Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 480 Receiving Gifts
The governor has great power, but also very limited power, which depends entirely on the governor's personal circumstances.

In short, he was the top leader, but he was not responsible for any specific work. The most powerful power in the hands of the governor was actually to evaluate the officials below him.

So Jia Lian first talked about the performance evaluation system, which is actually the power of personnel, and then the army, which is the power of soldiers. If you control the power of personnel and soldiers, you can control the overall situation.

It can only be said that because of Wang Ziteng, the situation in Guangdong is rather special. Normally, a general has one deputy general and two lieutenant generals under his command, with a total force of between 7,000 and 8,000. Including the governor's standard-bearing soldiers, there are a little over 10,000.

This is still the army, not including the navy. In fact, the navy also has a principle of stationing. In principle, the Nanyang Navy must obey the dispatch of the governor, so Wang Ziteng is a special case.

He controls the navy and the army. The characteristic of the governor is that he holds military power. The previous governors only had a few standard soldiers and were suppressed miserably. Otherwise, he would be transferred happily.

The local general is also very miserable. His two lieutenant generals neither of them listens to his orders and always uses the governor's orders as an excuse. What can the general do?
There was nothing much to say about the Sansi. Everything was the same as before. After chatting for a while, they were dismissed. Jia Lian spoke to the general Qi Yun alone and asked him directly: "What is the specific situation of the garrison now?"

Qi Yun had been waiting for a reply, and seemed to be extremely eager to complain, or rather, to lodge a complaint.

"I originally had one deputy general and two lieutenant generals under my command, with a total of 8,000 troops stationed in various places. When General Wang was in charge of Annan, he transferred one deputy general and one lieutenant general with 5,000 troops. Now these people are in Annan and have not returned to the organization. Fortunately, there is nothing to do recently, otherwise I will have no soldiers to fight."

Hearing his complaints, Jia Lian was not impressed: "Aren't there still about 3,000 troops? Including the governor's standard-bearers, wouldn't 4,000 or 5,000 be enough?"

Qi Yun was startled. This attitude was wrong, so he quickly explained: "Three thousand men and horses are basically old and weak, and their equipment is not complete. Their combat effectiveness is not as good as the governor's standard soldiers."

"Old and weak?" Jia Lian became serious. Qi Yun was a little panicked. He really didn't know what Jia Lian was thinking. He explained with a stiff upper lip: "They are all old men who have been in the army for many years."

"I'll go and take a look when I have time!" Jia Lian did not express his opinion immediately, but gave a buffer. Whether Qi Yun is capable or not cannot be judged by looking at his words.

After sending away the general, Jia Lian did not continue to meet with his subordinates, but began to move. Baochai stood in the backyard with the demeanor of a wife, directing the people below to work.

Jia Lian went to the study to look through the things left by his predecessors to see if there was anything that was inconvenient to take away.

The study is very large, and the first thing that stands out is a huge screen, with a total of sixteen panels. The raw materials and materials used are not the main point, the main point is the paintings on the screen.

The first scene gives Jia Lian a boost of energy. A lady is sleeping and dreaming. In the dream, a man comes to meet her. The subsequent paintings unfold from this. This thing looks like "A Dream of Spring and Summer in the Garden". In fact, it is also "A Dream of Spring and Summer in the Garden", but it is a color version with different emphasis, simple content and rich postures.

Is it really appropriate to put this thing in the study?

Jia Lian looked at the screen and fell silent. It would be a pity to chop it up and use it as firewood, so let Xue Pan take it and sell it.

The bookshelf is also very large, and there are quite a few books on it that I didn’t take away. Many of them are ancient books that I haven’t read. They are still interesting and can be kept.

Wait a minute, it can't be some emperor's uncle. I quickly took out a book and took a look, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It was said to be the travel notes of someone, and it really was a travel note.

There are many scholars from wealthy families who like to publish books at their own expense. I guess this is the case, and I have never heard of the author's name.

He then took out a few books and read them. They were all storybooks for daily entertainment. It was obvious that Li's ex also liked to read this kind of non-serious books.

There is even a Buddhist scripture. This thing is useless. I will give it to Baochai later. Wait, this Buddhist scripture is so heavy? It's too heavy to hold.
I took a closer look and saw that, except for the front and back covers, all other pages were made of gold. The contents on them were also raised scriptures.

Jia Lian never read scriptures before, but when he saw this Buddhist scripture, he was really shocked. It was not a matter of money, but the exquisite craftsmanship.

It would be great to be a fitter with this skill, but it is wasted on this. Jia Lian felt sorry for such a talented person not being able to use his skills.

There were many other things, including furniture, calligraphy and paintings, antique porcelain, and antique bronzes. Unfortunately, Jia Lian couldn't understand them and was like talking to a deaf person.

Lao Li obviously put a lot of thought into this, just to leave a good impression on Jia Lian so as to avoid being retaliated in the future.

Jia Lian left the study and called Baochai in to talk. When she saw the screen, a sunset glow rose on Baochai's face: "Why put this here? It won't look good when the master meets guests."

"Send someone to tell Xue Pan to take it away when he returns and sell it in Jiangnan. Naturally, there will be someone who knows the value of it and is willing to pay a high price for it. Apart from the books, you can deal with the rest of the things in it. As for this Buddhist scripture, doesn't your mother-in-law like to chant Buddhist scriptures? Just send someone to bring it to her." Jia Lian was really generous. After all, he got it for free.

Baochai was amazed when she saw it: "I know how extravagant a family must be to read Buddhist scriptures like this. I thank you on behalf of my mother."

Since the good things were not given to Grandmother Jia but to Aunt Xue, Baochai was naturally touched.

It was dark when we finally cleaned up the house. Fortunately, the predecessor had someone clean the house once before, otherwise there would be a lot more work to do and it wouldn't be a job that could just be done by someone wiping it down.

After dinner, Zhang San asked for a meeting, and Jia Lian met him in the hall. He should have met him in the study, but there was a screen in the study.
"The governor's model soldiers have been received. The former lieutenant general took office together with Governor Li, which saved a lot of trouble. All the officers and soldiers add up to a total of 888 people. They look energetic, but they are not well trained. I think they are just for show. I am afraid they need to be properly trained before they can be put to use." Zhang San reported truthfully. Jia Lian was also helpless about this old Li.

"The equipment is all in the warehouse. Recruit soldiers if necessary and lead the team out. I won't ask about anything else." Jia Lian let go completely. Jia Lian was good at talking about training soldiers, but the actual operation still depended on Zhang San.

"Please rest assured, sir. I will definitely lead the team out, and it will be no less than the Shenji Battalion. What does General Qi say?"

"I'm naturally confident in your work. As for the local garrison, send someone to secretly investigate and see what Qi Yun's capabilities are. After all, he is the general of the imperial court, so you should give him the proper respect."

The implication is that as long as it's not excessive, Qi Yun won't be made difficult.

As he was talking, Baochai came over and said, "Master, the general sent the butler to congratulate you on your new home. Here is the gift list!"

Jia Lian took it and looked at it. They were all daily necessities, nothing serious. But the envelope inserted in the gift list was a so-called big deal.

Pulling out the envelope and opening it to look at the gift inside, Jia Lian sneered, "As expected of a wealthy place, a mere general gave a gift of thirty thousand taels. I wonder how much the predecessor gave when he took office."

Baochai was about to speak but hesitated. Jia Lian waved his hand in a disinterested manner: "Put it away! You are new here, so it's not good to be too strict with you."

Zhang San said, "Looking at his behavior, I'm afraid he won't do well." Jia Lian shook his head, "This is the trend, what can we do? Take your time, find out the situation first, and if it doesn't work, report it and replace him, don't do it to the extreme."

Zhang San didn't say much and took his leave. After all, he was just a family general and had seen many similar things when he was in the master's service before, so he was not surprised.

Baochai waited for Zhang San to leave and wanted to say a few words, but Jia Lian waved his hand and stood up to go to the study. Baochai followed him in. After closing the door, Jia Lian whispered, "I know what you mean. We are not short of money. There is no need to give people a chance to talk about us because of this little money. Tomorrow, there will be subordinates who will come to see us, and there will definitely be many people who will give gifts. You should make a separate account and record it carefully. Keep the banknotes separately. I will make other arrangements later."

Baochai was relieved. She turned her eyes and saw Jia Lian critically appreciating the painting on the screen again. She said, "This Du Liniang is painted very vividly."

Baochai didn't dare to look closely and turned to leave, but Jia Lian hugged her waist and whispered in her ear: "Let's enjoy it together!"

The heat came over me, my ears started to itch, and my whole body felt weak…

"Let my brother come tomorrow and take this away quickly." Baochai, whose hair was wet with sweat, spoke angrily, but Jia Lian smiled and said, "Don't worry, wait until they have all looked at it before sending it away."

Baochai naturally knew who they were referring to, but only Wang Xifeng had a say in this matter. Baochai was a concubine, so she could only endure her dissatisfaction.

The next day, Jia Lian received his subordinates in the hall during the day, and summoned his third sister and others to the study room in the evening to critically appreciate the screen together, mainly to enrich his spare time.

After a few days, Jia Lian found that the learning effect was very good and he was reluctant to send him away.

When Jia Lian officially took office, his subordinates naturally presented him with a settlement allowance when they came to see him. The officials below gave him at least three thousand taels, and after all the money was collected, a total of 150,000 taels was collected.

That’s it, I just arrived, there will be more to collect during the festivals in the future.

"Money comes so easily, no wonder everyone wants to be an official!" In the study, Jia Lian, who was writing a secret memorial, sighed while looking at the accounts.

Baochai fanned him with a round fan in her hand, not knowing what to say. She also took care of the accounts at home and knew about the gifts given to officials.

Xue Pan had already taken the screen away, and Jia Lian was reluctant to let it go. Thinking about it carefully, Qingwen was the most interesting. She wanted to escape when she saw the screen, but Jia Lian held her down and taught her a lesson. Then she refused to enter the study room again no matter what. Jia Lian had no choice but to wait until Xue Pan came over that day and let Qingwen watch the screen being moved away with her own eyes.

The one with the greatest adaptability is You Sanjie. As a martial artist, she is much more flexible.

When thinking of Third Sister You, Baochai also mentioned her: "Third Sister often wears men's clothes to go out and play, and the master talks about her."

Jia Lian also knew what the current atmosphere was like. If the women in the backyard went out, it would be considered unchaste.

"Why are you talking to her? If she goes out a few more times, the novelty will wear off and she won't want to go out anymore. If you try to stop her, she'll just feel itchy inside and want to go out all the time."

Baochai pouted: "I haven't been out to play yet."

Jia Lian smiled and said, "If you want to go out and play, just bring a few family guards to protect you. There are not so many rules in my family."

"Thank you, sir. But there are still some rules to follow. Otherwise, there will be too many people in the backyard and there will definitely be trouble."

After settling down and meeting with his subordinates, Jia Lian officially started working.

The first step is naturally to inspect the garrison, which is one of the main tasks of the governor. Whether the local area is peaceful or not, the governor has a heavy responsibility.

Zhang San had basically figured out Qi Yun's situation. The situation of the local garrison was largely caused by Wang Ziteng.

The original garrison of 8,000 soldiers was not very good, but not too bad either. After all, Guangzhou was rich, and the soldiers had decent food, at least they had plenty of fish. The garrison was normally drilled every five days, but after Wang Ziteng took office as governor, it was changed to drill every three days. Later, the garrison was expanded, new soldiers were added, and a group of soldiers who were too old were eliminated. The size once reached 20,000.

In the Battle of Annan, Wang Ziteng only left 5,000 men for Qi Yun, all of whom were veterans over 45 years old.

What these soldiers said was that they were very experienced, but they had a big problem, they were too sloppy. As Annan began to immigrate, more than a thousand people came and volunteered to go to Annan, where they could find wives. Speaking of those who serve in the army these days, many of them remain single for their entire lives. Why don't they retire? It's simple. There is no property at home. What will they do after they retire? What will they eat? Will they add burden to their families? In the army, it is not a problem for one person to have enough food. If you are lucky, you can save a few taels of silver in a year and ask someone to send it back home to help out. When you ask for leave to go home, you can also save face.

The remaining three thousand people did not run away, not because they did not want to, but because Qi Yun had sent people to keep a close eye on them, and anyone who was found trying to run away would be beheaded.

If Qi Yun had not discovered it in time, it is unknown how many of the more than 3,000 people would be left.

Qi Yun has put in some effort during this period. First of all, the treatment has been improved, the food is better than before, and the salary is paid in full on a monthly basis. He cannot keep the pressure on the soldiers high, otherwise they will definitely cause trouble.

There were many people doing small business near the station. When Jia Lian's team came over, they were not afraid and stood far away to watch the fun.

Qi Yun led his troops to greet them outside the camp gate. Jia Lian did not act like a superior, but dismounted and said, "Thank you for your hard work, everyone!"

Qi Yun and his subordinates could clearly feel that Jia Lian was not being polite, he really respected the soldiers.

This is really rare among civil servants. After all, we have seen many civil servants, but there are only a handful of them who really treat soldiers as human beings.

Why is there an old saying that good men don’t serve in the army and good iron is not used to make nails? It’s because their social status is too low and their income is not guaranteed.

The officers who came to welcome them included Qi Yun, a lieutenant general, and several garrisons, while the rest were short of staff.

Jia Lian quietly asked Qi Yun: "Wang Taiwei has taken all the people away. Aren't they afraid of being held accountable later?"

Qi Yun looked around and motioned for everyone to leave before he whispered, "Your Excellency, the soldiers that Wang Taiwei recruited were all paid for by him. According to common practice, the local garrison is 70% of the official establishment, which is not bad, after all, Guangzhou Prefecture has money. Brothers can also get some extra money. Wang Taiwei was willing to invest money and distribute land in Annan to the soldiers, and they took their families over. Even if I want to settle accounts, I have to meet the talents."

Qi Yun was relatively restrained, as he only took 30% of the salary without any work.

(End of this chapter)