Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

In Jinling, the night is deep and the lobby of the Ministry of Revenue in the temporary capital is brightly lit.

There were more than a dozen desks in the hall. Under the bright candlelight, each desk was piled with account books of various ages.

A dozen or so clerks from the Ministry of Revenue were toiling at their desks, carefully checking various account books and occasionally taking notes. The crisp sound of abacus could be heard one after another.

They have been busy with the same thing these days, checking and verifying the confiscated property of the Zhen family in Jinling.

Since the imperial edict was issued by Shenjing a few days ago, the eldest branch of the Zhen family has been charged with an even more serious crime because they communicated with dignitaries in Shenjing and hid private property at home during their imprisonment.

The eldest son, Zhen Yingjia, and his family and children were convicted and exiled to Lingnan for fifteen years.

Zhen Yingjia and his wife are nearly fifty years old, and it is hard to say whether they can return to their hometown alive.

The thirteen boxes of gold and silver that they thought they could rely on turned out to be the source of disaster that dragged their family into the abyss again.

Long Wei's wrath did not stop there. The original imperial decree ordered the confiscation of 70% of the Zhen family's wealth, but this time it was upgraded to confiscation of all.

The disaster also spread to the side branches of the Zhen family. Within a month, all the main and concubine wives within three generations of the Zhen family were ordered to move out of Jinling and were taken to Tongzhou for detention and settlement.

The reason why the Zhen family was convicted and their property was confiscated this time was because the eldest branch of the family was involved in the private manufacture of muskets, but eventually all the branches within three generations were implicated.

Zhen Yingjia's elders, peers and cousins ​​suffered an unexpected disaster overnight, and the severity of the emperor's crime shocked the entire Jinling city.

Many of the ignorant common people secretly whispered that the current emperor was implicated too heavily and that innocent people were implicated.

However, among the officials and people of Jinling, anyone who had some strategy and insight could appreciate the profound meaning of Emperor Jiazhao's move.

The Zhen family has deep roots in Jinling, is wealthy and powerful, making a fortune every day. They enjoy great prestige among the Jiangnan nobles, and they worry that they will be able to command the support of hundreds of people.

The young and strong generation of the eldest branch of the Zhen family dared to plan and privately manufacture muskets. The Zhen family in Nanjing is so powerful and wealthy that it cannot but be said that they have harbored rebellious intentions.

The branch of the Zhen family seems to have suffered innocently, but the brothers of the family are all in charge of the business of the direct lineage. They have connections throughout Jiangnan and should not be underestimated.

Emperor Jiazhao was already wary of those who coveted firearms, and the involvement of a wealthy family like the Zhen family of Nanjing made him even more vigilant and ruthless.

If Emperor Jia Zhao had not been concerned about the reputation of the retired emperor, he would not have wanted to create discord between father and son, which would have put the royal family in danger.

The direct line of the Zhen family may not be able to escape the disaster of extermination. The Du family in Jinling was a lesson for them.

Emperor Jia Zhao exiled Zhen Yingjia's family to a remote area in Lingnan, and moved the three generations of the Zhen family's main branch and other branches to Tongzhou for detention.

This was a complete destruction of the century-old foundation of the Jinling Zhen family in Jiangnan in one fell swoop. The means were ruthless and bold, and it also served as a warning to the Jiangnan aristocratic families.

The descendants of the Zhen family who were exiled to Tongzhou became rootless because all the property of the Zhen family had been confiscated.

When they came to Tongzhou, where they were unfamiliar with the people and the place, it was difficult for them to even make a living.

The government had also arranged their livelihoods long ago; they could rent government land and cultivate it for a living.

In ten years at most, these descendants of wealthy and luxurious families in Jinling will be transformed into farmers who work in the fields for a living, and will no longer be able to do anything presumptuous.

Sixteen years ago, the Du family fell, and the evil spirits in Jiangnan had been dormant for many years. The disaster of the Zhen family in Nanjing now is nothing more than the emperor setting an example.

The king rules the world and exerts his power over all the seas. He says that benevolent people rule the people, but in his heart he is cruel and heartless, and the world is unkind.

On the scale of weighing the pros and cons of the country, human feelings, compassion, and legal principles are all insignificant weights.

……

While these clerks in the Ministry of Revenue were busy with their paperwork, an official from the Ministry of Revenue wearing the uniform of a sixth-rank official was patrolling back and forth among the desks.

He is Jia Cong’s best friend and Liu Bi, the eldest grandson of Emperor Wenzong Liu Jing’an.

Liu Bi came from a family of officials and scholars with seven Jinshi (imperial examination candidates) in the family. He was taught by his grandfather since childhood and was also an outstanding person in his academic performance.

He was ranked among the upper second class in the Spring Examination, and according to common sense, he should have been able to enter the Hanlin Academy as a scholar.

However, he unexpectedly failed in the imperial examination of the Hanlin Academy and lost the qualification to be selected as a scholar-official. This mystery remains an unsolved case to this day.

But there is more to it than that. As the grandson of Emperor Wenzong, his grandfather had many old friends and connections in Beijing, so he could have stayed in Beijing to serve as an official.

But in the end, he did not even have the opportunity to observe government affairs in the six ministries, and was sent by the Ministry of Personnel to Chun'an County in the south as a county magistrate.

Liu Bi served as the magistrate of Chun'an County for three years. He had excellent political achievements and was rated first-class by the Ministry of Personnel. He was then transferred to be the director of the Ministry of Works in the secondary capital.

Although he still could not return to Beijing to serve as an official and enjoy family life, he was promoted one level, which was neither too good nor too bad.

Jinling was the secondary capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a prosperous city in the south of the Yangtze River, and a place where culture and art converged.

Liu Bi had been an official here for half a year and had completely adapted to living in Nanjing. Last month, he brought his wife to Nanjing to settle down.

Because he was familiar with the flow of money and grain when he was the magistrate of Chun'an County, he was in charge of coordinating and supervising the confiscation of Zhen's wealth.

When he inspected to the first desk in the front row, the clerk who was checking the account books at the desk saw Liu Bi coming forward and hurriedly stood up and saluted.

He said, "Lord Liu, I checked the cash flow of several stores under the name of the Zhen family and found that there were quite a few deficits."

Liu Bi looked slightly serious and asked, "Where is the deficit and how much silver is missing?"

The clerk said, "In the two shops that I have checked, over the past year, people have been withdrawing a total of 200,000 taels of silver from the shops.

The person who withdrew the silver signed as Liu Xian, the manager of the Zhen family, and the silver was used for maritime trade.

I have checked the relevant accounts and found that part of the deposited silver was used to purchase commercial goods and to go out to sea for business via the Zhen family's fleet.

However, most of the deposited silver was idle, but in the subsequent account books, there was no record of the return of this silver, so it was considered a deficit. "

Liu Bi felt awe in his heart after hearing this. Even for the Jinling Zhen family who were extremely wealthy, two hundred thousand taels of silver was definitely not a small sum and could not help but arouse suspicion.

He did not dare to be negligent and began to walk around the desks, asking the clerks who checked the accounts whether they had found any suspicious points.

As a result, almost every clerk found similar situations when checking the Zhen family's account books.

Over the past year, large amounts of silver deposited in the Zhen family's shops and businesses in various locations have been transferred away one after another, and the remaining silver left on the books was just a cover-up.

Liu Bi had someone do a total calculation and found that the total amount of silver deposits that had been withdrawn from the shops was very huge and accounted for a large part of the Zhen family's wealth.

The reason for withdrawing these deposits was to use them for shipping and trade of the Zhen family fleet.

However, Liu Bi had been in office at the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing for half a year and had heard about all the major events in the city.

It is naturally clear that the Zhen Jiahai fleet went out to sea in May and encountered a hurricane in the East China Sea and never returned. It is rumored that the entire fleet has capsized in the sea.

In other words, this huge amount of silver deposits is now impossible to trace as the fleet responsible for long-distance trade has been destroyed.

Liu Bi was a man of great learning. He was born into a family of officials and was influenced by his father and grandfather's teachings since childhood.

Not only does he know that a career in politics is treacherous, but he also knows that there are all kinds of evil tricks in the world.

Although he had no clear evidence, his intuition told him that there must be something fishy about this matter.

Before the Zhen family fell into ruin, such a large amount of silver flowed out quietly from the Zhen family's various properties, and in the end it could not be traced. This was too coincidental and weird.

Liu Bi said to the clerk beside him: "Set up a special case to check the accounts and record the outflow of money from each store one by one, with detailed information.

In addition to the outflow of deposits, the Zhen family’s shops, houses and other real estate must also be checked one by one to verify whether there have been frequent changes within the year.

All the paperwork must be prepared tonight, and tomorrow morning I will report this matter to the Minister."

……

Jinling, Hongchun Medical Clinic.

This clinic has only been open for two years, but it is already quite famous in Jinling City, with a constant stream of people seeking medical treatment every day.

The reason why the clinic has such a scene is not only because the clinic employs doctors with superb medical skills and benevolent hearts and good medical skills.

Moreover, because the clinic's consultation fees were affordable and the prices were fair, it often provided medical treatment and free medicine to the lonely and poor families in the city, which earned it a good reputation.

Although the Hongchun Clinic was very prosperous, no one dared to blackmail or provoke the local thugs and powerful people.

The root cause is that the owner of the clinic is quite extraordinary, which makes the local crows and rats very afraid of him.

Because Hongchun Medical Clinic is a property of Jinling Xinchunhao, and behind Xinchunhao stands Weiyuan Earl Jia Cong.

He is a well-known important minister of the emperor, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and the head of a fifth-rank official of the Ministry of Works. With such a reputation as his protector, naturally no one dares to cause trouble.

……

Back then, Qu Hongxiu and Jia Cong founded the Embroidery and Incense Shop in Shenjing and adopted many orphans who had fled famine.

After being educated and enlightened, these young men and women have now become the backbone of Xinchunhao's branches across the country.

As Xinchunhao continues to expand, the business needs more reliable manpower.

After Qu Hongxiu and Qin Keqing gained a foothold in Jinling, they adopted orphans and abandoned girls from all over Jiangnan, selecting those with outstanding qualifications for education.

In order to treat the illnesses of these orphans, the Hongchun Medical Clinic was specially opened and good doctors from Jiangnan were hired.

The clinic also treated poor people, as a way of saving the world.

...These days, the clinic admitted an old lady in her sixties, who was formerly the old lady of the Zhen family in Jinling.

Since the imperial edict from the capital came down again, the Zhen family's misfortune has worsened. The eldest branch of the family was exiled to Lingnan, and the rest of the family were detained and relocated to Tongzhou, and all their property was confiscated.

After all, Mrs. Zhen is an elderly person and has enjoyed a life of luxury and wealth.

Now faced with such a huge change in his family, he was devastated both physically and mentally, and finally fell ill.

Less than ten days after the imperial edict was issued, all branches of the Zhen family were escorted to Tongzhou.

But Mrs. Zhen was so old and seriously ill, and she was bound to die on the way after traveling thousands of miles.

This time, Emperor Jia Zhao severely punished the Zhen family, but he did not kill any member of the Zhen family, which was considered a special favor.

Jia Yucun, the prefect of Yingtian and Wang Zhangjiang, a captain of the Imperial Guard, who were in charge of the case in Nanjing, were well aware of the truth behind it.

It is nothing more than that the current emperor takes into account the feelings of the retired emperor and thinks of the old Concubine Zhen who passed away less than a year ago.

If the Zhen family were to be detained and relocated thousands of miles away, the oldest old lady in the Zhen family would eventually be forced to death.

Not only did the Emperor Jiazhao's mercy of not killing anyone be tarnished, but it also left him with a grudge and did not look good in front of the retired emperor.

Besides, an old woman is irrelevant to the Zhen family case and the emperor's intentions, so there is no need to create trouble for her.

Therefore, after Jia Yucun and Wang Zhangjiang discussed it, they asked each branch of the Zhen family to set off in time so as not to delay the emperor's will.

Leaving Old Lady Zhen in Nanjing for medical treatment will preserve the good governance of the Emperor and the imperial court.

After Mrs. Zhen recovers from her illness, she will be escorted to Tongzhou.

However, according to these officials, Mrs. Zhen was already old, and birth, aging, sickness and death were common things.

The court arranged for the old lady to receive medical treatment, and it had fulfilled its moral duty. The best case scenario was that the old lady died without any medical treatment, and everyone would be cleared.

However, when Yingtian Prefecture sent Madam Zhen for medical treatment, several famous clinics in Jinling City only prescribed warming and nourishing prescriptions to relieve the symptoms and declined to admit her.

The entire Zhen family was ransacked, and everyone in the streets and alleys knew about it. At such a gloomy moment, who would want to be associated with the Zhen family?

Besides, Mrs. Zhen was old and frail, and she had suffered severe physical and mental trauma, so her condition was very dangerous.

Now the government has sent the patient for treatment. If he dies, the clinic will be sued for nothing. Who would want to take on such a bad opportunity?

In the end, it was the doctor at Hongchun Clinic who volunteered to admit Old Lady Zhen to the clinic for treatment.

There are many speculations among the public about the benevolence and medical treatment of Hongchun Medical Clinic.

The most talked-about thing is the close relationship between Jinling Xinchunhao and Weiyuan Bo, who was once engaged to the third daughter of the Zhen family.

This is the real reason why Hongchun Medical Clinic extended a helping hand to the impoverished Old Lady Zhen.

……

After Old Lady Zhen moved into the clinic, she was only served by an old woman.

The doctor at the clinic prescribed some herbal medicine for her recovery, but over the past few days, Mrs. Zhen's condition remained unstable and she was unable to get out of bed and walk.

In fact, the old lady was not seriously ill, but her family was in decline, she was depressed and her heart disease was difficult to cure.

On this day, Old Lady Zhen was resting in her room. The maid brought her a bowl of porridge. The old lady only took a few bites and found it difficult to swallow.

At this time, the servant of the clinic came in and said that someone came to visit the old lady.

Old Lady Zhen and the maidservants all felt strange. How could anyone still come to visit the Zhen family when they had fallen into such a state and were now so destitute that they had to live in a clinic?

When the middle-aged man who came to see her entered the room, both Old Lady Zhen and the old woman were surprised...

It was not until sunset that the visiting middle-aged man left alone.

……

At noon the next day, the Yingtian government received a report from Hongchun Medical Clinic that Old Madam Zhen had died the night before.

When Jia Yucun heard the news, he was a little surprised, but not too surprised.

Ever since Old Madam Zhen was admitted to the clinic, there have been people from the government office spying and monitoring her. The old lady has been seriously ill and unable to get out of bed.

It is difficult for a woman of this age to live long in this condition.

So according to the usual practice, the government officials were sent to the clinic to check it out.

As soon as the chief constable of the government office arrived at the door of the clinic, he saw a thin coffin being carried out of the clinic, emitting an unpleasant stench.

The doctor at the clinic had a white cloth covering his face as he led the coffin over the threshold and prepared to head towards the west of the city.

The head constable covered his mouth and nose and walked forward, frowning and asking, "Didn't they say the old lady died last night? How come her body smells so bad in less than a day?"

The doctor in the clinic said, "Your Excellency, you don't know that the old lady is very old and has lost her vitality. She is already a withered body.

Although he died just last night, corpse spots appeared soon after. In addition, it is midsummer and Nanjing is extremely hot, so the corpse decayed very quickly.

Originally, they wanted to keep the body and wait for officials to inspect it, but the smell was too strong. Leaving it in the clinic would not only scare the patients, but would also attract epidemics, which would inevitably lead to a disaster.

Since the official has arrived in time, we will open the museum for him to inspect."

The doctor covered his mouth and nose with his hands and asked someone to bring a crowbar to open the coffin.

When the captain heard the word "epidemic" and saw the doctor covering his head and face with a white cloth as if facing a great enemy, he felt a little frightened and quickly covered his mouth and nose and stepped back a few steps.

He waved his hand impatiently and said, "What's so good about a dead old woman? The smell is too bad. Hurry and bury her outside the city. It's unlucky!"

……

Jinling, Dazaimen, Xinchunhao Jiangnan Head Office.

In the inner room on the second floor, Qin Keqing was wearing a light purple embroidered double-breasted jacket, a light yellow tube top, and a pink long skirt.

Her eyebrows were as dark as indigo, her skin was as white as jade, her eyes were as clear as autumn water, and a red phoenix hairpin with kingfisher feathers and ruby ​​was inserted in her black hair, which sparkled brightly in the afternoon sun.

She was checking the accounts sent in from branches across the country when the door curtain was suddenly lifted and Ruizhu and Baozhu carried a copper container filled with crushed ice into the room.

A white cold air emanated from the copper mirror, and the room suddenly felt cool.

Qin Keqing smiled and said, "This rare thing is really useful. After getting used to it, I really can't live without it."

Baozhu smiled and said, "Brother Cong was still thinking about Sister Xiu and the young lady, and wrote the ice-making method in detail in the letter.

The materials were sent from far away before summer even started. Ruizhu and I were able to make useful ice bricks after just a few attempts. We don’t have to worry about the extreme heat in Jinling.”

The door curtain was lifted again, and Qu Hongxiu, dressed in a green shirt and gown, walked into the room. She had a pretty face, a waist of about one foot, and a slim figure.

Qin Keqing flipped through the account book and said, "Sister Xiu, you have good vision. Although Miss Zou is a novice, her mind and methods are quite impressive.

In the past few months that she has been managing the Suzhou branch, the store's cash flow has improved by more than 20% compared to the previous few months."

Qu Hongxiu curled his lips slightly and said, "It's not my vision that's good, it's Brother Cong's vision that's good.

Any woman who gets involved with him is not a nobody. His fate is strange, how can he be so provocative?

Don't forget that there is more than one Miss Zou in Gusu, there is also an even more outstanding Miss Zhen San."

After hearing this, Keqing sighed helplessly. Miss Zhen San naturally knew that it was Keqing who arranged and managed her house outside Gusu City.

This Zhen family girl was quite influential. Not only was she the boss of the Zhen family's business, she almost married his younger brother Cong. Fortunately, it didn't work out...

Qin Keqing said, "Sister Xiu, Miss Zhen San and Brother Cong were once granted marriage by the palace, and the royal family has made it a done deal.

After Brother Cong has passed the mourning period, will the palace bring up the old matter again?"

Qu Hongxiu shook his head and said, "If it was in the past, they could really accomplish it, but now that the Zhen family has been confiscated and ruined, this is no longer possible.

Brother Cong is a minister highly valued by the emperor. He now holds two titles and is the direct head of the Jia family. His status is very noble.

For reasons of patriarchal etiquette, the reputation of the court, and both public and private, he cannot marry the daughter of a criminal family. This matter is irreversible."

After hearing this, Qin Keqing couldn't help but feel relieved, but then she felt a little discouraged.

Miss Zhen is the daughter of a sinner. How can I be better than her? We are all the same...

Qu Hongxiu said: "Although I don't like Brother Cong to cause trouble everywhere, he and Miss Zhen are destined to be together, so it's not his fault.

Although the Zhen family in Jinling has been confiscated and ruined, it seems that there are some risks in continuing to associate with her family.

But I agree with Brother Cong helping Miss Zhen, so he wrote to me twice, asking us to help Miss Zhen, and we did our best."

Qin Keqing felt strange when she heard this. They lived together day and night, so she knew that Qu Hongxiu's feelings for Jia Cong were not those of a master and a disciple.

Even though I helped Brother Cong settle Miss Zou last time, I was still sulking for a few days in private.

Miss Zhen almost married Brother Cong. Sister Xiu should be more jealous and angry about Brother Cong helping her, but why is she willing in her heart? (End of this chapter)