Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 593 Untitled
Emperor Chenghui kept the issue of appointing a crown prince in mind and did not make a decision for the time being.

This is determined by his character!
Jia Lian also guessed that Emperor Chenghui would not easily accept this suggestion, but he still had to say what he should say.

Whether it is Li Heng or Li Yuan, there will be fewer disputes after the crown prince is appointed. After all, most people are sitting on the fence, and only a few people are willing to gamble their lives.

The normal operation is to bet on multiple parties! The older the family, the more so.

It is very difficult for people to be moderate and peaceful in their lifetime. There will always be some bad habits. If they are given up for the sake of health, life will be quite boring.

Emperor Chenghui didn't have any bad habits, except that he was a bit greedy when it came to women. When he first ascended the throne, he was relatively restrained in order to secure his throne, but now he seems to be unable to control himself.

"According to the imperial physician's opinion, I need to rest for my illness, and I should not worry about anything if I can. You gentlemen are all here, and from now on, unless it is a major military matter that requires my attention, the cabinet will handle it. Lord Lin, please take care of it. Wherever the seal is needed, Qiu Daban will handle it." After Emperor Chenghui talked for a while, he felt tired, stood up, waved his hand, and went to rest first.

Lin Ruhai stood up and bowed to the ministers: "Farewell, Your Majesty!"

From this moment on, Lin Ruhai felt that his position as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet was completely secure.

In the past, there was always a lack of majesty, but after the Huguang case and the emperor's action, the foundation of awe among officials was laid.

Some people are just nasty and like to get more than they deserve. If you don't show them some resistance, they will just go ahead and do whatever they want.

As a leader, you cannot be always lenient. You must be tough when it is necessary, and kill when it is necessary.

Otherwise you won’t have the energy to argue with them!

There is another point that Lin Ruhai saw very clearly that his ability to secure the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet was largely related to the existence of Jia Lian.

At the critical moment, Lin Ruhai spoke well to Jia Lian, which was the key to convincing the public.
Lin Ruhai was actually also doing the work of allocating personal power, otherwise Jia Zheng would not have returned to Beijing. Fang Song was the emperor's loyal dog, and Lin Ruhai really couldn't control him as he pleased.

As for Jia Lian, he was too special and Lin Ruhai did not dare to order him around easily.

Jia Lian knew what happened in Rehe several days later. Emperor Chenghui was unwilling to appoint a crown prince, but Jia Lian was not disappointed.

Originally, he had no intention of speculating. Jia Lian did not have a very good relationship with the two legitimate princes. As long as he could not be considered dependent, he was not considered one of their own.

His cooperation with Li Heng was intermittent, and he always kept his distance from Li Yuan.

From the perspective of Emperor Chenghui, the ones he was most wary of were Li Heng and Li Yuan. These two brothers were the ones who posed the greatest threat to the throne, so it was understandable that he did not appoint a crown prince.

Jia Lian just hopes there will be less internal friction, but unfortunately internal friction is the mainstream in any group and it always exists.

After the events in Huguang, the people in the Ministry of Works gradually changed their minds, and most people recognized Jia Lian. Any slight disturbance would be reported to Jia Lian.

Jia Lian, who didn't like to meddle in other people's business, always knew what was going on. If someone went too far, he would just call him over and reprimand him, but he wouldn't be too harsh.

The supervisors in the Ministry of Industry, who had been left alone for a long time, gradually became more restrained. No one wanted to take the risk of being caught and killed like a chicken.

Jia Lian is not as easy to talk to as he seems. His background is not difficult to understand. Everyone knows what he looks like when he kills someone.

"Your Majesty is old, your energy is not strong enough, your methods are not ruthless enough, and your subordinates are gradually becoming more and more daring. The Jia family cannot pin their hopes on Your Majesty. We must always leave some way out."

It is a rare opportunity to come to the East Palace, so Jia Lian has a secret talk with Jia Rong.

Now, Jia Rong only listens to Jia Lian in the second mansion. He just listens to the old lady's words and never takes them seriously.

"What does Second Uncle mean?" Jia Rong didn't quite understand, so Jia Lian pointed out to him, "Take some of the assets, and throw away the assets that are not very profitable. In the next few years, there will be unrest inside and outside the court."

Jia Rong understood that because the emperor was old, the princes were restless, and those who depended on the princes must also be restless.

"If this happens, some of the people below will lose their benefits. Will they become disloyal?" Jia Rong decided to give a reminder.

Jia Lian shook his head: "This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Eliminating this kind of people will make the internal unity stronger. The most important thing is the middle and lower-level officers in the three major towns. These people must be seized as soon as possible."

Jia Rong swallowed his saliva and said, "If this happens, a new emperor with a narrow mind will regard the Jia family as a thorn in his side after he ascends the throne."

Jia Lian smiled and shook his head: "How can there be a good thing in the world that only takes advantage and does not take risks? Just do it in secret. I am just in case."

Jia Rong nodded: "I understand!"

Qin Keqing came in with tea, and Jia Rong took his leave skillfully. At the best time of her mature life, Qin Keqing's every move was full of hooks.

Jia Lian sat in silence, while Qin Keqing whispered, "Why think so much? Jia Rong is counting on his son to carry on his family line."

"It's nothing, I just don't quite understand." Jia Lian was also wary of Jia Rong deep down in his heart, and his final trump card was never revealed.

Qin Keqing, who was in her prime, sat on it directly, twisting her waist and hips, giving very strong hints.

"How could people outside not know? Inside the East Palace, except for my people, there are only her people left." Qin Keqing knew the details. The so-called her people naturally referred to Youshi.

The two of them had a tacit understanding, otherwise this matter in the East Mansion would have spread long ago.

Jia Lian also realized that he had been too unrestrained over the years.

Alas, in one’s life, if one does not act unrestrained when one can, there is no point in living, right?
After the capital in the north and Guangzhou in the south successively opened engineering colleges, the industry and commerce in the two places developed rapidly. The Yangtze River Delta region, once the strongest, seems to be overtaken.

Especially in the steel industry, traditional craftsmanship cannot compete with modern technology. The model of large-scale machine production has also overwhelmed traditional workshops in other fields.

These changes were not obvious at first, but as time went on, they gradually eroded the traditional advantageous industries in Jiangnan.

For example, Songjiang cotton cloth has gradually been overtaken by Shandong cotton cloth in recent years, either in terms of quality or price.

Of course, what was worse off was not Jiangnan, but the local textile industries in Korea and Japan. Under the impact of Shandong machine cotton cloth, the local textile industries were devastated.

For North Korea, it's nothing, whatever the father does is right, they will never resist, they can only kneel more thoroughly. But for Japan, it's different.

With the loss of a large number of people, local industries suffered a severe impact, and the mutual conquests between the various feudal lords gradually increased as life became increasingly difficult.

When internal conflicts could not be balanced, it was almost inevitable to transfer them to other countries. The Tokugawa shogunate called several daimyo who were making trouble to a meeting and reached a consensus that the sea should be closed.

We can no longer allow the goods of the Zhou Empire to continue to wreak havoc on local industries, otherwise everyone will have to beg for food.

The maritime ban has actually always existed, but because of the strength of the Zhou Empire, the shogunate was not resolute in enforcing it.

In a word, since we couldn't afford to offend the Great Zhou Empire, we had to accept it with a pinch of our nose.

Now that the daimyos within the government have united and demanded the implementation of a maritime ban, Shogun Tokugawa is in a bit of a dilemma.

"How should we deal with the Zhou Empire's army approaching?" In a word, the Tokugawa shogunate did not want to offend the Great Zhou. Although the hard times were difficult, the Tokugawa general's personal life was still comfortable.

These words silenced the daimyos below, and the meeting was as good as not having taken place. After the meeting, the daimyos with less ambitions gave up, but two daimyos were very dissatisfied.

"Such an irresponsible general, why not rebel and go to Kyoto!" After returning to the vassal state of Choshu, Mori called a meeting of his subordinates. Someone shouted at the meeting.

Maori looked at Yoshida who was shouting, and shook his head with a headache: "Wait a little longer, and see how the other daimyo react."

"Sir, now the merchant ships of the Great Zhou Dynasty are even bringing rice from Southeast Asia to sell. The rice collected by our vassal state cannot be sold at a good price. The people below are worried. We cannot just sit back and do nothing."

Mao Li still shook his head: "In any case, don't be the first to come forward. You can organize people to go to the next door to get some people back and sell them to the merchants of the Zhou Empire."

No one took the lead in opposing the Zhou Empire. Maori did not have the courage to do so relying solely on a famous family.

In order to get money, the Choshu clan decided to go out and rob their neighbors, while another family adopted a different strategy, which was also to rob, but the Shimazu family of the Satsuma clan went to Ryukyu to rob.

In the past, they only robbed people, food and money, but now the Satsuma clan decided to be bolder and directly annex Ryukyu.

It was already August, but Emperor Chenghui still hadn't returned to the capital. He even decided to stay in Rehe and come back after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Jia Lian's life was not much different from before, and he had a lot of things to do every day.

On this day, the Research and Development Department received two requests, both hoping to establish an engineering college in Jiangnan. The requests came from the prefects of Jinling and Suzhou. From the official documents, it was learned that the local gentry also had this wish and were willing to provide money and space at their own expense, as long as the Research and Development Department provided the teaching staff.

Jiangnan really had a bit of a pioneering attitude. Jia Lian's practical learning textbooks sold very well among the people in Jiangnan, but they were all pirated, and Jia Lian could not collect taxes.

The official document detailed that in recent years, many private schools in Jiangnan have used practical teaching materials for self-study, mainly for those who have no hope of passing the imperial examinations. In addition, some large industrial and commercial households have organized craftsmen to study.

How can I explain this? It's not about how deeply you can learn by self-study. It depends too much on talent. Can it be the same with or without a teacher?

It can only be said that after various places in Jiangnan felt the pressure of industrial production, they spontaneously began to move towards this side.

We have to admit that the two sides of the Yangtze River are the best places to develop industry. How to say it? Industry cannot do without large amounts of water and cheap transportation.

The Yangtze River Delta region is blessed with these two advantages. There is no shortage of water, and natural disasters are not frequent. The Yangtze River can be described as a golden waterway, and the water systems of the two prefectures of Suzhou and Songjiang are well connected.

Without excellent natural conditions, how could this place have developed industry and commerce since ancient times? For example, can the cost of water transportation be the same as the cost of land transportation?

Why has the Grand Canal always been valued by successive dynasties? The reason is simple: water transportation has the lowest cost.

The east-west rivers can be said to be the most precious treasure bestowed by God on the land of China. If you don't believe it, just look at the world map. This is almost a unique geographical condition.

Europe did not form a unified country, to a certain extent, because of geographical limitations and the lack of east-west rivers. Of course, Europe also had many other problems, such as the huge religious power in the early days, which led to the long-term suppression of the monarchy in secular society. In this sense, Napoleon's act of taking the crown and wearing it himself can be regarded as the European version of setting a trend.

Jia Lian naturally welcomed the idea of ​​setting up an engineering college. He was just dealing with it and planned to send someone to conduct a field investigation to see about the location of the school. Then he thought of the Liangjiang area. Because the economy was good, it was not a monolithic situation. Jia Lian was also a bit troubled. Jiangsu in modern society is a patchwork monster. Even if there is a league, the first place in the game can be the fourteenth in the friendship.

I guess Jinling and Suzhou might even come to a fight over running schools.

The initiative in this matter must be in our hands.

Just when Jia Lian was planning how to get the two places to contribute money to run schools, someone came from the Honglu Temple.

Jia Lian knew something big had happened, so he quickly asked the Minister and Junior Minister of the Honglu Temple to come in and talk.

"My lord, the Ryukyu prince has fled to the capital city for help."

Jia Lian was stunned when he heard this. The current Great Zhou is not the Qing Dynasty. Does Japan have the courage to do this?

"Tell me carefully."

The Minister of Rites hurried to report: "The specific situation is unclear, the people are still in Songjiang. The letter sent by the express ship briefly mentioned that the people are being sent to the capital. The general idea is that a Japanese daimyo has been sending people to harass Ryukyu in recent years and has captured many young men and women. This year, they went even further and directly sent troops to control the Ryukyu King. The Ryukyu Prince escaped with the help of the Great Zhou maritime merchants."

Jia Lian pondered for a moment before asking, "How dare the Japanese, with only four islands, dare to touch the tiger whiskers of the Great Zhou? Has there been a call for conscription before this matter? Has the Honglu Temple asked the Japanese envoy?"

The Minister of the Honglu Temple said: "For fear of leaking secrets, I have not asked yet."

Jia Lian said calmly: "Don't worry about leaks. Don't panic when something happens. Ask first! The shogunate has always been relatively submissive. Maybe it's the daimyo below who made his own decision."

As his position became higher, Jia Lian's prestige grew day by day. With just a few simple words, he made the Minister and Vice Minister of the Honglu Temple sweat.

"I will go back and ask clearly." The two men came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

Jia Lian summoned the official in charge of the School of Engineering and asked him about the feasibility of running the school.

This is difficult because there are not enough teachers. Many of the current teachers are excellent graduates who are directly employed. The real masters basically do not teach anymore, but do research.

Why are all the big names doing research? Because it makes money quickly.

Not to mention the bonuses, the dividends after the product is launched are too tempting.

Jia Lian instructed to send someone to Jiangnan to conduct an on-site investigation to see the sincerity of Jinling and Suzhou before deciding on the location of the school.

(End of this chapter)