Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 567 Public opinion fermentation
Unlike modern times when New Year’s Eve and the Spring Festival are given greater importance, the ancients attached greater importance to the Lantern Festival.

On the Lantern Festival in the seventeenth year of Chenghui, while it was still daylight, the capital city became restless.

This is not only a light festival, but also an entertainment and business festival.

Working overtime during major holidays is a normal part of life for the soldiers of the Five Cities Army.

This is the bowl of rice I eat!

The difference lies in who is the boss.

Jia Lian, who returned temporarily, gave everyone generous overtime bonuses.

As the saying goes, if you pay the right amount, nothing is a problem.

You can take a vacation at any time, but the opportunities to make big money are very rare.

Soldiers wearing bright uniforms and holding rifles set up checkpoints and temporary emergency points at all key points. Soldiers were stationed every ten steps to ensure that any crisis could be nipped in the bud. The young men riding horses and bright clothes were stopped by the checkpoints as soon as they went out. Horses were not allowed at the Lantern Festival. Please take a car or a sedan chair.

This group of young men on angry horses and in fancy clothes can be understood as will-o'-the-wisp teenagers, who are at an age of boiling blood and are trouble-makers that can be ignited at any time.

Even though they were very unhappy, the young men still dismounted obediently and went out by car or on foot. As for sedan chairs, they were for women and did not suit their unique temperament.

As night fell, lights lit up Chang'an Avenue, which was renamed after Chenghui's reign.

Every family or merchant with a bit of reputation in the capital launched their own lantern carriages.

Children were holding colorful lanterns and showing them off everywhere, while young people were gathering together and talking about the special color of the sleeping girl.

The merchants shouted at the top of their lungs, trying to sell their wares.

Jia Lian was in front of the Jinshui Bridge, inspecting the defenses and the final preparations for the fireworks.

That’s right, the highlight of tonight is the fireworks show prepared by the Research and Development Department for Your Majesty.

The lights on the top of the city were also lit up. Emperor Chenghui and a group of concubines were drinking and enjoying the view, looking at the long street in front of them that was lit up by lights.

Surrounded by the beautiful girls, it was very lively and cheerful. Combined with the beautiful scenery before him, Emperor Chenghui could not help but be intoxicated by the joy of having the country and the beauty in his hands.

The dozen or so ministers who were invited stood up and wrote poems, praising the prosperous times, advocating wise rulers, and whitewashing the peace.

At this moment, Emperor Chenghui felt that everything he saw and possessed was the whole world.

When gorgeous fireworks rose above the Jinshui Bridge, countless people saw a dreamy scene.

Everyone believes that this era belongs to this country.

Only Jia Lian stood in a shadowy corner, muttering, "The Industrial Revolution has only taken its first step."

The fate of this world in the next hundred years has yet to be determined!
After the New Year, the cabinet was arguing fiercely about Jia Lian's whereabouts.

Lin Ruhai faced off against Li Qing, Yue Qi and Pan Jixun alone, and the focus of the argument was whether Jia Lian should join the cabinet.

Lin Ruhai was the only supporter and even advocated expanding the cabinet.

Zhang Tingen chose to remain silent, while the other three firmly opposed.

Although we oppose, the reasons are different.

Li Qing said at the meeting: "Jia Buqi is only 25 years old. He has all the merits and experience to qualify. However, if he joins the cabinet now, it will actually harm him. It would be better to wait until he is 30 years old before bringing him up."

Yue Qi argued: "Now that the Lin and Jia families are getting married, it is inappropriate for Jia Buqi to join the cabinet and work with Lin Xiang's father-in-law and son-in-law!"

Pan Jixun also held a similar view, believing that Lin Ruhai and Jia Lian could not be in the cabinet together, and only one of them could stay.

Lin Ruhai said: "I have never been obsessed with power. For the sake of the country, I am willing to resign from the cabinet and be sent to another place."

After everyone had expressed their opinions, Zhang Ting'en had someone compile the meeting minutes and hand them over to the emperor for a decision.

In fact, everyone knows very well that no matter how much they argue, whether Jia Lian can enter the cabinet depends entirely on the emperor's wishes.

Not to mention entering the cabinet, even if you want to go from the fourth rank to the third rank, you need the emperor's approval. Apart from anything else, the emperor has the power to make the final decision on the personnel of senior officials.

The daily selection of officials by cabinet ministers was based on the list recommended by the Ministry of Personnel, while the emperor decided on officials of the third rank and above based on recommendations from the cabinet.

But when it comes to the level of Shangshu and Cabinet Minister, it can only be appointed by the emperor, there is no recommendation.

This is how Emperor Chenghui has demonstrated his authority through personnel power since he ascended the throne.

In principle, as long as there are no major problems, cabinet ministers can serve until the end of their ten-year term. If the emperor wants to keep them in office, they will stay; if not, they may not be able to get a second term.

Emperor Chenghui knew that everyone would quarrel, but he did not expect that the opposing party would have different opinions and would not be united.

This shows that Li Qing was not as good as Ning Ke and Guo Yan in uniting his colleagues. These two cabinet ministers at least knew how to join forces frequently and reach a consensus.

The emperor is actually also very troubled. He is most satisfied with the current situation of the cabinet.

Even Zhang and Lin, who had more frequent interactions with each other, were not actually in the same group.

Prime Minister Zhang Ting'en never formed a clique, which was the reason why he could hold the position of Prime Minister. In contrast, Li Qing had the most followers in the court.

However, having many party members is of little use in the cabinet. After all, due to the design of the current power structure, the cabinet has great power.

The power of the cabinet was granted by the emperor.

The emperor does not like to see a strong cabinet, which is the root cause of the current cabinet structure.

Although Jia Lian is loyal, he is an uncertain factor. Once he enters the cabinet, he will definitely resign if the emperor does not support what he wants to do because of his stubborn temper.

With the addition of Prime Minister Zhang Tingen, once the master and disciple reached an agreement, the emperor would make concessions.

Therefore, this was the reason why Emperor Chenghui was unwilling to allow Jia Lian to join the cabinet.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, the emperor looked at the ministers standing before him. He leaned back in his chair, tapping his hands on the imperial desk, thinking about what method he could use to achieve his goal.

"Since there are three people in the cabinet who oppose Jia Buqi's joining the cabinet, then he should not join the cabinet. Are there any vacancies in the six ministries? If there are no vacancies, is there a vacancy for the governor?"

Emperor Chenghui finally spoke. If he didn't speak, this matter would never end.

Zhang Ting'en waited until this moment before speaking: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, why don't you ask Jia Buqi what he thinks?"

This is a very thoughtful question. The emperor and the cabinet ministers want to arrange a minister and also ask the minister's opinion.

Is it outrageous? It is really outrageous!

Not to mention the worst of the six ministries, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of Revenue, and the Minister of Rites, all three of them were of the first rank, and the other three were of the second rank.

At such a high level, you still need to ask for the opinions of your subjects?

What does this mean?
This fully illustrates the uniqueness of Jia Lian, a young official. Of course, this uniqueness was also caused by the emperor and Jia Lian. If it were another official, at the age of 25, it would be a great achievement for him to become a seventh-rank Qingliu Imperial Censor.

Zhang Tingen said such outrageous words, but none of the other cabinet ministers spoke out to object, and the emperor actually listened to him.

"What Mr. Zhang said is absolutely right. I'll have someone call him in to ask about it." Not surprisingly, the scene that took place in the Qianqing Palace was spread.

Two opinions quickly emerged among the government and the public. One was that it was absurd, too absurd. How could Jia Lian be so virtuous and capable that he could choose his own position? The other opinion, although absurd, was actually normal.

Those who hold the former view are all losers who can only bark helplessly.

Those who hold the latter view do have good reasons and evidence.

Looking at all the ministers in the court, is there anyone who could achieve the level of Jia Lian?
Can't find it? Is there only this one? If so, then the opponents should just shut up?
Of course, the opponents would not shut up. Not only did they not shut up, they also criticized the cabinet's way of employing people in the newspapers. They did not dare to scold the emperor, but they felt no pressure to scold Zhang Tingen.

The reality is that among the officials, those who like Jia Lian are a minority, because young officials themselves are a minority.

Among the rich and powerful, there were few who liked Jia Lian, but there were many who hated him and wanted him dead immediately.

Emperor Chenghui was not in a hurry to call Jia Lian into the palace immediately. After all, he still had vacation time and was still preparing to marry Daiyu.

Furthermore, Emperor Chenghui also wanted to see in which direction public opinion in the court and the public would develop.

Just three days after the incident, the public opinion in the capital's newspapers, which had initially simply opposed Jia Lian's entry into the cabinet due to his age, gradually evolved into a different tone.

For example, the latest issue of the Beijing Times published a commentary on Jia Lian on the front page.

The first sentence is [Jia Lian is the descendant of Duke Rong! ] and then they make a big fuss about Jia Lian’s noble family background.

[Since he took office, he has led the army to battle and won many battles. His prestige in the army is so high that he has the momentum to follow the army's lead. He has the spirit of his ancestors.]

This sentence is rather vicious. It does not mention Jia Lian's ability in government affairs, nor does it mention that he had achieved brilliant achievements in the capital or Guangzhou. It only focuses on his prestige in the army.

【The Spring and Autumn Period is now at its peak, and the court is full of righteous people. It is expected that the prosperous times will last for another fifty years. I think that it is the right time for Jia Lian to enter the cabinet in twenty years. By then, Jia Lian will be fully grown and it will not be difficult for him to control the government.】

Putting aside the fact that the author gives a clear picture of what happens to Jia Lian twenty years later, the key point is that he is secretly indicating that twenty years later Jia Lian will enter the cabinet, which means he has great power over the world.

If you want to talk about viciousness, you have to be a scholar!

It seems fair, but in fact it has been hinting that Jia Lian will take control of the military power and enter the cabinet again twenty years later. That scene is really amazing.

This is digging a hole to bury Jia Lian!

As soon as this article came out, similar articles followed like mushrooms after rain.

The direction of attack became that Jia Lian might become a traitor.

It's like a woman pointing at a completely unrelated man on the street and telling the police that this man has a penis and he wants to rape me.

To put it bluntly, it is a false accusation!

There is no need for evidence in this kind of thing. As long as there is suspicion, nothing else matters.

If you say you want to rebel, then you are!

No matter whether you do it or not, you have the ability to do it.

They won’t tell you that whether or not they will rebel has nothing to do with their ability but depends on their personal ambition.

This is like whether you want to be an emperor. I guess every man wants to be an emperor, the question is whether you take action.

Otherwise, how do we say it, why not judge by the actions and not by the heart?

But this is the infighting within the court, and when it comes to the stability of imperial power, in many cases, you will not be given evidence.

Jia Lian read all these articles, but he was not in a hurry at all. Instead, he wrote a memorial and sent it to the palace.

[I am terrified and Your Majesty is in a difficult situation, so I ask to be sent out. I only ask Your Majesty to show mercy and allow me to bring my wife and children with me to take up the post.]

There are a lot of words in the memorial, but only the above sentence is somewhat nutritious, the rest is nonsense.

After finishing this task, Jia Lian mounted his horse, dressed in wedding clothes, and went to the bride's house to welcome her with music and dance.

It was as if all this commotion had nothing to do with him.

No matter how the newspapers evaluated Jia Lian, it did not affect the excitement of this wedding.

To say that the house was filled with guests was an understatement. The Jia family was completely unable to accommodate all the guests who came to offer congratulations.

All the officials in Beijing who had had any contact with Jia Lian came to congratulate him in person.

More than 500 people came, including civil and military officials, from cabinet ministers and commanders of the Beijing camp to minor civil and military officials of the eighth and ninth ranks.

Compared with the scene when Jia Lian married Wang Xifeng, it is completely different.

Banquets were held at the West Palace and the East Palace at the same time, and a buffet was also set up on Rongning Street.

It is said that on that day, copper coins worth three hundred thousand yuan were scattered along the way as wedding money.

Sister Lin sat in a sedan chair carried by eight men and entered the Jia Mansion through the middle gate. In order to make her eligible, the emperor granted her the title of the second rank before she even entered the palace.

It was a lively and bustling occasion with guests coming and going until around ten o'clock in the evening, when Jia Lian was able to escape and return to the bridal chamber.

Lifting the veil with a scale, Lin Daiyu, under the lamp, was dazzlingly beautiful! Her face was full of joy, and she did not conceal her feeling of having achieved what she wanted.

Daiyu was not in a hurry to do anything else, but asked Zijuan to bring out a tray full of letters, letters written by Jia Lian to Daiyu.

From the first time Jia Lian left Beijing to now, over the years, Jia Lian has written letters to Daiyu at her request, and later wrote to her regularly on his own initiative. Jia Lian has no idea how many letters he has written.

There was a thick stack of letters on the tray in front of him, at least a hundred of them.

It is said that in the past, transportation was slow, letters were delivered slowly, and one could only love one person in a lifetime. Jia Lian looked at these letters and felt that those who wrote poems were talking nonsense.

That night, Jia Lian was certain that Daiyu could not even uproot a weeping willow or pour out water on a candle. At least not now.

Fortunately, Jia Lian has rich experience, so he can take it slow and not be in a hurry, as there is still a long way to go.

After the wedding, Jia Lian stayed indoors for a month, staying at home with his wives and concubines every day. Even Baochai, who claimed that she would live outside all the time, quietly returned to the Jia Mansion under the cover of night.

Jia Lian finally understood what it meant to have no time for rest all day!

Spring has come, and the hills outside the city are full of vitality. Finding an excuse to visit Xuanzhen Temple, Jia Lian called Jia Rong, rode out of the city, and took a day off.

Since he had visited Xuanzhen Temple, he naturally had to go to Mantou Temple to take a look. However, Jia Lian never expected that he would meet Zhen Huan outside the mountain gate.

"I'm here to say goodbye and go to the Western Regions." Zhen Huan said.

(End of this chapter)