The Rise of Ning Mansion in Red Mansions

Chapter 78 Salt Merchants Siege
Jia Dai had somewhat guessed the purpose of Li Zhongxian's visit to Jiangning.

It was nothing more than Emperor Taikang. Since he was prevented from returning to Shenjing and interfered with the imperial court's reform of the capital,

I don't want to see him grow bigger in Jinling and cut off the imperial court's control over the important financial and taxation areas in Jiangnan.

Therefore, a few days ago, Jia Dai handed over military power and allowed Li Weiping to use the pretext of arresting the remnants of Japanese pirates to panic the people in the peaceful city of Jiangning.

On this day, Jia Zhu was lying in bed, supporting her body, and wrote an emotional memorial to Jia Min.

However, Jia Zhu was in poor health, so he asked Jia Dai to go to Yangzhou.
A farewell to his aunt, Jia Min, for the last journey.

After Jia Dai plundered a lot of treasures from the Wang family, it was okay to be idle in the palace. On the contrary, it made Li Zhongxian uneasy in the palace. He might as well take this opportunity to leave this whirlpool for a short time.

One is to meet sister Lin, the other is to send Jia Min off on her last journey, and the third is to give Lin Ruhai a prestige so that she will not be looked down upon by the Yangzhou salt merchants, who overtly and covertly deduct the salt tax.

I was tired from driving, and I didn’t know the sun and moon on the road.

On September 16th, Jia Dai led a group of armored soldiers and took a river boat to the canal dock outside Yangzhou City.

After entering the city, I took a shower and freshened up in an inn.
He changed his clothes, took a carriage, and soon arrived at Yangzhou Yandao Yamen.

Yandao Yamen is divided into two parts, the front and the back.

In the front is the official office, which serves as the office, and in the back is Lin Ruhai's official residence.

In fact, most local government offices in the Wei Dynasty had this layout.

It not only facilitates officials to manage their affairs, but also allows them to bring their wives, children, and children to their side for family happiness.

Jia Dai and his party came to the main entrance of Yandao Yamen. Although the door was open, there were only seven or eight saltmen guarding the door, but it was quiet inside.

However, when those salt men saw that Jia Dai had a black gauze wrapped around his left arm, they knew that he had come to the Lin family to express condolences, and that he was surrounded by armored soldiers. His identity must not be simple and he could not afford to offend him.

Therefore, one or two people immediately stepped forward enthusiastically and led Jia Dai and others along the path of green bricks and blue tiles to the east.

No matter how high the official rank is, he cannot occupy the official office in front of him to handle business matters.

Lin Ruhai is originally from Suzhou and has no villa in Yangzhou.

Therefore, Jia Min's spirit can only be located in the back office.

According to the Feng Shui theory of the Wei Dynasty, if the door cannot be opened facing the south, the east side is the first choice. Because the east side is also called the Qinglong position, it is a lucky gate.

Therefore, all officials who live in the Yamen usually go to the Qinglong Gate on the left for daily visits and personal contacts.

Jia Dai had been living in Shenjing for many years, so he still had this common sense. He was not surprised at all, so he followed him with confidence, and was not afraid that Yan Ding would trick him and deceive him, which would be detrimental to himself.

Soon, Jia Dai and his party arrived at the east gate, and saw a bleak scene, with white flags fluttering and clouds of smoke. Within the high white wall, there are faint sounds of chanting sutras and wooden fish.

Jia Dai raised the curtain and took a look, then quickly jumped out of the carriage.

Immediately, there was a middle-aged man wearing sackcloth and wearing filial piety. He first bowed and then asked politely:

"I am Lin Tao, the steward of the Lin Mansion. I wonder who this official is..."

Jia Dai was surrounded by armored soldiers and looked young. Lin Tao expected that he must not be a mortal, he just had a tight face. He didn't know if the Lin family had ever had such a wealthy relative.

Secondly, it has been more than ten days since the obituary was sent, and the period of condolences for each family has passed long ago. Today is the day of Jia Min's funeral, and she will go south to Suzhou for burial.

Thirdly, the Lin family did not receive a greeting card.
Fourthly, Jia Dai was dressed in snow-white plain clothes, with black gauze on his arms and a hemp rope on his waist. If the closest relatives and juniors of the Lin family did not come to pay homage, he only had to go to the door to get a filial piety belt and tie it.
Why should I be like him and be filial throughout my body?

As an old butler who has served the Lin family for fifteen years, Lin Tao is quite sure that there is no such person in the Lin family. Therefore, when Jia Dai and his party arrived, Lin Tao was filled with questions.

"Jia Dai of Ningguo Mansion was entrusted by others to come to pay homage to my aunt." Jia Dai slightly cupped his hands and replied in a deep voice.

"Ningguo Mansion?"

Lin Tao was obviously taken aback. He had heard of the reputation of the two Dukes of the Jia family in Jinling of the Great Wei Dynasty. The matron of the family, Jia Min, came from the Rongguo Mansion.

Unexpectedly, after being separated by a thousand or two thousand miles and only more than ten days, my wife's family responded so quickly and sent someone over.

Moreover, this person's identity is not ordinary, which shows that the Jia family attaches great importance to his wife.

Originally, Lin Tao thought that it would be a long time before the Jia family received the obituary notice. Maybe by then Jia Min's spirit would have been sent back to her hometown in Suzhou for burial.

Lin Tao reacted quickly and immediately showed joy. While leading Jia Dai inside, he said:

"It turns out that it's Uncle Dai who is in front of you. I will go and inform him now..."

"Wait a minute!"

Jia Dai stopped Lin Tao. There was no joy on his face, only sadness in his eyes.

"First take me to the mourning hall and kowtow to my aunt. After that, it's not too late to go visit Uncle Lin."

Lin Tao was just stunned for a moment, and then he understood, "What Uncle Dai said is, please come with me..."

……

In the back office, there is a flower hall.

Lin Ruhai looked at the people in front of him with a look of helplessness and said:
"It is useless for you to threaten me. Apportionment, donation, and quota of salt are the policies issued by the imperial court. How can I reject it privately?"

"We don't dare to force you, sir. We just want to ask you to make the decision for us and state our interests to the court..."

"Yes, Mr. Lin, we really can't set a precedent for donating money. Even if we pay more salt tax this year, it won't be enough."

"That's right, Mr. Lin, ever since you became the Censor of Salt Road, we have been fully supporting you and have never neglected you in the slightest."

"The regular salt tax for the past two years has been 30% more than before. We have also paid the salt tax in full. Now, the court wants to withdraw the salt tax without any reason. It is really difficult to convince the public."

"It's not that we mean to embarrass you, sir. It's really difficult to make a living. Many kitchen households have given up their jobs because they think the price of salt is too low. If the court imposes additional taxes, I'm afraid..."

"I have said that the imperial court is not removing your Yanyin, it is just redistributing it."

Surrounded by a group of salt merchants, frantically pouring out their bitters, Lin Ruhai was at a loss for words.

He is a man of letters and has always read only the books of saints and sages. In his journey of salt and profit, he understands that it is really difficult to play. He only has a loyal heart, but he is tired of coping.

He happened to see Lin Tao outside the door and winked at him, so Lin Ruhai called him in to ask.

Lin Tao whispered something in his ear, Lin Ruhai looked surprised, nodded, turned to everyone in the flower hall and said:
"Zhuo Jing's funeral is going out today. Please give me some time. We can talk about it another day..."

After returning to the study and closing the door, Lin Ruhai asked, "Are you sure it's Jia Dai from Ningguo Mansion? How could he come to Yangzhou if he didn't stay in Zhongshan to keep his filial piety?"

Previously, it was Jia Dai who, for some unknown reason, sent Lai Sheng to Yangzhou to recover Jia Min's dowry in the name of Jia's mother and the Rongguo Mansion.

Lin Ruhai knew that although Lai Sheng was the son of Grandma Lai, Jia's mother's maid, she only had this question after marrying Jia Dai.

(End of this chapter)