Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 222 Civilized Law Enforcement
"Everyone, watch out. We must enforce the law in a civilized manner! I'll set an example for you all!" Jia Lian, with a group of people, came to the gate of the Northeast Warehouse in a menacing manner, raised his hand and pointed at the sign of the warehouse while speaking.

"Yes, we will listen to your teachings, sir!" Five imperial inspectors and a group of soldiers from the military department answered in unison. Their voices shook the plaque and caused dust to fall off.

Jia Lian pointed at the sign and said, "See? This is a sanitary blind spot! Someone, take down the sign, take it back, clean it thoroughly, and return it. What a shame!"

Several soldiers immediately went to move the ladder, and the most active ones were the miscellaneous soldiers from the west city. Today, we finally met a boss who can vent our anger. If we don't show our hard work now, when will we?
The shopkeeper came to his senses from his initial shock and stepped forward with an apologetic smile, "What is this gentleman's name?"

Jia Lian looked at him with a half-smile and asked, "Do you really want to know? Do you regret it?"

The shopkeeper knew that he had met a tough guy, and immediately shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to know.

Jia Lian raised his hand and patted his face. The first two pats were light, but the last pat was suddenly strong, with a crisp sound.

When the shopkeeper covered his face and looked at Jia Lian in horror, he heard Jia Lian squeeze out two words from between his teeth: "Too late!"

Jia Lian turned around and said to everyone, "Did you see that? We must enforce the law in a civilized manner. This slave doesn't know the rules and doesn't speak civilized. Let him learn the rules of the Five Cities Military Department and what it means to be civilized and polite. How dare anyone ask my name? How shameless."

The ladder had been brought in, and the shopkeeper knelt down directly: "Sir, sir, please raise your hand and spare my life."

Jia Lian looked down at him and said, "Don't worry, I don't want your life. Your life is not worth much. Of course, I have always enforced the law in a civilized manner. If you cooperate, I will be civilized. If you don't cooperate, I will still act in accordance with the law."

Then he turned around and said, "Come here, where is the seal? This store does not meet the hygiene standards, so it is sealed."

Having said that, he looked at the pile of goods at the door and kicked them over, continuing, "The messy stacking and storage affects the city appearance, which is an aggravated crime."

The shopkeeper kowtowed repeatedly, but Jia Lian didn't even look at him and continued to command the soldiers to confiscate the goods displayed outside, load them onto trucks and take them away. None of the shop assistants dared to say a word and could only watch with anger in their eyes.

Jia Lian was still unwilling to give up. He grabbed a waiter by the collar and said, "Why, you are not convinced? Do you think the Wucheng Bingmasi has no right to do so?" The waiter was immediately frightened and shook his head repeatedly. Jia Lian said to the soldier behind him, "This man is dissatisfied with the reasonable law enforcement of the Wucheng Bingmasi. Take him back and give him a few lessons to let him know the importance of the health campaign."

The soldiers rushed up like wolves and tigers, tied the man up and took him away.

At this moment, not to mention the people from the Northeast Warehouse, the entire crowd of onlookers at the East City Market were shocked into silence. There was so quiet that even the slightest noise could be heard clearly.

Jia Lian turned around, facing the gate, and lectured everyone: "Listen carefully, the Wucheng Bingmasi is doing this kind of business. While we are responsible for public security, we must also improve the appearance of the city. Such a wide road and such a large storefront are not enough for his family to display their goods, so why do they have to occupy the road? So this road was built for his family?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a bunch of people turned around and ran away. There was a chaos and the shop owners on the street moved the goods displayed at their doorsteps back home. Even the [Northeast Warehouse] couldn't hold on, so people like us had better forget it.

Jia Lian did not enter the store, and told Gou Qian: "Master Gou, leave a few people behind to organize all the shopkeepers in the East Market to study the hygiene management regulations together."

Dongshi is actually a multi-management area. Specifically, the market management is handled by the Municipal Office, a specialized department of the Ministry of Revenue.

Because they are rich enough, they would come to Shuntian Prefecture to show their presence whenever they have time.

Under normal circumstances, the Municipal Office is responsible for managing the market, while Shuntian Prefecture and Wucheng Bingmasi are responsible for public security.

In short, where the benefits are great, more hands will intervene.

The people from the Municipal Office arrived very quickly. They were very aggressive when they came, and they shouted, "Who are you? How dare you come to the East Market to cause trouble? Which government office are you from? I want to see."

Jia Lian stood with his hands behind his back, looking at him with a smile. The fellow looked at his official robe and his age, then turned and walked away, muttering to himself as he walked: "Oh, I drank too much this morning, why am I here?"

There is a kind of person in the capital who usually doesn't cause trouble, but you really can't afford to offend him. Jia Lian is a typical representative!
The highest level of the municipal office is only a sixth-rank official, who are all small shrimps in the Ministry of Revenue. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue who don’t know Jia Lian must be unqualified. Even though Zhang Tingen is away, he still has the upper hand in the Ministry of Revenue. People in the Ministry of Revenue have to avoid Jia Lian when they walk.

[Northeast Warehouse] was forced to close down and seal up, but Jia Lian was not in a hurry to leave, and he would not look at the shopkeeper who fainted on the ground crying. He found a teahouse across the street, sat by the window on the second floor, and ordered a pot of tea, drinking it slowly.

Of the imperial censors from the Five Cities Army, only Gou Qian was left. The soldiers were very motivated and began to publicize the hygiene regulations from house to house. These rules did not exist before, but they would exist in the future, and everyone had to abide by them, implement them, and put them into practice.

After working for a whole morning, they didn't get fined a penny, but the morale of these soldiers was high. Before, they had no chance to hold their heads high in the East Market. Any shopkeeper with a little background would spit on their faces, and you had to wipe it clean yourself.

According to regulations, no one is allowed to accept bribes during the law enforcement process, and will be dealt with if discovered.

What tea money? Not a penny was given out today and no one dared to accept it.

According to Jia Lian, every household will have to pay a sanitation fee in the future, which is a benefit for soldiers.

With this as a backing, soldiers will naturally not take money randomly, for fear of losing their jobs, which is the worst outcome, but being beaten is the worst.

The key point is that Jia Lian is in charge personally, which provides sufficient deterrent power.

As lunch time was approaching, Jia Lian was wondering where to eat when Xia Shouzhong appeared.

"What is Lord Jia busy with? It's quite a commotion. His Majesty asked me to ask him."

Xia Shouzhong ignored Gou Qian beside him and sat down with his horse and sword. Gou Qian hurriedly greeted him, and Xia Shouzhong just waved his hand casually as a return gesture.

Jia Lian did not answer, but asked: "Did anyone go to file a complaint?"

"No, it's just that Long Jinwei's people reported it, so we had to report it too."

Jia Lian clapped his hands and sighed, "What a pity, no one impeached him, the impact is still not enough."

Xia Shouzhong was amused when he heard this. He raised his hand and patted his thigh and said, "If there are any rules, you still have to report them first. It's not appropriate that the chief censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate doesn't know what you are doing."

"Hey, they are all small matters within the scope of our business. We haven't made any results yet. Once things progress and produce results, they will naturally be reported." Jia Lian had plenty of excuses, and he was not afraid of being found guilty when he said them.

Xia Shouzhong whispered, "I get one hundred taels every season from that shop!"

Jia Lian's eyes widened when he heard this, and he asked in horror, "Does he look down on you so much? This is an exclusive business."

Xia Shouzhong smiled and said, "Master Jia also thinks so, which means that we have not misunderstood. Alas, the Dragon Guard is just a beggar's office. No one looks up to it! It is more refreshing to work with Master Jia!"

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Mr. Xia, I'm sorry, I can't help you with anything that you can't decide on in the capital." Xia Shouzhong was not angry at being rejected, and stretched out his hand and said, "Give me a copy of the health regulations of the Five Cities Military Department."

Jia Lian asked someone to fetch a notice and handed it to Xia Shouzhong. It was actually just a notice for taking off pants and farting. There were notices all over the street. Why did he need to ask Jia Lian for one? Isn't this a mission? He had to have something to hand in.

"Okay, then I'll go back first." Xia Shouzhong left with a smile.

When he was leaving the market, he saw a group of yamen runners from Shuntian Prefecture from afar and could not help but sneer a few times.

It's not easy to be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. A good governor can be very outstanding. Unfortunately, this person is irresponsible and has wasted this good position.

Shuntian Prefecture Governor didn't know what he was thinking, but he could cry. Is this a job that anyone can do?

It was only after the current emperor ascended the throne that civil servants were employed in Shuntian Prefecture. Before that, they were all held concurrently by the princes, or they were born of the legitimate wife.

After Emperor Chenghui ascended the throne, he changed the rules and employed civil servants. What can ordinary civil servants do? No one can afford to offend them.

The advantage is that the chance of the prince rebelling is reduced, but the disadvantage is that the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture cannot control the situation.

It mainly depends on who is in this position. If he is really a strong person, he can also take care of things.

Unfortunately, this person is only concerned with making money and doesn’t care much about other people’s affairs, nor is he willing to do so.

Emperor Chenghui had been dissatisfied with him for a long time, and Long Jinwei had also investigated his background many times.

After returning to the palace, Xia Shouzhong reported the situation truthfully and took out Jia Lian's notice.

After reading it carefully, Emperor Chenghui was very pleased and said, "Anyway, he has done something."

Xia Shouzhong promptly flattered him: "He is still young and needs your Majesty's care. He is too rough in his work."

Emperor Chenghui nodded in satisfaction: "I hope the stagnant situation in the capital can be improved."

The vested interests always like stability, and Emperor Chenghui actually likes it too, but the current situation of the country is not very good. Although it is stable, it is also foreseeable that it will die. Therefore, some things can no longer be taken care of, and changes must be made.

Jia Lian has a lot of ideas. It's not that he doesn't want to do many things, but he can't do them for the time being. Emperor Chenghui is holding his breath.

He is just waiting for the moment when the situation is decided and he has the power in his hands, and then he will make his strongest voice.

"Tell him to send me a detailed list later. He wants to fool me with just a notice." Emperor Chenghui gave another instruction. This is his character. He still has to keep a close eye on it to prevent Jia Lian from making a mistake.

On the surface, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but the impact it caused was sensational.

The Wucheng Bingmasi has always been a marginal role in the circle of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Its biggest role is to make money.

Moreover, the amount of income each month is fixed and rarely changes.

Since it is a money-making department, the superiors still pay close attention to it. After all, life is not easy without money.

At the beginning, the two bosses were very worried, and no one knew what Jia Lian could do.

After the news of the health campaign was reported, the two bosses felt a little relieved. It was just a small matter and not a big deal.

When the new news arrived before leaving get off work in the evening, both bosses were stunned.

"Just because the Northeastern warehouse was closed, are you still holding a grudge?" Lord Meng, the Chief Censor, said to himself, while Lord Yuan had a grim look on his face.

He still remembers what happened eight hundred years ago. Doesn't he keep talking about my affair with him? Lord Yuan felt very bad, and his eyelids kept twitching. At the beginning, he organized people to impeach Jia Lian for the sake of the villagers' face, and personally went into battle. It's too late to regret!
To be honest, it is very normal for officials to be impeached. There are no officials who have not been impeached.

Lord Meng actually didn't care much about what happened today, after all, it had nothing to do with him. Jia Lian expanded the authority of the Five Cities Army, which was actually a good thing. It's just that no one dared to do it before, and now that Jia Lian did it, he felt shocked.

There was a pile of newspapers on Mr. Meng's desk, all of which were recent new newspapers. He had read many of the articles, and did not want to comment on the writing, as it was too low-level. However, the content was worth studying.

"Okay, it's getting late. We can talk about it tomorrow." Lord Meng didn't take it to heart. After all, it was Jia Lian who caused the trouble. If he was punished, he wouldn't be punished. As a superior, Lord Meng knew very well that he shouldn't express his opinion at this time.

A subordinate came to ask Lord Yuan whether he should organize people to impeach Jia Lian for his behavior in the East Market in the evening.

Lord Yuan was not happy: "Impeachment is bullshit, he is now a member of the Censorate, are they fighting against each other?"

Since the two big bosses of the Censorate did not make any move, the people under them naturally behaved themselves and did not cause trouble.

Without the inspector's censor to take the lead, although Jia Lian made a big fuss, few people impeached him.

Emperor Chenghui felt fresh the next day, and said to Qiu Shian with emotion: "I thought there would be many memorials impeaching Jia Lian today, but I didn't expect that there were only about three or five. The charges were also light, such as disrupting the market and exploiting merchants."

Qiu Shian smiled and said, "As a businessman, harmony brings wealth!"

Emperor Chenghui nodded and said, "Tell Xia Shouzhong to keep an eye on Jia Lian and see how much he gets. I want a share of the profits."

After saying this, Emperor Chenghui himself was amused and burst into laughter.

Gou Qian didn't sleep well the whole night and waited at the office door early in the morning. Today he finally got there first.

"Sir Jia, the organization of the study has been carried out. Today in the East Market, all the shopkeepers who can arrive are here. Would you like to go and take a look?" Gou Qian had no idea of ​​Jia Lian's ways, so he was very cautious and had been testing Jia Lian's true purpose. If he was going to target some old grudges against him, it would be better to inform him in advance.

"Did you charge?" Jia Lian asked casually. Gou Qian was confused: "Is there a charge?"

"Nonsense, ten taels per person, not a penny less. Don't teachers charge for teaching? Don't printing materials cost money? For such a big government office, don't always think about the court's funding, you have to take the initiative to generate income, understand? In the future, health fees will be a system in the East Market, and you have to pay it every month. You can discuss the specific amount with the people below. I warn you, if you eat alone, you will die of bloating."

"I understand!" Gou Qian was actually even more confused. He worked so hard for a long time just for some sanitation fees? Do you think I'm a fool?
(End of this chapter)