Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 58
  Alone, with a long follower, on the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the sunshine was unexpectedly good, so I strolled back, with erratic steps, and my figure lengthened under the setting sun. If there was some background music, "Friction, friction, the devil's steps" ", full of dynamics!

Jia Lian was actually in a good mood. If the suggestion hadn't been so effective, Zhang Ting'en wouldn't have lost his temper and run away.

It was really a run, a quick trot out the door.

At the gate of the East Crossing Courtyard, Jia Lian met Jia She, who was carried out of the carriage and was very drunk.

"Alas!" Jia Lian sighed and added silently in his mind, "Why don't you get drunk to death by this old guy?"

Zhang Tingen's trip to seek an audience went very smoothly. When Emperor Chenghui heard that he had something important to report, he immediately had someone bring him in.

Empress Zhou had no temper at all and didn't dare to have one. She had to send the emperor out of Kunning Palace and watch him go to Qianqing Palace.

When the monarch and his ministers met, Zhang Ting'en saluted and then stepped forward to present the dipped book: "Your Majesty, please read it."

Emperor Chenghui was obviously startled after taking the notebook. What the hell is this?
  "Your Majesty, look from left to right!" Zhang Ting'en promptly reminded him, and Emperor Chenghui hummed in understanding.

There were only three pages in total and less than 2,000 words. Emperor Chenghui read it very carefully. This thing could be used in conjunction with coinage.

Jia Lian first talked about how to do it, setting up several pilot cities, with the head office in Beijing, Nanzhili, Suzhou, and Yangzhou, and branches in Tianjin, Ningbo, Shanghai, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou where the shipping companies are located in five cities. In other places, we will decide whether to fully promote it based on the results of the pilot.

At present, it only has these three functions: attracting depositors, issuing currency (silver dollars, copper coins), and exchanging money in different places.

The benefits are obvious. You can control the flow of large sums of money. Once cross-regional remittance is promoted nationwide, it will be easier to collect commercial taxes.

Here Jia Lian also emphasized that the commercial tax model of the Zhou Dynasty was very unhealthy. The value-added tax model should be adopted and a special tax department should be established instead of leaving the tax revenue to local governments in order to save a little salary. This is also the reason why the land of Liangjiang still owes huge taxes even though the taxes are not high.

Jia Lian's suggestion didn't mention a word about how to distribute the benefits. This was something he couldn't touch.

After Emperor Chenghui read it carefully, he rubbed his eyes and said, "My dear, if you follow this policy, how much can your income increase each year?"

Zhang Ting'en hesitated for a moment, thinking quickly in circles, and finally gave a cautious and conservative figure: "Your Majesty, if the execution is carried out well, it should be possible to increase the annual income by tens of millions."

When he heard Qian Qian, Emperor Chenghui's eyes turned red and his breathing became rapid.

"What kind of bad luck did Marquis Jia En have!" Jealousy made Emperor Chenghui look ferocious! Swear!

"Yes, the wild ideas can still come to fruition. Are there really geniuses in this world who are born with knowledge?"

Zhang Ting'en was also very emotional, how did this student's brain grow? You can think of such a way!
  It's outrageous!
  Emperor Chenghui returned to normal, pointed to one of the sentences and said: "Look at this sentence, financial management is the foundation of the country! Once any dynasty has a financial crisis, it means that the problem is already very serious, and the crisis of financial bankruptcy is not far away."

Jia Lian did not use such shocking sentences as "not far from the fall of the dynasty", because he knew that Emperor Chenghui must have seen it.

"Your Majesty is wise, I believe that the Central Bank has a lot to do. If this matter is completed, it will greatly alleviate the financial difficulties of the imperial court. Although Jia Lian is young, he cannot reason with common sense." Zhang Ting'en is still a very competent teacher, and he does not forget to give Jia Lian showed his merits, and of course, his own benefits would not be left behind.

"Well!" Emperor Chenghui pondered for a moment and then said, "Shall I arrange an errand for him?"

When Zhang Ting'en heard this, he became anxious and quickly persuaded: "Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate for Yinmeng to be an official. This son is determined to take the imperial examination. He has the intention of inheriting the wishes of his ancestors and has his own confidence in the imperial examination. Furthermore, Rongguo Mansion has already We have Jia Zheng."

Persuasion is very implicit, what does it mean? Back then, the Jia family had a seed for studying. Jia Jing was a Jinshi. After his father died, he let himself go. He found a lot of charges for himself without the Supreme Emperor taking action, and finally went to Xuanzhen Temple. There is also Jia Zheng, who is recognized as a reading seed. He does not like anything else except reading. As a result, when Jia Daishan was dying on his death bed, the Supreme Emperor summoned a fairy from heaven and gave Jia Zheng a fifth-rank official. This cut off Jia Zheng's opportunity to take the imperial examination and become the prime minister.

The reason why the Supreme Emperor did this was because the Jia family was too powerful and had to be suppressed.

Nowadays, the Jia family is not as good as before, and it has fallen to the situation of sending daughters into the palace to find opportunities. The specific situation now is that Jia Lian is a genius. Once his path to the imperial examination is cut off, how can we expect Jia Lian to sincerely work for the emperor? When you are in a hurry, and someone claims that he is sick and is completely ruined, you wouldn't say that he is resisting the order, right?

"Well, he's still a scholar, that's true." Emperor Chenghui desperately wanted to find a job for Jia Lian, but now it seemed unrealistic. If people are in a hurry, rabbits will bite people when they are in a hurry. Especially since Rongguo Mansion now has two scholars in its hands, they have vaguely seen the hope that Rongguo Mansion will take the road of civil service and revive again. It is really hard to say that the consequences will be cut off.

"Your Majesty, this matter should not be taken seriously. The best thing to do is to deal with it slowly." Zhang Ting'en persuaded again, but Emperor Chenghui still listened. He nodded and said, "That's fine. I'm not in a hurry. It's okay to show kindness first."

Zhang Ting'en's heart fell, it was settled, the deal was reached, and Jia Lian's rural examination was at least a good candidate.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty!" Zhang Ting'en once again flattered him sincerely!

"My original intention was for Aiqing to go to Jiangning to serve as the governor of Liangjiang, to rectify the local area and collect the owed taxes. Now it seems that I can only take advantage of the cabinet adjustment. Aiqing can only stay in the capital, serve as the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, and focus on the central bank. One thing."

Zhang Tingen understood what Emperor Chenghui meant. The teacher was in trouble, and the students couldn't watch, right? When giving a candidate, first look at your work attitude. If your attitude is good, it will be a matter of course for you to be a Jinshi next year. If you don't work well, even if you have the ability, the emperor will depose Jia Lian's Jinshi, and it will only be a matter of one sentence.

The emperor's power can be unlimited under the current system, which means that the emperor can cheat!
  Even if the examiner takes the Huiyuan of your examination, the emperor can fail you.

Ancient emperors dared to call themselves "sages", so what else could they not dare to do? What else could not be done?

The position of governor of Liangjiang is also very attractive. After all, the governor is the largest on the ground. The Great Zhou Dynasty is not the Ming Dynasty. There is no backup team like the Southern Zhili, and there is no noble family like the Xu family who can take advantage of both the north and the south.

From a career point of view, it is undoubtedly more advantageous to be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and he is temporarily unable to join the cabinet, but this is a necessary resume for joining the cabinet.

Taizu of the Zhou Dynasty learned the lessons of the previous Ming Dynasty, abandoned the unspoken rule that non-Hanlin officials could not join the cabinet, and formulated the explicit rule that "prime ministers must start from prefectures and counties." Officials who have never served as county magistrate or prefect are not eligible to join the cabinet. In layman's terms, one must have grassroots work experience. There is also an unspoken rule, that is, cabinet ministers must have served as a minister. The reason is very simple. If you are a governor in a state or county, you will be responsible for the overall management of one party. If you are a minister in the capital, you will be responsible for the overall management of a department.

Combining his experience as a senior officer, after joining the cabinet, he knows the rules for the operation of local departments and central departments.

"State affairs are of paramount importance, and it doesn't matter if I suffer a little hardship." Zhang Ting'en quickly accepted Emperor Chenghui's words and stayed in the capital to serve as the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, which was much more difficult than serving as the governor. The reason is very simple, because the issue of clearing debts has already offended a lot of people. When the central bank is established next, Zhang Ting'en will definitely be the first to take the lead. He will still be the one to do the things that offend people.

When the emperor wants to do something, he does not mean to say it directly at the court meeting, but calls his trusted ministers in advance to discuss various possible situations in private, then thinks of countermeasures, and finally the trusted ministers submit a memorial. , get it discussed openly. This discussion is to inform that the ministers will not madly oppose anything decided by the emperor as long as it does not harm their own interests.

"My dear, who can be the governor of Liangjiang, a heavily taxed land?" This is a private consultation. The more serious situation should be to discuss a few candidates in a small group within the cabinet, and finally the emperor will make a decision.

Now that the cabinet has not been adjusted due to the Chinese New Year, Emperor Chenghui asked Zhang Ting'en first. Naturally, it was because he was unprepared due to personnel adjustments. He asked first to see if he had any suitable recommendations.

"Please allow me to think about this matter. I will report it back to Your Majesty during the sixth dynasty meeting."

"That's fine. I, the monarch and his ministers, will have a serious discussion today on how to improve the central bank system."

……

When Jia Lian returned home, he saw Li Wan waiting here and expressed surprise: "Sister-in-law, what's the matter?"

"My mother-in-law asked me to invite Uncle Lian." Li Wan didn't look very good-looking, and he was pregnant. He was ordered by Mrs. Wang to send a maid here, couldn't he? Do you have to let a pregnant woman go?
  Jia Lian can understand what Mrs. Wang means. Isn't this just because she is afraid that Jia Lian will not give her face and give her an excuse not to go?
  why? There is something wrong in my heart!

Is there anything that we can’t say when we say New Year greetings in the morning? It’s nothing more than a trip to the Wang family tomorrow!

The marriage between Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng was arranged by Mrs. Wang. The initial idea was very realistic, that is, after Wang Xifeng came in, he would take over as the housekeeper of Mrs. Wang without delaying Mrs. Wang's command. In this regard, Mrs. Wang is still very confident. In the novel, Mrs. Wang also plays this way. With Wang Xifeng in the front, Mrs. Wang's actual rights are not affected at all.

Now the situation has changed. Jia Lian is no longer the dissolute second master Lian who didn't like to study.

The worst outcome is that Jia Zhu will make no progress in the imperial examination, while Jia Lian will make some achievements. After Wang Xifeng enters the door, with an official husband like Jia Lian behind her, can Mrs. Wang still be able to handle it?

In any case, face matters must be maintained. The rules for going to the mother-in-law's house on the second day of the new year. Jia Zheng and Jia Lian have the same destination. They must discuss it beforehand. However, Jia Zheng is a nerd who doesn't care about anything. Jia Lian can only do it for the time being. Going alone, Mrs. Wang had no choice but to discuss with Jia Lian.

Women and men think differently, and in Mrs. Wang’s view, many things must be taken into consideration.

For example, if the gifts on both sides really need to be ranked high and low, what should Jia Lian do if he makes a fuss? At that time, everyone will look bad, and making jokes will be the fun of the whole capital during the New Year. In the past, no one cared whether Jia Lian made a fuss or not, but now Jia Lian is very scary when he makes a fuss. Legend has it that after Jia Lian made a fuss, his chief minister resigned, and several classmates dropped out of Qingyun Academy.

People who cannot see the truth of the problem will feel that Jia Lian's destructive power is too great and must be faced squarely.

Don't look back. Jia Lian started to make a fuss without saying anything. Jia Zheng's official position was affected, and the official position of the Wang family was also implicated.

Are you afraid? I'm really scared, especially for someone like Mrs. Wang who has a ghost in her heart!
  "I just came back. Sister-in-law Zhu will go back first and let me freshen up. Then I will go see my second aunt immediately."

Jia Lian was very considerate. Regardless of Li Wan's identity, the fact that she was a pregnant woman made Jia Lian lose his temper at all.

Otherwise, Mrs. Wang is vicious?

When talking about Mrs. Wang's viciousness, we have to mention Jia Mu's old-fashioned cruelty, which is vividly reflected in Xiren.

Just because Xiren secretly took refuge with Mrs. Wang and did not report it to Jia Mu beforehand when he returned home, Jia Mu caught him doing something unruly and kicked him out of Jia's house. Mrs. Wang tried her best to deal with her, and she had no power to resist in front of the big mountain of her mother-in-law.

Li Wan was also worried that Jia Lian would not give him face. After receiving such considerate words, he immediately smiled and said blessing: "Then I will go back first. Uncle Lian won't send it off." Jia Lian did not turn sideways this time, but gave it away: " Walk slowly!”

After Li Wan had gone far away, Guixiang came over to speak. She gritted her teeth and whispered in Jia Lian's ear with great disdain: "The Chinese New Year instructs a pregnant woman to pass the message, so she can bully the daughter-in-law at home."

"Don't say this kind of thing. Don't be afraid of spreading it. I'll find an excuse to beat you to death while I'm not at home. What do you want me to do then? Are you going to fight her to the death?" Jia Lian said in a flat and protective voice. What blows in Guixiang's heart is the warm spring breeze.

Guixiang silently swore in her heart that if someone gossips about the second master behind his back in the future, I will scratch her face.

There is one thing that Jia Lian knows very well: the people around him must be protected. If the people around you are not unanimous, you can still hope that you can win people's hearts and do things with you when you go out in the future.

It's said that Jia Lian doesn't have any lofty ideals, but he can't help you. After you really embark on an official career, if you want to live a comfortable life and don't want to be criticized, you have to win people's hearts and take a strong route.

When Mrs. Wang received Li Wan's reply, a stone fell in her heart. As the Qingyun Academy incident unfolded, people began to spread rumors in private. Mrs. Wang heard many versions of it in the Shenzhai Courtyard.

Jia Lian was so cruel outside, so he asked Mrs. Wang if she was afraid!
  From the time Jia Lian began to study seriously to the present, these things have accumulated little by little, from the initial vigilance, to the later awe, and now to the fear. Mrs. Wang's mental journey these days is not uncomplicated.

"You go back and have a rest. It's the Chinese New Year, so don't be tired." Mrs. Wang dismissed Li Wan with one sentence. On the way back, Li Wan was in a mixed mood. After many years of being a daughter-in-law, this was just the beginning, and Some are still struggling.

When he arrived at the inner house, he heard vague sounds between men and women. Li Wan looked at the young man at the door with his head bowed like a quail, and felt sad!

(End of this chapter)