Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 469: The crime of deceiving the emperor should be punished

After these threats, those who wanted to die no longer dared to die, because death would be the end of everything, and their wives, children, parents and relatives would all suffer.

This is how it is in this era. If one person becomes successful, the whole family will benefit. If an official suffers, the whole family will suffer. It is very normal.

Generally speaking, the family members are not counted, after all, everyone has parents and relatives. But anyway, this is an imperial order, and Jia Lian doesn't care about any unspoken rules.

If you want to blame someone, blame these people for not knowing how to be powerful. They dare to take any money, but still don't do the job after taking the money.

Things were much worse than Jia Lian had imagined. When Jia Lian brought his men to the Dengzhou Shipyard, he was terrified when he saw the abandoned dock overgrown with weeds. He had no choice but to kill someone.

Wu De and Lin Guang, who were accompanying them, also had gloomy faces. They were already in a bad mood, and now it was even worse.

In order to protect themselves, they had no choice but to accompany Jia Lian in investigating the case. From then on, the two of them were labeled as "Jia Lian's accomplices". However, when they really saw the real situation of the shipyard, they felt that it was fortunate that they were accomplices, otherwise, if the emperor really investigated it thoroughly, the two brothers would have been in trouble.

"Is this the largest shipyard?" Jia Lian asked an old craftsman calmly. The craftsman in front of him was dark and thin, with calluses all over his fingers, and he was hunching his waist in great anxiety.

"It has been abandoned for decades. Since I was a child, this dock has not built any ships. I heard from my ancestors that when they were building ships to fight in Liaodong, they could build ships of 10,000 tons."

The unit "liao" is used to calculate the size of a ship based on the amount of material used. It is a unit unique to China.

One thousand tons is equivalent to two hundred tons, and a large ship with ten thousand tons is two thousand tons.

Sometimes I think that the ancient craftsmen were really amazing. This is a wooden boat!
"How many shipbuilding masters are there in the factory now?" Jia Lian seemed very patient with the craftsman. Even when he wanted to kneel, Jia Lian would not let him do so. This was quite rare.

"Not many left. Most of them couldn't survive and went to work for private shipyards. I'm not good at craftsmanship, so I had to stay and survive. I occasionally did some work repairing boats, but most of the time I was farming."

This shipyard used to have a wall, and you can still see the foundation. Most of the bricks used to build the wall were taken home by the people to build pig pens. Now it is a mess, with only seven or eight rooms and two small docks, which are mainly used to repair ships. The ships that can be repaired are small ships, with a maximum weight of more than ten tons. The Dengzhou Navy has several warships with a weight of more than a thousand tons, and their daily maintenance is done in private shipyards.

Jia Lian smiled and handed the old man a silver dollar, thanking him for leading the way to check the situation. The old man thanked him again and again, and Jia Lian turned and left.

"Let's go back and start all over again. Really, even skinning these beasts alive won't satisfy me." Jia Lian turned around with a livid face and spoke the harshest words to Wu De and Lin Guang.

The two of them also had worried looks on their faces. This matter had become a big deal. His Majesty had allocated 200,000 taels of treasury to imitate English warships, but they never expected that there were only seven or eight shabby houses and overgrown grass on the ground. How could this be possible?
"This situation was not reported! How bold!" Lin Guang couldn't help but get angry.

"The Dengzhou Navy is also responsible. The maintenance of the warships is placed in private shipyards. The current situation of the government-run shipyard has been going on for a long time, but they knew about it but did not report it. I guess they joined forces to share the benefits."

Wu De also began to help analyze the case. He could not care less this time. In order to protect himself, they were willing to sacrifice the entire Dengzhou Prefecture and the Dengzhou Navy.

"What's the situation with the navy?" Jia Lian immediately asked after hearing what he said. After all, there were only a thousand people in the Shenji Camp, which was not enough.

"The governor's standard-bearing troops, led by Lieutenant General Liu, have taken control of the situation. The people have been captured. Will you send someone to interrogate them, or will I?" Wu De asked this in a very thoughtful manner, still depending on Jia Lian's attitude.

Since we are cooperating, we should behave in a cooperative manner.

"I will send someone to check the accounts. As for the rest, you two, a governor and a provincial governor, can't just take the salary and not do any work, right?"

Wu De and Lin Guang were relieved immediately. Jia Lian could still joke, which showed that he was sincere in cooperating. As long as Jia Lian did not send anyone to investigate the case, many things could be covered up.

There are also many people with connections among them. There are many people in the officialdom who are related to each other. It is easy for Wu De and Lin Guang to involve hundreds of people by pulling out the two lines.

"Okay, then leave it to me and Lord Lin." Wu De quickly agreed.

The two men quickly arranged personnel and began interrogation. Their requirements were simple: close the case as soon as possible and send the plague god away!
In fact, we should thank Jia Lian for not expanding the scope of the crackdown. Even so, this case is very unusual. In peacetime, the main task of Dengzhou Shipyard is to build new ships for the Dengzhou Navy and maintain old ships. The Ministry of Revenue allocates funds every year, not much, but 50,000 taels of silver. If the Navy needs to build a ship, it must submit a report, and after approval, it will transfer funds to build the ship.

If we count these accounts in the past, it is really a mess. Even if it is a mess, we have to settle them one by one.

Over the years, so many officials have been involved, it makes my scalp tingle just thinking about it.

Simply put, did the navy commander just keep silent about the situation? It would be great if it were that simple.

Let's talk about the new ships first. A report was submitted to build three ships, and the money approved might be enough to build two ships. In the end, the two ships might be built in one ship. And this ship was built in a private shipyard. The daily maintenance of warships was also handed over to private shipyards. The main commanders of the navy were all part of the profit chain.

Therefore, Jia Lian, Wu De, and Lin Guang, although they did not say it explicitly, reached a tacit understanding through their cooperative attitude. That is, they would only investigate the whereabouts of the emperor's treasury and nothing else.

Things soon came to light, and the first person to take the initiative to confess was the prefect of Dengzhou.

As the local chief, he had no control over the government-run shipyards, but many matters had to go through him. Private shipyards were all under his jurisdiction.

No matter how we said we would ignore him before, this time the money from His Majesty was allocated and it didn't go wasted. After all, it was the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Qiu Shian was watching it, so no one dared to do anything wrong.

The director of the Dengzhou Shipyard, before he received the money, went to consult with the admiral of the navy and the prefect of Dengzhou. What should be done about this matter? After all, it was the imperial treasury paid by His Majesty.

The result of the discussion among the three people was to cut it in half, leaving only one after three times three, and everyone would share 100,000 taels first. The factory director would take 40,000 taels, and the rest would be used to invite a private shipyard to go to Tianjin to learn shipbuilding and then imitate it after returning. The shipyard would take an extra 10,000 taels, but it was not taken for free, and it required connections. This was how Wu De and Lin Guang received their money.

The private shipyard is related to the admiral of the Dengzhou Navy, and the three of them have a stake in it. They must build a replica ship, and we will talk about how it will be built when the time comes. If the higher-ups don't come to inspect, it's okay. After all, when their terms are up, the prefect and the factory director will be transferred, and only the admiral of the Navy will stay. Then the next person will repeat. If the higher-ups send someone to inspect, then we will work hard on the officials who come to inspect.

Jia Lian knew something about this matter, after all, he had been to Dengzhou to inspect the navy.

After one person confessed, the rest followed suit. Because old scores were not settled, the accounts were quickly settled. Whoever took the money should be more conscious and pay it back. Then they gave Wu De and Lin Guang some money as a reward for rescuing the people. Then the matter was covered up. The key point was that several officials from the Ministry of Industry were also involved. Wu De and Lin Guang were undecided. It was understandable for them to rescue the local officials. After all, they were subordinates. If they got into trouble, the boss would not look good and their performance would be affected.

The officials of the Ministry of Works could not cover up the matter privately, as that would be too disrespectful of Jia Lian. So after three days of hard work, the two of them came together to find Jia Lian. Because it was Jia Lian who checked the accounts, the accounts had to be consistent, and it was impossible and unnecessary to deceive Jia Lian.

The two of them told everything that had happened, including how they rescued the person.

"The three main culprits must not be spared. The officials of the Ministry of Works are under the eyes of your majesty. There is no way." Jia Lian spread his hands, implying that if these officials of the Ministry of Works have any relationship with the two of you, then you can only consider yourself unlucky. I have done my best to achieve this step. Help the officials of the Ministry of Works to cover up, you can do whatever you want, and I will be at most an uninformed person who was deceived by you.

Jia Lian didn't know whether the two were related to the officials of the Ministry of Works. Based on the principle of officials protecting each other, they were related.

In fact, after Jia Lian had figured out the specific facts of the case, he had already written a secret report to the emperor on all the circumstances here. After handling this case, he had to write another secret report on the handling.

In short, the main point is not to deceive the emperor. This is how things are done. Whether the emperor is satisfied or not, Jia Lian doesn't care. The original purpose of the investigation was the shipbuilding incident of the 200,000 yuan of the imperial treasury.

Jia Lian was not unable to find out the past bad debts, but he was unwilling to do so. Even if he did find out, most of them would be left unresolved.

There was one thing that Jia Lian knew best, and that was that although Wu De and Lin Guang had not committed any serious crimes, they would definitely not be able to escape a minor punishment.

Wu De and Lin Guang exchanged glances in front of Jia Lian, and Wu De gritted his teeth and said, "In that case, let's report to the capital. Three officials in the Ministry of Works have each taken two thousand taels."

Jia Lian smiled but said nothing, meaning that it is up to you to decide.

But judging from their expressions, they were also very unhappy. They actually took more than me. What rank are you officials? How dare you take so much money?

The three of them got together and drafted a memorial, which they submitted jointly. This was the official report on the Dengzhou Shipyard case.

It is another matter if Jia Lian has made other reports in private. Wu De and Lin Guang think that Jia Lian would not have such reports, otherwise there is no need for them to cooperate with him sincerely, as he is an imperial envoy and holds great power.

Although it was said that one should execute first and report later, Jia Lian did not exercise this right. Instead, he locked up the three main culprits and other people involved in the incident and waited for a reply from the capital.

Before Wu De and Lin Guang left, they left five thousand taels for Jia Lian as a hush money. Jia Lian accepted it without hesitation, wrote it into the secret memorial, and also included the silver note.

In the capital, Emperor Chenghui saw Jia Lian's memorial three days later. At the same time, the cabinet also saw the memorial signed by the three people.

The case was investigated thoroughly and the names of the officials in the Ministry of Industry who received the money were also written down.

How did your Majesty's two hundred thousand taels of silver disappear? It is clearly written.

Compared with the version seen by the cabinet, Emperor Chenghui was so angry that he laughed after reading Jia Lian's secret version. He picked up the five thousand taels of silver that were hidden in it and dusted it in his hands.

How could Emperor Chenghui not know the morals of the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty? He knew it clearly, but so what? He couldn't just arrest them all and kill them all, right?

That would be better, it would save trouble, but the country would also be in chaos.

Emperor Chenghui could only take a deep breath, and then take another deep breath.

In the end, he approved of Jia Lian's way of handling the matter and felt that Jia Lian was still relatively calm and did not act rashly in anger. He even did not kill anyone before the court made a decision.

Doesn't Jia Lian want to kill? Of course he does, but he won't kill before the three officials of the Ministry of Works are arrested. If there is no witness to the killing, it is called helping to escape the crime.

After reading the report, Zhang Tingen urgently proposed to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss the solution.

Emperor Chenghui agreed immediately and held a meeting to discuss the case.

"I didn't expect that Jia Buqi would be soft-hearted." Ning Ke started to speak in a sarcastic tone, implying that you had a great time killing people in Datong City. You asked for this and that before leaving, but when it comes to the real thing, this is it?

"Just talk, why are you looking at me?" Pan Jixun was very rude. He was already very annoyed. His job as the Minister of Industry was already very aggrieved. It was fine that the professional field was poached by the R&D Department, but now the government-run shipyard also had problems. If the three officials were unlucky, he would also be punished. Ning Ke wanted to divert the blame, but the bad intentions of the abacus beads broke his face.

Guo Yan said, "Master Pan, please don't hurt the relationship! Minister Ning just said it casually. The strange thing about this matter is why Jia Lian went straight to Dengzhou, when Tianjin is obviously closer to everything."

Pan Jixun glanced at Guo Yan silently without taking any action, cursing silently in his heart, "You son of a bitch, you're nothing good at all."

Lin Ruhai was not willing to pamper Guo Yan, so he asked him directly: "Prime Minister Guo must have seen the clues, so tell us so that we can learn more. I also want to know why Jia Lian went to Dengzhou first."

This person is prone to mistakes when he talks too much. If someone finds out his weakness, he can only blame himself for his bad mouth.

How could Guo Yan dare to answer? Didn't he see Zhang Tingen looking at him with a smile? No matter what Guo Yan said, you have to have evidence, even if your guess is right, they will say, they are all investigating the case, what's the difference between investigating first and investigating later? Or is it that Lord Guo is worried, and you want to investigate the case and make merit?
"Haha!" Guo Yan laughed dryly and said, "I just asked casually, it's not interesting."

This guy gave in really quickly, mainly because he had been observing His Majesty's expression and had gained nothing, so he immediately stopped. It was originally a thorn in the side, whether there is a date or not, he would strike first.

Lin Ruhai did not press the issue and returned to the main topic: "Your Majesty allocated the treasury funds for shipbuilding, and they want to take even this money. My opinion is very clear, arrest them first and then talk about other things."

Pan Jixun immediately took over: "Your Majesty, this is what I mean. I will not show favoritism just because they are my subordinates."

"Well, how should we deal with the three main culprits?" Emperor Chenghui agreed with Lin Ruhai's opinion and turned back to the three main culprits.

In principle, as long as they do not plot treason, they will not be killed.

At this time, it was Pan Jixun who took over the words: "The crime of deceiving the emperor should be executed!"

(End of this chapter)