Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 349, Unification Will Eventually Come
The farce continued until Jia She arrived.

When Jia Zheng saw Jia She, he quickly told him what had happened.

Upon hearing this, Jia She didn't even glance at Baoyu, who was hiding in Grandmother Jia's arms. Instead, he ordered a servant to pull out one of the head maids from Grandmother Jia's side.

He said coldly, "Tell me the truth immediately, where is that vixen hiding, or I will punish you for treason!"

The head maid had served Jia Mu for many years, and even when threatened by Jia She, she did not immediately reveal the truth, but instead looked at Jia Mu.

Grandmother Jia spoke on his behalf, saying:
"There are no sorceresses, they are all respectable women!"

Jia She ignored him and waved his hand, saying:

"Send him to the death row for severe torture!"

As the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, Jia She naturally had this authority.

Without saying a word, the two servants grabbed the old woman and left.

Grandmother Jia tried to stop them from behind, but the two servants wouldn't listen to a word.

Unless Jia She speaks up, no one else's words will matter.

These two servants were newly recruited by Jia She and did not know much about the Jia family. They only knew that Jia She was the most powerful official in the Jia family at the moment, and that Jia She and Grandmother Jia were not on good terms. Therefore, they were not afraid of Grandmother Jia at all.

The former servant Jia Gui'er has performed great service and has now been freed from slavery and promoted.

Seeing that Grandmother Jia's words were useless, and fearing that she would really be sent to the death row, where she would never get out, the old woman hurriedly told her the whole story.

Upon receiving the intelligence, Jia She quickly led his men to arrest Miaoyu and the others.

The old woman was not spared either. Even after revealing the whereabouts of Miaoyu and the others, she was still sent to the imperial prison by Jia She and forced to sign and seal the document, becoming the mastermind behind the hiding of the sorceress.

Servants have no human rights, and using servants to take the blame is a common tactic of aristocratic families.

Fang Yong couldn't possibly punish the Jia family for such a trivial matter, so he simply gave them a few words of reprimand and let it go.

Fang Yong met Miaoyu once when he had some free time. She was quite pretty, but Fang Yong didn't like her personality. In comparison, Yuanyang was slightly less pretty than Miaoyu, but Fang Yong liked her very much.

In the end, Fang Yong only arranged for her to work in the palace's weaving bureau as a basic female worker.

There was no embarrassment, nor any attention paid.

Born into an official family, Miaoyu did indeed possess some weaving and embroidery skills, which were basic skills for young ladies from prominent families. Characters like Xiangyun, Daiyu, and Baochai all had some of these skills.

In contrast, some nuns who knew nothing could only be sent to Hezhou to move stones.

In late April, as the imperial examination began, news arrived from Liaodong that Chu Yuqi had fallen ill…

His so-called illness was probably just a show of weakness by Chu Yuqi.

Fang Yong didn't pay any attention.

The palace examination was held.

The Longqing Emperor was ill and unable to attend.

He entrusted the selection of talented individuals to King Fang Yong of Wu, a pillar of the state.

The palace examination was just a formality, and the questions were very simple, just basic eight-legged essay questions, which posed no difficulty to these people who were at least Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination).

The top scholar was Yang Ji, who had been pre-selected. Fang Yong even tested him on the spot with a few questions, all of which were familiar topics, such as salt and iron operations, increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and official performance evaluation. (PS: There was no mention of how to distinguish between a wolf and a dog.)
Yang Ji answered these questions fluently, saying that if you want to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, you must first increase revenue and then reduce expenditure, which was as good as saying nothing at all.

The ministers were very satisfied with what they heard and all agreed that it was well said.

Fang Yong didn't say anything more.

This was all just a show, with more political significance than practical significance. In short, the top scholar's ranking was determined, the second-place scholar was similar to Yang Ji, the third-place scholar was chosen for his good looks, and several junior scholars were selected from the second-class scholars. These were all scions of aristocratic families, and Fang Yong also arranged leisurely official positions for them.

They won't pose much of a threat; at most, they'll just waste a few units of grain, and then perhaps they can bring peace to a large area.

Some people were dissatisfied with this imperial examination.

Because some people were talented enough to pass the imperial examination, Wu Yuan deliberately rejected them, making them available for Lin Ruhai to choose from.

There were also some people who, having heard of the imperial examinations and practical studies that Fang Yong held in Huaizhou, speculated that Fang Yong was a ruler who advocated reform. Therefore, when these people answered the questions, they were bold in style and did not strictly follow the eight-legged essay, but instead added many of their own ideas.

And unsurprisingly, all of these people were eliminated.

For them, this imperial examination was a huge disappointment.

They wanted to leave after the results of the imperial examination were announced.

However, Lin Ruhai stepped forward to recruit them at that time, told them about studying abroad, and offered many subsidies and policies to attract them.

However, the results were still not ideal.

The contempt of the Chinese for barbarians has been deeply ingrained for a long time, so it is really hard to accept that they should be sent to study in the West.

Especially since these people were all successful candidates in the imperial examinations, which to some extent meant they were already qualified to become officials. Imagine if you studied hard for ten years and finally became a successful candidate, when you could enjoy your life, how could you possibly go back to studying?

Moreover, they were learning in places inhabited by barbarians.

Despite the very generous promises, less than half of the respondents ultimately agreed.

Fang Yong later added some conditions, but there were still few respondents, and in the end he could barely gather 100 people.

However, recruiting students from rural areas was relatively easy.

Some children from ordinary families had excellent academic talent, and when they heard that the conditions for studying abroad were generous and that they could become officials upon their return, they couldn't wait to agree.

However, most of these people are young teenagers, and compared to the previous scholars, it will take them longer to complete their studies and return home...

However, the seeds have been sown, and all that remains is for them to take root and sprout.

In early May, the first batch of 850 students sent to study in the West boarded a ship.

Eight hundred and fifty people may sound like a lot, but for a country with tens of millions of people, they are just a drop in the ocean.

After seeing the international students off, Fang Yong prepared to begin military operations.

At this time, Wang Ziteng also sent back a message from Liaodong.

This indicates that Chu Yuqi is seriously ill and unable to leave.

Fang Yong was somewhat surprised. Could this guy have guessed that I would launch a military operation during this period, so he deliberately feigned illness to make me lower my guard and show that he posed no threat?
It can't be a real serious illness, can it?

What a coincidence!

Regardless of whether Chu Yuqi was truly ill or faking it, Fang Yong had no intention of changing his battle plan.

On the one hand, the natural barrier of Liaodong was more difficult to conquer than that of Hubei and Hunan.

On the other hand, Fang Yong had been preparing for Hubei and Hunan for a long time. He had already made preparations to win people's hearts and minds and to arrange the army. He could not easily change his target.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, Fang Yong officially issued an edict in the name of the Longqing Emperor, requiring six key officials, including Hua Xiu, the governor of Hubei, and Zhang Haicheng, the general of Jingzhou, to come to Beijing to report on their duties.

At the same time, under the pretext of guarding against the rebel Liu Xiang, he ordered Jiang Feng, a general of the Huaiyin Army, to take over the defense of Xiangyang.

If these two conditions are met, Hubei will basically offer no resistance; otherwise, force will be needed.

(End of this chapter)