Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 342: Killing multiple birds with one stone

People born in the 70s in modern society take political classes in elementary school and begin to learn the principles of Marxist philosophy in middle school. They don’t know the use of many things they have learned and just memorize them by rote for the exams.

When I was in school, I thought it was a waste of time to learn this stuff. After entering the society, I was beaten. Suddenly, I looked back and found that the content that I thought I had forgotten had resurfaced. When I faced reality, I had a comparison one by one. After I turned 35, I had the opportunity to open my eyes to see more wonderful things in the outside world and found that the international news in the news broadcast was true. Recalling the rote memorization in order to cope with the exams, I found that it was so cool to reverse the process according to the answer.

The reason why Jia Lian and Emperor Chenghui had this impromptu debate was that Emperor Chenghui was too upset to accept the fact and had to have the debate.

Then Jia Lian answered him, what is a country, what is a court, what are the violent means such as government offices and the army used for. There are contradictions and interdependence between rulers and the ruled, and they cannot exist alone.

So, the emperor's resentment was actually just pretentious, and nothing happened afterwards. Until one day, waves of resistance emerged, and eventually they came together to destroy the world and rebuild it.

The emperors, generals, and heroes recorded in history books are not about how powerful a specific individual is, but they made good use of the vast majority of groups that are rarely recorded in history books at a certain historical stage. It can only be said that Jia Lian's words were too implicit, and Emperor Chenghui, who only half understood what he heard, felt vaguely uneasy, and felt the existence of the power that could break the sky, but could not capture the accurate image.

It can only be said that no emperor can empathize with the people at the bottom of society, not even Jia Lian. The reason why he can express himself implicitly is because he has systematically studied methodology.

"I believe I have been good to the Zhou family. On the day I ascended the throne, I gave the Zhou family the farm that formerly belonged to the royal palace. After the Li treason case, I gave them another 500 hectares of land that was confiscated. Why are the Zhou family still so greedy? To be honest, before I ascended the throne, the Zhou family was very well-behaved and rarely violated the law." Emperor Chenghui was still upset and couldn't help but say it out loud.

Jia Lian was silent for a moment before he said, "Your Majesty, even after another three hundred years, the law will still be decided by people on how to enforce it. Mencius said that human nature is good, and Xunzi said that human nature is evil. The former talks about morality, and the latter talks about law. In my humble opinion, the greatest significance of the existence of law is to clarify the boundaries between good and evil, and to restrain evil people from blatantly breaking the law."

Jia Lian was still very subtle in giving Emperor Chenghui a way out, come down quickly, you won't do anything to the Zhou family. You already have the answer in your heart, don't be shameless and force me to release the full version of Dragon Slaying Technique.

"Marquis Changping is unable to discipline his sons and daughters, so I intend to strip him of his title. What do you think?" Emperor Chenghui asked humbly.

Only then did Jia Lian realize that Emperor Chenghui had really decided to give the Zhou family a severe blow.

"The Queen will not be able to accept the loss of the title. The father-in-law has some honorary titles, so just take them away. If Your Majesty is still not satisfied, you can dismiss the three uncles-in-law and order them to study at home."

Jia Lian offered a way out again, and this time Emperor Chenghui finally nodded with satisfaction: "The honorary title of father-in-law will be taken away, and the third son of the Zhou family will be dismissed from all his positions. Forget about the rest."

I thought that was the end of the day. When Jia Lian was about to see His Majesty off, Emperor Chenghui asked again, "How should Shuntian Prefecture and Wang Jin be dealt with?"

Jia Lian was completely numb. You are the emperor, can you please stop asking me about everything?

But what can I say? The emperor asked, so I have to answer. Jia Lian didn't want to get involved, but he had to. There was no place to hide.

"If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes. These two should go home and sell sweet potatoes. There are two more in the Dali Temple, so demote them." Jia Lian retaliated rudely.

MD, you could have taken the opportunity to speak first and explained the matter clearly. After kneeling at the door, Lord Mao was probably embarrassed and refused to explain the situation. Ge Shaoqing was using a knife to kill someone, and by the way, he wanted to trick Jia Lian and embarrass Lord Jia, who was so proud of himself. You want to trick me without any grudges, and you still expect me to have a change of heart?

Emperor Chenghui looked at Jia Lian in surprise: "These two knew about this but didn't report it, and almost put you in danger. How could you be so magnanimous?"

Well, does this mean that conservatives think the radicals are not radical enough?

Jia Lian fell silent, and Emperor Chenghui said again: "I understand your feelings. Mao and Ge should be dismissed. The reasons can be found in the Dragon Guards."

Jia Lian fell into a deeper silence, and saw another side of Emperor Chenghui. This emperor really protected someone when he was short-sighted. Not only did he protect someone, he also helped him vent his anger.

If Jia Lian was a pure ancient person, how could he bear this? Wouldn't he kneel down and kowtow immediately?

Seeing Jia Lian remained silent, Emperor Chenghui was very satisfied, thinking that Jia Lian was greatly shocked by his actions. Young people are indeed easier to win over. Recently, the cabinet has been quite resentful, and it is just right that after rectifying the Dali Temple, the decision-making power of several positions will be handed over to the cabinet to calm the cabinet's dissatisfaction. The emperor vented his personal anger and gained a loyal minister, which eased the cabinet's resentment, killing two birds with one stone.

Only the consequence of the Dali Temple being injured was decided. As for the Zhou family, it was not called being injured, it was called returning to their original position.

Emperor Chenghui, who had gained a lot, returned to the palace in a good mood, but he was completely unaware of one problem: why did he always come to Jia Lian to talk about topics that he could not talk about or resonate with when facing others?

The emperor is also a human being. Sometimes he feels uncomfortable and wants to talk to someone. He feels better after talking it out.

There are actually many people who can speak, but if some words are spoken, the sequelae will be very serious. Only Jia Lian, Emperor Chenghui thinks that even if there are sequelae, they are very mild.

What satisfied Emperor Chenghui most was that the two of them agreed on treating the lower-class people well.

No matter they are nobles or scholars, after becoming officials, they only think about how to abuse their power. After they jump out of this group, they immediately regard this group as not human beings.

It can be said that in Emperor Chenghui's mind, Jia Lian is somewhat like-minded.

However, Emperor Chenghui did not know that according to Jia Lian’s plan, the implementation of the three major policies would take time, and only after they were basically implemented could the next step of the plan be promoted.

So, what is Jia Lian's next plan? It is very clear: reduce rent and interest, crack down on local tyrants, restrict land annexation, and loosen up industry and commerce.

If a country wants to be truly prosperous, rather than just a part of its people, it must develop industry and commerce. Farmers, as the foundation of the entire country, must be improved. Otherwise, the ceiling for the development of industry and commerce is not high, because it is difficult to solve the market needs of industry and commerce after they grow strong by relying solely on foreign trade. Later, the modern country relied on the vast rural areas to resolve many crises.

Looking at the problem from the perspective of latecomers, without a profound social revolution, there will inevitably be many social ills that hinder the country's industrialization.

There is no way to solve the problem without bloodshed. The vested interests will only become more crazy before the end of the world. If you don't eradicate them, they will kill you.

Jia Lian felt that this generation probably would not have the opportunity to experience this mission. When the new forces were strong enough, they would promote the revolution themselves in order to protect their own interests. Well, the biggest possibility was a civil war between the North and the South.

Anyway, you won’t be able to see it by then, so just focus on what is happening at hand.

Jia Lian was really not in a hurry at all, because many things were like this, the more anxious you were, the worse things would become.

Three days later, Jia Lian received the first work report. The reports of the three groups were all submitted. After spending a whole morning reading them, Jia Lian made some minor revisions. For example, for specific implementation, he had to go to the front line to investigate in person, instead of simply waiting in the office to read the reports below. The inspection team holds the power of supervision given by His Majesty. If you don't use it, people may not be grateful to you, but think you are easy to fool. In short, since the knife has been unsheathed, blood must be drawn.

Jia Lian called everyone to a meeting in the afternoon, affirmed the current work, and put forward requirements for subsequent work.

The next day, Jia Lian submitted a memorial to the emperor, pointing out that a problem was discovered during the supervision process: the audit department was not at a high enough level, and the officials at all levels faced by the supervisors at all levels were at a disadvantage in terms of level. The level of the audit department should be raised to the same level as that of the various ministries, so as to ensure that the audit department would not be constrained by the local officials in its work because of its low level.

After reading the memorial, Emperor Chenghui immediately wrote a comment: Please ask the cabinet to handle it with caution.

The cabinet was very annoyed by Jia Lian's practice of reporting directly to the emperor, but there was nothing they could do.

After reading the memorial, Kong Zhao called all the cabinet ministers to a meeting to discuss it.

Liang Daoyuan was the first to express his opinion: "There are many ways to express your importance!" The implication was that there were many ways to fool His Majesty, and the Prime Minister did not need to worry.

After Liang Daoyuan expressed his opinion, others either agreed or remained silent. Finally, a plan was reached. The cabinet issued a document emphasizing the importance of auditing and strictly ordering the heads of departments at all levels to cooperate with the auditing work. As for the rank issue, you said you wanted to raise the rank, so the cabinet should listen to you, a fourth-rank official.

After the Prime Minister makes the decision, the document is uploaded to His Majesty, waiting for His Majesty to use his seal, and then it is distributed to departments at all levels.

After reading the cabinet's reply, Emperor Chenghui's brows twitched several times before calming down. He called Qiu Shian over to ask him a little irritably, "How is the progress of the third brother's affairs?"

"The day before yesterday, the Queen invited the King's father-in-law to the palace. They chatted for an afternoon before he went back. The Third Prince is already dealing with the King's uncle."

Emperor Chenghui knew that Li Heng had made rapid progress. The father-in-law had unusual ideas. If he used forceful tactics directly, he would probably have to kneel at Xihua Gate for a long time.

"Well, order Xia Shouzhong to take action, and Otomo to go to the cabinet to read out the results of the disposal of the father-in-law's family."

Emperor Chenghui just threw the cabinet's report aside, without even reviewing or approving it!

That afternoon, Dragon Guard Xia Shouzhong broke into the Dali Temple without informing the cabinet and arrested Mao and Ge. Together with Wang Jinguan who had been detained before, the three of them played Landlord.

Upon hearing the news, Kong Zhao immediately convened a small meeting of cabinet ministers to discuss the situation and see who knew the details but did not inform everyone in time.

There is also the question of how to respond. If Your Majesty directly arrests officials above the fourth rank through imperial decree without sufficient reasons, the cabinet must respond strongly.

The greatest significance of the cabinet's existence is to provide a strong rebuttal when the emperor makes irrational decisions. Otherwise, the cabinet has no meaning to exist.

"It's almost time to go to bed, how could such a thing happen? Your Majesty is too worrying, isn't he?" Li Chi couldn't help but complain.

"Now is not the time to complain. We should send someone to find out the situation immediately. What's going on at the Dali Temple? Why wasn't it reported when Wang Jin was arrested a few days ago? Do you still have the cabinet in your eyes?" Guo Yan couldn't help but rant and knocked on the table in anger, dong dong dong.

"Now is not the time to discuss why the Dali Temple did not report it. Mao and Ge have already gone in. We should ask Prime Minister Kong to go and ask His Majesty in person why he acted this way." While Pan Jixun spoke rationally, he did not forget to examine the reactions of the first and second ministers of the cabinet.

The silence of these two people must have meant that they knew something in advance, but they just didn't inform everyone in advance. With this in mind, Guo Yan's complaint is very interesting.

Pan Jixun muttered silently in his heart, "Guo Yan is not beating around the bush, he is directly questioning the top two cabinet members. You have only been in the cabinet for a few days, and you dare to think about the first and second assistants?"

After being called by Pan Jixun, Kong Zhao stood up silently, walked to the door silently, and then turned back: "I will go to see the emperor, everyone stay here and wait for news."

The tone of this sentence was very special, it was a direct order. Especially when Kong Zhao spoke, he stared at Guo Yan, making him lower his head, and then turned around and walked out.

Pan Jixun, a pragmatic man, saw this clearly and sighed inwardly, "Everyone in the cabinet has eight hundred minds. It's too difficult to be in the cabinet. If you can't do it, just submit a petition and ask for a free place."

The five people in the cabinet would only unite when facing the emperor's excessive actions. At other times, they would trip each other up and hold each other back.

Kong Zhao met Emperor Chenghui smoothly, and saw a frowning face and an obviously tired look.

"Your Majesty is the foundation of a country. I, an old minister, implore Your Majesty to take care of your health and not overwork." Kong Zhao did not ask the emperor directly, but expressed his concern.

Emperor Chenghui waved his hand and said, "I'm fine. Prime Minister Kong, please take a look at this. We can talk after you've finished reading it."

After Kong Zhao took it, he read it carefully. This was a report submitted by Long Jinwei. None of the three people in the Dali Temple were clean. It seemed that the content had nothing to do with the emperor's uncle, but what should I say? If it was just this report from Long Jinwei, there would be no problem in arresting people, but it was not to the extent that they could bypass the cabinet.

"The three of them have committed corruption and abuse of power. The evidence is irrefutable. This is intolerable under the law. However..." When Kong Zhao was about to express the cabinet's opinion in a tactful way, Emperor Chenghui raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "There is one more thing. I have decided to dismiss the Marquis of Changping and the three uncles from all their posts. Since this is a family matter, I will deal with it first!"

Upon hearing this, Kong Zhao's pores suddenly opened up and his hair stood on end!
(End of this chapter)