Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 34 Reconciliation
  The queen didn't ask Jia Yuanchun much. It didn't matter whether the third prince Li Heng's judgment was right or wrong. It was just an exercise.

The important thing is that Li Heng has learned to watch people use their brains, which is very gratifying.

As for being wise and courageous, in the Queen's view, the third prince Li Heng was somewhat out of tune, so saying that in front of Jia Yuanchun was nothing more than a message to Jia Yuanchun that this kid is not very smart, so just listen and don't take it seriously. .

In the evening, Emperor Chenghui came to the queen's place to have dinner together. During the dinner, the queen persuaded her: "There are many beauties in the harem, and your majesty should be affected by the rain and dew." Emperor Chenghui liked this about the queen, she was grand! He smiled and agreed, but he wouldn't change.

The queen mentioned the matter of the third prince again, and mentioned Jia Lian by the way. After hearing this, Emperor Chenghui said quite formally: "Jia Lian is quite popular with Zhang Ting'en." After saying this, he glanced at Jia Yuanchun, and then put food in his mouth.

The queen was shocked when she heard this. In such a treacherous environment in the harem, what kind of dirty things had not been seen before? So that kid Yinghua is not talking nonsense. After summarizing the information in Rongguo Mansion, the queen's previous judgment was also shaken. Maybe what the kid Yinghua said was true?
  Jia Yuanchun's legs were shaking as he stood aside! What if in private, his mother, Mrs. Wang, really missed Jia Lian?
  This is really hard to say.

Three days later, Jia Lian felt that Li Heng should know what he meant, so he got up early and went to school again. If that guy is not knowledgeable, then take a long vacation and study at home.

As soon as he arrived at the academy, Jia Lian was called to the office by Old Master Fang. Jia Lian obediently took out a stack of manuscripts and presented them to him with both hands.

"Sir, this is an article written in three days."

Old Master Fang, who took the manuscript, nodded with satisfaction and said comfortingly: "I know you have difficulties, and you have to endure it."

The old gentleman knew who the so-called Mu Zihua was, so he specifically clicked on it.

"Thank you sir." Jia Lian understood what he meant and thanked him formally and left.

There is a truth that Jia Lian knows very well. It is definitely not a good thing for a son of a powerful person to befriend a legitimate prince. Even if the four princes and eight princes are not the targets of the emperor's suppression, it is better not to do this kind of thing.

Mr. Fang always only taught articles and did not talk about big principles, which suited Jia Lian very much.

Li Heng was still in his seat, but he no longer took the initiative to get close to Jia Lian. He became less lively than before and listened quietly to the class. The same goes for Jia Lian. He is a good student who studies seriously.

This day was very peaceful. Even at lunch, Li Heng did not come over, but ate alone in another place.

Jia Lian didn't feel uncomfortable with this change, but felt it was very good.

The old concierge kept looking at the two children outside with a smile, without any intention of getting involved.

He just held a snuff bottle in his hand, put something into his nostrils, sneezed loudly, and looked comfortable.

Jia Lian was a little surprised when he heard the sneezing sound and put down the chopsticks in his hand. The old man didn't do this before.

"What are you looking at? Let's go back to the boxing class and let you run ten laps first." The old concierge said in a very angry tone, with a look of pride on his face.

Realizing that Jia Lian ignored him and looked at the snuff bottle, he couldn't help but show it in his hand: "Not bad, isn't it? It's cloisonné."

Jia Lian was actually thinking about tobacco. I don't know if the baking process of this thing has been invented. I usually don't pay attention to whether there are many people smoking on the street. If there are many, it should be a good business. Of course, this is just an idea, and there may be a lot of trouble in implementing it. For Jia Lian, it is not difficult to make a little money, but it is difficult to make a lot of money.

If you can make a lot of money, you will feel even more uneasy. You also have to worry about whether you can keep it and whether it will bring disaster.

When the old concierge noticed that Jia Lian was in a daze, he couldn't help but curiously smiled and asked: "Boy, are you stunned?"

"Old man, how many people smoke?" Jia Lian asked casually, not expecting a clear answer.

The old man didn't answer seriously, and said casually: "Who knows, it's more common to smoke pipes in the east and south of the city, while in the west of the city, they all smoke snuff. Why do you think of asking this?"

Jia Lian still did not answer directly and asked with a smile: "Where is the best tobacco leaf? How to deal with it?"

"Ask me this? No, why don't you go to the shop in the east of the city and ask?" I don't know if he didn't answer the question, but the old man seemed a little unhappy. He lowered his head and played with the snuff bottle, ignoring Jia Lian.

At this time, Li Heng's voice came from behind: "This is fired in the official kiln."

The old man raised his head and glanced at Li Heng. Then he simply turned around and changed the angle to continue playing.

Jia Lian looked back at Li Heng and found that the young chamberlain beside him, if he had any idea, smiled without saying anything and went in.

Li Heng looked at his spare, his eyes darting around. There was no embarrassment. He had never seen anyone change his face in Da Nei.

Looking at the little eunuch next to him, Li Heng thought of something and thought to himself: Next time he goes out without Xiao Fuzi, at least not in front of him.

Li Heng, who listened to the conversation between Jia Lian and the concierge, was full of questions. He didn't want to ask further questions because he didn't want to arouse Jia Lian's resentment. Instead, he asked Xiaofuzi, the little chambermaid next to him: "How many people smoke pipes? How are the tobacco leaves processed?"

Xiao Fuzi was stupid. When I entered the palace at the age of six, I saw eunuchs taking snuff, but not many eunuchs smoking pipes.

"How about I go and ask a question?" The master's question had to be answered, and Xiao Fuzi could only use his subjective initiative.

"Well, let's go." Li Heng really wanted to figure out these issues and find out Jia Lian's motives.

Learning from the lessons of the previous Ming Dynasty, the princes of the Zhou Dynasty did not have fiefdoms. They had to study government affairs when they stayed in the capital, and served in specific departments when they were over 18 years old. For example, Emperor Chenghui's 18-year-old eldest concubine Li Dinghua served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He received an extra salary as a fifth-rank official. At the same time, he had to learn all business and take over the Ministry of Internal Affairs when necessary in the future. The second prince is still in the training stage of the Civil Service. After he turns eighteen next year, he will start as a fifth-rank official in the Civil Service. If he cannot inherit the throne in the future, he should be an unknown foreman prince.

As for Li Heng, when he turns fifteen next year, he should go to a certain department to study for three years. When he turns eighteen, he will be assigned a specific position as a fifth-rank official. If he cannot inherit the throne, he should also end up as the foreman of a certain department.

The prince must assist the emperor in handling government affairs. This is a rule set during the Taizu period. No place or fiefdom will be given. Influenced by the fierce and cruel struggle among the princes for the crown prince during the Taishang Emperor's period, Emperor Chenghui did not respond to the memorials sent by courtiers to establish a crown prince, and always ignored them.

According to Confucian legal principles, the second prince is the best candidate for the crown prince, while the third and fifth princes are alternatives. The eldest brother and the fourth child who are born as concubines are basically useless unless something unexpected happens.

The current Emperor Chenghui is not a direct descendant. The Supreme Emperor has thirteen princes, among whom the first, third, and seventh are direct descendants. After a bloody struggle for succession to the throne, the first, third, and seventh princes either died or were eliminated. In the end, it was easy. Emperor Chenghui did not take sides.

So, nothing is absolute.

The third prince, Li Heng, had been relatively smart since he was a child, and gave the impression to outsiders that he was not very interested in the crown prince's position.

Zheng Zheng was supposed to study in a school in the palace, but he chose to study outside the palace, and the emperor and empress agreed.

Now the third prince still lives in the palace and will leave the palace at the age of fifteen. If you want to see the emperor and empress at that time, you have to go through the procedures to get approval.

When they returned to the palace from school, Xiao Fuzi had not come back yet. It was a little later that the third prince saw Xiao Fuzi. When he listened carefully to his investigation results, he found bruises on Xiao Fuzi's face, and he immediately asked angrily: "Who hit him? "

Xiao Fuzi said: "I don't know. I was walking down the street when suddenly a man attacked me. After the beating, he ran away. He looked like a beggar!" After hearing this, the third prince had no good idea and had to ask him to wait to see the doctor. .

The results of the investigation were not ideal. I went to several stores. It was easy to ask about the place of origin. When I asked how to grow tobacco, no one answered. When I asked about how to transport the tobacco to the capital for sale, the storekeeper often did not answer. Some even had a bad temper and asked him to leave directly.

Xiao Fuzi's trip was not in vain. In the tobacco shops in the east of the city, it was rare to see anyone retailing. Xiao Fuzi said that he would go to the south of the city tomorrow to find out more.

Li Heng thought for a while and said, "No need!" After thinking about it, he made up his mind to ask Jia Lian in person tomorrow.

Another day at lunch, Li Heng followed Jia Lian when he went out and asked cautiously: "Why are you asking about tobacco?"

"Make money!" To Li Heng's surprise, Jia Lian actually answered.

"The eldest son of Rongguo Mansion is also short of money? Oh, the wife of the housekeeper of Rongguo Mansion is the second wife." After saying this, Li Heng regretted it. Wasn't this exposing his shortcomings in person? If the lady in charge of any house is not the eldest daughter, she will be the second eldest daughter of the Rongguo Mansion. Then he quickly made amends: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it."

A miserable scene emerged in Li Heng's mind. The eldest son was abused by his second wife's aunt and was not given any pocket money.

"There's no need to apologize, what you said is the truth. Also, what I lack is not small money, but big money, tens of thousands of taels."

The reason why Jia Lian was willing to talk to Li Heng was simple. This guy had been doing very well recently and never took the initiative to talk to Li Heng in the academy. Besides, he was a legitimate prince, so he couldn't be treated too badly. Another point is that this guy is a bit carefree, and he is not the kind of person who is petty and will retaliate for his anger. Let's put it this way, if it were an ordinary prince, someone might have done it long ago.

No deep friendship, no too much sin, this is Jia Lian's principle.

"Can tobacco make a lot of money?" Li Heng asked a little doubtfully.

Jia Lian took the chopsticks and did not look back. He replied casually: "This thing is addictive. It is not difficult to make a lot of money. What is difficult is how to keep the money. I will go back and think about it and decide not to make tobacco, so as not to make it big in the future." In order to make wedding clothes for others, it’s better not to do it now if I feel uncomfortable.”

Li Heng was very moved after hearing these words, and for a moment he couldn't help being greedy and said: "Next year I leave the palace and open a mansion. Compared with the income of other princes, I can barely maintain the expenses of the palace in the next year. I can only live by doing some business. A decent life, you don’t know, every one of the princes counts, and their families all have business. The tax supervisor of Chongwenmen doesn’t care about the rich and powerful’s goods entering the inner city.”

"Oh, what kind of business have the powerful people in the inner city done? How come I haven't heard of it?" Jia Lian's attention was successfully aroused. There is absolutely no harm in knowing more about this kind of thing. As long as you know the benefits, you will be better in the future. It's not easy to get into big trouble.

"That's a lot. Take the eldest prince, Prince Zhongsu, for example. His mother's family is from Liaodong. Ginseng, furs, and Dongzhu are all worth five times the profit from Liaodong to the capital. The goods are being sold before they even enter the inner city. The reservation is finished. His caravan ships out goods once every two months. On average, the monthly income from Liaodong's goods is more than 20,000 taels. The second brother and I are very strict behind the scenes. I don't expect to follow him like the boss. People from the mother clan work together in business, but they are satisfied with an income of five hundred to one thousand taels per month."

Jia Lian wanted to hit someone after hearing this. How much money do I have per month? You are still thinking about the lowest price of five hundred taels a month.

"Do you know the monthly expenses of an ordinary well-off family of five people?" Jia Lian was not a teacher, but felt that it was necessary to teach this guy a lesson so that he would not harm the people in order to make money after opening a house in the future.

"How do I know, do you know?" Li Heng replied casually, while motioning to the maid next to him to bring over the small table and put it together with Jia Lian's small table. Jia Lian didn't stop him when he saw him. He also figured out that a cold stare wouldn't last long and it was necessary to properly ease the relationship.

"Almost two taels of silver, right? So if you want to make money, you have to look up and don't stare at the people below." Jia Lian still reminded that it is not advisable to scrape oil on the people.

"What? Isn't this too little? I thought my one hundred taels of silver per month was already miserable." Li Heng put down the chopsticks in his hands and his eyes widened.

"What do you think? Legally speaking, you have the chance to become a Yuji person when you are born. As the eldest grandson of Rongguo Mansion, it is not good for you or me to be too close to you. I say this, you understand Are you done?" Jia Lian felt that it was better to talk things out, lest this guy misunderstand and the conflict would get out of hand.

When Li Heng heard this, the chopsticks in his hand stopped and a piece of meat fell back into the bowl.

There is absolutely no need to explain. People born into the royal family understand the truth at a very young age. Anyone has the opportunity to ascend to that position. Even if you show no interest, your competitors will not believe that you are helpless. After all, Emperor Chenghui behaved more honestly back then and was just an old scalper who only knew how to do things. You know, there are a lot of brothers who are not born as queens.

"Let's talk about how to make money in the tobacco business." Li Heng forcibly changed the topic and avoided Jia Lian's slightly sarcastic smile. Li Heng, who was somewhat annoyed, took a hard bite. The pork belly was very fragrant, but a bit greasy.

"Let's talk about it after you open the mansion." Jia Lian did not continue the topic and concentrated on eating.

"When it rains and snows, where do you eat for lunch?" Li Heng didn't pursue the question, and he had to be cautious about Jia Lian's softening of attitude.

"In the concierge, every time you use the concierge, you need to pay the old man one or two silver coins."

"The price is too bad!"

"Who says it's not the case? People ordering food from outside are not allowed in the academy. This is an exclusive deal for the old man, so there is nothing he can do about it."

(End of this chapter)