Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 242 There is no shortage of people who cannot survive
Wang Ziteng's refusal to see visitors was interpreted by the outside world as a bid for a good price, at least that's what the nobles thought. After all, there were many similar cases in the past, where nobles with great contributions asked the emperor for favors. Isn't this a very normal phenomenon?
The Wang family thought the same thing. They had recently been going to Beijing frequently to seek official positions, but naturally they were not allowed to get in.

This guy implicated Jia Lian, and since he couldn't enter Wang's house, he ran to Jia's house.

Relatives are sometimes really disgusting.

At first, Jia Zheng sent someone to inform him, so Jia Lian naturally had to go out to meet him. Unexpectedly, a member of the Wang family came, acting like a cousin, and asked for a prefectural position. Jia Lian was so upset that he regretted that he had ever thought of meeting the Wang family.

Jia Lian, who was smiling along, did not make any comment, and Jia Zheng also looked embarrassed. After all, this uncle of the Wang family only had the academic qualification of a student of the Imperial Academy.

Jia Lian ran away under the pretext of going to the bathroom and returned home very angry. Wang Xifeng, who was pregnant, saw him and couldn't help but ask a question out of curiosity.

Jia Lian just said that he was tired recently and did not mention how the Wang family was doing.

Then he said that he was invited by a friend and would not come back that night. Wang Xifeng was quite disturbed by this. She could sense Jia Lian's unhappiness and it was definitely not because he was tired. She asked someone to find out and learned that a cousin of the Wang family came to ask for the position of prefect. Wang Xifeng was so angry that she cursed: "Why don't you take a piss and look at it? The prefect is at least a fifth-rank official. My second master is only a fifth-rank official."

Do you think she was cursing or showing off?
Ping'er, who had been quite comfortable recently, did not curse her mother, but she also had no power over Wang Xifeng, so she let her talk freely for half an hour.

When the news spread outside, the most embarrassed person was Madam Wang, who had become a little proud of her recent success. She kept asking about the Wang family!

After escaping from the Jia family, Jia Lian suddenly found that he had nowhere to go. He originally wanted to go to the Zhang family, but his master's wife had taken the whole family to Wuhan.

In desperation, he had to go to Jia Rong and ask him to find a place to hide outside for two days until the storm was over. After all, the Wang family was not very smart. Not to mention the Wang family, if the Jia family followed suit, how could they survive?

When Jia Rong saw Jia Lian, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Second Uncle, do you still need to find a place to hide? Don't you have a bunch of twin sisters ready?"

"I just saved him casually at the beginning. I did not expect anything in return. What are you thinking about?" Jia Lian said righteously to hide his emotion.

Xue Pan, who had been inseparable from Jia Rong recently, said leisurely, "I have found a pair of twin sisters and am sending them to the capital."

Jia Lian was anxious, and raised his hand and said, "Stop, stop, don't send it over."

There is a voice in my heart shouting, "You can't test cadres like this!"

Ni Er came over after smelling the scent: "Second Master, I've finally got you here. I've been waiting for you for so long!"

What’s more, he can even use idioms!

In the lobby of the United Business Headquarters, the atmosphere suddenly became extremely strange. Jia Rong and Xue Pan looked up at the sky, which made Ni Er confused. Jia Lian sighed and said, "Forget it, I shouldn't have come to this place."

Xue Pan pulled Jia Lian and said, "Don't leave in a hurry. Let me tell you something."

Jia Lian stopped and turned around. Xue Pan smiled and said, "Mother and sister are coming to the capital. They said that the Xue family can no longer stay in Jinling as before. They should stay in the capital more often and visit more relatives and friends."

In the original novel, Aunt Xue brought Baochai to Beijing with the intention of sending her to the palace, but now that is no longer necessary. But one thing is that the Xue family wants to find a good husband, a son-in-law who will be helpful to Xue Pan in the future, and it will definitely be more difficult in Jinling.

"Why are you telling me this? Go tell your aunt." Jia Lian ran away after saying this. Nowhere to go? No way!

Jia Lian and his entourage went to the Lin family, but Jia Min did not follow them to Xi'an.

Seeing Jia Lian coming to visit, Jia Min asked happily, "I have only been back for a few days, why do you miss your aunt so much?"

After Jia Lian, who looked frustrated, told the story, Jia Min immediately turned her attention to Mrs. Wang: "Second sister-in-law has always been like this, relying on the power of the Wang family to manipulate this and that. She doesn't even look at the foundation of the Jia family."

What Jia Min said was both right and wrong. After all, the title would decline. The Jia family today could not find anyone to compare with Wang Ziteng, otherwise how could the second branch of the family be in charge of Rongxi Hall?

You can't say that Lady Jia is snobbish, otherwise why did all kinds of disasters happen right after Wang Ziteng fell?

It can be seen that whether there is a pillar in the government is really important. The past glory is all in the past. The older generation is almost dead. Do you still expect people to remember your family's past glory? Those who don't take advantage of others are kind people!
Upon learning that Jia Lian had arrived, Daiyu quickly appeared. Jia Lian discovered that Zijuan followed her and could not help but feel happy for Daiyu.

The maid Zijuan can be described in one word: loyalty.

After reading A Dream of Red Mansions, it is found that among the maids, the only one who cannot be faulted is Zijuan.

Upon learning that Jia Lian had gone out to hide for a few days, Daiyu covered her mouth and laughed, and even teased him unceremoniously: "Second Brother Lian didn't even bring a maid with him. I'm afraid the maids of the Lin family won't be able to serve Second Master Lian well!"

Of course Jia Lian would not be angry, and he even said self-deprecatingly: "What you said makes sense. During those days in Yunyang, I almost stink myself to death." Daiyu believed what he said. She had lived in the Jia family for a while and had heard a lot of Jia Lian's jokes.

I heard a lot of things like there is no servant around at home and only maids serving him.

Jia Lian, who was talking to Daiyu, was always careful because this girl had read a lot and she would show her timidity if she wasn't careful.

Daiyu and Jia Lian were having a great time chatting, mainly because Jia Lian read a lot of books. Daiyu was also very curious, and she would not leave anything unsaid as long as she talked about it. Jia Min was ill, so she naturally would not accompany her all the time, and simply left Daiyu to rest.

Daiyu took out the newspaper and asked Jia Lian about the mission. Jia Lian read today's newspaper and found out that the mission had come to an end and D'Artagnan did not get the so-called share. These were all local rules for allocating goods. The purpose was to force some hard-to-sell goods to Western merchants. Hermes!

The article also mentioned that this was not an official action, but an initiative of private businessmen based on the principle of voluntariness.

What does it mean to be voluntary? If you want tea and porcelain, that's fine. You have to pair it with something.

How to match them is up to you to negotiate. The government has no responsibility.

The truth is that officials in Guangzhou and Fuzhou accepted bribes from British merchants and restricted merchants from other countries from purchasing goods. Money is yours once you put it in your pocket!
It’s not that French businessmen don’t know how to bribe, they are just latecomers and their connections are not as good as those of British businessmen.

D'Artagnan also gained something. He got the emperor's edict. As a brother country, at least 20 ships of goods must be shipped to France every year. How could Emperor Chenghui not know the trick? Of course he knew. So what?

The emperor is far away and cannot control the situation there. Besides, if these people don't plunder Western merchants, they can only plunder local merchants and people. It's better to let them plunder Western merchants.

Many things are like this. The emperor knows it very well, but he can't change it. It's really a domino effect. The foreign trade pie is currently a business that makes money at home. How to divide the pie has been decided long ago. It's too difficult to change it. Especially in the current situation, Emperor Chenghui is walking on thin ice, afraid of something going wrong, how can he change this.

It took Jia Lian almost an hour to explain to Daiyu the whole story.

Daiyu twisted her mouth after hearing this and said: "Emperor can't do whatever he wants!"

Jia Lian has satisfied his addiction to being a teacher, mainly because his students are very capable and smart, and they basically understand everything at once.

"It's almost the same. The founding emperors of every dynasty were able to control the situation because, on one hand, they had a new dynasty and a blank sheet of paper to paint on. On the other hand, they won the world with merit and had high prestige. Even if the emperors of later dynasties had a long-term observation system like this dynasty, it was difficult for them to establish prestige. Not to mention whether they could see the problems of the country, even if they saw it, it would be difficult for them to change it because the resistance was too great."

Daiyu looked at Jia Lian with admiration in her eyes and asked, "What is your ambition as an official in the court, Brother Lian?"

Jia Lian almost wanted to say, "Isn't this just a waste of time? If you can, I lose if you move."

The image is almost ruined, this question is difficult to answer.

Jia Lian thought for a long time before he gave an answer: "Each generation has its own affairs, so just do them. Just do good things and don't worry about the future." This answer was perfect and his B-style was established. After hearing this, Daiyu seemed to be thinking about something. It doesn't hurt for children to think more.

After staying at the Lin family for a few days, Jia Lian learned that the Wang family came again the day after he left. This time, Wang Xifeng rushed forward and scolded them, not mentioning their relationship at all. She scolded them away.

Jia Lian was very moved when he found out. He held Wang Xifeng's hand and praised her repeatedly: "My virtuous wife, what more could a husband ask for with a wife like this?"

Wang Xifeng was naturally very happy and replied, "My husband has been hiding in my aunt's house these days. My aunt sent someone to pass on the message."

Jia Lian felt something was wrong when he heard this. I can't hide my whereabouts anymore, right? Fortunately, I didn't go to look for the twins!
Wang Ziteng gradually settled down and Jia Lian went back to work.

The people from the Five Cities Military Department are now acting arrogantly in the capital, and there is not a single one among the sons of nobles in the city who does not complain.

But it was useless to complain, Jia Lian was really heartless. The key point was that his family didn't help either, and there were few noble children who could help without the support of their parents, especially those who liked to go out and play.

Ten days after Wang Ziteng returned to Beijing, Emperor Chenghui summoned him. Wang Ziteng went into the palace to meet the emperor and talked for half an hour before coming out of the Qianqing Palace.

Then a message came from the cabinet that Wang Ziteng resigned from all his previous posts and took up the post of Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and President of the Navy. At the same time, he was also given the titles of Prince's Guardian, Minister of War, and Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, and was granted the title of Marquis of Annan.

In this series of arrangements, Marquis Annan has a lot to say.

Most of the northern part of Annan now belongs to the territory of the Great Zhou and is under the jurisdiction of Guangxi. Annan has always been dishonest. On the one hand, it has submitted a letter of submission, and on the other hand, it has frequently advanced northward and encroached on the territory on a small scale.

The Great Zhou was frequently harassed by Burma in Yunnan, and its attention was not on Annan.

Now that Wang Ziteng has been appointed as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and has also been given the title of Marquis of Annan, people in the court and the public are discussing whether Your Majesty is being too harsh on Wang Ziteng, and why he should be given the title of Marquis of Annan.

Jia Lian was destined to have no peace of mind. As soon as he came to work in the morning, he was called into the palace again.

Emperor Chenghui was looking at a map in the study. When he saw Jia Lian, he pointed at the map and said, "I heard from the French envoy that Annan is very important to Southeast Asia. You are familiar with geography, tell me about it."

Jia Lian looked at the map for a while before saying, "In my opinion, Annan is certainly important, but Burma is even more important."

Emperor Chenghui was puzzled by this. In fact, the two places were similar to him. They were both poor and bad. Take Annan as an example. From the Han Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, they had conquered and abandoned it many times. How to say it? The cost of governance was too high.

How to explain this matter? Just like Siberia, keyboard warriors on the Internet say how pity these places are. In short, they complain that the territory is too small. In fact, in an agricultural society, these places really don't have much value.

Let me put it this way, before human society entered industrialization, few people were willing to go to these places except the local indigenous people.

Apart from other things, malaria alone can make the people of the Central Plains collapse. The discovery of quinine was a very important factor in the successful colonization of Southeast Asia by Europeans. Without this, the difficulty of Western colonization would have increased ten thousand times.

Even the present-day Nan'an has gone through many integrations and development by many generations before it became suitable for human habitation.

With the current level of technology and medical care, if they can cooperate with France and build a strong navy, they can indeed consider colonizing Southeast Asia. While Britain has not yet gained a foothold in India, it is important to quickly get a colony as an outlet to the Indian Ocean.

Emperor Chenghui didn't understand, but he was willing to listen to Jia Lian's opinion: "Why do you think so?"

Jia Lian pointed at the map and said, "Your Majesty, please look, the essence of hegemony in today's world is sea power. The English rely on their strong power at sea to grab land all over the world. Then they use cheap sea transportation to transport a large amount of wealth and means of production back to their country. The products produced are then sold to the colonies, which can be said to be killing two birds with one stone. After obtaining a huge amount of wealth through colonization, England further strengthened its navy. Among the current sea routes, the most important one is this, Malacca. After obtaining the seaport of Myanmar, once there is a problem in Malacca, troops can be sent from Annan and Myanmar at the same time to attack this place."

Emperor Chenghui was very dissatisfied and said that it would be better to occupy Malacca directly. He didn't know that Jia Lian was looking at this map from a later perspective. If the transportation line of offshore energy can bypass the Strait of Malacca, how much freight can be saved. After landing in Myanmar, the oil can be transported back to the country by pipeline.

Jia Lian knew that Emperor Chenghui had his reasons. The biggest problem of the Great Zhou was that people lived too comfortably. In this good era where people could earn money by sitting at home, who would be willing to go out to sea and make a living?

However, Emperor Chenghui still asked Jia Lian seriously: "It's good to raise a navy, but how many people are willing to leave their homes and go to sea?"

Jia Lian was not happy with the term "navy" and responded directly: "Your Majesty, I think the name of the navy is inappropriate and it should be called the navy. In today's world, whoever has the sea power will rule the world. If we don't build a strong navy and go out to seize key positions in the South China Sea, the descendants of the Great Zhou Dynasty may be trapped on the East Asian continent for the next three hundred years, allowing the navies of Western countries to show off their power along our coast. It's not too late to make changes now. Once we get huge profits from overseas, we can further promote more manpower and material resources to join in. In short, lure them with benefits. The Great Zhou Dynasty has a large population and there is no shortage of people who dare to go out to sea and fight!"

(End of this chapter)