Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 586: A Big Killer Weapon

In the farmlands on both sides of the official road, farmers are busy sowing seeds.

With successive years of bumper harvests, potatoes, which consume more soil resources, are no longer the first choice of ordinary people.

The new crop of corn has been hung up and will take a season to dry. At this time, farmers are busy sowing winter wheat seeds.

At the edge of the field, one could see steam rising from the food brought in by women and children, and Liu Hong in the carriage could even smell the faint aroma of meat.

"A few years ago, I also went out of the palace to play many times. At that time, not only the farmers outside the city, but even the capital was full of ragged, skinny beggars. It has only been a few years, and the country has no longer suffered from famine."

Being able to have enough food to eat is a prosperous scene that even the legendary reigns of Yao and Shun could not achieve.

Liu Hong thought that he had also contributed to this prosperous era, and he felt a sense of pride.

The other person in the carriage also nodded and gave it a handful.

"Don't mention Your Highness. I am also amazed at the changes in our country in recent years. People often say that the people live and work in peace and contentment when a sage monarch is in power. But how many monarchs in the past dynasties really treat the people as human beings? It is only after several generations and nearly a hundred years of hard work that we have such a prosperous era. A few days ago, I heard the people praise that the regent is wise and the Great Xia will prosper forever."

"Huh? Our Second Master Lian knows how to praise people now? I feel embarrassed by what he said."

Liu Hong pretended to be shocked, looked at Jia Lian's handsome face which was not even covered by scars, and laughed out loud.

There are quite a few ministers in the capital whom he can trust, but the two brothers in Rongguo Mansion seem to be the ones he can truly trust 100%.

In his father's words, this is a tacit understanding between rulers and ministers of several generations, and a relationship cultivated over generations.

It cannot be that Liu Hong's generation would destroy this rare friendship between the monarch and his subjects, and between brothers.

Therefore, after Jia Lian returned to Beijing and inherited the title of Duke of Rong, he often summoned him to speak.

Even when he went to the imperial mausoleum to seek advice this time, he did not bring anyone else with him. Instead, he went to Rongguo Mansion specifically to visit the old lady of the Jia family, and then left the capital with Jia Lian to the west.

Unlike Jia Cong, Jia Lian did not have much interaction with Liu Hong before.

In Liu Hong's impression, Mr. Lian from Rongguo Mansion was handsome and had a smooth personality in his early years. After a trip to the south of the Yangtze River, he embarked on the path to becoming a famous general.

Suppress the Japanese pirates, kill the Tartars, and slaughter the Rakshasas...

Perhaps it's because he has been a god of death for too long, the smoothness in this man has been washed away by the evil spirit. Now that he has grown a long beard, he really has the solemn and majestic majesty of the former Daishan Gong of Rongguo.

It has been many years since I heard Jia Lian compliment or praise others...

"Although I heard this by accident, it is what I really think. Don't the common people just want a sage ruler to rule the country and live and work in peace? To be frank, I can say that I have watched Your Highness grow up. The late emperor chose Your Majesty to succeed him because he wanted a good grandson... Daxia has gone through a hundred years, with sage rulers from generation to generation. This is a blessing for all the people in the world, and it is also a blessing for me and you."

Good Saint Sun, the power of these three words is truly beyond words.

Compared with those useless people in the family of the fourteenth prince, the old sage chose the fourth prince to succeed him. A big part of the reason was that the old sage took a fancy to the precocious and studious grandson Liu Hong.

This is both Liu Hong's advantage and the shackles that he has been trying to break through through hard work and study over the years.

He couldn't let the world only remember him as a good saintly grandson. He wanted to let the world know that his position as the crown prince was not just the result of his evaluation as a good saintly grandson, but the result of his wisdom, love of learning, and hard work.

He, Liu Hong, deserves it!
Jia Lian was not just doing it for the flattery. He was already over thirty years old and was now the head of the Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Lian, Duke of Rong, is in charge of the Beijing camp and holds a high position of power.

These days, he has not only been handling military affairs of the Beijing camp, but is also being called to the East Palace every now and then to discuss important state affairs.

In the past, he had never felt that there was anything wrong with his handling of affairs, but now he discovered that what he lacked most was the experience in court struggles, and even more so the experience in dealing with the king.

Since Congge'er is not in Beijing, Jia Lian feels that his family's relationship with the palace has become much more distant.

This is not good!
"It's getting serious again!"

Liu Hong found Jia Lian's serious expression funny. The personalities of these two brothers were completely different.

"Don't always look so sullen. We are neither in the palace nor in the army. Relax a little. Cong-ge is always playing with me in a playful manner, and Lord She is also carefree and cynical. On the contrary, you, Jia Lian, act more like a father..."

This review...

Jia Lian was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He managed a smile with great difficulty, but he felt terrified himself.

"I am learning from Duke Wuyi. I have suddenly been promoted to a high position and am in charge of the army of the capital camp. I am still a little uncomfortable with this..."

Duke Wuyi is the old Duke of England, Zhang Yue. On the day the old saint passed away, old man Zhang followed his monarch.

The court decided on the highest posthumous title, Wuyi.

Hearing Jia Lian talking about Duke Wuyi, Liu Hong was filled with emotion. Finally, he patted Jia Lian on the shoulder and sighed, "My grandfather had Duke Daishan, my father had Duke Wuyi, and I have you, Jia Lian. It's great!"

……

The journey took nearly two hours, and Liu Hong and Jia Lian talked for two hours.

They talked about the situation in the capital, the wind and sand outside the Great Wall, recalled the ups and downs of the past, and imagined the future harmony between the monarch and his subjects.

By the time the carriage stopped outside the gate of the imperial mausoleum, Dai Quan and others who had received the news had been waiting for a while.

"Nephew, why are you here?"

Prince Zhongshun Liu Ke had dark eye sockets, which made him particularly eye-catching compared to Jia She, who also had dark eye sockets next to him.

"Uncle Thirteen, Lord She, what are you doing..."

Needless to say, there are very few people in the world who dare to beat these two.

Liu Hong looked left and right, exchanged a glance with Jia Lian, suppressed his laughter, and stopped asking questions about the matter.

Unexpectedly, Liu Ke wanted to save his reputation, and after a long pause he said: "I am just idle, I want to entertain your royal grandfather with colorful clothes and perform a wrestling show with Marquis En. I couldn't stop myself for a while..."

Do you think I believe it or not?

These two old playboys must have had a conflict.

Otherwise, it would be strange if they didn't walk with their arms around each other's shoulders.

Jia She was too lazy to pay attention to Liu Ke. He pulled his son aside and asked about what had happened at home in recent days.

After hearing that everything was fine, he asked in a low voice: "So Brother Cong ran into trouble in Jiangnan?"

"Father is wise, it is indeed Brother Cong's fault. But it is not a big deal, it just involves the palace, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here to ask for advice from Lord Dai."

Liu Ke, who was paying attention, twitched his ears and turned back to interrupt: "What happened to Cong? Do you want my help?"

"You old man actually eavesdropped on our conversation! Can you please have some shame?"

"Hey, you good fellow Jia En, I offered to help you and you humiliated me, look at my windmill punch!"

"Who's afraid of who? There was no winner yesterday. Today the prince happened to be here. Let him be the judge to see who is stronger!"

Under the shocked gazes of Liu Hong and Jia Lian, the two hugged each other again...

"So, what is the reason why Uncle Thirteen and Lord Sherlock are like this?"

Although Liu Hong had seen many fights in the Fengtian Palace, this was the first time he saw a prince and a duke hugging each other and rolling on the ground.

Dai Quan looked helpless and hesitated for a long time before he told the reason.

Liu Hong was stunned after hearing this: "So, Uncle Jiu and Lord She have been fighting for more than a month just for their granddaughter?"

It turns out that these two old playboys were fighting for the "custody rights" of Qiqi, the eldest daughter of the Rongguo Mansion. Master Lian, the real father, just stood there in a daze, not knowing how to comment on it.

Looking at the two people rolling around on the ground, he smiled bitterly after a long while and said, "Dad, Thirteenth Master, am I still here as your father?"

"So what?"

"So what?"

The two people on the ground stopped rolling, turned their heads and said to Jia Lian at the same time: "I should be the one raising Qiqi!"

……

The eldest sister Qiqi has lived in the imperial mausoleum for more than a month. The six-year-old girl is smart and clever, and is at the most lovable age. Now she is applying medicine on the faces of her two grandfathers.

"That boy Chong'er has not given me a good grandson yet. Isn't it Marquis Jia En's fault?"

Ok?
Liu Hong was confused when he heard this, but Jia Lian, who was standing beside him, had a guess.

Sure enough, the Thirteenth Elder immediately glanced at Jia Lian and said in dissatisfaction, "You are the same boy. You didn't keep an eye on him for me, and you let him get involved with a Hu girl."

The dignified Crown Prince Zhongshun actually fell in love with the princess of a small country in the Western Regions and insisted on marrying her as his wife. This made the Thirteenth Prince feel even more resentful towards Jia She and his son when he saw the smart, well-behaved and lovely Qiqi.

This matter does have a little to do with his Jia family.

At the beginning, Jia Lian fought all the way to the border of Luosha Kingdom. Liu Chong, who was in charge of grain supply in the rear, kept running among the royal nobles in the Western Regions in order to stabilize the vassal states in the Western Regions.

The Liu family has good genes. Liu Chong is handsome and elegant. He is also a royal noble and has a noble status.

There were more than a dozen princesses from the Western Regions who wanted to send themselves to Liu Chong's bed, and finally they fell in love with the only daughter of the King of Shanshan...

Although Shanshan had withdrawn its vassal state and became a county of Daxia, the King of Shanshan still had a very high reputation in the Western Regions.

The fact that Liu Chong was able to thrive in the Western Regions and raise enough food and fodder for the Great Xia army was largely due to his future son-in-law as the King of Shanshan.

Therefore, half of Jia Lian's military merits belonged to Liu Chong.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for the Thirteenth Prince to compete with Jia She for the granddaughter.

Forget it, I shouldn’t get involved in the affairs of these two old playboys.

Liu Hong threw their dispute to Jia Lian, and talked about the affairs of Jiangnan with Dai Quan.

"Mr. Dai, do you think that the rules for eunuchs to supervise the Maritime Customs and guard the city of Jinling should be changed?"

Dai Quan did not answer directly, but asked in return: "Your Highness, who do you think is more loyal, the eunuchs or the court officials?"

Needless to say?

The power of eunuchs comes from imperial power. The stronger the imperial power, the stronger the power of eunuchs. Without the protection of imperial power, civil officials can skin the eunuchs alive and eat them.

Therefore, the eunuchs' loyalty to the emperor was much higher than that of the civil and military ministers.

Of course, this is also one of the main reasons for the disasters caused by eunuchs in all dynasties.

Be trustworthy and usable, but never over-trusted.

Liu Hong naturally understood what Dai Quan meant. The Maritime Customs Office was related to the financial power of the dynasty. Nanjing was the secondary capital of the dynasty and its status was crucial.

Therefore, these two places must be watched by trustworthy people.

"Your Highness, I have served the late emperor for my entire life. During several southern tours, the late emperor said that scholars have many ambitions and it is difficult for the military nobles who stay in Nanjing to compete with them. In comparison, it is most appropriate to send eunuchs to guard Nanjing and supervise all officials. Even if the eunuchs sent commit crimes, it will be easier for the royal family to deal with them."

Isn't it easy? When an imperial edict is sent south, even if the eunuch is extremely powerful in Jiangnan, he has to obey it obediently.

If important officials like Marquis Jia En were allowed to guard the city of Jinling, if these people committed crimes or had rebellious intentions, the royal family could not deal with them easily. They had to think twice and be extremely cautious.

"So, what I mean is that Your Highness might as well take the initiative to take this responsibility, investigate and deal with it strictly, and then send new people to replace those incompetent trash."

The Crown Prince who is the Regent has taken the initiative to admit his past crimes and has called for strict investigation and punishment of those eunuchs. What else do you officials in the court want?

You can tolerate the spit, but you must never give up the eunuchs' power of supervision.

This is consistent with what Jia Cong said in his secret report, that eunuchs who made mistakes can be beaten or killed, but the power of supervision must be firmly held in his own hands.

"I understand what Lord Dai meant..."

Liu Hong looked at the old saint's shrine in the hall, thought for a long time, and suddenly turned to Dai Quan and said, "There is something I want to ask Mr. Dai for help. I need people who are trustworthy and useful. Are you willing to train such a team for me?"

……

Over the past year, the emperor has devoted almost all his attention to the new policy.

Except for matters related to the reform and new policies, all other government affairs were thrown to the prince.

This meant that Liu Hong could not even hope for a moment of leisure. After getting what he wanted from Dai Quan, he hurriedly set off for Beijing after lunch.

The tranquility that they had felt when they came here disappeared completely at this moment, and from the carriage behind them, they could hear the bickering between the two people all the time.

Not to mention, Liu Hong also felt jealous when he saw Qiqi playing the Nine Rings game in the carriage.

So far, the Crown Princess has been the only one who has given birth to a child in the Eastern Palace. How good is that stinky boy's sweet and soft daughter...

"I don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing to bring Uncle Thirteen and Lord She back to the capital..."

Jia Lian rubbed his forehead and smiled bitterly.

"At least those in the court who want to abolish the power of eunuch supervision probably don't have the energy to argue with Your Highness."

When the grand court is held in Fengtian Hall, the Crown Prince only needs to close the door and let... let the Thirteenth Prince and Marquis Jia En out, and all the officials will be furious.

This was Dai Quan’s second suggestion to Liu Hong, asking him to bring the two men back to Beijing and give them the power to deal with the eunuchs involved in the case, and let them lead the team south.

Of course, this is definitely not because Dai Quan thinks these two guys are too annoying...

When Jia Cong received an urgent report from the capital and learned that his father and King Zhongshun Liu Ke were sailing south with their troops, he looked at the room full of confession files and could not help but observe a moment of silence for these criminal officials in Jiangnan.

"The combination of Father and Thirteenth Master can definitely turn Jiangnan upside down. I don't know who gave Fourth Brother the idea. This is going to be a good show to watch..."

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　That’s all for today, continue tomorrow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)