Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 557: Chenghui's Reign
Emperor Chenghui invested heavily in infrastructure construction in the north, while Jia Lian invested heavily in education in Guangdong.

Jia Lian was engaged in basic education. Each state was to have a technical school, and each county was to have a primary school for universal education. The primary school had few courses, only Chinese and mathematics. Those with excellent grades could enter the state technical school.

Most importantly, these schools are free of tuition. Technical schools at the state level are completely free of charge, and they also provide food and free stationery.

This year is Jia Lian's second term. He started to develop education on a large scale in the last year before his departure. The reason is very simple: he was short of money before.

After this policy was introduced, the whole province was in an uproar. Studying is not cheap these days, and it is extremely difficult for a family of five to support one student.

The state and county officials below were quite dissatisfied with this, because by doing so, they would get less benefits, and who would be willing to pay for it?

But no one dared to object, and Jia Lian visited almost every state and county, and basically spent all his energy for the whole year on this.

In the same year, the treaty between Tsarist Russia and the Zhou Empire was signed in March. If they didn't sign it, they would not be able to go back this year and would have to stay for another year.

Modeled after the friendship treaty signed with Britain and France, the treaty mainly divided the sphere of influence in Central Asia, roughly half for each country. The Caspian Sea was also divided in two.

A treaty is a treaty, but whether it can be enforced is another matter. At least on the official surface it shows friendly intentions.

Rumyantsev was quite satisfied. After all, after the official sphere of influence was determined, Kazakhstan was included in the sphere of influence of Tsarist Russia.

After the contract was signed, the delegation couldn't wait to return. Time was very tight, and they tried to get back to Russia before the severe winter.

After Jia Lian learned the contents of the contract, he felt somewhat regretful. After all, Kazakhstan was not taken over, as that was the fattest place and it was close to the Caucasus.

We'll talk about it later. Anyway, given the nature of the Tsarist Russia, who knows how long this contract can last. Having this contract allows the Tsarist Russia to focus on the West, which is not a bad thing.

In order to take into account the foreign arms trade, many factories were built in coastal areas of Guangdong, and military enterprises were all incorporated into the R&D Department. Private operation was absolutely not allowed. Many surrounding enterprises, centered on the coal and iron industries, were becoming increasingly prosperous, consuming a large number of people. It can be said that Beijing and Guangzhou, one in the south and one in the north, have already surpassed Jiangnan in industry, and in a few years, they will also be able to surpass Jiangnan in output.

The coal and iron production capacity also drove the shipbuilding industry. After seeing the benefits, a large number of businessmen boldly embraced the ocean, sailed ships to do business everywhere in the sphere of influence of Southeast Asia, and boosted the shipbuilding industry.

Jia Lian was reluctant to touch Jiangnan, mainly because he was worried that it would have too great an impact on the original industries, which would lead to unrest.

In contrast, if the locals see the benefits of large-scale industrial production, they will naturally follow suit. Jiangnan has never lacked capital.

Seeing that the year passed quickly and it was time for the autumn tax collection, Jia Lian waited patiently for the court's order.

He knew that this period really had to end.

Thanks to the rapid development of industry and commerce, the taxes collected in this year's summer and autumn taxes have surpassed those in Jiangnan, making it the country's largest tax-paying province. In comparison, although the capital has not surpassed Jiangnan, when Zhili Province is included, its tax revenue is infinitely close to that of Jiangnan Province.

After the statistics were reported, the shock to the imperial court was particularly strong. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Jiangnan has always been the number one taxpayer and has never lost the first place.

At the same time, after Jim led his fleet in an armed parade, which was both educational and entertaining, the Ansa people, who occupied a small area of ​​Australia, decided to pledge allegiance to the great emperor of the Great Zhou Empire.

Before the end of the year, a ship from Australia, carrying local "public opinion", arrived in Guangzhou under the escort of a fleet.

You really can't blame the Australians for being timid, because over the past year, the British Empire has completely forgotten about the former exile places and didn't exile a single person there.

The current Daiying was not willing to provoke the Zhou Empire. If anyone was blind enough to stir up trouble at this time and disrupt the initial stability of the Indian colony, the capitalists' iron fist would surely fall.

On one side is a corner forgotten by Dai Ying, and on the other side is the fleet of the Zhou Empire coming to visit and greet you cordially. I just want to ask you if you are afraid or not.

Jia Lian met with representatives of the people, Owen and Paz, who seemed a little embarrassed when facing Jia Lian. Compared with Jia Lian, who was wearing clothes made of the most expensive materials in Europe at that time, the two brothers couldn't help but feel ashamed. The gap was too big. There was no way, the foreign devils would recognize this, and the saying that a person with a wealth of knowledge would be elegant was not acceptable to them.

Jia Lian simply hosted a banquet for the representatives according to Jia's grandmother's living standard, and served thirty-six dishes in one go. He couldn't handle it directly for two representatives. With the ivory chopsticks in his hands and the exquisite porcelain tableware in front of him, he was really afraid that his hands would shake and hit the porcelain.

At Jia Lian's enthusiastic invitation, when they tremblingly began to eat with knives and forks, their tongues were already weak. The Australian wild boars were eaten with fine bran, and the deliciousness made them shed tears.

Owen said, "God, did we eat pig food before?"

Jim, who was accompanying him, shrugged: "Please don't insult the pigs! At least the food pigs in this building eat much better than what you guys used to eat."

Pas said nothing at all. He just ate with his cheeks flailing and tears falling from his eyes as he ate.

After finishing the meal, the two of them could no longer move and were holding on.

The maid brought the tea and put down her hind legs. Only then did the two dare to reach out for the teacup and take a sip to relieve the greasiness.

"Sir, one last question: faith!" As the actual person in charge, Pas put forward the last condition.

In response, Jia Lian said simply: "As long as you don't preach, you can believe whatever you want. There are many religions in this country, and we don't need one more."

Jia Lian really wasn't worried about this. Even though Australia was remote, as long as a gold mine was discovered, Jia Lian had no idea how many mainlanders would take the initiative to go and pan for gold. There were so many coastal provinces that were willing and had the conditions to take risks, and who knew how many people would take a chance. At this stage, Australia had a population of less than 2,000, so it wouldn't be diluted too quickly.

Well, Jia Lian didn't plan to send the natives of Southeast Asia there. He would rather send the Koreans and the Japanese than send the natives of Southeast Asia there, so as to avoid corrupting the hardworking and hard-working Angsa people.

It is now the end of the eighteenth century, and Europe will have to fight for at least another twenty years. In twenty years, the less than two thousand Anglo-Saxons would have been overwhelmed.

Of course, the key is still education, highlighting the key points, and making it clear on the blackboard. The official language at that time must be Chinese characters.

As for the issue of the local indigenous people, Jia Lian has no solution for the time being, so let's just contact them first.

Jia Lian's report was sent to the capital as quickly as possible and arrived before the twelfth lunar month.

Emperor Chenghui was overjoyed after reading the report. It was said that this was a prosperous era. Look, a Western place took the initiative to ask to be incorporated into the territory of the Great Zhou.

According to Jia Lian's report, local officials must be sent to manage the area, and more people must be sent to provide education. The older foreigners will be left alone, and the children must receive Chinese education.

Jia Lian designed a system for Australia. The highest local official must be dispatched by the court, the next level of officials must be nominated by the locals, and the next level of civil servants must take an exam. The best candidates are selected. Of course, the nomination system is only a transitional measure. In order to appease the locals, it will be changed to a dispatch system in the future. Jia Lian did not hide it from the two representatives of the people, and told them that they could send their children to Guangzhou to go to school and win at the starting line.

Jia Lian has set a trap here. Any descendant of the Angolans who comes to Guangzhou to study and live there for ten years will not want to return to Australia even if he is killed.

Of course, Jia Lian also left a loophole for these two representatives. If they are willing, they can move to Guangzhou to live, and their identities will naturally be business representatives of the Australian state.

Australia has states instead of provinces because the population is too small. When the population reaches several million, it will be time to set up more provinces.

A prosperous era naturally has to have concrete manifestations. In the past, all nations came to pay tribute, and now barbarians offer land to us.

The idea of ​​the debate between Chinese and barbarians began to flash again. When barbarians enter China, they become Chinese.

What does it mean? As long as you are willing to join the Chinese family, speak Chinese, eat Chinese food, and fart in Chinese, you are a member of China. It can be said that Jia Lian's report came at the right time. As for the fact that Australia has only 2,000 people and hundreds of thousands of indigenous people, it was directly ignored.

If we really send officials there in the future, I guess they would shed tears when they see the local situation.

Over the past year, Emperor Chenghui has repeatedly talked about the coming of a prosperous era at court meetings. The media has also followed suit and hyped up the fact that under the leadership of the great emperor, the Zhou Empire has achieved great success and dominated the world, demonstrating the majesty of the Celestial Empire.

Emperor Chenghui has already thought about it. He must hold a big ceremony to worship the ancestors before the New Year. He is thinking about what good news to give to his ancestors. Well, here comes a pillow for you.

Don't worry about whether this continent is on the sea or how far away it is. Just talk about the size of this island and whether the barbarians occupied it and pledged loyalty to the emperor of the Zhou Empire.

At the cabinet meeting, it was quickly decided to hold a land offering ceremony! The Ministry of Rites urgently sent people south to teach these barbarians what etiquette is.

As for Jim, who played a huge role in this land donation operation, he will be granted a title. As for Jia Lian, the emperor and the cabinet are still discussing how to use him next.

Another thing is that the selection of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi is easy, but the selection of the Governor of Guangdong must be cautious.

If the things that Jia Lian did in Guangdong were replaced by an official who didn't know the business or even had ideas that were contrary to Jia Lian's, it would probably be a disaster.

It is no wonder that the emperor and the cabinet are cautious. After all, Guangdong is now the province with the highest tax revenue, and things are completely different now.

In the end, it was Emperor Chenghui who made the final decision at the cabinet meeting and asked Jia Lian to draft a policy program for Guangdong for the next three years and submit it to the cabinet and the emperor. Based on this program, officials would be selected to take over.

This kind of thing seems outrageous, and it is actually outrageous. But if you connect this matter with Jia Lian, and then connect it with the fact that Guangdong jumped to the top tax-paying province six years after taking office, it is not so outrageous.

After the decision was made, Emperor Chenghui focused his enthusiasm on the activities of worshiping the Taimiao. The media again led the way, summarizing the emperor's political achievements over the years and combining them with the latest land donations from the barbarians to reach a GC.

Finally, he characterized his own governance as "Chenghui's governance."

In comparison, Henan's achievements this year have not attracted much attention. After successfully completing the land clearing in the past year, the autumn tax was officially distributed according to the land area.

In fact, this incident had a great impact on the people, but in the court, the momentum of the coming prosperity was too strong and could not be stopped at all.

Even the Henan gentry trembled under the butcher's knife and were forced to accept their fate, but few people cared.

As the prosperous era approached, the cabinet quietly introduced a policy to implement the comprehensive land tax distribution policy.

Wang Ziteng officially retired and went to Jiaozhi to retire. The candidate for the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi was selected by the cabinet and reported to the emperor for approval. The former Governor-General of Sichuan, Zhao Feng, maintained a stable situation and did not cause unrest during the promotion of the reform of the natives and the return of officials to the Han people. He achieved outstanding results and was appointed as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. However, before taking office, the emperor ordered him to complete the handover and return to Beijing to see the emperor.

The reason for doing this is very simple. They are afraid that the new governor will mess around after taking office and destroy the good situation in Guangdong.

As a result, Jia Lian's departure time was delayed. Fortunately, he was not in a hurry and continued to increase investment in education before leaving office.

The rise of Guangdong originated from the great development of industry and commerce. As the leader, Jia Lian had a very clear attitude: money can be made, but not a penny less in taxes can be paid.

The staff of the newly added Taxation Bureau in Nanyang were all trained by Jia Lian himself, so one can imagine the quality of the local tax collection team.

Jia Lian spent three days carefully choosing his words and sentences for his policy report. After it was completed, he had three copies made and sent to the capital. The original was kept in the governor's office for filing for the next person in charge to review.

In the report, Jia Lian emphasized that the policy should be based on local conditions. Because this place has the conditions for developing industry and commerce, it should vigorously develop industry and commerce, rather than just messing around without considering the consequences.

Any place that wants to develop the economy, as the old foundation of modern society, naturally has ready-made routines.

First of all, we need to have a good environment. We need to improve public security and crack down on illegal activities so that businesses can operate with peace of mind. Secondly, we need to build infrastructure. You need roads. Without roads, how can goods circulate? You need ships. Water transportation is the cheapest. So we need to build docks and shipyards. Finally, we need education, basic education and vocational education. Craftsmen can also be mass-produced through education.

When it comes to paying taxes, Jia Lian emphasized the importance of taxation to the country. No one can evade taxes for any reason. The government can be more relaxed at ordinary times, but tax inspections are necessary every three years. If tax evasion is caught, the fines must be increased for serious cases. In short, you won't go to jail, but if you can't pay the fine, it's hard to say. You have to choose between imprisonment and exile. Well, there are not many serious criminals in Guangdong prisons now. The serious ones are all exiled to Southeast Asia.

This policy report combined many of Jia Lian's personal experiences from two lifetimes. After the emperor and the cabinet received it, they were first stunned by the detailed tables and data.

It is clear and explicit how many industries each place has, how much its output value is, how many jobs it creates, and which advantageous industries are worth supporting.

In a report, the opinions and concepts are only five or six pages, but the tables and data are a thick stack.

Along with the report, the Australian representatives escorted by Jim also arrived. Emperor Chenghui held a land offering ceremony at the Grand Court Meeting and immediately conferred Jim the title of Earl of Australia. His fiefdom is now a gathering place for Angsa immigrants, which is a small town. You can't say that the emperor is stingy. In the current Great Zhou, it is too difficult to obtain a title, and it is even more difficult to obtain a fiefdom. You have to fight for it yourself.

Following Jia Lian's instructions, Jim spoke halting Chinese at the court meeting and asked to return to England to bring his family over.

Emperor Chenghui was very satisfied with his performance and attitude. This was the right thing to do. As a noble of the Celestial Empire, how could he leave his family in Daiying?
Emperor Chenghui generously allowed him to visit England as the Earl of Zhou Empire and Admiral of the Navy, and to send the rotating envoys and bring back the previous envoy.

Emperor Chenghui gave Jim a house so that he could have a home in the capital and no longer have to stay in a hotel when he came to the capital. He also gave him a large number of utensils as a reward.

As for the departure time, we have to wait until after the New Year, as the new minister also wants to celebrate the New Year.

After the grand ceremony of offering soil, Emperor Chenghui continued to make trouble the next day and paid homage to the Taimiao.

The battle was so grand that the entire Beijing army was mobilized, setting up guard posts along the way and allowing the people to watch from the roadside.

The emperor's carriage was also newly built, pulled by sixteen horses from Anxi, eight black and eight white. There were five hundred elite cavalry in front, five hundred elite infantry leading the way, one thousand elite soldiers in the middle to protect it, and another thousand elite soldiers accompanying it in the back. There were also officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital traveling together. In short, the momentum had to be maximized.

After the ceremony, a fireworks show was held outside the Jinshui Bridge at night. When the gorgeous fireworks lit up the night sky, the whole city cheered and the atmosphere reached GC.

Historian: At the end of the fifteenth year, the Australian barbarians from across the ocean came to Beijing to offer land. The emperor was overjoyed and reported the prosperous times to the Taimiao, calling it: Chenghui’s Reign.

After the New Year, Jim immediately set out to bring England. This time he was still tasked with recruiting people, mainly skilled workers and women. Women could be bought as white slaves from the Ottomans. These women were also to be sent to Australia to solve the imbalance in the ratio of men to women for future immigration.

Jia Lian, who was in Guangzhou, recruited a group of young and middle-aged men who were willing to take risks and go to Australia to try to make a fortune.

The despicable Jia Lian told everyone that a gold mine had been discovered in Australia and the specific location had been marked, waiting for everyone to go there and make a fortune.

The problem is, it is easy to go, but how to come back? Lord Jia did not say anything, but just told everyone that if they wanted to stay, the court would give them land.

You know what, Lai San, this bastard, is really good at this kind of fraud. It's not easy to cheat people in coastal areas, but many young and middle-aged people in the mountainous areas of northern Guangdong have been cheated.

So, six warships and twenty civilian ships left the Port of Guangzhou on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month and embarked on the gold rush.

These twenty civilian ships all belonged to the Xue family trading company, which shows what an ignominious role Jia Lian played.

Jia Lian also repeatedly told Xue Pan to transport some of it over every year to make a fortune.

(End of this chapter)