I'm in the Red Mansion

It turned out that Jia Cong was vigorously developing science and technology in the entire Yanyun area.

New schools had already been built in the several states he originally occupied.

This new school does not mean a new school, but a new learning school, where new subjects such as mathematics and science are taught.

In addition, a new type of examination model for selecting talents was held in these states.

The examination rules are similar to the imperial examinations, except that they test new knowledge.

Once they pass the exam, the top-ranked candidates will be selected to work in scientific research institutes and will also be granted official positions.

Candidates with lower rankings can also serve in the Firearms Battalion or the Artisan Battalion. Of course, there are other arrangements as well, and they can also become officials.

It is almost equivalent to another imperial examination selection system.

However, this kind of selection system does not make it possible to serve as an official in the imperial court, and the promotion channels are also very narrow, so it is impossible to govern a region.

However, this kind of exam is much easier than the imperial examination.

And even if you fail the exam, as long as you learn some knowledge of mathematics, science, etc., you will be given priority even if you apply for a job as an accountant or even go to work, and the salary will be higher.

After all, in this era, people who can write and calculate are considered scarce talents.

The literacy rate in this era is really too low.

Therefore, the new school was very popular in Yanyun.

Ordinary families prefer to send their children to new schools.

After all, the imperial examination was too difficult.

The vast majority of people may never pass the exam to become a scholar in their entire life.

In the new school, one can take the exam as long as he studies for a few years. Even if he fails, he will be very welcome no matter where he works.

New schools were also being built in Yingzhou and other states that were recovered later.

At this time, Yingzhou prefect Shi Hao began to stop them.

He believed that the doctrines of the new schools were all unorthodox and were misleading students.

Moreover, this new school selection system is hindering the selection of talents through the imperial examination. If this continues, it will inevitably make it difficult for the country to select enough talents, and the country will inevitably be in chaos.

Therefore, Yingzhou prefect Shi Hao strictly prohibited the construction of new schools in the entire Yingzhou.

He also issued strict orders to the people under his command, prohibiting them from sending their children to new schools in other neighboring states.

Once someone reports it, he will be severely punished.

This news soon reached Jia Cong.

Upon seeing this news, Jia Cong's face turned cold.

Jia Cong had already read Shi Hao's resume a long time ago.

Shi Hao, born in a poor family, is a very filial person.

After becoming an official, he was honest and incorruptible and had an excellent reputation.

Originally, Jia Cong thought that this was a talent that could be won over.

But I didn't expect him to be so stubborn.

Sometimes, a talented and honest official may not be as useful as a foolish and incompetent official when he is stubborn.

At least incompetent officials will not hinder the development of new learning.

Jia Cong ordered that the prefect Shi be summoned to Youzhou.

A few days later, Shi Hao came to the governor's mansion and was received by Jia Cong.

After Shi Hao paid his respects, Jia Cong ordered him to sit down and talk.

Jia Cong couldn't help but ask, "Prefect Shi, why are you blocking the construction of the new school?"

Shi Hao said sternly, "Your Excellency, since the imperial court already has the imperial examination system for selecting scholars, why did you go to the trouble of introducing a new system for selecting scholars?"

"Your Excellency's actions, where does this put the court? Even if you don't come to me, I am ready to persuade you not to do something that goes against the court. I also ask you to completely abolish the new school in Yanyun."

This person is foolishly loyal and stubborn!

Jia Cong frowned and said, "Prefect Shi, the Book of Rites says: 'If you keep improving yourself every day, you will improve yourself every day!'"

"The world is developing, the times are progressing, why is Governor Shi standing still?"

"Do you know why I was able to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun? I relied on this new learning."

"The new learning in the West is now ahead of us. If we don't catch up, we will soon be left far behind."

"And falling behind means being beaten. It is precisely because of this consideration that I have vigorously promoted new learning in Yanyun. Do you understand my good intentions, Prefect Shi?"

Shi Hao thought about it for a while, still shook his head and said: "My Lord, I still think that this new learning is a strange and lewd skill!"

"In governing a country, benevolence and righteousness should be the first priority, and the Four Books and Five Classics should be the blueprint. The rest are just details."

"Now you have put the priorities wrong. I hope you will think twice."

Hearing this, Jia Cong felt tired.

He still had a lot to refute. If benevolence and righteousness were useful, why did they lose the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun?

Why was Daxia almost destroyed by the Qing Dynasty? At that time, what role did your benevolence and righteousness play?

However, at this moment Jia Cong refused to say a word.

It is impossible to reason with people like Shi Hao, who have been deeply poisoned by the castrated Confucianism.

Just like you can never wake up a person who is pretending to be asleep.

Jia Cong couldn't help but say, "Prefect Shi, there's no point in saying more. I'll give you two choices."

"The first one is to build new schools and promote new learning in Yingzhou after returning."

"The second option is to dismiss you from your post as prefect and return to the Ministry of Personnel to await further orders."

Hearing this, Shi Hao's face changed.

After a while, he stood up, bowed deeply to Jia Cong and said, "Sir, I choose the second option."

Jia Cong looked at Shi Hao for a while and said, "Okay, go ahead."

After Shi Hao left, Jia Cong shook his head and began to write a memorial to report the matter to Emperor Yonglong.

As a Jiedushi, he had no honorary power to appoint, but he had the power to dismiss any official under his jurisdiction.

Of course, you can't dismiss all the officials under your rule.

But there is no problem in removing a prefect.

However, after being dismissed, one must submit a petition to the emperor and state the reasons.

In the memorial, Jia Cong patiently introduced Western learning to Emperor Yonglong and pointed out the rapid development of the West.

He also mentioned that the development of Western weapons is also changing with each passing day.

Think about it, if Daxia did not have muskets and artillery, but the West did.

If the West attacks us in the future, how can we be their opponent?

Therefore, what we have to do now is to promote the new learning across the country.

We have a large population in Great Xia, with many talented people, who are smarter than the barbarians in the West.

Therefore, as long as we vigorously promote new learning, we will soon surpass the West.

After writing the memorial, Jia Cong sent it out.

A few days later, Jia Cong's memorial was submitted to Emperor Yonglong.

After reading the memorial, Emperor Yonglong couldn't help but frowned wearily.

The rift between him and Champion Hou finally appeared.

The situation where the emperor and his subjects get along well with each other will never return.

Emperor Yonglong approved of the Western learning and promotion of new studies mentioned by Jia Cong in his memorial.

But when it comes to dealing with Shi Hao, Jia Cong actually has more choices.

Even if Jia Cong used his official position to pressure Shi Hao and forced him to promote the new learning in Yingzhou, Shi Hao would probably have to obey.

However, Jia Cong chose the worst path.

Directly dismissing Shi Hao from his official position was also a way of breaking with the court.

From now on, the people of Yanyun will probably officially be named Jia.

This made Emperor Yonglong feel tired.

Why do people change so fast?

If Marquis Guanjun can still maintain his original intention and continue to contain the Qing Dynasty in Yanyun.

The imperial court could then focus on pacifying the Sanfan Rebellion.

If so, Daxia will surely usher in an era of peace and prosperity!
And now, this champion marquis has just recovered the Yanyun area and his ambition has been exposed.

How could he dare to withdraw his troops with confidence?

Emperor Yonglong never thought that the reason he sent civil and military officials there twice was actually because he was suspicious of Jia Cong first.

If Jia Cong did not resist, he would soon be sidelined.

They will then be summoned back to the capital, and their fate will be either to be imprisoned in the capital for life or to have their property confiscated and their entire family exterminated.

In the eyes of Emperor Yonglong, thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor.

If the king orders his subject to die, the subject must die.

It's my duty to be on guard against you, but you can't resist.

Unfortunately, Jia Cong is not a blindly loyal person.

At the court meeting on the second day, Emperor Yonglong circulated Jia Cong's memorial to all officials.

After reading Jia Cong's memorial, many ministers became outraged.

After seeing this, Kou Xiang and Lin Ruhai couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

They had actually anticipated this day a long time ago, but they just didn't expect it to come so soon.

From the perspective of the imperial court, Jia Cong should not be so arrogant and domineering.

But if you look at it from Congge's perspective, he was forced to do so.

Next, the conservatives headed by Qin Xiang and the military officials from the Yuanping lineage began to frantically impeach Jia Cong.

They said that Jia Cong was wild and rebellious, and had no loyalty to his king or his father, and suggested that he be summoned to the capital to be punished.

Some people also impeached Jia Cong for his rebellious intentions, which were obvious, and the court should send an imperial envoy to take him down.

There were even officials, such as Kou Xiang and Lin Ruhai, who were impeached.

It was said that they were close to Jia Cong, formed a clique, and intended to rebel.

At this time, Emperor Yonglong looked at Prime Minister Kou and asked, "My dear Prime Minister Kou, what do you think?"

Kou Xiang took a step forward and said, "Your Majesty, I think what the Champion Marquis said makes sense."

"If you fall behind, you will be beaten. We were one step ahead of the Qing Dynasty. They mastered muskets and artillery before us, and then we recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun."

"And what if the Qing Dynasty mastered muskets and artillery before us? Will they let Daxia go?"

"If they are not of my kind, their hearts must be different. Moreover, they are armed with sharp weapons, so they will naturally have the desire to kill."

"If the new Western learning is too far ahead of us, I am afraid that they will have the intention to invade our Great Xia in the future. Therefore, we have to be on guard early."

At this time, Mei Hanlin could not help but step out and say, "Prime Minister Kou, please stop exaggerating. What we are discussing now is how to punish the Marquis of Guanjun for not respecting the imperial order."

Kou Xiang glanced at Mei Hanlin and asked, "So Mei Hanlin also thinks what the Champion Marquis said makes sense?"

"Since what he said makes sense, why should he not respect the Holy Order? And why should he be punished?"

Next, all the officials in the court fell into quarrel again.

The farce was not stopped until Emperor Yonglong became angry.

In fact, Emperor Yonglong had no intention of punishing Jia Cong.

The main reason is that even if he really thought so, he would be helpless against Jia Cong.

Just like reducing the number of officials, didn't he want to? Was he going to call Jia Cong back to the capital?
Now is not the time like two years ago when he was eager to return to Beijing.

If he doesn't return at that time, the court will be even more embarrassed.

As for sending an imperial envoy to Youzhou to capture Jia Cong, it is even more ridiculous.

This forced Jia Cong to rebel.

If he disobeys the order and refuses to return, what should the court do?
Send troops to conquer?

Even the Qing Dynasty was defeated by the Yanyun Army. Could the imperial army be his opponent now?
By then, I'm afraid that Daxia will be in turmoil.

Now, although Jia Cong is disrespectful, he is only trying to protect himself and has no intention of rebelling. So there is no need to force him to do anything.
At least he occupied the Yanyun area, which was much better than letting it fall into the hands of the Qing Dynasty, right?

Thinking of this, Emperor Yonglong could not help but say: "Marquis Guanjun is the military god of our Great Xia, with great military achievements. If anyone dares to defame Marquis Guanjun again, I will kill him without mercy!"

"What I want you to discuss is whether or not to promote the new learning throughout my Great Xia. My dear ministers, please feel free to discuss it."

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials breathed a sigh of relief.

They impeached Jia Cong just now just to show their loyalty and discredit Jia Cong.

They naturally knew that as long as Jia Cong did not rebel, the court would not and dared not do anything to him.

Apart from anything else, if he really forced the Champion Marquis to rebel.

If Marquis Guanjun leads his troops to attack us, which army in Daxia can withstand Marquis Guanjun's army?

Next, regarding the new learning, the vast majority of officials in the court were opposed to promoting it.

They believed that the new knowledge was nothing more than strange and obscene skills, not worthy of being in the upper class.

Even among the pro-war faction, there were some officials who opposed the promotion of new learning.

It’s not that they want to go against Jia Cong, but they really find it difficult to accept new things.

It is human nature to reject new things from the bottom of your heart.

In the end, the promotion of new knowledge came to nothing.

……

Among the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, Shi Hao was directly dismissed by the Jiedushi because he opposed the promotion of new learning.

The imperial court did not respond to this and did not even send any officials to take over.

Jia Cong directly asked an official from his faction to temporarily take over the position of prefect.

Then he submitted a memorial to the imperial court, which quickly agreed to it.

After this incident, Shi Hao, one of the seventeen officials sent by the court, was demoted, and now there are only sixteen officials left.

These sixteen officials gave up the idea of ​​opposing Jia Cong and setting up their own faction.

Lord Shi Hao did stand out. After being dismissed from office, the court did not say a word and he hid himself and pretended to be dead.

Which group do they belong to? Could they have more face than Lord Shi?

Therefore, it is better to lurk quietly and wait and see what happens in the future.

As for the three military generals sent by the imperial court, they were completely obedient to Fucha Chushengzhi.

The three of them couldn't speak the same language, let alone win over anyone.

There was even one person who wanted to establish his prestige so he was challenged by a soldier in the army and was then beaten up by the soldier.

After that, he could no longer hold his head up in the army.

He simply gave up and hid in the military camp every day, drinking and getting drunk, and not caring about anything else.

The army is just keeping this one person in vain.

The other two weren't much better.

After hearing this, the three generals became completely disheartened.

It turns out that the imperial court doesn't care about their lives at all. Even the civil officials have given up. Why should they hold on?

And at this time they thought about it one more layer.

That's why they didn't cause any waves.

If they can really win over a group of low-level soldiers and set up their own faction, will the Marquis of Champion allow them to poach their soldiers?

I’m afraid the grass on their graves is three feet high!

Thinking of this, the three of them couldn't help but shudder.

I was secretly very lucky, thinking that they didn't do anything wrong, so I was lucky enough to save my life.

After that, these three people became even more indulgent. They gathered together to drink every day and no longer asked about military affairs.

After Fu Cha Chusheng learned about this, he felt relieved.

Jia Cong saw that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun had basically been stabilized.

It’s just that the pace of development has gradually slowed down.

It’s not that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun lack wealth, but that there is a lack of circulation.

For example, because of the developed business here, the Jiedushi Mansion is actually not short of silver.

As for the common people, they have saved up some spare money.

But the people are reluctant to spend the money they have.

As long as silver is not circulated, it will become a stagnant pool, which is not conducive to the prosperity of business.

However, if we want to make the Yanyun area develop rapidly, we must find another way.

As for the fastest way to develop, it must be infrastructure construction.

Real estate is probably the best way to do it.

Of course, the economy in Yanyun is weak, so there is naturally no market for real estate.

Therefore, Jia Cong decided to build a road in Yanyun next.

As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. Building roads itself is the only way to economic development.

Building roads can also drive the overall development of the Yanyun area.

At Jia Cong's command, the Yanyun area began a vigorous road construction project.

Of course, in the Yanyun area, there is no more forced labor.

The workers used in road construction were all hired migrant workers.

Ten cents a day, and three meals a day.

Such good treatment almost mobilized the enthusiasm of the people in the entire Yanyun area.

The road that Jia Cong built was intended to connect all the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Not only that, the roads between the states and counties below also need to be expanded and repaired.

Such a project would be considered a major project even in later times.

Not to mention in this era.

It will probably take more than ten years to repair all the roads.

Of course, Jia Cong didn't expect to do it in one go.

Today, the Yanyun area does not have enough foundation to support such a large project.

Even the road construction today is just to widen the original road and make it wider and smoother.

In this way, the workload is greatly reduced.

As for the roads between states and counties, each state and county repaired them on its own based on the actual conditions within the state.

During the road construction process, steam engines were officially put to use.

When encountering hard ground that is difficult to dig, the excavator driven by the steam engine comes in handy.

How great is the kinetic energy converted by a steam engine?
No matter how hard the road surface is, it becomes soft as silk in front of the excavator.

The high efficiency of the excavator also amazed many migrant workers.

At the same time, Jia Cong also ordered the Research Institute to begin developing a four-wheeled carriage equipped with a steam engine.

The technical difficulty here is neither great nor small.

The biggest difficulty is actually solving the steering problem of the four-wheeled carriage.

As for steam engines, they are all ready-made.

The steering system can achieve this by adopting the axis steering mode.

Jia Cong has already given some ideas, and I believe that the research institute will be able to solve this problem in a short time.

Once the four-wheeled carriage came out, it could greatly improve transportation capacity.

At the same time, a luxury version of the four-wheeled carriage can be manufactured and sold at a high price.

Today, the officials in the imperial court are short-sighted and refuse to promote the new learning throughout Daxia.

But capital is profit-seeking, and once they discover a business opportunity, they will not let it go.

With the participation of private capital, I believe that it will soon spontaneously drive a technological boom.

The Yanyun area was completely revitalized because of the road construction project in which almost everyone participated.

Various businesses have burst into vigor and vitality, and a large number of business opportunities have emerged.

This also attracted merchants from various states adjacent to Yanyun to come here to take advantage of the opportunity.

This also made Yanyun's business more prosperous.

……

At this time, in the Qing Imperial Palace.

Princess Gulun came to the upper study.

Kang Mazi hurriedly asked the eunuch to serve a bowl of deer milk to Princess Gulun.

Princess Gulun drank it all in one gulp, put down the bowl, and said, "Your Majesty, the time is ripe now. It's time to bring chaos to Daxia."

"As long as Daxia is in chaos, our Qing Dynasty can take advantage of the situation and profit from it."

"But in the Yanyun area of ​​Great Xia, there is a Champion Marquis who is blocking us from going south."

"If we can't get rid of this Champion Marquis, our Qing Dynasty will not have the slightest chance of advancing south."

Kang Mazi couldn't help but ask, "I wonder what tricks the imperial sister has to stir up chaos in Daxia?"

"How can we get rid of that Champion Marquis?"

Princess Gulun said: "Today, Daxia faces three crises."

"The first one is the Marquis of Guanjun. He ruled his own territory and had his own army. He was at odds with the imperial court. The imperial court of Daxia wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible."

"The second crisis is the Sanfan. The Sanfan are like three blood-sucking insects that only know how to suck blood from Daxia. If the Sanfan are not eliminated, the Daxia court will be in turmoil."

"And their biggest crisis actually lies with Xiao Qiang."

Hearing this, Kang Mazi's face showed a thoughtful look.

He couldn't help but ask, "The trouble comes from within? That's impossible. Yonglong still has some ability."

"Although there are many constraints because the emperor is still alive, he has indeed trained some people over the years. How could he be easily seized by others?"

Princess Gulun couldn't help but laugh and said, "Those princes are indeed a little stupid and it's hard for them to achieve great things."

"But it is precisely because they are stupid that they are more in line with the interests of our Qing Dynasty. If they were ambitious enough, they would become an obstacle to us."

"If they rely on themselves alone, it will be difficult for them to accomplish anything. However, if we help them secretly, their chances of success will be greatly increased."

"Over the years, our infiltration into Daxia has far exceeded their imagination."

"Among Daxia's ministers, there are few who are not greedy for money and lustful, and almost half of them have been bribed by us."

"They may not really be loyal to the Qing Dynasty, but are just accepting the benefits we have given them, and are not prepared to help us."

"It's just that my benefits are not so delicious. Since I've eaten them, how can I not give anything in return?"

"I have leverage over them all. I only need to force them to do something at the critical moment. How could they not obey me?" (End of this chapter)