Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 325 is just a shame!

Wucheng Bingmasi, inside the office!

Pan Jixun looked up at the sky, his eyes lifeless as he spoke: "They all look down on you!"

Jia Lian..., it's like a riddle, I don't understand. If you don't understand, just read Misty Poetry.

"I never care what others think. I don't care whether there is a road or not. Once I have determined the direction, I just keep moving forward."

Pan Jixun remained silent, many past events flashing through his mind. The funding for river repair was clearly one million, but only five hundred thousand was received. He clearly bought one thousand shi of rice, but only seven thousand was found on the river bank.

A group of people wearing straw sandals, with cracked skin and bleeding feet, gathered around a fire, eating maggot-infested pickles and drinking a bowl of steaming porridge, with very satisfied looks on their faces.

In fact, they all knew that the workers on the river should be provided with food, but the officials treated them like beasts of burden, but they did not find a way to do it.

Pan Jixun, who could have been responsible for their misfortune but only guaranteed them three meals a day instead of speaking up for them, was regarded by them as an upright official.

Pan Jixun had also heard about what Jia Lian of Yunyang and Jia Lian of Jining had done.

Compared with those officials who only care about personal and family interests, Jia Lian is undoubtedly much more noble, but he chooses to use radical ways to promote what he wants to do.

"Brother Ruhai's memorial will definitely be approved." Pan Jixun emphasized his tone.

Jia Lian understood this time, smiled and nodded slightly: "Humans are just mean!"

Pan Jixun laughed loudly, stood up and said, "Let's go, I'm not Brother Ru Hai anymore!"

After a while, Lin Ruhai came in and looked around: "Where is Brother Pan?"

Jia Lian said, "Let's go. It's almost time to get off work. Why don't you go home? There's no food here."

Lin Ruhai smiled and looked at Jia Lian meaningfully: "Why risk the world's disapproval? What if His Majesty takes it seriously?"

Jia Lian stood up and waved his hands with a smile: "That can't be possible. Between the monarch and his subjects, if one side takes a step back, it is almost impossible to go back."

The two walked out side by side. Zhuzi led the horse over, and Jia Lian, who took the reins, jumped on the horse. "Uncle, let me go first."

Lin Ruhai smiled, waved his hand and got on the sedan chair. When the curtain fell, Lin Ruhai said to himself: "Even though I don't know what you want to do, we all end up in the same place, right?"

The highest level of a figurehead monarch is roughly equivalent to a constitutional monarchy. It's a pity that under this sky, no emperor with a normal mind would give up the supreme power.

Therefore, the ideal of a figurehead monarch within the Confucian framework will always be just an ideal and will never be realized.

Marx made it very clear that it is impossible to realize constitutional monarchy without a scientific social revolution.

But from another perspective, dual constitutionalism is not something we cannot hope for, the key is to enter industrialization. Just don't make it like Thailand!
Without corresponding productive forces, how can we talk about new production relations? How can we talk about new social systems?

The next day,

The cabinet unanimously passed Lin Ruhai's suggestion and rejected Jia Lian's memorial. All five cabinet ministers stamped their seals, showing an unusually firm attitude!
The document was sent to the Qianqing Palace. After reading it, Emperor Chenghui couldn't help but laugh and expressed the same feeling as Jia Lian: "People are so mean!"

Qiu Shian cleverly echoed from the side: "Saint, if this happens, Xia Shouzhong will be disappointed."

Emperor Chenghui laughed loudly. This time, Qiu Shian did not ask for fun: Why is the saint laughing?

Well, he had read Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As for Cao Cao, no emperor liked him.

After laughing, Emperor Chenghui said, "Pen and ink are ready! By the way, I will pay the ransom of one thousand taels. You can give it to Jia Lian."

The noisy days just passed, as if nothing had happened. Only the people of the Five Cities Military Department became more powerful in the capital. In the past, they dealt with the children of nobles, but this time they dealt with all the civil officials who had passed the imperial examination.

After receiving the 1,200 taels of silver, Jia Lian gave it directly to Jian Renda and asked him to distribute it to the soldiers participating in the operation.

Wang Ziteng's memorials were sent to the capital at full speed. There were two memorials. The first one was an apology, and the second one was a request for something.

After reading it one by one, the cabinet officials did not care too much. No matter how much Wang Ziteng made trouble, he was far away in Guangdong and Guangxi. As long as he did not rebel, everything would not be a big problem. Even if he rebelled, he would have to ask whether the garrisons stationed in Wuzhou and Shaoguan would agree to lend him a way. These two garrisons were not under Wang Ziteng's control. If he wanted to transfer these two armies, he would have to issue an imperial decree.

The cabinet is busy assisting Lin Ruhai in setting up a so-called inspection team. According to the emperor's decree, this inspection team cannot consist only of civil servants, but must also include members of the royal family and people from the palace.

It’s not about distrust, but supervision and checks and balances are necessary.

As July is about to pass, the autumn heat is still raging, but the good thing is that it is cooler at night.

When Wang Ziteng's memorial was sent to the palace, Jia Lian also received a letter. In the letter, Wang Ziteng repeatedly asked Jia Lian for help and he must get 3,000 rifles. As for ammunition, there was no shortage of craftsmen in Guangzhou, and they could make it themselves without much technical content. In fact, even rifles could be made by Wang Ziteng in Guangdong and Guangxi, but he just didn't do it.

Does Wang Ziteng care about Jia Lian’s interests?

No! He cares about the emperor's opinion. Don't think that Long Jinwei is really blind. You have to know the place.

The Dragon Guards in Nanjing and Guangzhou are not short of money, and their spies are very active.

After reading the letter, Jia Lian burned it into ashes in front of Wang Xifeng, threw it into a spittoon, and poured water on it.

"From what the letter said, my uncle probably doesn't blame you." Wang Xifeng asked cautiously. Don't say that she doesn't care about her mother's family. Her mother's family is the backbone of her Jia family.

Jia Lian pretended not to understand what Wang Xifeng said. How could he not care? How could a man like Wang Ziteng accept the separation from the Jia family, even if it was just for show?

What's more, Jia Lian's impeachment this time may be used as a basis in the future. Yes, you see, I have cut off ties with the Wang family a long time ago. What, daughter-in-law? A married girl is like spilled water.

"I heard that Wang Ren was here today?" Jia Lian asked casually. Wang Xifeng looked unhappy and said, "That's my eldest brother-in-law!"

"What's the matter with him?" Jia Lian didn't respond to Wang Xifeng's question and continued to talk about his own matter. Wang Xifeng was very smart. After understanding Jia Lian's meaning, she bit her lip and said, "Father fell ill while serving in Yunnan. He wrote a letter to inform the family. Wang Ren asked me to ask you whether he will go to Yunnan alone or all the family members will go there."

My father-in-law Wang Zisheng has been in Yunnan as the governor for two years, right? In Kunming, there is the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, the Governor of Yunnan, and the flags of the kings from the southwestern states.

From the perspective of national strength, Yunnan is the end of the Central Plains dynasty. Further south, there are chieftains who rule under tributary rule, and there are many states. After the rise of Myanmar, the states swung back and forth, and there were frequent frictions on the border. Well, this period of time was probably the most powerful period for Myanmar. Britain, this troublemaker, stabilized its rule in India while selling arms to Myanmar and inciting invasions of the Chinese border.

It can only be said that the southwest of the Great Zhou was in quite chaos. In Sichuan, there were the Jinchuan rebellions, which frequently invaded the border and robbed money, food and people. In Yunnan, there were harassment from Myanmar.

"Let my eldest brother-in-law go alone. The southwest is not peaceful. If my mother-in-law and sister-in-law go with him, it will be hard on the way and they will have a hard time living in peace."

Wang Xifeng was waiting for this sentence, and immediately continued, "My brother said the same thing. He went there alone first. I gave him 10,000 taels from my private savings for his journey."

This private money refers to the money that Jia Lian earned from outside and did not enter the palace. It was all kept by Wang Xifeng.

"Okay, I got it." Jia Lian didn't say anything, but he thought of the original novel, when the Jia family was having trouble making ends meet, Wang Xifeng always asked Ping'er to pawn a gold necklace.

If you think about it carefully, the two million taels of silver left by Lin Ruhai were squandered by the Jia family in just a few years. We must learn from this.

"Thank you, sir!" Wang Xifeng was actually still worried that Jia Lian was feeling uncomfortable, and she even cared a lot about what Jia Lian thought.

"What are you thanking me for? What the Wang family lacks is not money, but the love of the married girls." There is nothing wrong with this statement. The Wang family is really not short of money at this stage.

Wang Xifeng clapped her hands happily: "That's the truth, but I can't put it into words."

Jia Lian..., can't you say it? You are waiting for me to say it. I still like Wang Xifeng who points at Jia Lian's nose and scolds him. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

"Nowadays, the family is run by the daughter-in-law. If there is any shortage of money, she will not complain but will definitely curse in her heart. People from top to bottom don't know how hard it is to make money. They just know to ask for money. They can only give more but not less. In the long run, the mountains of gold and silver will not last for a few years. As long as grandma is still here, don't expect to save money. Let's find a way to increase income."

These words almost made Wang Xifeng cry. Only her man could understand her difficulties.

"Who says it's not true? When I got married, the Jia family didn't have much money. If it weren't for my father's several trips away, he would have brought back a lot of silver, and the family's silver vault would have been empty long ago. Second Aunt was very clear when she was in charge, but she just didn't tell the old lady. What can I, as a granddaughter-in-law, say? I can only do my best. By the way, Xue's cousin came this morning and sent 20,000 taels, saying that it was a dividend from the tobacco business in Jiangnan. In the capital, Rong Ge'er also gets about 20,000 taels every quarter, and I put it all into the public account. Sister Zhu knows all these accounts, and I'm sure the old lady and Second Aunt also know them. Steward Lai's income in the first half of the year was 4,000 taels. This year, the income of the northeast farm seems to be better. Around October, it can bring in another 3,000 to 5,000 taels. Adding up the income from both sides, the income and expenditure can be balanced."

Wang Xifeng seemed to be nagging, but in fact she was explaining the family situation to Jia Lian, so that she would not be blamed if the family ran out of money in the future. After all, it was Jia Lian who took her to school, not the one in the original novel.

Jia Lian was a little sleepy, which showed that he didn't care about these things. Ping'er, who was standing by, waited for Wang Xifeng to lower her head and drink tea, and then said, "Master, housekeeper Lai asked the old lady today to donate a seventh-rank official position for Lai Shangrong."

"Well, donate it. He has money to donate to an official position, so it's hard to stop him, right?" Jia Lian was actually awakened by Ping'er's news and was concerned. Lai Da's situation was quite special. He served as a housekeeper for three generations of the Jia family. If the ending was really bad, all the nobles in the capital would despise the Jia family and treat their servants harshly. That would ruin their reputation. Whenever Jia Lian touched Lai Er, he would go around in circles.

Wang Xifeng saw Jia Lian's eyes open and immediately knew that he cared about the news, so she quickly added the details: "It's not about donating money to get an official position, he asked his grandmother to ask for a real position for Lai Shangrong."

Lai Er died, and Lai was shocked. He didn't dare to think about the position of steward of the East Palace at all. It seemed that the matter of his own son donating an official title was also brought forward.

"Well, tell me more carefully." Jia Lian sat up straight, and Guixiang fanned him faster. A burst of coolness made Jia Lian's sleepiness completely gone, and he turned around and took out a fan to show encouragement, causing a wave.

Wang Xifeng spat softly, Ping'er turned her head away to show that she couldn't bear to watch it anymore, Guixiang blushed but didn't slow down her hands.

Actually, the atmosphere in this family was really good. Although the wives and concubines had distinct statuses, the distance between them was not that great. This was mainly due to the influence of Jia Lian.

"Lai Shangrong is a family son, and the old lady promised to give him a birth, so that Lai Da could donate money to become an official. Now he is saying all this in front of me, isn't it just to let me tell you to help you do something? The old lady didn't say it, but just said that Lai Da worked hard for the Jia family all his life, and she wanted to promote him. Speaking of which, the second uncle can also make a difference, why doesn't Lai Da ask for help from the second uncle?"

How to say this, Wang Xifeng really didn't understand it. Jia Zheng could write a letter to Wang Ziteng and arrange a real position for Lai Shangrong, it's really not difficult.

But Lai Da didn’t dare!
Jia Lian used Lai Shangrong to threaten Lai Da and his wife. This couple knew how to behave. When Baoyu rode a horse, Lai Da carried him up. No matter how old he was, he was still very strong.

Wang Xifeng continued, "In private, I asked Second Aunt whether Lai Da had ever asked Second Uncle for help. Second Aunt said that even if he had asked, Second Uncle probably wouldn't agree to help. Baoyu is still young. If he fails in his studies in the future, I'll use my connections to find him a real position. I was thinking, with my uncle in the court and my father looking after him, how could Baoyu still need an official position? In the end, it all depends on what the old lady thinks."

Well, the general meaning was made clear, and Jia Lian understood it.

Seeing that it was getting late, Jia Lian stood up and said, "Let's sleep in the study tonight!"

Wang Xifeng was not disappointed. She just blamed her stomach for not keeping up. Her period came on time, so there was no need to keep the man.

It’s not that Wang Xifeng can’t eat by herself, so she has to stand at the stove holding the pots and bowls, but there is no need to do so.

Xiangling was driven out of the study, and Guixiang helped Jia Lian take a warm bath. Ping'er came in with a large towel to help wipe and wrap him up, and then she refused to leave no matter how Guixiang signaled her.

Guixiang had no idea what to do with Ping'er, so she asked the sturdy women to come in, take away the bathtub, close the door and bolt it, and then come back and say to Ping'er who came to grab the food in a very angry tone: "Look how anxious you are, you can't even wait for a day?"

Jia Lian was lying on the kang, watching the two of them fighting with each other, and interrupted them, "The kang is big enough, so just stay."

Well, it’s not Ping’er’s fault that she’s anxious. She tried hard during Wang Xifeng’s pregnancy, but it was all in vain, wasn’t it?

How can a concubine have status without a child? In terms of status, Ping'er is not as good as Guixiang. Guixiang's status as a concubine is clear, while Ping'er is just a concubine.

The next day, Jia Lian got up early and exercised in the yard, yawning. When he was sweating, Wang Xifeng, who had gotten up earlier, came back from Jia Mu's yard in front, followed by Lai Dajie.

When Lai Dajia saw Jia Lian, she knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I want to ask you a favor!"

(End of this chapter)