Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 180 Master Zhen: My Golden Elixir!

……

It is said that Lao Qinye went up the mountain and entered the temple.

There were a dozen little Taoist children in the temple, running in and out, busy and having a lot of fun.

Inside, puffs of smoke drifted out of the windows.

There was a faint sound of anxious breathing.

"It's done, it's almost done!"

It was Brother Jane’s voice.

Old Qinye unconsciously quickened his pace.

The little Taoist boy at the door hurriedly stopped him and said, "Our master said that it is taboo to disturb him when he is refining the elixir. Sir Qin, please wait for a while in the side hall until the master's golden elixir is refined..."

The words have not yet fallen.

"boom!"

Loud noise.

"what!"

Scream.

"not good!"

Exclaimed.

"Clang, clang!"

There were bursts of thick smoke mixed with the clanging sound of metal falling to the ground.

"Again, again... the furnace exploded!"

"Is the master all right?"

"Oh no, the top of the master's head was scratched by the lid of the tripod!"

"Go find some healing pills!"

The servant at the door didn't bother to stop Lao Qinye and ran inside in a hurry.

Old Qinye wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the smoke-filled and chaotic room inside. His brother Zhen was lying on the ground with a bloody head. He couldn't help but feel lucky: thanks to the servant who had just stopped him, otherwise the consequences would have been disastrous.

"Cough, cough, cough, my golden elixir, golden elixir..." Although Jia Zhen fell down, he was still muttering to himself.

The servant next to him hurriedly said, "Master, the fire is too high and the furnace has exploded."

Hearing this, Jia Zhen struggled to get up: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Old Qinye took two or three steps closer, leaned over and said, "Brother Zhen!"

Jia Zhen raised his head: "You are..."

Seeing how confused Jia Zhen was, Lao Qinye reminded him, "Brother Zhen, don't you remember me? I am Lao Qin!"

"Old Qin?"

Jia Zhen thought hard.

Qin Ye said again: "I am Ke'er's father, have you forgotten? You promised it yourself at the beginning..."

Confused, Jia Zhen's eyes lit up and he murmured, "Ke'er's father, Old Qin... You are Brother Qin!"

Old Qinye was overjoyed, and pulled Jia Zhen aside and said excitedly, "Brother Zhen, you finally remembered me. Let's go home."

Jia Zhen shook his head and said firmly: "No! I am only one step away from completing the golden elixir, how can I give up halfway now?"

Old Qinye: "...but your injuries?"

"It doesn't matter!"

Jia Zhen waved his hand and said calmly: "I have elixirs here that can cure all diseases. It's nothing to worry about just a superficial injury!"

While he was speaking, a Taoist boy had already brought some pills. He crushed one and applied it to the wound on his head, and took the other with warm water.

After a while, the bleeding really stopped, and Jia Zhen, who had been listless, became energetic again.

"Haha, I think it's okay." Jia Zhen stood up and said with a smile.

Seeing that Jia Zhen was stubborn and would not be able to be persuaded anytime soon, Old Qinye stopped talking about going home and just smiled and said, "Brother Zhen, do you still remember what I said last year?"

Jia Zhen: “Last year?”

Old Qinye said, "Regarding Rong'er and Ke'er's matter, you agreed to it at the beginning."

"Oh?"

Jia Zhen's eyes gradually brightened, as if he had finally remembered his worldly past, and the figure that had haunted him, and his desire to cultivate Taoism could not help but...

Even more determined!

Once he refines the elixir and takes it, he will have the ability to call the wind and rain, move mountains and seas, regain youth, and live forever. Jia Jing will not be able to do anything to him, let alone Jia Rong. If he tells him to die, he will die!
By then, who can still run away?
"Don't worry, Brother Qin. I will certainly remember that incident." Jia Zhen said, patting his chest.

Qin Ye was relieved to hear Jia Zhen admit his mistake, and said with a smile: "In this case, the two of them are now of the right age, why not ask Master to arrange the marriage for them and choose a date for the wedding?"

"No hurry, no hurry." Jia Zhen waved his hand and said with a smile: "The time is not right now, you go back and wait, I will send someone to notify you when the time comes."

Seeing that Jia Zhen was so confident in what he said this time, Old Qinye thought that he was going to find a suitable opportunity to bring it up with the master, and he was delighted and said with a smile: "In this case, I am relieved."

Jia Zhen: "Don't worry!"

Lao Qinye: "Okay."

for a while.

Old Qinye went home and waited for good news with his daughter.

Jia Zhen continued to make the elixir.

……

On the morning of August 16, not only Qin Ye couldn't sleep and got up early, but Jia Jing did the same. He entered the palace at five o'clock in the morning, holding the victory report from the front line and a notebook he had prepared.

"Hey, Lord Jia, why are you here so early today?"

"It's urgent. Sorry to disturb the Holy Emperor's rest. Please go in and report the great victory in Taizhou!"

Great victory in Taizhou!

The young eunuch did not dare to neglect it and hurried into the palace to report. After a while, someone said, "The Holy Emperor wants to see Lord Jia."

Jia Jing nodded and walked towards the hall.

The emperor was already waiting upstairs. When he saw Jia Jing, he asked anxiously, "Have you caught those salt merchants?"

The emperor had no choice but to be so anxious. If he could not catch the salt merchants, the construction of the Dengxian Pavilion he was building would be forced to stop.

Jia Jing first bowed politely, then said: "Reporting to the Holy Emperor, the salt merchant has not been caught. It seems that he got the news and escaped."

"Oh!"

The Emperor slammed the table in anger and said, "How hateful! Someone tipped off the last time. Let me investigate. If I find out, I will charge you with colluding with the Japanese pirates and execute your entire clan!"

Jia Jing added: "Although the salt merchants were not captured, the Lianghuai Coast Guard was ordered to go to Taizhou Island to capture the criminals, and defeated the Westerners on the island in one fell swoop, winning a great victory."

"We have seized a number of French artillery pieces, a number of warships, more than a thousand Westerners, and five million taels of silver. After deducting the soldiers' food and military pay and the pensions for the dead and wounded, there is still a surplus of two and a half million taels of silver, which is already on its way to Beijing."

Five million seized!
The emperor's eyes lit up for a moment.

Followed by.

The remaining two and a half million taels...

The emperor was a little unhappy. He thought that the compensation he paid out was a bit too much. But since Jia Jing had spoken, he couldn't say anything else.

More than two million will be fine.

At least the construction of Dengxian Pavilion can start again.

In addition, he has always wanted to restart the Jinyiwei to serve as his eyes and ears to monitor all officials. However, due to insufficient money, the progress was slow. Now that he has money, he can speed up the pace appropriately!
"By the way, Lord Jia, there is something you need to help me with."

Jia Jing hurriedly said: "I dare not, I am terrified!"

The emperor smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, Lord Jia. It's just a small matter."

……

After August 15th, the court held a not-so-peaceful grand meeting.

As the emperor took the throne, all the court officials shouted "Long live the emperor". Li Qinghua, then the Left Censor-in-Chief, was the first to step forward and said, "I heard that the imperial harem is building the Ascension Pavilion. The treasury is empty now. I beg the emperor to take the people of the world as his responsibility and stop wasting money and labor."

After saying this, he stood upright with a stubborn look on his face. As the Chief Censor, he had the qualification, obligation and right to speak out and make suggestions.

What's more, he is not fighting alone.

really.

As soon as these words came out, several people followed and echoed: "I beg the Holy Emperor to take the people of the world as his responsibility."

The emperor was immediately displeased. He looked at the Prime Minister Ye Gao and said in a deep voice, "What do you think, Prime Minister Ye?"

Ye Xiang stepped out and said with a righteous face: "I implore the Holy Emperor to take the people of the world as his responsibility and stop building the Ascension Pavilion." As soon as he finished speaking, more court officials stood up.

"I beg the Holy Emperor to stop building the Ascension Pavilion!"

"well!"

The emperor sneered a few times, looked at Jia Jing who hadn't spoken, and asked, "What do you think, Lord Jia?"

Everyone looked at Jia Jing, and even a few stubborn and loyal censors were ready. As long as Jia Jing agreed, they would immediately jump out and impeach Jia Jing, calling him a treacherous minister and a villain!
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Jia Jing did not make a fuss in the Ascension Pavilion, but changed his tone and advised: "Cultivating immortals and refining elixirs has always been illusory and has never been successful. I beg the Holy Emperor to take care of the dragon body for the sake of the people of the world."

Minister of Revenue Liu Yan came out and echoed, "I beg the Holy Emperor to take care of his health for the sake of the people of the world."

At the same time, some officials from the six ministries stood up and echoed: "I beg the Holy Emperor to take care of his health for the sake of the people of the world."

Ye Xiang looked at Jia Jing in surprise. He thought that Jia Jing wanted to take advantage of the situation to curry favor with the emperor and get his support for the construction of Dengxian Pavilion, and to take advantage of the situation to make things difficult for him.

did not expect……

This disrupted his plans!

Originally, he planned to take this opportunity to anger the emperor and then resign.

At the age of the emperor, he will almost die after a few years of practicing Taoism and refining elixirs.

He can use these few years to make careful plans and make a comeback when the new emperor takes power!

This is also the reason why he and his men only advised the emperor not to build a palace, but did not persuade him to practice Taoism and make elixirs.

Jia Jing's move directly shattered his plan, so he had to step forward and persuade, "Your Majesty, for the sake of the people of the world, please take care of your health."

The emperor looked at Ye Xiang deeply.

"My dear ministers, don't worry. I just asked them to perform a ritual in the palace to pray for good weather, peace and prosperity for the country and the people. I didn't make any elixirs."

"The original intention of building the Dengxian Pavilion was also for the sake of the country and to pray for the people of the world."

Jia Jing knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "The Holy Emperor cares about the people of the world. It is indeed a blessing for the people and all the people. I support the Holy Emperor in building the Ascension Pavilion and pray for the people of the world!"

Hold Cao!

Treacherous!

Some court officials began to curse in their hearts, but they could only curse in their hearts. After all, both of them were doing things under the slogan of the people of the world.

Minister of Rites Li Minzhi frowned slightly, and then said, "It is a good thing for the Holy Emperor to build the Ascension Pavilion to pray for the people of the world, but the cost of building the Ascension Pavilion is very huge. Now the national treasury is empty, and I am afraid that it is unable to afford it."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "There is no need for the national treasury to pay. I will pay for the construction of the Ascension Pavilion with my own money in order to pray for the people."

Jia Jing hurriedly said, "The Holy Emperor is kind and merciful. I am willing to give half of my salary this year to help build the Ascension Pavilion and also to help the people of the world."

"OK!"

The emperor was overjoyed: "Lord Jia is indeed a pillar of the country. If everyone in Daxia is like Lord Jia, serving the country and the people, being loyal to the emperor and the country, why should we worry about the country's prosperity?"

The court officials below were stunned at the show of the emperor and his ministers.

How shameless!
Someone despises!

Some people cursed inwardly.

Some people are disdainful!

Someone, hurry up and catch up.

Liu Yan, the Minister of Revenue, said: "I am also willing to give half of my salary."

The Minister of Works: "I am willing to do the same..."

The Minister of Justice: "Your Majesty..."

"Good good!"

The emperor was overjoyed and praised the donors one by one. The rest of the people looked at each other for a long time and had to bite the bullet and stand up: "I am willing to give..."

Originally, all the court officials were strongly opposed to this matter, but in the end, they all donated money. The emperor looked at Jia Jing with appreciation and said with a smile: "Lord Jia, this matter will be presided over by you. All the donors must be registered and share the prosperity."

"Sir, obey the order."

Jia Jing bowed and said, "There is another piece of good news. It was reported last night. I would like to congratulate the Holy Emperor and all the adults at the court this morning."

"Oh? What happy event?"

The emperor looked at Jia Jing and liked him more and more.

Since Jia Jing was promoted to cabinet minister, he made a lot of money, first from honeycomb coal and then from salt tax reform, and good things happened one after another.

Jia Jing looked around and said with a smile, "Some time ago, the Lianghuai Coast Guard was ordered to go to Taizhou Island to capture the imperial criminals. They defeated the Westerners on the island in one fell swoop and won a great victory!"

Someone had already received the news about this matter.

Some people even knew that a lot of silver was seized.

The emperor took a share. This is why he had the confidence to build the Ascension Pavilion.

The Ministry of Revenue received a share. So today, Liu Yan, the Minister of Revenue, frequently stood up to echo what Jia Jing said.

Jia Jing must have been quite greedy!
But, who can blame them for winning the battle?
Everyone was helpless and could only shout.

"Long live our emperor, and great victory to Daxia."

……

After court session at noon, Ye Xiang returned home.

His son Ye Huayang was able to walk again, but he was blind in one eye and his brain was not very good, as if he had returned to the time when he was five or six years old.

"Woo woo woo, Daddy."

"My sister bullied me."

As soon as Ye Gao entered the room, he was rushed into someone's arms.

"Hey!"

Ye Xiang looked at his son and sighed: "Who is watching him? Hurry up and help him to the backyard!"

Two maids came immediately and pulled Ye Huayang away.

"Master, let's go."

"My Lord, there will be fun things to come."

Ye Huayang laughed, clapped his hands, jumped and ran: "I want to play, I want to play, it's fun, fun, haha."

Ye Xiang was speechless for a long while.

What a sin!
"Daddy."

"Ah."

"Have tea."

Ye Xiang took a sip of the teacup and suddenly looked at his daughter: "What's the matter with you?"

"Well... nothing much. My brother is almost well now. I want to go back to the Imperial College to study for another year."

"That's all."

Ye Xiang waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. Remember to tell Guo Jijiu. I'll say hello to him."

"Know it!"

"Oh, right." Ye Xiang suddenly asked, "When will your second brother come to Beijing? Why is he putting it off until now?"

"...Second brother, maybe he's afraid that dad will force him to study?"

"This beast!"

Ye Xiang slammed the table and said, "Someone, go to Jiangxi and bring that guy to me!"

……

Rongguo Mansion.

Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Jia She drove out Jia Zheng, who lived in the east wing, and found a place on the side of Lixiang Courtyard in the northeast corner.

"Second brother, you should live here from now on. There is a door at the back corner here, which will be convenient for you to go in and out. Don't go to the main entrance."

Jia Zheng: "..."

Is there no place for him in the East Cross Courtyard?

I'm going to find the old lady!

Jia Zheng walked away, shaking his sleeves.

Jia She smiled slightly and didn't care.

What a biased old lady.

I stopped listening to her a long time ago!

……

(End of this chapter)