Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 413 Jia Lian is not easy either
"The old immortal took a sum of money and hid someone in the Mantou Temple." As soon as Jia Rong opened his mouth, Jia Lian knew it was Miaoyu.

Things happened earlier than expected, it seems it's my own fault.

"Did anyone say who was hiding?" Jia Lian asked tentatively. Jia Rong shook his head slightly. It seemed that he really didn't know. Jia Jing must know.

"I understand. Let's pretend that this thing didn't happen." Jia Lian pondered for a moment and made a decision.

Jia Rong then said goodbye and left. Jia Lian walked around the study a few times, feeling annoyed. Should he report this to Emperor Chenghui?
After much thought, he decided that he couldn't hide it. After all, this was the capital city, and the Dragon Guards had spies everywhere. Jia Jing thought he was doing it secretly, but in fact, there was no secret at all.

No one knows if there are any experts around Miaoyu, so for safety reasons, Jia Lian called eight family guards and went to Mantou Temple while it was still early.

They hurried to the place and the host came out hurriedly to greet them. He tiptoed to look behind Jia Lian. He looked sneaky and it was obvious that he was up to something.

"What are you looking at? There's no one else." Jia Lian said impatiently. The host stood up and said with a low smile: "Didn't Master Jing arrange for someone to stay here for meditation? I was afraid I'd run into him."

Jia Lian did not respond to her question, but asked: "Where is the person?"

"She lives in the backyard. She is not very old, but she lives in a grand manner. Xiao Miao has only three or five people, but she has eight followers. They occupy the entire backyard, so I can only live in the west wing."

Jia Lian was annoyed by her nagging, so he stuffed a fifty-tael note into her hand and led the way with a smile on his face.

After passing the main hall and reaching the backyard gate, a woman flashed out. Jia Lian took out his revolver and pointed it at her. The woman said, "Stop!"

Jia Lian angrily asked, "This is my family's temple, and you want me to stop?"

The host quickly stepped forward to explain: "This is Master Lian from the Jia family's main house." The woman still refused to move aside and opened her arms: "No one can enter without permission!"

Jia Lian put away his revolver and said, "Okay, go and tell him that Jia Lian wants to see you."

The woman still did not leave, but turned around and called another woman who was practicing on her behalf to pass on the message. After a while, several people came out. The leader was a young girl in black clothes, holding a Buddhist whisk.

Miaoyu in the original novel despised Baoyu for his vulgarity, saying that he drank tea like a cow chewing a peony. At this moment, the girl in front of him looked at Jia Lian with a cold face and displeased eyes: "What brings you here, sir?"

Jia Lian took a look and confirmed that it was Miaoyu, then said calmly: "It's okay, I just came here to confirm it. Goodbye!"

He left as soon as he said he would, and rode into the city at full speed after leaving the temple. This was really a big trouble, and Jia Lian did not dare to delay for a moment.

If Jia Jing really wanted to do something illegal, Jia Lian would not be worried, but it would be a disaster for Miaoyu.

After entering the city, Jia Lian did not go home but went straight to the palace.

Emperor Chenghui was listening to Qiu Shian's report. When he learned that Jia Lian wanted to see him, he was stunned for a moment, then asked with a smile: "What do you think he came for?"

Qiu Shian shook his head: "I can't guess, this guy is always thinking."

Emperor Chenghui smiled but said nothing: "Announce!"

Jia Lian went to the imperial study and after he entered and greeted the emperor, Emperor Chenghui asked, "You are entering the palace at dusk. Is there something urgent?"

"Master Jing of Xuanzhen Temple has found a young girl who is practicing Buddhism on his behalf and has moved into Mantou Temple. I have seen that this person's origins are unknown and I suspect that she is related to the Zhen family." Jia Lian betrayed Jia Jing straight away.

Emperor Chenghui smiled when he heard this. He guessed that Jia Lian was also doing this for this matter. Jia Jing really thought he could hide the truth. When he was in Jiangning, he had secret guards around him.

"My dear minister, you are so thoughtful. I will place the person there and take good care of him." Emperor Chenghui said with a satisfied smile on his face.

"So, I have understood what is going on. I will take my leave." Having achieved his goal, Jia Lian took his leave.

After Jia Lian left, Qiu Shian came over and said, "Serve the king with sincerity, he really does what he says. The saint and Jia Lian are a perfect match for each other."

Emperor Chenghui smiled, waved his hand, and said calmly: "I haven't treated him badly!"

After leaving the palace, Jia Lian felt cold sweat running down his spine. It turned out that Emperor Chenghui knew about this matter in advance. If he really kept it secret, it would probably be a thorn in the emperor's heart.

The emperor in a high position may have a completely different view of his subjects just because of one incident. Jia Jing is old, and Jia Lian is still young, so it is impossible for him to take risks for him.

Even though this matter was over, at least he had ensured that he would not be implicated. Jia Lian continued to rest at home. It was the middle of November, and after enough rest, Jia Lian finally remembered to do something.

The first thing is the matter of running a school. During this period, Jia Lian was not always idle at home. He wrote a lot of popular science articles on Jia's practical learning, and the quiz with prizes was also resumed.

While the heat was still high, Jia Lian invited Jia Rong to go to the site of the school. The site was outside the city. It was not that it could not be located inside the city, but the city was expensive and there was not enough space.

It's just outside the city. Jia Lian looked around the construction site. The courtyard wall had been built and the foundation of the house was being laid inside.

After a round of discussion, Jia Lian was quite satisfied. After planning for so long, the next step was to start recruiting students.

After leaving the construction site, Jia Lian went to the R&D Department. The yamen was usually deserted, with only three or five clerks.

Jia Lian's appearance made the R&D department active, and Bi Daoxing and Jean Valjean also came out of their respective laboratories.

"How is the training of the apprentices you were asked to take on going?" Jia Lian went straight to the point. The two men each had five apprentices, who were tinkering with them, helping out and learning at the same time.

"Very good, they are very enthusiastic about learning and very hardworking." Jean Valjean expressed his satisfaction with the apprentices.

Bi Daoxing was a little dissatisfied: "Can you find a few apprentices who know more words? These apprentices know less than 500 words, and we still need to teach them to read more."

"They were all selected from the children of craftsmen. You should be happy that they can recognize a few hundred words." Jia Lian retorted, and Bi Daoxing did not refute.

If a child from a family studies to become a craftsman, at the very least, he will become an accountant. It is because Jia Lian is in charge of the R&D department that craftsmen are willing to send their children here if they can become officials.

"By the way, I have set up a school outside the city, and you can all go there to attend classes. The laboratory, which is a dangerous place, should be moved there." Jia Lian told the two of them. The two didn't care. It didn't matter where they worked.

Bi Daoxing asked: "What do you think about this enrollment?"

Jia Lian said, "We will recruit students from all over the city. Anyone over eight and under twelve can attend for free. The school will provide two meals per person, lunch and dinner. We should be able to recruit a good number of students."

Bi Daoxing was stunned: "Is this running a school, or raising children for others?" Jia Lian couldn't explain the fact that he was worried about not being able to find students, and he became angry and said: "You are the only one who has so many questions. Have you figured out the process of making soy sauce with dilute hydrochloric acid?"

Bi Daoxing shrank his neck and said: "We made dozens of samples, eliminated some, and there are three left. It seems that there is no big problem. The product can be produced in the next two days."

As for the soy sauce business, the same thing applies: you have to produce to make money. Without money, how can you get the funds to run a school? Without money, how can you maintain a laboratory?

"How about you? How is the nitric acid production process going?" Jia Lian turned to ask Jean Valjean. The Frenchman smiled and patted his chest: "It is not difficult to produce in the laboratory. The production process is still being improved. It will be ready in a month at most. Don't forget to promote me by then, sir."

Jia Lian agreed readily: "No problem!" Now that they had nitric acid, the next step was to make nitrocellulose. That stuff was extremely unstable, and Jia Lian doubted that Jean would live to see the day when he discovered the stabilizer.

In fact, you can also make picric acid, which is also good for making bombs. In Europe, picric acid was used as a dye at first, but it was found to explode. When it was used to make artillery shells, picric acid became extremely unstable after contact with iron. Later, the Japanese found a solution, which was to coat the inner wall with paraffin to isolate it from contact.

Of course, it’s still early. At this stage, there is enough gunpowder. Jia Lian is doing all this for the future.

The key is to shift the country's policy from internal to external. This is why Jia Lian helped Wang Ziteng. As long as Wang Ziteng enters Annan by sea and gains a foothold, it will be convincing to develop further south. As for malaria, there is a prescription for Artemisia annua in medicine. How effective it is is unknown. Jia Lian has already informed Wang Ziteng that if the effect is not good, quinine will still be used. Jia Lian had to personally go out and make an experimental cow and horse to see if artemisinin can be extracted cold.

Malaria is really a stubborn disease in this era. During the Age of Discovery, before the discovery of quinine, so many people died from malaria, leaving so many bones.

It was time for off-season vegetables to be on the market again. This year, the scale had expanded a lot. Jia Lian went to the farm to take a look in person, slapped his head, and turned back to the palace.

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Emperor Chenghui was still quick to see him. Jia Lian greeted him and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, I have a favor to ask."

"Oh? When? Is there anything that you, Jia Lian, can't do?" Emperor Chenghui joked with a smile.

Jia Lian smiled and said, "The Jia family's farm outside the city is also growing winter vegetables. The farm is too small, and even if all the vegetables were grown, it would not be enough for the capital's consumption."

Emperor Chenghui was stunned for a moment. He was a principled emperor. He knew that Jia Lian had successfully grown vegetables last winter and would definitely make a lot of money this year. He had never thought about Jia Lian's secret technique. Unexpectedly, Jia Lian offered it to him on his own initiative. "What do you mean?" Emperor Chenghui put away his smile and became serious.

"I think that the capital has a population of one million and the winter is long. I can earn at least three or five hundred thousand taels in one winter. How about renting me one thousand acres of land while there is still time?"

After hearing what Jia Lian said, Emperor Chenghui knew what was going on: "How is the rent calculated?"

Jia Lian raised a finger, and Emperor Chenghui hummed: "Ten taels, not a small amount? I agree."

Jia Lian shook his head: "It's not ten taels, it's one thousand taels."

Bang! Qiu Shian, who was listening in, was pouring tea for the emperor. He was so shocked by the number that his hand became unsteady and the tea bowl rolled onto the table. Fortunately, it did not break and the documents were not wet.

Emperor Chenghui was silent and did some calculations in his mind. The rent for one winter was one million taels. This was not renting land, this was giving money away.

Emperor Chenghui soon figured it out. It was all because of Jia Jing. This guy accepted benefits from the Zhen family, and Jia Lian was trying to compensate him.

If it is said that the emperor had previously held a grudge against Jia Jing for hiding Miaoyu because he accepted bribes from the Zhen family, even if Jia Lian had reported the matter truthfully, he would still have felt resentful.

Now, the last bit of worry in Emperor Chenghui's heart has disappeared.

"You! How should I describe you?" Emperor Chenghui seemed to be talking about Qiu Shian, but he was actually referring to Jia Lian.

"For example, if there is no objection, the matter will be settled. I will have to trouble Mr. Qiu to work hard for two days to help settle the matter."

Jia Lian continued to settle the matter. Qiu Shian smiled and cupped his hands: "Don't worry, the manor will be vacated tomorrow, and someone will be sent to notify you to take over."

After the matter was settled, Jia Lian did not stay any longer and took his leave.

Neither the master nor the servant spoke in the study room. It was very quiet. After a long while, Emperor Chenghui sighed: "Jia Jing deserves to die!"

Qiu Shian smiled and said nothing.

Qiu Shian personally took charge of the land leasing matter. At an imperial farm in the north of the city, Qiu Shian transferred all the eunuchs to make room and asked someone to notify Jia Lian to take over.

Jia Lian brought craftsmen to take over the land. The place was very large, covering two thousand acres, instead of the agreed one thousand acres.

Jia Lian took out the land lease receipt he had prepared, signed and stamped it, made two copies, and kept them separately.

Before Qiu Shian left, he said meaningfully, "It's not easy for Lord Jia either!"

Jia Lian didn't understand at that time, and by the time he understood it, it was already after the Spring Festival.

The craftsmen entered the site and spent a day surveying the terrain. Then a large number of people arrived and started the renovation project. There were originally hundreds of farmers in the village. Each family signed an agreement to help with the work in the village and get paid. In just five days, the renovation of the farm was completed, and only the outer wall had not been built. But it doesn't matter, this can be done slowly. First, plant the vegetables as soon as possible, and you can still produce a season of vegetables. You don't have to rush next year. This year was really neglected, and I really didn't think about it for a while.

Qiu Shi'an was very cooperative and dispatched a thousand people from the Imperial Stables to the scene to help build the wall, which greatly accelerated the progress of the wall-building.

The cold wind from Siberia swept across the capital, and the first snow of winter fell. The snow lasted for a whole day and night.

The situation in the capital city was much better this year. There was such a heavy snowfall that it crushed a house in the city. The people from the Five Cities Bingmasi worked for a whole day to clear the snow and resettle the affected people.

Jia Lian was busy all day, took a hot bath in the evening, and talked with Wang Xifeng and others after changing his clothes. When he came back, Xiren and Qingwen greeted him. Xiangling was reading a book on the bed and warming the bed. When Jia Lian was changing his clothes, Qingwen whispered, "Second Master, can you let Sister Xiangling teach you fewer words every day? My son is stupid and learns slowly."

Jia Lian raised his head, looked at Xiangling and asked, "What's going on?"

Xiangling glared at Qingwen fiercely, and Xiren explained in a low voice: "Xiangling said that everyone in the study must be able to read. Qingwen is illiterate, so Xiangling taught her to learn fifty words every day."

Jia Lian understood and said with a smile: "There are only about 3,000 commonly used characters. If you learn ten a day, you will have learned them all in a year."

Xiangling twisted her mouth but said nothing. It was too cold, so Jia Lian lay down early to rest. When Xiren and Qingwen returned to the next bed to do needlework, Xiren said to Qingwen, "You have such a dexterous hand, why can't you learn to read?"

Qingwen didn't say anything, but pricked up her ears.

After blowing out the lights, Jia Lian realized that Xiangling was wearing a bellyband. She came up to him steaming hot and reached out to explore.

(End of this chapter)