The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 235 I feel uncomfortable and want to cry
In the cold winter, the atmosphere in the capital city was a bit desolate.

Jia Rong, who had not attended court meetings or interfered in official affairs for three months, was invited to Wenyuan Pavilion again.

Jia Rong took a rickshaw to the palace and then to Wenyuan Pavilion.

The driver was a young man in his twenties, young and strong, and also the son of a meritorious official.

My ancestor was once an earl, but after several generations of illegitimate sons and illegitimate sons, he was almost dying of poverty.

Fortunately, his father found Jia Rong's help when he sold blood. Jia Rong saw that he was in good health, so he helped him to serve in the infantry battalion of the Beijing camp, and then he came to the gate of the palace every day to wait for work.

The daily wage is one hundred wen, which means a high salary of almost two taels per month excluding rest days.

The car belongs to Jia Rong, and daily maintenance and repairs are done by Jia Rong's people.

Today, the Prince Zhongxiao's Palace supports a large group of temporary workers, and at the same time does not have to worry about their retirement, food, clothing, housing and transportation, which is a lot less than the original financial expenditure.

Even if it was a wet nurse, Jia Rong planned to rent her out for a short period of time. Three years would be enough, and after that she could go home and do whatever she wanted. The palace would not be responsible for her retirement.

In this era, everyone had to provide for their wet nurses in their old age, no matter if they were royal relatives or aristocratic disciples like Lin Daiyu, as long as they could make ends meet, they would continue to support their wet nurses.

Even the wet nurse's children have to be raised.

The wicked Jia Rong is not that filial. Although he is the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety, Jia Rong actually hates this title.

"King Zhongxiao!"

As soon as I entered Wenyuan Pavilion, I saw several ministers and princes coming out to greet me.

Jia Rong nodded and walked to the side and sat down.

"whats the matter?"

Except for Jia Rong, everyone else was holding a meeting in the cabinet office.

If Jia Rong suggested it, they could naturally hold the meeting in the Imperial Study, but the venue made no difference, and Wenyuan Pavilion was actually more appropriate.

At least there are more seats...

The left prime minister said, "The emperor has been on a tour of the south and has not returned yet. He has also sent someone to announce that the annual tribute from the south of the Yangtze River has been left there for the emperor to use. This month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has only received revenue from a few places in the north. If this continues, I'm afraid something bad will happen."

Jia Rong said directly: "Then you can talk to the emperor. I don't want to get involved in this kind of thing. Now I have to avoid suspicion."

In the eyes of everyone, Jia Rong's behavior in the past few months was indeed an attempt to avoid suspicion.

Basically do not participate in any national affairs.

It is not about teaching children mathematics or other skills of craftsmen and merchants at home, or other knowledge that is not worthy of being accepted in formal classrooms.

Or he defiles his own innocence by being obsessed with the beauties in the Music Bureau and being a dissolute man at home.

In general, everyone thinks that he is trying to avoid suspicion and is not really a lustful person.

The King of Liao said quickly: "King Zhongxiao, now is not the time to be cautious. This year's summer grain has only been transported to the capital from a few places. The money and grain from the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River and the rich areas have all been left in Suzhou and Hangzhou by the emperor."

The right prime minister said: "I heard that they have also built the Imperial Academy and the Cabinet in Jiangnan. If this continues, the country will be in ruins!"

Although it was only for more than three months, the emperor fell in love with the glamorous world of Jiangnan after his southern tour and didn't want to come back at all.

Jiangnan has no shortage of literati, beautiful women, beautiful scenery and delicious food.

Moreover, there was no one to restrain the emperor. Several of the emperor's masters were left in the capital, so he could do whatever he wanted.

Jia Rong raised his hand directly, "I don't want to hear this. The power of state affairs is in your hands, and the emperor's master is also here. It is your job to advise the emperor. Don't involve me."

The Grand Tutor scolded, "How can the King of Zhongxiao still be considered a loyal minister? Just watching the Emperor go on making trouble like this is against the trust of the late Emperor!"

Jia Rong was not afraid of quarrels, so he smiled and said, "It's true that I was promoted by the late emperor, but I also did everything the late emperor asked me to do. Now I obey the emperor. It is your job to persuade the emperor. My official position is the imperial physician. When the emperor is not here, I will mainly be responsible for the patients of the queen and the harem."

"Or maybe we can research prescriptions and improve our medical skills."

"As for the title, I am the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety. I will do whatever the emperor tells me to do, not whatever you tell me to do."

The King of Shu quickly appeased Jia Rong.

"Don't be angry, Prince Zhongxiao. Now is not the time to quarrel. The military pay in Liaodong, Mobei, and Southern Tibet can still be paid this year, but it's hard to say for next year."

After hearing this, Jia Rong asked curiously, "How could tens of millions of silver in the national treasury be gone so quickly?"

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs quickly said, "No, it's just that there is no grain shipped from Jiangnan. I'm afraid there will be a shortage next year."

After hearing this, Jia Rong no longer cared.

"It doesn't matter. We can just hand out silver when the time comes and send civil servants to manage the money to buy rice and vegetables. The generals can just focus on training the troops. It also saves the trouble of transporting food."

"You don't have to transport silver, you can just use silver notes. In recent years, royal merchants from all over the country have also established silver banks. They are divided into four silver banks that do not interfere with each other, so as to avoid interference after they become too big."

Jia Rong made the arrangement casually.

After hearing this, the King of Shu and the King of Liao were both thinking about this matter.

The left prime minister quickly retorted, "Absolutely not! If the army has money and food, what will happen if the local government becomes powerful?"

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Why not just not give money? If there were no collusion, how could Liaodong, Mobei, and Southern Tibet become so big?"

The Left Prime Minister still disagreed with this.

“This is just child’s play!”

Jia Rong didn't care. "I think so too. Anyway, I don't want to get involved in these things, let alone any strategies for governing the country. You guys can discuss things. Aren't two princes enough? You have to invite me to join you."

"The emperor has assigned me the task of staying in the capital. If there is a rebellion or something happens in the south, I will lead the troops there to take charge of the situation. Don't bother me with other matters." After saying this, Jia Rong stood up and prepared to leave.

"Your Majesty, wait a minute!"

Everyone stopped Jia Rong.

The Right Prime Minister quickly said, "Now that the year is coming to an end, the distribution of salaries and spring rewards in the court requires His Majesty to sit down and be a witness."

When Jia Rong heard that the year-end bonus was going to be distributed, he sat down and continued listening.

Even if the emperor is not here, everyone still needs to eat.

Not only do you need to eat, you also need bonuses.

How can you work actively without money?

Jia Rong had been thinking of just sitting there until the meeting was over, but the Right Prime Minister suddenly made a proposal.

"The grain from Jiangnan has not been delivered this year, and the grain in the granary still needs to cope with the military needs of various places next year. I think it would be better to exchange our grain for silver and buy some grain ourselves, which would save the people below the trouble of transporting it."

Without the emperor's pressure, everyone gained unprecedented power.

Nowadays, the officials in the capital have automatically evolved into the local officials in the south of the Yangtze River. They have begun to become greedy and ferocious, and have various ways to make money.

Compared with Jiangnan, the people in the capital are undoubtedly wealthier, especially since many of them were meritorious aristocrats several generations ago and they all have some connections with each other.

Now it all depends on who has the strongest connections!

Of course Jia Rong had no objection. He didn't care about this anyway. The decision was made by the prime ministers, and the other two princes also agreed.

There is too much silver in the national treasury, so of course a group of locusts and rats want to eat it all up.

Soon everyone stopped urging the emperor to come back, and they all tacitly collected their money to celebrate the New Year.

Military officers from all over the country were naturally happy to receive the money, as it also saved them the trouble of selling food.

Even his soldiers received a few taels of silver, and everyone was happy.

There are certainly some in the army who are greedy for money, but if they had no money at all, they would have rebelled long ago.

Going down layer by layer, those at the bottom have enough to eat and wear.

In the past two years, corn, sweet potatoes and other crops have been planted in various places, so there is actually no shortage of food.

After the Chinese New Year, Jia Rong's poetry collection became extremely popular in the capital, and the writers who received money and were assigned to many overseas positions no longer scolded Jia Rong.

Jia Rong, twenty-seven years old, has accomplished nothing.

“So empty…”

Jia Rong hugged two young and beautiful wet nurses, but he felt empty and uncomfortable, and his heart was itchy.

So sad!
I feel like crying...

Jia Rong quickly went to the laboratory to get some things.

That night, the King of Shu, the King of Liao and others who were celebrating the Lantern Festival in the palace were attacked and died the moment they fell to the ground.

The Queen quickly ordered people to set off red fireworks specifically to summon Jia Rong.

Soon Jia Rong rushed to the palace.

"I am late in coming to your rescue! Please forgive me, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

Jia Rong was as polite as ever, exuding a sense of mighty and unyielding righteousness. His eyes were full of spirit, and his arms, legs and feet were full of strength.

He knelt there on one knee, and seemed to be emitting a warm and awe-inspiring aura!!!

At this time, Jia Yuanchun, Lin Daiyu, Wang Xifeng, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Wang, as well as the princesses, wives and concubines from the harem who were attending the Lantern Festival banquet looked at this kneeling heroic man and understood for the first time what a heroic man is!

When the Queen Mother saw that Jia Rong finally came to see her, she almost cried.

"Uncle Emperor, please stand up! Please let Uncle Emperor take charge of this situation!"

After Jia Rong stood up, he turned his back to the Queen.

The queen, who was standing behind Jia Rong, tried her best to suppress her instinct and not hug this man.

Jia Rong said to everyone, "Leave this matter to me. Ladies and empresses, please go back and rest. I will send someone to protect you all and return immediately. The Empress, please go back to the palace and rest. I will report to you after I have dealt with the matter of the King of Shu and the King of Liao!"

The Queen Mother soon went back reluctantly, wishing she could go back to the room with Jia Rong for a big fight.

Jia Rong looked at Lin Daiyu, Jia Yuanchun and others, with tenderness in his eyes that had not been there in these days.

"You guys go back first. I estimate that I won't be back until noon tomorrow. Go back and have a good rest. Don't be afraid."

Jia Yuanchun nodded hard, "Yes, Your Majesty..."

Lin Daiyu also said gently: "My lord, you must be careful!"

Jia Rong smiled and nodded, then strode out.

That solid back and masculinity will be unforgettable to all the ladies and girls.

That night, the King of Shu and the Crown Prince of Liao abandoned their wives, sisters, mothers and others and fled back to their fiefdoms.

(End of this chapter)