Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 395: Dedication Ceremony
The grand court meeting of the Great Zhou Dynasty was actually a meeting between officials and the emperor. It was not the kind shown in movies and TV shows where officials would report when there was something to report and the emperor would dismiss the meeting when there was nothing to report.

Under normal circumstances, only minor matters are discussed at the grand court meetings, while the real major matters are decided at cabinet meetings or enlarged cabinet meetings.

For example, if a child made a mistake outside, or if an official was not dressed properly, even the most caustic censor would hardly impeach someone at a court meeting unless it was premeditated.

Well, the former Prime Minister Fang Baiyi was killed by the impeachment of the censors at a grand court meeting, and the real culprit behind it was the emperor.

Rather than being impeached, it would be more accurate to say that it was a battle for the emperor to establish his authority.

The situation today is rather special. All Beijing officials above the seventh rank must be present and line up from Taihe Gate all the way to the entrance of Taihe Hall.

It is the height of summer, so the time is scheduled early so that we can finish it early to avoid the officials suffering under the scorching sun.

Henry and Sassoon got up before daybreak. They were the only two who had the right to go. They washed and dressed neatly and took a carriage to the Taihe Gate.

On both sides of Taihe Gate are places such as Wuying Hall and Wenhua Hall, and the Cabinet Meeting Room is located in Wenhua Hall.

As the person in charge of reception, Jia Lian also got up early and waited at the gate of Taihe to lead the two envoys. The whole journey was very serious and no one spoke.

The hall, which was decorated overnight, was filled with gifts from the English embassy. Among other things, the steam engine model could actually start when it was heated by coal, the sailing warship model was also very realistic, and the various models were all authentic and could be scaled up and replicated, which was better than drawings. Diamonds and gemstones were also packed in boxes, and the lids were opened and placed in front of everyone.

The British were very attentive. The battleship gun model was loaded with gunpowder and small projectiles, so it was really capable of firing.

What worries the British is that early industrial products can be mass-produced, but their disadvantage is that they are not as fine as handmade products. British industry started from the textile industry, which is like sheep eating people. Wool textiles are really not presentable in this era. At least they cannot be used as state gifts, which is too embarrassing.

Henry and Sassoon looked a little confused along the way. Not to mention ancient foreigners, even modern foreigners would be confused if they entered the Forbidden City.

Compared to the magnificent and luxurious Buckingham Palace, the Forbidden City is dignified and simple, seemingly low-key, but every detail reveals a luxurious and restrained style. It is indeed a completely different style.

At least from the perspective of Henry and Sassoon, there was a sense of embarrassment of being a peasant entering the city. If they were not envoys, they would really want to get closer and take a closer look at the details.

According to the agreement between the two parties, Henry and Sassoon knelt on one knee to express the highest respect to His Majesty the Emperor. The poor Chinese in the opening self-introduction made Emperor Chenghui smile in frustration.

Emperor Chenghui came down and helped the two men up personally. He said amiably, "Thank you for sending envoys from afar to present the state gift. Please explain the details to me."

Henry was flattered by such courtesy. He tried to straighten his back, subconsciously bent his head, walked in front, and introduced the state gifts one by one. A brief introduction of the musket was enough, followed by the textile machine model, emphasizing the production efficiency. Emperor Chenghui stopped seriously and looked at it for a long time before saying: "It's good, but a large-scale promotion may hurt the livelihoods of hundreds of workers and their families."

Jia Lian translated: "His Majesty the Emperor approves of your country's textile machinery, but is concerned that it will cause unemployment to ordinary craftsmen. After all, each craftsman represents a family."

Emperor Chenghui looked at Jia Lian with satisfaction. He had known for a long time that Jia Lian could speak English, and today he was finally enlightened.

"Your Majesty, improving production efficiency is beneficial to strengthening the country. We cannot stop using machines for production just because of the opposition of craftsmen." Henry really believed so, so he answered naturally.

After Jia Lian translated, Emperor Chenghui nodded and said, "That's the truth. We can't run a country without considering human feelings. The people will cause trouble if they lose their livelihoods. Have your craftsmen caused trouble?"

After listening to the translation, Henry was surprised and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor of Zhou, it is really shocking that we can know about things thousands of miles away just by guessing. There was indeed a large-scale anti-machine movement in our country. Unemployed craftsmen destroyed a large number of machines and burned down some factories. Fortunately, the government controlled it in time."

Emperor Chenghui nodded without saying anything else and continued to look at the displayed state gifts. The cabinet ministers following behind him were each thinking about something.

When the steam engine model was introduced, Emperor Chenghui stopped and listened carefully to Henry's explanation. He had heard Jia Lian talk about this thing a long time ago, but it was the first time he saw it today. Although it was a model, it was still very shocking. Just by boiling water, it can provide almost unlimited power. Using it in the workshop can indeed greatly improve efficiency. No wonder Jia Lian, who attaches great importance to the workshop, strongly recommended it.

After looking at various models, Emperor Chenghui did not continue. He really had no interest in things like gems. No matter how rare they were, they were just toys.

When it comes to the fact that weaving machines have not made much progress, it is not because domestic craftsmen cannot make them, but because domestic competition is too fierce, labor costs are too low, and high-value products produced by large machines are of poor quality, which makes them uncompetitive. Machine production can certainly reduce costs, but ordinary people cannot afford even the cheapest cloth. In rural areas at the lower level, the model of men farming and women weaving does not need this. From the perspective of Emperor Chenghui, the problem involves the livelihoods of thousands of families, and no matter how good the things are, they must be promoted with caution.

Again, the reason why Confucianism was recognized by the emperor was because it pursued stability. The emperor also liked stability, and officials liked stability even more. There was no ruler who did not like stability and pursued stability.

After the introduction, just as Emperor Chenghui was about to go back and complete the final process, Henry said in time: "Your Majesty, in order to express the Queen's respect for Your Majesty and enhance the friendship between the two countries, I, on behalf of Her Majesty, personally present you with a battleship made in England, which is currently moored in the HMS Excellence in Tianjin Port."

Emperor Chenghui stopped and turned around, asking, "Was it sent by the Queen? Was it not the cabinet elected by your parliament?"

Henry's heart trembled violently after hearing this. He made the right bet. It was a close call. The ten thousand gold coins were worth it. If the Emperor of Zhou hated England because of the system problem, and the results of this visit were unsatisfactory, then he would be the biggest victim. It was just a warship, and he could afford it.

"Yes, it was a personal gift from my country's queen!" Henry quickly confirmed. Emperor Chenghui nodded with a smile: "Then I won't be polite."

The ceremony continued, but the subsequent content was unremarkable. In addition, the sun came out, and the ministers lined up outside could not stand the sun for too long, so Emperor Chenghui said it was over and the meeting was adjourned.

It was around ten o'clock in the morning, and this had been going on for several hours.

Henry and Sassoon went back and continued to bargain with the Honglu Temple on the relations between the two countries.

Jia Lian was retained by Emperor Chenghui, and so were the ministers of the cabinet and the nine officials of the six ministries.

Emperor Chenghui pointed to a set of weaving machines and said, "Jia Lian, tell me how to use this machine. It's a good thing, don't waste it."

The officials present looked at Jia Lian with solemn expressions. They all knew what the emperor said. If this thing were released, many weaving households would go bankrupt.

Pan Jixun even warned directly: "Jia Lian, this is related to the livelihood of tens of millions of people. You can't speak nonsense to deceive Your Majesty for your own selfish reasons."

We can only say that Pan Jixun had good intentions, but how can we say that? He used his power in the wrong place. If it were Jia Lian, he would definitely hate him to death.

"If Lord Pan really cares about the livelihood of the people, he should pay attention to land annexation, the construction of grassroots water conservancy facilities, and the improvement of agricultural planting technology. Instead of lecturing Jia, he watched the lower-class people eat coarse food." Jia Lian did not indulge him at all. If a person is not bad, he cannot solve the fundamental problem.

Of course, when it comes to the fundamental problem, no one present can solve it. Pan Jixun did not expect Jia Lian to be so sharp-tongued. He is a representative of the pragmatic school and has impressive political achievements, but Jia Lian dodged them perfectly.

Just tell me if the problem I mentioned exists and whether you can solve it.
Let’s not talk about land annexation, what about the construction of water conservancy facilities? Landlords will not take the initiative to build water conservancy projects, they only care about collecting rent. Grassroots officials are motivated to take on projects such as river embankments, but not necessarily water conservancy facilities. They don’t even have the ability to do it. This is a technical job. Let some officials who came from the imperial examination system do it, and it may have a counterproductive effect. As for the improvement of agricultural planting technology, it is even more impossible to talk about it.

To put it bluntly, even if the yield per mu increases, people will still go hungry. Does Brazil lack arable land in modern society? Why is there widespread hunger? There are also Africa and so on.

In the middle period of each dynasty, land annexation is almost an inevitable problem. Any industry, as long as it is profitable and administratively one-size-fits-all, will definitely cause some problems. For example, farmers can no longer raise a few pigs. What is the difference between this phenomenon and land annexation? Isn't it the big fish eating the small fish? Or is it the use of administrative power to eat.

Hmm. Every era has its own problems. I am getting off topic.

The current Great Zhou has entered a period of high internal circulation. But for Jia Lian, there are actually many blue ocean areas waiting to be developed.

Looking at Pan Jixun who was blushing, Jia Lian continued slowly: "Your Majesty, I think that although Western textile machines are highly efficient, they are indeed not suitable for rapid promotion for cotton cloth production. However, they can be used for wool textile production." Jia Lian deliberately paused at this point, wanting to hear if anyone would jump out to refute him.

What a pity, there is no one here. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t understand.

Jia Lian actually didn't understand it either, but he had been surfing the Internet a lot, so he had some scattered and unsystematic knowledge and did understand a little bit.

"The price of wool is very low, and the utilization rate is also very low. The main reason is that the softening technology of wool textiles is not up to standard, and it is not comfortable to wear. Rich people have fur to choose from, and ordinary people in the market have straw under their mattresses. As far as I know, wool can be degreased and then woven into cloth for winter cold protection. It is good quality and cheap. As for the source of wool, it is easy. Open border trade and collect wool from various tribes on the grassland. Who would be willing to take the risk of going south if they can survive without wielding swords and guns? Do you really think that the swords of this dynasty are not sharp? The woven wool cloth can be used as official military supplies in the early stage. After stabilizing the production and procurement channels, it can be gradually promoted to the public. In this way, it will not harm the textile livelihood of the common people."

Here, Jia Lian stopped.

Emperor Chenghui nodded in satisfaction and pointed at the steam engine and said, "What about this one?"

Jia Lian said: "This thing has a wide range of uses. It can be used to pump water in mines and drive equipment such as conveyor belts to increase production. It can be used to drive machine tools to increase military production. It can even be used on straight roads to drive large vehicles."

Pan Jixun interrupted again, "Straight Road? The track of the Qin Straight Road?"

Jia Lian hummed, "It is similar in form, but I don't know how powerful the imitation steam engine is and how much transportation it can carry. This thing is new to our dynasty, and we have to consider the resistance of the people, the land acquisition required for road construction, and other problems. As far as I know, Tanggu has high-quality coal mines, and mining requires a lot of manpower, so the problem of large-scale transportation needs to be solved. The people in the capital of our dynasty mainly burn coal on a daily basis, and the steam engine can greatly increase the output of coal mining."

The content is a bit far-fetched for the ministers and the emperor, but Jia Lian's explanation is relatively simple and not difficult to understand.

"In this case, this thing is truly beneficial to the country and the people, it is a great thing." Pan Jixun gave full affirmation.

Jia Lian was silent for a while and said, "Things are made by others, we just copy them. We know how to use them and how to make them, but we don't understand the principles. This won't work! If we don't hurry up and learn to catch up, sooner or later the Western countries will come to attack us with steam-powered ironclad warships. Don't doubt that Jia is exaggerating. England started out as a pirate, and the Western powers are all similar."

If Jia Lian said these things at ordinary times, he would probably be beaten up. But today, these things were sent to him as state gifts. After seeing it with his own eyes, the situation was completely different.

These cabinet ministers are all top-notch human beings who understand human nature very well. How could they not see the future that Jia Lian described?
You can see it, but it's too far away and can't compare to the immediate benefits. If you don't refute Jia Lian on the spot, you're being polite. If you really do it, it's bound to hold you back.

"If Mr. Jia has any specific ideas, please write a proposal and I will take a look at it." Emperor Chenghui spoke up to support Jia Lian. He knew very well that there were some things that he had to push forward.

In most cases, changes in this country are from top to bottom, and it is very rare for them to be from bottom to top. As for the so-called public opinion, you are first of all a citizen.

To put it bluntly, can you masters treat the servants in your homes as human beings?

In this sense, the Northern Song Dynasty royal family actually did a pretty good job. At least they were pretty good to the citizens of Kaifeng.

The Ming Dynasty was largely influenced by the Yuan Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty was largely influenced by the Ming Dynasty.

Slavery did exist in reality.

Of course, this does not mean that the free people outside will definitely live better than the children born at home. For example, during the American Civil War, the black slaves on the plantations were private property and were bought by the slave owners at a high price.

Did the white child laborers in British factories really have a better life than the black slaves on the plantations in the southern United States?
Are capitalists necessarily kinder than slave owners?

The real world is very mysterious!

Therefore, we still need to talk about science and use productivity to speak. This is the grand background.

It is a very dangerous thing for a country or a nation to not talk about grand narratives of collectivism, but only about individual freedom and the dignity of the common people.

Because you don’t know whether the next attack will be from a neighboring country or aliens, or whether someone will come all the way to your doorstep in an aircraft carrier, ready to attack you at any time.

If a country is really invaded or a civil war breaks out, personal freedom and the dignity of the people will be worthless.

Going too far again!

Today's court meeting was still very fruitful for Jia Lian. At least he could use his R&D department to imitate the steam engine and a complete set of textile equipment in the future.

You have to make achievements first, and then others will follow. This is the case with new things.

In the eyes of the cabinet ministers, it is not important whether Jia Lian is exaggerating or not. What is important is whether Jia Lian's putting these new things into practice will bring unpredictable turmoil to the country.

Since Emperor Chenghui ascended the throne, both the emperor and the cabinet have experienced too much turmoil.

The cabinet's biggest pursuit now is stability! To put it simply, the cabinet sees Jinchuan and Xiaojinchuan as skin diseases, and the new things brought by Westerners may cause cancer.

Emperor Chenghui had a longer-term vision, so it was understandable that he supported Jia Lian.

(End of this chapter)