Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 550: Chenghui Emperor Show Operation
After Emperor Chenghui made the decision about Li Yuan, he was met with a wave of fierce opposition.

The core idea of ​​opposition is still the same: there is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, and there is an order of seniority.

Emperor Chenghui's counterattack was very direct. He personally replied in the palace bulletin, "I am not a legitimate son, nor am I the eldest son. Since the founding of this dynasty, all those who have ascended the throne have not been legitimate eldest sons. Moreover, I have not appointed a crown prince. You do not need to talk about this matter again. Anyone who talks about it again will be treated as a traitor who has exceeded the limit of cholera."

This reply was like a stop switch, and the turmoil in the court was stopped.

It can be said that thanks to Emperor Chenghui's decisive decision, the storm was settled without causing much reaction.

He was not without his head. There were indeed five ministers who continued to report on the matter of Second Prince Li Yuan. Emperor Chenghui was not polite at all. He directly questioned them, and after interrogation, he exiled them to Southeast Asia, leaving them to accompany Li Yuan.

This incident undoubtedly caused a huge shock to all the ministers. They finally saw clearly that the emperor would never tolerate anyone who would take advantage of the heir to the throne.

While the aftermath has not yet subsided, a new storm has arisen.

At the cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister Zhang Ting'en mentioned the issue of the land tax again, and decided that where we fell, we should get up there. This time, we should re-elect capable people and rotate officials in Henan Province on a large scale. Cabinet minister Li Qing stood up to oppose it, not because he opposed this matter, but because he thought the time was not right. The last failure was caused by rushing too fast.

Lin Ruhai stood up to refute Li Qing, arguing that all reforms are difficult. We cannot do nothing just because we are afraid of difficulties. If the court knows that the country has problems and does not try to change them, what are the officials for? You are afraid of difficulties, and I am afraid of difficulties too. If everyone does nothing and just watches. If there is a natural disaster, the people will definitely rise up.

Li Qing still used the same approach, saying that the time was not right and that he must not forget the lessons of Wang Anshi's reform.

When Lin Ruhai saw that he was using Wang Anshi as an excuse, he immediately refuted him, saying that Wang Anshi's reforms could not be confused with the reforms of the current dynasty. The reforms presided over by the wise emperor were based on the previous dynasty, and were improved and orderly. They were not radical reforms like Wang Anshi's.

The two argued endlessly, and Emperor Chenghui couldn't stand it anymore, so he signaled to pause and discuss further.

This incident caused discussion among the ministers after the meeting. The ministers who had been suppressed because of Li Yuan's incident found a channel to vent their anger and began to write letters to express their opposition or support.

Just as the ministers were busy talking to each other, the censor Fang Song submitted a memorial to the court, saying that in view of the chaotic tax management, the court should set up a special tax collection department to manage all the tax revenues in the country.

Fang Song also mentioned the benefits of this move, that is, with dedicated personnel, the influence of local officials and gentry is reduced to a minimum. Taking the autumn tax in Suzhou last year as an example, the department should set up special armed forces to combat tax resistance.

If Zhang Tingen's restarting of the land-based tax system was just throwing a stone into a puddle, then Fang Song's memorial was like throwing a bomb into the puddle.

After receiving the memorial, the emperor urgently convened a cabinet meeting to discuss the feasibility of the matter. As there had been no private discussion beforehand, Zhang Tingen, as usual, waited for the reaction first. Li Qing, Guo Yan, and Pan Jixun firmly opposed it. Lin Ruhai did not express his opinion, but brought up the issue of allocating land tax to each household. Zhang Tingen then said that it would be safer to restart the issue of allocating land tax to each household.

Emperor Chenghui still had no attitude and did not say which side he supported, but announced that the matter would be discussed again.

After the publication of this memorial, the court officials no longer cared about the land tax and the Second Prince Li Yuan. They submitted memorials like crazy, firmly opposing the establishment of a special armed tax collection department.

Thinking of the existence of such a department with armed forces at their disposal, who wouldn't feel uneasy, no matter if they are officials or gentry?

Once this powerful department is established, it will use armed forces to collect taxes at any time. Who can withstand it?
Another point is that if the right to collect taxes is taken away, how can local officials profit from it? The officials below have no money, so what can they use to pay tribute?

Oppose, firmly oppose!
In short, all officials panicked as soon as this memorial was submitted.

Li Qing saw that the emperor was trying to get the general to withdraw his carriage. Aren't you against the equalization of the land tax? Well, just separate the taxation and set up a department to collect taxes.

This matter caused such a huge stir that the memorials submitted by the ministers could be piled up to form a wall.

Emperor Chenghui was not in a hurry. He just kept thinking about it for a while and dragged his feet without making any statement.

This news arrived in Guangzhou along with the imperial edict about Li Yuan. After Jia Lian learned the contents of the imperial edict, he could only express his apologies for Li Yuan's future. Of course, this was not necessarily a bad thing.

Later, he learned about the recent events in the capital, and when he learned that Fang Song, that bastard, risked his life to secure his position as the Prime Minister, his admiration for him increased even more.

This is a ruthless person! He is a bit like Zhou Xinglai Junchen.

All that was left was to uncover a major case and set up a bronze gui at the gate of the imperial palace.

Seeing what happened recently, Jia Lian was very happy. You can't just ignore this group of officials and gentry, nor can you let them go. You have to give them some strength from time to time.

Jia Lian immediately wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver it to the capital by sea via a fast boat, expressing his support for all decisions of Your Majesty, whether it was the land-based tax system or the establishment of an armed tax department, and Guangdong and Guangxi would be the first to respond.

As Jia Lian's memorial was delivered to the capital, at the next cabinet meeting, after Emperor Chenghui threw out this memorial, Li Qing and others still opposed the establishment of a special tax department, but Li Qing remained silent on the restart of the land-based tax system, while Guo Yan said that it could continue to be tried, and Pan Jixun agreed. This matter was passed.

Immediately afterwards, the cabinet issued a document to restart the land-based tax system. Whether to set up a department specifically responsible for collecting taxes was temporarily shelved and a decision would be made later based on actual conditions.

Afterwards, the Ministry of Personnel replaced all officials in Henan Province, from the governor to the county magistrate and county lieutenant, based on their past performance. All the above-mentioned garrisons in Henan were replaced.

After completing these preparations, the newly appointed officials did not have close relations with the local gentry and were unwilling to take risks for the sake of their own future, so the first step in allocating the land tax was to clear the fields!

In order to ensure a smooth implementation, Zhang Tingen requested to transfer 10,000 troops from the Tongzhou camp to Luoyang and Kaifeng under the pretext of clearing out banditry.

After learning all this, Jia Lian, who was far away in Guangzhou, seemed to see the Henan gentry trembling in fear, and his teeth were itching with hatred.

But what can be said? When facing the army, the cornerstone of the state apparatus, the local gentry, even if they are local snakes or local dragons, have to hold their noses and endure.

To be honest, Jia Lian felt very emotional and thought he should have done this a long time ago.

More interesting things are yet to come. Jiangnan Province, which was the most violent province in previous years, is as steady as an old dog this time. No one can do anything about it, but they will definitely be the first to be troubled.

Well, this year is the year of the provincial examination, and the timing is very subtle. It reminds many people of an event that happened during the reign of Emperor Taizu of this dynasty.

What happened? In the fifth year of Emperor Taizu's reign, the tax rate at the Grand Canal Tax Station was increased by five percentage points. Merchants in Jinling, Suzhou, Songjiang and other places went on strike to protest, and the officials and gentry expressed their support.

What did Taizu do? He did not send troops, but directly stopped the provincial examinations in Jiangnan Province that year, and said that it was okay to continue the strike, but that candidates from Jiangnan would not be allowed to participate in the next year's imperial examinations.

This sudden blow brought the entire Jiangnan region to their knees. What a waste of time it was to go on strike.

This was a hit on the weak spot. The emperor never used this trick again. The reason was naturally too much resistance. After all, there were so many scholars in Jiangnan, and all those who passed the imperial examination were the best. Most of these people had a good career in the officialdom. A large number of high-ranking officials in the court were from Jiangnan. Lin Ruhai's ancestral home was Suzhou.

Upon learning that the court still chose Henan as a pilot area, Jia Lian felt very regretful and couldn't help but sigh.

Whether it is the emperor or Zhang Tingen, they are actually protecting Jia Lian and preventing him from getting involved.

Jia Lian had a lot of things to do. In addition to keeping an eye on them, he was more focused on the affairs of Southeast Asia. Faced with the ultimatum, the Dutch had no choice but to choose to negotiate in Jakarta. Despite this, they still tried to delay as much as possible. At the beginning, they said that time was too tight. Even if they wanted to withdraw everything, it would be too late before the end of March. In response to this, Li Yuan's attitude was relatively mild at first, but his bottom line was firm. He absolutely could not delay until the end of March.

When the imperial edict arrived in Jakarta and Li Yuan saw the establishment of the Nanyang Minister's Office and the appointment of him as the first head, his attitude changed drastically.

When the Dutch envoy was asked to talk nonsense again, Li Yuan took him away and slammed the table: "Then don't talk anymore, get ready to fight!"

Even the Dutch would never have imagined that Li Yuan's attitude would change drastically because of an imperial edict.

Can a Li Yuan who uses Nanyang as a springboard be the same as a Li Yuan who uses Nanyang as his foundation?

After a night of deep thought, Li Yuan made up his mind to stay in Nanyang forever.

The Dutch envoys were horrified and even more panicked when they discovered that the fleet in the port of Jakarta was actually preparing for war.

In contrast, the Ottoman Empire delegation that arrived in the capital at the same time received a high-level welcome.

The reason is very simple. Jia Lian secretly reported to the emperor that, starting from the Ottoman Empire's geography, the Ottoman Empire, which was surrounded by enemies, could be said to be the empire's best ally in the geopolitics of Europe.

Ibrahim first met Li Qing and had a friendly conversation with him. Then he learned that the great Emperor of the Empire was willing to receive them, and he was so excited that he danced with joy.

Li Qing looked down on these barbarians, but he did the task assigned by the emperor very seriously. In the previous contest with Zhang Tingen, the other party took the lead and Li Qing was in a passive position. In this situation, if he wanted to make a difference, the emperor's support became more important.

Li Qing told Ibrahim that the Ottoman Empire was a huge empire with a long history, and the two countries were equal in status, with no distinction between superior and inferior. On this basis, the Great Zhou Empire was willing to hold friendly talks on all-round cooperation between the two sides.

Ibrahim's arrival had a huge impact on the British and French envoys, who were all very concerned about the outcome of the talks. France was the most concerned because the Mediterranean country was across from the Ottoman Empire. After the setback in its North American colonization, France was bound to turn its attention to North Africa.

The British, the troublemaker, are also concerned. The current prospects of the war in North America are bleak, and the colonial conquest of India has reached a critical moment. Britain has no energy to get involved in Russia's westward advance. It hopes that the Ottoman Empire can block Russia's expansion ambitions. It would be best if both sides were exhausted and Britain could fish in troubled waters.

After five Russian-Turkish wars, the relationship between the two countries is difficult to change. The British are worried that the two countries will be determined in the short term, so Britain may have to leave early and help the losing side. This is what happened in history. Britain and France joined forces to teach Russia a lesson in Crimea.

In the geopolitical game of these European countries, contracts are no different from waste paper.

Ibrahim's eyes were opened during the journey. He saw the vastness and wealth of the great Eastern Empire. As for its strength, it goes without saying, otherwise Britain and France would not have taken the initiative to be friendly.

Ibrahim was very envious of everything in the East University, and the most coveted thing was military equipment. Speaking of the Ottoman Empire, it has always been a major military purchaser.

During the meeting with Li Qing, Ibrahim could not wait to put forward the request for arms purchase. In response, Li Qing did not agree immediately, but said that he would record it and ask the Prime Minister for instructions. After the Prime Minister approved it, he would convey the Ottoman Empire's request to the emperor. In addition to arms purchases, the Ottoman Empire's other trade requests were much smoother.

However, there is one thing. Purchasing is purchasing. Because the navy is too weak, it is difficult for the Ottoman Empire's merchant ships to come to Dongda, so they hope that Dongda will send merchant ships to deliver the goods.

Li Qing said this request was no problem!
The talks between the two sides lasted for three days. After many treaties were approved by both sides, the only thing left was the procurement of arms.

Zhang Tingen personally did not advocate the sale of arms to foreign countries, but he did not set up any obstacles. Instead, he went to see the emperor and expressed his suggestions in person. After all, the equipment of the imperial army has not yet been replaced. It is not that it cannot be made, but that it does not want to spend so much money. At least this is what Emperor Chenghui thought. With three major camps plus the Shenji Camp, the emperor thought it was enough.

The equipment of the garrisons in various places may be a little worse, but in the absence of strong enemies around, there is no urgency to replace all of them.

Let's put it this way, even among the troops stationed in Gyeonggi, only the Shenjiying was equipped with percussion cap rifles, while the other troops were still equipped with flintlock rifles. In addition, the Nanyang New Army was equipped with percussion cap rifles.

As for the breech-loading rifles, Emperor Chenghui was in no mood to change them. Only Jia Lian's followers changed them, and the number did not exceed 1,000. In Jia Lian's view, this was the accumulation of technology, so he kept it for backup.

Emperor Chenghui was also quite hesitant about whether to sell the arms, and finally replied: "Ask Jia Buqi! If he says to sell, then sell."

With the advent of clipper ships, the communication time between Guangzhou and Beijing was greatly shortened, from half a month faster to twenty days slower.

Even so, when Jia Lian received the letter from the capital, it was already the end of March. The deadline for Nanyang had arrived, and the negotiation results for Li Yuan had come out.

The two sides reached an agreement as follows: first, the Dutch were allowed to withdraw from Java in an organized armed force before the end of June; second, Dutch plantation owners and businessmen in Java could continue to stay, but they had to pay taxes according to regulations. Finally, the final relationship between the two countries should be decided by the Dutch sending envoys to the capital for friendly negotiations.

The negotiations were presided over by Li Yuan, so when Jia Lian saw the result, he had nothing to say. He expressed his approval, signed it, and sent it to the capital.

There was another piece of news in Li Yuan's letter, that is, Spain sent someone to deliver the ransom. Li Yuan hoped to use this money to purchase a large amount of supplies from the country and for immigration expenses.

Jia Lian implicitly rejected this request, and the reason was very simple. The court spent a lot of money to build the fleet and army, and the money went out like water, and not a penny has been returned so far. Therefore, not only can the ransom not be intercepted, but it must be transferred to the capital, and it is best to publicize it so that everyone knows about it. In fact, Jia Lian has used newspapers to spread the news of the discovery of a large gold mine in Borneo in the capital, Songjiang, and Guangzhou. He hinted to Li Yuan that the advantage of doing so is that many people may go to Southeast Asia at their own expense, hoping to make a fortune. What Li Yuan has to do is to protect the safety of these people as much as possible.

After writing back to Li Yuan, Jia Lian found himself in a room decorated in Ottoman style the next day, leaning on a cushion with a glass of wine in his hand. Baochai, the third sister, Xiren, Qingwen, Siqi, Yuanyang and Ying'er were all there, watching the wonderful performance of the Ottoman dancers together.

Speaking of this dance, there is a translation of it called "belly dance" in the East, but I don't know if it is correct.

There are two dancers, one playing the drums, the other wearing a veil on her face, a two-piece skirt, with her waist exposed, and a thin long skirt underneath, her outline vaguely visible.

"Bah. Shameless!" Ying'er took one look and turned her head away and cursed in a low voice. We all turned off the lights before showing them. Others also had slightly hot faces and avoided looking at them.

Fortunately, the two dancers couldn't understand what they were saying. As the drum beats began, one of the dancers began to get into the mood.

There are silver bells on the wrists and ankles, which make crisp sounds to the rhythm of the drums.

Her waist is as white as a snake, her hips are swaying, and her buttocks are ripples.

Jia Lian is very resistant, and he has seen many more extreme cases than this. Is Tokyo hot? What Lord Jia says does not count.

But it was not the same for the others. After watching for a while, Yuanyang ran away first. She was still covered in yellow flowers, and it looked like there were bugs crawling all over her body. They quickly retreated and returned to the house, still feeling hot all over.

Qingwen was the second one to leave. She was just like that. She couldn't stand this. After seeing Yuanyang leave, she quietly left too. Siqiduo insisted for a while and followed. Xiren didn't leave. She insisted on watching. The third sister even stood up and imitated the dancer. Jia Lian was so excited that he applauded the third sister. This girl was even more excited.

Baochai was also a little restless, but she was able to keep her composure and did not leave, continuing to watch. She thought, if I leave, Xiren and Ying'er will also leave. By then, will Master Jia be able to bear to execute these two foreign women on the spot?
At the critical moment, the maid came to report that there was a letter at the door from the capital.

Jia Lian's interest was interrupted, so he stood up and went back to his room, wiped the sweat off his face and changed his clothes before coming out to see the messenger.

The messenger was sent by Zhang Tingen, and he asked about arms sales and whether to send merchant ships to the Ottoman Empire.

Thinking of the Ottoman Empire, which was a major customer of Mauser along with Dongda, and the oil under the desert of the Arabian Peninsula, Jia Lian felt that this matter could not be neglected. He had to think carefully about how to get a piece of precious land where oil would flow out with a few digs of Luoyang shovel. Cession was not appropriate, and private territory was a good choice.

(End of this chapter)