Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 369 Jia Lian
After the court session that day, Lin Ruhai and Gan Feng asked to see the emperor.

In the main hall of Daming Palace, Li Qiang met with two cabinet ministers.

Since it was official business and Gan Feng was present, both Li Qiang and Lin Ruhai maintained the etiquette between monarch and subject.

"Tell me, what difficulties have you encountered?" Li Qiang asked after asking the two cabinet ministers to sit down.

Now most of the government affairs are handled by the cabinet. Even if the cabinet cannot complete it, just hand it over to him and let him decide.

The arrival of the two cabinet ministers this time shows that things are not simple.

"Mr. Gan, why are you so tired?" Before the two cabinet ministers could speak, Li Qiang noticed the bloodshot in Gan Feng's eyes.

"This is why we came to Your Majesty. The cabinet has too many affairs to deal with now, and we would like to ask Your Majesty to agree to expand the number of cabinet members!" Lin Ruhai replied with a wry smile.

He took the "longevity pill" and lived an extra hundred years.

The extra hundred years of lifespan made him the equivalent of a teenager. Plus, Li Qiang would occasionally give him a "Healing Spell [Advanced]", so he could handle any amount of work.

But Gan Feng is not like that. Gan Feng is just an ordinary person, and the increasingly heavy workload has taken a toll on his body.

Gan Feng was a man who refused to admit defeat. Seeing that Lin Ruhai could hold on, he naturally refused to relax himself.

"In the future, the cabinet ministers will have an additional benefit, which will be granted by me!" Li Qiang decided with a smile.

Just when Gan Feng didn't quite understand what blessing was, Li Qiang waved her hand at him, and an invisible energy fell on him.

The healing energy of 'Healing Technique [Advanced]' entered his body, and he felt his fatigue instantly disappear. His body was filled with vitality, and he felt like he was young again.

"This..." Gan Feng was so shocked that he was speechless.

He didn't expect the blessing to be this. There were many legends about Li Qiang. Although he believed that Li Qiang was a master of both civil and military affairs, he still found it hard to believe that Li Qiang had any abilities beyond this world.

But Li Qiang's casual move made him realize that he seemed to be wrong.

"You can think of this as a fairy's method. Your body will be able to maintain this state for the next few months!" Li Qiang explained with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your blessing!" Gan Feng bowed deeply to express his gratitude.

Li Qiang waved her hand and asked him to stand up and sit back down.

"As for the expansion of the cabinet, have you drawn up a set of rules?" Li Qiang asked.

"According to the current situation, the number of cabinet members must be at least doubled!" Lin Ruhai replied directly without any hesitation.

Originally, there was only Daqian's government affairs, which could be handled by the cabinet in cooperation with Daqian's various departments.

But what is the situation now? Penglai, Tatar, Waqira, and more and more lands are being incorporated into Daqian, which has increased the workload of the cabinet.

"The cabinet should check whether each ministry wants to expand, and then submit a petition together!" Li Qiang thought for a moment and replied.

He also understood that the increase in the number of officials in the capital's government offices was inevitable, as these departments had too many things to take care of.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. The construction of the railway from the capital to Tianjin has recruited too many laborers. This will affect other affairs of Daqian. Please make a wise decision!" Gan Feng said.

This project was a super large one, and Li Qiang required a tight time frame, so the number of laborers mobilized by the Ministry of Works exceeded 300,000.

Three hundred thousand laborers were devoted to the construction of the railway, which had a significant impact on other affairs in the area. The management of many farmlands could not keep up, and some water conservancy maintenance was not available.

"I remember that the Tatars and the Oirat have captured quite a few prisoners. Besides, the construction of Penglai has also reached a stable stage. These people will be transferred here to join the construction, and the people of Daqian can go home!" Li Qiang thought for a while and decided.

Among the large number of Tatars living under the Tatar Sacred Mountain, there are quite a few young and middle-aged men. Together with the defeated cavalry captured in the territories of Tatar and Oirat, the number is an extremely large number.

As for Penglai, there are at least 400,000 Japanese.

Originally, Li Qiang intended to completely exterminate the more than 400,000 Japanese in Penglai, but it is better to let them exert their last remaining energy.

The construction after Daqian was not just this railway. The construction of a large number of cement roads, workshops, docks, etc. all required a large number of manpower.

As long as these people are provided with food, they can work all day without any additional wages.

"If we do this, I'm afraid some officials in the court will criticize us and accuse us of being a country that is not strong enough!" Gan Feng said worriedly.

It doesn't matter if a large number of prisoners are used to build projects overseas or far away from the capital.

But if it is put under the noses of some civil servants, many of them will raise objections.

"If there are really officials with such broad minds, you should write down their names. Next time, when we send officials to the occupied areas, they will be given priority. Daqian needs them to train the people there to be like them. That way, Daqian will no longer have to worry about resistance in these occupied areas!" Li Qiang said lightly.

Lin Ruhai and Gan Feng looked at each other. They both hoped that no one would really jump out without knowing the consequences.

The court now is different from before. Although Li Qiang only inquires about government affairs at court meetings, his control over the court is more secure than that of any other emperor.

Because Li Qiang had both soldiers and money, he had complete control over the cabinet.

And now, Li Qiang is infinitely elevated in the hearts of the people of Daqian.

The news that continued to reach the capital made the people of Daqian feel the pride of the Celestial Empire.

Daqian's army continued to sweep away country after country, and piece after piece of land was occupied by Daqian. This was an unprecedented event for Daqian.

And all of this was brought about by Li Qiang. Although there had been constant wars in Daqian, the national treasury of Daqian had not invested any money. Instead, it could continue to reap profits from the occupied areas.

After this dialogue between the emperor and his ministers, the number of official positions in the six ministries and the cabinet doubled from their original size.

Fortunately, Daqian has enough reserve officials, especially in recent years, with special examinations held almost every year, which has brought the number of reserve officials to a new high.

A large number of reserve officials were assigned official positions and many capable officials were promoted.

Among them, Jia Lian and Xue Pan took this opportunity to be transferred from their military officer status in the Beijing camp to the Ministry of Revenue.

In the second courtyard of the Jia family, Jia Lian got out of the sedan chair, which was carried directly into the courtyard.

He got out of the sedan chair, waved to the bearers to get off and rest, then slowly walked towards the backyard.

As soon as he entered the backyard, several eyes fell on him.

Jia She didn't take it seriously at first, but Jia Zheng let out a cry of surprise.

"Brother Lian, are you wearing the wrong official uniform?" Jia Zheng asked.

Jia Zheng was of course very familiar with the official uniform that Jia Lian was wearing. Jia Zheng had been an official for many years, and the official uniform he wore when he was most proud was the official uniform in front of him, the official uniform of a fifth-rank civil official.

The cyan uniforms of civil officials are clearly different from those of military officials.

"Second uncle, I have been transferred from the Beijing camp to the Ministry of Revenue. I am now a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue!" The reason why Jia Lian walked so slowly was that he was waiting for his family's questions. He answered with a little pride.

A fifth-rank military officer and a fifth-rank civil official are two completely different concepts.

To be honest, there is at least a difference of two or three levels.

"Doctor of the Ministry of Revenue! My son has caught up with your second uncle's official position!" Jia She said with a big laugh.

Jia Zheng was a Yuwenlang in the Ministry of Works, which was almost the same position as Jia Lian's current position, but the position in the Ministry of Revenue was more important and had greater power than that in the Ministry of Works.

Jia Zheng looked unhappy, feeling that Jia He was mocking him intentionally. The highest official position he had ever held in his life was the same as Jia Lian's.

But he was still somewhat happy in his heart. After all, Jia Lian was now an official of the Jia family, and his promotion to an official position was a big deal for the Jia family.

Wang Xifeng was about to come out of the room when she heard the good news. She could not help but stand there in a daze, tears in her eyes.

She hugged her daughter gently and felt a sense of security in her home now.

When Jia Lian entered the room, Wang Xifeng pulled him to sit on a chair and walked forward to stroke the official uniform of a fifth-rank civil servant.

"Madam, our lives will get better and better in the future!" Jia Lian said with a smile.

He no longer has the romantic and unrestrained look he had in the past, but he is much more stable than before.

"You must remember that all this is bestowed by the emperor. Don't do anything wrong. We can save the money slowly. I don't want my property to be confiscated again!" Wang Xifeng reminded softly.

She was afraid. She had lent money at high interest rates, which landed her and her husband in jail. If it weren't for her relationship with Li Qiang, how could she still be an official now?

"Of course. Now I am acting in the name of His Majesty!" Jia Lian nodded.

He knew very well that his continuous promotion was definitely due to the attention of Li Qiang.

With Li Qiang's attention, he would not dare to do anything corrupt or illegal even if he had a little more courage. The previous lesson was big enough.

"Madam, I haven't told you yet that I have applied for the fifth-rank imperial edict for you. The fifth-rank imperial robes will be granted to you in two days!" He hugged Wang Xifeng and his daughter and said with a smile.

Wang Xifeng was stunned. She couldn't help but touch her face, as if she had never thought that one day she would be able to become an imperial edict.

"Madam, there is something I would like to ask for your opinion on?" Jia Lian said solemnly.

"What's the big deal?" Wang Xifeng was startled, thinking that something had happened, and asked worriedly.

"I would like to take the initiative to apply to be an official in the occupied area!" Jia Lian said in a deep voice.

"What?" Wang Xifeng was so frightened that she almost dropped her daughter.

The occupied area is a new term for Daqian at present. It is located in a very remote place where there is no education and it is said to be a place where people eat raw meat and drink blood.

If Jia Lian really wanted to go to the occupied area, given the situations of Jia She and Jia Zheng, it would be difficult for Wang Xifeng to go with him, and she would have to stay at home to take care of them.

"This is what I think. I am now a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue. Although I am a fifth-rank official, this is only a conferred position. Perhaps I will never be able to make any progress in my lifetime, just like my second uncle.

But now I have the opportunity. As long as I go to the occupied area to serve as an official, I can become a prefect and govern a region.

With the experience of governing a region, and making some achievements in the occupied area, I can make further progress when I come back. The most important thing is that there is the emperor above me. As long as I have achievements, the emperor will not forget me!" Jia Lian stated his reasons.

"But what should I do if you go there?" Wang Xifeng murmured.

"Let's have another son. You will stay in Daqian to take care of him while I work on building a future for him!" Jia Lian said after kissing Wang Xifeng.

After all the romantic times he once had, and after going through wind, frost, rain and snow, his wife is the only one who keeps him company.

Jia Lian has not looked for a second wife in these years, and his relationship with Wang Xifeng is almost the same as when they grew up together as children.

"Okay!" Wang Xifeng replied shyly.

On the other side, in the Xue Mansion, Xue Pan returned home wearing the official uniform of a fifth-rank civil servant, making the Xue Mansion lively again.

Li Qiang was just doing it casually. Jia Lian and Xue Pan represented the Jia family and the Xue family, two families with which he had many connections.

As long as Jia Lian and Xue Pan were qualified, he would take care of these two families a little.

Of course, after this transfer, it would be difficult for Jia Lian and Xue Pan to get promoted further.

Who says they are appointed by imperial decree? Unless they can make some significant contribution while in office, they will be considered an outsider in the civil service system and will be excluded by other civil servants.

But with the official status of a fifth-rank civil servant, the descendants of the Jia and Xue families had an excellent background.

The official status of a fifth-rank civil servant can affect a child's entire life. Whether it is marrying a wife or marrying a daughter, it can be raised to a considerable rank.

However, Li Qiang did not expect that Jia Lian would be so decisive and choose to serve as an official in the occupied area.

You have to know that nowadays when the cabinet wants to send officials to serve in the occupied areas, they try every possible means to persuade them, and there are few officials who take the initiative to go there.

Jia Lian did not have many children, but whether it was because he had exercised self-control or God was willing to give him a chance, two months later he discovered that Wang Xifeng was pregnant.

At this time, Jia Lian's application to serve as an official in the occupied area was also approved, and he would go to a country on the Black Sea to serve as the chief official.

Accompanying Jia Lian was an army of 10,000 men equipped with long muskets and new artillery.

The reason for sending such a strong army was not only because of the increase in Daqian's arms production, but also because the enemy army's weapons there already had artillery and muskets.

Although the power of artillery and muskets is not as strong as that of Daqian, it would be difficult to crush the local area if ordinary troops were sent in.

Of course, Jia Lian's visit this time seemed dangerous, but in fact the danger was very small.

Because the First Guard of the Beijing Camp and the Artillery Corps had completely wiped out the troops in the occupied areas, the 10,000 well-equipped troops only needed to deal with the sporadic resistance forces.

Li Qiang also prepared a team of 100 brave guards for Jia Lian. Jia Lian's proactive application was used as a highlight for publicity to encourage other officials to follow Jia Lian's example.

For this reason, he didn't want anything to happen to Jia Lian. The guards of a hundred brave generals were enough to save Jia Lian's life under any circumstances and would not put Jia Lian's life in danger.

It took Jia Lian four months to get to the place where he was to take up his post, even with the help of some steam carriages.

(End of this chapter)