Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

After bringing Zhen Yuhuan and Shi Xiangyun back to the manor, they should first be allowed to pay their respects to Grandmother Jia. [The most complete and comprehensive chapters are updated on .\nCOM SiTu, with the most timely error-free content fixes. Due to caching issues, it is recommended to visit the .\nCOM official website using a browser.]

Shi Xiangyun goes without saying; after all, she is Grandmother Jia's own grandniece. Even if she sometimes seems a bit immature, she is still loved by her.

As for Zhen Yuhuan, Grandmother Jia also expressed her fondness for her. She has always liked good-looking younger generations, but it's a pity that she had originally considered making Zhen Yuhuan her granddaughter-in-law.

After paying his respects to Grandmother Jia, Jia Lian handed over Zhen Yuhuan and her two daughters to Feng Jie, asking her to take them into the garden and settle them in.

In the afternoon, when Sister Feng returned home, she found that Jia Lian had not yet left home, but was instead lying on the couch in the west side room, dressed in a light robe, with his head resting on Ping'er's legs, and Ping'er massaging the acupoints on his head. At his feet, the obedient Xiangling was massaging his legs. He looked very comfortable and lazy.

Upon seeing this, Sister Feng couldn't help but curl her lip and sarcastically said to Ping'er, "I was wondering why you asked me to fetch something and you had to send someone else. Turns out you got stuck here."

In the past, Ping'er would have been worried if she heard Sister Feng speak like that, but now she understood that Sister Feng was just being difficult because she couldn't stand not saying something sarcastic. Therefore, she remained calm and continued to gently massage Jia Lian's acupoints while replying, "Second Master said he felt tired and asked me to massage him, so I had to have Xiao Hong take the things to Madam."

Sister Feng snorted, twisted her neck, and walked to Xiangling's side.

Xiangling, who was always a beat slow to react, looked up at Fengjie. It wasn't until Fengjie glanced at her sideways that she realized what was happening and quickly got up to make way.

Sister Feng sat down on the edge of the couch and leaned over to ask, "Have you arranged everything outside?"

As she spoke, Sister Feng placed her pair of delicate, jade-like fingers on Jia Lian's calves, giving them a haphazard, intermittent touch.

Jia Lian noticed that his leg technique was not very skillful. He opened his eyes for a moment, then closed them again and nodded with a smile.

To be honest, Sister Feng rarely served him like this. It's true, she herself was always jumping around and exhausted, so she didn't have the energy to serve him.

"Are you really leaving the day after tomorrow? It's still quite cold right now, and the New Year is just over a month away. Anyway, the Emperor hasn't urged you. Can't you go after the New Year?"

Feng Jie is now increasingly obedient to Jia Lian, and Jia Lian is more willing to tell her about things outside. Therefore, she has a clearer understanding of Jia Lian's affairs. However, she is reluctant to part with Jia Lian and is making a final attempt to persuade him to stay.

However, Jia Lian showed no sign of wavering and immediately shook his head in denial upon hearing this.

When he noticed that there was no movement on his legs, Jia Lian opened his eyes and saw that Feng Jie was indeed sulking as he had expected. However, her face was tense and her lips were pouting. She was not as noble and beautiful as usual, but rather had a bit of the girlishness of Daiyu.

Jia Lian was delighted to find that Feng Jie was becoming more and more like a charming wife. So he patted her shapely buttocks, shifted to a more comfortable position, and laughed, "Why are you angry? I'm mainly going there to check out the situation and see what the harbor location is like. I'll probably be back soon."

"real?"

Sister Feng immediately became happy.

Jia Lian smiled and ignored her. He hadn't lied to Feng Jie; the establishment of a navy wasn't something that could be done overnight, especially since he wanted to model it after the standards of later generations, which would definitely be a long and arduous process.

Therefore, his current focus is naturally on establishing and training the firearms battalion. Having a combat-ready army gives him confidence wherever he goes.

The Military Command? In the end, those officers and soldiers were not much better than the yamen runners.

Once she was certain that Jia Lian wasn't lying, Feng Jie immediately resumed her attentive service to him. However, as she massaged him, she began to feel uneasy.

First, in this moment of tender affection, Ping'er is an eyesore. Second, at this moment, Ping'er is sitting on the couch, pressing Jia Lian's head down, while she, as the mistress, can only sit by the couch, pressing Jia Lian's legs down. In this way, Ping'er seems to be the mistress, while she has become the servant.

So he said to Ping'er, "This morning, Madam said she wanted to copy the Diamond Sutra, and I said I happened to have a copy here. I've already found it and it's on the cabinet in the inner room. You can take it to Madam."

Ping'er had no doubts and obeyed.

Feng Jie'er's plan succeeded, but before she could even enjoy her time alone with Jia Lian, a messenger came from outside to announce: "Second Master, someone from the second gate has come to say that the eldest son of General Shenwu's mansion, Young Master Feng, requests an audience."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian sat up, but Feng Jie asked, "Young Master Feng?"

"It's Feng Ziying."

"What does he want from you?"

Jia Lian said he didn't know either. To be honest, among his peers in the capital, Jia Lian didn't have many close friends.

His predecessor had quite a few cronies, but Jia Lian looked down on most of them, and they gradually lost touch. Since he was "punished" by the emperor that year and sent to the border to deliver grain, his status and position had soared, and it was difficult for anyone of his generation in the capital to be on equal footing with him.

But Feng Ziying is one of them.

Therefore, she did not slack off and tidied herself up to go out. Before leaving, she remembered something and said to Feng Jie, "The old lady said that the weather is getting colder and colder, and Lin Daiyu and the others are weak. They are bound to be exposed to the wind when they come out of the garden to eat every day. She said it would be better to set up a separate small kitchen in the garden, so that they would not have to go back and forth every day."

"I'll leave this matter to you."

Sister Feng laughed and said, "I knew I was born to suffer. All those so-called good sisters of yours have come, and I have to take care of them all. Now you're pushing the chores that the old lady gave you onto me. It's clear that all your talk about me not worrying and taking care of myself is just empty words. You don't really care about me at all."

Jia Lian ignored her, glanced at her sideways, and turned to leave.

In the east courtyard, Jia Lian met Feng Ziying in the outer study.

Today's Feng Ziying was slightly different from the one Jia Lian had seen before. You see, Feng Ziying was originally a first-rate figure among the younger generation in the capital. Not only was he of excellent character and appearance, but he had also practiced martial arts since childhood and was a true descendant of a military family.

However, in recent years, Jia Lian's influence has become too great, indiscriminately suppressing all the prominent young men in the capital, including Feng Ziying.

Today, Feng Ziying has changed his usual dashing attire, wearing a simple black robe, a black jade belt around his waist, and dark leather boots, making him look shrewd and capable.

Since they were old friends, Jia Lian didn't stand on ceremony with him. After a brief greeting, he asked about the purpose of his visit.

To everyone's surprise, Feng Ziying, who was usually so carefree and generous, hesitated and then asked, "I heard that Second Brother Lian is leaving for Tianjin soon?"

"Yes, that's true. His Majesty has ordered me to Tianjin to build a harbor and warships, and the itinerary has already been arranged..."

Before Jia Lian could say anything, Feng Ziying became serious and asked, "I wonder what kind of person you think Ziying is, Second Brother Lian?"

Jia Lian was taken aback, then said, "Brother Feng is skilled in both literature and martial arts; he is a rare young talent in our dynasty."

While Jia Lian was speaking, Feng Ziying kept his eyes on him. Seeing that he didn't seem reluctant, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then clasped his hands and said, "Then, if Ziying wishes to follow in the footsteps of Brother Liu Xianglian and follow Brother Lian, I wonder if Brother Lian would be willing to accept me?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian remained silent for a moment.

In fact, Jia Lian had a feeling about it from the moment Feng Ziying asked his first question. But when he actually heard him say it, Jia Lian was still somewhat surprised.

After thinking for a moment, Jia Lian asked, "I wonder why Brother Feng would have such an idea?"

Before the words were spoken, Feng Ziying felt somewhat embarrassed. But now that the words were out, he became frank and said directly, "It has been said since ancient times that a good man's ambition lies in all directions. Now, I, Ziying, am twenty years old, yet I am confined to this small place in the capital, guarding my father's and grandfather's business, and living a life of debauchery."

Ziying had long been tired of this kind of life, so he recently informed his father that he wanted to join Lian Erge's army.

As long as Brother Lian doesn't abandon me, Ziying is willing to follow him to the death and serve him faithfully!

As he spoke, Feng Ziying stood up and knelt on one knee to bow to Jia Lian in the military salute.

Seeing this, Jia Lian raised his hand to help him up, but he couldn't lift him up easily.

Seeing Feng Ziying's earnest and resolute appearance, Jia Lian, regardless of his own thoughts, simply shook his head and sighed, "It's not that I'm unwilling to accept Brother Feng, but if Brother Feng wants to achieve great things, with your family background and General Feng's prestige, wouldn't it be an easy matter to find you a position in the army? Why lower yourself to come here?"

Feng Ziying seemed to have anticipated Jia Lian's question. He solemnly clasped his hands in greeting: "Second Brother Lian is right. To be frank, if it were simply about becoming an official, with Ziying's family background and martial arts skills, it wouldn't be too difficult."

However, Ziying had known Lian Erge for so many years and had witnessed his youthful vigor and lofty ambitions. If he were to willingly follow his family's arrangements and go to a quiet place to do meaningless things, slowly accumulating seniority, or to engage in petty scheming, waiting for promotion by seniority, and associating with a bunch of mediocre people, wouldn't he be wasting his youth? He would also have no face to face a heroic figure like Lian Erge in the future!

Ziying learned about Lian Erge's future battlefield pronouncements, his ideas on firearms and building a new navy from Zhang Erge and others. Ziying even studied Lian Erge's proposed "four-stage" musket combat method. Ziying was amazed when he first saw it and knew that according to Lian Erge's idea, firearms would definitely dominate the outcome of the battlefield in the future!

Therefore, Ziying decided to abandon following the crowd and dedicate herself to following her second brother Lian, helping him achieve his great ambitions!

Feng Ziying became more and more excited as he spoke. He was serious, and his admiration for Jia Lian was genuine.

In fact, when Jia Lian first rose to prominence, Feng Ziying, like some others, outwardly admired him but inwardly harbored a strong desire to compete with him.

This was normal. However, as Jia Lian began to demonstrate more and more things that were ahead of his time, especially given his own status, which had reached a height that was difficult for them to attain.

At this point, even if one wants to refuse to admit defeat, one knows it's just self-deception.

The only difference between Feng Ziying and ordinary people is that after admitting defeat, he did not turn to jealousy. Instead, he began to study Jia Lian. The more he learned about Jia Lian, the more his youthful arrogance gradually transformed into respect and admiration for Jia Lian.

Otherwise, given his and Jia Lian's shared status as princes and nobles, he wouldn't have so easily lowered himself to ask Jia Lian for an official position.

You should know that back then, Liu Xianglian was just a down-on-his-luck young man. Even if he wanted to join the army, he was too embarrassed to go directly to recommend himself!

Feng Ziying genuinely felt that following Jia Lian was better than doing what his family had arranged; at least Jia Lian seemed more energetic and, of course, offered more prospects…

Feng Ziying's words seemed to put Jia Lian in a difficult position. He hesitated and said, "Now that I am receiving His Majesty's great favor, I am indeed in need of manpower to help me... However, Brother Feng, how can your father really agree to such a hasty decision?"

Upon hearing that Jia Lian's words seemed to soften, Feng Ziying immediately said, "Second Brother Lian, you don't need to worry about my father. To be honest, I've had this idea for quite some time now, and I even told my father about it the day before yesterday."

My father, upon hearing the news, did not object. However, Ziying himself still harbored a certain arrogance, knowing that after his second brother Lian established himself, countless people would eagerly offer their services. He feared that rashly recommending himself would be looked down upon by his second brother Lian, which is why he had delayed until today.

As Feng Ziying spoke, a self-deprecating look appeared in his eyes, but his gaze remained fixed on Jia Lian's expression.

Jia Lian suddenly laughed, "In that case, it is Jia Lian's good fortune to have such a talented person as Ziying assist me!"

With a smile, Jia Lian bent down to help Feng Ziying up, "However, I am currently very busy with many matters, and I am afraid I will not be able to arrange a suitable position for Ziying in the short term..."

"As long as I can stay with Brother Lian... serve by the Marquis's side, I'd be willing to be a soldier."

Jia Lian laughed and said, "With Zi Ying's abilities, if he were to truly only serve as a soldier by my side, even if Zi Ying were willing, others would say that I, Jia Lian, am wasting a talented person."

"How about this? It just so happens that Ziying comes from a family with a long tradition of martial arts and possesses exceptional skills. My newly established firearms battalion is also in need of training instructors. How about I temporarily appoint Ziying as the head instructor of the firearms battalion, specifically responsible for teaching the soldiers martial arts?"

"I will follow your orders, Lord Marquis!"

Hearing that Jia Lian had arranged for him to serve as an instructor in the firearms battalion, Feng Ziying felt somewhat ashamed.

Actually, his initial goal was also the firearms battalion; saying he wanted to follow Jia Lian to Tianjin was just a pretext. He knew that Jia Lian's firearms battalion was newly established, and many people would inevitably approach Jia Lian to ask for positions within it.

If he arrives in the same manner, Jia Lian will surely look down on him, assuming that he too is there for the status of a member of the Imperial Guard and a bright future.

In reality, what he valued more was the future combat effectiveness of the firearms battalion. He had witnessed the muskets modified by Jia Lian through various channels and was awestruck by their power. Only after accepting Jia Lian's theories did he develop the idea of ​​joining the battalion.

Why shouldn't a man carry a Wu hook and seize fifty states beyond the passes? As the descendant of a military family, Feng Ziying naturally couldn't have been unaware of the possibility of achieving great deeds on the battlefield and bringing glory to his family. And to achieve such feats on the battlefield, a powerful army capable of swiftly and decisively annihilating the enemy was undoubtedly the greatest guarantee.

In Feng Ziying's view, Jia Lian's firearms battalion had this potential.

Since Jia Lian modified the firearms, he had publicly explained the relevant theories and ideas to Emperor Ningkang and others on more than one occasion. It is not surprising that Feng Ziying could find out about these things if he wanted to.

Feng Ziying was overjoyed that his wish had been fulfilled, and Jia Lian was also very happy.

First of all, having known each other for so many years, he knew that Feng Ziying was indeed a talented individual. As for martial arts, aside from archery, which he was somewhat confident in, Jia Lian knew he was no match for him in other areas such as swords, spears, and halberds.

After all, Feng Ziying had practiced martial arts since childhood; he was just a latecomer to the profession.

Secondly, Feng Ziying was not like Liu Xianglian, who was merely a son of a concubine in the Duke of Liguo's mansion and whose family had fallen into decline.

Feng Ziying was the eldest son of the Divine Martial General's Mansion and the first in line to inherit the throne. It could be said that Feng Ziying serving under him was essentially equivalent to the entire Divine Martial General's Mansion submitting to him, which would be a real boost to his power.

Not to mention, with Feng Ziying opening the river, other talented individuals who were previously too shy to come and join him might also be spurred on. In this way, given time, his strength will surely increase significantly.

As for whether he has the ability to accept these people...

First of all, military officers and civil officials are fundamentally different, and there is no such strict selection and promotion system. Most military officers in the Great Wei Dynasty are appointed through recommendation and hereditary privilege. As for military examinations... they do exist, but they might only be held once every ten or eight years, and whether or not they are held depends entirely on the emperor's mood.

Moreover, his firearms battalion was newly established, and its organization wasn't complete all at once. As it developed, it was only natural that he wanted to add some positions.

Not to mention, the Jia family already wields considerable influence within the Ministry of War, so it wouldn't be too difficult to arrange alternatives for them to expand their family line.

In other words, Jia Lian's current approach to talent is like Han Xin selecting troops—the more the merrier.

Moreover, as long as he maintains his favor with the emperor, the number of people wanting to serve him will only increase. Just to name one point, serving him means being able to work more directly for the emperor, and if you are valued by him, you might even be directly recommended to the emperor. This alone is enough to attract all those who feel they have "unappreciated talent."

After chatting with Feng Ziying for a while, Jia Lian personally saw him out. This was probably the last time; once their titles and ranks were established, Jia Lian, as the "master," would no longer need to, and should not, personally see him out.

After seeing Feng Ziying off, Jia Lian suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Liu Xianglian.

As Liu Xianglian watched Feng Ziying ride away, he noticed Jia Lian's gaze. He hesitated for a moment, then clasped his hands and asked, "What are your orders, Lord Marquis?"

"It's nothing."

Jia Lian smiled and said, "I'm going to the East Mansion. You don't need to come with me."

After saying this, he walked alone towards the Ningguo Mansion.