Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 260 Rumor: Another one is killed

(PS: There is an error in the previous article. The Yellow River did not change its course at this time. It went through Xuzhou, Suqian, and Huai'an. Yes, everyone understands. The change of course took place during the Xianfeng period, in 1855.)
Yue Qi had no regrets for missing the main battle. From a military point of view, the imperial court was absolutely superior to the rebellious religious army. Only the stupid Donghai Reverend would fight against the main force of the Beijing camp.

The focus of this march south was that Yue Qi, who had experienced the Yunyang uprising, was well aware of the importance of "suppression".

Yue Qi fully understood why Jia Lian did not pursue after a great victory. It was not because he was afraid of being accused of eating alone, but because he was afraid that the bandits would switch to roving tactics. Before the siege was completed, it would be useless to blindly grab credit for the overall situation.

Fortunately, Jia Lian did not get too excited. After weighing the severity of the bandits, he did not rush to expand his victory and force the bandits to flee.

Yue Qi, who understood Jia Lian's painstaking efforts, accepted Wang Ziteng's suggestion and made full use of the mobility of the cavalry to block the enemy from all sides, and used the Daqing River to block the road to Yimeng Mountain in the east. The only thing left was to go south. If the religious bandits ran south, it would be Sun Huazhen's business. Everyone still had confidence in Sun Ge Lao.

No one expected that at this moment, Sun Huazhen was in the camp of Cao Ding in Huai'an Prefecture, cursing loudly, and his curses were very ugly.

Don’t think that people who are Jinshi won’t involve women when they curse others. In fact, how can they not involve women when they curse others?

Huai'an is an important town on the Grand Canal, with 3,000 soldiers stationed there. After Sun Huazhen arrived, he called out the names of the soldiers one by one to pay them back, but only a little over 1,000 of them actually showed up to collect their salaries. It's not enough that they were so busy with empty salaries, but you also dared to owe them three months' salary. Did they not rebel because the soldiers were kind? No, it was because Huai'an was a wealthy place, and the soldiers had savings and a way to make a living.

"She was just a slave girl!" Sun Huazhen was still not satisfied and told the truth again.

Li Sanjiang's mother was actually born a maid. If he hadn't studied hard and worked hard, he would never have been able to hold his head up high.

No one mentions this now. Even if it is true, no one can afford to offend Li Sanjiang, but Sun Huazhen doesn't care.

The people below are drawing salaries without working, and this blame must be on Li Sanjiang, since you were the previous governor-general of the grain transport system.

The candidate for the new governor has not yet been decided. In theory, Li Sanjiang's recommendation is very important, but the situation is different now.

The long canal, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Huaiyin and other important nodes are guarded by Caoding, with a total force of nearly 30,000, and in theory they are all under the jurisdiction of the Governor of the Canal Transport. The canal is too important for the Central Plains dynasty. Although it is more expensive than sea transportation, it is stable. During the Yuan Dynasty, sea transportation was used for a period of time, and the Ming Dynasty picked it up again, and once it was picked up, there was no going back.

The same was true for the Great Zhou. During the reign of Taizu, grain was transported by sea for a few years. Just as the technology was perfected, Taizu passed away. Then, due to strong opposition, the canal transportation was restored.

Whether it was technology or policy, the emperor and officials knew clearly whether it had any benefits, but why were they not implemented? The reason was simple: they had to share the spoils. The first choice of imperial power was always stability, and the changes brought about by technology also brought instability.

The same was true in Victorian Britain, where the lower class lived worse than pigs and dogs. According to British statistics, at one point one in sixteen women sold their bodies for a living. No matter how much wealth was plundered from overseas colonies, it had little to do with the lower class. The truth is the same in ancient and modern times.

When the former Soviet Union was still around, look at how American blue-collar workers lived. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, capital immediately changed its face.

Sun Huazhen was not angry about these people drinking the blood of soldiers, but he was angry about their ugly eating habits.

I need soldiers, ready-made, well-trained soldiers. We were supposed to have 3,000 soldiers, but now we only have 1,000 of them, and they are still untrained, and half of them are old and weak. If you had given Sun Huazhen 1,000 soldiers who could go into battle right away, he wouldn't have lost his composure like this.

What the hell is this? Impeach! Impeach all the officials in the grain transport industry, starting with Li Sanjiang. Don't think I won't impeach you just because you raised money for the war in the Western Regions. I'm impeaching you because you put more money in your pocket. Just this one reason is enough to kill this grandson.

Although Sun Huazhen had elite troops, was this the time when he needed them? What he needed was enough troops to guard the Huai River and the Yellow River and prevent the religious bandits from crossing the river and heading south.

Fortunately, the religious bandits are not the roving bandits of the late Ming Dynasty. They do not have enough livestock and do not have the foundation to roam widely. But how can we say that if they slip through the net this time, who can guarantee that they will not revive and roam around next time? Most importantly, who can guarantee that God will not send a big disaster? Drought and flood will come once next year, and we will definitely cause rebellion and set fires everywhere.

Sun Huazhen understood the current situation. Liangjiang was relatively good. Since he took office, Sun Huazhen had fought against the gentry and severely dealt with a group of local tyrants and evil gentry. At the same time, he severely rectified the government offices at all levels in Liangjiang, re-examined old cases, and cut off a group of officials with the imperial sword in his hand. Now it has developed to the point where the gentry in Liangjiang are raising funds to help him get promoted.

Sun Huazhen had long seen through the gentry. Few of them were tough and they only bullied the weak and feared the strong.

After the Jining uprising, Sun Huazhen came to Huai'an without waiting for the imperial edict, because he knew that the religious bandits must not be allowed to roam around, otherwise it would turn into a situation where officials from various provinces would blame each other.

How should I put it? If the religious bandits were in Shandong, the officials of Jiangbei Province would only order their subordinates to guard against them and would not take the initiative to eliminate them. On the other hand, if the religious bandits in Shandong were to roam in Jiangbei, the officials of Shandong would definitely not order their subordinates to pursue them.

I would rather die than my fellow Taoists, this is the reality. The Governor-General of Liangjiang cannot sit idly by and watch the religious bandits march southwards, this is a headache for the Governor-General of Zhili. The issue of mobilizing troops in Huai'an Prefecture has not been resolved yet, and the imperial edict has arrived. There is no so-called decree announcement process, and it is still a detour to rush 800 miles.

After Sun Huazhen instructed his subordinates to copy the imperial edict, he immediately got into the role.

Sun Huazhen always has a plan in advance for everything he does. For example, dredging the canal requires money, so Sun Huazhen immediately submitted a petition, hoping to withhold this year's autumn tax and use it for the project. Considering the current situation, the two rivers can be moved first. Not only that, Sun Huazhen is already planning the team members. If there is no reliable team in charge of this kind of project, you will spend money but not see any results.

Fortunately, after Sun Huazhen's rectification, the atmosphere in the officialdom of Liangjiang has improved. It is no longer as corrupt as before, but has become rotten. If you relax a little and watch it less, these officials will dare to make a big hole for you, and there is nothing they dare not do. The pot should be put on the head of the emperor. It was the consequence of his kindness to nobles and officials during his reign. In Sun Huazhen's view, official corruption is already the norm, but you can't do anything excessively, right? He can turn a blind eye to a little greed, and gray income is still acceptable. Those officials who are so corrupt that the people want to rebel will be killed one by one.

The situation was urgent, and after leaving Huai'an, Sun Huazhen headed north along the Yellow River. Now his mission was clear. It was no longer enough to prevent the religious bandits from entering the two rivers, but to coordinate the three provinces of the two rivers and Henan to prevent the religious bandits from roaming around.

Without mentioning Sun Huazhen, Jia Lian's battle was going smoothly. Deputy General Yang surrounded a group of religious bandits in Feicheng. Before he could order an attack, the religious bandits in the city surrendered with a white flag. After interrogation, he learned that the members of the White Lotus Sect in the city originally belonged to the Northern Venerable. Because of the internal conflict between the Eastern Venerable and the Northern Venerable, this group of White Lotus Sect members were left behind in Feicheng, intending to let them hold back the officers and soldiers.

These people are not that noble. The so-called White Lotus Sect was originally a tool for the lower classes to keep each other warm. However, in terms of means, they used some feudal and superstitious means. It has always been like this, whether it is a success or a failure, as long as they are written into history books, they will be a little mysterious.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang hid books in the belly of a fish, Liu Bang's mother conceived under a tree in the wild, Emperor Gaozu killed a white snake, Mo Dao Stone Man has only one eye, etc. History has proved that this is a very effective existence.

Let's put it this way. What people need in the world is not just to survive, but also spiritual needs. This belongs to the field of ideology. The popular term "emotional value" in the boxing world also belongs to this scope. It's just that it used to be called spiritual food.

The high officials and gentry were unwilling to bend their knees, and only wanted the lower classes to be obedient and work like cattle and horses, even if they were starving to death, they would wait for death obediently. The White Lotus Sect did not mind these, they relied on these lower classes to survive. The lower classes of society were also human beings, and as long as they were human beings, they needed a spiritual world.

Generally speaking, you either try your best in this life, and as long as you don't die, you will die and try your best to get a J-level jump, or you hope for the next life. Or you believe in some doomsday theories, and you might as well have a good time before you die.

Many people find it incredible to see the rampant evil religions in neighboring countries like Japan and South Korea. They believe in such religions in developed countries. In fact, it has nothing to do with whether a country is developed or not. Once people’s spiritual needs cannot be met in reality, they will think of crooked ideas. Before the suppression of counter-revolutionaries in New China, such religions were everywhere.

This stuff really depends on the attitude of the state apparatus! Forget it, I won’t say more, it will be 404 if I expand on it.

It's like, when I was young, those articles published in Reader and Yilin are still being written by people now, but the roles have changed. In addition to those who are kneeling and unwilling to stand up, younger people will die on the spot when they read these toxic chicken soups in the past.

After Feicheng was recaptured, there was a controversy over how to deal with the thousands of captives. This was mainly due to the attitude of the local government in Shandong. Both Governor Nie and Governor Qin had the same attitude: they were all troublemakers, so all the men should be beheaded and the women sold.

Among them, Governor Nie had the most positive attitude, because his nephew died in Feicheng, and he wanted to kill all the local Christians. The governor said more implicitly that women were in great demand in the human market, and it was not difficult to sell them at a good price. If Lord Jia could not save face, he was willing to help.

Jia Lian couldn't stand it any longer. He pointed at his nose and cursed: "Shandong is rich, and the canal is even richer. You have made it like this, and you still have the nerve to jump around. If I were you, I would submit a petition to plead guilty and wait for the punishment from the Supreme Court. But instead of showing any remorse, you are still pointing fingers at me. I suggest you go back and wait for my impeachment."

After being scolded, Governor Nie turned pale and his steps were unsteady. He returned to Jinan and submitted a letter of apology.

Jia Lian was not just talking, he actually submitted an impeachment memorial against Governor Nie.

Let’s put it this way, this was the first official that Jia Lian publicly impeached after he arrived in Shandong.

Don't forget that Jia Lian holds many positions, including the Imperial Censor. Why is this so? If you ask the officials in Beijing, the answer you get is, "The emperor likes it, so what else can he do?" These people often don't look at themselves and ask, "What can you do for the emperor?"

From the emperor's perspective, there are many talented people in the world, but those who are not in agreement with me and cannot be used by me are mostly a disaster.

As for the governor, Jia Lian's attitude was quite good. He believed that nothing should be overdone. This was Jia Lian's code of conduct. Don't make too many enemies. If you can avoid making enemies, don't make enemies. Jia Lian, who followed this principle, counted on his fingers in private and could only sigh. It wasn't that Jia Lian liked to make enemies, but there were too many people who were not worthy of being human in this era.

When Yue Qi arrived in Jinan, he did not see Governor Nie coming out to greet him, so he subconsciously asked the governor. The answer he got was that he had been impeached by Jia Lian, submitted a letter of apology, and was confined at home to reflect on his mistakes.

Yue Qi was also quick to speak and said, "That's it."

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously. During the welcoming banquet in the evening, the people from the Three Departments gave Yue Qi a lot of wine and extracted a sentence from him: "No one impeached by Jia Lian will be able to escape."

That night, Governor Nie died suddenly at home. It was said that he suffered a heart attack after hearing Yue Qi's drunken words.

Jia Lian knew a little bit and knew that Governor Nie had died because he had been under too much pressure recently, which affected his rest. In addition, he was old and his heart might not be in good condition. He was frightened and died of a heart attack.

But others don't think so. This guy has a nickname "disaster star". He is unlucky wherever he goes. Anyone he doesn't like will probably be killed by him. If you don't believe me, just look at how many superiors Jia Lian has killed along the way.

The biggest characteristic of rumors is that they spread quickly. Before Jia Lian received the news, the news that Jia Lian had killed Governor Nie had spread throughout the Shandong officialdom. For a time, local officials were cautious, fearing that they would offend this guy and become the next victim.

Yes, no one thinks that there is something wrong with being an official. When something bad happens, it is all because of bad luck.

The key point is that this has become the mainstream view in the local officialdom. Where have the books of sages gone? Confucius does not talk about strange and supernatural things!
(End of this chapter)