Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 555: Get it, a prosperous era is expected

The inclusion of a large amount of practical knowledge in the provincial examinations would undoubtedly lead to strong criticism, for which Jia Lian was mentally prepared.

Li Heng sent someone to deliver the message, not just to show goodwill, but also to find out the reason why Jia Lian changed his mind.

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I know what's going on." Jia Lian gave such an answer, and Mr. Xiao was obviously dissatisfied.

"I am also very curious. Your Excellency is in power at a young age, and your reputation as a wise man is known throughout the world. You can see that the road ahead is smooth. Why did you take such a risk? People at the time thought that your Excellency was unwise, but I think there is another mystery."

The future here refers to Jia Lian's entry into the cabinet. Most ministers at Jia Lian's level would basically adopt a safe and prudent approach to governing, follow procedures, and enter the cabinet smoothly when the time comes.

Jia Lian knew that he was asking on behalf of Li Yuan, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Entering the cabinet has never been the most important thing for me. People in high positions must look at the overall situation when doing things. What is the overall situation now? The rise of the West through industrialization has led to a change in the balance of power between the East and the West. Isn't it enough to arouse sufficient vigilance that Western countries can send warships to our doorstep? Once we fall behind in industrialization, the consequence will be a beating. The essence of this world, in one sentence, is that dignity is only above the sword, and truth is only within the range of cannons."

Sure enough, Mr. Xiao lowered his head and muttered quickly, memorized the sentence, and then folded his hands and left. He did not say what Li Heng would do, so it depends on his actions.

Because the metropolitan examination would be next year, after the provincial examinations were over, candidates from all provinces flocked to Beijing to prepare for the exam. In just a few months, before the end of the year, there were thousands of additional candidates in the capital.

The fact that the topics of the provincial examinations in Guangdong and Guangxi were different had already spread. After candidates from all over the country gathered in the capital, most of them first sought confirmation from candidates in Guangdong and Guangxi. After learning that this was indeed the case, they began a heated discussion.

The Juren group, because they were already qualified to be officials but did not do so, had a very special status. The biggest characteristics of this group were that they had plenty of money to spend, were bold, and liked to criticize politics. They might not dare to criticize their parents in the local area, but when they arrived in the capital, they were very bold to criticize the Minister of Rites and the cabinet ministers.

Upon learning that some scholars from Guangdong and Guangxi had caused trouble after the provincial examination, these candidates became even more excited. They started talking loudly in taverns and teahouses, criticizing the "parasites" in the current cabinet and the six ministries.

The vast majority of candidates thought that Jia Lian was messing around. He turned the national talent selection ceremony into a personal academic examination, which was totally disrespectful.

Under the instigation of some people with ulterior motives, these scholars started by criticizing Jia Lian, then went on to criticize the cabinet, and some of them were even bold enough to directly criticize the emperor.

It was a characteristic of the Han regime that scholars criticized the emperor and the cabinet, but the emperor and the cabinet often did not take it to heart.

In terms of wording, these people used words like "stupid" to belittle the cabinet, but were more subtle about the emperor, using words like "credulous villains".

The main criticism was directed at Jia Lian.

Because of Jia Lian's prestige among the people, as the remarks of candidates from all over the country became increasingly fierce and Jia Lian was classified as a treacherous villain, the reactions of all walks of life in the capital changed.

Shen Yan, a candidate from another place, successfully passed the Zhili provincial examination and was concentrating on preparing for the exam. On this day, the weather was clear and sunny, so he decided to take a day off, enjoy the warm winter sun, and feel the bustling atmosphere of the Beijing city.

I was walking on the street and heard people arguing. When I got closer, I saw a few men dressed like scholars and speaking with foreign accents, being stopped at the door by the shop owner.

"Go, this shop doesn't do business with you." The shopkeeper who was blocking the door was very rude. Wherever these scholars went, people would flatter them and call them "Sir". How could they bear this? They immediately went to the shopkeeper to argue. No matter what they said or how fierce and harsh their tone was, the shopkeeper would not let them in.

An extremely corrupt scholar A said, "It would be better to block his door and prevent him from doing business."

Juren B, who still had some sense, said, "That's inappropriate. We are Juren, how is this different from the street scoundrels?"

Juren C said, "Forget it, let's go to another one."

The group left and went to another restaurant, but they were stopped at the door again. The waiter said rudely, "I'm sorry, but we don't do business with you, you are too high a price to afford."

Out of curiosity, Shen Yan followed the group of people to watch the fun. After walking for a while, he found it very interesting. Along the way, he could see men dressed as juren everywhere, cursing.

It seems that the shop owners in the capital have agreed not to do business with Juren. In other words, the hotel industry has not started to drive people away, otherwise the Juren gentlemen would be left on the streets.

Shen Yan was so curious that he walked up to a waiter and asked, "Why don't the shops on this street do business with Juren?"

Unexpectedly, his accent betrayed him, and the waiter rolled his eyes at him: "You are also a scholar from another place, I'm sorry I can't serve you!"

Shen Yan got anxious when he heard this and quickly explained: "I am also from Beijing, but I have lived in other places for a long time. I passed the provincial examination last year. I was in your store to see the list. Do you remember?"

The waiter then took a closer look and seemed to have some impression. He whispered, "I remember that you gave me two taels of silver. Have you not made friends with these scholars from other places recently?"

Shen Yan said: "Aren't they studying at home? They really haven't come into contact with scholars from other places. What are they doing?"

"Hey, they curse this and that in the restaurant all day long, which is not a big deal. But they curse Lord Jia. Let alone this street, go around the capital and ask, which family has not received Lord Jia's kindness? We common people don't know any great principles, but we know that Lord Jia really treats us as human beings. He is such a high official, but he still cares about us, so we should remember his kindness."

Shen Yan was dazed after hearing this and said, "So that's how it is. It's the right thing to do. Let these bastards starve to death! Did they scold Lord Jia as well?"

Well, Shen Yan was also one of those who enjoyed Jia Lian's favor. Without Jia Lian's help, he would not have been able to come to the capital to take part in the provincial examination and pass it successfully. In the pile of papers in Jiangnan Province, it was too difficult to pass the examination.

Facing the commotions made by the people from all over the country, the bigwigs in the capital were not indifferent, but they had no better solution. You still don't allow people to speak? Blocking the channels of speech, do you want to be a powerful official? Deceiving the emperor?

While Shen Yan was strolling on the street watching the excitement, the cabinet held a special meeting to discuss this matter, and Emperor Chenghui did not say a word throughout the meeting.

Zhang Tingen's attitude was firm. Discussion was fine, but no trouble should be caused. He hoped that all government offices in the capital would be on high alert to prevent the judges from causing trouble.

Lin Ruhai also said that more manpower must be added to disperse the candidates immediately if they were found to be gathering, so as not to give them the opportunity to collectively knock on the palace gates.

Li Qing said, "It is only possible to be a thief for a thousand days, so how can you guard against thieves for a thousand days?" Now that public opinion has been formed, the official will step in and start a debate.

Pan Jixun also meant this: it is better to open up than to block. Guo Yan felt uncomfortable in his throat and did not speak.

Emperor Chenghui said nothing and looked solemn.

Finally, it was Zhang Tingen who decided to strengthen the power in the capital and delay the examination until its end. He did not believe that these scholars would be able to stay in the capital by then.

Before the cabinet's decision was implemented, something unexpected happened: a large number of candidates took to the streets.

Yes, we took to the streets, but there was no parade.

On that day, a large number of hotels began to expel their guests. As long as you were a juren who came to take the imperial examination, you would be expelled from the inn.

The scholar who rented a house escaped the disaster temporarily because his lease had not expired and he avoided having to sleep on the streets.

When the news spread, the officialdom in the capital was shaken, and the cabinet was shaken. After a brief moment of surprise, Emperor Chenghui became curious and wanted to know what had happened.

A large number of candidates had nowhere to stay overnight on the streets, which was unprecedented since the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was learned that many candidates had been hungry for a day. Not to mention restaurants, even roadside stalls would not do business with candidates dressed like candidates. The situation even reached the point where brothels would not do business with them. Dozens of conflicts of varying sizes occurred during this period, and the Wucheng Bingmasi, who were responsible for handling the issues, were exhausted.

This kind of thing is easy to find out. Just ask a few yamen runners or soldiers from the military department and you will know the cause of the incident.

At the cabinet meeting, everyone went from being stunned to being shocked, and then Zhang Lin and the other man couldn't help laughing out loud. The emperor couldn't control himself either, so he got up and went out to find a place to laugh his ass off.

This kind of thing, let alone the Great Zhou Dynasty, can't be found in history. The capital is not a small place. It is very rare for the people here to take the initiative to protect an official and go against the world's candidates!
The meeting continued after being suspended. No matter what, the candidates could not be allowed to sleep on the streets. The cabinet's resolution did not require the emergency requisition of inns, but instead directly let the candidates stay in various government offices for one night.

Ordinary people may ignore these scholars from other places, but they cannot ignore the local officials and yamen runners.

The cabinet decided to resolve the matter as quickly as possible and never let the people of the capital suffer any injustice.

The juren masters, who were caught up in the vast sea of ​​people's war for the first time, lost their arrogance. Overnight, some people grew up and realized that these people they looked down on had the ability to make them starve and have no place to stay. More people shouted that the local people did not know the difference between respect and inferiority and were too rude. The next morning, at the request of the cabinet, government offices at all levels came forward to negotiate with the store owners. No matter what, the imperial examination could not be ruined.

In the past, when the government came forward, they would either coax or deceive, or directly threaten. But this time, the government came forward, but they spoke softly and with a good attitude.

Finally, under pressure from the government, various shops accepted these scholars again, but they had one requirement: they were not allowed to curse Jia Lian in their shop, otherwise they would not do business and would not serve them.

Of course, not all stores did this, but those that did not respond gained a bad reputation in the business circles of the capital. In this era, if you have a bad reputation, you can forget about doing business.

For example, there were problems with the guild halls in various places, and afterwards they couldn't even get drinking water. If they wanted to drink water, it would be fine, but no one was willing to do it even if the price of hiring someone to fetch water doubled.

This incident lasted for three days before it slowly calmed down, but the discussion in the wine shops and teahouses was still heated, and everyone was speaking up for Jia Lian.

In the words of the men in Beijing, how can you let these outsiders bully you, grandma!
Since the matter concerned Jia Lian, there was naturally heated discussion in the Jia family. At first, Wang Xifeng was really worried, and Grandmother Jia was also very worried when she heard the news.

Jia She was so anxious that he scolded the little beast for being so ignorant.

Mrs. Wang remained silent, while Mrs. You and Mrs. Qin expressed their uneasiness.

Baoyu expressed his opinion, "Look, after all these years of living a despicable life, this is what I ended up with. I'd rather not be an official."

Jia Rong comforted everyone and retorted to Baoyu, saying that nothing would happen to Second Uncle Lian, and he would wait and see. Second Uncle Bao had no time to be so sarcastic, so he might as well pass the examination and become a scholar.

Well, in the last forty chapters of the original novel, there is indeed a story about Baoyu continuing to wander after passing the imperial examination. It can be seen that it is not difficult for Baoyu to take the imperial examination and become an official, but the difficult part is that he has a sense of responsibility.

To put it bluntly, it's selfish and only considers oneself.

On the first day, everyone was still worried. When they were sitting in front of Lady Jia and worrying, Lai Da came running to the door.

"Grandfather, Second Madam, happy news, happy news!" Lai Da is not young anymore, but he is still full of energy. There is no doubt that he can exhaust Lady Jia to death.

Grandmother Jia and Wang Xifeng stood up excitedly and said in unison: "Speak, speak quickly!"

Lai Da immediately talked about the changes in the market. Since some merchants took the initiative to protect Jia Lian's reputation, a trend soon emerged. Even if some merchants were unwilling, they had to follow the trend. They wanted to make money and were afraid of being criticized when they went out.

"Now, the scholars in the capital have learned their lesson and dare not mention the faults of the Second Master in public places. Let me tell you, many people in the capital have tablets of the Second Master in their homes. These outsiders don't know their limits and have angered the public. They deserved to be driven out of the store last night and freeze on the street for half a night."

After Lai Da finished his speech, Grandmother Jia and Wang Xifeng were overjoyed. Grandmother Jia said repeatedly, "Great, great, great!"

Wang Xifeng waved her hand and said, "Rewards! Everyone in the mansion will receive rewards! I'm happy, really happy!"

Mrs. Wang's expression was slightly distorted, not so obvious, and Baoyu lowered his head and muttered to himself: "Can it be like this?"

At the Lin family, Daiyu had not eaten or slept well for the past two days because she was worried. She felt listless after getting up early and was lazily basking in the sun. Zijuan came trotting over and talked about things in the market.

Daiyu sat up immediately, her whole body refreshed: "Really?"

"The housekeeper said it himself, how could it be false..." Zijuan was halfway through her sentence when Daiyu ran away with her skirt in hand. Zijuan chased after her: "Slow down, Miss, slow down!"

This incident was so rare that many storytellers in the capital began to make up jokes and tell them in taverns and teahouses.

For a while, storytellers who didn't tell this story lost their business, and those who told other stories would be kicked off the stage.

Because the stories were all about things that happened around them, the storytellers told them vividly, and whenever they reached a point where they felt relieved, the audience would applaud and give them money like rain.

People from various theaters in the south of the city and singers and jokes in the east of the city also joined in.

The juren from all over the country could only hold their noses and bear it due to the local calls. However, people are different, and some juren were deeply affected and changed their thinking.

There will definitely be people who say bad things about a person, but when the vast majority of ordinary people say good things about him, anyone with a little bit of common sense will ask why.

As for why, go to a busy place to find the answer.

Shen Yan has been very obsessed recently. He wanders around every day, listening to various artists using various means to praise Jia Lian in different ways.

You wouldn't know it until you heard it. It turned out that Jia Lian did so many good things for the local people during his time in the capital.

In the theater in the south of the city, before Jia Lian became an official, the rich and powerful young masters would bully men and women from time to time, and fight over jealousy. If they took a fancy to a certain opera singer, they would tie him up regardless of whether he was a man or a woman. The victims had no place to turn to, and no one could help them. The lighter ones were beaten, and the heavier ones were driven to death.

After Lord Jia took charge of the Five Cities Military Department, those low-class people in the south of the city who were trying to make a living would be scolded at most if they displeased the customers. In the past, they would be beaten at the least, but now they would be scolded at most.

Can it be the same? Can it be the same?

In the busy streets of the east city, there used to be many bad boys riding their horses and running rampant. When Lord Jia came, he would arrest any bad boys he found and put them in a small dark room. The atmosphere in the capital was tightened, and similar incidents were basically banned.

All the local bullies have been dealt with, there are fewer bullies on the market, and those who take advantage of others by cunning and unscrupulous means no longer dare to bully others.

When there was a flood, Lord Jia led the officers and soldiers to rescue people and dredge the canal. When there was a heavy snow, it was still Lord Jia who led the officers and soldiers to go out overnight to rescue people.

If saving people is just an emergency, then Lord Jia has found a way for everyone to make a living, which is a real great favor.

There are only a few Juren in total. The reason why their voices have a great influence is that they are Juren, the masters.

The people of Beijing used a resounding victory to tell these masters that the will of the people cannot be violated!
Before Mr. Xiao came back with Jia Lian's reply, Li Heng realized that the matter did not need to be resolved.

This solution made Li Heng sit alone in the study for an entire night.

When Mr. Xiao returned from Guangzhou and went straight to see Li Heng, he found out that things had completely turned around.

When he relayed Jia Lian's words, Li Heng couldn't help but burst into laughter and said to Mr. Xiao: "Jia Buqi, I used to think that if I got him, the world would be at peace! Now I know that if I get him, a prosperous era can be expected."

Because they had never seen such a thing before, Zhang Tingen couldn't help but feel deeply moved when he talked with Lin Ruhai in private. After being an official for a lifetime, if he could only encounter such a thing, he would be able to die with a smile on his face.

After Li Qing finished his shift, he sat alone in his study for a long time. Guo Yan walked around in circles in his study alone, cursing. Pan Jixun prepared a table of food and wine, and drank alone in his study all night, getting drunk.

Emperor Chenghui stayed overnight at Yuanchun's place, and when he talked about Jia Lian, he was always filled with emotion and felt lucky to have such a minister. Yuanchun was also proud of it.

By the time Jia Lian, who was far away in Guangzhou, learned the whole story, half a month had passed. It was already the twelfth lunar month and another year was about to pass.

Jia Lian had no idea what others were thinking, but when he heard about the spontaneous protection actions of the people in the capital, he was stunned and leaned silently on the recliner without saying a word.

Everyone watched and realized that the husband, who never cried, was now in tears.

(End of this chapter)