Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 660 Another Assassination Attack

Upon joining the cabinet, Lin Ruhai launched a scathing attack at the very first meeting, concerning personnel matters. Lin Ruhai stared at Jia Lian with a death stare, but Jia Lian remained oblivious and unconcerned.

Lin Ruhai, the Grand Secretary, didn't care much about other powers, but he always held a tight grip on personnel appointments.

Jia Lian's words made him worry that this bastard might be eyeing his base of support.

Fortunately, Jia Lian did not follow up, so there is nothing to criticize for the time being. We can only wait and see if he intends to gradually encroach on our territory.

"The selection of senior officials is governed by established procedures. How dare you, a newcomer to the cabinet, interfere? From now on, mind your own business and refrain from gossiping about others."

Regardless, Lin Ruhai was determined to give Jia Lian a stern warning.

Jia Lian did not argue; he had no intention of causing trouble in the first place, he was simply patching things up in advance.

If problems really arise with the selection of personnel in the future, I will have something to say and can absolve myself of any responsibility.

It's not that Jia Lian looks down on these officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty; even Jia himself wouldn't dare say they're completely clean, as there are always some underhanded dealings, let alone the others.

“Now that Buqi has entered the cabinet, shouldn’t the R&D department, railway bureau, and stock exchange that he previously oversaw be put in charge of by someone else?” As soon as Li Qing spoke, Jia Lian understood his meaning, or rather, he understood the meaning of Li Qing and Lin Ruhai. The cabinet’s covetousness for state-owned enterprises has never disappeared.

Jia Lian was not agitated. If Li Qing didn't have some tricks up his sleeve, he wouldn't have been able to climb all the way up to the cabinet. This kind of thing was expected.

To prevent such incidents, Jia Lian had long ago made ample preparations, establishing clear systems for each department, making it difficult for anyone to effectively manage these departments unless all those in charge were transferred.

Of course, he couldn't agree immediately. Jia Lian remained silent, looking at Li Qing with a half-smile. Li Qing felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were being stared at by a venomous snake.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Li Qing asked, a little flustered. Jia Lian then looked away.

Fang Song said, "These departments already have chief officials. Previously, Buqi was said to be in charge, but in reality, he only gave general instructions and did not actually interfere with the operation of the departments. As the chief minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Prime Minister Li should focus his attention on those state-owned enterprises that pay less tax or even find various excuses not to pay taxes, rather than focusing on these state-owned enterprises that have always paid taxes in accordance with regulations."

Fang Song's words were extremely impolite, almost to the point of saying that he was a licentious official who should step down.

But there's absolutely nothing wrong with what they said. Aren't there many government-run enterprises? The Ministry of Revenue alone has quite a few administrative departments that operate businesses.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the tea trade required tea permits, and the salt trade required salt permits—these were the so-called state-run enterprises. To put it bluntly, if these two industries were simply regulated, the imperial court's tax revenue would increase significantly.

The problem is, who would dare? Leaving aside more recent cases, the main culprit in the illegal salt permit case has yet to be apprehended, and no one knows where he went. The tea trade in the Northwest is an even bigger mess.

As a cabinet minister in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, Li Qing also had a certain say in the central bank. Have you ever heard him say a single word? He simply said that when it came time to distribute the money, the Ministry of Revenue would take whatever amount was given to it.

To take a recent example, at the Chongwenmen tax gate, many people were able to avoid paying taxes, and the Ministry of Revenue didn't say a word.

To put it bluntly, it's always been like this: deceiving superiors and subordinates, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, preferring to avoid trouble, and only reporting good news and not bad.

Li Qing remained unfazed after being rebuked; this attack was nothing to him. However, he secretly remembered Jia Lian's earlier look and became wary of him.

It's hard to say about other places, but in Guangzhou and Southeast Asia, Jia Lian's words really carried weight. Even in the capital, there were many people who followed Jia Lian's lead without question.

Do you even need to ask if anyone in the Li family is involved in business? Of course they are. When it comes to business, isn't it all about doing whatever makes money?
For example, the tea trade is involved in both the Li and Lin families. It's a bit better on land, but once they're on ships, they can't make ends meet at all.

Therefore, Li Qing was somewhat grateful to Fang Song for his scathing rebuke; without him, the conflict might have escalated.

"Alright, everyone, from now on, please do your jobs well, work together sincerely, assist His Majesty, and create another prosperous era." Lin Ruhai said with a bit of helplessness, quickly summarizing the situation.

Yue Qi, who had been silent, was in low spirits and kept thinking about how to come up with a plan that would satisfy Li Yuan.

His original plan was to thoroughly reorganize the national army through military reforms, take the opportunity to place his influence in various regions, appoint those who obeyed, and transfer or kill those who disobeyed. Only then could he truly hold real power, instead of the current situation where his personal influence and that of the Ministry of War could not even leave the Forbidden City.

Speaking of military reform, Emperor Chenghui had already made great efforts to change things, but he only reformed the military in the capital garrison, border towns, and various provinces. Because Emperor Chenghui was in poor health, the reform was never promoted.

Sometimes Yue Qi would complain in private, "Why did the emperor have so many concubines? He died so young, which delayed many things."

Aside from a minor hiccup, my first day at work went fairly smoothly.

As for the division of labor, Pan Jixu had long since stopped caring about it; his entire operation had already been taken over by Jia Lian.

In the afternoon, Lin Ruhai called Jia Lian over. After they sat down, each had a cup of tea in his hand and a cigarette between his fingers.

Lin Ruhai remained silent, as did Jia Lian. The room was quiet, with the afternoon sun shining down on the coffee table, where smoke rose and a subtle fragrance wafted.

"I am old and can only serve for another five years before I should retire," Lin Ruhai finally broke the silence. Jia Lian was very familiar with this kind of opening remark.

Jia Lian remained silent. Lin Ruhai took out a report and handed it over, saying, "The elders of Jiangnan have jointly petitioned the court, pleading with the court to give Jiangnan a chance to raise funds to build a railway. In any case, their intentions are good; they are doing it for the livelihood of the people of Jiangnan."

Jia Lian took the report without even glancing at it, and tossed it lightly onto the coffee table: "Prime Minister Lin can submit a memorial to His Majesty. If His Majesty has the will, then a special exception can naturally be made."

The refusal was quite obvious, and Lin Ruhai was not disappointed. It would be strange if Jia Lian had agreed. He had been in Jiangnan for half a year, and the officials who had been punished had not yet been fully reinstated, and the bodies of many gentry were still warm.

"Speaking of which, the Jia family's ancestral home is Jinling. Don't you think about the Jia family's situation?" Lin Ruhai said this with a hint of curiosity on his face.

He really didn't understand why Jia Lian was so stubborn; it was clearly a win-win situation for everyone.

“As an official appointed by the court, one should always consider whether something is in the best interests of the people. If all matters of state become matters of personal gain, then the world is not far from its demise.” Jia Lian stopped there, then slowly rose and clasped his hands in farewell: “Farewell!”

Lin Ruhai remained silent, watching Jia Lian leave. The Lin family felt no gratitude towards Jia Lian for what had happened in Jiangnan. The gentry of Jiangnan, in particular, harbored deep resentment towards him.

If it were merely murder for personal gain, that would be one thing, but Jia Lian also confiscated hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land. This is what truly fueled the deep-seated hatred of the gentry.

In other words, they couldn't do anything to Jia Lian, otherwise they would have loved to grind Jia Lian to dust.

The gentry of Liangjiang now share a common goal: to prevent Jia Lian from becoming the Grand Secretary and instead fully support Li Qing in succeeding Lin Ruhai five years later. It is precisely because Lin Ruhai knew about this that he took his current actions.

After his efforts failed, Lin Ruhai had no choice but to give up. He had never been able to influence Jia Lian, neither in the past nor now. Although they were father-in-law and son-in-law, they had always been business partners.

Although he could not approve of Jia Lian's actions, Lin Ruhai had made up his mind at this moment, completed his re-election, and could now choose sides without restraint.

Supporting Li Qing to take over? How is that possible? Even if you support Fang Song, you wouldn't support Li Qing. And you think you can just take over as Grand Secretary?

As long as I am here, don't dream this dream.

On my way home from get off work, the carriage traveled down the street. Ahead, there was a stretch of road with a strong commercial atmosphere, with many taverns and teahouses that usually did very good business, which was rare in the western part of the city where the powerful and wealthy gathered.

There were many people on the road and the cars weren't moving fast, but Jia Lian wasn't in a hurry; he had plenty of patience.

As we approached this commercial area, for safety reasons, Zhu Zi raised his hand and pulled down the sunshade, blocking the view from outside.

Although Jia Lian was not very satisfied, he did not say anything.

Suddenly, a series of loud bangs rang out as bullets pierced the car windows, leaving the sun visor riddled with holes. Jia Lian, leaning against the car wall, could clearly hear the sound of bullets hitting the steel plates embedded in the car wall.

Jia Lian was a little stunned at the time. When he came to his senses, he immediately squatted down. Zhu Zi reacted quickly as well and swiftly opened a drawer under the seat.

The drawer was full of new breech-loading rifles and revolvers with metal-cased ammunition. Lavoisier, the stabilizer for nitrocellulose, had been developed, but the metal-cased ammunition and rifles had not been widely deployed. The chemist's lab had suffered setbacks, and the ammunition casings were handmade products, belonging to top-secret technology and samples.

After returning from Jiangnan, Zhu Zi, who had always been worried about Jia Lian's safety, made some adjustments. They now traveled in two carriages, and he wasn't sure which one he would ride in each day. Adding steel plates to the carriage walls was something that had been in place for some time.

Following the strategy of capturing the leader first, the assassins spared Jia Lian's guards and instead focused their fire on the two carriages.

The clanging of bullets hitting the steel plate was like raindrops falling.

Jia Lian sat down against the carriage wall, picked up a rifle that was pushed towards him by a pillar, opened the magazine, and loaded it!
The guards reacted immediately to the sudden attack, which occurred in a crowded area. The assassins were upstairs, and there were quite a few of them.

Judging from the gaps in the firing, they were using muzzle-loading rifles. By not firing at the guards immediately, they had already missed the opportunity to complete the mission.

Zhu Zi grabbed a rifle, pulled up a firing port, and aimed at the second floor of a teahouse by the roadside. Jia Lian also pulled up a firing port, aimed at the building, and searched for a target.

The guards split into two groups: one rushed upstairs, while the other rushed to another carriage, pretending to protect Jia Lian and distract the assassins.

In Jia Lian's line of sight, an assassin, after reloading, suddenly popped up and opened fire. The distance was no more than twenty meters. Jia Lian decisively pulled the trigger. Fire erupted almost simultaneously from both sides. The assassin was hit, but Jia Lian couldn't see if any guards were struck. The pillars on the other side also opened fire, achieving similar results.

The guards rushed upstairs, and some people were guarding the corridor. The revolvers were banging loudly, and Jia Lian, who could only hear the sounds, did not know the extent of the casualties.

At this moment, Jia Lian was on high alert, unusually calm. After ejecting the spent cartridge, he reloaded, aimed again, and killed another assassin.

Despite the casualties, the guards finally rushed to the second floor of the two buildings by the roadside, and in a desperate fight, killed the assassins inside and took control of both buildings.

The fierce battle lasted for about five minutes before officials and their families from the surrounding area rushed to the scene. The streets were deserted; not a soul could be seen.

Jia Lian wanted to get out of the carriage to take a look, but Zhu Zi stopped him, saying, "No, there are nearly twenty taverns and teahouses along the way. We can't guarantee that all the assassins have been eliminated."

Jia Lian then gave up, not wanting to cause trouble for the guards. Only when the two carriages left separately did Jia Lian learn that both drivers had been shot. It was fortunate that the carriages, which had already stopped, hadn't spooked the horses and injured any passersby. This wasn't the first time an assassination attempt had occurred, but this time the situation was far more critical because they were now equipped with rifled muskets using Minié bullets, greatly improving their accuracy. Furthermore, there were many assassins, far exceeding the number of individual assassins of the past.

This is the change brought about by technological progress. In the past, a suicide squad member had to be skilled in martial arts. Now, as long as they can fire a gun and shoot accurately, that's enough.

The two carriages remained closed the entire way back to the Jia mansion, whereupon Jia Lian finally opened the doors and got out.

Upon hearing the news, the guards of the Jia family, fully armed, rushed to the scene to help.

Jia Lian wanted to go, but Wang Xifeng, Daiyu, and others held him back, so he had no choice but to sit down and wait for news.

The assassination attempt itself wasn't the scary part; what was truly distressing was that Jia Lian would no longer be able to appear in public.

About an hour later, Zhu Zi returned from the scene and said to Jia Lian, "Second Master, a total of eight assassins were killed at the scene, and six others were wounded and then committed suicide. No survivors were left."

"Are there any clues on the gun?" Jia Lian asked the women to step back before inquiring in detail.

"No, the serial numbers have all been filed off, so we can't trace them. This type of muzzle-loading rifled flintlock musket was issued in extremely large quantities. All three garrisons of the New Army, the Imperial Horse Administration, and the Nine Gates Garrison were equipped with it. The key issue is that the colonies in various parts of Southeast Asia purchased large quantities of this rifle. It's extremely difficult to find out where these weapons came from," Zhu Zi further explained.

Jia Lian said calmly, "There is a clear difference between products from Beijing and products from Guangzhou, which is specifically reflected in the material of the gunstock. The wood used in the south is different."

Zhu Zi immediately understood: "This subordinate understands, I will go back and investigate further. In addition, the Five Cities Garrison has taken control of the scene, please ask the Second Master whether we should report to the palace."

"Yes, we should report to all the relevant authorities. What about the casualties among the guards?" Jia Lian asked this last, not because he didn't care about the guards, but because he was worried that it would affect his thinking.

"Eight brothers were seriously injured and have been sent to the hospital. Whether they will survive depends on fate. Four others were slightly injured and have already been treated and bandaged."

After the report, Zhu Zi stepped back, and Wang Xifeng and the others who were waiting outside rushed in.

"Second Master, have you found anything?" Wang Xifeng asked anxiously. Jia Lian shook his head: "We haven't caught anyone alive. They're all suicide soldiers."

Daiyu pressed on urgently, "Is there any suspect?"

Jia Lian nodded: "Of course there are, quite a few, I have so many enemies."

Daiyu could tell that these words were rather cold, as cold as a piercing chill.

(End of this chapter)