Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 343 Heat
Kong Zhao figured everything out in an instant. [I am just the Prime Minister of the transitional cabinet after Fang Baiyi stepped down. I cannot be compared with Fang Baiyi in terms of ability and authority. The prerequisite for becoming the Prime Minister is the approval of His Majesty. After being the Prime Minister for the past few years, I have become impatient. I have completely forgotten my original intention. I should not have too many ideas while in office. I should cooperate with His Majesty's policies and implement them. These were my original intentions before I took office, but I have forgotten them all after a few years. Not only have I failed to cooperate with His Majesty in everything this year, but it has also had side effects. His Majesty has run out of patience with me.]

Emperor Chenghui looked at Kong Zhao with strong dissatisfaction in his heart, "Didn't you understand my review? Am I asking for your opinion? I was informing you! After being the Prime Minister for the past few years, you have made no progress and have regressed instead. 】

Once people reach a certain position, they don't want to come down.

Kong Zhao was a man, so of course he thought so. Although he had already decided to step down after one term, when things really happened, he still wanted to save the situation.

"Your Majesty, what I am worried about is what to name the new audit department? Should it be a ministry, or a temple, or an academy?" This sentence was Kong Zhao's last attempt to rescue himself.

"What do you think about the audit and performance appraisal system?" Emperor Chenghui probably understood what Kong Zhao meant. Well, as long as he cooperated, it would not be a bad thing to keep him. It would be more troublesome to change him. Of course, when it is time to test him, you can't just let it go. You must test him. If you are not capable enough and can't see the emperor's intentions in launching policies, then you are not worthy of being the prime minister. Only Jia Lian, a young man, can see the emperor's intentions and come up with a response strategy that is appropriate in scale. The cabinet officials are not incapable, but they have too many concerns.

"Your Majesty, these two complement each other and are of great benefit to improving the administration of officials. In time, they will be like a gentle breeze and drizzle, moistening things silently, and there will not be too much chaos. Your Majesty treats officials all over the world with kindness. If officials cannot understand Your Majesty's painstaking efforts, they are hopeless. When the time comes, your Majesty will not be blamed for the thunderous wrath." Kong Zhao still has considerable ability, but he has always been relatively conservative.

Emperor Chenghui put away his dissatisfaction. I am very relieved that the old guy can stop in time!
"My dear minister, your consideration is very thorough. In my opinion, we should call it the Audit Department, which will be responsible for auditing the budget and various expenditures." Emperor Chenghui made the final decision, and the matter was settled.

A new department is added, making it seven. The greatest significance of this department is to make officials less likely to make money. The effect will be better if combined with the performance evaluation system.

Officials who are not only incompetent at their jobs but also extremely corrupt will certainly be exposed under the pressure of these two systems.

It is not the fault of Emperor Chenghui that he looked down on his officials. The current officials often resort to simple and crude methods of corruption. Many of them are not good at math and their accounting cannot withstand scrutiny. Even if there are expert advisors, they can still be cleaned up by professional auditors.

With the addition of a system of inspection teams, Emperor Chenghui's many ideas on official administration seemed to have seen hope for a clean and honest administration.

Well, I can only say that wishes are beautiful.

The emperor did work hard to ensure the long-term stability of his empire. It was better if he was diligent, but if he was lazy, no matter how good the policies were, they would be useless.

Corruption is really determined by people, not by the system. The system can only limit it, but cannot eliminate it.

After saying goodbye, Kong Zhao returned to the cabinet. When facing the officials, his expression was calm and his tone was stern: "Your Majesty is determined to rectify the administration of officials, and this is also my intention. Do you have any objection to the name of the Audit Department?"

After this sentence showed the attitude of the emperor and the prime minister, everyone stopped making noise. In fact, everyone knew very well that the audit department was directly under the cabinet, but it did not mean that it could not bypass the cabinet.

There were objections to the establishment of the Audit Department, but it was implemented anyway. Now it has been raised to the ministry level. It's not that people don't want to oppose it, but opposition is futile and will hurt individuals.

The Prime Minister has already knelt, what’s the point of resisting?

“I have no objection!” Not calling himself a humble official was Liang Daoyuan’s last attempt to save his reputation.

"I have no objection!" The other three said in unison.

The establishment of a new ministry in the imperial court is definitely a major event among major events. With one more minister and two vice ministers, it is an opportunity for many people.

After the news spread, it instantly became very popular, making Li Heng feel like he had no presence at all when dealing with the affairs of the king's uncle's family.

As the news came out, the ministers were in an uproar and instantly split into two factions, one that firmly opposed and the other that rationally supported.

Unsurprisingly, the opposition is the majority. The audit system is already disgusting enough for officials who are used to being free, and now a separate department is set up. From now on, officials will have an invisible yoke on their necks. Who can feel comfortable with this? I have worked hard to become an official, but I still have to be careful in my work. This job is too uncomfortable.

Memorials came in like snowflakes, and the Tongzhengshisi led by Li Heng jumped out again. After a large number of memorials were labeled as nonsense, less than a hundred were sent to Emperor Chenghui.

Li Heng not only blocked a large number of memorials, but also opened a column in the Minsheng Daily to criticize others. Well, the special author of the column was Jia Lian, who changed his pen name.

The latest issue of Minsheng Daily has the headline "What are they against?" on the front page, and the columnist is a real person.

The article begins by calculating the salaries of officials at all levels, their job subsidies, and the various powers granted by the court. It tells everyone clearly what a county magistrate who ruins a family and a Ling Yi who wipes out a clan is.

Then let’s talk about what the audit system is. Simply put, the court’s money is spent through the hands of officials, and the audit department is responsible for finding out where the money is spent.

After the matter was made clear, Jia Lian started to rant.

"The Ministry of Revenue's appropriations and officials' salaries are all the people's hard-earned money and blood and sweat. They spent the money but are unwilling to have the court investigate its whereabouts. Instead, they use the power given by the court to file a petition against the court's policies. What are they opposing? Auditing is the cabinet's proposal and approved by His Majesty. Opponents are relying on their numbers to oppose the cabinet and His Majesty. Who gave them the courage? Aren't the masses responsible according to the law?..."

Thousands of words, all in one fierce rant!
All the restaurants and teahouses in the capital have been paying attention to this matter recently.

The incident that led to the thorough investigation of the three major officials of the Dali Temple did not surprisingly cause much waves.

Emperor Chenghui once again demonstrated his benevolence. Wang Jin was dismissed from office and demoted to a commoner, but his property was not confiscated. Mao and Ge were merely dismissed from office, but their honors were retained. If they were lucky, they might even be reinstated.

It can only be said that the court's concept of supporting scholars was deeply rooted in the system. Once a scholar became a scholar, as long as the charges were not too serious, he would be able to land safely.

When Mao and Ge received the official document of punishment, they could not believe what they saw.

The two wanted to file a petition to defend themselves, but they just looked at each other and gave up. No one is really stupid. They did it themselves, how could they not know the reason?
After being dismissed from their posts, these two people had to submit a memorial to express their gratitude.

The two officials who left the Dali Temple were still wearing their official uniforms, except that the patches had been removed. They staggered out of the gate of the Dali Temple and looked back reluctantly.

What is even more tragic is that no one cared about their plight. Everyone, both inside and outside the government, was concerned about the newly established Audit Department and was busy fighting lawsuits in the court and in private newspapers.

The two officials who were dismissed from office both thought of Jia Lian's face, which made them want to hit it with a hammer.

What a coincidence, isn’t it?
On the street outside the door, Jia Lian rode his horse slowly, stopped in front of the two of them, and slowly clasped his hands: "Goodbye, you two!"

The two men clenched their fists and their eyes turned red, but they soon calmed down because Zhuzi pulled out half of the knife, and it was chilling.

Jia Lian watched the two of them quickly lower their heads and found it very boring. Is that it?

The two losers had no courage to resist, which made Jia Lian feel helpless, because such officials were the mainstream in the court.

The emphasis on civil officials over military affairs has drained the blood of officials over time. Isn't it nice to be an official in a comfortable position?
The clamor for more than half a month did not affect the implementation of the new policy. The civil and military officials in the court quickly reached a consensus that the current emperor was a very pragmatic monarch. To put it simply, the reason why there are three dukes and nine ministers, six ministries and nine ministers, all have something to do with metaphysics. Now that there is a seven-ministerial system, it is obviously not in line with metaphysics.

Many officials used metaphysics as a basis to oppose the so-called Audit Department, but it was of no use. The emperor only recognized practicality.

The reason is simple. I have been annoyed for a long time by seeing you officials spending money recklessly. Now I want you to find a reasonable explanation every time you spend money and keep the accounts clean.

As October is approaching, the temperature drops sharply after a night of frost!
While everyone was still immersed in the afterglow of the turmoil brought about by the new department, a group of people rode fast horses through Chongwen Gate and headed straight for Xihua Gate.

In a secluded small courtyard in the west of the city, Li Heng and Jia Lian were sitting opposite each other on the kang. On the small table in the middle, there was a copper stove with boiling soup, and on the table were mutton tripe and other food.

"The sheep were offered as tribute by the Prince of Xining, and my father rewarded me with ten of them."

"Yes, it's time to gain weight in autumn, but it's a little late."

The food in Beijing is amazing. As for the cuisine, there is none locally, but there are many chefs of various cuisines from other places, and there are many in the homes of the powerful and wealthy.

Jia Lian was not very clear about the origin of shabu-shabu mutton, he just liked to eat it.

After dipping it in sesame paste with chopsticks, it tastes really delicious.

"I actually doubt that all the local delicacies in the capital city appeared just for this bite of sesame seeds." Jia Lian complained rudely, without stopping his chopsticks and holding the wine in his mouth.

"It was too busy these days, and I didn't dare to go out for personal reasons. Seeing how busy the Audit Department was, many officials were gossiping about you in private." Li Heng reminded.

Jia Lian did not answer in a hurry. After the three plates of mutton were brought down, he put down his chopsticks and picked up the wine glass. Li Heng clinked glasses with him in response.

After drinking a glass of wine, his body felt a little hot. Jia Lian then spoke slowly: "It's the burden of fame!"

Li Heng laughed: "You have a bad reputation!"

Jia Lian argued: "Bad reputation and great fame, aren't they contradictory?"

Li Heng nodded: "That's right, at least it's not a bad reputation!"

Jia Lian shook his head helplessly: "It's a bad reputation in the capital, but it's hard to say outside the capital. In fact, many people know who to settle accounts with, but they don't dare to, so they have to go after me."

Li Heng was deeply touched and sighed, "Yes, my three uncles refused to come to the palace to beg for mercy. Every time they saw me, they would kneel down. I was so scared that I quickly knelt down in front of them."

Jia Lian didn't respond to this. Li Heng could say that Jia Lian couldn't respond.

Pick up the chopsticks and continue cooking. Drinking is secondary.

When he was about 70% full, Jia Lian put down his chopsticks, picked up the bamboo tube on the table, opened it, took out a cigarette and lit it: "What's the plan next?"

Li Heng smiled and said, "The fact that you can't openly support me has given me a lot of inspiration."

Jia Lian understood that it takes three to make a hero, and ten stakes to make a fence. Since Li Heng had launched an attack on that position, he had to form cliques and factions.

But anyway, Li Heng takes the route of winning people over secretly and will not do it openly.

Seeing Jia Lian remained silent, Li Heng continued, "I am still young, and it is not easy to get along with the old guys. You can get along with some of your peers, and no one will gossip about you."

After calculating the time in the original novel, Jia Lian reminded him: "Your Majesty is only forty years old!"

Li Heng nodded: "Well, don't worry. The second one is in trouble because of being anxious."

Jia Lian put down his chopsticks, looked at Li Heng and said, "Your Highness, please reconsider and organize your words!"

Li Heng was stunned. What was wrong with that sentence? He put down his chopsticks and thought quickly. After a while, he slowly shook his head and said, "Well, I have considered it."

The unintentional change in the way they address each other also shows that the relationship between the two people is subtly fluctuating.

Jia Lian's identity determines that he must be loyal to the present. Privately, he doesn't mind giving a little support to Li Heng, who is more familiar to him, but that's all.

But in Li Heng's view, what Jia Lian gave was not just a small support, but a big support.

The reason is very simple. There is a Zhang Tingen standing behind Jia Lian, who directly influences Sun Huazhen and indirectly influences Li Qing.

Any official can see that these three will definitely return to the cabinet, and will come back again as long as their health allows, and they will serve as cabinet ministers for at least ten years.

Jia Lian's background destined him to become the core of a group of officials. The main representatives of this group of officials are Jia Lian's peers, and expanding the periphery outward is definitely a huge force.

More importantly, Jia Lian has influence in the military! This is too important for Li Heng to attach too much importance to.

I dare not say that Jia Lian will definitely enter the cabinet in ten years, but in twenty years, Jia Lian will definitely have a seat in the cabinet, unless the current emperor dies.

"Thank you, Brother Jia, for the reminder. Let's go." Li Heng raised his glass. Jia Lian held the glass but didn't rush to touch it with his. He smiled but said nothing.

Li Heng smiled and said, "I understand. From now on, I just need to follow my father's footsteps. Don't do those empty things. Reputation is of little use to me and may even be a burden. The second brother is an example!"

Jia Lian then clinked the wine glass and drank it in one gulp. Just as he was about to refill it, a eunuch came in at the door with an anxious expression.

The two put down their cups and looked at the eunuch who was speaking: "Urgent news from Sichuan! Just entered Xihua Gate."

The two exchanged glances and said in unison: "Beat Xiao Jinchuan!"

(End of this chapter)