The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 146 Half Steamed, Half Braised

Jia Huan originally planned to stay in Yangzhou for only one night, but Lin Ruhai asked him to meet tomorrow afternoon, so he had to stay one more day. It must be that Lin Ruhai is busy with work and it is not easy to find time, otherwise he would not meet in the afternoon.

Lin Zhixiao was quite reliable in his work. He contacted a passenger ship from Yangzhou to Hangzhou early on. It would pass through Suzhou on the way. Mammy escorted her to the passenger ship.

When we parted, the little girl cried so much that she held on to Jia Huan and Ping'er's hand, and managed to coax her into the boat.

"Let's start the boat, everyone, sit tight and hold on!" The boatman yelled, and with a touch of the bamboo pole, the wupeng passenger boat left the pier unsteadily and sailed towards the center of the river.

"My aunt lives in Taohuawu, Suzhou City. You must remember to come and see me!" Xing Yuan shouted while waving her little hands and wiping her tears. She was probably worried that Jia Huan and others on the shore would not hear her, so she shouted several times in a row.

Jia Huan smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he heard it, Ping'er's eye circles were slightly red, Tie Hu and Xing Wei were also feeling disappointed.Lichou is always touching, after more than half a month of getting along, the cute and cute little Yuanyuan is obviously very popular with everyone.

Seeing off Xing Yuan's master and servant at the south pier of Suzhou City, Jia Huan was planning to go back to the city for a stroll and visit Lin Ruhai in the afternoon, but just as he turned around, he met a group of people, including Housekeeper Xiao from Lin's residence.

At this moment, Butler Xiao also found Jia Huan, he couldn't help being startled for a moment, and hurriedly moved to a person's side and whispered a few words, and that person's gaze immediately turned to Jia Huan.

This person is about 40 years old, dressed as a scribe, with three long beards under his jaw, with a Chinese character and a refined temperament, which fits the image of a handsome old man in ancient times.

Jia Huan's heart moved, could this be Lin Ruhai?It should be, but there is a bit of similarity in the eyebrows and eyes.

At this time, there were three other middle-aged scribes traveling with them. Judging from their swaggering demeanor, they were probably local officials and gentry. They appeared at the pier in casual clothes at this moment, presumably they were going to board a boat for fun.

At this moment, Steward Xiao walked over quickly, bowed to Jia Huan and said, "It's a coincidence, why is Third Master Huan here?"

Jia Huan clasped her fists in return, "I just saw off a friend, why did Housekeeper Xiao come here?"

Butler Xiao said with a smile: "Today is a holiday. Mr. Zhang from the Salt Transport Department has invited our master to go boating and fishing. He is also accompanied by two local wealthy businessmen. Since we happened to meet him, Mr. Huan is interested in going with us. Save yourself the trouble of having to walk again in the afternoon.”

"Is this convenient?" Jia Huan hesitated. It seemed inappropriate to participate in a game of this level by himself.

Butler Xiao said with a smile: "It's just for fun, it doesn't involve official business, why not, Third Master Huan don't have to worry about it."

Jia Huan was not hypocritical when he heard the words, he turned around and ordered Tiehu and Shitou to send Ping'er back to the inn, and then calmly walked towards Lin Ruhai and the others.

A glint of appreciation flashed in Butler Xiao's eyes. This son's words, deeds, and speech are all good, and what's more rare is this calmness. He has even achieved the fame of a scholar at a young age. It's no wonder the master looks at him differently.

In fact, Lin Ruhai favored Jia Huan so much. On the one hand, it was because of Jia Huan's excellence, and on the other hand, it was because of Lin Daiyu's letter from home. Otherwise, he would not have invited Jia Huan to his private party at this moment.

Let's say that Jia Huan walked up to Lin Ruhai calmly, bowed and said, "Jia Huan has met Uncle."

Jia Huan originally had red lips and white teeth, sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a calm and composed demeanor. Now that he was dressed in plain clothes, he looked even more gentle and jade-like. Lin Ruhai couldn't help nodding secretly, thinking: "This boy is really extraordinary!"

"Brother Huan, you don't need to be too polite. This is Mr. Zhang, the transfer envoy of the capital transfer salt envoy." Lin Ruhai introduced.

Jia Huan hurriedly saluted without being humble or overbearing: "Student Jia Huan has met Mr. Zhang."

The official position of the transfer envoy of the capital transfer salt envoy is the third rank. A proper third rank official of the imperial court. In terms of rank, the official position is even higher than Lin Ruhai, the patrolling salt censor, but the patrolling salt censor has the right to supervise the local salt administration. It is equivalent to the imperial envoy appointed by the emperor, and even the entire Salt Envoy has to be restricted by him, so the real power of patrolling the salt censor is actually higher than that of the Salt Envoy.

The transfer envoy Zhang in front of me is called Zhang Yidong, his name is Chengliang, he is about fifty years old, his face is flushed, his beard is black and shiny, and his body is well maintained. He always smiles, giving people the feeling He was very kind, and he smiled and nodded and said: "Brother Ruhai, this little friend Jia calls you uncle, could it be that you come from the Duke Rong's mansion?"

Lin Ruhai smiled and said, "Brother Huan is exactly the concubine son of my brother-in-law, Jia Zheng, who is currently a member of the Ministry of Industry, Wai Lang."

Then Lin Ruhai introduced two other people in the same company, one surnamed Kang and the other surnamed Yang.

Recently, the imperial court is preparing to send troops to Liaodong, and the military expenditure is huge. The Ministry of Household Affairs has asked Yangzhou to increase the salt tax, and the increase is not small, so Lin Ruhai recruited these two influential salt merchants. It is to do the ideological work of the two, let them take the lead in responding to the national policy of raising the salt tax by the imperial court.

In modern times, a bag of salt costs only two or three yuan, so everyone doesn't care much about it, but in ancient times, salt was an important material at a strategic level. They must be eaten, so in ancient times, salt was always monopolized by the government, and it was the same in the Great Jin Dynasty. All the salt produced by the salt households could only be handed over to the government for unified purchase, and the sale of private salt was strictly prohibited.

The government collects the salt, and then distributes the salt to salt merchants in various places according to the salt guide issued by the household department. In this way, the imperial court firmly monopolizes the necessary product of salt. The treasury brought in a very rich income.

Don't underestimate a small handful of salt. Dajin's actual salt revenue has accounted for 1500% of the fiscal revenue. The salt merchants in Yangzhou alone can earn 600 million taels of silver every year from selling salt. The imperial court also handed over [-] million taels of salt, which was quite astonishing.

Closer to home, let’s talk about Zhang Yidong, Kang Wanwan and Yang Wanwan, the transfer envoys, when they heard that Jia Huan was just a concubine of Rongguo’s mansion, they immediately cried out with regret and became less enthusiastic, but when they learned that Jia Huan was under nine years old, When he won the scholar, he was shocked again, but he didn't dare to underestimate him.

Lin Ruhai probably wanted Jia Huan to show his face in this level of social circle for the sake of his daughter Lin Daiyu, so he took him on board the boat and went fishing on the river together.

This is a three-story luxury building, which is equivalent to a modern yacht. If you don't have a net worth of hundreds of millions, you may not be able to afford it. It is a property owned by Kang, a big salt merchant.

Let's say that the boat sailed to an open and calm river and dropped anchor, and everyone was fishing on the deck while chatting. The table was filled with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, as well as delicious wine and delicacies, and even beauties singing and dancing.

Jia Huan couldn't help sighing secretly that money and power are really good things. No matter in any era, as long as you have money and power, you will live a life of superiority.

Kang Wanwan's surname is Kang, and his first name is Lingcheng. He was originally from Shanxi. It is rumored that his ancestors started their business by selling private salt. Later, they were laundered and settled in Yangzhou. Selling salt, the industry under his name involves all aspects of people's livelihood, and has a huge influence, so the local officials in Yangzhou have to sell his face, including Lin Ruhai.

At this time, Kang Wanwan caught a two-finger-sized river carp, shook his head and regretfully said: "These days, even the fish can't grow fat, and they are as skinny as sticks. No matter how hard they are, they can't scrape two taels of meat. It's better to let it go." Bar."

After speaking, he threw the river carp back into the water, Lin Ruhai couldn't help frowning, and remained silent.Coincidentally, after a while, the salt merchant Li Wanwan also caught a two-finger-sized river carp, and threw it back into the river with a smile, saying: "My one is also very thin, let it go, Huangtai How dare you pick another melon!"

Lin Ruhai's expression suddenly became darker. Jia Huan originally thought that there was something in the two people's words. Seeing Lin Ruhai's expression, he immediately became more convinced of his suspicion. However, he did not understand the affairs of Yangzhou officialdom, and even if he did, he was not qualified to express his opinion.

Just at this time, the fishing rod in his hand sank suddenly, and Jia Huan pulled it up hastily, but seeing a flash of golden light, a big carp nearly two feet long was pulled out of the water and landed on the deck alive and kicking.

When Lin Ruhai saw it, he laughed loudly and said: "This river carp is very fat, maybe it weighs seven or eight catties, and it's delicious steamed or braised."

Jia Huan joked: "How about half steamed and half braised?"

Lin Ruhai couldn't help laughing again: "Brother Huan is a good idea, what do Yuanwai Kang and Yuanwai Li think?"

Both Kang Wanwan and Li Wanwan's expressions changed slightly. The former said with a sneer, "Mr. Jia is very lucky. Come and bring this carp to the kitchen. Half of it is steamed green and the other half is braised in brown sauce."

A servant immediately picked up the carp.

Zhang Yidong, the censor of Yanyan, glanced at Jia Huan strangely, and said with a smile: "I heard that Jia Xiaoyou won the county examination, the first place in the government examination and the first place examination in the county examination before he was nine years old, and his poetry talent is not hindered. The number one child prodigy, now that the autumn is crisp and the forest is full of dye, why don't you compose a song to cheer you up?"

As soon as this remark came out, Lin Ruhai also looked at Jia Huan with a smile, quite thoughtful, his daughter had praised Jia Huan's talent in his family letter, and he wanted to see it for himself.

Since Lin Ruhai brought him to this occasion to show his face, with the intention of supporting him, Jia Huan naturally couldn't lose face and embarrass Lin Ruhai, so he said modestly: "Master Zhang is ridiculously praised. First, please correct me, my lords."

Jia Huan looked across the river, and happened to see a lone boat in the distance, on which a man wearing a bamboo hat was fishing, and said, "Yes!"

Zhang Yidong said with a smile: "Jia Xiaoyou is really quick-witted, this meeting will be there."

Lin Ruhai stroked his beard and said, "Come and listen!"

Jia Huan then slowly chanted, "One coir, one hat, one flat boat, one foot of silk and one inch hook. One song and one bottle of wine, one person fishing alone one river autumn."

(End of this chapter)