Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 309 Ning Ke in Action

[I have always heard that Uncle Lian has great respect for Grandma. Today, I saw that it is indeed true.]

Qin watched for a while, this was her biggest feeling. After being married for a while, Qin Keqing had a preliminary understanding of the two families.

In the East Palace and the West Palace, Lian Er is the most respected. This is something that everyone agrees in their hearts even though they don't say it.

Qin Keqing had not forgotten the robbery incident, and she always regarded Jia Lian as a modest gentleman. Naturally, she would not think much about his affair with Youshi.

Youshi was a little ashamed, so she asked Jia Lian to talk about it. You know, it is very difficult for officials from border areas to enter the capital, especially military officers. She asked her lover for help to get it done, but her father didn't appreciate it and sold it for a high price. This made Youshi feel deeply dissatisfied. It was because she wanted to repay him, otherwise she would be embarrassed to see Jia Lian.

After hearing Jia Lian's nonchalant words, Youshi could only thank him repeatedly. Even if Jia Lian could do it, she would not ask for it again.

Qin added, "My daughter-in-law will ask someone to bring some money back. It will be considered as a contribution so that the old family can recover from their illness with peace of mind."

Money is a small matter. Qin Keqing's attitude is good. From this point of view, it is normal for Lady Jia to like her.

There are many contradictions in Dream of the Red Chamber, and Qin Keqing has several of them. Facing Jia Zhen's covetousness, Qin Keqing should have looked for Jia's mother, because it seems that only Jia's mother can suppress Jia Zhen. There is also the question of whether Qin Keqing knows the truth about her life experience, which is also contradictory. When she was young, she just glanced over it, but when she looked at it again in middle age, she had many doubts. It gives people a different feeling of the character before and after.

PS: After thinking about it carefully, I can only think that this book has been revised all the time. Maybe Cao Xueqin also revised it based on the work of others. There are also views that it is not Cao Xueqin's original work, but because Cao Xueqin's author is the result of Hu Shi's research, his disciples and grandchildren are all people, and because of their large number of people, it has become the mainstream view. As a spectator, just watch it for fun.

Jia Lian stood up to say goodbye. Youshi wanted to see him off but was held back by Jia Lian. It was Yindie who saw him off holding a lantern.

When he got home and saw Guixiang waiting in the study, he thought of Youshi and couldn't help but sigh secretly, this is all fate. Guixiang worked so hard, but she still couldn't get pregnant. What can she do?

Young people in modern society are starting to not get married and have children. In this era, women without children are equivalent to having no future. There is no way to compare the two eras. If you have to compare, it's like Guan Gong fighting Qin Qiong.

Jia Lian was exceptionally gentle that night. Guixiang was quite surprised and before she had time to think much, she was swept away by the surging waves.

When getting up early, Guixiang recalled last night while helping Jia Lian change his clothes, and couldn't help saying, "Master has changed, but I still like the old Master." Jia Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Do you still prefer simple and direct?
"What are you thinking about? I just heard that women like that last night are more likely to get pregnant!" Jia Lian said this nonsense casually. Guixiang was so happy that she didn't mention the past or the present anymore.

Somehow this got to Ping'er's ears, and when her day came, she also asked for the same treatment as Guixiang. Jia Lian had no choice but to use gentle means to satisfy her.

Li Heng acted quickly. After reporting to Emperor Chenghui, he decided on the name of the clan joint mutual aid company and set up a structure.

The day before Qiao'er's full moon, Li Heng came to the R&D Department and took out 50,000 taels of central bank notes to buy the agency rights for governance and the five northeastern provinces. As for the previous 100 quotas, people had already been arranged to work together, which was considered to be training talents for the new company. Jia Lian also had to pay the monthly salary and bonus.

After agreeing that the company would have a credit limit of 30,000 taels for future purchases, Li Heng left with satisfaction, feeling that he had both the money and the reputation.

When Emperor Chenghui learned about the preferential policies Jia Lian had given to the clan members' new company, he was very satisfied and praised Jia Lian in front of Li Heng, "Except for being a little reckless occasionally, he is also a man who knows how to share my worries."

As for whether Li Heng and Jia Lian had colluded in private, Emperor Chenghui had never thought about it. The two had not had a pleasant time together before. Emperor Chenghui even felt that if Li Heng was not a prince, Jia Lian would have beaten him several times. The main reason was that Emperor Chenghui still had a subjective perception that no one could control Jia Lian except himself.

Jia Lian held a grand banquet for his daughter's full moon, and Rongning Street once again set up a buffet. As a result of the grand banquet, everyone knew that his daughter was the apple of his eye.

It was the first day of May (I didn't understand the lunar calendar and didn't use it in the book). When I got up in the morning to exercise, I could feel the heat. After half an hour, I was sweating. I took a shower and changed clothes, and teased my daughter when I came out for breakfast. Jia Lian felt that this kind of day was really good, but it was a bit of a dampening of his heroic spirit.

This man, really can't let his imagination run wild. He just arrived at the Wucheng Bingmasi for a routine inspection, and was blocked by the palace eunuchs. Jia Lian had no choice but to follow him into the palace to see what the emperor was going to do.

When they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, they realized that it was not the emperor who was causing trouble, but the new Minister of Revenue Ning Ke, who started to cause trouble after adapting to the environment.

"Minister Ning used the memorial on the secret box. I didn't sleep well last night because of this. Please take a look and tell me what you think." Emperor Chenghui was a little listless. It was because he didn't have to attend court today, otherwise I might not be able to get up. Jia Lian looked at the time. It was already 9:30 in the morning. It was obvious that the hardworking emperor did not rest well last night and got up very late.

"Your Majesty, there is no end to the work, the emperor's health is the most important!" Jia Lian was not in a hurry to read the secret report, but first said something about his concern for the emperor. It was sincere, after all, this was the biggest backer, and nothing could go wrong.

Emperor Chenghui felt the sincerity of this man's words, and a slight warmth flowed in his heart. He couldn't help but waved his hand with the corners of his mouth raised and said: "I only stay up late occasionally, and the situation last night was special."

Jia Lian then read the secret report, and after reading it, he understood why Emperor Chenghui did not sleep well last night.

In the secret report, Ning Ke believed that the troops under the command of the two kings of the East and the West were called imperial garrisons, but in fact they used the imperial court's money to support private soldiers and servants. Now that the troops of the two princes and their subordinates have been suspended and ignored the announcement, should the imperial court stop allocating funds to them every year? It was also emphasized that although His Majesty ordered the grassland tribes to capture Li Ni and hand him over to the capital, there was no news from the grassland tribes. If left alone, Li Ni might collude with the two kings of the East and the West and the grassland tribes, leading to the corruption of the north.

Ning Ke's words were very implicit. In layman's terms, the various vassal tribes of the grasslands had long been in collusion with Li Ni, and the fact that they had not rebelled now was not a superficial matter. If one day all the tribes of the grasslands really rebelled, the two kings of the east and the west would respond to each other, and the northwest, northeast, and grasslands would be connected, and the entire north would be gone.

Therefore, we cannot wait passively, but must take the initiative. We should first stop the military pay of the King of Dongping and the King of Xining and see how they react. If they do not rebel, we can save some money. If they really rebel, where else can we spend the remaining money? They are going to rebel anyway, so it is better to stop the funding. The current financial situation of the court seems to be okay, but it is actually very reluctant. The core idea is to take the initiative, and the means is to stop funding. The annual funding for these two families combined is over one million taels. Without this money, these two families, located in a barren and cold place, will not last long.

After reading it, Jia Lian met Emperor Chenghui's earnest eyes and probably knew what he was thinking. So he asked first: "Your Majesty, I dare to ask you, what are you worried about that kept you awake all night?"

Emperor Chenghui did not hide his intentions and answered directly: "What I am worried about is that this memorial seems to be comprehensive, but I feel something is wrong. I have been thinking about it all night and still cannot figure out what is wrong."

Being good at accepting advice can be considered as an advantage of Emperor Chenghui, while being conscious of one's reputation cannot be considered as a disadvantage, it can only be said to be human nature.

Therefore, the reason why Emperor Chenghui summoned Jia Lian privately was clear.

Jia Lian pondered for a while and organized his words, trying to make the problem clear while not losing face for the emperor.

"Your Majesty is thoughtful and far beyond my reach. It was only after listening to your Majesty's words that I suddenly realized where the problem lies. Minister Ning's memorial is not a big problem. If it had been submitted a year or two later, there would have been no problem. I think that your Majesty has a preconceived idea and is in the middle of the situation, so he is inevitably influenced by the memorial."

Emperor Chenghui was very smart and realized what the problem was. Ning Ke did not fully understand the current situation of the court, but planned the whole thing. He ignored other things outside the whole thing. For example, the current court structure is still unstable and it takes time to slowly calm people's hearts. For example, the main force of the Beijing camp is still in Shandong. It is necessary to wait for the local garrison in Shandong to slowly restore its organization and combat effectiveness before taking over the long-term siege of the rebels and gradually returning to the capital. In addition, the restoration work in Shandong and along the canal, and the various impacts brought about by the Li treason case have not yet been settled.

In short, the idea is good, the means are acceptable, but the timing of the launch is a big problem. In one word: urgent!
The key point is that this urgency matches the urgency in Emperor Chenghui's heart. What is the urgency? He is eager to achieve success. This memorial itself is very much to Emperor Chenghui's liking, but it ignores the issue of time.

Emperor Chenghui was actually very tempted when he received the memorial yesterday, but because he understood the actual situation of the whole situation, he felt uneasy and did not sleep much after thinking about it all night.

Now that Jia Lian's words had cleared the fog, they resonated with Emperor Chenghui's feeling of uneasiness, and he suddenly felt clear-headed.

The depression in his heart dissipated, and Emperor Chenghui felt sleepy. After yawning twice in succession, he waved his hand and said, "My dear minister, go back first. I will catch up on my sleep."

Having said that, Emperor Chenghui walked away, leaving Jia Lian at the scene, making Jia Lian feel both amused and helpless. Qiu Shian had to smile as he sent Jia Lian away.

Emperor Chenghui went straight to the Queen and fell asleep, leaving Queen Zhou completely confused. This sleep was extremely comfortable, and when he woke up it was already past one in the afternoon.

After waking up, Empress Zhou helped the emperor to wash and comb his hair. Emperor Chenghui then told Empress Zhou the reason why he had to make up for the sleep during the day. He also asked the Empress to get him something to eat as he was really hungry.

Facing Empress Zhou, Emperor Chenghui could say something that was embarrassing: "I am still impatient. You must know that nothing in the world can be accomplished overnight. When I was in the palace, I had to think twice before submitting a memorial. I was afraid that there would be something I could not take care of. After ascending the throne for a few years, although I have achieved some results in my administration, I am more impatient than before."

"The splendid empire built by Grandpa Taizu is now in the hands of the emperor. People who are not in the position naturally cannot appreciate it. If the emperor occasionally has flaws, don't the ministers always make up for it? I think Jia Lian has done a good job. The palace has been replaced with transparent glass, so that the eyes of the people in the room are less tired. Such a good deal, but I didn't see him trying to get it into his arms. It is also due to the wisdom of your majesty that you can have such a minister."

Empress Zhou rarely commented on her ministers, but Jia Lian's case was special, and her comments were very pertinent in the eyes of Emperor Chenghui. Of course, Empress Zhou would not have mentioned it if she hadn't taken the initiative to do so.

Emperor Chenghui nodded in approval: "Jia Lian has the style of his ancestor!" The reference here is to Jia Daishan who retired at the height of his career, not the first generation of the Jia family.

Empress Zhou did not respond because the topic was too sensitive. Emperor Chenghui was willing to continue, "In comparison, Wang Ziteng is quite ambitious. I know he is unwilling to accept this. The Wang family was also a founding hero and held high positions, but their titles were far inferior to those of the Jia and Shi families. If you want to blame someone, blame the ancestors for not leaving behind any titles. No matter how much the descendants struggled, my father would not give in. As for Wang Ziteng, he listened to Jia Lian's suggestion and chose to be sent out. On the one hand, he saved himself and on the other hand, he saved me a lot of trouble. On the other hand, without Wang Ziteng in the capital, the rebels would be impatient because they lacked a sense of security."

At this time, Emperor Chenghui was clear-headed and his analysis was logical. Feeling good, Emperor Chenghui added: "When Jia Lian was transferred to Zhangjiakou, he went there without saying anything and did not even bother to go home. It is obvious that he knows me. Otherwise, how could the nobles look at me with a frown and not dare to act rashly? Jia Lian may not have been the most powerful noble at the time, but he was the most capable noble."

Emperor Chenghui needed someone to talk to about his masterpiece, so Empress Zhou just sat there as a listener and did not make any comments.

When Emperor Chenghui finished speaking and felt full, he stood up and wiped his mouth: "I'm leaving."

Later, Queen Zhou learned that Emperor Chenghui gave the princess born to Yuanchun the title: Hening.

Empress Zhou, who had listened to the conversation in the afternoon, certainly knew the meaning behind this title. She was very clear about how much Jia Lian had done for Emperor Chenghui since he started his official career.

Back to Jia Lian, he didn't care too much. He went to the two yamen every day as usual, took a nap in the R&D department after lunch, and went home directly after work when he woke up.

He was so openly late and left early, but no censor impeached him. This was an exception. The censors probably knew that impeachment would not lead to any result.

When Wang Xifeng got home, she took out a letter and said, "My uncle has sent me a letter. The courier delivered it directly."

Noticing the wax and seal marks on the envelope, Jia Lian knew it was a secret letter. It was strange that Wang Ziteng would think of writing a secret letter to himself.

(End of this chapter)