Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 320 Pushing forward bit by bit
The emperor had to be in office and in power at the same time, and the cabinet ministers had to help make the script come together. Even if Jia Lian was not present, he could imagine this scene.

Don't think it's hypocritical, that's childish.

To do many things well, you have to practice them clearly and follow the procedures seriously.

At the national level, everything must be justified. Don't ask how many behind-the-scenes plots there are, this has nothing to do with ordinary people.

The cabinet meeting went smoothly and proceeded according to the script written by Emperor Chenghui.

Jia Lian was dealing with Xia Shouzhong. The twenty field guns were not the big deal, the big deal was the medicine packs.

Jia Lian knew a little about the affairs of Jinchuan, but not much, as he had read the series of novels titled Emperor with Pigtails.

In fact, you don’t have to go there in person to imagine that, if you have taken geography classes, you will know that there are a lot of mountains surrounding the Sichuan Basin.

The policy of reforming the chieftains and returning them to the Han people in the southwest has basically continued from the previous Ming Dynasty. The focus is on registering the common people. It would be strange if the local chieftains did not rebel.

Everyone should understand the meaning of "registering all citizens as equals to the common people". Chieftains are used to being local emperors and cannot stand being registered as equals to the common people.

In the agricultural era, it was a bit difficult to do this in the southwest. This was due to the terrain. The mountains naturally isolated the local situation in small areas.

To put it bluntly, the difficulty of walking out of the mountain is not even as difficult as walking from one mountain to another. Well, it is still a mountain on the opposite side that can be seen with the naked eye.

Only by going there in person can you understand how awesome it is to build a bridge connecting two mountains in such a place.

But even in this kind of terrain, a 30,000-man GM armed force, surrounded and blocked by hundreds of thousands of enemy troops, fought and maneuvered, and finally successfully moved north. It was really amazing!

Jia Lian did not want to go to Jinchuan to suffer that punishment. Niu Jizong was sent there, which might not be Emperor Chenghui's intention, but most likely it was his initiative.

Among the four kings and eight dukes, the only one who was still leading the troops was Niu Jizong, while Jia Lian was only a part-timer. Seeing that all the interest groups left in the capital, except the Jia family and the Shi family, were in trouble, Niu Jizong wanted to fly to Jinchuan immediately and win a big victory to show his value.

The reason why Niu Jizong was able to stay safe was because of Sun Huazhen's protection. When the gentry in Liangjiang were causing trouble and Sun Huazhen was trying to take action, Niu Jizong took the initiative to take on the job of the number one thug.

This man is not stupid but very shrewd. It is acceptable for nobles to stick together for warmth, but Niu Jizong has never dreamed that going against the emperor would bring good results.

As for the Jia family, Niu Jizong could only sigh that the Jia family was lucky. Suddenly, a smart guy who saw through everything appeared, decisively kept a distance from the noble group, and clung to the emperor's thigh tightly.

A new emperor appoints new ministers. The descendants of the four kings and eight dukes, who have seen nobles, are reluctant to give up their wealth and power, and get involved in matters that they shouldn't be involved in. Won't they be dealt with by Emperor Chenghui?
After the cabinet meeting, Jia Lian also completed the handover and asked Xia Shouzhong to hand in the list of promoted craftsmen. Jia Lian had his own logic in dealing with Emperor Chenghui.

First of all, you must be useful. Useless people will be abandoned wherever they go. Secondly, your stance must be clear and firm. Finally, keep a good distance, neither too far nor too close is best.

It can only be said that Emperor Chenghui is quite special. He is a capable monarch who cares more about the ability of his subjects and is kind. Unlike a certain transport captain, he flatters you when you are useful, but turns his face against you when you are not useful.

Just read the original novel and you will know that the Jia family was ransacked, but Jia Zheng and Jia Lan were not completely eliminated.

It’s a pity that although the sequel of Cheng Gaoben was of a very high quality, it failed to continue the essence of the first eighty chapters.

As a side note, besides the four great classics, there is another classic with a higher artistic level. Unfortunately, it was banned because of pornography, so it did not make it into the five great classics.

The cannons and ammunition were not obtained for free. Emperor Chenghui was quite kind. When he learned that the matter was going smoothly, he directly used his small seal and issued a central bank bill. Of course, it was the cost price. For Jia Lian, money was important, but not the most important. What was important was that Emperor Chenghui approved all the names submitted by Jia Lian, and even gave an extra quota to make up for the official position owed to Jean Valjean.

The four craftsmen were not high-ranking, only the ninth rank. Arang, a foreigner, was given the seventh rank. There was no other way, Jia Lian had handled the affairs of the royal family too well. Emperor Chenghui had long wanted to deal with those clan elders, but had never had the right opportunity. After the glass business emerged, the hearts of the lower-class clan members all turned to Emperor Chenghui. To put it bluntly, the words of the clan elders were not as effective as Emperor Chenghui's farts.

What is power? It means that when you speak, people listen to you and are willing to follow you. How could Emperor Chenghui not know about the disgusting things that the chief elders did? Emperor Chenghui had to rely on them because these old guys had high prestige in the royal family. Now these problems are gone. Li Heng came forward to make things happen, and Emperor Chenghui won the hearts of the royal family. The only thing that made Emperor Chenghui regretful was that the second son was not very good. Although he was recognized by most officials, when it came to doing things, nothing made Emperor Chenghui feel comfortable.

There is nothing wrong in winning people's hearts by giving benefits. What is wrong is that after being flattered, one becomes confused and pays too much price without knowing it.

Li Heng did a good job in this regard. He spent almost no money and the elders were sidelined. Prestige is about making money with everyone. You can't just make money with a few people and let everyone watch.

Delaying for a while and using the new artillery as an opportunity to avenge Jia Lian was nothing more than a cover-up.

No one cares about this matter now, but the Ministry of Personnel is disgusted. Four ninth-rank officials are a small matter, and they can be obtained by squeezing together, but an official from the seventh rank is worth a lot of money. In the Ministry of Personnel, if everyone from top to bottom does not accept 20,000 taels, you can't get it smoothly. Now that the emperor's personal seal has been stamped, who dares to make a fuss? They have to hold their noses to get things done, and they have to send someone to deliver it to Jia Lian.

The most annoying thing was that the eunuch sent by Xia Shouzhong was watching everyone go through the procedures with a smile on his face, as if he was supervising everyone's work.

The fact that craftsmen were given official positions was something that the entire scholar-official class could not tolerate, not to mention the Ministry of Personnel. During the reign of the Emperor Taishang, this kind of thing basically disappeared, but Jia Lian picked it up again. To put it bluntly, Jia Lian was the public enemy of the Ministry of Personnel.

After all the formalities were completed, they were finally sent to Liang Daoyuan, who signed and stamped them, completing all the procedures.

Liang Daoyuan took a look at the document and his blood pressure went out of control. The Ministry of Personnel has always been the most powerful of the six ministries. They have always bullied others and made a lot of money. Now they are being bypassed. Jia Lian, the pioneer, is someone Liang Daoyuan dislikes. It's strange that he can be calm.

Liang Daoyuan was still very patient. He silently used the seal, signed, and had someone send it to the Research and Development Department, all under the supervision of the eunuchs.

After everyone had gone far away, Liang Daoyuan finally lost control of his suppressed anger. He reached out and fiercely swept everything on the table to the ground, cursing: "Damn it! This is too much! Is the official surname Jia?" Jia Lian didn't know about these things, and even if he knew, it wouldn't matter. He had always been working hard to improve the social status of industry and commerce.

For a country, all problems are ultimately economic problems. If you want to improve the economy, how can you do it without paying attention to industry and commerce? Can you count on those insects who read the Four Books and Five Classics?

Apart from forming cliques and small circles, and engaging in internal fighting between circles, what else can these people do?
In short, the atmosphere in the Ministry of Personnel today is very depressing. Many people who come to the Ministry to do business are so scared that their legs become weak when they walk.

Compared to the Ministry of Personnel, the Research and Development Department was filled with cheers.

Jia Lian personally called the five people over and issued them a certificate in person. After confirming that they would no longer be commoners but officials, the four craftsmen kowtowed to Jia Lian. They kowtowed very hard, and their foreheads turned red. There was no way, the gap between officials and common people was simply a world of difference.

Jean Valjean, a foreigner, was confused after receiving the official certificate. He couldn't understand it. Seeing the four craftsmen kowtow to Jia Lian, he hesitated for a moment and prayed silently in his heart: Lord, it is not your lamb that betrayed you, but the oriental masters are too generous. Well, along with the official certificate, Jia Lian also gave Jean Valjean a silver note of 1,000 taels, and told him where to make a set of official uniforms.

Officials of the Zhou Dynasty had to make their own official uniforms. The court only gave them documents and official seals.

This matter has a huge impact on the R&D Department and even the entire Ministry of Industry. Jia Lian had come here once before when he was working on the rifled rifle, and now it is the second time, which shows that everyone has a bright future.

Craftsmen don't have to work like slaves all their lives. If they do their job well, they can become officials. Craftsmen who see the future and hope burst into enthusiasm.

Following the issuance of Emperor Chenghui's second reprimand order, opinions within the court diverged on Wang Ziteng's affairs.

The reprimand order from the emperor can be big or small. If the emperor wants to investigate seriously, it will be a big deal. If the emperor does not investigate seriously, it will be fined three cups of wine.

The news of Jia Lian impeaching Wang Ziteng had already spread throughout the court and the country, and many people were actually waiting to see the fun.

Now it seems that it is very likely that he will be punished by drinking three cups of wine. In other words, Jia Lian's impeachment of Wang Ziteng is not as simple as it seems.

It was already a month later when Wang Ziteng received two consecutive reprimands. When he received the first one, Wang Ziteng just smiled and didn't even look at it. He carefully put it away and that was it.

Now Wang Ziteng is most concerned about two things. One is the two warships purchased from the British foreigners. This is an unprecedented thing for the British.

The British were completely beaten unilaterally in the trade with the Great Zhou. In the trade of tea and raw silk, there was no room for them to fight back. Think about it carefully, empty ships came from India, and then they offered silver to buy tea and raw silk. When did the British ever do such a business? If they could not afford the cost of a fight, the British would have gone ashore to rob long ago.

Surprisingly, after the new Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi took office, he immediately contacted the British to purchase two warships, not just brand new ones.

British merchants cheered loudly for this matter, as they finally saw the return of money. Of course, the most advanced warships would not be sold. Two 50% new ships in exchange for ten ships of tea were a very profitable business in the eyes of the East India Company. It would be even more perfect if the new governor did not crack down on opium smuggling.

The second thing Wang Ziteng was concerned about was the new muskets. This weapon played an amazing role in the process of suppressing the smuggling of opium. Although there were only 500 guns, they were several times more effective than the matchlock guns. Now Wang Ziteng needed more new muskets to form a new army. The problem was that Wang Ziteng was very worried about the reaction of the court, especially the reaction of Emperor Chenghui.

That's why he sent a letter to Jia Lian. The letter did not mention the matter of muskets. He just wanted to get more information from the emperor through Jia Lian.

Unexpectedly, instead of waiting for Jia Lian's reply, he received revenge. The censors of two provinces reported Wang Ziteng's negative information, and as a result, he received an order of reprimand.

Wang Ziteng, who didn't take it seriously, went to the navy camp every day these days to watch the navy soldiers training on the foreign warships and learn how to operate the foreign warships.

As the second party, the East India Company was extremely responsible in order to open the door to arms trade with China. Not only did it send enough instructors, but it also kindly reminded Wang Ziteng that there would be discounts for buying warships.

Little did they know that Wang Ziteng had already sent many craftsmen to learn and prepare for the copy. The only thing that was stumping Wang Ziteng now was the casting of the cannon.

Guangdong actually has no shortage of iron or craftsmen, but the technology for casting cannons is not something you can learn just because the larger the caliber, the harder it is to cast.

Just as Wang Ziteng was watching the naval officers and soldiers practicing on the warships, Wang Yi quietly walked behind him and whispered in his ear.

Wang Ziteng was startled and shouted, "Go back."

The group rode their horses at full speed back to the governor's office.

A trusted staff member was already waiting here. When he saw Wang Ziteng, he stepped forward and said, "Dong Weng, there is news from the capital."

Wang Ziteng glanced at the messenger, who was lying on the ground. The doctor was diagnosing him and the clerk was feeding a bowl of hot soup into the messenger's mouth.

The courier, who had recovered a little bit of his energy, stood up and carefully took out an envelope from his chest. Wang Ziteng took it and looked at the seal on the wax, tore off the words and took out the letter, and read the letter as he walked in. When he returned to the study, Wang Ziteng had finished reading the letter and handed it to his trusted staff member beside him; "Take a look!"

The staff and advisor took it and read it quickly, scratching his chin and saying, "This is a bit weird. The young master of the Jia family is not a fool, this shouldn't happen."

Wang Ziteng smiled and said, "If he is an idiot, my son should be thrown on the roadside and anyone can take him away."

The master was a little confused, after all, he was not familiar with Jia Lian and had very little contact with him. Wang Ziteng thought for a while before whispering, "It shouldn't be like this. The opium trade is not a big deal. Why does this guy take it so seriously? He even impeached the emperor in person!"

"Donghung, if you can't figure it out, forget it. Send someone to deliver a letter to him, mentioning the new muskets, and see how he reacts. As for your majesty, I still say the same thing. At this moment, your majesty must first consider the nearby Dongping cavalry, and cannot take care of Dongghung for the time being."

(End of this chapter)