Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 751: Immortal

The old geezer Jia Lian has once again gathered a bunch of old fogies to write teaching materials together.

Furthermore, during the compilation of the textbooks, some content in vernacular Chinese was required to be included.

Jia Lian and a group of old scholars had a heated debate about the content of the vernacular text.

The core issue is: what is the purpose of education?
Confucius said, "In education, there should be no discrimination."

People have different levels of intelligence, and the world of geniuses and the world of ordinary people are completely different concepts.

So, should education focus on cultivating geniuses or on ordinary people?
On this topic, Jia Lian elaborated, arguing that the essence of education should be to include the vast majority of ordinary people, enabling them to acquire knowledge or a skill to make a living.

Based on this premise, the textbook should include as many articles as possible in vernacular Chinese.

Jia Lian also said that once an article is written, it should be made available to more people so that they can understand it. Otherwise, no matter how many principles you have, if others can't understand them, then it's all for nothing.
Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty would write poems and then read them aloud to an old woman by the roadside. Only if she could understand them would he publish them.

Is classical Chinese good? Yes, it is concise and to the point, conveying profound meaning in a few words. However, it must be considered in the context of its time. Ancient people wrote on bamboo slips, hence the saying "scribes." Under those conditions, wouldn't writing have to use as few words as possible? With the advancement of technology, the emergence of manufacturing, and the invention of printing, knowledge is no longer in the hands of a few. As official textbooks are compiled, they should use language that more people can understand to convey principles. Nowadays, government documents no longer use classical Chinese; they have a fixed format in vernacular Chinese, precisely so that ordinary people who can read can understand them.

These old scholars couldn't argue with Jia Lian, so they had no choice but to go along with him. Actually, it would have been fine if Jia Lian hadn't argued with them and had forced it through.

After compiling textbooks for several years, Jia Lian remained vigorous and energetic; some people couldn't wait for Jia Lian to die first and passed away before him.

All I can say is that as long as a person lives long enough, those who hate you will die with resentment.

It's not worth getting upset because of other people's jealousy and attacks. As long as you live happily, it's those who hate you who will suffer.

The Crown Prince's campaign to reform the bureaucracy started with the imperial family and relatives of the empress, targeting his own people first, then moving on to civil officials, another round of purges, and finally extending his reach to the army.

Before the Crown Prince could even take action against the army, a memorial arrived from Jia Shi, the commander of the Anxi Military Region, requesting to retire.

This caught the Crown Prince off guard. Although the royal family didn't say it aloud, they were still quite wary of Jia Shi, the local tyrant of Anxi, fearing that another An Lushan might emerge.

The main problem is that Anxi is a place with insufficient natural resources. In addition, it is located on the border. After the province was established, the actual power was still in the hands of the military region. The officials sent there often complained that without the approval of the army, it was difficult to promote anything and nothing could be done.

The reality is that once officials take office, they are eager to exercise power, completely disregarding the local conditions and wanting to implement their own system. Jia Shi, however, has his own ideas about local development plans. These officials didn't consult him beforehand and immediately started making things chaotic, so Jia Shi certainly couldn't tolerate them. The key issue is that the situation in Anxi is quite complex. Officially, the military holds absolute power, while the White Lotus sect controls the local areas. If officials from the imperial court go there, wouldn't it be difficult for them to exert their influence? And this doesn't even include the original local faction.

Furthermore, the local population was primarily nomadic, making it extremely difficult to register households and manage the population. Nomadism meant having no fixed abode, which made population control extremely challenging. The government's authority could only be exercised within towns and cities.

Jia Shi was the eldest son of the Eastern Palace and a true frontier bigwig in the Ministry of War. The Emperor and the Crown Prince were both planning to have him retire early, but he voluntarily requested to retire. Jia Shi's reason for retiring was quite compelling: he was over sixty, had spent half his life in Anxi, and it was time to return to his hometown. He wanted to return to his roots; even in death, he wanted to be buried in his ancestral grave.

Along with his retirement application came a detailed report on the situation in Anxi, covering all aspects and pointing out that some officials were applying inland experiences to the frontier, which was unacceptable. Jia Shi was still quite polite, not explicitly stating that the officials' true purpose was to seize financial power, but the implication was quite clear.

Once officials in border regions gain control of both military and political power, they can easily become too powerful to control. Therefore, military and political power must be separated.

Jia Shi was able to retire at the appropriate age, which is something others might not be able to do.

Emperor Li Wan, after reviewing Jia Shi's report, summoned the Crown Prince and told him that as the heir apparent, one should not judge a person by what they say, but by what they do. While those around him are familiar, one must still be wary; the familiar person he sees might be an actor. Of course, if they can maintain this facade forever, that's fine. The real danger lies in their two-faced nature.

The emperor warned the crown prince that when he ascended the throne, those around him also told him that Jia's influence in the army was too great and that he should be wary of her.

That's true, but we can't take it entirely at face value. Things depend on the time. Our dynasty is currently enjoying a golden age, and everything is looking up. The better this is, the more we need to change, and the more we need to constantly adjust to the changing circumstances. The most crucial thing in this is governance. While officials can be complacent after a long period of peace, the emperor cannot afford to be negligent.

Most importantly, as long as Jia Lian is alive, the emperor should not take the initiative to punish the Jia family.

The reason is simple: firstly, Jia Lian is over eighty years old and doesn't have many days left to live; he cares more about his posthumous reputation than anyone else. Jia Shi's voluntary retirement was likely arranged by Jia Lian.

The Jia family already has a territory in Donghua, so they won't cause trouble locally. During your grandfather's reign, Jia Lian's most typical move was establishing Annam as two separate provinces, forcing the Wang family to manage Siam and ultimately ceding Annam. Another example is the Burmese king's voluntary submission to the Chinese empire before Jia Lian's retirement. These two events weren't just about territorial expansion; more importantly, they demonstrate that Jia Lian consistently acted in the best interests of the country during his tenure.

It's not that Jia Lian had no selfish motives; otherwise, the situation where the northern part of Donghua was far stronger than the southern part, and in fact, autonomous, would not have occurred.

Jia Lian was very clear about boundaries; he would never touch anything that was beneath his control. As long as he was in power, no member of the Jia clan would cross those lines.

Li Wan had been watching what the Crown Prince was going to do, but she hadn't warned him. Only when things happened would people have a deep understanding of them.

The Crown Prince remained silent and took away more than a hundred memorials he had instigated his subordinates to impeach Jia Shi.

When Jia Shi, who had retired, returned home, he traveled along the edge of the desert and couldn't help but sigh, "The spring breeze does not reach Yumen Pass, when will the railway send me back?"
That's right, the railway still hasn't been built to Dihua. Building a railway on this section of the road is extremely difficult. The first problem to solve is the issue of sand encroachment and people retreating.

The imperial court has been working hard to gain control over the Western Regions and Anxi, but so far there have been no results.

After passing through Yumen Pass, Jia Shi boarded a train. When he arrived in Chang'an, an imperial edict was delivered, bestowing upon him the title of Duke of Dingxi in recognition of his achievements in expanding the borders over the years.

Yes, with Jia Shi in command of the Anxi Military Region, the Anxi army crossed the Caspian Sea and advanced the border by 500 kilometers. Tsarist Russia's influence in Central Asia was essentially eliminated.

This achievement is worthy of being granted the title of Duke; it is truly not an exaggeration. From then on, the Jia family produced three dukes.

When Jia Shi returned to the capital and met Jia Lian, he was accompanied by Zhen Yaoyao, who was carrying an urn. Upon learning that it contained Zhen Huan's ashes, Jia Lian was deeply moved. After talking with Jia Shi for several days, Jia Lian learned that although the White Lotus Sect still had a great influence in Anxi, it had become secularized.

The White Lotus sect doesn't mention the Eternal Mother or the Vacuum Homeland; instead, it advocates so-called mutual aid societies or communes.

This was due to the special circumstances in Anxi, especially for some nomadic groups, where the commune system ensured timely communication with the government.

Furthermore, Jia Shi has been promoting a settlement system. Although he has not achieved full settlement, a small portion of the former nomadic tribes have now settled down and started raising livestock.

It is clear that Jia Shi did a very good job in Anxi.

When it comes to animal husbandry, soybean meal is naturally indispensable. The territory of the King of Dongping has enough high-quality land, and although it is a cold and harsh place, it is not a problem to grow one crop a year.

The increase in the domestic population has brought continuous positive news to the demand for soybeans. Dongpingwang now supplies more than half of the domestic soybean demand with its own strength.

In reality, the Far East isn't a good place to grow soybeans. However, soybean cultivation is currently quite strictly regulated, with constant restrictions on the outflow of soybean seeds. The imperial court has even directly banned soybean exports, allowing only soybean meal to be exported.

Seed outflow is inevitable, but it is probably very difficult to produce high-quality soybean seeds with scarce varieties on a small scale and compete with domestic research institutions.

It can only be said that, because of Jia Lian's appearance, soybean research in this time and space started very early.

The Far East is not only a soybean-growing region, but also a prime rice-producing area. The Prince of Dongping makes a fortune selling rice every year.

The advantage was that this family enjoyed lasting wealth and prosperity; the disadvantage was that they became a large agricultural household, destined to become dependent on the inland regions. Whether their descendants could maintain autonomy over the future remains to be seen.

Jia Shi accompanied Zhen Yaoyao to send Zhen Huan's ashes back to Jinling. The Zhen family ancestral graves were still there, and Zhen Huan's ashes were finally buried there.

Not only was she denied recognition and public appearances during her lifetime, but being buried in the ancestral cemetery after her death also put an end to her obsession. However, the epitaph was rather simple, containing only Zhen Huan's name, nothing else. The family genealogy, on the other hand, dedicated a separate page to her life story. It didn't mention her affiliation with the White Lotus sect, only that she assisted the court in pacifying the borders in Anxi and was bestowed the title of Holy Maiden of Anxi.

Being vague simply means they can't explain it clearly. After all, the mainland isn't the frontier region of Anxi, so they still need to avoid mentioning it.

Jia Lian also went back to Jinling to visit the ancestral graves, but didn't choose a location. He had a guilty conscience and didn't know how long he would live, so he decided it was best not to confess.

Jia Lian, now over eighty, still eats and sleeps well and is in excellent spirits. Jia Shi, on the other hand, is starting to forget things—what can you say about that?

Following in the footsteps of the Middle Empire, the British built ironclad warships, sparking a military race in Europe.

After Wilhelm I of Germany passed the throne to Wilhelm II, the British and German royal cousins ​​maintained close economic ties but were also military rivals.

In the year that Tsarist Russia launched the eleventh Russo-Turkish War, Jia Lian was eighty-eight years old.

The war lasted two years, ending when Jia Lian was ninety years old. In terms of losses, the two sides were roughly evenly matched. This was naturally due to the fact that Tsarist Russia's military equipment was inferior to its opponent's, and strategically, the Ottomans adopted a layered defense approach to wear down the enemy. Furthermore, in the later stages of the war, when the Ottoman Turks were on the defensive, the Central Empire issued a strong warning demanding an immediate ceasefire, otherwise it would not stand idly by.

The Central Empire wasn't just talking; it was actually mobilizing its troops. On the naval front, a fleet had arrived in the Persian Gulf, and on the army front, at least twenty divisions were gathering at the border.

It can only be said that, due to the influence of the central empire, the Ottoman Empire, though weak, never collapsed. Every time it seemed on the verge of collapse, the central empire would intervene.

In other words, since the external situation is no longer a threat, the only option is to work on the internal situation.

In fact, because it once again withstood Tsarist Russia, the prestige of the Ottoman Turkish Pasha was enhanced both domestically and internationally.

After all, Tsarist Russia was known as the gendarmerie of Europe, and it had always acted arrogantly and domineeringly, relying on its population advantage.

When Jia Lian was ninety years old, Li Wan passed away first, and Crown Prince Li Chun ascended the throne. Including the retired emperor, Jia Lian had seen four emperors pass away.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, he did not grant a general amnesty, as this practice had been abolished during the reign of Emperor Li Yuan.

Although constitutional government is no longer in place, the emperor's control over the country is already somewhat weakened.

The reason is simple: governing a country is far more difficult now than it was in the past. Previously, it was primarily agrarian; with the advent of industrialization, new problems have emerged one after another.

The emperor's reliance on the cabinet and various ministries far exceeds that of the past.

The current imperial court is becoming increasingly segmented, with the emperor primarily controlling three key areas: military power, financial power, and personnel power.

They rarely touch administrative power, leaving it to the cabinet and various departments to handle.

Regarding military power, the structure of the Cabinet, the Navy, and the Army remained unchanged, and all generals were graduates of the Royal Military Academy. As the size of the army expanded, the Royal Military Academy also opened several branch campuses.

The size of the army is something that can't be controlled; it's been constantly increasing. The international situation, while not exactly stable, is certainly not peaceful in Europe, with everyone engaged in military buildup. The so-called total war concept originated with the Europeans. Secondly, the territory is too vast. While not fully accounted for, a rough estimate puts the empire's territory at around 15 million square kilometers.

Tsarist Russia, which had been repeatedly subdued by the Central Empire, finally bowed its head and sent a high-ranking delegation to the capital to make demands on the division of its territory.

(End of this chapter)