Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 218 Studying Journalism

Jia Lian could already imagine how the officials in the capital would frame him in the future.

[A star of disaster in the officialdom, specializing in defeating superiors. 】

Just these eight words, alas, I can't make any progress in officialdom. No, my ideas have changed my reputation.

Use the newspaper to do something, such as discussing the problem of incompatibility between eight characters?

Lin Ruhai saw that Jia Lian was a little distracted, and felt deeply moved. This guy was growing up too fast.

"You captured Wu Han alive, turned the rebellion into a bandit suppression in one battle, and temporarily governed Yunyang. In less than half a year, you recovered the local area. Your promotion was very successful. No one can say anything. Some people even say it was too little. After all, Wu Han used the banner of Dashun."

Rebellion is also divided into different levels. Those who rebel against the country have the highest priority. Wu Han is one of them!

"Wu Han is not very smart. In my opinion, he is just a bandit. He heard the storyteller tell stories and decided to establish a country on a whim. He has no banner, system or personnel, and is still a bandit, a bunch of small groups gathered together. If he hadn't called for a country, the Beijing army might not have moved south. I didn't expect him to be so scared and flee. How glorious it was when Xiangyang was captured without a fight, how miserable it was later. After being arrested and questioned, I found out that he was thinking about the wealth he had robbed. They are all private salt dealers. He is far worse than Zhang Shicheng."

This achievement was not worth mentioning in Jia Lian's eyes. What he was really proud of was governing Yunyang. It is estimated that the key point that the emperor valued and gave him two consecutive victories was that he did not make money when governing Yunyang, but focused on pacifying the local people and restoring people's livelihood. When it comes to local governance, Jia Lian, who has rich grassroots experience, is naturally the most familiar area.

Moreover, it is not difficult to govern Yunyang. The people want peace. There is food, land and policies. Why would the people hide in the mountains when they are full? As long as we do a good job of publicity and catch a few typical cases, things will naturally go smoothly.

Lin Ruhai looks at the problem from a different perspective. He believes that the most difficult period of Jia Lian's political achievements was the choice of policy.

Officials of this era could not do without gentry to govern the local areas. The reason is very simple. Take the county magistrate as an example. How many people did he have under his command? Three or five civil servants, plus thirty or forty temporary workers. It was just a makeshift team to govern a county.

To achieve political achievements, there are only a few ways to do it: promote education, which is the easiest, and the gentry will definitely cooperate for the sake of their children.

Collecting taxes is the most difficult thing. The grain in the hands of the people must be turned into silver and collected. It is a dream to expect a group of people who have been trapped in a land of 100 miles for their whole lives to cooperate with you. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty collected taxes in kind for a long time. For most of the history of the Celestial Empire, the government collected taxes in kind.

This is the key reason why the Single Whip Law is criticized. It is convenient for the court, but what about the people?
If you really don't understand what I mean, revisit "Three or Five More Bushels".

The court saved trouble by passing the cost of governance to the grassroots. The grassroots power was completely handed over to the gentry and clans.

If it was a government with strong organizational and executive capabilities, these would not be a problem. The situation during the Wanli period was like drinking poison to quench thirst. Although the health seemed to be improving and the people were more energetic, in fact, the deficit was even greater.

Public security, prisons, roads, and water conservancy: from a county magistrate's perspective, these things are of little help to his political achievements.

Lin Ruhai definitely did not have the courage to do what Jia Lian did, which was to make the gentry suffer.

What a joke, if you do something like this, people will write a play to scold you in the future. Maybe no one in Yunyang will believe it for now, but what about after a generation? What about nationwide? It will really be a name that will be cursed for generations, and not everyone dares to bear it. The ancients valued their reputation after death, and very few people were willing to risk it.

People with discerning eyes are not jealous of Jia Lian's speed of promotion, because he is really giving it his all.

When it comes to governing the local area, Jia Lian also said helplessly: "There is no other way. Your Majesty is urging me so much that half of my hair has turned white. I have no choice but to start with the gentry. I guess it will be OK as long as I am alive. If I am gone, there will definitely be people in the folks who write plays to scold me, saying that I am a corrupt official and a traitor. So I have to strike first."

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Lin Ruhai asked curiously. This cheap nephew always comes up with some new tricks.

"Spend money to support a troupe of actors to perform for the common people free of charge. I will write the scripts myself. I don't believe that they can do a better job than me in publicity. Oh, by the way, hire a group of storytellers and let Mr. Jin Yong write a new work, called "Officialdom Disaster Star." Jia Lian was very confident. When it came to publicity, he was the only one who had seen "journalism students."

Lin Ruhai didn't know what Jia Lian was going to do, but he always felt something was wrong.

"Jin Yongxin, do you know this guy? He is a folk legend, a mysterious dragon that can only be seen from head to tail. No one knows who he is. He is a bit like Jinling Xiaoxiaosheng."

Lin Ruhai just said it casually, but Jia Lian said with great fear: "How can it be compared? It's not easy to compare."

Lin Ruhai, who didn't quite understand, misunderstood and nodded in agreement, saying, "In terms of academic attainments, there is indeed no comparison. The only thing that can be compared is that both of them violated the law. One is against morals, and the other is a knight who violated the law with martial arts." In terms of the scope of influence, the latter is even greater, and the court actually just watched and watched, which is strange. "

"The Minsheng Newspaper is run by the Third Prince, and Your Majesty is the investor behind it. It would be strange if it was banned."

After Jia Lian told the truth, Lin Ruhai suddenly realized, "So that's what I thought."

He cleared himself of all charges and bullied Lin Ruhai, who had been an official in another place for a long time and had no access to information.

Jia Lian stayed at the Lin family until after dinner. During the conversation between Lin Ruhai and Jia Lian, Daiyu was listening and occasionally asked a few questions. For example, "The gentry gave money, food, and beautiful women, why did Brother Lian make them suffer?" and other questions.

Out of sympathy for the poor person in the original novel, Jia Lian patiently explained to her the composition of the court, the importance of taxation to the country, the harm of land annexation, and the changes in social structure since the Han Dynasty.

Of course, this is just a general statement. After all, each stage is a development of hundreds of years. Before the general trend, not to mention individuals, even the imperial power had to bow down. Each stage develops to the later stage, and finally explodes, the world is in chaos, and it starts again. In fact, every new dynasty has changes and progress, but these progress and changes are gradual.

Finally, Jia Lian concluded: "The general trend is the fragmentation of grassroots power among the people. The aristocratic families of the Jin Dynasty and the feudal lords of the late Tang Dynasty have become history, and the central government is highly centralized. In this dynasty, the emperor has the final say on all matters under heaven, but when it comes to the implementation of the people, he can only leave it to the grassroots gentry and clans. The reason is the cost of governance."

Daiyu seemed to understand what he said, but Lin Ruhai was terrified.

Lin Ruhai was not the kind of scholar who only read the Four Books and Five Classics to prepare for the imperial examinations. He was also familiar with history books. Daiyu could not tell how profound Jia Lian's general talk was, but Lin Ruhai could tell that it was a statement that was highly summarized and refined after a deep understanding of the facts recorded between the lines of history books.

These words of Jia Lian became very common later on. Of course he said them with ease, but who wouldn't be confused when listening to them today?
Finally, Lin Ruhai said with emotion: "Fortunately, you are not a traitor."

Lin Ruhai, who had been an official for a long time, might not have been able to clearly summarize many things in the past, but he knew the essence of them.

If a person can see through the contradictions hidden in history so deeply and combine them with the current reality, what will happen if such a person wants to rebel?

After Jia Lian left, Daiyu said to Lin Ruhai, "A scholar knows everything about the world without leaving home. Isn't Lian the kind of person?" Lin Ruhai laughed and said, "Nonsense. Lian knows everything about the world because he is familiar with history books, has experience in the capital, and has experience in governing the local areas. How do those scholars who have only read the Four Books and Five Classics know everything about the world? But Lian can see so far, he is a rare genius in the world."

Jia Lian returned home and took action immediately. After all, his personal reputation among the people was involved and he could not let anyone ruin it.

Enter the study, close the door, start writing, and write a play. In the play Generals of the Yang Family, Pan Mei was scolded for a thousand years.

What should I write? A combination of "The Cock Crows at Midnight" + "The White-Haired Girl" + "The Case of Jia Gong"?
That’s it. Let’s start with a case involving a white-haired monster among the people.

It is said that there was a civil riot in Yunyang, and the people were devastated and displaced. Your Majesty was worried about the people's livelihood, so he ordered the top scholar Jia Sheng to go south to Yunyang to serve as an official.

When Jia Sheng arrived in Yunyang, he worked diligently and loved his people, and was very popular among the people.

One day, the people came to report that there was a white-haired monster in the mountains that was hurting people, and asked the government to send people to capture it.

The yamen runner Chun Ge volunteered to lead people to arrest the white-haired monster, but unexpectedly caught a white-haired woman. After a closer look, he found that it was an old acquaintance. After the two recognized each other, they talked about their past.

Chun Ge worked as a long-term worker for the landlord Zhou Paopi. After working for a year, his wages were deducted, leaving only ten kilograms of millet. With ten kilograms of millet, Chun Ge wanted to propose marriage to Xier. Unexpectedly, on New Year's Eve, the situation suddenly changed. Xier's father Yang Bailao borrowed money from the landlord Zhou Paopi to pay for his wife's medical treatment. He was forced to hang himself because he could not pay the interest. Zhou Paopi brought people into the house and took Xier away. In anger, Chun Ge went to the mountains and became a bandit, thinking of seeking revenge on Zhou Paopi.

Xier entered Zhou's house, was bullied by the eldest wife, and raped by Zhou Paopi. Later, she took advantage of the chaos to escape from the landlord's house and hid in the mountains. Over time, her hair turned white.

After Lord Jia arrived in Yunyang, he pacified the local area, cracked down on local tyrants and evil gentry, and helped the people. Soon, Chun Ge went down the mountain to seek revenge on Zhou Bapi and became a yamen runner. After reuniting with Xier, Chun Ge broke into Zhou's house at night and killed his enemy. He surrendered himself afterwards.

When the number one scholar Jia was trying the case, Chun Ge explained the cause and effect. Jia Sheng sighed: Landlords are like mountains, people are like grass, officials only want money, and officials are like hungry tigers. If an official does not serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes.

Therefore, Chun Ge was judged to have an extenuating motive but his crime was unforgivable, and a death row prisoner was sent to impersonate Chun Ge, who was given money and the two were sent to escape.

Afterwards, Jia Sheng was impeached by the censor. He was unwilling to defend himself and resigned from his post to return home.

When writing to this point, Jia Lian felt very emotional. It was a pity that there were many things he could not write about. So he would leave it at that for today.

Of course this is just an outline and the details will be filled in tomorrow.

He put down the pen in his hand, looked up, and saw Ping'er standing on the side.

"Why are you the one who invited me?"

"Second grandma is comfortable, lying down, the doctor should have arrived. Second grandma doesn't want to disturb me while I'm writing."

The title of Second Madam reminded Jia Lian of the passage in "Three Smiles": Call me Second Madam and let me show you what I am doing.

It's a pity that Tang Bohu's fame could not be used for his own benefit, so give it a pass.

Jia Lian is very good at making up stories. He has read so many novels on the Internet. He can modify them and fool people!
There was only Wang Xifeng on the bed. She didn't look sick and didn't see any doctor, so people thought she was plotting something.

Unexpectedly, when he lowered his head, he saw a prescription, and Jia Lian realized that it was not a trick.

"Why didn't you tell me right away if you weren't feeling well? Which of the family matters is more important than your health?"

Jia Lian spoke in a blaming tone, but his expression was distressed. He held Wang Xifeng's hand and spoke.

Wang Xifeng smiled, let him hold her hand, and looked at the opposite side with deep affection.

Lai Wangjia, who was standing nearby, said, "Congratulations, Second Master. Congratulations, Second Master. Second Madam is pregnant."

In fact, when Jia Lian saw the prescription, he knew the truth, but he pretended not to know. At this moment, he was actually brewing his emotions. He wanted to appear a little surprised, but also could not lack reserve.

He added a little more strength to his hands, conveying his excitement. Jia Lian's expression gradually became solemn. Wang Xifeng asked in surprise: "Why, are you unhappy?" Jia Lian shook his head: "It is said that reincarnation and childbirth are like passing through the gates of hell. Thinking about you giving birth to my children, the pain of pregnancy for ten months, and the pain of childbirth, I don't know whether I should be happy or sad. After thinking about it, I will study medicine for a period of time from today, especially gynecology, to see if there is any way to relieve your pain."

When Wang Xifeng heard this, she wished she could give birth to eight or ten children for the man in front of her. This is how it is with girls. The richer the family, the more unfaithful the men around them are. Jia Lian was the same, but he was really good to Wang Xifeng. His words were touching and his actions were thoughtful. Wang Xifeng, who was used to seeing men with three wives and four concubines, had some extra worries and jealousy because of her pregnancy, but now they were gone.

That night, Jia Lian stayed overnight here. Wang Xifeng urged him several times, but Jia Lian refused to leave and insisted on staying to keep her company.

Since the superficial work has been done, it must be done thoroughly, to the point where even if Wang Xifeng gets jealous, she won't make a scene.

The next morning, Ping'er, who looked resentful, waited on Jia Lian. Jia Lian could not ignore her and explained before leaving: "Good food is never too late! You will know later."

Jia Lian arrived at the Wucheng Bingmasi on time. One of the rules of slacking off was to go to work on time and never arrive early.

This office has been tidied up. It's not quite a corner, but it's quiet. It's right next to the commander's office.

Jia Lian asked people to prepare pens and ink and start writing. The most urgent task was to finish writing the play first, and then start writing the novel. Jin Yong was about to make a comeback.

Why do we need to write plays? There are too many illiterate people in the world, and the vast majority of ordinary people cannot read.

Being illiterate does not prevent them from watching plays or listening to storytellers.

Therefore, we have to walk on two legs and take two approaches at the same time, and we must first clear the road.

In addition, if there is a troupe performing their own black opera, they will organize people to cause trouble, and the government will arrest people if the trouble gets serious. This is learning from squids!
(End of this chapter)