The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Master, master, it's not good."

In the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the cabinet of the Forbidden City, Lu Bu ran into the room from outside in a panic and shouted to Wei Guangde who was dealing with the memorial.

"What is going on in such a panic? How can outsiders see it?"

Taiwan Novel Network → 𝑡𝑤𝑘𝑎𝑛.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Wei Guangde put down the memorial in his hand and looked at Lu Bu dissatisfied.

This is the cabinet, and the slightest disturbance will fall into the eyes of Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei.

Zhang Juzheng can talk a little, but Zhang Siwei may not.

Although there are no signs yet, Wei Guangde believes that Zhang Siwei must have set his sights on his second assistant position at this time.

It's like Wei Guangde actually covets the throne of chief minister, but he knows that the Ming Dynasty now has many internal and external troubles.

He can raise a butcher's knife to deal with external troubles, but when it comes to dealing with internal worries, he is still somewhat intolerant.

Without him, there are interests of his family in this.

It is actually difficult for an individual to sacrifice his life to gain a career, give up his own interests and contribute to the Zhu Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng dares to take action against powerful people and even his own interests. This is actually very admirable.

As long as you give him enough support, he can do it.

Although there may be some places that are not fully thought out and there are many flaws.

For example, when clearing the land, he only considered measuring and registering all the land in the country, and clearing out the hidden acres. After apportioning the land, the burden on the land would be light.

There is no reason for local officials to delay paying taxes to the court. Any arrears can be completely eradicated.

Then, due to the substantial increase in land in some places, some taxes could be increased in addition to the court tax system.

After all, the tax amount set in the Hongwu Year was definitely not suitable now when the population and land were small.

In addition, adding new taxes does not count as changing the ancestral system.

However, it is such a simple truth, but when it comes to the local level, in order to cater to Zhang Juzheng, local officials actually tampered with the measuring tools to inflate the land area.

During the Ming Dynasty, officials were exiled. They were all officials in other places. They could be promoted and transferred quickly after achieving good political performance, so they didn't have to pay attention to the local gentry and common people.

They themselves lead the emperor's herdsmen.

In response to this, Wei Guangde would naturally remind Zhang Juzheng that the Ministry of Industry should be designated to manufacture and distribute unified measuring tools, and the local government could not purchase them on its own.

It's not that the cost is inflated, but that weights and measures actually differ somewhat from place to place.

Wei Guangde planned to let Zhang Juzheng take advantage of the situation, and he took advantage of it, but Zhang Siwei may not have this intention, so he always had to be careful about that person.

"Say, what's going on?"

Wei Guangde looked at the frightened Lu Bu and said something more. He knew that Lu Bu must have heard terrible news, that's why he did this.

But I don’t know if he is like this, can the matter be solved?

It only increases tension and does nothing to solve the problem.

"Um, that Pan Jixun, Governor Pan, has returned to the capital, and is now arguing with him at Zhu Shangshu's house."

Lu Bu finally told Wei Guangde the news he had obtained, but Wei Guangde was really stunned after hearing it.

"Pan Jixun returned to the capital? When did it happen? Did the Ministry of Industry summon him back?"

A series of questions appeared in Wei Guangde's mind, and he couldn't help but ask questions one after another.

"Yes, sir, Master Pan is back, and that's what happened today.

When he arrived in the capital, he didn't go to the Ministry of Industry or the Metropolitan Procuratorate. I don't know where he was called back.

After entering the city, he went directly to Zhu Shangshu's residence angrily. "

Lu Bu said immediately.

In fact, if it were any other official, he would just take it as a joke and watch the fun.

But for Zhu Heng, Tan Lun, and several other officials who were close to Wei Guangde, this joke did not sound good, and the excitement was not good to watch.

Wei Guangde stood up suddenly and seemed to be going out.

However, he soon sat down again.

He could roughly guess Pan Jixun's reason for looking for Zhu Heng, but it was of no use at this time.

The most important thing is that as the governor of the river, Pan Jixun is not close to the capital from Jining. Who called him to come back to the capital?

Although the governor-general, governor, and censors from various places were all considered officials in the capital, they were still not allowed to return to the capital without an order because they were on foreign missions.

When a governor returned to the capital, his deputy didn't know anything about it.

This is no small matter, it means something is wrong.

Moreover, there were only two yamen that could summon Pan Jixun back to the capital, one was the Ministry of Industry and the other was the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The Ministry of Industry will definitely not make such mistakes, so it can only be the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate, this is the yamen that Wei Guangde has always valued, and he is already ready to get involved.

But until now, the reply from nearby Laokan has not arrived.

Once Lao Kan agreed to the matter, he immediately started to take care of it and sent people back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to help him watch.

At this juncture, Wei Guangde had to consider the possibility that the Metropolitan Procuratorate might lose control.

"Immediately go and ask what's going on at the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Why is it that the cabinet doesn't know anything about such a big deal as transferring back the governor of Hedao? If they don't report it, what are they going to do?"

Wei Guangde suppressed the anger in his heart and ordered.

After Lu Bu hurried out, he felt a trace of panic in his heart.

Yes, he was a little scared.

Don't think that now that the emperor is young and the power is handed over to the cabinet, the first and second assistants seem to have the power and can sit back and relax.

In fact, it was not the case at all.

If he really had such great power, would Zhang Juzheng still need to cooperate with Feng Bao?

Would Gao Gong be taken back to Xinzheng by someone?

Is the situation at that time different from now?

But the chief minister was squeezed out of office quietly.

He was afraid that one day, he would lose control of the various government offices of the court, and someone would take advantage of the situation and drive him out of the capital like Gao Gong.

In the following time, Wei Guangde had no intention of handling government affairs, and was thinking about how to keep the Censorate firmly in his hands.

Now that the cabinet supervises the six departments, the restrictions on the cabinet have been greatly reduced. Originally, it was to help the emperor watch the cabinet, but now it is completely reversed.

Such changes have rapidly increased Zhang Juzheng's influence on the six departments, and it can even be said that he is close to controlling the six departments.

Although he is the second assistant, he also has the right to supervise the six departments, but the first assistant and the second assistant are separated by a step after all.

He had already felt the pressure from Zhang Juzheng. Although he had thought about it before, he could not fully understand that feeling without personal experience.

Half an hour later, Lu Bu appeared at the door of the duty room again.

Wei Guangde looked over and saw Lu Bu quickly entered the duty room. He bowed in front of him and said, "Master, I have checked it out. Lord Pan was not called back by the Censorate."

"What? Could it be the Ministry of Works?"

Wei Guangde lost his voice.

If the Ministry of Works recalled Pan Jixun, Wei Guangde would doubt Jiang Zhi's ability.

"It was not the Ministry of Works. No one called him back to Beijing. It seems that they didn't know. Pan Jixun came back by himself."

Lu Bu quickly told the result and didn't let Wei Guangde guess.

"No imperial edict to return to Beijing?"

Wei Guangde was sure that there would be no imperial edict issued from the capital to let Pan Jixun come to the capital. Only the Ministry of Works and the Censorate were his superiors and could issue an order to recall him.

Others, even Zhang Juzheng, did not have this right.

Now all the roads back to Beijing are blocked, and this is the only possible reason.

"It should be."

Lu Bu whispered: "According to gossip, a colleague in the Ministry of Works who has a good relationship with Lord Pan told him about the situation in Beijing. It may be because his method was rejected by the Ministry of Works, so he hurried back to Beijing, and he went directly to find Minister Zhu when he entered Beijing.

It is said outside that the two had a very unhappy quarrel in Zhu's mansion, and Lord Pan said that Minister Zhu was a private revenge."

When Wei Guangde heard this, he instantly understood the cause and effect in his heart.

It can be said that Pan Jixun was quite confident in the "Water-Bundling Sand Attack Method" he thought of, because in theory it was completely impeccable.

This is also the reason why Pan Jixun was praised to the sky on the Internet in later generations.

Although in fact, this method does not work at all, and it has produced many bitter fruits.

But the gap between ideal and reality is so big that even in later generations, people cannot find flaws, let alone people now.

Wei Guangde supported the "water-restraining and sand-attack method" from the very beginning, but after Jiang Zhi talked about the Qingkou Dam and its impact on Hongze Lake, and entered the impact on the Ming Zuling, he realized that it was actually a "poison".

Moreover, according to the test results, it is also obvious that this method only has a significant scouring effect on the river channel near Qingkou. The closer to the Yellow River estuary, the worse the scouring effect is, almost non-existent, and it is easy to block the estuary.

Ridiculous, Wei Guangde thought it could increase the land area of ​​Ming Dynasty at the beginning.

The Yellow River has indeed played a more or less effect of "reclamation and land reclamation", but without considering the soil erosion in the middle and upper reaches, even in the lower reaches, those lands have become saline-alkali lands, and it will take a long time to improve the land to become arable land.

"Is he still in Zhu Mansion now?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"He has left and went to the Ministry of Works."

Lu Bu whispered.

"Second Assistant, Second Assistant."

Just then, a shout came from outside the door.

Wei Guangde didn't say anything. He glanced at Lu Bu and went out tactfully.

In the past, if someone came to look for him, he would definitely negotiate with Lu Bu at the door.

But now he was in the house and there was no one outside, so he could only shout twice first, otherwise it would be too abrupt to appear at the door directly.

Not long after, Lu Bu came in and said, "Master, it was the Prime Minister who summoned me to talk about Master Pan's return to the capital."

Wei Guangde was not surprised. If Zhang Juzheng didn't know about Pan Jixun's return until now, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

"Hehe, I think he sent someone to inquire about the news before calling me over."

At this time, Wei Guangde had a relaxed and happy smile on his face, which was in sharp contrast to his previous seriousness.

Pan Jixun was recommended by Zhang Juzheng. Now that such a big mess has been made, he, Prime Minister Zhang, must be involved in some way.

Although he thought so, Wei Guangde was not slow in action and got up and walked out directly.

While walking, he was also thinking about what to do when he saw Zhang Juzheng.

There is no need to lose face for Zhang Juzheng at this time, Zhang is a bit face-conscious.

As for Pan Jixun, it seems that no one in the Ministry of Works is willing to take on the hot potato of flood control, so Wei Guangde does not intend to replace him.

For the court to control floods, there must be at least a hall official in the river office.

If there is merit, it belongs to everyone, and if there is fault, it is the blame.

It is not okay to remain silent, and we still have to use some means to give him a tough time.

Wei Guangde thought as he walked, it happened that the imperial court was helpless to control the water, and he, the official who was most familiar with the river, returned to the capital, and he happened to be brainstorming ideas. It would be better to scold him, and then stay in the capital to discuss with the people from the Ministry of Industry to see if there are any other solutions. Ways to control water.

Yes, just do it.

On the way to check on Zhang Juzheng's house, Wei Guangde thought of a countermeasure.

He has no prejudice against Pan Jixun, although he has the imprint of Zhang Juzheng on him.

He likes pragmatic officials and dislikes people who only talk.

Zhu Heng also said that although he and Pan Jixun had conflicts, they were mostly due to differences in solutions during the original field survey of the river.

The conflicts between the two were mostly caused by others, that is, after the conflict broke out, their respective friends helped to speak on the court to gain support, and then developed into mutual impeachment.

Although Yan Song fell at that time, Jiangxi officials were still standing. Pan Jixun was no match for him.

"Brother uncle."

After entering the chief assistant's duty room, Wei Guangde bowed his hands.

In the cabinet, outsiders call them the first assistant and the second assistant, but the two of them have similar names and express cordiality. They are both old acquaintances and have worked together for a long time when they were in Yuzhuan.

"Shandai, sit down, I know why I called you."

Zhang Juzheng didn't mince words and said directly.

Wei Guangde nodded, indicating that he understood.

"I have found out clearly. In the end, Pan Weiliang came to Beijing by himself, which is considered a violation of the court's rules. You see how this matter should be handled."

At this time, he and Wei Guangde were the only ones in the room. Zhang Siwei didn't know whether he didn't inform him or he came late, but he didn't see anyone.

Perhaps Zhang Juzheng felt that this matter was somewhat disgraceful and that he had something to do with it, so he did not want Zhang Siwei to see it.

In short, the first minister and the second minister of the cabinet reach an agreement, and the opinion of one assistant minister is just that.

"If you break the rules and the court's free laws, you can do whatever you want."

Wei Guangde also said in this regard that if Pan Jixun dared to come, he must be prepared to accept punishment from the court.

However, for this kind of thing, the punishment can be light or heavy.

The serious one would be immediate dismissal from office and expulsion, while the light one would be fines and imperial edicts. Wei Guangde didn't want to get involved. Since Zhang Juzheng understood, it was up to him.

Sure enough, Zhang Juzheng's expression remained unchanged and he continued: "Although Pan Weiliang broke the rules, I heard that it was also because of flood control, so I think it will be fine with a fine and an imperial edict.

Nowadays, the major issue in the court is the water control. Since he returned to the capital, after the punishment, he will study with his colleagues from the Ministry of Industry to see if there are other ways to control the Yellow River.

I have thought about the method of confining water to attack sand that he mentioned before, and I have thought about it in the past few days. It is indeed inappropriate.

That is, if we directly abandon river transportation, I am afraid that the rebound below will be fierce. "

"Uncle, of course I know about this, so I told you to take a look at it slowly.

As for water transportation, the proportion of sea transportation should be increased year by year. There is no longer a fixed number, and water transportation and water control should be separated.

In recent years, the imperial court will still invest a large amount of money and materials to support river transportation. At the same time, I am considering increasing the water fees at Chaoguan and various gates year by year. All this money will subsidize the cost of water control. "

Wei Guangde said.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng seemed to have changed his mind and no longer insisted on river transportation, which was a good thing.

After that time, Zhang Juzheng only said that he still needed to consider it, and never mentioned the matter again.

Today's statement actually indicates that he has also realized that there are too many things involved in water control, and there will be no good results in the end.

"That's very good."