Seeing that Ye Yongjia was showing off his power again, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry turned pale and mumbled, "What Master Ye taught you is..."
"Your Ministry of Industry will start dredging Chishan Lake today and tomorrow and dredge the outer river." Ye Yongjia received the map and ordered.
"But... the Ministry of Industry is only located in Nanjing, so managing the inland rivers is an extra matter. However, the outer rivers are not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, so how can the rules be violated..."
"I haven't seen any books or regulations that say that the Nanjing Ministry of Industry cannot control the rivers outside Nanjing. It seems that this rule is just a long-standing convention." Ye Yongjia pointed to his official uniform, "I As someone who is also a prefect, can't he start a new trend?"
The Minister of Industry's face turned pale and he lowered his head, as if he was unwilling.
Ye Yongjia understood that the Ministry of Works did not want to use the money in the treasury to dredge the outer river, and was afraid that it would push them into a hurry and offend the Ministry of Works, so he took a step back and said: "If the Ministry of Works really can't do it, we can set up a work-for-relief program." The best way is to ask the victims to work as laborers, which can save money." He was silent for a while, and then said: "If that doesn't work, I will get you some money from my salary."
After hearing this, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry changed his face a little, and then he knelt down and said: "Since the prefect is willing to sacrifice face, how can I, the Ministry of Industry, not agree! I will send someone to handle it right now."
"Then go." Ye Yongjia handed over the map.
The Ministry of Industry immediately sent victims to dredge Chishan Lake, and the inland river project was temporarily put on hold. Seeing that the weather was still dull, Ye Yongjia feared that if it rained heavily again, Nanjing would really be wiped out. He then went to the Ministry of Industry to discuss it, and the Minister of Industry said: "The only method that can be used is to close the gate."
Although Ye Yongjia also knew the benefits of closing the gate, he was afraid that once the gate at the Guandong Water Gate was closed, the Qinhuai River would turn into stagnant water. If the Fang family dyeing shop continued to float silk as usual and the water would not flow out, the water quality would be polluted and the people would have no river water to use. No matter what, he now had to face this hard nut head-on.
He put aside the matter of closing the gate and turned around to tell Wei Chong: "Tomorrow I will go to Fang Jiancai's dyeing workshop to see who is behind him to support him, so he dares to be so bold!"
…
Fangjia Dyeing Shop. door.
"Mr. Fang, this person is Mr. Ye, the prefect of Nanjing." Wei Chong walked up to Fang Jiancai and introduced him.
When Ye Yongjia saw Fang Jiancai, he saw that he was short in stature, about forty years old, with a face as round as a wheel and as white as powdered powder. He had a mustache and a black mole hidden under the beard. His facial features are compact and his eyes have a cunning light. He was wrapped in a dark green Ge robe and wore coarse plainclothes, which was within the rules.
"Master Ye, you've been doing well lately!" He smiled, let out a breath, and took his hands out of his robe, bowing to him.
Ye Yongjia was only wearing a thin official uniform. Seeing that he was so thickly dressed, he felt a little chilly.
"fine……"
"Since you came to Nanjing, you have never been to the villain's dyeing workshop. You are truly lucky to deign to come here today!" Fang Jiancai pressed his shoulder with his hand and said with a smile: "It's cold outside. Master Magistrate, please come in and talk about something. .”
The three of them immediately entered the door, walked through a short corridor, and walked towards the loom room.
"There are seven hundred and twenty looms here..."
As soon as Ye Yongjia heard him say this, the room suddenly started to rattle non-stop, and all he could hear in his ears was the noise of the loom.
"Stop it first!" Fang Jiancai yelled. He was also afraid that the weaver might not hear him, so he quickly motioned with his hand for everyone to stop for a while.
"I said earlier that a distinguished guest was here, why didn't you even listen to me?" Fang Jiancai lifted his robe and shouted.
"Okay, please tell me more about the situation here." Wei Chong quickly helped him get back to the topic.
"Oh, in addition to more than 700 looms, there are more than 1,900 weavers here..." Fang Jiancai smiled proudly: "I am not boasting about Haikou, but our Fang family is actually the strongest among the dyeing houses in Nanjing."
Ye Yongjia wholeheartedly agreed.
Fang Jiancai saw that his words were perfunctory and knew that the magistrate did not mean this, so he tested: "Does the magistrate want to hear something else? I see you..."
Wei Chong winked at Ye Yongjia, and Ye Yongjia immediately took over the conversation: "There are some things to talk about..."
Fang Jiancai shook his head gently: "I don't like to be secretive. If you have anything to say, please ask the prefect to speak clearly."
"Then I'll tell you the truth." Ye Yongjia coughed, "I heard from others that to save convenience, you only float silk by the Qinhuai River on weekdays, causing the water quality to be polluted. People nearby died because of it. I don't know if this is possible. thing?"
He looked at the weavers around him, and they all looked at Fang Jiancai nervously.
After a long silence, Fang Jiancai laughed loudly and said: "How could I do such a thing? Master Ye, please don't believe other people's lies!"
"Also," his eyes became sharp, as if he was looking at the two of them: "I was raised by the former magistrate Lu Fangxuan. He was very kind to me, just like my parents again! How could I let him down? Violated the official order?"
Fang Jiancai took out a hand and pointed at the sky: "If I really ignore my conscience and do such illegal things, I can teach Lu Jinggong to return to Nanjing quickly. If he wants to kill or cut me, he can just do whatever he wants!"
As soon as these words were spoken, they had the force of thunder, catching Ye Yongjia off guard; he turned his head and looked at Wei Chong blankly.
"Why didn't you, Wei Chong, tell you earlier? I didn't know there was such a powerful person behind this guy..."
Ye Yongjia sat on a chair in the yamen study room and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Otherwise they would dare to do this." Wei Chong said.
"It's not easy to be a good official..." Ye Yongjia couldn't help sighing. "Then what is Lu Fangxuan's background?" he asked.
"This Lu Fangxuan was once the sworn brother of King Wanjun. He was later transferred elsewhere. The purpose of leaving this dyeing workshop was to contain Nanjing and prevent it from falling out of his control. He is really vicious!" Wei Chong pretended to be a man. He said with an expression of extreme hatred and gritted teeth.
"Then..." Ye Yongjia was about to blurt out, but suddenly stopped.
"Why didn't Prefect Ye say anything?"
"Nothing, nothing...I'll think about it myself, you can go back early."
"Then please tell me, the magistrate, whether the Fang Family Dyeing Shop will be investigated or not?" Wei Chong was afraid that he would not agree, but he couldn't say it directly, so he looked at Ye Yongjia anxiously, staring, his heart pounding.
"I said, I need to think about it." Ye Yongjia said.
"That's it, let's go."
Wei Chong closed the door helplessly.
Ye Yongjia was left alone to make a quiet decision. Although he was considering the safety of the people, it is still unknown whether it would be a blessing or a disaster for the people of Nanjing if Lu Fangxuan was brought to Beijing.
What if it was really a disaster that would destroy heaven and earth?
He thought on second thoughts. The situation in Nanjing is already chaotic enough. It might be more interesting to simply allow this chaos to develop endlessly.
