The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 612
Zhen's house was not far from Jia's house, and when Jia Lian sent Zhen Yuhuan to her, it was not yet dawn.

"I'm in a hurry today, so I won't go in. I'll come to visit another day, and please ask sister Huan'er to say hello to your mother for me."

Putting Zhen Yuhuan at the gate, Jia Lian bowed his hands on the horse, then turned the horse's head and headed east.Behind him, dozens of personal guards in black cloud gilt armor followed on horseback.

The orderly torrent, rolling the mist of dawn, mighty and chilling, caused all the people in front of Zhen's house to look sideways and startled.

Zhen Yuhuan stood on the steps and watched quietly until Jia Lian and his cavalry disappeared completely on the east side of the street.

Forbidden City, today is destined to be a solemn day.

When Jia Lian escorted Jia Mu and others to the front of the palace city, which symbolizes the supreme power, he only considered the number and posture of the guards on duty, as well as the brocade clothes and crowns in front of the Meridian Gate, which are usually invincible outside, but today But all the well-behaved and obedient princes and ministers who are like babies, and the internal and external orders can know that today is an extraordinary day.

The Supreme Emperor's birthday lasts for three days, today is the first and most important day.

Speaking of the Supreme Emperor, Jia Lian couldn't help but slander him.Although he knows a lot about the former king of Wei, he has never seen the appearance of this supreme being until now.

Take the Taishanghuang's annual birthday as an example, he was not eligible to participate in the beginning.Later, when he became qualified, he was either leading the army abroad, or he was ordered to go to Beijing to handle errands. In short, he missed all of them.

It is also a coincidence.

If you want to come today, you should be able to meet the old emperor, right?With his current position as a marquis, his status in the country is not too low, so he wouldn't be sent to a remote place to celebrate the birthday of the Supreme Emperor, right?
Therefore, as long as the old emperor is not so lazy that he doesn't even show up for his birthday, then he should at least be able to take a peek.

But it was just a glance, he didn't have any idea about the old emperor who had ruled the world for decades, he had already made up his mind to hug Emperor Ningkang's thigh tightly.

Regardless of whether these two are supreme, or father and son, they seem to be very close, but if he dares to please both, he will definitely die.As a courtier, you have to be specific.

"Civil and military honor Qi Liedong, ordered the wife Liexi~"

Following the high shouts of the school officials who maintained order, all the personnel who came to celebrate the birthday separated in order.

Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang could only get down from the soft sedan chair and head west according to the eunuch's guidance.Jia Lian and Jia Zheng entered the palace through the east gate with birthday gifts.

As soon as he entered the palace, he saw the general on duty at the Meridian Gate greet him and clasped his fists, saying: "Master Zhenyuan, just now people from Daming Palace came to pass on His Majesty's oral order, please come to the South Study Room to have an audience with Lord Hou when he enters the palace."

After Jia Lian was slightly stunned, he nodded, and said goodbye to Jia Zheng, and then, under Jia Zheng's eyes full of joy, envy and other complex emotions, he walked towards Daming Palace.

"The imperial court has named this state government of clearing the land of the whole country as 'field clearing mu'. Once the birthday of the Supreme Emperor is over, an official decree will be conveyed to the state governments all over the world."

After paying homage, Emperor Ningkang said this to Jia Lian without raising his head.Although he was still as busy as ever, Jia Lian sensed that Emperor Ningkang was in a good mood today from Emperor Ningkang's relaxed tone.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Congratulations to Your Majesty. If the clearing of the land can be carried out smoothly this time, it will not only be a blessing to our great Wei, Jiangshan, the country, and the people, but future generations will also praise your Majesty's foresight, wisdom and sages... "

"Don't be so talkative. After the decree is passed on, we will first start from my Huangzhuang, and then the clan and relatives. If the above can't be done well, let alone praising my wisdom, it will become a disorderly government. I am afraid that people in the world will not call me an incompetent and stupid king, so I have to be grateful."

When Emperor Ningkang said that he wanted to start with Huangzhuang, Jia Lian couldn't care less about Ningkang's ridicule behind him, and blurted out: "What, even His Majesty's Huangzhuang must be cleared?"

Emperor Ningkang didn't blame Jia Lian for his gaffe at all, he snorted softly and said, "What's so strange, otherwise do you think those people would compromise so easily and hand over the interests in their hands?"

Jia Lian was silent, thinking to himself, it seems that Emperor Ningkang had fought countless battles with the top dignitaries of Wei in silence.

Speaking of which, the previous emperors did not have any Huangzhuang.After all, is it the king's land in the whole world? All the world belongs to him. What Huangzhuang does he want?
If you want to use money, can't you just get it directly from the national treasury?However, some emperors found out that whenever their "internal funds" were used up and they wanted to replenish a little more from the treasury, there would always be some annoying ghosts, holding the righteousness of the family and the country, the etiquette of the clan, etc. , to persuade him, run on him, and even oppose him.

As an emperor, I can't even spend money freely, which is really uncomfortable.So some smart little cutie thought, since princes and nobles can rely on the output of a large number of private farms to satisfy their extravagant lives, why can't he, the emperor, follow suit?
Once he also has his own private property, when he wants to use the money, he doesn't have to take it from the state treasury for all kinds of names, and see what those annoying ghosts say about him!

As a result, Huangzhuang, a farmland exclusive to the royal family, came into being.

In other words, Huangzhuang is actually the emperor's private property.Who would have thought that even the emperor's private property would be included in the clearing of the land this time?Do we have to draw a scale like the nobles of the clan, and the extra part will have to be taxed in accordance with the law in the future?

The emperor pays taxes?If so, this can be regarded as a great progress for society.It can be seen that Emperor Ningkang had such great determination and perseverance in order to promote the land clearing. In order to stop those people's mouths, even himself ended up in person.

That's true, in this way, who dares to talk about credit and privilege?In terms of privileges, who is better than the emperor?
Jia Lian admired Emperor Ningkang a little in his heart. As a feudal emperor, in order to carry out the New Deal, he was able to achieve such a level.

Emperor Ningkang seemed to see Jia Lian's admiration, and he felt somewhat complacent.He didn't know how many times he had thought about the matter of clearing the acres of land, and he was sure that if it could be done, it would be a meritorious deed that lasted for thousands of years. Compared with it, that little Huangzhuang was nothing.

"On the side of the clan, I have put the crown prince and Zhaoyang in charge. I have also asked the Minister of the Household Department to supervise the Xun Chen and the emperor's relatives. Your Jia family is both a Xun minister and a relative of the state. If there is a need for the Household Department, Your Jia family needs to cooperate well."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, my Jia family supported this decree of the imperial court before, now and in the future. Even if I go to Tianjin Wei after a while, my second uncle will represent my Jia family and do my best. Cooperate with the imperial court to implement this state policy that benefits the country and the Ming!"

Hearing Jia Lian's resolute statement again, Emperor Ningkang nodded in satisfaction, and then said: "You don't need to rush to deal with Tianjin Wei's affairs, I have already asked the Ministry of War to send a letter to the admiral of the Tianjin Wei Navy, no matter when you arrive, He will fully cooperate with you.

But your firearms battalion, how about the location?Since it's an imperial army system, it's best for the general office to be in the imperial city. If you think it's not possible to train on weekdays, I will allow you to build two school yards outside the northern city. "

The imperial city of Great Wei is very large, how can it not accommodate a small firearms battalion.Emperor Ningkang felt that the Huoqi camp was not like other large camps. If nothing else, the sound of the cannons would be too scary. Disturbing the people", there must be someone who wants to make trouble in front of him.

Although Emperor Ningkang had his own considerations, Jia Lian felt very at ease when he said that he was thinking wholeheartedly for his subordinates.Among other things, I don't feel aggrieved by working hard for such a boss!

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Sacred Heart, for your kindness. I have already inquired at the House of Internal Affairs. It is best to be inside the Xi'an Gate, west of the middle section of the inner moat. Not only is the terrain open there, but there is also an abandoned Forbidden Army camp. The most important thing is that it is far from the Forbidden Palace. far.

If the main camp of the Firearms Battalion is chosen there, it will not disturb His Majesty and the ladies in the harem during daily training in the future. "

"Well, so good."

……

After coming out of Daming Palace, Jia Lian went directly to Chonghua Palace.

Chonghua Palace is located to the east of the Forbidden City. It was planned and built by the Taishang Emperor alone in his later years to provide for himself.The entire Chonghua Palace is not only as magnificent as the Daming Palace, but even the specifications and layout of the palace are almost the same as the Daming Palace, and it is also divided into front and back palaces.

Looking down from the air, the entire Chonghua Palace is like a miniature version of the Forbidden City, dominating the East Road of the Palace.

Perhaps most of the people who are qualified to come to congratulate the Supreme Emperor on his birthday have already arrived. There are many people in the Chonghua Palace, and it is a bit noisy.

"Name, official position, gift list."

Outside the palace gate, seeing someone approaching, the eunuch who took the record said mechanically in a blunt tone without raising his head.

Jia Lian was slightly taken aback, "Ah, Jia Lian, the commander of the Firearms Battalion..."

Well, he knew before that the great eunuch in Chonghua Palace was arrogant, but now it seems that it is from top to bottom, even a low-ranking eunuch is the same.

"Firearms battalion?"

The eunuch looked up at Jia Lian, first stunned by Jia Lian's appearance and demeanor, then frowned and said, "The Firearms Camp? I haven't heard of it. Hey, who of you knows the Firearms Camp? What rank is the leader?"

The eunuch asked the companions on the left and right, and it could be seen that if he hadn't been convinced that no one would dare to tease Chonghua Palace, he would have thought Jia Lian was lying.

Seeing this, Jia Lian smiled helplessly.He has several official positions, but the one he values ​​the most is the commander of the firearms battalion, and his rank is higher than that of the commander of the Xicheng Army and Horse Division, so he subconsciously reported this.

But he didn't expect that the Firearms Camp hadn't been established yet, and even this number was set not long ago, so it's not uncommon for the eunuchs in Chonghua Palace not to know about it.

Just as they didn't know him as Jia Lian.You know, if it were the Daming Palace, Jia Lian believed that any eunuch who was not good enough would probably recognize him.

If I had known earlier, I would have reported for the title directly.

"The Firearms Battalion is the newly established Battalion of the Forbidden Army, and His Majesty personally bestowed the post of commander of the third rank." After all, it was the birthday of the Supreme Emperor, Jia Lian explained patiently.

"Well, I'm sorry you don't dare to lie."

The eunuch also seemed to see Jia Lian's displeasure, so he didn't bother to pay attention to it. He glanced at Jia Lian, then behind him, and said in a very surprised tone, "Where's your birthday gift? You won't even bother with the birthday gift." If you are not prepared, why don’t you come to the Emperor’s birthday banquet??!”

As the eunuch spoke, he couldn't help but stood up, glaring at Jia Lian aggressively.Judging from his posture, it seems that if it is true as he guessed, he will let the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Army on the left and right arrest Jia Lian, a madman who disrespects the Supreme Emperor.

Jia Lian finally couldn't help frowning his brows.He finally understood why most of the ministers in the court looked down on these eunuchs, they were so damn good at taking advantage of others.

You know, all the eunuchs in Daming Palace, big and small, are not respectful when they see him, the one on the left is the Marquis, and the other is the Marquis, even Dai Quan is polite to him.

Who knew that in Chonghua Palace, a little eunuch of the eighth or ninth rank would dare to boss him around?
"What's the noise, what's the noise!"

A red-robed lady heard the movement here and walked over.Just about to reprimand Jia Lian and the two, when he looked up and saw Jia Lian's appearance, he immediately smiled with a chrysanthemum on his old face: "Yo, this is not General Zhenyuan... Hahaha, no, it should be Lord Zhenyuan. I haven't seen you for two years, and the style of Lord Hou is still the same."

Jia Lian took a closer look at the old eunuch, then smiled: "So it's the prince, I'm disrespectful."

The great eunuch Wang Fu of Chonghua Palace chuckled, then looked at the eunuch who was shivering at the side, and scolded: "You are blind, this is the famous Marquis of Zhenyuan, the big red man beside His Majesty, you don't even He doesn't even know him, so what's the use of your dog eyes?"

The eunuch felt wronged, not to mention he didn't know him, neither did the guys on the left and right.It's all Jia Lian's fault. If a good Marquis doesn't report, he insists on reporting to the commander of the firearms battalion.Moreover, he didn't say the name clearly, so he couldn't hear it clearly.

No matter how ignorant he was, he had heard of Jia Lian in the Rongguo Mansion.After all, this is a man who is known as the most beautiful man in the country, the man that even Her Royal Highness the eldest princess wanted desperately to get!
Jia Lian was too lazy to care about these insignificant roles, he said to Wang Fu: "Because when I just entered the palace, Ben Hou was summoned by His Majesty, so my uncle went first. I want to come to Rongguo Mansion to prepare a congratulatory gift for the Supreme Emperor, my uncle has already presented it If the prince doesn't believe it, he can open the ceremony book and check."

"Hahaha, what did Master Hou say? What are you two bastards still doing in a daze, and you haven't led Master Hou in yet."

Following Wang Fu's yell, two young eunuchs who were standing there hurried over to lead Jia Lian the way.

Jia Lian nodded to Wang Fu, and then walked into Chonghua Palace.But Wang Fu bent down respectfully to see him off, and when he got up, he found that Jia Lian had already entered the main entrance, which made him squint his eyes subconsciously, and then dispersed to greet others.

It is a great honor for him to be on duty here under the order of the crown prince, but he doesn't want Jia Lian to affect his mood and miss the business because of Jia Lian.

(End of this chapter)