Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 237 The Courage to Take Responsibility

Lord Jia returned to his loyal Wucheng Bingmasi, and his subordinates looked at him with tears in their eyes.

Jia Lian was not used to this. What are you doing? What are you doing? You are so shy. Stay away from me.

"Tell me, what's going on?" Jia Lian asked directly. Jian Renda was the first to jump out: "Sir, the study class has been suspended."

Gu Bingzhang: "The public security in South City has been bad recently. The sons of nobles have been causing trouble frequently and fighting over a few actors."

After a brief report, Jia Lian understood the general situation. While he was away, none of the censors dared to step forward.

"You didn't impeach the noble sons who caused the trouble?" Jia Lian was very surprised. The censors shook their heads and said, "No!"

Seeing this state, Jia Lian thought that if he asked all the questions, he would not get anything out of them, so he turned and went into the office, saying, "Jian Renda, you come in first." This was very impolite, calling him by his first name. It was obvious that Lord Jia was very angry.

Jian Renda went in with his head held high. Before Jia Lian could speak, he said, "Master Jia, impeachment is useless. Everyone is just thinking about making money. If they really impeach us, then we won't have any chance to do anything."

Jia Lian almost gasped, "Okay, so that's what you guys are thinking. Then arrest him, you don't dare, right?"
Jia Lian slammed the table in anger: "Where is the system? Where is the system I made? Why don't you resolutely implement it? If you don't have the courage to implement the system, why do you want to stay in the Five Cities Army? You five don't take the lead, and you still expect the soldiers below to take the initiative to work? Okay, stop talking, I'll be quiet for a while."

Jian Renda whispered, "At the beginning of the month, the emperor announced that he would hold a lively celebration for his 68th birthday. His Majesty has ordered that all the princes in other places return to the capital. Because of this matter, everyone is more cautious."

The planned slacking off failed on the first day. Before Jia Lian could think about how to revive the Five Cities Army, a eunuch came to the palace. "Your Majesty has ordered that Jia Lian enter the palace to be summoned."

What was going on? Jia Lian didn't think about it anymore, so he came out and called a few imperial censors, saying, "I'm here to listen to your summons. When you patrol the city, if you see anyone causing trouble, just arrest them first. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

Jia Lian probably figured it out. These people just didn't want to take responsibility. These five imperial inspectors were really talented.

Jia Lian probably knew the specific reasons. The power of the nobles was growing. For example, Wang Ziteng, one of the leaders, was going back to Beijing. In addition, the 68th birthday of the emperor was approaching, and the four princes had returned to Beijing one after another or were on their way back to Beijing. So many nobles gathered together, it was a powerful force.

There is one thing that is very interesting, that is, the 68th birthday is not an integer. Normally, such birthdays are usually not celebrated with much fanfare, but this year the emperor said that he hopes to have a lively birthday.

What is the old emperor up to? Is he hoping to use this opportunity to see how many people still support him?
Ordinarily it shouldn’t be!

Jia Lian could only keep this matter in his heart and wait for the progress.

Jia Lian looked so worried along the way that the young eunuch who was leading the way didn't dare to speak. When they arrived at the place, Jia Lian remembered to take out two silver dollars and stuffed them into his hand: "Take them and have tea." The eunuch thanked Jia Lian and went inside to report.

After a while, Qiu Shian came out in person. Jia Lian stepped forward to greet him. Qiu Shian said, "The emperor is going to hold a cabinet meeting. Lord Jia, you are still in charge of the cabinet. It's a good opportunity to go in and listen and see how the new cabinet works."

There is no doubt that this was the intention of Emperor Chenghui, and Jia Lian really couldn't refuse, even if it put him at the center of public opinion.

If you are not a cabinet minister, you naturally have no right to attend the cabinet meeting. Emperor Chenghui created a servant tailor-made for Jia Lian.

Jia Lian was not quite clear about the real intention, but one thing was certain: after the three cabinet ministers were sent out, whether the new cabinet ministers could be of the same mind as Emperor Chenghui was another matter.

It is said that the three ministers sent out are the most trusted ones, so one should be kept. Now all of them are released. What does this mean? Could it be that Emperor Chenghui did it on purpose?
Jia Lian didn't understand much about political intrigue, he only knew that Emperor Chenghui was the winner.

Then everything will be fine.

After entering, Jia Lian found his old seat expertly. One of the two servants was there. When he saw Jia Lian, he laughed uglier than crying. They were all servants. Jia Lian's treatment was bullying compared to theirs.

To be honest, these two officials are just average, not because of their ability, but because they think too much. On the one hand, they think this position is a good stepping stone, and if they work smoothly for two years, one of them will definitely be promoted to the fifth rank, and if they are lucky, they can get the fifth rank.

On the other hand, if you can only do things in a mediocre way and deal with this job in the same way as in the past, Emperor Chenghui will not be satisfied.

Let's put it this way, Emperor Chenghui's patience with the two servants has reached its limit. Even if two people take turns on duty, they are not as efficient as Jia Lian alone. Can you be satisfied with this? The key is that Jia Lian has taught them, but they are still the same. Is it because they are not smart enough? Of course not, they just don't want to take risks.

Many officials are like this. They would rather sit on the bench in the Hanlin Academy for their entire lives than take the risk of offending others.

After taking his seat, Jia Lian stood up again quickly. As cabinet ministers arrived one after another, Jia Lian had to stand up and greet them repeatedly.

After five attempts, Emperor Chenghui finally arrived and Jia Lian had to stand up again.

When the cabinet ministers saw Jia Lian, they had different feelings. The only thing they had in common was that Jia Lian was trusted by the emperor. It was outrageous that a mere fifth-rank official could appear at the cabinet meeting, and he was not even a full-time Zhongshu Sheren.

After Emperor Chenghui took his seat, he glanced at Jia Lian before speaking: "Today's meeting, I propose that Pan Jixun take over as the Minister of Works and Guo Yan take over as the Minister of Rites. My dear ministers, do you have any objections?"

Everyone knows about the mission. Wasn't it reported to the court? It's obvious that His Majesty is dissatisfied with the Ministry of Rites. Li Qing was appointed as the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu. The Ministry of Rites was leaderless. The people in the Honglu Temple were good at reception, but they were much worse at other things.

Kong Zhao said, "Your Majesty, Lord Sun is in charge of Liangjiang, so it would be better for him to resign from the post of Minister of War."

Emperor Chenghui remained silent. He looked around and found that although Li Chi's expression seemed natural, it was actually a bit forced.

So he simply called back: "We'll discuss this next time."

Kong Zhao just mentioned it but didn't insist. If there was anything, he had to say it, whether the emperor wanted to hear it or not.

In a nutshell, Kong Zhao, as the Prime Minister, cannot be a puppet of the emperor, otherwise he should not be able to hold this position.

Looking at Kong Zhao's white hair, he is almost seventy years old, and it is time for him to step down this term. This is why Emperor Chenghui sent three cabinet ministers to fill the last piece of the Prime Minister's qualifications.

Generally speaking, the qualifications of a chief minister should be as follows: he has worked as a county magistrate or prefect at the grassroots level, as an official or governor at the provincial level, and has also served as a governor-general. He has also served as a minister in Beijing. As for whether he is from the Hanlin Academy, it is not a necessary condition.

In short, it is very pragmatic!
Jia Lian always felt that someone was observing him. He looked over and found that it was Li Sanjiang. He was unfamiliar with this person and had never dealt with him before. Jia Lian smiled and wrote quickly.

Guo Yan took over the Ministry of Rites and Pan Jixun took over the Ministry of Works, which was successfully approved at the cabinet meeting. As for Li Qing, he resigned as the Minister of Rites and concentrated on his work as governor. This was also a signal to the outside world that the rules had not changed. If you were not the chief minister, you had to be the minister.

If you cannot hold the position of Shangshu concurrently, then that is your personal problem.

So, the expressions of Li Sanjiang and Li Chi were a little uncertain, and no one knew what they were thinking.

However, as new recruits, these two did not stand up to oppose the emperor's arrangement. Li Chi originally wanted to seek the position of Minister of War, but when he found out that his plan had failed, he felt very uncomfortable, but he did not show it.

Kong Zhao's mention of the Minister of War does not mean that he supports Li Chi. His friendship with Fang Baiyi is not that close. It's just that recently, civil officials have been talking about it, saying that it is inappropriate for Sun Huazhen to continue to serve as the Minister of War while he is in Liangjiang.

The actual situation is this: Sun Huazhen is the Minister of War, and he can mobilize the garrisons in the two Jiangs and deal with those who disobey orders. Having this status is completely different from not having this status. In addition, Xia Shouzhong went to the south of the Yangtze River again recently, so some people speculated, and there were many discussions. The Prime Minister Kong Zhao also took the opportunity to mention it.

It can only be said that the greatest wish of the gentry in Liangjiang now is not to overthrow Sun Huazhen, but to transfer him away.

Even where he would be transferred to was arranged for him. The Governor of the Grand Canal Transport, what a lucrative position, you wouldn't refuse it, right?

So, Kong Zhao received a letter from Fang Baiyi, which was just a simple reminiscence, without mentioning any serious matters. Because the messenger was Li Chi, Kong Zhao could understand the elegant meaning of the song. Knowing is one thing, but how much effort is another. In fact, Kong Zhao felt very uncomfortable about this matter. His prestige as the prime minister was indeed not enough, but he could not use Fang Baiyi to order me around.

These civil officials are full of tricks.

By the way, Li Sanjiang was still very unhappy. How could the position of Minister of Works be given to Pan Jixun?

As a cabinet minister, I cannot be the minister at the same time. What do others think? Can the officials below accept this?
After working so hard and spending so much time and money, he finally got into the cabinet. But before he could start his grand plan, he didn't even hold a single position as a minister. This was a real blow. On the contrary, Guo Yan was the minister of the Ministry of Works, and now he was the minister of the Ministry of Rites. He became one of the three de facto ministers. After all, Li Sanjiang and Li Chi didn't hold a minister position, so how could they be better than him?

Guo Yan also felt dizzy, as if he was drunk. He regained consciousness only after biting the tip of his tongue.

There was no objection to Guo Yan's case, so it was considered as a unanimous approval by the cabinet. Let's move on to the next topic.

"Here is a memorial, everyone take a look."

Li Heng's memorials were passed down, all of them were handwritten, and everyone had a copy.

The matter was very simple. When Li Heng was supervising the army in Liangjiang, he discovered that some people were privately minting copper coins, so he submitted a petition to ban it.

Speaking of the copper coins of the Zhou Dynasty, there is actually a story behind it. During the reign of Emperor Taizu, the ratio of copper coins was 3:7, 3:1 copper and 7:1 lead. Why? Of course, it was because of poverty. At one time, some people suggested learning from the Song Dynasty and casting iron coins, while others suggested learning from Liu Bei and using 100-yuan coins.

Taizu had a bottom line. He did not accept the 100-yuan coin and made a ratio of 30% copper to 70% lead. This led to private casting by the people, many of which were made according to the Tongbao of Taizu's time. According to his formula.

Actually, this matter is not excessive, but how can I explain it? If you must be serious, the money you lost in the past can be recovered. As long as you don't go to extremes like the emperor, and get 6 copper and 4 lead, it will be fine.

Nowadays, it is rare to see copper coins from the reign of the retired emperor on the market. Where did they go? One is that they were collected by others and melted into copperware, and the other is that they were collected by private minters and recast into short-term coins. If you really want to be serious about this matter, it is a business that can get you killed. If you don't take it seriously, it will be the same as during the reign of Taizu. So the root of this problem still lies with the retired emperor.

He is a spendthrift and likes to travel around the country when he has nothing to do, spending huge amounts of money.

The result is that when people trade, they either use bad money or silver directly, which is very troublesome. After Emperor Chenghui minted coins, this situation changed. The transaction of bulk commodities has basically been done with silver dollars. The copper-lead coin is not very popular among the people because there are worse coins.

As long as people approve of the trend, the money can be spent, right?

But Li Heng had received the secret tips from Jia Lian, who told him that this was just robbing his family's money and he had to treat them harshly.

After everyone read the memorial, no one took the initiative to speak, and they fell into silence. How can this be said? No one is concurrently the Minister of Revenue. It is not his responsibility, so how can he speak so easily?

Finally, Liang Daoyuan came out and said, "Your Majesty, should we ask Lord Zhang?"

The meaning is very clear. Let Zhang Tingen speak. He is the Minister of Revenue. Even if he is not in the capital, the position is vacant.

At this moment, Li Sanjiang was obviously shocked. Jia Lian noticed it and thought, no wonder this guy looked at him just now.

Emperor Chenghui rudely replied to Liang Daoyuan: "How about letting Mr. Liang take on the role of Minister of Revenue? Or let Mr. Zhang take on the role of Minister of Personnel?"

Why don't you two switch places? One of them caused a power outage for Liang Daoyuan, and he just wanted to mention it casually. He won't force it whether it succeeds or not. If it succeeds, it's a favor, and if it doesn't, it won't offend anyone.

"I am a rude minister!" Liang Daoyuan quickly admitted his mistake. Emperor Chenghui snorted angrily and said, "Taizu has taught that private minting is tantamount to treason. Minting is a symbol of the majesty of the court. Private minting will never be tolerated."

While Jia Lian was writing quickly, Emperor Chenghui suddenly called him, "Jia Lian, tell me about the harm of private money."

Jia Lian stopped writing, stood up and looked at the ministers, folded his hands first, and then spoke: "I will not talk about private money, but Deng Tong and the Jiaozi of the Northern Song Dynasty. The circulation of currency does not rely on the conventions of the people, but on the reputation of the court. Using the reputation of the court to seek personal gain, let alone paying taxes, the flood of private money will inevitably lead to rising prices. The day when people will need to spend ten or even more coins to buy something that they can buy with one penny is not far away."

At this point, Jia Lian paused and continued: "No matter what, no one, no reason, can justify the people minting coins. Taizu is wise and far-sighted, and as a latecomer, I admire him."

After saying this, Jia Lian sat back and the ministers present fell silent again.

Emperor Chenghui looked at them with a bit of annoyance. They didn't even have the courage to take responsibility for such a small matter.

"My dear ministers, do you still expect a young man who has not even come of age to take responsibility?"

This sentence was so serious that all the ministers could no longer sit still and stood up to plead guilty.

(End of this chapter)