Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 604: Really Dark Heart

Emperor Chenghui presided over a confusing discussion about Louis XVI after the French Revolution!
Jia Lian was sitting in the corner, with such a strange thought flashing through his mind, and he couldn't help but smile with his head down.

How is this country? Of course they know, but they cannot shout it to the world.

"France has undergone tremendous changes, and the sacred artifact has changed hands. We must discuss this and draw lessons from it." Emperor Chenghui said this with some excitement, thinking of some records in history books.

The noble families in the world would never choose to be buried with a certain imperial court. They care more about the continuation of their family.

The royal relatives enjoyed wealth and glory during peaceful times, but when faced with an enemy at the gates, they were unwilling to take out the money in their pockets to share the emperor's worries.

Cabinet ministers don't really know much about France, mainly because it's too far away and they don't have the time to care about it. They just read the newspaper for fun.

However, there are still people who take some effort to understand it, such as Lin Ruhai, whose observation angle is quite unique.

"The French royal family handed over the country's tax revenue to the tax farmer. As long as he collected the tax, nothing else mattered to him. This is a big mistake and must be noticed!"

After Lin Ruhai's speech, Li Qing also expressed his own views: "I have heard that in France, private individuals are allowed to spread rumors in public to confuse the public. When the incident happened, this evil person was able to attract a lot of people. We need to learn from this."

Yue Qi also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that the local newspapers in France are in private hands and are not regulated. The daily reports randomly comment on the royal family, and many of them are exaggerated and sensational. I think that the control of newspapers should be strengthened, and a special department should be appointed. If any newspaper is found to attack the court, it will be severely punished."

Fang Song did not contradict others this time: "The direction of public opinion is very important and must be controlled by the court. The current review agency of the Ministry of Rites for private newspapers is just a place to issue licenses. It hardly cares about what articles are published in the newspapers. The review and supervision agency is in name only. If this continues, something serious will happen."

Pan Jixu was one of the cabinet ministers who paid more attention to the current situation in the West. His speech was quite in-depth: "The finances of France were in ruins, and the royal family borrowed money from the private sector. Only then did the royal family compromise, establish a parliament, and hand over the legislative power. This is called being without a monarch or a father, and it is extremely treasonous. The root of the problem lies in the court's finances!"

After the cabinet ministers spoke, Emperor Chenghui looked at Jia Lian and said, "Buqi, do you have anything to say?"

Jia Lian stood up slowly, folded his hands, and spoke slowly: "In the two thousand years since the unification, many dynasties have been lost in history. Whenever a dynasty was established, the country as a whole was on the rise, but the upward trend stopped after a maximum of fifty years. Why is this so? In my opinion, in fifty years, the rentier class has grown to the point where the lower-class people can no longer afford it. Eighty percent of the country's wealth is in the hands of a few people who hold only 20 percent. The country has no money, what should it do? Wang Anshi's approach was to rob the lower-class people first, then the merchants, and finally the wealthy. You have all read the history books about the consequences, so I will not elaborate on them."

Lin Ruhai interrupted him and said, "Stop talking nonsense and tell me the solution."

Jia Lian said calmly, "Have you all seen the solution? A pie is only so big, what if it's not enough to share? Join forces to make the pie bigger, this is to increase revenue. Rectify the internal affairs and reduce consumption, this is to cut off the flow. However, I also want to remind you that once the local tyrants become big, they will become too powerful to be eliminated. As an official appointed by the court, don't always think about protecting yourself."

Lin Ruhai interrupted Jia Lian again: "Okay, let's talk about France, don't talk about irrelevant things."

Jia Lian said, "Okay, I won't say anything then." Then he sat down.

The scene suddenly became quiet and no one spoke.

Everyone could see that Lin Ruhai interrupted him because he was worried that Jia Lian would go too far.

Emperor Chenghui coughed and said, "I intend to order all officials in the country to discuss the matter of France. What do you think?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Qing jumped up and said, "No, absolutely not. Not only should the ministers not discuss this matter, but civilian newspapers should also be prohibited from reporting on it. How can a foolish man in the market have room to comment on national affairs?"

Fang Song immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, we should first send someone to find out the details of the French Incident. After compiling and organizing the materials, the court will select personnel to compile them into a book and annotate them. Then, distribute it in the form of a court document and order officials at all levels to study it carefully."

Pan Jixun also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have observed that the systems of France are very different from those of our dynasty. There is no imperial examination system in France, and the court and local powers have different emphases and should not be confused. The changes in France are largely related to its small country with few people, the conflict between the court and local powers, the lack of political orders from the palace, and the lack of prestige of its king, who cannot convince the people."

Although Jia Lian didn't say anything, he was full of admiration for Pan Jixun after hearing this. This guy is really talented.

However, Pan Jixun did not hit the point, and Jia Lian did not intend to correct him.

After all, France's revolution was led by the bourgeoisie. If the bigwigs in the cabinet really saw the essence of the problem, wouldn't they beat the merchant class to death?

Jia Lian felt that even if the Zhou Empire became capitalistic, it would still be much stronger than the West in terms of national governance.

It's just that it's probably difficult for capitalism to grow in this land. At least before the landlord class is eliminated or the landlord class is transformed into the bourgeoisie, it's difficult for capitalism to emerge.

All ideas can be put aside for the time being, and we should develop first, and develop quickly. As long as it can make this country develop in a positive direction, everything else can be put aside.

If development stagnates one day, future generations will be there to solve the problem.

Jia Lian was not worried at all about this. No matter how bad this land was, it would give birth to the next Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, Zhang Jiao and Huang Chao.

After more than a hundred years of depression in modern times, a generation of great men was finally born.

So, there is really no need to worry about future generations. We must have confidence in this civilization.

Lin Ruhai spoke up to support Pan Jixun and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Pan's words are indeed a good strategy for the country. Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. The most taboo in the court is to talk too much and argue endlessly. The court should come forward to collect information, summarize the main points, and teach the ministers. This is the best of all good things."

The parliamentary system was indeed very attractive to Lin Ruhai, but he was more aware that in the Zhou Empire, his head might fall to the ground before he could promote it.

Confucianism has developed theories for two thousand years, and it does not allow him to destroy the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues. If this theoretical system suddenly collapses, it will really be the end of the world.

If anyone dares to challenge the moral principles now, the emperor will kill him immediately, and people all over the world will applaud.

The most important thing in governing a country is to avoid issuing orders in too many ways. The reason why China has moved towards centralization is the result of two thousand years of accumulation and is a historical necessity.

Looking at the Western system, it is also a historical necessity. A regime dominated by the bourgeoisie requires a small government.

In the Western world, Roosevelt is the outlier.

I don’t know if you find it strange that on the one hand, the Western system has always been wary of big governments, but on the other hand, it worships authority and strong men.

It's a contradiction! Actually, it's not a contradiction. Ordinary people want a strong man to lead the country, but the upper class doesn't want another Roosevelt.

Someone wanted to be the second Roosevelt, so he had a lot of imagination.

That's too far!
The meeting quickly reached a consensus, or rather, Emperor Chenghui and the cabinet were on the same level of thinking.

Whether it was the emperor or the cabinet, they were all worried that public opinion would get out of control, so they had to control it. Besides, they were also used to being educated!

Most people in this world do not have the ability to think independently, even if they have received nine years of compulsory education. This means that most people can be guided and they also need guidance.

The vast majority of the lower class people don’t have high demands, they just want to have hope for the future.

After the meeting reached a consensus, Jia Lian had nothing to do. After the meeting, Jia Lian bid farewell to the emperor.

Emperor Chenghui met Jia Lian in the temporary palace. When the emperor and his subject sat opposite each other, Emperor Chenghui could not help but sigh: "I cannot do whatever I want."

Jia Lian knew what he meant and replied with a smile: "Your Majesty, I understand and I am not in a hurry."

Emperor Chenghui was stunned for a long time before he stood up. When Jia Lian also stood up, he was patted lightly on the shoulder a few times. Then Emperor Chenghui turned around and left with his hands behind his back.

The next day, Jia Lian returned to Beijing.

After going back and forth for nearly ten days, I was exhausted.

In the capital, the stock exchange has already chosen a site, in the east of the city. After the house was confiscated, Jia Lian took it and rebuilt it on the original site. At the same time, several houses around were also forcibly bought by Jia Lian. The owner actually didn't want to buy it, but seeing that the price was right and he couldn't afford to offend Jia, he had no choice but to sell it.

Are there people who hold a grudge? Of course there are, but Jia Lian doesn't have the time to worry about it.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Dragon Guards were also very cooperative this time. Soon, under the leadership of Li Yuan, they gathered some people and set up a Securities Regulatory Commission.

They had no room to object. After all, if the power in their hands was really increased, they would definitely cooperate actively.

Li Yuan called people from both sides to hold a meeting to discuss the rules and determine the responsibilities.

First of all, it should be made clear that stock trading is legal and protected only when it is done on the platform of an official institution. Other forms of trading are not recognized by the government.

This point is very necessary to ensure, that is, don't try to evade taxes on any stock transaction.

The closed-door meeting lasted a full ten days. Through in-depth and candid conversations between the exchange and CSRC personnel, consensus was reached and the rule-making was completed.

Because of Jia Lian's dominance, the power of the CSRC was severely restricted. But on the other hand, the stock exchange was also closely watched by the CSRC.

The two sides share common interests, but are also enemies in terms of power. This pie is fresh out of the oven, so it is natural that they will fight to the death over how to divide it.

To put it bluntly, the fact that both sides didn't fight each other can be considered as well-educated.

There were indeed several times when a fight almost broke out, but it was only because Li Yuan and Jia Lian were there that the fight was avoided.

Working with Li Yuan again, Jia Lian could feel some of Li Yuan's ambitions deep in his heart. Although he hid them well, Jia Lian still noticed them.

This is normal!

Things here had just begun when the final results of the investigation into the central bank and the four major private banks came out and were reported to Emperor Chenghui.

Emperor Chenghui and the cabinet also held meetings for several days and finally reached a compromise.

A major reshuffle of the top brass at the central bank was inevitable. Surprisingly, Li Heng was not affected and continued to lead the central bank. However, the top brass at the central bank, which was originally almost monopolized by relatives and clan members, was basically replaced by civil servants from the Ministry of Revenue. The most important review and supervision department was divided into two, with the review department falling into the hands of civil servants, while the supervision department continued to be controlled by the royal family, relatives and nobles. Other departments did not change much. Finally, a new agency was established to supervise the central bank. The agency was directly under the emperor, with one person in charge from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The matter of Dianjin Bank was not so important. Private commercial banks were forbidden from usury and interest rates were set. The central bank was forbidden from conducting commercial loan operations, but the four major private banks were forced to hand over 10% of their shares to the central bank. Of course, this would cost money, and the specific price was yet to be determined, so there was still some wrangling between the two sides.

Judging from this incident, the imperial power is truly unreasonable, and it can also be regarded as an important lesson the emperor gave to private banks.

From this we can see that the emperor was indeed highly vigilant about the operation of private banks, fearing that they would cause major chaos.

Soon the central bank also introduced targeted policies for private financial institutions, and implemented stricter management of some small private banks with insufficient funds.

These are all things that happened later, and we can only say that we are improving little by little.

After finishing his work at the stock exchange, Jia Lian immediately started the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, and he started by issuing stocks to raise funds.

As usual, the stocks were snapped up as soon as they were released and were all sold out in just one day.

Even so, many people still haven’t bought it. This shows that the people are very rich, but they lack investment channels with stable returns. Once opportunities like railway stocks appear, they are bound to be hotly pursued.

The Railway Bureau also released a new piece of news, that is, the exploration of the Beijing-Hankou Railway has been completed, and fundraising will begin at the latest next year, and construction will start the year after.

The stock exchange is still under construction and will not be operational until the end of the year at the earliest, ushering in the so-called era of securities trading.

Jia Lian, the mastermind behind the scenes, actually doesn't care much about this. He is more concerned about the insurance company that Xue Pan is planning to set up.

The process of establishing this company was so smooth that Xue Pan couldn't believe it.

It first happened in Guangzhou. After the Xue Family Trading Company launched its insurance business, domestic merchants immediately swarmed in like sharks smelling blood.

Foreign maritime merchants have been looking forward to this for a long time and wanted to buy insurance, but were rejected because the insurance company only targets domestic users at this stage.

In fact, Xue Pan was not sure either, he just wanted to give it a try and try it for two years to see if he could make any money.

After finding that things were going very smoothly, the ambitious Xue Pan came up with a new idea. After the insurance company was successfully opened and a large number of insurance policies were obtained, he immediately went north to meet Jia Lian.

After Xue Pan successfully met Jia Lian, he immediately made a request.

"Brother Lian, the current immigration policy is still too good. I hope to set up a bank specializing in immigration loan business."

Jia Lian's heart trembled when he heard this. This bastard has such a evil heart!

(End of this chapter)