Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 311 Court Meeting

Chapter 311 Court Meeting
In the morning, since Lin Ruhai entered the Jiuqing Room, almost every official who saw him would take the initiative to greet him.

All the officials looked at him with envy in their eyes.

Because today he was wearing the robe of a first-rank civil official, which was the highest rank of civil officials in Daqian, and the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet was the head of the civil officials in Daqian.

Considering Lin Ruhai's age and his relationship with Crown Prince Li Qiang, Lin Ruhai will control the Daqian court for at least twenty years.

Lin Ruhai responded with a smile. He was a man of elegance and bearing. Although he had just become a cabinet minister, his momentum was already there.

He sat next to Grand Secretary Tian, ​​which was the default position for the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

"Cabinet affairs are complicated, so from now on it will be up to you and me to work together!" said Scholar Tian with a smile.

"Ruhai has just entered the cabinet and still needs more guidance from Lord Tian!" Lin Ruhai replied modestly.

"It's not really guidance. If you have any questions, let's discuss it together!" said Scholar Tian, ​​waving his hand.

When the two cabinet ministers were talking, the officials nearby did not interrupt them and just kept talking in low voices.

"It's time to go to court, Lord Lin, please come in!" After hearing the eunuch's announcement, Grand Secretary Tian stretched out his hand and waved to Lin Ruhai.

"Please come in first, Lord Tian!" Lin Ruhai said in the same way.

The two men were polite to each other, stood up together, and walked out of the Nine Ministers' Room. After they left, the rest of the officials followed suit, including the two princes who were attending the court meeting.

It was not the first time that Lin Ruhai attended court, but it was the first time that he stood at the head of the civil servants. Next to him was Grand Secretary Tian, ​​and behind each of them stood a row of civil servants. He and Grand Secretary Tian stood in the middle of the hall.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!" Jin Dong's voice was heard when all the officials stood still.

Li Qiang, wearing a dragon robe, quickly came to the dragon throne and sat down.

What followed was the normal procedure. Officials came forward one by one to report on their work, and the Daqian court ran like a machine, handling all of Daqian's affairs.

"If you have something to report, please come forward. If not, please adjourn the court!" Jin Dong announced loudly after the normal government affairs were completed.

"I have something to report!" Lang Hou said as he stood out from the line of military officers.

All the civil officials' eyes fell on Lang Hou, mainly because it was a bit strange for Lang Hou, a military officer, to come out at this moment.

Military officers usually attended court meetings just to show up, and government affairs generally had nothing to do with them.

Military attachés would only speak out when war broke out.

Of course, there was also deliberate suppression by civil officials, which prevented military officers from having the same power as civil officials in the court.

"What memorial does Lord Lang have?" Li Qiang became interested and asked with a smile.

His relationship with Lang Hou was because he was Lang Hou's son. He also fought with Lang Hou and they were considered close in the army.

"The Tatars have been harassing the northern border of Daqian for many years, causing the people in the north to be displaced. Now that Daqian has a strong army, I hope that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will allow me to lead the troops to wipe out the Tatars and flatten the Tatar Sacred Mountain!" Lang Hou said loudly.

"I object! We cannot resort to war rashly. Daqian governs the country through education. If we take the initiative to provoke a war, we will be no different from barbarians!" As soon as Lang Hou finished speaking, an old minister from the Hanlin Academy stood up to object.

"You are the one who is supposed to govern the country through education. Why didn't you go to educate the people when the Tatar army invaded?" Before Lang Hou could speak, other military officers stood up and ridiculed him.

Now, a war of words started between the civil and military sides. The civil officials were arguing and the military officials were swearing loudly.

Li Qiang did not stop it, but watched the quarrel in the court with great interest.

This was the first time he had seen such a scene since he first attended court and now that he was presiding over the court himself.

Judging from the appearance of the military officer, it seems that they had discussed it long ago and decided to launch the attack today.

"Please make the decision, Your Highness the Crown Prince!" The verbal battle between the civil and military sides continued for a while. After realizing that Crown Prince Li Qiang did not stop it, both sides felt it was boring and their voices became quieter. It was then that Lang Hou spoke loudly.

The military officers were of course very enthusiastic. After seeing the current strength of Daqian's military, they were all very excited. With such a strong army, how could they not make achievements?

Especially Li Qiang's 500 private soldiers, which are 500 fifth-rank warriors. Even without using artillery, they are still an invincible army.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, Daqian's treasury is now empty and cannot support a major war, let alone a war abroad!" Grand Scholar Tian stood up and said.

These words should have been said by the Minister of Revenue, but the previous Minister of Revenue had been dismissed and the new Minister of Revenue had not yet taken office.

At least the new Minister of Revenue can only take office after the major grain case of the Ministry of Revenue is almost over.

Not only the Minister of Revenue, but now the Ministry of Revenue is almost half empty. Under such circumstances, there are not enough officials to mobilize funds, let alone organize a major outbound campaign.

"Tian Zhongtang, this is the best time to destroy the great enemy, the Tatars. The Tatars have just suffered heavy losses, and the Daqian army, under the leadership of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, has many brave generals. Just one battle can ensure a hundred years of peace in the northern border of Daqian!" Lang Hou said to Tian Daxueshi.

"How can we go to war without money and food?" Scholar Tian shook his head helplessly.

"Oh!" When Lord Lang heard what Academician Tian said, he couldn't help but sigh.

He believed what Grand Secretary Tian said. It was a fact that the national treasury was tight, and it was also a fact that there was no grain. It was no secret that several large granaries of the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing had been stolen.

"Let's put the Tatar tribe issue aside for now. I have already set up a weapons research institute and am developing new weapons. The cavalry and traditional infantry will be eliminated. Once there are research results, the Ministry of War will invite generals to inspect them!" Li Qiang said.

“But are they the cannons used in martial arts performances?” Lang Hou’s eyes lit up and he asked quickly.

The other military officers were also very excited. It was not like they had never seen artillery before. However, Daqian's artillery was extremely heavy and inconvenient to move.

However, the artillery used in military performances can be held by powerful generals.

Although it is impossible for the army to have so many fifth-turn warriors, and it is even more impossible to let fifth-turn warriors serve as gun carriages, but as long as that kind of artillery is equipped with a wheel, it can be pushed by several soldiers or pulled by horses.

If the army has such a powerful weapon, the combat effectiveness of the army will be greatly enhanced.

"Cannons are only one aspect. There are also new-type muskets for single-person use. In future battlefields, enemies will be killed by muskets at long distances!" Li Qiang explained with a smile.

He had already drawn the shape of the rifle. Although he did not remember some of the mechanical structures clearly, he knew the general principles.

The Daqian craftsmen may not be able to innovate, but given the style and principles, it is not difficult to research and develop a finished product.

As for gunpowder, it was also purchased together with a large number of Portuguese artillery from the West. This gunpowder can be used in rifles.

Of course, there is a group of craftsmen who specialize in the research of gunpowder. Li Qiang knows the general direction. The craftsmen are constantly trying in the right research direction. I believe that by the time the research on the rifle is successful, the new type of gunpowder can be equipped together.

Unfortunately, copper mines in Daqian are relatively scarce, and most of the copper is used in coin making. It is not realistic to use copper to make bullet casings, and other metals are somewhat difficult to use. Therefore, the rifles currently being researched still have the form of separating gunpowder and bullets.

Without any constraints, Li Qiang could boldly use the technology from his previous life.

But it is not easy for Daqian, a country with almost no industrial foundation, to rebuild an industrial system, even if he is the crown prince, and the same is true for future emperors.

Although it was a little difficult, he understood that as long as he gave it his all, things would change. "Your Highness, where does the money for the research you mentioned come from?" Tian Daxueshi interrupted and asked.

Although he is quite old, he has a very good memory and he does not remember that the cabinet has ever allocated funds accordingly.

"This is a research funded by me, and no money from the Daqian treasury was used!" Li Qiang explained calmly.

Scholar Tian stepped aside silently. He sighed helplessly in his heart. The thing he was most worried about had happened.

He knew how powerful Li Qiang was, and he also knew that Li Qiang had a lot of wealth.

Even if Li Qiang had some wealth before, it was impossible for her to use it all on Daqian's affairs.

But now it is different. Li Qiang has taken over the businesses of six major merchants. It is no exaggeration to say that he is rich enough to rival a country.

From now on, any matters in the court that Li Qiang is interested in will not need to be approved by the cabinet, and he will not even need to inform the court. He can use the money in his hands to get things done.

This behavior of skipping the court and the cabinet is to undermine the court and the cabinet, and to a certain extent achieve autocracy.

Scholar Tian felt extremely powerless. If Li Qiang was weaker, he would be able to force Li Qiang to compromise.

But Li Qiang's strength is beyond imagination.

Li Qiang can form an army by himself and defeat an entire country by himself. With the huge wealth in his hands, no one in the world can stop him from doing anything.

Scholar Tian even more recalled the passionate looks that every soldier from various provinces and the nine frontiers gave Li Qiang during the military drill. Those were looks that made them willing to die for him.

"At least the cabinet can still assist and prevent His Royal Highness the Crown Prince from making any mistakes!" Grand Secretary Tian comforted himself.

Although Li Qiang did not agree to the military attachés' request to go into battle, they were still very excited.

"Lord Lang, although we are not sending troops at the moment, we still need to send scouts to fully understand the terrain and mineral resources of the neighboring countries!" Li Qiang continued to say to Lord Lang.

"I will obey your command and send the best scouts to bring back the information as soon as possible!" Lang Hou bowed in response.

The other military officers were also very happy and sent out scouts to gather intelligence from other countries in advance, indicating that Crown Prince Li Qiang was in favor of war.

On the civil service side, many old officials were frowning. A warlike prince and emperor were not what they wanted.

Jia Baoyu was riding an old horse and walking on the road outside the city with a flushed face.

He was discouraged by his failure in this year's scholar examination.

He didn't know that according to the history of "Dream of Red Mansions", he should have been able to pass the examination and become a scholar, and also passed the provincial examination.

But after losing the 'magic jade', he seemed to have lost his spiritual energy as well.

He couldn't even pass the examination for a scholar, let alone the provincial examination.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that his nephew Jia Lan became a scholar, which was like a mirror that made him feel ashamed.

After his failure in becoming a scholar, Jia Baoyu's life in Xue's mansion became even more difficult.

Xue Baochai was fine. She comforted him every day and encouraged him to take the exam again next year.

But Mrs. Xue often used sarcastic words to make him feel very uncomfortable.

Finally one day he couldn't stand it anymore, got drunk and left the city.

Unconsciously, he rode his old horse to a place. He looked up and found that he had arrived at the "Shuiyue Temple" unknowingly.

"How did I get here?" Jia Baoyu shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his mind.

"Shuiyue Temple" was where he suffered. He was captured here twice and became a laughing stock in the capital.

He was about to ride away, but then he thought, since he was already here, he might as well go to Shuiyue Temple to pay his respects, since this place originally belonged to the Jia family.

He dismounted his horse and walked into Shuiyue Temple.

The Shuiyue Temple today is very different from the past. First, its reputation was ruined by Jia Baoyu, and then the Jia family, the big financial sponsor behind it, fell, forcing the nuns in the Shuiyue Temple to find other ways out.

There were only two old nuns left in Shuiyue Temple with nowhere to go, and they were barely able to maintain the temple.

Jia Baoyu walked into Shuiyue Temple and didn't meet anyone. He came to the main hall and knelt down in front of the statue.

"Fool, wake up!" Just as he was kowtowing, he heard a faint voice in his ears.

Then, a slender jade hand stretched out from the void and stroked his head.

This slender jade hand appeared in reality, and the skin quickly turned from jade white to gray, as if it had undergone the erosion of thousands of years in an instant.

But this slender jade hand did not retreat and still pressed on Jia Baoyu's head.

Jia Baoyu felt as if the sound of Huangzhong and Dalu was ringing in his head, and his soul was trembling.

A memory that originally belonged to him was recalled in his mind.

The slender jade hand was quickly retracted at this time, and the skin on the hand kept peeling off during the retraction process.

In the illusory world of Taixu, Fairy Jinghuan looked at her right hand, which was only left with dry bones.

She sighed softly and moved her hand slightly. Countless blood vessels appeared on the dry bones. Then flesh and blood wrapped around the blood vessels, and finally new skin grew.

After just a few breaths, her right hand returned to its original state.

Although she looked better, in fact, the price she paid for this attack was not small. Repairing the injury on her right hand consumed a lot of her energy.

These energies are the foundation of her enlightenment. If it were not for the purpose of awakening Jia Baoyu's past life memories, she would never have been able to do so.

The lame Taoist and the bald monk both died, and the other immortals were unwilling to interfere in this matter.

Not only that, the immortals left the mortal world and entered their own temples one by one. The lessons of the lame Taoist and the bald monk were still in their minds, and no immortal wanted to save them from this fate.

The fairy Jinghuan had to take action herself. She took advantage of Jia Baoyu's distraction to influence him to enter Shuiyue Temple, and then awakened Jia Baoyu with the statue of the deity in the temple.

"Who am I? I am Jia Baoyu, I am the attendant of the divine water!" Jia Baoyu remained kneeling and muttered to himself.

When he said "Servant Shenying", his aura suddenly changed, and there was no mortal light in his eyes anymore, only emptiness and indifference.

(End of this chapter)

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