Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 193 Official appointment
On the fourth day after Jia Qiang returned to Beijing, she finally received the news from the eunuch in the palace in advance that the imperial edict from the palace would arrive at Jiahou Mansion at this time in the morning.

The Jiahou Mansion immediately got busy, preparing the incense table and cleaning the inside and outside.

Jia Qiang changed into a python suit and sat in the hall waiting.

Currently, there is no hostess in Jiahou Mansion, and he is the only one with status, and the rest are not qualified to participate in the imperial edict.

"Sir, the palace sedan has arrived at the street corner!" Before the time came, a boy came to preach.

This was the notification from the housekeeper Laoshuntou who had arranged in advance for someone to stand at the entrance of Ningrong Street and saw the palace sedan.

Jia Qiang stood up, and Jade stepped forward to smooth out the wrinkles on the python suit again, for fear of being rude.

"You are more attentive than me!" Jia Qiang said with a smile.

"This is a big deal for the master!" Jade replied with a chuckle.

Jia Qiang naturally understood that despite the peacefulness in the house these two days, everyone was actually waiting for him to be appointed official.

The soldiers and horses of nine provinces, which is almost equivalent to half of the territory of Daqian, have reached the limit of military power in the Daqian army.

Because the official title of the first-grade military attache conferred on him in the imperial edict is the nine-province capital inspection, which is different from the nine-province control system. The nine-province control system is the first-grade temporary military attaché, while the nine-province capital inspection is a formal official position.

This reflects the relationship between the two. They have been friends for many years, and since both of them are close ministers of Emperor Jingwen, they are natural allies. Not to mention that Jia Qiang has saved Xia Shouzhong several times.

In the imperial edict, in addition to being a military attaché of the first rank and inspecting all nine provinces, he was also granted the title of a civil servant of the fifth rank to walk in the cabinet.

The Minister of War is a civilian official, and civilian officials are in charge of military officials. This is the rule of Daqian.

Unless there is a large-scale war that affects the survival of Daqian, it is impossible for a military attache to command the world's troops and horses.

Listening to the contents of the imperial edict, Jia Qiang felt as if she had robbed Wang Ziteng of his opportunity.

"Manager Xia, please come and announce the decree in person!" Jia Qiang greeted with a smile.

As for how to manage the army in the south, it is necessary to manage the army in the south through the deployment of military attaches and remote command.

Next is the credit for patrolling the border and the credit for reorganizing the Northern Army. These two achievements are equally great.

He wanted to keep Xia Shouzhong longer, but Xia Shouzhong shied away and went back to the palace.

And a first-class military attache like him, especially when he has a young family, must be stationed in the capital.

Xia Shouzhong was not polite. He knew how profitable the Jiahou Mansion's property was.

Under such circumstances, Jia Qiang herself had not made any mistakes, so Emperor Jingwen had to give Jia Qiang an official position that was enough to convince the public.

Decentralizing power among the generals who led the troops was a method of governance used by dynasties throughout the ages.

"Congratulations, sir, congratulations, sir!" After Xia Shouzhong left, Butler Laoshuntou bowed and congratulated him.

He came to the door again and saw a small sedan escorted by a team of Beijing camp sergeants. Beside the sedan were four young eunuchs.

Regardless of the fact that cabinet ministers are only of the fifth rank, their influence even exceeds many official positions of the third rank. This is an official position that truly touches the core of the civil power of the Great Qian.

"Jia Hou, my master has discussed your matter with the Supreme Emperor many times!" Xia Shouzhong approached Jia Qiang and said softly.

As a result, even if Jia Qiang wanted to completely control the southern army, it would be difficult to achieve it.

Of course, there may be other reasons for this, which he is not aware of.

He also understood what Emperor Jingwen was thinking. His contribution was too great. Four years ago, he single-handedly drove the Tatars away from Daqian and took back Yulin Town.

Jia Qiang took the imperial edict with both hands, and delivered the two thousand-tael silver notes he had prepared long ago to Xia Shouzhong's hands.

He controls all nine provinces and can theoretically control the troops of up to nine provinces.

"Jia Hou, go to the Ministry of War as soon as possible. The jurisdiction of these nine provinces is in the south!" Xia Shouzhong said in a low voice when he took the banknote.

It was impossible for Xia Shouzhong to reveal anything in advance before announcing the edict. The two parties exchanged a few words of greetings. Seeing that the time was up, Xia Shouzhong took the edict and began to read it out.

Xia Shouzhong's current power is slightly greater than that of Dai Quan, and he can be said to be the most powerful eunuch in the palace.

If the official position granted is extremely powerful, then the status of everyone in Jiahou's mansion can also be very different.

But he was also curious. Most of the official positions of first-class military attachés were idle positions. There were very few first-class military attachés who truly had military power. The official positions of first-class military attachés were more of a favor for ministers who were honored.

He has made countless achievements over the years, but he is far away from the court and does not know much about the affairs in the court.

The sedan stopped, the young eunuch opened the curtain, and Xia Shouzhong walked out.

"Jia Hou accepts the order!" Xia Shouzhong's words interrupted Jia Qiang's thinking.

Jia Qiang saw the smile on Xia Shouzhong's face and the tone of his voice, and knew that the official position he was awarded this time should be very good.

Jia Qiang commanded soldiers and horses from many provinces, but the food and wages for these soldiers and horses were issued by the Ministry of War, and he only had the power to command.

Jia Qiang walked through the Yimen and came to the main gate. All the arrangements for receiving the order had been prepared.

As the saying goes, there are seven-rank officials in front of the prime minister.

Jia Qiang knelt down to receive the order, and the other servants also knelt down from a distance.

The official position of cabinet minister is rare, because it is usually a temporary civilian official position, but it is also the official position closest to the cabinet among civil servants.

But if Jia Qiang was allowed to take over the northern army, it would be possible to create a situation where the tail was too big to lose, so the area under his jurisdiction was placed in the south.

Jia Qiang nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.

That is to say, because of Jia Qiang's existence, those properties were not targeted by others.

Lao ShunTou, the housekeeper, didn't know much about the two official positions of the Nine Provinces and the Cabinet, but he could tell from the look on Jia Qiang's face that these two official positions were not simple.

"Everyone in the house will be rewarded with two months of regular money!" Jia Qiang ordered with a smile.

"Thank you, Master!" All the slaves thanked him in unison.

Jia Qiang took the imperial edict and sent it to the Jia family's ancestral hall. As the first generation of the Jia family in Yangzhou, he naturally wanted to leave such important events in his family tree.

Along with the imperial edict, there were also two sets of official robes, one for a first-grade military attaché and the other for a fifth-grade civilian official, as well as the seals inspected by the nine provinces.

In fact, there are more than just official robes. Later, someone will send official robes to be worn on various occasions.

After lunch, he put on the official robe of a first-grade military attache, took four soldiers and went out.

The reason why he didn't wear a python suit was because he was going to the Ministry of War this time. He didn't want to delay any longer. He had to know the area under his jurisdiction before he could rest assured.

When I arrived at the Ministry of War, I met the new Minister of War, Bao Ji'an. Although the original Minister Leng delayed for a while, he still retreated.

"Master Jia Hou, I've heard of you for a long time!" Bao Shangshu received Jia Qiang very politely.

"When Bao Shangshu was promoted to Shangshu of the Ministry of War, I was in the north. I couldn't say congratulations. It's a pity!" Jia Qiang replied with a smile.

When Bao Shangshu saw that Jia Qiang was so easy to get along with, he felt a lot more relaxed.

He received the order from the palace, and Jia Qiang was promoted to the first rank of the Nine Provinces. Jia Qiang is now a big boss in the army. There are many matters in the Ministry of War that require contact with the army.

Jia Qiang's likes and dislikes can almost affect the affairs of the Ministry of War.

Most importantly, Jia Qiang is so young, and her influence in Daqian will last for decades.

"Master Jiahou is so elegant, who would have thought that you would be a famous general of our time!" Bao Shangshu said with a smile.

The two parties complimented each other and completed the greetings of their first meeting.

"I also know the purpose of Mr. Jiahou's coming this time. This is the area under the jurisdiction of Mr. Jiahou. Your government office is still under construction. It will take about a month to complete!" Bao Shangshu handed over a document. Jia Qiang explained.

The genuine nine-province metropolitan inspection point has its own nine-province metropolitan inspection point office, and all the officials will be available.

Originally there was no official position in charge of the Southern Army's Nine Provincial Governors. The Nine Provincial Governors were set up but not used. Such a top military attache position, which controlled half of the army, could not be filled by just anyone.

Especially during the period when the Supreme Emperor and Emperor Jingwen were fighting for power, the Supreme Emperor did not like to concentrate the military power in his hands on one person. Decentralized military power was more suitable for the Supreme Emperor to use his personal influence to control.

Therefore, there are no government offices in the nine provinces, and they need to be rebuilt. Officials do not need to worry, they can just be transferred from various places.

Jia Qiang took the document and was secretly shocked when he saw the province under his jurisdiction.

It’s not that the power is small, it’s that the power is too great.

Jinling, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou are all in charge of the nine provinces, and they are truly in charge of the army of the nine provinces.

He suppressed his excitement and read the other contents in the document carefully.

This document has many pages, and contains a brief introduction by the Ministry of War to all military attachés of sixth rank and above in these nine provinces.

"Due to the excessive amount of data, we need to wait until the inspection offices of the nine provinces are established before the military data of the nine provinces can be transferred from the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War has been much busier recently, just to copy the military data of these nine provinces!" Bao Shangshu explained with a smile.

"Thank you for your support, Shangshu Bao. Without Shangshu Bao's help, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to get started easily!" Jia Qiang clasped her fists in thanks.

The cooperation from Shangshu Bao also depends on the degree of cooperation.

He could just wait and give Jia Qiang what he asked for, but Jia Qiang had no experience in managing the army of the nine provinces, and many situations were unclear, so he might be in a hurry for a long time.

Now that he is extremely cooperative and has prepared the information in advance, Jia Qiang must accept this favor.

"I heard that Mr. Jiahou has also been appointed as a cabinet minister. You are the highest-ranking official among your group of Jinshi!" Bao Shangshu said, changing the subject.

"I haven't been in Beijing for a long time, so I don't know much about what happened in the same year!" Jia Qiang shook her head and replied.

His batch of number one scholars entered the Hanlin Academy and became the sixth-grade editor. Although this starting point is extremely high, it also takes time to settle down. Four years is not enough.

"Master Jia Hou also wants to communicate more with his contemporaries. You are not only a military attache, but also a civil servant from Tanhualang!" Bao Shangshu said with a smile.

"Thank you for reminding me, and I would like to give Shangshu Bao more recommendations!" Jia Qiang replied.

He could feel that the civil servant Bao Shangshu was trying to drag him into the civil service system.

The core of the civil service system is the civil service officials who pass the imperial examination and become Jinshi.

And Jia Qiang was exactly this kind of person, a civil servant with Zheng Miaohong roots, and he was appointed as a first-grade military attaché.

Winning Jia Qiang into the civil service system is equivalent to turning a senior military officer into a member of the civil service system. This is a major benefit to the civil service system.

Confrontations between civil and military forces have existed since ancient times, and Daqian was no exception.

Jia Qiang does not need to care about any civil-military confrontation. With his official position among military attaches, he no longer needs to consider the thoughts of other military attaches.

It just so happens that I can use the wooing of the civil service system to better survive in the Daqian court.

In the following time, Jia Qiang and Bao Shangshu talked about poetry and prose, completely acting like literati.

After chatting for half an hour, Jia Qiang finally said goodbye.

He returned to the mansion and hurriedly changed into his python clothes, then took four soldiers to the palace.

This time he entered the palace to thank him. The reason why he went to the Ministry of War first was to understand how powerful he was. There was no way that Emperor Jingwen and the Supreme Emperor had any problem with him inspecting all nine provinces. He could not reply because he did not know his own power. .

Now it is extremely easy for him to enter the palace, and the eunuchs at the palace gate have already known him.

The most important thing is that on his wrist is a string of beads given by the Supreme Emperor, on his waist is the 'Ping Kou Sword' given by the Supreme Emperor, and he also has the 'As if I am here in person' gold medal given by Emperor Jingwen. Each of these pieces He can enter the palace at will.

After entering the palace, he first went to the East Palace.

"Come here, Jia Aiqing, sit down quickly. We have some new tea from Yunnan. Let's try it together!" Emperor Jingwen saw him arriving, pointed to the empty seat opposite and said with a smile.

Jia Qiang first bowed and thanked her, and then sat down.

Emperor Jingwen just liked Jia Qiang's attitude. Although Jia Qiang was extremely young, there was no hint of youthfulness and frivolity in her, especially her attitude towards him, which was always respectful.

"The reason why I want you to take charge of the army of the nine southern provinces is to transform the army of the nine southern provinces into an army like the north!" Emperor Jingwen took a sip of tea and said lightly.

In four years, anyone who has seen it with their own eyes can see the huge changes in the appearance and discipline of the Northern Army.

This is also an important reason why Jia Qiang was rated as a famous general by the Supreme Emperor. There are many people who can fight, but there are fewer generals who can fight and train the army. It is even rarer to achieve amazing results in both aspects.

"I will live up to the expectations of the Holy One!" Jia Qiang responded.

He had figured out how to transform the Southern Army into something like the Northern Army.

He carried out near-death training in the southern army, and selected those who passed and sent them to him, and he trained them into 100% loyal warriors.

Then he taught him all his training plan and the 'Practice of Military Acting'.

A 100% loyal general can 100% implement his training plan when he is in the army across the south, without having to worry about doing half-hearted things.

As long as there are enough 100% loyal generals, the southern army can catch up with the northern army in two or three years.

(End of this chapter)