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Jia Baoyu, who used to be indifferent to everything, was suddenly conferred a high position again. Naturally, he felt that the world was particularly absurd. The Jia family, which had been deserted before, became crowded again.

At this time, Jia Baoyu looked at Lin Daiyu with some boredom and said, "Sister Lin, I don't want to move to that Rongguo Mansion. I want to stay here forever."

"Don't be silly! You are now the first-class Duke of Rong in the Celestial Empire. Besides, don't you want to go back to your former home?" However, Lin Daiyu sneered at this. In fact, she still missed the life in Rongguo Mansion very much.

"Things and people have changed a lot! Going to the Grand View Garden again will only make me feel sad." Jia Baoyu still said with a lot of emotion and sadness.

Lin Daiyu quickly stepped forward and hugged Jia Baoyu lovingly, saying, "Brother Bao, everything has passed. We must move on."

Jia Baoyu thought about it carefully and thought that it was indeed the case, but he still made one last request, "Sister Lin, I can agree to move back to Rongguo Mansion, but I don't want so many servants anymore."

"Okay! It's up to you."

Then Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu returned home again, but their mentality had changed a lot, and they no longer had the peace and happiness they had before.

Immediately after returning to Rongguo Mansion, Jia Baoyu closed the door and kept all visitors out. As for the Jia family members, they were not allowed to come back and enjoy the honor.

However, Jia Baoyu still brought his elder sister-in-law Li Wan and his nephew Jia Lan back, and Jia Lan lived up to everyone's expectations and passed the imperial examination, and then entered the official career of the imperial court with his own abilities.

Jia Lan looked at Jia Baoyu with some confusion and asked, "Second Uncle Bao, why are you unwilling to accept the Jia family's children and those old people in the mansion?"

"Jia Lan, let me ask you, was the decline of the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family really due to the confiscation of their property?" However, Jia Baoyu asked back meaningfully.

"This..." Sure enough, Jia Lan was a little confused for a moment.

Jia Baoyu has long since seen through the mundane world. If it weren't for the ties between Lin Daiyu and Su Ning, he would have long since chosen to become a monk. "In fact, the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family have long been rotten inside. Even if the confiscation of property hadn't happened, the Ning and Rong mansions wouldn't have been able to survive."

"..."

"The Jia family's children and the servants in the mansion are the culprits. They are like blood-sucking leeches, consuming everything in the Ning and Rong mansions."

"But……"

"Jia Lan, you have to understand one thing. This Jia is not that Jia! From now on, my Jia family, Rongguo Mansion, will only be a clean and honest family indifferent to fame and fortune."

"Yes! Uncle Bao, Jia Lan can save it."

……

In the third year of Qianlong's reign, the little emperor was already nine years old, and the power of the Prime Minister had reached a new height.

After all, the Prime Minister Suning is now second only to the emperor and has even more power than Oboi did back then. The entire Celestial Empire understands that Suning is the real person in charge.

Soon the Jingjiang (Beijing and Jiangning Prefecture) railway that ran through the north and south was opened to traffic. When the first steam locomotive ran from Beijing to Jiangning Prefecture, the veterans of the Eight Banners finally realized that the torrent of steel was far more subversive than archery.

Amid the vibration of the steam locomotive's wheels rolling over the gaps in the tracks, the spy from the Sticky Pole Department was presenting a blood-stained secret memorial to the emperor. It was irrefutable evidence that the old and young people were involved in a rebellion. These guys had actually tried to steal the latest firearms information. It seemed that they had already decided to rebel.

"Give these to Qian Feng of the Metropolitan Censorate." Suning was fiddling with the floor heating system in the Hall of Mental Cultivation with tongs, the charcoal flame illuminating the Swiss pocket watch beneath his modified arrow-shaped sleeves. "Tell those Mongolian princes that tomorrow morning, during the Grand Council meeting, I demand to see the head of the Khorchin Banner Master."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

At three o'clock in the morning, explosions suddenly occurred one after another in the arsenal outside Beijing.

Suning, however, stood on the city wall of Xizhimen, overlooking the flames rising into the sky, with a sneer on his lips. He was determined to resolve all the destabilizing factors this time.

Those clandestinely colluding bannermen families didn't know that the flintlock rifle blueprints they stole had long been replaced with explosive barrel versions. This was originally a trap set by Suning for them.

Then, Wang Shikang, the Minister of Works, apologized overnight, only to see Suning demonstrating a globe to the nine-year-old emperor. "Your Majesty, this is called the British Empire, this is the American continent, and this is called India. In the future, our steamships will carry the Yellow Dragon Flag and fly over these islands. From now on, everything under the sun will be our paradise."

"Father, can our Celestial Empire really reach such a height?" The little emperor asked Suning with shining eyes.

"Of course there is no problem! The future is an era of steel torrents, and our Celestial Empire will always be the protagonist of this world, so we Celestial Empire can never slack off. As long as we slack off in the slightest, we will be eaten by those jackals." However, Suning smiled and said with great confidence.

"Father, I really want to see this wonderful world with my own eyes."

"There will be a chance! By then we can even build airplanes that can soar in the sky, and then we can take Your Majesty to fly all over the world."

"..." At this time, the little emperor once again set his eyes on the globe, but ignored Wang Shikang who was kneeling down to apologize.

The young emperor now naturally knows whose son he is, and understands that he and the empress dowager can only rely on the Prime Minister, so he is relieved to hand over all power to the Prime Minister.

At this time, Suning looked at the Minister of Works in front of him. Knowing that this guy was playing an ignominious role in this, he decided in his heart to take down this guy who was just sitting there doing nothing.

In the end, Suning decided to give Wang Shikang some dignity, "Wang Shikang, you... please resign!"

"Ah? Prime Minister, I..." However, Wang Shikang looked at Su Ning somewhat unwillingly.

Su Ning looked at the greedy and foolish guy in front of him with displeasure, "Huh? Wang Shikang, do you want me to put you in jail and question you?"

"Yes! I will resign immediately."

……

In the World Expo built by Suning on the site of the former Old Summer Palace, crystal chandeliers are used to illuminate the Chinese translation of "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres".

Twelve children from the Eight Banners wearing new-style stand-up collar school uniforms were translating "The Wealth of Nations" under the guidance of a Latin teacher.

The report from the Sticking Rod Office showed that at least three princes were secretly sending their children to school. Their purpose was nothing more than to know ourselves and the enemy, so as to win every battle.

"Change the Lifanyuan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Suning officially announced at the railway bond issuance ceremony, the stock market board behind him flashing red and green numbers. "Show the Russian envoys our new steel mill in the Ural Mountains."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

Suning deliberately observed the instantly pale faces of these Mongolian princes and nobles. After all, these people had the deepest ties with the Rakshasa Kingdom, and many of them had become Rakshasa Kingdom's agents in the Celestial Empire.

In recent years, Suning has no longer been constrained in China, and has vigorously developed China's industry and built large and medium-sized power plants in various places. It is obvious that this is about to bring China into the electrical industry.

At the same time, Suning was also trying his best to eliminate the powerful people of the Qing Dynasty. Shaving his head and changing his clothes was just to deliberately provoke these powerful people. Sure enough, these guys couldn't bear it anymore and started a rebellion.

Suning would never allow any more destabilizing factors to exist in the Celestial Empire. He wanted to hand over a perfect transition to his son while also ensuring that his Su family reigned supreme. Of course, only ruthless force could bring these treacherous individuals to heel, so Suning didn't mind them jumping out at all; he wouldn't show any mercy with his steel blade.

……

When Suning installed the telegraph in the Qianqing Palace, the impeachment memorials from the Censors had already filled three boxes.

So Suning ordered people to typeset these memorials in lead type and publish them as "A Collection of Conservative Fallacies" for public sale, in order to allow the whole nation to participate in the discussion of the new life. As long as this discussion is formed, it means that Suning's reform is successful. It is known that dripping water can wear away stone.

As expected, after the people in the capital rushed to circulate it, a whirlwind of public opinion was formed throughout the government and the country. Everyone joined in the discussion, and the atmosphere in the Celestial Empire was changing unconsciously.

Just when the discussion was at its most heated, Shuntian Prefecture officials suddenly surrounded the Imperial College and found anti-government poems in the chief priest's room. The poem "Qingfeng Bushizi" with the ink still wet was written by Su Ning himself.

On a rainy night, Suning walked through Caishikou holding an oil-paper umbrella.

The guillotine's blade was connected to a steam piston. As the victim's head rolled down, twelve new printing presses were rushing to print tomorrow's edition of the Beijing News.

The headline read: "Minister of Rites Nalan Rongde colluded with members of the royal family to betray the country, the evidence is irrefutable."

……

When the Western clock in the Hall of Mental Cultivation struck twelfth, Suning was drawing on the "Beijing-Tianjin Railway Equity Book" with a pencil.

The candlelight turned the blood swallow soup sent by Concubine Xian into an amber color. Three secret letters with gold seals lay at the bottom of the bowl. They were a joint blood letter signed by the last three Zasak princes of the Eight Banners of Mongolia.

"Tell the stick-sticking department that tomorrow's hunting will be held at the Shenjiying shooting range." Suning wrote on the memorial with cinnabar, catching a glimpse of the eunuch's trembling fingertips outside the curtain. "Let Prince Yi be responsible for teaching the Pope to use a breech-loading rifle."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

Three days later, gunshots rang out in Xiyuan, and the body of the commander of the Bordered Yellow Banner fell into the Yongding River along with a steam tractor.

Suning unfolded the blood-stained "Petition for Enthronement" on the steps of the Qianqing Palace and smiled at the red-capped officials kneeling on the ground. "Do you know, everyone, that this loom can spin a thousand kilograms of cotton yarn in a day? Is it equivalent to three hundred bondservants?"

"Prime Minister, wise."

"Our Celestial Empire can never stand still! Science and technology will always be the primary productive force."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

On the day when the Tongzhou Telegraph Office was completed, Prince Gong's Mansion suddenly caught fire.

Suning stood on the observatory and watched twelve encrypted telegrams interweave into a web above the Forbidden City.

When the maid of Concubine Xian brought Biluochun tea mixed with Hedinghong, Suning was debugging the gold-plated telegraph machine he bought from an English merchant.

"Tell the Imperial Household Department that the Emperor will move to the Tianjin Machinery Bureau starting tomorrow." Suning pressed the key on the transmitter as he spoke. Morse code sent the false information to the secret room of the Eight Great Shanxi Merchants. "Tell Minister Cao to engrave steam locomotive images on all the newly minted silver coins."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

When the eight imperial merchants led their private soldiers to attack the Ministry of Revenue's treasury, they were greeted by thirty-six Gatling machine guns.

Suning was sitting in a newly opened photo studio in Liulichang, listening to the owner's report on how to use darkroom technology to forge photos of secret talks between Prince Yi and the Russian envoys.

In the chemistry class of the Imperial University of Peking, Suning personally demonstrated the preparation of nitroglycerin, once again establishing Suning's position among new-style students.

……

Amid the pale faces of the Manchu and Mongolian nobles, Suning casually mentioned, "Twenty kilograms of saltpeter were missing from the Lifanyuan ice cellar last month. I wonder if any of you princes have seen this?"

"what……"

That night, a huge explosion was heard from underground in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Su Ning, wearing a sable fur coat, stood in front of the steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, watching the sticky rods dragging the charred body of Prince Zhuang out of the destroyed secret passage.

"Print one hundred thousand copies of this 'Edict of Confession of Sins' in lead type." Then Suning threw the imperial edict, affixed with the imperial seal, to the Minister of Internal Affairs. This group of people's rebellion was still unrelenting. "Before sunrise tomorrow, I want to see notices posted by every well in the capital."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

When the first railway stock was listed at Zhengyangmen, Suning ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to change all the dragon robes and patched clothes into Western styles.

The Minister of Lifanyuan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) died by hitting his head against a pillar during a court meeting, and his blood splattered on the yellow dragon flag securities quotation board designed by Suning himself.

"Grant Ebilun's descendants 100,000 taels of silver to invest in the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau." However, Suning calmly removed his bloodstained hat, revealing his short hair, and said, "I hereby decree: Anyone who cuts their braids and changes to a formal attire will have priority in subscribing to shares in the government-run textile factory."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

The next day, a crowd of people stretched for ten miles outside Chaoyang Gate, and spies from the Sticky Pole Department mixed in the crowd to record the number of servants in each mansion.

When Prince Gong's wife and her family walked into the new barber shop, the secret agents in the Eight Great Hutongs had already ignited the signal rockets.

On the white tiles of the autopsy room of the Imperial Hospital, Suning held a scalpel and cut open the chest of the leader of the Bordered Blue Banner.

When the chief chef of the Shangshufang rushed in with the "Instructions of the Holy Ancestor", Suning was comparing the steam engine piston with the human heart and blood vessels.

"The Emperor approved the Human Anatomy Order last night." Then, Su Ning held up the imperial edict, the blood dripping onto the newly edited edition of 'The Exploitation of the Works of Nature', looking particularly beautiful. "Issue this: All members of the imperial family must complete three years of studying the science courses at the Imperial University of Peking before they can inherit the title."

"Yes! Prime Minister."

Suddenly, the roar of a steam train was heard outside the window, and twelve armored trains were heading towards Shanhaiguan.

Suning wiped the scalpel in his hand with a towel and smiled at the trembling doctors, "Starting tomorrow, you will learn how to install the keel of an ironclad ship."

"Ah? Yes! Prime Minister."

The rebels appeared in large numbers like moths to a flame, but Suning burned these stupid guys out with ease. Soon, there were fewer and fewer royal family members, and the so-called conservatives had less and less chance.

There has always been only a butcher's knife for these royal family members. Even if they act like hooligans on the streets, they will be chopped down with the knife. In the end, these royal family members rarely show blood and really unite to resist the high pressure of the Prime Minister, but this gives the Prime Minister a chance to solve the problem once and for all.

...(End of chapter)