The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Every year during the Spring Festival, the Rongguo Mansion is filled with a lively and festive atmosphere.

This year is especially true.

Moreover, this year is different from previous years.

In previous years, once the Lantern Festival (the fifteenth day of the first lunar month) had passed, the festive atmosphere of the New Year would naturally disappear.

That lively and festive atmosphere will last for at most ten days before gradually returning to calm.

But this year is quite the opposite.

After the fifteenth, the lively and festive atmosphere in the two prefectures not only did not diminish at all, but also visibly intensified.

The servants and attendants all wore even more enthusiastic smiles. Led by the stewards and stewards, they tore down the "福" (fortune) characters on the doors of all sizes and replaced them with brighter red "囍" (double happiness) characters.

Inside the inner courtyard, the housekeepers and their maids and servants decorated the place with lanterns and colorful decorations, turning the entire Ning and Rong mansions into a sea of ​​red flowers.

Sister Feng rarely goes out today; she's going to pay her respects to Grandmother Jia.

Having traveled all the way from the Grand View Garden and witnessed such a scene, even though she was mentally prepared, she still felt somewhat uneasy.

Unfortunately, some of the servants were oblivious to the situation. Seeing Sister Feng standing on the bridge gazing into the distance, they laughed and said, "Little Rong's mistress is truly capable. In just a few days, she has completely transformed the entire garden."

Sister Feng glanced at her and said coldly, "It's all because your second master is willing to spend money."

"If I gave you tens of thousands of taels of silver to spend as you pleased, you might even do a better job than her."

"No way, Grandma is joking."

Feng Jie didn't seem to care much. She took Ping'er's arm and walked down Qinfang Bridge, asking as they went, "Where's your second master? I haven't seen him all day. Did he go to the Lin family's villa to see Lin Yatou again?"

Ping'er smiled and said, "Grandma, have you forgotten? Second Master said yesterday that he was going out of the city today."

It seems the emperor is inspecting some warships, and the second master is to accompany him.

After Ping'er's reminder, Feng Jie sighed and said, "Oh, I remember now."

Sigh, I feel like my memory is getting worse lately, and I keep forgetting things.

"Could it be that staying home for too long has made my brain sluggish?"

Sister Feng murmured, her phoenix eyes gleaming with an unfathomable light.

Others might not understand, but how could Ping'er, her confidante, not understand?
It's obvious that my grandmother has been without power (household management) for too long and is starting to get restless.

So she laughed and said, "Grandma isn't being discouraged; it must be that the young master is absorbing Grandma's wisdom and strategies."

It's said that both Grandma and Second Grandpa are exceptionally intelligent people; I wonder how gifted the future young master will be.

As expected, Feng Jie'er's attention was diverted by Ping'er, and her hand couldn't help but touch her bulging belly.

It's been seven months already, and in two or three months at most, my second child will be born.

She had a strong feeling that this baby would be a boy.

Therefore, nothing else matters.

The most important thing is to give birth to this child safely and healthily.

……

Outside of Beijing, at Tongzhou Bay Wharf.

This is a waterway hub connecting Beijing to the rest of the country, and a major transportation center.

Today, however, ships are prohibited from entering and people are prohibited from traveling.

Countless imperial guards and imperial bodyguards in golden armor guarded the dock from top to bottom, leaving only a dozen or so warships standing alone on the wide river.

Meanwhile, on the largest, most magnificent, and resplendent warship...

On the top deck, Emperor Ningkang stood with his hands behind his back.

Looking at the canal that stretched out before him, seemingly without end, his heart was filled with emotion.

I still remember when he was a prince, he often took a boat from here to go on official business in the south.

But since he became the crown prince, more than ten years have passed, and this is the first time he has returned here.

The change of power and the passage of time gave him a feeling of being in another world.

"Jia Lian".

"The minister is here."

Emperor Ningkang turned around, looked at the accompanying officials and his two children, and instructed, "You may all step down."

"Yes."

Soon, only the emperor and his minister, along with a few imperial guards, remained on the deck.

Emperor Ningkang said, "I am very satisfied with the ships you have built."

Especially this Zhenyuan warship.

It was rare for Emperor Ningkang to praise Jia Lian. All that effort he had put in, leading Emperor Ningkang on a long introduction, was worthwhile.

After all, it was his achievement over the past two years, and Jia Lian was naturally very happy to receive the big boss's recognition.

In fact, Emperor Ningkang had long ago said that he wanted to personally inspect the new warships he had built.

However, due to various delays last year, the trip was never able to take place.

When he returned to the capital at the end of the year, Emperor Ningkang specially issued an edict ordering him to bring the fleet, mainly the Zhenyuan, to Tongzhou Bay for his personal inspection.

However, even until the Lunar New Year, Emperor Ningkang did not have the time or energy to spare for it.

It wasn't until after the New Year that Emperor Ningkang was finally able to see this giant warship, which was over a hundred meters long and had been built using a large amount of silver from the national treasury.

When Emperor Ningkang saw this warship and a dozen or so other equally imposing new warships, he was already quite satisfied.

At least these massive structures standing on the river confirmed to him that the funds he had previously allocated to Jia Lian had not been wasted, but rather that Jia Lian had produced tangible goods from them.

When he personally stepped onto the solid, flat hull of the Zhenyuan, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

After hearing Jia Lian explain the functions of each cabin on the ship and the layout of the cannons, he completely understood why Jia Lian was able to defeat the Jurchens so easily.

With such a heaven-defying artifact in hand, those mere barbarians are nothing but chickens and dogs.

Seeing these indestructible new warships, he finally fully believed Jia Lian's boastful words about conquering the barbarians at sea.

Therefore, even though he was usually stern and rarely smiled, he offered Jia Lian words of praise.

Seeing that Jia Lian remained as humble as ever, neither taking credit nor showing off, Emperor Ningkang said again: "I heard that you have been busy marrying a second wife recently, and it has caused quite a stir."

I heard that every household in the capital with a name or surname has received your invitation?

Jia Lian was slightly nervous because he hadn't expected the emperor to ask this question.

The main reason was that Emperor Ningkang was staring at him expressionlessly.

If he hadn't seduced other people's daughters, it would have been fine, but his affair with Princess Zhaoyang was already famous throughout the land.

If you were to remarry at this point and be scrutinized by the other person's father, anyone would feel a little panicked, right?

Because he was used to joking around in front of Emperor Ningkang, he pretended not to know the emperor's displeasure and very cautiously said:
"That is true... It's because of the mourning period these past three years that I've kept many things short and simple, causing those around me to suffer a lot of injustice."

Now that the mourning period is over, and I have received His Majesty's favor, I have been granted the title of Duke.

They wanted to make amends, so they took this opportunity to have some fun and bring glory to their family.

If Your Majesty is not pleased, I will go back and order it to be simplified..."

Seeing Jia Lian's aggrieved expression, as if he had saved up for three years and finally made a fortune, but couldn't even show it off, Emperor Ningkang's lips twitched.

Thinking back on these three years, Jia Lian was indeed enjoying immense prestige, rising through the ranks and receiving numerous official titles. Indeed, there was no record of him ever hosting a grand banquet for guests.

In this respect, Jia Lian truly lived up to his reputation as a filial son. "Now that the mourning period is over, there's no need to simplify things. I'm not an unreasonable person."

"By the way, the woman you're going to marry is Lin Ruhai's orphan, right?"

Emperor Ningkang naturally still remembered Lin Ruhai, and also remembered that out of guilt and to make amends, he had bestowed upon Lin Ruhai's orphaned daughter the title of Lady of the Township.

Jia Lian nodded, then added, "And the daughter of the imperial merchant Xue family..."

Emperor Ningkang was taken aback: "Two?"

Seeing Jia Lian nod, even though Emperor Ningkang was well past the age of being a womanizer, he couldn't help but look at Jia Lian with some displeasure.

Well, I originally thought that this kid would be depressed and unhappy after I took away his official position and lost his power.

Unexpectedly, the other party seemed to take it all in stride and even took a concubine at home.

Or should I marry two at once?
Let's think about what happened between him and Zhaoyang.

He originally thought that it was just fate playing tricks on them, since he knew the beginning and the end of the matter, and strictly speaking, Jia Lian did not do anything wrong.

But now it seems that this kid is clearly a womanizer.

Her own precious daughter was clearly deceived by his sweet talk.

Thus, the old father's displeasure at seeing the blond-haired boy was compounded by the man's jealousy.

Jia Lian was extremely astute; seeing Emperor Ningkang's increasingly unpleasant expression, he knew things were going badly and quickly said, "If Your Majesty is not pleased, I may marry only one at a time..."

Emperor Ningkang snorted, his tone noticeably turning gloomy.

"At such a young age, instead of learning good things, he's indulging in lust!"

Don't think that just because you've rendered a service to the court, you can stay at home and live a carefree life.

Don't forget what you told me.

"The year is almost up. If you haven't delivered three hundred of these warships by then, I will hold you responsible."

Hearing Emperor Ningkang say this, Jia Lian actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Jia Lian wasn't worried at all about three hundred warships.

Because after he raised sufficient funds from wealthy merchants in the private sector by using methods such as "high-interest fundraising" and "investment in shares" and relying on the credit of the imperial court and his own great reputation, the Tianjin Wei Shipyard went into full operation.

When he returned from Liaodong last year, his subordinates reported it to him.

Even with higher standards, the total number of ships is not far off from 300.

Therefore, he was not afraid at all of failing to achieve this small goal that Emperor Ningkang had casually set.

He even heard that after Zhou Yanru returned, he joined forces with several chambers of commerce to build a huge factory called Jiangnan Shipyard.

He plans to join forces with Jiangnan Shipyard to exceed the target in the remaining months.

"Your Majesty, rest assured."

As long as Your Majesty has sufficient funds, or permits me to continue borrowing from the people in the previous manner, I can guarantee it.

"Let alone three hundred ships, I could build three thousand."

In the past, Emperor Ningkang would not have thought anything of it.

However, after seeing the size and configuration of these new warships with his own eyes, and hearing the number three thousand, even he, the supreme emperor, felt a tremor in his heart.

That kid, he really doesn't know the value of money until he's in charge of the household!
The previous hundred or so ships had already cost him enough.

If we were to build three thousand ships, it would probably drain the imperial treasury, and even then, we might not be able to afford it.

But then again.

Jia Lian's strength lies in his ability to raise the necessary funds.

Although the imperial court needs to pay a certain amount of interest or equity.

However, as an emperor with great ambitions and already holding great power, he was not worried at all.

He firmly believed that under his rule, the court's finances would increase year by year.

Once the imperial court has enough money, those small interest payments are nothing, let alone the kind of equity that's essentially getting something for nothing.

Even now, many people in the Ministry of Revenue still believe that Jia Lian is skilled in witchcraft.

Otherwise, why would anyone be foolish enough to lend Jia Lian a large sum of money as a form of investment?
Aren't they worried that if Jia Lian leaves Tianjin in the future, "his death will end his policies," and they will lose everything?

"I have always trusted you to do things."

But you must also remember that nothing should be rushed, especially something as important as this. You should proceed slowly and steadily, acting within your capabilities.

The meaning of Emperor Ningkang is...

It's true that I support your shipbuilding, but don't take advantage of that support and let me expand too much at once, or you'll become too big to handle.

simply put.

Three thousand ships may be the ultimate goal, but it is certainly not the goal for this year or even for the next few years.

Seeing that Emperor Ningkang seemed frightened, Jia Lian smiled inwardly.

He was just saying it casually.

Three thousand new warships—not to mention the current Wei Dynasty couldn't afford it, even the British Empire at its peak probably didn't have such a large fleet.

"Your Majesty's teachings have been remembered by your subject."

Emperor Ningkang nodded, confirming that Jia Lian had not "lost his ambition by indulging in frivolous pursuits," and thus did not dwell on the matter any longer.

He turned around again to face the river.

"Jia Lian, what do you think of the Fourth Prince?"

There was no sound behind him for a moment, but Emperor Ningkang knew that Jia Lian would definitely answer him.

"Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince is naturally gifted and possesses the heart of a child, which I cannot match."

"Oh, so you mean, what do you think if I were to make him the crown prince?"

This was the first time since the Iron Net Mountain incident that Emperor Ningkang had discussed the issue of the crown prince with his ministers.

This was also the first time I discussed this issue with Jia Lian.

However, Jia Lian did not feel honored at this moment; instead, a sense of unease arose in his heart.

Jia Lian could not possibly believe that Emperor Ningkang was unaware that the person he supported was the Fourth Prince.

So, what did Emperor Ningkang mean by suddenly asking him this question at this moment?
He also deliberately sent Princess Zhaoyang and the others away, clearly intending to ask him this question from the beginning.

"The position of Crown Prince is a matter of national importance and is something Your Majesty needs to consider. As a mere official outside the capital, I dare not offer any advice."

Having not anticipated Emperor Ningkang's intentions, Jia Lian could only resort to a universal formula.

Emperor Ningkang was clearly dissatisfied with Jia Lian's answer: "It is just the two of us, the emperor and his subject, here now. Do not try to evade my questions."

Speak frankly, and I will pardon you.

Because Emperor Ningkang had his back to him, Jia Lian wasn't afraid that the emperor would see his furrowed brows.

Jia Lian felt that given the special relationship between him and Emperor Ningkang, if he tried to avoid suspicion, he might only incur resentment.

So he boldly replied, "If Your Majesty truly intends to appoint the Fourth Prince as Crown Prince, I believe it would be a blessing for Your Majesty and for the Great Wei."

In my opinion, if the Fourth Prince were to become emperor, even if he could not compare to Your Majesty, he would certainly be a ruler who carries on the legacy and opens up new possibilities, and would absolutely not tarnish Your Majesty's reputation.

If I were to follow a ruler like the Fourth Prince, I would certainly be as loyal to Your Majesty as I am to him, devoting myself wholeheartedly until my dying breath. (End of Chapter)