The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 163
Jia Lian was undoubtedly a handsome guy, with a powdered face and lipstick. He was wearing a white arrow-sleeved gentleman's suit and walking boots. He walked into the study room gracefully, but when he saw Jia Huan standing next to Lin Ruhai , looking obviously a little unnatural, stepped forward and saluted: "Jia Lian has met my uncle."

Lin Ruhai nodded and said with a smile: "Brother Lian, there is no need to be polite. Where did this come from?"

"My nephew has been busy recently in repurchasing the properties he originally sold. Fortunately, all of them have been recovered to this day. I also asked my uncle to take a look at it." After Jia Lian said that, he handed over the repurchased land and house deeds to Lin Ruhai, with a look on his face. He felt relieved, but also a little proud, and glanced at Jia Huan secretly.

Jia Huan was speechless. You sold the Lin family's property at a low price. Now that you can get it back, it's just to atone for your sins. What's there to show off?

Of course, Jia Lian's ability to do things is still online. This must be affirmed. However, the successful recovery of the low-sale property this time is most likely because Lin Ruhai is still alive. If Lin Ruhai really dies, those buyers may not sell Jia Lian's face. , after all, no one is willing to spit out the fat that has been eaten into the stomach.

Lin Ruhai took the deeds and put them away without looking at them. Although Jia Lian, the nephew-in-law, was not very kind, after all, he escorted his daughter back all the way. There was no credit but hard work, and there was also a desire to get some benefits. In addition, for the sake of his relatives, he couldn't be too embarrassed, so he smiled and said, "Brother Lian, thank you for your hard work."

"This is what my nephew should do. Now my uncle's condition has improved a lot, and everything in the house is busy, so my nephew plans to go back to Beijing in the near future. As for Sister Lin, she is definitely not willing to go back to Beijing with my nephew at this time. Yes, why not wait until my uncle is well and then the government will send someone to pick him up, or my nephew can come to pick him up in person."

Jia Lian stayed in Yangzhou for two months and had enough fun. Diao Sheng's incident happened again. It was quite embarrassing, so he wanted to leave for a long time. However, Lin Ruhai's condition was serious and he was embarrassed to leave. Now Lin Ruhai's condition Things have improved, and all the Lin family properties that were sold at low prices have been recovered, so I quickly took the opportunity to leave to avoid feeling uncomfortable.

Lin Ruhai couldn't understand Jia Lian's psychology, so he nodded and said: "That's fine, but brother Lian, it's better to set off a few days later. The mountains are high and the roads are far and thousands of miles away. It's not easy to come here once. My uncle has prepared some souvenirs for you. Bring back."

Souvenir?This is possible, and Jia Huan also plans to ask Jia Lian to help bring some gifts back to Sanchun and Xue Baochai.

Jia Lian exited the study, feeling sad and bored. When he received the news that Lin Ruhai was seriously ill, Jia's mother sent him to escort Lin Daiyu south quickly. The night before departure, his father Jia She and Mrs. Wang both came to see him. "Face-to-face instruction", it is said that Uncle Lin has been serving as the salt patrol censor for these years, and his family must be rich. However, the Lin family is very thin, and Lin Ruhai has only one daughter. In other words, Lin Daiyu is the only legitimate wife of the Lin family. Heir, so let Jia Lian take care of things well, and don't let the wealth flow to other people's fields.

Of course, Jia She and Mrs. Wang didn't say it so straightforwardly, but that was probably what they meant, asking Jia Lian to pack up the Lin family's property and bring it back to Beijing.

As for Wang Xifeng, her words are much more explicit, and with her greedy temperament, she would like a goose to pluck its feathers, or a heron to chop its meat from its legs, so her "expectations" for Jia Lian's trip are very high. Go back with tens of thousands of taels of "private money".

As a result, Jia Huan suddenly jumped out, and Lin Ruhai came back to life. There was no need to deal with the inheritance anymore. Naturally, Jia Lian couldn't get a single benefit, so he couldn't help but feel sad and bored. Alas, he would have to suffer a lot after returning to Beijing. The old man rolled his eyes.

Fortunately, Jia Lian accomplished one thing during his trip, otherwise this trip would have been completely in vain.It turns out that before setting off, Jia She gave Jia Lian a batch of salt yin, a total of 9000 yin, with a market value of about 6000 taels of silver.Some time ago, Jia Lian resold this batch of salt bait to an Erdao dealer for 1000 taels. When Jia She bought this batch of salt bait, he only spent 5000 taels of silver, so it was equivalent to making a net profit of [-] taels of silver. The huge profits are outrageous.

It is worth mentioning here that the salt quotas of Jin Dynasty were issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs every year. There was only one way for ordinary people to obtain salt quotas, which was to transport grain, cloth, horses and other materials to the frontiers. This is in exchange for salt, which is the so-called "Kaizhong method".

To put it simply, due to the bitter cold, insecurity, sparse population, and low food production in the border areas, the large group of soldiers guarding the border required a large amount of supplies, which put great pressure on the imperial government's finances.In order to reduce this pressure and encourage merchants to transport food supplies to the border areas, the imperial court came up with a way, which was to link the salt quotation with it. If the salt merchants wanted to obtain the salt quotation, they must Transport food and supplies to the frontier.

The main operation is divided into three steps. The first step is to submit the project. Every year, the imperial court will post the project for public bidding. For example, transporting one stone of grain to Shanxi can be exchanged for one piece of salt. A total of xxx stone of grain needs to be transported.If any salt dealer is willing to contract this project, he should register on the list to report his success.

The second step is to keep the support. The businessman will transport the required grain to the designated place as scheduled, collect the salt and then take the salt to the designated salt field to wait for the salt, which is to keep the support.

The third step is market exchange. The salt merchants obtain the salt at the designated salt farm and transport it to the designated area for sale. This is the market exchange.

Therefore, it is not easy for merchants to obtain salt. The process takes a long time, and the distance to transport grain is long. People eat what horses feed, and often only half a stone, or even less, is left after a stone of grain is transported to the destination. It is consumed. It is huge, both in terms of time cost and labor cost. However, merchants are still flocking to it.

why?
Because the profit from selling salt is so considerable, even if these costs are removed, it is still a huge profit. Therefore, salt merchants are rushing to transport grain materials to the border areas in exchange for salt. Some smart salt merchants even directly hire people to work on the border. Land was reclaimed to grow grain to reduce transportation costs, so a large number of "commercial villages" appeared in the border areas.

In this way, the food problem of the frontier troops was solved, the frontiers of Jin Dynasty also prospered, and the court was able to save a huge amount of expenses.

There is no doubt that opening up the Chinese Dharma is a good policy, but no matter how good the sutra is, it will turn into a crooked sutra if it is recited by a monk with a crooked mouth.

In the nearly 90 years since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, the Kaizhong law gradually began to go out of shape. Seeing the huge profits from salt, some powerful people began to reach out and use their connections and privileges to obtain salt. Some relatives of the emperor even asked for it from the emperor. This is the so-called "Occupying a nest".

Well, now, the salt merchants worked hard to transport the grain to the border, and then they switched to Yanyin. As a result, the nobles and powerful relatives got the Yanyin with just their words, and it was almost zero cost. Are you angry? Annoying?
Jia She obtained the 1000 taels of salt through connections, but it was not at zero cost. It also cost 5000 taels of silver, but he earned [-] taels as soon as it was resold, which was still an astonishing huge profit.

After Jia Lian left the study, Jia Huan couldn't help but ask: "Uncle, the court wants to increase the salt tax to seven taels of silver per import. This is no problem. After all, the wool comes from the sheep. The most that those salt merchants can do is pass on the cost to the people." , but by increasing the output by 20 yuan and increasing the production of so much salt at once, can it really be sold? I’m afraid the salt merchants may not be happy, right?"

Lin Ruhai stroked his beard and said: "Brother Huan, I'm afraid you don't know something. The private salt on the market is no less than the official salt. Since there is no tax, the price is much lower than the official salt. People are more willing to buy private salt. This is also The real root cause of repeated bans on illegal salt is that if illegal salt can be completely banned, it will be possible to double the sales of official salt, so there is no problem of not being able to sell it."

Jia Huan couldn't help but said: "Is illegal salt trading rampant here?"

Lin Ruhai asked: "Brother Huan, if you can buy ten catties or even twenty catties of private salt for one catty of official salt, would you buy the official salt or the private salt?"

Jia Huan blurted out: "Of course I buy private salt. People's money does not come from strong winds. Naturally, I can save money if I can." Lin Ruhai smiled and said: "That's it. Money moves people's hearts and people are willing to buy it. It's easy for traders to buy private salt." It has become a hugely profitable thing, so naturally many people are willing to take risks."

Jia Huan said in surprise: "Is official salt really that much more expensive than private salt?"

Lin Ruhai smiled bitterly and said: "I'm afraid it will be more expensive next time. The court needs money, and those salt merchants also need profits. They won't do it unless they make a lot of money."

Jia Huan was silent when he heard this. Having said that, official salt is ten to twenty times more expensive than private salt. This is too dark and outrageous. It is no wonder that the world will perish and the people will suffer. If the world prospers, the people will also suffer.No matter what dynasty, ordinary people are like leeks. As long as the ruler's sickle is raised a little higher to cut, the ordinary people will be grateful.

When Lin Ruhai saw this, he knew that Jia Huan's "young and pure" mind had been affected. However, the officialdom was even more clumsy and there were still many dirty and dirty things. If he wanted to join the officialdom, he would have to learn to adapt sooner or later.

Lin Ruhai took a sip of tea and continued: "In the past few years, the war in Liaodong has been tense, the court's expenditure has increased significantly, and the salt tax has been raised one after another. In order to ensure tax sources, I have intensified the crackdown on illegal salt, and even did not hesitate to send five hundred salt soldiers Expanding to one thousand, these are all approved by the emperor."

Jia Huan couldn't help but suddenly realized that it was no wonder Lin Ruhai dared to be so unscrupulous. His daring was approved by Emperor Qian Sheng.

"It's just a crackdown on private salt. It affects the interests of too many people, and it is inevitable to offend others. The big salt lord Gu San Mazi even threatened to take my head." Lin Ruhai said calmly.

Jia Huan's heart moved and he asked, "Who can Diao Sheng be recruiting?"

Lin Ruhai's face darkened and he said, "This person is very stubborn and insisted that he was just trying to make money. It wasn't until I showed him the letter of contact between him and Gu San Mazi that he reluctantly admitted that it was Gu San Mazi who instigated it. Haha, really It’s impossible to think that this official is confused.”

Jia Huan's eyes flashed: "Uncle, I don't think it was Gu Sanmazi who instigated this."

Lin Ruhai didn't answer, just picked up the teacup and took a sip, then changed the subject and said, "I heard that Diao Sheng once threatened Brother Huan. Most of these private salt dealers are vicious desperadoes. Brother Huan, you should be more careful in the future. "

Jia Huan nodded: "Huan'er will pay attention."

Lin Ruhai stood up, walked slowly behind the desk, took out the double-barreled musket from the drawer, wiped it with a cloth, then handed it to Jia Huan and said: "This revolver musket was made by me three years ago. The one bought by foreigners is easier to use than a matchlock gun. It can be fired even on rainy days, and it is double-barreled. It is a sharp weapon for self-defense. Give it to Huan'er for self-defense."

Jia Huan couldn't help being surprised, and said quickly: "Uncle, you should keep it for yourself. You need it more than Huan'er. What's more, firearms are prohibited items. I'm afraid it won't be appropriate for Huan'er to keep them."

Lin Ruhai smiled and said: "Actually, there is no shortage of guards around my uncle. It was just an accident last time. Now the guards have been strengthened. No one can easily get close. But Huan'er is different. You can keep this musket for self-defense. Although it is a forbidden item, just don't show it to others easily. If someone does report it, your uncle will take care of it for you, so there is no need to worry."

Jia Huan was surprised and happy when he heard this. He finally thanked him and took it to play with, unable to conceal his fondness.

Lin Ruhai smiled slightly, and he knew that there was no young man of Jia Huan's age who didn't love firearms.

To be honest, the workmanship of this revolving gun is really exquisite. It is golden and full of metal texture. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a work of art. The key is that it is double-barreled. Even in Europe, it is probably worth a lot of money.

"I almost forgot, there is this." Lin Ruhai took out a delicate wooden box from the drawer. It also has a strap that can be slung over the shoulder. The wooden box contains ammunition and a small wrench for loading. chain.

The revolving musket was invented on the basis of the matchlock, which overcomes the disadvantage that the matchlock cannot be used in rainy days. However, the revolving musket also has its own shortcomings, that is, the runner must be chained before use, just like the old-fashioned The mechanical clock is winding, so it is still a bit troublesome.

Lin Ruhai showed Jia Huan how to load ammunition and how to wind the chain, and Jia Huan naturally learned it immediately. After all, he has seen a lot of more advanced firearms. He has never eaten pork and has seen pigs running away, right?

"The long-range power of this musket is not as good as the crossbow, but the power at close range is amazing, so Brother Huan should be careful. If you don't plan to use it, don't wind it up, lest it accidentally fires and injure yourself." Lin Ruhai reminded solemnly.

Jia Huan nodded in agreement and solemnly put away the musket and medicine box.

The two chatted for a while, and suddenly the housekeeper Xiao Lei came to the study door and reported: "Master, Prefect Han is here to visit."

Lin Ruhai frowned. He was a little tired at the moment, but Han Li, the prefect of Yangzhou, was the head of the local administration. It would be inappropriate to miss him, so he said, "Master Han, please wait in the living room. I will be here soon."

"Brother Huan, please go back. You don't have to accompany your uncle to meet the guests." Lin Ruhai ordered.

Jia Huan was carrying a musket and magazine at this moment. Naturally, it was not easy to meet guests, so he said goodbye and went straight back to his residence.

(End of this chapter)