Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 245, Resting in the Back Hall

Tan Chun's words were reasonable and well-founded.

Although Aunt Zhao wanted to say something, she couldn't find the words to refute it.

Grandmother Jia, who was standing nearby, felt uncomfortable listening to this, as if Tan Chun was mocking someone.

In terms of age, Baoyu is older than Jia Huan...

However, Grandmother Jia was indeed reluctant to let Baoyu go out and suffer.

Previously, when Fang Yong implemented the land reclamation policy, the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family actively responded to the policy and handed over half of their land, thus obtaining two land office positions.

The Ning family gave the quota to Jia Rong, allowing him to enter the Land Bureau.

The position should have been given to Baoyu in the Rong Mansion, but Grandmother Jia was reluctant to let him go out and suffer. In the end, after much back and forth, she gave the position to Jia Cong, Jia She's illegitimate son.

However, Jia Cong was too young and not well-versed in his studies. He was only mediocre in both arithmetic and the Four Books and Five Classics, and ultimately failed the assessment, so the position was delayed.

As for Jia Huan, he entered the land office through proper channels and did not occupy a quota for the Jia family.

Now that Tan Chun had mentioned it, Grandmother Jia remembered this matter and brought it up with Tan Chun. Grandmother Jia said:
"Third Sister, that job as a land official is really too hard. Do you think you could talk to the Prince and give Baoyu a different, easier job instead?"

On the other side, Fang Yong told Jia She and others about the upcoming wedding.

There wasn't much to say; it was all explained in just a few words.

For Jia She, it was impossible not to envy that Ru Hai's daughter had such good fortune.

However, Lin Ruhai was very tight-lipped. The Jia family had no idea about the relationship between Fang Yong and Daiyu until Fang Yong recently revealed the news of his upcoming marriage.

At first, they couldn't even believe the news, and it wasn't until now that it was completely confirmed.

The sea is truly Yin!

Not only did they board the ship early, but they also took the princess's seat without letting them know a word.

Indeed, apart from the second son, there isn't a single simple scholar in the world.

Jia She couldn't help but think of his own Yingchun again.

That girl, how could she be so stupid!
Ugh!
After the business was finished, Jia She arranged a banquet for Fang Yong.

This was both an expression of gratitude to Fang Yongneng for coming in person and an attempt to apologize for what had happened before.

After dealing with Jia Rui's previous matter, Jia She quickly went to apologize to Fang Yong in person, and then held a banquet at his home to apologize to Fang Yong.

However, Fang Yong was busy with the war at the time, so he said he would go again when he had time.

As a result, it has been delayed until today.

At the banquet were Jia She, Jia Zheng, Jia Zhen, and some senior members of the Jia family.

Dishes include braised goose feet and duck tongues, braised goose breast, steamed duck with fermented rice wine, braised pork hock and ham hock, eggplant dish, pheasant and melon salad, shrimp ball and chicken skin soup, Jia family-style mutton soup, creamy pine nut rolls, and more.

When Fang Yong watched Dream of the Red Chamber in his previous life, the dishes of the Jia family were one of the most memorable parts.

However, now that he's used to eating at the imperial kitchen, it's not too amazing anymore.

There was a traditional opera performance on stage; the piece was "The Empty City Stratagem".

Fang Yong didn't know much about traditional opera; he could only understand the basic plot.

He often followed Daiyu to watch operas because she wanted to, but he was watching Daiyu, not the operas, so he was quite bored at those times.

Seeing this, Jia She and Jia Zhen took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Fang Yong to liven up the atmosphere.

Jia She then spoke about the current governance problems in the capital.

After Fang Yong occupied the capital, the war subsided, the situation stabilized, and the lives of the people became more stable.

However, due to the damage caused before the war and the exorbitant taxes levied during the reign of Emperor Longqing, the living standards of the people in the capital have now fallen to an extremely low level.

After Fang Yong arrived, in order to quickly stabilize the situation, he did not take action against the original officials in the capital, but instead began land reform outside the capital to protect the most basic production resources.

This action was correct.

There are priorities. It is undeniable that the lives of the people in the capital are still difficult, but at least the large areas of land outside the capital have been basically restored, and next year's grain harvest will be stable and abundant, so people in this area will no longer starve.

If Fang Yong focuses solely on affairs in the capital and punishes a large number of officials, it will inevitably provoke a backlash from officials, greatly affecting land reform outside the capital. This will delay spring planting, lead to food shortages the following year, and make people's lives even more difficult.

Now that Fang Yong has almost finished reforming the land policy, his next goal is naturally to set his sights on the capital.

It's unclear whether Jia She brought this up at this time as a coincidence or due to his keen insight.

Fang Yong couldn't help but become somewhat interested in him and started a brief chat with him.

Of course, it didn't involve any classified or important matters; it was just a discussion of some minor issues.

Jia Zhen, pretending to know everything, also got involved.

Jia Zheng, who was standing to the side, was rather pedantic and not good at socializing, so he only occasionally chimed in.

After a conversation, Fang Yong discovered that Jia She actually had some knowledge of the affairs of ordinary people.

At least, he understood what ordinary people needed.

However, some of the issues are still too one-sided.

For example, the issue of coal.

A cold snap hit Beijing recently, causing coal prices to skyrocket. Many people froze to death because they couldn't afford coal. If Fang Yong hadn't opened the Fangshan coal mine in time, countless more people would have died.

And the high price of coal in Beijing has been a long-standing issue.

From the founding of the Great Hee Kingdom to the present day, the coal is still the same coal, but the price has increased many times over.

Jia She may have gotten the information from Jia Lian, after all, Shanxi is a major coal-producing region.

Jia She believed that the main reason for the high price of coal was the numerous checkpoints and various fees along the route, which caused the price of coal to increase several times after it reached the capital.

Special personnel should be assigned to manage the coal transportation routes and eliminate these unreasonable charges, which would lower the price of coal.

However, Fang Yong did not think so.

Fang Yong felt that the problem wasn't with the route, but with the people involved; simply fixing the toll collection wasn't effective, and it needed to be addressed…

During this time, Baoyu came to offer a toast.

It is to apologize for what happened before.

However, when Baoyu stood in front of Fang Yong, he felt ashamed of his appearance and couldn't help but feel downcast and dejected.

Jia Zheng was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table.

Startled by Jia Zheng's words, Baoyu became stiff and sweaty.

Fang Yong didn't care; he was just a child.

He shook his head and laughed:

"It's alright, he's still a child, just inexperienced and a little timid!"

Jia Zheng sighed helplessly and had no choice but to tell Baoyu to get out of there.

After drinking some wine, Fang Yong had a basic understanding of Jia She, Jia Zhen, and others.

Jia She is capable, but he has never put his skills into practice, and therefore his understanding of certain things is not very thorough.

Jia Zhen may not have much ability, but he can be considered somewhat knowledgeable, and his words don't reveal his ignorance.

Jia Zheng... has a relatively upright personality, so his character shouldn't be too bad.

After getting a general understanding, Fang Yong stopped talking and, citing that he was too drunk, went to the back room to rest.

They'll go back together once they've had enough of Tan Chun's place.

Meanwhile, Fang Yong was resting in the back hall. After lying down for a while, a graceful figure suddenly walked in.

(End of this chapter)