From the Red Mansion, you can travel through the world of martial arts

Chapter 355 Arrears
The next day, when it was still dark, Jia Wei climbed up from Qin Keqing's bed, went back to the courtyard to take a bath, changed into official clothes, and rode towards the imperial city.

They arrived at the Meridian Gate at 9:00 a.m., and when the drum sounded on the city wall, the ministers lined up. Jia Wei, being a first-class marquis who also served as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards and the governor of the Beijing Camp, naturally stood in the front row of the military officers.

Behind him was Wang Ziteng, the inspector of nine provinces. When the clock struck 1 a.m., the palace gates opened and all officials entered one by one, trotting to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to show their respect for the emperor.

Although Jia Wei was rewarded with a court horse, he was not given the treatment of "not having to run when entering the court", so he could only trot along, like a performance art.

It wasn’t the first time that Jia Wei attended court. He went there as naturally as punching in at work. After being impeached, he was too lazy to remember the official title of the person he impeached... because there were too many people to remember them all.

Today was the early morning court session on the first day of June, but Emperor Xuanwu seemed a little tired and the court session was dismissed in less than two hours.

Afterwards, Jia Wei went to the Jinyi Yamen to work. He waited for the imperial guards to come in with a message before leaving. He happened to meet Lin Ruhai at the gate of the imperial city.

"What a coincidence, Uncle Lin, we meet here." Jia Wei said with a smile, "What's the progress of recovering the deficit in the national treasury? Why don't we go to Uncle's house and have a chat?"

Lin Ruhai pointed at him, smiled and shook his head: "It's only a few days, why are you in such a hurry?"

Of course, he could see what Jia Wei was thinking. Now that the wedding date of the two families was approaching, it was not easy for Jia Wei to go to the Lin residence, but he had official business as an excuse, so that was another matter.

Jia Wei also smiled, not feeling embarrassed at all, and rode his horse all the way following Lin Ruhai's sedan chair to Buzhengfang.

Jia Wei dismounted in front of the third house in the alley. It was a large house with five courtyards in front and back. It was originally the residence of college students, so of course it was spacious and solemn.

When Jia Wei arrived at the door, he smiled and said, "Father-in-law, this is very popular with the emperor. I will just wait for you to rise to prominence and then take advantage of you."

The residence of a Grand Secretary can naturally only be awarded to the Grand Secretary to live in.

Although Lin Ruhai is currently only the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, his future has already been determined in front of the emperor, and he will be able to enter the cabinet in the near future.

Such royal favor was both envied and resented by the whole court and the public. Jia Wei's remark that "the emperor's heart is simple" was of course very accurate.

Lin Ruhai stroked his beard and sighed, "You know my body well. Even if God gives me a great mission, I may not be able to accept it. But the emperor has shown great favor, and we can only repay him with all our efforts."

Jia Wei praised his father-in-law again before going deeper into the mansion and into the study.

Although this official residence is not as spacious and luxurious as the Salt Administration Office in the south of the Yangtze River, and lacks some elegance, it adds a heavy and majestic atmosphere.

There is also a small garden in the backyard, but the Lin family and others are used to the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, so this garden is certainly not to their liking.

The Lin family was originally wealthy, and had the support of the two Jia families. The furnishings in the house were luxurious. Although Lin Ruhai was an honest official, he was not a pedantic and hypocritical person, and he knew how to enjoy life.

Based on this analysis, if Lin Ruhai could live to see him rebel in the future, even if he would not help him, he would never hinder him, and Jia Wei would be satisfied.

The father-in-law and son-in-law sat down in the study. The maid who came in to serve tea was actually Zijuan. While Jia Wei was talking to Lin Ruhai, his eyes were glancing at her.

"Yesterday I checked the deficit in the national treasury. Since the current emperor took power, the princes and ministers have borrowed a total of 3.7 million taels of silver. It's really shocking." Lin Ruhai said with a frown.

"No wonder there was an uproar in the government and the public when the news of the recovery of the deficit in the national treasury came out a few days ago... Your Majesty is giving us a life-threatening task."

Zijuan was pouring tea for Jia Wei. When she heard this, she frowned and looked at him with concern.

Jia Wei smiled, patted her hands and said, "Don't tell Sister Lin about these things, so she won't worry. Of course, it's not that serious, it's just a little offensive."

Zijuan blushed, lowered her head, and left the study. Jia Wei looked at Lin Ruhai who was sitting above him and said, "Father-in-law, do the Rong and Ning mansions owe you money? If so, I will have someone pay it back immediately."

"The Rong and Ning mansions didn't borrow any money," Lin Ruhai shook his head, "but the Shi family owed 70,000 taels, the Wang family owed 50,000 taels, and the Zhen family in Jiangnan owed even more, a total of 420,000 taels."

The Shi family, the Wang family, and the Zhen family are all old relatives of the Jia family, so Lin Ruhai mentioned them specifically.

"Then let's start with them, so as not to give others an advantage." Jia Wei certainly had no affection for these three families. "Father-in-law, don't worry about the Zhen family's affairs. The Jinyiwei will handle it."

Lin Ruhai frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

"Although His Majesty asked my father-in-law to only recover the debts owed since he took power, he wrote a note asking the Royal Guard to be responsible for recovering all the debts owed to the treasury by several families."

"The Zhen family is among them?" Lin Ruhai asked in surprise, "When the previous emperor was in power, the Zhen family received him on several southern tours, and they were also responsible for building the imperial palace. If you count them, the Zhen family owes at least three million taels of silver. How can they pay it back?"

"As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints new ministers. If you can't pay back the money, you can only wait for your property to be confiscated." Jia Wei said calmly, "The Prince Zhongshun's Mansion is also included. Father-in-law will hand over the debt owed by the Prince Zhongshun Mansion to the Jinyiwei."

The Zhen family is a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River, and Prince Zhongshun has even more power in the court. It is easy to imagine how difficult it would be for Jia Wei to collect the debts owed to these two families.

But he was calm and indifferent, as if he didn't care at all. Lin Ruhai was very satisfied with Jia Wei's decisiveness and calmness in the face of adversity.

"I'll ask someone to do it tomorrow." Lin Ruhai said, "The situation in Prince Zhongshun's mansion is sensitive, so you'd better be cautious."

"Thank you for your advice, father-in-law."

After a detailed discussion, Jia Wei heard that Zhao Zongxian was already in charge of the salt administration reform in the four salt producing areas of Changlu, Zhejiang, Hedong, and Shaanxi-Gansu, and he paid attention to it for a while...

After that, Jia Wei didn't want to have dinner at the Lin Mansion. After saying goodbye to Lin Ruhai, he left the study and prepared to sneak to Daiyu's yard, but he saw Zijuan waiting outside the yard.

Jia Wei walked forward with a smile and took Zijuan's hand, "Are you waiting for me?"

Zijuan was frightened and quickly dodged, saying: "Tell me what you want to say, and I will pass it on to the girl."

When Jia Wei heard this, he knew that he would not be able to see Daiyu today. "What do you want me to say to Sister Lin in person?"

"I'm talking nonsense again. How can you two meet now? It won't sound good if you tell others about it."

Seeing Zijuan's serious face, Jia Wei took her hand again and walked to the dark side.

"Then come with me and I'll tell you."

Because they were at the Lin residence, Zijuan didn't think about what Jia Wei would dare to do, so she followed him and entered an alley.

"Speak quickly, the girl is waiting..."

Jia Wei hugged Zijuan's slender waist tightly and tasted her carefully.

Then he grabbed Xuezi and transformed himself into a pastry master.

A wanton kneading.

(End of this chapter)