Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 587 Establishing Rules

Building railways requires huge amounts of steel, which is definitely not enough with the existing production capacity.

You can't do things on a whim. You must have a plan, a scientific and reasonable plan.

After its establishment, the Railway Affairs Bureau did two things: one was to survey and select routes, and the other was to urge the steel industry to maintain its production capacity.

There is no rush for steam locomotives, after all, building roads takes time.

Jia Lian estimated that it might take more than five years from the initial planning to the completion of the three trunk lines.

There is no rush for the IPO. Not only is there no rush, but it has to be put on hold. It has also been announced that the investment cycle for railways is too long and private investment is not recommended. Secondly, after the railway is built, there are strict requirements for management and technology, otherwise accidents are likely to occur. Therefore, even shareholders have no say in the management and operation of the railway. Once again, it is not recommended to invest in railways, but to invest in steel mills.

What would you think if you were an investor? I clearly want to invest in railways, but you want me to invest in steel mills and sleepers?

Without even thinking about it, I would think that this bastard wants to eat alone. You are not even pretending, right?
In other words, he didn't dare to take action in the yamen, otherwise he would have beaten Jia Lian up to vent his anger. He didn't underestimate other people's IQ like that.

There were many people in the capital who had connections and could pass on messages to the higher-ups, but Emperor Chenghui had already predicted this and ordered his subordinates that all matters concerning railways should be forwarded to the Cabinet.

The cabinet is not stupid either. They all know that railway affairs are a hot potato and no one can handle it except Jia Lian. They are counting on the elders to help deal with Jia Lian.

This is not a matter of power and money; it is something that no one can handle except Jia Lian.

Lin Ruhai was also harassed. A cousin of his family was elected as a representative from Suzhou and came to the capital to meet Lin Ruhai.

I never thought that Lin Ruhai was not in the capital but in Rehe, and I came to Rehe again.

You have come all the way here to find Lin Ruhai, so you have to meet him. Otherwise, when you return home when you are old, I don’t know how people will scold you.

Chinese people are most taboo about this, so they have to meet each other even if they have to hold their noses.

The cousin explained his purpose and asked Jia Lian to relax and give everyone a chance to invest in the railway. Other people's words don't work, and so does the father-in-law's words?
Lin Ruhai could only say to his cousin tactfully: "It is true that he is my son-in-law, but if he is to listen to the cabinet, has it come to this? If you don't believe me, look, there are memorials from all over the country in the corner. There is no room in the office. It's not just your family. There are so many people in the country who come to use their connections. One wants to build a railway to his hometown, and the other wants to invest in the railway. What can I do? What can the cabinet do? I tell you this, if he is pushed to the limit, he can quit at any time. Your Majesty doesn't care about him, so how can I do it?"

My cousin was stunned by these words. Is there such a fierce person in the world?
Oh, you're right, it's true. When Jia Lian was in Suzhou, he was impeached a lot, right? Who could do anything to him? When he was in Guangzhou, the provincial examinations were still based on practical knowledge, so were there fewer impeachments?

To put it bluntly, normal means are useless to him. It's not that he can't leave his current position, but that if he leaves his current position, he will be out of control.

"Isn't this too crazy? Isn't this a one-man show?" The cousin said to himself, feeling that this trip was probably in vain.

Lin Ruhai sighed and said, "Even if he has the final say, no one can say anything. Back then, the workshops under the Ministry of Industry were in a mess. Not to mention making money, they even lost money every year. Let me tell you something you don't want to hear, the R&D Department and its related subordinate industries were all built by him brick by brick. Now the tax revenue paid to the court every year is as high as one million. The factories, mines and engineering colleges under the R&D Department have a total of more than 100,000 people. No one can touch him except your majesty. If the cabinet dares to make an idea, your majesty doesn't even need to object. These hundreds of thousands of people can eat at your house."

The cousin was stunned: "This is too outrageous, this person just won't obey!"

Lin Ruhai ignored his childish provocation and criticized him instead: "Last year, a few smart people accused Jia Lian of treason. Guess what happened to those smart people now?"

The cousin immediately shrank his neck and lowered his head, not daring to look directly at him. Lin Ruhai sneered, "I advise you to walk along the wall when you leave, so as not to get beaten up for no reason."

The cousin lowered his head with his chin touching his chest. Lin Ruhai picked up the teacup and said, "Have some tea!" The cousin quickly stood up and said goodbye. When he was leaving the door, he heard a "hum" behind him and quickened his pace.

Things are really getting worse in my hometown of Suzhou. They just put out this thing to build connections? There is no one to take over. The future of Suzhou Lin family is worrying.

I have to write a letter back to remind those old guys that they should pay attention to the cultivation of their offspring. How many years has it been since the Lin family produced a Juren or Jinshi? Have you ever thought about this question?
A few old guys controlled the clan's resources, leaving ordinary clan members with no chance to rise. If this continued for a long time, the Lin family was doomed to decline.

It was not just Lin Ruhai who was harassed. All the ministers in the cabinet were harassed as well. Even Fang Song had a group of his subordinates who came to him.

All of these people hit a wall without exception. In the words of the cabinet, other things were easy to handle, but they were powerless to do anything about Jia Lian's matter.

After going around in circles, everyone realized the reality that when it came to Jia Lian, there was really no good way out unless he gave in.

There was another person who was also troubled. He was Li Yuan, who stayed behind to supervise the country. This was an opportunity that was drawn by lot, so Li Yuan was naturally trembling with fear and treading on thin ice.

Apart from being on duty every day, I go home and stay there after get off work and don't go anywhere.

Even so, many people stopped him and mentioned the railway. Li Yuan chose to play dumb and said he didn't know or understand. There was nothing he could do.

The headache from the harassment during the day was splitting, and the headache continued when he returned home at night. Li Yuan was so angry that he completely exploded, overturned the table in front of him, pointed at the princess and said: "You have forgotten the suffering you suffered in Nanyang!"

Of course the princess did not forget that when she was stranded in Southeast Asia, she really thought she would never be able to come back when she was being sent from the capital to Southeast Asia for a family reunion.

Did they suffer in Nanyang? Compared to the capital, Nanyang was not a place for people to stay.

As a result, the princess didn't dare to say anything. Li Yuan usually had a good temper, but when he was really angry, he could be very scary.

After a while, Li Yuan's mood stabilized. The princess leaned in and whispered, "The eldest daughter of Lord Jia's family is a good match for Hao'er in age."

Li Yuan didn't get angry this time. He just glanced at her and said, "Buqi's daughter is the apple of his eye. There is only one way for her to marry him down. If you can't see this, you are blind."

The princess was not convinced: "What's wrong? Hao'er is the eldest son, how can he not be worthy?"

Li Yuan sighed and said, "You should use your brain and think it through. Jia Buqi is destined to enter the cabinet and become the prime minister. If the current prime minister was not Lin Ruhai, he would have entered the cabinet. If I marry him, it's not a marriage, it's an enemy."

No one saw the hope of intervention, and they all cursed Jia Lian in private. If you insist on saying that he eats alone, yes and no.

Since Jia Lian personally does not own any shares in the railway, this is very helpless as you cannot find any evidence to attack him.

While the matter was still hot, the Railway Affairs Bureau made a public announcement.

The accounts of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway are clear and transparent. They will be made public every quarter so that everyone can see the share structure and capital flow. The Railway Affairs Bureau has a special account, and all the profits are lying in the account.

This is a first!
This is very helpless. Jia Lian is also very hated. How can you make the accounts public?
After this incident happened, not only was the world shocked, even the emperor, cabinet ministers, and chancellors of various departments were at a loss as to what to do.

Fortunately, Jia Lian's announcement was also very clear, because the Railway Affairs Bureau was involved in operations and the flow of a large amount of funds, so it had to do so to avoid rumors. The government didn't need to do this.

As the saying goes, if you kill three people, you will buy a tiger with three people. You must be on guard.

The emperor even said to several ministers in private: "It is not appropriate for me to interfere in this matter."

The cabinet officials could only remain silent, as they knew very well the meaning behind Jia Lian's actions.

It's very simple, just set the rules! The rules of this industry are decided by me, and no one can change them.

It even sets a benchmark for future generations, and any similar large-scale projects in the future will have to follow this template.

It is unknown how many people's financial resources were cut off by Jia Lian.

The influence of this move was profound. After learning about this from the official newspaper, many officials who were still enthusiastic about the matter immediately thought that this was not a true role model.

Some excited officials could not control their emotions and directly reported to the emperor, praising Jia Lian as the contemporary Hai Bijia! No, he was even more capable than Hai Bijia. Hai Rui did not have the ability of Jia Lian.

There are no fools among officials. After the court and the public saw Jia Lian's intentions clearly, all the people who were making trouble shut up. Any more would only cause trouble.

Jia Lian immediately submitted a report explaining the purpose of this move.

The Railway Bureau is an office that is mainly responsible for operations. In this case, the accounts should be clear. Whether it is the court's money or the private money, they must be clearly accounted for.

The second issue is the personnel issue. Professionals should do professional work. The future appointments of personnel in this government office should be based on their professional expertise.

Finally, there is the issue of profit distribution. After deducting all expenses based on shares, a portion will be withheld as research and development expenses for technological advancement, and only then will the remaining amount be distributed.

This is the rule that Jia Lian wants to establish. The Railway Affairs Bureau is a state-owned enterprise, and this point must be established. Since it is an enterprise, it cannot be like an ordinary government office.

The management of the Railway Affairs Bureau should be point-to-point management by the cabinet, and administrative interference should be avoided as much as possible.

At the same time, for the sake of safety along the way, the railway will set up a railway protection team, which will be distributed along the railway.

The last and most important one is land acquisition. The land for railways must be acquired according to the specifications for military use by the imperial court, and any act of obstructing land acquisition will be regarded as rebellion.

This memorial is the rule set by Jia Lian. He brings out the problem and makes it clear at the beginning, instead of just trying it out first and then being flexible to make adjustments.

After reading the memorial, Emperor Chenghui threw it to the cabinet without saying a word, leaving it to the cabinet to respond.

What can the cabinet do? The first ones are easy to deal with, but the last one is really unbearable and must be opposed.

The reason is very simple. You, Jia Lian, cannot do whatever you want. With this reason, who knows whether you are expropriating land or seizing other people's property?
The cabinet sent someone to pass a message to Jia Lian, saying that if the last item was removed, the memorial would be passed and would become a relevant regulation in the future.

This was very respectful. When Jia Lian received the reply, he replied very impolitely: "In that case, I'm sorry that Jia Lian cannot obey your order!"

Lin Ruhai was furious and sent people to the capital to bring Jia Lian to Rehe. It was such a hot day and he almost didn't get to plant trees for Jia Lian.

Jia Lian worked hard for five days and rode non-stop to reach Rehe. He was exhausted and his body smelled sour.

Seeing him like this, Lin Ruhai was no longer in the mood to get angry. Instead, he was worried that Daiyu would cause trouble for him in the future.

He gestured to Jia Lian to go down and rest first, and wash and change his clothes, and they would talk about it tomorrow.

The next day, Jia Lian came to the cabinet, and there was quite a big scene there. All the cabinet ministers were there, as were the six ministers.

The emperor did not come, but sent Qiu Shi'an to listen.

Lin Ruhai was in charge of the questioning. He pointed to the last clause and asked, "Jia Buqi, how can you guarantee that the last clause will not be abused? This is a violation of the law. Do you understand?"

Jia Lian smiled and asked back, "Minister Lin, all the gentlemen, I would like to ask you, who can guarantee that during the land acquisition for the railway construction, the officials and gentry below will not incite the people to cause trouble and obstruct the normal land acquisition for the railway in order to get more compensation? If anyone present is willing to write a letter of guarantee, I will delete this article immediately without saying anything."

This question stumped everyone. Yes, who can guarantee it? Everyone saw how the Beijing-Tianjin Road was built.

The scene fell silent, and no one dared to stand up and refute this statement, let alone write a letter of guarantee.

Fang Song turned against them directly: "Buqi is right. Those gentry below are so greedy that they will definitely ask for more. Ordinary people don't even have a few acres of land at home. The difficulties encountered during the land acquisition mainly come from the collusion between local officials and gentry. One is asking for too much, while the other is doing nothing and turning a blind eye. In this way, the railway cannot be built unless their demands are met."

Everyone here has worked their way up from the grassroots, how could they not know about this situation?
"No matter what, it cannot be used as a charge of rioting. That's too much." Li Qing did not object, but only objected to the charge for sentencing.

Jia Lian spread his hands and said, "Then Prime Minister Li, tell me, how should we convict him? Let me remind Prime Minister Li first, once the route is determined and the project is planned, the first thing to do is to raise funds, then to mobilize personnel, and then to requisition land. Once the project is launched, the manpower expenses will not be a small number every day. Everyone is waiting for one or two nail households. Whose money will be consumed every day?"

Li Qing was speechless and couldn't say anything when he opened his mouth.

Yue Qi said: "Isn't there a road protection team?"

Jia Lian smiled and asked back, "Are you sure that you can use the force of the road protection team in the process of land acquisition? That's easy!"

This sentence made Yue Qi silent, and several officials at the scene laughed out loud.

You can't even accept the conviction here, and you're still using force to solve the problem. Isn't that counterproductive? This inquiry will be a farce!
(End of this chapter)