Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 409: Fear of a Recurrence of the An-Shi Incident

The lively Daiyu is a completely different person. Jia Lian, who has read the original novel, is a little dazed. He did not realize that Jia Min's eyes were a bit like beating a dog with a stick.

"Has there been any letter from my uncle?" Jia Lian asked after he came back to his senses. Jia Min said, "There have been two letters. The words are quite worrying. We should investigate thoroughly. We have offended too many people. If we don't, we will fail the emperor's grace."

"You have to trust that your uncle can handle it well. You can investigate what can be investigated, and don't investigate what cannot be investigated. Didn't he do a good job as the Imperial Censor of the Salt Road? Now that the cabinet is vacant, it will be fine if your uncle returns smoothly." Jia Lian could only comfort her with a few words and remind her that she could only trust Lin Ruhai in this matter. This was just one step away from entering the cabinet, and Lin Ruhai must have considered it.

After having dinner at Lin's house, Jia Lian said goodbye and left. After Jia Lian left, Jia Min said to Daiyu earnestly: "Yu'er, you have some thoughts that you shouldn't have."

Daiyu's big eyes rolled around: "I'm going back!"

Jia Min could only sigh and thought to herself: Yu'er will probably fall into his hands in this life.

When he returned home, he saw Qingwen standing aside with a bundle on her arm, looking around, showing no fear at all.

Wang Xifeng was sitting in the main seat, and she needed a maid to help her stand up. Her struggling appearance made Jia Lian quickly step forward and lend her hand to help her sit down.

After showing her status as the mistress, Wang Xifeng said, "The old lady sent another one, saying that you liked it."

Jia Lian didn't talk about other things this time, but said directly: "I liked it and praised it, but I didn't expect it to be delivered."

This time, Qingwen stopped looking around and lowered her head to peek at Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng getting along.

After the couple chatted for a while, Wang Xifeng said she was tired and wanted to rest. Jia Lian then stood up and asked Qingwen to go to the south courtyard together.

"This whole courtyard is considered a study, and Xiangling and Xiren get along well with each other."

Whenever he saw Qingwen, Jia Lian would always think of Qingwen who had cried for "Mom" all night long. The memory was so deep that he really couldn't bear to see her being harmed by Baoyu.

Xiangling and Xiren went out to greet him. They had known that another one was coming, so they didn't think much of it. After all, Baoyu had eight maids around him, while Jia Lian only had five, including Guixiang and Ping'er.

Besides, Qingwen is younger than both of them. They are all in the stage of not being able to enter the family, but Qingwen is still too early.

Xiren still has a sense of crisis. In terms of appearance, she really can't compare to the other two.

Xiren settled Qingwen and deliberately didn't arrange for her to watch the night. The situation here is quite special. There is a small bed next to Jia Lian's big bed, and normal night watchmen sleep on the small bed. Jia Lian's side was started by Xiangling, from warming the bed to serving the emperor, and Xiren followed suit. In the past, two people took turns, but now there is Qingwen, so let her adapt to the environment first.

At night, Xiren accompanied Qingwen to sleep in the compartment. After blowing out the light, he heard some noise next door and pushed Xiren.

Xiren didn't even open her eyes: "Don't worry about it! Don't ask, don't say anything."

Jia Lian, who was on vacation at home, naturally slept until noon. After getting up, he walked around in the yard. Qingwen, who had no chance to get close to him, wiped the table with a rag while secretly glancing at Jia Lian.

Qingwen got up late in the morning, but it was not because she was used to her bed.

I had long heard the maids in the mansion discussing how things were in Baoyu's room, and I didn't expect that the situation was the same in the Second Master's room as well.

The second master was a gentle man, and he spoke softly and gently to his servants.

Just after finishing his exercise, Jia Rong appeared and stood at the gate of the yard to greet everyone. Jia Lian invited him in to talk.

"We agreed to go over in the evening. What's the matter?" Jia Lian asked. Jia Rong looked around and said, "Uncle should go after he washes up."

Jia Lian asked him to sit for a while. After Xiangling and Xiren brought water to wash and change clothes, they took Qingwen and left together. When they were left alone, Jia Rong whispered, "Xue Pan has proposed marriage."

Just this? Jia Lian was stunned for a moment before he realized that the two sides had a lot of cooperative business, at least the sales channels outside the capital were in Xue Pan's hands.

If Xue Pan is influenced by the woman after marriage, which causes his business to be affected and his income to decrease, Jia Rong will be miserable.

"Tell me more about it!" Jia Lian was also concerned. He was not greedy or scheming in the officialdom, and relied on business to make money. If it really affected the income of the Jia family, he would be uncomfortable.

"He said that the Wang family brought them together. He is an imperial merchant listed in the Ministry of Revenue, and the woman's surname is Xia."

Jia Lian frowned slightly after hearing this: "Is Xue Pan stupid? Since he is getting worse and worse, why did he go to so much trouble to keep the title of imperial merchant? Why didn't he think about getting back the title of Ziwei Sheren?"

Jia Rong also whispered: "Who says it's not true? His father married a girl from the Wang family, but he married a merchant girl."

It is no wonder that Jia Rong thought so, as merchants did not have a high social status. The reason why Xue Pan's father was able to marry the daughter of the Wang family was mainly because of the influence of Emperor Taizu and the title of Ziwei Sheren.

The reason why Jia Lian frowned was naturally because Xia Jingui was not a good match. If this woman really wanted to marry him, it would be so troublesome that the cooperation between the two parties would most likely fail.

Which Wang family member was the one who brought them together? It couldn't be Wang Ziteng's idea, right? Besides, the Xia family was also a widowed mother raising a daughter, with no male heirs to support them, and was about to fall into decline.

Judging from the situation, the biggest possibility is that Wang Ziteng wants to completely control the Xue family. Don't tell me, with Aunt Xue around, this may not be the case.

"Aunt Xue has returned home to live, right?" Jia Lian asked casually. Jia Rong nodded and said, "She has returned to live in the Xue family's house in the capital."

"It's not easy to get involved!" Jia Lian also had a headache because it involved Wang Ziteng.

"Yes, who says it's not?" Jia Rong also had a headache. Jia Lian waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, let me think about it."

Just as he was talking, a servant came to the door and said, "Second Master, an official named Jia Yucun is outside and has brought a visiting card."

Jia Lian took the visiting card and asked, "Has the person left?"

The servant replied: "He hasn't left yet. He's waiting outside."

Without saying a word, Jia Lian asked Jia Rong to follow him and went out to meet Jia Yucun.

Jia Yucun didn't expect to see Jia Lian right away, as the gap in their status was too big. He just wanted to try his luck. What if? Since he was already here, it wouldn't matter if he waited for a while.

Unexpectedly, after waiting in the gatehouse for less than three quarters of an hour, Jia Lian flashed out from behind the round door, and Jia Yucun quickly stood up to greet him.

"An old friend has come to visit, and Jia Lian is sorry for being late in greeting him." Jia Lian acted courteously, and Jia Yucun was somewhat moved.

Yunyang is not bad. With official land in hand, a lot of money can be made there, but it certainly cannot compare to Shanhaiguan, which blocks the throat of Liaodong and makes money by collecting tolls.

"Mr. Jia, I am sorry for the intrusion of your presence." Jia Yucun was very humble and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

Jia Lian quickly helped him up, and said with a smile as bright as spring breeze: "It's over! It's over! We are one family, there is no need to do this."

Jia Yucun can distinguish between the big and small Wangs, which is a good thing. Jia Lian hired him not because of his moral character, but because he wanted to climb up the social ladder.

How can I put it? It's useful, that's enough. He turned around and introduced Jia Rong to Jia Yucun. After another round of politeness, the three of them walked inside.

After having tea and sitting down in the study, Jia Yucun talked about the affairs of Yunyang. In fact, they had been communicating frequently over the years, so Jia Lian had a general idea of ​​the affairs of Yunyang.

"The people's livelihood in Yunyang has recovered well, but now that Jia is gone, I'm afraid there will be problems with the government land." Jia Yucun said briefly. Jia Lian was silent for a moment and sighed, "Helpless!"

Given the national conditions, when Jia Yucun was in power, he was able to stick to Jia Lian's policy on official fields. But when a new prefect was appointed, he would see so many official fields and would try his best to get them all.

Jia Yucun was relatively restrained. He collected rent normally and embezzled at most half of the money he got. If it were a prefect who was in charge of the lives of the common people, it would be normal for him to sell off the government land.

Jia Lian didn't care about that, so he changed the topic and talked about Shanhaiguan. After analyzing the specific relationship, he reminded: "Liu Fang, the garrison commander, is relatively easy to deal with. Li Chi has stepped down from the cabinet, so I'm afraid he will compete for the benefits of Liaodong. Whether it's retirement or buying an official position, you need money. You will mainly deal with these two when you go there."

Jia Yucun listened very carefully and asked in a low voice: "What advice do you have for me, Mr. Jia?"

Seeing him like this, Jia Lian nodded with satisfaction and said, "As long as it doesn't cause trouble for the Jia family's caravan, just pretend you know nothing. These two can also be officials."

There was one thing that Jia Lian did not make clear, which was the plan to involve the palace in the Liaodong business.

After lunch, Jia Yucun said goodbye and left, and Jia Lian saw him off to the door.

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Before the situation calmed down, another eunuch from the Jia family came with a message, asking Jia Lian to go out for a talk.

Jia Lian recognized that the man was someone close to Li Heng, so he naturally agreed and went to the agreed house.

Li Heng did not meet Jia Lian in the palace, naturally to avoid suspicion. After the meeting, Li Heng said directly: "The negotiations with the Chahar tribe are quite tense at the Honglu Temple."

Jia Lian nodded: "What's going on?"

Li Heng said: "It's still that Chahar King who refused to come to the capital no matter what. He would rather send his eldest son to the capital than come here himself."

Jia Lian understood, but did not respond. Instead, he smiled and said, "I have already handed over the job of the Honglu Temple. Your Highness has found the wrong person."

Li Heng rolled his eyes and said, "The English went to Guangzhou, and Wang Ziteng asked them to buy a boat. Guess how much they offered for one?"

Jia Lian was also curious and asked, "How much?"

Li Heng leaned in and whispered, "The kind presented to father, one for four hundred thousand taels. Wang Ziteng submitted a memorial to the Ministry of Revenue, requesting funds to purchase five English warships. The memorial also said that now the armaments are complete, except for the navy's warships. If everything goes well, we can get the warships next year."

Jia Lian calculated that one ship cost 400,000 yuan, and five ships cost 2 million yuan, which was not too outrageous. Henry presented a third-class battleship to the emperor, and the current cost is about the same, so he didn't ask for a high price.

"Where does the Ministry of Revenue get the money? Isn't Wang Ziteng just looking for fish in a tree?" Jia Lian knew the current situation of the Ministry of Revenue very well. Sichuan had to pay out the treasury.

"Wang Ziteng also expressed in the memorial that he understands the court's difficulties and said that it doesn't matter if he has no money. He hopes that he can be allowed to raise funds on his own." Li Heng said with a sneer on his face, implying that Wang Ziteng had gone too far.

Jia Lian was stunned after hearing this. His eyes didn't move for a long time. He thought to himself, how dare Wang Ziteng do that?

How can this be explained? Everyone knows about the Taiping Rebellion. In order to suppress the Taiping Rebellion, the financially exhausted Qing government allowed local governors to issue "lijin".

The Hunan Army and the Huai Army could set up checkpoints and collect fees in local areas. Their finances were no longer entirely dependent on the imperial court, and they still had soldiers at their disposal.

The consequence of this incident was that the Qing government gave up local power. The subsequent impact was that after the Xinhai Revolution, warlords were everywhere.

Once this kind of thing is opened, it is very difficult to close it later. The Qing court was helpless at the time and could only do this.

In other words, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, master and apprentice, had no intention of rebellion, otherwise, even if they had destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and marched north, the Qing government would not have been able to withstand it.

Even so, Li Hongzhang's Beiyang actually became a private armed force.

This is why there was a subsequent saying that the Beiyang Army fought against Japan on its own. Whether Empress Dowager Cixi used the navy's money to build a garden was not a big deal. For the Manchu nobles, Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army was a real threat. After the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing court wanted to train a new army. After looking around, it chose Yuan Shikai and established the New Beiyang Army.

To sum up, the memorial submitted by Wang Ziteng was simply a poke at the court's lungs.

Seeing Jia Lian's shocked expression, Li Heng asked proudly, "Can you give me an idea for this news?"

Jia Lian glanced at him and said, "Even if Your Highness didn't tell me, I would know that Your Highness's method of getting something for nothing is really amazing."

Li Heng didn't say anything, but accepted it with a smile. This was a little trick to bring the two closer together. It wasn't worth mentioning, but it was really useful.

Jia Lian sighed and said, "This deal is a loss!"

Li Heng knew that he agreed and burst into laughter.

Jia Lian waited for him to stop laughing before he said, "Now it is the Chahar tribe that is begging us. Since the King of Chahar is unwilling to come, we should expel the envoys. At the same time, we should strengthen the security at all borders. Also, the Khorchin tribe has frequent exchanges with Liaodong. The court will take the initiative to send people to ask the Khorchin tribe to cut off their exchanges with Liaodong. As for the trade, the court can make some concessions. It is better than being exploited by the Liaodong middlemen."

Li Heng clapped his hands and laughed: "Good idea, I will tell my father about this later."

After the matter was explained, Jia Lian stood up and said goodbye, and quickly went home to write a memorial to impeach Wang Ziteng.

The general idea is that I was shocked to hear that Wang Taiwei wanted to raise funds to build a navy. This must not be allowed. Finance and taxation are the most important rights of the court. How can it be handed over to the local government? If it is allowed, the An-Shi incident may happen again. The court should issue an order to severely reprimand Wang Ziteng and warn him to abide by his duties and not to overstep the line.

Jia Lian's memorial was relatively subtle. At the cabinet meeting, Kong Zhao roared, "Will Wang Ziteng become a vassal?"

At this critical juncture, Xuanli, who had just been dealt with, comes Wang Ziteng. Isn’t it a coincidence?

Emperor Chenghui's face was as gloomy as the foreshadowing of a rainstorm, but he still did not express his opinion. The cabinet meeting did not produce any results, so Emperor Chenghui announced the adjournment of the meeting and asked everyone to discuss it carefully before making a decision.

Back in the study, Emperor Chenghui picked up the teacup and wanted to take a sip. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He threw it to the ground. With a bang, the imperial tea bowl broke into pieces.

Qiu Shian came in to take a look, signaled the eunuch to clean up, and then he made another cup of tea and placed it gently on the table.

Emperor Chenghui said to himself: "The Ministry of Revenue is incompetent, and Wang Ziteng is usurping power!"

Qiu Shi'an said nothing, picked up a memorial and spread it out for the emperor to see.

Emperor Chenghui was stunned for a moment, then looked down at the memorial, which was written by Jia Lian.

When he saw the [An Lushan Incident], Emperor Chenghui's brows relaxed slightly and he said calmly: "It's over, it's over! I am not Li Longji, and Wang Ziteng is not An Lushan."

(End of this chapter)