Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 533: Enough Pressure
Wei Da had not read the content of the reply from the capital, and Jia Lian had not asked him to read it, so Wei Da did not dare to ask to read it.

Now seeing Jia Lian's attitude, Wei Da, who had no ambitions to begin with, felt at ease to follow him on the boat north and serve as a background board.

The fleet drifted on the sea for half a month without stopping along the way, and suddenly turned into the Yangtze River at Wusongkou.

Logically speaking, there are artillery batteries and military guards at Wusongkou, so the fleet would definitely be blocked if it wanted to enter the Yangtze River.

The reality was that no one cared about this fleet. Jia Lian just swaggered into the Yangtze River, and the entire Wusongkou Fort and the guarding army didn't say a word.

In this way, the fleet successfully entered the Yangtze River. When the civilian ships along the way saw such a large fleet without flags, they all gave way, and there was no official response at all.

Wei Da and Jia Lian stood on the deck and watched the civilian ships dodging on the river. Jia Lian had no expression on his face, while Wei Da cursed with a sullen face: "Damn it! Damn the governor of Jiangnan, damn the general of Jiangnan."

Jia Lian handed him a pair of binoculars and pointed to the mouth of Wusong.

Wei Da raised his telescope and looked, and finally saw a lot of people running around in panic. There was chaos everywhere, and there were few people on the artillery platform.

"Now you know why the Japanese pirates were able to seize land and run rampant along the coast during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, right?" Jia Lian seemed to be nonchalant about this, but Wei Da nodded in agreement and said, "I've heard that the military preparations in Jiangnan were lax, but today I know that this is not a lax military preparation, it's the same as having no military preparations at all."

Jia Lian said calmly: "We still have the weapons, but I don't know if the guns on the fort can still fire."

By the time the generals at Wusongkou reacted, the fleet had already passed by. They had no choice but to send someone on horseback to Suzhou to report the news that an unidentified fleet was approaching Suzhou.

After they passed Wusongkou, Wei Da asked, "Aren't you afraid of the artillery fire from the Wusongkou fort?"

The old eunuch's name has changed again. In the past, he was called "Buqigong" to show closeness. Now the change is not out of respect, but to keep a certain distance. After all, Jia Lian's actions are a bit scary.

Although Wei Da said that the governor of Jiangnan and the general should be put to death, he was actually very panicked because Jia Lian's actions were too offensive and directly offended the military and political officials of Jiangnan Province.

Jia Lian is big and can handle it, but Wei Da can't.

The fleet sailed smoothly all the way. At first, the towns on both sides were frightened and there were many scenes of chaos. But before the bandits came ashore, everything calmed down.

"The defense of the richest place in the world is so bad, it's rotten, really rotten." Wei Da was heartbroken and beat his chest and stamped his feet.

Jia Lian burst into laughter, and Wei Da asked curiously, "Why is Jia Gong laughing?"

My last name isn’t Cao, and I don’t have any special hobbies, so don’t ask me that.

"It's easy to take the fertile land. Some people in the court or in the local areas are just a little more aggressive and louder. The reason they seem powerful is the rules of the court. Without the rules, they are just a piece of fat meat. Jia's move is to let the people of the world see clearly that as long as Your Majesty is willing, Jia's knife will fall on their heads at any time."

Wei Da was shocked by these words and took two steps back to stand firm. There were a thousand elite soldiers in the fleet, and Jia Lian, who had the imperial edict in his hand, would probably kill people all over Jiangnan and make rivers of blood if he was not calm.

Wei Da really wanted to ask, is it too late to jump off the boat now?
Jia Lian did not show his flag, of course it was intentional! Even if he jumped ship now, he had already offended everyone.

Of course, Wei Da couldn't be a eunuch. He was an eunuch, and his honor and disgrace all depended on the emperor. Not only could he not be a eunuch, but he also had to act as a recorder and report everything to the emperor.

Of course, Wei Da only needed to report on the ugly behavior of officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

"Mr. Wei, can you tell me in detail the results of the investigation into the incident of Long Jin Wei's stroke?" Jia Lian suddenly asked. Wei Da looked a little embarrassed, but he smiled smoothly. "Mr. Jia, why do you have to ask so much? What Long Jin Wei found is not much different from what you know. After all, this is Jiangnan, and Long Jin Wei is also an outsider."

This statement was a bit perfunctory, but it was true. The follow-up investigation of Sun Huazhen's case was like this. After Sun Huazhen suffered a stroke, two of his followers had accidents. One fell into the water and drowned while crossing a bridge, and the other hanged himself with his belt in the bedroom. One of these two people was responsible for shopping, and the other was responsible for daily reception. The latter was also responsible for calling a doctor when Sun Huazhen was sick.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that there was something fishy going on, but the government didn't find out anything. The conclusion of Jiangnan officials was that he had a stroke. The former of the two followers died accidentally, and the latter left a family behind who hanged himself because he blamed himself for not taking good care of Sun Xiang. These are the lies that Jiangnan officials said.

Jia Lian did not find fault with Wei Da, and his face was stern: "Duke Wei, our life and death depend on your majesty. This time when Jia comes to Jiangnan, you should unite and do the things your majesty has told you to do."

After hearing this, Wei Da also became serious and said, "Mr. Jia's words make sense. We will definitely cooperate with you." He paused and continued, "The two followers, the Dragon Guard checked their families. They are both members of the Sun Xiang clan. Their parents and brothers knew nothing about them. The Dragon Guard found out that one of them had a mistress, but when he went to arrest her, the woman was gone. The other one was found to often hang out in the Qinhuai River, had many lovers, and no long-term relationship with his daughter. All the clues were lost, and we saw that we could not find any results, so we went to Guangzhou."

These things were found out by Long Jinwei, and Jia Lian also obtained this information through Xue Pan's information channels.

Wei Da seemed to be telling the truth, but in fact, he did not say one thing. The local Dragon Guards were not reliable. Wei Da had been hesitating whether to take the risk of offending Xia Shouzhong and purge the Jinling Dragon Guards.

It was definitely impossible to further investigate the case. It was impossible to defeat the local tyrants within the rules by just dealing with the facts. Therefore, Jia Lian jumped out of the rules and changed his track.

Now Wei Da has seen through Jia Lian's true intentions and also knows why he didn't show him Emperor Chenghui's reply.

"It's just like fighting a war. Don't fight in a battlefield where the enemy has set up an unknown situation. It's getting late. Go back to the cabin and rest. We'll talk about it when we get to Zhenjiang tomorrow."

The next morning, the fleet approached Zhenjiang. After washing up, Jia Lian ate breakfast while asking about the situation.

"So far, the local government in Jiangnan has not taken any measures to contact us, and the fleet is still unimpeded." Adjutant Fan Ping reported daily.

Jia Lian sneered again after listening to this. He dropped his chopsticks, stood up and left the cabin. Standing on the deck, the river breeze made him feel refreshed.

"Look, sir. There are horses on the dike and boats approaching on the river."

Jia Lian took out his pocket watch and took a look. "It has been thirteen hours since my fleet passed Wusongkou. Going upstream on the river, our speed is not as fast as sailing on the sea."

Fan Ping smiled and explained: "It's mainly about the sails. The sails of warships are soft sails for sailing on the sea. They can take advantage of the wind at any angle. For sailing in inland waters, hard sails are faster."

Through the telescope, he saw a local official standing on the bow of a small boat, nervously watching the approaching fleet. Jia Lian put down the telescope and said, "Raise the flag!"

A flag with a big Chinese character "佳" (Jia) on it was quickly raised on the mast. Then, other flags were raised one after another, including "Guangdong Governor" and "Qin-Appointed Jiangnan Inspector".

I have to say here that the inspection team of the Censorate has always existed and is sent to local areas for inspection every year. The inspection team is under the name of the Censorate and is actually directly under the emperor's order.

Now that Jia Lian has put up these two banners, his identity has been made clear at once.

When the local official on the ship saw the flag, he sat down on the deck, muttering to himself: "It's a disaster!"

Sun Huazhen's case was not a big deal among the people, but it was well known in the officialdom. The officials in Jiangnan knew that the emperor would not let it go, but no one expected that the emperor would send Jia Lian. This guy was even transferred back from Southeast Asia, which shows how much the emperor valued this matter.

Well, there is a saying in the officialdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty: wherever a disaster star passes, ghosts and gods will flee.

That is to say, wherever Jia Lian goes, ghosts and gods will avoid him. Otherwise, they will be beaten up.

During the years when Jia Lian was in Guangdong, officials from other places were very happy to see Wang Ziteng claiming to be ill and Jia Lian acting as governor. After all, it was just a nuisance to others.

Now that the flag has been raised and Jia Lian has brought his fleet to Jiangnan, can anything good come of this?
The local officials' request to board the ship was directly rejected by Jia Lian, and the fleet continued to move forward and headed straight for Jinling.

The officials in Zhenjiang were not offended, but celebrated. It was one thing for them to have no sympathy for their colleagues in Nanjing, and it was another to send a fast horse to report the news. To be honest, they were all people in the court. If something big happened, it would be a pity for everyone if one of their acquaintances got into trouble.

Jia Lian silently wrote down in his notebook that the Zhenjiang officials did not insist on boarding the ship. Legally speaking, the Zhenjiang officials had the right to ask Jia Lian to stop the ship for inspection. Just because you hoisted the flag, you are really an imperial envoy? I want to see the imperial edict.

Afterwards, Jiangyin, which controls the throat of the Yangtze River, unexpectedly still did not stop or even conduct an inspection. Jia Lian was heartbroken.

If you think about it carefully, it is true. In history, when the Qing army arrived in Jiangnan, the person who led the resistance in Jiangyin was just a clerk named Yan Yingyuan. There was no official who was actually responsible for defending the territory.

The moral integrity of the officials and gentry in Jiangnan is so flexible that it has no bottom line.

This is the situation now. When the flag was not raised, no one stopped it. Even after the flag was raised, no one stopped it and allowed the fleet to run rampant.

What does this phenomenon indicate? It indicates that government offices at all levels along the way, both civil and military, have seriously failed in their duties.

After passing Jiangyin, Jia Lian immediately asked people to prepare paper and pen, and wrote a memorial impeaching the government officials at all levels along the way for dereliction of duty.

After using the seal, he handed it to Wei Da for review. The eunuch also silently used the seal and sent someone through the channel of Long Jinwei to deliver it to the capital by express horse.

Although Jiangnan Governor Pang Zijun has been under a lot of pressure recently, he is in relatively good condition now that Sun Huazhen has suffered a stroke and the mountain is no longer hanging over his head.

Originally hiding in Suzhou, now sitting in Nanjing, how can it be the same? Moreover, in principle, Pang Zijun has no competitiveness for the post of Governor-General of Liangjiang, because this position can only be recommended by the cabinet and decided by the emperor. Pang Zijun's benefactor in the early stage of his career was Kong Zhao, and his subsequent acquaintance was Ning Ke. Now he has a bad relationship with the cabinet ministers. Therefore, he is not in a hurry to move and fight for this position. He hopes that the time will be delayed as long as possible, so that he can have a few more days to act as the hidden.

Pang Zijun, who was not in a hurry, was so scared when he learned that Jia Lian had led his fleet past Zhenjiang and was approaching Jinling that he wanted to flee back to Suzhou.

The three offices of Jiangnan were in Suzhou, and the governor's office was in Nanjing, but Pang Zijun always stayed in Suzhou. The reason was, of course, because the governor's office was in Nanjing.

Based on the principle that no one can bear the pressure alone, Pang Zijun immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to Suzhou, requesting the chief officials of the three divisions to come to Nanjing to bear the pressure together.

Afterwards, he contacted the members of the Jia and Wang families in Jinling, hoping to use them to establish a relationship with Jia Lian.

The result was naturally a setback. Neither the Wang family nor the Jia family dared to do so. However, there was still a big gap between the two.

The Wang family members didn't dare to do it because they felt guilty, and the Jia family members didn't dare to do it because they were afraid.

When Wang Ziteng was in power, the Wang family's attitude towards Jia Lian was not easy to talk about. In addition to the Xue family's affairs and the subsequent smuggling of opium, the relationship with Jia Lian became very tense. So what if he was the son-in-law of the Wang family? Wang Ziteng couldn't stand it if Jia Lian was annoyed. As for the Jia family, they were originally distant clansmen. In the current situation, who dared to go out and ruin Jia Lian's business?

After a series of setbacks, Pang Zijun had no choice but to bring the Jiangning Weaving Supervisor, the Jinling Prefect, and two county magistrates to the dock to wait for the arrival.

In principle, some local gentry should have appeared, but none of the local celebrities who were usually keen on interacting with officials showed up. Even if they could not refuse and agreed to do so, they all claimed to be sick at the last minute.

Pang Zijun was so angry that he was stood up, but he couldn't lose his temper in front of his subordinates. Suzhou is a little far from Jinling, and even if he went back and forth at the fastest speed, he wouldn't be able to catch up to meet him.

Only the governor Pang Zijun could shoulder the enormous pressure.

When the fleet approached the dock, the first ship to dock was not Jia Lian's ship, but the troop transport ship.

Pang Zijun, standing on the dock, looked at the open gun port, the black muzzle facing the shore, as if ready to fire at any time. He was weak and wanted to step forward, but he really had no strength at all. He stood there waiting, and had to support the Jinling prefect beside him to stand steady.

The first to disembark were Jia Lian's personal guards (house servants), who were carrying the latest breech-loading rifles and had revolvers on their waists.

After landing, the guards informed the local yamen runners to withdraw from the inner circle and they would be responsible for the defense of the scene.

After about an hour of hard work, the sun was already high in the sky when Jia Lian's flagship finally docked at the pier. Jia Lian, dressed in military uniform with a revolver slung around his waist, walked off the ship with a steely face and firm steps.

In principle, Pang Zijun is on the same level as Jia Lian, and Pang Zijun is older. Although Jia Lian is an imperial envoy, he cannot be too arrogant in his attitude.

But Jia Lian's behavior today obviously did not conform to normal rules. Especially when Pang Zijun and the local officials wanted to approach, the guards stopped them and said they would report it.

Under normal circumstances, Pang Zijun, who was of the same rank and older than him, was the governor of Jiangnan, so he personally came to the dock to greet him, which was considered a very humble gesture. However, the guards' actions, under normal circumstances, would be humiliating.

Pang Zijun, who was now stopped, did not feel humiliated at all, and the officials below did not feel humiliated either. Instead, they felt a strong fear.

Yes, they were afraid, they felt the fear from the bottom of their hearts.

The current situation is not normal at all. Which inspection team came with a thousand elite soldiers? Which inspection team came with a fleet that is powerful enough to blow down the walls of Jinling? You came as you please, and rushed directly through Wusongkou and Jiangyin Fortress without saying hello, and refused to let Zhenjiang officials board the ship.

Considering Sun Huazhen's case, even a fool would know that this person is not a good person. He may even bring disaster.

Jia Lian, who had received the notice, glanced at the officials who were stopped, put his hands behind his back, walked forward slowly, looked at the crowd coldly and said, "Everyone, please come to greet me. I am flattered!"

There was not even normal etiquette, and the people led by Pang Zijun not only did not feel humiliated, but their inner fear was intensified.

This is no joke. Colleagues don't even follow basic etiquette. How can the matter be considered a minor one?
"Mr. Jia, you are too kind. We have received the order from the emperor, so it is our duty to come and greet him." Pang Zijun tried to calm down, put on a smile, clasped his hands and saluted before replying. Other officials followed suit and saluted, and no one found fault with Jia Lian's impoliteness. He really couldn't care less.

"Haha, Jia thought Jiangnan was not under the rule of the imperial court, so he brought warships and elite soldiers. From what you think, Jiangnan Province is still under the rule of the imperial court?"

These words were not just heart-breaking, they were a verdict. Pang Zijun was able to respond calmly, but the Jinling prefect was so scared that he knelt on the ground: "I am innocent!" The Jiangning weaving factory next to him was still able to stand, but the smile on his face froze. The two county magistrates knelt down and said they were innocent.

"Unjust? Prime Minister Sun suffered a stroke and two of his close followers died. How did you make the verdict? Do you want me to tell you?"

The others were fine, but the Jinling prefect, who was in charge of investigating the case locally, collapsed to the ground.

Pang Zijun stood aside, struggled for a while, and finally spoke to help defend: "Replying to the Imperial Envoy, Sun Xiangqin died. We have investigated everything that can be investigated locally, and the Dragon Guard has also investigated..."

Before he could finish his words, Pang Zijun saw another person appear on the boat. When he saw clearly that it was Wei Da, he immediately shut up and did not continue.

Wei Da stepped forward slowly and said, "Go on, keep talking."

"Greetings, Lord Wei!" Pang Zijun hurriedly greeted him, but Wei Da stepped aside and said, "No, I dare not accept your greetings."

As Wei Da spoke, he stood consciously behind Jia Lian, and then looked at the officials present without saying a word.

Pang Zijun also kept silent. It seemed that the situation could not be resolved peacefully, and there was no point in saying more. The way Jia Lian appeared on the stage did not mean that he was here to listen to your explanation.

As the governor, Pang Zijun still had to maintain his dignity even when facing the imperial envoy, so he simply kept his mouth shut. If you want to convict someone, you need evidence.

Without evidence, even if you are an imperial envoy, you can't do anything to a governor.

(End of this chapter)