Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 187: The Jia family has a minister, what does the Zhen family have?
……

"Ha ha ha ha…"

Bursts of laughter came from Jia's mother's yard.

Since the construction of the East Palace Garden began, Xichun, Daiyu, Baochai and other sisters have moved to Rongguo Mansion to live, and the number of times they come to pay their respects to Lady Jia's courtyard has naturally increased.

Grandmother Jia naturally liked it, and invited the sisters to come over for dinner and fun every day. Today she also invited Aunt Xue to come over to play cards.

Feng Ji now has some assets and doesn't mind losing a little money to Lady Jia, which makes Lady Jia very happy.

"Yuanyang, take the money quickly."

This is not a deliberate joke by Lady Jia, she is really short of money now.

All the money was given to Jia Zheng to take to the palace.

This time he won some money from Fengjie and put it at the bottom of a box, saving it for his grandson Da Baoyu to marry.

Yuanyang agreed, but fearing that Fengjie would go back on her word, she quickly collected all the copper coins on the table.

Fengjie pretended to be miserable: "My money, the old lady took it away in a hurry before I even heard a sound."

Aunt Xue laughed and said, "Feng girl, you are so stingy. Does the old lady need your two cents? I was just teasing you. Go and get more money. The old lady is in a good mood."

Grandmother Jia smiled seriously and said, "What Auntie said makes sense, Feng girl, while I'm in the mood, go back and get the money. I heard that you, a poor monkey, became a salt merchant? That's a lucrative business. Would it be sensible not to give some money?"

Fengjie said with a bitter face, "Old lady, aunt, please don't mention it. I am just a poor little housekeeper. Rong'er took all the money I worked hard to earn, leaving only a little for me. It is not enough to buy a few rouge and powder on weekdays, and I have to add it myself."

Grandmother Jia waved her hand and said with a smile, "Don't cry poor here. Rong'er is your nephew. How dare he ask you for money? If he doesn't listen, call him over and I'll talk to him."

Grandmother Jia thought to herself: She couldn't control Jia Jing, but Jia Rong was just her great-grandson, so shouldn't she be able to control him easily?

Sister Feng said happily: "With the words of the ancestor, I feel relieved."

the other side.

A group of sisters are teaching Xiangling how to write poetry.

Xiangling’s teachers have changed from one to three, namely Daiyu, Xiangyun and Baoqin.

One taught her some of Li Qinglian's rhythm, the other taught her some of Lao Du's style, which made Xiangling dizzy and even more stunned.

Baochai smiled and said, "Don't make it difficult for me. Writing poetry is not something that can be done overnight. If you read 300 Tang poems carefully, you will be able to do it in a year or two."

"By the way, didn't Rong Ge'er say he wanted to find a teacher for Xichun? Has he found one?"

Xichun shook her head.

"They said there's no suitable one yet."

Baochai nodded: "It is indeed difficult to find someone who can catch Rong'er's eye."

Xichun smiled and said, "It's better if it's hard to find."

Apparently, I hope I won’t find it even for a year.

"I was bored a few days ago and painted a picture of autumn wind and rain. Come and take a look." Xichun changed the subject.

"Really?"

"Let's go and take a look at Xichun's paintings."

"Hey, are you three teachers and one student going?"

Lin Daiyu: "Go."

Xiangling: "What?"

Xiangyun: "Who cares about her? Just follow her."

Baoqin: "Let's go."

As soon as everyone went out, a girl came running in hurriedly.

It was Musk Moon.

"Old lady, it's not good."

"Master Bao was beaten by the master."

Grandmother Jia was horrified.

"what?"

"where is it?"

"Is it serious? Take me there quickly."

Grandmother Jia didn't care about winning money from Sister Feng. She threw down the cards, supported Yuanyang and walked out.

"Chichi."

Xichun laughed inappropriately: "You go first, I'll see how badly Bao Erge was beaten."

Lin Daiyu held Xichun's hand and said, "What's so good about it? We are all waiting to see your paintings."

Xichun: "...Okay."

Pity.

I can only watch it next time.

……

Ningguo Mansion.

Xue Ke looked exhausted, his body darkened by the sea breeze, and he could smell the fishy smell of the sea from a long distance away.

However, his eyes were much calmer than before, and he looked like someone who could be entrusted with important matters.

"Meet Brother Rong."

Xue Ke stepped forward and bowed from a distance.

"Why are you being so polite?" Jia Rong stepped forward to help him and patted Xue Ke on the shoulder: "You've become darker and stronger!"

"Brother Rong, don't tell me what happened to me first. I'll take you to see the two babies." Xue Ke said impatiently.

Jia Rong: "Oh? What treasure?"

Xue Ke: "Hehe, this is hard to say. Brother Rong, come with me and you will know at a glance."

Could it be...

Jia Rong was half-believing and half-doubting, and followed Xue Ke to the wing room outside the ceremonial gate.

I saw a carriage parked in the yard.

Xue Ke chuckled and said, "Brother Rong, the treasure is inside." Then he raised his hand and patted it twice.

The curtain of the carriage swayed slightly, and two beautiful girls with similar appearance, fair skin, big eyes, high nose bridge, graceful, plump and enchanting figures slowly got off the carriage.

Although she was wearing a dress typical of a Daxia woman, her unique and exotic style could be seen at first glance.

Persian beauty!

"Brother Rong, they are the two Persian beauties I mentioned in the letter. It is said that they are the king's daughters. Because they admire Daxia, they are willing to come and be your maids." Xue Ke whispered beside Jia Rong.

Jia Rong: "...Do you think I need a maid? What are you bringing home?" You probably don't know yet? Your sister wants to kill you.

Xue Ke had no idea what Jia Rong was thinking, but he thought he understood what Jia Rong meant, so he said with a smile, "Hey, I understand. I'll buy a house outside tomorrow and let them live in it."

"This servant has met the eldest master."

The two Persian beauties spoke Chinese in a half-familiar way that was particularly tongue-twisting.

Jia Rong looked at Xue Ke suspiciously, "Didn't you say they were the daughters of a king? Shouldn't they be very noble? Why do you call them slaves?"

"Could it be that... you told them that 'slave' means 'this princess'?"

This is too... bad.

"No, no." Xue Ke hurriedly shook his head and explained: "They were indeed princesses a few years ago, but this year their father was killed by their uncle. They fled to the sea and were rescued by our fleet. They also fought a battle with the Persian ships, so..."

"Oh."

Jia Rong nodded.

A princess in distress.

"Please take me in, young master."

They both knelt on the ground, tears in their eyes.

Xue Ke: "Brother, what do you think?"

The country is destroyed and the family is destroyed.

Jia Rong's heart softened: "Forget it, find a place for them to live outside and settle them down. Don't let anyone bully them."

Xue Ke smiled and said, "Don't worry, big brother. I will make sure everything is arranged for you."

"What do you mean by arrange it for me? It means arrange it for them."

"Yes, yes, yes." Xue Ke quickly changed his tone: "Arrange it for them."

Jia Rong waved his hand: "Go ahead, make arrangements first, and come back to talk about things later."

"I'll go right away."

"You two get in the car first."

Xue Ke said to the two Persian beauties.

The two sisters looked at each other.

They were known as the most beautiful princesses in Persia. It was rumored that their uncle launched a coup because he coveted the beauty of the two sisters.

The young cabinet minister of Daxia is indeed a gentleman!
"Thank you, eldest son."

The two men first bowed to Jia Rong and then got back into the carriage.

Not long after.

Xue Ke made all the arrangements outside and returned home.

Jia Rong had already prepared a table of wine and food to welcome his good brother.

"Brother Rong."

"Brother Xue, sit down."

"Brother, please go first."

The two sat down and drank three cups each.

Xue Ke smiled and said, "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission this year. I have basically completed the tasks assigned by my elder brother. Daxia's silk, tea, porcelain, etc. are exported to Southeast Asia, and I have earned a lot of money from the yellow-haired devils."

"In addition, according to my eldest brother's instructions, every time I return from Southeast Asia, I carry a load of rice, spices, etc. from Southeast Asia. This year, the price of rice in several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River is more than 20% lower than in previous years. In comparison, raw silk is 20% to 30% more expensive than in previous years. Many farmers have seen the benefits and may switch from rice to mulberry."

Jia Rong nodded and said, "Changing rice production to mulberry production is the trend. In the future, our silk, porcelain, tea and other products will become more and more popular overseas, and the demand will also increase. The current raw silk production is definitely not enough."

Xue Ke frowned and said, "But the transition from rice to mulberry trees is not that fast. Many farmers still rely on grain as their main crop. For them, being able to eat enough is the most important thing... Maybe the price of raw silk will rise sharply next year!"

"Should we collect some now?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "No hurry."

"The court issued an order to close the sea."

“Raw silk prices will not rise and may even fall.”

Xue Ke was startled at first, and then heaved a sigh of relief.

Closing the sea only means closing the sea for ordinary merchants.

On the contrary, it is beneficial to big merchants who have connections in the court, such as the Xue family and the Zhen family in Jiangnan.

"By the way, brother, we had a conflict with the Zhen family overseas. We fought a battle and the Zhen family's ship was overturned. Next year, we may face difficulties in purchasing silk from the Zhen family." Xue Ke said worriedly.

The Zhen family controlled the entire Jiangnan manufacturing industry, and half of the silk production was controlled by them. Once silk merchants offended the Zhen family, the consequences would be disastrous.

But so what?
Jia Rong said calmly, "As long as we don't suffer any loss, we don't need to pay attention to them. The Zhen family won't be able to survive for many more days."

The emperor is short of money, and who knows, he might target the Zhen family next.

When will the Jia family be targeted?
Now that Jia Jing is here, it’s impossible.

We’ll talk about it in the future.

Xue Ke heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this and said, "That's good. I've always been worried that the Zhen family would retaliate against us."

Jia Rong smiled faintly.

Revenge on whom?
Jia Jing is the prime minister of the current dynasty, what does the Zhen family have?
Is there an old concubine?

Xue Ke: "Oh, there is one more thing."

Jia Rong: "What?"

Xue Ke said, "It's about those two Persian beauties. Didn't I just mention that our caravan had a big fight with the Persian navy?"

Jia Rong: "Lose or win?"

Xue Ke: "Neither lost nor won."

"But the old man was very angry and said that if we didn't hand over the people, he would send troops to attack Daxia."

Jia Rong: “…”

"Did you bring back two beauties? Why do I feel like you brought back two troubles?"

Xue Ke blushed: "I didn't think too much at the time, I just wanted to find two people to serve my brother, ahem...why don't you return them?"

Jia Rong: "Of course... no!"

"If we return it like this, doesn't it mean that Daxia is afraid of Persia?"

"Between countries, face is more important than anything else. Since they are coming, let them never return!"

A mere Persia dares to jump around in front of the great Xia.

This is a joke!
……

(End of this chapter)