Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 595 Father...Father...

As recorded in Huainanzi Qi Su Xun, people do not hold multiple offices, officials do not hold multiple jobs, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are distinguished by different villages and states. Therefore, farmers are judged by their strength, scholars are judged by their behavior, craftsmen are judged by their skill, and merchants are judged by their numbers.

The so-called division into four classes of people is no longer applicable to the development of our dynasty today.

After several years of adjustments, the country has basically completed a more detailed classification of talents.

For example, in the field of engineering, the top master craftsmen have an official rank equivalent to the fifth-rank official of the Ministry of Personnel, and after making great contributions, they can be promoted to the third-rank official and be granted the title of county earl.

The study of mathematics had already occupied an important position in the imperial examinations. In the winter of the 12th year of Yuanyou, the imperial court issued an edict that officials of the Ministry of Revenue must be proficient in mathematics. Any position related to financial matters could only be held by those who were not scholars of mathematics.

Important positions in the military, local affairs, and customs offices require, in addition to the normal imperial examinations, an assessment specializing in mathematics and techniques, and only qualified people can be appointed to the positions.

Even the eunuchs who went to the Maritime Customs Office to be in charge of supervision had to take a math test.

Lady Xue Baochai, who is proficient in mathematics, has now risen to the positions of Lecturer in the Hanlin Academy and Doctor of the Ministry of Revenue. She also serves as a mathematics instructor at the Imperial College and has become a teacher to countless mathematics students.

Starting last year, with the emperor's decree and the cabinet's approval, Xue Baochai began to enter the palace to teach the crown prince and other princes, becoming the crown prince's de facto teacher.

"Sister Lin, help me see if this is too radical..."

The sound of firecrackers outside during the New Year's holiday didn't make much difference to the young couple.

After distributing red envelopes to the maids, servants, and personal guards who accompanied them, the two men returned to their normal daily lives.

Daiyu took a book of Western miscellaneous books that had been snatched back by Master She, and read and translated them at the same time, preparing to enrich her home collection of books.

Jia Cong began writing a series of memorials, including "Daxia Higher Education Planning Strategy", "Daxia Basic Education Reform Strategy", and "Draft for the Establishment of the Royal Highest Science and Technology Award".

On many issues, Jia Cong had to discuss with sister Zhuge Lin and listen to her opinions, because he always ignored the impact of the plan on the prior education and official selection system.

Compared to him, Daiyu, who is well versed in the affairs of the country, is more familiar with the way the officialdom of the dynasty operates.

She leaned over to take a look and pointed out a passage that said, "This needs to be changed. The public school has only been in operation for a short time. Even if you want to expand the education of mathematics, engineering, medicine and other sciences, you need to have enough time to train professors. Also, the central position of Confucianism and Taoism cannot be changed, at least not within a hundred years."

Daiyu tilted her head and thought for a while, then found the most appropriate metaphor.

She just said, "It's just like the legendary story you told me before. A cultivator must have the Heart Method of this Sutra. With this Heart Method as the main guide, he must cultivate sword tactics and other killing techniques. Only when the Heart Method, Body Method and Sword Method are synchronized can he cultivate the great way that reaches heaven and earth. There is nothing wrong with Confucianism itself. It teaches people the way of benevolence, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness... The theories of mathematics, engineering, medicine, military and so on should be external methods. Confucianism should be the most suitable Heart Method of this Sutra for our dynasty..."

This explanation opened Jia Cong's eyes.

He said that after writing for several days, he always felt that something was missing. It turned out that he had neglected the education of human nature.

Putting aside other things, the best education on humanity is naturally Confucian education.

As long as we discard the false and retain the true, and summarize the original thoughts of Confucius and Mencius and other ancient sages, our dynasty will have its first perfect ideological and moral textbook.

He slapped his head and grinned, "It has to be Sister Lin. I almost forgot the most important point..."

After saying that, he lay over the table and scribbled and revised it. Finally, after copying it, he put it aside and continued to draft the next policy.

In this way, the New Year of the fifteenth year of Yuanyou passed in a plain and warm way.

On the 12th day of the second month, during the Flower Festival, when all the flowers in Jinling had just blossomed with their beauty, several official ships quietly left the Jinling dock.

……

After the railway from the capital to Tongzhou was built, connecting the canal and the sea route, Tongzhou became the largest transportation center of the country.

Jia Lian and a group of brothers stood at the Tongzhou Wharf, looking from afar at several official ships approaching from afar.

"It's the Golden Dragon Flag. It must be Brother Cong and Sister Lin!"

Baoyu excitedly pointed at the golden dragon flag fluttering in the wind, losing all his usual composure.

Of course, his previous steadiness was all fake; after all, he had to maintain the "bureaucratic airs" that he once hated so much.

wow~
The curtains of several carriages were lifted, and Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, Xiangyun, and others, including Baochai, got out of the carriages.

Since Daiyu left the capital in the 13th year of Yuanyou, the sisters have not gathered together for a long time.

"Second brother, Second brother Bao... Hey, how did Third Brother Huan become like this!"

Jia Cong helped Daiyu get off the boat and gave a warm hug to the brothers to express his joy of reunion after a long separation.

However, after seeing Jia Huan's current appearance, he immediately grinned and joked.

Jia Huan scratched his head and smiled innocently, "Second Brother Lian asked the Crown Prince for grace to let me join the Sixth Officer of the Eastern Palace, and work under Big Brother Xue. Big Brother Xue said that my foundation was quite good, so he trained me every day..."

Hiss, I actually have to accept Xue Pan’s training.

This guy was born with supernatural powers, and his demands on his subordinates are ridiculously high.

This must be how the dark-skinned Jia Huan came about. The Sun God treats all things equally. Among the six princes, no one has skin whiter than Xue Pan!
After five months of pregnancy, Daiyu's originally slender waist became bloated.

The group changed from train to horse carriage and soon returned home from Tongzhou.

The Crown Prince who was the Regent considerately sent someone to wait at the Tongzhou Wharf, and told Jia Cong and Daiyu not to go to the palace to report the emperor's order, but to go home and have a good rest first, and also sent an imperial physician who specialized in women's pregnancy.

After a round of examination and diagnosis, the old imperial physician confirmed that everything was fine, prescribed a prescription to maintain the pregnancy, and returned to the palace with the Jia family's "thanks".

I haven't seen her for nearly two years, and the old lady is still in good spirits.

Daiyu’s first feeling after returning home was that the house became more lively!
Isn't it more lively? Just the kids crawling around on the blanket is enough to make the place noisy.

Unlike Yingchun, whose first child was a son, after Xiangyun gave birth to a daughter last year, Tanchun also gave birth to a girl last winter.

Including Mr. Lian’s son and daughter, the old lady now has five great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Baoyu, who was once the apple of the old lady's eye, has seen his status plummet. It is already very good for him to be able to get a chair to sit on in Rong Xi Tang.

The miserable brothers squatted in the corner of Rong Xi Tang, looking at the beautiful girls around the old lady and the brothers and sisters crawling around, and sighed one by one.

"Are you hungry, Brother Cong?"

"I'm not hungry, I'm not hungry!"

"No, you're hungry!"

The only person who could attract the old lady's attention at this moment, apart from her beloved great-grandchildren, was probably Jia Cong, who had just returned and could still enjoy the freshness for a few days.

After three large tables were set up in Rong Xi Tang, there was finally enough space for the growing dining group to sit.

Perhaps because she was back home, Daiyu's appetite was better than when she was in Jinling.

The meal took almost an hour. In the afternoon, the old lady asked Daiyu to accompany her for a nap and talk. Jia Cong then changed his clothes and went to the palace with him and Daiyu, the result of more than a month's hard work.

……

The prince actually grew a beard, looking more mature than he was two years ago. Although he was not as domineering as the old sage and the emperor back then, he already had the aura of an emperor.

"Fourth brother is even more domineering!"

"You're laughing at me right after I got back?"

Liu Hong threw away the memorial in his hand, walked closer, looked at Jia Cong in circles, patted him here and there, and finally knocked him on the head.

"My good boy, you've been gone for two years. I wrote to you several times, but you didn't come back..."

Damn it, there are so many memorials to submit, and I, the great prince, can’t even find anyone to share the burden with.

He could not fully trust any of the officials in the Eastern Palace, including those in the Zhanshi Mansion.

The only trustworthy person is Jia Cong. This guy is totally enjoying living in Jiangnan and doesn’t want to return to Beijing!
He pulled Jia Cong to sit down, drove out all the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall, and began to complain to them.

"You don't know how miserable my life is now..."

Apart from the emperor's corruption, disputes and entanglements arising from the struggle for political reform and orthodoxy have occurred one after another in recent years.

There were many things that the cabinet was unable to mediate, so they were all sent to the Eastern Palace.

For example, the biggest controversy recently is the dispute between the "New Rites" instigated by Baoyu and the "Zhou Rites" of Neo-Confucianism.

In particular, Mr. Zhou Jiong's truly "retro" doctrine directly expanded the dispute to the entire Daxia.

Liu Hong smiled bitterly and pointed to the corner. Jia Cong's eyes widened after just one look.

He took a deep breath and asked tentatively: "Are these... impeachments against Mr. Zhou?"

"These are only from the last ten days. I had the previous ones sent to the archives."

Liu Hong seemed to have found an outlet to vent his feelings, and began to talk to Jia Cong about what had happened.

"Master Zhou traced back to the ancient times and refuted the eight most popular and influential schools of Neo-Confucianism in one breath, which was like stirring up a hornet's nest. Just think about it, if everyone in the world accepted Master Zhou's statement, the eight schools would become heresies that misinterpreted the meaning of the saints and distorted the Confucian and Taoist traditions..."

Therefore, after a brief period of confusion, these eight companies launched a large-scale counterattack.

The big debate is no longer a big deal. These people have begun to fight back in all directions, including looking for flaws in those who support the true "retro" reform of current Confucianism.

For example, Mr. Zhou himself has no black material, so they look for it from the Zhou family or even Mr. Zhou’s ten clans.

The most outrageous thing was that when an old man named Zhou was presiding over the imperial examination, a candidate who was admitted committed the crime of corruption, and it was said that it was the fault of old man Zhou's recommendation.

Among them, Mr. Zhou's clansmen occupied a cage of land of the common people, and Mr. Zhou's relatives who were not related to him at all molested the young widow...

There were countless charges like these. If the prince did not know Mr. Zhou's character well, he would have thought that they were too numerous to list.

"Master Lin has already instructed the Ministry of Public Administration to conduct a screening. These are all after screening. In just ten days, there are hundreds of decent memorials. Tell me, how should I approve them?"

Emperor Taizu set a good precedent, which was not a good one, that is, no matter how outrageous the memorials submitted by the ministers were, the emperor had to read and approve them.

Even if you only know three words from the comments, you still have to read them one by one...

Jia Cong looked at the "mountain" piled in the corner and smiled bitterly along with Liu Hong.

"It's just right that you're back, please help me think of a solution. If I continue like this, even if I have the cabinet masters to help me screen, I won't be able to endure it!"

Daxia is a vast country with a lot of serious military and political affairs to deal with every day. And dealing with these incoherent memorials would drive anyone crazy.

"What about your majesty? What does your majesty say?"

uh~
"Father...Father...Alas, Father and Second Uncle went to Japan..."

what?
Wait, the emperor is not in the palace?

"You mean His Majesty is going out to sea, woooo ...

Liu Hong covered Jia Cong's mouth with his hand and looked outside the hall vigilantly.

"Oh my God, please don't scream!"

Just when Jia Cong was about to suffocate to death, Liu Hong finally let go.

The prince spread his hands and said, "What can I do? My father insisted on going out to sea, what can I do? Several teachers in the cabinet tried to persuade him again and again, and he had agreed to it, but the day after the Shangyuan Palace Banquet, he ran away with his second uncle."

It is quite difficult to understand why there was a "rebellious" emperor who actually did something like secretly going out to sea.

Fortunately, in the past two years, the emperor has often skipped work on the pretext of being ill, otherwise this matter would have been exposed long ago.

Jia Cong looked at the pitiful prince and managed to say something comforting after a long while: "It's okay, Your Majesty is just going out to relax and will be back soon."

"No, no, think about where your father is now? Think about whether you have received any letters from your father in the past few months?"

Liu Hong looked at Jia Cong with pity and dropped a shocking piece of news.

"According to the news from Dengzhou, the Dengzhou navy that was supposed to be in Japan set out to the south on the second day of the second month, but it only stopped in Dengzhou for supplies and then headed south again... The last news I received was the urgent report from my thirteenth uncle in Jiaozhi. Father, my second uncle, my thirteenth uncle, and Lord She led a total of thirty warships and were going to the Western Ocean!"

boom!
Jia Cong felt a thunderous explosion in his head, and then he squatted down with his head in his hands.

"No wonder, no wonder. Thirteenth Master transferred some warships from Fujian before the New Year. I thought that even if he wanted to fight against the Western Barbarians in the direction of Luzon, he wouldn't need so many ships!"

These old guys, these old guys...

Jia Cong felt too exhausted to complain. There were still such a group of monarchs and ministers in the world who abandoned state affairs and ran to "play" on the sea!

"This news must not be leaked, otherwise I'm really afraid that the memorial will bury my East Palace."

Liu Hong seemed to have finally found an outlet for venting. He pulled Jia Cong, his fellow sufferer, over and started to complain and nag him. In the end, the two of them were almost crying.

Why are their fathers so unreliable?
……

After complaining about the unreliability of the Dads' Group, the two finally had to calm down and figure out a good solution to prevent the impact of information leaks.

Jia Cong quickly placed the new strategies he brought on the table and said to Liu Hong, "Fourth brother, if you want to suppress a hot search, you have to find another hot search that is very topical. It just so happens that Sister Lin and I discussed a package of reform plans when we were in Jinling. Do you think it is feasible?"

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　Something happened at home last night and I didn’t have time to write.

　　I'll update one chapter first, and I'll continue in the evening...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)