Save the Bachelor of Heaven

Xiang Nan knew the decline that the Jia family was facing.

One was external factors. The titles of the Jia family were lower from generation to generation. Jia Yan and Jia Yuan were both dukes, one was the Duke of Ning and the other was the Duke of Rong.

When it came to the generation of his sons Jia Daihua and Jia Daishan. Jia Daihua's title was lowered to a first-class duke and a general of divine power. Jia Daishan was favored by the emperor, so he inherited his father's title of Duke of Rong without being demoted.

When it came to the generation of Jia Daihua's son Jia Jing, Jia Jing was keen on seeking the Tao and cultivating immortals, and was unwilling to inherit the title, so his son Jia Zhen inherited the title and was demoted to a third-class duke.

Jia Daishan's eldest son Jia She inherited the first-class title, and the second son Jia Zheng wanted to take the imperial examination as an official, but the emperor was so kind that he gave him the title of chief official. Now he serves as a member of the Ministry of Works, which is a fifth-rank official.

The dukes of the state are first-class and third-class dukes, so the salary is naturally much less.

In the Ming Dynasty, the salary of a duke was 3,000 dan, the salary of a first-class noble was only 1,000 dan, and the salary of a third-class noble was only 600 dan.

For a fifth-rank official, the salary was only 80 taels of silver. Even if the money for maintaining integrity was included, the winter charcoal tribute and the summer ice tribute were also limited. After all, officials in the capital have always lived a hard life, and they are not the same as officials sent out to other places.

Therefore, the salary of the Ning and Rong mansions was reduced from 6,000 dan to 1,600 dan, a reduction of 73%. This is not a halving, but a direct cut to the ankle.

Moreover, the reduction from a duke to a first-class or third-class noble also means that they are about to withdraw from the aristocratic class. After all, there is no more title to be passed down, and if they want to continue to be officials and hold power, they can only take the official career and imperial examination.

Jia Jing, Jia Zheng, and Jia Baoyu's brother Jia Zhu are all preparing for the imperial examination. Jia Jing has passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, but suddenly gave up Confucianism and practiced Taoism; and Jia Zhu has passed the examination and became a scholar, but unfortunately he died too early.

Now, none of the four or five generations of the Jia family have studied hard.

Jia Zhen, Jia She, Jia Rong, Jia Lian and others all eat, drink and have fun all day long, and have no proper business. Although Jia Baoyu is talented, he doesn't like reading the most and only likes to hang out in the boudoir.

So the Jia family is getting farther and farther away from the center of power.

In addition, there are big followers such as Li Gui, Wang Rong, Zhang Ruojin, Zhao Yihua, Qian Qi, and Zhou Rui, and servants such as Mingyan, Chuyao, Saohong, Moyu, Yinquan, Tiaoyun, and Banhe. Together, there are no less than twenty or thirty people.

Like Jia Mu, Jia Zheng, Wang Fu Ren, Jia Lian, Wang Xi Feng, Si Chun, Lin Dai Yu, etc., they are all similar, so there are countless servants alone.

And servants need to be paid. The monthly salary of the first-class maid is one tael of silver, the second-class is one tael of silver, and the small maid is five hundred coins.

Not to mention the big housekeepers and the managers of various places, their monthly salary is higher. Add to that the embezzlement and the self-enrichment, and the monthly expenses will be even greater.

Lai Da Zongguan used the housekeeper of Jia Mansion to embezzle the public and enrich himself. Not only did he spend money to donate an official position to his son, he even built a garden for his own family, which was only half the price of Jia Mansion's Grand View Garden. It can be seen how ruthless he was in corruption.

Now the two Dukes of Ning and Rong have become first-class and third-class dukes, and their salaries have been cut to the ground, but the number of slaves has increased dramatically. However, the masters have not been prepared for danger in times of peace, and they still eat, drink, and have fun every day, enjoying wine and meat, picking flowers and asking for willows.

No wonder even outsiders can see that the Jia family is living beyond their means and spending more than they earn.

…

In addition to the elements of the Jia family itself, there is also the suspicion and exclusion of the old forces such as the Jia family by the new emperor in the court.

The Jia family fought on the battlefield with Emperor Hongguang and made great contributions. After the death of Emperor Hongguang, Emperor Yongxi, who ascended the throne, still appreciated the military merits of the Jia family and showed great favor to the Jia family.

Jia Daishan inherited the title of Duke of Rong without being demoted. It was the grace of Emperor Yongxi that Jia Zheng could become the head of the government without taking the imperial examination and was promoted to the deputy minister of the Ministry of Works.

But Emperor Yongxi has now abdicated and become the emperor, and the new emperor Jiaxing has just ascended the throne.

As the saying goes, a new emperor chooses his own ministers. Even though Emperor Jiaxing still showed respect to Emperor Yongxi on the surface, in fact, there is no two suns under the sky and no two masters under the people. Naturally, he would support his own people in the court.

But the Jia family was not only an old minister of Emperor Yongxi, but also closely related to the four kings and six dukes, including the Prince of Dongping, the Prince of Nan'an, the Prince of Xining, the Prince of Beijing, the Duke of Zhenguo, the Duke of Liguo, the Duke of Qi, the Duke of Zhiguo, the Duke of Xiuguo, and the Duke of Shanguo, who jointly controlled the military and political power in the court.

Jia Zheng, a mere fifth-rank official of the Ministry of Works, could recommend Jia Yucun to be promoted to the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture (a fourth-rank official), which shows how powerful Jia Zheng was.

If Emperor Jiaxing wanted to sit firmly on the throne, he would have to collect power, so the four kings and eight dukes, including the Jia family, would have to be among those he would settle accounts with.

Of course, if you want to take something, you must first give it. In order to make the power transition smoother and avoid causing major fluctuations, Emperor Jiaxing promoted Wang Ziteng to be the governor of nine provinces and responsible for patrolling the border.

No mistakes in one poem, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one forum!

After that, he took Yuanchun from the Jia family as the virtuous concubine. In fact, Yuanchun had been in the palace for many years at that time, and she would have been taken as a concubine long ago, so why wait so many years.

Therefore, the bad relationship with the new emperor was also the reason for the decline of the Jia family.

...

In addition, the overall environment was not good.

Although the story of "Dream of Red Mansions" is mostly concentrated in Jia Mansion, and rarely involves the outside world. But from a few words, it can still be seen that the outside world is not peaceful. There are already rats and thieves everywhere, droughts and floods are unpredictable, famine is everywhere, and the wind and rain are precarious.

For example, at the beginning of "Dream of Red Mansions", after Zhen Shiyin's house caught fire, he was forced to move to a farm with his wife and maid. As a result, due to droughts and floods, rats and thieves were everywhere, and it was difficult to find a place to stay, so he had to sell the land at a low price and seek refuge with his father-in-law.

In the section "Chapter 53: Ningguo Mansion New Year's Eve Sacrifice to the Ancestral Temple, Rongguo Mansion Lantern Festival Banquet", the village head Wu Jinxiao came to offer rent, and also said that the harvest was not good, and it was raining and hail.

In the section "Chapter 61: Baoyu Concealed the Corruption and Judged the Unjust Case, Ping'er Exercised Power", Sister Liu also said that the price of eggs was high recently, and she could only buy a few.

Even Jia Mu didn't eat much green rice, and she could only eat it alone, and no one else wanted to eat it.

Therefore, the situation of the Jia family can be said to be full of internal and external troubles, and the building is about to collapse. It is not as bright and beautiful as it looks.

Even if Xiang Nan participated in the imperial examination and passed the examination, it would be basically useless.

Firstly, the Jia family was already on the list of the new emperor to be eliminated. Because the four kings and eight dukes and the four major families are all of the same blood, and they will rise and fall together, and it is impossible for them to survive as a family;

Secondly, even if they are favored by the new emperor and become the prime minister, second only to the emperor, it is useless. Because the entire dynasty is already in turmoil.

"Forget it, I wanted to be low-key, but it seems that I can only show my cards. I won't pretend anymore, I am a god!" Xiang Nan decided.