I'm in the Red Mansion

After returning to Jizhou, Tang Ruowang learned the news and excitedly found Jia Cong and said, "My Lord, the lathe has been built!"

"After the experiment, the gun barrel was completely qualified. Not only did the range double, but the accuracy was also greatly improved."

"We are now in mass production. In half a year, we will be able to produce at least 10,000 flintlock rifles."

"But 10,000 is already the limit. If we want to produce in large quantities, the amount of raw materials is insufficient."

"By the way, after this gun has been improved, it has completely departed from the appearance of a flintlock rifle. Please give it a name, my Lord."

Can the barrels of flintlock rifles be mass-produced?
It only takes half a year to produce 10,000 of them. This speed is a bit slow.

But for the time being, 10,000 are enough.

This type of gun is just a transition.

Next, continuous improvement is needed.

And ten thousand of them are enough to deal with war.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong could not help but say, "Tang Ruowang, very good. This matter should be credited to you for a great achievement."

"Well, this new type of firearm is called a rifle."

"If we can produce 10,000 guns in half a year, that should be enough."

"And then, the guns can be improved again."

"For example, it is entirely possible to make a new type of bullet, with a bullet in the front and gunpowder in the back."

"When the firing pin of a gun hits the bullet, it can trigger the gunpowder to explode, generating a thrust that propels the bullet out."

"As long as this kind of bullet can be invented, it will greatly save the time of reloading bullets."

"You can even make a magazine that can hold 20 to 30 bullets."

"Then one gun can fire 20 to 30 bullets in succession."

"And when the bullets are empty, you can just replace the magazine."

"If we can make such bullets and magazines, guns will be able to completely replace cold weapons."

After listening to Jia Cong's idea, Johann Adam Schall von Bell could not help but nod his head repeatedly and applaud.

He couldn't help but say: "The Marquis's idea is indeed perfect, and although it is somewhat difficult, it is not impossible to implement."

"Next, I will personally lead people to study this type of bullet and gun. I believe they will be manufactured soon."

Hearing what Tang Ruowang said, Jia Cong shook his head and said, "You can let your students do the research on bullets and guns."

"Next, I want you to make a batch of cannons."

"Make some cannons of different calibers, and I want to improve the power, range and accuracy of these cannons."

"And I want these cannons in addition to the ones that defend the city, so they can be easily transported."

Next, Jia Cong talked about his requirements and ideas for the new cannon.

After hearing this, Johann Adam Schall von Bell hurriedly wrote it down and prepared to start research and development.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell was a missionary, but at the same time, he was actually a very enthusiastic scientific researcher.

Jia Cong asked him to help teach students, research muskets and rifles, and cast cannons.

In fact, he didn't have much resistance in his heart.

I was even enjoying it so much that I almost forgot what I came to Daxia for.

Recently, he almost forgot about his missionary work.

In fact, in the original historical trajectory, Johann Adam Schall von Bell was doing almost the same things.

It’s just that Jia Cong trusts him more, and understands science and the future direction better.

After leaving Johann Adam Schall von Bell, Jia Cong called Mei Shiming again.

Now Mei Shiming is in charge of the entire firearms battalion and has 1,500 soldiers around him.

These soldiers are responsible for protecting the safety of the firearms battalion.

After seeing Jia Cong, Mei Shiming bowed and said, "Greetings, General."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Cousin, next, you must keep an eye on the firearms battalion and make sure that no guns are leaked."

“At the same time, we must also pay attention to the craftsmen inside and prevent them from contacting outsiders.”

"But the most important thing is Master and disciple Tang Ruowang, as well as the people they brought with them."

"If you find anything wrong with them, report it to me immediately."

Jia Cong had complete faith in the knowledge of Master and Apprentice Johann Adam Schall von Bell.

But he also had to be on guard against them being poached or betraying him.

Once such talents fell into the hands of people with ulterior motives, especially the Qing Dynasty, the destructive power would be too great.

Therefore, they must be strictly guarded.

If necessary, they would rather kill them than let them go.

……

At this time, in Shengjing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty, the young Emperor Kang Mazi, several ministers of the Grand Council, and Princess Heshuo were discussing strategies to deal with Daxia.

In the past two years, due to successive failures in military operations against Daxia, they lost the entire Jizhou.

The blow to the Qing Dynasty was extremely heavy.

Although Kangxi killed Ao Zang and took back the imperial power.

However, the already sharp contradictions within the Qing Dynasty still could not be reconciled.

Because the Qing Dynasty's territory was really small, everyone wanted to have a bite.

Therefore, various contradictions emerged.

Kang Mazi's original solution was to launch a war against Daxia.

Once we are able to occupy the land north of the Yangtze River in Daxia and make the cake bigger, everyone will be able to have a bite, and internal conflicts will be resolved.

In fact, this is exactly what they did in the original historical trajectory.

They unexpectedly entered the country and occupied the Central Plains, which successfully resolved internal conflicts.

And if they had not been able to invade Daxia, the ever-increasing internal conflicts might have caused them to fall apart first.

All we can say is that the demise of the Ming Dynasty was inevitable, and the entry of the Qing Dynasty into the Central Plains was accidental.

But now, they have suffered successive defeats in the war against Daxia in the past two years.

The internal conflicts within their country have been aroused once again and have reached a point where they are difficult to suppress.

If it is not resolved in time, it will inevitably cause big trouble.

And this is the reason why they convened this meeting of the Grand Council.

Princess Heshuo couldn't help but say, "I finally found out where Daxia's new weapons came from."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes, including Kang Mazi's, lit up.

Kang Mazi couldn't wait to ask: "Royal sister, didn't they produce these weapons themselves?"

Princess Heshuo said: "No, all of their weapons were bought from Westerners, including the cannons they used."

Hearing this, Mingzhu immediately said: "If they can buy, then we can buy too. We can buy a large number of firearms from the Westerners."

"Once our entire army is equipped with firearms, we will be invincible. What can Daxia use to fight us?"

Suo Etu frowned and said, "How can things be that simple?"

"Those firearms have a range far exceeding that of bows and arrows, and their lethality is amazing."

"And the most important thing is that even ordinary people can use firearms after only one or two months of training."

"And Daxia's population is dozens or even hundreds of times greater than that of the Qing Dynasty."

"The emergence of firearms has weakened the riding and archery capabilities of our Eight Banners disciples."

"If Daxia and I are both equipped with firearms, the advantages of us Eight Banners disciples will be gone."

"How can we fight them when our population is far less than that of Daxia?"

Soetu's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over all of them, and everyone calmed down immediately.

Indeed, the emergence of firearms was not a strengthening for them, but rather a great weakening.

Their strengths lie in horse riding and archery, and their excellent skills in riding and fighting on horseback.

However, after the advent of firearms, all their strengths were weakened.

Their weakness of insufficient population is infinitely magnified.

Mingzhu said with a pale face: "Is it God's will to destroy the Qing Dynasty? Why is it so?"

Kang Mazi glanced at everyone and said, "Things haven't come to that point yet. Now it depends on whether Daxia takes firearms seriously."

"I believe that since the Imperial Sister has spoken of this matter, she must have also found out the news."

Princess Heshuo couldn't help but laugh and said, "The one who knows me is the emperor. Yes, I did find out the news."

"Last time, Prime Minister Qin of Daxia openly demanded Jia Cong hand over the blueprints of the flintlock rifle in the Daxia court."

"It was only because of the grenade leak that the matter was left unresolved."

"And according to the information I gathered, the blueprint was eventually handed over to the Emperor of Daxia."

"However, the Great Xia Emperor did not mass-produce flintlock rifles."

"Instead, only a few thousand were produced, and one firearms battalion was assembled among the three major battalions."

After hearing the news, the Qing emperor and his ministers couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This is really good news for them.

Because if Daxia produced firearms on a large scale and the entire army was equipped with them.

Then they will not have any room to fight back against Daxia.

Mingzhu couldn't help but say: "Fortunately, the emperor of Daxia is stupid enough."

"And this is exactly the opportunity for our Great Qing. As the saying goes, if you don't take what God has given you, you will suffer the consequences."

"What we need to do now is to secretly purchase a large number of Western weapons, equip the entire army, and speed up training."

"After the training is completed, we will be able to sweep across the entire Daxia before they can react at all."

"However, this will take time. During this period of time, Da Xia must not be aware of it."

"We can even take the initiative to make friends with them."

Kang Mazi nodded and said, "Mingzhu's words are a mature and wise way of planning for the country!"

After hearing this, Suo Etu couldn't help but say: "We can ask to marry the princess of Daxia. I'm sure they won't refuse."

"This way, we can appease them better and prevent them from noticing our movements."

After hearing this, Kang Mazi thought for a moment and said, "That's good. Then we will send an envoy to Daxia to ask for marriage."

Kang Mazi was ambitious and naturally would not oppose the marriage.

Just a daughter.

And not to mention marrying princesses from Daxia, even the princesses from the Qing Dynasty would also be married to far-away places like Mongolia and form alliances with them.

To the royal family, the princess was just a tool for marriage.

After the discussion, the Qing Dynasty immediately sent envoys to Daxia to propose marriage.

……

In Jizhou City, the provincial examination was being carried out.

The county examination can be presided over by the county magistrates of various places.

When it comes to the provincial examination, the prefect is required to preside over it.

As for Jizhou, Emperor Xia did not send a prefect.

Therefore, Jia Cong, the governor, personally presided over the provincial examination.

Of course, this is just a formality.

However, he needed to get up very early and go to the examination room.

Jia Cong couldn't help but recall the days when he took part in the provincial examination.

It has only been a few years, and now I have become the chief examiner. In a few days, the exam was over quickly.

In the whole Jizhou, there were not many candidates taking part in the provincial examination, only seventy-six people.

This number is far from the number of people who took the exam when Jia Cong took the exam.

Because there are fewer candidates, marking the papers is much easier.

In order to prevent talented people from being missed, Jia Cong personally looked through the papers one by one even after the deputy examiner had corrected them.

After reading it, Jia Cong couldn't help but frown slightly.

I have to say that the foundation of the candidates from Jizhou is really too poor.

Jia Cong was somewhat skeptical as to how these people had passed the county examination.

But think about it again, Jizhou had just been recovered.

Under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, it was difficult for the people here to get the opportunity to study.

Therefore, it is only natural that there are few candidates and their foundation is poor.

During the county examination, it is impossible for every county magistrate to not select anyone.

Perhaps they can only pick generals from the crippled team and select a few good ones for the low-level selection.

Jia Cong was helpless about this.

As the saying goes, it takes ten years to grow a tree, and a hundred years to cultivate a person.

It is difficult to cultivate many scholars in a short period of time.

However, among these candidates, Jia Cong rarely saw a candidate with a pretty good foundation.

This candidate's article was also favored by many deputy examiners.

He was immediately selected as the first case.

If he waits for the next college entrance examination, he may still stand out.

Jia Cong didn't mind giving him some pointers.

As long as you study hard for two years, you may not fail the provincial examination.

After correcting the test papers, Jia Cong asked someone to open the sealed envelope.

It was discovered that the candidate's name was Fu Liming.

After the results are announced, the selected candidates come to meet the chief examiner.

Jia Cong also met Fu Liming, a candidate who was surprisingly very young.

After asking about her age, she turned out to be one year younger than him.

Moreover, this candidate was gentle and kind, and Jia Cong was quite fond of him.

Jia Cong actually encouraged him.

……

At this time, the Manchu envoys seeking marriage had already arrived in the capital.

Then, they proposed that their Qing emperor want to marry the princess of Daxia.

The vast majority of feudal dynasties had the custom of marriage alliances.

Among them, perhaps only the Ming Dynasty is an exception.

The Ming Dynasty might not be as powerful as the Han and Tang dynasties, but as powerful as they were, they still used princesses to marry foreign princesses.

The Ming Dynasty, on the other hand, did not make alliances or pay tribute; its king died for the country and the emperor guarded the national borders.

Because of this, Jia Cong's favorite dynasty is the Ming Dynasty.

However, Daxia was no exception and still chose to marry a princess to gain peace.

As for the Qing Dynasty's request for marriage, Daxia readily agreed to it.

Emperor Yonglong was a monarch with great talent and strategy, and he naturally longed to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

If this is true, then he will surely become an emperor of revival and be recorded in great detail in history books.

He had communicated with Jia Cong and knew that it would take Jia Cong two or three years to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Even in the eyes of Emperor Yonglong, two or three years might not be enough.

Therefore, if the marriage could buy a few years of peace, Emperor Yonglong would think it was a very worthwhile thing.

Therefore, Emperor Yonglong agreed to the marriage without much thought.

However, there is no princess of the right age in the palace now.

The princesses of Emperor Yonglong were either already married or still young. Among the unmarried princesses, the oldest one is only seven years old.

At this age, it is obviously not suitable for marriage.

Therefore, the candidate for the princess to marry can only be found from among the royal family.

In the end, Emperor Yonglong approached Prince Nan'an.

Because the Prince of Nan'an happened to have a daughter of marriageable age, only fifteen years old, who was not betrothed.

The young lady from the Prince of Nan'an's family was deeply loved by the Dowager Concubine of Nan'an.

After hearing the news, I cried like a tearful person.

She found Concubine Nan'an and begged desperately. Although Concubine Nan'an was reluctant, the imperial edict had already been issued and she dared not disobey it.

However, after the young lady of the Prince of Nan'an's family begged for mercy but received no response, she hanged herself after returning home.

Fortunately, she was discovered and rescued by her personal maid.

When Concubine Nan'an heard about this, she was shocked and rushed to visit.

When she saw the deep mark on her most precious granddaughter's neck, she couldn't help but sigh.

Although she also guessed that this must be a self-torture trick of her beloved granddaughter.

But in her heart, she really didn't want her granddaughter to marry someone else.

Once I get married, I’m afraid we’ll never see each other again in this life.

Looking through the history books, how many princesses who were married off for foreign countries had a good ending?

Wasn't the Han Dynasty strong enough? However, most of the princesses who were married off to foreign countries lived a miserable life, and some were even abused to death.

Thinking of this, Concubine Nan'an softened her heart and promised her precious granddaughter to think of another solution.

After returning, after thinking about it carefully, Concubine Nan'an suddenly remembered the Jia family.

Now the Jia family has fallen into decline, and their titles and property have been taken away from them.

I heard that they have two daughters, one of whom is a third daughter, who is just the right age and has no one betrothed.

Thinking of this, Concubine Nan'an began to have an idea.

Then he prepared a carriage and headed straight for the Jia family.

After arriving at Jia's house, Lady Jia, Lady Xing and Lady Wang were so frightened that they greeted her warmly.

Grandmother Jia hurriedly ordered the maid to bring tea.

The Nan'an Concubine took one bite and put it down without taking a second bite.

He was too lazy to negotiate further, so he proposed to adopt the third girl of the Jia family as his adopted daughter on behalf of his daughter-in-law.

Then, Tanchun will be named a princess and marry into the Qing Dynasty.

As long as Tanchun is conferred the title of princess, the Jia family will definitely receive certain rewards.

After hearing this, Lady Jia, Lady Xing, and Lady Wang, the mother-in-law and daughters-in-law, were all overjoyed.

He agreed without hesitation.

This is a great joy and an unexpected surprise for them.

Among the three mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, only Grandmother Jia has some feelings for Tanchun.

However, these feelings are nothing compared to the future of the Jia family.

When Yuanchun entered the palace, it was Jia's mother who sent her in herself.

What's more, Tanchun is now, and can even be named a princess.

Even though I have to marry far away into the Qing dynasty and we may never see each other again in this life, at least I will become an imperial concubine.

The Jia family will definitely be rewarded, and it is even possible that Jia Zheng will be pardoned.

Therefore, how could they refuse?

When Concubine Nan'an saw that the Jia family agreed, she naturally returned satisfied.

After the Concubine Nan'an left, Grandmother Jia called Aunt Zhao and told her the good news, and then asked her to tell Tanchun.

When Aunt Zhao heard this, she felt as if she was struck by lightning.

She hurried off to look for Tanchun.

Even though Aunt Zhao dislikes Tanchun in various ways, she is still a piece of her flesh and blood after all.

What's more, Tanchun was conferred the title of princess and married far away, so the Jia family would certainly benefit from it.

But what good is it for her?
Whatever benefits there were, they all fell to Baoyu in the end.

Aunt Zhao didn't want Tanchun to be a useless princess and marry far away in the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, Aunt Zhao hurried to the Grand View Garden and told Tanchun the news.

When Tanchun heard the news, it was as if a bolt from the blue had exploded before her, and she stood there in a daze.

Then, tears rolled down her face and she cried silently.

Aunt Zhao said anxiously, "It's already this late and all you know is crying. What's the point of crying?"

"Why don't you go find Miss Lin and ask her to tell Brother Cong about this right away."

"As long as Congge asks, he will definitely not let you marry into the Qing Dynasty."

After hearing this, Tanchun could not help but hold Aunt Zhao and said, "Mother, please don't tell Third Sister-in-law about this."

"This involves Concubine Nan'an and the royal family, as well as the imperial court's policy of marriage alliance. Even if we tell Brother Cong, what can he do? It will only cause more trouble."

"Everything is determined by fate. It is not up to us. It is just my fate that is miserable. I cannot blame others."

After saying this, Tanchun couldn't help but burst into tears.

No matter how strong-willed and competitive she is, she is just a teenage girl after all.

When Aunt Zhao heard this, she couldn't help but said angrily: "Where is the energy you used to get angry at me?"

"Never mind, never mind, he is just a bully at home, good-looking but useless."

"Now that I have really encountered a problem, I am at a loss. Forget it, forget it. If you can't stand up on your own, no one else can help you."

After saying this, Aunt Zhao turned around and left angrily.

After leaving the Grand View Garden, she was about to return, but she was reluctant to leave.

She turned around and went back to Ningguo Mansion.

When she arrived at Ningguo Mansion and saw Lin Daiyu, Aunt Zhao knelt on the ground and begged Lin Daiyu desperately.

Lin Daiyu hurriedly asked someone to help Aunt Zhao up, thought for a moment, and finally agreed.

Only then did Aunt Zhao say goodbye and leave.

In fact, Lin Daiyu never wanted to tell Jia Cong about this matter.

Behind this matter, not only the Prince of Nan'an was behind it, but also the Emperor and the plan for marriage.

Although Lin Daiyu did not agree with the marriage proposal, she knew that it was in the overall situation and could not be violated.

But Lin Daiyu also knew Jia Cong's character very well.

If such a big thing is not told to him, it will definitely make him unhappy, and may even cause the couple to become estranged.

Thinking of this, Lin Daiyu wrote a letter and then sent it quickly by carrier pigeon.

The speed of carrier pigeons is still extremely fast.

It took only three days to arrive at Jizhou City. (End of this chapter)