Zhang Zhou set off from Datong back to the capital.
However, as soon as he left the city that afternoon, he was blocked by a group of people who blocked the road and complained.
Zhang Zhou was riding on a horse. He thought he was the military and civilian gentry who came to see him off. However, when a group of people approached, he realized that they were taking advantage of Zhang Heling and others who had been mining around Datong before he left. The people complained.
"Master Qingtian makes the decision. We, the common people, are being oppressed. Good mines have been robbed by thugs. They even send domestic slaves and thugs to beat us ordinary people."
< p>Zhang Zhou may have had too good an official reputation before.The things they were scolded were all done by others, and they didn’t know whether they were really stupid or just pretending to be confused, as if they didn’t even know that he, the general manager of Xuan Da, was responsible for the mining.
Zhang Heling was riding on a horse and said with a smile, "There are a lot of people here, maybe you are looking for the wrong place."
He had a sarcastic look on his face.
Zhang Zhou got off his horse, walked up to the group of people, and said loudly, "Everyone, you need someone to make decisions for you. Please go to the government office. I have now resigned from my official position and will return to Beijing soon. "
"Sir, you can't just leave like this. Our good land has been taken over by villains who eat people without spitting out their bones."
"Say Who is it?" Zhang Heling couldn't stand listening, so he also came over, pointed at a group of people and said with a ferocious look on his face, "I will open your mine. If you have the ability, come to me and I will kill you."
"That's it. The villains heard that he was a relative, and the national thieves of the Ming Dynasty still hoped that Mr. Qingtian would make decisions for me and other common people."
For the first time, Zhang Zhou saw the methods used by the local gentry to compete for interests.
It is really like sending people to the mines to rob them first. If they can't rob them, they will make trouble.
He was already like this before he left Datong. He believed that when he returned to the capital, there would be a mountain of memorials accusing him of mining in the northwest and plundering people's wealth, and the ministers' spitting stars alone would drown him.
He suddenly felt that it would be better to open a coal mine in Xishan. At least it would be at the feet of the emperor, and at most it would be wrangling with a group of nobles.
It’s true that the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. We don’t talk about the king’s laws but only talk about interests.
Zhang Zhou said, "I have heard your appeal, but it is useless for you to tell me. There is a Wang Zhongcheng in the city. He is the governor of Datong. From now on, he will take charge of local affairs in Datong." ”
At this time, Zhang Zhou would of course throw the problem to Wang Shouren.
You can’t just say that when there is an opportunity to win military glory in a war, you can do it, but when trouble comes, let others take care of it.
And when Zhang Zhou left, he said that Wang Shouren would be responsible for the future mining. As for how to deal with the local egoistic gentry, it depends on Wang Shouren's ability.
"Sir, I hope you will make the decision on this matter"
The provocateur has already come out, and the hateful eyes are not directed at Zhang Heling, but at Zhang Zhou .
Dayou, if you don’t let us make the decision, we will follow youIt means desperately.
Zhang Heling scolded, "I'm sorry for you. The mines I opened are all in uninhabited places, in barren mountains and wild mountains. It's obviously a group of people who have occupied whose fields and robbed whose mines." Seeing that my mine was going well, I thought about taking it back and thinking whose Ming Dynasty it was."
Zhang Zhou almost couldn't recognize Zhang Heling when he saw him like this.
The eldest son of the Zhang family, who was known for his stupidity and greed in the Ming Dynasty, actually started to reason with others
And this time it was him who was the reason
It was really time The world has changed so quickly that people can’t understand how things in this world are changing.
The leader among the gentry shouted, "You villain, that place is our ancestral property and we soon found the mine. It was you who took advantage of it"
"Damn it, you bullied me for being easy to talk to." Well, if I don't peel your skin off, I'll open a mine and say it's yours, why don't you say Daming is yours?" Zhang Heling has never been bullied to the point of being bullied like this.
The gentlemen immediately lost their previous gentleness and wanted to reason with Zhang Zhou. They all stood up, and the ones behind them even raised their hoes and everything else.
"You, a group of powerful people from the capital, came to Shanxi to mine. This place belongs to us. Go back to your capital."
"If you don't hand over the mine, I will fight with you." "
Someone actually rushed over with a hoe and wanted to hit Zhang Heling with the hoe.
This man is in his forties. He looks fair and wealthy and does not look like someone working in the fields. However, he hides in the crowd and wears a coarse cloth to pretend to be an ordinary person. He probably thinks that With Zhang Zhou present, no matter what the personal relationship between Zhang Zhou and Zhang Heling was, at least Zhang Zhou had to protect their interests for his own reputation.
That’s why I dared to hit Zhang Heling in front of so many guards.
"Shua"
Zhang Heling was not polite, he directly pulled out a knife, raised it and tried to fight the man.
When the man saw this posture, he started to retreat in the middle of the charge, but was knocked down by a kick from a Beijing soldier.
"I'll kill you"
Zhang Heling has never suffered such a big loss. He was going to kill someone with a knife regardless of the situation, but Zhang Zhouzhou grabbed his hand. catch.
"Zhang Zhitai, what do you mean?" Zhang Heling glared at Zhang Zhou.
The one who offends me, Hou Ning, is not the one who offends you, Zhang Bingkuan, about the mining. It is true that I will bear the thunder from the front, but the problem is that you can't just sit back and watch.
Zhang Zhou said, "Oh, you are guilty of attacking an honorable person in the court. Fortunately, you did not succeed. Otherwise, you and the rest of you wouldn't have enough heads to chop off."
Someone shouted, "Master Zhang, how can you help Xiaoxiao?"
Zhang Zhou sneered and said, "I came to the northwest to control military affairs under the emperor's order, but I didn't say that I would help you sort out these nonsense. If so, Shouning Hou opened the mine and occupied whose land, please come to the government with the contract of the land. It is best for you to have evidence to say that those mines in the barren mountains are yours, otherwise there is no chance of letting the governmentThe door will help you"
"Officials protect each other"
The gentry who originally praised Zhang Zhou immediately turned their guns and classified Zhang Zhou as a traitor.
Zhang Zhou said hello, and then the Jinyi guards came out with swords. The soldiers from the Beijing camp immediately stepped forward and surrounded the group of people in front of them.
Zhang Zhou said sternly, "Invite everyone into the city, come. Governor's Yamen, let Governor Wang sort things out for you and see who is causing trouble. Those who take the lead in making trouble will not be spared. If there are any injuries or deaths in local coal mines, let the government seal them up."
"Ah ”
The local officials and gentry originally expected Zhang Zhou to make the decision. Even if the appeal failed, there would probably be no loss.
But after hearing Zhang Zhou’s words.
Zhang Zhou simply wanted to play with the "law of the country" with them.
Ordinary coal mines, not to mention the production, are forced to carry baskets of coal out after the coolies enter the pit, and the reinforcement is not strong. Not to mention, the ventilation inside is also very poor, and water leakage, explosions, etc. occur frequently. This is why the local coal mine in Datong cannot open now.
It is not because they don't know there is a mine. It's because they don't have the skills to mine, and the labor cost of mining is too high.
As long as the tenants can make a living by farming, who is willing to risk their lives and go down the mine?
What Zhang Zhou meant was, let's make a living. You have already given yourself face by opening mines. These private mines have always been banned. Now we simply use the government to close down those who have not declared it to the government. Don't think that you can bribe local county offices, inspection departments and other small yamen. You can get a pardon, now use the governor's office to suppress you, even the Shanxi chief envoy will stand aside, let alone the local government, prefecture and county, or the military office.
"Take people away"
Zhang Zhou is not polite either.
I gave you a pretense. You want to fight for interests and fight with Zhang Heling, but now you come to make trouble in front of me. < /p>
Then I, Mr. Zhang, can still give you face
If you have the support of the emperor, finding a place to mine can be called competing for profits with the people, stop there, then My ideal of transforming the Ming Dynasty is not to be realized in the next life.
"Mr. Zhang, you are still awesome. "Zhang Heling gave Zhang Zhouqiao a thumbs up.
Zhang Zhou looked at Zhang Heling sharply and said, "And you, we agreed that you will be responsible for external affairs, and you want me to wipe your ass, don't you want it later? "Divided"
"You"
Zhang Heling also got angry when he heard it.
Everyone was grinning at me
It was Zhang Heling Zhou calmed down and thought about it, forget it, but I can’t fight
I still have to count on the legendary Zhang Banxian to mine and help me make money. For the sake of the money, I can’t attack him, otherwise He really doesn't care about my money. It's useless if I sue my brother-in-law.
"Mr. Zhang, please calm down. I actually want to teach these people a lesson. This is not what you said. No matter how big the conflict is, it will not work." If it had been a different time before someone was killed, let alone a bunch of grass.People, even if the boy named Zhou is Chang Ningbo, why should he be beaten?"
Zhang Heling said cheerfully while looking at the people being escorted away by the officers and soldiers.
Next to him When the generals and officials looked at it, they naturally felt that Shouning Hou had really changed his character when he came to the northwest.
He actually accepted Zhang Zhou's criticism with an open mind and at the same time, he had such a kind temper< /p>
Have you not heard before that even the emperor and empress could not cure the Zhang brothers? Why did everyone have to obey Zhang Zhitai once he took action?
"Mr. Zhang acted so cleverly , if I had known earlier, I would have asked you to take action. "Zhang Heling smiled.
Zhang Zhou was so angry that he asked his subordinates to bring the horse over and said, "Wait a minute, I will inevitably fight Tumo Xingzi with you when I return to the capital. I came to the northwest to enrich the country and strengthen the army. Since you have no mercy to speak of, why don't you give me a little bit of Shouning Hou? You can give me a memorial when you rest tonight. "
"Why should I submit a memorial?" Zhang Heling looked confused.
Zhang Zhou walked over and said in a low voice, "I am going to accuse the local gentry of colluding with the government and plotting to seize the imperial court. For self-interest, many mines were opened with no regard for human life, and they also evaded taxes. You can do this?"
"Okay, I'll do it."
Zhang Heling became excited as soon as he heard this.
In the past, others came to impeach me. Now it’s finally my turn, Mr. Zhang, to turn my back on the guest
It turned out that he could still do this by taking advantage of others. Isn’t this considered a defeat?
Zhang Zhou said, “In terms of words, I will help you think about it. With your talent, The words must be simple and the feelings must be sincere. After the memorial is presented, the civil and military ministers of the DPRK and China must feel that you have been wronged in the northwest, and you must bring me with you when you participate in the impeachment. ”
Zhang Heling said in confusion, “If you want to jointly sign, you can write it yourself and I’ll just sign it. Why bother?”
Zhang Zhou sneered and said, “I said it lightly. They brought me in for a little while and said that I was the leader among those who condoned mining in the areas around Datong. "
"What"
Zhang Heling was shocked again.
Zhang Zhou said, "If you still want to share the money, just listen to me. Let's put each other first." In terms of opposing stances, let others think that we are in two camps, and we can just be harmonious when we divide the money later. "
"Oh" Zhang Heling doesn't have that kind of brain.
The things he did in the past didn't involve much thinking.
Zhang Zhou said fiercely, "I During this time in Datong, we have thoroughly understood the chain of local interests. It’s up to you to break it open. Don’t they want us to not be able to mine in Datong? Cut off their financial resources first, otherwise they really think we are here. Mining in secret”
“Yes, yes, we are here in an open and honest manner. "Zhang Heling felt the same.
Zhang Zhou said, "So you're welcome, it's best to clean up the officialdom in the northwest. By then, you, Shouninghou, will still be a meritorious official of the Ming Dynasty, and your Majesty will definitely praise you. ”
When Zhang Heling heard this, he not only got money, but alsoBeing able to let out a bad breath and even gain credit from his brother-in-law makes him feel as if he is reaching the pinnacle of his life. This is different from when he and his younger brother were skilfully plundering the capital.
Zhang Heling narrowed his eyes and said, "Mr. Zhang, don't you worry about getting too close to me and being criticized?"
"I'm afraid of nothing" Zhang Zhou said in front of the rough man. Not so polite, "Now the court has attacked me more than you, as long as you two brothers don't mind following me."
"Hehe."
Zhang Heling listened. This was more comfortable. He smiled and said, "That's right, we are all grasshoppers on the same rope, no one can jump away."
Zhang Zhouren hasn't returned to the capital yet, and as expected, he Reports about Zhang Zhou's mining in the northwest, which caused many local disputes, spread to the capital one after another.
What is different from the past is that this time the civil servants appeared to be very restrained.
In other words, except for those who have no brains, everyone knows that the imperial court is currently tight and cannot even pay out rewards for military merit in the northwest. The emperor agreed to let Zhang Zhou open the mine. At the same time, Zhang Zhou also said Yes, in the future, the mining taxes earned from mining will be given to officials in the form of salary notes.
Those middle- and lower-level officials are plundering people's wealth and support, and at the same time they also want to make a good job. It's nothing for them to squander their salary, so they naturally don't care.
But we care about the money.
At the end of the morning session, it was Min Gui, the censor of Zuodu, who brought up the matter, especially the fact that Zhang Heling even had a fight with local officials and gentry while mining.
Zhu Youtang asked, "It was the kiln that occupied the place when Shouning Hou opened the mine."
Min Gui naturally knew that it was not the case, but in his opinion, it was the kiln that occupied the place. Mining the land is also a kind of theft, he insisted, "Exactly."
Zhu Youtang said, "Then who asked the previous mine owner to pay taxes to the court for mining there? How much tax is paid every year?"
"Uh"
Min Gui was speechless.
Zhu Youtang said coldly, "Dear gentlemen, I have actually known for a long time that in places with mineral resources, private mining kilns have been banned repeatedly, and even local officials support it. Once When outsiders intervene, they want to gather people to loot. In the past, for the sake of local stability, I often turned a blind eye to such things, but that does not mean that I want to condone them."
Liu Jiandao. "Your Majesty, perhaps someone from the Ministry of Industry will go to Datong to investigate this matter strictly."
"What to investigate?" Of course Zhu Youtang knew what Liu Jian meant.
When Zhang Zhou opened the mine, it was equivalent to opening the mine under his own name, and the benefits were transferred to the northwest military and political system by Zhang Zhou personally. The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War, and the local officials were almost never involved. , which is equivalent to saying that the leadership is in Zhang Zhou's hands.
Before Zhang Zhou opened the mine, people in the court did not have much objection to it.
Because they felt that Zhang Zhou might not be able to drive.
Now that the mines are really harvesting, Liu Jian wants to use these minesAll are incorporated into the supervision system, turning the royal ones into the imperial court, and then the imperial court will uniformly deploy them.
But this is obviously not in line with Zhu Youtang's wishes.
Zhu Youtang said, "The mining in Bingkuan was approved by your family. It seems that you didn't object when the salary bills were folded."
The ministers present No words.
"The purpose of mining in the northwest is to save military supplies for the imperial court. In the past two months, I have heard that there is only a handful of money and grain transferred from Beijing reserves to the northwest. Given the current situation "The soldiers in the northwest can't even afford the basic food and clothing, so why should they serve the country?"
Zhu Youtang's attitude is very tough.
The general meaning is that there is no need to discuss the mining with me, and I have no room for negotiation with you.
Zhu Youtang said, "If anyone else makes irresponsible remarks about this, then send him to the mines to experience the hard work of the miners before they retire."
The emperor said to Zhang Zhou It can be said to be the ultimate protection.
It also made the ministers of the DPRK realize that it would be useless to affect even the slightest interest of Zhang Zhou now.
But in fact, they can be considered "adapted". After all, Zhang Zhou is preceded by Li Guang. In fact, the emperor's trust in Zhang Zhou is not much higher than that of Li Guang, just because Zhang Zhou is no longer just a person. The eunuchs responsible for alchemy in the inner court could not only interfere with matters such as passing officials, but also be involved in court affairs.
And no matter how you look at it, Li Guang is greedier than Zhang Zhou.
In the past, I had to give various gifts to Li Guang, but now Zhang Zhou has to share the money he earns with them, and he even gets criticized for opening a mine.
Probably Zhang Zhou was too "kind" to these people.
"In the past few days, Zhang Bingkuan is going back to Beijing. His Majesty has sent someone to ask the Ministry of Civil Affairs and said that he would be given the position of Minister of the Sixth Ministry, but he did not mention the Duke of Lai and the Minister of the Ministry at all. Bachelor, it is estimated that His Majesty wants Zhang Bingkuan to serve as the governor's office, the Sixth Ministry and the Hanlin Academy."
The three cabinet members returned to the duty room, and Liu Jian brought the news.
Xie Qian smiled and said, "It's a blessing that I'm not a minister."
Li Dongyang said, "The six ministers will probably be the household minister and the military minister first. As for whether it is the left minister or the right minister." It is also to facilitate his continued control of the northwest military affairs."
"Yes." Liu Jian nodded.
Li Dongyang sighed again, "Now it depends on whether he intends to incite His Majesty to send troops to the grassland. Even if he sends troops, in my opinion, he still wants to make peace with the little Tatar prince."
"How to say" Xie Qian asked.
Li Dongyang said, "Send troops to intimidate the little Tatar prince, force him to retreat, and at the same time make the three guards of Duoyan surrender to the Ming Dynasty. This result should be more practical and convenient than directly defeating the little Tatar prince." Please remember to bookmark, the latest and fastest website is free to read without anti-theft