Jia Yujing of Red Mansion

Chapter 4 Jia’s Plum Blossoms
If Jia Qiong wants to become an official, there are only two ways, either joining the army or taking the imperial examination.

Joining the army is actually a shortcut for Jia Qiong. With the Jia family's influence in the army, it will be relatively easy to get promoted, but Jia Qiong does not intend to take this path.

It has been more than a hundred years since the founding of the Chu Kingdom. Just like every dynasty, the status of military generals has gradually been surpassed by civilian officials. The phenomenon of using civil servants to control military affairs has begun, and the status of military generals in the court has gradually declined.

Nowadays, if the children of powerful people want to join the army, they have to go to the palace and serve as imperial guards for a few years before they have the opportunity to lead troops in the capital camp or local guards or border towns.

The Jia family has too much influence in the army. What if Emperor Longqing is still afraid of the Jia family and doesn't give him a chance to practice.

Without opportunities for experience, there is no way to make meritorious service, and the speed of promotion cannot be accelerated, and one can only endure qualifications.

I don’t know how long it will take to get ahead, let alone gain a voice in Jia’s family.

Moreover, the current border situation is not optimistic, and wars occur frequently in the nine border areas.

Although Meng Yuan was severely injured after being defeated, the Jurchen and the Northwest factions took advantage of the situation to rise.

In particular, the Jurchens, who were once defeated by the Mongols, have often harassed the border in recent years and have gradually become a serious problem.

After the failure of the Liaodong War launched by the Supreme Emperor more than ten years ago, Da Chu has been on the passive defensive side. This is the inherent disadvantage of agricultural civilization against nomadic civilization.

The risk factor of joining the army is still very high now. With his small body, he will lose his life on the battlefield if he is not careful, so Jia Qiong still plans to take the route of taking the imperial examination and becoming an official.

The good news is that after merging the memories of his two lives, his thinking became more active, his memory greatly increased, and he almost had a photographic memory.

Whether it’s a book you’ve read, something you’ve experienced, or even something you’ve heard or seen inadvertently, you can remember the outline of it just by thinking about it.

If he reads the book carefully, he can memorize it word for word, which will be very helpful for him to take the imperial examination in the future.

And because of different histories, many famous poems and articles from previous lives have not appeared, which is very beneficial to Jia Qiong, a lover of ancient literature.

So many famous poems and articles are all stored in his mind. This is such a huge wealth. If it is not used to show off in the literary world, it would be a waste.

After breakfast that day, Shen Biyun took the Xu Shan brothers and sisters to the White Horse Temple to offer incense and pay their vows. The yard was quiet.

Jia Qiong finished reading the last newspaper and felt a little bored in the room. She suddenly wanted to go out for a walk.

He felt that his body had recovered and his weakness had completely disappeared. It should be no problem to go out for some air.

So I got dressed and got out of bed, reaching out to open the window.

The bright sunshine instantly shone in, and a breath of spring mixed with the fragrance of earth hit his face, making him couldn't help but take a deep breath.

The air quality in ancient times without pollution was good, and it was full of negative oxygen ions.

The cool air invigorated him and he stretched, making Jia Qiong feel lighter all over.

It's just mid-February now, and the temperature is still relatively low, only about ten degrees, but Jia Qiong doesn't feel cold wearing the winter coat Shen Biyun prepared for him.

He no longer hesitated, opened the door and walked out, strolling in the courtyard.

Everything here made him feel friendly and fresh.

To the north of the second courtyard where he lives, there are three main rooms. The largest one is the small flower hall in the middle, which is about [-] square meters.

When relatives, old friends, or women come to your home, you can receive them here.

There is a study room on the left side of the flower hall and a dining room on the right side, both with an area of ​​about fifty square meters. There are several wing rooms on the east and west sides. He is sleeping in the east wing room now.

As soon as you enter the courtyard, the entire north side is the main hall and the large flower hall, and the courtyard is entirely paved with bluestone slabs.

There is a small courtyard on the east and west side. The east side is where the servants live, and the west side is the kitchen and livestock shed.

In the third courtyard, there are several small buildings, which are larger than the wing rooms. They are all suites, and there are windows in the north and south. When you open the windows, you can directly see the garden.

This was where his parents originally lived, but it is now empty.

Jia Qiong strolled into the study. The furnishings in the room were simple but very neat.

There are many books on the bookshelves beside the wall, and there is also a thick stack of newspapers in one place, which has a strong smell of books.

There is a long lacquered wood desk in front of the window. The desk is fully stocked with pens, ink, paper and inkstones. The black paint on the corner of the desk is peeling off, and it has obviously been aged for some time.

Jia Qiong casually pulled out a few books from the bookshelf, including the Four Books and Five Classics, poems and songs, biographies of celebrities, legends, and even military books and formations. The categories were very diverse.In Jia Qiong's memory, her mother, Shen, had a family background.

When Jia Qiong was four years old, he enlightened him here and taught him literacy, hoping that he would be able to obtain fame in the future.

After the death of his parents, Shen Biyun has been urging him to study and practice calligraphy.

The father hoped that his son could join the army in the future and restore the glory of his ancestors, so he often took him and his cousin to read military books and taught his cousin martial arts.

According to him, he wanted to train his cousin into a fierce general who could defeat thousands of enemies, and Jia Qiong into a general as talented as his ancestors.

Jia Qiong apologized to his father in his heart, but he still had to choose the path of imperial examination.

He won't devote too much energy to studying the military books for the time being, but he will still practice martial arts with his cousin in the future.

After all, the body is the capital of the revolution. There is no harm in having a good physique. At least he will not be afraid of having to stop working because of a minor illness, and he may have the opportunity to lead the army in the future.

After visiting the study, Jia Qiong walked to the back garden, a half-acre shallow pond, and a small pavilion.

Several plum trees surround the pavilion. Among them, the tall black plum tree closest to the pond is in full bloom, which looks particularly extraordinary against the other white plum trees.

Jia Qiong looked surprised. He remembered that this old tree had never bloomed in the past few years, but he didn't expect it to bloom so much this year. This was a good sign.

The weather was warm and sunny, so Jia Qiong simply moved out a wicker chair from the study, took a book, and began to study in the sun under the tree.

Ningguo Mansion, Huifang Garden.

The plum blossoms all over the garden are in full bloom at this moment, and they are so beautiful in red, pink and white.

Jia Zhen's wife, Youshi, saw that the plum blossoms were blooming well in the garden, so she went to Xifu after breakfast and invited Jia Mu and others to come and enjoy the flowers.

The female relatives in the palace usually don't go out or step out the door, so they can only spend their days in the small world of the back house. There are few entertainment activities, so most of them like to join in the fun.

Naturally, Jia Mu would not miss this opportunity, so she led all the wives and grandchildren from Rongguo Mansion to the East Mansion.

This is a family dinner, and flower viewing is just a pretext. Only Baoyu, Yingchun and Tanchun have been playing in the garden.

The adults just visited for a while and then sat in Huifang Pavilion drinking tea and talking and laughing.

Youshi is the wife of Jia Zhenxuxian. She is just 30 years old this year, with a beautiful face and plump figure.

She smiled brightly and said to everyone: "Old lady, it's hard to invite you and the two ladies, so I won't leave at noon.

I am in charge of wine in the garden, and it is an elegant thing for us to enjoy wine while admiring the flowers. "

You asked to leave the meal, which was the intended meaning of the question, so Jia Mu would not refuse to agree.

Wang Xifeng rushed to say: "Sister-in-law Zhen finally played host, now I can finally relax.

I must have a few more drinks today, and you must serve me well. "

Everyone laughed when they heard this. Wang Xifeng was saying that her granddaughter-in-law usually had to behave herself in Xifu and serve all the elders and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. This time it was finally Youshi's turn to serve her.

Jia Mu pointed at her and laughed: "You monkey, you are always good at talking.

Brother Zhen, daughter-in-law, please sit down and let this monkey wait on us all to drink. "

"My ancestors are too partial. Sister-in-law, please marry Brother Rong a wife. No matter how partial my ancestors are, you can't let me wait on my nephew's daughter-in-law to eat at the bar."

Wang Xifeng looked aggrieved, and everyone laughed again.

Wang Xifeng is just 15 years old and is Mrs. Wang's niece. She just married into the Jia family last year.

She is very beautiful, with a pair of pink phoenix eyes, two curved willow eyebrows, a slender figure and a graceful figure.

In addition, she is sharp-tongued, alert and changeable, and good at observing words and expressions. She can always please Jia Mu, so she is deeply loved by Jia Mu.

She had only been married into Jia's family for a year and already had the power to run the family. Only she dared to joke so wantonly in front of Jia's mother.

(End of this chapter)