Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 364 Promotion
Li Qiang returned to the Daming Palace via the Taixu Illusion Realm.

From then on, Tatar fell completely under the control of Daqian, and there were no more Tatars.

"Master, this is this year's palace assessment. Please take a look!" When Jin Dong saw Li Qiang coming back, he took a list and presented it to him.

Li Qiang took the roster and glanced at it casually.

Such matters are handled by Jin Dong, the chief steward of the palace. However, when it comes to the promotion of some official positions in the palace, especially high-level promotions, Li Qiang's consent is still required.

Given Li Qiang's trust in Jin Dong, this list is more of a formality.

"Jia Lian and Xue Pan both did well and got first class!" Li Qiang saw the two names unexpectedly and couldn't help but smile.

The only capable male in the Jia family now is Jia Lian, who has been serving as a fifth-rank Dragon Guard in the palace.

Xue Pan's situation is similar to Jia Lian's. He also serves as a fifth-rank Dragon Guard in the palace. The reason why both of them were able to become fifth-rank Dragon Guards was because of the care given by Li Qiang.

However, when they became fifth-rank Dragon Guards, Li Qiang warned Jin Dong not to give them any special care.

The fifth-rank Dragon Guard is a rather special official position. You can do your job well and report to work on time, or you can come and report in every once in a while.

The Dragon Guard's job may seem to be an easy one, but the annual evaluation cannot be faked, and an objective assessment of the Dragon Guard's performance in the year will be made.

"Jia Lian and Xue Pan have both been rated A in recent years!" Jin Dong explained.

Li Qiang glanced at Jin Dong, and when she heard Jin Dong speak well of the two, she knew that Jin Dong must have received some benefits.

He was too lazy to ask about this point. One thing was certain: Jin Dong would not deceive him because Jin Dong was 100% loyal to him, and he agreed to Jin Dong accepting benefits.

A palace steward who does not accept bribes would be considered an outlier in the palace.

Jin Dong, the steward who seems to be able to be bought with money, will play an unexpected role when things really happen.

"Since they are worthy of training, let's arrange them to serve as assistants in the Beijing Camp. You can discuss the specific arrangements with Wu Zicang!" Li Qiang said after thinking for a while.

The rank of Qianshi in the Beijing Camp was a fourth-rank official position. Compared with the Dragon Guard Commander, it was not just a simple promotion from the fifth-rank to the fourth-rank. The rank of Qianshi was a real position in the Beijing Camp, and his future was brighter.

The Jia family still lives in the second courtyard, but their lives are more comfortable than when they first moved in.

These are the results of the joint efforts of Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng. As for Jia She and Jia Zheng, they still live at home with nothing to do.

Jia She now drinks cheap tea and plays with fans that cost less than one or two taels of silver.

Jia Zheng took part in an imperial examination and a major test, but he failed because of his lack of ability.

Mrs. Wang contacted her natal family but was unable to get any help from them. Since she was a married daughter and her husband's family had no use for her, it was impossible for them to provide any support.

She was also embarrassed to go to the Xue family. She had borrowed a large amount of money from the Xue family to build the Grand View Garden in the name of Jia Baoyu marrying Xue Baochai.

Now that Jia Baoyu has disappeared, it is already very good that the Xue family did not ask her to return the money.

It was precisely because of Jia Baoyu's disappearance that the relationship between the Jia and Xue families did not become closer, but became more distant.

Wang Xifeng came back from outside and saw her father-in-law playing with a fan and her second uncle reading a book that he would never finish. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

In the past few years, she has focused all her energy on the shop, which has improved the business a lot. This is also the main reason why life in the mansion has improved a lot in the past two years.

As for Jia Lian's salary, it was not much and could barely support his family.

Wang Xifeng greeted her father-in-law and second uncle one by one and was about to prepare the meal herself.

Although the family hired two maids to take care of their father-in-law and second uncle's family respectively, there was no extra money to hire a cook, so she and the two maids took care of everything together.

"Madam, madam!" Jia Lian's voice came from outside the door.

"You're already an official, why are you still so erratic!" Jia She rebuked in dissatisfaction.

He was in a bad mood because his life was not going well. He couldn't blame his daughter-in-law, so he usually took it out on his son.

"The Second Master is back!" Wang Xifeng had long been accustomed to her father-in-law's temper. She ignored him and walked quickly to greet him.

When Jia Lian appeared, she was stunned because the official robe on Jia Lian had changed.

"Second Master, you've been promoted!" Wang Xifeng's voice was louder than Jia Lian's. There was pride and vent in her voice.

The reason for his pride was that Jia Lian had finally been promoted, and from then on the Jia family had hope again.

The reason for venting was that Wang Xifeng had been carrying too many emotions in the past few years, and she had been taking care of everything for the family.

"Now I am a fourth-rank assistant in the Beijing Army!" Jia Lian said excitedly.

He has also made great efforts in the past few years. He has changed many bad habits, arrives at work on time every day, and completes the tasks assigned by the palace.

"A clerk in the Beijing camp, a clerk of the fourth rank, great, great!" Jia She forgot his previous reprimand at this moment, and was so happy that he almost tore the fan in his hand.

The fourth rank is already a mid-level official. The most important thing is that the promotion from the Dragon Guard Commander represents the emperor's recognition.

Officials who were able to be promoted from the rank of Dragon Guards historically always held high official positions.

Jia Zheng forced a smile on his face. In recent years, in addition to studying, he also wanted to have another child. Unfortunately, both he and Mrs. Wang were in poor health.

Seeing that Jia Lian was becoming successful, he thought of his own family situation and the missing Jia Baoyu and felt extremely depressed.

Mrs. Xing came out of the room and congratulated Jia Lian with a smile.

Mrs. Wang was hiding in her room. She was also in a bad mood, but she and her husband still needed Jia Lian to support them. After adjusting her mood, she came out of the room and expressed her congratulations with a smile.

Unlike the Jia family, everyone in the Xue Mansion was extremely excited when Xue Pan returned to the Xue Mansion.

Xue Tong waved his hand and requested a banquet from Qingfeng Tower and had it sent to his house, so that the whole family gathered happily together.

Mrs. Xue was happy for her son but worried about her daughter.

Given my daughter's situation, it would be impossible for her to find a good family to marry her off.

But she didn't want her daughter to suffer, so her daughter's marriage was delayed.

Every family in the capital city has smart people. Jia Lian and Xue Pan were promoted, although they were only fourth-rank assistant officials. However, it can be seen that Li Qiang did not forget them, which is completely different.

There were three sisters in the Jia family who married into the palace as concubines, but Li Qiang had never given Jia She and Jia Zheng any status before, and Jia She and Jia Zheng did not dare to regard themselves as the father-in-law of the emperor.

Now that Jia Lian has been promoted, it means that Li Qiang is still paying attention to Jia Lian. This alone requires every family in the capital to pay attention to the current Jia family.

On Xue Pan's side, someone heard that Xue Pan and Li Qiang were friends, which also made the families in the capital pay more attention to the Xue family. Suddenly, the Jia family and their old relatives and old friends came to visit.

Jin Dong knew Li Qiang very well, and he presented the information about the Jia family and the Xue family to Li Qiang.

Li Qiang just smiled after reading it. If Jia Lian and Xue Pan could continue to work hard, he would give them a future. But if they indulged in the benefits brought by power, he would give up on them at any time.

In the past few years, Li Qiang has firmly established himself on the throne, and the retired emperor knew that he was very busy, so he only allowed him to pay his respects at the beginning of each month, and did not have to pay his respects once a day as normal.

Today is the beginning of the month, and Li Qiang went to Changchun Palace with Lin Daiyu only.

At the gate of Changchun Palace, Dai Quan was waiting with a smile on his face. When he saw Li Qiang and Lin Daiyu arriving, he led them into the palace.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Li Qiang patted Dai Quan's shoulder gently, and a 'Healing Spell [Advanced]' fell on Dai Quan.

It was also in this year that the potential consumed by Dai Quan in practicing the generals' body-building techniques when he was young backfired, making him visibly older.

This is also the sorrow of ordinary warriors. Practicing the body-refining techniques of generals makes them powerful when they are young, but after they are old, their blood and qi are depleted, and the potential backlash of practicing the body-refining techniques of generals can no longer be suppressed.

Li Qiang's 'Healing Technique [Advanced]' made Dai Quan feel that his body suddenly became much younger.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Dai Quan quickly knelt down and bowed to express his gratitude.

"Okay, take good care of Grandpa Emperor!" Li Qiang asked him to stand up and said.

Li Qiang has decided to regard the 'Healing Technique [Advanced]' as a reward. Now he no longer needs to worry about the leakage of his own abilities, and he also has a fantasy world where he can escape from the world.

Dai Quan stood up swiftly and continued his previous work, leading Li Qiang and Lin Daiyu into the hall.

"Here I come!" The emperor was rarely playing, but was looking at a map hanging on the wall.

Li Qiang remembered that there had always been a curtain covering this wall, but she didn't expect that there was a map behind it.

This map does not only show Daqian. Daqian is in the center of the map, and the rest of the map is marked with individual countries.

In his opinion, the map was not very accurate.

Although he didn't know what some areas were called now, the terrain was clear to him, but the terrain on this map was biased.

However, considering that maps of this era did not have real world maps, but were instead maps collected from various locations and pieced together, their accuracy could not be guaranteed.

"Grandpa Emperor, this map is very old!" Li Qiang couldn't help but say when he saw the old map.

"This is the map I took when I conquered the grassland. Later, I searched all over the world and combined the maps of each country to get this map!" The emperor introduced while gently touching the map with his hand.

"I have the latest map and will send it to you tomorrow!" Li Qiang said with a smile.

"Did the Tatars destroy their country?" The emperor asked, not caring about the map. He pointed at the Tatar tribe on the map.

In fact, he had received the news a long time ago. How could he not know about such a big thing?

Li Qiang even sent someone to deliver the battle report to Changchun Palace. The emperor was more moved at this moment.

Since the founding of Daqian, there have been constant conflicts with the Tatars.

But even he could not really do anything to the Tatars. The Tatar cavalry had the advantage of speed, and if they could not defeat them, they could simply escape.

Every time Daqian sends troops, it consumes a lot of Daqian's national strength.

Every time the troops were sent to the grassland, they suffered heavy losses in terms of food, weapons, armor, money, and personnel.

Throughout history, almost all nations that entered the grasslands to fight would see their national strength decline and eventually be forced to stop.

As long as the grassland tribes can slow down for a dozen years and a new generation is born and grow up, they can recover and become a hidden danger to Daqian again.

But Li Qiang destroyed the Tatar country. The retired emperor would become so excited whenever he thought about it recently.

"Yes, not only did the Tatars lose their country, but the Oirat was almost destroyed as well!" Li Qiang replied with a smile.

"Will there be no more threats from the grassland in the future?" the emperor asked again.

"No, the cavalry didn't even stand a chance of getting close to the long muskets. The grassland cavalry has become history!" Li Qiang replied affirmatively.

"It seems that when I meet my ancestors, I can tell them this good news!" said the retired emperor with a long sigh of relief.

"It will probably take a long time for you to meet our ancestors!" Li Qiang said with a smile.

"I know your methods. Although they can protect my body from being affected by illness, my life span is determined by heaven, and you cannot change it. I can sense that my life span is only a few years!" The emperor shook his head.

The older he gets, the more he understands his own situation.

He also practiced the military body-building techniques and was able to sense the detailed condition of his body.

"This time I conquered the sacred mountain of Tatar and obtained immortal treasures from it, including the longevity pill. One pill can extend the life of a mortal by a hundred years!" Li Qiang said as he took out a jade bottle.

He placed the jade bottle in the hands of the retired emperor, and inside the jade bottle was a longevity pill.

"Is there such a precious medicine? You should keep this longevity pill for yourself!" To Li Qiang's surprise, the emperor took a look at the jade bottle and shook his head.

"This is a gift from your grandson to honor your grandfather. I'm still young and don't need the longevity elixir!" Seeing that the emperor refused, Li Qiang followed suit and advised.

"You don't need it now because you are young, but you will need it in the future. If you live another hundred years, it will be of greater benefit to Daqian!" The emperor waved his hand and insisted.

At this age, the emperor emeritus had been the emperor for many years and could be said to have seen through all aspects of life and no longer had much fear of death.

Even if he, the emperor, lives another hundred years, it will be of no use to Daqian.

On the contrary, if Daqian had Li Qiang as its emperor and Li Qiang could live another hundred years, how prosperous Daqian would be.

Since ancient times, sage emperors were all hindered by their short lifespans, otherwise they would have been able to accomplish even greater achievements.

"Each person can only use one of these longevity pills. I have another one on hand, so you can take this one!" Li Qiang didn't expect that giving away the longevity pill would be so troublesome.

After hearing that Li Qiang still had the longevity elixir, the retired emperor prepared to put the elixir away.

"Grandpa Emperor, you must take it now. This kind of treasure cannot be kept for long!" Li Qiang reminded hurriedly.

Anyone would be tempted by such a treasure, and placing it in Changchun Palace would only bring unnecessary trouble.

In order to live another hundred years, I am afraid that even the people I trust the most will betray me, so it is better not to keep this treasure that tests people's hearts.

(End of this chapter)