The Red Mansion

Chapter 89: Prelude to the Two Saints (Part 2)
Jiang Nian lowered his head and replied, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I currently have no way to prevent this problem. I have considered increasing the income of local officials, but even so, some officials will still find excuses to increase taxes and engage in corruption."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Taishun frowned and fell into deep thought.

Emperor Jingning and Prince Zhongyi also looked solemn and remained silent.

Jiang Nian naturally fell silent as well.

There was silence in the room for a moment.

After pondering for a while, Emperor Taishun decided that even if Jiang Nian's policy had drawbacks, it would still be better to implement it than not. Furthermore, he also believed that implementing this policy would increase the income of local officials, which could be called "Yanlian Silver" (meaning "maintaining integrity").

In fact, Jiang Nian's strategy was based on the previous life's Emperor Yongzheng's policy of "returning the fire consumption to the public."

Emperor Yongzheng's "fire consumption to the public" policy was combined with the "anti-corruption silver" system.

Jiang Nian deliberately did not take the initiative to cooperate with the "anti-corruption silver" system, because as he said, even if officials were given a large amount of anti-corruption silver income, there would still be many officials who were corrupt and would increase taxes under various pretexts, thus failing to fundamentally address the problem of official corruption.

Jiang Nian was on guard against this. If he took the initiative to propose the "anti-corruption silver" system in conjunction with the "fire consumption to the public", the "anti-corruption silver" system would have limited effect and he would definitely be blamed.

And now, according to Jiang Nian's memorial, Emperor Taishun wanted to combine the "fire consumption to the public" with the "anti-corruption silver" system.

Although this move has drawbacks, it can at least alleviate Daqing's financial chaos in the short term, strengthen financial control, and strengthen the centralization of power in the court.

By this point, Emperor Jingning, Emperor Taishun, and Prince Zhongyi had all become more convinced that the twelve strategies Jiang Nian had proposed were his own ideas and plans.

Although the three of them had not yet fully believed it, they all believed that Jiang Nian was extremely talented and extraordinary.

Emperor Jingning looked at Emperor Taishun and said, "Has the Emperor asked him any further questions? If not, order him to leave."

Emperor Taishun understood, nodded, and said to Jiang Nian, "You may leave."

Jiang Nian hurriedly saluted Emperor Jingning, Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi before respectfully retreating.

After Jiang Nian left, Emperor Jingning pointed to the several pieces of paper on the table, which were Jiang Nian's "memorials", and said to Emperor Taishun: "Although the twelve strategies in this memorial have some shortcomings, several of them are indeed good plans."

Then, Emperor Jingning told Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi several strategies that he thought were good and could be implemented, and then said, "The Emperor and the Thirteenth Prince will carefully consider them, then come back to me for instructions, and then implement them to help clear up the deficit."

Emperor Taishun was delighted and said respectfully, "Your son respects your father's instructions and will review this with your thirteenth brother."

Emperor Jingning nodded slightly, then fell silent, as if he was thinking about something.

After a moment, he couldn't help but sigh: "The emperor said before that Yuan Yi was extremely talented, but I was a little skeptical. After checking it out today, I found that this boy is indeed as the emperor said."

The fact that Emperor Jingning called Jiang Nian "Yuan Yi" showed that he had already recognized Jiang Nian, his grandson from the common people.

Emperor Taishun was delighted. He hoped that Emperor Jingning would appreciate Jiang Nian, as this would be beneficial to him. He said respectfully, "Although this boy has talent and learning, he is still young and raised in humble circumstances. He is somewhat impulsive and needs more training."

Emperor Jingning nodded and said, "This child can be well cultivated."

Emperor Jingning discussed other important matters with Emperor Taishun and then left.

Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi hurried to see him off respectfully.

When they reached the door, Emperor Jingning suddenly turned around and said to Emperor Taishun, "Yuan Yi is fifteen years old now, and it's time for him to get engaged. The emperor must arrange this matter, and he must be cautious."

The fact that Emperor Jingning was actually concerned about Jiang Nian's marriage further demonstrated his approval of her. Emperor Taishun was shocked and nodded in agreement, "Your son will bear this in mind and will make the proper arrangements."

Emperor Jingning said nothing more and left Danningju with the respectful farewell of Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi.

Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi returned to the room.

Prince Zhongyi couldn't help but admire him: "Brother Yi is truly extraordinary! His advice and today's response have made me look at him with new eyes."

Emperor Taishun remained silent and secretly agreed with Prince Zhongyi's statement.

Prince Zhongyi asked curiously, "I have already mentioned Yi Ge'er's engagement to Your Majesty before, and now your father has mentioned it as well. I wonder if Your Majesty has any thoughts on this?"

Emperor Taishun frowned, feeling rather embarrassed by this matter. However, since Emperor Jingning had already mentioned it, it should not be shelved for a long time and had to be arranged as soon as possible.

He asked Prince Zhongyi, "Do you have any ideas?"

Prince Zhongyi paused in thought before slowly saying, "This is indeed a difficult matter! Brother Yi is, after all, the Majesty's own flesh and blood, and possesses exceptional talent. He has been favored by the Majesty and even my father, so we should naturally choose a powerful and influential family for him to marry into. However, Brother Yi's background should not be made public, so how could a powerful and influential family easily agree to a marriage with him?"

Emperor Taishun nodded, sharing this concern. Furthermore, he had another concern: he couldn't choose a powerful and influential family for the marriage, in case Jiang Nian tried to seize the throne in the future.

Even though Emperor Taishun had some appreciation for Jiang Nian, in his heart, it was impossible for Jiang Nian to inherit the throne in the future. He had already planned to let his fourth prince Yuan Li inherit the throne!

He hasn't even decided whether to recognize Jiang Nian as the prince in the future.

Emperor Taishun felt really embarrassed, so he continued to ask Prince Zhongyi: "Do you have a suitable candidate?"

Prince Zhongyi said slowly, "You can choose a family of declining nobility, such as one of the Eight Founding Dukes who has fallen on hard times."

Emperor Taishun pondered for a moment, felt that this was reasonable, and nodded slightly.

Prince Zhongyi suddenly sneered, "The Jia family has already declined! Father has issued many severe decrees, punishing Wang Ziteng and Jia Zhen, and the hereditary nobility of the Ningguo Mansion has also been demoted. Both of these events are related to Brother Yi. If Brother Yi were to marry into the Jia family, it would be quite interesting."

After hearing this, a figure immediately appeared in Emperor Taishun's mind. It was the Empress Dowager's female historian Jia Yuanchun!

Emperor Taishun had met Yuanchun and knew that she was beautiful, well-mannered, virtuous, filial, and talented. Although she was two years older than Jiang Nian, she was a good match.

Emperor Taishun was not lustful, but even so, he had felt a little attracted to Yuanchun, but only a little.

And now, he is willing to marry Yuanchun to Jiang Nian!

Thinking of this, Emperor Taishun said to Prince Zhongyi: "It would be a good idea to marry Yi'er into the Jia family."

Prince Zhongyi: “…”

He was stunned for a moment.

In fact, he mentioned the Jia Mansion as a joke, thinking that it would be interesting if Jiang Nian married into the Jia family. Unexpectedly, Emperor Taishun not only took it seriously, but also thought it was a good idea...

He then thought that Jiang Nian was really suitable for marriage with the Jia family, so he said no more.

The Jia family is indeed in decline now. Yuanchun cannot become a concubine, Wang Ziteng is demoted to a general, Ningguo Mansion is gone again, Jia She of Rongguo Mansion is a useless man, Jia Zheng is only a deputy minister of the Ministry of Works, and he is not good at being an official and can't do much. Although Jia's mother still has the imperial edict of the first-rank duke's wife, what does it mean to Emperor Taishun?

(End of this chapter)