Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 144 Everything Happens for a Reason

Tanchun, who was standing by, asked curiously, "Master, what does the power of direct report mean?"

Jia Zheng smiled and said, "According to the rules of our dynasty, officials of the fifth rank and below, if they have something to report, must be approved by the Ministry or the superior before they can report it.

Only officials of the fourth rank and above have the right to report directly to the emperor. This is called the right to report directly to the emperor.

Even if Congge was promoted to the seventh rank of civil official, he would not have the power to make direct reports. It was because Congge presented the three-stage attack method that the emperor valued his knowledge and granted him this special favor. "

Daiyu, Tanchun and other girls in the boudoir had never heard of such stories about officialdom. They just listened to the master's explanation and knew that the third brother was extremely powerful.

According to this calculation, even a fifth-rank official like the master does not have the power to make direct reports, but Third Brother Cong, a seventh-rank official, already has it.

Both Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang grew up in official families. Although they did not understand the intrigues and risks in officialdom, they had heard a lot about the superficial things.

Although it was a bit scary for a teenager to be promoted to a seventh-rank official, it was secondary. The power to report directly to the emperor was truly precious. In other words, Jia Cong, a seventh-rank official, had the same status as a fourth-rank official.

On weekdays, their minds are mostly focused on the mansion and they are unaware of many things happening outside.

But I have heard a lot about operas. This kid's evil deeds, to use the words often used in operas, isn't it just Jian in the emperor's heart? How old is he?

Baoyu saw that Lin Daiyu, his second sister and his third sister were all smiling happily, and he guessed that they were all proud of Jia Cong, the dirty man.

Now, these sisters have all been corrupted by Jia Cong's traitorous and corrupt character, and their beautiful bodies and minds have been damaged. How can we not feel heartbroken when seeing this?

Even Lin Daiyu took Jia Cong's attempts to curry favor with others to get promoted to a higher position to heart.

How could he not be sad? However, after what happened that year, he didn't dare to throw a tantrum in front of Daiyu.

As for the other sisters, he was just thinking about how to rescue Lin Daiyu, restore her original appearance, and make her live in harmony with him like they did when they were children.

Seeing the master talking about Jia Cong with a happy face, he couldn't help feeling a chill in his heart. Every time Jia Cong was proud, it was when he suffered.

After this, he was afraid that his master would strictly supervise his studies for a while. His face turned pale and he became half stiff when he thought of the Four Books and Five Classics.

……

Jinling, the residence of Prince Ning.

This day was the fourth day after Rongguo Mansion received the imperial edict. Just after noon, several riders on fast horses passed through the Chaoyang Gate in Jinling and headed straight for Prince Ning's residence.

Because the journey was long and the imperial edict involved important matters in Nanjing, it could not be delayed and had to be delivered within five days. Ordinary officials in the Ministry of Personnel were not capable of doing this job.

Therefore, five elite soldiers were specially selected from the central military tent of the Five Military Camps, and they traveled by express horseback day and night to deliver the imperial edict to Nanjing on the fourth day.

When Prince Ning's personal soldiers arrived at Anding Temple and asked Jia Cong to go to Prince Ning's residence to receive the order, Jia Cong was still confused and had no idea what was going on.

When he arrived at Prince Ning's residence, the Xuansheng Captain was already waiting there. After hearing the rhythmic reading, he realized that he had been promoted from the eighth rank to the seventh rank, and had also been given an additional position as the counselor of Prince Ning.

Getting promoted is certainly a good thing, but it came too abruptly. How did the emperor know that I proposed the three-stage attack method?

It was not until Yang Hongbin explained the reason with a smile that he realized that in his memorial, Prince Ning not only recorded his own deduction on the important case of Longtan Port in Nanjing, but also wrote down his proposed three-stage attack method.

Emperor Jia Zhao was very concerned about the three-stage attack method. He not only summoned the Minister of War Gu Yankui and Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding to inquire, but also drew personnel from the five military camps to conduct practical exercises on the three-stage attack. The final effect was amazing, and the emperor was very pleased. He had the Ministry of War prepare to build an independent firearms camp according to the three-stage attack method.

Because of his meritorious service in making suggestions, Jia Cong was promoted from the eighth rank to the seventh rank, and was also given the special privilege of being able to make direct reports.

As for temporarily acting as counselor to Prince Ning, it was not Emperor Jiazhao's idea, but Prince Ning's suggestion in his memorial.

He was impressed by Jia Cong's intelligence and sudden inspiration, which helped him to find a way out in the Longtan Port case.

The current situation in Jinling is confusing. If we want to get rid of the falsehood and seek the truth as soon as possible, Jia Cong's unique wisdom and intelligence may be of great help to him.

Moreover, Jia Cong's position as counselor was not a full-time job. He only needed to visit Prince Ning's residence every few days to inquire about matters and discuss matters. If there were any sudden emergencies, Prince Ning's personal guards would go to Qixia Mountain to notify.

Several people sorted out various clues of the Longtan Port case, but could not find any new clues.

Originally, the discovery of Zhou Suqing brought them one step closer to the truth of the Longtan Port case, but in the end Zhou Suqing was not arrested, and even an important suspect like Wang En was killed.

The whole thing has become even more difficult after taking one step forward and two steps back. Now we can only go back to the starting point and find Zhou Suqing and the middleman Dong Laoer as soon as possible.

The murder of Wang En in the Jinyiwei prison made Prince Ning suspicious and fearful of the Jinling Jinyiwei Thousand Households.

As for catching the suspect, he placed more hope on the Yingtian Prefecture Yamen and had arranged for his officials to go to Yingtian Prefecture to inquire every day.

……

Yingtian Prefecture Yamen.

Jia Yucun was discussing the recent government affairs of the yamen with his aide Yan Yuanliang.

Although Jia Yucun was cruel and ungrateful and obsessed with money, he still had some talent. He served as the prefect of Yingtian for a short time, but he managed all the affairs under his jurisdiction in an orderly manner.

If he did not have some real abilities, even with the support of the Jia and Wang families, he would not have been able to be promoted to the Grand Marshal in Beijing within a few years.

Yan Yuanliang said, "Dong Weng, the Ning Wang Xing has been sending people to the yamen these days to inquire about the arrest of the suspect in the Longtan Port case.

But Jinling City is so big, with hundreds of thousands of people. Zhou Suqing and that Dong Laoer are both people who roam the streets. It will take time to find such people who deliberately hide themselves."

Jia Yucun said, "Prince Ning was ordered to investigate the Longtan Port case, but he has found nothing. Now he can only focus on these two suspects. Naturally, he has to urge his subordinates to search for them with all their strength every day."

Yan Yuanliang added: "In addition, Liu Bantou led people to escort dozens of prisoners to the construction site of Da Ci'en Temple to do hard labor. It has been more than a month now, and the day of shift change will come in a few days.

But the staff of the government office are all out searching for suspects, and now we can't spare any staff to replace them. Should we borrow staff from Liuhe County Office to fill the vacancies? I hope you can give me some advice."

Jia Yucun said, "The staff at the government office are more skilled in arresting prisoners. We need them right now, so we can't waste manpower. It would be right to transfer some idle people from Liuhe County to guard the prisoners. You go and do it."

"Also, there has been a lot of rain in Jinling recently, so we need to pay attention to the river floods to avoid any unexpected events. Please also prepare a gift for me to send to the Jia family's old house in Xinglongfang to congratulate Master Cong on his promotion."

"He has been appointed as the Ning Wang's assistant by the Emperor. I guess he will have more dealings with my government office in the future."

(End of this chapter)