Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 599 Uneasy
Jia Rui was still handling the memorial in Yangxin Hall as usual.

It went smoothly at first, but halfway through the process, a memorial caught Jia Rui's attention.

This memorial was submitted by a doctor from the Ministry of War. The general idea was that he had discovered the role of gunpowder in the military and wanted to refine gunpowder, develop new formulas, and promote it on a large scale.

There is even a drawing in the memorial, showing the old-fashioned fire system.

When Jia Rui first saw this memorial, he was very excited.

But soon Jia Rui hesitated.

Although gunpowder will have a huge boost to a country's national strength, it is a double-edged sword and a gravedigger for the feudal dynasty.

In the time and space where Jia Rui lived, gunpowder ended Europe's feudal dynasties, which consisted of a series of nobles such as knights and kings, making them rapidly civilians.

Jia Rui walked around the Yangxin Hall several times with the memorial on his back, but in the end he still couldn't make up his mind.

If you are a subversive and a rebel from civilian background, you will naturally benefit from having gunpowder.

But now that he is a vested interest and has taken control of the country, if he promotes gunpowder at this time, the final outcome will be to shake his own rule. His loyal supporters, the nobility, will quickly decline, and private capital will sprout quickly. develop and then encroach on their own rights.

After thinking of this, Jia Rui threw the memorial on the table and said to Qin Shun who was standing beside him: "Go to the Ministry of War, arrest the person who submitted the memorial and send him to prison, and then search all his documents and family members. Nothing related to this memorial has been revealed."

After listening to Jia Rui's words, Qin Shun immediately lowered his head and went out.

Jia Rui sighed. He knew that this matter would be an obstacle to the country, but for the sake of his own future generations, he had to be selfish for once.

But just in case, Jia Rui returned to the table, picked up a brush and painted a few points, copied the gunpowder knowledge he brought from modern times and this memorial, and then locked it in the Yangxin Palace. Among the dense grid.

I hope these things will be helpful to my descendants! Jia Rui thought with some regret.

After dealing with this troublesome matter, Jia Rui was no longer in the mood to stay in Yangxin Palace. He took a sedan chair to Kunning Palace.

As the Jia Rui family lived in the palace longer, they became more and more royal.

Xue Baochai, in particular, quickly adapted to the role of queen and managed the entire palace in an orderly manner.

She also met with officials' families from time to time to appease Jia Rui's harem. It can be said that she was Jia Rui's virtuous wife.

Knowing that Jia Rui was coming, Xue Baochai personally greeted him at the entrance of the palace, and then surrounded Jia Rui into the main hall.

"Why did your Majesty come back so early today?"

"Hey, something bad happened. I'm not in the mood to deal with official business anymore. Come back and have a rest."

Xue Baochai didn't ask what happened. Instead, he handed Jia Rui tea and said, "Our son has been in school for more than half a year. The teachers at Wenhua Hall said that our son is very intelligent."

Jia Rui naturally knew who Xue Baochai was talking about, but Jia Rui did not interrupt or refute.

Jia Xuan is indeed smart, but he doesn't need to be smart in serious matters. When it comes to reading, he can only be said to be casual and perfunctory, but in other things, this is considered to be attentive.

For example, a few days ago, Jia Rui heard that Jia Xuan let a dozen eunuchs play sumo wrestling in his residence.

Since these eunuchs were still trained by Jia Xuan, the scene was very tragic, and two eunuchs were seriously injured on the spot.

Regarding this matter, Jia Rui immediately thought of Kangxi and Obai.

However, after Jia Rui's close investigation, it was discovered that Jia Xuan was just playing.

After hearing the news, Jia Rui was a little disappointed. If Jia Xuan really wanted to usurp the throne and imitate Emperor Kangxi, Jia Rui would have looked down upon him.

It's a pity that I just want to play.

"Okay, don't talk about this. Let me tell you something else." Jia Rui didn't want to hear about Jia Xuan, so he interrupted Xue Baochai directly. Xue Baochai glanced at Jia Rui helplessly. The emperor loved his son so much when he was young. Why did he dislike him as his son grew older?
"Our old lady is not in good health these days, and the imperial doctor also said that it was a disease she contracted when she was young."

After saying this, Jia Rui's eyes were a little dim. What the imperial doctor said was much more powerful than what Jia Rui said here.

Xue Baochai also heard the imperial doctor talk about this. She also sighed, "We can only do our best now. Starting from tomorrow, I will go and talk to the old lady every day."

Jia Rui nodded silently, "Even so, you have to prepare for what should be prepared. It's up to you to worry about this matter."

Xue Baochai nodded, and then said: "What should we do about the mausoleum?"

You must know that Jia Rui has only been on the throne for more than half a year, and the construction of Jia Dairu and his mausoleum has just begun. It is impossible to complete the construction in less than two or three years.

"I will stop working on my mausoleum for the time being and focus on building the old master's mausoleum."

"It can only be like this." Xue Baochai also showed sadness in his eyes.

"The old man doesn't know about this yet, let's not tell him, and don't make the old man angry." Jia Rui patted his leg and said.

"The concubine knows."

"Okay, I came here today to talk to you about this matter. You should be busy first."

After saying that, Jia Rui stood up and left.

After Xue Baochai sent Jia Rui out, he returned to the side hall of Kunning Palace, with sadness in his eyes.

You know, the old lady is the biggest supporter of her son Jia Xuan becoming the prince. If the old lady is gone one day, judging from Jia Rui's attitude towards his son Jia Xuan, the position of the prince may be in danger.

"No, no matter what, I have to let the old lady decide on the position of prince before she dies." Xue Baochai thought in his heart.

Then Xue Baochai asked the maid Ying'er to change her clothes, and led the people to the Dragon Head Palace.

After entering the Dragon Head Palace, we soon arrived at the old lady's bedroom.

Today, the old lady did not get up early and go out for a walk as usual. Instead, it was already three o'clock in the morning and she was still lying on the bed, with several palace maids with sad faces standing next to her.

When the maids saw Xue Baochai coming, they quickly came up to salute. Xue Baochai waved them aside and then sat down in front of the old lady's bed.

At this time, the old lady was still sleeping peacefully, but in this tranquility, Xue Baochai felt a sense of death.

"When did the Queen rest yesterday?" Xue Baochai asked a palace maid.

"Go back to the Queen. The Queen went to bed immediately after dinner last night."

After Xue Baochai heard this, he looked back at the old lady, his expression getting worse and worse.

The old lady has been sleeping for seven or eight hours, but there is no sign of waking up.

Just when Xue Baochai didn't know whether to wake up the old lady, Mrs. Wang also opened her eyes.

Mrs. Wang saw it was Xue Baochai and smiled and said, "You came here so early?"

Xue Baochai forced a smile and then said: "I couldn't sleep since I got up early, so I came to see you."

Then, Xue Baochai quickly ordered the maid behind him to freshen up the old lady.

After about a quarter of an hour, the old lady got dressed. She looked out the window, and then there was a hint of uneasiness on her face.

(End of this chapter)