Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 291: Xi Jue's Farewell
When the commander-in-chief of the Left Army, Chen Yi, said this, Emperor Jiazhao and Peng Runan looked at him at the same time.

The main reason was that the topic of conferring honors was too sensitive. Everyone knew that Emperor Jiazhao was a man who valued titles. He often said that honors and titles were precious and that one must have military merit to obtain them.

It is possible that when he ascended the throne, the four kings and eight dukes followed the emperor emeritus' lead and mostly took a wait-and-see attitude towards the new emperor.

Emperor Jiazhao had suffered enough from the oppression of nobles and officials, so the emperor was always extremely cautious in conferring honors and titles.

Except for the time when he first ascended the throne, when he conferred titles on a group of his loyal ministers, including Shi Ding, he did not confer titles on any new military honors in the following years.

It was not until six years ago that Liang Chengzong defeated the Mongolian Tuman tribe five times and achieved military feats unprecedented in the Jiazhao Dynasty that he was granted the title of Pingyuan Earl after two victories and Pingyuan Marquis after five victories.

This was a rare honor during the Jiazhao Dynasty. After that, there were no major wars on the border and no military generals were awarded honors for their merits.

Now, the commander-in-chief of the Left Army, Chen Yi, suddenly mentioned the proposal to confer honors on Jia Cong. The corner of Emperor Jia Zhao's mouth twitched slightly, as if with a hint of ridicule.

Chen Yi inherited the title of Duke of Qi. He was of the same generation as Jia Daishan among the Four Kings and Eight Dukes, and he was also one of the few among the Eight Dukes who had not yet been demoted to inherit the title.

Although he has become shrewd and deep-rooted in recent years, and has kept a low profile in the Five Military Commandery, he may not be able to let go of the glory and honor he once had.

Now that he saw that Jia Cong, the descendant of the four kings and eight dukes, had made military achievements, he began to want to promote his old achievements.

These old guys were left in the Five Military Commandery to die, but they are still unwilling to give up.

When Peng Runan heard that Duke of Qi Chen Yi suddenly brought up the matter of canonizing honors, he immediately looked at his nose and his nose at his heart.

Matters like conferring military honors have nothing to do with civil officials, and he knows the emperor's attitude towards honors, so he naturally won't get involved in this muddy water.

……

After listening to Chen Yi's advice, Emperor Jia Zhao just smiled and said, "Back then, the Jia family had two duchies, which was a great contribution to the establishment of the country and the borders. That's why the late emperor gave them special favors.
Although Jia Cong has made great achievements this time, he cannot be compared with the ancestors of Ning and Rong. Jia She of Rongguo Mansion has inherited the title of his ancestors, so it is difficult to hide the fact that one family has two titles.

In my opinion, Jia Cong has the potential to inherit the title, but he needs to be cautious about creating it."

When Chen Yi heard this, he was stunned for a moment. It was a peaceful and prosperous time now, and it was extremely rare for Jia Cong to have achieved such military feats.

How could he achieve the same extraordinary contribution to stabilizing the country as the ancestors of Ning Rong did? According to the emperor, it would be impossible for him to be canonized with honors.

But now that he had said it, he still had to follow up with a few words, otherwise it would be too obvious.

"Your Majesty is right. Jia Cong has shown the potential to be a famous general, and he has the potential to inherit the honors of his ancestors. However, as far as I know, he is the illegitimate son of the eldest son of the Rong family.

The prince is someone else, which is a pity."

Chen Yi originally wanted to use this remark to get out of this situation.
But then Emperor Jia Zhao asked Guo Lin, "Who is the heir to the title of Rongguo Mansion now?"

Emperor Jia Zhao naturally knew that Jia Cong was a bastard's son, but he had no impression of the one from Rongguo who was the heir apparent.

Guo Lin quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the heir apparent to the Rongguo Mansion is Jia Lian, the eldest son of Jia She."

"What are this man's achievements? Does he have military resources? What is his current official position?"

"Jia Lian has never been to school, nor has he ever served in the army. He has no real job now, but has only donated a fifth-rank Tongzhi position."

Emperor Jia Zhao sneered and said, "Among the Ning and Rong mansions, only Jia Cong has a promising future."

Chen Yi and Peng Runan both understood what Emperor Jia Zhao did not say, which was that except Jia Cong, all the other members of the Jia family were good-for-nothings.

A man who inherited a title was not only unable to go to school, but he even had to buy his way to an official position.

The sons of the Four Kings, Eight Dukes and other inherited nobles would at least be sent to the Nine Frontiers for training for a few years. Although it was impossible for them to personally take part in the war, they would at least be gilded as a formality.

This is called the qualification for military service, which makes it easier to inherit the father's title.

The Ningrong Jia family was once the head of the Eight Lords and was such a prominent family. But now it has become so decadent that it has even saved itself from these superficial efforts.

However, Chen Yi was a cunning old man and could hear the dissatisfaction in Emperor Jiazhao's words.

He said: "At that time, Jia Daishan, the Duke of Rong, knew his sons' personalities very well, so he made a will before his death, begging for his eldest son to inherit the title and his second son to inherit the palace.

At that time, the Duke of Liguo's Mansion requested the second son Liu Biao to inherit the title because his eldest son was sick and weak and could not inherit the family business. Therefore, most of the noble families who inherit the title have special reasons. "

Emperor Jia Zhao smiled and said, "Duke Qi has a point, but even though Jia She was unworthy, Dai Shan still let his eldest son inherit the title.

In the final analysis, it is still not a matter of crossing the boundary, and any act of inheriting the title for personal reasons is not tolerated by the law of the country unless the prince has committed a serious crime.

The rest are all petitions submitted by the family members themselves, and the palace will approve them as appropriate. If the Rongguo Mansion is willing to submit a petition to replace the heir to the title, I will help with this matter, so what's the problem?"

……

Duke Qi Chen Yi was dumbfounded when he heard this. It turned out that the emperor just wanted to stay out of it, sit back and watch the show, and let the Rongguo Mansion fight for the crown prince first.

There have always been no secrets in the circle of nobles. However, Chen Yi knew that Jia Cong was not liked by the lady in Rongguo Mansion and had grown up in hardship in the mansion since childhood.

Jia Lian was the eldest son of the eldest branch of the Rong family and was said to be quite favored by Madam Jia. Therefore, it was impossible for the Jia family to submit a petition to replace the crown prince on their own.

Do I have to go to her house and persuade her with such an audacious spirit? Not to mention that I haven't reached that point yet, if I really go to her house, the old lady will spit in my face and kick me out.

Chen Yi felt a little regretful at this moment. Why did he bring up the matter of Jia Cong's canonization? He was speechless after hearing the emperor's words. Emperor Jia Zhao said leisurely: "It is inconvenient for me to say anything about this matter, so as to avoid people saying that the emperor's intention is too strong and that he is trying to blackmail the nobles.

However, Duke Qi’s thoughts are not without reason, and I cannot turn a deaf ear to them…”

Duke Qi Chen Yi's mood, which had just hit rock bottom, slowly rose again, and he felt a little surprised: Has the emperor changed his mind again?
"Guo Lin, go inform the ninth brother and ask him to send officials from the clan affairs office to the Jia family to discuss this matter. Remember, this is a great victory at Yafu Pass, and the court officials want to discuss the merits in court.

This is not my holy intention. Everything is up to their own family. Don't force them. When you pass on the message, don't distort my holy intention, otherwise I will not forgive you!"

Guo Lin shuddered when he heard this and said quickly, "I will never dare to do this even if I die. I will definitely pass on your original words."

Peng Runan, the subordinate, almost laughed out loud after hearing these words, but he forced himself to hold it back.

Chen Yi, who was standing aside, had an embarrassed look on his face. He didn't know what was going on in his mind, as he felt that he was being used as a gun by Emperor Jiazhao.

The ninth brother that Emperor Jia Zhao mentioned was Prince Zhongshun, the chief minister of the Imperial Clan Court.

The clan affairs office went to the Jia Mansion to convey a message for consultation. Whether the Jia Mansion agreed to change the candidate for the crown prince or not, it was of no concern to Emperor Jia Zhao.

The Jia family does not agree to change the crown prince, and at worst they will maintain the status quo.

If the emperor agrees to replace the crown prince, Jia Cong will receive an unexpected favor and will naturally be grateful to the emperor. It will have nothing to do with Chen Yi.

This is also the reason why Emperor Jia Zhao specifically instructed that the Jia family should not be forced. If there was any forcing, it would lead to cause and effect, which would be disastrous for the emperor.

The starting point of all these things is that sentence: the desire of court officials to discuss merits in court.

The emperor himself doesn't care about anything.

It's just like Mr. Jiang fishing, waiting for the bait to come.

No wonder those old guys have been treated like monkeys by the emperor in the Five Military Commandery over the years.

When it comes to cunning, all these old guys combined don’t have as much as His Majesty.

……

Judefang, Rongguo Mansion, Mengpozhai Study.

Jia Zheng and a few guests were discussing and appreciating a beautifully bound calligraphy piece, and they were having a lively conversation.

Before Jia Cong went north, Jia Zheng saw the Xizhou Ci written by Jia Cong in Tanchun's room and was greatly impressed.

So, Jia Cong wrote a copy of Linjiangxian, bound it himself, and gave it to Jia Zheng for his comments. Jia Zheng was naturally very pleased.

He regarded Jia Cong's calligraphy as a treasure. As far as he knew, Jia Cong wrote this poem "Linjiangxian" in Zhuojiang Tower in Jinling, and it became a big story at that time.

This poem has already become famous throughout the world and is known as the "Linjiangxian" work that is difficult to surpass in the literary world of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

It is said that this poem was written by Jia Cong, and only Prince Ning and himself have one copy each in the world, which is quite rare.

These guests naturally knew that the son that Jia Zheng was most proud of was Jia Cong, and the son who was most frustrated was naturally his own son... Baoyu.

Now that people have seen Jia Cong's calligraphy, how can they not flatter him? Besides, Jia Cong's calligraphy has become a master's style, and is now known as the Yuzhang style.

Among them, Ji Haogu had a great appreciation for calligraphy. He shook his head and said, "Please look, Brother Shiweng, this calligraphy of Brother Congshi is elegant and graceful, ancient and simple, and harmonious.

Compared to what I saw in the past few years, it has reached a more perfect state, which is really amazing. In my opinion, it is hard to find another calligrapher like him among the current generation."

Jia Zheng smiled with a flushed face and said, "Although I also like Cong'er's calligraphy very much, you should still not praise it too much.

"Cong'er is not yet old enough to dance with an elephant, and he still has a long way to go. It is not a good thing to have too much praise but lack of ambition, so as not to ruin him."

Shan Pinren, who was standing by, saw Ji Haogu praising Jia Cong's calligraphy to great heights and was not willing to be outdone.

He said: "My Lord, with Brother Cong's natural talent, there is really no need for him to travel to the nine borders.

As long as you focus on calligraphy and poetry at home, your name will be passed down through the ages. The elegant family style and culture of the Jia family in Rongguo will surely be admired and respected by the world."

Jia Zheng stroked his beard and smiled, "Brother Shan is too carefree. You should still think about your country and your family. I would like to nurture the seeds of culture and talent in the Jia family.

But Cong'er is a child who has too much wealth. He can't stay idle at home. I don't want to restrict him. It's good for him to inherit the family tradition."

Everyone was talking excitedly when Jia Zheng's personal servant ran into the study, panting.

When Jia Zheng saw this, he frowned and shouted, "How unbecoming of you to be so flustered!"

The servant did not care about Jia Zheng's anger and said with a happy face: "Master, happy things are coming!
An eunuch from the palace came into the mansion, carrying the emperor's decree to present gifts to Third Master Cong. They were about to arrive at Rong Xi Hall, saying that Third Master Cong had made military achievements in Liaodong, and was the first to do so!
The clan government even sent officials to Rongqing Hall to pay respects to the ancestor."

Jia Zheng was overjoyed when he heard this. Cong Ge'er was indeed amazing. He had been in the Nine Frontiers for only a few months, but he had already made military achievements.

A group of guests came forward to congratulate him, and they poured out endless words of flattery and praise.

Jia Zheng's face was flushed and he was in high spirits. Under the attention of Shan Pinren and others, he walked quickly towards Rong Xi Tang.

(End of this chapter)