Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 371: Women Are More Proud Than Men

The palace city of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Qianyang Palace.

It was August, the hottest time of the year in Shenjing City.

On both sides of the emperor's desk, there were two blue copper ice jars inlaid with fish and dragons offering auspiciousness. They were filled with crystal clear crushed ice, emitting milky white cold air, which eliminated the heat around the desk.

Since the beginning of summer, Emperor Jiazhao implemented two new policies, reducing the tax-free land of officials and gentry and changing the population tax to a tax based on land.

After suffering a lot of opposition and criticism from both inside and outside the court, the Court of Inquiry, which had been silent for a long time, once again became a sharp weapon in the hands of the emperor.

In the end, the new law was forcefully implemented in various places at the expense of the future and reputation of five senior officials of the old party. By the beginning of August, the land tax collected into the national treasury had increased by a full 40% over the previous year.

However, Emperor Jiazhao did not have time to rejoice over the smooth implementation of the new law and the remarkable results it achieved.

The Dali Temple, through interrogating important criminals, revealed that Zhou Zhengyang, the commander of the Jinling Guard, was involved in a major case involving the Water Supervision Bureau, and escaped when the court was trying to find him.

Later, the incident of Zhou Zhengyang led to a series of repercussions, including leaks of secrets in the Dali Temple and the Five Military Commandery, and seven officials from the Ministry of Personnel were involved in performance appraisal fraud.

The capital was in turmoil, and everyone in the court and the public were watching with awe. The achievements and pride that Emperor Jiazhao had just enjoyed due to the implementation of the new law soon disappeared.

Since the beginning of summer, the weather has been hot, government affairs have been tiring, and various things have come one after another. The emperor's mood has been fluctuating violently, making him irritable, mentally exhausted, and physically unwell.

When Zhou Junxing of the Court of Inquiries solved the two cases of leaking secrets from the Dali Temple and cheating in the performance appraisal by the Ministry of Personnel with lightning speed, Emperor Jiazhao's anxious and angry mood was slightly eased.

However, as Jinling was the secondary capital of the Great Zhou and a key location for the six states and one prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River, the root cause of the major case at the Jinling Water Supervision Bureau had not been resolved for several years and had always been a hidden worry in the heart of Emperor Jiazhao.

It was not until the Minister of War and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court recommended Jia Cong to go to Nanjing to assist in investigating the case that Emperor Jia Zhao saw hope of resolving the deadlock.

Ever since the day Jia Cong entered the palace to make a report, he had pointed out that Zhou Zhengyang, as the chief officer of the Jinling Guard, was involved in a major case involving the Water Supervision Department, and this had become a matter of public attention.

Moreover, this man is a third-rank military officer, holding a high position of power in Nanjing, and the people and relationships involved are complicated. If we send a large number of personnel to Nanjing to assist in the investigation, we will definitely alert the enemy and achieve little.

Therefore, he advised Emperor Jiazhao to avoid the important issues and change the direction, first carrying out routine rotation of officials in the Jinling Guards, the Water Supervision Bureau, the Maritime Customs Bureau and other government offices that had close external connections.

Cut off the official connections that may be related to Zhou Zhengyang, inhibit the spread of information, and provide greater convenience for the strict investigation of Zhou Zhengyang's case.

Some other preparations for a rainy day were also listed one by one. After obtaining the approval of Emperor Jiazhao, they were implemented by the Ministry of War and the five military camps respectively.

On the second day after Jia Cong entered the palace, several imperial edicts related to the memorials submitted that day were issued one after another.

Not long after, according to the news sent back by the spies of the China Railway Department from Nanjing, and the routine reports sent by Yang Hongbin of the Dali Temple.

All of these fully demonstrate that Jia Cong's thinking and planning on that day have achieved the expected results.

At this time, Guo Lin stood in front of the imperial desk and opened the secret letter that was urgently sent by the Imperial Chariot Division from Nanjing. His slightly shrill but extremely clear voice echoed in the empty hall...

"As of the day of the report, all the rotating officials of the Ministry of Personnel in the capital have taken up their posts, and the garrisons of Jinling, the inspections of shipping ports, and the patrols of Jinling waterways have greatly improved the work style.

Within the city, thieves who stole away at the crack of cockcrow have stopped their activities; outside the four gates, illegal shipping activities have been strictly investigated and rectified, which is a great improvement compared with the previous situation.

New officials in various government offices have sorted out previous affairs, checked and made up for omissions, and investigated 23 old officials who had violated the law. They have been handed over to the Dali Temple for investigation and prosecution... "

After hearing the contents of the secret letter, Emperor Jiazhao's gloomy expression gradually relaxed and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

Cutting off the branches before dealing with the main thread not only facilitates the investigation of Zhou Zhengyang's case, but is also a powerful way to reform the officialdom of Jinling, killing two birds with one stone.

At such a young age, Jia Cong is not only extremely talented in firearms, but also outstanding in military affairs and strategic in coordinating political affairs. His experience is no less than that of Gu Yankui, a veteran official with many years of experience.

Emperor Jia Zhao thought about this, he heaved a sigh of relief, and asked, "Yesterday Shi Ding reported to me that the Five Army Battalions had sent troops to escort five new artillery pieces to Nanjing. When will Jia Cong set off?"

Guo Lin replied, "Your Majesty, it will rain tomorrow and the boats will not be able to sail. Jia Cong will go to Nanjing the day after tomorrow. According to Your Majesty's order, I have made proper arrangements with the Nanjing Carriage Division and have also explained it to Jia Cong."

……

Jinling, Longtan Port Terminal.

Wang Weian, the deputy director of the Maritime Customs who was in charge of the inspection, had just been transferred from Shenjing by the Ministry of Personnel.

Although he knew that the Zhen family had deep roots in Jiangnan, and that the head of the Zhen family, Zhen Yingjia, was the president of the Jinling Provincial Tiren Academy.

The Zhen family also has an old Concubine Dowager Zhen who holds a high status in the palace and is by no means comparable to ordinary merchants.

But Wang Weian was an official newly transferred to the Maritime Customs, and he had no personal connections or conflicts of interest in Nanjing, so he did not have too many concerns about the Zhen family.

The reason why the Zhen family merchant ship was seized was that the clerks under Wang Weian found three brand new Rumi guns and an Englishman with incomplete identity documents on the ship.

Because places like Nanjing, Suzhou and Yangzhou were the richest in the world, with many wealthy businessmen and powerful families, and they lived a luxurious and enjoyable life, they had the habit of hunting with muskets for fun.

It was common for wealthy families to secretly possess one or two firearms. Therefore, it was not uncommon for ships to smuggle advanced Western firearms and sell them privately to powerful people in an attempt to make huge profits.

However, ever since the Great Zhou established the Firearms Department and promoted the use of firearms to strengthen the military, the imperial court has issued orders to all prefectures and cities to strictly prohibit the private possession and smuggling of firearms.

However, if no more than three Western barbarian firearms are found to be smuggled, the banned firearms will be confiscated and the perpetrator will be fined ten times the amount in silver. If more than three are smuggled, the perpetrator will be sentenced to imprisonment for a serious crime.

Ever since firearms proved their power in the battle against the Jurchens in Liaodong, the price of a brand new Western-style Rumi gun has risen to two hundred taels of silver on the black market.

The three brand new Rumi guns seized from the Zhen family merchant ship were worth six hundred taels, and the fine was ten times that, which means a fine of six thousand taels.

This is an unaffordable amount for ordinary merchants, but even considering the wealth of the Zhen family, it is not a small amount.

This is also the reason why after the imperial court issued a ban on firearms, very few merchant ships dared to take the risk of smuggling firearms.

If the number of smuggled items exceeds three, the person will be sent to prison and charged; and if the number is smaller, once the items are seized, the person will be fined ten times the amount, which is not worth it.

Therefore, Wang Weian guessed that this Zhen family merchant ship must have been at sea for several months, and therefore was unaware of the recent changes in Jinling City.

They must have done this kind of thing a lot in the past. The officials of the Maritime Customs who were originally responsible for port inspections were probably in collusion with them or bribed by them...

Now that the port garrison officials have been replaced, they were caught off guard and fell into a trap unexpectedly.

Wang Weian had just been transferred to Nanjing and had no local interests involved at all. Naturally, he had no taboos and did things according to common sense and rules.

……

Jinling, Mingdefang, Zhen family mansion.

The most senior person in the Jinling Zhen family is naturally the old Concubine Dowager Zhen in the palace.

The oldest lady in the family, Mrs. Zhen, is of the same generation as Lady Jia and is the niece-in-law of the old Dowager Concubine Zhen in the palace.

Old Lady Zhen had two sons. The eldest son, Zhen Yingjia, was the head of the Zhen family. He served as the president of the Jinling Provincial Tiren Academy, a high-ranking official with little power. He was rewarded by the court because of the noble status of Old Lady Zhen.

The second son, Zhen Yingquan, did not inherit the official position. Since the imperial court established the Maritime Customs Office in Nanjing and opened up maritime trade and shipping, Zhen Yingquan was in charge of the Zhen family fleet and participated in the maritime trade, earning a huge amount of gold and silver for the Zhen family.

Unfortunately, Zhen Yingquan was a talented person. Three years ago, he went out to sea with his boat for business and disappeared. Since then, there has been no news. Judging from common sense, he must have died in an accident. Zhen Yingquan had only one daughter, Miss Zhen San, who was raised in the palace and accompanied the old Concubine Zhen.

After learning the bad news about her father, Miss Zhen San returned to Jinling from the capital to accompany her widowed mother.

Relying on her close relationship with the old Concubine Zhen in the palace and the favor of Old Lady Zhen, and with her extraordinary talent since childhood, she managed the business left by her father in an orderly manner.

……

On this day, she went to pay her respects to the old lady early in the morning as usual, and then returned to her own yard to do some work. Of course, she was not doing the needlework and embroidery that ordinary girls did.

The maid at the second gate would bring business accounts and documents for Miss Zhen San to check and review, and then add some annotations before sending them outside the second gate for processing.

She was still wearing a green dress, with her long black hair neatly combed into a bun. She only wore a pearl hairpin and no other hair accessories, but she could not hide her extraordinary, beautiful and graceful figure.

But at this moment, her beautiful eyebrows were slightly frowned. Miss Zhen San had not been in a good mood this morning.

Therefore, the maid from the second gate just brought in a receipt for withdrawing 6,000 taels of silver from the public treasury. The receipt was signed by my third brother.

Even though the Zhen family is a wealthy family, six thousand taels is by no means a small amount of money. Miss Zhen San naturally wanted someone to find out the reason.

Later, Manager Chen, who was in charge of withdrawing the silver, reported that it was the Third Master who had transported three brand new Rumidor guns on a ship, along with an Englishman with incomplete identification documents, who were discovered by officials from the Maritime Customs at the port.

The identity document of the Baiyi person is easy to obtain. All you have to do is pay the head tax and get the document reissued.

However, the three brand new Rumi guns were contraband. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Maritime Customs, they had to be confiscated on the spot and a fine of 6,000 taels of silver was imposed.

According to the manager Chen, the musket was used by a nobleman for hunting, and he asked the Third Master to buy it in Xiyi. The Third Master probably took on this task because he was unwilling to give face.

But Miss Zhen San was a meticulous person and did not believe everything that Manager Chen said.

This Manager Chen used to be my father's right-hand man, but now he is very close to the third brother in the family.

Today, the imperial court is vigorously developing firearms to strengthen the military, and the control over civilian firearms is becoming increasingly strict.

My third brother is too eager for quick success. Who can guarantee that this is his first time transporting muskets? Now there are three muskets. If the number exceeds the limit, it will not be surprising if he is accused of treason.

Thinking of this, her brows frowned and she put down the brush in her hand with a dull look. Could it be that girls are inferior to boys? No matter how outstanding she is, this will be her final outcome?

……

She knew very well why Chen, the capable steward under her father in the past, had changed his ways and deliberately gotten close to the third brother of the eldest wife. It was just to leave a way out for himself in the Zhen family.

Miss Zhen San is about the same age as Yingchun and has passed the age of coming of age. Since Zhen Yingquan's whereabouts are unknown, she has taken over the business left by her father.

These businesses are the source of the Zhen family's wealth. It is absolutely unreasonable to let an unmarried girl manage them.

But Miss Zhen San is smart and intelligent, and ordinary men can't compare to her at all. Those children of the Zhen family who have some talents pale in comparison with her.

In addition, the eldest son of the Zhen family inherited the family's blessing and became an official, and officials were not allowed to do business, at least on the surface.

The Zhen family's maritime trade business was created by Miss Zhen San's father, and it played a great role in the family's wealth.

The first wife is an official, while the second wife is a businessman, and there is a clear distinction between them.

Therefore, Miss Zhen San's management of the business on behalf of her father is justifiable in terms of justice.

Moreover, the greatest dignity and pillar of the Zhen family is the old Concubine Dowager Zhen in the palace. Miss Zhen San was sent to the palace by the Zhen family since she was a child to accompany the old Concubine Dowager and was raised in the palace for four years.

Old Concubine Zhen loved this great-granddaughter from her natal family, who had outstanding character and appearance, like a treasure.

If Zhen Yingquan had not gotten into trouble, Miss Zhen San would have returned to Nanjing to serve her parents out of filial piety, and thus missed the marriage dates of several princes.

Old Concubine Zhen might be able to mediate and help the Zhen family have another princess.

With such a strong backer, Miss Zhen San has an extraordinary status in the family, and Old Lady Zhen also values ​​this granddaughter very much.

Therefore, Miss Zhen San has been managing the family business for three years. She has made decisions on her own and achieved remarkable results. No one in the family dared to gossip about her.

But women are still women after all. After they reach the age of 15, they have to get married. A married daughter is like spilled water. How can she manage the family business again?

Even Old Lady Zhen, who had always loved her, could not refute this logic, and even the old concubines in the palace would not say anything.

Miss Zhen San is extremely beautiful and talented, so she naturally has high standards and would not even consider marrying into her family's household.

These days, killing is the only way to get the upper hand. Men who are willing to marry into a woman's family are desperate. There are no good people among them.

Therefore, in the past two years, with the approval of Old Lady Zhen, the third young master of the Zhen family from the first house began to participate in the management of the business...

During this year, Miss Zhen San's mother had been bedridden for a long time and was unable to take care of affairs, so the wife of the first wife was very enthusiastic about her marriage...

However, everyone knew the backgrounds of the children of the noble families in Jinling. Most of them were well-off and wealthy, so how could they escape her eyes?

The wife of the first wife began to set her sights on Baoyu, who was born with a jade in his mouth from the Jia family, a family of old friends in the capital. Later, she felt that Weiyuan Earl, who was granted the title of Marquis at a young age, was much more outstanding.

This time, she went to Shenjing with me to pay homage to the old empress dowager, and also brought her second sister, who became the Princess of Beijing, to visit Madam Jia. She really wanted to marry herself off as soon as possible.

Everyone in this world knows how outstanding the young earl is.

Even though the mistress of the house was in a hurry to send me out, she still wanted to maximize the benefits of my marriage and add prestige to the family. She was really good at calculating.

But that day in Shenjing, Jia Cong happened to enter the palace, and the two men did not meet.

On the second day, the palace suddenly issued an imperial decree to rotate officials in important government offices in Nanjing.

The way of doing business has always been to avoid being involved with the government. Miss Zhen San asked herself whether the things she handled were careful and prudent, and she had not done anything illegal that could be used as a sore spot for others.

However, after her cousin got involved in the business, he acted too eager for quick success and instant benefits, and the family business has been in danger in the past two years.

Miss Zhen San was worried that the rotation of officials would have an impact on the family business and ruin her father's life's work, so she found an excuse and hurried back to Jinling with the first wife.

I thought that the capital and Nanjing were far apart, and the tricks of the mistress of the house would always fail. If I didn't get married, no one could do anything to me.

After all, Jia Cong is famous all over the world. If he can really succeed, he will not find a reason to refuse. Otherwise, he will be gossiped about by others.

However, he did not expect that the emperor's second edict was to ask Jia Cong to go to Nanjing on official business. It was really a narrow road for enemies to meet.

When Miss Zhen San thought about this, she felt a little depressed. She walked to the bookshelf, took out a red silk brocade box, took out a beautifully bound scroll, and slowly unfolded it with her slender hands.

A vivid and elegant aura of brush and ink, as if tangible, comes towards you and makes you feel awe-inspiring.

The first two sentences are as sharp as a sword or a halberd: The Yangtze River rolls eastward, and its waves wash away all heroes...

The corners of her pretty and attractive mouth were slightly pursed. Is it possible that in this world only men can be heroes, and women are only fit to rot in the boudoir...!
(End of this chapter)