Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 461 The Xue Family Suffers Another Blow
Lin Ruhai and Jia Zheng had a pretty good relationship, and Lin Ruhai also valued Jia Zheng highly. However, things were different now. He was already a cabinet minister, and the gap in status between the two families was a bit too big.

Jia Min did not object, but said that Baoyu was not making progress, which showed her attitude. This also saved Lin Ruhai from being embarrassed.

"In that case, I will write back to politely decline!" Lin Ruhai went with the flow. He had never liked Baoyu in the first place, and his daughter didn't like him either.

Jia Min's mind emerged with the scene where Daiyu covered her face with a fan when she went to see her grandmother when she met Baoyu. She then compared it with the situation when she met Jia Lian, and she lamented in her heart, "What a sin."

In fact, Lin Ruhai also didn't like Jia Lian. It wasn't that he was a bad person, but that he spent too much money. Lin Ruhai heard a lot about what happened at home and outside.

Let's put it off for now. When the time comes, I'll accept being an old maid. It's better than Daiyu being unhappy and crying alone every day. It's better to stay at home than to get married like that.

In the south city, at the home of the You sisters, Jia Lian hugged the third sister, saying sweet words to her while doing dirty things with his hands.

"I've been really busy lately. Let alone you, the land at home is all barren."

This explanation was ridiculous, but the third sister could accept it, mainly because this guy's hands were too tricky. He rubbed the person into a puddle of mud in a few strokes. His face was flushed, and only the sound of rapid breathing could be heard.

Old Lady You quietly lifted a corner of the curtain, took a look and saw Jia Lian burying his head in his chest. She clicked her tongue and immediately stepped back, walking away with the tea tray in her hands.

The second sister was very calm and was dressing in front of the mirror. She got up late in the morning and didn't want to meet Jia Lian who had suddenly arrived with a dishevelled appearance.

"The early bird catches the worm!" Old Lady You came in and muttered.

After hearing this, You Erjie stopped and said, "The early worm catches the bird!"

Old Lady You was a little confused by this logic, but fortunately she had always been focused, so she quickly asked, "Remember to share the money that Second Master gave you."

You Erjie looked at my mother strangely and said, "Why? Isn't the fixed monthly expenses enough for you to spend? Could it be that you have a gigolo outside?"

Old Lady You was so angry that she jumped up and down: "What nonsense are you talking about? You are making up stories about my own mother, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

You Erjie is no longer afraid of her now. The living expenses given by Jia Lian every month is higher than the salary of a seventh-rank county magistrate. Is this not enough to meet the old lady's expenses?

Without saying anything else, the second sister silently took note of it in her heart, and went back to find Ni Er to ask him to find out where all the money had gone.
Old Lady You came out of her second sister's room in a huff, and stood at the gate of the courtyard to instruct the maid to keep a close watch and not let anyone in, lest Jia Lian ruin his plans. Now Old Lady You was thinking that if her two daughters were pregnant and held Jia Lian's blood in their hands, they would have a lifetime of food. Well, it would be best if it was a boy!
The second sister stayed in the room alone for a while. She felt a little restless. After hesitating for a while, she stood up and went outside the third sister's room. She stood behind the curtain and listened. When she found there was no movement, she lifted the curtain and went in.

After just one look, the second sister spat and thought: A wild girl is a wild girl, she dares to stuff anything into her mouth.

When Jia Lian saw her come in, he waved to her. The second sister shyly moved over little by little.

The main road outside Xizhimen was repaired first. Emperor Chenghui took people to have a look. The straight avenue and the hardened road surface were as solid as rock.

After stepping on it a few times, Emperor Chenghui exclaimed: "This is the change brought about by technology that Jia Lian talked about."

In fact, it was not the first time for both of them to see a cement road, but when they saw this wide and straight road again, they still felt emotional.

"Lord Jia didn't make a penny from the order placed by the Saint, and he might even have to pay a little." Qiu Shian told the truth, and Emperor Chenghui smiled proudly: "He can't make money from me!"

"Now Lord Jia is already a third-rank official!" Qiu Shi'an reminded him implicitly. Jia Lian's loyalty was not a problem, but he was too young, and the next emperor would have trouble controlling such a minister. It would be safer to delay the matter of granting favors and leave the successor.

Faced with the reminder, Emperor Chenghui said nothing, but just smiled. He had already made up his mind that Jia Lian would never become a powerful official.

All powerful ministers are like him. The emperor can be woken up by his laughter even in his sleep.

What Emperor Chenghui was really worried about was that Jia Lian was bored of staying in the capital and wanted to go out to sea for a stroll. Once he left, he might never come back. Jia Lian would not be in the next cabinet.

Zhang Tingen had hinted several times that he wanted to send Jia Lian away, but Emperor Chenghui pretended not to understand every time. He really didn't want to send Jia Lian away.

Let's put it this way, whether it's civil or military, as long as Jia Lian is in the capital, Emperor Chenghui can feel at ease. It's like always holding four kings in his hands.

In the current situation, there are no external threats in the surrounding areas, except for Yunnan, where there are some small-scale frictions. A tiny country can be destroyed with just a thunderbolt.

Well, the country needs stability now. Emperor Chenghui hopes to have peace for three to five years. He can talk about these things after all the military academy students come out.

As for the nobles like Niu Jizong and Wang Ziteng, if they want to go out and do something, then please do so. It is much better than staying in the capital and guarding against it day and night.

Speaking of Niu Jizong, Emperor Chenghui also had a headache. The first thing this guy did after taking office was to submit a memorial to the emperor to form three navies equipped with the latest warships.

First, the navies of Tianjin and Dengzhou were merged to form the Beiyang Navy. People were planned to be sent to England for field investigations and equipped with the latest and largest warships. Secondly, Songjiang Prefecture, which guarded the Yangtze River waterway, was very important and needed a fleet equipped with at least ten so-called third-class battleships. The fleet should cover the waters of Fujian and Zhejiang and set up the East China Sea Navy. Finally, Guangdong and Guangxi should set up a large fleet from the perspective of developing various places in Nanyang, equipped with at least thirty third-class battleships.

This plan is comparable to the plan of a certain naval general during the Republic of China.

After it was sent to the cabinet and a simple accounting was done, Ning Ke exploded.

A third-class battleship was purchased from England at a price of 500,000 yuan. The price of self-manufacturing is still in the exploratory stage, and the results from Tianjin have not yet come out. Let's calculate it based on 500,000 yuan per ship. The three major naval divisions will have 50 ships at the least. 255 million silver dollars. Ning Ke immediately said that if the cabinet approved it, he would hang himself in the lobby of the Ministry of Revenue when he returned to make room for the next minister.

Niu Jizong's request for a high price was of course intentional. He wanted to ask for a high price and pay a low price.

The imperial court decided to build a large navy, and as the new navy commander, he himself did not know anything about naval warfare. The only thing he could do was to ask for more money.

As long as there is sufficient funding, whether it is purchasing warships or hiring instructors, it can be done with ease.

It was only after the news that Wang Ziteng would continue to serve as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi reached Guangzhou that Sassoon was completely relieved. In his opinion, Wang Ziteng's act of voluntarily resigning was simply the behavior of a fool.

Now that you have a large army and have opened up overseas territories, you should return to the capital, enter the cabinet, and take control of the court. This is the normal route.

But Sassoon could not control Wang Ziteng's behavior. When the results came out, Sassoon had to admit in his heart that his so-called expert on China was a joke.

At least in the political field, Sassoon felt that he was no different from an idiot and could not understand this operation at all. Fortunately, he could continue to trade in opium in the next three years. However, there had been a lot of bad news recently. His business in the Yangtze River Basin had been severely cracked down by the local governor. He lost a lot of people and goods.

Sassoon found Wang Ziteng about this matter, hoping that he could solve it. Unexpectedly, Wang Ziteng told him decisively after hearing this: "Mr. Sassoon, the status of Sun Ge Lao, the governor-general of Liangjiang, is far higher than mine. If he is angered, my term of office for the next three years may end early. This is an illegal business. If there is a loss, it is a loss. You have to admit it!"

The problem was not resolved, and Sassoon could only return disappointed. As he said, the political ecology of the East was too difficult for him to understand.

In fact, Wang Ziteng also had a headache. Sun Huazhen really did not give him face. The goods seized by Jinling were a small matter, but the arrested people were a big trouble.

Many of the Wang family members were involved in the opium trade. Among those arrested this time, there were seven or eight direct descendants of the Wang family. Xue Pan ran away quickly and was not caught. Maybe someone showed mercy and let him go on purpose for the sake of the face of some people in the capital.

Xue Pan never thought that the days when he could run rampant in Jinling would be gone forever. A total of five ships of goods docked that day and were seized in the evening.

At that time, Xue Pan was staying at a male lover's place on the shore, so he managed to escape. After hearing the news, he fled by boat at night and went to Jinling to find connections. Unexpectedly, his former connections met him and asked him to flee at night because the Governor-General of Liangjiang was looking for him. Xue Pan became a wanted criminal.

What should he do? Xue Pan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. That was Sun Huazhen. At that time, officials in Liangjiang Prefecture and County had their heads chopped off. Xue Pan was nothing.

It was at this time that Xue Pan realized that his so-called glory was just a bigger ant in the eyes of many people, who could crush him to death with just a raised hand.

After much thought, one option is to go south to Guangdong and Guangxi, but what about the property in Beijing? My mother, sister and wife are all in Beijing, and I can't just leave them there.

At this time, Xue Pan still had some sense of responsibility and decided to go north to see if he could smooth over some connections and at least save himself.

Xue Pan boarded the boat arranged by Jinling, but did not dare to go north along the canal. Instead, he went upstream to Wuchang, then disembarked and took the land route to the capital.

After a month of fear and trouble along the way, we finally arrived in the capital in early May.

After passing Chongwen Gate, Xue Pan hurried home to see that everyone in his family was safe. After asking around, he found out that the people in the capital were totally unaware of his situation in Liangjiang.

Xue Pan was immediately shocked when he heard this. He was deceived by his so-called connections. At least the matter was not as serious as the connections said.

When Xue Pan was getting anxious, Jia Lian was called by Zhang Tingen. The office of the Prime Minister was not very big. This was Jia Lian's true feeling. Because they all worked in the Forbidden City, the space was limited.

"Take a look at this!" Zhang Tingen handed Jia Lian an official document. Jia Lian took it puzzled and laughed after reading it.

This is a document from Sun Huazhen. The Governor-General of Liangjiang dispatched his troops to capture a fleet smuggling opium. After interrogation, they learned that the fleet's owner was the imperial merchant Xue family, and a large number of children from the Jinling Wang family were also involved. The meaning of Sun Huazhen's document is to ask the cabinet for instructions. Now that the people have been arrested, the ships and goods have been seized, the cabinet is expected to give a hint on the subsequent handling, so as not to affect the relationship between Wang Ziteng and the cabinet. It should be noted that Wang Ziteng today is a benchmark set by His Majesty to serve as an example for the princes and nobles.

"Why are you so happy? Isn't this case a headache enough? You can't just not give Wang Ziteng any face, right? Tell me before the cabinet meeting."

Speaking of which, Zhang Tingen is blatantly partial to his own interests, but he did it anyway, so what can you do? Who would want to be a privileged class without some privileges? Would you like to be?

Jia Lian smiled and said, "It just so happens that the Second Prince has returned to Beijing from Shaanxi and Gansu. He had arrested Xue Pan before. Isn't this case a precedent of the Second Prince? In my opinion, arrest him, fine him, deposit the money into the Ministry of Revenue, and deduct the tax revenue of Liangjiang. After arresting him, send a letter to Liangjiang to determine the sentence and see how much the fine should be. This kind of unscrupulous businessman who disregards the law should be fined to the point of bankruptcy."

Zhang Ting'en thought he had heard wrongly. Jia Lian, are you so selfless? I don't believe it!
"Speak human language!" Zhang Tingen decisively interrupted someone's righteous words.

Jia Lian still smiled and said, "My dear teacher..."

"Call me by my job title when I'm working!" Zhang Tingen interrupted his coquettish tone again.

"Prime Minister Zhang, I am not targeting the Xue family, but the smuggling of opium. In my opinion, this is an unforgivable crime and they should be arrested and beheaded."

Jia Lian put away his smiling face and became extremely stern, which showed that his previous suggestion was already an extrajudicial act.

Seriously, Xue Pan should be sentenced to death and beheaded. It was Fang Song who came up with a system of negotiating the silver for the crime, otherwise even if Xue Pan had ten heads, it would not be enough to chop off.

Zhang Tingen understood that this was the root of his feelings. Although he didn't know why Jia Lian hated opium so much, he still nodded and said, "That's right. Just say it directly if you have something to say. Don't beat around the bush. I'm very busy and don't want to listen to your nonsense. Okay, get out!"

You see, this guy, he is the one who calls himself a master, and he is also the one who calls himself a teacher.

Jia Lian was driven away. When he left the house, he still had a smile on his face, but when he turned his back to the door, there was no trace of a smile on his face.

There was a cold and sharp look in his eyes and he walked out with big strides.

Jia Rong was summoned to the front immediately. Seeing his weak legs, Jia Lian said with concern: "Although the Kun Xiu at Xuanzhen Temple is good and has many tricks, you should also take care of your health."

Jia Rong chuckled and said, "That's just the beginning. I usually take care of myself. Second uncle, just give me your instructions directly! What do you need me to do?"

Jia Lian held up two fingers and said, "Two things. One is about Xuanzhen Temple. I plan to clean it out. You should place the Kun Xiu inside somewhere else first and send them back after the cleaning and repair. The other is that Xue Pan is going to be in big trouble. You should go and rescue him. It's not convenient for me to come out."

Jia Rong was good at figuring out Jia Lian's thoughts. When he heard this, he immediately showed a cruel smile: "Second Uncle, I know what to do about Xuanzhen Temple. What does Xue Pan, that ungrateful bastard, say?"

"The case is being handled in Liangjiang, and the suspect should be arrested in the capital soon. When the time comes, you can use your connections to make sure he doesn't suffer in jail. As for the rest, just say you can't help."

After Jia Lian explained, Jia Rong confirmed again: "A case handled by Liangjiang? The work of Lord Sun?"

What does this mean? Given the complex relationship between the four major families in Jinling, only Sun Huazhen dared to take action to deal with this group of people.

"It's good that you know it. Others can't do the same. Remember to tell Xue Pan later that I have no way to deal with Elder Sun's case. I can only watch. You can't ask me to ask my mentor for help, right?"

Jia Lian had left a button, and Jia Rong immediately understood: "Nephew understands, but it can't be in vain, right? Last time, I didn't leave anything behind."

"Are you stupid? Whether the Xue family is in the capital or in Jinling, they have so many shops and channel talents, which are all good things. The Jia family is a noble family, so it is indeed not suitable for them to do business, but they can always hire people to do business and let the family members do business to expand the business. Nowadays, the Jia family has a lot of expenses every day, so they have to increase income and reduce expenditure. Remember, we don't want the Xue family's money."

"I understand. It's to avoid giving people a chance to talk. Doesn't he like to sell opium? Don't do the cigarette business. It would be a waste to keep the shops in the capital and Nanjing." Jia Rong gritted his teeth!
(End of this chapter)