Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 306: Be Down-to-earth
"The old guys in the clan house are all sanctimonious and selfless on the surface, but they are selfish and do a lot of immoral things behind the scenes. Humph, I have long wanted to teach them a lesson. I have to thank Brother Jia for giving me this opportunity." After two glasses of wine, Li Heng said something explosive. The relationship between people is very strange. People who have done bad things together will have a better relationship.

Jia Lian said that he believed half of Li Heng's words, no more. Children born in the imperial family are born to be good actors.

"What? Do they have a grudge against you?" This was Jia Lian's judgment. After helping me, you didn't make any requests. I couldn't get used to it.

"Hehe, a few old guys, they keep talking about the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, and the order of seniority all day long, and they stand on their high ground and point fingers at others. If the Research and Development Department was not directly under my father, a government office of the imperial court, they would have robbed it a long time ago. They have done a lot of things of robbery and robbery, and many of them were victims of the clan." Li Heng's words were righteous, but he could not hide the fact that the real reason that made him angry was the [order of seniority].

People are so hypocritical. They can selectively ignore things that are beneficial to them, even if they are unreasonable. However, they can also break the rules when it comes to things that are not beneficial to them.

As far as Jia Lian is concerned, it was a little early to place a bet in the post-Chenghui Emperor era, but that did not prevent him from having little contact with the second son, Li Yuan. A simple explanation is that those who surrounded Li Yuan in the past were all from the Fang faction, and many of them had a lot of contact with Li Ni. On the contrary, the nobles rarely had contact with Li Yuan. Li Yuan was greatly affected by the purge after the rebellion, and now he has to behave himself. The nobles also suffered heavy losses, and Emperor Chenghui was the only winner. Jia Lian did not immediately take sides despite Li Heng's obvious solicitation.

"Your Majesty is in his prime, and we are very happy to cooperate this time. Let's cooperate more in the future and make a fortune together." Jia Lian's meaning was very clear. He would not take sides, at least not now. But anyway, there was no problem with cooperation.

Li Heng has become much more mature and doesn't force anything. He just does it step by step. If they cooperate more in the future, won't they be able to build up a good relationship?

"It's settled!" Li Heng picked up his glass and clinked it with his own, not showing any disappointment at all.

"The R&D Department is ultimately an office of the imperial court, and His Majesty is keeping an eye on it. Now that we are making money, there are many eyes on this area. Now it is the Imperial Clan Court, and the next one may be the Ministry of Revenue. Your Highness, tell me, what should I do?" Jia Lian asked a question calmly. Li Heng listened and immediately stopped drinking. After putting down the cup gently, he shook his head and said, "I don't know!"

"The workers and workshops were snatched from the Ministry of Works, so the Ministry of Works must have a share of this profit. The Ministry of Revenue pays taxes normally, and they cannot expect to get a penny more. The Research and Development Department will retain 50% of the profits as investment in future technological research and development and the cost of expanding reproduction. The rest will be handed over to His Majesty for disposal. You report this suggestion to His Majesty." Jia Lian said slowly, and Li Heng was shaking slightly with excitement.

This reward was too generous. Li Heng tried to keep calm and asked in a low voice: "What about the matter of the Zongrenfu? Should we make a fuss about it?"

"Of course you have to continue making trouble, but don't cross the bottom line. Just one thing, you are not allowed to attack the government office. Starting tomorrow, you have to take a step back and don't block the door to prevent people from entering or leaving. This matter will definitely alarm His Majesty, and you can submit this memorial then, which will have the best effect. Another thing is that everyone must be counted in the clan government, and a few families cannot be allowed to take all the benefits. Later, you can suggest to His Majesty that the profit handed over by the Research and Development Department can be used as money for His Majesty to lend to the clan members in advance, and use this money to purchase the agency rights, and then distribute shares according to the number of people in each household, including men and women. You have to do this matter beautifully, so that no matter where you go, no one can say a word of objection."

Li Heng knew there would be a sequel, but he didn't expect that it had been so well thought out. He nodded silently and raised his glass: "Drink first!"

Jia Lian smiled and followed. At this stage, the tone of cooperation between the two was set, or rather, it had always been cooperation. Jia Lian could not have obvious tendencies, and Li Heng was also very clear about this.

As the emperor's favorite, Jia Lian can act recklessly, but as a member of Li Heng's party, if he continues to act recklessly, he will be beaten up by the group.

This is not a question of whether you care or not, the nature of the matter has changed. Once the emperor's attitude wavers, Jia Lian, who has not yet fully grown up, will not be able to bear it.

Jia Lian now seems to be in a good position, but in terms of pure strength, he cannot be compared with the four kings, and is even inferior to Wang Ziteng. The reason is very simple. Jia Lian's strength comes from the support and indulgence of the emperor. One's own strength cannot be achieved overnight, and must be cultivated bit by bit. For example, the Shenji Camp. If Ni Er had not accidentally gotten involved with the family members of the Shenji Camp, Jia Lian really wanted to lead the Shenji Camp to raise the flag of rebellion, and those people would have tied him up and escorted him to the emperor to seek credit.

Jia Lian has actually been fighting alone. Wang Ziteng and Lin Ruhai are optimistic about his future, but not his present. With these two allies, there is no rebellion.

So, don't think that giving concessions to the emperor is a disadvantageous thing. To put it bluntly, many things originally belonged to the emperor.

For people, the most important thing is not to see the future clearly, but to see yourself clearly in the present.

Whether you are a person or doing things, in most cases you should be upright, see your own background clearly, and see clearly where the interests belong. Only in this way can you go long-term.

There is one very good thing about Jia Lian: he never overestimates himself, nor does he underestimate the people of this era.

To put it bluntly, your knowledge from the future is of little use in the face of reality.

What really works is how many people are willing to listen to you and follow you. It is a great thing to have a group of elites follow you. Look at those successful people. Which one of them was not at the lowest point in his life, and there were still many elites following him to fight together?

For his own future and the future of the Jia family, Jia Lian needs a group of elites to follow him. This is what Jia Lian has been doing all along.

Are there still people who say that taking the route is not good? Well, it’s not a question of whether it’s good or not, but a question of whether it’s realistic or not.

Their activities are restricted to a county for their entire lives, and many people cannot go out of a radius of 50 miles. So in this case, do you think they will listen to you or to the clan leader? To be honest, I'm sorry, I don't know you well.

Another thing is that Jia Lian's own conditions are there. I know that a thorough reform is needed to make this country reborn. But please note that it takes a strong force to do this, and this force is a group with clear beliefs and willing to give everything for it.

Sometimes when I think about it privately, I really don’t know how to evaluate modern history. Maybe it won’t happen. Then, what awaits this country is likely to be another Turkey, or a country that looks like it has entered the modern era, but is still feudal at heart. You know, when it comes to class solidification, the Chinese are the ancestors.

After receiving Jia Lian's advice, Li Heng's mentality changed from gloating to planning a strategy.

Li Heng, who adjusted his mentality, came to the outside of the clan house and was stopped by people from the Five Cities Army at the street corner. Li Heng did not get angry. He held down his subordinates, got out of the sedan chair and revealed his identity.

Jian Renda, who was personally supervising the battle, saw Li Heng coming and hurried forward and said, "I greet the Third Prince. The Second Prince just went in." It must be said that Jian Renda knew how to be an official. He was very good at giving favors.

Li Heng nodded with satisfaction and walked in instead of taking the sedan chair.

The second prince Li Yuan did not come alone. He was always accompanied by one or two literary guests, at least a minor scholar.

Li Yuan also heard that there was trouble in the clan house, so he decided to come over to take a look. Seeing that it was the Second Prince, the clan members did not stop him, but made way for him to enter.

After entering the clan residence, Li Yuan saw Prince Zhongshun, who had changed into coarse cloth clothes, and hurried forward to greet him: "Uncle Prince, what's wrong?"

When King Zhongshun saw Li Yuan, he was immediately overwhelmed with grief. With tears in his eyes, he held Li Yuan's hand and cried. In short, he put himself in a position where he was fighting for the interests of his people, but was not understood by them.

Li Yuan's IQ is not bad, but he is not down to earth. After listening to the story of King Zhongshun and the two Zongzheng, they naturally thought that they were the ones who took the lead in the matter, paid for it, and naturally they should be the ones who made the profit. These people of the human race are too ignorant. I have already secured a hundred job quotas for them, but they are still making trouble.

"Uncle Wang, don't worry. I'll go talk to them." Li Yuan turned and went out. The two guests behind him hurriedly followed him, and one of them tugged at Li Yuan's sleeve.

"Your Highness, let's wait and see." Although I don't know the details, I know this is not a simple matter when I see that Prince Zhongshun and others are blocked in the clan residence and dare not go out. As an aide, of course I have to persuade them.

"Of course I know that things are not as they said, there must be other inside stories, but these elders have always advocated the order of seniority. When encountering this trouble, I cannot stand idly by." Li Yuan answered very clearly. I know that things are not that simple, but for me, it may not be difficult to solve. After all, he is the emperor's eldest son and a prince.

Seeing that they could not persuade him any further, the staff did not proceed. This was His Royal Highness the Prince, and they had to save his face.

So, it's really not easy to keep someone's job.

After Li Yuan came out, he suddenly felt guilty when he saw the angry eyes of the crowd, and the words on his lips changed a little: "Dear clan members, no matter what happens, we are all family. If there is anything, we can discuss it slowly. Why don't you always block the door? Why don't you choose a few people to come out and sit down and talk slowly with the clan elders? The sun is so strong, don't get burned."

"Second Prince, you don't know the ins and outs of the matter, so you'd better not follow him in the sun." Someone in the crowd responded politely.

Li Heng, who had walked nearby to watch the excitement, turned around and left immediately, taking his people to a nearby teahouse.

When Li Heng and the teahouse staff brought two buckets of tea in a cart, Li Yuan talked for a long time with a dry mouth, but the crowd did not move at all.

It's not Li Yuan's fault that he's not good at speaking, it's just that the leaders are too stubborn, they don't listen, they just keep chanting. If it weren't for the Second Prince in front of me, I would have served him eggs.

"Dear clan members, please have some tea first. The sun is so strong, you can't stay in the sun for too long. I think you too, can't keep blocking here all the time, send someone to the palace to talk to father." Li Heng came on stage and served tea as soon as he came up. What he said was in line with everyone's expectations. Yes, you can go find His Majesty.

"Third Prince, you don't know that these elders are not human beings."

A group of people began to complain continuously, and more people were drinking tea from bowls, ignoring Li Yuan standing opposite. Li Heng smiled, secretly delighted in his heart: It really is necessary to go deep into the grassroots.

After finishing the tea he brought, Li Heng also patiently listened to the complaints, from the family running out of food to his son not being able to find a wife. It seemed that he had listened to everyone's sufferings, and at the same time, he was sweating along with them. No matter how you look at it, he is much better than Li Yuan who is standing under the eaves and shade of the tree.

Li Yuan felt sour when he saw Li Heng being surrounded by his clan members, but he had no choice because they had taken the initiative. He had no choice but to turn back and leave without the face to stay.

Looking at the disappearing second brother, Li Heng sneered in his heart, if you want to blame someone, blame it on the fact that there is no Jia Lian to help you with advice.

Li Heng raised his hands and said, "Dear clan members, please be quiet and listen to me."

Everyone fell silent. Li Heng stepped onto the tea cart and when he stood on a high place he saw the eunuchs coming towards him from afar.

"I have heard the outline of what happened, but it is only one side's words after all, and I cannot just listen to one side. Since you think there is a reason but no place to speak, then let's find a place where we can speak. So, each of you can nominate three people as representatives to follow me into the palace to ask to see my father and state your demands in person. The others can wait here. It's not a big deal, and I will try to give you a definite answer within one day. Don't come here to suffer tomorrow. It was supposed to be a good thing, but it turned out like this, what a shame."

When Li Yuanrang chose representatives before, no one accepted it because the clan elders would definitely choose a decision that was in their favor and would not talk to him. Now that he was going to see His Majesty, the clan elders thought it was acceptable and quickly nominated three older clan elders to follow Li Heng into the palace to meet the king.

As soon as Li Heng got off the carriage, Xia Shouzhong stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, I have been ordered to investigate the matter. I will lead you into the palace."

Li Heng had not expected that Xia Shouzhong would come in person, so he quickly returned the gift and thanked him, "Thank you for your trouble, father-in-law. We are all family after all, there is no need to make things so awkward."

Xia Shouzhong didn't say much and led the group into the palace.

(End of this chapter)