Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 76 A lot of hard work

Time flies into March, and one month has passed in Jia Lian's Imperial College career.

Compared with the learning environment of Qingyun Academy, the environment of the Imperial College has not improved, but has become worse.

In Qingyun Academy, there are still a few young classmates who can be friends or something like that. In the Imperial College, there are more adults around. There can be thirty-four students enrolled in Yinjian, but there are very few who come from powerful families. In Jia Lian's class, there are thirty students from civil servant families. Among the remaining four, one is Jia Zhu. The other two usually ignored Jia Lian.

The reason why the two nobles ignored Jia Lian was simply because they did not want to offend the crown prince of Dongping County.

It can be seen that the first choice for descendants of noble families is to join the army. The decision of Jia Daishan's generation to abandon martial arts and embrace literature showed that the Jia family had two Beijing-based military envoys, and even the emperor's close associates were seriously suspected.

As for the children of civil servants, they ignored Jia Lian. The blame for Fang Baiyi's dismissal as prime minister was placed on Jia Lian.

In the Imperial College, Jia Zhu didn't talk much to Jia Lian. Although they were cousins, they were like ordinary friends.

In fact, Jia Zhu didn't want to see Jia Lian come to the Imperial College to study. He stayed in the same place every day. His every move would probably be in Jia Lian's sight. This is very annoying!

Jia Lian didn't mind being isolated by his classmates. As long as he didn't use force, he was a bunch of insects and didn't bother to talk to them.

Jia Lian in the Imperial College is really studying peacefully. There is a library here. Many books used to be bought with money, but now you can read them at will. For a month, in addition to regular classes, Jia Lian spent time in the library. His main reading content was selected articles from historical literature.

What is missing is supplemented. Isn’t this a lack of experience in writing eight-legged essays?

The teacher Zhang Ting'en is also very responsible. Every month when he takes a bath, he will ask Jia Lian to review the articles. After one month, Jia Lian's level of eight-part essays has improved by leaps and bounds. Zhang Ting'en can't help but sigh. According to this learning progress, I don’t dare to think about being in the top three in the provincial examination, but I have a great chance of being in the top ten.

Jia Lian had classes as usual that day, and would take a bath in a few days. The Wang family had already contacted him, and the spring outing had been arranged.

Recently, due to writing (copying) story books, the progress of the villain book for Wang Xifeng has dropped. It is necessary to take the opportunity of the spring outing to strengthen the PUA for Wang Xifeng.

The classroom is very quiet, but for the sake of indoor brightness, air leaks everywhere in the classroom. It is really painful to teach in this environment.

Jia Lian was wearing thick clothes and had a bamboo charcoal-burning hand stove in his arms and a bamboo charcoal-burning stove at his feet.

The teacher's teaching was very perfunctory. He followed the text and did not say anything about his personal understanding. He just read it once and then finished the get out of class.

They are also supervisors, and supervisors in the shadow supervision class are very unpopular. Jia Lian doubted whether Jia Zhu's studies had fallen behind because of this.

Just when Jia Lian was clearing his desk and preparing to go out for lunch after class, he heard someone making noise outside.

Jia Lian, who liked to eat melons, naturally dropped what he was doing and looked out of the window.

But seeing a group of supervisors looking excited, someone held up a newspaper and shouted loudly: "Li Qing, the Minister of Etiquette, shamelessly flattered people in order to be admitted to the cabinet. He suggested that the proportion of calculations in the scientific examinations should be increased, and officials who are qualified to take charge of the provincial examinations will be assessed in the near future. .”

"Dear classmates! This is intolerable. In order to prevent the efforts of the literati since the Supreme Emperor from being wasted, I am ready to unite and withhold petitions to oppose this policy."

"That's right. Scholars like us should defend the right path and carry on the unique learning for the saints! Let's go together, go together!"

Jia Lian saw that there were human shields, auxiliaries, and C among these people, and he immediately felt that this was a really good team.

Take a closer look at the newspaper. It looks familiar. Oh, it's the "Beijing People's Voice". That's okay.

After turning around and picking up his things, Jia Lian walked out slowly, but was stopped by someone who asked loudly: "Jia Lian, where do you want to go?"

Three or five supervisors also came over, surrounded on three sides. Jia Lian looked at these people and kept walking forward. He said lightly: "School is over. I'm going to buy a copy of "The People's Voice of the Capital". I want to read it." Jin Yong’s new masterpiece.”

A group of supervising students were fussing, and the leader, Jia Lian, seemed to have some impression that he was Chen Congxiao, the candidate who failed in the last election. This guy is from Jiangdong and his family is wealthy. As an out-of-town supervisor, he does not live on campus. Instead, he builds a house outside and is attended by more than a dozen servants. He lives a very comfortable life. He seems to be taking the lead in making trouble, but Jia Lian firmly believes that this guy will hide behind him when the time comes.

"Jin Yongxin, he's just a storyteller who hides his head and shows his tail. Don't you have enough books about saints and sages in the library? You also need to read the storybooks of unknown people." Chen Congxiao seemed to be eyeing Jia Lian. The two of them had no contact with each other. Never said that.

This matter was very abnormal, but Jia Lian didn't want to get entangled with him and continued to walk out. There were three supervisors blocking the way.

Jia Lian's expressionless face twitched his cheeks, and breathed out softly: "Get out of the way!"

The three people had no intention of getting out of the way, but one of them yelled: "Everyone wants to seize the money, why do you leave?"

These three people are all in their thirties or forties, and they are all adults. Jia Lian, a young man, will definitely suffer if he competes with them. Jia Lian rushed behind the three of them and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Sacrifice wine, someone bullies the small, come and take care of it!"

The unexpected abruptness of this voice caused the three people blocking the road to subconsciously step back and get out of the way. Jia Lian quickened his pace and rushed over without giving them any chance to react. A guy rushed to the door.

A group of people looked at Jia Lian's back, but saw no one offering wine, and they immediately knew that they had been tricked.

Chen Congxiao angrily said to Jia Lian's back: "Sooner or later, I'll give him a good look."

At this time, someone spoke sarcastically: "In this capital, Jia Lian is the eldest son of Rongguo Mansion!"

Everyone looked over at the sound and found that the person speaking was actually Li Shouzhong, the imperial wine minister. The scene suddenly fell silent.

The old gentleman was on duty today. When he heard the commotion and came out to see the farce, he couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Li Jijiu and Jia's family are related by marriage, so they naturally help Jia Lian speak for themselves." Chen Congxiao slapped him directly.

Li Shouzhong didn't get angry even after being contradicted. He still said calmly: "I heard that the ancestral home of Dongping County Prince is Taicang. I wonder what your relationship is with the Taicang Chen family?"

Li Shouzhong, who usually seems to be a humble gentleman, is fine if he doesn't take action, and if he takes action, it is his killing move.

This sentence was so powerful that everyone was muttering in their hearts. The root of this conflict deserves careful consideration. Chen Congxiao turned out to be a member of the royal family of Dongping County. He usually hid this identity. What was his purpose?

Chen Congxiao suddenly became mute, and Li Shouzhong continued to strike: "If you want to detain Jia Lian, go ahead. What's the point of stopping Jia Lian?"

Chen Congxiao immediately seized the opportunity to counterattack: "Why, Li Jijiu also agrees that I will detain Qie?"

Li Shouzhong was not fooled at all, and immediately replied: "The court has its own rules for right and wrong. You are adults and bear the consequences."

After saying that, Li Shouzhong turned around and put his hands behind his back, and walked in slowly. Chen Congxiao completely turned off the flames and was in a dilemma! Everyone stood there and stopped making trouble. The original momentum was shaken twice, and there were actually signs of disbanding.

As expected, the two distinguished disciples walked away together with a smile on their face, saying as they walked: "Today there is a new issue of "The People's Voice of the Capital", Jin Yong's new "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is in great condition, don't miss it."

As soon as these two people took the lead, a supervisor who had always been displeased with Chen Congxiao said loudly: "It's over, it's over, the celebration class is singing a new play today, and we still have time to catch the opening gong."

After leaving the Imperial Academy, Jia Lian didn't see what happened inside, and felt very bad about eating melon on his own head.

My mood improved when I saw a newsboy carrying a bag on the street surrounded by a group of people wanting to buy newspapers.

Signaling the coachman to stop, Jia Lian came down to watch the scene, and soon dispersed as the newsboy shouted "No more, no more!"

Others complained unwillingly, "You little kid, why don't you memorize a few newspapers?"

The problem of printing on both sides of newspapers has been solved, which shows that the wisdom of the people is endless.

The person who solved the problem was a craftsman. Jia Lian didn't understand technology, so I don't know how he did it. Anyway, there was no big problem when the newspaper was printed. For this craftsman, Jia Lian said that he would give a heavy reward to encourage technological innovation. Jia Lian suggested giving him ten taels of silver, and Li Heng finally gave him twenty taels.

Even at first, Li Heng didn't want to give money, and said that the craftsmen were from the Printing Bureau, and the reward would be paid by the Printing Bureau.

Through this incident, Jia Lian's understanding of Li Heng deepened. Maybe Li Heng didn't feel deeply about it, but Jia Lian clearly felt that he should not have a close relationship with him. At the same time, Jia Lian was not optimistic about Li Heng's success in seizing the throne.

In Jia Lian's view, Li Heng's character has been formed and it is impossible to change it. With such a character and conduct, wouldn't it be a joke to try to seize the direct descendant? Unless God helps and kills all other competitors.

All in all, Li Heng's "Beijing People's Voice" became popular. The sales of the first issue of the newspaper were not ideal. A total of one thousand copies were printed, but only two hundred copies were sold. At that time, Li Heng felt heartache. Fortunately, sales of the second issue soared, and all 500 copies printed were sold out.

The print run of the third issue of the newspaper resumed to 1,000 copies, and it was still sold out in one day. Many teahouses also expressed their intention to deliver newspapers for a long time.

Today is the fourth issue, the second half of the second chapter of the serialized "Legend of the Condor Heroes" Jiangnan Seven Monsters.

Many people who bought the newspaper stood there and read it, and some people read it while walking.

Jia Lian didn't know how many copies were printed today. What is certain is that the newspaper must have been sold out. According to Li Heng's character, he must have the courage to print more copies in such a situation.

It was still early, so Jia Lian was not in a hurry to go back, but rushed to the house rented by the newspaper office.

The carriage hadn't arrived yet, and a group of little kids in front came back to pay and dispersed.

The old janitor at the door of the newspaper office was still shouting from behind: "Remember to come early tomorrow, there will be work to do in the past two or three days."

Li Heng recruited the newsboy according to Jia Lian's instructions, but his treatment was not according to Jia Lian's wishes.

Jia Lian's plan is to find some orphans to be newspaper boys, arrange food and accommodation in a unified way, sell newspapers if they have newspapers, and study without newspapers. There is no requirement to learn how much, just recognize one or two thousand words, and teach some arithmetic along the way, and basic arithmetic is enough.

Li Heng felt that this was too expensive, so he paid directly according to the number of newspapers sold every day. The payment was not all money. If the sales were good, he would be given two cents a day and a meal. If the sales were not good, he would be paid two cents a day. Regardless of food, only two cents a day.

This incident greatly stimulated Jia Lian. It seemed that whether it was a capitalist or a powerful person like Li Heng, it was too much to expect them to realize their conscience and take the initiative to do good.

After watching from a distance for a while, Jia Lian asked the coachman to go back. He would still cooperate with Li Heng to open a bookstore. After all, he had printing channels, but for cigarettes, Jia Lian did not intend to cooperate with him.

After returning home, Guixiang served and changed her clothes. She was not in a hurry to have dinner. Instead, she went to the study first. There was a copy of today's newspaper on the table. Jia Rong arranged for someone to deliver a copy every day.

In today's newspapers, the most important news on current affairs is naturally the content of Li Qing's memorial to increase the proportion of arithmetic in the imperial examination. The matter has actually happened for a while, and the government and the opposition have indeed been struggling for a while. The civil servants led by the cabinet collectively opposed it and impeached it within a month. There can be thousands of copies of Li Qing's book, and if they are piled together, they can bury Li Qing.

Faced with so many memorials, Emperor Chenghui decided to stay in middle school.

Emperor Chenghui, who was very ambitious, hoped that the cabinet ministers could take the initiative to align themselves with him, instead of waiting for him to beat them before choosing to compromise with the imperial power. Regarding this, Zhang Ting'en commented when he was alone with Jia Lian, "Your Majesty is waiting for the cabinet ministers to understand for themselves."

Understand what?

To put it bluntly, it is very simple. Cabinet ministers who cannot be consistent with Emperor Chenghui will not have a seat in the cabinet.

Li Qing looked up from behind, waiting to see who would have the seat under his butt fall off and hit his head.

Therefore, this is not only a so-called move to restore Taizu's old system, but also an extreme test by Emperor Chenghui.

Li Heng was called into the palace, which was very rare for him.

Normally, if you want to enter the palace, you need to hand in a sign and then wait outside. It doesn't mean you can enter if you want.

Today, Emperor Chenghui took the initiative to summon him. Li Heng followed Xia Shouzhong and saw Emperor Chenghui who was walking in the palace.

Li Heng wanted to salute as usual, but Emperor Chenghui raised his hand and said in vain: "No need! Come with me for a walk!"

The flattered Li Heng's legs were shaking, and he staggered a little before he stood still.

Emperor Chenghui didn't seem to notice his son's embarrassment. He slowed down and paced carelessly. When Li Heng followed, he slowly asked, "How are the sales of newspapers today?"

Li Heng couldn't help but said: "Back to my father, two thousand copies of the newspaper were swept away. I decided to print another two thousand copies tomorrow."

Emperor Chenghui smiled, with unconcealable relief on his lips, and nodded slightly: "This newspaper is well run, I just want everyone in the capital to see my hard work."

Li Heng added casually: "My son will live up to his father's hard work."

Emperor Chenghui stopped and turned around, looked at Li Heng with a half-smile and asked, "Oh, where is my painstaking effort?"

Li Heng was stunned, I won't do it! Didn’t I just follow your wishes?

Seeing his son's confused look, Emperor Chenghui smiled bitterly, and did not ask him any more questions, but simply said: "Go and see Queen Mother, she has worked so hard for you."

(End of this chapter)