serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 483 Three Long Years Part [-]

Time flies, and three years pass by in the blink of an eye.

In the spring of March, the spring breeze was blowing, and the flowers were blooming. It was the most charming time for the eyes and ears, but there appeared on the official road a cavalry and horse team escorting a prison car.

Riding on the horse at the front was Liu Xianglian, who was dusty with travels, guarded on both sides by the cavalry of the Southern Xinjiang Army, and in the middle was a row of more than a dozen prison cars.

The majestic Yongding Gate Tower and City Wall are already in sight in the distance.

Liu Xianglian looked at the city of Beijing from a distance, feeling excited in her heart. After three years, he was finally back!

Liu Xianglian jerked the reins, the sound of the entire cavalry's hooves sped up, and the wheels of the prison cart also rolled faster.

The capital became more prosperous, with merchants gathering and flowers blooming.

The window of the second-floor private room of a restaurant next to Yongding Gate was open, and Xue Pan and Xue Biao were sitting inside.

At this moment, Xue Biao poured the wine from the flask to Xue Pan and said softly: "Brother, please calm down, don't get angry."

Xue Pan picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. He knocked the glass on the table and sighed: "Demon barrier! This is the devil sent by God to punish me!"

Xue Pan smiled secretly. Ever since Xia Jingui gave birth to a son for Xue Pan, Xue Pan no longer called him a bitch, but instead called him a demon.

With his son by his side, Xia Jingui was no longer afraid of Xue Pan, but he also restrained himself a lot and no longer made as much noise as before.

Xue Biao poured him wine and said, "What does eldest sister say about Qin'er?"

Xue Pan twitched the corners of his eyes, and then smiled bitterly. Two years ago, his sister Xue Baochai gave birth to the third prince. Her mother was named a virtuous concubine by the Jin Dynasty because of her son's worth. However, she was not in good health due to difficult labor and heavy bleeding.

In the past three years, Xue Pan asked countless doctors to prepare prescriptions and medicines, but none of them worked.

Xue Baochai was in poor health, so Jia Hu naturally did not often spend the night in Changchun Palace. He basically just sat there, ate and talked with the mother and son, and then returned to Kunning Palace, or went to Yongshou Palace and Yikun Palace.

As time goes by, the relationship will fade, Xue Baochai will fall out of favor, and the status of the Xue family will be affected.

It happened that Xue Baoqin was old enough to get married. Aunt Xue discussed with Xue Pan and Xue Biao and decided to send Xue Baoqin into the palace, one concubine and one concubine. Only by supporting each other can the sisters stand firm in the palace and better protect the Xue family. Interests.

Xue Baochai did not object to this matter, and neither did Lin Daiyu. As a result, when Jia Hu arrived, there was no news.

Xue Baochai tested Jia Hu's tone more than once, but was always put off, neither agreeing nor objecting.

This is embarrassing. The Xue family can only wait, but they dare not find Xue Baoqin's in-laws. If Jia Hu keeps silent, they can only wait forever, even if Xue Baoqin becomes an old girl.

Thinking of this, Xue Pan picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp.

Xue Biao understood, and felt sour in his heart. He picked up the wine glass and took a sip, and said: "If it doesn't work, I will go and apologize to the emperor, even if it means wearing a black gauze hat on my head."

At this moment, the servant's voice came from outside the door: "Second Master Bao is here!"

Before he could finish a word, Jia Baoyu, who was as tall as a jade tree in the wind, walked in quickly and hugged her with both hands: "I'm late, please forgive me for being late, Brother Xue and Brother Xue!"

Xue Pan stood up with a smile.

Xue Biao also stood up and said, "Brother Bao is here, please sit down!" He pulled out a chair for Jia Baoyu.

Jia Baoyu: "Thank you, thank you!" He glanced out the window and asked, "Aren't you here yet?"

After hearing this, Xue Pan took out a gold watch from his arms, took a look at it, and said, "I should have arrived, but I guess there was something delayed on the way."

Several people sat down at the same time.

Xue Pan poured wine for Jia Baoyu and said, "I heard that Brother Liu will be promoted to a first-class Duke this time. I don't know if it is true or not?"

"It's true." Jia Baoyu picked up the wine glass.

Xue Pan and Xue Ban also picked up the wine glasses and the three of them drank.

Xue Biao: "If I remember correctly, this is the third Duke of the Southern Xinjiang Army." Jia Baoyu nodded. After conquering Annan Kingdom, Xie Qiongjin, the commander of the Southern Xinjiang Army, was granted the title of first-class Duke and was given special rewards. The second son, a first-class marquis; after conquering Zhenla, Wang Dalei was promoted to a first-class Duke; after conquering the capital of Tianzhu this time, Liu Xianglian was also promoted to a first-class Duke.

Xue Pan smiled: "Wanguo Street is even more lively now!"

Jia Baoyu and Xue Biao looked at each other and laughed.

Wanguo Street is the common people's ridicule of Xijiangmi Lane. This street is home to the royal families of Japan, Ryukyu, Annan, Siam and Chenla, as well as several small countries in Central Asia. Now there is another Tianzhu royal family.

In the past few years, the Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy have conquered and conquered more than a dozen kingdoms, opened up more than [-] miles of territory, and brought back a large amount of property to the Empire.

Nowadays Annam, Siam and Chenla grow rice and various fruits for the empire, Central Asia grows crops such as wheat and cotton, Siberia, Korea and Japan produce various ores, especially coal mines. Due to the advent of the steam engine, both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs Textile mills and various mines require large amounts of coal.

Xue Pan suddenly remembered: "Hey, I heard that those madmen moved the steam engine onto the ship. How is it?"

Jia Baoyu smiled and said: "I heard that a trial voyage is going to be carried out in the moat. It will be clear when we go and take a look."

Xue Biao continued: "I'm not very optimistic about it. That thing is too big, and it has to store a lot of coal. A ship is only so big, how much cargo can be loaded in the remaining space?"

At this time, I suddenly heard people shouting outside: "Come and see! Come and see! The Tianzhu royal family has been escorted to Beijing!"

The three of them cheered up, stood up quickly, and walked out.
  At this time, the imperial financial meeting was being held in the upper study room.

Jia She was reporting to Jia Hu: "Last year, the national tax revenue totaled [-] taels of silver, and the budget for various expenditures at the beginning of last year was [-] taels. Of which [-] million taels were It was used to maintain the expenses of the court. About [-] million taels were used for provincial and local government expenses, and the rest was given to the Ministry of War.

The Peach Blossom Flood hit all the prefectures and counties in Jiangxi Province in March last year. Since the beginning of summer, seven prefectures in Henan and Anhui have been hit by drought. In September, there was a major earthquake in Sichuan. There was also a snowstorm outside the customs two years ago. The income and expenditure were evened out, leaving a balance of [-] taels of tax last year! "

Jia Hu said nothing and continued to look at the account book in his hand.

Jia She continued: "The officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Affairs have calculated it again. This year's tax revenue will be a little more, but it will not exceed [-] million. If your Majesty increases the officials' salaries, there is a high probability that there will be a deficit!"

Jia Hu closed the account book in his hand, threw it gently on the imperial case in front of him, then raised his head, his eyes swept over the faces of Jia She, Lin Ruhai, Wang Hetang, Li Shouzhong and Liu Fang, and finally fell on Jia She slowly said: "In the past year or so, the corruption situation among officials has improved, especially among those at the middle and lower levels. This shows that my strategy of 'high salary to support integrity' is still good, and it also shows that the vast majority of officials Still good.”

After a pause, "But there are still some people who are greedy, profit-seeking, and inhumane. As long as they can make money, they don't feel bad even if they force people to sell their children and daughters! Sichuan has suffered such a disaster, and the imperial court has issued an order to exempt the people from it. In order to pay taxes, the Sichuan governor instead sent more officials and bankers, and the county government officials and Li Jia kept pushing hard, causing the people to sell their sons and daughters, and even forced them to flee, leaving nine houses empty."

As he spoke, he took out a complaint from the case file and threw it on the ground, "The court has no knowledge of such a big matter. What do you do for a living!"

Jia She was startled for a moment, then stood up and picked up the complaint and read it. His face immediately changed, and then he knelt down: "I am the chief minister of the cabinet. If something like this happens, the cabinet is responsible, and I am the first to take responsibility. Please When the emperor punishes crimes, he will give an explanation to the government, the public, and the people."

Everyone was surprised when they saw this, and then they knelt down.

Jia Hu groaned and said, "The governor of Sichuan and the officials of Sichuan have worked hard to deceive the court. They deserve death! Little fat man!"

The little fat man, the eunuch in charge of Qianqing Palace, came over quickly: "I'm here!"

Jia Hu: "According to the decree, all the chief and deputy chiefs of Sichuan's yamen at all levels were beheaded on the spot. The three tribes were assigned to Korea and demoted to mining status. Their descendants were extended and they were not allowed to change their status. In addition, a clear edict was drafted to inform all provinces to let those with high status Corrupt officials who receive extra salary but still think about it understand that if anyone dares to commit corruption, the debt will no longer be wiped out by death, and the disaster will not be brought to the family. Sichuan officials are role models!"

After saying that, he turned to Jia She: "The cabinet issued another official document, informing all provinces that starting from next month, all officials' salaries will be increased by [-]%. Tell them clearly that I will not pursue the past matters, and if there is any further If someone breaks the law, the whole family will go mining in Siberia.”

The five people looked at each other and replied in unison: "I will accept the order."

Jia Hu picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, then said: "In order to prevent something like this from happening again, I decided to reset the Yiluan Division to monitor the world and supervise local officials. But don't worry, the Yiluan Division will never have law enforcement power. They cannot arrest, examine or convict, they can only monitor and collect intelligence.”

There was silence.

Jia Hu: "What's wrong?" He glanced at everyone.

Lin Ruhai, Wang Hetang, Li Shouzhong and Liu Fang looked at Jia She.

After a moment of silence, Jia She answered: "In order to prevent Yiluansi from obtaining law enforcement power, please Your Majesty to restrain future generations in the royal family's ancestral precepts."

Jia Hu thought for a while: "Yes."

(End of this chapter)