Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 732 The Late Emperor's Arrangements

Li Wan was very upset. This teacher had always been an excellent person; while other teachers were strict, Shen Lei was always lenient. Shen Lei had always been her favorite teacher.

"Sir, how could this be?" Unable to find an answer, Li Wan specifically sought advice from Jia Lian.

"Your Majesty, since the day you were born, have you had any bad people around you?" Jia Lian asked with a smile.
Li Wan... Yes, even those strict teachers are not bad, are they?

"Whether it's good or bad depends on your position at the time. The most important thing in this world is fairness, so the most crucial aspect of governing a country is the governance of its officials. The two previous emperors understood this very clearly, which is why they frequently sent their ministers south to rectify official corruption and crack down on powerful clans. Your Majesty, you can also use your ministers to do these things." Jia Lian made his point very clear: becoming the Grand Secretary wasn't something that fell from the sky; he was capable of doing things and doing good things.

"Sir, is Jiangnan really that important? It has led to the two former sage rulers making several reorganizations." Li Wan raised the most perplexing question.

"Jiangnan boasts golden waterways, fertile lands, and is a major source of tax revenue for the entire nation. How could it not be important? Jiangnan's commerce and industry are thriving, and the wealthy locals, having amassed their fortunes, naturally cannot be content with the status quo. They need greater power to protect their interests and ensure their continued existence. This is human nature. How to guarantee greater profits? Of course, through collusion between officials and gentry. Officials throughout the land are also from gentry families; they are naturally aligned. If Your Majesty does not crack down on corruption, they will easily join the corrupt ranks. Now, with the system of rotating officials, officials are transferred after one or two terms. What does their future have to do with them? Therefore, the governance of officials must be constantly and relentlessly pursued. The slightest slackening will lead to deeply entrenched problems. Your Majesty, you must not test human nature!"

Jia Lian didn't know anything about Shen Lei's past or the Shen family's past; he hadn't looked into it. However, according to the Inspectorate's records, the Shen family used to be relatively well-behaved.

This is often the case in this era: a family prospers because a high-ranking official is produced.

When Shen Lei was the Imperial Tutor, he probably did have some control over his clansmen, or he was more discreet in his actions. Now that he's a Grand Secretary, he can't hide it anymore.

The saying goes, "Once you have power in your hands, you can issue orders." This is a very normal mentality.

The Shen family's affairs could not withstand investigation. Evidence from all sides was quickly established. After Li Wan repeatedly refused Shen Lei's requests to see her, Shen Lei claimed to be ill and stayed at home, refusing to come out.

It is clear that Shen Lei understood Li Wan. He wanted to take advantage of the emperor's sentimental nature to secure a good outcome for himself and his family. His voluntary retreat did not mean he had no chance to make a comeback.

The main purpose of doing this was to tell the emperor that I would not put His Majesty in a difficult position.

As a result, Li Wan indeed felt guilty and felt sorry for Mr. Shen.

When Jia Lian found out, he couldn't help but sigh. This person was extremely intelligent, but unfortunately, he didn't use his brain for the right thing.

The trio of Shen Lei, Fei Yun, and Ou Zhendong were the team Li Yuan left behind for Li Wan. Judging from their hometowns, it's easy to guess why Jia Lian resigned so quickly.

Representatives from three economically developed provinces are in the cabinet. If these three don't fight amongst themselves, everything will transition smoothly after Jia Lian retires. Li Wan will then smoothly seize power.

However, it is clear that the three have not formed an alliance, at least Ou Zhendong has not been involved in the so-called alliance.

Li Yuan had fully considered the pressure caused by Jia Lian's prestige, but he still didn't expect that before Jia Lian had even officially retired, Shen Lei would be the first of the three to be taken down.

What shocked Li Wan the most was the Shen family's Fuxing Commercial Company, which actually borrowed ten million yuan from the bank without collateral, with the central bank acting as guarantor. They really treated the central bank like their own private property.

After the money was lent out, it was found that the Shen family used this 10 million yuan as principal to open their own Fuxing Bank.

What angered Li Wan the most was that the bank had been operating for six months without a license.

As for why the license wasn't obtained, it's naturally due to internal strife within the central bank's top ranks. It's not that they refuse to process it, but if your documents aren't complete, they can only delay it.

This high-ranking official happens to have the surname Xia! He is a descendant of a former powerful figure in the inner court, a true-blue member of the emperor's own faction.

Li Wan specifically called Xia Gang over to ask him why he wouldn't process the paperwork.

Xia Gang was prepared and took out the Shen family's application materials, which consisted of only a dozen or so pages: "The late emperor had already decreed that no more nationwide banks would be approved, but the Shen family submitted information on nationwide banks, and unfortunately, many of the documents were missing. I had no choice but to ask them to supplement the materials. Who would have thought that the Shen family would dare to open for business directly? Back then, the Prince of Donghua was so favored that he even controlled the central bank, yet he only opened a few money shops to lend money. For this little bit of money, the Prince of Donghua was even demoted by Prince Chenghui."

Xia Gang's example here is particularly egregious. Using Li Heng as an example fully illustrates the arrogance and domineering nature of the Shen family.

"You know about the guarantee you provided for the Shen family, right?" Li Wan was filled with mixed emotions. Good heavens, really good heavens. Li Heng, who had failed in his bid for the throne, had stumbled because of this.

Xia Gang laughed and said, "Your Majesty, this is not under my jurisdiction."

Li Wan nodded, as long as it wasn't deliberately targeting the Shen family.

Xia Gang thought to himself, "That bastard is really cunning. He's really good at playing hard to get."

The bank issue was indeed the final straw for Shen Lei. Li Wan could easily protect him in other matters, at most she'd be called a "tyrant." However, having the central bank guarantee a ten million yuan unsecured loan and daring to operate without a license was an intolerable red line.

The Shen family was in such a hurry because opening a bank was incredibly lucrative. Moreover, only five nationwide banking licenses were ever issued. One of them, the Sihai Bank, was held by the Xue family.

Li Wan convened another cabinet meeting to discuss Shen Lei's matter. After Huang Jin read out a section of the investigation results, the meeting ended without mentioning the bank.

Jia Lian continued to pretend to be mute and deaf, sitting there without saying a word.

The others didn't speak either, not because they didn't want to, but because they were unwilling to take the risk.

"Does the gentleman have something to say?" Li Wan turned to look at Jia Lian, hoping he would speak up.

"Prime Minister Shen is the Emperor's tutor, and he must be given the respect due to him. Those members of the Shen family who should be arrested should be arrested, those who should be tried should be tried, those who should be sentenced should be sentenced, those who should be dismissed should be dismissed, and those who should be compensated should be compensated. After the relevant matters are settled, His Majesty can issue a pardon to preserve this teacher-student relationship. In this way, justice will be served for the people, and His Majesty's face will be saved. Other officials involved must be severely punished."

Jia Lian guessed Li Wan's thoughts, and every word he spoke struck a chord with her.

Li Wan secretly admired him, thinking that he was indeed a veteran of three dynasties, and that he was thorough, steady, and meticulous in his work.

A satisfied Li Wan smiled and looked at everyone, saying, "Do any of you have any objections?"

Those present were all seasoned veterans; everyone could see that Li Wan was very satisfied, so naturally they had no objections.

As for Shen Lei personally, everyone refrained from mentioning him, since Shen Lei's fate could only be decided by the emperor.

When the results came out, Shen Lei found out at home and his opinion of Jia Lian changed immediately. He used to think Jia Lian was a cunning old man, but now he realized that Jia Lian was a highly venomous snake that would kill him with one bite.

What does it mean to fulfill the bond between master and disciple? Isn't this just helping the emperor sever ties with him? What's the point of talking about the bond between master and disciple after this?
What chance does the Shen family, or even Shen Lei personally, have of rising again? Yes, out of respect for the Emperor, others won't completely destroy the Shen family, but they can isolate and suppress them. The Shen family's vast business scale is built on Shen Lei's high-ranking position in the court; once Shen Lei steps down, everything will disappear. At most, they can still keep the shops in their hometown for rent.

The Shen family still wants to be the leaders of some life-or-death industry? Dream on.

To Shen Lei's even greater surprise, the emperor came to his door that night.

As the emperor and his minister sat facing each other in the study, Shen Lei readily admitted defeat, saying, "Your Majesty, this old minister has failed in his duty to discipline his clansmen and should therefore step down. Your Majesty has spared the Shen clan; this old minister is deeply grateful!"

As he spoke, he stood up and gave Li Wan a deep bow, and Li Wan quickly got up to help him.

What Li Wan really wanted to hear was for Shen Lei to bring up the topic of the bank and give a plausible explanation.

However, Shen Lei didn't mention a word about it, as if the incident had never happened.

Li Wan stood there for half an hour, listening to Shen Lei talk about the past without mentioning the bank, and suddenly felt disheartened.

After leaving the Shen family and returning to the palace, Li Wan was puzzled as to why Shen Lei refused to mention the bank matter. Did he really think it was unimportant?
Li Wan pulled out a small booklet left by Li Yuan, which was specifically about banking matters.

"If money can't buy anything, it's just a piece of waste paper, a cold lump of wood. The most important thing for banks to focus on is to help businesses produce more products through the operation of money."

This was the first sentence Li Yuan left in the booklet, and Li Wan continued reading.

"In the past, the late emperor pioneered the banking system with the intention of collecting money from the people to alleviate the shortage of national funds. However, this is not a long-term solution..."

Li Yuan had a habit of keeping records, writing down many things and adding his personal interpretations.

Since Li Wan ascended the throne, I haven't had time to look at it. Today, I'm really puzzled, so I specially dug out the section on banks to take a look.

Once she started reading, Li Wan became completely engrossed and read through all twenty booklets left by Li Yuan.

This resulted in Li Wan not handling state affairs for ten consecutive days. He also ignored the memorials sent to him by the cabinet for approval unless they were particularly urgent.

After reading it, Li Wan realized that the arrangement made by Shen Lei, Fei Yun, and Ou Zhendong was deliberate.

Now that one of the three has left, who should fill the vacancy? In principle, it should be filled by a cabinet candidate, but that doesn't seem appropriate now, as neither of the two candidates are from Jiangnan.

Li Wan did not hold any meetings of the Imperial Cabinet for ten days, which caused tension among the cabinet and even the highest levels of the court. Was the emperor provoked?
Fortunately, Li Wan's handling of the Shen clan members was not delayed in being reviewed, which prevented it from having too much of an impact on the outer court.

The Shen family suffered a heavy blow; their business empire shrank completely, and their banks were forced to close down. All refunds and compensations were strictly enforced under official supervision.

The ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief when the emperor convened another cabinet meeting, and the emperor recovered.

"After Mr. Shen declined his request to retire due to illness three times, I had no choice but to approve it. As for who should be added to the cabinet, you may speak freely."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jia Lian immediately realized that the emperor had matured a lot; he had really grown up.

The old fox Jia Lian did not remain silent as usual, but instead smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this matter concerns Your Majesty's authority, and no one else may overstep it."

One sentence instantly cleared the eyes of the few people who were eager to try!
Li Wan glanced at Jia Lian speechlessly. She'd never seen him speak so enthusiastically before.

Regardless, Li Wan was not discouraged by his failed attempt to fish with a straight hook; on the contrary, he was quite pleased, proving that the old minister was indeed composed.

"According to my opinion, Governor-General of Huguang, Qian Xueren, will be added to the cabinet. What do you all think?"

This time, Jia Lian remained silent, closed his eyes to rest, and pretended to sleep.

The others looked at each other, and there were two other candidates for ministers who were eagerly waiting. Your Majesty, you can't do this.

However, since Jia Lian had made his point clear beforehand, no one dared to object, after all, Shen Lei's political life was still in danger.

If Jia Lian doesn't express his opinion, no one else even has the right to object. This is traditionally the job of the Grand Secretary. The Emperor is breaking the rules. Grand Secretary Jia, aren't you going to do something about it?

The matter passed smoothly. The two cabinet candidates can just wait. It's not their fault they're unlucky; they're not from Jiangnan and can't represent the interests of Jiangnan.

Li Wan decided to follow Li Yuan's arrangement and unite the forces of Jiangnan, Shanxi, and Guangdong provinces to check and balance Jia Lian, the Grand Secretary. With the addition of a military representative from the imperial family, the cabinet was now balanced.

This wasn't the result of Li Wan's sudden inspiration; it was something Li Yuan had always thought of. Whether Jia Lian, the prime minister, had any problems wasn't the key point; the key point was that he needed to be checked and balanced.

As for Jia Lian's voluntary resignation, Li Yuan clearly stated in his will that this was absolutely forbidden. Doing so would inevitably throw the court into chaos. Jia Lian must be allowed to serve for another five years to ensure a smooth transition.

According to Li Yuan's plan, Ou Zhendong should have been the second-in-command, Fei Yun the third, and Shen Lei the fifth. Unfortunately, Li Wan got it backwards.

Why was it Ou Zhendong, the Second Grand Secretary? Because Jia Lian had served in Guangdong and Guangxi and held immense prestige there. Using the prestige of the Second Grand Secretary as bait, they lured Ou Zhendong into a trap.

Ultimately, Li Yuan's arrangement stemmed from his concern that Jia Lian, the Grand Secretary, was too powerful and was suppressing imperial authority.

The reality is that the fears didn't materialize, but Li Yuan can no longer see them either. His schemes also failed to work because of Li Wan's selfish motives.

Jia Lian personally didn't blame the emperor for being cold-hearted; if he were the emperor, he would have done the same. There's no logic to it; whether you do it or not is one thing, but whether you can do it is the key.

As I said before, never test human nature. Why was Zhuge Liang elevated to such a high position? Because he had faced Wang Mang and Huo Guang before him.

From the perspective of imperial power, Jia Lian's arrangements for his clansmen, while seemingly posing little threat, were in reality not much either. What more could the emperor want with just one legitimate son in the navy?

Only those who have served in the military for many years truly understand Jia Lian's influence within the army. Neither Li Yuan nor Li Wan had extensive military experience, so they were simply unaware of his true extent.

(End of this chapter)