Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 351 After the Snowstorm
Looking at the snow on the ground, Emperor Chenghui, who had no mood to sleep and got up before dawn, looked solemn. It is said that auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. On this winter night, how many houses will have their roofs crushed and how many people will die in the cold night.

"Let's go out and take a look!" Emperor Chenghui signaled, changed into casual clothes and went out. Qiu Shian hurriedly arranged for security.

After walking out of the palace for a while, I saw someone shoveling snow and clearing the road. I saw that they were from the Imperial Horse Administration and nodded in satisfaction. They said that it was next to the Forbidden City and they would be rewarded for their good work. After walking for half an hour, I found that many people had cleared the road. Emperor Chenghui was a little surprised. Who was so diligent? Emperor Chenghui asked in confusion, "These people have been working for a while, right?"

Qiu Shian quickly asked someone to inquire about it. He found out that it was the Wucheng Bingmasi. Last night, Jia Lian called several imperial censors to a meeting and notified all the departments to wait in their garrisons for the time being. He also organized patrol teams to patrol the entire city and provide timely rescue for those whose roofs were crushed by snow. The snow stopped at four o'clock in the morning, and all the people from the Wucheng Bingmasi went out to clear the main roads first, and then to manage the various places.

Walking a little further, they saw a large pot on the road, cooking lean meat porridge. The soldiers took turns to rest and drink a mouthful of hot porridge, and then continued to work. Of course, this work was not in vain. Jia Lian was going to use all the spare money to give subsidies to the soldiers fighting the disaster.

Emperor Chenghui's entourage consisted of more than a dozen people, and they were a relatively large target, so they were quickly discovered and reported to Jia Lian.

In the sheltered shed, Jia Lian was drinking porridge. The five imperial censors were all there. It was not because they wanted to come, but because Jia Lian had to do the work himself, so they had to go anyway.

When fighting a disaster, it goes without saying that leading by example will boost morale.

"Everyone stop, listen to me, don't make a sound, your majesty is going out of the palace for inspection." After Jia Lian whispered, the imperial censors immediately perked up. Jian Renda looked at his body, it was still too clean, and quietly rubbed it against the wall a few times! As soon as Emperor Chenghui approached, he saw Jia Lian leading the team waiting, walked up quickly, looked at them carefully and said: "Why, all the ministers are doing the work by themselves?"

"The soldiers who patrolled in the snow last night were the hardest-working. I and others were all warming ourselves by the fire in the government office. It's not worth mentioning that we swung the shovel a few times when the snow stopped." Jia Lian looked calm and his subordinates were of course embarrassed to brag. Emperor Chenghui raised his hand and patted Jia Lian on the shoulder with satisfaction: "I was worried all night and saw that you were tired all night. I am proud of my decision!"

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. This is the duty of a minister. This work is not done by me alone. The Five Cities Military Department is a collective. Without the unity of my colleagues, I alone cannot accomplish anything."

Emperor Chenghui nodded with satisfaction. He was not a man who would show his personality outwardly, so he asked Jia Lian to explain the details.

"There is a shed in front that can shelter you from the wind. Your Majesty, please go sit over there and drink a bowl of ginger soup to drive away the cold. I will report to you slowly."

After hearing what Jia Lian said, Emperor Chenghui stopped being pretentious. He was also tired after walking in the snow for an hour and a half.

"Last night, the snow collapsed the roofs of eighty-three houses. Everyone has been properly accommodated. All colleagues started clearing the snow at four o'clock in the morning. At five o'clock in the morning, brothers from the Shenji Camp joined in after hearing the news. After daybreak, the people in the city also joined in. The speed of clearing the snow is much faster than expected."

Seeing Jia Lian stop, Emperor Chenghui stared at him intently and said, "There are people who freeze to death every year. Is there no such thing this year?"

Jia Lian nodded with a heavy expression: "Yes, I dare not deceive you. So far, a total of 36 people have been found frozen to death."

Emperor Chenghui closed his eyes, sighed, and slightly raised his face, revealing a look of pain.

You can't say he was acting. Compared with other emperors, Emperor Chenghui was rare. It can be seen that he was really willing to save the people.

"Qiu Shian, the imperial treasury will allocate 10,000 silver coins to the Wucheng Military Command to provide relief to the people who have no food or clothing. With Jia Lian watching over it, I can rest assured."

Jia Lian said nothing after hearing this. The actual situation was much more serious. The Five Cities Army and Horse Division of the capital was dispatched, and the Shenjiying Camp also helped. But what about the counties below?

Emperor Chenghui turned around and asked again, "Where are the people from Shuntian Prefecture?"

Jia Lian was silent for a moment before answering: "Not yet!"

A flash of anger crossed Emperor Chenghui's face. The last time the matter of the emperor's uncle was raised high and then fell lightly, the Dali Temple was the unlucky one, while Shuntian Prefecture just gave a severe reprimand.

"You go ahead and do your work. I'll continue walking." Emperor Chenghui stood up with a grim look on his face. Jia Lian once suggested dealing with Shuntian Prefecture, but at that time he didn't want to make a big fuss, so he played it safe.

Unexpectedly, after being reprimanded, Shuntian Prefecture still did not change its bad habit of neglecting government affairs. How should I put it? Emperor Chenghui was still very magnanimous to his old subordinates when he was still a prince.

If Han Zong had not been self-respecting, able to understand the emperor's intentions, and not been too self-conceited, he would have had a seat in the cabinet now. When the emperor employs people, he still prefers to employ his own people. Even if his own people make mistakes, he will definitely protect them when he can. This morning's incident shocked Emperor Chenghui. How can his status be higher than that of Shuntian Prefecture than Jia Lian? One is warming himself by the fire at home, and the other is leading his troops to fight the disaster outside. The difference is obvious.

It's okay to be incompetent, but he is also a lazy person. Jia Lian is also lazy, but he doesn't delay things and always steps up at critical moments.

Jia Lian watched Emperor Chenghui go away, then turned to the crowd and said, "Perform well, His Majesty has seen it all."

All the subordinates looked happy and continued to work hard.

On the way to Shuntian Prefecture, Emperor Chenghui said to Qiu Shian beside him: "Am I too soft-hearted? Shuntian Prefecture did not show any reaction during the previous heavy rains and flooding."

Qiu Shian pretended not to hear and followed without saying a word. How could such a thing mislead the current emperor? When the saint hesitates, every word he says is wrong.

People cannot be compared. Jia Lian is a modern grassroots worker. It’s okay to be a little lazy at ordinary times, but it is ingrained in his mind that he must rush to the front line when a disaster occurs.

In this era, is there any official like Jia Lian?
Qiu Shian didn't say anything, and Emperor Chenghui continued to talk to himself: "In the early years of Chenghui, there was a heavy snowfall, and more than 800 people froze to death. The people lit fires to keep warm, which caused a fire and burned more than 30 people to death. Since Jia Lian took over the Wucheng Bingma Division, although he made a lot of money, the Wucheng Bingma Division always responded properly to disasters. So many officials in the capital saw this, and they were probably making fun of him. The 30,000 people in the Imperial Horse Administration only cleaned up the area around the Forbidden City. There were so many disasters outside, but they didn't even bother to look at them. I feel bad."

Qiu Shian couldn't keep playing dumb anymore, so he quickly said, "The Saint doesn't need to blame himself. Each official has his own responsibilities. The Saint can't blame the lazy governance of each department."

Emperor Chenghui said nothing and continued to move forward. When he arrived at Shuntian Prefecture and saw that the gate was closed, he finally couldn't hold it anymore and turned around and walked away, saying as he walked: "Send someone to tell you to go back to your hometown to retire."

Qiu Shian quickly agreed, and did not mention that the Shuntian prefect was only fifty years old and it was too early for him to retire. Emperor Chenghui did not let Long Jinwei directly search the house and arrest people, which Qiu Shian thought was very kind.

Jia Lian still had a lot of things to do, so he specifically instructed his people to allocate funds to help the people repair their collapsed roofs. For those whose families were in real difficulty, they would arrange for them to be street sweepers.

"As a government office with limited capabilities, we can only do our best and save every family we can." Jia Lian said this with a sense of discomfort. In modern society, if local officials have to step back during disaster relief, their political future will basically be ruined. Officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty had no such concept at all. As long as the people did not rebel, or if they did rebel, the news did not reach the emperor's ears, they were generally fine.

This kind of ecology of officials, bureaucracy and governance is bound to lead to collusion between officials and local gentry and powerful people, and to frantically exploit the lower-class people.

Officials are all temporary officials. They work in one place for a few years and then leave to another place. There is no such thing as the return of the Dragon King. What does the life and death of the poor people have to do with them?

The most typical example is the capital city. The masters are kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the poor suffer, so there are no poor people in the west of the city. They have all been driven to the north of the city. As I said before, the great man who answers the shouts of "Long live the people" only appears once every five thousand years.

What does it mean to remain true to one's original aspiration? Many people who are small leaders in the unit want to exercise their power to the extreme. As a civil servant, when taking an online car-hailing vehicle, they will make things difficult for the driver.

A person is at the top of his game, but still keeps his original intention. This is what makes him great.

Jia Lian never thought of himself as great, but rather as an ordinary person. He believed that he had power, did not do evil, and treated the poor well. This was his bottom line in dealing with people.

But how can I say this? Some people's bottom line is very flexible!
The five imperial censors who had also worked hard all night were also feeling uncomfortable at first, but they followed Jia Lian out to work out of fear of his tyranny.

What a coincidence, if the emperor saw it, it would be a different story. Everyone felt that there was a future in following Lord Jia, the boss who was best at understanding the emperor's mind!
No one thought that Jia Lian was willing to suffer such hardships. They all thought that he understood the emperor and did it on purpose.

On the way back to the palace for Emperor Chenghui, the Imperial Stables also expanded the scope of their activities and were no longer limited to the vicinity of the Forbidden City. Many officials took to the streets.

The incident later alarmed the Jiumen Control Office, which quickly sent troops to the streets to help fight the disaster.

The natural result was that the people of the entire city mobilized spontaneously to clear the snow.

Emperor Chenghui had just returned to the palace and rested for a while when Qiu Shian came to report that the prefect of Shuntian had come to confess his guilt and bid farewell.

Emperor Chenghui, whose mood had just eased a little, waved his hand and shouted angrily: "Let him go, I don't want to see him. Also, all officials in Shuntian Prefecture will be demoted by one level."

Qiu Shian had no choice but to go out and tactfully persuade the Shuntian prefect to leave. The prefect left the Forbidden City crying loudly, and left the capital the next morning without waiting for the New Year, ending his official career.

The news about Shuntian Prefecture's handling of the situation spread quickly. The surrounding counties soon knew about it and took quick action.

Whether it is too late or not is not clear, at least action has been taken. We can only say that killing the chicken to scare the monkey has worked.

At dusk, the sky was still gloomy and it seemed like it would snow again at any time.

Jia Lian was summoned to the palace. Before meeting the emperor, he spent an incense stick of time carefully tidying up his official uniform, looking much neater, before entering.

When Emperor Chenghui saw Jia Lian standing in front of him, he sighed and said, "You haven't closed your eyes for a whole day and night, have you? You still took the time to tidy up your clothes outside. Are you worried that I will blame you?"

Jia Lian folded his hands in a serious manner and said, "Your Majesty may not blame me for my impropriety, but I must abide by the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects."

Emperor Chenghui looked at Jia Lian with a serious expression, and said no more about this. He asked about the subsequent disaster relief work.

Jia Lian gave a brief report and mentioned the contributions of the Nine-Gate Garrison and the Imperial Stables.

Emperor Chenghui immediately said angrily: "What merits have they made? I didn't punish them for their negligence in government affairs."

Jia Lian immediately folded his hands with a serious face and advised: "Your Majesty, I think that disaster relief is not the responsibility of these two armies. Their main job is to protect Your Majesty's safety, and they only do extra work when they have spare capacity. Therefore, these two armies should not be punished but rewarded. At least the grassroots officers and soldiers should be rewarded, as they have taken on extra work. There are also many yamen runners and clerks in Shuntian Prefecture who were the first to participate in disaster relief and should not be punished."

Emperor Chenghui nodded, but did not express his opinion. Instead, he asked, "The Shuntian prefect resigned to retire. Who can take over?"

Jia Lian knew that the emperor did not do this on purpose, but out of habit, so he said again in a serious tone: "Your Majesty should ask the Minister of Personnel to select an official with good conduct as the prefect of Shuntian."

"I have been on the throne for ten years. Time is running out for me." Emperor Chenghui spoke from the heart. Jia Lian had no choice but to shut up.

"Jia Lian, are you willing to be one of the examiners for next year's imperial examination?" This statement shows how Emperor Chenghui uses people. He will use those who are useful to him to the utmost.

"It's the imperial examination, so I'd better not ask the old officials to scold me." Jia Lian refused very straightforwardly. Is this a job he can do? Not to mention the imperial examination, Jia Lian would not even take the provincial examination.

Let's put it this way, if Jia Lian wants to be an examiner, he is only willing to be the chief examiner, and it is meaningless to be an assistant. Due to age restrictions, if Jia Lian wants to be the chief examiner, the opposition voices will drown out the capital.

Emperor Chenghui smiled dumbly and shook his head: "I haven't considered it! You are very tired, go back and rest."

Jia Lian said goodbye and left the palace. When he returned home, his wives and concubines came forward to ask about his well-being and were very distressed. This was the pillar of the family, and his fall was like the collapse of the sky.

Jia Lian comforted her, took a hot bath, ate a bowl of steaming noodle soup, and then fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was already noon the next day. Xiangling and Xiren had gotten up early and took turns to wait on him. When they saw him get up, they hurried to serve him.

After cleaning up his internal affairs first and then his external affairs, Jia Lian finally regained some consciousness. He had been exercising regularly over the years, and since he was young, no matter how tired he was, he would be fully recovered after a good sleep.

Looking at Xiren combing her hair in the mirror, Jia Lian asked her, "Where are the Madam and the two concubines?"

"The New Year is coming, everyone is busy." Without waiting for Xiren to speak, Xiangling came in with a copper kettle and made tea for Jia Lian while talking.

Xiangling is very interesting. She is one person in the courtyard of the study, and a completely different person when she goes out.

Xiren tried to make herself felt by telling a piece of gossip: "In the past two days, the maids and servants serving Master Bao have been scolded a lot. Fortunately, they were not driven away, otherwise they would have committed suicide if they were driven away before the end of the year."

Mrs. Wang was vicious, as explained in the original novel. Jia Lian secretly remembered this and told Wang Xifeng that even if the servants were driven away, no one should be killed and they should be properly resettled.

A good reputation is hard to come by, but easy to destroy.

(End of this chapter)