Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 325: A Guide to Career
As soon as Jia Cong left Rongqing Hall, he met the housekeeper Lin Zhixiao.

Lin Zhixiao said: "Third Master, I have invited the official media you mentioned, and I have explained clearly to them what you asked me to do.

She said that the Sun family broke the promise first, and the Jia family could cancel the engagement without being blamed. As long as the Jia family wrote the cancellation document, all matters would be handled by the official media.

Jia Cong said, "According to the civil law of our dynasty, if one party violates the promise in the marriage proposal, he must pay a dowry as punishment. The government and the victim will each pay half. Use this money to give out porridge outside the city to accumulate merit for my second sister."

When Lin Zhixiao heard this, his face looked a little strange. The man surnamed Sun was really unlucky to meet the Third Master.

She was scolded in public by the Third Master and kicked out of the Jia Mansion. Half of the betrothal gift was used by the Third Master to give out porridge, which was enough to run a porridge shop for several months.

But this guy surnamed Sun deserved it. He let the Third Master find out about his dissolute behavior. The Third Master loved the Second Miss the most, so how could he not punish him?

He quickly said, "Don't worry, Third Master, I'll do it right away."

Jia Cong looked at the empty Rongqing Hall behind him and thought about how many dirty things had happened here since he was conferred the title.

First, Grandmother Jia wanted to use Youshi and Jia Rong to add influence to the Earl's Mansion, and later she wanted to control the Earl's Mansion by assigning household slaves. Today, Jia Xiao and other relatives look like they are coveting the earl's property.

They are selfish and power-hungry, scheming against each other, jealous and greedy, and the list goes on. This is the family of poets and scholars that has been passed down for generations.

Fortunately, I have dealt with all these troubles one by one, and I should be able to have some peace and quiet for a while.

……

In fact, the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave some options before transferring the title property.

If he felt that the farms in Liaodong were too remote, he could also choose farms that were some distance away from the capital, but not as far away as Liaodong.

However, the area of ​​the farm was much smaller than that in Liaodong, so in the end Jia Cong chose Liaodong for the Juechan Farm.

Now that the Jurchen forces outside the Great Wall have disappeared, that area is the newly developed territory of the Great Zhou. As the most meritorious minister in the war against the Jurchens, the Ministry of Internal Affairs allows him to occupy the most fertile farmland.

But he knew that in later generations, the black soil outside the Great Wall would be the most precious soil, and its productivity would be the best in the world, so that it would become a world-famous granary.

How could he miss such an opportunity to seize the initiative? Even when he has the materials in his hands in the future, he will increase the acquisition of Liaodong black soil.

As for the fact that these two remote farms scared away covetous people like Jia Xiao, it was just an additional unexpected benefit.

How could these Jia family members, who only cared about pleasure and were narrow-minded and selfish, realize the precious opportunity?

Moreover, in the eyes of Jia Xiao and others, a title property of one thousand dan and an annual income of four to five thousand taels of silver was a huge sum of money that made them salivate.

But in Jia Cong's eyes, it was normal. He had invented the method of making ice in order to bring coolness to Xiuniang's incense shop in the midsummer.

In Shenjing and the surrounding areas alone, he could earn several thousand taels of silver every summer, which was almost equal to the income from his title.

Not to mention the huge wealth that Xinchun brought him...

Later he will also tinker with some objects with simple manufacturing processes, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, etc., and of course there will be other things that have not yet existed in this world...

Then, they are manufactured in large quantities by Xinchunhao and sold at different prices, becoming items available to the public. The profits generated by these things will never be lower than those of Xinchunhao's perfumes.

He had promised the emperor that within three years, Xinchunhao would earn an annual interest of 500,000 yuan, and this promise might be fulfilled six months ahead of schedule.

Of course, he will keep the progress of all implementations firmly in his own hands.

In many cases, huge amounts of money allow you to do as much as possible...

……

Luocang Mountain, Liu’s House.

Since returning from Liaodong, he has been busy with matters such as meeting the emperor, offering captives, conferring titles, and changing his government. He is also busy ruining Yingchun's marriage...

Only after all these things were done did he really have free time.

After a long journey of half a year, I returned home and went to Luocang Mountain to pay a visit to my mentor Liu Jing'an, which was a necessary etiquette.

As soon as I entered Liu's house, I saw my master's wife Cui waiting there.

Cui was still surprised to see Jia Cong. Whether he was given a title or not was secondary. The old lady just looked distressed and only said that he had become darker and thinner.

In the study, Liu Jing'an, who hadn't been seen for half a year, seemed to have aged visibly, but fortunately he was still vigorous and his eyes were still bright.

Liu Jing'an looked at his young disciple with a smile on his face, and his expression was quite satisfied.

He said, "I originally thought that you followed Lord Gu to inspect the nine frontiers, just to increase your knowledge, but I didn't expect you to cause such a big commotion, and I didn't expect you to have such a talent for military affairs."

Jia Cong replied: "I just happened to meet this person at the right time, and it was somewhat lucky."

Liu Jing'an pondered and said, "What I did not expect was that the Grand Emperor would grant you a gift through the Grand Empress at this critical juncture..."

In fact, Jia Cong thought about this matter many times afterwards. Now he probably understood that the reason why Master Liu said this was nothing more than the grace of the emperor and the result of a combination of various reasons.

Liu Jing'an said: "Now the Great Zhou is in a peaceful and prosperous era. Although there are hidden dangers in the nine borders and the southeastern sea, there are very few major wars.

It is a rare opportunity for you to achieve such a great feat this time. It will be difficult to achieve such a great feat again after this time."

Jia Cong sighed slightly and said, "Sir, it is a good thing for a country to have no war and military officers to have no time. The battle of Liaodong saw thousands of miles of bloodshed and people's lives were recorded in the books. It is really not as interesting as reading in the west window." Liu Jing'an said, "Do you know why Taizu conferred the title of hereditary Wangdai Baoling Marquis on Shi Shangshu Ling and conferred the title of hereditary Duke of the state on Ning Rong of Jia Jia?"

Jia Cong thought for a moment and said, "In my humble opinion, when the country was first established, the military generals made great contributions and the civil officials brought peace to the country, so the title of the Jia family was higher than that of the historians.

But once the country is established, it is necessary to balance the power of military commanders to avoid chaos in the country.

In a peaceful and prosperous era, it is necessary to make use of civil officials, so that the civil officials without military power can control the military generals with military power.

The historian and the Shangshu Ling are of the same rank, a person who assists the civil officials in administration and a minister who is in charge of the outlines of governing the country.

Therefore, the title of Marquis of Shijia Baoling can be inherited, but the title of Duke of Ningrong Wuxun cannot be. This is the method of balancing civil and military affairs at the beginning of the establishment of a country. "

Liu Jing'an nodded with satisfaction. It was very rare for his disciple, who was only fourteen years old, to have such a thorough understanding of the art of balancing the political situation.

"You have already won the first place in the imperial examinations, your reputation as a calligrapher is known all over the world, and you also wrote a magnificent four-character essay in the provincial examination. You can be considered a natural-born scholar.

I have presented to His Majesty the strategies for building camps with firearms, the methods of studying things and conducting academic research, and the policies for maintaining peace in Liaodong. These are all matters of great governance by civil officials, and His Majesty must have been deeply impressed.

Now that the four borders are stable, and after the Jurchens have been defeated, I'm afraid there will be no more major wars. Your Majesty must be well aware of this.

Therefore, His Majesty granted you the grace of hereditary succession not only to boast about your merits to the retired emperor, nor did he want you to achieve more military exploits. I'm afraid he wanted to make more use of your talent as a civil official.

When you were selected as the top scorer in the imperial examination, the director of the Imperial Academy, Ge Hongzheng, had recommended you for admission into the Imperial Academy, but the emperor said: The sons of nobles should cultivate bravery and martial spirit.

That's because the emperor is wary of your background and literary talent, and he thinks that you will be helped by the court officials, and in the future you will become a powerful official who is both civil and military, and will become difficult to get rid of.

But since you made great achievements in Liaodong, the emperor began to value your talent again, so he used the clan affairs office to implement the plan of replacing the crown prince, so as to lead the Jia family of Rongguo to break off relations decisively, which would cut off the root of your origin.

And you submitted a petition to resign from the throne of the Crown Prince and refused to inherit the Ningguo family lineage, which was to show your Majesty your true feelings. This is a different time than the last!
Your Majesty is a dictator with a profound strategy, and you are able to counter his moves, not following the old ways, but in accordance with the will of Heaven."

……

After hearing these words, Jia Cong's eyes gradually became solemn. Although he was thoughtful, he did not have the insight and wisdom that Liu Jing'an had accumulated after a lifetime of ups and downs in officialdom.

Liu Jing'an's words made him feel as if his eyes had suddenly been opened.

Liu Jing'an smiled slightly, with a hint of self-mockery in his expression: "I originally thought that with your literary talent, I could be an ordinary scholar and live a stable life.

But you have some good luck, so it may be difficult for you to have a stable life."

At this point, Liu Jing'an suddenly said in a serious tone: "Since you have already entered the officialdom, the cause and effect are entangled, and it is difficult to get out easily. You should judge the situation and avoid evil to protect yourself!
Do you know why your fifth-rank position was not promoted when His Majesty conferred him the title of Earl and the title of Third-Rank Honorary Officer this time?"

Jia Cong understood something and said, "Because of my current situation, I have reached the fifth rank, which is the top, and there is no more room for advancement!"

Although Jia Cong was conferred the title of Weiyuan Earl this time, he was also granted the title of Yinqing Guanglu Dafu, which was a third-rank official.

However, the third-rank honor is just an empty title and cannot be compared with the third-rank actual position.

Because according to the official system of the Great Zhou Dynasty, to be promoted to a fourth-rank official position, one must be a successful candidate in two lists of Jinshi, just like one must have military merit to be awarded a military title.

This is the iron rule of the civil service career, otherwise the imperial examination would be meaningless and students from poor families would have no chance of competing with the children of noble families.

If a country loses its way of selecting talents through the imperial examination system and scholars all over the world become alienated, then the country will not be far from being destroyed.

At that time, Jia Zheng was the second son of Duke Rong and was appointed heir to the Rongguo Mansion. The highest official position granted to him by the retired emperor was that of Director of the Ministry of Works.

After more than ten years of ups and downs, he was only promoted to the fifth rank of Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Works. It was absolutely impossible for him to be promoted to the fourth rank, just because he was not a Jinshi from the two lists.

Even the legitimate son of a duke of noble status is like this, which shows how strict the official rule is that to hold a fourth-rank official position one must be a Jinshi from two lists.

Therefore, Jia Cong has now been promoted to the fifth rank of Director of the Firearms Bureau, and he has reached a bottleneck on the path to becoming a civil servant.

Even though he was now granted the hereditary title of Earl of Weiyuan, he could not advance any further in the civil service because he was only a juren, not a jinshi.

……

Therefore, because of his great contributions in Liaodong this time, Emperor Jiazhao conferred him the title of Earl, granted him equal property, and granted him the title of third-rank honor, but did not confer him any actual position.

Emperor Jia Zhao was a meticulous and wise ruler in government affairs. Although he wanted to use Jia Cong, he would never make an exception for him and do something that would go against the will of the world.

It is not impossible for Jia Cong to rely on his title, a thousand-stone property, and a fifth-rank official position to live a carefree life in his earl's mansion in the future.

As a hereditary earl, with a noble position, it seems unnecessary to endure the hardships of the imperial examination.
But over time, this is bound to lose the emperor's heart, because that is not the emperor's original intention, nor is it the value that hereditary grace should exchange for.

Just like Liu Jing'an said: You have entered the officialdom, and the entanglement of cause and effect makes it difficult to escape easily!

The reality does not allow him to enjoy wealth and live a carefree life from now on.

In order to break the current deadlock, Jia Cong has only one way out, which is to return to the imperial examination hall. As long as he gets two titles of Jinshi, all problems will be solved.

All that remains is to see how the emperor arranges things, because Jia Cong has already done what he should do.

If it weren't for Liu Jing'an's extraordinary insight and thorough understanding of the emperor in the palace.

It may be difficult for Jia Cong himself to comprehend the confusing and profound meaning behind this.

(End of this chapter)