The Overlord of the Red Mansion

June 1st, the tenth year of the Holy Dynasty

Jia Rong arrived at Nuanxiang Palace and ate watermelon with the children.

Jia Rong has so many children that he doesn't even want to remember their names anymore.

Lin Daiyu alone bore Jia Rong two sons and a daughter, and the eldest son was already eight years old.

Tan Chun, Ying Chun, Shi Xiangyun, Xue Baochai, and Xue Baoqin all had many children.

Many of the late emperor's concubines also bore children for Jia Rong.

With so many children, it feels like there's not much family affection left.

There aren't enough to go around.

“Go out and have fun. From now on, you will have a day off every June 1st to go out and have fun. Yuanyang, give them some pocket money.”

Yuanyang, who was sitting at a nearby table eating watermelon, quickly stood up. "Yes, Your Majesty!"

The children, led by palace maids, soon walked out in a long line.

They had a great time going out.

Jia Rong sighed.

Shi Xiangyun walked over and sat down beside him. "Why is Your Majesty sighing?"

Jia Rong said, "I can hardly remember all the children's names and faces. If I continue to have children in the next few years, I might have several hundred."

Wang Xifeng plopped down on the floor and exclaimed, “The more the better! Many children bring many blessings! Your Majesty should have more children. With so many places in this Holy Dynasty, are you worried that the princes and princesses won’t have enough space?”

Jia Rong leaned against Wang Xifeng, lying on the sofa with his body behind her, but his hand was inside Wang Xifeng's upper garment.

"That's true. If only one out of a hundred people can get into university, then there are only a dozen or so of my children. That's not a lot."

"If you're not capable, you can just be an honest, wealthy man. If you are capable, becoming an official is easy too."

Wang Xifeng said with a smile, "Your Majesty, it would be too shabby for your prince to only be a wealthy old man. Even if he can't be a prince, he should at least be a duke, right?"

The others smiled and remained silent.

Everyone has sons and daughters. At this moment, Wang Xifeng is able to stand up for everyone and speak up for them. Naturally, everyone will call her "elder sister" from now on.

Jia Rong patted Wang Xifeng's belly, which was thicker than her own skin, and said with a smile, "Being a rich man is enough. It's not easy to be a prince in any dynasty. It's already a blessing to be able to live peacefully. Besides, if I had the ability, why would I leave my own son unused and use someone else's son?"

Wang Xifeng knew that Jia Rong's words made sense, but she just didn't want to reason with him.

"Then at least make some arrangements for us, preferably so we can stay in the capital and enjoy a comfortable life."

Jia Rong said, "If everyone stays in the capital, our descendants won't be able to find good families to marry into without connections. After I leave here, whoever becomes emperor will have to deal with some useless people who don't do their jobs properly."

"Those who should go out should go out and start their own families; that's what these people should be doing."

Jia Rong was getting annoyed, so he quickly withdrew his hand and sat up. "It's too annoying to keep talking about this kind of thing. Just take good care of yourselves. I will take care of you in your old age. We don't need those children."

"They're already considered filial sons if they don't cause us any trouble!"

At this moment, Jia Yuanchun cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the Crown Princess became pregnant yesterday. Should we allow her to enter the palace to rest?"

Jia Rong said irritably, "This palace is all my women. How can she be allowed to come in? Let the Crown Prince take good care of her, or send some medical staff over."

"Second sister, third sister, come here. I haven't held you in a long time."

Jia Rong summoned You Erjie and You Sanjie.

The two sisters walked over with smiles, and Wang Xifeng and Shi Xiangyun also smiled and made way for them.

After Jia Rong had embraced two women, Jia Yuanchun pleaded, "The skills of the palace physicians... I still feel that the imperial palace has a better aura."

Jia Rong mocked, "Good feng shui here? How could you forget how many things happened around here? It was only after I came that things became peaceful. Why don't I move to the Summer Palace and leave this place to her and the Crown Prince?"

Jia Yuanchun hurriedly knelt down on the carpet from the chair, bowing her head and prostrating herself on the ground.

"Your Majesty, I deserve to die! I beg you to calm your anger!"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Get up and speak. I didn't mean to blame you. I built the palace for my own residence. This sacred palace will eventually be given to others to live in, so there hasn't been much construction in the past two years."

“The summer resort was built a few years ago, and it’s been completed for several years now, but I haven’t been able to stay there.”

"Get up, sit down and talk. Stop kneeling all the time. Act like a married couple."

Wang Xifeng and Jia Tanchun reached out to help Jia Yuanchun up.

Jia Yuanchun stood up and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After sitting down, Jia Yuanchun said cautiously, "The Crown Prince is still inexperienced. If he rashly goes to the capital, he may not be able to win over the people. I think it is better to wait a few years until he is more mature."

Jia Rong casually said, "Then send someone over to take good care of the Crown Princess. I am quite satisfied with this daughter-in-law; she has backbone and wisdom."

Hearing this, Jia Yuanchun felt much more at ease. As long as Jia Rong was satisfied with his son and daughter-in-law, no one else could object.

The maid Qin Yun beside him smiled and said, "It's good that His Majesty is satisfied. You, as his daughter-in-law, have felt quite guilty about what happened at the Kyoto Women's Academy. You were too ashamed to face those court ladies."

Jia Rong was always very accommodating to his family members, not only the concubines, but also the elderly Qin Yun who had followed him for many years, allowing him to joke and chime in.

However, generally no one would dare to do such a thing; Qingyun and Qinyun rarely did anything so unruly.

Jia Rong pondered for a second, "That's easy. Just put her at ease. After she gives birth in a couple of years, I'll take her to the women's ward to help with deliveries. Some things will just pass by."

"Giving birth is a life-or-death ordeal. Some families in the countryside couldn't even raise one out of more than ten children. The same was true for the imperial families in the past, where the number of offspring was very small."

Jia Rong hugged the two beautiful sisters and said with a smile, "You're lucky, you don't feel the hardship of childbirth."

Sister You laughed and said, "His Majesty can't have children, so how would he know the hardships of childbirth?"

Jia Rong said directly, "If it weren't for me, among the dozen or so women sitting here, only Feng Jie and Baochai could have children, but they would all die young. Look at those women whose homes were raided, how many of them could get pregnant? They all died young."

Everyone was startled. After looking at each other, they realized that almost all the women related to the Jia family were there.

"I saved all your lives," Jia Rong said with a smile. "The women outside are the same. Don't look at me lying in women's arms all day doing nothing. I've saved hundreds of millions of women and children."

You Sanjie placed a hand on Jia Rong's leg, "We all know how powerful His Majesty is~"

Jia Rong quickly sat up. "Come, come, kneel down and kowtow to me. I can accept it both morally and logically."

The others looked at Jia Rong speechlessly, but they all stood up with smiles, lined up again, and knelt down together.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your great favor! Long live the Holy Emperor!"

Jia Rong sat down properly, placed his hands on his knees, and said with a smile, "Alright, crawl over here one by one, I'll help you inspect them!"

His Majesty the Holy Emperor, who is regarded as a saint by the outside world, has never been a person who is reluctant to put on airs; he does whatever he wants.

If you want to make a group of women in the harem crawl on their knees, you can make a group of incomparably noble ladies crawl on the ground.

And they all did it willingly, crawling on their knees.

The princes were all more willing to send their wives to serve Jia Rong, believing that they would not be able to have children if they did not send their wives to the palace to serve the emperor.

It's not just one person who thinks this way; after experiencing many strange things, the nobles really do think this way.

Everyone believed that if they didn't send their wives or sisters into the Holy Palace, they wouldn't be able to have a son, let alone a wife, even if they married a hundred concubines.

After Jia Rong lit the first incense, the women went back and lit the family incense, so that the male head of the household could then continue the family line.

It's a good thing that the Holy Emperor is willing to help everyone light the fire.

The real problem is when the Emperor abandons everyone. Especially those admirals of the ocean-going fleets who are fighting abroad—if they don't send their wives and daughters to the palace, how will the Emperor remember them when it comes time to reward their merits?
Thirty-seven-year-old Jia Rong was squatting on the ground playing a game with a group of concubines kneeling and crawling on the ground when a female official quickly walked in to deliver a message.

Shangguan Wan'er quickly knelt down, lay on the ground, and stuck her buttocks out.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report has just arrived from the court: a county feud has broken out in Fujian and Guangdong, resulting in the massacre of tens of thousands of people in a single day. The governors-general of both regions do not have enough troops and request Your Majesty to order the mobilization of troops to suppress the conflict!"

Jia Rong, who was playing around, stood up, looking on with curiosity.

"That's incredible? I'd like to go check it out."

Jia Rong really had no sympathy whatsoever, but he had indeed found something more fun than women, so he quickly went out.

"Attend court! I need to know what's going on!"

Several palace maids who followed Jia Rong quickly got up and hurried to catch up with him.

After Jia Rong left, Jia Yuanchun and the others relaxed and slowly stood up and sat down.

Wang Xifeng smiled and said, "Sister, don't worry, His Majesty is very satisfied with the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess."

Jia Yuanchun nodded, finally relieved, and at the same time made up her mind to find Jia Rong several beautiful women he liked to serve him.

Shi Xiangyun asked curiously, "How could so many people have died in Fujian and Guangdong? How could there be a rebellion at this time?"

Lin Daiyu also found it strange. "Zijuan, let's go ask this afternoon and see if it's mentioned in the newspaper."

"Yes!" Zijuan wasn't interested in this kind of thing; it had nothing to do with her anyway.

Jia Yuanchun shared the same thought: "This matter can be left to His Majesty. I haven't practiced the zither for a long time, so I can't tell the difference myself. I'm tired of hearing all the pretty words about the zither music. My sisters, please help me take a look."

The others smiled and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Jia Yuanchun did not mention Jia Rong.

The four young ladies of the Jia family were each proficient in the four arts: music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

But Jia Rong didn't like these things; he preferred to watch vulgar dances.

Everyone could have learned to dance, but ever since Jia Rong created that palace slave dance troupe, Jia Yuanchun was naturally too embarrassed to learn any dance.

Jia Rong was holding a small meeting in the imperial court, sitting on the dragon throne and looking at the important court officials six or seven meters away.

"What exactly happened?"

Jia Rong thought it might be a fight over a woman, like two big families arguing over a woman, and after someone died, they couldn't stop and started hacking at each other.

If that's the case, then we'll grab that woman, and then grab the wives and mothers-in-law of both families. I'll put my arm around that young and beautiful woman, and make the two women who hate each other's families strip naked and kiss each other.

If they don't listen, kill them!
An excited Jia Rong had already figured out how to handle this situation!

The Left Prime Minister quickly reported: "Your Majesty, more than ten years ago, during the southern expedition, many soldiers and civilians were relocated to the border area between Fujian and Guangdong. Later, these people built fortified villages and cities and became law-abiding citizens."

"Because there were many idle fields in this area, some people who had suffered disasters in their hometowns were later settled here. Since then, people of unknown identity from various places have mingled among them, and some people without land have rented mountains to cultivate and occupy the mountain fields."

"In just a few years, these people expanded from the mountains to the countryside and brought their families to the coastal areas to engage in private business and work."

Jia Rong frowned. This was clearly not a woman's business, was it?

"Make it quick," Jia Rong reminded him, sounding annoyed.

After explaining the historical factors, the Left Chancellor, seeing that Jia Rong was unhappy, quickly dared not say too much more.

"The two county magistrates gave too many benefits to these mountain people in order to achieve the goal of increasing the population, which led to more and more people claiming to be local residents and causing many armed conflicts with the resettlement troops and civilians."

"During the imperial examinations in June this year, the mountain people won many of the civil, industrial, and military examinations, taking up the military and civilian quotas. This caused public resentment to boil over on the day the results were announced. Clans and powerful families in nearby military counties and towns sent people to smash and destroy schools in the county town occupied by the mountain people."

"Because the mountain people had stored a large amount of explosives while mining, a conflict broke out between the mountain people, mainly miners, and the county residents, mainly military households. After the mountain people's county was breached by the military households' grenades, they suffered heavy casualties. After the city fell, it was also..."

Jia Rong thought it was something serious, but it turned out that people from two different places were fighting over the quota for the imperial examinations, which meant the chance to become officials or soldiers, and that a fight had resulted in a death.

There hadn't been any conscription for several years, but this time, in order to develop New Zealand, they recruited a few people, specifically those from coastal areas who could cross mountains and seas.

Mountain dwellers, with miners at their core, have a stronger organizational capacity.

Because it is a short-lived profession with an extremely high mortality rate, people are very concerned about their children and grandchildren's chances of passing exams to become officials or soldiers, and are willing to risk their lives for it.

The soldiers and civilians are descendants of the first wave of expeditionary forces, the group that returned from conquering Luzon to enjoy their newfound wealth.

Serving in the army and becoming an officer were equally important to them, because in the early days they had no merit and most of them were not granted titles or official positions; they were just ordinary soldiers.

The clan power formed by these people also regarded the three paths of advancement—civil service examination, military examination, and industrial examination—as ancestral property to be passed down and maintained, and absolutely did not allow outsiders to seize the resources.

Land and business are negotiable, but this is the only thing that cannot be discussed or sold.

After discovering that the mountain people had surpassed them in three directions, the local forces, mainly composed of early military households, wanted to eliminate their competitors!

The sins are committed in this generation, but the benefits are for future generations!
Some people might not be able to kill for the sake of their official position and future prospects, but some middle-aged and elderly people who are not officials are capable of killing and massacring entire cities for the sake of their descendants' honor.

The Left Prime Minister and others were waiting for Jia Rong to make a decision.

More than 10,000 people have died so far, and it can be said that this has caused a huge incident.

If this is not severely punished, similar incidents will inevitably occur in other places in the future, with long-time residents killing newcomers.

However, if they are severely punished, those military households are people who are going to fight, and killing them would have a very bad influence.

Jia Rong looked indifferent. "Just send someone over. Whoever makes the first move, kill them. I remember the military households in Fujian and Guangdong were from the previous dynasty, so they have little to do with me. But they did help me conquer Luzon to some extent."

"Let those soldiers who made a move come out and die obediently. They'll be given a complete corpse, and you can just pay for the bullets yourself."

"After killing them, allow their descendants to take the exam again a year later, and do not punish their wives and children."

"However, these people are still too despicable. Fine them five million taels of silver and select one beautiful woman from this county every year to be sent to the Crown Prince as a maid."

Jia Rong had no interest in women. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Give those mountain people a proper burial. After cremation, have their ashes packed up and taken to my new home in New Zealand by their families. Those whose families did not die can stay in the local area. Those whose families died can be moved to New Zealand to settle down and raise cattle and plant trees for me."

Jia Rong looked at the people in the hall and suddenly saw several eunuchs.

"Find a literate eunuch who knows the law. I haven't really used eunuchs much in the last ten years. Give them a chance to prove themselves."

The Left Prime Minister and others did not understand what Jia Rong meant.

When the nearby eavesdroppers heard this, they were extremely excited and almost cried.

However, Jia Rong didn't care about such things.

Although tens of thousands of people died this time, the number of men and women who participated in the fighting is estimated to be over 100,000, and most of them had privately hoarded various weapons and equipment.

Normally, the law doesn't punish everyone, so it's best to handle this discreetly.

Jia Rong is different; when Jia Rong tells them to die, they die on their own.

Soon the imperial court sent eunuchs by plane to the area. After the eunuchs and the imperial edict arrived, every household cried all night and still handed over the men of their families to take the blame. They even paid for the bullets to execute their husbands and sons themselves.

Rebellion is impossible. With the Holy Emperor around, even if hundreds of thousands of people had guns, cannons, food, and manpower, they wouldn't dare to rebel.

Fortunately, the matter was resolved in a way that satisfied both sides.

With no competitors, the descendants of military households could easily compete for official positions. Although they had to pay fines and send a woman to be a slave to atone for their sins, the thought that the money and the woman had been given to the crown prince gave them hope.

Most of the mountain people died or were injured, and many families were destroyed. However, they were able to go to the place where the benevolent Holy Emperor was going to mine, raise cattle, and build houses for him.

The thought of his descendants serving the Holy Emperor, and his wife and daughters serving him generation after generation, gave him some hope and expectation. (End of Chapter)