Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 590: It is unrealistic to keep your hands clean
Does Yue Qi have any difficulties? Of course he does. The reason why he can hold this position is not because of his position, but because he speaks and the people below listen to him.

Therefore, it is not a problem to seek benefits for the people below.

But then again, don't stretch your hands too far.

Since you have crossed the line, don't blame others for chopping off your hand. There is no bleeding, no pain, and no lesson learned.

So Jia Lian ignored Yue Qi and walked straight back to the meeting room. Lin Ruhai's efforts were wasted.

The reason is simple. I understand your difficulties, but who understands my difficulties?
Your subordinates have their own interests to demand, and those who follow me should be bullied?

There's no such thing in the world!
When the meeting resumed, Jia Lian said nothing. When he was called on several times, he smiled and said that he had said everything he needed to say.

The Minister of War still refused to give up, and stood up and said to everyone: "Gentlemen, I have a question. Can the Ministry of War still manage the troops in this world?"

Fang Song stood up and asked, "Excuse me, sir, which group of troops did not submit their troop numbers to the Ministry of War?"

The Minister of War asked back, "Why, Prime Minister Fang, do you mean that the Ministry of War can only manage the roster?"

Fang Song smiled and shook his head: "I didn't say that, don't accuse me. I think you are right. The Ministry of War should also take good care of the four towns of the Beijing camp. The Nine Gates Guard and the Imperial Horse Administration should be taken care of even better."

After saying this, the Minister of War's face turned green. Could the Ministry of War interfere with these troops?

The scene fell into dead silence again!
Finally, Pan Jixun broke the silence: "So many people, sitting together, worrying about such a mediocre person. In my opinion, the general of Guangdong is just nothing. He has too many things to do."

Everyone looked not at Lin Ruhai or anyone else, but at Jia Lian.

Jia Lian, who was in the spotlight, stood up and spread his hands: "Why are you looking at me? Fine, if you think I'm an eyesore, I'm leaving!"

Jia Lian couldn't leave. If he left, the matter would be over. Without even saying anything to Lin Ruhai, Li Qing stood up and said, "Wait a moment!"

He turned around and folded his hands, looking around: "Everyone, the Guangdong General is not doing his job, disturbing the local military and politics, and damaging the relationship between colleagues. He should be dismissed! If you have different opinions, I suggest a vote!"

Yue Qi lowered his head and remained silent, the Minister of War was trembling, and Jia Lian stood at the door, ready to take the next step.

Lin Ruhai also said: "Just do it!"

Fang Song agreed, and the matter was settled.

Jia Lian then slowly walked out of the meeting room with a sinister look on his face.

All along, whether in military, politics or economy, Jia Lian started from scratch and built up the current situation bit by bit.

Some people just can't stand seeing others doing better than they are, and don't care whether it's good for the country or not. They just want to put something in their own pockets.

Fang Song caught up with Jia Lian and asked, "What if I'm not a weapon?"

Jia Lian stopped and looked back: "Nothing!"

Fang Song sneered three times: "Got it! I will keep a close eye on them."

Yue Qi lowered his head and walked away quickly without saying a word. The Minister of War was in a daze and staggered.

Li Qing and Pan Jixun left with cold faces. Lin Ruhai sat there without moving. When everyone had gone far away, the Minister of Revenue stepped forward and whispered, "Minister Lin! They are really bullying!"

Lin Ruhai glanced at him and said: "It's all official business, of course we should handle it in an official manner!"

The Minister of Revenue nodded slightly after hearing this: "I understand!"

After Emperor Chenghui learned about this, he did not express his opinion, but got up and walked in the yard, with Qiu Shian following closely beside him.

"After Zhang Qing left office, the cabinet is not as stable as before." Emperor Chenghui talked to himself, and Qiu Shian followed him like a deaf person.

"For those who focus on their work, there will always be someone holding them back. After all, it's so easy to just eat what's ready." Emperor Chenghui continued to talk to himself, and Qiu Shian remained silent.

Emperor Chenghui seemed to be in a good mood to walk, and he walked slowly all the way. Only Qiu Shian and the eunuchs carrying the sedan chair were by his side, following him a few dozen steps away.

Unconsciously, he came to the palace gate tower, Emperor Chenghui stepped onto the tower and looked towards the east.

"That night, after Buqi defeated the enemy outside Xizhimen, he turned around and went outside Dongzhimen, forcing the Dongping cavalry to retreat. At that time, I really thought that I could not get through that hurdle. I am old, but I am not blind!"

Qiu Shian finally spoke: "Saint, the wind is strong, let's go back."

Emperor Chenghui said nothing, turned around, went down the city wall, and sat on the sedan chair.

At the next cabinet meeting, Emperor Chenghui came uninvited. After everyone greeted him, Emperor Chenghui sat down with a smile.

"Please don't be surprised if I come here unexpectedly today." Emperor Chenghui started to mock himself, and everyone said they dared not to.

"I remember that Zhang Qing once said that there are three kinds of officials in this world: one is the official who does things, one is the official who just wants to get by, and the other is the official who does nothing and likes to find fault with others. I just had some feelings at the moment and talked nonsense. You gentlemen, please continue. I'm leaving." Emperor Chenghui left after he finished speaking, and the officials present looked at each other.

Three days later, after the cabinet dismissed the Guangdong general, it proposed several personnel adjustments, including transferring the Minister of War from the capital to the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou.

Since the matter involved the Shangshu, the Cabinet had no power and could only submit a memorial for approval, which Emperor Chenghui approved almost immediately.

At this time, although the emperor spoke very implicitly, in fact the cabinet and the six ministers all understood what the emperor meant.

Manage your people well, and if you have the ability, do something yourself, and don't be jealous of the benefits achieved by others.

No one said anything publicly, but some people still joked about it in private, saying something like "Southern Tyrant". Those who know will know who he is referring to.

There was another incident that also caused a significant impact. The third prince Li Heng was called by the emperor and asked what books he had read recently.

Li Heng did not dare to deceive the emperor and replied: I have been busy recently and have not read any books, but I have read a lot of official documents.

Emperor Chenghui said: Its rise was sudden, and its fall was sudden, where did this come from?
Li Heng replied: It comes from Zuo Zhuan.

Emperor Chenghui smiled and waved his hand, signaling Li Heng to leave. This made Li Heng very uneasy. After returning, he immediately flipped through the book and found the original text. He looked at the words "guilty of sin" and "sinner" and thought deeply.

However, Li Heng was still puzzled because he could not find any real cases. He always felt that he was too lenient towards his subordinates and there was nothing wrong with that.

After Li Yuan learned about this, he sighed to the princess beside him: "I don't accept being lenient to myself and strict to others."

He also said: "The world belongs to everyone in the world. If everyone in the world is not good, I will not be good either."

The princess said she didn't understand, but she knew that once the words came to her, she couldn't let anyone else know.

After several years of living in Nanyang, the couple supported each other and became much more mature.

When Jia Lian learned about this, he was meeting Xue Pan at Baochai's place.

"The Nanyang Minister's Office has taken the initiative to bear part of the immigration costs in recent years, so that immigrants from coastal areas will not be stranded and cause trouble."

Xue Pan was not talking about this without any purpose. In the past few years, Li Yuan had been in the capital, but he had not resigned from his post as the Minister of Nanyang. The officials under him were very enthusiastic about immigration. In contrast, officials from various provinces in the interior were not very enthusiastic about immigration. Even if a natural disaster occurred, they would delay it as much as possible.

"Now, Australia has received 100,000 immigrants, mainly from northern Guangdong, southern Hunan, and Guangxi. In the first half of the year, many rivers in Jiangxi flooded, and victims poured into various prefectures and counties. The business spent millions to relocate more than 5,000 households to Australia. The major policies of the court are really not taken seriously in the provinces. In this case, no matter how much wealth the Xue family business has, it will not be enough."

There really is a need for a large population in various places overseas, and the Xue family's business has to spend money to relocate the population, so Xue Pan came to express his dissatisfaction.

Jia Lian knew what he meant, and said calmly with a glance: "No, the proportion of Australian immigrants must be 60%. Indian and Southeast Asian natives are not accepted even if they are given away for free."

Xue Pan really didn't understand why Jia Lian disliked Indian men so much, since they were the cheapest population. The British had marketed them countless times.

"Well, the current population ratio in Australia is that Chinese people account for 70%, the Japanese and Korean population is about 20,000, and the Western population is about 10,000, excluding women." Xue Pan did not dare to disobey Jia Lian's orders in the slightest.

Jia Lian told him bluntly: "Remember, get more women over there. Even if you don't make money from them, you must let them settle down there."

Xue Pan didn't understand why Jia Lian valued Australia so much, but he didn't dare to ask more questions and just did as he was told.

A few days later, the Inspectorate impeached the governor of Jiangxi and three officials, saying that floods occurred in many parts of the province, and officials at all levels concealed the truth, suppressed public opinion, and resold the victims to enrich themselves.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Chenghui was furious and ordered Long Jinwei to cooperate with the Inspectorate to investigate the matter! He also criticized the cabinet for improper use of personnel, which caused the people to be displaced and insecure.

All the ministers in the cabinet submitted memorials to apologize, and Jia Lian, the alternate, also submitted a memorial to apologize. It was mainly the fault of his position as Minister of Works, as the Ministry of Works was responsible for the flood.

After the cabinet collectively apologized, they began to investigate the responsibilities. The three governors of Jiangxi Province and the prefectures and counties under them could not escape, and the governor of the river could not escape either.

Not to mention the river repair project, the crime of knowing about it and not reporting it will definitely be charged.

After Lin Ruhai took office, he focused on the administration of officials, which is the most basic level of government affairs completion.

Now there is a big mess in Jiangxi. Lin Ruhai was so angry that he was fuming and had blisters at the corners of his mouth.

The cabinet ministers were repeatedly called to meetings, and Jia Lian was not spared.

"The governor of the river knew about the flood in the south but didn't report it. What about the governor of Huguang? Is he responsible? What about the governor of Hunan and the three officials? Did they know about it but didn't report it? Did the provinces along the Yangtze River hear about it? Investigate, investigate, all the censors, especially the censors in the south, what are they doing? Fang Song, the Inspectorate should start to investigate itself first. Jia Lian, the Ministry of Works should also investigate itself."

Faced with the furious Lin Ruhai, no one in the cabinet dared to show any resistance. Even Jia Lian just lowered his head and obeyed his orders.

After the meeting, Jia Lian came to the Ministry of Works. Standing in the lobby and looking at the gathered officials, he said with deep emotion, "I don't come here often, everyone knows that. Today, I am a night owl, and good things don't come. Don't be lucky, Minister Lin got angry at the cabinet meeting, and no one can escape. Especially those in charge of rivers, tell us, were you informed in advance, how was the construction, how much was invested, and what projects were completed."

After Jia Lian finished speaking, he had someone bring a chair over. He sat on the back of the chair, folded his hands, and dozed off. He sat patiently in the hall. The officials below could only stand, with sad faces, and complained to each other in low voices.

Jia Lian just sat there waiting, and none of the officials dared to leave and just stood there.

It was almost dark when Jia Lian opened his eyes and said, "Why are you still standing here? Go back and check yourselves. Let me make it clear first, if you find any problems during your self-examination, it will be my responsibility. If I ask someone to find the problems later, it will be your responsibility." After hearing this, the officials from the Ministry of Works happily dispersed and went back to look over their past accounts.

After dark, Jia Lian was still sitting in the lobby when two assistant ministers came in one after another.

"Sir, what shall we have for dinner?" The two assistant ministers looked grateful. Jia Lian waved his hand to signal the others to leave. After standing up and stretching his muscles, he whispered, "I know the difficulties of the Ministry of Works best. Hurry up and produce a report. I will report it to the Cabinet."

How many problems does the Ministry of Works have? Of course there are many, but the Ministry of Works is also a government office that does work, with many technical bureaucrats, and is the target that Jia Lian focuses on winning over.

A boss who is willing to block things for his subordinates will instantly increase the cohesion of the government office by +5.

The two assistant ministers thanked them and left. After a while, four dishes and a soup were brought in. Jia Lian did not refuse and ate with his bowl.

Fang Song acted the fastest. He went to see Lin Ruhai as soon as it got dark and said that the Inspectorate had not received any reports from Huguang Province, Hunan Province and other Jiangnan provinces.

Lin Ruhai was from the Inspectorate, so he knew what the problem was. He immediately said, "Go there in person. If you think the problem is serious, take down whoever should be taken down."

Fang Song said that he would go back and prepare and set off early tomorrow morning.

Jia Lian arrived in the middle of the night. After meeting Lin Ruhai, he took out two documents and said, "There is no problem with the Ministry of Works' accounts. I have checked them all. The Xiangjiang River, Ganjiang River and other river repair projects have also given corresponding plans and engineering standards. The specific implementation is the responsibility of the River Governor, and the money is also directly transferred to the River Governor's Office."

Lin Ruhai looked at him and said, "That's not right. The governor of the river is responsible for daily management and maintenance. Isn't the Ministry of Industry responsible for the specific construction? Are you even lying to me?"

Jia Lian sighed and said, "Minister Lin, you don't even believe me. Look. It's clearly written on it. According to the requirements of the Governor's Office, the funds are used for specific purposes. The Ministry of Revenue directly allocates funds to the Governor of the Rivers, and the Governor of the Rivers decides whether to pay. It's clearly written here, and there is your signature. Later, the Governor of the Rivers asked the Ministry of Works to just give a construction drawing and a standard form. Because of this matter, the two assistant ministers had a verbal battle with the Governor's Office. The Ministry of Works is wronged!"

Lin Ruhai looked at Jia Lian in silence for a long time before he said, "You did this on purpose, didn't you? How dare the Governor of the River Channel fight against the Ministry of Works that you are in charge of?"

Jia Lian chuckled: "How can you say that? If you want to blame someone, blame them for being too greedy. Also, the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Works did not argue for the truth. I admit this mistake and it's my fault."

As he spoke, he took out a manuscript and handed it to Lin Ruhai: "This is my humble apology! I did fail in this matter. I accept the punishment and am willing to give way to someone else."

Lin Ruhai looked at Jia Lian's letter of apology and didn't speak for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, "You are resentful, right? I know, but don't you think about it? Your Majesty has lost his will, and Zhang Xiang didn't insist at the beginning. What can I do to insist on it now? Now insisting on completing government affairs is already the best I can do."

Jia Lian chuckled: "Governing the government is not just about completing government affairs. You want to keep your position but don't want to get blood on your hands. Is that realistic?"

(End of this chapter)