The Young Master of the Jia Family in the Red Chamber

If in the past, Jia Hu would not have cared if he learned that the second room had added a cousin, just like he did to Jia Zhu and Yuan Chun, it was not too far or too close, as long as it was just right.But now, knowing that Jia Baoyu is the hero of Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the four famous novels, Jia Hu is not calm anymore. He doesn't know what he can do to save the family from the doom. He can't even see any potential crisis in the Jia family. It can take them to the point of complete failure.

Let’s talk about the Eastern Mansion first. Jia Jing was born as a second-class Jinshi. He is currently the right servant of the Ministry of Rites.Although Jia Jing's chances of further advancement may not be very high, but Jia Zhen also won the Jinshi this year, and she did well in Situ Yan's new sub-examination, and now she has gone to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for internship.Jia Rong is still young and can't see what the future holds, but as long as Jia Jing and Jia Zhen are still there, the situation in Dongfu should be good for the next few decades.

Besides the West Mansion, Jia She and Jia Zheng definitely cannot be compared with Jia Jing, but Jia She lives at home and is only managing the family affairs, so there is no possibility of causing trouble.On Jia Zheng's side, Jia Hu also knows something about him. He is aloof and not sociable, so his popularity in the Ministry of Industry is not very good, and he is not familiar with the business, and has been unemployed for a long time. If Situ Yan's assessment in the sixth department officially starts, Maybe there is a possibility of failing the exam, but if you want to talk about the disaster of ransacking the family and exterminating the family, it's not that Jia Hu looks down on Jia Zheng, but that he really can't provoke him.

If it is a matter of insistence, Wang's lending interest outside the past few years was very unfavorable to the Jia family. Fortunately, this matter has been settled, and all the borrowed tickets have been burned. Jia Hu even asked Situ Jing For the record, it is impossible for someone to talk about this matter.

There is also the relationship with the Zhen family, because they are also from Jinling, Jia Yan, Jia Yuan's generation, Jia Daihua, and Jia Daishan's generation had a lot of dealings with the Zhen family, but the Zhen family at that time , it is not uncommon for flowers to bloom and fire to cook oil.In the generation of Jia Jing and Jia She, the center of gravity of Ningrong and Rong's two houses is in the capital, but the Zhen family has returned to their hometown in Jinling, and the relationship between the two families is not as close as before.Otherwise, when Jia Hu and Zhen Pei met, they would not be strangers to each other, which shows that they have become estranged a lot.

For the above two matters, Jia Hu went back to Beijing last year, and checked carefully, and made sure that there were no problems before celebrating the New Year with peace of mind.

Unexpectedly, Jia Baoyu's birth broke Jia Hu's heart again. Could it be that there are hidden dangers in the Jia family that he doesn't know about.Jia Hu really couldn't figure it out, so he simply turned over the general ledger of the Xifu over the years, planning to check it from the beginning, so that if there was any problem, he could remedy it in time.

When Jia Lian heard that Jia Hu was going to check the accounts, he happily ran to help, his abacus crackling.The brothers did such an investigation, but found no other major problems, except that the Jia family owed the Ministry of Households money, which was quite a lot, as much as 40 taels.

Jia Hu and Jia Lian didn't understand what was going on, so they asked Jia She, but Jia She was also at a loss.It was Mrs. Zhang who explained the whole story to them, saying that it was an old debt from the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Many families in Beijing borrowed it, even the Zhang family borrowed 10 taels.

After listening to Mrs. Zhang's answer, Jia Hu asked curiously: "Mother, don't you have to pay back the money? Why hasn't anyone mentioned it all these years?" Situ Jing was still complaining to him a few days ago, saying that they had a lot of money. The plan had to be postponed because the Ministry of Household Affairs could not afford the money.

Mrs. Zhang frowned slightly, thinking carefully and said: "In the early years, the old sage forgiven and didn't urge everyone to pay back, but now, many people have not paid back." The courtiers borrowed money from the treasury. There is a reason. At first, it was to pick up the driver. It was too expensive and no one could afford it, so I had to borrow it first and figure out a way later.Because of the pioneering, some people were short of money and asked the Supreme Emperor to borrow money, but the old man agreed again, and it has become popular since then, and it can't be stopped. Fortunately, the national treasury was abundant at that time, so it could support it.

After Situ Yan came to the throne, he carried out drastic reforms. There were many places where money was needed, and the treasury's money was a little bit unsustainable.Calculating that the court had borrowed at least tens of millions of taels of silver from the national treasury, Jia Hu reckoned that Situ Yan's debt collection day was not far away, and he was in urgent need of money.

Jia Hu thought for a while, and said in a deep voice, "Father, how much silver can our family use?" Jia Hu never thought about repaying the money voluntarily. It should be ready, as long as Situ Yan opens his mouth, he has to take it out.

Jia Amnesty didn't understand Jia Hu's meaning, turned to look at him, and asked puzzledly, "Why are you asking this?"

Mrs. Zhang guessed it, and asked in a somewhat uncertain tone: "Is it because the sage wants everyone to pay back the money?" Jia Hu followed Situ Jing all day long, and the news was the best. It's better to prepare quickly.

Jia Hu nodded slightly, and said softly, "Although it's not exact, it makes sense." Actually, Situ Yan didn't mention this at all, but Jia Hu planned to take the initiative to remind him. It is always right to have a good relationship with the emperor.

Although Jia Amnesty was very reluctant to part with the money, he heard that it was the sage's intention, so he didn't dare to refuse to pay it back, and only said that he would discuss it with the old lady.After all, the Jia family's situation is not bad, and they can still afford 40 taels of silver, unlike some families with unworthy descendants who can't afford this money at all.

A few days later, Situ Jing complained about the lack of money again, and Jia Hu told him that only their Jia family owed 80 taels of silver to the state treasury, half of which was in the Ningrong Second Mansion.Situ Jing blinked, stared at Jia Hu and asked, "How much did you say, 80 taels?"

"That's right, 80 taels." Jia Hu nodded and said, "As far as I know, our family borrows relatively little, but as long as the sage says to pay back, we can pay back the money right away." Jia Hu seems to be a very good idea.

Situ Jing thought for a while, and said seriously, "I'll discuss it with my father, and I won't make things difficult for you." What Jia Hu was worried about, Situ Jing didn't understand. People know that they offered to pay back the money.

Situ Jing thought with all his heart that Situ Yan would be very happy to hear his idea. He had already checked, and the total amount of money owed to the state treasury was as high as 200 million taels. If the money could be recovered, several of their With a plan, you can get on the horse in advance.

Unexpectedly, Situ Yan just shook his head, saying that it was too early to tell Situ Jing not to talk about it.

Situ Jing frowned and said, "Father, why? It's obviously a loan, why can't you take it back?"

Situ Yan sighed, and said in a deep voice, "Jing'er, you don't understand, your grandfather won't agree."

"But..." Situ Jing was not reconciled, and continued to argue: "But we need money very much now."

"Jing'er, don't be impatient." Situ Yan smiled gently, comforting Situ Jing and said: "The crimes of the Zhen family have been verified. profits, huge deficits, interception of tax money..."

Situ Jing was dumbfounded when he heard this, and said in surprise: "They, they are so audacious to do this." Compared with these charges, the misdemeanors of the Zhen family that he found out in Jinling back then were really nothing. The chill rises.

"Yes, they are so bold." Situ Yan sighed quietly: "Only the Zhen family's property confiscated is as much as five or six million taels, and that's not counting the part they squandered. Jing'er, you How many times should I chop off their heads?"

"Does the imperial grandfather know?" Situ Jing asked in a low voice.The Supreme Emperor trusted the Zhen family the most. In order to make them pay off the shortfall they had incurred as soon as possible, almost all of the most lucrative official positions in Jiangnan have been given to their family in the past ten years.But the Zhen family's repayment speed is surprisingly slow, and they write letters every year to call them poor, so that they will have a grace period.Unexpectedly, they simply built the plank road and secretly stored Chencang, turning the money from the treasury into their own.

Situ Yan nodded silently, because the Supreme Emperor was very upset that something happened to the Zhen family, so he didn't ask the ministers to pay back the money at this time.

Situ Jing was gloomy, and said for a while, "Forget it, with the Zhen family's confiscated money in the treasury, the household department can last for a few months."

Seeing his displeasure, Situ Yan said softly, "Jing'er, don't be unhappy, I have good news for you."

"What's the good news?" Situ Jing raised his head, his expression was still not very happy. It's really hard to live without money.

Situ Yan chuckled and said, "Amin and the others are coming back soon. If there are no accidents, they will be able to land in early June."

"Really?" Situ Jing looked happy, this was good news, he wanted to tell Su Yi and Jia Hu to go, Jian Ming finally came back.

In mid-June, the ocean-going fleet that had set off for a year and a half returned safely, bringing back countless gold and silver treasures.Those who subscribed for the goods on the ship back then, excluding the principal and commission, had tripled their net profit, that is, Jia Lian's 500 taels had become 4000 taels.

Countless people who didn't dare to make a move or didn't have time to make a move got the news, they all regretted their mistakes, and then asked one after another when the fleet would go to sea next time.This time, they will never miss the opportunity, and they have to grab a few more shares for themselves no matter what.

For Jia Hu, the significance of this voyage is not just the private money he multiplied several times, but the people and books Jian Jian brought back.He urgently needs to know how far Europe has developed today, and what efforts they must make so as not to be left behind by the world.

Due to Jia Hu's request, Jianming brought many skilled Westerners who are very interested in China, including an Italian painter named Christian Brambilla. The purpose of his trip to China was to communicate with other people. All are a little different.

"Mr. Jian, hello. Can you help me find someone?" Chris asked Jian Jian when he got off the boat.

"Okay, who are you looking for?" Jian Jian didn't delay, Chris's painting skills were the best he had ever seen.

"His name is Mathias Rossi, and he is a painter like me." Chris said.