The reason why Zhu Houzhao said he wanted to see his quality.
It's because Zhang Cong is really powerful in history.
It's just that a big ceremony makes people think that he looks like a political opportunist. It is precisely this kind of person that mainstream literati look down on most.
In addition, after he became the first assistant, his methods were particularly fierce.
Especially regarding the annexation of land and the rectification of official administration, Zhang Cong was very tough in solving the problem. Historical records record that he "Qingxun Qi Zhuangtian, dismissed the garrison and guarded the internal officials, hundreds of officials followed the law, the road to Baoju was cut off, and the whole country was governed."
Which official who does these two things can escape the literati's pen?
In fact, many later generations compared him with Zhang Juzheng when they examined Zhang Cong's career as an official and as a person. Some people even believe that Zhang Juzheng's corruption performance is actually worse than Zhang Cong's.
Zhang Cong is an honest and honest official.
Because of this style, he came up and down several times, and several times he left Beijing after becoming an official, he was like a cold Confucian.
However, officialdom changes people greatly, and the same person is different in his thirties and forties.
Even if everything is the same, Zhu Houzhao cannot suddenly raise a county magistrate to a high level. Human ability itself must be exercised and manifested in the wind and waves.
For Zhang Cong himself, he was very satisfied when he first became the magistrate of Shanyang County.
Zhang Cong was born in the eleventh year of Chenghua and is already thirty-five years old this year. He does not have any powerful parents, but he is quite smart and studious, so he has gained a reputation for talent at a young age.
Unfortunately, he failed to pass the imperial examination in Beijing several times. A child from an ordinary family still studies every day in his twenties and still fails to pass the Jinshi exam after finishing his studies. This is actually a lot of pressure.
How could I not be satisfied with being a county magistrate from the situation I was in then?
Because it was hard-won, Zhang Cong cherished it even more. He thought that the official was quite attentive.
Shanyang County in Huai'an Prefecture is in the Jianghuai Plain area, with a large amount of cultivated land and a large population. It means farming land and receiving food.
However, after several inspections, he found that large families in the county often occupied hundreds of hectares, but the people had no place to stand.
Moreover, the relationships in the county are complicated. Even in his own yamen, there are many people who always speak to the big family.
Zhang Cong didn't care about this. In the first year of Zhengde, there was a case of land occupation in Shanyang County. He resolutely protected the people and refused to award the land to a few wealthy families.
The matter reached Governor Fengyang's side.
It happened that Yangzhou and Huai'an were attracting much attention from the court because of the salt industry at that time. Jinyiwei and Yushi often came to investigate, but no one dared to commit crimes.
After this case, Zhang Cong became famous.
In the second year of Zhengde, the imperial court decided to build a wide avenue between north and south Zhili.
Zhang Cong had stayed in the capital, and he had seen with his own eyes how the imperial court used this method to solve the livelihood problems of poor people, so he quickly realized that this was an opportunity.
After that, there was active operation and coordination. Many people in Shanyang County joined the engineering team and could earn a few wages by relying on their efforts.
This kind of farming and work was done with the efforts of the county magistrate, and of course it had some effect.
However, after three years of Zhengde, the situation gradually worsened.
The engineering team no longer settled wages on time. It delayed for three to five days at first. The reason was that they had no money. Fortunately, it would be fine after a while. The common people were not good at making troubles, so let it go. But then it was seven or eight days, then ten days and a half...
By the winter of the third year of Zhengde, it was common for three or four months of wages to remain unpaid.
During the Spring Festival, it was also said that we could get married after the festival.
When the time came, the knot was knotted, only a little, so the people were naturally unwilling to do so.
The county government office of Zhang Cong also started to become lively, and someone would submit a complaint every now and then.
For this reason, he had already approached the officials and the engineering team of the Shaofu, but no one was willing to take out the money. Submitting the memorial was his last action, and it was also an action that turned the table.
Go up this way,
There was a reaction over there.
In the cabinet of the Shaofu, there are several departments of cleaning officials. The one in charge belongs to the department of cleaning officials of fortifications. The department of cleaning officials is divided into projects, and each project has a doctor.
Linear projects like this need to be managed in sections, so the doctor and his subordinates use the government as the boundary and each have their own chief responsibilities.
Huai'an Mansion has a boss.
His seat of government is also in Shanyang. Shanyang was originally the seat of the government.
The person in charge was named Yan Liwen. After receiving the news early that morning, he hurried out the door.
The direction they were going was the government office of the Huai'an magistrate.
In the backyard, he showed things to others.
"The imperial court's decree is to send people down to investigate this matter. Magistrate Tian, this is your territory, and it is your responsibility to protect it. You must have an idea!"
The prefect of Huai'an was named Tian Ruofu. He was twisting pickles and drinking porridge, but when he put down his chopsticks and saw the note, he never picked up his chopsticks again.
"Why do you think I am responsible for guarding the soil? This matter is about road construction. Road construction is the responsibility of the Young Mansion. How can I guard the soil?"
"How to defend the land?" Yan Liwen was even more angry when he mentioned this, "Is Zhang Cong, the magistrate of Shanyang County, your subordinate? Is he under your control? He wrote the memorial to poke this basket, even if he greets everyone, Don’t you fight with your boss?”
"What does Magistrate Yan mean by this? Could it be that I was secretly instigating it?!"
The two quarreled for a while, but that was all. They had all taken the money. There would be no such thing as a traitor, and no one would be in trouble with them.
"Can we remove the magistrate of Shanyang County?" Yan Liwen thought of a rough method.
"Withdrawing people at this time? There are no three hundred taels of silver here. Even if there is nothing, there should be something. Furthermore, even if it is only a seventh-grade magistrate, he is also an official of the imperial court. Unless it is a serious crime such as treason, otherwise even I can't Remove him from his position easily."
"Is there nothing you can do?"
Tian Ruofu, the prefect of Huai'an, got up and walked away. He touched his goatee and didn't speak for a long time.
In fact, I was anxious. Huai'an Mansion was not far from the capital, and the people I sent would arrive soon.
"Mr. Yan, who did the imperial court send down? For this kind of matter, it is impossible for the minister or the minister to come in person."
"I will inquire more about this when I go back next time. Now I only know that someone has come down. Who is it specifically? The cabinet has not released a list."
Tian Ruofu thought for a long time and finally began to speak, "No matter who it is, we will still deal with it in the same way. In the end, we have to deal with two people. One is the person who came down from above, and the other is the Shanyang magistrate. The county magistrate is easy to handle. He acts radically and offends many people. It is not difficult to assign him a few charges. The difficulty is the people who come down from above."
"The master's intention is that the following matters cannot be dealt with." Yan Liwen narrowed his eyes, "What if money doesn't work and we can't shut their mouths?"
"Money alone is not enough. It means that this case cannot be investigated."
At this point, the smaller the case, the worse it is, and the bigger it is, the better. If it is bigger, the impact will be greater, and ordinary people will be concerned.
Yan Liwen thought about it, "This case... can't be said to be a small one. How dare you and I be so bold? Leave this matter to me."
The division of labor between the two is relatively clear.
In addition, Tian Ruofu also reminded, "The account books should be kept well, and don't show any flaws in them."
"So... should we pay wages or not?"
"Tell the foremen to pay more. If you really want to ask, we will explain that due to some reason, the wages have been delayed for a few days, and now they have been compensated. As for the foremen, tell them that we will compensate them later. "
Yan Liwen was also a little worried, "Tian Fuzun, you have to keep an eye on where the people are going to check after they arrive, so that you can be prepared in advance. It's best if they can't find anything!"
…
That afternoon, Tian Ruofu went directly to Zhang Cong.
It was so turbulent that those who didn’t know thought something big had happened.
Although Zhang Cong has a tough personality, he still has to abide by the basic official rules, so he went out to the lobby to greet him.
"The lower official has met Mr. Tian Fu."
"Zhang Zhixian, please order your troops and follow me to count the grain stored in the county's warehouses!"
Zhang Cong was surprised, "Tian Fuzun, Shanyang County Canghe's grain storage should be 12,000 shi. Last year, there was a disaster in several villages of Banshi, Daxing and Zhangji in Jiangpu County, Qing Dynasty, so they borrowed 6,200 shi. Now, There is a surplus of 5,800 shi of grain, and this amount is all in the account book, and the governor will know it once he checks it."
Tian Ruofu put his hands behind his back and turned around, "Lent it to Qingjiangpu County? Which yamen, which boss, when and when did you let you borrow the grain?"
"What does the governor mean by this? It is in this county government office that the governor came to tell the official that the victims are crying for food, and the official is acting in accordance with the order of the governor."
"Bold!!" A middle-aged man behind Tian Ruofu yelled, "Preparing grain storage is a matter of life and death. You said that the governor gave the order, but did the governor order you to borrow grain?"
Zhang Cong was dumbfounded, "There is no such... order. But the situation was urgent at that time, the governor spoke, and the subordinates followed it. How could there be an order to adjust grains?"
"Since there is no such thing, how dare you say that it was ordered by the Lord of the Palace?! It is clearly your own decision!"
Zhang Cong instantly understood that this was a crime he wanted to inflict, so why bother!
"Tianfu Zun, you don't have a lower official in your eyes. This official knows it, but if you confuse right and wrong and falsely accuse him, this is impossible! There is a holy emperor in the world. In this bright world, you must consider the importance of your speech. !”
"Bold! I will accuse you of reselling the stored grain in the warehouse!"
Zhang Cong was extremely angry, "Even if this matter comes to the imperial court, the lower officials will have to argue with reason. The people of Qingjiangpu County can all witness it!"
Tian Ruofu narrowed his eyes and laughed, "Without an order, there will be no witnesses. You opened your mouth and said that the victims in Jiangpu County ate the grain you borrowed, so who did the prefecture's Yamen allocate the grain to? Have you eaten?"
Zhang Cong's face turned red and white for a while.
He knew these people were bad, but he didn't expect them to be so bad.
"I know that you are regretful because I reported to the imperial court that I participated in the deduction of wages for the North-South Zhili Highway Project! I will call you the Palace Master again. I am a very smart person today. You only want to get rich when you become an official. Sooner or later, Something is going to happen!”
If Tian is rich, he doesn't care. If he becomes an official, will he not get rich?
Then he's still a fucking bird official.
(End of chapter)
