Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 718 Thanks be to God
The annual budget was indeed approved, and Shuntian Prefecture had achieved half of its goal, receiving an allocation of five million taels of silver, which was insufficient to raise funds on its own. This self-financing strategy was quite ingenious: five hundred mu of official land under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture was put up for auction.

However, this plan failed because there were bad people among the people who rented these lands, and they filed a complaint with the Inspectorate.

The Censorate reported the matter to the Cabinet, and Fang Song was at a loss for what to do. It wasn't that he didn't want to offend anyone, but rather that there was no precedent for it. If government land was auctioned off during the lease period, and the people didn't cause trouble, then it was a case of "no complaints, no investigation." But if the people did cause trouble, then it was a different story.

The fact that this disturbance could occur also indicates that Shuntian Prefecture had offended someone.
Left Censor-in-Chief Jia Yucun accompanied Fang Song to see Jia Lian. Jia Yucun, who was nearly seventy years old, was not allowed to join the cabinet, which meant he had to retire.

Let alone Jia Yucun, even Jia Lian is over fifty. After hearing their report, Jia Lian hesitated for a moment before saying, "The people's demands must be taken seriously. What is the purpose of that land?"

The fact that Jia Lian could say something like that shows that he is also changing. He needs to look at the issue from a holistic perspective.

"After the state-run Minsheng Group launched its bicycles, its production capacity was severely insufficient, so it planned to buy this land to build a new factory. The Ministry of Internal Affairs' real estate company also wanted this land to build a residential area. The other buyers were just there to make up the numbers, as they couldn't afford to offend these two. This land is next to Lugou Bridge, excellent irrigated land, and there are still crops growing on it."

Jia Lian smiled with satisfaction upon hearing this. How long ago was it that the Imperial Household Department had to pay money for a piece of land? Are you kidding me?
This is change, and it's change for the better.

"Give these two companies a heads-up and let them bid normally, trying their best to meet the reasonable demands of the people. Also, ruining crops is unacceptable; it would ruin their reputation if word got out. Tell these two companies to take a break."

Jia Lian naturally wouldn't stop these two companies from buying land. The capital was developing too fast; if it weren't for the immense resistance, Jia Lian would have even demolished the city walls. Instead of the current situation where cars are blocked at the city gate every day.

After dealing with this matter, Jia Lian got up and went to the palace. Li Yuan was a few years older than Jia Lian and had recently caught a cold and was recuperating. He had not been able to attend to state affairs for several days.

Li Yuan, with a hot towel on his head, saw Jia Lian enter, removed the towel, stood up, and said, "Sir, you must have something important to discuss."

Jia Lian stepped forward to pay his respects and then smiled, saying, "Your Majesty, the matter is not particularly important; it is merely a humble subject's thought."

Having recovered considerably, Li Yuan gestured for a seat and tea to be served before asking, "What advice do you have for me, sir?"

"This is what I think: keeping Shuntian Prefecture in the city not only takes up space, but also affects the efficiency of those coming in from outside the city. It would be better to move Shuntian Prefecture to Tongzhou."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan was stunned: "Then what about Tongzhou County? Can't the people in the city have to go to Tongzhou to file a lawsuit?"

"Tongzhou was originally under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture. As for the city, the number of people in the city is now far less than that outside the city. After the railway was opened, it is very convenient to go to Tongzhou from the East Railway Station."

Li Yuan did not agree immediately, but smiled and said, "I understand. Sir, you should first consult with the cabinet and hold an expanded meeting next time to hear everyone's opinions."

The development of the capital city was mainly concentrated in the east and south, so it was quite appropriate for Shuntian Prefecture to move to Tongzhou.

With the development of the city, the functions of Shuntian Prefecture have also changed significantly. Many businesses outside the city need to go to Shuntian Prefecture to handle various matters. In short, the power of Shuntian Prefecture is much greater than before. With so many departments in the imperial court, some existing and many newly established, land within the city is extremely scarce. These are problems that others may not mention, but Jia Lian cannot truly ignore.

After taking office, Jia Lian worked diligently to reorganize the bureaucracy and improve governance. In reality, Jia Lian was not overly strict with officials; as long as they didn't make mistakes on major issues of principle, there were generally no problems.

When the economy is booming, there are plenty of new sources of profit, and internal conflicts can always be resolved without a trace.

Overall, during Jia Lian's years in power, the national economy developed rapidly and society remained stable. While I can't speak for other places, the lives of ordinary people in the capital were certainly much better than before.

At the cabinet briefing on the relocation of Shuntian Prefecture, the majority of those opposing it were in the news. Their reasons were compelling: most of the people outside the city were migrants, while the majority of those inside were original inhabitants; shouldn't the original inhabitants be given more consideration?

Shouldn't we make it easier for the people outside the city, so that the original residents inside the city have to go through more trouble?
This outcome was unexpected for Jia Lian, and he felt somewhat embarrassed at the time. However, upon reflection, he realized that the cabinet's opposition was to be expected.

At this crucial juncture of my age, I'm unwilling to take any risks. If I'm young, I want to keep moving forward and am even less willing to do something that seems like a thankless and arduous task.

Another point is that during Jia Lian's tenure, he was not domineering, but every time he put forward a proposal, it was eventually implemented.

It seems the cabinet ministers had a tacit understanding to go against Jia Lian's wishes on a seemingly insignificant matter.

In the past, Jia Lian would have summoned each of these people individually for a talk. But on this matter, Jia Lian didn't intend to do that; he would wait for the expanded imperial council.

On the day of the expanded imperial conference, all the ministers and vice ministers were present, and Jia Lian made the proposal again.

Before other departments could even react, the Shuntian Prefecture stepped forward to declare that this was a great act of kindness.

This reaction was expected by everyone. "Ah, the capital city, huh? Tsk tsk tsk."

Ultimately, Jia Lian saw the scene he had hoped for: the majority of people supported the plan.

The proposal was subsequently approved, and the Ministry of Revenue was authorized to allocate funds to rebuild the Shuntian Prefecture government office in Tongzhou.

Well, it's normal that the cabinet members opposed this matter; they didn't want to cause trouble. It's also normal that others supported it, since Shuntian Prefecture isn't inside the city, and there are far fewer people entering and leaving the city.

On his way home from get off work, Jia Lian looked out the window from his carriage. The streets had become much narrower with development. But widening the roads in the inner city was too difficult.

The management of roads within the inner city falls under the jurisdiction of the Five City Garrison Command, an office with far too much power.

"Never mind, I'll think about it later," the thought flashed through his mind, but for Jia Lian, there were more important things to focus on.

In terms of modernity, the area inside the city is far inferior to the area outside.

The Rongguo Mansion, though seemingly luxurious, occupies such a large area, which is a waste of land.

The land utilization rate in this so-called elite residential area in the west of the city is truly appalling.

The area outside Xizhimen is developing rapidly, with residential areas clustered together around heavy industrial plants. In the distance, under the setting sun, huge chimneys of distant factories belch black smoke, and Jia Lian sighs silently.

Polluting enterprises in modern society are powerful symbols in this era.

Steelmaking companies have always had strict requirements for technological iteration, but it's become very difficult.

We can only try to minimize pollution near the Tanggu coal mine, where coal washing and coking are carried out.

The thought of pollution and the era of burning coal is too heavy; it was something that couldn't be avoided.

With the completion of the railway, Shanxi's coal industry entered an era of large-scale development, bringing with it a host of shady dealings and corrupt officials. Faced with enormous profits, Shanxi officials once again showed signs of rising in power. Shanxi, being relatively close to Beijing, has a long and tumultuous history, and cannot be ignored.

Jia Lian thought of Shanxi and fell into deep thought again, pondering how to continuously rectify the situation in Shanxi.

In North America, the U.S. government is increasingly aware of the serious challenges posed by competition from the West Coast.

It was better when the population was small, but the immigration during the Napoleonic Wars, coupled with the inhumane actions of the British government, led to a large number of Irish immigrants migrating.

The US government is acutely aware of the pressure brought about by the population, and internal conflicts are extremely intense.

At this point, it was necessary to find a target to shift the pressure externally. After looking around, two targets emerged: Mexico and Donghua State.

The US government had barely had time to celebrate the recent takeover of Florida from Spain when a piece of bad news arrived.

The three countries of East China, Mexico, and Peru formed the American Military Defense Alliance.

If any one of these three countries is attacked, it can ask the other two countries for help.

Mexico has huge silver mines, and Mexico is a country with a silver standard currency. While it might seem unreasonable to bring Peru into the alliance, it's actually quite logical. This country produces copper and saltpeter.

Copper and saltpeter are the most important resources for military enterprises today. Donghua State's formation of a three-nation defense alliance is obviously aimed at who?

It is unacceptable for the United States to back down at this point, so the US has no choice but to begin deploying forces to the border area.

Given the lesson learned from the previous burning of the White House by Canadian militia, the US government is taking a more cautious approach this time.

First, mobilize the media to proclaim that the United States is a land of destiny, and its citizens have the right to go to their promised land.

What is the Promised Land? It can be either southwards or westwards.

To advance westward, they would have to cross the mountains, ford the Missouri River, and kill the natives.

With the help of the Eastern China, the indigenous people of the Americas maintained a population of about three million. They lived in the mountains and used the limited arable land to switch from nomadic to settled agriculture.

Initially, the westward expansion of civilian populations did not yield significant results. The indigenous people, reinforced by the Donghua Kingdom, were even more powerful than the American immigrants.

The sight of militiamen wielding smoothbore muskets against natives armed with rifled guns was simply unimaginable to Americans.

Within six months, those adventurers who responded to the government's propaganda were constantly killed by the natives, with only a small number of pioneers escaping back.

As tensions escalated, the indigenous people's poor organization became apparent when the states spontaneously formed their own armies. After being repeatedly defeated, they retreated completely into the mountains.

In response to this reality, Donghua State descended into a state of fragmented conflict. First, the northern and central regions secretly formed an alliance, expanding the NATO-like alliance. In the south, Li Heng directly dispatched troops to kill and drive away militias that had entered Texas territory, ultimately leading to a conflict with a militia organization from a US state before the end of the year.

The conflict involved more than 10,000 troops on both sides, which is considered a large-scale conflict.

The state militias suffered heavy losses against the well-trained Southern army. A force of over 7,000 was first cut off from its supply lines, then defeated in a direct confrontation, and during their retreat, were relentlessly pursued by 3,000 cavalry. Ultimately, the state militia returned with fewer than 1,000 men, a truly devastating defeat.

The victorious Li Heng released several prisoners and sent them to the United States to deliver a message prohibiting American forces from entering Texas.

Presumably, the scale of the skirmishes with the south, north, and central regions was not large, with the largest being a battle involving only a thousand people, without the participation of regular troops.

Unable to accept the situation of the indigenous tribes being driven into the mountains, Jia Zhi immediately contacted Xue Fang, and each side sent 20,000 troops to give a resolute counterattack to the US military that had provoked the border conflict.

The Americans weren't stupid either. After defeating the natives, they accelerated the construction of their defense system while sending messengers to negotiate.

Facing the envoy from the US state government who came to negotiate, Jacques made it clear to him that the previous border friction and the relationship between the two sides had already been clarified. The US side had broken the agreement and launched an attack on the natives, which was an act of provoking war. It was too late to come for peace talks now, because starting a war is easy, but ending it is not.

Xue Fang was getting old, so he handed over command to Jia Zhi.

Based on intelligence brought back by caravans over the years, Jia Zhi devised a bold tactic: to concentrate two regular infantry divisions and advance directly into the Great Lakes region. That area was an American industrial base; the objective was not occupation, but destruction, followed by a swift withdrawal.

After the tactics were decided, a large amount of military supplies were transported to the front along the Missouri River, and a cavalry infantry division from the central province went to the turning point of the Missouri River to converge.

The most crucial aspect of this long-distance raid was the supply of provisions along the way. Therefore, Jia Zhi ordered each unit to carry sufficient money and rations, and to purchase as much food and fodder as possible from the local people along the route.

It can only be said that Jia Zhi was too kind, but she also grasped a mindset of American immigrants: what does the government have to do with my interests?

As long as I can make money, selling some grain is nothing. Donghua State doesn't collect taxes from me; it's the state and central governments that collect taxes from me.

Of course, the tax collection agencies in the United States are still rather inadequate at the moment; the Federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) hadn't even been established yet.

The United States was completely unprepared for this large-scale troop deployment. When Jacques commanded the force, he sent messengers to all the towns along the way to demand their surrender.

As long as the town chooses to surrender, the army can pass through without harm, and even spends money to buy food and supplies, which are given in Donghua silver coins. This currency is a hard currency in North America and can be used to buy any product from Dongda.

Jia Zhi's attempt to persuade the fortress to surrender failed from the start, leaving him with no choice but to order his artillery to bombard the fortress.

Although it was just a recoilless gun, the power of the high-explosive shell overturned the current understanding of Americans. While they were constantly praying to God, the wall collapsed.

The infantry, armed with heavy bolts, charged into the town, and felled anyone carrying a weapon.

After capturing the first town that refused to surrender, the locals discovered that these Donghua soldiers were far more reasonable than their own soldiers.

No robbery, no rape, and you even pay for things you buy—are you really here to fight a war?
Thank God!

(End of this chapter)