The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 16
"Ten miles of long streets are connected to the market, and you can see gods on the Yueming Bridge.

Life is only for death in Yangzhou, Zen Zhishan is good for the tomb. "

Walking on horseback in Yangzhou City, Jia Lian was immediately attracted by the prosperous scene of Huainan Water Town.

Ancient roads and long streets, smoked willows and painted bridges, wind curtains and emerald curtains.

Although it is a small prefecture city, looking at the wind and moon in it, it seems to be much better than Beijing!
It is strange that literati throughout the ages have preferred Yangzhou, saying that "three parts of the world are bright moonlit nights, and two parts are rogues are Yangzhou", and they also said that "the spring breeze is ten miles away from Yangzhou Road, and it is better to roll up bead curtains".

However, Jia Lian didn't have much time to watch Yangzhou Fengyue at this time, so he asked passers-by where the Yanzheng Yamen was, and took Zhao'er and others there.

At this time, it was just the fifth day they went south!

Driven by Jia Lian's persistence and Yin Zi, the seven of them traveled almost day and night, and arrived in Yangzhou in only four days.

Because the gate of the city had already been closed when I arrived in the middle of the night last night, I had to spend half the night in a farm outside the city. I entered the city early this morning, found an inn to take a bath and rested, and immediately set off for the Lin family.

……

There are four salt policies in the world, the first of which is Yangzhou.

The salt tax has been one of the most important sources of tax revenue for the government since ancient times, and there are even close to 2000 million taels of salt tax revenue!

Therefore, the status of the Yangzhou Salt Administration, which dominates the land of the two Huaihe Rivers and accounts for almost half of the world's salt tax revenue, can be seen from this.

And this year, the status of the Yangzhou Salt Administration Office has become more prominent.

It's just because the contemporary Yanyan censor is not only from a noble Tanhua background, but also when he was in charge of Yanzheng, he was already a doctor of Lantai Temple, a high-ranking third-rank official with a strong root!

When such a character arrives in Yangzhou, how dare all the ghosts and snakes treat him cautiously?
Even the prefect of Yangzhou can't interfere with the salt administration, and the highest official rank is two ranks lower, so when they meet, they have to salute each other first.For the magistrate of Yangzhou, this is also a depressing matter that cannot be said to the outside world.

The Yamen of Xunyan Yushi is divided into two parts, the front and the back. The front is the official office, which is used for offices and the residence of a few officials. The back office is the official residence of the chief official Lin Ruhai.

In fact, most of the local yamen in the Great Wei Dynasty were like this. Combining the official yamen and the officials' mansions into one not only facilitates the administration of officials, but also allows officials to bring their wives and children to their side and gather together for family happiness, commonly known as mansions. system.

At this time, Jia Lian and others came to the front of Xunyan Yushi Yamen. Although the gate was open, it was quiet inside.

But there were many yamen servants waiting outside the door, and when they saw Jia Lian wearing white mourning, they knew they had come to express their condolences, so immediately one of them got on his horse and led Jia Lian and others eastward along the white wall.

Jia Lian was not surprised at all, he still has these basic common sense after spending many years in Beijing.

No matter how high the official position is, it is impossible to occupy the front office for red and white affairs, so Jia Min's mourning hall can only be set in the private residence behind.

According to Feng Shui metaphysics, if the gate cannot open to the south, the east gate is the first choice.Because Qinglongmen is an auspicious gate, all the officials who live in the yamen usually go to Qinglongmen on the left when they go out and communicate with their relatives!
When we came to the main entrance of the mansion in the east, we saw that the place was bleak, with white sails hanging high.

Within the high walls, the sound of chanting sutras and chanting Buddha can be faintly heard.

Jia Lian and the others stopped slowly in front of the door, and soon an old man in white came out from inside. He stepped forward and saluted respectfully, and then said: "I am the housekeeper of the house, I wonder if this young man is... ...?"

The butler felt very strange, just looking at the appearance of the group of people in front of him, he knew that they were here to express their condolences.

It's just that firstly Jia Lian and the others were very unfamiliar, and secondly, more than ten days had passed since the obituary was sent, which was not a day for all schools and houses to pay condolences, and the third house had not received any invitations.Therefore, Jia Lian and his party came here quite abruptly.

Besides, if it is not the close relatives of the Lin family who come to pay homage, they only need to dress plainly and tie a filial belt inside the door, which is enough respect.How can he be like Jia Lian, who is Baixiao all over his body?
As the old butler of the Lin family, he is quite sure that if there is such a person in the Lin family, he must know him.

Jia Lian got off his horse, bowed his hands together and said in a deep voice, "Jia Lian from the Rongguo Mansion, the younger generation, came to pay homage to my aunt by the order of my ancestors."

In fact, the housekeeper saw Jia Lian's face, but Jia Lian was a little familiar with the housekeeper.

When Jia Min married Lin Ruhai, it was when Lin Ruhai was an official in the capital.Later, Lin Ruhai was transferred to other places, and was finally transferred back to the capital. After being promoted to the adjutant of Lantai Temple, he went directly to Yangzhou to take charge of the salt administration.

That is to say, Lin Ruhai only lived in the capital for the first few years when he first married Jia Min, and even though he returned to the capital later on, he always returned to Beijing to report on his work, and never stayed in Beijing to hold a post. This is why Daiyu grew up in Jiangnan. And there is no reason why he went to Beijing with his father.

Therefore, Jia Lian remembered that he should have met the old butler of the Lin Mansion when he was a child, but he really couldn't remember the address of the other party, so he pretended not to remember, just acting as if he was doing business.

"Rongguo Mansion?" The old butler was obviously taken aback.

That was the natal family of their head wife, so he naturally knew, he just never thought that the Rongguo Mansion, which is a thousand or two thousand miles away, would send someone over so soon!
He also thought that even if the people from the Jia family would go to the south of the Yangtze River, it would be at least a long time later, and maybe their wives' coffins would be sent back to Suzhou by the master for burial.

However, the old housekeeper reacted quickly. After judging that Jia Lian and the others were unlikely to be liars, he immediately showed joy: "It turns out that the second master Lian has arrived, and this old slave will go to inform the master..."

Obviously, the housekeeper knew Jia Lian's name, but he couldn't recognize him face to face.

"Wait a minute." Jia Lian called to stop the old housekeeper, there was no joy on his face that he was about to see his parents, only the sadness in his eyes.

"Take me to the mourning hall to kowtow to my aunt first, and then the younger generation will go to visit my uncle."

Affected by Jia Lian's emotions, the old butler immediately concealed his excitement: "What Second Master Lian said is, please..."

……

Lin Mansion's private residence, in a side hall to the south.

Lin Ruhai looked at the dozen or so people in front of him, shook his head and said: "It's useless for everyone to persecute me here. This is the intention of the court, and I can reject it privately."

"I don't dare to force my lord, I just want to ask my lord to make the decision for me, and to state our difficulties to the court..."

"Yes, yes, this matter of 'donation' is really too embarrassing. If it's not possible, I can pay a little more tax. This donation cannot be an example!"

"That's right, Mr. Lin, since you became the censor of salt, we have fully supported you. We also pay a lot of money for the regular salt tax every year, and we hand it over to you. Now , you can't just withdraw my invitation for no reason..."

"I said, I don't want to remove your Yanyin..." Lin Ruhai was very tired after playing the bitter cards.

I happened to see the housekeeper appearing at the side of the hall, so I waved and asked him what was the matter.

The old butler whispered a few words in his ear, which made Lin Ruhai look surprised. After nodding, he turned and said to everyone in the hall: "I have some private matters, excuse me."

Back in the study, Lin Ruhai asked, "Are you sure it's Jia Lian?"

The old butler said seriously: "If you go back to the master, you can't be wrong. It is definitely the second master Lian of the Rongguo Mansion."

Lin Ruhai was just like what the old housekeeper thought before: "But Gyeonggi is far away, even if they got the news, they shouldn't have come so soon. Could it be that he happened to be in the south?"

"Who says it's not, the master doesn't know, the people you asked this old slave to arrange to deliver letters to Beijing haven't come back yet!"

Indeed, how did the person who sent the letter from the Lin family know that Jia's mansion would immediately send someone to Yangzhou, or take the dry road?Not to mention taking the dry road, but riding a fast horse instead of a carriage?

Isn't that tricky!
Lin Ruhai wondered in his heart, he had traveled to the south of the Yangtze River and Beijing and Central China several times, and he knew that the distance was so long that it would take more than ten days to go south by horse-drawn carriage, let alone by boat.

"In that case, why didn't you bring him to me?"

"Originally, the old slave also wanted to bring him to see the master, but the second master Lian said that it is important to pay homage to the wife first.

Now the second master Lian is reciting the sacrificial oration in the mourning hall. Judging by the length, I'm afraid it won't be finished in a while. "

Lin Ruhai stroked the beard on his chin, nodded and said: "That's right, after all, their family is different from other families, and they behave in a more decency and manner. If that's the case, I'll bring him to the study to see me after he finishes his sacrifice."

The butler should be, and asked again: "Those people in the side hall..."

"Let's just say I'm not feeling well, and tell them all to go home."

"Yes."

The butler nodded immediately, knowing that the master was really tired of those people.

That's right, after the wife left, the master's spirit was not very good. These people are good, and it is the most disgusting to bother the master again and again!
Turning around to leave, he hesitated for a while, then turned back.

"What else?"

"Master Hui, Young Master Yan and Young Master Yuan don't know where they are going. I got up early and appeared in the mourning hall once, but I haven't seen anyone yet."

Lin Ruhai's hand that had just turned the pages of the book paused slightly, and then said: "Understood, you can go down."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)