I'm in the Red Mansion

So it seems that this guy Jia Huan does have some abilities.

Jia Cong looked at Jia Huan and asked him, "What are you doing here? Are you here to ask for credit for yourself?"

Jia Huan clasped his fists and said, "General, I am not asking for credit for myself, I am asking for credit for the soldiers under my command."

"I have no credit. It is all thanks to the bravery and fearlessness of my soldiers that we have achieved such a brilliant victory."

"My soldiers shed blood, and their contributions should not be buried."

After Jia Huan finished speaking, Jia Cong flew into a rage and said, "Who do you think I am? Do you think I can bury your contributions? Get out!"

Wu Shan and Jia Huan were scolded back by Jia Cong in a humiliating manner.

After the two men left, Jia Cong called Jia Cang again and questioned him.

Jia Cong got more detailed information from Jia Cang.

It turned out that the Xia army stationed on the border had also made targeted deployments based on the Qing army's erratic style of fighting in small groups and coming and going like the wind.

As for Xia's army, they also broke up into small groups and used small groups of soldiers to ambush the Qing army.

However, the Qing army was also quite vigilant and cunning, and its combat effectiveness was also extremely strong.

Most of the Xia troops that were ambushed either failed to ambush the Qing army at all, or ambushed them in such a way that both sides suffered heavy casualties and it was difficult for them to gain an advantage.

In fact, the Xia army, with the same number of troops, did not collapse in the battle against the Qing army, and was even able to fight on equal terms or even have a slight advantage. They were already the most elite Xia army.

Only the 100-man team led by Jia Huan ambushed the Qing army many times.

Moreover, Jia Huan's ambushes and traps were so numerous that they could be described as an ambush from all sides.

After ambushing the Qing army many times, they were able to achieve zero casualties every time.

Hearing this, Jia Cong became more satisfied.

To be a general, one does not necessarily have to be very skilled in martial arts.

However, it is necessary to be able to win the loyalty of the soldiers, make the three armies fight for their lives, and be able to command with confidence on the battlefield.

It seems that Jia Huan is really capable in command.

In that case, why not give him a platform to showcase his talents?
However, instead of giving it to him myself, it would be better to let Emperor Yonglong give it to him.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong asked someone to call Jia Huan over.

Not long after, Jia Huan arrived and saluted, "General, what can I do for you?"

Jia Cong looked at Jia Huan and said, "This time, I will not deduct the merits of your soldiers and will report them truthfully."

"However, I will take credit for your contribution again."

Hearing this, Jia Huan immediately became angry.

He glared and couldn't help but speak, but when the words came to his lips, he forced himself to hold them back.

Seeing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh and said, "You have made some progress, you are much calmer than before."

"Don't worry, your contribution will be rewarded. However, it is not appropriate for me to report your contribution. I'd better let the emperor reward you."

Hearing this, Jia Huan immediately understood and hurriedly thanked Jia Cong with a smile on his face.

Soon, Jia Huan wrote a petition for merit and sent it to the capital.

Because Daxia and the Qing Dynasty signed an agreement not to massacre civilians on both sides, the Jizhou border began to stabilize.

Jia Cong began to organize people to build houses free of charge for the people whose lives were destroyed by the Qing Dynasty.

Because the houses in most of the villages on the border were destroyed, a large number of manpower would be needed to build the village this time.

Jia Cong paid all the people he hired.

The renewed infrastructure construction brought Jizhou back to life.

Because of the large amount of infrastructure, many demands have been created.

People in later generations will naturally know that the real estate industry can drive the development of so many industries.

Of course, this construction in Jizhou is far from the real estate industry.

However, it is an indisputable fact that it was able to drive the development of Jizhou for a time.

The Xue family trading company also officially settled in Jizhou.

Because Jizhou is too far away, it costs a lot to transport goods here.

In order to stabilize the market, goods in Jizhou City are still sold at affordable prices.

Xue's business in Jizhou was actually losing money.

However, the Xue family now makes an unknown amount of profit a year, so they don’t care about the loss in Jizhou.

Not to mention that the two eldest daughters of the Xue family are now the wives and concubines of Marquis Guanjun.

Just to say that the reason why the Xue family's business was able to prosper again was even better than when they were at their peak.

All thanks to the achievements of Champion Marquis.

Marquis Guanjun is the Xue family’s biggest supporter.

Naturally, the Xue family would not care about this tiny loss.

What's more, once Marquis Guanjun truly recaptures Yanyun Sixteen, their Xue family will definitely be able to seize the initiative here.

The little money lost now can be earned back in due time.

It is said that without agriculture there is no stability, without industry there is no prosperity, and without commerce there is no life.

Today, Jizhou is blessed with unique advantages in agriculture.

Because all the land in Jizhou was equally distributed among the people.

The people's enthusiasm for farming will naturally increase, and the agricultural taxes collected in the future will naturally be much higher than in other places.

As for workers, there are still many craftsmen coming to Jizhou for refuge.

In addition, churches are continuously training talents, and there will naturally be more and more of them in the future.

It’s just that it’s still far from being able to reach a certain scale now.

Jia Cong believed that as long as he was good at guiding and trusted Jizhou's industry, it would develop quickly.

There is no wealth without business, and now the Xue family also exists in the business field.

I believe that as long as Jizhou develops to a certain scale, other businesses will continue to come to Jizhou to seek business opportunities.

Merchants are profit-driven. As long as there are business opportunities in Jizhou and they can make money, those merchants will naturally come like sharks smelling blood.

Although Jia Cong relies heavily on the Xue family, he will not put all his hopes on the Xue family.

However, as a result, the silver deposits in Jizhou's warehouses began to decrease day by day.

When Jia Cong took over the Jizhou warehouse, there were hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in it.

But now, these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are almost spent.

Not enough to spend, not enough at all.

Before next year, Jizhou will have no income at all.

Because this year's agricultural tax has been exempted by Jia Cong.

Agricultural tax will not be levied until after the autumn harvest next year.

Even this year's business tax has been waived.

Now Jizhou is in a state of disrepair, and Jia Cong cannot just drain the pond to fish.

But without silver, Jizhou's development would immediately come to a standstill.

Well, let’s seek relief from the court.

In fact, in recent years, the money earned by Jia Cong is no less than that of the Xue family.

He could totally pay for it out of his own pocket to help Jizhou through this crisis.

But he couldn't do that.

Jizhou belongs to the imperial court. How can it be considered as if he paid for it himself?

In name, he was only the Jiedushi of Jizhou. Did he really regard Jizhou as his own?

Moreover, if Jia Cong really did this, it would also reveal his huge wealth.

The combination of the two would definitely arouse Emperor Yonglong's suspicion.

In this case, it is better to seek help from the court.

In the army, the news that Jia Huan's contribution was once again suppressed by the general also spread.

There were also many generals in the Wushan army who came to look for Jia Cong and asked for credit for Jia Huan.

However, all these people were suppressed by Jia Cong.

Jia Cong’s reason was that Jia Huan was too young and being promoted too quickly was not a good thing for him.

It is better to suppress and polish him for a few years and then improve him.

These generals were unable to change Jia Cong's mind and could only secretly feel indignant for Jia Huan.

A few days later, Jia Cong's report requesting merit was delivered to the palace.

The person who made the greatest contribution this time was naturally Liu Xianglian, who led his troops into the Qing border and massacred the Qing people.

Anyone who is not a fool can see the merits of this battle.

In the past, the Qing Dynasty would organize raids on the border of Daxia every year, but the scale varied.

But Daxia was helpless in this regard.

The people living along the border of Daxia were truly miserable and living in dire straits.

And now, Liu Xianglian has forced the Qing Dynasty to surrender through an equal massacre.

They had to take the initiative to sign a contract with Daxia, under which both sides would not massacre each other's civilians.

In this way, the border issue that had plagued Daxia for a long time was resolved.

This will save Daxia a lot of border expenses and reduce the pressure on Daxia’s border.

At this time, there were conservative officials in the court who should have expressed opposing opinions.

But few people dared to stand up and oppose it.

Because they are not fools. The last time they impeached Liu Xianglian, they were condemned by everyone. Now the people are still calling them traitors!

And if they oppose the reward of Liu Xianglian now, won’t they be infamous for eternity?

Therefore, this time the reward for Liu Xianglian was approved smoothly.

This made Emperor Yonglong quite disappointed. He had originally been prepared to go all out and take the opportunity to suppress some disobedient ministers.

Unexpectedly, they were tactful and retreated obediently.

In the end, Liu Xianglian was able to obtain the title of two Yunqiwei for his military achievements.

The lowest rank in Daxia was Enqiwei, and above Enqiwei was Yunqiwei.

All titles above the rank of Yunqiwei are promoted based on the rank of Yunqiwei.

For example, if you obtain the military merits of two Cloud Cavalry Captains, you can be promoted to the rank of Cavalry Captain.

If a cavalry commander is given the title of a cloud cavalry commander, he will become a cavalry commander and a cloud cavalry commander.

With two more cloud cavalry captains, he would be promoted to the sixth rank, the third-class light cavalry captain.

Now, because Liu Xianglian has obtained the titles of two Yunqiwei, his title is directly promoted to Qiduwei.

The cavalry captain is treated as a fourth-rank official.

Although Cavalry Commandant was only a seventh-rank title, he was promoted in less than a year based on his military merits.

This promotion speed can be described as amazing.

As for the 3,000 cavalrymen under Liu Xianglian, each of them was rewarded according to his military merits.

Soon, Emperor Yonglong saw the military achievements of Jia Huan's hundred-man team.

However, this military achievement only included the contributions of the soldiers under Jia Huan, but not Jia Huan himself.

When Emperor Yonglong saw it for the first time, he was also a little surprised.

But soon, he thought of something.

Emperor Yonglong couldn't help but laugh and said, "This Champion Marquis is a little too harsh on his own brother."

"He has clearly made great contributions, but you are suppressing them and not letting him shine." "However, you are suppressing his contributions, but I want to reward him!"

"Issue an imperial decree to appoint Jia Huan as the Enqiwei and promote him to the rank of seventh-rank captain."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Originally, Jia Huan was just a small ninth-rank military officer.

This time he was directly promoted to the seventh rank captain, which was four levels higher.

In addition, Jia Huan was also granted a title, although it was the lowest rank, Enqiwei.

But a title is a title.

After being conferred the title, one's status and position will be different.

The soldiers under Jia Huan's command were also rewarded.

And what’s interesting is that Jia Huan was awarded the title in the military.

The imperial edict was then issued to the Rongguo Mansion.

At this time, no one in Rongguo Mansion was aware of the situation.

After hearing the imperial decree, Grandmother Jia and everyone else in the Jia family were very panicked, not knowing whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

They did not dare to delay and immediately opened the middle door, set up the incense table, and began to receive the order.

After the imperial edict was read out, they realized that this edict was to reward Huan Ge'er.

Huan'er was actually awarded the title of Enqiwei?
And he was promoted to seventh-rank military officer?

This is a title!

Moreover, this title is not a hereditary title.

Rather, he earned it with his own ability, sword by sword, gun by gun.

This is what a child of a noble family should be like.

They had never expected that among the younger generation in Rongguo Mansion, Huan Ge'er was the most outstanding.

On the contrary, Jia Lian and Jia Baoyu, who are from the direct line, are both playboys who indulge in wine and meat.

After receiving the decree, Grandmother Jia was overjoyed and said "Praise the calligraphy".

So, the maids and old women came to congratulate.

Flattering words poured out in baskets as if they were free of charge.

Grandmother Jia loved the hustle and bustle the most, and she was extremely happy to hear so many flattering words.

For Lady Jia, it is naturally a good thing if the children of the family are successful, regardless of whether they are from the direct line of descent or not.

Although it was not her Baoyu who was conferred the title, it was still a pity.

But even if it is a bastard son, Huan Ge'er, it is still very good.

He was only granted a small title of Enqiwei, and he will only be a helper to Baoyu in the future, and will never be a burden to Baoyu.

Mrs. Wang almost broke her teeth.

Huan Lao San, the bastard, actually rose up all of a sudden.

Now he was awarded a title based on his military merits and was promoted to a seventh-rank military officer.

If the level continues to rise like this, won't Baoyu be overshadowed in the future?

He shouldn't have been allowed to join the army in the first place!
The more Mrs. Wang thought about it, the angrier she became, but she could do nothing about it.

Now that this bastard is far away in the army, she can no longer suppress him just because she wants to.

Mrs. Wang felt more and more that it was time to find a good marriage for Baoyu.

By then, with the Yue family taking care of him, Baoyu will be able to save a lot of worry and effort.

However, Mrs. Wang also had her eyes on several girls, all of whom had excellent family backgrounds and looks.

However, these families made all kinds of excuses and refused to marry into the family.

Mrs. Wang was so angry that she was furious and secretly felt very angry.

When the queen gives birth to a child in the future, or even when he is made the crown prince, or even ascends the throne to become the emperor, these families must be looked after!

At this moment, the happiest person was undoubtedly Aunt Zhao.

After hearing the news, Aunt Zhao couldn't stop smiling.

After returning to her own courtyard, the old women and maids in the courtyard flattered her endlessly.

This is what Aunt Zhao liked to hear the most. Aunt Zhao, who had always been stingy, actually gave each person a tael of silver as a reward, which made Aunt Zhao smile even more.

Huan'er, this kid has really made great progress.

Aren’t they all coming up together?

Now he even has a title and is a seventh-rank military officer.

Even Baoyu has never had this title.

As long as he follows Congge peacefully, he will not have to worry about promotion in the future.

In two years, when Huan'er's official rank is promoted a few levels and he becomes a fifth-rank official, won't he be as senior as the master?
If he were to be promoted to the fourth rank, he would be a higher official than his master.

By then, I'm afraid the master will look at me differently. All the maids in this mansion will be polite and respectful when they see me.
The more Aunt Zhao thought about it, the more beautiful it seemed. Before she knew it, her back straightened up a lot.

When Tanchun heard the news, she was also overjoyed.

Brother Huan has actually made something of himself.

Of course, all of this was achieved with the support of Brother Cong San.

If there was no Third Brother Cong, even if Huan Ge'er was really talented, how could he have the opportunity to show his talents?
Yingchun was naturally delighted when she learned that Liu Xianglian had been promoted to a higher title.

A woman's status depends on her husband's. When Liu Xianglian was promoted to a noble title, she naturally felt proud of it.

……

A few days later, in Jizhou City, Jia Cong also received a receipt from the Ministry of War.

Liu Xianglian was very excited when he learned that he was promoted to cavalry captain.

Wu Shan was promoted to the rank of Right General by Jia Cong due to his military achievements, commanding 20,000 troops.

Jizhou is now expanding its military, directly adding one more army and adding many more positions.

Those officers and soldiers who were promoted based on their military merits just happened to have positions.

After Wu Shan was promoted, Jia Huan was also promoted to vanguard officer by Jia Cong because of his military achievements, commanding three thousand soldiers.

Jia Huan was naturally very happy.

Next, Jia Cong focused his work on firearms.

Jia Cong planned to let the master and apprentice, Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest, to improve the muskets and cannons.

And the steam engine needs to be improved and applied.

If you lag behind, you will be beaten. If you want to avoid being beaten, you must have stronger military capabilities.

Those Western countries are all robbers.

And now is the time for these bandits to sharpen their knives and prepare for global colonization.

A dog will always eat shit. Jia Cong believed that there would be a war between the East and the West sooner or later.

In this case, technological and weapons development must be carried out as quickly as possible.

The East must vigorously develop science and technology to achieve overtaking in a short period of time.

After that, Jia Cong would take some time every day to communicate with master and apprentice Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest.

The knowledge of this master and disciple is amazing.

Otherwise, they would not have been able to forge cannons, create calendars, and master astronomy and other knowledge.

Over the past few days, the master and disciple have been communicating more and more with Jia Cong.

They were more and more surprised, and even thought it was a beauty.

This is because, although Jia Cong only remembers limited scientific knowledge, his theory is too powerful.

After all, they are keyboard warriors who have been baptized by the impact of the information explosion in later generations.

Whether Jia Cong was talking about muskets, cannons, or the advantages and disadvantages of steam engines, or the applications of steam engines.

He even knew a lot about physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, mathematics, humanities, etc.

Jia Cong even knew everything about some classic Western literature and philosophy.

Many of Jia Cong's views and theories greatly shocked the master and disciple Tang Ruowang and Nan Huairen, and always inspired them.

Even in every subsequent communication, the master and disciple would prepare paper and pen to take notes at any time.

If it weren't for his skin color and hair, the master and disciple would almost have regarded Jia Cong as an omniscient God.

Next, the master and apprentice began to patiently develop the musket according to Jia Cong's idea.

They planned to improve the musket by adding rifling inside the barrel.

The rifling is also called windmill line because its cross-sectional shape resembles a windmill.

The rifling can be said to be the soul of the gun barrel. The function of the rifling is to give the bullet the ability to rotate, so that the bullet can still maintain a predetermined direction after leaving the barrel.

When rifling is added to the barrel, it not only improves accuracy, but also increases the effective killing distance of the gun.

For example, the flintlock rifles purchased by Daxia now have an effective killing range of about one hundred meters.

Jia Cong estimated that if rifling was added to the gun barrel, the efficiency could be almost doubled.

On the battlefield, doubling the effective killing distance can almost result in a crushing defeat.

However, although the principle is true, it is still very difficult to actually manufacture a rifled gun.

Master and disciple Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest were troubled for a long time.

Finally, Tang Ruowang found Jia Cong and said:
"My Lord, your theory is good. Adding rifling inside the gun barrel can theoretically increase the speed of the bullet and improve its exit speed."

"But in manufacturing, this is difficult to achieve, and it may not be possible at all. Even if it can be done, I don't know how long it will take."

After hearing what Tang Ruowang said, Jia Cong couldn't help but complain in his heart.

The rifled gun has already been invented in later generations. The fact that you can't do it doesn't mean you are incompetent, but it makes me doubt whether my theory can be realized.

However, this cannot be entirely blamed on the master and disciple.

Although they are knowledgeable, they cannot be omniscient and understand everything.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong couldn't help but say, "Well, let me give it a try."

Tang Ruowang could not help but ask in surprise: "My Lord, you actually know all this? This is really incredible."

"However, this rifling requires extremely high precision, and it is not so easy to produce."

The master and disciple, Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest, did not carve the rifling lines on the inner wall of the gun barrel with their own hands.

Instead, let the most skilled craftsmen make it.

But each time ended in failure.

In the end, they realized that the theory was good, but difficult to achieve in reality.

He came to see Jia Cong because he wanted to give up.

Master and disciple Johann Adam Schall von Bell did not believe that Jia Cong could truly succeed.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "We will know whether it will work or not after we try it."

Next, Jia Cong ordered people to fetch tools and materials and went back to experiment.

Master and disciple Johann Adam Schall von Bell shook their heads, shrugged their shoulders and turned away.

Jia Cong entered an empty room and started working.

His craftsmanship has reached the level of perfection and full experience.

If even he couldn't accomplish it, Jia Cong believed that no one in this world could accomplish it.

But even if I could make it successfully, there is no way to produce it on a large scale.

After all, you can't rub every gun barrel by hand, right?
If this is the case, I am afraid I will work myself to death and still not be able to produce much. (End of this chapter)