Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 578 Cabinet Changes
In the winter of the seventeenth year of Chenghui, Prime Minister Zhang Ting'en fainted in the cabinet and the imperial physician diagnosed him with a stroke.

The Prime Minister's heavy military presence was undoubtedly an earthquake-level event for the imperial court.

Emperor Chenghui's imperial physician tried his best to treat the patient, but the patient woke up but could neither speak nor write.

This was the second important official to fall from a stroke since Emperor Chenghui ascended the throne.

Jia Lian, who was supervising the progress of the project outside the city, rushed back overnight after hearing the news. However, the city gate was closed, so he could only hide in the cold wind in the city gate for an hour and enter the city when the gate opened on time.

As expected, this matter reached the emperor's ears, and Emperor Chenghui sighed: "Jia Lian is not confused about major issues!"

When Zhang Ting'en fell ill, Jia Lian would visit him every day after work, which became a good story.

Because he couldn't speak clearly and couldn't raise his hands, Zhang Tingen could only look at his family with his eyes.

Jia Lian nodded: "Don't worry, Master, I have my students here!"

In order to carry out the reform, Zhang Tingen offended many people. Now that he has fallen, others cannot retaliate against him, but can they not retaliate against his wife and children?

With Zhang Tingen's illness, Jia Lian knew that the Chenghui Reform led by Emperor Chenghui had completely ended the internal reform. Externally, it would continue because of the huge benefits.

Jia Lian has seen many cases of easing internal conflicts by shifting them outwards.

In general, although the internal conflicts in the Great Zhou Dynasty were not resolved, the mainstream voice of going out to rob emerged.

This was especially true after the discovery of gold in Australia. The temptation of gold was so great that many royal families, relatives and dignitaries organized fleets and sent people to Australia to dig for gold.

What no one told them was that once they arrived in Australia, they no longer had the final say in many matters. Not to mention these people, even Li Yuan had no say.

Anyway, Australia is a place that is neither chaotic nor messy at the same time.

Well, that’s what the newspaper said, there’s gold everywhere in Australia, so go and dig for it.

The actual situation is that if you want to mine gold in Australia, you can do so, but the process is like this: the gold mines that have been discovered have already been purchased by someone else. If latecomers want to mine gold, there are only two ways to go: one is to buy land from the government and look for new veins by themselves, and the other is to work for the previous landlord and hand over half of the profits.

I can only say that it is very honest. People in China don’t know this, and they think that there is gold everywhere and it is within reach.

After confirming that Zhang Tingen would not be able to return to the cabinet in the short term, Emperor Chenghui had to make additions and adjustments to the cabinet personnel.

Strangely, Emperor Chenghui summoned Jia Lian and asked him, "You are a candidate for cabinet minister, so you should be promoted to the cabinet. I have asked the ministers in the cabinet, and they all agree with this."

Jia Lian refused very clearly: "Your Majesty, I have too many things to do and too many things I want to do. I don't have the energy to join the cabinet to do empty things. If Your Majesty understands me, please let me do something practical."

Emperor Chenghui understood that Jia Lian really didn't want to join the cabinet because he didn't like empty talk. The cabinet is responsible for grasping the general direction, isn't it just empty talk?
"Are you afraid that someone will say that as both the father-in-law and the son-in-law are cabinet ministers, they have too much power?" Emperor Chenghui still asked with concern. After all, for civil officials, the temptation to join the cabinet is too strong.

Jia Lian looked at Emperor Chenghui helplessly and said, "Your Majesty, why don't I also claim to be ill? Hand over all my positions and powers?

Emperor Chenghui quickly laughed and said, "No, absolutely not. Just as you said, who do you think can enter the cabinet?"

Jia Lian said sternly, "Isn't this clear? Chief Justice Fang Song has always been loyal and is a substitute minister in the cabinet. After Lord Fang joins the cabinet, Your Majesty can add another substitute."

Emperor Chenghui nodded. There was nothing wrong with this statement. Fang Song's characteristic was loyalty. If the emperor asked him to bite someone, he would bite like a turtle and would not let go. So he smiled and said, "You are right."

Jia Lian said goodbye and left the palace, returning to the government office, making it a point not to move or to collude with others.

In contrast, some people who want to join the cabinet are very active, connecting with others and seeking support.

As for these people, Emperor Chenghui asked Qiu Shian's secret guards to keep a closer eye on them to see which of them had previously unknown relationships with whom.

If you don’t check, you won’t know. If you check, you will be shocked.

Qiu Shian found that Jiang Jie, an aide to Li Heng, was unexpectedly active. Of course, he did not directly contact officials, but was very close to many officials' confidants.

Qiu Shian did not dare to delay and immediately reported it to the emperor.

After hearing this, Emperor Chenghui's expression changed. Most people thought that Li Heng's actions were understandable. He won people's hearts in advance so that he would have a smooth succession in the future.

But Emperor Chenghui didn't think so. After an illness, Emperor Chenghui felt that his energy was not as good as before. If he was in good health, Emperor Chenghui would have laughed off Li Heng's behavior, but his health was not as good as before, so he thought differently. Thinking of the last time Jia Lian ranted in the hall and the R&D hall cleared nearly a thousand idle people, Emperor Chenghui later realized that Li Heng had made an indelible contribution.

The third brother did not touch the money of the Research and Development Department, but he arranged for many people to go in and use the money of the Research and Development Department as a favor. Now Li Heng controls Shuntian Prefecture and actually controls the Imperial Clan Court. In addition, this time it was discovered that officials from multiple departments in the court had private dealings with Li Heng, including the cronies of Li Qing and Yue Qi among the cabinet ministers.

"Go, summon Jia Lian." Emperor Chenghui responded habitually, and even after Qiu Shian left, Emperor Chenghui couldn't help but smile. With so many confidants, when something really happened, the first person he thought of was Jia Lian.

Jia Lian didn't know why Emperor Chenghui suddenly summoned him. He was outside the city inspecting the improvement of the steam locomotive. He took off his gloves and followed him into the palace. His clothes were a little dirty and he didn't even bother to change.

"Your Majesty has urgently summoned me, what order do you have?" After meeting him, Jia Lian clasped his hands and bowed, looking as if he was ready to serve at any time.

"When you were in Southeast Asia, what did you think of the second prince?" Emperor Chenghui's question was even more surprising. Jia Lian was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted. He answered seriously, "When Prince Yuan was in Southeast Asia, he fought on the battlefield, went to the grassroots, fought against barbarians, and comforted overseas Chinese. In my humble opinion, although he was a little immature, he handled things well overall. In plain words, he was not down-to-earth before, but after going to Southeast Asia, he became down-to-earth."

Emperor Chenghui smiled with satisfaction and asked, "I want to order Li Yuan to return to the capital. What do you think?"

Jia Lian took three steps back after hearing this: "Your Majesty knows me well, why do you have to embarrass me?"

Seeing this, Emperor Chenghui shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Okay, I won't embarrass you."

Jia Lian said goodbye and left the palace. After thinking about it, he decided that he didn't need to inform Li Heng. Li Yuan also pretended to know nothing. No matter who was the emperor, their gratitude was the least valuable.

The next day, Emperor Chenghui made two direct edicts: one said: Minister Fang Song is well-known for his loyalty both inside and outside the country, and is a candidate for the cabinet. It is only natural for him to be added to the cabinet. The other said: Prince Li Yuan has been in Southeast Asia for a long time. I am nearly fifty years old and I am afraid that I don’t have much time left, so I specially summoned Li Yuan back to Beijing.

After these two imperial edicts came down, it was like taking away the fuel from under the cauldron. The recent boiling calmed down, but it was not completely calmed down. After all, there was still a cabinet candidate. It was better than nothing. If you can't enter the cabinet, you can strive to be a candidate.

After Jia Lian finished his duty, Jia Rong came to see him. After dismissing the attendants, Jia Rong stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "The Third Prince asked, why did His Majesty invite my second uncle to the palace?"

"Why else? Of course they asked me if I wanted to join the cabinet, and I said no. The thing is, if I join the cabinet, Old Taishan will be attacked by others. It's unacceptable for the father-in-law and son-in-law to be cabinet ministers. It will benefit Li Qing. It's better for me not to join the cabinet." Jia Lian told the truth, but not the whole story. He added the factor of Lin Ruhai to make it more logical.

At present, Zhang Tingen is still ill. Before he officially resigned three times, Lin Ruhai was only in charge of cabinet affairs as the second assistant.

After sending Jia Rong away, someone came to deliver another message. Jia Lian had no choice but to pack up and go to the You sisters' home in the south of the city.

Not long after arriving, Fang Song, dressed in plain clothes, came in. Jia Lian led him inside, motioned for others to leave, and then said sarcastically, "Why are you in such a hurry to see me? We are all ministers, so be more cautious."

Fang Song looked grateful and said, "It's impossible to be stable. If it weren't for Brother Jia's noble character, I wouldn't have been able to join the cabinet."

Jia Lian said speechlessly, "What good things are you thinking? If he didn't want to benefit Li Rushui, how could you have anything to do with it? That old guy had bad intentions. He supported Jia to join the cabinet at the cabinet meeting. When Jia returned victoriously in Nanyang, he was strongly opposed to Jia joining the cabinet. Now he supports it. Isn't it because he sees an opportunity to steal the position of Prime Minister? As long as my old Taishan is in the cabinet, Jia will not join the cabinet. Humph, if he is still in the cabinet when Jia joins the cabinet, just wait and see how I will torment him."

The truth is the most convincing. Fang Song was relieved immediately. He was grateful, but not much. He just wanted to get a definite answer. He also guessed why Jia Lian was unwilling to join the cabinet, so he came to confirm it.

It can only be said that Li Qing's idea is very good and it is very likely to be realized, but Jia Lian is a weirdo. He would rather not enter the cabinet than give Li Qing a chance.

"After entering the cabinet, I can't take on the position of chief censor at the same time. Brother Jia, do you need any help?" Fang Song didn't come here for nothing. He really wanted to give something back. It's a give-and-take thing.

"You're welcome. I have a good friend from school named Li Dong, also known as Mei Kai. He has been working outside for many years. I hope he can join the Inspectorate and serve as the Chief Censor." Jia Lian made a direct offer. Fang Song hesitated for a moment and said, "It's difficult, but I will try my best to make it happen."

Jia Lian smiled and said, "That's all. At this critical moment, our identities are sensitive. Brother Fang should not stay for long, so I won't keep you for dinner. Let's go now."

Fang Song knew that this was the truth and didn't mind at all. He stood up, clasped his hands and said goodbye. Jia Lian saw him off to the door.

After Fang Song walked away, Ni Er leaned in and whispered, "After Lord Fang left, someone followed him from a distance. I asked my subordinates to create a little accident and then grabbed the other person and had a quarrel for a while."

"Well done, keep it up." Jia Lian praised, and Ni Er was immediately overjoyed. He had been under a lot of pressure after the last incident.

It is not difficult to imagine that he was a gangster who went hungry for nine meals out of three days, but now he has become a big shot in Beijing.

If he lost such an identity and status, he would regret it and die. If he didn't work for Jia Lian, there were many people waiting in line to be Jia Lian's dog.

Besides, Jia Lian was a very good servant and he was not asked to do too much dirty work. He was mostly asked to gather information and build a network.

"Also, there were people who had been keeping an eye on the Second Master. After summer, these people disappeared. I wonder if they were replaced by new faces."

Jia Lian thought for a moment and said, "It's not that I have a new face, but that there are fewer people watching me, and your people didn't notice it."

Jia Lian did not explain Ni Er's confusion. After all, it was Jia Rong who handled Jia Lian's private concessions to those people in the palace.

To be honest, Jia Lian already knew the background of some of Qiu Shian's secret guards. Those people were just ordinary vendors who had been doing business in the same place for many years. If Jia Lian was not sensitive, it would be difficult to find these scattered key points. To put it bluntly, these people were not targeting Jia Lian alone, but all valuable targets. As long as you pass by, they will remember it. These people don't care where you go specifically. But if you string together multiple points, it will be a road map.

It would be strange if no one was staring at you. It only means that you are not worthy of being stared at.

As for why there are fewer people after summer, isn’t that related?

After receiving Jia Rong's reply, Li Heng felt relieved. As long as Jia Lian knew about it in advance and did not fail to inform him, there would be no problem.

Building railways and roads are both large projects. After half a year, only one third of the project progress has been completed.

Jia Lian was still very satisfied with this progress.

Never underestimate those who work on projects. From overall planning to implementation, there are problems in every aspect that need someone to solve.

The project is completed. Apart from anything else, the organizational strength of Jia Lian's team has reached a new level.

Zhang Tingen was unable to recover, so his master's wife petitioned the court on his behalf, begging for his remains.

After going through the process three times, Emperor Chenghui finally approved it and gave the retired Zhang Ting'en a very high favor. All honors such as Grand Tutor were added. Zhang Ting'en's family members also received favors.

Emperor Chenghui specially allowed Zhang Tingen to continue living in the Prime Minister's Residence and leave Beijing for his hometown after his condition stabilized.

Zhang Tingen's era ended, but Lin Ruhai's succession as Prime Minister was full of twists and turns.

The reason, of course, was that the emperor had been reluctant to agree to allow Lin Ruhai to be appointed as the replacement. This was not just a bad taste, but he just wanted to see things more clearly.

The connections and prestige of Li Qing, the former Third Assistant, in the court had been exposed a lot during this period. Emperor Chenghui wanted to see how much more could be exposed.

Previously, it was said that there were several parties in the court, one was the Qingyun Party, one was the Xinxue Party, and there were also the Liangjiang Party and the Neo-Confucian Party. These were the ones with the largest number of people.

There are also some messy relationships among fellow villagers, so-called fellow villagers.

Well, there is also a technical party! However, this technical party is just a joke. How could this group of people form a party? Their spiritual leader Jia Lian is just a lone minister.

The biggest characteristic of the so-called technical party is that you get promoted based on your ability, and if you don't have the ability, you give up your position. Can a party that relies on connections but doesn't use them still be called a party?

Emperor Chenghui simply took a steady hand and discovered many things that he had not noticed before.

Li Qing is not only the leader of the Qingyun Party, but also the leader of the Xinxue lineage. Speaking of which, the development of Xinxue in the Great Zhou is even more outrageous. There are dozens of factions, big and small, and small groups of three or five people dare to establish their own sects. These people are scattered all over the place, mainly concentrated in the south. They all say that they are Yangming followers, but in fact they all want to be the boss.

In the past, no one integrated these people, but now these people have taken the initiative to join Li Qing.

In comparison, Lin Ruhai, who was acting as the Prime Minister, also had people around him, but not many, only a dozen or so. Their positions were not very high and they were mainly concentrated in the Inspectorate.

Li Qing was different. From the central government to local governments, from schools to academies, not to mention those from other places, a small number of officials in Beijing regarded Li Qing as their leader.

Yue Qi's relationship, as long as he has a group of senior officers in the army to support him, the nobles, although not so powerful, will also support him. The military generals set a precedent for cabinet ministers, and the position will definitely be occupied.

Pan Jixun, an honest man, seemed to be a member of the Five Parties, but in fact he was supported by a group of officials who advocated the orthodox Neo-Confucianism.

As for the new cabinet minister Fang Song, he used to be a stinking piece of shit that no one wanted to get involved with, but now many unreliable officials have begun to take the initiative to contact him.

Officials in the court always stick together. Even Jia Lian can influence a large number of technical bureaucrats with low positions. The younger generation in Qingyun Academy also takes him as a role model.

Before the Chinese New Year, Emperor Chenghui finally made the decision. Lin Ruhai was promoted to the position of Prime Minister, Li Qing was promoted to the position of Second Prime Minister, and the rest were promoted accordingly.

It is unknown whether Li Qing is satisfied with this result. A small number of officials in the capital have already begun to collude privately.

The reason is very simple, the wise king is coming back, and the clear sky is coming back.

It took half a year from the issuance of the imperial edict to Li Yuan's return to Beijing. Li Qing, the Minister of Nanyang, was destined to lead the government remotely, so the structure of the entire government office had to be properly arranged.

You know what, every official in Nanyang was exiled there. These officials had no chance to return to the center of power before, but now they have come, haven't they?

So, naturally, they worked very hard for Li Yuan, and told His Highness not to worry, nothing would happen in Nanyang.

It can only be said that these officials took it for granted. Whether something would happen in Nanyang or not, Li Yuan’s words had no effect.

In Nanyang, the army has the final say.

The First Town of the Nanyang New Army is scattered all over Nanyang, and its size is constantly expanding in private. If a fight really breaks out, one town can become two towns.

The main reason for this situation is that the graduates of the military academy cannot serve in Southeast Asia. In addition, due to the small number of people in the early stage, not many people stayed in the Beijing camp after graduation. Graduates were given priority to enter Jiumen Town, then Ji and Liao borders, and later mainly to Datong in the north.

These disciples of the emperor are definitely loyal to Emperor Chenghui, but it is hard to say what will happen if Emperor Chenghui is gone. At that time, there will definitely be a struggle for interests.

If you want to ask why graduates of the Royal Military Academy cannot enter the four towns of the Beijing Garrison, there is an explanation for that, but that is getting off topic.

In short, now that Li Yuan is gone, do the officials of the Nanyang Minister's Office have the final say on Nanyang affairs? Yes and no.

It's very subtle!

Jia Lian built the railway to Xianghe before Li Yuancai appeared at the Tianjin wharf. The journey was very difficult and he was worried about any unexpected events, so he did not dare to delay for a moment except for stopping for supplies.

Standing at the Tianjin dock, watching the smoke billowing as the steam locomotive entered the station, Li Yuan, who had heard about it a long time ago, exclaimed: "The ability to change the world belongs to you, sir."

(End of this chapter)