The Red Mansions

Chapter 255 Wang Xifeng visits the door, traces of Miaoyu appear

Lin House.

Lin Ruhai personally sent Jia Yun out.

"Zizheng, after you go back, you will also think about it. No matter how the court changes, we must first have a plan in our hearts. I will talk to you in detail after I finish my work these days."

Jia Yun cupped her hands and replied, "Okay, I will collect some documents after I go back, and think about it later."

After the two exchanged pleasantries, Jia Yun didn't stay any longer, got on her horse, took her leave and left.

According to Lin Ruhai, after he returns to Beijing, there is a high possibility that he will serve in the Ministry of Households or the Ministry of Officials.

Jia Yun suggested to him that if he could go to the Ministry of Officials, he should go to the Ministry of Officials as much as possible.

As the saying goes: Govern the country first by governing the history, if the officials are not honest, the way of governance will decline.

If the officials are clean and honest, the country will be peaceful and the people will be safe!

If officials are corrupt, the country will be ruined and the family will perish!

Therefore, if Lin Ruhai wanted to occupy an important position in the emperor's future administrative team, it was best to go to the Ministry of Officials.

It's not that the household department is not good, but compared with the official department, the household department not only has a complicated composition of personnel, but also is more passive in what it wants to do.

After all, the Ministry of Households is in charge of land, taxation, household registration, military supplies, salary, food and financial revenue and expenditure, which is equivalent to the imperial court's purse.

Therefore, no matter which force it is, they all want to get involved in the household department.

Sufficient oil and water is one aspect, and it is also important to have someone in the household department who can handle things well.

But when the treasury is rich, the waists and livers of household officials can stand upright.

The more money you have, the more weight you can speak in the court.

The problem is that the current imperial court is full of holes, and the national treasury is so empty that there are not even mice.

The outsiders are facing the thankless task of recovering their outstanding debts. If Lin Ruhai can try his best not to get involved, he should not get involved.

In order not to get caught up in it, don't talk about what you can't do, or you might be plotted against by others and take the blame for others.

The Ministry of Officials is different.

Even if you become an official in the Ministry of Officials, if you want to make a difference, you will definitely offend people, and there will be many constraints.

But the Ministry of History, after all, holds a considerable number of people's de facto power.

Especially for the appointment and removal of middle and low-level officials, the operation of the Ministry of Officials is still very critical.

With real power, you can take the initiative to do many things.

In political practice, the two most important powers are personnel power and financial power.

Compared with personnel power, financial power and financial resources are just means to serve specific powers.

So as long as you have the power of personnel and want to make a difference, no matter how much resistance there is, you can at least struggle a little bit, but if you go to the Ministry of Household Affairs, you will lose this convenience.

Because of this, Jia Yun advised Lin Ruhai to become an official in the Ministry of Officials.

For Lin Ruhai, this is not only a challenge, but also an opportunity.

"drive!"

Jia Yun rode her horse and swung her whip against the wind, running home on the snow.

"Boom!"

A group of guards surrounded and followed, and the densely packed horseshoes splashed thousands of slush and swayed in all directions.

Speechless all the way.

Back home, Xiangling quickly took off Jia Yun's cloak.

"Master, Aunt Qin came over to ask earlier, do you need anything else for the New Year here?"

Jia Yun shook her head and bent down to warm her hands on the brazier. She shook her head and replied, "No, everything that needs to be said has been said."

"That's fine, I will go back to Aunt Qin's words later." Xiangling put the cloak in the fire box to get rid of dampness, and said with a smile.

After a pause, she continued: "Mrs. Xue brought Grandma Xue over today, and she is currently in Madam's room!"

Jia Yun glanced at her, and said unexpectedly: "Why didn't you say so earlier, I'll go right away."

After speaking, he got up and walked out.

Xiangling pouted, followed out, and muttered softly: "Isn't this just what you're talking to, slave?"

When she came to the corridor, Jia Yun smiled and said, "If you have something to say out loud, don't mutter."

"Hee hee, what can I do, as long as I take good care of the master, I will be satisfied." Xiang Ling said with a smile.

Jia Yun stretched out her hand to hold Xiang Ling's little hand, and asked with a smile, "Why are you alone in the room today, what about them?"

"I went to Aunt Qin's room to help. Aunt Qin said that most of the people in the master's room can read and write, and they are easy to use. Manager Ni sent the account book early this morning. Aunt Qin planned to finish the calculation earlier, so I borrowed it. people pass by."

Jia Yun saw that Xiang Ling was simple-minded, yet extremely beautiful, and smiled comfortably:
"Why didn't you go? Don't you also know how to read and write?"

Xiangling was stunned for a moment, then said with a smirk: "Master, if the servants also go there, there will be no one to serve the master."

"Hehe, you are kind to me." Jia Yun smiled, leaned over and pecked her small mouth, it was cold and had a faint fragrance.

Xiangling blinked, blushed, looked around, and was relieved to see no one around.

"Master, if you like, the servant can serve you in the room however you want, but you can't be in such a big crowd, the servant is ashamed and flustered." Xiangling said shyly.

Jia Yun laughed loudly, nodded as she walked, and said, "Okay! It's up to you!"

While talking and joking, the master and servant came to Xue Baochai's courtyard.

After seeing the salute, the maidservant outside the door lifted the cotton curtain to make it easier for Jia Yun to enter the house.

As soon as she entered the room, Mrs. Xue got up, rushed forward, grabbed Jia Yun's hands, hugged her in her soft arms (·人·), and said with a happy smile:
"I'm Dier, I haven't seen you for a long time, and I've lost a lot!"

Jia Yun shook her head and smiled wryly, not knowing what to say, so she nodded to Xue Baochai, Jia Ling and others in the room.

Before Jia Yun could speak, Mrs. Xue Wang pulled Jia Yun to the stove, rubbed his hands to warm him, and asked with a smile:

"How is it? I heard that you went to meet Mr. Lin. Have you received anyone?"

Jia Yun nodded and said: "I received it early in the morning. After all, I sent someone to deliver the letter, so there was no accident."

The two sat down.

Jia Yun twitched her hand and found that Xue Wang was holding her tightly, so she had no choice but to bear it.

He turned his head and asked Jia Ling, "Sister Ling'er is a rare visitor, so I have to play for a few more days before going back. By the way, where is Brother Xue?"

Jia Ling was chubby, with a beautiful appearance, a smile on his face, and dimples on his cheeks.

"That bastard went to the Commercial Road Guild Hall early in the morning, saying that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs had something to do with him." Mrs. Xue answered.

Jia Yun nodded, knowing that Xue Pan was going to distribute the money with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs, so she didn't ask any further questions.

Xue Baochai at the side handed over an account book and said with a smile, "Husband, this is the business account book my brother asked my mother to bring, and one was sent by Manager Ni early in the morning. I want you to take a look too."

Hearing this, Jia Yun finally took the opportunity to pull Wang Xue's hand out of her arms, took the account book and slowly looked through it.

After a general look, this year the Xue family invested more in business, so there was no dividend, but the Xue family paid 60 million taels of silver instead.

Of course, the money was borrowed from the Xue family by the business route, and it will be returned slowly in the future.

Jia Yun raised her head and asked Xue Wang, "Mother-in-law, the Xue family doesn't have much savings now, right?"

"Ask Ling'er about this, I'll leave it to her to take care of the housework." Xue Wang replied pointing at Jia Ling.

Jia Ling nodded and replied, "I don't have much savings. If my husband hadn't borrowed 3 taels of silver from Shibafang, the family wouldn't be able to survive the year."

"How do you go to Shibafang to borrow money? The public is the public, and the private is private. In this way, later Baochai will take 3 taels and bring it back to Ling'er sister, so that Brother Xue can make up the debt of Shibafang." Jia Yun pondered.

"Sister Ling'er will go back and tell Big Brother Xue about this matter. You can't go to the commercial road to borrow money. If he starts this, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs will also borrow money from now on. What should we do?"

Xue Baochai nodded and said: "Your husband is right. If we don't take the lead, the trade route will be destroyed in a few years. We can't do the business of killing chickens to get eggs."

Jia Ling and Xue Wang looked at each other and nodded at the same time.

Xue Baochai continued: "In the future, if the Xue family is short of money, you can come and tell me that we are all one family, even if you borrow from you, you won't ask for interest. Mother and sister-in-law don't worry too much."

Xue Wang said with a dry smile: "Isn't that the bastard of your brother who said that although your family has money, there are also a lot of places to spend. I'm afraid it will drag you back, so I came to ask you to borrow it."

"This is brother Xue thinking too much." Jia Yun shook her head and said.

"No matter how expensive our family's expenses are, it's still quite easy to get out tens of thousands of taels of silver."

Jia Yun also knew that the reason Xue Pan had concerns was probably because he had heard himself say that two new trade routes would be built next year.

Especially for overseas trade routes, a large number of seagoing ships need to be built, and a large number of sailors and crews will be hired.

Once this trade route is built, a lot of money will be spent, a few million is not too much, and hundreds of thousands is not too little.

But Xue Pan didn't know that it was impossible for Jia Yun to be the sole proprietor of this business route.

For this business route to be built smoothly, in addition to considering investment, it is also necessary to worry about various forces such as the imperial court and local families.

Therefore, it is necessary to pull part of the joint operation to prevent risks.

For Jia Yun, earning money through trade routes is the next best thing.

The main reason is to use the platform of business routes to make friends and win over some forces for his use.

At the same time, it can also collect a large number of various strategic resources to form influence within its own sphere of influence.

While talking, Xiangling walked in from the outside and whispered something to Jia Yun.

Jia Yun nodded, stood up and said to Xue Baochai and the others: "Aunt Feng is here, she probably has something to do with me, I'll go over and have a look first, and come back later."

Xue Baochai nodded and said, "Husband, go and get busy, don't worry about us."

……

Just as Jia Yun stepped into Wang Xifeng's courtyard, she heard the laughter in the room.

"Well, all the family members have come here?" Jia Yun laughed.

Xiangling pursed her lips and smiled, and replied: "Second Grandma Lian is a good joke..."

Jia Yun smiled, entered the room, and took a look around, all eyes were full of gorgeous, fat and thin girls.

Wang Xifeng, Xiren, Meiren, Yuanyang, Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, Jia Xichun, Xue Baoqin, etc., plus maids such as Ping'er and Qingwen, gathered around the round table, talking to each other, it was very lively.

On the round table, there was a pile of children's clothes, shoes and hats in a mess.

Seeing Jia Yun coming in, Wang Xifeng stood up, waved to him, and said with a smile:
"You came just in time, come and have a look, these baby clothes are made by me and Ping'er working day and night for several months."

"Just now we were talking about which good-looking ones to give to Cousin Xue!"

Jia Yun stepped forward to look at it, and said in surprise: "There are too many, even if Baochai is pregnant with twins, it won't take so much, besides, the family has a lot to do, and the few cabinets in Baochai's room can't fit. "

Wang Xifeng rolled his eyes at him, and said: "The family belongs to the family, and we belong to us. Can it be the same?"

"Although these clothes are worthless, they were made by Ping'er and I stitch by stitch. It's our kindness, so don't refuse them!"

Jia Yun laughed and said, "Yes, why not? I want as much as I have!"

"That won't work. You can choose up to ten sets, and I will send the rest to Ningguo Mansion." Wang Xifeng shook his head.

Jia Tanchun smiled and said: "We were originally going to send things to Ningguo Mansion to visit Mrs. You, and we came to you just incidentally."

Jia Yun knew that she was joking, shook her head and smiled, and said to Xi Ren and Mei Ren:

"In this case, you can help Baochai choose a few sets. I think these are all good-looking, but I don't know how to choose."

After playing around for a while, everyone returned to the brazier and sat down to talk.

Wang Xifeng asked: "I heard that you went to pick up Mr. Lin?"

"Well, I picked it up early in the morning and took it to the house." Jia Yun nodded.

Jia Tanchun wrinkled his nose and said in surprise, "Did you eat barbecue? There is still a scent on your body."

"Hey, your nose is really good. I can still smell it even after changing clothes." Jia Yun said in surprise.

At this time, Jia Xichun, the youngest, asked in a low voice: "The venison and Siamese pig at my nephew's house are the most delicious, can I roast some for today?"

Everyone swallowed when they heard Fang.

Jia Yun smiled, nodded and said: "Good guy, isn't it just food, you can eat anytime you want."

"The concubine will make arrangements now, and she will be able to eat in half an hour at most." Xiren got up and said.

Meiren and Xue Baoqin also got up and said they would go to help together.

Wang Xifeng asked curiously, "Where is the best place to barbecue in this cold weather?"

"In the northwest corner of the mansion, there is a blue courtyard with elegant scenery, open terrain, and a hall to shelter from wind and rain. It is the best place to barbecue in winter." Xiren replied with a smile.

Jia Yun nodded and said, "That's okay, Biluo Courtyard is relatively remote, and few people from our family go there, so let's go there and have fun together today!"

Seeing that Jia Yun had no objection, Xiren went there with Meiren, Xue Baoqin and the maid to prepare.

Jia Yun turned her head and asked Jia Xichun, "I often hear that my aunt is happy, why did she change her sex today?"

"It's not a change of character. I'm here today to eat Siamese pigs, which are rarely available in other places." Jia Xichun replied with a blushing face.

Jia Tanchun answered with a smile: "Don't listen to Si Yatou's nonsense, it was my idea to want to eat Siamese pigs, but she was blamed."

Jia Yun waved her hand and said disapprovingly, "Isn't it just for food? It's not a big deal. If you want to eat in the future, you can just come and eat, or you can send a maid to bring the ingredients to Jia's house for cooking."

Wang Xifeng shook his head and said, "Forget it, even though it's just food, if you take it to Jia's mansion, it will be too much fanfare."

Jia Yun didn't force it, and asked curiously: "By the way, are the girls Xing Xiuyan, Li Wen and Li Qi still staying in Jia's residence?"

"It's still there. Not long ago, another man named Miaoyu came and lived in the Quicui Nunnery in the Xingqin Villa. Now that Brother Bao sees the sky, he goes there to play." Jia Tanchun continued.

(End of this chapter)