Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 611 Ask for advice
Three months seemed to pass very slowly, at least that's how Li Yuan felt.

At first, he had a feeling of unreality. Then, the people who used to surround him kept coming over, saying nice things to him and openly asking for something.

Faced with this situation, Li Yuan would always just smile and refuse to respond, always sticking to the line of "You say city gate tower, I say hip bone elbow."

Li Yuan focused his main energy on familiarizing himself with the inner palace and the court. Fortunately, Qiu Shi'an was a loyal follower of the late emperor, and the eunuchs he left behind, trusted by Li Yuan, smoothly took over the inner palace. As for the women left behind by the late emperor, the Empress Dowager (Empress Zhou) was in charge of dealing with them; there were plenty of women in the Cold Palace, and these women would eventually find a place to go. Li Yuan didn't worry about it much.

After taking over the administration, Li Yuan initially wanted to be diligent in his duties and made some demands on the cabinet, but the cabinet's response was somewhat different from what he had expected.

On the one hand, Grand Secretary Lin Ruhai always emphasized in his memorials how the late emperor had handled such situations. On the other hand, Second Grand Secretary Li Qing appeared somewhat too submissive.

In short, during this period, Li Yuan patiently interacted with and became familiar with the cabinet, and did not rush to express his own opinions on the affairs of the court.

It can only be said that Li Yuan has truly matured, especially recently, as he has seen many memorials and come into contact with many people and things, which has allowed him to see many things clearly from the emperor's perspective.

Jia Lian's memorial was delivered to the emperor's desk immediately. Li Yuan looked at the memorial and was momentarily dazed.

Good heavens, no wonder I haven't seen you all this time. It turns out you've been staying home in mourning for the late emperor, and only after the mourning period was over did you submit your memorial requesting instructions regarding your work.

Suddenly, Li Yuan froze, holding Jia Lian's memorial in his hand, his strange expression startling the eunuch beside him.

"Sage, sage?" Xiao Hu, a trusted eunuch and now the chief eunuch, called out in a low voice with concern upon seeing Li Yuan's appearance.

"It's nothing, I was just spacing out." Li Yuan couldn't help but smile.

Yes, in the past period of time, compared to those so-called "insiders" who surrounded me, constantly flattering me and asking for this and that, they were really insignificant compared to Mr. [Name].

What's even more shameful is that I've completely forgotten about Jia Lian during this time.

It was merely a change in status that led to such consequences.

Li Yuan's feelings were very complicated, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.

After carefully reading the memorial, Li Yuan smiled again. The mourning period for the master had ended. He asked for instructions on the next steps: should everything continue as usual, or would His Majesty have other arrangements?

Li Yuan calmed down and carefully considered the different attitudes.

First, there's the Grand Secretariat, the place Li Yuan has been interacting with most recently. Grand Secretary Lin Ruhai always reports on the results of any major events, emphasizing the late emperor's precedents. Next is Second Grand Secretary Li Qing. He immediately agrees with any suggestions Li Yuan makes regarding government affairs; otherwise, he doesn't interfere. Finally, there's Jia Lian, who insists on requesting an audience even though he could simply go back to work.

[It's quite interesting. I never said I would remove you from your post, sir. Why then did you tacitly agree that you have no duties whatsoever?]

A question arose in Li Yuan's mind, but he couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried. Unable to understand it, he stopped thinking about it, put down the memorial, and went to the Cining Palace.

Empress Zhou looked much older. As usual, Li Yuan paid his respects and then sat down to keep her company.

As they were talking, Li Yuan brought up Jia Lian's memorial and said, "Mother, I don't understand why the Master is like this?"

Empress Zhou glanced at Li Yuan with surprise, and after a moment's thought, replied, "Your Majesty, Jia Buqi was a pillar of your father's family. During the mourning period, he held military power in the capital. After the mourning period ended, he immediately relinquished all power and returned home to observe mourning. This was out of gratitude for the late emperor's kindness. Now, he is submitting this memorial to show his loyalty to the emperor. The Jia family has been loyal ministers for generations, and the only principle they uphold is loyalty."

Li Yuan instantly understood Jia Lian's attitude: whether to use him, how to use him, and where to use him were all matters of the emperor's discretion. Simply put, loyalty was based on whoever was emperor.

After understanding this principle, Li Yuan suddenly remembered something else: during the mourning period for Emperor Chenghui, Xiao Hu had secretly reported that Jia Rong of the Ningguo Mansion regularly gave the third son a sum of money.

It was because of this matter that he had overlooked Jia Lian, or rather, he had been unwilling to remember his existence. Now, Empress Zhou's words had awakened Li Yuan, reminding him of the thing he had deliberately ignored.

Back then, Jia Lian held the power to mobilize the entire capital's army. If he wanted to help Li Heng, what would be left for me?

From this perspective, while the Emperor's will certainly play a role in his ability to sit firmly on the throne, it was more likely due to Jia Lian's resolute execution of that will.
Jia Lian's memorial now demonstrates that he is a very measured subject, and has not made any demands because of his great achievements.

Li Yuansheng felt a sense of absurdity; how could someone like Jia Lian have achieved this, instead of arrogantly asking the emperor for this and that?

Snapping out of his reverie, Li Yuan met his mother's concerned gaze and quickly smiled, saying, "I'm fine, son."

Empress Zhou smiled and said, "I know. I want to remind the Emperor that Jia Lian is the most capable minister since the founding of this dynasty. When your father was alive, he was the first person he thought of for any difficult matter."

Li Yuan nodded, no longer mentioning Jia Lian, and instead ate dinner with Empress Zhou before getting up to leave and return to Qianqing Palace.

"Hu Min, what do you think about Jia Rong regularly sending money to Li Heng?" Li Yuan picked up the memorial and suddenly asked.

"Your Majesty, this servant does not understand these things. I only saw this matter in the files and reported it truthfully." The Grand Eunuch Hu Min was so frightened by this question that the hairs on his body stood on end.

"It is your duty to report any problems you have discovered to me." Li Yuan smiled, picked up his brush, and wrote two words on Jia Lian's memorial: "As before!"

While Li Yuan was adapting to the throne, Jia Lian was also testing the waters of how to get along with him. It is said that a new emperor brings a new court, and it is not yet possible to tell what the current emperor is thinking.

Having received the reply, Jia Lian went back to work as usual. When he arrived at the Ministry of Works, the doorman almost tripped and fell. Then, with a look of surprise and delight, he stepped forward to greet him: "This humble servant greets Your Excellency!"

Jia Lian smiled, waved his hand, and strolled back to his office. Everything was as before; the room was very clean, and Jia Lian's personal belongings were all in their original places, not taken away.

That's pretty good!

I had barely sat down when the two vice ministers arrived together. After having a cup of tea, they took their leave and went about their business.

Subsequently, a group of officials from the Ministry of Works came to pay their respects. Everything returned to normal!

After lunch, someone came from the palace to summon the new emperor, Li Yuan.

Jia Lian thanked the eunuch who came, tidied himself up briefly, and then went into the palace.

Upon entering the Qianqing Palace again, Jia Lian was momentarily dazed. He stood at the entrance, observing everything, then looked at Li Yuan standing in front of him before stepping forward to pay his respects.

Li Yuan stepped forward to help him up and said, "I noticed that you seemed a little dazed just now. Are you alright?"

Jia Lian shook his head: "Things have changed, and it's hard not to feel sad!" As he spoke, his eyes reddened again, and he turned his head to wipe the corner of his eyes.

Li Yuan didn't say it, but he was deeply moved. Of all the old officials left by his father, he was probably the only one who still remembered him fondly.

He gestured for Li Yuan to be seated, and Li Yuan and Jia Lian sat down to talk.

"Sir, although I haven't seen you these days, I've heard your name quite often." Li Yuan's opening remarks were very direct.

Jia Lian smiled slightly and said, "That's perfectly normal!"

Li Yuan smiled slightly upon hearing this: "Do they think I'm a three-year-old child? They think they can take away the wealth that belongs to the country from me with a few kind words. They're really delusional."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian sat up slightly and clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "Your Majesty understands the late Emperor's good intentions, which deeply gratifies me. The late Emperor trusted me and allowed me to act recklessly, which led to this situation. Many things are new, and I would like to call them state-owned enterprises!"

Upon hearing the term "state-owned enterprise," Li Yuan couldn't help but become interested: "Please tell me more, sir!"

After Jia Lian explained the concept of state-owned enterprises very seriously, he said solemnly: "If the imperial court is a large ship, then state-owned enterprises are the ballast of the imperial court. With state-owned enterprises, the ship is stable. If state-owned enterprises fall into private hands, the ship will lose its center of gravity and will be unable to withstand the storms."

Li Yuan listened attentively. These were concepts that Jia Lian had never mentioned before, and now he was genuinely seeking knowledge from him: "Please explain in more detail, sir."

Jia Lian had enough patience, so he continued unhurriedly: "Logically speaking, the best ballast for the imperial court should be non-renewable resources like land and minerals that cannot be moved. However, at the beginning of this dynasty, land was privately owned. The founding emperor only stipulated that the mines belonged to the imperial court, but in reality, they had already been severely eroded by the people. Any attempt to change this would inevitably encounter strong resistance. During the reign of the late emperor, land annexation was severe, and the imperial court's fiscal revenue gradually decreased, which was insufficient to meet the country's expenses. Therefore, we sought alternative solutions, such as minting silver coins and establishing banks to collect silver from all over the country for minting. Another approach was to open up the seas and acquire overseas wealth for our own use."

Li Yuan felt that simply memorizing it was not enough, so he turned to the court attendant and said, "Make a copy of this passage and present it to me."

Soon a record arrived, and Li Yuan handed it to Jia Lian, saying, "Sir, please take a look. Are there any errors, omissions, or ambiguities?"

After taking it, Jia Lian first glanced at the court historian, noticing that the young official was covered in sweat, before looking down at the copied manuscript. After reading it, he smiled and said, "There is no ambiguity!"

Li Yuan then handed it to Hu Min beside him, saying, "Keep it safe. I will read it carefully later. But never mind, I'll just get a charcoal pencil and a notebook and take notes myself."

Upon seeing this, Jia Lian smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the research and development department has skilled craftsmen who have made fountain pens. They are currently in the trial production stage. You can send someone to ask for two to try them out."

Li Yuan readily agreed and said to Hu Min, "Send someone to fetch it!" Then he turned and said, "Please continue, sir!"

Jia Lian asked, "What would Your Majesty like to hear?"

Li Yuan said solemnly, "Since I ascended the throne, I have been walking on thin ice, trembling with fear, for fear that the legacy left by my father will be destroyed in my hands. Therefore, I have invited you here today to learn from your wisdom on governing the country."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian rose, straightened his clothes, and solemnly bowed with his hands clasped, saying, "Your Majesty has inquired, and I dare not be disrespectful. If there is anything I have done wrong, I apologize in advance."

Li Yuan stood up and gestured, saying, "Sir, please sit down and speak. I am prepared!"

Jia Lian sat upright, his expression serious, and said, “From my observation of history, the most obvious symptom at the end of every dynasty is financial depletion. Throughout history, many monarchs have implemented reforms, all aimed at improving the financial situation. In my opinion, reforms are merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause.”

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan straightened his back, put his hands together in a serious manner, and asked, "Sir, how can we cure the root cause?"

Jia Lian shook his head with a wry smile: "Unless everyone in this world is a saint, there is no way to cure the root cause. Therefore, there is no dynasty that lasts for ten thousand generations. As for ways to alleviate the problem, I know of two."

Li Yuan was stunned. Jia Lian's words were on a completely different level from those of his former teachers. It was utterly revolutionary!

However, Li Yuan was no longer the Second Prince he used to be. Having experienced so much, he knew that Jia Lian was right.

"Please instruct me, sir!" Li Yuan said solemnly, clasping his hands in a gesture of respect.

Jia Lian rose, bowed slightly in return, and said, "Your humble servant will certainly speak frankly and without reservation!"

After taking his seat, seeing Li Yuan's eagerness to learn, Jia Lian organized his thoughts and said, "My thinking is that, given that internal conflicts cannot be completely eradicated, the primary solution lies externally. The Han and Tang dynasties did this, and quite well, which is why they enjoyed their golden ages. Secondly, internally, the Han and Tang dynasties did not do enough. Therefore, once their external expansion was exhausted, internal conflicts erupted, leading to their decline and eventual demise. The root cause was their inadequate internal management, or rather, their limited vision. Before finding a solution, a new dynasty emerged."

Li Yuan listened very carefully, and his heart was filled with excitement. He pressed on, "Sir, have you found it?"

Jia Lian nodded: "We've found a solution, and it's being implemented gradually. In my humble opinion, all problems can essentially be boiled down to productivity, that is, a country's gross domestic product. From Your Majesty's perspective, all methods that are conducive to increasing the country's gross domestic product and fiscal revenue should be used. Take the late Emperor as an example: expanding outwards, introducing Western machine production models, and allowing me to establish state-owned enterprises—all aimed at increasing the court's fiscal revenue. At the same time, we must rigorously enforce discipline and reduce internal waste. By doing both in parallel, we can gradually resolve internal conflicts."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan couldn't help but ask, "Sir, how do you explain the internal conflict?"

Jia Lian listened intently and looked at Li Yuan, saying, "The so-called internal contradictions refer to the conflicts of interest between different social strata. In the early days of a nation, the population was small and the land was abundant, so the contradictions were not obvious. After a century of stable development, the population increased dramatically, land annexation became severe, the rentier class expanded, and the original land output could not meet the demands of all parties. The rentiers at the top could only continuously exploit those below to satisfy their insatiable desires. When the common people at the bottom had no way to survive, the force of the total explosion of contradictions was enough to destroy the entire superstructure. Your Majesty can learn from France today!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanhou broke out in a cold sweat!

(End of this chapter)