Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 382 Baoyu drops the jade!

Qianqing Palace,
Yue Ling took the tea offered by the eunuch, took a sip to moisten his lips and throat, and continued to talk about his proposal under the expectant gaze of Emperor Longyou.

"As in the past of Prime Minister Wang, every decree issued from the capital determined the final situation of the reform. Whether it was the Green Seedling Law, the Recruitment Law, or the Square Field Equal Tax Law, the original intentions were good. If they were fully implemented in prefectures and counties, then Prime Minister Wang's reform situation would be different from the history books."

"However, every time a new law is implemented, the old party either exploits loopholes to fight for power, or it is used by opportunists to take advantage of the people's money and use it as a token of the new party's achievements."

"The chaos in the court has intensified since then."

"Reform itself is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It takes time and effort to achieve reform."

"Let's go back to the issue of filling the treasury. In fact, our ultimate goal is not only to fill the treasury, but also to ensure that the country operates stably and moves in the right direction, rather than exhausting all resources and making a one-time deal."

"Therefore, Your Majesty needs to advance the reform without haste."

"As for filling the treasury, I do have a few ideas."

Emperor Longyou raised his hand to stop Yue Ling from speaking, and first called Xia Shouzhong to his side. He spread out another piece of Xuelang Xuan, pressed it down with a jade paperweight, and then said, "Okay, okay, go ahead."

Seeing that Emperor Longyou seemed to be taking notes, Yue Ling felt relieved. He couldn't help but curl his lips and bowed his hands and said, "Yes."

"There are many sources of income for our dynasty, including taxes, customs duties, salt taxes, commercial taxes, etc. However, the tax revenue is decreasing year by year. The key is that there are more and more aristocratic families entrenched in different routes. They suck away the blood that should have been sent to the court."

"Take the salt tax as an example. The imperial court obviously collected the most benefits. However, the salt merchants in various places monopolized the business and gradually became more powerful. There were many tax evaders."

“So, the first change to the salt tax was to remove restrictions on salt merchants, allowing everyone to bid for the qualification to sell salt, and breaking the salt merchants’ monopoly.”

"In the early days of the salt industry, in order to maintain local stability, the power of salt sales was handed over to local nobles, forming salt merchants who were passed down from generation to generation."

"Now we have the conditions to ban them. Let more merchants come in to compete, and the government will profit from it, just like the auction I did when I was in Yangzhou Prefecture."

"When merchants can freely sell salt without monopoly pricing, the salt mines can then be nationalized and sold in a unified manner. The ultimate goal is to achieve the goal of having both salt and iron controlled by the imperial court. This process may take five to ten years."

"This is the salt tax..."

Emperor Longyou wrote quickly, and when he heard Yue Ling pause, he looked up and said, "In that case, we need to add more inspectors from the Salt Bureau to ensure fair competition."

Yue Ling was very happy that Emperor Longyou saw the crux of the problem so quickly.

"That's why any new law must be enforced or supervised by dedicated personnel to ensure its effective implementation."

"The second is taxes. In the past few years, we drew a fish scale map and found a lot of private land. We encouraged land reclamation and achieved remarkable results. But we still need to make improvements step by step."

"First, taxes should be set according to the amount of land. The more land one owns, the more taxes one should pay, so as to curb land annexation."

"After that, the imperial court will take back the private taxes on roads and bridges paid by landlords and local governments. The management rights of major rivers and post roads will be returned to the central court. The river government and the post office will only obey the central court. The powerful gentry will no longer be allowed to collect "maintenance taxes" from merchants and travelers, so as to further weaken the influence of local governments."

"Ultimately, we will realize the ambition of having officials and gentry pay taxes together and dividing the land tax by land."

"These three steps, like boiling a frog in warm water, will gradually gather local power in the hands of the court. Even if there is constant resistance, it will certainly not be fierce."

"The gentry are not like the common people. As long as they can live a stable life, they will not give up their immediate interests. On the other hand, the common people can see the benefits of the new policy and are not instigated by the local gentry. Even if there are people who rebel because of the new law, they will not be able to succeed. This has already divided the two groups into opposites."

"This process may take as long as 30 years for it to gradually penetrate into people's hearts."

Hearing the last sentence, Emperor Longyou sighed softly, his eyes dimmed, and he said, "It's a good plan. Can you tell me more about what you just said, 'officials and gentry pay taxes together' and 'taxation is divided according to the land'?"

Yue Ling nodded in agreement, "Okay."

……

Rongguo Mansion,
In the back room of Rongxi Hall,
Jia Baoyu stood at the door in a daze, attracting everyone's attention.

The maidservant in the Anjing Marquis Mansion, who was unfamiliar with him, quickly hid behind other people.

Just because he looked stupid, he looked like a plague god at this moment.

He was so angry that his body was shaking slightly, which was very scary to look at.

Qin Keqing, who was standing on the field, frowned and looked over with a puzzled look.

A young man came into view, wearing a jacket with silver and red flowers, silk trousers with pine flower flowers, and his hair was braided and tied with a golden eight-treasure pendant.

There was a sachet hanging around his waist. If it weren't for his face that looked more like a man, Qin Keqing wouldn't have been able to tell at first glance that he was a boy.

He has a good appearance, but he looks effeminate and doesn't look strong.

Now he looked even more angry, which made Qin Keqing even more disgusted with him.

He leaned forward and asked Miaoyu, "Master Miaoyu, who is this?"

Miaoyu responded in a low voice, "This is the golden nugget in Rongguo Mansion, Jia Baoyu, the son of the second wife of the second room."

"Oh, it's him."

Qin Keqing suddenly realized, "He was the one who abandoned Qingwen? Why is he chasing after her now? Moreover, is this the rule in Rongguo Mansion? A half-grown boy is still staying in the inner chamber?"

Miaoyu shook her head and remained silent, but she could not respond to Qin Keqing's words.

Qin Keqing raised her hand and protected Qingwen, who was standing in front of her in a daze, behind her, and comforted her softly, "Don't worry, although this is Rongguo Mansion, you are already a member of Anjinghou Mansion, and you have been registered with the Five Cities Military Department. No one can do anything to you except the master."

Qingwen lowered her head slightly, frightened by Baoyu's relentless pursuit, and agreed to Qin Keqing's words in a low voice.

Baoyu stepped over the threshold, looked around, and saw many unfamiliar girls.

There is only one surprising similarity: everyone has a beautiful face.

Among them, the most eye-catching ones were not only the familiar Miaoyu, but also Xue Baochai, whom he had met once, and there was another woman who was different from the other girls in the room in terms of charm and beauty.

If I wasn't so angry at the moment, I would have been fascinated by him and would have gone up to him to make friends with him as if he were an old acquaintance.

Unfortunately, when he arrived at the door, he heard the woman calling Yue Ling "Master" repeatedly, so she could only be a maid in the Anjing Marquis's mansion.

Then look at Xiren next to him. Even though Xiren's appearance was not bad, she was still much inferior to him.

Baoyu was filled with sorrow from the bottom of his heart, "How could Yue Ling have such a beautiful girl as his maid? How could he ...

"They, are they all bewitched? They have been bewitched!"

After crossing the threshold, Baoyu walked straight forward, looked at Shi Xiangyun in disbelief, and asked, "Did you come across me? What did you say in the room just now? If the old ancestor knew that you were making trouble in the room, he would definitely send you back to the Shi Mansion!"

"I allowed you to mention that man's name in the room and didn't tell the old ancestor. I didn't let you lead the sisters astray!"

"Follow me now and admit your mistakes to our ancestors!"

Baoyu reached out his hand and was about to grab Shi Xiangyun's wrist and take her away.

Shi Xiangyun leaned against the round table, she had no way to avoid it. She could not refute Jia Baoyu verbally. Jia's grandmother did say that no matter about Yue Ling should be spread in the mansion to avoid trouble.

Before Shi Xiangyun could avoid the attack in time, Xue Baochai, who was playing chess nearby, suddenly stood up and stopped Jia Baoyu's hand with her round fan, frowning and saying, "You barged in through the door, are you here to call me to task?"

"These are your sisters. Do you think it is in accordance with your morality to embarrass them?"

Baoyu was stunned by what Xue Baochai said, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that every word Xue Baochai said made sense. If he made a big fuss, not only would his sisters' reputation be damaged, but after he made trouble, his sisters would be sent to the Anjing Marquis's mansion as bargaining chips. If they really went to Yue Ling, he didn't want that either.

"But, but they shouldn't have such a ridiculous idea."

Baoyu clenched his teeth and felt blocked in his heart.

He had always thought that he was the one that the sisters cared about the most, after all, they grew up together and lived together every day.

But today, it seemed that it was not what he thought at all. The sisters not only discussed Yue Ling's affairs on a daily basis, but they actually cared about Yue Ling very much.

This made Baoyu even more difficult to accept.

Obviously, he had compromised and could tolerate the sisters talking about things he couldn't listen to, but he didn't expect that the sisters would become even more aggressive and even have more admiration for him.

Although he didn't really say it out loud, Baoyu was not really stupid and he could still see the clues.

Whether it was the chess competition between Tanchun and Xue Baochai, or Qin Keqing just now, when Huan asked everyone, everyone made excuses.

All of them reveal their true intentions.

If he hated her or had no feelings for her, how could he excuse himself and end up putting the blame on Shi Xiangyun?
Moreover, Shi Xiangyun had the most frequent contacts with the Anjing Marquis Mansion in the old days, and she was obviously the one who was closer to the Anjing Marquis Mansion.

Jia Baoyu figured it out, his heart died, and everything in front of his eyes seemed to have disappeared.

At this moment, he has forgotten the original intention of coming here, which is to explain everything to Qingwen and win her back.

He was in even greater pain and no longer knew how to win back his sisters.

"Ridiculous? How is it ridiculous?"

Xue Baochai didn't say anything, but Qin Keqing, who had been silent the whole time, couldn't help but speak.

Covering her nose lightly, Qin Keqing frowned and said, "Young men admire love, and young women admire strength, isn't that human nature? What is there about you that people care about? Just because the old lady and the lady in the mansion dote on you, do others have to dote on you too?"

"How can you compare with my master?"

After looking Baoyu up and down again, Qin Keqing exclaimed, "Tsk, it's just the smell of this vulgar rouge and powder, can't you smell it on my master?"

Hearing her sister's sharp tongue, Ruizhuzhu, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

It would have been better if she hadn't laughed. This laughter became contagious, and in the end, not only Qin Keqing, Xue Baochai and other girls from the Anjing Marquis' Mansion were laughing, but even Miaoyu, Shi Xiangyun and other girls from the Jia family covered their mouths to hold back their laughter.

The mocking laughter around him made Baoyu feel even more irritated.

Even so, Baoyu still did not give up and looked at the three sisters of the Jia family who had not expressed their opinions from beginning to end.

He had always known Tanchun best. She longed to be a man, longed to have a career outside, admired those corrupt officials in the imperial court, and worshipped the study of statecraft. She was definitely the one who cared about Yue Ling the most among the three sisters.

So Baoyu didn't ask her and turned to Yingchun and Xichun, who didn't like to talk.

"Second sister, do you still remember that we talked about starting a poetry club? But later I heard that Second Sister was talking about marriage. There are not many people in the garden, and we will be missing one more person."

"I wanted to kowtow to the master and beg for mercy, but I was afraid that it would be bad if I was too abrupt. I couldn't help crying because of this at night. Sister Xiren saw it."

Hearing this, Xiren hurriedly cooperated with her master and nodded behind her.

When he looked up and saw Qingwen behind Qin Keqing, he felt a sense of fate that they were separated by huge distances. They were complete strangers, not even on the same level.

Baoyu's retreat-to-advance move really put Yingchun in a difficult position, and she struck while the iron was hot, saying, "Second sister, you know that I am most reluctant to part with my sisters. If you are also reluctant to part with us, I will definitely go and plead with Master Xunda for mercy."

"This……"

Yingchun is a wooden person and doesn't have many ideas of her own. She has no say in her marriage. Even if the rumor spreads, she won't know it earlier than others.

Baoyu’s suggestion was a good one. Yingchun was already helpless and would become a drifting duckweed if she got married.

But before her mind could start to process, Qin Keqing burst out laughing, looked back at Qingwen and said, "I really underestimated you. You have a great talent for telling jokes."

"You can't even keep Qingwen, a maid, and you want to keep Yingchun, a girl?"

The touching sisterly love was immediately destroyed by Qin Keqing. Baoyu was even speechless and stood there in a daze.

Yingchun also lowered her head again.

Qin Keqing pressed on, "If you're worried about not getting a good marriage, you can come to Anjinghou Mansion first. The master won't treat anyone unfairly."

Yingchun's head drooped a little more and slowly turned red.

Baoyu's face was filled with worry, so he had to turn to the other side to ask Xichun.

"Fourth sister, I know you have a withdrawn personality. You must not want to cause this commotion, so you just followed their words, right?"

Baoyu found the steps perfectly, but Xichun was just a loner by nature. Unlike Yingchun, she had her own ideas.

Xichun said softly, "I would rather practice Buddhism with Master Miaoyu."

Baoyu stroked his chest and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He secretly thought, "Fortunately, sister Xichun really did what she said to them and didn't go along with them. It's worth it to have a sister who never forgot her friendship."

Xue Baochai suddenly asked, "Master Miaoyu, do you still want to stay in Rongguo Mansion? As far as I know, there is a Buddhist temple in Anjinghou Mansion, in the brothel in the back garden."

"I can ask Sister Lin later, are you moving in too?"

Miaoyu suddenly raised her head, looked at Xue Baochai, and asked in surprise, "Is it really possible?"

Xue Baochai thought about Miaoyu's image in Lin Daiyu's mind, and recalled the old things in Canglang Garden. She smiled and said, "Then you have to go and ask Sister Lin to see if she still has any grudges in her heart."

Miaoyu smiled bitterly and nodded, "It couldn't be better to be with my sisters."

Xichun suddenly interrupted and said, "I hope Master Miaoyu can guide me in my practice."

The sound is like the sound of a clear spring, very pleasant to listen to.

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and they couldn't help but look at Baoyu who was just so complacent.

Baoyu felt as if he was in the coldest winter and his body began to tremble again.

The second sister also wanted to find a backer, the third sister admired the strong the most, and the fourth sister wanted to run away with Master Miaoyu. In the end, there was no one left in the room.

Baoyu's trembling hand touched his neck, and under the gaze of everyone, he slowly took off the spiritual jade.

"Don't! Second Master, don't throw the spiritual jade!"

Xiren and Sheyue rushed forward to stop him, but they saw Baoyu raise his right hand and throw himself out with all his strength.

"What a rare thing! It's also called 'psychic' or not! What kind of psychic is it? I don't want this thing anymore!"

The maids of the Jia family rushed forward in panic and ran out of the door to look for the lifeblood of the Jia family...

(End of this chapter)