Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 483 Taking People’s Hearts into Account

According to the rhythm of the cool novel, Jia Lian should have captured all the officials first and killed them all.

If all the corrupt officials in the world were killed, there would be no more corrupt officials.

This is what Zhu Yuanzhang thought and did at the beginning.

The killing was so severe that there were no officials left to do their jobs, and they had to go to work in shackles.

In fact, Jia Lian also wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. As long as there was someone who refused to do so, he would have an excuse to take action. However, these people were too timid and no one stood up for themselves.

It is easy to kill a person, but it is difficult to carry out one's own will.

To put it more seriously, being in power is a slow process and cannot be rushed.

Jia Lian, who had just arrived, left some room for his subordinates to clean up the mess before the first blow was struck. There was nothing he could do about it.

You can't just kill someone if you don't like him. That's a mental illness!

"General Qi, go back and gather the troops and stand by. The plan will start tomorrow morning. My Lords, by then, all the servants and messengers of the various government offices will have to be mobilized. We cannot expect any one office to finish all the work."

One day's preparation time is actually very tight, but Jia Lian obviously did this on purpose, just to force this group of people to cut the Gordian knot.

General Qi stood up and accepted the order: "I obey your command!"

Jia Lian looked at the others and said, "My Lords, is it possible that the words of this Governor Jia are not effective?" He said in a threatening tone.

"It's not that I don't respect your orders, it's just that time is too tight." After everyone looked at each other, finally only the governor, who had enough weight, spoke up.

Jia Lian said nothing and looked at him with a gloomy face. As time passed, cold sweat began to appear on the governor's forehead. He wanted to speak but did not have the courage, as if a mountain was pressing on his heart.

"I obey your command!" The governor finally lowered his head and dared not bargain anymore. Jia Lian's eyes just now were too scary, as if he would take out a weapon and stab him to death at the next moment.

"Hmph!" Jia Lian snorted heavily, expressing his dissatisfaction, and then continued: "The arrest list is ready! General Qi will lead his troops to guard the city gates, and only allow people to enter, not leave. Tomorrow morning, the whole city will be searched, and the people on the list will be arrested. Don't blame me for not reminding you, everything is too much or too little. If anyone makes me unhappy tomorrow, I will make him unhappy for the rest of his life. Now adjourn the meeting, and go back to prepare."

With only one day to prepare, officials had to make choices in a short period of time, such as who should flee and who should be pushed out to take the blame. The most fatal thing was that there was no time to transfer property, especially fixed assets.

Jia Lian not only wanted to arrest people, but also to confiscate their homes. If these people went too far, Jia Lian would not mind confiscating the officials' homes, which would be even more profitable.

I've already given you wiggle room, if you still refuse to take it, don't blame Jia Lian for being cruel and ruthless.

A group of officials did not return to the government office immediately, but first found a place to discuss. After General Qi followed him out, his eyes rolled and he said, "Military orders cannot be violated. I have to go back to the camp to reorganize the troops. Goodbye!"

Qi Yun left as soon as he said he would. The rest of the people looked at each other in bewilderment. The team dispersed too quickly. The governor stamped his feet angrily and said, "Time is running out. Take care of yourselves!"

The governor returned to the backyard and went straight to his concubine. He said to her, "Tell your brother to take all the gold and silver and leave the city immediately. The new governor wants to kill people, and he is on the list."

The concubine was horrified when she heard this: "Master, you can't stop me?"

The governor said with a gloomy face, "The new governor comes from a duke's family. He is the most trusted minister of His Majesty and the inner disciple of the Prime Minister. What can I use to compete with him? My life? If you run away now, you can still save your life. I will send someone to arrange for the destruction of the account books as soon as possible. Don't involve me, otherwise we will all be doomed."

The concubine was still reluctant and said, "Master, my brother has hundreds of desperate criminals under his command, so why not..." and made a gesture of wiping her neck.

The governor was furious when he saw her. He raised his hand and slapped her in the face, pointing at her nose and cursing: "Who gave you the courage to kill officials and rebel? Come, take this slave away and lock her up in the woodshed."

Upon hearing this, the concubine immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Master, I was wrong. Please don't be angry, or you will get sick from anger. I will do as you say."

The governor looked at the beautiful concubine with tears on her face, and said, "Remember what you said, everything must be done quickly. Start arresting people tomorrow morning."

After giving instructions to the concubine, the governor started to make arrangements for other places. He was involved in too many people and things. After all, he had been there for several years. He took too much money and did too much things. All of them had to be dealt with cleanly. It would not be done in a short time. He could only pick out some important things to deal with first to avoid leaving any unfinished business.

However, what the concubine said just now did shock the governor. At the same time, he became more cautious and called his trusted housekeeper to give him some instructions.

On this day, there were many more people walking in a hurry on the streets, and scenes of chaos were constantly occurring in the market.

In the backyard of the governor's office, Jia Lian was facing a table of seafood and a pot of rice wine, eating and drinking slowly, with Baochai accompanying him, Si Qi fanning him, Qingwen preparing hot towels, and Xiren making sobering soup. Third Sister You stood by, picking up dishes for Jia Lian.

Baochai's mood was a bit complicated. Jia Lian was arrogant and extravagant, but he only had a few maids around him? He was just a young man. His brother Xue Pan had more than a dozen maids around him. He was clean, but except for Si Qi, no one else could escape his clutches. It was only Ying'er behind him who was being watched by her, otherwise she would have fallen into his hands sooner or later.

Fortunately, Baochai did not ask Jia Lian what he thought, otherwise she would have gotten an infuriating answer that Jia was sick and was greedy for money and lustful.

If you think about it carefully, even Wang Xifeng can't do anything about it, how can it be your turn?

"What is the scale of the Xue family's business in Guangzhou?" Jia Lian put down his wine glass and asked.

Baochai shook her head after hearing this: "I have never tried to understand it."

"Send someone to tell Xue Pan to come over." Jia Lian certainly wouldn't make his hard work in vain. He would definitely be the first to eat the fattest meat this time.

If the lower officials cooperate, they can also eat some lean meat. If they don't cooperate, not only will they not get to gnaw on the meat, they will also have to sacrifice themselves.

Xue Pan came very quickly. In less than an hour, he came in panting and sweating.

He took the towel Ying'er handed him and wiped the sweat off his face, saying, "What happened today? The streets are a bit chaotic, with people walking without looking at the road everywhere. I almost bumped into people several times."

Jia Lian said calmly, "Do you have any property in Guangzhou that you like?"

Xue Pan said: "That's great. From the warehouse at the freight terminal to the shop in the nearby market, we can make tens of thousands of taels of silver a year."

"The shop is too conspicuous, so let's use it as a warehouse. Take over the entire warehouse and operate it exclusively. Anyone who wants to transport goods to and from the freight terminal must rent your warehouse. Can this deal make up for the losses from your opium business?" Jia Lian asked him calmly. When Xue Pan heard about the opium business, there was a hint of reluctance in his eyes, but he still nodded with gritted teeth.

"Brother Lian doesn't allow me to do the opium business, so I will stop it now and transfer all the business to the Wang family."

"The Wang family can't do it either. I'm in Guangzhou, and the buying and selling of opium is absolutely not allowed in the city. You take this message to the Wang family and tell them that this is my intention. If they want to do opium business, they have to go to Jiaozhi, not in Guangzhou. This is the bottom line! And that Sassoon, you must cut off all ties with him. He is a conscienceless opium dealer, and I will send him to hell sooner or later." When Jia Lian finished speaking, he looked murderous, and Xue Pan was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat, and suddenly he no longer felt hot.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away, and prepare the silver to take over the warehouse at the dock."

Jia Lian waved his hand and did not stop him: "Go!"

Jia Lian had no intention of taking all the profits from the dock warehouse business alone; it was a private deal between him and Wei Da. After the crackdown on organized crime, the warehouse dock was taken over by the Xue family, and Wei Da directly received 30% of the shares as dividends.

He didn't bring the Wang family or anyone else with him because they were enough. If these two forces were combined, no one would dare to covet this deal.

After Xue Pan left, Baochai said, "Thank you, Master, for taking care of the Xue family!"

Jia Lian smiled slyly: "Okay, how are you going to thank me, Master?"

"Master is the most annoying!" Baochai stood up and left, hanging up the banner of no war. The two of them had a pretty good relationship, but when they talked in private, they always turned to strange things.

Baochai would resist Jia Lian's strange requests if she could, but if she couldn't, she could only bear it.

In short, Baochai found that her bottom line was getting lower and lower. There were really not many positions left to defend.

After drinking some wine, Jia Lian took a nap under a tree in the backyard. When he woke up, the cool breeze made him feel refreshed.

Looking around, I saw that only Third Sister You was sitting on a recliner and dozing off.

The expedition woke up Third Sister You. After seeing that it was Jia Lian, she was so scared that she quickly looked around, and then begged for mercy in a low voice: "Master, go back to the room! If necessary, come out at night!"

Jia Lian not only did not stop, but intensified his attack, saying with a smile: "You said it, don't regret it."

Third Sister You gritted her teeth in anger and pounded the armrest of the chair: "Keep your word!"

Only then did Jia Lian let her go. In fact, he had no intention of ordering anything right away. It was just a spur of the moment decision.

There are still very important things to do at hand. If I had known this, I would not have let Zhang San go out to recruit soldiers. Now, only Zhuzi and others are at his disposal. Those in the General Staff Office are all busy reorganizing the governor's model soldiers.

All in all, there is still a shortage of talent, and we need to speed up the training process, especially for talent who are familiar with the situation in Nanyang.

This time, Jia Lian was responsible for establishing the Nanyang Naval Academy and the Nanyang Navy. The navy was still in Wang Ziteng's hands and had not been returned yet. It was unknown how much would be left when it was returned. Jia Lian felt that it would be difficult to hand over half of the navy, and Wang Ziteng would not be polite to him.

This is why Jia Lian wants to take over the warehouse. With the warehouse in hand, the Wang family will have to control any foreign trade in the future. Letting Xue Pan come is acceptable to both sides. As for the opium trade, this must be resolutely prohibited.

Qi Yun returned to the army and called his subordinates to discuss the matter. Everyone was shocked when they heard it.

The new governor made his first move, aiming for the main artery of the gang. Well, the garrison is also one of the behind-the-scenes umbrellas of the gang. Everyone is sharing the money, and the people at the bottom are the ones who bear the price.

Qi Yun is involved in many businesses, with a focus on the market. The protection fees collected by the gang include a share of the garrison troops.

Everyone was deeply involved, so they naturally objected. How could they cut off an important source of income? How could the general agree to it? What's wrong with the governor? He did whatever he wanted. Did he ask his brothers about their weapons? These soldiers were really bold. They dared to talk nonsense in front of Qi Yun.

Qi Yun looked at his subordinates coldly without saying a word, until everyone was speechless and felt creepy, then he spoke: "I said you are stupid, you are really stupid. The governor gave us a chance to kill pigs, and you idiots actually jumped out to oppose it. You have weapons in your hands, so what? The governor's standard soldiers are being reorganized, have you seen their new equipment? No matter how good you are at fighting, you can't fight too fast and grab the quick cannon? There are only more than 3,000 of us. If we are pulled out to fight against the governor's standard soldiers, we won't last more than half an hour."

Everyone was silent after hearing this. Qi Yun continued, "I know you are loyal. If you are loyal, send a message to your people and tell them to run. If they run now, they can take some gold and silver, their wives and children with them. If they run to Annan, they can become small landlords after dividing the land. By the way, we have to start early tomorrow morning. You are all short on time and we have to prepare the army in advance."

After everyone thought about it from a different perspective, they found that it was true. Some things could be taken away, and it was no problem for those who didn't leave to help keep them.

Half of the subordinates dispersed instantly and went to inform each other. The remaining half were still hesitating and watching. Qi Yun was not in a hurry and just said calmly: "Time is running out."

As soon as he finished speaking, the remaining half of the people dispersed.

"Master, will the people below make things worse by making such a big fuss?" Baochai looked at Jia Lian worriedly. At this moment, Jia Lian was rocking back and forth on the recliner, looking very comfortable.

"You've thought too much. These people are not good people. If they have such an opportunity, they will definitely grab it and try to make some money. Guess how much they can give to the master after this matter is over?" Jia Lian didn't even open his eyes, so as not to be seduced by Baochai's increasingly plump figure. He turned around and was furious, delaying his appointment with his third sister in the evening.

Baochai was shocked when she heard this: "There is such a thing? How can the people below agree to surrender?"

"Does it matter whether they agree or not? The opportunity has come. These hungry wolves are more vicious than each other. The reason I gave them one day is to make them pay attention to their eating manners, so that there won't be only soup and water left without a few bones. Just look at them reveling. Once this matter is over, they will be like cutting off their own wings. There will be plenty of time to settle the score later. I gave them the opportunity, but they couldn't grasp it and had to eat in an ugly way!"

The clever Baochai immediately understood what Jia Lian meant and exclaimed again: "Aren't you afraid that they will say that the master is going back on his word and breaking his promise?"

Jia Lian still didn't open his eyes, and answered very casually: "So what? What's wrong with saying a few words? I have been impeached many times in these years, but I haven't lost a hair. People in the circle will know that it's not that Jia is not careful in doing things. Those who fall into my hands, even in the officialdom, will die. Back in Shandong, although there were many people impeaching, in the end, there was only thunder and no rain, right? It's nothing more than that Jia left enough room for action. I left room, but others didn't, so they deserved to die. Guess again, how many officials will fall into the hands of the master this time?"

Baochai felt a chill in her heart when she heard this. This was a series of plots that took people's hearts into account. It seemed like they were forcing everyone to bow their heads, but in fact, they were giving these officials a chance to make a fortune. If you are greedy, you will fall into Jia Lian's hands. You will be the pig that is killed in the front and the pig that is killed in the back.

Dark, really too dark.

Thinking of this, Baochai suddenly felt that it was too low-class to play tricks on him in the past. Maybe he had calculated everything and was waiting for her to fall into the trap.

When it came to Xue Pan's matter, the master seemed to have done nothing, but he had actually planned it out for a long time, right? Even the Wang family was included in the plan.

Baochai was lost in her thoughts and became quiet. Jia Lian opened his eyes and looked at her absent-minded look, then smiled without saying anything.

This woman is indeed smart, but she has no social experience. Tanchun is similar to her. Only Daiyu has great wisdom, the wisdom to see through people's hearts. Speaking of this, Jia Lian feels inferior to her.

There was an announcement at the door that Xue Pan had come again and had something to report.

Jia Lian asked Xue Pan to come in. After he came in, he wiped his sweat and said, "It's a mess outside! Many shops are closed."

Jia Lian didn't care about this, but asked him: "What do the Wang family say? Will they continue to do the opium business?"

(End of this chapter)