The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

In addition, Jia Huan, Qin Keqing, and Jia Qiang also talked about their clansmen.

It wasn't that I wanted to manage the tribe, but rather that I wanted to find out how many tribesmen still had passion, ambition, and a fighting spirit.

The border region's initiative to start a war presents an opportunity not only for individuals but also for the entire noble clan.

After all, given their background, they naturally have a better understanding of military affairs and military matters than ordinary people.

Even with this slight advantage, they are still very competitive when vying for lower-ranking officer positions.

After all, the illiteracy rate in the military is too high, especially at the lower levels, where they are all uneducated and uncultured.

No matter how despicable the Jia family members were, they were at least literate and had some understanding of military tactics.

If they are willing to fight in the army, the Ning family, as the head of the clan, should prepare in advance.

These things shouldn't have been brought up by Jia Huan. He only did so because he noticed the Ning Mansion's lack of activity and their slow response to certain current actions.

"Uncle Huan, don't worry, I will send someone to convene a meeting of the clansmen to discuss this matter later!"

Qin Keqing asked with a serious expression, "I just don't know what Uncle Huan's plan is?"

"In the name of the Ning family, find a large estate to use as a training base!"

Without hesitation, Jia Huan replied, "If any clansmen are willing to improve themselves, send them to the estate for about three months of training and development!"

"Putting everything else aside, getting them to become qualified soldiers or even junior officers shouldn't be a problem!"

This is the foundation of a noble family; they have no shortage of means to cultivate outstanding soldiers and mid- to low-ranking officers.

Similarly, this is what makes noble and military families so feared by the court and the emperor.

This is why the army that a general commands for a long time is likely to change hands.

With enough mid- to low-ranking officers under his command, plus some trusted confidants promoted, wouldn't he be able to firmly control the entire army?

It's not necessarily about rebelling, but rather the needs of war!

If even the soldiers under one's command cannot obey orders and serve one's duty, what kind of combat power can one speak of?

Suddenly, Jia Qiang opened his eyes wide and looked at Jia Huan, asking nervously, "Brother Huan, is this how you train all the gang members under your command?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Keqing suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

"how is this possible?"

Jia Huan said irritably, "The main purpose is to hone the martial arts skills of my underlings and teach them some discipline!"

"After all, they make their living in the martial arts world, dealing with martial arts figures and methods. Training them using the military methods would be asking for trouble!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Keqing and Jia Qiang both breathed a sigh of relief.

Jia Huan saw their expressions and reactions and couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.

Clearly, these two are not yet qualified to be heads of the Ning family!

How could a century-old noble family like the Ning and Rong mansions not have any hidden forces at their disposal?

The old lady and Master She of the Rong family are both top-tier tycoons.

But they were still quite interested in silver.

Besides his own personality traits, could there be other hidden projects that require a large sum of money?

For example, maintaining a small private army and a group of assassins?

Very likely, otherwise why would they keep so many personal guards on the estate?

In addition, the fact that Master She became poor so quickly in the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber is also something that is hard to understand.

You should know that he inherited the vast majority of the private property of the first Duke Rongguo and his wife, making him an absolute tycoon!

If we were to convert it to silver, it would be an underestimation of the capabilities of the first generation of the Duke of Rongguo and his wife if it weren't for three to five million taels of silver. That's not an exaggeration at all.

Judging from Qin Keqing's and Jia Qiang's reactions, they were clearly completely unaware of this matter.

"Brother Qiang, if you have time, go visit the Xuanzhen Temple outside the city more often. You might be pleasantly surprised!"

Jia Huan didn't say much, only offering a suggestion; whether Jia Qiang listened or not was his own business.

After politely declining Qin Keqing and Jia Qiang's invitation to stay for dinner, Jia Huan leisurely returned to the martial arts school.

A trip to the Ning and Rong mansions brought both joy and sorrow.

The good thing is that Qin Keqing and Jia Qiang are still relatively normal, at least their minds haven't been affected by the public opinion of the civil service group.

Even though some of the things that Master Zheng said were unpleasant to hear, he could still listen to them.

This is good, at least it's better than not being able to communicate properly!

The key point is that Jia Huan felt that it was already quite good if his efforts could yield some results.

The worry is that both the Ning and Rong families are too slow to react to the changing political landscape of the court.

If we really follow their pace, the opportunity will be lost, and how will we even have a chance to play?

In the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, just by looking at the actions of Feng Ziying and Wei Ruolan, one can understand how slow the Ning and Rong mansions reacted.

They both joined the army to seek wealth and status, but the Ning and Rong mansions remained lukewarm.

The fact that Zheng Er, the biological father of Yuan Chun, was not promoted immediately after she was made a concubine speaks volumes. It's just a pity that both the Ning and Rong mansions turned a blind eye to this.

"Huan-ge'er, the gifts have been delivered to the Lin family!"

At this moment, Jia Cong came over and chuckled, "Old Steward Lin asked why you didn't go to see Huan-ge in person. He's been missing him terribly for days!"

"Hey, don't talk like those thugs!"

Jia Huan threw a punch without warning, and before Jia Cong could react, he was already staggering.

"Train hard, you can't let us down in this year's martial arts examination!"

Jia Huan glanced at the young man and warned, "You better not be careless!"

"Don't worry!"

While rubbing the spot where he had been hit, Jia Cong said confidently, "As long as I don't encounter a monster like you, I'm at least in the top three in terms of martial arts skills!"

"It's good that you have confidence!"

Jia Huan then leisurely stood up and laughed heartily, "How about we arrange a marriage for you ahead of time?"

"You should know that once you become one of the top three in the martial arts examination, you won't be able to choose your own marriage partner!"

"Master She will definitely get involved, and even if you're not happy about it, there's nothing you can do about it!"

"The worst-case scenario is that you get a tigress; that would be interesting!"

"What a joke!"

At this moment, Jia Cong's face turned pale; he was shocked by Jia Huan's words.

If that were true, he would rather die.

Jia Huan chuckled, looked around and, not seeing Xue Pan, pulled Jia Cong to sit down at the stone table before smiling and saying, "What do you think of Xue Pan's sister?"

"Miss Xue, I'm afraid she wouldn't be happy about it!"

Jia Cong's somewhat dark face flushed slightly, and he subconsciously said, "She is indeed very beautiful!"

"As long as you're willing, that's enough!"

Jia Huan said calmly, "No matter how high Sister Xue's ambition is, her background is what it is!"

"Unless she enters the palace through the general election to gain wealth and power, the best she can hope to become is a concubine in a wealthy family, most likely only because of the Xue family's wealth!"

Seeing Jia Cong's surprise, he coldly said, "There's nothing to be surprised about. Besides money, what else does the Xue family have that would make wealthy and powerful families covet them? Sister Xue's beautiful face?"

"I've heard that Sister Xue is very knowledgeable and talented!"

Jia Cong wasn't truly ignorant; after all, he had lived in the Rong Mansion for thirteen years and had some sources of information, and had even met Xue Baochai a few times.

In the Rong Mansion, Jia Baoyu was the most dazzling among the younger generation.

Surrounding Jia Baoyu were a group of bright and intelligent young ladies.

Including the three sisters, Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyun, each of them is talented and gifted.

Otherwise, how could they and Jia Baoyu play such refined little games so often, and how could they hold such a high-class and sophisticated poetry club?

On the Rong Mansion side, it seemed as if an invisible hand was secretly pushing things along. In short, Jia Baoyu and his sisters' talents were almost overflowing, and at least Jia Cong believed it.

"What talent?"

Jia Huan asked with amusement, "Is it that you can exchange poems with Brother Bao, or do you have some other talent?"

"Didn't they say that Miss Xue secretly manages all of the Xue family's businesses?"

Jia Cong retorted, "That skill is quite remarkable!"

"Looks like you're interested in Sister Xue, that's good!"

Jia Huan was too lazy to waste words with this fellow, and chuckled, "Don't overthink it. I'll take care of this for you, and we'll have results soon!"

"There shouldn't be any problem. After all, Xue Pan has a good relationship with you and knows you well. It's better than marrying your sister off to some so-called talented men you don't know well!"

Chapter 235 A Gift for Straight Men (Please Subscribe)