The Red Mansions

Chapter 989 Chen Xiao: Do ​​you want to be Avalokitesvara again?
Nan'an County Palace

The king of Nan'an returned from the military plane, his expression was not very good, he met the concerned eyes of Liu Fang and others, and said: "Yesterday, my son passed the resignation to the palace through the Secretary of General Administration, and resigned from the post of Jiedu Envoy of the Beijing Camp. "

Liu Fang didn't respond to any difference for a while, she smiled and said, "My lord, isn't this a good time? My son's resignation as the military governor of the Beijing camp shows that he is a guilty conscience."

The King of Nan'an County looked at Liu Fang, with a gloomy look in his eyes, and said: "This makes him look bright and upright, but it makes others look like a villain who treats a gentleman's heart like a villain!"

Liu Fang's complexion changed slightly, and now she also realized that there is still this layer.

At this moment, a servant from outside came to report that Shi Guangzhu begged to see the King of Nan'an County.

As soon as Shi Guangzhu entered the hall, his face was serious, and he said: "Shi Bo, the acquaintance of the General Secretary said that the Duke of Wei went up first to ask for the memorial, but His Majesty did not agree to not to say it, and also sent the official transcript to the palace. The ministers."

"How should I say it?" Nan'an County King frowned and asked in a low voice.

Shi Guangzhu's eyes were complicated, and he said: "The Holy Majesty's reply, Weng does not doubt the son-in-law, why should the son-in-law resign?"

How important is this?These two sentences will be in the history books in the future.

When the King of Nan'an heard the words, his complexion became more and more ugly, his heart sank, and he sat down slumped: "Sister-in-law, son-in-law, you are really close."

Liu Fang also had a look of resentment on her face, and said: "It is these kind of foreign relatives who are the most dangerous. Once they feel disobedient, entering and leaving the palace is almost like their own garden, endangering the emperor's palace, and the country is in danger."

The King of Nan'an suddenly had dark eyes, a gloomy face, and said in a low voice: "We are too hasty, now is the time when children are most favored, and any words will cause rebellion in the hearts of the palace."

Fear appeared on Liu Fang's face, and she said in a low voice, "My lord, what should we do now? The memorial has already been handed over."

The king of Nan'an County opened his mouth, just about to say something.

Suddenly at this moment, a servant entered the hall and said with a happy face, "My lord, the angel is here."

Nan'an County King's complexion changed suddenly, and he said softly, "What is the angel doing here?"

The others looked at each other equally.

"The father-in-law sent two carts of melons, saying they were rewards from the palace." The servant said.

Nan'an County King's heart shuddered, and a hint of suspicion appeared in his eyes.

The palace sent melons to him, and it was at this juncture again, obviously not for encouragement and praise, but for beating.

……

……

Ningguo Mansion

The night was low and the moon and stars were sparse. It was early summer, and the heat enveloped the entire Ningrong and Rongfu. Many maids and nuns were already waving cattail fans to cool off in the cool and windy places.

Jia Heng sent Dai Quan away, returned to the hall, looked up just in time to meet Chen Xiao, met the questioning gaze, and said in a low voice: "Let's go into the study and talk."

In the study room, the girl sat at the desk and asked, "He didn't approve of your memorial?"

"Look for yourself." Jia Heng put the memorial aside, picked up the teapot on the desk, and poured himself two cups of tea.

Chen Xiao picked up the memorial and looked at it, his eyes were slightly cold, and he said mockingly: "His power skills have become more and more sophisticated."

Jia Heng: "..."

But it is not wrong to say that, through this matchmaking between Weng and his son-in-law, it can be said that he has been won over, and it is also admonishing him to a certain extent.

Subtext: "I know that you are suspicious of you, but I don't doubt you. I only hope that you will be modest and cautious, and guard against arrogance and impetuosity."

In other words, Jia Heng has to have a sense of boundaries and can't cock his tail.

Jia Heng put down the memorandum, remained silent for a moment, and said with emotion: "The Son of Heaven has ruled for so many years, and his powers and techniques have reached perfection."

Chen Xiao said coldly: "However, I just asked someone to inquire about the two carts of watermelons given to the Prince's Mansion of Nan'an County by the palace. I don't know what it means?"

Jia Heng frowned slightly, and said, "Watermelon?"

Chen Xiao sneered: "Obviously I found out that I had a quarrel with you, and rewarded me with watermelon, signaling to shut up."

"Not necessarily, maybe the watermelon has many seeds, and Wei Wangfei has no children so far, so she is beating Nan'an County King?" Jia Heng said casually, taking a sip of tea lightly.

In fact, in this scenario, the key is not what to reward, what is rewarded is a beating.

Don't hide it, I know it's you, you'd better be quiet and honest.

Chen Xiaoqing glanced at the young man, a sneer flickered at the corner of her mouth, and said coldly, "You want to be the Guanyin of Songzi again, don't you?"

Jia Heng: "???"

What is Songzi Guanyin, what are these words.

He felt that Xiaoxiao must have peeked at his play with Miaoyu in the Cui Temple last night, because Xiaoxiao was bored in the mansion, she must have secretly watched what he was doing.

"You don't need to worry about these things. Why did Yan Hong, the imperial supervisor, target you? It seems that he is the one who found more than half of the censors." Chen Xiao frowned and said coldly.

Jia Heng picked up the teacup and took a sip, and said: "This man is the brother-in-law of Mr. Han Ge. It is said that there was no enmity with me before. If it is said that the Zhejiang Party launched an attack, Zhao Mo, Cen Weishan and others have a lot of prejudice against me."

At the beginning, he also had a friendship with Han Hui, the son of Han Ge, but as he was involved in the military and political affairs, and his father was the chief minister of the cabinet, he gradually lost contact with him in order to avoid suspicion.

Chen Xiaodao: "You were appointed Duke of the State at an age that was not yet a weak crown, and your talents are not limited to military affairs. These people are worried that you will monopolize the power and overwhelm you."

Thinking of the person in front of me, he has dabbled in military administration, river affairs, salt administration, and even agricultural administration, and he has made a lot of achievements in the past few years.

It is also normal for officials in the imperial court to be jealous.

It can be said that this was the reason why Emperor Chongping kept talking about Jia Ziyu and almost made Lin Ruhai speechless.

Such an easy-to-use son-in-law, if he doesn't rebel, is really suitable for charging into the battle, and Jia Heng is respectful in his work, and he is not as domineering as a young general.

Now the civil servants are alienated and Wu Xun is disgusted, which is exactly what Emperor Chongping wanted.

Such a high moral and high prestige made Emperor Chongping feel uncomfortable sleeping and eating.

Jia Heng sighed lightly, and said: "The palace uses me, I can't hide my clumsiness."

The past two years have been really tiring, like a firefighting captain, of course the title has risen like a rocket, and the confidante is also...

There was a cold look in Chen Xiaoqing's eyes, and he said sarcastically: "Since the middle of last year, his health has not been very good, but he is fine now, and when he is sick, he will definitely be afraid of you at that time."

"Let's talk about it then." Jia Heng said with a light smile, stretched out his hand to pull the girl in the green skirt into his arms, and said, "Xiaoxiao, let me hug you."

"What hugs, you little child." Chen Xiao Qingjue, her beautiful cheeks blushing into a glow, gently pushed away Jia Heng's dishonest hand, and said in a clear voice: "I have something to tell you, that is, this year's three A strange thing happened during the spring test at the end of the month."

"What strange thing?" Jia Heng asked in surprise.

"The scholars in the south almost win the first and second grades, and the museum selects Hanlin and Shuji scholars, seven or eight out of ten." Chen Xiaorou said.

Jia Heng gently caressed Da Xueli, only to feel the fat overflowing between his fingers, and leaning into the girl's ear, he said warmly: "Didn't Yi Jia be selected by the palace? It shouldn't be."

Chen Xiao pushed aside the young man's hand who had piled up a snowman, and said with embarrassment: "This time, several academicians decided on the nominees and reported to the palace to delineate them. "

Jia Heng frowned, remained silent for a moment, and asked, "Do you suspect that there is fraud in this year's scientific examination?"

The 16-year scientific expedition in Chongping was actually affected by some border wars, and it was almost postponed from mid-March to early April. It was finally successfully held when the news of the victory at the border came.

Chen Xiaodao: "You can look it up. The chief examiner of this subject is Zhao Mo, a scholar of the cabinet and Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. The deputy examiner is Fang Huan, the minister of the Ministry of Rites. The co-examiners are Liu Zheng, a scholar in charge of the Hanlin Academy, and a bachelor of Zhu Hanlin."

In fact, she has other sources of information, which can almost be confirmed. There is indeed a fraud case in this imperial examination.

Jia Heng suddenly asked: "What is the current academic rank of Mr. Han Ge's son?"

Chen Xiao said softly: "The second best name has been selected as a good scholar."

Jia Heng frowned, and said slowly: "Zhao Mo has a good official reputation, so he should not be involved in the scientific examination fraud case."

When he was in Yangzhou, he also had contact with Zhao Mo. His political integrity was acceptable, and he was a cabinet bachelor, so he didn't have much motivation to participate in any fraud case in the examination room.

Chen Xiaoqing said: "As a cabinet minister, Zhao Mo may think highly of himself and be better at keeping himself clean, but it's hard for other people to tell. I also heard people mention it in the past two days. It seems that they will leak some questions in the first paper, but the scope of the leak is not large. It's big, so it's very secretive."

"Leaking the question?" Jia Heng's eyes were a little deep, and he said in a clear voice: "In this case, I'll have someone investigate it secretly. It's not about how it will be exposed."

If he is too active in this matter, he will be suspected of party struggle, which is not conducive to his creation of a lonely and non-party persona.

But this is undoubtedly an opportunity to suppress the prestige of the Zhejiang Party.

Since Han Huang became the chief assistant of the Zhejiang Party, there have been two cabinet ministers in the cabinet, and the Ministry of Rites has become the headquarters of the Zhejiang Party.

"I'll just make arrangements next." Chen Xiaoqing said in a low voice with her eyes twinkling.

Jia Heng took Chen Xiao's hand and asked softly, "Xiaoxiao, where did you investigate?"

Xiaoxiao obviously has other news channels, but is this trying to vent his anger on him?
Holding Jia Heng's hand, Chen Xiao pretended to be cold and said, "Leave it alone."

Jia Heng looked at the girl firmly, and said softly, "Xiaoxiao, when can you not hide it from me?"

Chen Xiao snorted softly, and was about to speak, but saw the soft breath approaching her lips, her heart beating violently, and she quickly stroked the young man's shoulder lightly.

As time passed, the slender fingers straightened and bent, and the clothes they grasped were crumpled.

Chen Xiaoxiu raised her neck, her cheeks were as red as a cloud, and she supported the boy who was munching on pears.

Just when Jia Heng and Chen Xiao were hugging each other tenderly, a nanny outside said, "Master, Master Lin is here."

Lin Ruhai came to Ningguo Mansion as soon as possible after finishing his dinner, firstly to visit Jia Heng, and secondly to meet his own daughter Daiyu.

Jia Heng looked at Chen Xiao who was blushing and straightening her clothes, and said softly, "I'll go to meet you."

Father-in-law is here, so it's not easy for him to sit in the mansion.

While Jia Heng ordered the servant girl to go to the Grand View Garden in the backyard to inform Daiyu, she walked quickly towards the hall.

Ningguo Mansion, in the front hall——

Lin Ruhai sat on the chair next to the small table, drinking tea with his head bowed, the candlelight reflected his elegant face, his eyes were full of thoughts.

"Uncle." At this time, Jia Heng entered the hall and called out to Lin Ruhai.

A smile floated on Lin Ruhai's face, he got up and greeted him, "Zi Yu."

At the beginning of the farewell in Taiyuan, the boy in front of me was still a first-class prince. Now that the old man reunites, he is already the third-class Duke of Wei, and the emperor in the palace even bestowed a marriage on Xianning and Princess Qinghe.

Jia Heng said: "Uncle, sit down and talk, Sister Lin will be there in a while."

Mentioning Daiyu, Lin Ruhai had a strange look in his eyes, and said, "Is Yu'er doing well these days?"

I can't tell what it's like in my heart, the young man in front of me is outstanding, but he is too outstanding, Yu'er will serve a husband with the princess and princess in the future, after passing through the door, will she be wronged?

Jia Heng smiled and said, "Sister Lin is fine, she still says she misses uncle these few days."

Weng and son-in-law exchanged pleasantries, and after a while, the servant girl entered the hall and said, "Miss Lin is here."

While speaking, accompanied by the jingle of ring pendants, Daiyu, accompanied by Zijuan, Xiren and other maids, entered the hall.

Daiyu looked at Lin Ruhai, her starry eyes were gradually covered with mist, and she said in a trembling voice, "Daddy."

"Yu'er." Lin Ruhai got up and said with a soft smile, "I came back from Taiyuan and came to see you."

It can be clearly seen that Daiyu's height and figure are much better than at the beginning of the year, her complexion is rosy, and she doesn't have any symptoms of coughing.

Hmm, maybe Ziyu took good care of her?
This thought flashed in Lin Ruhai's heart, and then disappeared.

Daiyu asked with concern: "Father, when you come back this time, you shouldn't be going to Taiyuan, right?"

Lin Ruhai said: "The palace has assigned to promote the planting of sweet potatoes, and I will go to Taiyuan to have a look."

Daiyu blinked her starry eyes and said, "Sweet potato?"

"There was a severe drought in the northern provinces this year. The palace ordered several times to the local government to rush to plant sweet potatoes to cope with the famine. This product has a higher yield." Lin Ruhai explained.

Daiyu nodded, her face thoughtful.

Jia Heng said: "This year's weather is a bit abnormal. There were two rains a few days ago. The whole north has been dry for several months. Drought and locust plague often go hand in hand. This year, the northern provinces may not be able to harvest again. "

Coincidentally, it rained only two days after he came back.

Lin Ruhai said: "In the palace earlier, the Holy Majesty mentioned this matter, how does Ziyu think it should be resolved?"

Jia Heng said: "It can only be to stockpile grain to prepare for the shortage, and grow some drought-resistant crops. In addition, it is to dig rivers and canals and build water conservancy to alleviate the drought."

This kind of large-scale drought or flood, even for the later generations with advanced technology, there is no good way.

"Uncle, have you taken care of everything in Taiyuan?" Jia Heng asked instead.

Lin Ruhai nodded and said: "All kinds of money and food have been counted and inspected, and the food and fodder in the treasury have been put into the warehouse. These are timely rains."

Jia Heng nodded, knowing what Lin Ruhai meant, these rice grains can just make up for this year's poor harvest and alleviate the famine.

Lin Ruhai said: "In fact, the revenue of the imperial treasury in these years is not much, and the grain tax can hardly be levied in the north, and only rely on the south of the Yangtze River and the land of Bashu to barely maintain it. In the past few years, it has changed a lot, and the customs and salt tax have been supplemented. If it wasn't for emergency relief from internal funds, the court could barely make ends meet, and Ziyu has used troops frequently these years, but he didn't waste a lot of state funds, and even added a lot to the state treasury."

When it came to the end, Lin Ruhai also had some admiration in his eyes.

As Lin Ruhai took over the government affairs of the household department, and sorted out the situation of the household department in the past few years, the more he discovered how much concealed work Jia Heng had done in the past two years.

During the reign of Chen Han and Chongping, there were many natural disasters. The reason why they were able to maintain it was that apart from the strong family background in the early days and internal oppression, the southeast and Sichuan could barely provide blood transfusions to the center.

But it was at the end of the battle, the officials and frontier soldiers owed their salaries, the officials were corrupt, and the army was weak.

Originally, the Central Plains Rebellion was the last straw that broke the camel's back, but Shengsheng became Jia Heng's rise and became the beginning of ZTE.

In the next two years, the financial situation improved significantly, and the salaries owed to officials and generals were all made up one after another. The Chen Han court still had the strength to fight a victory and reshape the prestige of the central government.

If we look closely at the cause, it is that Jia Heng helped to search the family wealth of many corrupt officials, rectify the corruption of generals, recover deficits, increase income and reduce expenditure.

At the same time, the salt system was reformed, the sea was opened up for business, and the source of income was continuously increased. Through a whole set of combined punches, a patient who was suffering from severe illness was saved little by little.

Rectify the military affairs, reduce redundant soldiers, every place, from the clan, merchants, and corrupt officials, Jia Heng almost never falls, breaks the root cause, and then uses military victories to suppress dissatisfaction.

And Emperor Chongping only needs to sit in the Daming Palace and watch Jia Heng charge into the battle, and then he will be named Duke and marry his daughter.

Perhaps Jia Heng hadn't thoroughly sorted out the experience of the past two years, but Emperor Chongping, as a bystander, had a deep understanding, so when Jia Heng Shangshu resigned from the post of Jingying Festival Commander, he resolutely refused.

Because Emperor Chongping, who had gone through the turmoil of the imperial power change, had a sharper understanding than Jia Heng. The Beijing Camp Festival changed hands, and it was his own authority that was shaken.

It is almost impossible to find such a useful courtier as Jia Heng.

Jia Heng pondered and said: "Previously it was unsustainable to ransack the house, killing pigs for the New Year, but when the pigs are always killed, we still have to broaden the source of money and control the use of money. There are some things that cannot be done before, but now we can start to try it. .”

After this big victory, we can solve many major issues that we wanted to solve but could not solve in the past, but innovation has also entered the deep water area.

And Gao Zhongping obviously also realized that after the big victory, the authority of the center will be strong, and he is going to take advantage of this shareholder style to implement innovative strategies.

Lin Ruhai nodded, and said, "It's good to increase income and reduce expenditure, but we must also be careful not to use it like sand."

Jia Heng said: "Northern Xinjiang can reduce some military expenses, but in order to consolidate the border defense, one increase and one decrease, the reduction is limited."

The towns of Xuanda, Jizhen, and Beiping are all paid by real soldiers, so the expenditure of the state treasury has not decreased much.

Of course, the level of defense has also been greatly improved.

"The local provincial army can be abolished appropriately." Lin Ruhai said.

Jia Heng nodded, and said: "That's exactly what I mean. The Military Aircraft Department is also working on this matter recently. We should start with Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi and other places first, and then the southern provinces to reduce redundant troops."

"As for the source of income," Jia Heng pondered for a moment, his eyes flickering, and said, "Tariffs are one item. Recently, pirates have caused chaos, plundered trade routes, and treacherous merchants evaded taxes, especially in Zhejiang and other places. The secrets were handed over to the military plane. The memorial mentioned that it planned to wipe out the captives entrenched in the islands of Zhoushan. I hope that the Jiangnan Navy will cooperate. It has become a nest of bandits, and it can also be wiped out."

In fact, this is a little bit left over from the last time we dealt with Duduo and the North Korean Navy. This time, we will completely eliminate the pirates and recover Jilongshan, which will serve as the bridgehead for Chen Han to control the sea trade.

Lin Ruhai nodded, and said: "The pirates need to be cleared up. Now the three southeastern provinces have set up customs. The Ministry of Households means whether they can collect customs tax money and transfer it to the treasury. The Shanghai Customs collected more than 80 customs money in half a year last year Ten thousand taels."

Jia Heng said: "Previously, Guangzhou Customs wanted to withhold tax money to support the mariners. It was an expedient measure. Like the customs in the three southeastern provinces, the tax revenue can be coordinated by the household department."

Daiyu looked at the two people who were having the "National Standing Meeting" in the hall, blinked her starry eyes, took a sip from the tea cup, and quietly listened to the conversation between Weng and son-in-law.

Lin Ruhai nodded, and asked: "Nowadays the northern provinces are suffering from severe drought, and it is almost spreading to the south. The imperial court is spending a lot of money. Gao Zhongping is clearing Zhang's land in the south of the Yangtze River in order to increase revenue. Does Ziyu think it is feasible?"

Jia Heng thought for a while, and said: "It's still a bit too hasty now. You can take it easy on the matter of clearing Zhang Zhang's fields. Others are like a whip method, and the fire will be returned to the public. You can try it out first."

The south of the Yangtze River is a place of heavy taxation, and the gentry gathers widely, so the methods should not be too cruel.

The disaster in the whole north is so serious, even if you buy rice, you have to have a place to buy it.

Of course, the imperial court just won a big victory, which may have given Gao Zhongping some confidence.

Lin Ruhai said: "During the period when Ziyu was in charge of the army in the north, there were quite a lot of disputes in the court, but the war has not yet been decided, and the court disputes are still restrained."

Jia Heng said: "I mentioned this matter with the Holy One the day before yesterday. There is a whipping method inspired by the previous Ming Dynasty, and there are many disadvantages. It should be tried together with the reform of the currency system."

Gao Zhongping is not considered radical, but he really stabbed the bureaucrat's hornet's nest.

But no matter what, according to Huang Zongxi's law, any tax reform will have accumulated damage.

(End of this chapter)