Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 574: The Holy One is in Danger

"Rock sugar~gourd~"

"Big and sweet rock candy~hulu~"

"Oil tea~ fried dough twist~ hot oil tea fried dough twist~"

"Meat sandwich~"

"Guanzhong Roujiamo~Roujiamo is praised by the Royal Cat after eating it~"

"Hey, give me a roujiamo!"

The food in the army is plentiful and filling, but the taste is definitely not good.

Jia Cong spent more than a year on the Japanese island, and his life was extremely miserable.

As soon as he returned to Beijing, the special snacks from all over the world immediately aroused his appetite.

He stuck his head out of the carriage window, grinned and shouted at the vendor selling roujiamo, and threw a silver bean to him.

The stall owner was hit on the head by someone. He covered his forehead and was about to curse back, but he was stunned when he saw what he saw.

Why does this black guy look so familiar?

"Hey, is this the Royal Cat?"

If he hadn't had sharp eyes, he would have almost thought that the black guy was a barbarian from a foreign land.

"My Lord, you just came back from Japan? How come you are so dark? You have been away from Beijing for more than a year, and I miss you so much..."

Of course I do. Without Lord Royal Cat, the capital city is less lively.

Back then, the Imperial Cat would come up with something entertaining every now and then, and the people of the capital would often enjoy watching the show after dinner.

The vendor chuckled, put the silver beans that fell on the stall into his arms, chopped the meat with a sharp knife, picked the largest bun and put the meat in it.

He was still talking, as if he was very familiar with Jia Cong: "My Lord, please try it. I went to Xi'an Prefecture to learn the craftsmanship."

The authentic Beijing Mandarin shows that this person is from the capital.

But the fact that one can go to Guanzhong specifically to learn this skill means that Roujiamo is truly profitable. It also means that ordinary people are living a really good life now and have extra money to spend outside.

Jia Cong took a bite and it tasted really good.

Liu Ke, who was in the car, smelled the fragrance and showed half of his face in dissatisfaction: "What? I am not worthy of tasting your roujiamo?"

"Oh, Your Majesty is here too? I didn't notice it. I'll make the biggest and best one for you!"

Which gentlemen in Beijing are the most popular among the common people? They are definitely the dandy duo, Xiong Da and Xiong Er... Prince Zhongshun Liu Ke and Master She of Rongguo Mansion.

These two people know how to have fun and spend money, and they are very generous.

The wheel started turning again, and the vendor held a shiny golden bean in his hand.

As expected, Prince Zhongshun is very wealthy!
"Why did you buy so many snacks?"

Liu Ke didn't understand Jia Cong's behavior of spending money. After entering the city from Yongding Gate, Jia Cong spent money all the way, and he only bought some very ordinary little things and snacks.

He obviously couldn't eat anymore...

"I'm looking at the prices of goods in the country, and making an analysis based on that to see how the people are doing."

With the temporary stagnation of external expansion, the economic boom caused by the war will reach a bottleneck, and it will be easy for products to be unsalable, eventually triggering an economic crisis.

This was fatal to the nascent development of China's commerce, and Jia Cong was only a dabbler in economics.

Silver from the Japanese islands continued to flow into the Central Plains, and the rise in prices was inevitable.

However, it seems that the "economists" in the court are still sober and are not blinded by short-term interests.

Compared with before he left Beijing, the prices of rice, flour, grain and meat, which are related to the people's stomachs, have increased very little.

This is enough.

As long as the people are not hungry, everything will be fine.

Jia Cong briefly explained his concerns to Liu Ke, and Old Thirteen was filled with question marks.

What economic crisis, what inflation, I don't understand, I don't understand at all.

He picked up a string of candied haws and took a bite, then said nonchalantly, "You can ask your father-in-law about this matter. He is the one in charge now..."

"Oh? Didn't Minister Wen return to Beijing? Why is the Ministry of Revenue still in charge of my father-in-law?"

After Wen Lian returned to Beijing, the financial power would naturally be handed back to him.

Although the rank of the Minister of Finance is not as high as that of the cabinet ministers, like the Minister of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue also has extremely high autonomy. In many cases, the cabinet cannot forcibly manage it across levels.

However, Liu Ke curled his lips and whispered in Jia Cong's ear in a low voice: "This matter has to start from a few months ago. Didn't the court plan to build an official bank, mint new coins, and issue paper money? This matter is like stirring up a hornet's nest..."

Before entering the palace, Jia Cong finally figured out the biggest issue in the court right now.

In order to take back the right to issue paper money from the private sector, the imperial court planned to establish an official silver bank to unify the issuance and circulation of currency across the country.

This directly affected the interests of all the private banks and money houses in Daxia, and the opposition was even greater than when the imperial examination system was reformed.

It is said that Jiangnan, Shuzhong, the Three Jins...all places where commerce is prosperous are now in turmoil.

For this reason, the cabinet had to take action again and sent an inspection team headed by the Minister of Revenue Wen Lian, which consisted of several elites drawn from the Six Ministries and Five Temples, and jointly formed by the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple. They first went to Shanxi and should be on their way to Shu now.

The newly appointed Left Vice Minister of Rites, Xu Jin, killed so many people in Shanxi that he earned the title of "Confucian Demon Killer God".

Everything involving silver was attended with bloodshed.

Jia Cong also realized that as long as it involves interests, especially in such a lucrative industry, there will never be a shortage of daring people.

Along the way, Jia Cong's mind was basically focused on the issue of issuing paper money. He didn't notice Liu Ke's solemn expression or the rather grim atmosphere in the palace.

It was not until he stood in front of the gate of Huangji Palace that the tip of his nose twitched slightly.

It tastes like medicine...

"Is the Saint ill?"

"Alas, Father...is getting old!"

How could such a big thing be hidden from Liu Ke?
Moreover, the emperor did not intend to hide the truth from his brother, and he let him secretly take charge of the three imperial guards early on, for fear that the mountain tomb would collapse and there would be chaos in the capital.

The white-haired Dai Quan was still guarding the hall diligently. When he heard that Liu Ke and Jia Cong were coming together, he hurried out to greet them.

"Master Thirteen, Master Hou..."

"Dai Daiban..."

"Dai Gong..."

The three of them greeted each other. The previously active Thirteenth Old Man now became calm and steady. Dai Quan naturally knew why, and the sadness on his face could not be hidden at all.

"How is Father today?"

"When the Saint heard that the Marquis had returned to the capital, he felt much better. So, he sent this old servant to wait in the front hall..."

The old man now lives in the back hall, and the once bustling front hall has obviously become much more desolate.

The three of them walked quickly into the hall, passed through the corridor and went straight into the smaller but warmer back hall.

Facing him was the emperor who had lost a lot of weight, and the old man who was half lying on a soft pillow.

"My son greets his father and his brother..."

"Your Highness, I, Jia Cong, pay my respects to you, Your Majesty..."

"That's enough. There's no outsider here. There's no point in going back and forth."

The emperor was not in a good mood and raised his hand casually.

The old man glanced at Old Thirteen and said, "I heard that you are planning to go out of town again? Hong'er is so busy, why don't you go and help him?"

He knows his own son well. Although Old Thirteen appears to be a dissolute bastard, he is actually a talented person.

Apart from anything else, Old Thirteen is very good at solving cases and can often find out the truth of the case from the subtle details.

At this moment, Liu Ke's face did not have the solemnity and sadness he had outside the hall. Instead, he was just like before, with his eyes rolling rapidly and scratching his ears and cheeks.

"Dad, I'm thinking of going to the West Mountain to hunt some game for you to taste."

This is the truth. He went out of the city just to go hunting in the West Mountain. It would be great if he could hunt some good stuff and give the old man something new to try.

After hearing this explanation, the old man didn't show any joy, but he smiled and pointed to a chair beside him and said, "Okay, sit down. I can't eat meat now, so just accompany me to have some porridge and rice later."

After the father and son finished talking, the old man turned his gaze to Jia Cong who had been in a daze.

He looked him up and down and saw that he was dark and thin, with an unconcealable sadness on his face. It was obvious that he knew his current physical condition.

"It seems that you have suffered a lot in Japan. The things you said in the memorials and letters about eating meat with big mouthfuls and drinking wine with big bowls were just a joke."

It is the Jia family’s old tradition to report good news but not bad news.

How can you drink while marching and fighting?
Seeing the old man waving at him, Jia Cong half-knelt in front of the bed, and smiled with red eyes: "Then you are wrong, I didn't suffer at all, I had a lot of fun in Wa Island. In the past two years, I have been a big shot there, and I have made the short guy unable to tell east from west and north from south. Nowadays, every household in Wa Island worships the tablets of you and your majesty, gets up early to burn incense, and reports before going to bed, and is very respectful."

Emperor Zhaowu, the retired emperor of Daxia, spent his entire life in military service and what he loved to hear most was what happened on the battlefield.

Jia Cong condensed and adapted the war against Japanese pirates and told the story to the old man for a long time in the format of a storytelling book.

In the story, he is the wise and resourceful "Zhuge Wuhou". The second brother Liu Yi and Wang Ziteng are both his vanguard generals. It seems that he only needs to wave his feather fan and the Japanese will throw away their armor and weapons and flee thousands of miles away.

The old man was delighted to hear this and his spirits obviously improved a lot.

This talk lasted for more than an hour. After lunch was delivered to the palace, Jia Cong still did not stop, slurping porridge and picking up vegetables while bragging.

It was not until after lunch when the old man drank the medicine and felt sleepy that the emperor took the two of them back to the front hall.

"I hope Father can hold on for a few more days. My second brother should have received the letter."

If it were the early years of Yuanyou, the emperor would have wished that the old man would die early.

But after going through so many things, the stubborn fourth brother finally realized that the old man had never thought of deposing the emperor and establishing another one.

If anything, apart from the old man's examination of him, it was more about honing his skills.

An emperor who had not received orthodox imperial education grew up to be a wise monarch who was both a sage and a king in the midst of one crisis after another.

If he had a choice, the emperor hoped that the old man could live a long life and continue to guide him when his mind was not clear.

Wang Ziteng's sudden idea of ​​sending Jia Cong back to Beijing was just to save Jia Cong from the embarrassing situation of having no title to offer.

As luck would have it, Jia Cong felt that returning to Beijing early was the best decision he had ever made.

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician can't do anything. Why not post a reward notice and look for a miracle doctor among the people?"

Jia Cong didn't want to care how others treated him.

But the old sage took care of the Jia family and his own son, Jia Cong, like his own grandson.

No, except for Crown Prince Liu Hong, none of his grandsons was as favored as Jia Cong.

Jia Cong is not a heartless person. The old man treats him as his own grandson, and he doesn't want the old man to die like this.

He was seventy years old, an old man in his seventies, and even if he died, he was still considered a long-lived emperor among all the emperors.

But in Jia Cong's view, seventy years old is just the right time to enjoy the old age and the happiness of being surrounded by children and grandchildren.

As he spoke, Jia Cong's voice became choked.

Ugh……

The wailing in the hall shattered the last hope in Jia Cong's heart.

"I have secretly consulted those people with the title of miracle doctors, and they are just as the imperial physician said. Father is not sick, he is just old."

When you are sick, there is still a chance to be cured, but when you are old, is there any way to prolong your life?

The emperor placed his skinny hand on Jia Cong's shoulder and patted him gently: "You are so thoughtful. Now that you are back, go and have a good rest for two days. Come to Longshou Palace more often recently. Father likes young men like you to make noise around him."

There were no extra words, and the emperor did not even mention the fact that he had returned to the capital without an imperial edict.

He just asked someone to send a box over and asked him to take it out of the palace.

……

When Jia Cong entered the palace, his personal guards had already returned to Rongguo Mansion.

Originally, Wang Xifeng had planned to hold a welcoming ceremony as usual, since he had returned triumphantly from a battle.

However, this time, the old lady, who always loved lively occasions, unusually stopped Wang Xifeng and only placed a brazier at the gate and asked Jia Cong to jump over it to dispel the evil spirit.

"You should already know about the old saint..."

After Jia Cong kowtowed to the old lady, he stood up and heard the old lady admonish him: "Although the royal family has not made this public, those who care have heard some news. This time you return to the capital in triumph, your family cannot hold a grand ceremony. You have been wronged."

"What kind of grievance is this? My grandson just wants to be quiet."

Rong Xi Tang was extremely quiet. Apart from Lady Xing and Wang Xifeng, Jia Cong didn't even see Xiangyun and Xichun.

"Yun girl is pregnant, Xi girl has temporarily returned to Ningguo Mansion. Yu'er is still in the government office, I have sent someone to call her."

The old lady didn't mention Master She, not because she didn't want to call someone, but because her eldest son's whereabouts had been erratic in recent days and seemed to be busy with something.

Jia Cong nodded, his eyes showing fatigue, and he sighed: "Alas, His Majesty told me today that I should go to the Dragon Head Palace more often after two days of rest. This time I am returning to the capital without an imperial edict, and most of the military merits of the war against Japan will be offset, so it is a good opportunity to take a break for a while. Don't hold any banquets in our family recently, I am afraid that the old man will not be able to hold on for much longer."

Wang Xifeng was shocked, and Mrs. Xing also showed shock on her face.

Only the old lady knew what was going on. Apart from feeling a little lost, there wasn't much change.

She was Jia Daishan's first wife, and no one knew better than her what the old saint represented to the Rongguo Mansion.

If the Rongguo Mansion still held a banquet when the old saint was seriously ill, it would be simply disloyal and unrighteous.

"Don't worry about the family affairs. With me here, nothing will happen. Since His Majesty has given the order, you should take a good rest for two days and go to the palace every day to accompany the saint. After all, he is your grandfather's dear brother!"

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

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