Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 81
After attending Jia Zheng's birthday banquet and congratulating Jia Zheng and others in the Rongguo Mansion, Jia Rui went home.

Because the time given by the Emperor was almost up, Jia Rui immediately started packing his bags after returning home, preparing to go south in a day or two.

Jia Rui and Xue Baochai are about to separate after their newlyweds, so naturally they are extremely reluctant, but as an aspiring wife, Xue Baochai still supports her husband very much in going out and fighting hard.

Therefore, Xue Baochai personally packed Jia Rui's clothes and other accompanying items for his trip, and arranged for several clever and sensible servants to accompany him.

On the day of the trip, Xue Pan came early, and when Jia Rui started to leave, Xue Pan followed closely beside Jia Rui, fearing that others would leave him behind.

After Jia Dairu, Mrs. Wang, and Xue Baochai personally sent Jia Rui and others out of the door, they watched Jia Rui disappear on Ningrong Street on a horse for hours. Yang went back home.

Jia Rui led a servant with Shang Fang's sword on his back, and quickly left the city. After arriving at the barracks, he met Zhang Tao, and after counting the food and money for disaster relief, he took his men and horses and led Min Zhuang to the south. go.

Since they were going for disaster relief, Jia Rui and others marched very fast. They passed Tongzhou in just a few days, and then took a boat all the way south along the Grand Canal, and soon came to the border of Shandong.

Going further is Texas.

Arriving here, Jia Rui was going to rest for the night, and the army went on their way again the next day.

As a result, as soon as the army stopped, the boy next to him came to report.

"Uncle, Second Master Lian and an official named Jia Yucun are visiting outside."

Jia Rui was taken aback when he heard this.Then I understood, it seems that Lin Ruhai's funeral is over, and Jia Lian is going north.

But how did he get together with Jia Yucun?
For this Jia Yucun, Jia Rui is very contemptuous, this is a white-eyed wolf.

This Jiayu village, relying on the relationship of the Jia family, re-entered the official position, and finally, with the support of the Jia family and Wang Ziteng, it skyrocketed, and finally became the official of Da Sima (Shangshu of the Ministry of War).

With his status in the court at that time, as long as he spoke a few words of kindness in front of the emperor, the Jia family could be punished lightly.

But what happened? Not only did this guy have no kind words, he actually added insult to injury and personally ransacked the house.

Can Jia Rui like such a villain?

But this time he came with Jia Lian, instead of looking at the monk's face and the Buddha's face, he saw him for a while, and when he returned to court, he would give this guy a small shoe to wear and let him roll as far as he could.

Jia Rui was very confident that he could control Jia Yucun. With the trust of the Supreme Emperor, Jia Yucun could not escape his grasp.

"Please."

Following Jia Rui's orders, Jia Lian and Jia Yucun boarded Jia Rui's big ship with the help of soldiers.

Jia Lian and Jia Rui met in the front cabin of the official ship.

Jia Lian is still the same as in his previous life. He is handsome and well-dressed. At first glance, he looks like a playboy from a rich family.

Jia Yucun next to him was beyond Jia Rui's expectation, because he was handsome and upright, which made people feel good at first sight.

But this is also normal. In ancient times, besides literary talent, there was another important assessment indicator for being an official, and that was appearance.

If you are ugly, no matter how talented or talented you are, you will not make progress.

If you are a little talented but have good looks and appear to be a gentleman, then your chances of promotion are higher.

This is what the ancients believed was born from the heart.

When Jia Lian met Jia Rui, he just cupped his hands without saluting, but Jia Yucun, who was standing next to Jia Lian, bowed to the ground.

"I'm going to Jiayu Village, the magistrate of Jinling, and I'm going to see the imperial envoy."

Jia Rui looked at Jia Yucun, who was kneeling below, and didn't expect this guy to be so discerning.

No wonder he became a high official.

The original disgust towards Jia Yucun also disappeared with Jia Yucun's prostration.

Jia Rui stepped forward and helped Jia Yucun up and said: "Master Jia, we are all working for the Supreme Emperor, so there is no need to be so polite."

"Don't dare."

Jia Yucun said that he dared not, with a flattered face, he carefully supported Jia Rui, and sent him to the upper seat like a servant.

Jia Lian, who was standing beside her, was a little stunned.

At the same time, a strange feeling rose in my heart.

When he left, Jia Rui was just hanging out in the clan school. Now, after not seeing him for several months, he was promoted to the third rank and served as an imperial envoy to patrol places.

If the two of them hadn't looked the same, he would have suspected that Jia Rui had been replaced.

After Jia Rui sat down, he waved his hand to let Jia Lian and Jia Yucun sit down as well.

This time Jia Lian was not as careless as before. He carefully sat next to Jia Yucun, appearing more cautious than before.

"Is the matter in Yangzhou done?"

"It's already done. This time, I'm going back to Beijing with Sister Lin."

"Oh, Miss Lin is also on board?"

"Yes, but the little girl is shy, so she didn't come to see her."

Jia Rui felt a little uncomfortable, it wasn't because the little girl had a thin face, but because this proud and arrogant sister Lin didn't want to talk to her at all.

It's a pity that today we won't be able to see the Twelve Beauties of Jinling who are as famous as Xue Baochai.

But these are trivial matters, as long as Lin Daiyu returns to Rongguo Mansion, the two will meet sooner or later.

In fact, Jia Rui was just curious about Lin Daiyu in his heart. As for having Lin Daiyu in his pocket, Jia Rui never thought about it.

Because the two of them are not the same person at all.

In Jia Rui's mind, Lin Daiyu can only be seen from a distance. From a distance, she looks like a young and beautiful girl.

But if it were placed beside him, it would be a bit unlucky. The sadness of spring and autumn every day is not something that a person like Jia Rui can bear. Should it be left to Jia Baoyu?
A few people chatted some gossip in the official cabin again, and then seeing that it was getting late, Jia Lian and Jia Yucun took their leave tactfully.

After this episode, Jia Rui took his troops off the ship and landed on the next day, officially entering Shandong.

When he first entered Shandong, Jia Rui didn't feel anything unusual.

But a day or two later, Jia Rui felt the seriousness of the situation.

All he saw in the villages he passed by was that all the crops in the fields had died of drought.

The men, women and children in the village, dressed in rags, dig wild vegetables, bark, and grass roots in the nearby grasslands and at the foot of the mountain.

Once, Jia Rui even saw two families fight for the bark of a loquat tree, and three or four people were killed or injured in the end.

That was fine, and after walking for another day or two, Jia Rui saw corpses of starved to death one after another by the side of the road, and even the corpses of many children, which were mutilated.

Without even thinking about it, Jia Rui knew where the mutilated bodies ended up going.

Seeing this desolate scene, Jia Rui was heartbroken, but when he thought about the 30 dans of grain he was burdening, it was a drop in the bucket to face the millions of victims.

Frowning, Jia Rui led the army forward slowly, and settled in a small village at night when the sky was getting dark.

The reason why they settled down here was because the guide told Jia Rui that there were several wells here, and the water source was quite abundant, which could sustain an army of three thousand.

But when he came to this small village, Jia Rui was dumbfounded.

Most of the wells here are dry, only one still has some mud soup.

In this well with muddy soup, hundreds of people around it looked at Jia Rui and his soldiers from a distance, and dared not speak out.

Jia Rui understands these people, because this well is their last source of water. If there is no more mud soup, these people will probably die of thirst.

Jia Rui sighed, and then ordered the army to withdraw from the village and rest temporarily by the dry river not far away.

The army settled down in the camp, and the leading horse head came to Jia Rui in a hurry.

"My lord, our water source is not enough. If we don't replenish the water source, the army will be unable to leave tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)