Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 270 Yongzhen has a brilliant plan

Luocang Mountain, Liu’s House.

In a few days, Jia Cong will escort firearms north to Dengzhou, a few days earlier than Gu Yankui, the commander of nine provinces, and start his border patrol trip north.

This trip will take at most half a year, and I have come here specially to say goodbye to my mentor Liu Jing'an before leaving.

To Jia Cong, Liu Jing'an was truly a great favor to him.

Now when he thought back, Liu Jing'an's shadow was present in almost every critical period of his life.

Back then, he was just a despised bastard in the Rongguo Mansion. He met Liu Jing'an only once at the Nanxi Literary Club, but he was respected and appreciated by the old man.

And to everyone's surprise, he recommended himself to study at the famous Qingshan Academy in Da Zhou.

It was because of Liu Jing'an's reputation and Qingshan Academy's important position in the literati circle that he was noticed by others and gained a firm foothold in the Jia family.

Afterwards, he was selected as the top candidate in the Yongzhou Academy Examination, but was accidentally falsely accused. Just when everyone believed that he would never be able to take the imperial examination and would never be able to make a comeback.

It was Liu Jing'an who stepped forward again, accepted him as a disciple when he was in danger, and protected him with his extraordinary reputation among the literati.

He also used his connections at Qingshan College and his influence in the Ministry of Rites to help himself exonerate himself.

After I entered the door, the old man taught me everything he knew, and taught me the art of imperial examination preparation, which made me more efficient on the road to the imperial examination.
Otherwise, relying solely on the knowledge and cleverness from later generations, it would be impossible for him to achieve any success in the imperial examinations.

In recent years, as he has experienced many ups and downs in the world, Jia Cong's thoughts have become deeper. Others may not realize it, but he himself can deeply understand it.

A large part of my current situation is due to the subtle influence of this mentor behind the scenes.

Such kindness was like a rebirth, which made Jia Cong especially respectful to this mentor.

He named himself Yuzhang, but he only hoped to be a scholar living a peaceful and simple life, and did not want to fight in the officialdom...

……

As soon as he entered Liu's residence, he heard the clear sound of a pipa coming from the backyard, coupled with the clear and beautiful voice like a blue phoenix, which sounded leisurely, fresh and ethereal, and touching the heart.

"Six generations of luxury, spring is gone, and there is no news. I look at it in vain, the beautiful mountains and rivers are no longer what they used to be..."

Jia Cong was shocked when he heard this, because the ethereal and graceful female voice was actually singing his own song "Man Jiang Hong".

His teacher's wife, Cui, was an expert in music and a master of the seven-stringed zither of the time, but he had never heard that she was also good at playing the pipa, so the person playing the pipa must not be Cui.

Moreover, the clear sound of the pipa and the cool and graceful singing were not unfamiliar to Jia Cong.

He had heard it once in Jinling Zhuojiang Tower, the lady known for her celestial voice while playing the pipa.

Because whether it is the sound of the pipa or the heart-piercing singing, it is really amazing.

Even though he only heard it once, he still couldn't forget it for a long time.

Although, he had never even seen the true appearance of that lady Qing.

Jia Cong could conclude that the one playing the piano and singing must be Ms. Qing, but how could she appear in Liu's house?

……

In the Liu family's study, Jia Cong met his mentor Liu Jing'an.

Ever since he became the Director of the Firearms Department and then served as an observer in the Ministry of War, and later encountered a large number of firearms manufacturing affairs, he was busy every day and he hadn't seen Liu Jing'an for some time.

Fortunately, although the old man is getting older, he is still in good spirits, except that the gray hair on his temples is thicker.

Liu Jing'an looked at his young disciple with a look of praise and satisfaction in his eyes.

He taught at home for more than ten years, and many of the Liu family's disciples received his instruction, and many passed the imperial examinations and became Jinshi. However, in terms of talent and intelligence, no one could compare to Jia Cong.

He won the first prize twice in the imperial examinations. This cannot be explained by his profound knowledge, and his luck is not comparable to that of ordinary people.

"Master, I never thought where you learned all this knowledge about firearms. You are so proficient in it. It is said that firearms are very powerful in Liaodong. They are really a powerful weapon for the military."

In fact, Liu Jing'an was not the only one who found this strange. Any thoughtful person would have similar questions.

The Jiazhao Emperor, who was thoughtful at the time, also raised the same question.

After all, such things are somewhat unreasonable. No one in the world knows it, but you know it well. There is no reasonable explanation, and it is almost weird and strange.

The evil cults and weird techniques in this world are condemned by both the government and the public. If they are misinterpreted in that direction, it may bring disaster upon oneself.

So ever since Jia Cong demonstrated his expertise in firearms, he already had a set of explanations in his mind.

Although I was facing a teacher whom I respected, it couldn't be considered a lie, since it was because of my strange background.

"Teacher, you don't know that my parents didn't like me when I was a child. I was also very depressed at home. After school, I often went to Nanshi to play alone.

I unexpectedly met a few Western missionaries, and when I heard them talk about the amazing power of Western firearms, I began to understand a little bit.

Later, on the way to Nanjing, I met a famous Western scholar named Delro in Baoying. He was very proficient in the Western study of things. After a deep conversation with him, I was deeply touched by this doctrine. Later, when I was an official in Nanjing, I confiscated a batch of muskets. After my disciple came into contact with them, he often pondered.

So there are a lot of strange ideas about firearms, but they are actually nothing.”

After hearing this, Liu Jing'an couldn't help feeling a little surprised. It turned out that his disciple already had some knowledge of firearms. However, from what he said, what he had come into contact with was not very advanced.

However, he was able to draw inferences from other cases, and he studied it to become a specialist, and he took the position of the Director of Firearms. This aptitude is too much for ordinary people.

Although he felt a little strange, he did not dwell on it and could only explain it by saying that Jia Cong was gifted.

……

"This time you are accompanying me on a border patrol in the north, you can also broaden your horizons and learn about the customs and people of the north.

Although the Jurchens are brave, it is difficult for them to form an alliance. Now that the imperial court has massively requisitioned food and supplies, it will certainly have to use heavy troops against the Jurchens. It is only a matter of time to quell the Jurchen rebellion.

But the disaster of the Jurchens has always been recurring. One year it is pacified, and the next year it rages again. Injustice breeds evil, and wars never cease, wasting national strength. There has never been a permanent solution. "

When Liu Jing'an said this, he felt quite sad.

The Jurchens were valiant and good at fighting. They would launch surprise attacks when they won and hide between the White Mountains and Black Waters when they were defeated. They could never be killed or eliminated, and successive monarchs of the Great Zhou Dynasty had no good strategy to keep them in check permanently.

Jia Cong said: "In fact, there is a way to permanently eliminate the Jurchen rebellion, it just takes a little longer and the work is a little more complicated."

Liu Jing'an's eyes lit up when he heard this. He had always known Jia Cong's talent and intelligence, and he often came up with novel and insightful remarks.

"Cong'er, tell me what's going on."

Jia Cong said: "Teacher, in fact, the land of Liaobei is also the territory of our Great Zhou.

However, the Great Zhou Dynasty viewed the Jurchens as a foreign race and was stubborn. It emphasized the policy of restraint and neglected the policy of appeasement towards the Jurchens, which was indeed insufficient.
Divide the garrisons and let them govern themselves, or even create trouble, let them fight each other, weaken their power and make them unable to resist the Great Zhou.

But I often hear people say that the Great Zhou had extremely strict control over border trade with the Jurchens, and had strict regulations on the types and quantities of goods that could flow out.

It was very common for border officials in charge of border trade to embezzle and plunder the Jurchens, making their livelihood increasingly difficult and naturally accumulating resentment towards the Great Zhou.

As long as there are a few talented and brave people among the Jurchens, they will use a little bit of instigation to start a war for their personal ambitions.

Throughout the dynasties, whenever there were civil uprisings and civil unrest, the main reason was hunger, being exploited by others, and taking risks. The Jurchen War was roughly the same.

If we want to eliminate the trouble caused by the Jurchens, from Cong's point of view, there are only four things to do... "

Liu Jing'an listened to Jia Cong's clear and logical discussion of the Jurchen affairs, and his analysis of the root causes was indeed thought-provoking, which aroused his desire to talk about sex.

"Cong'er, tell me what those four things are."

Jia Cong said: "The first thing is to kill their leaders. There are talented, brave and ambitious people among the Jurchens. Whenever they start fighting, their leaders must be killed to serve as a warning to others and to stop their aggressive spirit.

The second was to facilitate border trade. Except for firearms, swords, guns, armor and other items which were strictly prohibited, tea, salt and rice were all included in the trade items, so that the Jurchens had food to eat.

Teacher, ordinary people are actually very easy to satisfy. As long as they have enough food, who would want to rob or rebel? "

When Liu Jing'an heard him suddenly say such a vulgar remark, he smiled in his heart, but when he thought about it carefully, it made a lot of sense. The people have enough food and clothing, so who would take risks?

Jia Cong continued, "The third is to promote education, not only to promote the teachings of Han Confucianism in the north, but also to promote Buddhism and Taoism.

I often see Western missionaries traveling across oceans and around the world to preach, and I am inspired by them.

Those Buddhist and Taoist teachings teach people to do good deeds, accumulate virtue, hope for the afterlife, calm people's anger, soften their will, and make people follow the rules. Haha, their function is no less than Confucianism..."

Liu Jing'an was shocked when he heard this. As a master of learning, he naturally knew the deep intention of the ancient kings who abolished all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone.

But due to his status, he never said it out loud. Now that there is an emperor ruling the country, it would be too sensational to say such words.

How old is this disciple of mine? He can actually see through the essence of it. He has a sharp vision and deep thoughts. He is truly extraordinary.

However, he had seen many strange things about Jia Cong, so he didn't think it was too abrupt.

At the end, Jia Cong's voice was slightly indifferent: "The fourth is intermarriage and mixed blood!

Once border trade flourishes, workshops, markets, and tile shops in border towns will surely spring up like mushrooms after a rain, and the border residents of the two places will surely have frequent exchanges, and intermarriage and mixed blood will naturally become common.

The government needs to make it clear that discrimination against the Jurchen border residents is no longer allowed, so as to enlighten the people and accelerate the integration of the two ethnic groups. If this is done, in less than 50 years, no one will be able to tell the difference between the Han people and the Jurchens! "

The first three things Jia Cong said had already made Liu Jing'an feel enlightened. He was a great scholar and his insights were naturally very high.

But he was limited by time after all, and his vision was always limited. Unlike Jia Cong, whose background was too strange and who was influenced by information from later generations and was full of shocking ideas.

But when he heard the fourth thing Jia Cong said, he couldn't help but gasp. Compared with the previous beheading and education, this last method was the real way to cut off the source of the problem.

Even to kind-hearted people, this fourth method is somewhat vicious, as it is truly a way to exterminate their race!
However, if we spend fifty years implementing these four methods, we will most likely be able to permanently stabilize the northern border, which is a hundred times better than sending lives and money into it every year.

(End of this chapter)