Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 693 Gradual Reform

The great success of the Ottoman mission caused a stir in Europe.

In Europe, regardless of sectarian affiliation, everyone believed in God. Some sects held the Virgin Mary in higher esteem.

But the Ottoman Turks were different; they were pagans, despite the fact that, fundamentally, the three religions were one family.

What if, with the support of the University of Tokyo, the Ottoman Empire becomes powerful again? Would they once again besiege Vienna?

Diplomatic envoys from various countries sprang into action, all trying to find out the extent of the aid the Ottomans had received.

Meanwhile, European countries also learned that a military conflict had occurred on land between the Zhou Empire and Tsarist Russia, though small in scale, it was a real event.

It can only be said that the Ottoman Empire was infiltrated like a sieve, and it was not difficult to obtain any kind of intelligence.

Soon, all countries knew the basic content of the "Sino-Turkish Military Friendship Agreement." They even figured out why it wasn't "Zhou Tu" (周土), because throughout history, Eastern dynasties had referred to themselves as China or Zhonghua (中华) when dealing with foreign countries.

The latest Sino-French Friendship Agreement uses similar wording, and it will likely remain so in the future. In short, China (or China) is a unified entity, and the Zhou dynasty was merely one of its many dynasties.

One thing the Ottoman Empire did very well in keeping secret was that no European country knew about the three new cruisers.

Everything else was clarified: a larger military advisory group, more loans to purchase advanced weaponry, and strengthened civilian trade between the two countries, etc.

This put the European countries at ease, since the Zhou Empire's goal was still to sell goods. The difference was that previously, European countries would come to the Zhou Empire to pay and pick up the goods; now, the Zhou Empire would deliver them to their doorsteps. If the relationship was good, they could even get loans. In the end, the consensus reached by the various countries was: it's all the Russians' fault!

If it weren't for the Russians' damned territorial ambitions, how could they have angered the Zhou emperor, leading him to increase aid to the Ottoman Turks?

Britain, which led the anti-French coalition, was the most anxious. If Tsarist Russia was too heavily tied down by Turkey, how could it resist Napoleon?

The most worrying thing is whether there is a possibility that France also purchased arms from the Zhou Empire.

Prussia and Tsarist Russia shared the same anxiety. Napoleon was already so powerful; if they were to acquire some Chinese weapons, wouldn't they be on their way to the heavens?

The British government urgently dispatched a delegation to the Zhou Empire, hoping to thoroughly understand the Zhou Empire's bottom line and explore the possibility of purchasing the technology for new weapons.

Unfortunately, the possibility of acquiring technology through private channels was nonexistent. The Zhou Empire's arms industry belonged to the state and was strictly controlled, making it very difficult for private merchants to obtain the technology.

British merchants understood this deeply; they tried every possible method to obtain a single sapling for tea.

The official laws of the Zhou Empire clearly stated that tea trees were not allowed to leave the country, and any individual or group found doing so would be executed along with their entire family.

Therefore, taking the popular route was probably unrealistic and would likely offend the Zhou Empire badly.

After a meeting, the British cabinet unanimously agreed that it was foolish to provoke the Zhou Empire, and that they should look at Tsarist Russia as an example.

Just as the British mission was departing, a hastily assembled army boarded a vehicle and set off from the independent town.

Prior to this, a large amount of supplies had already arrived in Lanzhou and were being transported to Dihua via the Yumen Pass by road. This was to prepare supplies in advance for the arrival of the independent town.

Emperor Li Yuan's desire for the Anxi territory far surpassed that of Emperor Chenghui. He was even more dissatisfied with the betrayal of the Prince of Anxi. Even when the new Prince of Anxi's petition for investiture arrived in the capital, he refused to sign it.

In the end, it was Jia Lian who persuaded him not to look at Anxi alone, but to look at the northern deserts and the Far East, and even further, to the Donghua Kingdom across the ocean.

These locations hold immense strategic security value for the core region, while also providing a huge market that drives the core region's economy and tax revenue.

Without the advent of railways, Jia Lian probably wouldn't have been interested in these places. But with the railways, everything changed; the empire's reach could extend much further.

The biggest problem now is how to build the railway to Dihua. Even if we can't connect the lines, we have to build it section by section first.

Don't underestimate these places just because they're not suitable for farming. What about a hundred years from now? With the advent of new technologies and the arrival of the electrification era, there will be oil underground.

To say nothing of the distant past, oil has been discovered in the Yumen area, and kerosene has been produced through distillation. Kerosene lamps have an unpleasant smell, but they are very useful and inexpensive.

In contrast, oils like cottonseed oil can be used to make soap and create BOOM.

For the Zhou Empire's people, Liaodong and the Far East made the greatest contribution of soybeans. The large quantities of inexpensive soybean oil played a significant role in improving the living standards of the people, while soybean meal provided a large amount of feed for the livestock industry. The Far East's second greatest contribution was timber; the vast quantities of inexpensive timber were the cornerstone of the rapid development of the shipbuilding industry.

Persuaded, Li Yuan issued the investiture document for the King of Anxi. At the same time, he instructed the Independent Town to not rush into Anxi after entering Dihua, but to send people to find out the situation.

If the King of Anxi behaves himself, then transport the remaining military supplies there and send a brigade to replace the Independent Mixed Brigade. If the King of Anxi does not behave himself, or if something happens to the Independent Mixed Brigade, then report back to the capital and occupy roads and strategic passes in advance to prepare for a large-scale military expedition to Anxi in the future.

Speaking of which, the title of Prince of Anxi was conferred by Emperor Chenghui. As the successor, if Li Yuan lost the former territory of Anxi, he would be a sinner and would have no face to face his ancestors.

Sending troops to Anxi was extremely expensive and unlikely to be profitable, making it clearly not a worthwhile investment. However, how could the state be so concerned about costs? Having suffered enough from the nomadic tribes of the north throughout history, and now with the opportunity for long-term peace and stability, spending a little money was not a big deal for Li Yuan.

There was some good news too. The results of the first nationwide industrial census were in, and this census uncovered over 50 million yuan in tax evasion. This time, even before the imperial court sent anyone down, the local authorities worked diligently to collect the taxes.

This census clarified a figure: the normal level of industrial and commercial tax revenue nationwide should be around 110 million yuan per year.

This figure was unimaginable in the past, meaning that the rapid development of industry and commerce has generated tax revenue that exceeds the total of all other taxes.

Ironically, agricultural taxes continued to decline after Li Yuan ascended the throne. Officials in the provinces where taxes were falling reported that the reason was population loss. Li Yuan was both amused and exasperated each time he saw such reports.

After reviewing the reports submitted by the provincial industrial and commercial census teams and combining them with the secret report from the Imperial Guard, Li Yuan concluded that this nationwide industrial and commercial census was conducted very superficially.

The reason was the obstruction of officials in various provinces. They used every means to conceal the actual situation, and they would never admit it unless they were caught with solid evidence.

In other words, after receiving the urgent report from Anxi, Li Yuan ordered the formation of independent garrisons to prepare for reinforcements. This created a misconception among the provinces that the emperor was going to send troops to assist in the census work, which led to the subsequent work progress being accelerated.

As emperor, Li Yuan, aside from anything else, kept a record in his ledger of which provincial officials were incompetent, and when it came time for promotion, he probably wouldn't give them a chance.

In contrast, the census was implemented most smoothly in the coastal provinces with the most developed industry and commerce. Officials in Shandong, Jiangbei, Jiangnan, and Guangdong provinces, in particular, were the most cooperative in carrying out the census.

The reason is simple: they also want to understand the true level of industry and commerce in the province so that they can collect taxes more easily in the future.

From a tax perspective, the situation in Jiangnan Province is surprisingly good. There are very few cases of tax evasion in local industry and commerce, which seems to be because they have been scared away by the crackdown.

As Li Yuan matured politically, he displayed great magnanimity and did not openly investigate the responsibilities of officials in various provinces.

With the industrial census nearing its conclusion, Li Yuan convened a cabinet meeting. After deliberation, it was decided that the provincial working groups would remain in their current locations, while the heads and outstanding members of each working group would be recalled to the capital to attend a commendation ceremony. Furthermore, five million yuan would be allocated from the tax revenue collected to reward all census workers nationwide.

At the same time, the cabinet unanimously approved the completion of the industrial and commercial census, the addition of a new batch of personnel, and the commencement of the national population census.

At the meeting, Li Yuan said angrily, "Especially those provinces that reported population loss, investigate them thoroughly. To ensure the safety of the working group, send troops from the Beijing Garrison. I don't believe they dare to rebel! I really hope someone rebels because of this, so I can have a legitimate reason to take action and show these parasites that it's not that imperial power doesn't reach the countryside, but that the court cares about the local areas and can't bear to increase their burden."

These words were, of course, spoken under a gag order. The current cabinet is, in a sense, much better than the previous one. The Grand Secretary, Jia Lian, is not one to seize power, and his relationship with the emperor is good. Li Yuan, who has been on the throne for over ten years, is politically mature, skillful in his actions, and the relationship between the emperor and his ministers is harmonious. The country is also in a phase of rapid development, and any problems that arise are temporarily concealed.

From the outside, the country appears to be thriving, with a strong military, a developed economy, and a significantly improved standard of living for its people. The imperial court is able to provide timely disaster relief to those reported from various regions each year. Officials, however, dare not be too reckless in the disaster relief process. Both the Censorate and the Imperial Guards keep a close eye on things, and most importantly, the Grand Secretariat's attitude is even harsher than the emperor's.

On several occasions, Li Yuan discovered that officials had tampered with disaster relief efforts, but he did not advocate for their execution. Instead, it was the cabinet that advocated for their execution.

It is precisely because of this that, after more than a decade of reforms to improve official conduct, the overall quality of the court's officials has improved significantly.

Another significant change is the substantial reduction in the age of officials nationwide. This is especially true at the grassroots level; below the fourth rank, there are no officials over 55 years old, and below the fifth rank, there are no officials over 50.

In other words, since becoming Grand Secretary, Jia Lian has consistently focused on rejuvenating the official ranks. He has mandated age limits, requiring those who exceed them to retire voluntarily, ensuring a dignified retirement for everyone.

This move greatly increased Jia Lian's prestige among young officials, but Jia Lian did not take credit for it, attributing it all to the emperor.

Of course, the imperial court also had policies to treat retired officials well. Retired officials could receive an annual salary until their death. Deceased officials could also receive a funeral allowance.

It could be said that while Jia Lian appeared to be very strict in his duties as Grand Secretary, his strictness was actually aimed at corrupt officials. Officials in honest and incorruptible departments were genuinely grateful to Jia Lian.

This cabinet doubled officials' salaries and introduced a pension system.

It was precisely because of the introduction of these systems that the census work led by Jia Lian was greatly alleviated.

Regarding the national census, Jia Lian also proposed a systemic approach: incorporating government officials into the national system. The rules were threefold: first, abolishing the lifelong tenure system of father-to-son succession; second, including them in the scope of national fiscal appropriations; and third, recruiting officials through examinations.

This new system will be implemented in conjunction with the national population census. During the census, any official who fails to cooperate will be dismissed by the working group, and recruitment will then be conducted through examination. After the census, all subsequent officials will be required to take the exam; those who pass will be retained. If an official believes they are unqualified, their son can take the exam for them. If the son passes, he can take over the position; if the son fails, he will need to retake the exam.

This event was a significant shock to the gentry across the country. Their previous methods of manipulating corrupt officials were greatly weakened after these officials were incorporated into the national financial system.

This is the benefit of industrial and commercial development. With the government's tax revenue increasing significantly, it can finally free up resources to deal with these bastards.

If the population census proceeds smoothly, the next step will be a nationwide land census.

The gentry across the country could see what the emperor and the cabinet were up to, but they were powerless to do anything about it from the perspective of the system and the law enforcement of the state.

After the national treasury was largely freed from dependence on agricultural taxes, the imperial court revealed its sharp fangs, abandoning all previous methods.

Yes, you can rebel. The imperial court even showed signs of forcing local gentry to rebel, a fact most deeply felt by the gentry of Liangjiang and even Liangguang.

In the winter of the fourteenth year of the Qianzheng reign (1816), a fleet of twenty armed merchant ships, escorted by three state-of-the-art cruisers, sailed through the Mediterranean Sea and arrived in Istanbul.

The Ottoman delegation brought back a large amount of military equipment and announced the addition of three newest cruisers to the Imperial Navy.

These three state-of-the-art cruisers attracted the attention of all of Europe, and when they saw them in person, they were all dumbfounded.

The three new cruisers were not only equipped with the new 75mm naval guns produced by the Zhou Empire on both sides, but also had gun turrets added to the fore and aft decks, each equipped with a new 105mm naval gun.

This is blatantly using the Ottoman Empire's orders as an experiment, debugging for the next generation of newer warships.

Despite knowing the truth in their hearts, observers from various European navies couldn't help but shed tears of envy when they saw the three new cruisers.

Of course, the situation was quite the opposite for Tsarist Russia. Their warships, which had once roamed the Black Sea with impunity, were now cowering in their harbors, too afraid to venture out to sea again.

(End of this chapter)