Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 256 Crying Poor
Jia Dairu was very pleased to see this prosperous situation.

You must know that this situation has not happened for many years. The last time this happened was when Jia Daishan was alive.

At this time, Jia Zhen, who received the news, also hurried over with Jia Rong.

When he saw Jia Dairu, he felt like he was seeing his biological father. He walked forward quickly, knelt down and kowtowed.

When Jia Dairu saw it, he quickly stepped forward and helped him up, "Why should a family be so polite?"

Jia Zhen kept her attitude very low and replied respectfully: "You are my grandfather's generation. No matter how polite Zhen is, it is not too much."

Although Jia Dairu said that the courtesy was too much, the lines on his forehead opened when he smiled, which showed how much he enjoyed this situation.

After that, Jia Zhen and others brought Jia Dairu and Jia Rui to the main hall, and then invited Jia Dairu to take a seat.

After Jia Dairu said a few humble words, he happily sat in the middle, stroking his beard.

After that, Jia Zhen and Jia Rui accompanied them on both sides. As for Jia Rong, he didn't even have a seat and could only wait on him.

"Things are busy this year. I am the officiant by myself, and I am a bit overwhelmed. So I asked Brother Rui to do me a favor and join me in officiating the ancestors."

This matter had been discussed in advance, so Jia Rui did not refuse and said with a smile: "This is really something I wish for. Being able to worship my ancestors as the chief priest is more than I could ask for."

"Then it's all down to Brother Rui."

Next, Jia Zhen began to introduce the process and rules of ancestor worship to Jia Rui.

And Jia Rui listened humbly.

Just when the atmosphere in the room was pleasant, a boy came in hurriedly.

Jia Zhen was very angry when she saw this boy.

Why are you so blind?Didn't you see that you and Jia Rui were happy?Are you going to die if you come in now?
Jia Zhen's eyes were already piercing the boy's body like knives.

The boy might have felt a chill in his body, so he tightened his clothes involuntarily.But he quickly remembered the business, so he quickly took out a post from his arms and wrote an account.
"Master, here comes Wuzhuangtou from Heishan Village."

When Jia Zhen heard about this incident, she calmed down her anger slightly, but she still said in a bad tone: "This old beheader just came today."

As he spoke, Jia Rong next to him gestured.

Jia Rong hurried forward to take the invitation, took the account, and respectfully handed it to Jia Zhen's hand.

Jia Zhen first took the greeting card and read it. The writing on it was quite elegant. It seemed that the old beheader had hired someone.

I saw the white post saying: "My lord, Zhuangtou Wujin, is a filial piety, and I wish you all the blessings and blessings to my master and grandma, and to the young master and his wife. May you be blessed with great happiness and prosperity in the new year, may you be honored and safe, may you be promoted to a higher position, and may everything go well."

Jia Zhen smiled and said to Jia Dairu, who was sitting on the table: "This farmer can still say some auspicious words."

After saying that, he picked up the account book again and started watching.

I only saw the words above: "Thirty big deer, fifty deer, fifty pigs, twenty Siamese pigs, twenty soup pigs, twenty dragon pigs, twenty wild boars, and domestic wax pigs." Twenty, twenty wild sheep, twenty green sheep, twenty domestic sheep, twenty domestic sheep, two sturgeons, two hundred catties of various miscellaneous fish, two each of live chickens, ducks and geese One hundred, two hundred chickens, ducks, and geese, two hundred pairs of pheasants and rabbits each, twenty pairs of bear paws, twenty kilograms of deer tendons, fifty kilograms of sea cucumbers, fifty deer tongues, fifty ox tongues, Twenty kilograms of dried razor clams, two bags each of hazelnut, pine, peach, and apricot stalks, fifty pairs of large prawns, two hundred kilograms of dried shrimps, one thousand kilograms of silver frost charcoal for the best grade, two thousand kilograms for the medium grade, and thirty thousand charcoal. Jin, two stones each of royal rice, fifty husks of binuo, fifty husks of white glutinous rice, fifty husks of pink rice, fifty husks each of variegated rice, one thousand shi of regular rice, one cart of various dried vegetables, and take-out rice. Grain and livestock can be exchanged for 500 taels of silver each. The filial brothers and sisters of the outer sect are obedient: two pairs of live deer, four pairs of live white rabbits, four pairs of black rabbits, two pairs of live golden pheasants, and two pairs of Western ducks."

After reading it, Jia Zhen's face looked a little ugly, but it was not easy for him to get angry in front of Jia Rui Jia Dairu.

So I could only say to the boy below with a stiff smile: "Call this old guy in."

The boy ran out crawling after hearing this.

Then he handed the account book in his hand to Jia Dairu who was sitting in the middle, "Old man, please take a look, the people below are fooling me into thinking I am a fool!"

Jia Rui, who was sitting aside, looked at Jia Zhen as if watching a play.

This Jia Zhen really thinks of herself as a fool. How can such a household matter be taken to the surface?

This is obviously a competition with himself, saying how poor his Ningguo Mansion is. Doesn't that mean that he wants Jia Rui to help them?
Jia Dairu flipped through the account book in his hand. He was not as unworthy of him as Jia Zhen imagined. Instead, he was shocked and stunned.

He didn't expect that Ningguo Mansion would have so much income. No wonder he was richer than Jia Dairu back then.

To put it into perspective, Jia Zhen's current income is only a drop in the bucket compared to Jia Rui's.

However, Xue Baochai has always been in charge of the accounts of Jia Rui's family. Jia Dairu is only responsible for food, drink and expenses, and does not care about anything else.

Because of this, Jia Dairu has not realized how rich his family is.

For a moment, Wu Jinxiao came in and kowtowed in the courtyard to say hello.

Jia Zhen also wanted to give the old man some face, so he first confessed to Jia Dairu, then stood up and walked to the yard. "You're still tough."

Wu Jinxiao smiled and replied: "Thanks to you, I can still walk."

Jia Zhen said: "Your son is too old. It's time to let him go for a walk."

Wu Jinxiao smiled and said: "To be honest, the young people are used to walking around, and they will feel bored if they don't come. Aren't they all willing to come and see the world at the feet of the emperor? They are young after all, and they are afraid of making mistakes on the way. You can rest assured in a few years.”

Jia Zhen said: "How many days have you been gone?"

Wu Jinxiao said: "As for me, it has been snowing heavily this year. There is four or five feet of snow outside. It suddenly became warmer the day before yesterday, and it was very difficult to walk on the road. I was delayed for a few days. Although I walked for a month and two days, , because the days are limited, I am afraid that I will be anxious, so I won’t rush here.”

Then Jia Zhen's tone tightened a little and she said: "Let me tell you, why did you come here today? I just saw that there were fewer people on the list than last year. This year you, an old guy, came to the ring again."

Wu Jinxiao hurriedly took two steps forward and replied: "Master Hui said that this year's harvest is really not good. It started raining in March and continued until August, but it didn't have sunny days for five consecutive days. In September A hailstorm as big as a bowl traveled nearly [-] miles, injuring thousands of people, houses, livestock and food, that's why it happened. The little ones didn't dare to lie."

Jia Zhen looked at Wu Jinxiao, her eyes getting sharper and sharper, "You old guy don't tell the truth."

After saying that, he ignored Wu Jinxiao, turned around and entered the room, and said to Jia Rui who was sitting there: "Brother Rui, you are in charge of court affairs. Tell me, there is really a big disaster in Liaodong." ?More than 300 miles without any harvest?"

After hearing this, Jia Rui smiled and said: "I didn't hear the people below reporting it. If it is really like what you said, this is a big deal and the court cannot ignore it."

Jia Zhen nodded after hearing this, walked outside again, and said to Wu Jinxiao, "Did you hear me?"

Wu Jinxiao didn't know who was sitting in the room, and he felt a little nervous, but he still managed to say: "This gentleman is in the capital and doesn't know what's going on over there. Maybe he hasn't heard about it."

Jia Zhen was really annoyed after hearing this. She stepped forward and kicked the old guy down, then pointed at his nose and said:

"Do you know who is sitting there? This is the Qilin of our Jia family and the chief minister of the dynasty. If such a big thing happens in Liaodong, can we hide it from him?"

Wu Jinxiao was really frightened this time.

He didn't expect that the capital would undergo such big changes in just one year.

What was even more unexpected was that the Jia family, which had started to decline, would turn upside down again.

If he had known that there would be such a change, he would not have dared to make a false report even if he was beaten to death.

But the hardest thing to buy in the world is the medicine of regret, and it’s too late to regret it now.

Wu Jinxiao could only lie there and kowtow.

Jia Zhen walked back and forth for a few steps, then kicked Wu Jinxiao down and pointed at him and said, "Pay me 5000 taels of silver first, or I will let you go to the Yamen."

"Yes, yes, I will pay for it right away, I will pay for it right away."

Then Jia Zhen spit hard and asked the servants to pull him out.

After handling these matters, Jia Zhen returned to the house, first confessed to Jia Dairu again, and then said: "In the past few years, the income of each village has been worse than the previous year. In the past two years, even the old man has been affected." Ben."

Jia Rong, who had been silent for a long time, came over and said, "Not only is this the case here, the Second Aunt Lian in Xifu is also planning to steal your things from the old lady's warehouse and sell them for money!"

When Jia Rui heard this, he almost laughed.

Wang Xifeng is now an out-and-out little rich woman. She earns 5 to [-] taels of silver every year just from smuggling. How could she do such a thing?

But Jia Rui didn't point it out and just watched the father and son acting here.

Jia Zhen and Jia Rong talked for a long time, but Jia Rui didn't reply a word. The father and son looked at each other, and finally they could only open the skylight and speak frankly.

"Brother Rui, you see it's so difficult for me here, why don't you do an errand for me?"

After hearing this, Jia Rui shook his head like a wave drum in his heart.

Jia Rui knew Jia Zhen very well. If he became an official, the local people would be in trouble.

Moreover, if he becomes an official, it will be a big obstacle to his reputation, so he cannot agree to this matter.

"Brother Zhen, I don't have the final say in this court, so this matter is not easy to handle."

Jia Zhen was a little anxious, "Brother Rui, you see Lian Er is also an official outside. I heard that Shi Nai, the Marquis of Baoling, also begged you. Why can't he come to my brother's place?"

Jia Rui pretended to be very helpless and said: "Baoling Hou Shi Nai, I am not the only one involved, others have also submitted memorials to protect the memorials. I am just pushing the boat along, but it will be a bit troublesome for me to work hard alone when I come to you." .”

(End of this chapter)