Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 662 Not a Simple One
What could have forced Li Yuan to give up a peaceful New Year's celebration in order to first launch such a major case?

This is probably the most pressing concern for the cabinet members right now.

If it were merely a corruption case involving the Empress's family, it probably wouldn't be enough to make the Emperor do this. Prince Zhongshun? Don't be ridiculous, he's just an old dog, an old dog whose spine was broken by the late Emperor.

The minds of these cabinet leaders are incredibly sharp, especially when it comes to figuring out people; they're all supercomputers at their best.

Upon returning to the cabinet, Lin Ruhai immediately summoned Jia Lian for questioning: "What happened to the death of Wang's eldest son?"

Jia Lian spread his hands, looking helpless: "My father-in-law really thinks highly of me. How could I possibly know about this?"

Lin Ruhai sneered, "Don't you find it strange that His Majesty would pull off such a major case before the new year?"

Jia Lian responded with a cold laugh: "Not surprising! Why should I be surprised? I'd be avoiding it like the plague. Father-in-law, be careful, walls have ears. Sometimes it's better not to know; knowing can be disastrous!"

The two spoke softly, and with servants guarding the door, they weren't worried about being overheard. However, it was best to avoid such conversations, at least not now.

"You're right, I was too anxious." Lin Ruhai immediately admitted his mistake, and Jia Lian got up to take his leave.

Halfway there after they came out, Fang Song opened the door, pulled him inside, immediately closed the door, and asked in a low voice, "What did the Grand Secretary want to talk to you about?"

"What else could it be? Asking if we can get involved, and to what extent?" Jia Lian certainly couldn't tell the truth, but Fang Song believed him. Despite everyone saying they'd participate at the cabinet meeting, they weren't really sure themselves. This matter was too suspicious, and the timing was suspicious too. The cabinet needed to show its presence, even if it was sensitive, they had to make a token effort.

“Yes, that’s what I was asking too. Should the Inspectorate get involved?” Fang Song went along with it, but Jia Lian shook his head: “Don’t ask me, I’m definitely not getting involved. I’m trying to avoid it as much as possible.”

Fang Song quickly replied, "Thank you for reminding me, I know what to do now."

Jia Lian took his leave again and headed back. Along the way, he saw that the doors to Yue Qi and Li Qing's offices were all open. Jia Lian passed by without entering or paying them any attention.

Everyone who wants to get involved in this is clearly out of their mind. Trying to use this opportunity to distance themselves shows a complete lack of understanding of the implications.

The emperor is causing trouble, making the New Year holiday unbearable. All departments are filled with resentment and are forced to work overtime at the end of the year. It's infuriating!
Jia Lian wasn't idle either; he went to the railway bureau to check on the year-end duty roster and benefits. The railway bureau definitely needs to arrange for people to be on duty during the Spring Festival and pay overtime wages.

The year-end case was handled quickly and urgently; the result was in just two days.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Yuan convened another meeting of the Imperial Cabinet, where he reported the results of the investigation and questioned the cabinet ministers.

"These people have committed heinous crimes, and I intend to execute them. What do you gentlemen think?" Li Yuan was indeed a proactive emperor, and he immediately offered his opinion.

Lin Ruhai and the others exchanged bewildered glances, unsure whether to support the plan. The case was indeed massive; the bank had currently uncovered 30 million yuan involved—enough to wipe out the entire families of those involved. The problem was, the individuals implicated were all relatives of the emperor; could they really just be executed without warning?
Just as everyone hesitated, Jia Lian stood up and said, "Your Majesty's feelings are understandable, but people cannot be killed."

Li Yuan probably hadn't expected Jia Lian to say that. Based on past experience, Jia Lian should hate these people. Not to mention, these people were suspected of plotting to assassinate Jia Lian. Were you genuinely unaware, or were you pretending?
"Please explain in detail, sir!" At some point, Li Yuan brought out his old habit again, addressing Jia Lian as "sir."

“During the reign of the late emperor, ministers were not executed unless they were plotting rebellion. Although this was a rule, we all believe it to be a rule. If Your Majesty enjoys killing, I fear the ministers will become disloyal.” Jia Lian explained his reasoning calmly, leaving Li Yuan stunned.

The cabinet ministers watched the scene with varying expressions, each with their own internal accounts.

In his early years, Li Yuan was lenient and indulgent towards those around him, which caused him to lose favor with the late emperor and ultimately lead to his exile to Southeast Asia. After returning to the capital, Li Yuan remained low-key and lenient, but unexpectedly, after ascending the throne, his style changed drastically, and he frequently ordered the execution of ministers. It is possible that the deep wounds he suffered in the past led to this personality change.

From Jia Lian's perspective, Li Yuan seemed somewhat impatient and aggressive after ascending the throne. Therefore, it was necessary to temper his temper at crucial junctures.

As for what Li Yuanhui thought, Jia Lian really couldn't care less. In the current Great Zhou Dynasty, if they wanted rapid development, chaos was acceptable below, but not above. Those below could be killed, but those above should be spared if possible.

The reason is simple: to develop, a stable internal and external environment is necessary. The external environment is currently acceptable, but internally, chaos must not begin from the top.

Killing may feel satisfying, but once it becomes a habit and a path dependency, and one tries to solve everything physically, it is not a good thing for the emperor or the country.

Li Yuan was initially puzzled, but after calming down, he couldn't help but think that Jia Lian was the one who was assassinated, yet he didn't rush to take revenge and even stopped me from killing the suspect. This showed that he was doing it for my own good and for the good of the court, and that it wasn't driven by selfish motives.

In contrast, in this major case, Li Qing and Yue Qi of the cabinet sent people to participate, although they did not intervene, they kept a close eye on it. Their motivation was naturally self-interest; they feared being implicated.

The thought of his New Year celebration being ruined reignited Li Yuan's anger. But seeing Jia Lian's resolute gaze, Li Yuan felt a chill and decided to endure it until Li Heng was gone next year.

“In that case, let it be as you say.” Li Yuan nodded and conceded.

Seeing this, Lin Ruhai immediately took over the conversation: "Since His Majesty has decided not to kill, let's discuss where to exile them?"

During the reign of Emperor Chenghui, the unspoken rule that ministers would not be killed unless they were plotting treason was deeply ingrained in people's minds, and the entire official class was genuinely afraid of Li Yuan killing people.

Once this kind of thing is allowed to happen, it's impossible to stop it later. If the emperor wants to kill someone, and the crime is established, it's actually considered reasonable and legal.

"Gentlemen, please discuss this. Sir, please come with me." Li Yuan stood up and called Jia Lian over.

This move astonished everyone, who all looked on with obvious envy and jealousy.

Jia Lian was equally taken aback, but he still got up and followed naturally, his expression revealing nothing.

Don't underestimate this new emperor; none of the children born into the imperial family are simple. With just a single sentence, Jia Lian became the target of criticism within the cabinet. What will happen if word gets out?
Following Li Yuan out, they strolled slowly through the palace. Li Yuan neither stopped nor turned around, and Jia Lian remained silent, following quietly.

"The Imperial Guard has investigated and found that these individuals are all highly suspicious in the assassination attempt on you, sir." Li Yuan suddenly stopped, turned around, and uttered a startling statement.

Jia Lian stopped in time to avoid the collision. Upon hearing this, he looked astonished: "Your Majesty, this matter is extraordinary. Does the Imperial Guard have any evidence?" Li Yuan replied expressionlessly: "The Imperial Guard has discovered that Prince Zhongshun has maintained close business ties with the areas beyond the Great Wall for many years, smuggling a considerable amount of military equipment to Liaodong and the northern deserts. As for the source of the goods, the three garrisons of the capital have a certain number of scrapped items every year. Whether it's scrapped or not is just a matter of a word from the officers below, and they exploit this loophole. Even during the mourning period for my father, smuggling did not stop. Over the years, they have smuggled thousands of rifles. Whether it's the maternal relatives or the imperial clan, they have been coveting state-owned enterprises for quite some time. After I ascended the throne, the Wang family quickly aligned themselves with them, and I had no choice but to make a decision."

If someone didn't know the truth, they would be deeply moved by what he said.

"Your humble servant doesn't know where to begin," Jia Lian said, still feigning deep gratitude, bowing deeply with his arms clasped at a ninety-degree angle.

Li Yuan was secretly pleased, thinking to himself: With your abilities, it wouldn't be hard for you to guess who the most suspicious people are. Now that I have eliminated some threats, it is only natural that I am grateful.

“It’s not entirely for your sake, sir; there’s also the reason for my excessive corruption.” Li Yuan didn’t help Jia Lian up, but continued walking forward. Jia Lian quickly got up and followed.

The report that the cabinet saw was naturally incomplete, containing only evidence of corruption and smuggling, and the amount of gold and silver seized was also discounted.

Fortunately, the cabinet's mind wasn't on this. Everyone was afraid of getting involved, and now that the report showed no involvement from the cabinet or any foreign officials, they were relieved.

After some discussion, it was decided that exile to the border region was the most suitable option. After all, there was a Prince Zhongshun and two sons of the Wang family. Even if we didn't care about the monk, we should at least consider the Buddha. Exiling them too far away would only create enmity.

The Empress's face must be given due respect, otherwise who knows if she will be resented in the future, bringing trouble upon her descendants.

They are all beings of power, and they know what to do when they have power, so as not to suffer crazy retaliation after retirement.

Such things have happened before, but they occurred a long time ago. During the reign of the retired emperor, the early factional struggles were quite brutal, and the losers often met tragic ends.

Fang Baiyi was able to maintain his position as Grand Secretary during the reign of the Retired Emperor because of his protection of officials; he would save as many as he could, which led to his extremely high prestige. After Fang Baiyi became Grand Secretary, the Retired Emperor did not execute any more ministers unless they were accused of treason. Those accused of treason in the Crown Prince case, thanks to Fang Baiyi's insistence, were only exiled.

From this perspective, the Zhou Dynasty also learned from the lessons of the Ming Dynasty, the most egregious example being Zhu Qizhen's execution of Yu Qian. The fact that the emperor even killed Yu Qian led to a severe consequence: alienation between the emperor and his ministers.

The same applies to civil officials; those who lose in factional struggles suffer dire consequences, and they naturally pursue their political enemies relentlessly until they are dead.

Of course, the main reason for partisan strife is the stagnation of productivity development, resulting in insufficient resources to distribute the pie. Just look at the United States today to see this.

In times of peace, once a period of competition for existing power is reached, factional strife is inevitable, with people fighting to the death for their own interests. This was true in the late Tang Dynasty, and it was also true in the late Ming Dynasty.

Factional struggles were also fierce in the Song Dynasty, but the emperors killed few or no ministers. This allowed the Southern Song Dynasty to quickly take shape after the fall of the Northern Song and last for more than a hundred years.

The Ming Dynasty serves as a negative example for later emperors, largely due to Zhu Qizhen's killing of Yu Qian and Chongzhen's frequent killing of ministers.

The consequences of a breakdown in trust between the emperor and his ministers are severe. If the emperor also enjoys killing his ministers, then the dynasty will collapse even faster, and can be described as a complete collapse.

Of course, none of this concerned Jia Lian. It wasn't that he didn't want to kill, but rather that he didn't want the political situation to become turbulent, affecting the rapidly growing pie.

The reason why research and development departments and railway bureaus can exist is largely because we are currently in a period of expanding the pie, and there is no need to fight to the death for existing interests.

As for Jia Lian's own assassination attempt, although there was no clear evidence, Jia Lian realized that it was not something any one party could do on their own, but rather the result of the combined efforts of multiple parties.

The reason is simple: the profits are too great, so great that some people are willing to take the risk.

As for the Empress's Wang clan, they were probably just fools who were manipulated. At most, they provided assistance; the Wang clan couldn't possibly have fielded that many assassins—their resources were too shallow.

Therefore, when Li Yuan indicated that there were factors related to the assassination attempt, Jia Lian simply smiled and let it go.

Those who truly want Jia Lian dead must be his fellow capitalists, driven by the instinct to increase their capital and willing to take risks—this aligns with Marx's discourse on capital.

With this in mind, Jia Lian didn't consider immediate and drastic retaliation. His first thought was to accelerate stock market financing, attracting more private capital and alleviating the anxiety caused by capital's need for appreciation. Once the money was in the stock market, it wouldn't be up to them to decide. There was no rush now; when they needed money, that would be the time to teach these people a lesson from the power of capital.

Of course, Jia Lian didn't do nothing. His attack on Wang Shi was precisely to alert the enemy.

Li Yuan had no objections to the cabinet's decision to exile them to the border regions; everything was quickly approved. He only asked for speed so as not to delay the New Year.

As for the idea of ​​deposing the empress, Li Yuan suppressed it. Giving the Wang family a proper warning and removing the old prince, Prince Zhongshun, would be enough to deter the imperial relatives in the short term and keep them from causing trouble.

When Jia Lian left the palace, it was already past closing time. Instead of going home, he went to the south of the city.

Fan Ping was still busy when he saw Jia Lian enter. He immediately stepped forward to report: "On the surface, it seems that the imperial relatives and nobles are the main driving force behind the downfall of Jia, because they are the most unscrupulous and crude in their dealings. In reality, if the downfall of Jia is successful, what they can take is only what is visible. The entire industrial chain responsible for generating revenue will be taken over by the declining Shanxi merchants, Anhui merchants, wealthy merchants from the Yangtze River Delta, and Fujian and Zhejiang merchant groups. Among them, the Yangtze River Delta has the corresponding industrial chain that can quickly take over, while the other merchant groups have sufficient capital and ready-made channels to digest the profits derived from the entire industrial chain."

Jia Lian sat back in his chair, gently swaying his body, and muttered to himself, "That's a bit much."

Fan Ping sneered, "The manpower should come from the wealthy merchant groups in the Northwest, led by the Shanxi merchants. The merchant groups in Liangjiang are relatively loose and difficult to form a united force. They provide the official power. As long as something happens to you, they are responsible for suppressing it, or covering it up without harming any parties involved."

Jia Lian asked calmly, "What do you plan to do?"

Just as Fan Ping was about to answer, Zhu Zi knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Second Master, the person has arrived."

Jia Lian stood up and said, "Coming." Before leaving, he patted Fan Ping on the shoulder and said, "Revenge is necessary, but don't leave any loose ends. Think it through before you speak, and don't leave any written record."

In a separate courtyard next door, Xia Gang, in plainclothes, was drinking alone, making no attempt to be polite.

(End of this chapter)