The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 242 Regent

The grass grows and the warbler flies in February, and the willows are drunk in the spring.

It was not until the end of February that the capital city began to feel a little bit of spring.

Jia Rong stood under the Golden Palace, at the head of all the ministers and the most prominent member of the royal family.

Jia Rong was not the protagonist in the Golden Palace. There was a rolling curtain behind the emperor's throne, and the queen was sitting behind the curtain to listen to government affairs.

She could not sit directly on the dragon throne like Jia Rong did. The ministers would rather accept Jia Rong, a man with the title of royal prince, sitting on the dragon throne than accept the queen, a woman, sitting there.

The queen must maintain etiquette and behave like a queen.

No matter what happens in private, the queen must remain dignified and majestic at this time.

"Uncle, the emperor has already asked you to preside over state affairs. I was not asked by the emperor to do this, so it is not reasonable."

As soon as she entered the court, the Queen spoke directly to Jia Rong in a majestic and clear voice.

The emperor's throne was located on the steps, and the straight-line distance between him and Jia Rong who was standing on the ground was more than ten meters.

Even though the special structure of the Golden Throne Hall has a slight enhancing effect on sound, if you want to make things clear at this distance, you still need a certain level of conversational skills.

A woman who speaks like a mosquito is not suitable to sit here.

Wang Xifeng hates people who speak in a stilted manner and prefers those who speak clearly and understandably.

In the royal family, the training and education of the Crown Princess is also a top priority.

The Emperor has been the Crown Prince for nearly ten years, and the Crown Princess has also been trained since childhood. Although she is not favored by the Emperor now, she still has the basic skills.

Jia Rong did not notice this advantage of the other person. To Jia Rong, this woman was just a plaything.

Seeing Jia Rong was silent, the Queen took the initiative to invite him, saying, "Please have your uncle take a seat. Although the Emperor and I are husband and wife, the Emperor's uncle is the one entrusted by the Emperor. If I rashly intervene in politics, it would be illogical and the Emperor would definitely blame me if he knew."

All the queen wanted was for the man she liked to come up and sit in front of her.

Jia Rong said: "Since the Queen is here, there is no need for me to stand on it."

The Queen insisted, "This is not the time for me to come out. It's just that the Emperor's uncle asked me to come out to represent the Emperor in order to avoid suspicion. However, the Emperor has entrusted the Emperor's uncle with the regent. I am not a wise man and I don't understand state affairs. I am afraid that I will be deceived by villains and disrupt state affairs."

"Uncle, please come up and sit down. Otherwise, I will go back to the palace and wait for the emperor to return. How can a woman interfere in state affairs?"

The ministers saw that the queen also did not want to interfere in state affairs, and Jia Rong had a similar personality.

The worst thing is that the emperor himself didn't want to deal with state affairs, so he fled to Jiangnan and refused to come back.

Without waiting for the ministers to speak, Jia Rong shouted, "Why not just move the capital? We will go to Jiangnan to find the emperor. We can discuss anything when we get there."

Jia Rong also wanted to go to Jiangnan for some fun, and he really didn't want to deal with these troublesome things.

Just those craftsmen and his own affairs were enough to make Jia Rong upset.

Jia Rong was too lazy to play tricks with a bunch of treacherous officials in the court.

This is all the dog emperor's business, why should I do it?

Seeing that the irresponsible Jia Rong was determined to throw the jar into chaos, many court nobles and ministers whose properties were in the capital quickly opposed it.

"Please take your seat, King Zhongxiao!"

"Please ask Prince Zhongxiao to be the regent!"

Several elders from the royal family first supported Jia Rong.

If the capital is really moved, these royal family members and nobles, whose population is a hundred times larger than that of the Jia family, will be in great trouble.

Now the royal family is very dissatisfied with the emperor, mainly because of Jia Rong that they can live on and avoid rebellion.

However, after the emperor's inaction and repeated beatings, everyone has really considered changing the emperor.

He could have moved the capital or rebuilt the Forbidden City, but the emperor chose to move the capital to Jiangnan and recruited a large group of people to form a small court.

This betrayal of the base has seriously damaged the interests of the royal family and the northern military group. If Jia Rong hadn't been suppressing them, there would have been real trouble.

The current situation is very dangerous. If Jia Rong also runs to Jiangnan, it will basically lead to a war between the North and the South.

Seeing that the situation was really dangerous, the left and right prime ministers also bowed to Jia Rong.

"Please ask Prince Zhongxiao to be the regent!"

"Please ask Prince Zhongxiao to be the regent!"

Wang Ziteng saw that several powerful generals and ministers had expressed their opinions, so he also shouted: "Please ask the Prince of Zhongxiao to be the regent!"

The officials behind him also expressed their opinions.

"Please ask Prince Zhongxiao to be the regent!"

At this time, Jia Zheng also gritted his teeth and shouted along.

however……

Jia Rong is the type of person who won't do anything no matter what others tell him to do.

If you don't let him do it, he will insist on doing it!

And no matter what his mood was, he would go up and sit down if he felt like not standing.

But a group of people insisted that he sit down, which aroused the rebellious psychology of this rebellious son.

Jia Rong raised his head with disdain and said, "I won't sit down."

Don't sit...

The ministers were suddenly embarrassed.

I thought Jia Rong would refuse a few times, and after everyone persuaded him a few times, he would refuse a few times, and after a few times he would go up and sit down.

But I didn't expect that they really didn't want to get involved in this mess.

Seeing that the atmosphere had calmed down, Jia Rong's originally arrogant and disdainful expression quickly turned into anger.

"You are a bunch of treacherous and incompetent officials! I fought so hard to gain this good reputation, do you want to destroy me?!"

Zong Zheng hurriedly said, "I dare not, but only the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety is qualified to take on this task. Moreover, this is the will of the Emperor. We are not disloyal or unfilial people, but we should obey the will of the Emperor!"

The Queen Mother shouted, "Uncle, please calm down. We all know that Uncle is an upright and selfless person. We have no intention of forcing him."

Jia Rong said impatiently: "If you have something to say, please tell me quickly. I will go home after you have dealt with it."

The left prime minister said quickly, "Okay, now that the emperor has not returned, many major events have happened in the past few days. First, the King of Zhenxi sent an urgent report saying that a disaster had occurred in southern Tibet. Now the King of Zhenxi is leading his troops to resist the invasion of the Indian bandits."

Jia Rong frowned. "Why is there war in the South every day? Isn't it all fake?"

It must be fake!

We are not fools. We just called the King of Zhenxi to come and take charge of the situation a while ago, but the King of Zhenxi's territory was invaded. The Indian people crossed mountains and rivers to fight him?

Besides, even if there was an invasion, such matters were the business of local officials and border troops. It was not his turn as a prince to lead troops to fight. Did he want to rebel?
When everyone was quiet, the Queen said, "Uncle, the memorials are all on the table. Uncle has been at home these days and doesn't want to come to the palace. Urgent reports from all over the country have piled up."

After hearing this, Jia Rong walked straight up.

This time no one persuaded him, he went up on his own.

Seeing that Jia Rong was willing to go up, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Jia Rong sat on the dragon chair and looked at the memorials in front of him. "How many memorials are there?"

The eunuch next to him replied, "There are 355 memorials in total, nine of which are urgent, and ten of which are from generals of the Nine Frontier Armies, all of which are for the Emperor to personally open. The Emperor sent them to Prince Zhongxiao for his decision."

Jia Rong cursed, "It's already dawn when I've finished dealing with all this! Haven't the Grand Tutor and the others brought the Emperor back yet?!"

The Minister of Rites replied, "Your Excellencies have probably not yet arrived in Jiangnan."

Jia Rong picked up an urgent memorial and looked at it.

Then it was thrown onto the heads of the ministers below.

"The Emperor will personally supervise the imperial examinations in Hangzhou this year, and has promised to give each county in Jiangnan an additional hundred quotas for students and scholars. What do you think we should do?"

The left and right prime ministers did not examine the memorial. Both of them and the cabinet ministers read it and all of them were opposed to it.

The Grand Secretary shouted directly: "This is a strategy to disrupt the country! Originally, there are far fewer scholars in the north than in the south. If the emperor continues to recruit scholars from the south, the scholars in the north will definitely complain, and the country will no longer be a country!"

After reading the memorial, the Dali Temple Minister was also shocked by the actions of this stupid emperor.

The Imperial College's chief priest stood up and said angrily: "Your Majesty's move is extremely foolish! I oppose this policy to the death! We must not let him do whatever he wants!!"

The emperor was not at home at the time, and Prince Zhongxiao was an unruly person, so everyone became anxious and rude to the emperor.

"This is really unfair to the northern scholars! Your Majesty is going to chill the hearts of the northerners!!"

"Northerners are desperately fighting off the enemy in the north, while southerners are enjoying the southern scenery and the pleasure of reading in the south. The emperor is favoring the southerners again this time. How can we northerners survive?!"

There are also many southerners in the court, even Jia Rong is a southerner.

But at this time, the Southerners cannot speak even more. Once they speak, they will be treated as the ones who stick out by the angry Northerners.

Jia Rong did not say anything and pulled out the long sword that was in the way at his waist.

Soon, the court became quiet, and those who were arguing and swearing also quieted down.

Jia Rong put the long sword aside and changed his sitting position to be more comfortable.

As soon as he sat down, he saw that the others were silent, so Jia Rong started talking.

"Let the emperor go ahead with his arrangement. Northern scholars don't need to feel disappointed. This year, the list will be divided into north and south, and the number of scholars will remain the same as in previous years. When it comes to the provincial and palace examinations, the number of scholars from the north and south will be half each."

"In previous years, there were more scholars from the south anyway. If the north and south were separated and then combined, even if there were 10,000 more scholars, it would not affect the number of juren and jinshi. On the contrary, there would be many more northerners becoming high-ranking officials."

"There will be fewer nominees in the South and more in the North. Gold will always shine and will not be buried by more mud and sand."

"This is how the matter is arranged. Do you have any opinions?"

Everyone saw Jia Rong's arrangement. Although Jia Rong's arrangement was a bit frivolous, it was hundreds of times more objective and fair compared to the emperor's nonsense.

It is acceptable to people in the South and a good thing for people in the North.

The South got more places for scholars and students, and the North got more places for juren and jinshi, which was a win-win situation. Jia Rong quickly dealt with the second memorial.

"The Prince of Zhenxi led his troops to fight. Logically speaking, this is considered treason, but the emperor probably knows that it is not easy for him, and I don't want to embarrass this prince."

Jia Rong took a pen and wrote a reply, saying casually: "Give him 5 million in military expenses, and give him three years to capture part of the Indian land and send Indian beauties, jewelry, spices and other tributes. Otherwise, I will punish him! It can be considered as a meritorious service at the cost of his crime."

The generals of the royal family breathed a sigh of relief. Jia Rong let go of the King of Zhenxi who refused to come, which was considered an appeasement to the royal family members. This was much gentler than the emperor who only knew how to kill and confiscate property.

Jia Rong randomly picked out the third urgent memorial.

"Please make the Liao prince the king of Liao, even though this grandson ran away quickly after his father died and didn't even care about his mother. He is disloyal and unfilial."

While writing his reply, Jia Rong casually said, "Allow him to inherit the throne. It is the right thing for a son to inherit his father's business, but he cannot be ignored for being disloyal and unfilial. Fine him one year's salary to support him, and he cannot be asked for money from the people. Otherwise, he will be punished after being found out!"

"I will send someone to escort Princess Liao back, and she will supervise this grandson."

"The Princess of Shu will also be sent back to recuperate, and the Prince of Shu will be allowed to inherit the throne."

There is nothing wrong with this approach, it is already very magnanimous.

Jia Rong took out the fourth urgent memorial.

"The Nine Border Patrol has sent a secret letter, saying that soldiers in the north are often seen buying rice and grain, and trading with nearby foreign tribes."

Jia Rong wrote in reply, "This is a heinous act. The Nine Frontier Army can only eat the court's salary. Anyone who dares to do business will be punished as having evil intentions!"

"If there are rich and powerful people in the army, they will surely rebel. Now that the emperor is not here, if we do not punish them severely, disaster will surely occur."

"Pass the decree down. The border trade areas will be appointed from this year's candidates. Each border government can also recommend people who are honest and fair and familiar with border trade. They must be Han Chinese and cannot be military personnel. Military salaries are paid by the court. Anyone who dares to raise an army privately will be arrested and brought to the capital for punishment, even if he is a prince!"

"Regardless of the past, we will order all localities to conduct strict inspections to prevent such incidents from happening again. We will order the Nine Frontier Inspectors to focus on this matter and report back to the capital in the summer. We will decide whether the generals should stay or go based on the situation."

No one said anything. The north was indeed somewhat unstable at the moment. Jia Rong could calm the north down, and everyone would naturally listen to him.

The queen sat in the back, watching Jia Rong handle things one by one, her eyes full of infatuation. She wished he was the emperor and she was his queen.

Jia Rong added: "Establish manors in Liaoshen and other places to grow food to solve the problem of food for the border troops. Encourage homeless people over 30 years old in various counties to go there to open up wasteland. If there are disaster victims in various places this year, they can also be relocated there to open up farmland."

"All the land reclaimed will be meritorious. For every acre reclaimed, one portion can be kept as an eternal inheritance, and the rest will belong to the public, and no tax will be collected for three years."

Jia Rong thought for a moment and said, "The south has received many more scholars this year, so the north cannot suffer any loss."

"I funded the establishment of 100 Hope Primary Schools and ordered people to teach mathematics, carpentry, and craftsmanship. All children over the age of eight can go to school for free and learn a skill to support their families in the future."

"They are mainly the children of soldiers and officials. Normally, they go to private schools to learn the way of sages. This method of supporting the family is to make the children of side branches more capable. Who knows, when the dynasty weakens in the future, we may have to rely on these people to help the country."

Jia Rong just wanted to set up a Hope Primary School when he was free, and it was mainly this idea, not that he wanted to do anything else.

Just like a famous quote, he thought it would be fun to build a hundred Hope Primary Schools, but he had never thought about the specific details.

Regardless of his original intention, at least Jia Rong completed the heavy work quickly and handled various matters roughly.

Encourage the construction of schools, the development of industry, support for commercial shipping, control of the military and bureaucracy, and be willing to give opportunities to those candidates who take the palace examination once every three years so that they will not be delayed any further.

After the emperor fled to the south of the Yangtze River, the imperial examination was also delayed. Now, it seems that the emperor is conducting the palace examination directly in the south. The northern scholars and some people who fled to the capital are about to rebel.

In order not to let these talented Jinshi slip away, Jia Rong, the regent, naturally had to step in and go through the procedures to help them complete the examination process.

However, Jia Rong's patience was extremely limited. He soon became bored with the day-to-day work and chose to stay indoors.

Fortunately, all the civil and military officials were quite capable and helped to take over the task of making the country rich and the people strong.

In fact, the court could continue even without the emperor.

The people's taxes were not heavy, and land annexation was not so serious. In addition, there was no foreign invasion and huge pressure of military expenditure, and the court did not have a dominant eunuch party.

Just when everyone thought it didn't matter whether the emperor came back or not, Jia Rong, who was enjoying his life in the palace, was urgently summoned into the palace, and it was after two o'clock in the middle of the night!

"What happened?"

Jia Rong frowned and asked the palace maid who led the way.

The maid didn't know what was going on. "I don't know. The Queen looks very anxious."

Jia Rong raised his eyebrows. Could it be that he needed grass?

Are you in such a hurry? You called me over in the middle of the night...

Jia Rong, who was lost in thought, soon arrived at the State Council Building which he had built last year.

As soon as I entered, I found that several royal generals, the left and right prime ministers, and important officials such as Wang Ziteng were all here.

"Your Majesty!"

When Jia Rong walked in, he found that several palace maids had closed the door behind him, and the queen was sitting behind a curtain made of a screen.

"Uncle, something happened to the Emperor!"

After hearing this, Jia Rong asked curiously, "What happened? Why are you refusing to come back?"

The Empress said anxiously, "It would be great if that were the case! The Emperor has played with all the women in Jiangnan, and he always changes the women he likes new ones. As a result, his subordinates sent the daughter of a criminal who had his family confiscated and his clan exterminated. The woman was strong-willed and bit off the Emperor's private parts. Now the assassin has committed suicide, and the Emperor is in danger!"

Jia Rong quickly said, "I'll go to Jiangnan to have a look!"

"No!" The Queen tried to delay and said, "There is now an invasion of grassland tribes in western Mengxi. If the Emperor's uncle goes there, who will be able to take charge of the capital?"

"No need to say more, I will come to rescue you immediately!"

Jia Rong felt that the emperor was a pretty good person. If he were to be replaced by another emperor, he would only be more tired. Besides, he had experience in performing related surgeries on the retired emperor, so it would not be a difficult task.

I am the only one who can beat the Emperor!!

Jia Rong rode his horse quickly to Jiangnan without even having time to eat.

Unfortunately, after several exhausted horses arrived in Jiangnan, they found that the emperor had already passed away...

Jia Rong looked at the young emperor's body and burst into tears.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I am too late to save you! Your Majesty, you left so suddenly!!!"

All the officials in Jiangnan and the officials in Beijing who accompanied the emperor were also panicked at this time.

It’s over. Now we are really leaderless.

Soon, a senior official advised, "Lord Zhongxiao, the capital is in danger right now. If you return, you may encounter something bad. It is better for you to stay and take care of the emperor's affairs. The court cannot be without a ruler for a day."

After hearing this, Jia Rong was furious and said, "Come here! Kill this bastard for me! Forget it, I'll do it myself!"

Jia Rong drew the sword from his waist and stabbed directly into the neck of the minister who advised him to do something wrong.

"Die, you dog official!"

When the others saw Jia Rong killing someone, they didn't dare to say anything.

Jia Rong quickly stabbed a man with a white knife and then with a red knife. He soon calmed down after killing him.

Although the emperor was lying in the coffin next to him, Jia Rong was no longer so sad.

Jia Rong held a knife in one hand and sat directly on the fat official's belly, quiet and dull.

"Since Your Majesty wants to attack the Japanese islands, you can't give up halfway."

"Pass the order down. Within six months, we will capture the capital of the Japanese island. Whoever kills the leader of the bandits will be made a duke, and the whole army will be rewarded! The court will continue to support gunpowder and firearms, and help build large ships."

"The local armies will continue to complete their missions and do not need to worry about the affairs of the court."

"I will escort the emperor's coffin back to the capital and summon the kings to discuss matters."

Jia Rong quickly returned to the capital with the emperor's body, which had died on the woman. It took him only four or five days to get there, but it took him a month and a half by boat to get to the capital on the way back because he had to carry the coffin and the large team.

It was almost hot now, and Jia Rong would go into seclusion almost every year during the hot weather.

Moreover, March and April are the most dangerous months for the Emperor, princes, dukes and others.

As soon as Jia Rong returned to the palace to report, the Queen and the ministers kept bringing bad news.

"The people in the mountains in the Shu King's territory rebelled, and the Shu King was busy suppressing the rebellion and could not come. He sent an official document asking the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety to make the decision."

"Prince Zhou went insane a while ago. He laughs and drools whenever he sees anyone. Princess Zhou asked Prince Zhongxiao to make the decision. Prince Zhou will definitely support it."

"The Prince of Zhenxi sent a message saying that the battle situation on the front line was intense and he could not come back. Everything is up to the Prince of Zhongxiao."

"The King of Guangnan is still conquering the Kingdom of Nanyue and cannot come. He wrote back to let the King of Zhongxiao and the King of Zhou make the decision."

"The King of Tianshan is old, and the Crown Prince has been hunting in the mountains recently and has not returned yet, so he cannot come."

"There are bandits causing chaos in the territory of the King of Western Xinjiang and he cannot come. The King of Yunnan is in mourning at home and cannot come."

"The King of Liao was bitten on the leg by a dog and cannot come. He said that the affairs of the court should be decided by the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety."

Jia Rong heard this and cursed, "What a bunch of rubbish! None of them are good enough! Since the King of Zhou won't come, then go and capture the Crown Prince of Zhou. He's the closest to the Emperor and his age is right too. Capture him and make him the Emperor!"

The King of Zhou was in the Central Plains. When the Crown Prince of Zhou heard the news, he happily came over and became the Emperor.

Killed by assassins on the way! !
When the news reached King Zhou and the court, Jia Rong and King Zhou were shocked!
King Zhou and other royal family members were really scared now.

This time, not only the Crown Prince of Zhou died, but also hundreds of people from King Zhou’s family were all killed in the explosion!
Although it was night, the horror was far greater than ever before!

All members of the royal family felt that this was a blood curse, and that a ghost who was killed by the royal family was seeking revenge!

The other princes who still wanted to be emperor didn’t dare to do so this time, they really didn’t dare to do so.

Even members of the royal family and court ministers felt that the royal family was unjust and that God wanted to exterminate this family.

Jia Rong quickly went to investigate in person, but he couldn't find out anything because he was not a real detective.

After Jia Rong, the court's recognized detective, returned, the gunpowder craftsmen who were responsible for checking the clues all breathed a sigh of relief.

This was done by Jia Rong's subordinates' subordinates.

It was not that Jia Rong wanted to be the emperor, and he had no intention of killing the Prince of Zhou. However, Jia Rong's men acted on their own and soon pretended to be assassins and killed the Prince of Zhou and his entourage who dared to come to the emperor.

If we were to say who in this era was most proficient in explosions and blasting technology besides Jia Rong, it would definitely be the craftsmen under Jia Rong who were cutting mountains, splitting rocks, and experimenting with muskets and artillery.

This group of people has formed a huge interest group, and once someone tries to replace Jia Rong, this group of people will bite that person.

(End of this chapter)