Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 435 Li Yuan who thinks too much
Wang Xifeng looked around to see that there was no one around, and lowered her voice: "It is said that Xue Pan transported a shipload of Western goods to the capital. When unloading at Tongzhou Wharf, someone discovered opium on the ship and reported it to Shuntian Prefecture. Why it alarmed the Second Prince, I really don't know. Now he is also imprisoned. He has been fined, but he has not suffered any punishment. I am just afraid..."

Jia Lian waved his hand, interrupting Wang Xifeng's continuation: "Don't say more, the Xue family is the Wang family's money bag, what's the big deal if I ask for help? In the future, you should stay out of the Xue family's affairs and don't take all the money."

Wang Xifeng was not happy to be told this, but she did not refute him. She muttered, "Aunt Xue promised 10,000 taels!"

Jia Lian's face turned pale with anger, and he stood up and said angrily, "Just take care of the affairs at home, don't ask about the affairs outside, and don't use my name to show off outside in the future."

Wang Xifeng's face suddenly turned dark and she lowered her head without saying a word. Now the Wang family is not as powerful as before. Wang Ziteng is in Guangdong and Guangxi, and the Wang family’s words are not effective in the capital.

"I've already taken the money." Wang Xifeng muttered, and Jia Lian's face turned even uglier: "Give it back!"

The next day, when Jia Lian was on duty, Jia Rong came stealthily with a very mean smile on his face: "I heard earlier that Xue Da's head was taken by the Second Prince. He didn't even think about it, what's the big deal about being a royal merchant? Without the protection of Second Uncle Lian, he is nothing in the capital with the strength of the Wang family. Others don't make things difficult for him out of respect for Second Uncle, and the Second Prince won't buy that."

"Okay, stop gloating over other people's misfortunes. Go to Shuntian Prefecture to see him and save face." Jia Lian did not dwell on this issue. Jia Rong was unhappy to hear this: "Why?"

Speaking of relatives, Jia Rong is even more distant from the Xue family, with no blood relationship at all. In the past, Jia Lian and Xue Pan were somewhat useful, so they took him to play, but now he is nothing.

"There is silver for discussion of the crime. Xue Pan will not be sentenced severely. At most, he will be fined. If he is convicted, his qualification as an imperial merchant will be revoked. The Xue family's channels are still of some value. You can go there once and use the channels to sell goods. In the future, you can slowly develop your own channels. The Jia family has quite a few people in Jinling. Pick a few who are suitable and bring them up slowly." Jia Lian pointed him out, and Jia Rong finally understood.

After leaving Jia Lian, Jia Rong went to Shuntian Prefecture. The reputation of Ningguo Prefecture was not very useful because there was Rongguo Prefecture next door, and there was Jia Lian inside.

Back then, Jia Lian was a ruthless man who dared to commit violence in Shuntian Prefecture, and the yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture had memories of him.

In addition, Jia Rong was generous, so naturally he had a smooth journey. When he entered the prison and met Xue Pan, this guy really didn't look like he had suffered much, but he looked sad and miserable, which made people want to laugh.

Jia Rong thought to himself that he could not laugh and had to hold it in.

With a look of concern, Jia Rong issued an "earnest" greeting: "Brother Xue! I'm here to see you."

Xue Pan spent money to live in a single room, which should have been better, but since he was arrested by Li Yuan himself, the jailers did not dare to mess around. They just kept him in a normal cell, a little cleaner, and covered the floor with straw. At this moment, Xue Pan was sitting on a pile of straw with a sad face. When he heard the cry, it was like hearing the sound of nature. He jumped up and grabbed the railing: "Is Rong Ge'er here to rescue me?"

Xue Pan was a little disappointed that he didn't see Jia Lian, but at the same time he was a little relieved. He was not stupid. If Jia Lian really came, he would not be able to face Jia Lian in the future.

"I do want to, but this is because of the Second Prince's relationship, so I don't have the ability to do it. You, just stay here peacefully, you won't be tortured during the court session. I'll think of a way and work hard outside, and when the money is spent, I'll be able to get out safely." Jia Rong was not really thinking about his money. It was mainly because of Xue Pan's crime of smuggling opium, which was not a serious crime in the government of the Great Zhou Dynasty. If Li Yuan hadn't gotten involved, at most his goods would have been confiscated, and he would have been fined and released, but he would not have been sent to prison at all.

"Is that so?" Xue Pan's disappointment was evident in his words. Jia Rong just came to curry favor with him. He asked someone to open the door, paid the jailer to help him change the room, and invited Xue Pan to have a drink.

"I really didn't expect that the second prince would get involved." Xue Pan drank a few glasses of wine and began to sigh.

Jia Rong had inquired about the news before coming, and found out that much of Li Yuan's income had come from the housekeeper helping to smuggle opium and collect the money.

The steward of the palace was greedy and arranged for people to grow opium. As a result, he was impeached and his source of income was cut off.

Now Xue Pan was also dealing in opium. When the palace steward learned about it, he immediately instigated Li Yuan to take action.

Li Yuan also felt that this was an opportunity to express his attitude to his father, so he quickly led his men to capture Xue Pan.

Li Yuan went to the palace early in the morning just to discuss Xue Pan's smoking opium.

After listening to Li Yuan's report, Emperor Chenghui was quite surprised: "This Wang Ziteng, I have allocated funds to buy ships, why is he still doing this?"

Li Yuan knew that the matter should not involve the provincial governor, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "It may not be Wang Ziteng's intention. Maybe Xue Pan saw that it was profitable and acted on his own initiative."

Emperor Chenghui thought, did the Xue family offend you? Then he thought about it again, and he immediately understood the matter of the housekeeper of the palace growing opium, and he was expressing his feelings here.

"You should hurry up and try the case. The Xue family is a royal merchant, so don't torture them. Also, the mistress of the Xue family is a daughter of the Wang family. The Wang family has gone too far by marrying into the Jia family. The Jia family will not look good."

After going around in circles, they are all relatives. This is not the fault of the Jia family. After all, they believe in a good match. Civil officials are not willing to marry nobles, and only nobles can marry each other. Look at the Wang family, they have to marry a merchant like the Xue family. Although they are imperial merchants, they are also merchants. Think about it carefully. The Xue family was the merchant of Taizu. During the reign of the emperor, the head of the Xue family died, and then they went from strength to strength and became the money bag of the Wang family. Old things came to his mind, and Emperor Chenghui also knew that Taizu really wanted to promote the Xue family.

After receiving the confirmation, Li Yuan said goodbye and went back to prepare for the trial.

Upon learning that the Jia family had come to see Xue Pan, Li Yuan became more cautious. After confirming that it was not Jia Lian who came, he felt relieved.

He used to look down on Jia Lian, but now he cares about him. However, since they had no contact before, he could only find opportunities to improve their relationship. In contrast, Li Heng was ahead.

According to Li Yuan's information, the relationship between Li Heng and Jia Lian was all about official business. He was thinking, should he send someone to give Jia Lian a message?

Jia Lian was the emperor's right-hand man, trusted and favored minister, so it was inappropriate for him to offend him too severely.

After thinking it over again and again, Li Yuan decided to go to the cabinet first to ask for a meeting with Zhang Tingen.

Zhang Tingen is not like Kong Zhao and Liang Daoyuan, who openly refuse to associate with the prince but secretly send their cronies to make friends with him.

After Li Yuan fell into trouble due to the Royal Bank incident, many of the ministers who used to surround him became somewhat distant from him, which taught Li Yuan a lesson about the fickleness of the world.

Li Yuan met Zhang Tingen smoothly and politely said, "Li Yuan greets Prime Minister Zhang!"

"Your Highness, there is no need to do this!" Zhang Tingen did not dare to accept his full greeting, so he dodged to the side, which was considered a half-greet.

Li Yuan did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point of talking about Xue Pan's case of smuggling opium, and also told Emperor Chenghui's explanation.

Zhang Tingen immediately understood that Li Yuan was afraid of Jia Lian, and felt very emotional. When had Jia Lian ever been in Li Yuan's eyes?
It is not a good thing for Jia Lian to be able to make Li Yuan afraid.

"Since His Majesty has given instructions, then we will enforce the law impartially. I have too many things to do, so I won't leave you alone." Zhang Ting'en did not leave any handles, and was directly fair to the public. At the same time, he also hinted that since His Majesty has given instructions, why are you coming to me? I am not a powerful official, but you have made a fuss like this, and I have become a powerful official.

Li Yuan hadn't realized that his behavior was inappropriate, and he was sent away. After a slight pause, he folded his hands and said goodbye. Zhang Tingen replied coldly: "No need to see you off!"

After leaving the cabinet, Li Yuan felt something was wrong, so he went back to the palace and met his most trusted aide, Li Bingnan. Li Bingnan was a juren who had failed in the imperial examinations many times, so he took up an official post and was arranged to be the chief clerk in the palace.

After Li Yuan explained the situation, Li Bingnan immediately lamented, "Your Highness is confused. How can you go to see Prime Minister Zhang? You must know that the cabinet ministers, the six ministries and nine officials, must avoid suspicion after leaving their posts and must not interact with each other. Among the cabinet officials of this dynasty, only Fang Baiyi has violated the taboo. Your Majesty will know the current situation of the Fang family." What is the current situation of the Fang family? Let's put it this way. As a family of scholars, the Fang family has no children who have even passed the imperial examination.

Did he fail the exam? Not necessarily. The Fang family still has many talented people. The problem is that several candidates from the Fang family came for the imperial examination, but all of them failed. The same was true for the provincial examination. Now it is said that even the academy examination is difficult. Although the royal family is quite fond of old officials, the local officials are all shrewd people. They know that Emperor Chenghui does not like Fang Baiyi. They personally sent Fang Baiyi away.

Li Yuan understood what was said and said, "No wonder Prime Minister Zhang looked unhappy. It turns out he misunderstood me and implied that he was a powerful official. I clearly wanted to tell Jia Lian a message."

Li Bingnan said quickly, "Your Highness, don't feel bad about it. It's not a big mistake. Just be careful in the future. But Jia Lian is not a member of a party. Your Highness doesn't need to deliberately make friends with him. He is a very smart man. He was born as a top scholar and can lead troops. No matter how people see him, he is a lone minister. What's the point of making friends with the prince? People outside say that Jia Lian is a member of Zhang's party. They are all fools. Jia Lian can only be a member of the emperor's party."

This was a very subtle statement, reminding Li Yuan not to compete with the emperor for ministers. Of course, if Li Yuan really succeeded, the position of the most trusted aide would probably not be a matter for Li Bingnan.

Li Yuan felt quite regretful and had to go back to work and interrogate Xue Pan in court.

Upon learning that Xue Pan had been drinking, Li Yuan did not care and had the prisoner brought to the court.

In the hall, Xue Pan took all the responsibility and said that he smuggled opium because he wanted to make money.

Li Yuan did not torture Xue Pan. Seeing Xue Pan like this, he arranged for him to sign and seal the case. The case was considered to be tried clearly. He immediately asked the Shuntian Prefecture Tongpan beside him how to convict him.

The Tongpan was a shrewd man. He reminded Li Yuan that Xue Pan was an imperial merchant and was treated the same as an official when involved in the case. He could be dismissed from office and the case could be closed by paying silver to discuss the crime.

Li Yuan asked the judge again how to punish him.

The magistrate is so annoyed. This is your case, and you want me to make all the decisions and take the blame, right?
But he had no choice. Although Li Yuan was not his superior, he was actually his superior.

In the end, the judge gave a less offensive sentence: a shipload of opium was worth 50,000 taels, so the opium was confiscated and a fine of 100,000 taels was imposed. The family was also required to be dismissed from office as a warning to others.

After he finished speaking, the judge remembered a mistake and broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly added, "Your Highness, allow Xue Pan to spend money to retain his status as an imperial merchant."

How can I put it? The official was dismissed, but his social status remained. The imperial merchant lost his status and became an ordinary merchant. This was a matter of great offense.

Offending Xue Pan is a small matter. What if his relative Jia is unhappy and finds out that it was the judgment of the Tongpan and looks for a chance to retaliate? What should we do then?

Jia Lian was really wronged. He clearly did nothing, but people would think that Jia Lian would not stand idly by.

All we can say is that relatives should protect each other, and this is human nature as everyone understands it.

When Xue Pan first heard the judge's words, he felt bitter in his heart. Without his status as an imperial merchant, he would no longer have the convenience of doing business in the future, and the value of the Xue family's existence would be greatly reduced.

After a sudden turn of events, when the judge supplemented the verdict, Xue Pan thought to himself: It must be the Jia family who made the effort.

Xue Pan silently remembered in his heart that feelings should be expressed with money, and he would have to give the Jia family some money in return.

Xue Pan paid a heavy price on this trip. Not only did he lose a shipload of cargo, but he was also fined 100,000 taels. In order to maintain his status as an imperial merchant, he accepted the fine of another 100,000 taels.

Xue Pan was very decisive. He asked someone to collect the money, paid the fine that day, and released him in the evening.

After being released from prison, Xue Pan did not even go home, but went straight to the Jia family.

Aunt Xue was worried here, Jia Lian was unwilling to help, but the Wang family went out to make efforts, but they ran into several obstacles in a row. Not to mention saving people, even Xue Pan was seen.

Just when Aunt Xue was secretly complaining that Xue Pan was confused and clung to the Wang family, causing Jia Lian's dissatisfaction, and she was resentful that the Wang family took the money and did nothing about it, Xue Pan appeared at the gate of the Jia family regardless of his own embarrassing image.

Aunt Xue was overjoyed upon hearing the news and hurried to see Xue Pan. After the mother and son met, Xue Pan said to his mother, "Let me go and thank you for saving my life first."

Aunt Xue was stunned after hearing this, her mind was a mess. She took Baochai and followed Xue Pan to Jia Lian's courtyard.

Wang Xifeng, because of Jia Lian's favor, pretended to be unwell today and lay at home. She was thinking that Jia Lian was unhappy because of the Xue family's affairs, and she had to find a way to make up for it.

How to make up for it? Hey, that enemy is a lecher. There is a pretty good-looking mandarin duck next to the old lady. Should I go and ask for it? Also, Jinchuan and Yuchuan next to the second aunt are also quite pretty.

While Wang Xifeng was daydreaming, Jia Lian came home from work. Upon learning that Wang Xifeng was lying down feeling unwell, he came to see her.

Jia Lian had just entered the house when Qiaojie saw him. She ran away unsteadily and hugged her thighs: "Daddy is here, play with me."

Jia Lian softened immediately, picked up his daughter, teased her, and talked to her for a long time. Wang Xifeng felt relieved when she saw this. She used to think that she couldn't live without a son, but now she knows that her daughter is the trump card to deal with Jia Lian.

Jia Lian played with Qiaojie for a while and wanted to have dinner with her. Wang Xifeng then "struggled" to get up. Just as she was about to say a few words to Jia Lian to ease the relationship, someone at the door reported that Xue Pan and the mother and daughter of the Xue family wanted to see her. Wang Xifeng was stunned and looked at Jia Lian. Seeing that he didn't seem to care, he continued to chat and laugh with Qiaojie as if nothing had happened.

Jia Lian was also feeling very strange. How could he come out so soon? Second Prince, you should stand up.

Of course, Jia Lian concealed it very well, with no change in expression on his face, and he still had a smiling face as he accompanied his daughter.

Seeing that Jia Lian did not move, Wang Xifeng quickly asked someone to come in to avoid being rude. After all, they were still relatives, and they had to save face.

After getting permission, Xue Pan strode into the room, leaving the mother and daughter behind him. When he entered the room, he saw Jia Lian accompanying Qiaojie, who didn't even look at him. Wang Xifeng had a confused look on her face, as if she knew nothing.

Xue Pan stepped forward and knelt down before Jia Lian, saying, "Second Brother Lian, you have forgiven me and helped me. Xue Pan is very grateful."

Jia Lian paused, still not looking at him. At this time Aunt Xue and Baochai came in. When they saw this scene and heard Xue Pan's words, they were both shocked.

After all the fuss, it was Lian'er (Lian's cousin) who came to the rescue. Actually, the real relatives were Wang Xifeng, Jia Lian and the Xue family, which was really a stretch.

Even so, Jia Lian still managed to do it without making any noise, and had no intention of reporting his achievement in advance.

When Jia Lian saw Aunt Xue and Baochai coming in, he stood up and bowed to them, without looking at Xue Pan who was kneeling on the ground.

(End of this chapter)