Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 31 This kid is a solid eye
  I'm still a child, I'm still a child, I'm still a child, say important things three times.

Silently standing up from the recliner, for fear of losing control of himself, Jia Lian sat at the desk and picked up a book.

There was no room for Guixiang's follow-up methods. She did not dare to disturb Jia Lian while he was studying.

No matter how favored he is, if word spreads about disturbing Jia Lian's studies, he will probably be kicked out of Jia's house.

Guixiang sat aside and wiped her hair silently, the sadness in her heart lingering heavily. I really miss the Jia Lian who would lift up her skirt from behind from time to time and be full of curiosity about women last year.

It was impossible to read in this state. Jia Lian took charcoal to draw the little book. When he finished four drawings on one page, the heat in his heart subsided. There was a bowl of iced sour plum soup next to him. He turned around and picked up a drink. After taking a big sip, most of the restlessness in my heart disappeared.

Looking at the neatly dressed Guixiang, Jia Lian felt that it was necessary to give her a vaccination, so he patiently whispered: "I don't know what Miss Wang's character is. What you see before people come in may not be her true nature." . In the future, if she comes over, if she can't tolerate you, I may not be able to protect you. After all, I can't always stay at home."

Jia Lian was not completely sure about Wang Xifeng's transformation. What if he was like the Wang Xifeng in the novel?

Not long after entering the house, he dismissed several maids around Jia Lian. This dismissal may be to drive them away, or it may be to find out the wrongdoing and beat them to death. Jia Lian in the novel has no reaction. This may not be because the Wang family is powerful, but because Jia Lian has a cold nature.

This can be clearly seen from what happened to Second Sister You. From the beginning to the end, Second Sister You was treated as a plaything.

With a cold nature and a vicious side, the couple in the novel are a match made in heaven.

Guixiang had stayed in Rongguo Mansion for a long time, so she naturally understood what Jia Lian meant. If this lady was jealous, the result of the maid going to bed early would be to send her out at best, or to end up in a certain well at worst. The bottom is a wandering soul.

"Then what should we do?" After confirming that Jia Lian was not missing her, Guixiang was so happy that she couldn't help but want a verbal guarantee. She is fifteen years old, which is considered the right age to get married at this age.

"I'm used to having you by my side. I will make it clear to my wife when she comes here in the future. If she still can't tolerate you, I will have to find a house outside the house to settle you, lest I accidentally harm you." Jia Lian To be clear, Wang Xifeng can definitely do this. At least Wang Xifeng in the novel does this without any doubt.

"Second Master, it's okay as long as you have me in your heart." Guixiang said this, but she still felt a little helpless and regretful in her heart. With her background, the best outcome would be that of Aunt Zhao, the medium outcome would be to be married to a servant, and the worst outcome would be to be taken back to her natal family to marry.

The bad habit of a teacher-appreciation banquet is unavoidable even in the county examination. After all, the county magistrate let you pass. According to the logic of scholars, it means that you have the reputation of being a teacher. It’s such a fucking bad habit, but it’s taken for granted in this era.

The underlying logic of this matter is this. Officials are all scholars, and those taking exams are also scholars. Scholars naturally want to stick together. Looking at this phenomenon from a modern perspective, this means that the scholar-bureaucrat class colludes together to jointly safeguard class interests.

You don’t have to accept this theory, that would be an alternative.

Jia Lian was undoubtedly an outlier among a group of candidates, but since he chose the imperial examination, he had to come to the thank you banquet.

The county trial took fifty people, and Jia Lian ranked fourth, so there was no need to sit in the front row, but to find a seat in the corner.

Magistrate Wang was the last one to appear, and a group of people immediately lined up to come forward to greet him. Jia Lian thought for a while and was not in the front, nor did he choose to be last, and mingled in the middle. Everyone took turns to come forward to greet and toast, Gu Nan was the first, and the students worked hard to the end. Magistrate Wang just touched the cup slightly and drank it, with a few words of encouragement and that was it.

When it was Jia Lian's turn, County Magistrate Wang watched Jia Lian take a gulp, and said with a complicated expression: "Jia Lian, the article is well written, and the calculation is actually full marks. This paper was published by the doctor of calculation in Daxing and Wan of Qintianjian. Ping and Liang counties only get a perfect score. Unexpected!"

Jia Lian didn't know how to answer him. This is a math question that can only be asked in the sixth grade of elementary school. Are you proud to get a perfect score?

"Back to the county magistrate, I personally prefer sutra calculation." Jia Lian could only answer like this. It cannot be said that sutra calculation is not important.

"If you can get full marks in classics, your articles on classics will naturally be better. Saints' knowledge outlines and builds guidelines. If you are not familiar with it, it will be difficult to achieve great things. No matter how good you are in studying classics, the most you can do is go to Guozijian or Qintianjian. You know, if you don't learn, you will have no skills. Who do you mean?" Magistrate Wang looked serious and thoughtful, looking very concerned about Jia Lian.

If Jia Lian didn't know the allusion of "no learning, no skill", he might have fallen into the hands of the county magistrate.

Because this allusion comes from the "Book of Han", it tells the story of Huo Guang facing some principled problems because he didn't read the scriptures (here refers to the "Spring and Autumn") and didn't know how to deal with it. One of the examples is that someone pretended to be a violent prince. Huo Guang was confused and didn't know how to deal with it.

It sounds like what Magistrate Wang means is that in order to reach the pinnacle of being a minister, one must read the articles of saints well.

What Jia Lian was thinking of was another matter, Huo Guangxing's abolition of the throne, which was something that could never be cleaned up in the feudal dynasty. Especially within the realm of Neo-Confucianism, it is even more treasonous.

So, maybe this is a deep pit.

Jia Lian decisively cut off the possibility of Magistrate Wang having bad intentions and responded loudly: "Lian is deeply disgusted with Huo Guang's destructive actions."

Magistrate Wang just didn’t know the word “wocao”, otherwise he would have shouted it out on the spot. Does this kid even understand this?
  It’s normal to think so. One of the serious consequences of the Eight-part Writing System for Scholarship Recruitment is that many scholars don’t read history books, or even Tang poetry and Song lyrics, let alone Han Fu. Scholars who read like crazy in the small circle of Four Books and Five Classics have no time to read leisurely books.

Eight-legged essay selection is really harmful. On the surface, it seems the fairest, but in fact, the minds of scholars are limited to these books. From the emperor's point of view, there is no problem at all, and he even needs a big thumbs up. From the perspective of the development of the country and the nation, the eight-part essay selection will inevitably lead to extreme ideological conservatism.

Magistrate Wang is a veteran, so naturally he will not show any embarrassment. He laughed and said: "That's good, that's good."

What does that mean? In fact, Huo Guang himself didn't have much of a problem. He was very loyal to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. His shortcoming was that he failed to restrain his family. But this guy, if you look at him from another angle, you can always find the problem. Hanshu's evaluation of Huo Guang is not low. Now that Neo-Confucianism is in power, abolishing it is an unforgivable mistake.

So, if Jia Lian doesn't pay enough attention and is led by this old guy, he might be labeled as a "XX believer." The status and understanding of the Spring and Autumn Annals during the Western Han Dynasty were not the same as they are now. When Huo Guang was in power, there were calls from Confucians for the Liu family to become a Zen leader.     How else can we say that he is worse than a scholar? This County Magistrate Wang obviously studied a lot. He is not the kind of person who studies hard. I dare not say anything else. Magistrate Wang must have read the "Book of Han" and worked hard, otherwise he would not have been able to quietly dig a hole for Jia Lian. I thought the fourteen-year-old baby had a handful of , I never thought that Jia Lian would hide away.

Jia Lian can't do anything to County Magistrate Wang now. He can only keep it silently in his heart and look for opportunities to retaliate in the future. This old guy is so vicious, he kills without showing blood and eats without spitting out the bones.

Jia Lian's life here has returned to normal, and he has resumed his daily routine of going to Qingyun Academy to study in preparation for the imperial examination in August.

Zhang Ting'en handed over a memorial, causing an uproar in the court.

"Borrowing without repaying is called borrowing, but it is actually stealing! I sincerely request you to make a clear metaphor and order the debts to be paid off within a time limit. If you do not pay back the debts within a time limit, your salary will be deducted or you will be dismissed from office, depending on the seriousness of the case."

This passage in Zhang Ting'en's memorial is groundbreaking. This is money from the national treasury. Is it necessary to be so cruel?

It's not necessary to be ruthless, because the treasury is out of money, the rebellion in the Western Regions has drained the Ministry of Household's money, and then there is some trouble in the country, what money will be used to deal with it? Zhang Ting'en also said in the memorial that the documented loans totaled 13.3 million taels, and private loans also had to pay interest. Now that the court requires the money to be repaid without paying interest, he is already an official who is good at borrowing money. .

While receiving a salary from the state, you still owe money to the state and cannot pay it back. How dare you call yourself a loyal minister?

That's probably the meaning. In short, Zhang Ting'en's meaning is very clear. I can't do this job without lifting the table. Of course, Zhang Ting'en can also delay it, but the result of delaying it will be nothing. This is not said, but everyone understands the meaning.

After the memorial was issued, Emperor Chenghui did not express his position immediately, but stayed temporarily. Zhang Ting'en requested an interview, but Emperor Chenghui did not agree to meet him. He only asked someone to reply and asked me to think twice.

Jia Lian knew about this from listening to his classmates' discussions in class. Half of the students in the class were the children of officials, so the news naturally spread quickly. Jia Lian felt numb after hearing the specific information. Teacher Zhang was going crazy.

The last time he saw Zhang Ting'en, Jia Lian made it very clear that he couldn't do this job. With Zhang Ting'en's intelligence, he would definitely consider it carefully. He couldn't accompany himself in and become a public enemy of the officialdom for the sake of the so-called emperor's trust, right?
  No, I have to find a way for Zhang Tingen. This teacher can't just disappear. Is it easy to hold him on his lap? I can't just stop it, it will affect my future imperial examinations.

After thinking about it, Jia Lian had been distracted in class, and there was no response after Old Master Fang called him several times.

It wasn't until the person next to him poked him that Jia Lian reacted and quickly stood up to respond. Old Master Fang didn't get angry and said calmly: "Come to the office after class."

After class in the morning, Jia Lian went to the office. When Old Master Fang met Jia Lian, he didn't mean to scold him. Instead, he said to him calmly: "Mr. Zhang has been an official for many years. You don't need to worry about his affairs. You should concentrate on your studies and strive to achieve something by the end of the year." .”

Jia Lian sighed and said, "Mr. Zhang, why are you doing this?"

Old Master Fang didn't say much and waved him away. Jia Lian waited for school to end in the afternoon and immediately rushed to Zhang Ting'en's house.

The old servant who looked after the door of the Zhang family was now replaced by a young chamberlain. Jia Lian was shocked when he saw this, but he still stepped forward to speak.

Knowing that the student came to visit Zhang Ting'en, the chamberlain let him in. Only one day had passed, and there were two more maids beside Zhang Tingen, standing beside him and fanning themselves. Seeing Jia Lian coming in with the chamberlain, Zhang Ting'en put down the pen in his hand, frowned and said, "Why are you here again?" Jia Lian stepped forward and said with a smile, "Isn't this because you are worried about Mr. Xuan's health?"

As he spoke, Jia Lian's eyes glanced at the two maids. Zhang Ting'en immediately understood and said calmly: "You guys go down first."

Jia Lian waited for the maid to go down, then stepped forward and lowered his voice: "Your kindness is as deep as the sea, it will drown people."

Zhang Ting'en smiled faintly and had no intention of responding. Jia Lian thought that this gentleman probably did not intend to look back. In his mind, Zhang Ting'en seemed to only be thinking about pursuing his country, not his career. Otherwise, with his intelligence, he wouldn't be so reckless.

"Sir, the matter is too big. Can you, the Minister of Household Affairs, take it on? Why don't you ask His Majesty to appoint a prince to take the lead? In this way, the matter is done, and the prince who has meritorious service can get the big share, and the prince who has done it can take less. If you worry a little, Your Majesty can still see which prince is willing to share your worries."

Zhang Tingen was shocked when he heard this. Is this something a fourteen-year-old child could think of? There is a prince in front of him. The worst result of this is that Zhang Tingen can survive in the end and will not be forced to take the decision and commit suicide to calm the anger of the outside world.

When Jia Lian saw Zhang Ting'en lowering his head and said nothing, he knew that Zhang Ting'en was moved, so he immediately said: "Sir, if you keep cutting off, you will suffer the consequences."

Zhang Ting'en shook his head: "Don't worry, let me think about it." Jia Lian shut up immediately when he saw this. This gentleman seemed to be dazzled by the so-called ambition in his heart. When the emperor wants to clear his debts and you want to do something, and the two of you hit it off, you should have negotiated terms from the beginning. You can't just go ahead and fight this kind of thing alone.

The extra chamberlains and maids in this house are undoubtedly sent by the emperor. Are they sent to take care of you, or are they sent to monitor you? You have to think clearly about this issue. They ask you to do things, but they don't put you under any pressure, and they don't give you enough rights. Is this the reason for people to do things?
  Well, I'd better say a few words less.

"So, farewell, student." Jia Lian made up his mind not to visit him again, he was too worried.

The next day, Zhang Ting'en was called into the palace by the emperor. When he was playing the duet in private, Emperor Chenghui first asked: "Jia Lian comes to see you again?"

After hearing this, Zhang Ting'en responded seriously: "Your Majesty, Jia Lian is a child with a solid heart. He cares about the health of his ministers, does not shy away from others' words, and has a good nature, which is rare."

Emperor Chenghui smiled as if talking to himself: "The third prince also mentioned to me that he asked Jia Lian to be his companion."

As soon as Zhang Ting'en heard this, he immediately said loudly: "No!" After saying this, he realized that he had made a mistake and quickly knelt down: "I'm sorry, I'm guilty."

Emperor Chenghui raised his hand with a smile on his face and said, "Get up, I'm just talking casually."

(End of this chapter)