The Jade of the Red Chamber

It is said that today the government is determined to strictly investigate the deficit of the national treasury in recent years, and a large number of noble families in the court have been affected.Originally, the first emperor mentioned this kind of thing when the national treasury was empty, because there were too many involvements, most of which were deeply rooted in the powerful family, this matter was finally nothing but a big deal.

At this moment, His Majesty is acting with such fanfare, and some people feel that "the law does not blame the public", and the matter of checking the deficit will return in vain. If the government is too strict today, it will cause instability in the government. At that time, some old officials who had to be reused by the former emperor may be able to return to the court to stabilize the situation!Some ministers who have a keen sense of smell and grasp the situation feel that this matter will not be easy. The former emperors and old ministers headed by Wang Ziteng who have made practical contributions and established themselves in the court of today's emperor are very shocked. These ministers who still hold real power In the past few years, they have communicated with each other, and they have repaid a lot of national debts in these years. Now, the Holy One has ordered that whoever does not scramble to sell the property and hand over the booklet to the Ministry of Households to ask for guilt and repay the debts, but it provokes a group of "forgiving" adults to laugh in private. .

Especially Wang Ziteng, Wang Jiayuan, Jia, Shi, and Xue belonged to the four major families of Jinling. In the early years, he was involved with the old prince Yizhong and the prince Zhongshun. , but this grown-up seemed to have lost his mind, and gradually moved away from the original circle, and even worked hard to do errands and slowly came to Imakami's side.At first, he was frequently called ignorant, and later Jinshang unknowingly took power, and some people called him treacherous and cunning.Now that the Wang family has hollowed out more than half of their foundation, they have made up for the large sum of money they borrowed from the treasury more than a year ago. They were willing to pay so much money; some officials gritted their teeth and paid it back as soon as possible, but some were not willing to give up, desperately making excuses for themselves and cursing Wang Ziteng in their hearts.

Among them, Wang Xie, a former servant of the Ministry of Rites who has the same surname as Wang Ziteng and a different clan, is the worst. Taking advantage of his age, he directly shamed Wang Ziteng, and when talking to others, he pointed at Sang Huai and said, "Could it be that you were scared out of your nerve by the previous incident? There is something wrong with the above." The thing is like a dog seeing a meatloaf and jumping on it! I'm not afraid of breaking my dog's teeth... Hmph! I'm rushing to flatter him, and I don't see how much favor he has for him. I want to see what will happen to this matter. What a result! The prodigal son who ruined the foundation of the ancestors, fortunately, there is no such thing in my family, otherwise the old man will have to be beaten to death!"

This matter was very difficult to investigate. The officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs were too busy to touch the ground for a while, and Zhou Bing lost a lot of weight in a few months.

For those who are worried, apprehensive, and joked, since the imperial decree was issued today, this matter has not been mentioned in the court again. The big guys are a little relieved, but no one would have thought that this matter would continue Checked for more than half a year.

When it came to November, one day at the court, without waiting for the ministers to report, today the eunuch was ordered to read out an excerpt jointly presented by the Ministry of Households, Dali Temple, Yushitai, and the Ministry of Punishment. It's no different from what you're used to.But reading this booklet makes people sweat in the winter, which is the details of the national treasury deficit!Whose family, in a certain year, how much was borrowed, how much has been repaid, and when it was repaid, the rules are clear, and there is no room for denial or grievance.

Most of the four kings and eight princes here are the most numerous, the most frequent, the oldest and the oldest. It has been more than seven months now, and all the ministers have already figured it out..."

After the court, the panicked families couldn't sit still any longer, and rushed to rush, wanting to hug each other like the former emperor, and force the Holy One to give him a lighter sentence, at least to have more time!

Until then, these people discovered that the combined power of each family is indeed not small, but there are basically no people who hold important positions and hold real power. Unknowingly, the Holy Father has promoted and adjusted many people in various names in the past seven months. The few remaining people with real power in the big family were also "promoted" by the Holy Majesty to some tasteless position.They were dazzled by the indifferent attitude of the Holy Majesty, and they missed the opportunity for nothing!

By now, it is too late to remedy the situation.

Just as the courtiers were waiting to see what would happen to Jinshang, a thunderbolt came from a sunny day-the Rongning Second Mansion ransacked the house!

At a time when some people were wondering and some were terrified, Shangming Yushitai announced the crimes of the Jia family, even the courtiers who had nothing to do with the national debt were shocked. The Holy Majesty had already received the crimes of Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion!The Jia family has not been convicted yet, and the court hall is already full of excitement. This is really a time of life and death. The big families and imperial historians involved in it are blushing and neck thick because of the crimes of the Jia family. When it's my turn, with a precedent, my family will be able to make amends and reduce their crimes, or they can keep their wealth and title!

Besides, on the day when Rongning and Ning's second mansion ransacked their homes, it was at noon when they were eating. They only heard the raiders in Baoyu's room rush into the upper room with disheveled hair and cried to Jiamu, Mrs. Wang and Baoyu, "Old lady, madam, no... ...It’s not good, I was about to send something with the second master, when I saw Mingyan being tied in at the second gate and said: "Quickly pass it in, please stay away from the ladies and girls, the prince outside will come in to check the property!" "I When I was running, I saw a group of soldiers in boots and hats who looked like bandits coming in.We should wear the belt here and pack it up quickly! "

The masters and maids in the upper room could hear their souls flying into the sky. Mother Jia said, "I'll die!" and passed out. The rest of the maids and maids were crying like headless flies. Seeing this, he bit his lower lip, helped Jiamu up with trembling hands, and pinched her.

Mrs. Wang was short of breath, Baoyu was frightened and went crazy for a while, but Xue Baochai was restless, and was stopped by the attacker several times when she tried to go out. It's not easy for the future Second Grandma Bao to go out and be bumped. It's not easy for a beautiful girl to be scared and frightened and busy running around.

Xichun is young, her nanny is a bit timid, now she is standing in the corner with Xichun in her arms, her body stiff and silent.Tanchun is worried about Aunt Zhao, now that Aunt Zhao is being sent to remote places, Jia Zhengxin has recruited several young and beautiful aunts, Aunt Zhao has long lost power, and now I am afraid no one cares about her!

Poor Baochai and Baoyu burst into tears. People in the room were pulling one another and this one. They were at a loss for what to do. When the women and maids in the underground were messing around, they heard a group of voices shouting from outside: "Tell the female relatives inside to stay away, the prince has come in!" !"

The courtyard door was opened wide with a "bang", and the voice came from outside: "I have seen Prince Jing! I have seen the prince of Beijing County."The Beijing Palace is the only hereditary one among the four kings and eight princes. It has a high status, but it lost its real power a long time ago. The case of the deficit of the national treasury did not affect his family, so the Beijing Palace may be the cause of this uproar. The only one that can survive the great change.

Jia's mother and other female relatives were detained in the house, and Shui Yang and Shui Rong sat in the small hall, waiting for the three teams to report after the search. In fact, the Jia family was lucky. When the Zhen family ransacked the house, it was the local soldiers stationed in Jiangnan. , those old oily people are like rats, making you open the box and break the cabinet, and the items that have not been confiscated will also be emptied. Now it is the three teams under the defense of the imperial city who are here to confiscate. Hanke has strict discipline and dare not do those robbers.

The female relatives in this room were crying, causing the guards outside to slam the door hard, and the inside calmed down a bit. Fortunately, the mandarin ducks woke up Jiamu, and there was a backbone at the critical moment. Jiamu forced herself to give orders. No one was allowed to cry loudly. These people wiped their tears and sobbed softly, but Jia's mother didn't have the energy to worry about it anymore.

Not for a while, people who copied and inspected Rongguo Mansion, Ningguo Mansion and Rongguo Mansion's big house all came back and reported, and there were officers registering objects.

Those pieces of red gold jewellery, jewels and fine jade, as well as gold plates, gold bowls, agate and ivory dishes, silver and fur... people who looked at it were dazzled.Use the guys to save nails to register the above things, as well as the grants from Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion, all listed one by one.

Jia Zheng led the men from the two houses to stand in the courtyard with pale faces and was guarded. Shui Yang looked at the list with a sullen face and said nothing. Prince Jing, the guards have discovered a secret room in the Rongxi Hall of the main courtyard of the Rongguo Mansion!"

When the two kings heard this, they were a little surprised. After all, such a century-old family always has some hidden places, fearing that there might be something important inside, Shui Yangyin said: "Open the door and wait for me to go and check."

When the two of them entered the secret room, even King Beijing Jing, who had always had a look of unbearable expression on his face, sank down. The secret room was filled with jewels, gold and silver, and many large-value banknotes. We found a seal with the seal of Zhen's family at the bottom of the box!Some gold ingots also have the word "Zhen" on the back, and the sum of these objects in a small secret room is worth [-]% of the search value just above!

Seeing this, King Bei Jing felt sorry for the Jia family and dared not say a word for them.Prince Jing's face was gloomy, and he ordered the soldiers to immediately summon the male and female servants who were imprisoned, to find out whether this is the secret treasury of the whole family or someone's private treasury!

Shui Yang naturally guessed that this was probably the private treasury of the Jia Wang family. He said this because he knew that the big house of Rongguo Mansion had no major crimes, and he knew that Zhenyu had always taken care of them, so he wanted to take advantage of this to take them away. Take it out.

Sure enough, after a while, Mrs. Wang's girl and Yu Xin, who had been trusted recently, confessed that this was Mrs. Wang's private treasury.This girl was not Jin Chuan'er, because Jin Chuan'er was getting better and better, Jia Zheng, who was becoming more and more romantic, looked at her a few more times, and Mrs. Wang was so angry that she sold her to a merchant as a concubine.Yin Chuan'er was also taken back by their old lady to be married to a boy.

Snorting heavily, Shui Yang threw a stack of coupons and account books in front of Jia Zheng, and said angrily: "What a Rongguo mansion, I have never seen such a high interest rate loan before! There is already a lot of usury here. Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, who did it?"

In the room, Mrs. Wang's eyes widened when she heard about the secret library of Rongxi Hall, and she was horrified. Now it was heard that the prince asked about the loan, and she had already collapsed on the ground like a puddle of mud.

Jia Zheng's eyes were black and red, and his face was green. He knelt down to meet each other and said, "It's true that the prisoner doesn't take care of housework. I don't know about these things. I only asked Jia Lian, the prisoner's nephew, about what happened earlier."

Jia Lian was also brought and detained together by the officers and soldiers. Hearing this, he looked at his uncle in disbelief. In the early years, he and Sister Feng had indeed been in charge of the Rong Mansion, but it was clearly the Second Wife who did the lending!It was searched in Rongxi Hall again, how could it fall on the head of the big room they separated?

Fang wanted to argue a few words, but was stopped by Shui Yang's eyes, Jia Lian dared to see Prince Jing's appearance, and immediately gasped, he had seen this man before!This person was always there when I met and talked with Cousin Lin a few times. My dear, he always said that the Lin family and Prince Jing were close friends. Just like brothers of the same generation!Exhaling lightly, Jia Lian breathed a sigh of relief, since this is Prince Jing, for Cousin Lin's sake, he would not let himself be a scapegoat for nothing.

Looking down at Jia Zheng who was kneeling down without revealing his expression, Shui Yang suddenly raised the corners of his lips, and said coldly: "I don't know, the account receipts and the large amount of banknotes are all found in the Rongxi Hall. It came out! As far as this king knows, this Rongxi Hall was the former residence of 'Zhenggong'? It seems that the big house Jia She and others have not lived in it for a day?"

Jia's mother was very worried when she heard Prince Jing questioning Jia Zheng, so she asked Yuanyang and Hu Po to help her to the window to hear about it, but when she came here, she heard Jia Zheng put the blame on Jia Lian and Dafang. His eyes turned black, hot tears kept falling, how could this child be like this?Lian'er is also his nephew!

When Jia Zheng heard this, his face turned pale for a moment, and he kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, the prisoner never cares about common affairs. I really don't know these things. There were the prisoner's nephew and his wife before, and then there was the prisoner's mother and his wife Wang." Cooking, since this box of documents was copied out in Rongxi Hall, I asked my mother and Mrs. Wang to find out."

Shui Yang sneered, Jia Zheng's evasion was really clean, he didn't hesitate to push out his mother and wife, but he didn't know that Jia Zheng, who was rigid and old-fashioned, dared to do such a thing.

Jia Mu heard from the window that she was crying, and the more she couldn't stop, her face was ashen, as if she was half dead.She raised a good son!

Shui Yang got impatient with entanglement with them, so he read the Jia family's personal crimes, and ordered the soldiers to suppress the guilty male, and said to Jia Lian, who was able to manage the remaining members of the Jia family, "So the remaining female family members, The men are scattered in the house, and guarded outside, Jia Lian and others must be careful and wait for the order."

Jia Lian waited to see off the two princes on his knees, and before he could enter the door to visit the old lady and other female relatives, Wang'er hurried over and said, "Master, it's not good! The master rolled his eyes and passed away! The wife and grandma are in a hurry." Impossible!"

Jia Lian heard that there was nothing else to worry about, so he ran over sweating profusely all the way.But it turns out that Jia Amnesty is useless, don't look at him who has always been ruthless and domineering towards his wives, concubines and children a few years ago, but in fact it is an embroidered pillow, the most timid, this time it didn't matter, he came to copy the inspection The soldier had been ordered by Shui Yang, and his hands and feet were not heavy, so he rolled his eyes in fright, and passed out!

It doesn't matter that he is half dead, but Mrs. Xing, Sister Feng, Yingchun, and Ping'er were terribly frightened by him, their eyes were swollen like peaches, and they looked miserable.

When Jia Lian came in, seeing this scene, his heart turned cold, thinking that Jia Amnesty had already passed away.For a moment, she rushed forward with tears in her eyes, and the distressed appearance made Mrs. Xing and Sister Feng, who had just calmed down, jump up, thinking that they would be charged with crimes besides ransacking their big house, and immediately the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law's complexions turned yellow.

Jia Lian rushed forward, but saw Jia She's half-opened eyes looking at him, the three souls frightened two of them, and almost cried out...

It took a while for the members of the eldest room to figure out the facts, and they all heaved a sigh of relief. It turned out that Jia She woke up faintly before he entered the door, and there was nothing serious about it.

Several people discussed it, and Jia Lian said: "This time the matter is not small. Fortunately, our eldest son is not guilty, and there is nothing illegal in the inspection. Maybe it can be preserved. It's just that the old lady's side is not good. The second master He was pushed away, the second wife was locked up alone, Baoyu is not up to the task, so it is necessary for parents to go and help them for a while, and make plans after they are convicted."

Jia Amnesty and others all agreed, but luckily the Holy Spirit was so sympathetic to him, some of the family did not move anymore, although they couldn't leave the house, they could still go on with their daily life.However, everyone knew at the time that the Rongning Second House was defeated!