royal families in various places have shaved their heads and beards, and even some royal daughters have kept neat short hair, it is believed that their descendants will continue to keep long hair to consider themselves royal orthodox.

Jia Rong just injects positive energy!
Mrs. Wang, who is in her sixties, is no longer afraid of Jia Rong's positive energy.

"After the Chinese New Year, His Majesty will be thirty-five. The Empress is four years older than His Majesty, so she will be thirty-nine in the first month of the year."

After Mrs. Wang finished speaking, Prince Jia Ben said, "Don't worry, grandma. I have prepared a gift for mother. I believe mother will like it!"

Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang both nodded.

Neither of them said what they were really worried about.

Jia Yuanchun, who is almost forty years old, has begun to fall out of favor, as evidenced by the exile of her second son Jia Shu and the financial difficulties she faced over the past year.

Today, the Holy Emperor Jia Rong is in his prime and has maintained himself as well as in his youth. It is more than enough for him to be the Holy Emperor for another twenty years.

Perhaps they realized this, since Jia Yuanchun's faction was suppressed in the first half of the year, the women in the harem no longer have the ability to interfere in state affairs.

At the same time, some time ago, the treasury of the Imperial Household Department was stolen, and some of the Jia family members were removed and replaced by new civil servants.

Jia Rong also established a stricter inspection system, with people patrolling the area around the Holy Palace 24 hours a day.

The influence of the harem was suppressed to the lowest level and it no longer had any influence on the court.

Without the support of the harem, the princes and princesses could only rely on Jia Rong's favor.

Jia Rong just has no feelings for his own children.

Although Jia Lan is miserable, Jia Rong actually treats Jia Lan a little better than his other children.

The three of them quickly entered the Holy Palace.

The Holy Palace consists of the Inner Palace and the Outer Palace. The Outer Palace is a rectangular building complex, while the Inner Palace is a large square area at the back.

Ordinary people could not enter the inner palace. Jia Zheng and the prince were not considered outsiders, but they could only enter the inner palace during times like the New Year when they paid their respects.

Even so, the meeting place was not chosen from the usual place where they lived.

This time they met again in the outer palace, and it was not only Jia Zheng and the prince who came.

When the car stopped at Baifeng Hall.

Baifeng Hall is not an inner palace building, but a medium-sized banquet hall in the outer palace used for holding banquets, which can accommodate about a thousand people at the same time.

On some important days, officials of the third rank and above in the court, dukes, marquises and earls would come with their wives and children to attend the banquet and reminisce with the others.

It is not only an occasion for young people to get to know each other, but also an occasion for senior officials to get to know each other.

This place is similar to a banquet hall, but there is no place to dance and not many seats. Most people eat, drink and chat while standing, and they are not allowed to leave except to go to the bathroom.

After the prince came in, someone soon came over to greet him.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince." Xue Ke came forward to salute and greet him. Beside him stood a woman dressed in a scholarly manner and a seven-year-old daughter.

Jia Rong chose his wife from among the daughters of high-ranking officials whose property had been confiscated. Jia Rong was actually very happy to solve the marriage problems of his subordinates, and he somewhat wanted to be a matchmaker and give orders blindly.

Fortunately, the introductions were all good.

Xue Baochai's maid Ying'er was also given to Xue Ke as a reward, but concubines were not eligible to participate in such activities.

Ying'er was sent out because she flirted with a guard outside. Although Xue Ke accepted her, he only took care of her for the sake of Xue Baochai, and no longer cared about her after she gave birth to a child.

The prince nodded to Xue Ke, "Marquis Jintian, there is no need to be so polite."

Xue Ke is no longer a commoner. Having followed Jia Rong for more than ten years, he has already been conferred the title of marquis.

Among all Jia Rong's relatives, he is considered to be the one who is doing the best.

In the eyes of outsiders, Jia Baoyu was a useless person who had to stir up trouble, Jia Lian was not innocent from the beginning, and Xue Pan was unlucky to be killed by an assassin, otherwise he would have been awarded a title for his military achievements.

Jia Rong is not a member of the Jia family. Under the leadership of Xue Ke, the Xue family has begun to control banks, merchants, and maritime trade in various places.

Even so, it has little to do with Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin.

Xue Ke could only give gifts to Jia Rong as a sign of filial piety. He could not give gifts to his own sister alone. He had to give them together to comply with the rules.

With Jia Rong around, how could it be his turn to bring food and drinks to his sister?
Because Xue Ke understood the affairs and rules of the palace, he kept his distance from his sister and nephew.

The same goes for the prince.

The Xue family represented by Xue Ke were unwilling to get too close to the prince.

If you get close, the prince will ask for money...

After a brief greeting, Xue Ke left, and the others went about their own business.

Soon someone else came over to greet the prince.

"Prince, Father-in-law!" A beautiful woman came over with a young girl to say hello.

Neither the prince nor Jia Zheng knew this woman.

The prince asked politely, "Madam?"

The palace maid standing nearby introduced: "This is Lady Han, the wife of the King of Goryeo, and next to her is Lady Han's sister, Han Xiangjun."

The prince quickly said happily, "So she is the wife of the King of Goryeo."

Just as the prince was feeling happy, an old woman came over quickly.

"Your Highness, I am the mother of the King of Goryeo. Please do not blame me if I, your Highness, do not follow the rules."

The old woman glanced at Mrs. Han and her sister with a warning look.

The two sisters retreated quickly, not daring to look at the prince again.

Mrs. Wang saw that the situation was a bit awkward, so she quickly stepped forward to talk to the prince and helped him out of the predicament.

Jia Zheng quickly took the prince to talk to the Left Prime Minister, reminiscing about the past, and then went to see the Minister of Works and his wife.

The left and right prime ministers stood together, holding wine glasses and chatting.

"It seems that the King of Goryeo is not lucky."

"Ah."

The King of Goryeo was crowned king purely by accident. He was the son of the commander-in-chief of the Five Armies who came from afar. Someone reported that this man plagiarized other people's military theories to write books. When Jia Rong found out, he gave him a chance to prove himself and asked him to take 3,000 people to fight the Goryeo rebellion.

In the end, he won the battle and was directly crowned king.

Expanding territory and becoming a king is no joke. The war against Spain was fought between a few heroes who did not want to be overseas kings, and a large group of subordinates did not want to leave their homes and be unable to return home, so they would rather have the title of earl or marquis in their hometown than the title of king in a foreign country.

The rest of those who conquered Fuso and Tianzhu were also crowned kings as promised. The ones who conquered some smaller places were not crowned kings because their merits were not enough, or the places they occupied were all foreign lands and had no value to rule.

Due to ruling needs, the King of Goryeo, who was responsible for suppressing and building Goryeo, was unable to return to his country, so he asked his wife who stayed behind to attend the banquet on his behalf and express gratitude to the Holy Emperor.

There was nothing wrong with Lady Han coming over to greet the Crown Prince, but the King of Goryeo's mother thought this was unethical.

Whether it is the daughter-in-law, Madam Han, or Madam Han’s sister, they should be reformed under Jia Rong and learn the palace rules instead of getting to know the prince.

The kings of the Holy Dynasty are all loyal to the Holy Emperor, not the Crown Prince.

If the court ministers and kings are close to the prince, it proves that the Holy Emperor is old, and everyone is betting on the prince and standing on the prince's side, and no longer takes the old man's words as the main consideration.

It is a taboo for the prince to ascend the throne in a hurry!

Standing randomly is also a suicidal act.

Several important court officials and the prince responded politely without saying much.

Seeing this, many noble ladies in the field stopped interacting with the prince.

The prince, who is less than eighteen years old, is still too immature and not good-looking.

The contrast becomes even more obvious when Jia Rong, who looks to be about 23 or 24 years old, arrives.

"Your Highness! Long live the Holy Emperor!"

Everyone knelt down and saluted, including the prince.

If the prince dares to stand today, someone will propose to depose him tomorrow.

Jia Rong brought the two queens, Shengren and Shenggong, into the hall and said to everyone with a smile, "Please stand up. You are all people who have made contributions. There is no need to be polite." Everyone thanked him and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Jia Rong quickly took his seat, with the two queens sitting on his left and right.

Jia Yuanchun is older, four years older than Jia Rong, and is his original wife.

The Empress Shengren who took over was five years younger than Jia Rong and was not even thirty years old.

Jia Rong had knelt down to her several times in the past, but in recent years he liked to stand and let her do the work while she was kneeling.

In public, Jia Rong still gave face, and the three of them sat on three chairs, not so casual.

"Your Highness is not young anymore. You can decide your own marriage. I chose my wives myself. Let me see if you have the vision to choose a good match."

After hearing this, the prince quickly said respectfully: "Thank you, father!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "You are almost eighteen years old. It is not right to ask your mother for money. From now on, the coal mine business in Jinling and Huizhou will be handed over to you. Apart from the share for state-owned enterprises and court officials, you can manage the rest by yourself. Now that you are older, you can learn how to make money."

The prince was very short of money. He could not hold back his joy after hearing this and shouted even more eagerly, "Thank you, father! I will manage the business well!"

After Jia Rong ascended the throne, in order to ensure prosperity, he ordered trees to be planted in various places.

It is said to be to protect the environment, but no one understands.

But when we talk about creating auspicious signs, everyone will understand.

Coal briquettes have replaced fuel for every household, and there is no need to chop wood everywhere. Many large trees with lush branches and leaves have already grown on the roads outside the capital.

The coal mining business has always been a very profitable business.

Coal, iron, salt, cloth, tobacco, and munitions were all state-owned, and huge profits were turned over to the national treasury.

Jia Rong plans to privatize coal and iron, which will rapidly increase production and solve the problems of labor placement and huge output needs.

Even if your own son doesn't earn a lot of money, other people's sons will.

That's the pyramid structure.

It is impossible to keep such a big cake for a lifetime, others will eat it when they are ready.

Jia Rong was too lazy to care about so many things. It was better to let his son manage it than let the son of a corrupt official manage it.

A prince who controls the coal mining business of a province can directly become a national billionaire. This is the power of power.

The so-called richest man among the people is like a small shrimp in front of such power.

Everyone knows that Jia Rong is not greedy for power and now has plans to train a prince.

Maybe he had already started training him, but he was not as anxious as most people thought, and was not trained directly as the crown prince.

Now he is only starting as a county magistrate, and there are rumors that he will expand the territory, which obviously shows that he attaches great importance to the prince.

Jia Yuanchun sat on the side with a relaxed and reassured smile on her face.

If the prince himself had money, Jia Yuanchun would have less burden.

At this moment, Jia Yuanchun suddenly felt a little regretful, regretting that she did not understand the husband who had been with her for more than 20 years.

He obviously loved me so much and had waited for me for three years and three years. He had always doted on me all these years and even gave birth to another child for me at this time last year.

Being strict with my sons is also because I don't want them to follow the same path as Jia Baoyu.

After all, the prince will inherit the family business in the future, just like his brother Jia Zhu, so he must be educated strictly.

Jia Yuanchun regretted that she had not done enough. When she thought about it carefully, she realized that she had basically done nothing for Jia Rong over the years.

He had never recommended any beauties to Jia Rong, and even the matter of his sisters marrying into the family was agreed to reluctantly, so now Jia Yingchun has a very bad relationship with him, and she has not wanted to get close to him in the past few years.

I can’t help with governing the country, I don’t need to manage my family, and I haven’t taught my son well. Think about it carefully...

After Jia Yuanchun really thought about it, she realized that she was not deposed because Jia Rong showed favor to her because of their years of marriage.

After all, this banquet was not held for the prince, and soon the others came over to pay their respects.

Jia Rong looked at Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang.

"The Ministry of Industry has already built an airplane, and it only takes more than ten hours to get to Tianzhu. However, the airplane is not stable at the moment, and it would be bad if something went wrong."

"It only takes half a month to travel from the capital to Tianzhu by boat. When the river thaws in the spring next year, you and your wife will go to visit the King of Tianzhu on my behalf. I will let him know in advance."

Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang quickly thanked him: "Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

Jia Baoyu had committed a crime and could not come back, so Jia Rong was willing to allow Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang to go to Tianzhu to visit his son at public expense, which was already a special favor.

After Jia Zheng and Mrs. Wang were pushed aside, people came one after another with their wives and daughters to see the emperor.

Some are officials who have just returned from Beijing, and some are meritorious officials who have made contributions this year.

Soon the Goryeo king's mother, wife and sisters arrived.

Jia Rong casually said, "The King of Goryeo has just taken over Goryeo, and it is a time when everything needs to be rebuilt. I will exempt Goryeo from taxes and tribute for three years, and let him educate the people of the land for me. He just needs to be grateful."

The mother of the King of Goryeo kowtowed and knelt in thanks, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "You have taught your son well. Your husband and I are officials in the same court and know each other. Goryeo is a poor place with bad water and many unruly people. I'm afraid you won't be able to adapt to the climate there. There's no one you know to chat with. I'm afraid you'll get sick if you go there. You can retire in the capital and receive the salary and benefits according to your status as a princess."

The mother of the King of Goryeo was even more moved, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace! I am grateful for your great kindness and virtue!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It just so happens that several excellent coffins have been sent from the south. The rest of the princesses have already prepared them and do not need my concern. Your son cannot prepare anything in Goryeo. I will give you a coffin. After you die of old age, you will have a good home in the other world and continue to enjoy wealth and splendor."

Older people will prepare coffins in advance, and regard the coffin as a matter for afterlife.

Because the coffin is prepared in advance, there is no need to avoid the arrival of death, and the elderly and their children can face it calmly.

To die without a burial place is definitely a curse, and a good coffin is definitely the best gift from children.

Many old ladies nearby thought that the fact that Jia Rong had bestowed a coffin on them was a supreme honor and they felt so happy that they were dying.

After the banquet, Jia Rong, who had been rewarded, returned to the palace with the two queens and Lady Han's sisters.

After spending the money, of course one has to get benefits. While the old lady and a group of old ladies at the banquet were praising the Holy Emperor's grace, the Holy Emperor was also talking endlessly to his daughter-in-law.

The King of Goryeo must have known about this, but he would only be grateful, otherwise it would be disloyal and unfilial.

Anyone would be furious if his wife had an affair with an ordinary man.

But if we are in agreement with the Holy Emperor, we will be loyal to him as husband and wife.

Ministers and concubines are essentially the same thing.

And everyone had gone through this, including several princes, and all the civil and military officials in the court tacitly agreed not to mention this matter.

Even if he did say something, it would only be to praise someone for being sensible and noble.

If one does not want to do so, he can refuse to be crowned king. The Holy Emperor will not take action against earls or dukes.

It was not necessary for them to send their daughter and wife into the palace. Jia Rong never asked the ministers to do so; it was all voluntary.

After a few days, Jia Rong got tired of playing with women and found out that many ministers had sent many women to him in order to get their sons to join the army.

"Only ten women are allowed to enter the palace every year! The King of Shu, the King of Liao, the King of Donghai, the King of Dongying, the King of Zhenxi, and the King of Tianzhu can each send one!"

Jia Rong suddenly felt that being the emperor was very comfortable and temporarily gave up the idea of abdicating and letting others take over.

"No one who has not inherited meritorious service from noble families for more than three generations may send his daughter into the palace! This includes families of officials! No one who has not been an official for three generations may send his daughter into the palace!"

"Any daughter of a noble or an official who serves me can own a private ironworks and pay only one-fifth of the tax every year!"

"Any girl who is selected from the common people and enters the palace as a palace maid can receive a thousand taels of silver!"

"Anyone who bears me children, regardless of their origin, will have a coal mine for their family."

Jia Rong quickly began to give generous benefits to women.

When this order came out, the whole country was in an uproar!

No one drowned baby girls anymore, and there was no longer any preference for boys over girls. The status of women in the country suddenly improved significantly.

There is no major change for those who are ugly, but pretty girls are more popular.

A few days later, before the end of the first month of the lunar year, Jia Lan died in his room due to excessive sexual intercourse. He died naked in the cold morning.

The room was filled with banned books that were disgusting to read. After Jia Rong's diagnosis, it was found that the woman had taken too much dragon and tiger medicine. She was afraid that people would say she couldn't have children, so she tried too hard and died on the servant. She even strangled the servant to death with her bare hands.

Li Wan was grief-stricken and ashamed, and was quickly and hastily buried in a low-key manner.

That night... Jia Rong held a welcome party for Li Wan, who was wearing mourning clothes, in Tianxiang Palace. The kind of experience that only someone who had experienced it could understand. Together with You Erjie, You Sanjie, Qin Keqing and others, he helped her dilute her sadness.

Li Wan's matter was a small matter. Although Jia Rong and Li Wan repeatedly assured that they would never let anyone leak it, the court still knew about Jia Lan's corruption and death.

The reputation of Rongguo Mansion has been bad for more than ten years. Jia Yuanchun wants to blow it up and doesn't want to have anything to do with it anymore.

Influenced by Jia Lan, the prince was soon sent back to continue serving as county magistrate.

The expedition was put on hold for the time being. Jia Lan ruined the good things of all the civil and military officials in the capital, and many young people who wanted to make achievements went to his grave to urinate to vent their anger! (End of this chapter)