Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 329: Big Events

Lin Ruhai himself was very capable and had sufficient knowledge of the present. What Sun Huazhen did in Liangjiang would have been impossible to do during the reign of the Emperor Taishang, because the emperor could not withstand the pressure, so how could the ministers below withstand it? With this premise and cognition, Lin Ruhai understood it instantly. All the questions had answers.

"The current state of the country is not good. Your Majesty wants to change it. But if the cabinet cannot reach an agreement with Your Majesty, how can you talk about changing it?" Lin Ruhai told the truth about the problem.

"Your Majesty is not short of patience, so he sent three cabinet ministers to serve as governors-general, and used the existing cabinet as a platform for inspection. First the cabinet, then the six ministries. Ministers who are not in agreement with Your Majesty are destined to leave the center. Ministers who cannot see this point will naturally be eliminated. If the cabinet fails to meet Your Majesty's requirements, the inner court of Emperor Wu of Han may have to repeat itself."

The country is now in a state of stock competition, and all interested parties first consider their own interests and fail to put the interests of the country first.

"If we keep arguing, it might turn into a factional struggle. In the Tang Dynasty, there was the Niu-Li factional struggle, and in the Northern Song Dynasty there was the new-old faction struggle. I want to report this matter to the emperor. What do you think?" Lin Ruhai decided to seek Jia Lian's opinion.

In Jia Lian's view, Lin Ruhai was not seeking opinions, but needed someone to agree with his opinions.

When you are getting along with people in society, if someone asks for your opinion, you must distinguish whether they need your affirmation or really need your opinion. It is better to meet someone who really needs your opinion. If you meet someone who just needs your likes and affirmation, and you give your opinion, you will offend him. This kind of people are often not very tolerant. If you really give your opinion, he will accept it with a smile in front of you, but then turn around and curse in his heart: What status and qualifications do you have to give me advice?

If you really meet someone asking for your opinion, it is best not to give it, just say you don't understand and can't explain it. Of course, if you have a strong backer, it is another matter.

As for Lin Ruhai, Jia Lian did not need to be polite and said: "I don't know the pros and cons, so I won't give any advice."

This is the truth. After all, Jia Lian really doesn't understand high-level political struggles. Jia Lian can only say that he knows Emperor Chenghui well. He doesn't even dare to say that he knows Lin Ruhai.

How dare you give advice to people when you don't even know them well? Lin Ruhai seemed to be a very opinionated person, so Jia Lian didn't want to pour cold water on him.

"Slippery!" Lin Ruhai was a little dissatisfied, but it was no big deal. He just felt that young people didn't like to show off, and they were so slippery and difficult to handle, which made him feel frustrated.

In Lin Ruhai's opinion, Jia Lian's greatest advantage is that he can have a say in front of the emperor and at the same time influence Zhang Tingen.

Everyone in the court knew that if one were to rank the ministers who had the greatest influence on the emperor, Zhang Tingen would be first, Sun Huazhen second, and Kong Zhao third.

The difference is that the influence of Chief Minister Kong Zhao on Emperor Chenghui was not achieved through suggestions, but was achieved in the process of bargaining with the emperor as the head of the civil officials.

From this we can see that Kong Zhao, the Prime Minister, is not as weak as he seems, and he will always persist if he can.

What did Emperor Chenghui, who remained silent on whether to restore the grain tax, want to see? Was there a party in the court? If he continued, would there be a risk of party strife?

As for the struggle for interests, there has been one in every era. It has always existed, so what is there to be surprised about?
Jia Lian said goodbye and left, and Lin Ruhai did not keep him. After leaving the alley of the Inspectorate, a sedan chair came out from the alley next door. The curtain was opened and someone greeted: "Master Jia!"

Jia Lian looked carefully and saw that the person who spoke was Ning Ke. He didn't interact with this person much, so why would he take the initiative to greet him?

In terms of rank, this was his superior, so he quickly dismounted, not daring to neglect the courtesy at all: "Greetings, Lord Ning!"

Ning Ke signaled the sedan chair to be lowered, and when he got out of the sedan chair, he clasped his hands and said politely: "Lord Jia has many responsibilities and has worked hard for the country. I admire you."

Jia Lian felt that this was a bit ambiguous, but he couldn't find any evidence. He still smiled and said, "You are too kind!"

"It's still early, let's find a place to sit together?" Ning Ke made the invitation, without any awareness that he shouldn't slack off during work.

Although he didn't know what he meant, Jia Lian still accepted this sudden invitation and nodded, "Lead the way!"

Ning Ke returned to the sedan chair, and Jia Lian followed on horseback. They left the area where government offices were densely populated and soon arrived at a teahouse on the street. After Ning Ke's attendant went in first to make arrangements, the two of them entered and sat in the private room.

The shopkeeper came out to serve him personally, and after serving him some good tea and some snacks, he left. Ning Ke seemed to be a straightforward person, and he spoke very straightforwardly: "Since I took office, I have heard a lot about Lord Jia."

Jia Lian smiled and shook his head: "I understand, they are not good words."

Ning Ke nodded, "That's true, but after looking at everything carefully, Lord Jia has never been partial. An official who is impartial has become an outlier in the eyes of other officials. Ning, thinking about his career, can relate to him. If you don't attract jealousy, you are a mediocre person. This is just a polite statement. People who actually do things impartially will not be praised if they hurt the interests of their colleagues."

This time Jia Lian did not take over the conversation, but looked at Ning Ke calmly. If someone who is not familiar with you says something harsh, as long as it is not insulting or personal attacking, it is not worth caring about even if you are offended. You need to be careful with people like Ning Ke, who are obviously not close to you, but come up with a lot of compliments. You must be careful when dealing with them.

Ning Ke knew that Jia Lian was very alert, but he had no intention of stopping and continued to talk to himself: "Your Majesty appointed me as the Minister of Revenue, not because of my talent, but because Your Majesty needs a Minister of Revenue who does not have many connections in the capital to do something. What to do? Improve and implement the budget system! Before the performance evaluation system is implemented in the capital next year, Your Majesty appointed Lord Jia as the inspector of the capital. Now the grain transportation that had been suppressed has been stirred up, and several things are mixed together, which shows your Majesty's great strategy and ambitions."

"I don't understand what Lord Ning said. I am just a fourth-rank official who follows orders." Jia Lian didn't intend to continue the topic because he didn't want to listen at all.

Ning Ke did not expect that his words could convince Jia Lian and achieve any substantial progress in the relationship. This was unrealistic! After taking office, Ning Ke calmed down and observed for a while, and found that Jia Lian was a low-ranking official, but a very interesting person. Let's put it this way, Jia Lian was involved in almost all the major events of the court in the past few years. This is incredible!
At such a young age, he was involved in so many important events, and his life became more and more comfortable. This cannot be explained by the so-called "two officials in one family". There are many officials in the capital, not to mention those above the third rank, and all the officials above the fourth rank are from the elite. It is true that Jia Lian started from a high point, but the key is that he was not played to death.

"Lord Jia, you are too modest. I have something I would like to ask you. I hope you can give me some advice." Faced with Jia Lian's denial, Ning Ke was not displeased at all. Instead, he continued to approach him.

In response, Jia Lian said bluntly: "Master Ning, there are so many high-ranking officials in the capital, why do you hold on to a fourth-rank official like me?"

"The current Prime Minister is my teacher in the imperial examination. After I came to the capital, I paid him a visit according to etiquette. Later, many of my former classmates came to visit me one after another. I have gradually become the leader of my classmates. I am deeply worried about this. I am afraid that one day in the future, I will be forced by my classmates to become the leader of the so-called Ning Party. There are too many civil servants in the court who cannot help themselves. Lord Jia has been independent since he entered the officialdom. Ning believes that I cannot be as good as Lord Jia. I have invited Lord Jia to talk to me today. I have no other meaning to listen to my long-winded talk. I just want to express my attitude. In the future, if Lord Jia has something to do, we can communicate privately in advance. We should not be friends, but we should not be enemies."

Jia Lian thought Ning Ke was very strange today, but he didn't understand what he meant. Whether we will become rivals or not is not something we can decide between you and me. There is no conflict of interest now, and there can be no conflict in the future.

If you have anything to say, please communicate privately first. We are not close enough, are we?

Jia Lian couldn't understand why Ning Ke behaved so "childishly". How could he be like a Shangshu?

It doesn't matter if you don't understand, just say goodbye and leave. Jia Lian stood up decisively and said, "I have something else to do, so I'll leave first. Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Ning." Ning Ke watched Jia Lian leave very decisively, sitting still, with no intention of keeping him. He took a sip of the teacup slowly, looking at the things on the table that Jia Lian hadn't touched, and Ning Ke smiled.

[It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, but what I said will definitely have an impact on you. What we are going to do next is too important, and it's better to have one less person to trip us up.]

After leaving the teahouse, Ning Ke got on the sedan chair and said to his attendant, "Let's go to the palace!"

Ning Ke certainly knew about the quarrel between the two factions in the court, but he didn't want to comment at all. It was meaningless to argue about right and wrong in such a matter.

After Ning Ke took office, he took the initiative to seek an audience with the emperor only a few times. To put it bluntly, Ning Ke's presence was not strong!
As the secretarial team gradually matured, Emperor Chenghui's workload was greatly reduced. In fact, we should thank Jia Lian for capturing his able-bodied men, and the result was quite good.

Of course, if Emperor Chenghui wanted to work, there would still be endless things to do. The reality is that after eliminating the threat from the retired emperor, Emperor Chenghui gradually delegated power.

After giving up power, Emperor Chenghui felt much more relaxed. He worked half a day every day and could rest and spend the rest of the time with the harem.

Ning Ke's request for an audience awakened Emperor Chenghui's kingly attributes. Well, although this period seems to be very busy, it is actually not a particularly important event.

The financial situation has been relaxed and corresponding military arrangements have been made. There is no need to rush to solve any problems. Just be patient and wait.

Emperor Chenghui, who had returned to the Qianqing Palace from Yuanchun, was in a good mood and asked Ningke: "What's the important matter, my dear minister?"

The matter was not serious, Ning Ke could just report it directly, just like the last time he reported to the emperor to cut off the food and salary supply to the King of Dongping and the King of Xining.

"Your Majesty, the central bank's review of private qualifications in the first half of the year was ineffective. I request that the Ministry of Revenue take the lead in conducting an audit." Ning Ke stated his purpose very straightforwardly.

Emperor Chenghui was a little confused. Why should the Ministry of Revenue interfere in the audit of the central bank's affairs?
"Why do you say that, Ning Qing?" Emperor Chenghui's happiness disappeared, and he stretched out his hand with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Your Majesty, may I ask, who supervises the central bank? Who dares to supervise it?" Ning Ke's tone remained firm.

Emperor Chenghui understood something of what he meant, and suppressed his displeasure as he asked, "My dear minister, please make your words clearer." He went from being my dear minister to Ning Qing, and back again.

"Your Majesty, I am deeply worried by what I have seen when I was the governor of Shanxi. The central bank does not involve business operations, and the supervision of private banks is non-existent. Once they get a license, they can use it to make a lot of money in various ways. If this continues, the finances of a province will soon be controlled by private banks. By then, the finances of the court will also be controlled by private banks in various provinces. In the future, it is not impossible to seek to mint coins."

Emperor Chenghui was a little confused. How could a wolf be locked up and then released like a tiger?

"Go on!" Emperor Chenghui's face was solemn, and he had to pay attention.

"Rectify the central bank and form a strict supervision and review system from top to bottom! When I was in Shanxi, the prefects and county magistrates in some prefectures and counties were living like beggars. If they wanted to do something, they had to get the approval of several local big families. How could this be tolerated? Therefore, after rectifying the central bank, we will conduct a nationwide audit of private banks and severely crack down on local forces. Similar things should be done every three to five years. Whoever stands out will be punished. Anyway, we will not give local forces a chance to grow."

Emperor Chenghui understood everything completely. Ning Ke was playing a big game.

"Let me think it over carefully before deciding!"

You really can't be impatient about this matter.

Ning Ke was not in a hurry. What he wanted was to attract the emperor's attention.

Minister Ning also has a desire to make progress, but if he wants to make progress he must achieve some political achievements that will impress the emperor.

As a minister who had climbed up from the grassroots level step by step, Ning Ke knew that the grassroots level was different from the top level. If one wanted to make progress at the top level, the emperor's recognition was the most important.

Ning Ke did not continue to put pressure on him, but obediently withdrew and said goodbye. In this way, his purpose of further impressing the emperor was achieved.

If the emperor adopts the advice, the next step is to get things done and continue to gain points until the opportunity arises and he can enter the cabinet.

Jia Lian didn't know about Ning Ke's actions, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

At this point, Jia Lian always looks at the general situation.

The lower-class people in this country are suffering so much that it is meaningless to care about specific individuals.

It is Jia Lian's job to promote the change of the general trend. If the change of the general trend is beneficial to the interests of the majority, Jia Lian will do it.

Jia Lian might help if he saw the interests of an individual, but he would ignore those he didn't see. Although Jia Lian knew very well that many people at the bottom were suffering.

From the very beginning, Jia Lian had no intention of being a saint.

It was another day when I got off work and went home early. Not long after I changed my clothes and sat down, Wang Xifeng came in in a hurry.

Seeing that she was in a good mood, Jia Lian couldn't help asking, "Did something good happen to you?"

Wang Xifeng took the teacup from the maid, took a sip of the warm tea and said, "Second uncle tested Baoyu on reading last night. He asked him to recite a book but he failed to do so, so he was scolded. Today, Baoyu begged grandmother and refused to go to the clan school. The old lady actually agreed to his request, saying that studying was inappropriate and would harm the body."

Jia Lian was silent for a moment. Why would you want to give a thumbs up when you see other people's children not making progress?
(End of this chapter)