Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 655 Obstructed
There's something like this: Lin Ruhai's position was that he hoped Jia Lian could understand his difficulties, because being the chief minister was sometimes really tough.

A large group of people below were waving flags and shouting. Even if they didn't get paid, they should at least be provided with meals, right?
With more people comes more conflicts and disputes over interests. Lin Ruhai needs considerable skill to maintain internal balance.

But what about from Jia Lian's perspective?

Why should I consider your difficulties? Why should I harm my own interests just because you have difficulties?
You have a bunch of subordinates, don't I?

Ultimately, in terms of the relationship between Jia Lian and Lin Ruhai, Jia Lian owes Lin Ruhai nothing; on the contrary, he helped to deal with the Lin family.

The Great Zhou Dynasty now faces many problems, some inherited from the past and others from the reign of Emperor Chenghui.

Lin Ruhai wanted to at least get through the next term smoothly, so he tacitly approved of the probing of some people below him.

His logic was this: "I'm doing this for your own good."

The reason given is that the numerous state-owned enterprises under the R&D department, as well as the railway bureau and others, are too enviable. Since they are state-owned enterprises, why can't they share in the profits?

In reality, Jia Lian did receive a share of the profits. After undertaking so many projects, how could he not get a share of the spoils?

It's just that some people didn't get to eat any, and some felt they didn't get enough.

After this period of time, Lin Ruhai also realized a reality: this group of people were just a bunch of blustering but cowardly rabble.

Whenever Jia Lian launched a fierce and uncompromising counterattack, everyone chose to back down.

From the initial probing by the Assistant Director of the Ministry of Personnel to the conclusion of the Jiangnan tax case, even if these people joined forces, they had no way to deal with Jia Lian; on the contrary, they were dealt with very badly.

More importantly, these people were not well-liked by others, and their alliances were very fragile, making them no match for the fighting power of the seemingly loose Jia Party.

So where does Jia's party's fighting power come from? Of course, it also comes from interests, because there are quite a few people who are united by their shared beliefs.

As for the underlying philosophy, it is of course to strengthen the nation through industry and benefit all people.

The biggest advantage of real industries is that they provide a place for the lower classes to work and earn money, without interfering with their own income, and they also gain a good reputation.

Of course, this is mainly concentrated in state-owned enterprises; private enterprises have all sorts of problems. They're capitalists, after all; how can you expect them to be kind?
When Jia Lian got up in the morning, he didn't want to move. But Daiyu came over and said that the children were waiting outside to pay their respects, so he hurriedly got up, washed, and changed his clothes.

In front of his daughters, Jia Lian showed no sign of being a strict father; he only tried to be serious in front of his three sons. But even that was about it; he simply couldn't maintain the facade.

During lunch, Wang Xifeng kept nagging, saying that Qiaojie was about to criticize her, saying that she was almost an old maid.

Jia Lian was momentarily dazed. In modern times, there would be plenty of single men in their early thirties at this age, but in ancient times, apart from those who were too poor to afford a wife, they would already have a bunch of children.

"Let me go to the military academy and see if there's anyone suitable. After all, we come from a noble family." Jia Lian wasn't just saying this casually; he genuinely didn't want to find a scholar.

Wang Xifeng naturally hoped her daughter would marry into a good family, but she dared not refute Jia Lian's words, as the gap was too large, to the point that she was already worried about Jia Quan's right to inherit the family.

“Quan’er’s grades are alright at the clan school. What will become of her in the future? She can’t just sit around waiting to inherit the title and be a good-for-nothing.” Wang Xifeng said meaningfully, and Jia Lian did indeed take it seriously, after all, there was a precedent in the family.

"The primary school on Rongning Street will open in the second half of the year, and Jia Quan can go there to study. Two years later, he will be sent to the Royal Military Academy."

Jia Lian did not want Jia Quan to follow in his footsteps. His initial choice to pursue the imperial examinations was out of necessity.

Once Jia Quan graduates from the Royal Military Academy, he can be directly placed into the Shenji Battalion and trained slowly.

Wang Xifeng was quite puzzled: "Why not take the path of a scholar? A warrior will always be looked down upon."

Jia Lian explained, “Emphasizing civil affairs over military affairs is a misguided path. Everything must be balanced. The late emperor was already balancing civil and military affairs back then. After I join the cabinet, will he still have any opportunities? And it's not just him. My second and third sons will also go to military academy and join the army after graduation. In the future, there will be more opportunities to fight abroad and establish merit.”

Wang Xifeng couldn't help but worry: "Is there going to be another war?"

Jia Lian said, "How novel! If you don't hit them, they'll hit you. That's how the world has always been; whoever has the bigger fist is right. Be careful, don't let your child grow up to be a pedantic scholar."

Jia Lian has been working on overseas expansion. He will likely invest even more after joining the cabinet. In his view, the situation in Southeast Asia is not secure enough; the best course of action is to develop Xinhua (North America) to counterbalance the United States.

Jia Lian wasn't just talking; he immediately wrote a memorial and presented it directly to the Emperor.

Li Yuan took Jia Lian's memorial very seriously and read it carefully as soon as possible. In the memorial, Jia Lian mentioned the Xinhua (North America) enclave on the eastern coast of the ocean and advocated for increased investment over the next fifty years.

Jia Lian, who was still on holiday, was summoned to the palace because of this memorial.

Upon arriving at the Qianqing Palace, they saw Li Yuan standing by the wall, staring intently at the map.

After Jia Lian stepped forward to pay his respects, Li Yuan turned around and said with a smile, "I have finished reading your memorial, sir. This exclave of Xinhua Prefecture is too far away. If the court were to relocate people from there, the investment would be too great."

It is indeed a bit far; it would take at least half a year to make the trip. Currently, the Xue family business is handling the immigration there. They have already discovered a gold mine, but haven't announced it yet.

Li Yuan's attitude was clear: investing too much was not worthwhile.

“If the imperial court isn’t interested, it’s unlikely that we can make it big by relying solely on the people.” Jia Lian was also helpless. It was simply too far away. If the emperor wasn’t interested, the difficulty would naturally increase.

"Over the years, more than ten million people have immigrated overseas. Some officials in the coastal provinces are already complaining and hoping that the court will stop the immigration. The cabinet is also in a difficult position about this matter, and I have finally suppressed it."

Li Yuan explained the situation, and Jia Lian could only respond, "Your Majesty is truly kind!"

Because of their strong sense of belonging to their homeland, Chinese people rarely choose to leave their hometowns unless there is a major upheaval. In recent years, more than ten million people have immigrated to Southeast Asia and Australia. While this doesn't put much pressure on the overall population of China, it does create considerable pressure for the coastal provinces.

"I'm doing this for the country," Li Yuan waved his hand dismissively, though he actually harbored a strong desire to expand the territory. After all, catching up with Emperor Chenghui was no easy feat. During Emperor Chenghui's reign, the Prince of Xining crossed the Pamir Mountains and expanded into Central Asia, Li Ni was in the North Sea in the Mongolian steppe, the Prince of Dongping was in the northeast, and Jia Lian was expanding in the South China Sea. The nominal territory of the entire country increased significantly, and the government's investment was enormous. Apart from the South China Sea, the court had no real control over other places.

It's already quite remarkable that the emperor would personally explain something like this.

But how can Jia Lian say that the westward expansion movement will be in full swing in twenty or thirty years?

After bidding farewell and leaving the palace, Jia Lian sat in his carriage, feeling quite melancholy. He knew the trajectory of history, yet it was difficult to change much. In the past thirty or forty years, Europe, due to war, had brought a large influx of people to North America. This was something Jia Lian couldn't compare to; it was simply too difficult. If all else failed, he would have to resort to unofficial methods, focusing his efforts on developing the North American colonies first.

Jia Lian silently planned how to develop the North American colonies. Currently, the independence movements across South America were still in a preparatory phase; a full-blown war of independence would only erupt after Haiti became the first to declare independence. During this period, Europe was also engaged in a protracted war surrounding France.

In the past, Spanish merchant ships would come to Mexico to exchange precious metals for goods such as tea and porcelain. Now, the main trade is arms, which clearly indicates that they are preparing for a rebellion and independence.

Supporting Spain is impossible; only supporting the independence movement will make us the winners. The same applies to other countries; try to sell them large quantities of smoothbore muskets. Arms trading is very profitable. Support the war of independence first, then increase trade, and eventually unite with Mexico to fight the United States—that's a good plan.

What's worrying is that Europeans have little integrity, and Jia Lian fears that they might betray him. They might even unite and eliminate Xinhua first.

Let's find out the actual situation first before talking about the future.

When Jia Lian returned home, he first wrote a letter to Xue Pan, asking him to give a detailed report on the situation in the Xinhua Colony.

Xue Pan, far away in Guangzhou, was sweating profusely from the heat, and even his two maids, who were fanning him, were sweating profusely.

Even so, Xue Pan couldn't stop; he still needed to discuss matters with the manager of the Xue family's business.

"Immigration slowed down in the first half of the year, and there weren't any major disasters in China, so human traffickers could only operate on a small scale. Recently, the person in charge below came up with a new excuse: immigrants get a wife upon arrival."

Upon hearing this, Xue Pan couldn't help but sigh, "They've all become smarter; they're not so easy to fool anymore. Master Lian is keeping a close eye on things; the immigration process can't be stopped."

The steward sighed, “Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. Korea and Japan are tributary states of our dynasty, and in recent years, two million people have been transported to Southeast Asia. Now it’s not easy to deal with them.”

Xue Pan asked him, "How is the recovery of the loans being made?"

All immigrants are the same; once they arrive in Southeast Asia, they automatically incur a debt. Even when immigrants send their wives, they also incur debt; businessmen aren't philanthropists.

Fortunately, after the land was allocated, it was indeed allocated, but now many people have to clear the land themselves.

"The situation is alright. Generally speaking, immigrants have neither made nor lost money over the years, relying on the considerable profits from the goods they bring back on their return journey. However, the profits from goods from Southeast Asia are declining year by year. Australia is the only exception, with its gold mines, so they have been making money all these years. But even gold mines eventually run out."

Xue Pan nodded in agreement: "Xinhua has also discovered gold mines. From now on, immigrants will mainly be from Xinhua, and adjustments can be made privately. Xinhua is a long way away, so the fleet will be larger. Half of the immigrants will be Chinese, and the other half will be Japanese or Korean. It's just that the women will be a bit difficult to deal with. We can find the British and have them deliver them to our door."

After receiving the reply, Jia Lian couldn't help but sigh, "Xue Pan is truly ruthless. To have the British smuggle women into Xinhua—what a crazy idea!"

A glance at a map reveals that before the Panama Canal, the journey to bring people from West Asia, the Ottoman Empire, or even Eastern and Southern Europe was far longer than the triangular trade. Otherwise, the west coast of North America wouldn't have been the site of the American westward expansion.

The British would probably be very happy to do this deal, for the simple reason of maintaining trade balance.

The British were scrambling for precious metals all over the world, then bringing them to Da Zhou to trade for leaves and mud. This business was just too difficult.

When Jia Lian replied to Xue Pan, he thought of the Jews. In recent years, because of Jia Lian, the Jews had not dared to cross the Strait of Malacca. Even if they did come, they dared not reveal their identities.

Lord Jia may lack other skills, but he is absolutely certain of keeping a close watch on the Jews. Suddenly, I thought of Henan; it seems there are some remnants there. In modern society, they yearn to return to their spiritual homeland.

Forget it, these people are nothing but selfish and self-serving. As long as the Zhou Empire remains strong, it will naturally attract more people.

Judging from Xue Pan's letter, European traffickers were continuously sending people to Southeast Asia. Of course, these European traffickers were not sending slaves, but rather people to be prostituted.

Well, the story goes like this: some European merchants came to China to do business and discovered that, in addition to the three precious metals of gold, silver, and copper, they could also make a fortune by tricking some immigrants into buying ship tickets.

During the European wars, tens of thousands of people were tricked into going to Southeast Asia.

Then there's the inhumane Ottoman Empire, which, lacking sufficient funds to pay its arms bills, resorted to taking over 100,000 Bohemian women as collateral.

It started as just Bohemians, but now it has expanded to include the plundering of people from Southern Europe.

This has strained relations between the Ottoman Empire and Southern European countries, and it seems they are about to clash with Tsarist Russia again. How many times has this been the first Russo-Turkish war?
Jia Lian replied to Xue Pan, affirming his approach and emphasizing that the approach towards North American natives should be as mild as possible, adhering to the principle of "I will not offend others unless they offend me, but if they offend me, I will retaliate."

Trade must be the primary focus; war should be avoided if possible, as transporting people there is extremely difficult. The Xinhua colony should not be viewed simply as a colony, but rather as the last resort for the Jia and Xue families. Jia Lian also instructed Xue Pan to go to Annam and find the Wang family, to get them involved in this project. Given the Wang family's current sense of crisis, they would likely be happy to prepare an escape route in advance.

After Jia Lian's vacation ended, his first official business was still diplomacy, and it was an unexpected diplomatic mission.

It's quite unexpected that a US delegation has come this time. Given the current state of the US, is it really necessary for them to send a delegation?

It's important to understand that the United States today only has the East Coast area. Without the Panama Canal, there are two routes to get here: one is to go around South America into the Pacific Ocean, and the other is to go through the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, then around Africa into the Indian Ocean, and then through the Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea.

No matter which route you take, it will circle the Earth. It can be said that from the East Coast of the United States to the Zhou Empire, these are the two farthest ends of the world.

Even so, the Americans still came. They might as well have used that energy to attack Canada.

But it seems like it will be soon; it happened in 1812, so it's only about ten years from now.

Okay, let's figure out where they came from and what their purpose is first.

(End of this chapter)