Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 446: A Bad Move
Jia Lian also knew that the census was difficult, but what could I say? I was only responsible for making suggestions, and I definitely didn’t care how to solve them.

If it is something that can really be done, Jia Lian will not make suggestions, just do it first.

For example, the use of steam engines. Jia Lian has a group of the best craftsmen who are making them every day.

During the manufacturing process, workers are allowed to use their personal wisdom to create various new equipment, and then use the equipment to produce more equipment, forming a virtuous circle.

The most important thing is to unify the measurement. This is the case with machinery. The higher the processing precision, the better the product will be.

For example, there is only one way to solve the airtightness problem of the breech-loading rifle currently being tested, which is to improve the processing accuracy.

Another problem is the quality of steel. How can this be improved? When the Zunhua Iron Works was government-run, Jia Lian had no good ideas because he was an outsider. Now that it is privately owned, he can make demands.

Of course, Jia Lian did not just make requests, but also gave suggestions, such as adding something to the molten steel, such as manganese or silicon.

If the material problem is not solved, even if there is a suitable machine tool, it will be difficult to function without a cutter head.

It will take some time for now, and we can only do it slowly. The breech-loading rifle currently under testing still uses black powder paper shell bullets.

After Emperor Chenghui discussed with Zhang Tingen and Ning Ke, they could not reach a conclusion for the time being. They finally decided to hold a cabinet meeting to see what everyone thought.

In fact, such a decision probably means giving up. There are many people and many opinions. If the voices of opposition are a little louder, the matter will most likely be delayed.

Zhang Tingen was very concerned about this matter and asked someone to call Jia Lian to his home before leaving get off work.

Jia Lian arrived on time. Zhang Tingen didn't even serve him a cup of tea. He asked directly, "Was it your suggestion to recompile the Yellow Book?"

Jia Lian nodded: "Yes, I think we should recompile the Yellow Book first to see how difficult it is. If everything goes well, we can recompile the Fish Scale Book."

Zhang Ting'en nodded and said, "I knew it was you. No one else could come up with something this difficult. Okay. Go back and don't tell anyone about this."

It’s not that the relationship between master and apprentice has faded, but it’s too casual and there’s no need to be polite.

Jia Lian left happily, saving himself another trouble.

Zhang Tingen sighed heavily. Jia Lian’s suggestion was a good wish.

After leaving Zhang's house, it was Jia Lian's turn to sigh. From Zhang Tingen's expression, Jia Lian knew that the plan was doomed.

Therefore, if you want to solve the problem from the inside, the difficulty is geometric. If you want to improve it, you can basically give up on rescuing it.

Unless there is a vigorous social revolution, but to have a revolution, you must have a guiding ideology. In the current domestic situation, even if someone rebels, the path they take is a cycle of order and chaos.

As for Jia Lian, he rebelled because he had nothing better to do. If he had the energy to rebel, he might as well go out and rob.

In the current Da Zhou, it is difficult to perform internal operations, but it is relatively easy to go out and rob.

Why can’t the problem be solved through improvement?
You don’t have to look too far, just look at the lighthouse country today and you will know.

Happy education is essentially a policy of keeping people ignorant. Confucianism also used the same method of keeping people ignorant as it developed later.

The channel for ordinary people to rise will be basically blocked within a few decades after the country enters a period of stability, leaving only a single-plank bridge, and some people are trying every means to blow up the bridge.

When it comes to the period when ordinary people had the smoothest upward path, in China, it was the 1970s and 1980s.

In Jia Lian's opinion, there is no possibility of improvement in agricultural technology in the current Great Zhou Dynasty. With a population of nearly 200 million, if they want to ease internal conflicts, they must migrate outward.

Jia Lian had no idea about fertilizers, the only thing he knew was that bird droppings on the island could increase production. But the question was, how much bird droppings were there on the island, and how many years could they last?

Moreover, Jia Lian is still a Beijing official, and has not yet been sent to the countryside. If he really goes to the countryside, he can think of digging bird droppings. Increasing grain production is also a political achievement.

As far as the current situation is concerned, Jia Lian probably has no chance of being transferred to another position. Apart from anything else, as long as he leaves, the R&D department will be abolished in two months at most. The cost is too high, and Jia Lian is unwilling to take the risk.

Let me put it this way: a company or a department may seem to be developing very well and achieving good results, but perhaps just by changing the person in charge, the company or department may fail.

There are cases where a business is sold at a low price or even bankrupted for the selfish interests of a small group of people.

Therefore, Jia Lian must keep a firm grip on the R&D department. Now it is just a fifth-rank department, and it seems that anyone can bully it. Without Jia Lian to support it, it will only take a few months for it to be split up and swallowed up.

When he returned home and saw Wang Renshi, Jia Lian gave him enough face, sat down to drink tea with him and exchanged a few polite words.

Wang Ren was as clueless as ever. Seeing Jia Lian talking with a smile, he said casually, "I heard that my brother-in-law and Xue Pan don't have a good relationship. You must know that Xue Pan works for General Wang. For General Wang's sake, we shouldn't bother with him."

Wang Xifeng was standing by, and the smile on her face instantly disappeared with these words. Noticing Jia Lian's expression began to stiffen, Wang Xifeng stood up decisively and said, "Ping'er, collect the tea bowls, it's time for my uncle to go back."

Although he knew that Wang Xifeng was doing this for him, Jia Lian still put on a smiling face: "It's not easy for my brother-in-law to come here, so prepare some good wine and food, and I'll drink a few glasses with him."

Wang Xifeng was relieved, because she was really scared just now. When she first got married, Wang Xifeng could still look at Jia Lian straight in the eye, and always felt that there was no difference between them. As time went by, Wang Xifeng found that she needed to look up at Jia Lian. It was not uncomfortable, but she adjusted her mentality consciously, as if it was natural.

While Jia Lian was changing his clothes, Wang Xifeng told Wang Ren, "The Xue family was able to keep their status as imperial merchants, but the Wang family didn't contribute. Don't talk about the Xue family in front of him anymore."

Wang Ren wasn't really stupid, but he just didn't have that idea in his mind before. Now that Wang Xifeng had explained it, he realized it and nodded: "I see. Isn't this because you want your brother-in-law to help you make a living?"

Wang Xifeng thought for a moment and said, "You can discuss this later at the dinner table. Let him drink until he is happy first."

When Wang Ren faced Wang Xifeng, his mentality actually changed. It was no longer the same as before at home. At that time, Wang Ren had no regard for such a sister.

Now thinking about the fact that Wang Xifeng gave birth to a daughter who was a county lady and a fourth-rank official, her rank in the Jia family's backyard was higher than that of Lady Wang.

The most important thing is to ask for help from others. There is no other way to explain this.

When Jia Lian was changing clothes, his hands were not honest, and Xiren did not hide, but just endured it with a red face. Qingwen next to her turned her face away. Did she think I was blind?
After Jia Lian left, Qingwen murmured to the air: "Why don't you hide for a moment?"

Xiren heard it clearly, but she seemed disdainful of explanation and instead had a proud expression, as if she was already a concubine.

Qingwen felt that Xiren was not up to her expectations, and Xiren felt that she was ungrateful. Especially in the cold winter, Qingwen would take the initiative to avoid warming the bed every time. At the wine table, Wang Ren's attitude changed and he spoke very nicely, although Jia Lian felt a little embarrassed listening to his flattery.

After drinking about half a dozen glasses of wine, Wang Ren spoke: "My father, your father-in-law, is not in good health and has returned to his hometown to recuperate. I should have been by his side, but with such a large family, everything needs money. So I came to the capital to ask for advice from my brother-in-law. You have always been good at business, do you have any good advice for me?"

Jia Lian understood Wang Ren's plan very well, and he also knew that Wang Ren's good plan was to make some quick money. But where could he get a chance to make quick money now? Unless he took bribes and perverted the law.

Since Wang Ren asked, Jia Lian had to say a few words for the sake of Wang Xifeng and his father-in-law.

"In the next three years, there will be many opportunities in Liaodong. If you are willing to work harder, you can go there in person and buy some land while it's cheap. If you don't want to go too far, you can send someone you trust. This is a long-term business and it's worth putting in some effort."

What can I say about this suggestion? It is safe and has no problems. As long as you invest, you will definitely gain something.

The problem is that Wang Ren doesn’t have much money on hand, and he wants to get some money quickly.

"Brother-in-law, is there no way to make money faster?" Wang Ren asked directly. Jia Lian sighed silently in his heart, but still had a smile on his face: "Does money falling from the sky count?"

Wang Ren finally revealed his true intentions: "Isn't my brother-in-law making winter vegetables? The weather is getting colder, can I get involved?"

The technology for growing winter vegetables has not yet been widely used. Jia Lian plans to earn more money for a few more years. After all, this thing will not cheat the poor.

But how can I say it? Even if the planting area is to be expanded, Jia Lian is not willing to bring Wang Ren with him, mainly because this fellow wants to participate in the business just by talking, and he will definitely not get a penny. At most, he can just say one word and it will be deducted from the dividends.

"Brother-in-law, it's not that I won't take you with me. I'll tell you the truth about this matter. This business is in the palace."

Jia Lian had no choice but to use the emperor to pressure him. Wang Ren was horrified when he heard this: "There is such a thing?"

"If you don't believe me, go ask Feng'er. Not a penny of the money earned from this business was left behind in the family."

He definitely made money. Last winter, after deducting the rent paid to the emperor, Jia Lian earned at least 100,000 silver dollars.

The question is, why did he bring Wang Ren into this business? This guy can't provide any help to Jia Lian, he is basically a burden. Giving him information and letting him go to Liaodong to enclose land is considered very conscientious. Jia Lian is willing to pay rent to the emperor, but giving money to Wang Ren, isn't that a serious illness?

Wang Ren was an impatient person. He stopped drinking and stood up to find Wang Xifeng. Seeing this, Jia Lian sneered secretly and leisurely ordered a bowl of hot noodle soup. After drinking it, he felt warm and comfortable.

When Wang Xifeng heard Wang Ren asking about the winter vegetables, she immediately said angrily, "Why don't you think about some other way to make a living? Why are you thinking about this? Don't you want to keep your head? Are you competing with the palace for profit?"

Wang Ren returned disappointed. Jia Lian had already finished eating and said it was getting late, so why not go home?

Wang Ren asked unwillingly, "There should be other ways to make a living, some easier ones, right?"

Jia Lian asked seriously, "Of course there are other ways to make a living, but do you have the patience to carefully take care of the business? Not to mention the faraway places, Rong'er in the East Palace is out all day long. There are not many days of leisure throughout the year. How can making money be easy?"

Wang Ren was extremely disappointed. He sat down with a worried look on his face. He came here with full confidence, but this was the result.

Seeing him like this, Jia Lian suddenly had an idea, so he whispered: "You don't have to beg me, just ask Wang Taiwei for a batch of blank certificates from Annan, and then advertise in the newspaper to sell the certificates from Annan. I dare not say how many there are, there will always be some officials who are willing to take the bait."

To be honest, this idea is quite deceptive. If these people who are willing to spend money to buy official positions go to Annan to serve as officials, they will definitely be robbing the land.

But what is the point? Wasn't Annan also exploited during the French colonial era? Didn't they put up any fierce resistance?

Jia Lian just couldn't believe that the officials of the Great Zhou could be more corrupt than the French!

Wang Ren’s eyes lit up when he heard this. Yes, this is easy.

"Thank you, brother-in-law. Haha, why didn't I think of this earlier."

Now that Wang Ren's issue was resolved, Jia Lian could be considered relieved. If things had turned out really badly, the unrest in the harem would have made life difficult.

The issue of the census was indeed brought up at the cabinet meeting, and everyone opposed it. In the end, there was a consensus that it must be done. Your Majesty will make the decision, and we, the ministers, will carry it out.

Emperor Chenghui was helpless about this result and had to put it aside for the time being. Generally speaking, he had one more thought in his mind.

Worried that something might happen to Wang Ren again, Jia Lian went to work early the next day to avoid him.

Now, Old Lady You asked someone to pass on a message to Jia Lian, asking him to come over at noon.

Jia Lian was just thinking about finding a place to hide and not going back home at night, so he agreed immediately.

There was no need to wait until noon. Thinking of his second and third sisters, Jia Lian sat in the office for less than an hour, then changed into casual clothes, called his entourage and quietly slipped away.

Old Lady You spent a lot of money again, spending ten silver dollars to book the banquet.

Jia Lian arrived early, and Old Lady You asked her second and third sisters to stay with him and talk while she was busy outside.

Anyway, she had made up her mind. No matter whether it was the second sister or the third sister, she would send one away today. It was not impossible to send both away. The incense of the You family, wasn't that an excuse?
A table was set with carefully prepared tea and dried fruits. Jia Lian got on the kang. The two sisters were still somewhat reserved and sat opposite him, chatting with him.

Jia Lian was very patient and asked them about their recent situation. The two sisters were quite talkative and talked about how many times they had gone out recently, where they had been, what they had seen and what they had bought.

The banquet was served at the back, and the two sisters sat opposite each other at first. After three or five cups, Old Lady You came in and saw this scene. She immediately pushed the second sister: "Sitting so far away, doesn't it seem strange?"

The second sister was a person without her own opinion. After hearing what her mother said, she moved in front of Jia Lian and sat down half a body away from him.

Smelling the fragrance, Jia Lian was a little confused, and his hands became less honest. He grabbed his second sister's hand and wanted to read her palm.

The second sister didn't struggle, but just endured it with a blushing face...

Old Lady You was standing guard outside. She saw the third sister coming out alone. She leaned against the door and listened for a while. The third sister felt a little annoyed when she saw the old lady's appearance.

Just now, the two of them rolled together in front of her, so she had to rush out without even having time to clear the banquet.

(End of this chapter)