Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 452 Everyone performs their duties
Such a big deal?

Niu Jizong, who had leaned over to take a look, was also frightened and quickly shouted, "Stop it!"

After getting off the car, Niu Jizong still couldn't understand why a mere low-level soldier guarding the gate could be so bold?
"I am the minister of suppression from four provinces. I have just returned from western Sichuan. I don't understand the rules in the capital. I apologize for any offense." Niu Jizong stepped forward and seemed to be speaking softly, but in fact every word was very harsh.

The leading officer stepped forward to greet him, clasped his hands and said, "My lord, you are polite. It is because Lord Jia is in charge of the crackdown that all vehicles entering and leaving the house need to be checked. If I am impolite, I will come to your house to apologize later."

This person's answer was neither soft nor hard. Who did the Wucheng Bingmasi fear? Even the ribs of those civil servants had been broken by him.

Well, the popular trend of valuing literature over military affairs has not changed in a short time.

"Let them check!" Niu Jizong naturally stopped caring when he heard Jia Lian's name. Although he felt uncomfortable, he still had a plan. He knew who he couldn't afford to offend in the capital.

It was too cold under the car, so Niu Jizong returned to the car to avoid the cold. The soldiers guarding the gate did not mind the trouble, untied the ropes, opened the boxes on top and checked them, leaving no one behind.

Of course, during the inspection, no one rummaged around, just sniffed it, and if there was no smell of opium, it passed.

Niu Jizong brought back a lot of spoils, and thought that the soldiers would take them or secretly do something with them. The followers kept silent and did not help, but just stood there watching, looking for an opportunity to catch them.

Unexpectedly, they were very skillful and finished the inspection in no time, and then put it back and tied it up.

The leading officer said that the inspection was complete and signaled that the convoy should pass. The convoy then continued to move forward. By then the sky was gloomy and it was almost dark.

It was definitely not possible to go home now, so Niu Jizong got off the carriage, asked his followers to send the convoy home, and went to see the emperor with two people.

Emperor Chenghui immediately met Niu Jizong. Seeing the food on the small table, Niu Jizong quickly knelt down and said, "I am guilty of disturbing your majesty's meal."

Emperor Chenghui smiled and waved his hand: "It doesn't matter if it's a little earlier or later. Niu Qing performed very well in this western expedition. He brought honor to the nobles and proved that the nobles still have people who can be used."

Niu Jizong found this a bit harsh, but he didn't dare to argue. After all, the emperor started to suppress the nobles after he took the throne. This has not been a one-day or two-day thing. Many nobles really don't want to work hard, but they were suppressed too hard at the beginning. Take the Jia family as an example, they directly gave up the military and turned to literature. Of course, the Jia family is quite special. There are two dukes in one family, two commanders of the Beijing camp, who have always held military power.

The real problem is that after the Jia family gave up their military power and tilted the resources to Wang Ziteng, the four kings and eight dukes were still sticking together. It would be strange if the emperor was not afraid.

To put it bluntly, is that what the Jia family did called compromise? What you did was called retreat in order to advance.

Niu Jizong reported the war, the bandit leader Ben Luosha disappeared, the various Jinchuan tribes surrendered one after another, and the new governor was responsible for the follow-up and the transformation of the natives into officials.

Emperor Chenghui had known about the matter for a long time, and it was clearly written in the battle report. Niu Jizon just gave a simple report.

Emperor Chenghui was more concerned about some details of the battle, and specifically picked out some that interested him and asked about them.

Niu Jizong answered one by one, and Emperor Chenghui couldn't help but sigh at the end: "At the beginning, Jia Lian suggested that I should not be anxious, first besiege and cut off the inflow of external supplies, and then slowly squeeze the rebels' range of activities. At that time, I was still anxious. The battles in Jinchuan and Dajinchuan turned out like that. The local officials deserved to die, but I am also responsible."

Niu Jizong didn't dare to admit this, and quickly said: "Your Majesty, don't blame yourself. It was the fault of the then guilty official Zhao and others that caused the war to be delayed until now."

Emperor Chenghui waved his hand and refused to shirk his responsibility.

"My dear minister, did you have a smooth journey?" Emperor Chenghui asked politely as he was about to see his guest off.

Niu Jizong replied inexplicably: "The return trip was smooth, but we were stopped at the city gate and insisted on checking our luggage."

Emperor Chenghui was startled, and gave Niu Jizong an ambiguous look, which made Niu Jizong's spine shiver. Then he said indifferently: "My dear, go back and have a rest. I will grant you a ten-day vacation."

Niu Jizong could feel that Emperor Chenghui's attitude towards him changed instantly.

He retreated in a hurry. Niu Jizong didn't understand why a casual remark made by him, during which he didn't lie, could cause the emperor's attitude to change so obviously.

The wind and snow were getting stronger, and the snow was flying all over the sky like goose feathers. Niu Jizong took the cloak, tightened his collar, shook his head, and after getting rid of the bad feeling, he said: "Go home!"

Jia Lian is in the final stages of a severe crackdown, and the Dali Temple has been very dissatisfied recently. Why are all the criminals sent to the Ministry of Justice? Can't we try them?

It really can't be done. Jia Lian has an old grudge against the Dali Temple and has always been dissatisfied with it.

In fact, Jia Lian's actions were not in line with judicial procedures, but he did it anyway.

The Ministry of Justice had someone in the front, so it was happy to ignore the Dali Temple and make money in silence.

It is really possible to make a fortune. The prisoners sent to the Ministry of Punishment are all qualified for exile. These people have relatively strong financial resources, and their family members will really squeeze out money from them in order to survive.

If Jia Lian hadn't urged him to do so, the normal sentence would have been to lock him up for at least half a year, instead of being sentenced to exile after being locked up for two or three days like now.

There were several people who committed serious crimes and had killed people, and they were beheaded before the New Year.

For some people, this year's New Year's Eve is simply unbearable.

"Okay, after half a month of hard work, it's finally over. Everyone has worked hard, so hurry up and go home for the New Year. By the way, has the money for the New Year been distributed in the accounting office?" Jia Lian's work was also over, and he was concerned about whether the money had been distributed. There had been a lot of fines during this period, so hurry up and distribute them so that everyone can have a good New Year.

All the imperial censors were exhausted. They had been working non-stop for a long time and were very tired. After hearing Jia Lian's words, smiles appeared on their faces.

"It was distributed. We distributed it early this morning. We've all been waiting for this money for the New Year! Due to the severe crackdown this year, we were short of supplies. The only seafood sent from Tianjin was distributed yesterday. The silver and money is twice as much as last year, and everyone is grateful to you." In order to get promoted and make money, Jian Renda was unwilling to miss any opportunity to flatter someone.

"Well, have you arranged all the duty? Today is the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, and it's snowing heavily. Nothing can go wrong." Jia Lian finally confirmed, and Jian Renda said, "It will be arranged at noon. By the way, do you want to go to the event of delivering rice, flour and oil to the orphans in the city before the New Year?"

"Why should I go? It's all your Majesty's grace, why should I be honored?" Jia Lian waved his hands. This matter was quite taboo. Using the emperor's name to let the people below go to send the guests off was called the emperor's grace.

This kind of thing is just a show during festivals. If we can really take care of every needy family, that would be a system effort.

All Jia Lian can do is to maintain public security, fire prevention, and disaster relief, and he can only watch other things.

(Speaking of disaster relief, I recently saw a video by Qin Jiaoshou from Tsinghua University, saying that disaster relief is the responsibility of every government and that the people don’t need to thank the government for its kindness. The background was the Los Angeles fire! Combined with the recent foreign refugees in Xiaobaishu, if you don’t read a hundred copies of Yilin or eighty copies of Readers, you won’t be able to get back to the original feeling.)
Those who like history know that China is probably the only country in history with a tradition of disaster relief. No wonder it is a civilization pretending to be a country.

Jia Lian also went home in the wind and snow. It was already dark and the lanterns could not illuminate far away. It was really painful to ride a horse in such weather.

Jia Lian really wasn't asking for trouble. How could he say that? He had to persevere just to show off, just for everyone to see.

Wang Xifeng was not serving Jia's mother. Now she didn't have to spend a lot of time around Jia's mother every day. As soon as Jia Lian entered the door, Wang Xifeng came forward and asked, "In this weather, will you continue tomorrow?" Jia Lian took off his cloak, handed it to Guixiang, rubbed his hands and walked in: "Today is over."

After saying this, Jia Lian took out an envelope from his sleeve and said, "This year's winter vegetables have brought in some money. Keep it well, as the expenses for the New Year are high."

Wang Xifeng happily took it and opened it to see that there were ten pieces of paper with the Chinese character "wan" at the beginning. Her smile grew even wider and she hurriedly arranged to help Jia Lian change his clothes and fetch water for him to wash his face.

Qiaojie came out and hugged Jia Lian's legs: "Father, you haven't hugged me for many days?"

"Really? How many days?" Jia Lian talked to her while wiping her face with a hot towel.

Qiaojie used both hands but still couldn't count them clearly. She said in a muffled and childish voice, "I can't count them clearly, but it's been several days anyway."

Jia Lian laughed loudly, picked up his daughter and held her high up, and Qiaojie immediately started giggling.

Jia Quan, who was still breastfeeding, naturally didn't understand jealousy. Even if he did, it would be useless, as Jia Lian was a daughter slave. When Jia Quan grew up, he would be suppressed by his sister's bloodline.

After playing for a while, Wang Xifeng ordered the dishes to be served, and snatched Qiaojie away, saying, "Rules, a lady from a noble family should not be without rules."

Jia Lian defended Qiaojie: "What a bullshit rule! My daughter doesn't talk to me about that."

Qiaojie was still very sensible. She struggled to get off the ground and formally greeted Jia Lian: "Greetings to father! Father is tired, I shouldn't bother you."

Jia Lian's nose was itchy and he was speechless. He looked at the people around him, all with smiling faces, and felt that the wind and snow today were not that strong.

Wang Xifeng personally served Jia Lian dinner and talked about some family matters, focusing on the Xue family.

"Aunt Xue came to deliver New Year's goods today. She kept complaining about the new daughter-in-law at home and said that Xue Wenlong was henpecked."

"Who are the people behind the Xia family?" Jia Lian asked calmly, picking up his chopsticks slowly.

"I don't know. Aunt Xue didn't tell me either. I don't know how to ask."

"You can't spend the New Year at the Jia family, right?" Jia Lian asked casually, and Wang Xifeng didn't think much about it: "If you can't, do you still want to save the Xue family's reputation?"

"Well, you can handle the return gift. Lai Da should be able to take care of some of the social activities outside. Baoyu is not young anymore. Since he doesn't study hard, he should learn to do things."

Wang Xifeng shook her head after hearing this: "The old lady will definitely not agree. I am just confused as to why the old lady treats him like a treasure."

Jia Lian just made a point and had no intention of continuing, and Wang Xifeng did not continue either.

After finishing his meal, Jia Lian stood up, wiped his face, and stretched his muscles: "Go back and have a rest. I'm exhausted these days."

It was snowing outside. Jia Lian returned to the study room, covering the corridor with his hands clasped. The three maids were all there today, and Xiangling had not gone to Feng's place either.

Seeing Jia Lian coming back, the three of them went forward to greet him. Xiangling said, "The master came back early today."

"Well, everything is finished. There are only some minor details left. I can finally rest for a few days."

Qingwen came over, took the coat and hung it up. The room was very warm without a floor heating.

As soon as Jia Lian sat down, Xiren came over, lifted her feet, took off her shoes and socks, and soaked them in hot water.

At home, as long as Jia Lian didn't want to move, someone would feed him water. Although the enjoyment these days is brought about by the crowds of people, it is real enjoyment, after all, people are more meticulous in doing things.

"Master, your feet are really cold!" Xiren even said with concern. Jia Lian hummed twice, feeling comfortable and not wanting to talk. Because Xiangling came around and massaged his shoulders.

When Qingwen came back, she found she had nothing to do. She saw her socks and quickly changed them into a clean pair. She finally found something to do.

Qingwen always felt that staying in this room was too idle. I am here to be a maid, not a lady.

"Is the door about to be locked?" Jia Lian heard some noise outside, as if someone was talking, and couldn't help asking.

Xiangling said: "I'll go take a look!"

After a while, Xiangling came back, followed by Siqi.

Jia Lian saw that it was her and couldn't help but be curious: "It's so late, what's the matter?"

Si Qi said, "I am here to ask for mercy for my cousin?"

Jia Lian was stunned: "Isn't he a scholar? He will take the provincial examination next year. Why would he ask you to come and ask for favor if he doesn't study hard at home and prepare for the exam?"

Si Qi waved her hands and explained quickly: "It's not what Second Master thinks. His family is in a tight spot and he wants to find something to do."

Jia Lian finally understood after hearing this: "He can't be even a student of the imperial academy, right?"

Si Qi nodded: "My cousin worked very hard in the county school, but he just had bad luck."

"The Wucheng Bingmasi will arrange a clerk. If he is willing to do the job, let him come to me." Jia Lian waved his hand indifferently. Although Si Qi was tall and had big legs, he couldn't ruin other people's feelings.

Si Qi was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly. She had mustered up the courage to come here, but she never thought that the Second Master would really agree.

"Why are you thanking me? If you want to thank someone, thank Yingchun. If you can't wait to get married, you still need her nod."

Si Qi's face turned red and she stamped her feet repeatedly: "Second Master is not serious!" After that, she turned around and ran away, and Jia Lian laughed wildly behind her.

The one who kept me company that night was Xiren, and I could sense that she was particularly agitated.

"What's wrong?" Jia Lian asked curiously. Xiren whispered, "It's my birthday today. I'm sixteen."

Oh, Jia Lian really didn't expect this. He stood up and rummaged through the drawer, but found that he had not had time to give her the hairpin he had prepared last time.

"Here, this hairpin is for your birthday." As he said this, Jia Lian shrank back into the quilt.

Xiren sat up and looked at it curiously. She didn't react until the hairpin was stuffed in her hand. She looked at it happily for a long time before putting it on the bedside and shrinking into the quilt. Jia Lian screamed, as he was ambushed.

The next morning, Qingwen woke up and saw Xiren laughing like a fool. She had made quite a lot of noise last night, and Qingwen hadn't slept well. She yawned and muttered, "What are you laughing at?"

(End of this chapter)