Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 252: Implicate, pretending to be sick

"Lord Sun's mission is to guard the nine gates. I suggest that Lord Sun go to the palace to see His Majesty and explain the situation clearly. Lord Sun, I would like to remind you that the situation of the two elders must be reported in a timely manner."

Jia Lian was still very polite to Lord Sun, not because he was a noble, but because he was the emperor.

Ningyuan Hou is a very smart man, otherwise he would not have been transferred back from Liaodong.

"I understand. Thank you, Lord Jia." Ningyuan Hou thanked Jia Lian and immediately ordered his men to close the inner city until the imperial edict was made clear.

Walking on the road to Xihua Gate, Sun Li was horrified as he watched carts of corpses being taken away, blood dripping all the way. This matter was too big, and he had to see the emperor as soon as possible, and then he had to thank Jia Lian properly.

Sun Li's request for an audience was quickly granted, and after meeting the emperor, he explained the situation in detail.

There was a tacit understanding in the court that the position of Nine-Gate Commander could only be appointed by the emperor.

Sun Li also knew this, but he couldn't help but think that this government office was small and full of evil spirits. His subordinates were all officials, and they were all related to the four kings and eight officials. He was not a top dignitary like Jia Lian, so he naturally had to spend time and energy to sort out the internal affairs.

Regarding this phenomenon, Sun Li also mentioned it ambiguously. In short, the attitude is very good. First admit the mistake, then show loyalty. Put aside the demonstration of ability first. Whether you have ability or not is not important. Loyalty comes first.

Emperor Chenghui was very satisfied with Sun Li's attitude and asked in a friendly manner, "What's the situation outside?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Jia is leading the Five Cities Army to clean up the scene and arrest the rebels. I have something to say, but I don't know if I should tell you." Sun Li asked hesitantly, and Emperor Chenghui replied straightforwardly, "You can tell me as you like."

Sun Li then said, "Two cabinet elders returned from the West Mountain and were blocked outside the inner city. I ordered the inner city to be closed."

Emperor Chenghui answered him without thinking: "You are right. The city gates must not be opened until Jia Lian finishes his work."

Sun Li went out as ordered, and Qiu Shian appeared: "Saint, besides the two elders, there are many people who went to Xishan to send birthday gifts today."

Emperor Chenghui nodded: "See who went there in person and report back later."

It is normal to give gifts when the emperor celebrates his birthday, but going in person or sending someone is another concept altogether.

Tomorrow is the Emperor's birthday, what are you going to do today? It's 40 miles outside the city.

If they can march forty miles a day during a battle, they are a well-trained army.

At the inner city gate, a rare scene appeared at this moment, with thousands of people being stopped outside the city gate.

Many people who thought they were very powerful were turned away when they went to knock on the door.

The soldier guarding the gate was particularly aggressive today. He didn't back down after a few words and directly drew his weapon. It didn't seem like he was joking.

Something must have happened in the inner city. Li Sanjiang and Li Chi, who were blocked outside the door, had uncertain expressions and gathered together to discuss the matter.

"What's wrong with these soldiers today?" Li Chi certainly wouldn't go and knock on the door himself. He went out through the corner gate with his long-time attendant, under the banner of the elder. The soldiers were quite polite, but they refused to let him through. No one paid any attention when he asked the reason, so he just drew his sword if he wanted to charge forward.

Li Sanjiang was also particularly annoyed. These two were officials who had made rapid progress during the reign of the retired emperor. They entered the cabinet when they were less than 60 years old, which was already a typical example of rapid promotion among civil servants.

For the emperor's birthday, the two of them would definitely go to Xishan Huangzhuang. Originally, they didn't have to go in person to give gifts, but these two were promoted by the emperor, so no one would say anything if they went in person.

But when they returned, the city was sealed off, leaving them with no idea what was going on in the inner city.

Li Chi's attendant came back to report: "Master, I spent money to get a message that there are rebels causing trouble."

"Rebels?" the two men exclaimed. Considering that it was the birthday of the retired emperor, they couldn't help but secretly regret not checking the almanac before leaving the city.

The two ministers had no choice but to wait for the door to open in the teahouse. Officials kept coming in, and a group of nobles who cursed and swore also came in. Compared with the two ministers, the nobles were much more reckless, and many of them rushed directly. The guards did not hesitate to show their knives and guns and issued verbal threats, which did not seem to be acting at all.

The nobles were not stupid either. They retreated wisely, thinking that losing face was better than losing their lives.

Time passed little by little, and the cleanup and arrest work in the inner city gradually came to an end. As the sun set, Jia Lian ordered the captured rebels to be handed over to Long Jinwei and went to the palace again to ask for instructions.

When Emperor Chenghui saw Jia Lian, he asked, "You haven't eaten for a day, have you?"

Jia Lian..., there are eyes watching. Never mind, it's much more humane than the stick-sticking place. They won't scare people with leaf cards.

"It's hot, and I've been drinking a lot of tea. The smell outside is too strong. I have no appetite, but I'm not hungry either. Besides, there's nothing I have to do personally. The officers and soldiers below are really tired after a day's work. I'm thinking, can you reward them with some silver in the name of Your Majesty? Thank you, Eunuch Qiu, for your hard work." Jia Lian was telling the truth. He really had no appetite, and it was lucky that he didn't vomit because of the bloody smell outside.

Emperor Chenghui nodded, gave Qiu Shian some instructions, and then asked, "How many were killed? How many were captured? Have they been interrogated?"

"There were 103 bodies at the scene, eight of whom were Dai Quan's men. We searched every house and arrested 504 of them. None of them had anyone to guarantee. They were all handed over to the Dragon Guard, and I have not tried them. But these people were shouting the White Lotus Sect's slogan, and the guards at Xihua Gate and Dai Quan's men heard it."

In fact, Qiu Shian had already reported the situation first, and Emperor Chenghui was just confirming it.

Thinking back to the last cabinet meeting, when Jia Lian mentioned the hidden dangers of the White Lotus Sect, the cabinet members did not take it seriously. Emperor Chenghui immediately had a dark line on his face, and the words he said were not so pleasant: "The ministers in the cabinet are all worried that the Dragon Guard has too much power, and they are not worried about the hidden dangers of the White Lotus Sect at all. Jia Lian, do you understand my difficulties?"

Jia Lian took a step forward and exposed his treacherous side: "Your Majesty, I think that the Dragon Guard should not have too much power. It is the best strategy to seize power without treason. The Dragon Guard's card has the strongest deterrent effect when it is not played. When it is really played, it will be the same. When we cannot return to Taizu, the Dragon Guard's deterrent effect will be the same."

Emperor Chenghui nodded, agreeing with Jia Lian's statement, and sighed, "I also want to restore Taizu's old appearance."

Jia Lian said, "Your Majesty believes that you should be lenient with your family members and strict with the outside world. In any case, there is no such thing as too many people following Your Majesty."

This was very explicit. Emperor Chenghui felt relieved when he heard it. He smiled implicitly and said, "You are tired today too. Leave the work to Sun Li and go back to rest. You still have to go to the birthday party of the retired emperor tomorrow." After hearing this, Jia Lian suddenly put his hand on his forehead and said, "Oh, I feel dizzy, I feel dizzy."

He sat down on the ground with his buttocks. Seeing this, Emperor Chenghui was so angry that he kicked him: "Slippery! Someone, call the imperial physician."

On the way, the breathless imperial physician met three cabinet ministers. The three had just held a meeting to discuss how to deal with the aftermath and were here to report to the emperor. When they saw the imperial physician, they were also panicked: "Who is sick?"

"My Lord, I don't know." Doctor Wen was also confused. He was having dinner peacefully when he was arrested.

The three cabinet ministers entered together and saw Jia Lian lying on the chair. Emperor Chenghui was fine and they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Doctor Wen hurriedly greeted him, but Emperor Chenghui waved his hand and said, "First, see the patient. I think he has heatstroke. He is a healthy person, but he has been exposed to the sun for a whole day."

Doctor Wen went forward to feel the patient's pulse, and soon his brows knitted together. Did I learn fake Chinese medicine? This pulse should be full of life. Just as Doctor Wen was hesitating, Emperor Chenghui handed him evidence: "He hasn't eaten or drunk anything for a day, even a good person can't stand it."

Doctor Wen withdrew his hand, bowed, and then replied, "Master Jia is still young. It's hot, and he's been exposed to the sun all day, and he hasn't eaten anything. The heat has invaded his body. He will need to take some medicine and rest for a few days."

"Wake him up first." Liang Daoyuan said, Doctor Wen said nothing, Emperor Chenghui turned his head and glared: "You come?"

Liang Daoyuan immediately shut up and stepped back. Doctor Wen then took out the silver needles slowly, and after some manipulation, he pierced each of his ten fingers and let some blood out. Jia Lian slowly woke up. "Oh, your majesty, I have lost my manners."

Emperor Chenghui directly ordered: "Qiu Shian, prepare a sedan chair to send Lord Jia home, and Imperial Doctor Wen should hurry up and prepare medicine for the house."

Several eunuchs came and got a door panel, and carried Jia Lian out to another place. When Emperor Chenghui met the three ministers, he said gloomily, "What did Jia Lian say at the cabinet meeting about the hidden dangers of the White Lotus Sect? The Dragon Guard should have gone to investigate earlier, why did it come to this?"

"Your Majesty, no." Kong Zhao hurriedly stopped him, fearing that Long Jinwei's power would expand again.

Emperor Chenghui did not make a fuss, but nodded: "You are right. The Dragon Guard only investigates the case. If you want to arrest someone, you need the cooperation of the local authorities."

The three cabinet ministers then breathed a sigh of relief. If Emperor Chenghui took this opportunity to expand the power of the Dragon Guard and grant him the right to arrest people without the permission of the officials, they would have been unable to sleep or eat. They should just resign and go home to retire and have a good end.

The main reason for this matter was that the Long Jinwei during the reign of Emperor Taizu was too powerful. He could arrest anyone he wanted and then interrogate and convict himself.

It can be said that this is the shadow left by Zhu Yuanzhang. It is okay for the founding emperor to learn from him, but it is difficult for the later emperors to control this monster. It is not that the emperor did not want to retain the power of Long Jinwei, but he was also worried that this vicious dog would get out of control.

The same goes for Emperor Chenghui, who said he wanted to restore the old order of the period of the retired emperor and really employed the Dragon Guards. Both the government and the public opposed this, and he would not take the risk as his throne would be unstable.

The three cabinet ministers quickly offered a plan. Actually, there was not much to say. It was to close the capital, allowing only entry but not exit, and to conduct a city-wide search to capture every suspicious person. The White Lotus' influence in the capital must be eradicated.

How do you view this incident? Coincidentally, it happened on the birthday of the retired emperor. If you have a little conspiracy theory, it is not difficult to associate it with the retired emperor, especially the timing of Dai Quan's appearance is too coincidental. Are these father and son really going to tear each other apart?
Qiu Shian had already used the Great Memory Recovery Technique to interrogate the captured rebels. The cause of this incident was the theft and sale of new fire guns. On the way to Nanjing, Xia Shouzhong led his men to Tianjin and arrested hundreds of people. Sun Ming made a great contribution among them. He led his men to search the city and caused quite a stir.

Tianjin is a place where all kinds of people gather, and many of them were captured by the White Lotus Sect.

This group of people entered the capital under the order of the so-called Saint of the White Lotus Sect. They wanted to take advantage of the birthday of the retired emperor to get rid of the emperor and create chaos. The real intention of the people who attacked the palace was really unknown. After the interrogation, only the leader of the Beijing branch knew the result. The key point was that the Dragon Guard went to catch this person but failed. After the interrogation, it was found that the person had left the capital yesterday.

The specific reason is unknown, but in short, all the people in the Beijing branch have fled, leaving only a few people to look after the house.

Emperor Chenghui felt that something was wrong and asked the three ministers: "What are your opinions? Do you have any countermeasures?"

Kong Zhao still followed his old habit and didn't speak first. Liang Daoyuan wanted to speak but didn't dare to. He was still frightened after being glared at before.

Guo Yan did not miss this opportunity and immediately expressed his opinion: "Your Majesty, in the past two years, there has not been much rain in Zhili, and the people have had a hard time. Many places have experienced crop failures due to drought, and many people have been affected. The situation has improved this year, but it is only near the capital. In Zhili, two-thirds of the places have suffered disasters. I am afraid that officials from all over the country will only report good news and not bad news. The Censorate needs to deal with the Wu Yuhui case, and there is a high possibility that they will not have enough energy to take care of it. I think we should quickly send people to the prefectures of Zhili and other provinces to investigate the truth and mobilize food and grass to deal with the changes."

Guo Yan's words were very subtle, but everyone understood that after every large-scale civil uprising, the investigation results were more or less the same.

Natural disasters opened the way for local officials to report immediately. Instead, they colluded with the gentry, first annexed land, and kept slaves at low prices. After reaping a wave of dividends, officials with a little conscience would report it, and officials without conscience would of course continue to take the dividends. They would report it only when the officials and gentry were full and could no longer drag it out.

These officials all have grassroots experience, how could they not understand this? Otherwise, ask Liang Daoyuan, how did his family get more than 10,000 hectares of fertile land? His hometown is not a place like Huzhou, which is close to Suzhou and Songjiang, where there are a lot of fertile land and a developed economy.

After all, what's wrong with the gentry? The common people only need to consider whether their family will starve to death and how to survive, but the gentry have many things to consider. The officials have even more to consider. Right?
After hearing these remarks, Emperor Chenghui's face was as gloomy as the bottom of a pot. The three ministers lowered their heads and kept silent, waiting for the storm. Unexpectedly, Emperor Chenghui controlled his emotions very well and quickly made a decision: "There are many officials coming to Beijing. Let them write a memorial to report the situation in Zhili."

Guo Yan immediately said, "Your Majesty, if more officials take the water route, life on both sides of the canal can still be sustained. I am worried about the southern part of Zhili, the prefectures in Jiaodong, the northern part of Henan, the Zhangjiakou area around the capital, and the area near Shanhaiguan."

Emperor Chenghui's forehead was throbbing with veins when he heard this. He suppressed his anger and said, "Announce the governor of Zhili, Guo Yunsheng."

Qiu Shian flashed: "Saint, Governor Guo was blocked outside the inner city."

Emperor Chenghui rubbed his brows vigorously and said, "Send an order, order Sun Li to allow officials above the third rank to enter and exit, and each person is only allowed to bring one attendant in and out." It is definitely not possible to keep the Inner City sealed all the time. Can't officials and dignitaries have some privileges?

Afterwards, Emperor Chenghui said to the three cabinet ministers: "Hurry up and come up with a set of rules, issue them to the emperor and have them executed. Don't wait until something goes wrong before you try to make a decision." His tone was very impatient, and only Qiu Shian knew what Emperor Chenghui was really worried about.

The three cabinet ministers withdrew and went back to redraft the charter and design the White Lotus Sect. They had to strike hard.

After the three ministers left, Emperor Chenghui asked, "Did Guo Yunsheng also go to Xishan?"

Qiu Shian said: "Saint, he just entered the capital today."

Emperor Chenghui's expression improved, and he gave another instruction: "Let Yue Qi enter the palace."

(End of this chapter)