Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 111
  After listening to Jia Cong's wonderful words and watching some exquisite sword skills, everyone was a little less interested in today's poetry meeting. They still had the energy to criticize poetry, and they all gathered around Jia Cong to ask questions.

"Brother Cong, is this martial arts of yours really what the late Duke Rong taught him in his dream?"

"Brother Cong, how do you write such good lyrics? Do you usually write poems and lyrics at home?"

"Brother Cong, do you have any other poems?"

"Brother Cong, who was the word "伱" written just for? Hehe..."

Zhen Baoyu was completely convinced and no longer had any ambition to compete for the top spot. She smiled bitterly and stepped aside.

Jia Cong was confused by the question and couldn't help but look at Zhen Yuan. When their eyes met, Zhen Yuan avoided it shyly. Fortunately, it seems that this poem was not in vain. At least it made the third lady feel good. .

Suddenly I heard the girl coming to report: "Master, please invite Mr. Cong to meet you in the inner study."

Chu Chan said hurriedly: "I know, you can go. Brother Cong, my husband has come to discuss something with you, so you don't need to stay here with us. It's more important to do your business."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law." Then he led the girl away.

The eldest son of the Zhen family, Zhen Yingjia's eldest son, Zhen Ji.

"Brother Zhen, I'm so polite." Jia Cong stepped into the door of the inner study room and saw a young man in his twenties and seventies standing up to greet him. He hurriedly cupped his hands and said with a smile.

Zhen Ji was tall, fair and handsome, but his lips were as thin as a razor blade and pursed into a thin line, giving people a sense of coldness and unkindness. Based on the information provided by Xu Qing, Jia Cong had already made a preliminary judgment about him.

"Brother Cong, why do you and I need to be so polite? Sit down quickly and have a taste of our Jiangnan tongue?" Zhen Ji said with a smile, beckoning for someone to bring good tea.

Jia Cong didn't know anything about tea. He just took a sip casually and said, "It's really good tea. I've never tasted it before."

"Haha, what's it worth? Take two kilograms with you to eat when you leave. Whenever you want to eat, just bring a message and I will give it to you."

Zhen Ji talked and laughed happily and spoke freely, and he was worthy of being everyone's heir. After all the greetings, Jia Cong couldn't help but feel like he was like spring breeze and regretted seeing each other so late.

Jia Cong chuckled and responded a few words, not bothering to be polite, and said: "Brother Zhen is here to meet you today, but what are your instructions?"

Zhen Ji waved his hand and said: "What are you talking about? You came all the way, and it's time for us brothers to get close to each other and talk about our friendship. Firstly, brother, I have admired the style of my old disciple Long Zhi for a long time. Secondly, it's also for What my brother said yesterday."

Jia Cong automatically filtered out the first half of the sentence and said, "Is there anything difficult about it?"

Zhen Ji sighed: "I don't know about this yet. He has been staying in the Yamen for the past two days and has no time to go home. I sent a letter this morning to inform you, but I haven't had time to take care of this matter yet. But in front of your brother, I can't You’re not being polite.”

"Brother Zhen, please speak." Jia Cong said hurriedly.

"This matter is neither a big deal nor a small matter. I know that this official in our family is just a false position, and his job is just to collect information from civil servants and official circles and report it to the court, nothing more. I respect my old man a little, but it’s just for the sake of the Supreme Emperor. If I am arrogant because of this, and openly issue documents to interfere in local affairs, and it is the salt affairs, this is a bit of a big deal. If word spreads, people will inevitably say The Zhen family is frivolous." Zhen Ji said.

Jia Cong was about to speak, but was interrupted by Zhen Ji raising his hand: "Brother, please listen to what I have to say. What I just said was about one thing. The other thing, logically speaking, given the friendship between our two families, I have worked so hard. Come here in person, no matter how difficult it is, my family must do it if it can be done, and if it cannot be done, we must work hard to do it. I have just lived up to my past kindness, and there is absolutely no reason to shirk it. My precious uncle..." He lowered his voice. .

"Lin Yanyuan is a figure in today's circle and has always been ambitious. But now the Salt Law is decreed by the Supreme Emperor. My family has been blessed by the Holy Emperor. How dare I openly support Lin Yanyuan's reform? At most, our master sees your family's In terms of love, I just pretend not to see you, this is my humble opinion."

Jia Cong secretly thought that it was indeed the case. Zhen Ji said it was his own intention, and it was probably Zhen Yingjia's intention, but he just left some room for maneuver.

"How could I not know Brother Zhen's concerns? Before coming, my uncle had discussed this matter with me in detail. First, my uncle said that the Salt Law established by the Supreme Emperor is a good law that will never be changed. How can it be changed? We will wait for you later. People are afraid that they will not understand the essence of this law and fail in their errands, so how can they dare to act rashly and reform good laws on their own initiative? Isn't this unfaithful and unfilial?"

"Secondly, Uncle Lin's intention was not to let Shibo interfere in local government affairs, let alone to have Shibo endorse him. It was just because Shibo had been pastoring Jiangnan for a long time and had great prestige. Jiangnan would tremble three times when he sneezed.

Therefore, I would like to ask Shibo to send a message, so that the yamen in various places can understand the original meaning of the old law of the Supreme Emperor. They must not take the Yanyuan Yamen seriously, causing the salt law to be deformed and out of shape in the local area, and that is all.

The errand was done, and Shibo had a share of the credit. But if it went wrong, the Liberty Salt Courtyard Yamen would be blamed. I think with Shibo's capable writing style, this tortuous, euphemistic and ambiguous words should not be difficult. "

"Thirdly, Brother Zhen also knows that my uncle is a minister of the emperor. Now that he is asking to come, why not give him a favor so that we can meet each other in the future. I would like to say something disrespectful. Could it be that Uncle Shi only works for the Supreme Emperor? , Aren't you going to do some errands for me today?" Jia Cong said in a low voice.

"This...my brother's words are too serious. My family cannot bear it. No matter whether it is the Supreme Emperor or the present emperor, our Zhen family only has a loyal heart. I am afraid that I will not be able to repay God's kindness in case of death. How can we survive this kind of destruction by heaven and earth?" Heart?" Zhen Ji asked hurriedly.

Jia Cong smiled and said: "You and I have been friends for a long time. I certainly know that Shibo and Shixiong want to serve the imperial court and serve our superiors, but the imperial court and our superiors may not know it. Now is the time to serve, and this matter is not difficult, why not Do it easily?
  Not only did he serve the imperial court, but he did not violate the ancestral law of the Supreme Emperor, and he even sold me a favor to my uncle, which actually had hundreds of benefits and no disadvantages. My little brother, let me say something disrespectful again. The world today is still the world of today. Once the Supreme Emperor becomes emperor in the future... How will the Zhen family live in peace? Please teach me, Brother Shi. "

Zhen Ji was horrified. She didn't expect that Jia Cong had seen so deeply. This was indeed the biggest hidden danger in their family. The Emperor was fine for one day, but if he was gone, there would be big changes. But there was no good way to change this. If they want to change the situation, regardless of whether they will be accepted or not, a casual word from the Supreme Emperor can put them in immediate danger.

Thinking of this, Zhen Ji already agreed with Jia Cong's words in his heart, but he was still holding back on his face, for fear that the favor would not be big enough.

Seeing his eyes flickering, Jia Cong knew that he had already been shaken, so he added more fire and said: "Fourthly, Uncle Lin said that the Zhen family had been in charge of salt affairs for more than ten years before him, and they knew the joys and sorrows involved, and the hard work paid off." , so now local yamen contribute every year.

As long as Shibo Gaoyi helps him this time, the Yanzheng Yamen will ensure that your family's income from salt affairs will not be less than this amount every year in the future. "He said and stretched out an index finger.

Zhen Ji swallowed his saliva and said nervously: "Brother, what do you mean?"

Jia Cong smiled and said: "Brother, why do you pretend to be confused while pretending to understand? How about one million taels of silver?"

Before coming, Xu Qing had already made various calculations and found that the Zhen family's annual profit from the salt business was only 80 taels, so they offered a two-day price of 100 million taels, which would not cause the Salt Institute to suffer too much, but was attractive enough.

Although Zhen Ji had many years of experience, this was the first time he came into contact with such a big business. His heart was beating with excitement. As long as he nodded, he would earn 100 million yuan per year, a full increase of 20 taels. This is not a small number.

Jia Cong looked at him with a smile and cursed in his heart. The Jia family is a bunch of idiots. Their income is only 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a year. They pretend to be rich and refuse to reduce their pomp. How can they be undefeated? However, although the Zhen family has a lot of income, Even if you have a life to make money but not a life to spend, you are not worthy of envy.

(End of this chapter)