After Jia Lian left the meeting, Wu Zhirong and other Yangzhou officials followed.
Several people secretly exchanged many glances, and finally Wu Zhirong stepped forward and said: "Although Xiaguan and others know that your Excellency has good intentions for their own good, but businessmen value profits, I'm afraid they cannot fully understand Your Excellency's painstaking efforts."
For Wu Zhirong and others, they all felt that Jia Lian was too open-minded. They also get a lot of benefits from salt merchants every year, but compared with Jia Lian, all of them are worth mentioning.
This also further inspired their pursuit of power. They even fantasize in their hearts that one day they can reach the level of Jia Lian, and ask others to honor him with a million taels of silver if they dare to speak!
Regarding Yangzhou officialdom, even the prefect Wu Zhirong knew that he would not dare to do what Jia Lian did.
Let alone millions or millions, even if he dared to extort 100,000 yuan, those salt merchants would probably find a way to get rid of him. Even though those salt merchants usually looked up and down to the officials, I thought they were easy to bully. In fact, they are all ruthless characters. If they are really anxious, it is not difficult to remove a few government officials or even provincial officials.
Take him for example. Because he was assigned to the lucrative position in Yangzhou, he has gained a lot of money in recent years, but he himself has almost become a puppet and minion of those salt merchants.
Otherwise, Jia Lian, an imperial envoy who came down to supervise the salt administration, and a magistrate, would only have the obligation to receive one or two people, but there would be no need for him to run around like a grandson.
"I originally wanted to look towards the bright moon, but the bright moon shining on the ditch... there is nothing I can do about it.
It's rare that Mr. Wu can still understand my good intentions.
That's right, at this moment, they probably thought that this official was a huge corrupt man who was deliberately blackmailing them. How could they, the junior businessmen, understand the affairs of our officialdom?
They revealed such a big thing, and the court was already in an uproar. Which of the civil and military officials standing at the front of the Golden Palace is easy to talk to? If they don’t have enough money, how can they turn a blind eye to this matter?
If those adults don't let go, even if I want to protect them, I will be unable to do so. "
Jia Lian shook his head and walked forward. It seemed that Wu Zhirong was right. He really had good intentions.
Wu Zhirong and others looked at each other in shock, and had nothing to say. Come on, could this man have overacted and deceived himself?
They believe that the three million dollars may really be to appease His Majesty the Emperor. But the latter one million is definitely going to be kept privately. At most, a small part can be used to block the mouths of other ministers...
Don't be fooled by the extravagance of the salt merchants. Those officials in the capital are living a miserable life. After all, taking the official salary as an example, the annual salary of a second- or third-rank official is only a few hundred taels of silver. With some lumis and benefits, the value is barely over a thousand.
Under this premise, it is actually not that difficult to get those adults to say good things to the people below. They are used to doing this kind of thing, so they naturally have a pattern.
After being sent to the outside of the carriage house and seeing Jia Lian staring at the BMW car standing quietly after the imperial guards, Wu Zhirong hurriedly smiled and said:
"That's Miss Shen Pan'er's car...it's also President Zhou and others' feelings for you.
They all know that Your Excellency went south this time without any attendants, and because of the salt administration, he did not even leave his carriage. They could not bear to see Your Excellency suffer in the Yushi Yamen, so they specially invited Miss Pan'er to serve Your Excellency. "
Hearing Wu Zhirong's words, Jia Lian looked back at him, "This is not good..."
In fact, when he came here today and saw Shen Pan'er, Jia Lian had already expected it, and knew that it was probably one of the benefits prepared by the salt merchants for him.
He just thought that if things were settled, it would be natural for this beauty to be given to him. But he didn't expect that the other party still sent the beauty over despite clearly not reaching an agreement, which made him feel embarrassed.
How did Jia Lian know that the salt merchants thought they were sure of success today, so all the benefits prepared for Jia Lian were already in place.
Take Shen Pan'er for example. After toasting Jia Lian, he waited here directly.
After Jia Lian left the banquet, it was impossible for the salt merchants to send people to chase her out and take the beauty away.
After all, compared to the benefits Jia Lian demanded, an courtesan's wife was really nothing.
"Sir, you don't have to worry. Although this girl Pan'er is famous in Yangzhou and even the whole Jiangnan, she is only seventeen years old this year and has not yet left the government.
For such a famous prostitute, the Jiaofang would definitely not agree to release her originally. That is to say, because of the face of Zhou Boru and others, and because they knew that it was for the sake of making a contribution to the Lord, they relented. Therefore, if you like it, sir, you might as well stay by your side and be a maid serving tea and playing the piano. It is also a beautiful thing..."
Wu Zhirong was afraid that Jia Lian would not like prostitutes, so he quickly pointed out his identity as a Guerr.
In fact, whether it is the capital or the prosperous Jiangnan, among the romantic places, only Qing Guan'er has a high net worth. Even for a stunningly beautiful woman with both sex and talent, once she leaves the court, that is, after serving others with her body, her worth will plummet.
Therefore, in those famous brothels, all real courtesans were strictly protected in their prime, in order to make huge profits for the brothels. Otherwise, if the oiran lady who spent a huge amount of money to train and train was sold at a low price, wouldn't she lose money instead? The brothel is like this, and the jiaofang is similar.
Although Jia Lian has never visited the building, his predecessor's experience is very rich, and Jia Lian naturally knows the reason.
After thinking about it, he didn't say anything. He just asked Wu Zhirong and others to stay while he boarded the car and left.
When they arrived at the Yamen of Xunyan Yushi, Zhaoer and others were guiding the carriage behind them, and they were about to take a detour to the side door to enter the Yamen. Jia Lian stopped her and ordered: "Send a few people to take Miss Pan'er back to the teaching center."
After saying this, Jia Lian was about to lift his legs and enter the Yamen.
But it's not that Jia Lian didn't like this woman's beauty, or that he looked down on prostitutes, it was just that Jia Lian simply didn't want to cause trouble.
First of all, this person was sent by the salt merchant. Secondly, this woman is different from Mrs. Xu. She takes advantage of Mrs. Xu, consensually, and has no influence on each other afterwards. But for such an upright official, it is difficult to leave her alone if she is offended.
After all, her life experience may have been miserable, and he was embarrassed to bully a weak woman.
"Sir, please wait~"
Jia Lian, who had just stepped up the steps, couldn't help but stop. Looking back, it turned out to be the pitiful looking Shen Pan'er. She lifted up the car curtain with her bare hands and called to him.
"Sir, could you please let me say a few words?"
After seeing Jia Lian nod, Shen Pan'er, regardless of the many officers, soldiers and guards beside him, got off the carriage directly, walked towards Jia Lian, and said with a generous smile: "Your Excellency has brought the slave family here, but the slave family is not allowed to enter. You want to send the slave family away, but you don’t think the slave family is too humble and can’t stand the eyes of adults?”
Jia Lian smiled and said: "The girl is naturally beautiful and has a stunning appearance. I'm afraid no man in the world would dare to despise Miss Pan'er. Even I don't dare to say that. Otherwise, my servants will all accuse me of being hypocritical. ”
The surrounding guards, officers and soldiers all smiled knowingly in cooperation, secretly sighing inwardly that the charm of their own Marquis was indeed astonishing.
Even such a beautiful court lady from the south of the Yangtze River was attracted by the Marquis at the first sight, and even after being kicked out, she even tried to persuade her to stay regardless of her dignity.
If it were other women, they would probably show their timidity in such situations. But Shen Pan'er knew that she couldn't retreat at this time. If she took a step back, she would lose everything. Therefore, she held back her shame and said with a smile: "That's because I dislike the way Pan'er sang the song just now. It's dirty to your ears."
"No, the girl has reached perfection in both dancing and singing. She is comparable to ordinary women. She deserves to be described as both beautiful and beautiful."
"In that case, why do you want to rush Pan'er away?"
Shen Pan'er is also very confident in herself. As the pearl of Nanjiofang, she has a great reputation throughout Jiangnan. After being placed in Yangzhou, she gained the reputation as the best dancer in Yangzhou in just one year. It can be said that she is young and in the spotlight.
As the old saying goes, "A silver grate will shatter a diamond's head, and a blood-red skirt will be stained by wine." She has gone even further.
But unlike ordinary famous prostitutes, she did not indulge in the beauty of being sought after by thousands of people. She knew that if she couldn't choose a good place for herself while she was at the peak of her popularity, she would have the same fate as countless predecessors when her beauty gradually faded and her first night was sold by a jiafang at a high price.
It would be better for the eldest son to marry a businessman, but if he meets someone unkind, any fate is possible. Only more bleak, not the most bleak.
She has always been paying attention to where she can entrust her life to, and she has secretly had several goals, but she has always been unable to achieve high goals, and she is unwilling to accept low goals, so she is hesitant.
Unexpectedly, before she could make a decision, she heard from the nanny that the most wealthy salt merchants in the world wanted to redeem her life. The key is that Jiaofang, who has always regarded her as a treasure, actually agreed.
Although this situation was the last thing she wanted to see, she was powerless to change it and could only acquiesce in her fate.
Who knew, after waiting quietly for a long time, I realized that those salt merchants paid a huge price to redeem her in order to donate her to the imperial envoys who were handling the case in Yangzhou!
She breathed another sigh of relief. Since he is an imperial envoy, he is naturally a noble person, at least better than those arrogant, vulgar and despicable salt merchants.
When she saw Jia Lian at the banquet, although she could remain calm on her face, the surprise in her heart had already made her dizzy.
He is not an old man, nor a vulgar and ugly person, but such a young, handsome and beautiful man! !
Let me ask, is there any courtesan in the world who is more lucky than her?
She thought to herself that being able to be presented to such a beautiful man, even if he had a lot of wives and concubines and didn't value her, would be much better if she could serve such a pleasing person than serving those bad old men!
Therefore, after arriving in a carriage outside the main gate of the camp, she immediately asked the maid to take the money, go to the idle waiting officers and soldiers to make friends, and inquire about Jia Lian's news. The results she got made her even more surprised.
Last year, Emperor Ningkang deliberately asked people to promote Jia Lian's reputation as a hero in order to cover up the bad reputation caused by the court's wrong decisions.
Even Anxi Prefecture has widely circulated Jia Lian's reputation. As the richest place in the south of the Yangtze River, it is naturally impossible not to receive rumors about Jia Lian.
In all the capitals in the south of the Yangtze River, famous courtesans from all over the country competed to compose lyrics, music and songs for Jia Lian to gain popularity.
Of course she knew all this, but she didn't expect that Jia Lian, whose reputation spread all over the Jiangnan brothels, would be sent by the emperor as an imperial envoy to Yangzhou to supervise the salt administration!
She regretted that she did not receive this news earlier. Otherwise, she should have made better preparations earlier.
In fact, it was fate that the salt merchants were the quickest to learn that Jia Lian was going south as an imperial envoy, so they prepared the indispensable "beauty trap" to deal with the young and strong imperial envoy early in the morning. Therefore, let alone whether the news of Jia Lian's arrival in Yangzhou had spread in Yangzhou, even if it had spread, Shen Pan'er, who had been raised in a stable for a long time, would not know.
Shen Pan'er regretted and only thought that after being brought back to the house by Jia Lian, she would perform well in order to win preferential treatment from Jia Lian. Who knew that as soon as she parked the car, she heard that Jia Lian was about to send her away without even asking her a question? Moslem.
This made her so anxious that she couldn't care about anything else and quickly called out to Jia Lian.
(End of chapter)
