Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 525: "Couple" Joins Forces

During the Flower Festival, hundreds of flowers come to pay homage, and nobles gather at Huanghuafang.

In front of the Lin residence, Xia Shouzhong announced the decree loudly, and everyone bowed and listened.

"The imperial edict said, I have heard that ministers serve the emperor with merit, and the emperor rewards ministers with titles. Since ancient times, saints and sages have relied on the assistance of talented people to govern the country. Lin Ruhai, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Virtue, the Prince's Junior Tutor, and the Minister of Finance, has made great contributions to the country and is trusted by the people. He is indeed a pillar of the country and the backbone of the nation.

Now I have received the mandate of heaven, and have been entrusted with the task of ruling the world. I have specially conferred a title on you for your merits to honor your virtue. I have conferred upon Lin Hai the title of Marquis of Changzhou County, with a fief of 800 households, which shall be inherited for three generations."

Since ancient times, people have been granted titles of nobility and appointed as prime ministers, and their favors have been extended to their relatives, and their wives and children have been given titles without being elaborated.

When Lin Ruhai was granted the title of nobility, the emperor certainly would not fail to reward his parents, wife and children.

He posthumously conferred the title of Changzhou Earl and Earl's Lady on his father and mother, and the title of Changzhou County Marquis' Lady on his deceased first wife, Jia Min. He specially ordered the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works and the Suzhou government to renovate his tomb, and bestowed upon him a pair of cranes and other burial objects.

He conferred the title of Chengshilang on his son Lin Moyu, rewarded him with gold, jade, four treasures of the study, and made him compile the Four Books and Five Classics and other sage classics...

The series of imperial edicts not only stunned Lin Ruhai and other members of the Lin family, but also those who came to the Lin Mansion to congratulate and watch the fun were all stunned by these imperial edicts.

Everyone knew that given how favored Princess Lin was in the palace, even if the emperor did not personally issue an edict to reward her, the empress in the harem would still bestow rewards on her.

But I didn’t expect that this reward was so incredible. Lin Ruhai was actually granted a title of nobility!

The emperor did not directly describe his achievements in the imperial edict, and many people who did not know much about court affairs thought that Lin Ruhai received such a great reward because of his daughter.

But the central government officials all knew that today's reward of being conferred a title of nobility had actually been determined several years ago, or even more than a decade ago.

Without mentioning anything else, just what Lin Ruhai did during the years he served as the Imperial Censor of Yangzhou Salt can be said to be worth more than destroying a country, or even higher than that.

The emperor still remembers his most difficult times, when the salt tax from Jiangnan was at least two million taels of silver sent to the capital every year.

In the fifth year of Yuanyou, in order to get a piece of the fat piece of meat from the salt tax in the south of the Yangtze River, the bandits pushed Lin Ruhai to the brink of life and death.

Even when Lin Ruhai's family was almost destroyed and he lost his loved ones, he did not compromise with evil, but worked hard for the country despite his illness.

The emperor felt that if such a minister was still stingy with a title, God would send down thunder to strike him.

"Your Majesty is really gracious to the Lin family. Several prime ministers in the cabinet don't even have titles yet..."

Some people are aware of Lin Ruhai’s contributions, but more people cannot understand the mystery behind it.

After the emperor was welcomed into the Lin residence, some people in the crowd who were watching the excitement felt jealous.

This man's words seemed to be speaking up for several ministers in the cabinet, but everyone knew what he really thought.

A young scholar on the side directly retorted: "Do you know why Princess Wen'an was sent to Rongguo Mansion before? Lord Lin fought a life-and-death battle with the salt merchant group in Jiangnan for the sake of the country. Ten years later, his wife died and he had no way to take care of his only remaining legitimate daughter, so he was sent to the capital. Later, he presided over the development of the salt field, causing the price of salt to plummet... Let's not talk about Lord Lin's contributions to the Ministry of Revenue. Just based on the fact that Lord Lin made it possible for the people of the world to eat cheap white salt, it is only right that he be rewarded with a title of nobility!"

From the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the present day, when have ordinary people been able to afford cheap, snow-white, non-toxic salt?

A few years ago, even the well-off families in the capital ate green salt. For poor families, green salt, even vinegar and cloth were luxuries!
"People without gratitude are worse than animals!"

The scholar simply threw away his sleeves, not bothering to pay attention to the person who was obviously trying to provoke him.

He carried a scroll and walked towards the gate of the Lin Mansion.

"I am Su Bai, a student of the Imperial Academy and a scholar from Suzhou. I have come to congratulate Princess Wen'an on her coming of age! I have no permanent property, but I have some painting skills. I would like to offer you my painting of Jiangnan in the mist. I hope you will not despise it."

Lin Bo, who was welcoming guests at the door, was surprised when he heard this: "Oh, it's someone from my hometown."

"So you are the talented scholar from my hometown, Mr. Su, please come in quickly. Gold and jade have a price, but talent and learning are priceless. The Lin family is grateful to have Mr. Su's precious work to congratulate my sister."

Lin Bo has been personally trained by Lin Ruhai in the past few years, and his interpersonal skills are impeccable.

With the arrival of the Imperial College student named Su Bai, many hesitant young scholars soon plucked up their courage and walked into the Lin family's gate, carrying their own calligraphy and painting scrolls.

Civil officials were conferred titles. The last civil official to be conferred a title was Wei Wen Zheng, who was known as Duke Zhou of Great Xia.

Lin Ruhai's title gave many literati hope of being granted a title.

These scholars and students have already regarded Lin Ruhai as the top scholar. They came to the mansion today not only to congratulate the Lin family's princess on her birthday, but more importantly, they wanted to take a closer look at Lin Ruhai, the Marquis of Changzhou County.

"My God, how come there are so many scholars all of a sudden? My uncle's house is almost full!"

Jia Huan looked at the servants who were busy placing tables and chairs everywhere in the front yard and could not help but exclaim.

It was originally estimated that there would be fifty tables for the banquet, but with the emperor's imperial edict, dozens or even hundreds of young students poured in from outside the door in an instant, which no one could have expected.

Jia Cong had already understood the reason behind this, and explained to them in a low voice: "My uncle already has a very good reputation in the official circle, and now he has been conferred a title. These people regard my uncle as an idol, and they are here to chase their idol!"

"Idol? Star-chasing?"

Jia Huan had never heard of this word, but he quickly understood the meaning of the two words.

When Lin Ruhai came to thank these students, their crazy behavior almost made Jia Huan drop his jaw.

The last time he saw such a burning look in people's eyes was when the people looked at the Northern Expedition Army when the army returned to the capital after the fall of the Oirat Kingdom.

Jia Cong looked at Lin Ruhai who was interacting cordially with the students, and explained to Jia Huan in a very serious tone: "Idols are people's worship and admiration. For example, warriors who kill enemies and serve the country, and capable ministers who govern the country and ensure the people's well-being. These students believe that they should be like their uncle in the future, loyal to the country and the people, establish their hearts for the world, establish their lives for the people, inherit the lost knowledge of the past sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity!"

"Brother Cong is right, your uncle is such a person, you should also be such a person!"

Jia Zheng touched his youngest son's head and looked at his brother-in-law with envy and admiration.

He, Jia Cunzhou, should do the same. Even if he cannot achieve the same success as his brother-in-law, he will spend the rest of his life striving.

……

Although Daiyu's coming-of-age ceremony was grand, with the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the Imperial Concubine coming to congratulate her in person and the Empress Dowager serving as the guest of honor, the glory of the ceremony seemed to be overshadowed by the honor of her father being conferred a title of nobility.

Lin Ruhai's sudden title to nobility seemed to have aroused the enterprising spirit of the civil officials of the dynasty.

Although the news of Enke had just been spread, the number of scholars in the capital gradually increased and soon reached a terrifying number.

"All the guild halls are basically full. Even the Great Baoen Temple outside the city has more than a dozen scholars living there. Sir, would you like me to go to each guild hall and see how many I can recruit?"

The rain in early spring gradually increased. On the second day after the Flower Festival, Jia Cong returned to the Taifu Temple to work.

Although this position of Minister of the Imperial Household was just a transition, Jia Cong was still very diligent in his duties.

He looked through the files of the Imperial Household Department in recent years and couldn't help but feel a headache about the horse policy of the dynasty.

Daxia's horse politics is really...

It's rotten to the extreme!
According to the records of the Imperial Household Department, in the entire dynasty, not counting the recently annexed Beiting, Anbei, and the Western Regions, there were only less than 80,000 good horses on record.

Eighty thousand horses, sounds like a lot, right?

But a warhorse is a consumable, and it is impossible to just pull it out and go fight the enemy.

Not to mention the Western Expedition to Rakshasas, even in preparation for this major war to pacify U-Tsang, the Taifu Temple could hardly gather enough war horses.

Jia Cong directly summoned all the officials in the Imperial Household Department, and also asked the Dragon Guards to help, and searched the Imperial Household Department inside and out.

No wonder the Ma administration is so rotten, it turns out that all the officials in the Imperial Household Department are rotten.

He was lazy and negligent in his administration, and he also took ulterior motives to embezzle the money allocated by the court for the horse administration.

Jia Cong was so angry that he didn't even bother to conduct a detailed interrogation. He sent all the officials in the Imperial Household Department to the Ministry of Justice, and told them to give their testimony to the Ministry of Justice.

Less than half a month after the new acting Minister of the Imperial Household Department, Jia Cong, took office, the Imperial Household Department was turned upside down by him.

All of a sudden, the empty Taifu Temple was almost in a state of shutdown. Jia Cong looked at the few remaining cats and cats under his command, and felt a headache. He asked for help from the Minister of Personnel Wang Molin.

Unfortunately, the Emperor had no idea what to do. During the court meeting a few days ago, the Emperor dismissed more than 30 civil and military officials in one go. Coupled with the influence of the imperial inspection, the shortage of officials in the court has reached an astonishing number of nearly 100 people.

Wang Molin was annoyed by Jia Cong's urging, and he threw him a stack of blank official appointment letters. You want people? Okay, go recruit them yourself.

As long as they were students who graduated from the Imperial College, or had the title of Juren, they could be seventh- and eighth-rank officials recruited by Jia Yumao himself, and then they could be registered with the Ministry of Personnel.

This is why Jia Cong asked the clerks about the students in the capital, but the information he got did not solve the problem of staff shortage in the Imperial Household Department.

These people are all here for next year's Enke, and basically they all want to take part in the examination and have a chance to become a Jinshi. It would be difficult to recruit them directly into the Imperial Household Department!"

Fighting corruption may feel good for a while, but it will lead to the crematorium of recruiting people.

Jia Cong rubbed his brows in pain and glanced irritably at the pile of documents on the table.

"Go to the Ministry of Personnel and ask them to recruit as many people as you can. I will go around and see if I can recruit some talents!"

……

Jia Cong, dressed in an orange cat costume, was very eye-catching. Whenever he arrived at a guild hall, he would become the focus of all the students.

Everyone wanted to be familiar to the Royal Cat, and they were all very enthusiastic.

But when they heard that Lord Imperial Cat was here to recruit them to serve as officials in the Imperial Household Department, they immediately found all kinds of weird excuses to refuse out of embarrassment.

It’s not that they don’t want to be officials, but the difference between a Juren official and a Jinshi official is so huge that it’s like a chasm.

Juren officials are naturally inferior to others.

Jia Cong went to the four major halls in Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, but failed to recruit a single person.

These four are the strongest provinces in the imperial examinations of the country. Those who can go to the capital from these four places are all talented.

Jia Cong could understand his failure in these guild halls, but when he walked into the Imperial College and wanted to recruit a few people from the Imperial College but got nothing, he smiled bitterly and said to Jia Shiyi who was guarding beside him: "Uncle Shiyi, are the officials of the Imperial Household Department really so unpopular?"

"Young Master San, I think it's not that the officials of the Imperial Household Department are unpopular, but that these people are too ambitious and don't want to delay their future careers for the sake of temporary convenience."

Jia Shiyi's words reminded Jia Cong, who was dizzy. Yes, whenever he went to a place, his first choice was those with talented people.

Talented young people are all proud and arrogant, so why would they care about temporary convenience?

He slapped his head suddenly: "I almost missed the big thing! Uncle Eleven, let's go find Sister Lin!"

……

On the second day after Daiyu came of age, without even taking a rest, she went back to the Compulsory Education Department of the Ministry of Rites and started working.

Jia Cong's sudden arrival startled Daiyu who was busy.

She put down the pen in her hand and asked in confusion, "I heard that you cleared out the Imperial Household Department and are competing with Minister Wang. How come you have time to come to me?"

Jia Cong came up to Daiyu and smiled: "I am in trouble now, so I came to ask Sister Lin for help. Please help me out of this sea of ​​suffering!"

"No, even Minister Wang can't do anything. I only have a few people here. How can I spare any manpower for you?"

Daiyu pointed outside the window and saw that there were less than seven officials of all ranks in the Compulsory Education Department, but they were in charge of the entire country's educational work, and none of them had an easy job.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken no rest at all. She would have come to the yamen to work right after the coming-of-age ceremony.

Jia Cong shook his head and said with a mysterious smile: "I am not competing with Sister Lin for them. Sister Lin just needs to give me a list of recommended students sent to the capital from all over the country in recent years."

Ok?
A light bulb went off in Daiyu's head, and she smiled at Jia Cong with curved eyebrows.

"I see, you actually want to select candidates directly from the recommended students. This is a good idea. Most recommended students come from ordinary or even poor families. Although their knowledge is outstanding in public schools, they are still far behind those who take the orthodox imperial examinations. Instead of rushing to cross a single-plank bridge with thousands of troops, it is better to take this path."

The advantage of coming from a scholarly family is indeed an insurmountable gap. Even with the help of compulsory education, the road to success for children from poor families is really too difficult.

Three years after the implementation of compulsory education, hundreds of students have been recommended to the capital from all over the country. These people have graduated from the Imperial College one after another, and only a few of them have the hope of making a name for themselves in the imperial examination.

Although most people were diligent, they could only be arranged by the court to serve as low-level officials in local areas or various ministries after graduating from the Imperial College.

Daiyu felt that instead of letting them compete for the imperial examination with those scholars who had studied hard for ten or even more than ten years, it would be better to follow Jia Cong's path.

The Imperial Household Department is one of the five temples after all. Even if one starts from the lowest rank as a ninth-rank deputy supervisor, one can eventually rise to the rank of a sixth or seventh-rank official before retiring.

For a child from a poor family, this is definitely a correct way to change his family background and himself!

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　I’ll stop here tonight and continue tomorrow. Good night!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)