Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 358: What good can happen if it falls into my hands?
"Slander, absolutely slander!" Jia Lian angrily tore up the Shilin Newspaper in his hand.

This newspaper is so hateful that it actually published a long serial titled "The Weird Stories of Scholars" on page 4.

The protagonist of this book is a top scholar from a noble family, his surname is You and his name is Ciren.

"Why don't you just report my household registration booklet?" An angry Jia Lian paced around the office, scaring the pillars at the door so much that they quickly took three steps back to avoid being implicated.

Well, the reason why Jia Lian was angry was very simple. The protagonist of this story was written based on Jia Lian’s growth record, but the right and wrong were reversed.

For example, at Qingyun Academy, it was clearly Fang Shaobai who gathered a group of people to bully Jia Lian, but here it is written that Jia Lian relied on his family martial arts to bully his classmates, and Fang Shaobai united his classmates to resist.

The author of this story is not stupid. He made up a fictional dynasty and four powerful families (this is not fiction), and then put Jia Lian in it.

Such as forcibly abducting women, being greedy and breaking the law, taking human lives, stealing other people's wives and concubines, occupying fertile land, and all kinds of evil and bad things.

Jia Lian's anger came and went quickly, not because he had a good temper, but because he felt that there must be something wrong when something was out of the ordinary.

Logically speaking, the civil officials shouldn't be causing trouble for me recently. What is the purpose of the person who wrote this story?

Could it be that he was hoping that I would go to his office and smash it up in a rage? I saw that this story was only serialized three days ago, so is there another purpose?
Humph, you didn’t expect that I would just be angry for a moment, right?

This trick is too low-level!

Isn't it just a rumor?
Better than spreading rumors, I am the ancestor!

When writing a storybook to spread rumors, one naturally has to use a pseudonym.

Jin Yong's new name and Gu Long's name have already been used, so let's change them.

I will not plagiarize this time and will create my own story. Fortunately, I loved reading in my previous life and worked in grassroots officialdom for many years. I am familiar with all kinds of routines, so compiling a storybook is no problem for me.

What should I call my new book? Well, let’s write a mystery story called “Jia Gong’an”!
The protagonist is called Jia Zhuangyuan, who is good at reasoning and solving cases, hehe!
Just when Jia Lian was feeling smug, someone at the door came to report that Liu Sheren wanted to see him.

Jia Lian had no choice but to give up his desire to create for the sake of self-boasting and let the person in.

When Liu Sheren entered the room, his attitude towards Jia Lian was still very good. Whether he was convinced or not was one thing, but the officialdom had a strict hierarchy, and if he didn't have some strong backing, it would be better to abide by the rules obediently.

Not everyone in the Great Zhou is Jia Lian, with a good family background, favored by the emperor, and a teacher like Zhang Tingen.

"Reporting to the foreman, the Ministry of Personnel has sent the latest personnel appointment plan to the Imperial Study. I and others have reviewed it and found no problems. We feel that this is a serious matter, so please review it."

Liu Sheren handed over an official document with both hands. Jia Lian took it and saw that it was a copied manuscript, not the original.

An official document from the Ministry of Personnel approving the promotion of ten officials who have completed their three-year term and performed outstandingly.

The official document is very detailed. Each official has a resume and an introduction to his or her specific situation, including where he or she served, how he or she performed, what he or she had done, the imperial examination evaluation, etc.

Jia Lian glanced at it casually and was about to return it, saying, "Human resources are the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel, don't interfere." When the time came, Jia Lian felt something was wrong and looked at it again carefully.

After Liu Sheren came in, he stood respectfully and appeared very patient. He didn't seem angry that Jia Lian didn't arrange a seat for him.

This is what Jia Lian felt was wrong, because it was unreasonable.

Normally, Jia Lian should have arranged a seat for them, and it was normal etiquette for them to sit and wait.

"I need to take a closer look. Sir Liu, would you please sit and wait for a while?" Jia Lian asked politely, being cautious.

When Liu Sheren looked up, his eyes rolled around and he folded his hands and said, "This is an urgent matter. Please deal with it as soon as possible. The Ministry of Personnel is waiting for a reply."

Jia Lian felt more and more that something was wrong, and said coldly, "I have finished reading it and will personally deliver it to the emperor. I promise not to delay the Ministry of Personnel's affairs. You go back first."

There was an imperative tone in the voice. Liu Sheren was stunned for a moment. He wanted to refute but didn't have the courage. Finally, he bowed and said, "I'll take my leave!"

After saying that, he left in a hurry. Jia Lian stroked his chin and thought for a while, but found nothing special. He decided to look for the problem in the official documents.

When evaluating an official's performance, according to the standards of the Great Zhou Dynasty, taxation, education, and public security are the three most important.

I generally don’t care too much about other things, as long as they are just okay.

As long as the above three political achievements are good, the Ministry of Personnel will give a good evaluation during the Beijing inspection.

"Top-notch, middle-notch,... huh? Excellent?" When Jia Lian saw the last one, he suddenly stopped and looked at it more carefully.

【Yuan Dingguo, the prefect of Ningbo, had outstanding political achievements and was appointed as the governor of Jiangnan Province. 】

When Jia Lian heard the place name Ningbo, he smiled knowingly, mainly because he remembered the catchphrase of the famous transport captain, "Niang Xipi".

When Jia Lian saw the comment "Daxing sea trade tax increased by 30%" in the evaluation details, he thought that this prefect was doing a good job. It was indeed remarkable that a prefect could increase tax revenue by 30% in three years.

Just when Jia Lian felt that he was overthinking, a thought suddenly occurred to him: "Is this something that a civil servant in the Zhou Dynasty could do?"

Jia Lian calmed down instantly. Isn't this funny? After being in the officialdom of the Great Zhou for so long, apart from Jia who took the money and handed it over to His Majesty, there is no one else who can do this, right?

Zhang Tingen, Sun Huazhen and Li Qing, the three former cabinet ministers, directly refused bribes and their character and morals are guaranteed. Only Jia Lian would be willing to accept the money and hand it over.

If I were the prefect of Ningbo, would I be able to pay the extra taxes? Of course not! If I collected too much this time, how would the next official live?

Why would they hand in the extra taxes when they can’t even settle the accounts in time? Even if there are no accounts to settle, wouldn’t it be nice to have the money in their pockets? At worst, can’t they use it to build some projects and create more jobs?
It is not impossible to pay more taxes for promotion, but wouldn't this offend all officials in the world? Would the officials of the Ministry of Personnel be so kind as to give him an excellent evaluation?

It can't be!

Forget it. I can't figure out what the problem is even if I look at it slowly here by myself. I'll just ask someone who knows the subject.

Without saying anything, Jia Lian took the official documents and went out, telling Zhuzi to find a newsboy to deliver the letter to Xia Gang, and then changed into plain clothes and called a sedan chair to go to Xia Gang's house. When he arrived at Xia's house, he went in and waited for less than an incense stick. Xia Gang, who was also in plain clothes, hurried back.

"Brother Jia, what's the matter with you?" Xia Gang asked directly. He knew his own value.

Jia Lian was not polite. He took out the document and handed it to Xia Gang, pointing to the part about Yuan Dingguo and said, "Look, what's wrong?"

After Xia Gang took it and read it carefully, he stroked his chin and thought for a while before whispering, "All of them are wrong!"

Jia Lian was silently thankful in his heart and almost let it go: "Tell me in detail!"

"Ningbo is one of the five ports open to the sea, and local merchants mainly do business with Japan and Korea. According to the court's laws, private merchants must have a license before they can engage in maritime trade. Ningbo is close to Songjiang, and maritime trade has been affected by Songjiang and has been declining year by year. In the past few years, the Ministry of Revenue has also suggested that Ningbo's port qualification be cancelled to avoid being caught in the competition with Songjiang and wasting resources. In this case, how can the local prefect increase tax revenue? There is only one way, license! However, the issuance of licenses must be approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Revenue, and the prefect before they can be issued. There are a limited number of licenses for each port to avoid flooding."

When Jia Lian heard this, he saw that Xia Gang had stopped talking with the intention of keeping him in suspense, so he shouted angrily, "Tell me the conclusion!"

Xia Gang was pretending to be happy, but he rolled his eyes in displeasure when he was interrupted. "The conclusion is to frame the licensed merchants, deprive them of their licenses and resell them. The advantage of doing this is that you don't have to go through the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The disadvantage is that you need to get in touch with all the local officials who supervise each other, so that they can work together to commit crimes and share the spoils. You must know that a maritime trade license is worth 200,000 taels in private transactions."

Grass……!
Jia Lian finally understood that he had made enough money and wanted to move up the career ladder. He must have bribed the Ministry of Personnel.

If a prefect wants to be promoted, he only needs to bribe a deputy minister in charge. Spending 50,000 taels can get him promoted to a provincial level. The provincial education commissioner is a third-rank official, and it is a good place like Jiangnan Province where it is easy to make achievements and make money. Three years later, it is easy to move to a less powerful province. As long as there is someone in the Ministry of Personnel, the governor's office is stable, right?

This guy has planned his promotion path very clearly!
Just when Jia Lian thought he had discovered the truth, Xia Gang revealed a sinister expression and said, "This fellow has good tactics, good tactics!"

Jia Lian was stunned for a moment. Was this matter worth making a fuss about?

Seeing his surprise, Xia Gang smiled complacently and said, "Mr. Liang is from Ningbo! If any prefect did this, his colleagues would impeach him and scold him to death, and the Ministry of Personnel would not let him go. You know, many officials in the Ministry of Personnel came from the local areas. If you increase tax revenue by 30% during your three-year term, it makes you look capable, right? You don't want to let others live!"

"When I first arrived in the capital, I worked as a clerk in the Longjinwei Archives for a while, and happened to copy the content of Liang Ge Lao. At that time, he was still a minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Five years after Your Majesty ascended the throne, Liang Ge Lao was promoted to a cabinet minister. The reason was that during his time as a minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he repeatedly rejected personnel appointments submitted by his superiors. At that time, Liang Ge Lao was a model of a loyal minister. If it weren't for Your Majesty's protection, he would have been driven back home by Fang Baiyi."

After hearing this, Jia Lian's conceptual picture became clear in his mind. No need to ask, just check, there will definitely be a problem.

"I need to go to the palace, so I'll go first." Jia Lian didn't stay any longer. He said goodbye in a hurry and returned to the yamen. After changing into his official uniform, he didn't rush into the palace immediately, but sat there thinking.

Haha, isn't this a coincidence? I saw someone writing a story in the newspaper to scold me, and then a personnel appointment document from the Ministry of Personnel came. There were ten people at a time, and one of them was problematic.

If I had been a little more distracted, I probably wouldn't have noticed this problem.

The reason why Liu Sheren was anxious was also found.

Well, if you want to blame someone, blame your Majesty. He insisted on having a chief secretary and had to let me take up this position.

Liang Daoyuan and I have a grudge, and this appointment itself is problematic. He took money to do the job, and his hometown is well taken care of by Yuan Dingguo. How can he not be afraid of problems?
When did I have a grudge with Elder Liang? Alas, I can't remember it for the moment.

I have offended so many people and blocked so many attacks for Your Majesty. I don't even remember which one it was.

Taking advantage of the fact that lunch time had not yet arrived, Jia Lian deliberately went straight into the palace to ask for an audience without waiting for lunch.

This time he still did not show his official seal, just to let someone pass the message.

Emperor Chenghui was preparing for dinner in the imperial study. When he learned that Jia Lian was seeking an audience outside the palace, he could not help but put down his chopsticks and looked at Qiu Shian: "Didn't you explain it clearly?"

Qiu Shian poured a glass of wine for Emperor Chenghui slowly, and he took a nap after drinking it. He explained calmly, "How dare I neglect the orders of the sage? In my opinion, Lord Jia must be unwilling to use that privilege, so as not to stand out and attract jealousy."

Emperor Chenghui picked up the chopsticks and suddenly remembered an incident in the Records of Emperor Taizu. Jia Yin had the right to enter the palace at any time, but he would wait for notification every time. Emperor Taizu also praised Jia Yin for being cautious and not overstepping his bounds.

This kind of ministers are either extremely loyal or extremely treacherous. Being extremely loyal is easy to understand, but as for being extremely treacherous, just look at Sima Yi and you will know the answer.

Now Jia Lian is also like this, it seems that this is the ancestral precept of the Jia family. If you understand it this way, then there is no problem at all.

Jia She and Jia Zheng have problems with their abilities and have no chance to show their cautious and responsible side. Jia Jing has terrible morals and hides away from the world in Xuanzhen Temple!

Therefore, Jia Lian is the representative of the Jia family's style.

Qiu Shian went out to fetch Jia Lian, and Emperor Chenghui continued to eat leisurely. About two quarters of an hour later, Jia Lian came in behind Qiu Shian.

"Qing Jia, wait a moment!" Emperor Chenghui continued to eat with a smile. After all, the dishes were already cold, and he couldn't bear to let Jia Lian enjoy the treatment of eating cold dishes.

When he arrived, Jia Lian saw that the four secretaries were gone. They must have gone out for lunch or a nap.

Although he was hungry, Jia Lian still stood and waited patiently, without any impatience. Besides, the emperor's lunch was just for show, it was not tasty at all.

This has nothing to do with the imperial chef. There is a reason for this.

Being an emperor's dining life is actually quite miserable. Someone has to taste the food before every meal for fear that someone has poisoned it.

After tasting the food for half an hour, if the food taster is fine, it can be served to the emperor. What dish will not get cold after half an hour? Unless it is peanuts!
Now Jia Lian understood why the ministers liked to eat at their homes. He had a great time eating at Zhang Tingen's house several times.

No wonder Emperor Chenghui likes to go out of the palace. When he gets tired of the food in the palace, it is normal to go out for a hot meal to satisfy his craving.

Jia Lian couldn't help but think of a joke in Gu Long's novel, in which a famous chef cooked dishes and sent them to a gourmet, but the chef always found fault with the dishes. Finally, he remembered that by the time the dishes were sent, the taste had changed.

The last plate of peanuts was fried and immediately served. By the time they were cold, they tasted just right.

Thinking of peanuts, Jia Lian regretted it because he was really hungry and felt a little uncomfortable. In order to show diligence in front of the emperor, he accepted it!
Emperor Chenghui finally finished eating, put down his chopsticks and asked, "When did Jia Qing come in such a hurry? Have you had lunch?"

Jia Lian immediately came up to him, and without discussing official business, he said, "I am indeed hungry. Your Majesty, please ask the imperial chef to make me a bowl of noodles."

Emperor Chenghui laughed out loud when he heard this. He just liked this kind of casual look (shameless attitude).

(End of this chapter)