Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 161 Liu Gong
The Jiahou Mansion, which had always been deserted, began to have visitors after Jia Qiang became the governor of nine provinces.

Those who can come to visit are those who think they have a certain status. Even if Jia Qiang is not willing to spend time in this aspect, she cannot completely ignore it.

However, on the second day after receiving the order, he took Jia Min, Lin Daiyu and the girls to the house in Jinyu Hutong.

"It's really like a dream, like a fairyland!" Lin Daiyu was very excited. She walked in front and was the first to see the strange scenery in the garden, exclaiming in surprise.

Jia Min, who followed closely behind, also saw the scenery in the garden. Everyone who entered the garden then admired the beautiful scenery in front of them.

Jia Qiang couldn't help but marvel that the weather in the capital was very cold, but there were hot springs in the garden pool, which could maintain the temperature of the water.

This caused the entire garden to be covered with a thin layer of mist, and the temperature in the garden was much higher than in other places.

It's winter outside, but it's as warm as spring in the garden.

The vegetation beside the pond also maintained its vitality due to the warmth, giving the garden a spring color that was rarely seen in the capital in winter.

Lin Daiyu breathed in the moist and warm mist, and she felt that all the discomfort in her body was gone.

The other girls are all from the south and like this place very much. It reminds them of Jiangnan.

Yun Fei and Zhu Jun had already prepared guqin and pipa. They were very smart and knew that both Jia Qiang and Lin Daiyu liked to listen to them playing. Even if they brought extra, it would be better than not being able to hear when Jia Qiang and Lin Daiyu wanted to listen.

In this winter capital, being able to bring together delicacies from the Northeast and Jiangnan is not something that can be done with money alone.

It was precisely because she knew the palace and how rare this garden was that she was even more surprised.

"Then invite Yi Ya and the others to come over!" Jia Qiang saw the other women nodding in approval, smiled and waved her hands.

He won't be at home for long and will leave Beijing after the New Year.

Yi Ya and other twelve dancers put on light dance clothes, so they didn't need to worry about the cold to make their movements more graceful and stretched.

"Brother Qiang, will your errands after the new year delay your exam?" Jia Min asked as the party was about to end.

Therefore, officials who are ordered to patrol the border will bring a considerable number of people with them.

But the garden in front of me, in addition to the overall design of the garden, is the rising mist from the pool water and the warmth of winter.

Jia Qiang smiled and motioned the maids to go to the pavilion in the center of the pool to make arrangements.

Among them, Jia Qiang was responsible for the supervisory envoy to the south of the Yangtze River. The food from the north was sent by Zhuangzi in western Liaoning, and the food from the south of the Yangtze River was opened up on the canal in the name of the supervisory envoy of the south of the Yangtze River.

"Yi Ya is here!" Jia Qiang said with a smile when she saw a group of women entering the garden.

This is not something that money can buy. Unless you are lucky enough to occupy a hot spring, how can you arrange such a scenery.

"Brother Qiang, if you can let sister Yi Ya come over and dance here, it will complement each other!" Lin Daiyu looked at Jia Qiang with expectant eyes and smiled.

Even the wine he was drinking was Yangzhou’s sweet-scented osmanthus rice wine.

Everyone chose what they liked to taste. In addition to hot pot, there were also fresh fruits shipped from the south and various pastries specially sent from Yangzhou.

As soon as Yi Ya entered the garden, she was also shocked by the garden.

She has become accustomed to having Jia Qiang by her side, and this feeling makes her feel at ease.

"Come here, let's try this venison from the Northeast today. It's a good supplement in winter. This is green mutton, and this is roe deer meat!" Jia Qiang asked everyone to sit down and introduced the food on the table one by one.

"Brother Qiang, are you going to Beijing on business?" Lin Daiyu asked in surprise.

At this moment, Xichun was also sipping the sweet-scented osmanthus rice wine.

Since someone went to pick up Yi Ya and the twelve dancers, Jia Qiang wanted to make everyone happy today.

Yun Fei and Zhu Jun, who were slightly older, knew how much Jia Qiang put into food and knew that Lin Daiyu was not adaptable to the climate in the capital these days, so they had this gathering in Jinyu Alley.

"Brother Qiang, you are so thoughtful!" Jia Min looked at the many Yangzhou foods and said with a smile.

Especially in the dreamy mist, they look like twelve fairies.

The hot pot prepared by Jia Qiang only added seasonings remembered from previous lives to the bottom of the pot, some of which were not used in this era.

"Yes, but I will rush back when the exam is over, and then continue my errands after the exam is over!" Jia Qiang replied with a smile.

Without Jia Qiang's instructions, they came to the side and started dancing.

Jiahou Mansion is not Rongguo Mansion. No one bullies her. She can get together with many sisters to talk every day, and she can do whatever she wants.

Jia Xichun lives in the mansion these days and has a smile on his face.

Even the imperial family does not have such a garden in Beijing. How could it fall into Jia Qiang's hands?

Patrolling the border under orders is a hard job. From south to north, from east to west, we go to the most remote places in Daqian.

Lin Daiyu took a sip of osmanthus rice wine and her face turned slightly red. She didn't think too much, she only knew that she liked this kind of life.

This route will deliver general information from Jiangnan to the capital every few days, and also bring back goods from Jiangnan.

To be honest, she has been in the palace since she was a child, and there are not many gardens that can surprise her.

He only told Jia Min about this matter and had not told Lin Daiyu yet.

Everyone forgot to eat and was completely attracted by the dance and music.

Those border troops are not easy to talk to. If they really anger the border troops, they may even be in danger.

"Can you not go?" Lin Daiyu asked reluctantly.

Today’s gathering is hot pot, and this kind of food has long existed in Daqian.

"Yu'er, Brother Qiang has to go on an imperial mission. There's no way he can shirk it. It's the emperor's grace that allows him to return to Beijing to take part in the examination!" Jia Min replied on Jia Qiang's behalf.

Lin Daiyu's mood suddenly became depressed. Not only her, but the rest of the people were also reluctant to give up.

"Master Mother, I would like to trouble you to help me take care of the affairs of the house. I will send twenty-four personal guards to follow your orders. They are all strong men and can protect you at any time!" Jia Qiang said softly to Jia Min. .

His voice was not loud, and could only be heard by a few people around him.

Jia Min was shocked. When she heard the twenty-four warriors, she doubted her ears.

But thinking that Jia Qiang couldn't deceive him, and thinking about Jia Qiang's strength, maybe Jia Qiang had some special way to improve her strength.

"Is it credible?" Jia Min thought for a moment and asked.

"Absolutely reliable and can be trusted with life and death!" Jia Qiang replied without any hesitation. Jia Qiang planned to leave twenty-four powerful personal guards, divided into two groups to take turns guarding Jiahou Mansion twelve hours a day.

And these twenty-four warriors' bodyguards are all rank-4 warriors' bodyguards.

With such strength, I am afraid that even the palace does not have such a level of guarding force.

Rank 4 warriors are generals who lead troops everywhere, so it is impossible for them to be trapped in the palace for a long time.

In other words, these twenty-four rank-4 warrior personal guards were trained by Jia Qiang herself, and their loyalty was bound by the 'Feng Yue Treasure Mirror', otherwise it would be impossible for them to willingly become the guards of the mansion.

In the afternoon, Jia Qiang took the girls back to the house. As soon as she entered the house, she saw the old manager, Shun Tou, circling anxiously.

"Master, many people have sent greeting cards today!" Manager Laoshuntou's eyes lit up when he saw Jia Qiang, and he trotted over and said, at the same time presenting a stack of greeting cards in his hand.

Jia Qiang picked up the greeting card and saw many officials' messages, among which the Lord's was the most popular.

Like the first-class Bo Niu Jizong, the first-class son Liu Fang, the third-rank Weizhen general Chen Ruiwen, the third-rank Weiyuan general Ma Shang, the first-class son Hou Xiaokang, etc., in addition to Rongguo Mansion, the other six families of the Eight Gongs all sent greeting cards. .

"This greeting card from Mr. Liu was sent together, and he said we would come to visit together tomorrow!" Manager Lao Shuntou reminded Jia Qiang when he saw the greeting card from Mr. Liu.

"They are actually willing to be friends with me!" Jia Qiang said with a smile and shook her head.

You must know that before the end of the year meeting, he met these six people in Jiuqing's room, but at that time these six people were still in a wait-and-see attitude.

As far as Jia Qiang knew, the Sixth Prince's family was very close to Wang Ziteng because of their relationship with the Jia family.

"Reply to their post and tell them I'll be waiting at home tomorrow!" Jia Qiang ordered after pondering for a moment.

He read other greeting posts, selected some of them, and arranged the time to meet one by one.

There were more greetings, either with no connection before, or with relatively low status, so they were put aside.

It's not that he's being arrogant, but that he only has a few days before the new year, and he will leave Beijing after the new year, so the posts he is currently posting take up most of the daytime.

Jia Qiang was a little surprised that there was no movement from the Rongguo Mansion regarding his promotion to a first-class military attaché.

Little did he know that he was promoted to the governor of nine provinces, which made Mrs. Wang furious at home.

Although Mrs. Wang is the second wife of the Jia family, she always thinks of her natal family in her heart.

From time to time she was greedy for some money and sent it back to her parents' home while she was in the Jia Mansion. Wang Ziteng had spent a lot of money over the years in order to be promoted. The Wang family's financial resources were not as rich as those of the Jia Mansion.

When Mrs. Wang learned that Jia Qiang had snatched her brother Wang Ziteng's official position and imperial commission, she was furious and killed a maid who had made an accidental mistake.

This incident made the entire Jia family's slaves afraid to mention Jia Qiang in the family. It was for this reason that Jia's mother did not get the news immediately.

If Jia Mu knew that Jia Qiang had been promoted to a military attaché, she would definitely give her a congratulatory gift.

The Rongguo Mansion did nothing, and the previous grudges made the relationship between the two houses even further apart. If it weren't for Jia Min's relationship, maybe the two houses would really be inseparable.

The next day, in the hall of Jiahou Mansion, Jia Qiang sat in the main seat, and six guests sat in the guest seats.

The title of the Four Kings of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes is still intact, but the Eight Dukes are no longer worthy of their title.

None of the Eighth Dukes have a duke title, and many families have even lost their superior title. They are now struggling to maintain their former reputation.

Of course, their influence in the army is extremely terrifying. Hachiko's subordinates are now scattered among all the Dakan armies.

This is also the reason why Emperor Jingwen is very afraid of Hachigong. Over the years, Emperor Jingwen has been deliberately suppressing Hachigong. Unfortunately, the power in his hands is limited. Hachigong has the support of the Supreme Emperor, so these suppressions are extremely limited.

"Everyone, please have some tea!" Jia Qiang waved her hand.

He didn't know the plans of these six people, so he was waiting for these six people to tell them the purpose of their trip.

"I would like to congratulate Jiahou on his promotion!" Niu Jizong said with a smile and clasped his fists.

The other five were also smiling and clasping their fists.

"It's the Holy Emperor's trust!" Jia Qiang replied with a smile and cupped her fists in the direction of the palace.

"It is also Jiahou's ability. The two guards of the West Camp have greatly improved in just a few months in Jiahou's hands. This shows your leadership ability!" Niu Jizong continued to praise.

He himself led the first guard of the Beijing camp, and used the Western camp to block Wang Ziteng's movements. Compared with his own guard, he knew that the first guard he belonged to was not as good as Jia Qiang's two guards.

The problem is that one of the two guards led by Jia Qiang is a new soldier.

In Jia Qiang's hands, the five thousand recruits formed such a terrifying fighting force in just a few months.

"The Supreme Emperor has handed over the first guard of the Beijing Camp to you, and you must also be grateful to the Supreme Emperor!" Ma Shang, the third-rank Weiyuan general, said at this time.

"I would like to thank you, Your Majesty!" Jia Qiang put away her smile and replied solemnly.

He looked at Ma Shang, who deliberately mentioned the Supreme Emperor. This was to remind him of the importance of the Supreme Emperor.

But no one knew that he was from Emperor Jingwen, so Ma Shang's words were provocative.

Jia Qiang thought for a while and thought that the person who provoked him last time should be King Beijing. King Beijing has been very honest recently and has not even shown his face.

He thought about how to take revenge on Ma Shang if Ma Shang was unconscious.

"The ancestors of our six families are all close friends with Duke Yan. We have a lifelong relationship, and now we should unite with each other!" Niu Jizong said quickly to smooth things over.

Even Jia Qiang couldn't refute this. Although he was expelled from the Jia family in the capital, he could not recognize the original living people of Ningguofu's lineage, or he could not recognize each other because of the bloodline of Rongguofu after several generations, but he But he had to recognize his grandfather and Taizu.

Even though he now considers himself a member of the Jia family in Yangzhou, his direct bloodline lies with Jia Yan and Jia Daihua.

He finally understood that Niu Jizong was using his ancestral relationship to win over him and become a member of the Hachigong.

"My title is not Chengjue's ancestor!" Jia Qiang replied calmly.

"The control of the nine provinces is only a temporary official position. If you don't have our support when you return to Beijing, you will not be able to hold the actual position again!" Ma Shang was here to show off this time, and he threatened in a deep voice.

There is a certain truth to this sentence. If the Eight Dukes did not recognize Jia Qiang, there would be many generals in the Daqian army who would not accept Jia Qiang.

In that case, even if Jia Qiang becomes a first-class military attache, she will be restricted in everything.

But Jia Qiang didn't care about this. He had already thought about it. If he could really control the military, he could promote his near-death training.

Selecting a large number of talents from near-death training, he still has more than 8,000 controllable soul slots. At that time, he will disperse the heroes who are absolutely loyal to him to all parts of the army. After some time, he can He is the one who has the final say in the army.

Of course, this was under the premise that he was willing to do so. If his subordinates had not completely disobeyed orders, he would not have done such a laborious thing.

(End of this chapter)