Xu Jie looked at this disciple and Zhang Juzheng said:
"The person in charge of money and food in Nanzhili is the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs."
Zhang Juzheng didn't say anything else. The person in charge of the Nanjing Household Department now was Fang Wanghai, who had nothing to do with Qingliu.
Moreover, Fang Wanghai also has a "record" of cooperating with Hu Zongxian.
When he thought of this, Xu Jie was silent for a moment. He raised his old eyes and said:
"Is Zhao Zhenji still at home and Ding You?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and an official from the Ministry of Personnel stood up and said:
"Mr. Xu Ge, Mr. Zhao Zhenji and Mr. Zhao have not recovered yet."
Xu Jie thought for a while and said;
"Nanjing's Ministry of Household Affairs still needs a right-hand minister. Tomorrow I will recommend Zhao Zhenji to be the right-hand minister of Nanjing's Ministry of Household Affairs. I will take matters related to storage, money and grain out of Fang Wanghai's hands."
Everyone's eyes were full of admiration for Xu Jie. Zhao Zhenji, who was persecuted and demoted by Yan Song many times, was also a disciple of Xin Xue and a student of Xu Jie.
Zhao Zhenji had a grudge against Yan Dang. He stayed at home because of his father's death, but it was time for him to retaliate.
Zhao Zhenji's qualifications and academic qualifications are enough to serve as the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. Normally, there is one Minister and two Ministers in Nanjing.
For example, Lu Dayou, the Nanjing household minister who was arrested before, was the right minister of household affairs who was responsible for warehousing and money and grain.
In fact, the game of thrones is like a game of cards. Whoever has more "one's own people" will have an advantage at the card table.
Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and said, "Wonderful!"
It's no wonder that Xu Jie can be the leader of Qingliu. The roster in his mind is his most powerful weapon.
Among the people present, only Gao Gong frowned and remained silent.
After everyone left, Gao Gong said to King Yu:
"Zhao Zhenji went to Nanzhili. I'm afraid it's not a good thing for the people in the southeast."
King Yu was silent. Even if his political level was low, he understood the meaning of Qingliu's discussion just now.
That is to take advantage of Party Yan's mistake in "changing rice to mulberry" and wait until Zhejiang leads to a popular uprising due to lack of food, and use this to trip up Party Yan.
But the bargaining chip in this political struggle is the life and death of Zhejiang people.
King Yu was stunned for a moment and hesitated, but he was speechless.
Gao Gong said with some disappointment: "If that's the case, Su Rulin is right. How is Qingliu different from Yan Dang?"
Gao Gong didn't wait for King Yu to speak, said goodbye to King Yu and went out.
Since the last Yu Dayou incident, there has been a gap between Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng.
Gao Gong no longer went to Zhang Juzheng alone to drink and discuss the current situation, and his interaction with Qingliu became less frequent.
After returning to the mansion, Gao Gong couldn't help but get into the study. He thought for a while, wrote down what happened today in a letter, and then dug out the greeting card that Su Ze had given him.
Then he called the servant and said:
"Give this letter to Su Rulin in person at the address on the post in Nanzhili. Do you understand?"
The servant immediately responded. After Gao Gong finished writing the letter, he sat on the chair with doubts in his eyes.
Is it right or wrong to do this?
But Gao Gong also urgently wanted to ask Su Ze, how can we save Daming?
In March of the 40th year of Jiajing reign, there was a heavy rain in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
In the Hangzhou magistrate's yamen, all the officials, big and small, looked solemn, and the Hangzhou magistrate Ma Ningyuan, who was sitting in the chair, looked ugly.
The magistrates, magistrates, and officials of the Hangzhou Prefecture sat at the bottom respectively. In addition, Ma Ningyuan also issued an official document asking the magistrates of various counties in Hangzhou Prefecture to come to the prefecture's Yamen for a meeting.
Hai Rui was wearing a white washed official uniform, which made him stand out among the officials, and he also looked very strange.
Ma Ningyuan looked around, and finally his eyes fell on Hai Rui.
He said sternly: "Why is the conversion of rice to mulberry in Chun'an County so slow? Only dozens of acres of land have been converted until now? Hai Rui, Magistrate of Chun'an County! Do you think that my order is child's play?"
Everyone's eyes were on Hai Rui, but Hai Rui's expression did not change at all because of his boss's anger.
However, Hai Rui was no longer a newcomer to the officialdom. He did not directly support him, but said:
"There have been heavy rains in Chun'an these days, and the lower officials have been inspecting the dams. They have not asked about the matter of converting rice into mulberry. They have left it to the county magistrate Tian."
"You!" Ma Ningyuan slapped the table and said:
"Since you don't care about politics, why did you stop the people sent by this prefect?"
Hai Rui still looked apathetic and said:
"It's just that I didn't see the prefect's personal order. I suspect that these people are cheating."
Ma Ningyuan couldn't say the rest.
No matter how well something is done, people will always be needed to do it in the end.
Although Hai Rui is just a county magistrate, it will always fall on him to convert rice into mulberry.
As long as he had this attitude, it would be difficult for Ma Ningyuan to force him to do anything.
Ma Ningyuan sent his men to Chun'an to forcibly convert rice into mulberry, but they were expelled by the Yamen led by Hai Rui.
But Ma Ningyuan's method was to destroy the fields and promote the conversion of rice to mulberry, which could not be written in black and white.
Just when the discussion reached a deadlock, suddenly a Yamen servant from the prefecture's Yamen came in and shouted:
"Masters, the people of Chun'an have changed!"
Ma Ningyuan slapped the table and stood up, with a happy face on his face. He glanced at Hai Rui viciously.
As if the civil uprising was a happy event, he immediately stood up and said to the government servant beside him:
"Hurry up and ask the Hangzhou New Army to dispatch! I will personally suppress this gang of unruly people!"
Hai Rui and other officials also stood up and hurriedly followed the prefect into the rain.
Hai Rui's face was full of worry. This civil uprising gave Ma Ningyuan an opportunity to break through, and he had an excuse to violently intervene and change rice into mulberry.
Sure enough, when the group arrived in Chun'an, the rain was still continuing, and the so-called civil uprising was just a village of people standing on the edge of a field, pulling rice seedlings in the field in front of the government officials.
Ma Ningyuan was completely obsessed with promoting the conversion of rice to mulberry. He ordered the government officials and county officials to prevent the people from spring plowing.
Ma Ningyuan knew very well that to get people to change rice into mulberry, it would not be possible to rely on appeals alone.
So Ma Ningyuan simply pulled the plug. As long as the people could not grow this season's grain and delayed spring plowing, they could only plant mulberry trees and change rice to mulberry trees in accordance with the government's requirements.
Ma Ningyuan's abacus was good, but the people were not fools either.
If you can't grow food in the spring, you will be hungry in the fall and winter. Your court only said to change rice to mulberry, but it didn't provide a penny of subsidies.
Without food, people will starve to death. In autumn, people without food have no choice but to sell their fields to survive.
Moreover, the county also forced the purchase of mulberry seedlings that had been converted from rice to mulberry, which caused even more resistance from the people of Hangzhou.
This is a small village on the edge of Chun'an County. When Ma Ningyuan saw this situation, it didn't look like a civil uprising, right?
He frowned and called to the clerk who had tipped off the news:
"What about the civil uprising?"
"These unscrupulous people refused to let the government officials go down to pull out the seedlings, and a conflict broke out. Lord Futai, this is a rebellion!"
Ma Ning was about to laugh out loud, but when he saw the villagers holding farm tools, Hai Rui had already gone forward to negotiate despite the rain.
No, we can't let Hai Rui's negotiation succeed and let him drag it out like this!
At this time, Yu Zongyuan, dressed in armor, came to this small village on horseback with a general flag of the Hangzhou New Army.
After seeing Yu Zongyuan coming, Ma Ningyuan breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stepped forward and said:
"General Yu, you are finally here! Please give the order to expel these unruly people as soon as possible. We must implement the imperial decree!"
"Who dares to destroy our fields!"
In the crowd, a strong man saw the officers and soldiers coming and shouted without retreating.
Ma Ningyuan looked at this person in the crowd and said, "Where does this troublesome person come from?"
A clever man came out from the clerks and government servants surrounding Tian. He leaned close to Ma Ningyuan and said:
"This guy's name is Qi Da. He is a farmer in the village. He also does some work of killing pigs. He is the leader of these unruly people."
"Come here! Capture this Qi Da!"
Ma Ningyuan shouted loudly, and all the government officials looked at him again, seeming to ask what the crime was.
Ma Ningyuan said directly: "Tongwa!"
His subordinates became more motivated, and at this moment Hai Rui stood up again and said:
"Master Magistrate, this Qi Da is a citizen of Chun'an County. We in Chun'an County should arrest him first and try him first."
"It's related to Japan! I want to personally investigate!"
Hai Rui still refused to give in and said, "There is no regulation in the Ming Dynasty law that prohibits government agencies from going beyond the county to directly initiate lawsuits."
"you!"
Seeing Hai Rui bring out "The Law of the Ming Dynasty" again, Ma Ningyuan became even more furious. At this time, a short, fat official with a mustache hurried to the scene with his people.
Ma Ningyuan knew that this was Tian County Cheng of Chun'an County, and he said to Tian County Cheng:
"Haizhi County said that it was up to you to convert rice into mulberry?"
Tianxian Cheng rolled his eyes and knew that the prefect had bad intentions.
He quickly said: "Changing rice to mulberry is a national policy. Naturally, the county magistrate is in charge. Tian is just an errand boy."
Ma Ningyuan pointed at the people in the village and said:
"There is civil unrest in this village. Isn't it because of your dereliction of duty? You know that Qi Da, right? We think he is a Japanese conspirator, so we have him captured quickly, and then sent to the prefect's Yamen for personal trial by me!"
Hai Rui paused and then looked at Tian Xian Cheng.
Ma Ningyuan was able to rise from being a civil servant to a magistrate, so he was naturally capable.
Just like Hai Rui resisted his life, as long as the county magistrate Tian came forward to take Qi Da and then handed it over to the prefect's Yamen according to the procedures, Hai Rui had no way to interfere.
Tianxian County Magistrate has had a lot of arguments with Hai Rui since he took office. When he saw Ma Ningyuan's appearance, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Take down Qi Da who is Tongwa!"
Ma Ningyuan said to Yu Zongyuan again:
"General Yu! Please lead the troops to drive away the mob. We have to carry out official duties!"
Yu Zongyuan asked his adjutant to order all the riders of the Hangzhou New Army to mount their horses and prepare to charge towards the people who were surrounding the fields.
The rain is falling and the people are wailing.
The Yamen officers rushed forward to seize Qi Da, and the new army in Hangzhou was ready to attack.
Hai Rui also blocked the charge route of the Hangzhou New Army, and the whole scene was in chaos.
"stop!"
A voice sounded like thunder, and everyone looked over, only to see a scholar in a blue scholar's shirt standing in the rain.
The person who came was naturally Su Ze. He walked quickly to Hai Rui and said to Hai Rui:
"Teacher."
When Hai Rui saw Su Ze, he was a little surprised that he suddenly came to Zhejiang, but he felt relieved when Su Ze came.
As a disciple, I can always think of a way.
Sure enough, Su Ze stood up and said to Yu Zongyuan:
"Brother Yu, Hu Butang only asked you to guard Hangzhou, but he didn't ask you to help Magistrate Ma destroy the fields."
When Su Ze stepped forward, the cavalrymen of the Hangzhou recruits present tightened their reins one after another.
Since the establishment of the Hangzhou New Army, Su Ze has come to Hangzhou many times to give military lectures. The entire Hangzhou New Army, from the deputy generals to the grassroots soldiers, would shout "Sir" when they see Su Ze.
Su Ze talked to them about the principles of being a general and the sense of honor as a soldier, and often expressed condolences to the members of the New Army in Hangzhou. When he spoke at this time, everyone looked at Yu Zongyuan.
When Yu Zongyuan saw Su Ze coming, he simply took off his helmet and walked to him and said:
"Brother Aze, why are you here?"
Su Ze said: "Brother Yu, do you still remember what I told you?"
Yu Zongyuan shook his head, and Su Ze said: "The mission of the new army in Hangzhou is to fight against the Japanese. Things in the officialdom are too deep and you cannot control them. Let the brothers disperse."
Yu Zongyuan looked at Ma Ningyuan and said:
"That Magistrate Ma?"
"Is Magistrate Ma as big as Governor Hu? If Brother Yu doesn't believe it, Governor Hu's order will arrive soon."
Su Ze said coldly, and sure enough, a messenger officer rushed into the village soon. The officer found Yu Zongyuan and said:
"Hu Butang's military order tells the new army in Hangzhou to return to the camp quickly to prepare for the Japanese invasion!"
Yu Zongyuan glanced at Su Ze and saw that his brother was really good at predicting things!
He quickly said to the adjutant: "Let the soldiers return to camp!"
Then Yu Zongyuan pulled Su Ze and said, "When brother Aze returns to Hangzhou later, he must go and sit in my camp!"
After saying this, Yu Zongyuan immediately led the soldiers and left the village without looking back.
Seeing that the new troops in Hangzhou had withdrawn, Ma Ningyuan also knew that the situation was over. He could not defeat the united villagers with his own government servants.
He looked at Su Ze and asked, "Who are you?"
Su Ze raised his hands and said, "Student of the Imperial College, Su Ze."
When he heard Su Ze's name, Ma Ningyuan was stunned for a moment. Su Ze was well-known in Zhejiang, especially the incident of rescuing Yu Dayou in the capital last year, which made Su Ze even more famous among the people.
The common people naturally have a stronghold. Yu Dayou was in Zhejiang, and the soldiers he trained never committed any crimes in the autumn of Zhejiang. They fought against the Japanese with consecutive victories. If such people are framed, doesn't it mean that there are treacherous ministers in the court?
Su Ze, a commoner, went to Beijing alone and saved Yu Dayou with a copy of "The Complete Biography of Yue Shuo", which made him legendary.
Su Ze then said to Tian Xian Cheng: "Master Futai said that Qi Datong was a Japanese, and he has to wait for the county to hear the case first before reporting it to the government."
Tianxian Cheng said quickly: "Yes, yes."
Fang Wanghai has a Chaoguan Hall in Zhejiang, and now the Chaoguan Hall is the God of Wealth in every county.
Tianxian Cheng naturally knew Su Ze's identity as the son-in-law of Fang Wanghai, Nanjing's minister of household affairs. With him on Hai Rui's side, Tianxian Cheng was no longer willing to continue to flatter Magistrate Ma and quickly fell back on his own. Boss Hai Rui.
Ma Ningyuan knew that he would never have a breakthrough, so he had no choice but to leave with his officials and government servants bitterly.
The people in the village cheered, but Su Ze looked at the gloomy sky and the continuous spring rain with a worried expression.
(End of chapter)
