…
…
"Zhang Jizhi, the prefect of Linqing?" After hearing Xu Qingyan's report, Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "Let him come in."
Zhao Junchen could probably guess a little bit about Zhang Jizhi's reason for coming. It was nothing more than the fact that Zhang Jizhi led the government officials to intercept Li Jiamin today, but was stopped by Emperor Deqing and Zhao Junchen.
Moreover, Emperor Deqing's attitude towards Li Jiamin was very gentle, and he even arranged for Li Jiamin to be included in the southern tour list. This made Zhang Jizhi a little uneasy, wondering if he had done something wrong, and he was also afraid that he would offend Deqing. Emperor Qing and Zhao Junchen, so he asked to see him this time to test Zhao Junchen's attitude.
If it were just like this, Zhao Junchen still had a lot of things to do, but he was too lazy to explain anything to Zhang Jizhi. He was just a prefect, and Zhao Junchen would not see him.
However, Zhao Junchen was very interested in Zhang Jizhi, so Zhao Junchen finally decided to meet Zhang Jizhi.
Soon, Xu Qingyan led the uneasy Zhang Jizhi to Zhao Junchen's room.
As always, Zhang Jizhi's performance was very miserable, looking frightened and unable to even speak.
"I, my official, Linqing Magistrate Zhang Jizhi, met Mr. Zhao." Zhang Jizhi looked anxious and saluted Zhao Junchen.
As he spoke, his two whiskers kept trembling, adding a lot of obscenity to his originally positive image.
Zhao Junchen frowned slightly, looked Zhang Jizhi up and down for a moment, and asked: "Are you...a stammer?"
Zhang Jizhi was stunned for a moment, and it took him a moment to realize what Zhao Junchen meant. He shook his head quickly and explained: "Return to your lord. I, I am not a stammerer."
Zhao Junchen frowned more tightly and asked: "Since you don't stutter, then why do you stutter every time I see you three times? If you are nervous, speak slowly and think carefully before speaking. Otherwise, if you look like this, where is the official etiquette? How can you win the trust of the superior officials? How can you win the trust of the people?"
"Yes, yes, I understand." Hearing Zhao Junchen's accusation, Zhang Jizhi became more and more nervous and still felt awkward in speaking. But after forcing myself to control myself, I finally got a lot better.
Zhao Junchen sighed and stopped pursuing it. He just asked, "Tell me, why do you want to see me?"
Zhang Jizhi explained with an anxious look: "Mr. Zhao, I am asking you to see me this time because I want you to explain to His Majesty on your behalf. The reason why I stopped Miss Li Jiamin and Li today is because of the instructions of Cao Jin, the magistrate of Huaiyin County. Since Li Xin was imprisoned, the Li family has been under the supervision of Lord Cao Jin. Unexpectedly, Miss Li Jiamin and Li escaped. And came to Linqing. After Lord Cao Jin learned the news, he reported it to the official An official document was sent. It said that Miss Zhang wanted to disturb the Holy Master, and asked the official to send her back to Huaiyin. So the official took her with the Yamen and stopped her, hoping that Mr. Zhao would learn from it."
Zhao Junchen nodded. He didn't care about Zhang Jizhi's explanation. In Zhao Junchen's eyes, these were just trivial matters. He just said: "Are you afraid that His Majesty will misunderstand you? Don't worry, His Majesty will not take such trivial matters to heart, let alone I will blame you for this kind of thing. What's more, if someone wants to ram into the Holy Emperor, it is your duty as a local official to stop him. So you can rest assured about this matter. I don't need to explain it to His Majesty, let alone give it to him. You bring trouble."
Hearing Zhao Junchen's relief, Zhang Jizhi's expression became much more relaxed. He thanked Zhao Junchen repeatedly and wiped the cold sweat on his head with his sleeves.
Seeing Zhang Jizhi's appearance, Zhao Junchen shook his head and finally expressed the doubts in his heart, saying: "I really can't understand that you, who are so timid and fearful, dare to do so when you are building a palace for His Majesty. Are you cheating and fooling around? Don’t you know that compared to a small matter like your blocking Li Jiamin, if His Majesty really moves into the simple palace you prepared, the consequences will be more serious? "
After a pause, Zhao Junchen reminded again: "Also, don't think that this matter is over, because your audacity almost made all the officials in Shandong embarrassed in front of His Majesty. Although Your Majesty finally moved into Li Garden, he did not No matter what kind of disturbance it caused, your wanton behavior has offended all the officials in Shandong, so compared to His Majesty’s blame, I advise you to consider making things difficult for your colleagues in Shandong in the future.”
Hearing Zhao Junchen's reminder, Zhang Jizhi finally wiped away the cold sweat and started to shed again, but he complained to Zhao Junchen: "Master Zhao, I am really unjust in this matter."
Zhao Junchen asked: "Oh? Have you been wronged again? Tell me, why have you been wronged?"
Zhang Jizhi explained: "Your Excellency, you also know that His Highness the Crown Prince is responsible for the preparations for the Southern Tour. His Highness has always been frugal and only allocated less than 30,000 taels of silver to Linqing. However, in order to welcome His Majesty's Southern Tour, I have To repair and expand the pier, to repair and decorate the palace, and to purchase various supplies, Lin Lin finally found that the money was not enough. However, under the strict decree of the imperial court, the lower officials did not dare to increase taxes privately. , Requisitioning people's strength and increasing the deficit, so, so the official thought of a compromise method,"
Having said this, Zhang Jizhi hesitated slightly, and finally gritted his teeth and explained: "That is to use all the money to repair the dock and purchase supplies, while His Majesty's palace only repaired the outer door and wall hastily, and it cannot be seen without entering the interior. We will wait for His Majesty's arrival and propose to His Majesty that we move to Li Garden to live as we do today and use Li Garden as a temporary palace."
Zhao Junchen was stunned for a moment and said in surprise: "Oh? It was you who came up with the idea of using Li Garden as a temporary palace and letting His Majesty move to Li Garden to stay temporarily?"
Zhang Jizhi nodded repeatedly and said: "The lower official came up with it. When the governor Lu discovered the flaw in the palace, the lower official mentioned it to Mr. Lu. However, Mr. Lu felt that such an idea was too risky. If His Majesty had not If you agree, you will find out how crude the Linqing palace is, and then all the officials in Shandong will be implicated, so I am still angry about what I have done, but fortunately with your help, Mr. Zhao, this matter was finally resolved smoothly."
Zhao Junchen didn't take it seriously and just smiled: "I didn't expect it. You still have such an adaptable mind, but in the final analysis. What you did is to fool His Majesty. You are still very courageous."
Zhang Jizhi smiled bitterly and said: "Master Zhao. I really have no choice but to do this. Due to the shortage of silver, I have no choice but to do this. To be honest, sir, since making this decision, I have been panicking all day long, for fear of myself." My plan failed and caused His Majesty’s wrath. I have been unable to sleep for many days and nights.”
Zhao Junchen didn't mean to blame. He just shook his head and said: "Which place is not short of silver taels? But which local official dares to cheat and fool the emperor like you? Now the imperial court is not rich in money. It can allocate nearly 30,000 taels of silver to Linqing for preparation. It's already It's quite a lot. As far as I know, many places have only allocated less than 20,000 taels of silver. If you only get this much money, wouldn't it mean that you won't even be able to renovate and expand the pier that welcomes His Majesty's dragon ship?"
Originally, Zhao Junchen just made a few jokes casually, but he never thought that Zhang Jizhi would think about it for a moment. He actually replied seriously: "Replying to Mr. Zhao, if the imperial court only allocates 20,000 taels of silver to Linqing, then the official will still repair and expand the dock. After all, Linqing relies on the canal merchant ships to achieve its current scale and development. Prosperity. And things like repairing and expanding the dock will not only be able to welcome His Majesty's dragon ships, but will also be of great benefit to Linqing's future prosperity and people's livelihood. Therefore, I will spend less money on purchasing supplies."
Zhao Junchen raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhang Jizhi in front of him seriously. After pondering for a moment, he asked: "Reduce the amount of money for purchasing supplies? Your Majesty's daily food and clothing expenses. There are rules, and the officials accompanying you south are also used to a luxurious life. If you reduce the amount of money for purchasing supplies, Silver, what can you use to entertain His Majesty and the officials? At that time, Your Majesty and the officials will feel that they have been neglected, and how should you bear the consequences?"
Zhang Jizhi continued to explain: "If I return to Mr. Zhao, if the official reduces the purchase money, he will not let your majesty live in Li Garden. Instead, he will repair the Longquan Temple in Fenghuang Ridge and suggest to your majesty that he move to Longquan." His Majesty worships Buddhism, and Fenghuang Ridge is also picturesque. With His Majesty’s temperament, there is a 50% chance that he will agree to it. After living in a Buddhist temple, His Majesty and everyone accompanying him may subconsciously curb their luxurious temperament. On weekdays, they live in a monk's room and eat vegetarian food, and in their free time, they go out for picnics in Fenghuang Ridge. In this way, the cost of shopping is naturally greatly reduced. With their leisure time, they probably won't blame the officials for neglecting them."
After a pause, Zhang Jizhi continued: "Actually, this is what Xiaguan originally planned to do, but the probability of success of such a plan is only half, not as high as the possibility of living in Li Yuan, and spending a large amount of money on purchasing. Locally, it is also spent on the common people and merchants, which can promote Linqing's prosperity and people's livelihood, so Xiaguan did not adopt this plan in the end."
After finishing speaking, Zhang Jizhi suddenly realized that he seemed to have said too many things that he shouldn't have said. With these words, he clearly revealed his intention to fool Emperor Deqing. He couldn't help but think about it, and secretly looked up at Zhao Junchen. He was afraid that Zhao Junchen would blame himself.
However, after Zhao Junchen heard Zhang Jizhi's various plans, he looked at Zhang Jizhi in front of him blankly, and he couldn't help but be surprised.
Originally, Zhao Junchen thought that Zhang Jizhi was just a good official with a cowardly temperament but who loved the people. Although such a person was rare, Zhao Junchen would not pay too much attention to it.
However, Zhang Jizhi's words and the talents and abilities he displayed impressed Zhao Junchen with admiration.
First of all, this Zhang Jizhi has extraordinary adaptability and can make full use of the resources at hand. He can accomplish as many things as he is given. With this ability, even in later generations, he will definitely be regarded as a rare talent. .
Secondly, what is even more rare is that Zhang Jizhi actually has a simple economic vision, and even understands the role of infrastructure construction and large purchases in driving the local economy. With this insight, Zhang Jizhi is better than most people in the DPRK who only understand "Zhihuzheye" and officials vying for power are much better.
Although Zhao Junchen is in charge of the Household Department, which is in charge of the world's money and food, Zhao Junchen knows very well that no one in the Household Department except himself has such economic vision. Those in the Household Department At best, officials can only settle accounts.
Finally, Zhang Jizhi adheres to the idea of "the people are noble and the emperor is of the least importance". Although he is timid and cowardly, judging from what he does, he never infringes on the interests of the people. For this bottom line, he will even try every means Fool Emperor Deqing! how to say. In Zhao Junchen's eyes, this is an excellent quality. Because this means that Zhang Jizhi is not so foolishly loyal to Emperor Deqing...
And Zhang Jizhi's own timidity also means that he can do this without touching his bottom line. This person is actually very easy to control!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I didn't expect that I would meet such a rare talent." Zhao Junchen sighed and was a little happy, but after seeing Zhang Jizhi's trembling whiskers because of the panic in his heart, he subconsciously shook his head and said: "More I didn’t expect that such a rare talent would have such an unbearable temperament.”
However, since talents are rare, Zhao Junchen naturally wants to recruit him. For one's own use.
So, just when Zhang Jizhi was regretting and panicking for saying too many things he shouldn't have said, Zhao Junchen suddenly asked: "What are your plans next?"
"Plan?" Zhang Jizhi was slightly stunned, not understanding what Zhao Junchen meant.
Out of admiration for Zhang Jizhi, Zhao Junchen was patient at this time and explained: "In any case, you did not seriously repair the palace this time, and you also concealed it from the officials in Shandong. You almost let them be blamed by your majesty together with you. If you have completely offended them, you will definitely be suppressed and excluded, so you can't stay in Shandong. If you continue to be an official here, you might be framed by them, so I ask you .What are your plans next?”
Although Zhao Junchen did not blame Zhang Jizhi for his nonsense, the scene described by Zhao Junchen. Zhang Jizhi was still a little flustered, but he was just a prefect. Faced with this situation, he was helpless, so after thinking about it for a moment, he said with a grimace: "I don't know."
Zhao Junchen secretly shook his head. It seemed that although Zhang Jizhi was a rare talent, he was not good at intrigues. If other officials heard Zhao Junchen's inquiry, they would definitely understand Zhao Junchen's intention to bribe him. At this time, he was already on his knees. The subordinate shouted, "Please save me, Mr. Zhao. From now on, I will only follow Mr. Zhao's lead."
Therefore, Zhao Junchen had to be more straightforward and said: "You can't stay in Shandong anymore. You can only become an official elsewhere. However, official transfers are always troublesome. Do you have anything to do with the Ministry of Civil Affairs?" What kind of relationship allows you to move around? If not, I can help you."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's hint, Zhang Jizhi finally understood, no matter how slow he was, that Zhao Junchen wanted to surrender to him!
Considering Zhao Junchen's infamous reputation, Zhang Jizhi couldn't help but hesitate, but then thinking that he had no other choice, and Zhao Junchen's reputation seemed to be gradually improving, he finally nodded hesitantly and said: "Mr. Zhao, since you are willing to do this for me, The official makes the decision, everything will follow your arrangements."
In this way, Zhao Junchen took Zhang Jizhi under his command, which was surprisingly simple.
Next, Zhao Junchen and Zhang Jizhi talked about many things, mostly about Zhang Jizhi's arrangements. By the time Zhang Jizhi left, it was already getting late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the moon rose and the moon set, the Southern Patrol Fleet's repairs in Linqing finally came to an end, and Emperor Deqing had no interest in continuing the tour because of Li Jiamin's incident.
So, on the next day, under the order of Emperor Deqing, the southern patrol fleet set sail again and continued to sail south of the Yangtze River. Shandong officials from the governor Lu Yuanan down took the opportunity to accompany it.
On the third day, which was the eleventh day of the southern tour, the southern patrol fleet arrived in Liaocheng, Shandong. Unlike Linqing, the officials there were already fully prepared to welcome the arrival of Emperor Deqing. The palace was also extremely luxurious, but Emperor Deqing was used to seeing palaces like this, but he was not very interested.
After resting for one night in Liaocheng, the Southern Patrol fleet continued southward and arrived at Jining on the thirteenth day of the Southern Tour, and then arrived at Taierzhuang on the fourteenth day of the Southern Tour.
Once here, if you go further south, you will reach the territory of Nanzhili. Under such circumstances, it is natural that the Shandong officials would not be able to continue to follow, and they all looked reluctant to say goodbye. As the newly appointed Chief Envoy of Shandong, Li Lide was also there. We got off the ship here and followed Lu Yuan'an, the governor of Shandong, to Jinan to take up his post. It was thought that with Lu Yuan'an's care, Li Lide would have less trouble during his tenure in Shandong.
Then, on the seventeenth day of the southern patrol, the southern patrol fleet finally arrived in southern Zhili and arrived in Xuzhou, the "thorough of five provinces".
…
...(To be continued...)
...
