The Agricultural Tycoon of the Red House

As it was a matter of military rations, Northwest General Zhang Jianling did not dare to delay at all, so he traveled [-] li to rush to report to the emperor at the beginning of the outbreak of the disease.As the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Army, he was entirely responsible for the success or failure of the war, so in the memorial submitted, Zhang Jianling naturally wanted to make the seriousness of the disease serious.

The emperor understood that the matter was of great importance, and immediately summoned Qi Tianlai, the three major scholars including Lin Ruhai, Jing Yingguang, and Li Yongxin, Minister of the Household Department.

The emperor threw away the memorial and went on, expressionless, "What can you do about it?"

Several ministers picked up the memorial in an awkward manner, gathered together and circulated it to each other, and then each ranked in front of the emperor in order of rank.

Lin Ruhai glanced at Jing Yingguang, and saw that the old man had a serious face and squinted eyes, as if he was about to fall asleep as if he had nothing to do with him.He swallowed all the words that came to his lips.Lian's nephew was right, when he didn't understand in the court, he just followed the old prime minister, and he wouldn't make mistakes.

The Bachelor of Wenhuadian stood up and said that this matter should be resolved by the people from the Ministry of Finance.

The emperor looked at the leader of the household department, Shangshu Li Yongxin.

Li Yongxin stood up in fear, and said evasively: "Master Qi has always been responsible for this matter."

"If something goes wrong, you will blame each other!" The emperor snorted coldly, suppressing the atmosphere in the hall to the lowest point.

Li Yongxin hurriedly knelt down to plead guilty, but he still explained in his mouth: "It is true that the spring planting in the Northwest is supervised by Lord Qi alone. Since he took over as the servant of the household department, all matters related to the field have been directly reported to him by himself. Your Majesty, you didn't discuss it with this humble minister."

The emperor heard that Li Yongxin was still shirking responsibility, and his expression was very displeased.After raising the ministers for one dynasty, no one can stand up and take responsibility if something goes wrong.There used to be one who was willing to take on the role, but he has already resigned.

The emperor suddenly missed Jia Lian a little bit. Although he was a maverick, he was a good official with a responsible person after all.

Jing Yingguang observed the emperor's moved expression secretly, and defended Li Yongxin: "Lord Qi did succeed Lord Jia at the beginning."

The emperor frowned, thinking that Jia Lian did have many special cases in the Ministry of Household Affairs.And he did say that Qi Tian would succeed Jia Lian.That is to say, Qi Tianlai's departure is actually a special case of Jia Lian.

"Then Qi Aiqing, what can you do?" The emperor finally set his eyes on Qi Tianlai.

"Chen..." When Qi Tianlai spoke from Li Yongxin, cold sweat broke out on his guilty forehead.He was most afraid that this matter would come to him.Now that the situation in the Northwest is urgent, the key to whether there will be a war in the future may lie in this year's harvest.But the outbreak of pests, this is a natural disaster, what does it have to do with him?Can he control God?

"The barbarian army was defeated by potatoes at the beginning. If the strongest Kusili tribe knows that the potatoes that we Han people are proud of are no longer available this year, they will definitely gain momentum, ready to move, and have the intention of aggression. If you are afraid, you will be afraid. They were caught off guard." Jing Yingguang leisurely opened his mouth to analyze, and all the words touched the emperor's heart.The emperor is afraid of this!

"Your Majesty, this military ration should be prepared and sent to the northwest immediately, so as not to overtake the food during the war. You soldiers must not go to war hungry!" Li Yongxin interrupted hastily, and at this moment he wisely showed own responsibility.

"The transportation of grain must be done, but what about this disease, let's just forget it? Forget it? What about the lives of the people in the northwest?" The emperor was annoyed like never before.

"Then this one..." Jing Yingguang turned sideways and looked at Qi Tianlai.

The three maesters looked over.

Li Yongxin glanced at Qi Tianlai, who was cowering at the moment, with an undetectable sneer on the corner of his mouth: "Master Qi, you have arranged all the matters concerning the spring planting in the Northwest, so should you also handle this matter?" ?”

Qi Tianlai's legs were already trembling badly, and he couldn't stand the oppressive gaze of the audience, so he knelt down and kowtowed violently to the emperor. "Your Majesty! I'm guilty, I know I'm wrong. I didn't expect that this potato would get sick if I planted it. But Your Majesty, this... this is a natural disaster! No one can stop it. But I will definitely find a way, and I will try my best to stop it." Solve the disease problem."

The emperor was quite satisfied with Qi Tianlai's words, it was indeed a natural disaster, and he cannot be blamed alone.

"Try your best to solve it?" Li Yongxin asked in surprise, "Isn't Master Qi thinking that there is no solution at all? This is a disease in the Northwest. There will be no harvest. At that time, the state treasury will need military rations and relief, do you think it is enough? Can you bear this responsibility?"

Li Yongxin is in charge of the state treasury, he doesn't want to drain his state treasury because of Qi Tianlai's stupid things.

The emperor frowned and pondered, and made a calculation in his heart.The inflow and outflow of the national treasury in the past two years is indeed very tight. Although the autumn harvest last year was abundant, there is not much money left until now.But as far as dealing with the problem of the Northwest army, it can probably be solved. If it is the problem of the entire Northwest region, it will definitely not be saved.

The emperor re-read the memorial sent back by the eunuch, staring at the sentence "the farmland of the common people is also affected", extremely annoyed.The emperor closed the memorial, walked up to Qi Tianlai, and asked him again if he had any general thoughts on how to deal with it.

Qi Tianlai stuttered and couldn't speak, he only said that he was willing to go to the northwest to investigate the illness and find a cure.

The emperor didn't say a word, but only squinted his eyes, and his expression made it impossible to see the sorrow and joy.

"The cure? Let me take the liberty to ask Master Qi, do you know what kind of disease these potatoes will suffer from?" Lin Ruhai questioned.

Qi Tianlai was embarrassed: "This...it's really hard to judge without looking at the specific situation."

Li Yongxin snorted coldly: "As far as I know, potatoes were introduced into the country by Mr. Jia the year before last. During this period, there have been no examples of harmful diseases, and it is even less likely that there will be relevant records in various agricultural books. Mr. Qi originally I don’t know much about this variety, so what basis should I use to rescue it? Even if I travel thousands of miles a day, there will always be a lot of delay on the road, but the disease cannot be delayed. I’m afraid that when Master Qi arrives, those potato seedlings will be gone It's dead."

"Your majesty, my minister... my minister..."

Why are all these people targeting him?That's all for Lin Ruhai, Li Yongxin gets along very well with him on weekdays, how could he suddenly throw stones at him recently?Holding hope, Qi Tianlai looked at another senior scholar, who was the person next to the First Prince.However, the other party just shrunk his neck to watch the excitement, blindly echoed what Prime Minister Jing said, and had no intention of helping him at all.

The sense of fear in Qi Tianlai's heart instantly expanded. Originally, he thought that this incident was at most the result of being scolded by the emperor and then sent to the northwest.Now it seemed that he was afraid that the result would be more serious. The fear of the unknown made his limbs start to tremble non-stop.He's really scared...

The emperor remained silent, his eyes swept across Qi Tianlai mercilessly, then fell on Lin Ruhai and Li Yongxin, followed by the other two great scholars and Jing Yingguang.

Several ministers lowered their heads and tightened their necks. At the critical moment, they must remain silent and wait for the emperor to speak first.

The emperor: "Li Yongxin, what do you mean, can Jia Lian solve this problem?"

"Returning to the emperor, in fact, it is not only potatoes that suffer from disease in the northwest, but also farmland outside our capital. I heard about it by accident, so I have a little understanding of the situation." Li Yongxin will make a private visit to villages and counties in the near future. All the news heard was reported to the emperor.

"You mean potatoes can't be grown continuously?" The emperor's eyes were filled with anger, "Why didn't I know, this Jia Lian..." He dared to challenge me!

Li Yongxin immediately ordered someone to search for it, and presented to the emperor what Jia Lian recorded in the relevant files of the household department last year.

The emperor found that the documents recorded in detail the characteristics of potatoes, the time of sowing, and precautions, with pictures of seedlings attached.

"Since he wrote all these down, the Ministry of Household Affairs should have informed him when he arranged for the spring planting in the northwest." The emperor thought so, but when he saw Qi Tianlai's fearful expression, the emperor began to doubt Qi Tianlai again.

"Last year, when Jia Lian promoted potato seedlings for poor farmers in the suburbs of Beijing for free, he went to every village and county to tell the story personally, emphasizing this matter. But in the end, some people didn't care, their family had little land, and they were greedy for high-yield potatoes. This year, we will continue to crop continuously on the same field. Not only the seedlings grow smaller, but also suffer from aphid disease."

"Aphid disease?" The emperor had another doubt.

Li Yongxin sneered: "I don't know too well, I just heard those farmers talking about it. He also said that Jia Lian had a special water truck for spraying medicine. After getting the medicine and spraying it for a few days, he helped them cure their diseases."

Hearing this, the emperor frowned slightly, "Jia Lian is indeed a formidable one. However, since continuous cropping is prone to disease, will it be the same in the northwest? Qi Tianlai, when you arrange the spring planting in the northwest this year, Are you reminding them not to work continuously?"

"Chen...Chen..." Qi Tianlai shook his mouth, his saliva was about to come out, but he still couldn't speak clearly.

Seeing his situation this time, the emperor became even more suspicious, and immediately ordered someone to investigate!

Not long after, Cheng Shuliang, a clerk of the household department, came to present the relevant records.Sure enough, the army rations in the Northwest really replanted potatoes on the same land.

"How could this happen? Master Qi doesn't know these things? I, a layman, can read the recorded things. As the person in charge of farming, Master Qi doesn't even read these basic records?"

After Li Yongxin finished speaking, he solemnly knelt down and said to the emperor that he, as the minister of the household department, was responsible for his ineffective supervision.

"Get up, what does it have to do with you. It's clear at a glance that this matter is your responsibility." The emperor placed the document on Qi Tianlai's head fiercely, and suddenly Gao Sheng asked: "What else do you have to say!"

The rest of the people in the hall were startled, and their hearts trembled.

The emperor really showed his power! !

Qi Tianlai looked at Jia Lian's handwriting on the document in a daze, and said "Don't write repeatedly".It was a steel knife that almost wiped out all his hopes, pierced his heart fiercely, dripping with blood, and there was no chance of survival.Qi Tianlai could only bow down and kowtow to the emperor, his body shaking more and more violently, begging for mercy.

"I am so disappointed in you! I thought that although you are not as talented as Jia Lian, but fortunately you are thoughtful and careful, you can do things with humility, and you will not take credit for arrogance. I never thought that you are just a toddler in Handan, and you have deceived me. That's all, the rations of thousands of soldiers and common people in the northwest have been ruined by your stupidity!"

With chattering teeth, Qi Tianlai crawled forward pitifully, and pitifully begged the emperor for mercy with chattering teeth, "Your majesty, minister..."

The emperor stared, showing disgust.

Immediately, a eunuch took a rag to gag Qi Tianlai's mouth.

"Uuuuuuu..."

Qi Tianlai still has something to say, but he hasn't finished yet!So wronged!He struggled to kick his feet and wanted to jump in front of the emperor, the two were teary, showing infinite fear.

When he got up this morning to go to bed, he was still Lord Qi who was favored by the grace of the Holy Grace, but who would have thought that it was only a cup of tea, so he collapsed, crying like a dog.When he was dragged out of the hall, Qi Tianlai had already turned into a soft-legged shrimp, his eyes were hollow with despair, and he couldn't stop crying.

Halfway through the dragging of the guards, they met Jiang Zining, the leader of the city gate.

Both guards were trained by Jiang Zining, they had a good relationship, and they greeted each other with a smile.

Seeing Qi Tianlai with raised eyebrows, he raised his scabbard and hit him.

"Sir, are you?"

"Didn't you take care of it? This guy is struggling and refuses to obey the escort, I will teach him a lesson." After finishing speaking, he beat him hard again.When the two guards heard the words, they were stunned for a while, and they directly echoed what their adults said, and joined the beating ranks.

Half an hour later, Fang dragged the half-dead Qi Tianlai into the dungeon.

……

The hall fell into an eerie calm.

The emperor tapped the edge of the tea bowl with the tea lid, his face was full of anger.

"If there is a solution to this matter, it can only be Jia Lian." Jing Yingguang's calm words were inexplicably convincing.

The emperor thought so too.It's just about Jia Lian's resignation, and he was mean to Jia Lian because he protected Qi Tianlai. Now if he is asked to come back, his emperor's face will be very embarrassing.

When the emperor saw Cheng Shuliang who was still waiting in the palace, he suddenly remembered that this guy used to be very good with Jia Lian, so he casually asked him if he would like to be the servant of the household department.

Cheng Shuliang was very frightened and dared not agree.

The emperor smiled, waved his hand, and sent Cheng Shuliang out.He knew very well that the current household department could not afford another negligent mistake.He must ask Jia Lian to come back and clean up the mess.

The emperor sighed and sent these people away with his forehead.He has to think carefully about what to do.

When Lin Ruhai and Jing Yingguang walked back, they discussed for a while whether Jia Lian would be reinstated.Lin Ruhai felt that since the emperor wanted him to be reinstated, Jia Lian must be reinstated.But Jing Yingguang shook his head and said that with Jia Lian's temperament, he definitely wouldn't.The two were not convinced by each other, and in the end they made a bet for some reason.Whoever wins will invite Jia Lian to dinner with him.

Lin Ruhai did not believe that as Jia Lian's uncle, he would not be able to defeat Jing Yingguang.

The next day, Lin Ruhai was summoned into the palace alone by the emperor.Sure enough, what Jing Yingguang guessed yesterday was fulfilled, the emperor did not directly decree to promote Jia Lian, but instead he wanted to be a lobbyist, so that Jia Lian came back and reinstated on his own initiative.

After Lin Ruhai left the palace, she ran directly to Jia Lian's other garden.

Lin Ruhai is an old relative with a good relationship, so he was led directly to the main hall without reporting.At this time, Jia Lian and Jia She are bickering because of a character in the book.

Jia Amnesty: "This Sui Yushi is a son of an aristocratic family who values ​​love and righteousness. He met a singer who was in trouble and rescued her. Then this singer finally helped her get a fame."

Jia Lian: "A son of an aristocratic family needs the help of a singer to get fame? It's unreasonable."

"Why-"

"Uncle Lin is here!"

When Jia She heard that Lin Ruhai was coming, Jia She hurriedly put the relevant things into his sleeves as if he had seen a ghost.

"Hey, brother-in-law, why are you free to come over today?" Jia Amnesty let out a big smile to Lin Ruhai to cover up his haste just now.

"I have something to discuss with Lian'er." Lin Ruhai swept Jia Shen's sleeves with a smile, sat down and drank a couple of sips of tea, and then told Jia Shen and Jia Lian's father and son about the affairs of the court for a few days.

Jia Lian was not too surprised, but a little surprised that things would develop so quickly. "A large area was harmed in the Northwest?" That's not right. He clearly sent people in the Northwest to promote the problem of unsuitable continuous cropping. Even if something happened, it shouldn't be so serious.

Jia Amnesty was not as worried as Jia Lian, and he was very happy to hear it, "That's great, the emperor wants to use you again, I see how arrogant they are. Hmph!"

"What happened?" Lin Ruhai asked suspiciously.

"that is……"

Just as Jia Amnesty was about to explain, Jia Lian stopped him.

Jia Lian: "It's just some trivial things at home, so don't talk about it."

Seeing Jia She's displeased expression, Lin Ruhai guessed that it was related to the second wife and the old lady again, a commonplace issue.Lin Ruhai didn't want to ask any more questions, but just wanted to know the answer. If the emperor planned to use Jia Lian again, would he be willing or unwilling to return to his original position.

Jia Amnesty nodded when he heard the words, and excitedly urged Jia Lian to agree.

Seeing Jia Lian's expression of hesitation, Lin Ruhai was even unmoved. He was surprised and said, "Don't you really want to be in the government? Although the emperor sent me to lobby you and ask you to take the initiative to ask for an official, the emperor also has his own difficulties. He is face-to-face I can't hang up anymore! But if you really shouldn't, it will be very troublesome if you offend the emperor."

"He appointed me because he wanted me to solve the immediate troubles. I tried my best to help with the potato disease. I was efficient and not greedy for merit. For him, it was a very satisfactory result."

Lin Ruhai was shocked, "Then you missed this opportunity in vain. If you think about it clearly, it is very likely that there will be no such opportunity in the future."

"Have you ever heard, Uncle, that the less you can get, the better? The more I show that I am not greedy for fame and fortune, the more he will like it. After all, I have to wait a while to completely solve his suspicion. Otherwise, in that If you are frightened in the court, it is better to be a simple farmer, facing the loess with your back to the sky, and you can accompany your wife and play with the children during the slack." Jia Lian paused, leaned forward, and whispered to Lin Ruhai, "The loess is safer than the emperor. too much."

"You..." Lin Ruhai took a deep breath, and turned to stare at Jia Lian fiercely, "Then you push me to the top of the court, and you fall back, so you don't worry about me?"

"Uncle Tanhualang was born, and has more than [-] years of experience as an official. He has all the knowledge, qualifications, and political achievements. If you are not qualified to be in the court, who else is there? I am different. In the eyes of many people, I am a heretic." ' is different. If the emperor is not convinced, I will still be kicked out by other people's gossip." Jia Lian paused, looking into Lin Ruhai's eyes, "Next time, I may not be able to protect myself like I am now."

Lin Ruhai's heart sank, feeling that Jia Lian's analysis was absolutely correct.Moreover, there are a few uneasy people in the big family of Rongfu to hold him back.Only by letting the emperor have no doubts about employing people can he dispel other concerns.

"Several officials asked me to be reinstated earlier. The emperor must still be concerned about this matter. In addition to the problem of diseases in Northeast Asia, I had expected that the tobacco leaves would be transported there in advance. If my official reinstatement Doing this, will the emperor think that I deliberately calculated ahead of time for the purpose of reinstatement?"

Lin Ruhai pondered, "You think it through."

"I'm idle all day at home, so I just think about it, and there is someone beside me who can think better than me." Jia Lian glanced at Jia She.

Jia Amnesty laughed again, stroking his beard pretending to be profound, completely unaware that Lin Ruhai had seen through his identity.

"Brother is really not easy." Lin Ruhai sighed with a smile, and continued to ask Jia Lian: "Then how should I reply?"

He reminded Jia Lian to think of a gentle way to answer, too straightforward would definitely arouse the emperor's disgust.

"A few days ago, Jia Rong came to see me and said he wanted to stop by to see Uncle Jing, so I followed. It's very interesting to watch him practice Taoism, especially the alchemy, which is wonderful. I suddenly fell in love with this thing. Interested." Jia Lian said.

Lin Ruhai was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood: "You want me to tell the emperor that you are devoted to Taoism and have no intention of career?"

Jia Lian nodded, "It is true for the time being."

"This..." Lin Ruhai thought about it carefully, it might not be a good idea, Jia Jing was born as a Jinshi, and he could practice immortality and alchemy all day long, and he didn't even want to be an official.Jia Lian is very much a nephew, so it would make sense if he followed him.

"Forget it, let's just say that, as long as you can explain it." Lin Ruhai said.

Afterwards, Lin Ruhai followed this method and returned to the emperor.At first, the emperor heard that Jia Lian was unwilling, and was a little angry, but he was relieved when he heard that Jia Lian was willing to take the initiative to help the court solve the disease.

After three or two days, the emperor saw that Jia Lian had not moved, and thought he had no solution.Just when he was feeling annoyed, Li Yongxin came to report the specific matters.It briefly tells that Jia Lian has had a long-cherished wish with Qi Tianlai since he was in Fujian, but Jia Lian cares about the people of the country and is not like a villain like Qi Tianlai.For example, the cancellation of the small farm school, such as the spring planting of potatoes, he tried his best to make up for it after Qi Tian came.Therefore, he had already planned ahead for the problem of potato continuous planting, and prepared ways to deal with it in advance.

"Master Jia has set up a small agricultural school in a certain place, which is specially used to solve the problems encountered by local farmers related to farming. He has already ordered the small agricultural school in the northwest to take the initiative to help if there is a disease problem."

"You mean to say that the northwest side has started to act now!?"

"Someone sent a letter to Jia Lian before, drawing out the situation of rice seedling disease. Jia Lian replied with specific solutions. As long as he receives the letter, he can act immediately." Li Yongxin explained.

"When his letter arrives, send an order to send it down to [-] miles, and let him use it! The emperor will give you a gold medal, and those who resist will die, and those who rebel will die!" The emperor ordered loudly.

Another five days later, Zhang Jianling sent an expedited memorial [-] miles away in the northwest.The emperor confirmed that Jia Lian's people really started to use effective methods of exorcism with the assistance of General Zhang, and the big thing in his heart was finally settled.

But he still didn't believe Jia Lian's practice of Taoism, so he ordered people to investigate secretly.

"Jia Hou Ye leaves on time every day at Maozheng, and goes to the Xuanzhen Temple outside Beijing to practice. When the time is over, he will come down from the temple and go home."

The emperor was surprised: "It's like this every day?"

"It's like this every day." The guard replied.

"I don't believe that people like him will be obsessed with alchemy." The emperor thought about it, and felt that if Jia Lian didn't confirm it, he would feel uneasy for a day.

A few days later, the emperor suddenly proposed to take a walk outside while the eldest prince and the fourth prince were paying their respects.It never occurred to the boy to reveal where he was going.The three of them, father and son, plus a few guards, went straight to Xuanzhen Temple where Jia Jing was located, except for Jing.

The suspicious emperor just wanted to come down suddenly, to see what kind of expression the stunned Jia Lian would have, and whether he would catch any openings.

A group of people suddenly revealed the concept of Xuanzhen.

After the announcement, the door was opened by a little Taoist boy who didn’t recognize the emperor, father and son at all. The little boy shouted without fear: "Master and Lord Hou are busy, and no one will be seen, you all go back quickly! Don't go around them to practice Taoism!"

The guard directly gagged Xiaodaotong's mouth and carried him aside.

The emperor rushed towards the main hall with the closed gate, and the eldest prince opened the door first, coughing and crying because of the thick yellow smoke.

"Ahem, what is this!" The eldest prince was so choked that he couldn't speak.

The emperor and the fourth prince were also so smoked that they took a few steps back and coughed several times.

Jia Lian and Jia Jing were talking in the wing room in the backyard. Hearing that there was movement in front, they rushed over and saw that it was the emperor, they were shocked and saluted.

The emperor found that apart from Jia Jing, there was another person beside Jia Lian, who was wearing a black Taoist robe and looked very strange.

Jia Lian was very excited to introduce the people around him to the emperor, "My Majesty, his name is Shen Hong, he is proficient in astronomy and geography, and he is very good at alchemy."

The emperor looked at the three of them wonderingly, visited the alchemy room that choked his nose, and saw Jia Lian excitedly following the black-robed Taoist priest to operate the alchemy furnace, and he could tell at a glance that Jia Lian was indeed serious and interested.Without further ado, I left in a hurry.

Jia Lian sent the emperor away, but continued to stay, and accompanied Shen Hong around in front of the alchemy furnace.