Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 556: Infrastructure Construction
After the autumn tax data for that year was reported, Emperor Chenghui, who had been on edge, breathed a sigh of relief. The national total was 65 million yuan, and including the summer tax, the total exceeded 100 million yuan.

This is the first time since the founding of this dynasty that this height has been reached. Even so, the seigniorage has not been taken into account. If the seigniorage is taken into account, even 150 million yuan would not be enough.

At the cabinet meeting, Emperor Chenghui was filled with emotion and said to his ministers: "Since I ascended the throne, I have devoted all my energy to planning state affairs, and finally achieved results. Can we now usher in a prosperous era?"

Well, that was the case in ancient times. The standard for a prosperous era was not high. Internally, the central government’s finances were an important indicator. Externally, it was about expanding territory.

Emperor Chenghui dared to call it a prosperous era, not only because of these two criteria, but also because there was no large-scale rebellion among the people within three years. Those who became bandits were not counted as rebellions.

The historical records say that people would not pick up things on the road and would not lock their doors at night. These ideas were too idealistic in ancient times and have only been initially realized in modern times.

Lin Ruhai stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this is undoubtedly a prosperous era. However, in my opinion, the autumn tax data of Jiangnan and Guangdong provinces has almost doubled compared to the past. The capital, which was not ranked high before, can also enter the top ten. The unprecedented abundance of national funds is all due to the contributions of industry and commerce."

"Your Majesty, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is the national policy and should not be taken lightly." Guo Yan jumped up as if there was a nail under his butt, almost shouting.

Li Qing also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, our dynasty has treated craftsmen well, which is unprecedented and cannot be changed. The price of rice in the capital is now affected by overseas rice, and the people are suffering. We must be careful not to hurt farmers because of low grain prices."

Emperor Chenghui's good mood dropped a lot in an instant because these two stood up and spoke one after another.

What does it mean? Li Yuan brought some rice back from overseas and sold it at a low price. This is a policy that benefits the people. Isn't low rice price a good thing? Why are people complaining?

Why do I feel that there is something wrong with your approach of pleading for the people?

Emperor Chenghui looked around. Li Qing and Guo Yan had righteous looks on their faces, Pan Jixun lowered his head and sneered, Lin Ruhai glanced at the two of them, and Zhang Tingen had a playful look on his face.

Sometimes, I’m afraid that the atmosphere will suddenly freeze, and this is the case now.

Emperor Chenghui didn't know what tricks these two were playing or what their real purpose was, so he adopted a strategy of stillness.

Zhang Ting'en stood up and bowed to the emperor. "Your Majesty, when I was in Huguang, I saw many officials who could not tell wheat from leeks, and mixed up rice grains with husks. When these officials were in office, they relied heavily on the gentry to help collect taxes. They had no idea how much the gentry had collected, and they were biased towards the gentry in daily administration and judgment. I sent people to investigate, and these officials rarely left the five miles of the prefecture and county towns, and occasionally they did so only to welcome and see off guests. These people don't understand agriculture, let alone industry and commerce?"

After saying this, Li Qing and Guo Yan both sat down. But before they sat down, Guo Yan said sinisterly, "Jia Buqi's prestige in the capital is unmatched. Once something happens, he can raise his arm and call for help, and people from all over the world will follow him."

"How dare you, you bastard, accuse an important official of the imperial court out of thin air! I beg you to beat me!" Lin Ruhai shouted, grabbing the teacup and throwing it at him. Guo Yan dodged quickly, and the teacup fell to the ground with a bang, breaking into pieces.

Seeing this, Pan Jixun quickly moved his chair away from Guo Yan, saying calmly, "A gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall! Lest he be accidentally injured by the thunder!"

Li Qing wanted to stop him. Seeing that the emperor's face was oozing with ink, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, Guo Yan was finished, could Jia Lian be touched too?
The teacup missed the target, so Lin Ruhai stood up and quickly picked up the chair to continue smashing it.

"What a disgrace! Keep quiet!" Zhang Tingen shouted. Lin Ruhai then stopped and put down the chair in his hand. He looked at Guo Yan with vicious eyes: "You bastard, just wait!"

Guo Yan tried hard to remain calm, but his heart was beating like a drum. He was just taking a gamble, not to overthrow Jia Lian immediately, but to plant a thorn in the emperor's heart.

Guo Yan was very skilled at this kind of thing. Imperial power was unreasonable. No matter if you did it or not, or if you thought about it or not, as long as you were threatening, it was enough.

Emperor Chenghui looked at Guo Yan with disgust, which made him tremble with fear. Then he said calmly: "I can tolerate the two kings of Dongping and Xining, and I can also tolerate Wang Ziteng and Li Ni. Why can't I tolerate an important official of the court who has made many contributions and saved the emperor many times? Guo Yan, answer me!"

Since the inception of the cabinet meeting, few emperors have addressed cabinet ministers by their names. This is the first time since Emperor Chenghui ascended the throne.

"Your Majesty, I am loyal to you with all my heart. I hope Your Majesty will understand!" Guo Yan stood up from his seat and knelt on the ground.

"Guo Yan, please leave your body here!" Emperor Chenghui stood up and left in a huff.

Guo Yan still knelt on the ground, and everyone looked at him with different expressions. But there was no pity. Even Li Qing thought that Guo Yan was too smart and didn't consider the time.

You have to know that Jia Lian is currently in Guangdong and Guangxi, and has a large number of troops under his command. How can he say such words in front of everyone? Even if he wants to say it, he should say it in private to the emperor alone.

It seems that Guo Yan is really anxious. Not to mention shaking Zhang Tingen and Lin Ruhai, Li Qing has already walked ahead of him. No wonder he is anxious.

"Remember this, attendants. Today's record must be destroyed immediately. If the details of the meeting get out, expect impeachment." Zhang Tingen gave a stern warning to the recorder.

How to say it, if this news gets out, not only will Guo Yan be in trouble, but the emperor will also be talked about. After all, it is not proper to call a cabinet minister by his name.

When everyone left, they saw Qiu Shian standing behind the door. The person in charge of recording broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that Zhang Tingen's words had saved them.

If you work in front of the emperor and you are not careful with your mouth, there is basically no way out.

Guo Yan was the last one to leave. With trembling steps, he moved towards the office bit by bit. At this moment, Guo Yan could not say that he regretted anything, but he was just completely hopeless.

Guo Yan knew that there would still be a good result after his retirement. The next person to enter the cabinet would definitely take over his baton and continue to exist as an opponent.

If the cabinet had only one voice, the emperor would think of Fang Baiyi and would have trouble falling asleep at night.

In the twelfth month of the fifteenth year of Chenghui, Cabinet Minister Guo Yan submitted a petition to the emperor requesting to retire. After he requested and declined three times, the emperor agreed and he left.

The Minister of War Yue Qi entered the cabinet as an alternate, setting a precedent for military generals to enter the cabinet in this dynasty.

It was half a month later that Jia Lian found out about what happened in the capital, but he didn't care about it at all.

Guo Yan was still immersed in the old thinking, and all his actions were just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Of course, the opposition from the people to the reform was still huge.

A blank sheet of paper is easy to paint on, and gentle reform is much more difficult than violent revolution. If you can't see clearly that the core figure of the Great Zhou Reform is Emperor Chenghui, the consequences of being an official in the court will be difficult to be good.

The proud and triumphant Emperor Chenghui held a grand sacrificial ceremony on the day of the Little New Year in the twelfth lunar month to comfort the spirits of his ancestors.

When the words "prosperous times" appeared in the official newspaper, Jia Lian just smiled slightly. This was just the beginning. It was far from it.

It is a long way from the time when everyone had enough to eat and enough clothes to wear.

In the past few years, Guangdong's industry and commerce have flourished and made great progress. In the coming year, we must continue to consolidate the existing achievements while tapping the potential of other industries.

Years ago, Jia Lian inspected various prefectures and counties and launched a criminal justice review, with the focus on seeing if there were any unjust cases.

Whether there are unjust cases in a place is a great test of the level of local officials.

After a month's work, Jia Lian discovered that more than ten people were wrongly accused, and he corrected the mistakes and changed the verdicts one by one. If there was collusion between officials and gentry, or if anyone deliberately created a wrongful case, they would be severely punished.

During this month, Jia Lian dismissed three county magistrates, impeached four county magistrates, and punished more than ten gentry. The most severe punishment was the death penalty, just because it involved human life.

There was also a clan in a place that set up a private court and committed murder. The case was discovered and the local county magistrate was severely reprimanded. The entire clan was exiled and the ringleader was sentenced to death by beheading.

The Guangdong gentry as a group were terrified by Jia Lian's violent methods, hated him to the core but could do nothing about it.

He had tried every possible means, but there was no solution at all. Of course, some gentry benefited from Jia Lian's policies, but they were not grateful to him. Instead, they thought Jia Lian was too controlling.

In this world, there are some people who shout about fairness but actually think about being the best.

At the end of the 15th year of Chenghui, the people in Guangzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, Jinling, Tianjin, and the capital had a comfortable year. The reason was simple: the price of rice had fallen by half compared to last year. When a large amount of rice produced in Southeast Asia arrived, it caused panic among the local merchants who hoarded grain, and they sold it out one after another.

Seeing that food prices have been falling, the people naturally will not buy easily. As long as there is rice in the jar, they will wait and see.

It was not until around the New Year that food prices gradually stabilized and even rebounded slightly.

Emperor Chenghui stated at a cabinet meeting that the development of Southeast Asia had begun to show results.

In contrast, Anxi, Nurgan and other places caused a certain price impact on the capital city in terms of valuables.

Among them, the fur and pearl industries were greatly affected due to the large-scale shipments from the former Nurgandusi.

Another industry is soybeans. Last year, as the population in the inland continued to migrate to various parts of Liaodong, new land was reclaimed and soybeans were widely planted, which pushed down the price of soybeans.

That being said, the actual development of Northeast China is still very limited, less than one-third of that in later generations.

Of course, there is an area that was tacitly agreed upon between the King of Dongping and the mainland, and it was deliberately not developed in order to leave a buffer.

It was Chinese New Year, and on New Year's Eve, Jia Lian went to the military camp and port to visit the garrison officers and soldiers as well as the patrol battalion on duty. He did not return until the middle of the night and did not even have the New Year's Eve dinner with his family.

This move was extremely effective, but it also attracted considerable criticism, as some officials believed that Jia Lian was trying to win people's hearts.

During the three days of the New Year, Jia Lian received officials who came to pay New Year's greetings, and kept serving tea to the next guest.

Of course, he accepted many lavish gifts! Just a quick calculation shows that even a county magistrate would give Jia Lian a gift worth at least 10,000 silver dollars, which is considered honest.

Jia Lian had a deep understanding of the feeling of being a clean magistrate for three years and earning 100,000 silver coins. During his two terms as governor and acting governor-general, the gifts he received were worth more than 4 million yuan.

At the beginning of the year, news came from the capital that Emperor Chenghui had brought the cabinet together to develop the Shijingshan Iron Mine and the Tanggu Coal Mine. The two enterprises were placed under the name of the Ministry of Industry. The emperor did not pay any money, but used land as a stake and obtained 60% of the shares. Of the emperor's 60% shares, 20% was given to the Imperial Clan Court and the cabinet got 40%. This coal and iron company moved quickly and the procedures were all green lights.

If you want to open a factory, you first need a road. The cabinet and the emperor argued again about the road construction issue, and finally each party contributed half to build a highway and a track to connect Tanggu and Tianjin.

As for the official road from Tianjin to the capital, the Cabinet used the Ministry of Revenue to fund the road hardening and renovation project and further widen it.

Everyone knows the benefits of infrastructure construction. At one time, various contractors gathered in Beijing, and each of them showed their magical powers just to take a bite of the fat meat.

After a month of haggling among many parties, this highway connecting Beijing and Tianjin was finally contracted out in sections, with each section lasting 30 miles. The construction cost was unified and there were strict requirements on quality.

After hearing the news, Jia Lian sent a secret letter to the capital overnight. The letter only said one sentence: It is strictly forbidden to outsource infrastructure projects at all levels. Anyone who violates the rules will be treated as stealing from the national treasury and be punished.

After Emperor Chenghui passed through the cabinet, he ordered the Inspectorate to form a special team to keep an eye on those who contracted the projects to see if they had subcontracted.

Of course, we will not adopt the policy of punishing those who do not teach. Let me make it clear in advance that those who violate this rule should not blame the court for being ruthless.

In this era of infrastructure construction, without large tools and vehicles, we can only rely on manpower. Although the salary is not high, it is true that the people along the way have an additional opportunity to earn income.

In fact, during Jia Lian's stay in Beijing, Emperor Chenghui had already tasted the sweetness of infrastructure construction. When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette, and when people have food to eat, there is naturally no need to take risks.

The idea of ​​using national and imperial funds to build infrastructure would benefit the grassroots people, and this idea had taken deep root in Emperor Chenghui's heart.

In order to prevent members of the royal family from causing trouble, Emperor Chenghui strictly ordered the officials of the Ministry of Clan Affairs to keep an eye on members of the royal family and not let them interfere in infrastructure projects. Once discovered, they would be expelled from the clan immediately.

Even though the emperor and the cabinet have repeatedly warned against it, there are still some people who are not afraid of death and play tricks for money, engaging in so-called cover-up and letting an outside shell company to contract the project. Since they have no engineering capabilities, they naturally subcontract the project and make a profit first. This routine is not new at all and cannot withstand investigation.

Fang Song, the number one lackey of Emperor Chenghui, brought the inspection team to investigate one by one and really found three unlucky guys who had subcontracted the work.

What else is there to say? One of the things that happened was the grandson of the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan. Upon hearing the news, Emperor Chenghui was furious and directly dismissed the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, expelled his grandson from the clan, and exiled him to Southeast Asia.

In the other two cases, the officials involved were from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, both of whom were assistant ministers. Upon investigation, it was found that the two were not aware of the case, and their family members were just using their names to get the project.

Fang Song personally supervised the case and after arresting the parties involved, he impeached the two vice ministers.

After Emperor Chenghui informed the cabinet, they quickly reached a consensus to dismiss the two vice ministers and many officials who were in charge of the specific matters. The leader was exiled to Southeast Asia.

After this incident, Fang Song, whose impeachment led to the dismissal of two ministers, became famous and was subsequently included in the cabinet as a candidate minister. A rising star in the officialdom was born.

Jia Lian, the instigator of the incident, entered a relatively leisurely time. As the weather gradually got warmer, he stayed in the house and didn't want to move.

"Master, my clothes are too small again." Yuanyang looked helplessly at Jia Lian beside her and complained to the hand that was reaching into her collar.

It's no wonder that Yuanyang complained. It was only B before, but now it's C. Its body is like dough, and it's bigger in all the right places.

Jia Lian pretended not to hear. He liked to see Yuanyang's blushing face. It would be boring to bully her if she didn't react. For example, Qingwen, no matter how he bullied her, as long as he didn't play it seriously, she would not have any obvious reaction.

Baochai and the third sister are both pregnant, but Siqi tries to hide whenever possible, pulling Qingwen along with them. Unless it is her turn, she will never come near them.

Master Lian was in high spirits and pulled Yuanyang behind the screen. Xiren came in with iced sour plum soup, saw that there was no one in the hall, closed the door, and went behind the screen.

I used to think Qingwen and Siqi were the main competitors, but I never expected that Yuanyang was the strongest one.

As for Ying'er, she has someone backing her up, so she can't be compared.

Baochai was resting in the main room. Bingjian didn't dare to get too close and had to keep a distance from her. Ying'er complained, "It's broad daylight, and the master is still restless."

Baochai opened her eyes, raised her hand and gently twisted the soft flesh on her waist. Ying'er frowned in pain, and then Baochai said, "How dare you say anything about the master's affairs?"

As they were talking, a maid came to the door to announce that Aunt Xue had arrived.

Baochai stood up to greet her and said, "It's so hot, mother, why are you running around?"

Aunt Xue took the bowl and drank a mouthful of sour plum soup before saying, "Your brother's two concubines are pregnant. I'm here to tell you the news. I've been waiting for it, and finally there's news."

As she spoke, she looked at Baochai's belly and frowned, saying, "You are pregnant, you must take care of that slut down there. Why don't you let Baoqin come and stay with you for a few days? She never leaves the house all day long, and you let her do whatever she wants?" It was obvious that Aunt Xue was a little dissatisfied with Baoqin. Either she didn't create opportunities for her, and she moved into the backyard, or she didn't meet Jia Lian. In this case, how could she help Baochai consolidate her favor? If the backyard of the governor's office couldn't even determine the situation, what hope was there for the backyard of the Jia Mansion in the capital?
Baochai had no interest in her mother's words. Didn't she know Jia Lian? If she didn't like someone, even if she stood naked in front of him, he wouldn't even look at her.

If he saw someone he hadn't gotten yet, he would be very reluctant to take the initiative. Baochai said she was stopping him, but she didn't really stop him. She just wanted to create a sneaky atmosphere.

Humph, wasn't Baochai sneaking around Jia Lian back then? Which lady from a noble family would meet a man outside her family alone in private?
I'm still thinking about the backyard of the Jia Mansion.

"Mother, I will ask my brother to send people to the capital to renovate the old house of the Xue family in the capital. After the master returns to the capital, he will live in the old house as a separate room. I may not go to the Jia family's back house, but I can go there anytime if I want to." Baochai is now much more confident when facing Wang Xifeng. She is no longer as weak as before.

This was mainly due to Xue Pan's success in business. Although the Xue family had strategically retreated from the capital and Jiangnan, they stood up again in Guangzhou. In addition, the Wang family was no longer as strong as before.

(End of this chapter)