Chapter 222

Since Jia Cong participated in the management of the Ministry of Works' Firearms Bureau, various tasks had been pushed forward in an orderly manner.

Not only did they successfully recruit several talented Western barbarian scholars locally in the Love Shenjing, but among them, the English gunsmith Masiduo was a rare and specialized talent.

This broke the stalemate of the Firearms Bureau in recruiting famous Western barbarian scholars.

Although Jia Cong was only a Grade 7 official, he had been granted the right to report directly to the throne; a few days after entering the Firearms Bureau to assist, he submitted a memorial to Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao based on the needs of various matters.

He suggested that the Ministry of Works in the Love Shenjing coordinate with the Ministry of Works in the auxiliary capital of Jin Ling to increase communication with overseas personnel at ports such as Jin Ling, Ningbo, and Fuzhou.

And according to the Western barbarian classification of natural sciences such as gunpowder, firearms, alchemy, mechanics, and metallurgy, they should recruit overseas talent and add natural science subjects in official and private academies in various coastal prefectures to cultivate talent for the Great Zhou.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao knew that Jia Cong was very familiar with Western firearms, and could explain it as his outstanding talent and many ingenious ideas, as well as his experience in using firearms to encircle and suppress Japanese ronin in Jin Ling.

Yet he did not know that he was also so knowledgeable about Western natural sciences and miscellaneous studies.

After receiving the memorial, he summoned him into the palace to ask where he had learned such knowledge.

Perhaps this was also what the Emperor hoped to see.

However, civil officials such as the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Zheng Yan, and the Minister of Rites, Guo Youchang, were somewhat disappointed to see that Jia Cong, such an outstanding literary talent, was not developing on the path of civil officials but was obsessed with the duties of a craftsman all day long.

After checking the records of the Zhongche Office, it was discovered that Jia Cong had indeed landed in Baoying County and stayed for two or three hours, the reason being to get medicine for a sick maid.

This matter was then left unsettled.

And in the eyes of outsiders, he was a descendant of the Rongguo family, with a deep and solemn household, and indeed rarely had the opportunity to know these things.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao was deep and calculating, extremely suspicious, and meticulous, actually asking him where he learned the methods of Western barbarian natural sciences.

Officials of the old party who strictly adhered to ancestral rules submitted memorials one after another, claiming that a youth who had just reached adulthood was speaking recklessly about state affairs, introducing strange and obscene Western skills, and corrupting the customs of scholars and the people.

The two met like old friends and talked happily; this person De'erluo was very learned, especially proficient in Western natural sciences and miscellaneous studies, and the Western barbarian natural science classification methods he listed were all heard from him.

It was just that after the fact, when Jia Cong recalled this matter, he always felt a sense of horror in his heart.

Any lie, if the first half is true, is very easy to convince others, and the second half is impossible to verify.

According to Jia Cong, when he went to Jin Ling on official business last time, the official ship had docked in Baoying County, and he had disembarked to get medicine in Baoying County, accidentally meeting a Western barbarian missionary named De'erluo.

And this memorial by Jia Cong caused another stir in the imperial court.

Jia Cong said that after talking with De'erluo, he pondered that Western barbarian natural sciences had similarities with the Daoist Huang-Lao techniques and the Mohist mechanical methods, and by seeking common ground while reserving differences, it would be of great benefit to the strategy of a strong nation.

This was how the suggestions in this memorial came about.

It was just that the secret agent recorded Jia Cong's movements and only thought it was a small matter at the time, but it was impossible to follow him ashore, so whether he had met a Western barbarian missionary named De'erluo was impossible to verify at all.

Because on the official ship that Jia Cong and Qin Ye took to Jin Ling that day, secret agents from the Zhongche Office had been arranged.

……

Although there was constant impeachment and opposition to Jia Cong's memorial, Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao issued an imperial edict three days later, ordering the Ministry of Works in the Love Shenjing to coordinate with the auxiliary capital's office in Jin Ling to handle it according to the memorial.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao had always been overly thoughtful and would not listen to Jia Cong's one-sided words, so naturally, he had the Zhongche Office investigate it afterwards.

On the official ship to Jin Ling that day, if Wu Er hadn't caught a cold and fallen ill, and he hadn't happened to go ashore in Baoying to get medicine, he wouldn't have been able to use it to stall and cope.

Otherwise, if the Emperor had suddenly asked about this, he really wouldn't have known how to muddle through.

He had landed in Baoying County, and many people on the ship knew it at the time; Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao only needed to send someone to ask, and he thought it should be able to be covered up.

The reaction caused by that memorial, as well as his family background.

If he were accused of being born with knowledge, it would be almost equivalent to being a demonic creature harming the country.

It was just that from then on, he became more and more cautious in his words and deeds, and by analogy, he thought of the risks hidden in the Xiuniang Incense Shop.

……

West of the city, a small courtyard with a single entrance, where there was a main room, four side rooms on both sides, and a kitchen with a woodshed.

After Qu Hongxiu brought Jia Cong in, he saw a courtyard full of children, but they were all sallow and thin, aged between eight and ten, and there were even several toddlers walking unsteadily.

"According to your wishes, I selected these orphans from the famine victims, seventeen in total; they were all originally from innocent families and are very smart and sensible.

I hired two women in the courtyard, also selected from the famine victims who had lost their husbands, to take care of the children's daily life."

Last year, there was a locust plague in the Huaihe region, and the fields and houses were in a mess; after the beginning of the year, the rainfall was extremely scarce, and there was another spring drought that lasted for several months, leading to countless deaths from starvation, and famine victims fled everywhere.

Outside the western suburbs of the Love Shenjing, thousands of famine victims gathered, building grass huts to survive; entering the cold winter, because the weather was cold, dozens of people often froze to death in one night.

The government dared not let these famine victims into the city, and although they often provided porridge outside the city, it was just a drop in the bucket.

Qu Hongxiu, following Jia Cong's wishes, adopted these orphans from the famine victims; either their relatives had all died of hardship and starvation, or they had unfortunately gone missing.

If these orphans stayed outside the city, they would either starve to death or become someone else's food.

It was just that bringing them into the city was not easy; they needed to be registered and sold by the government, and it had to be confirmed that someone was raising them before they could be brought into the city.

Jia Cong looked at the children in the courtyard and said: "Let's raise them for a month first; when their bodies are stronger, I will ask someone to teach them literacy and arithmetic, and if they have literary talent, they can be sent out to study poetry and books in the future."

Qu Hongxiu asked curiously: "Raising these orphans is naturally a good thing, but why did you suddenly think of doing this, and you even want to teach them literacy and arithmetic."

Jia Cong said thoughtfully: "I encountered a matter the day before yesterday that made me think a lot; ever since the incense shop started selling Dongying water jade perfume, business has become more and more prosperous, and it has begun to attract covetous eyes.

Didn't you say last time that someone attempted to buy shares and distribute in the incense shop, and there was even a sense of coercion? It was nothing more than seeing wealth and becoming greedy, intending to swallow it up; I'm afraid such things will be indispensable in the future.

Historically, for merchants to stand firm for a long time without being coveted by outsiders, there are only three grades: the first grade is the imperial merchant of the Imperial Household Department, the middle grade is private property protected by powerful officials, and the lower grade is having a good reputation among the people in the market.

Now our foundation is still shallow, and even if it is the lower grade method, I'm afraid we can't do much now, but we must always do something.

Moreover, these children have clean backgrounds and are easy to teach at this age; now we are about to open a branch in Jin Ling, and when the business grows bigger in the future, these children can be of great use, and it will also give them their own livelihood."

Jia Cong suddenly said again: "Xiuniang Incense Shop is now famous in the Love Shenjing, and someone will always notice you in the future; is your identity in Dezhou appropriate?"

Because Jia Cong was still a descendant of the Rongguo Prefecture and had not yet separated the household and established his own, it was not convenient for him to own property, and Qu Hongxiu was the main manager of Xiuniang Incense Shop.

Qu Hongxiu said: "Three years ago, when I stayed in that courtyard of yours, I no longer wanted to live the life I had before; these years I have traveled back and forth to Dezhou several times and have put some effort into my background and origin.

When the Dezhou branch had an accident back then, I had just finished my apprenticeship, and not many people in the sect knew me; Zhou Junxing encircled and suppressed the Dezhou branch, and those who knew my identity all died in the fighting.

Outsiders only know that I am the daughter of a disabled bodyguard in Dezhou; my father passed away when I was fourteen, and the Dezhou government household registration can all be verified, so you don't need to worry."

Hearing this, Jia Cong breathed a sigh of relief; these years the two had a close relationship, and in Jia Cong's heart, he had long valued her extremely highly.

The two seemed to have forgotten the past and rarely talked about the topic of the Yin Sect; now hearing her say this, the last trace of worry was also put down.

(End of chapter)