Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 506: Unexpected Ending

A snake cannot survive without a head. This is the case with many things. If there is no one leading from above, there will naturally be no trouble below.

After Jia Lian's official document, officials from the two provinces immediately shut up. Some stubborn ones even submitted memorials to oppose it, but what could they say?

You want to show off your ability, right? You want to go against your boss, right?

So, the boss gave him a beating with an iron fist. Governor, you saw it all.

Whether Jia Lian was the governor or acting governor, he never interfered in the affairs of his subordinates. Unlike some people, they wanted to grab even the smallest power and show off their presence all the time.

There was no unrest in Guangdong and Guangxi, nor in Jiangnan, nor in Shaanxi and Gansu, nor in Sichuan. The officials did not even report the so-called public sentiment. When the gentry below saw that things were not going well, they quickly wrote letters to their respective connections, urging them to make a fuss.

Unfortunately, this is not the Yongzheng period, and there is no scene where Deputy General Ma scolds Tian Wenjing in person.

There is still a lot of opposition across the country. Of course, officials rarely express their opposition directly, but instead report the "public sentiment" at the grassroots level to the central government.

It's probably about this. There are big problems with the policy of equalizing the land tax. The gentry below are making a big fuss, and people are unstable. They are afraid that it will delay the collection of summer taxes, so they report it hereby.

In fact, once this policy was implemented, the biggest losers would be the gentry, followed by the local clerks. The officials would not suffer much loss.

But what can I say? There are too many corrupt officials.

The majority of officials in most provinces expressed their opposition. At the Beijing official level, the majority also opposed it, especially some powerful people, who also actively expressed their opposition.

This is very simple. Whoever has more land will be more anxious.

The truly ordinary people, the ordinary people with normal values, that is, the silent majority, have a clear mind and can see clearly who is a human and who is a ghost.

Just for this one matter, Emperor Chenghui could also see clearly which ministers were truly loyal to the country and which ministers were selfish.

Faced with an overwhelming wave of opposition, Emperor Chenghui remained unmoved. Instead of panicking, he used a small notebook to write down who was opposing him.

At the same time, Fang Song was under great pressure. Whenever there was a memorial opposing the land tax, Fang Song would be pulled out and beaten. The hat of treason was put on his head without any cost.

Because he was impeached so many times, Fang Song stayed at home pretending to be sick, not going to work or court. At the same time, he had to write memorials to defend himself.

Throughout June, the hottest season, there was a lot of noise and even madness because of this matter. Even more outrageous was that some local gentry organized the people to press their fingerprints to oppose the land tax. Similar phenomena occurred more than a dozen times, with tens of thousands of fingerprints pressed on a large piece of cloth and sent to the capital by local officials with a "public opinion letter" attached.

Fang Song could pretend to be sick and not go out, but he had a family to feed and drink. When a servant went out to buy groceries, he was blocked and given a good beating.

People from the Wucheng Bingmasi did come and tried to stop the fight, but they did not catch the assailant.

Similar things happened three or four times, which had a huge impact on Fang Song's family's daily life.

After hearing the news, Emperor Chenghui called Li Yuan into the palace and asked him, "Fang Zongxian's family was beaten when they went out to buy things. Why didn't you catch the murderer?"

Li Yuan hesitated to speak, and finally said: "I am ashamed!"

Emperor Chenghui looked at him for a long time without saying a word. He waved his hand in disappointment and signaled him to go down. He then turned around and asked Long Jinwei's men to deliver something to Fang Song's home.

When Fang Song learned that the Dragon Guard had sent a bunch of daily necessities, he excitedly went out to greet them personally, knelt in the courtyard, and kowtowed in the direction of the palace: "Your Majesty's grace is as high as the sky and as deep as the earth. I am deeply grateful to you."

After receiving the reply, Emperor Chenghui was very moved: "He is a man who knows how to be grateful! Unlike..."

More memorials came as time went by, and just when the other side's calls for war and killing reached a new peak, they suddenly began to fall off a cliff.

Did these people give up? No, a new target appeared. Who is it? Jia Lian!
Governor Jia Dai wrote an official document that directly expressed his attitude on paper. Although there were no particularly extraordinary words, he stopped officials from the two provinces and did not allow them to express their views on the matter. He also emphasized that they just needed to obey His Majesty.

The news spread so quickly that memorials from all over the country were gathered in the capital, all impeaching Jia Lian. This time, they did not try to cover it up and directly named him.

Crime: bullying subordinates and blocking the way of speech. What does Jia Lian want to do? He can block the mouths of officials from two provinces, but can he block the mouths of the world?
At first, it was just an impeachment by officials, but later it developed into gentry from all over the country writing a "letter to the people", saying that he was oppressing the local people and harming the people's livelihood, and demanding severe punishment for Jia Lian.

The funniest thing happened. Although the gentry in other places were so eager to deal with Jia Lian, there was no similar action in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Especially in Guangzhou, the gentry did not join in the commotion. Instead, they were busy singing praises to Governor Jia.

It can only be said that at the beginning the local gentry were quite hostile to Jia Lian, but as time went on, they found that Governor Jia was not a bad person.

In the past, Wang Ziteng always did some tricks to collect money in order to raise military funds, but Jia Lian did not do these things at all. In addition, where did Governor Jia get the materials needed for military equipment? Of course, he purchased them from the public. Because of the military equipment, the number of various private workshops in Guangzhou City increased by more than double.

Weapons manufacturing requires a large amount of steel. The original state-owned ironworks had insufficient production capacity, so a large number of orders fell to the private sector. All kinds of materials needed for shipbuilding, such as cables and canvas, had to be purchased from the private sector.

Jia Lian made money, but he didn't put the money in his pocket, but spent it. All the upstream and downstream of any industrial chain benefited from it. Jia Lian also built infrastructure, renovated roads, and built docks. He made cement himself, but purchased sand and gravel from local sources. If foreign trade benefited not only Guangzhou, but the whole country, then Jia Lian's armaments and infrastructure in Guangdong benefited the whole province.

As for why there was no commotion in Guangxi, it was because they were too busy to take care of themselves. The old bastard Wang Ziteng took away more than 100,000 people from Guangxi, all of whom were young and strong. Don't think that more than 100,000 people are too few and it doesn't matter. If a province loses more than 100,000 young and strong people, there will be a serious shortage of the main force that can work in the fields, and there will be a shortage of porters at the docks.

The most important thing is that the migration of population has been coordinated by local officials, who have received money from Wang Ziteng. Now the local gentry and local tyrants are on high alert against Wang Ziteng, and local officials are suppressing all kinds of voices. Who cares about Jia Lian's affairs? Even if someone wants to make trouble, the local officials will suppress it.

It can be said that after Jia Lian made his move, he immediately attracted all the firepower. Don't even mention that Fang Song is of a higher rank. Everyone knows that getting rid of Jia Lian is much more intimidating than getting rid of Jia Lian.

Jia Lian was not worried at all about the impeachment trend in the court. What the hell! You guys can still bite me?

As for Fang Song, after learning that Jia Lian stood up to attract fire, he did not continue to jump, but privately sighed that Fang had bitten the bullet and submitted a memorial for the emperor's appreciation, and frankly he had more selfish motives. Jia Lian was really all public-spirited, and for the sake of public affairs, he suppressed his subordinates and prevented them from talking about the matter.

If the official impeachment was loud and thus affected the common people, then the discussion about Jia Lian in the capital was not so one-sided.

Especially at the level of Beijing officials, those who support Jia Lian and those who oppose Jia Lian have actually formed a situation of equal strength.

Let’s put it this way, young officials, pragmatic officials, and officials with progressive ideas basically all stood on Jia Lian’s side.

Some people submitted memorials to impeach Jia Lian and listed all his crimes, while others submitted memorials to speak up for Jia Lian.

Even those who spoke for Jia Lian had a certain advantage. The reason was simple: every one of Jia Lian's achievements was very impressive.

On the other hand, those who criticized Jia Lian could only say one or two things: one was that he was oppressing the gentry, and the other was that he was blocking the channels of speech. They wanted to find a third charge, but they couldn't find one.

What is even more interesting about Jia Lian is the rich and powerful in the capital. They were quite active in confronting Fang Song some time ago, but when it came to Jia Lian, they all shut up. They didn't say anything themselves, and they didn't allow their family members to go out and talk nonsense. It is even said that a noble son cursed Jia Lian at home after drinking, and his parents knocked out two of his front teeth, helped him sober up, and then locked him up to reflect on his mistakes.

Zhang Tingen and Lin Ruhai, who were ready to take action, found that something was wrong. It was not as intense as the previous scene when Fang Song was targeted. The two of them talked about this matter in private and were quite surprised. "I didn't expect that he would have such a reputation that the dignitaries in Beijing would retreat." Zhang Tingen was very unhappy. Although the disciple did not have to be inferior to the master, he was a little jealous. When he proposed it, the whole city and even the whole country were shouting for killing Zhang to appease the public anger.

Now it was Jia Lian's turn. Well, a small number of officials in Beijing came out to speak for him, boasting about his past achievements. The powerful and the wealthy also shut up honestly, as if Jia Lian was a taboo. After a few days of excitement in the market, those who opposed Jia Lian were suppressed. Recently, there have been several fights, all because someone slandered Jia Lian in a wine shop or teahouse and was besieged by the "enthusiastic masses".

The children of several officials were beaten badly.

Lin Ruhai also agreed with Zhang Tingen's statement: "What a weird thing!"

As they were talking, Ning Ke came in with an angry face, clasped his hands and said to the two men, "Two Lords, my son was beaten in the teahouse, do you care?"

Zhang Tingen didn't say anything and looked at him calmly. Lin Ruhai asked with a slightly mocking smile: "Brother Ning, if you have something to say, please speak slowly and clearly. Don't make random accusations."

It is well known in Beijing that the two have a bad relationship.

Ning Ke suppressed his anger, calmed his tone, and slowly said, "At noon today, my son went to Jiangnanchun for tea. He just said a few words about Jia Buqi, and was besieged by the tea guests in the restaurant. At first it was just a verbal dispute, but later it turned into a physical fight. My son was knocked unconscious and the doctor is trying to save him."

"Lord Ning said that your young master was beaten unconscious. I, Lin, suspect that he was not beaten, but was frightened, or maybe he was pretending." In private, Lin Ruhai really did not give him face and questioned him directly.

"Mr. Lin, you are going too far!" Ning Ke was so angry that he jumped up and pointed at Lin Ruhai with shaking hands.

Lin Ruhai didn't tolerate him at all and pointed back: "Ning Ke, who are you pointing at? If you point again, I'll break your fingers!"

"Come on! I'm afraid of you!" Ning Ke jumped up and continued pointing.

“Ouch, you… it hurts!”

Zhang Tingen sat firmly on the Diaoyutai, watching Lin Ruhai reach out, pinch Ningke's fingers and bend them. He didn't know whether they were broken or not, but Ningke knelt down on one leg in so much pain.

"Duang!" Zhang Tingen threw the teacup in his hand onto the table with a loud clattering sound. Lin Ruhai then withdrew his hand, took two steps back, and continued, "Sorry, Lin has been practicing martial arts since childhood, so my hands are too quick!" At this time, Ning Ke remembered that although this bastard was a third place winner in the imperial examination, he was a genuine disciple of a noble family.

"Shut up. You are all high-ranking officials in the court. How can this be tolerated? If this gets out, where will the dignity of the court officials be? Where will the dignity of the cabinet be?"

Ning Ke did not continue to make trouble. He stood up and glared at Lin Ruhai fiercely. Meeting Zhang Tingen's stern eyes, he said angrily, "Your subordinate has lost his composure!"

Zhang Tingen immediately asked someone to investigate what had happened to Ning Ke's son. Given the security in the capital, it shouldn't be that serious.

This matter soon reached Emperor Chenghui, who couldn't help laughing and laughed several times before stopping: "Go, check the report."

The matter was not complicated at all, wasn't he just the third son of a cabinet minister? The teenage brat heard people talking about Jia Lian in the market and commented in public that Jia Lian was monopolizing power and bullying the gentry, and he was afraid that he would not have a good ending.

After he said this, because he had a slight foreign accent, he was immediately refuted by the tea drinkers. They said that he was a little kid who knew nothing, so how could he be qualified to comment on Young Master Jia?

This unfortunate child was looked down upon, so naturally he wanted to show off to get back at his dignity, saying that his father was a cabinet minister. These were his original words when commenting on Jia Lian.

After he said this, the situation got a little out of control. At that time, more than a dozen people scolded Ning Ke, saying that he was the son of a cabinet minister, and that your father must be a corrupt official, otherwise he would not comment on the young master like this. The third son of Ning refused to agree. My father was an honest official. How can you bastards slander his innocence out of thin air? I will smash your mouths.

If it was just a quarrel, it would be fine, but the Third Master Ning brought seven or eight followers with him, and they directly tried to overturn the tea table and chased the tea drinkers who were talking. This was a big deal. The teahouse was completely out of control.

First, a tea drinker couldn't stand it anymore, so he picked up the teapot and smashed it over, not only hitting the head of Mr. Ning San's follower, but also scalding his face with the hot water, causing him to scream in pain.

This was like a signal from a cup-smashing incident, and someone in the crowd shouted, "Beat that son of a bitch!"

The teahouse immediately turned into a battlefield. Most of the tea drinkers joined in, teaching Master Ning San and his followers a lesson on what it means to speak ill of others.

The teahouse owner shouted at everyone to stop fighting with a sad face, and took the opportunity to stop the fight to step on the face of Mr. Ning San.

By the way, the teahouse owner was not worried at all. Even if Jiang Nanchun was beaten to death, the Jia family would reimburse him.

How should I put it? It's a coincidence. Jiangnanchun was originally the property of the Xue family, and now the nominal owner is Xue Baochai. Scolding Jia Lian here is just asking for trouble, isn't it?

Still can't have a good ending? I'll send you off first!

Soon everything was investigated clearly, but somehow, no one could find the specific person responsible, because the testimonies of the vast majority of people were the same: it was the followers of the Third Master Ning who took action first, which aroused public anger.

Who is Young Master Jia? He is the youngest champion since the founding of the country, born and raised in Beijing, the pride and dignity of the people of Beijing.

You are a little bastard from another place. Not only did you insult Young Master Jia in public, but you also hit him? Aren't you just relying on your father being a cabinet minister?

Ning Ke did not wait for the so-called justice, but was called into the palace by Emperor Chenghui.

"Your son really made Lord Ning proud. He was just a scholar, but he cursed Jia Buqi in front of hundreds of people in the capital. He lost the argument and even overturned the table to beat him. The Ning family's education really makes me feel ashamed." After Emperor Chenghui finished speaking, Ning Ke could no longer stand. He knelt down tremblingly, took off his hat and put it aside, and said tremblingly: "I have failed your grace, and I ask to leave the capital!"

How can I put it? I can only say that Ning Ke's series of performances since he entered the cabinet have made Emperor Chenghui dissatisfied many times. Today, it has reached a peak and exploded in an instant, so he spoke so harshly. How could Ning Ke not know? This cannot be blamed on the emperor's harsh words. It should be blamed on him for not keeping his mouth shut in private, and for not educating his children well. He used Ning Ke's private words as a capital to show off in front of everyone. This is really pitfall!

There is another reason why Emperor Chenghui suddenly became angry. That is, Third Master Ning was not knocked unconscious, nor was he frightened unconscious. He was just pretending to be unconscious. However, he did receive a lot of punches and kicks.

Thinking that Ning Ke was promoted by himself, and seeing him kneeling on the ground and trembling, Emperor Chenghui's originally hard heart gradually softened after venting his anger.

"It's better to leave Beijing and go to Shaanxi and Gansu. Li Rushui should be back soon."

"Your humble servant Ning Ke kowtows to thank you for your grace!" Ning Ke tapped the ground with his forehead, and after three clicks, he slowly and with difficulty stood up.

From early June to mid-July, the Beijing crowd was overwhelmed by the food and drink, with one wave of excitement after another.

First, the Chief Censor was besieged, and then Jia Lian was beaten up. However, no one expected that the ending would be that Cabinet Minister Ning Keyuan was transferred to Shaanxi and Gansu.

What's even more outrageous is that Jia Lian, who was far away in Guangzhou, was blamed again.

"See? I told you before that he is a jinx. Whoever touches him will be in trouble. Isn't this another one?"

"Even the cabinet ministers couldn't handle it, it was too strong!"

Similar discussions were spreading wildly in certain small circles in the capital!

(End of this chapter)