Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 561 Class Teacher
Of course Jia Lian could not be a human trafficker, so he decided to let the unmarried soldiers who had made meritorious contributions take these women back home as wives.

Although these women have dark skin, they are definitely the most beautiful.

Although the Nanyang New Army was well treated, there were still many soldiers with difficult family circumstances. Naturally, the soldiers had nothing to say when they got a wife for free, and they were grateful.

Now that he has chosen the path of being a traitor to Myanmar, Chapa has no choice but to stick to it.

The monk was also a sensible man. After learning that Chapa had become the only legal heir, he stood up to endorse him.

The two parties signed a contract according to Jia Lian's request.

Four of the five conditions Jia Lian had previously requested were fully met. One of the conditions, which was to lease Yangon, was changed to leasing another location in Yangon suitable for building a dock, with a lease term of 99 years.

Another clause was added: Myanmar no longer has any territorial claims to the area north of Myitkyina.

A shopkeeper of Xue's company was appointed as the consul of the concession, which was very hasty. But no one said anything, after all, it was for nothing.

Chapa, who regained his territory through negotiations, became a hero of Myanmar and a recognized new king.

As for giving up the territorial claims in the north and paying concessions and indemnities, these are no longer big problems.

Now the only request of the top leaders in Myanmar is to send the people away as soon as possible to avoid the real destruction of the country. Once the country is destroyed, everything will be gone.

The Nanyang New Army withdrew completely, but the guards hired by the Xue Family Company stayed and became the local garrison. Unfortunately, there was no organization, so the Xue Family had to support them with their own money.

That consul was not even an official. It was not that Jia Lian was stingy, but he needed to report to the court and after getting permission, the court would make the decision.

The guards of Xue's Trading Company received a batch of retired equipment from the new army, including percussion cap rifles that were finally usable, and four field guns.

The fleet did not withdraw completely, leaving behind three warships that were rotated every six months.

When Churchill saw that the main force of the South China Sea Fleet and the main force of the New Army had really left, he was greatly relieved and accelerated the arms smuggling trade with Jia Lian.

Yes, Churchill also wanted to make money, and he did not intend to pay taxes to the government for selling revolvers.

Nowadays in the Royal Navy, if you don’t have a revolver, you’d be embarrassed to attend a party.

This thing was not only sold in the UK, but Churchill also used his connections to sell it to continental Europe.

This guy was really black-hearted. He sold the gun for 200 pounds each, and the bullets were charged separately. Churchill could earn tens of thousands of pounds every year just from selling bullets.

Churchill reported to the government that through personal friendship, he had a private meeting with Jia Lian, the highest official in charge of the Zhou Empire in Nanyang, and reached an agreement with each other to ensure that the Zhou Empire would not deploy the main fleet and army in the Indian Ocean. Now, there is only an armed force of more than 1,000 militiamen stationed in Yangon, and there are only three warships.

This was another diplomatic victory led by Churchill! It avoided a conflict with the Zhou Empire.

Churchill also specifically emphasized that the Zhou Empire was connected to India and Myanmar by land.

This is very frightening. According to this statement, the Zhou Empire could send troops to India and Myanmar at any time. Compared with the power of the Zhou Empire, the tens of thousands of troops deployed by Britain in India were like an adult beating a child.

So, the nobles in Parliament began to sing praises for Churchill. It was him, it was him, it was him. Churchill made great diplomatic contributions to Britain's India strategy.

The Times declared that through diplomacy alone, the British Empire had won again in Asia!
Yunnan soon discovered that the invading Burmese army had retreated in a hurry. The local garrison followed cautiously and recaptured six counties.

Due to the lack of information and the lack of knowledge of what was happening in Myanmar, the Governor of Yunnan immediately reported to the court. Under his command, the Yunnan general personally braved the arrows and stones, fought several bloody battles, drove out the invaders and recovered the lost territory.

The chieftains in the border areas once again showed their charming fence-sitters, ambushing the retreating Burmese army and sending their heads to the governor of Yunnan to seek credit. They also said that their previous surrender was a last resort and their hearts were still with the Celestial Empire. They also said that they were sending troops to pursue the Burmese army and recover some areas in the south. In short, the bottom line was very flexible.

The governor of Yunnan was overjoyed and made another memorial to take credit for himself and to whitewash these chieftains, saying that he was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han.

After receiving the continuous reports, Emperor Chenghui was very happy. He said that he could forgive the wavering behavior of the chieftains. The key point was that it was a head-on blow to the invading Burmese army, which greatly increased the prestige of the court.

The emperor issued an edict to commend the governor of Yunnan, pardoned the local chieftains, bestowed a number of rewards, and promoted their official positions, recognizing their rule over the occupied territories.

As for the previous request for the local chieftains to change their official titles, Emperor Chenghui did not mention it. Lin Ruhai did mention it, but the emperor changed the subject. It was the end of April.

In mid-May, Jia Lian's memorial was delivered by sea on a clipper.

After reading the memorial, Emperor Chenghui was so angry that he yelled, "How dare you, you bastard, deceive me! Someone, call the cabinet members immediately."

The cabinet ministers were called in anxiously, feeling uneasy, thinking that something big had happened again.

After Emperor Chenghui circulated Jia Lian's memorial, everyone understood that the emperor was furious because of the Yunnan governor's actions.

Everyone has read the memorial submitted by the Yunnan governor, which said that he personally went to the front line to command the battle, and that the general went into battle shirtless and continued to fight fiercely despite having several wounds.

Now I understand everything after reading Jia Lian’s memorial. What does it connect to?

Jia Lian led the new Nanyang Army to raid the enemy's lair by sea and captured it in one day. After a short rest, they attacked again and advanced all the way to Myitkyina.

The enemy chieftain died suddenly out of fear, and the new king was forced to accept the treaty under the city. A copy of the contract is attached.

After reading the memorial, Lin Ruhai slammed the table and stood up: "As a high-ranking official of the imperial court, you do not think about repaying the emperor's kindness, but only know how to take credit for the work. In my opinion, send an agent to investigate whether there is anyone who is afraid of the enemy and does not move forward, accepts bribes, and covers up the matter for the chieftains." Covering up what? Of course, the chieftains opposed the change of the chieftain system, and as the governor, I spoke for them and said that some places were in turmoil and should be postponed.

This time, Li Qing also stood up to support him and said, "What Prime Minister Lin said is absolutely right! It's not just the governor, but also the general and the three officials. They are incompetent. They can't repay the emperor's kindness, and they can't keep the local people safe. We must investigate thoroughly."

Zhang Tingen glanced at Li Qing calmly, knowing that this old man was up to no good. Lin Ruhai advocated investigating only the governor, but you are trying to expand it, right? When the time comes, it will be the cabinet's decision, and the blame will be on the prime minister.

"Your Majesty, I think it's not appropriate to expand the situation. Just send someone to investigate the governor and the general first." Zhang Tingen tried to save the situation.

Yue Qi quickly took over the conversation after hearing this: "Your Majesty, I think what Prime Minister Zhang said is a wise and mature way to plan for the country. I agree with it."

Why was Yue Qi in such a hurry to take over? It was simple. He was the Minister of War. If he investigated the governor and the general in this case, it would not offend too many people, but he could arrange for one of his own people to take over as the general.

As for Pan Jixun, it has nothing to do with me! You guys continue to fight, I'll just watch. In my heart, I silently calculated whether there were any students or former officials in the three offices.

Speaking of which, Yunnan is a bit of a special place. There are really not many people under Li Qing's command, so he has to expand the scope of attack. Anyway, there are no people from the Three Divisions among them.

Emperor Chenghui was of course well aware of Li Qing's thoughts, but he had no intention of reprimanding Li Qing. He had originally arranged Li Qing to be in the cabinet to contain Zhang Tingen and prevent him from dominating the cabinet.

Let alone one dominant party now, Lin Ruhai and Zhang Tingen are objectively not in the same group. If it weren't for Jia Lian, these two might even be rivals.

As for the conflict between Lin Ruhai and Li Qing, that is normal. It would be strange if the second assistant and the third assistant could get along well.

Of course, the open and covert struggles among the ministers were about fighting without breaking up, and never tearing each other apart. If they really did tear each other apart, one or both of them would have to leave.

It is normal to have disputes in cabinet meetings. It is abnormal to have no disputes. If the cabinet is truly united, Emperor Chenghui would have to sleep with one eye open at night.

"Send an imperial envoy to dismiss the officials first and then investigate the case. Also send people to investigate the chieftains in the border areas to see if they are resisting the court's move to change the chieftain system into officialdom." Emperor Chenghui was still very angry. The governor and the general of Yunnan were definitely finished. As for the chieftains, they were probably doomed as well.

Emperor Chenghui subjectively believed that it was the governor and the general who colluded with the chieftains and deceived the emperor.

As for why the governor of Yunnan made such a stupid move, the emperor no longer cared whether it was because he was under too much pressure recently and reported the matter without conducting an investigation first in order to win credit.

The most important thing now is to save face. After all, he had just issued an order to reward those bastards for daring to deceive the emperor, and they succeeded. As for why the emperor was deceived, that was not something he could even mention.

The matter in Yunnan has been decided. A document has been issued to send someone over, and Captain Long Jin will go there to arrest the person.

The matter of Myanmar was put on the table. Jia Lian's contract actually included compensation, which was a pleasant surprise. Ten million yuan, Myanmar had no money to pay in installments, and had to pay interest.

There is also the matter of the concession. No one really understands why Jia Lian insisted on renting a piece of land there, and it was not clearly stated in the memorial.

There were doubts, but they were not serious problems. A consensus was reached quickly.

The court must recognize Jia Lian's behavior. Apart from anything else, the compensation of 10 million silver dollars is enough for other ministers to learn from. Don't say that a place is barren and useless. As long as you can squeeze out some oil and water, you can't give it up easily.

Therefore, the contract was stamped first and then filed. There was nothing much to say about the concession. Wasn't it just an insignificant official? Give it to him!

Considering that he is a loyal person isolated in a foreign land, he can be given a seventh-rank official position as an exception. The commander of the garrison can be given the rank of deputy general. He has an official seal and a certificate of rank, which is recognized by the court.

In short, it is just a role model, and everyone who understands will understand. If these two want to return to the court to serve as officials, that is absolutely not possible.

It's equivalent to Hai Longtou, the deputy envoy of the Xuanwei Division, which is the ceiling of his career, and he will stay in Nanyang for the rest of his life.

Now it can no longer be called Xuanweisi, the latest title is Nanyang Deputy Governor. In Nanyang, the most powerful person is Li Yuan, the Minister of Nanyang, and the officials under him are the left and right governors. They are all appointed by Li Yuan himself and reported to the court for approval. After all, they are not officials sent by the court, so these officials have to stay in Nanyang for their whole lives. If their descendants are motivated and make a name for themselves through studying, that is another matter.

As for whether a local clan in Nanyang would be formed, that was Li Yuan's business. To be honest, the imperial court was not particularly concerned about these marginal areas.

The cabinet also means this: as long as they pay taxes to the court, they can do whatever they want.

The current dispute between the cabinet and the emperor over Li Yuan is whether to send his family over. The cabinet is against it, and even Zhang Tingen has expressed his opposition.

Why oppose it? The reason is simple: it damages the emperor's reputation for benevolence.

Emperor Chenghui neither insisted nor compromised, he just dragged it out for now.

What the emperor and the cabinet did not know was that, due to the lack of qualified officials in Southeast Asia, most of the exiled officials were simply serving as officials despite being convicted of crimes.

The imperial court didn't send anyone, and Li Yuan had no one to use. What else could he do? He could only use them first.

As for Jia Lian, it doesn't matter even if he knew. These exiled officials are much better than local natives.

It is true that none of the exiled officials are innocent, but how many of the officials who have not been investigated are innocent?
We can only blame those unlucky people who didn't have clear minds and ran into trouble.

Myanmar doesn’t have silver dollars, but it doesn’t matter, we can use gold or silver.

The first batch of gold and silver worth 5 million silver dollars, after discount, was converted into 3 million silver dollars as the first batch of compensation. In the future, 500,000 yuan will be paid every year, plus interest, for a total of 20 years. Jia Lian's poor financial knowledge finally came in handy.

As for the stolen property, no one dared to mention a single word about it.

Jia Lian returned with his victorious army. Others did not know, but Jia Lian's wealth increased by at least 2 million yuan. And this was not counting the dividends from Xue's business.

The tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in the Nanyang Navy and the Nanyang New Army have all gained a lot. Everyone is very happy.

The only bottom line that Jia Lian has never crossed is that he has not been a human trafficker. The bottom line of the army is not to abuse women.

The people of Yangon sent the invaders away with tears. They really sent them away with tears, because these soldiers really did not bully ordinary people and they really paid for their things.

To be honest, during the time when the invaders were here, the local people's income actually increased a lot. No one collected taxes and no one robbed them. Now that they left, wouldn't we have to say goodbye with tears?
It can only be said that it is too early for the people of Yangon to be happy. The new Burmese king will not let them go in order to get compensation.

On the way back to the capital, Jia Lian was still thinking about a question: how to completely incorporate Myanmar into the territory in the future?

If for no other reason than to secure the access to the Indian Ocean and the Yenangyaung oil fields, Jia Lian was determined to get this done.

If we don't do this now, there is really no need to rush. As long as we force the Burmese government to impose heavy taxes and levies, the people will not be able to survive and rebellion is only a matter of time.

Wouldn't it be too easy to find an excuse to send troops by then?

It is much easier than the hatred that most people have towards the invaders now. Of course, more people now hate the former Burmese king because he provoked the war against Dongda and caused revenge, which led to the enemy coming to the door. This rumor was not spread by Jia Lian, but by Chapa for the legitimacy of his own rule. And he got the cooperation of the monks.

Why should the monk cooperate?

After the neighboring country's army came in, they did not harm the monks at all and were full of respect, which invisibly raised the status of monks in Myanmar.

In addition, during the war, monks did protect some civilians and local people of status, so they were naturally highly respected. The monk community also took the opportunity to make a fuss and elevate themselves.

It was already early June when Jia Lian returned to Guangzhou. The new army left behind a brigade to garrison various places in Southeast Asia, with a rotation every year.

Zhao Feng led the officials to the port to welcome Jia Lian's return. The new governor had already arrived and had been acting in office for a month, but the handover had not yet been completed and he had not moved into the backyard of the yamen.

Jia Lian decided to return to Beijing directly this time. After a smooth handover, he moved out of the government office with Baochai and others and lived in Xue's house to make room for the new governor.

As for Jia Lian himself, he found an excuse to rest and was not in a hurry to leave. After all, this was the hottest time of the year, and he planned to wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival. He could rest for two months.

Jia Lian's move was of course deliberate. After all, the court only asked him to return to Beijing, but did not say how to arrange it. The secret decree from the emperor also gave him a two-month vacation.

Jia Lian transported the Burmese indemnity directly to the capital. He certainly could not keep it in his hands, let alone deposit it in the bank.

The Xue family was naturally very welcoming to Jia Lian's move in, and they almost worshipped him as their ancestor. A mere steward could be a seventh-rank official because he was a consul in the concession, and a mere guard leader could be a deputy general. Don't say that you can't return to the mainland to be an official. With Jia Lian in the court, it's easy to do.

Jia Lian lived comfortably in the Xue family. He had nothing to do every day and often went out in plain clothes to enjoy delicious food and watch what his successor did.

After knowing the operation of the Yunnan governor, Jia Lian was very impressed. This guy dared to report and take credit for himself without even conducting an investigation.

The result is predictable.

The new governor quietly took office with the imperial edict and the Dragon Guard. The governor of Yunnan was captured by the Dragon Guard in the yamen, and the general was also captured together with him.

After investigation and finding out the facts, the new governor reported the facts to the emperor.

How should I put it? This governor was just a normal court official. Since the emperor was far away, he naturally had few concerns. He took what he should and was greedy for what he should be greedy for.

When an incident occurred on the border, it was caught off guard. The general was certainly responsible, but as the head of a province, the governor bore the greatest responsibility.

The governor and the general were dismissed from office and their property was confiscated. After a series of punishments, the imperial court directly issued an edict that there was no need to escort them back to Beijing, but instead sentenced them to exile in Southeast Asia.

Although the three offices and officials at all levels were not investigated, they were reprimanded by the imperial court. Their political future was bleak and they had to stay in Yunnan for almost the rest of their lives.

After the hottest two months, Jia Lian packed up and returned to Beijing. When he got off the ship in Tianjin, he went to see the newly laid tracks. The coal mines in Kailuan had already produced coal, which was transported to Tianjin by rail and then to Tongzhou by water. The high-quality anthracite directly brought down the price of coal in Beijing.

A bad debt of 10 million yuan has also become a good investment.

Jia Lian doesn't care about personal gains and losses. What he cares about is seeing hope.

(End of this chapter)