Now that he had obtained advice from Li Hao, Ouyang Xiu then found Fu Bi and confirmed the matter with him.
Fu Bi would naturally not be merciful to those who opposed the implementation of the New Deal.
Of course, compared with the history of the Xining Reform, where the party was united and opposed, Fu Bi, Ouyang Xiu and other veterans from the Qingli period used methods that could be called gentlemen.
Therefore, after being reported by the Ministry of Officials, approved by Ouyang Xiu, and given the seal to Princess Miao, after a set of procedures, Tang Jie officially became the judge of Honglu Temple from Yingtian Fuyin, and was directly responsible for the foreign affairs of Xixia, Goryeo, and Annan. .
As a result, Ying Tianfu Yin's official position was vacant, and someone needed to be arranged to take up the post.
However, Li Hao didn't pay much attention to this matter. Anyway, Ouyang Xiu and the others would definitely choose an official who supported the New Deal to go, and it would be impossible to cause trouble for him.
Of course, the main reason why Li Hao didn't care was that he had no one to recommend. You must know that Yingtian Mansion is the companion capital, and there are still certain grade requirements for the governor's candidates.
As for the people around Li Hao who can be used, the one with the highest official rank is Sheng Hong, but he is doing a good job as the Salt and Iron Envoy now. He has real power and there is no need to join in the fun. Others like Sheng Changbai and Yan Fu don't have this yet. qualifications.
After all, Li Hao had contact with too many civil servants. Even if he added borrowed forces, he couldn't find a few. After all, his father-in-law was a peak military general. If he was asked to help select the people to lead the troops, he would indeed be able to recruit a large number of them. .
On the civil service side, Li Hao has always relied on Ouyang Xiu's influence, but Ouyang Xiu's connections will naturally be reserved for his son in the future, and it is impossible for Li Hao to get involved.
So Li Hao simply waited for Ouyang Xiu's notification with peace of mind. In addition, he started planning that when the first step of the new policy was completed, he would ask Ouyang Xiu and Fu Bi to conduct a performance appraisal of all officials.
Through the review of hundreds of officials, we will eliminate the fish that slipped through the net that were related to Zhao Zongquan last time. When there are official vacancies, we can find ways to transfer the people we want back to the capital.
However, although Li Hao didn't want to care about this matter, he couldn't help but some people wanted to seek progress through Li Hao's path.
No, Li Hao finally planned to rest in his mansion for a day, but someone came to visit him early in the morning, which made him very upset.
If it weren't for the difficulty of dismissing the people who came, Li Hao would have thought of letting him go because he was ill.
But there was no other way. Li Hao could only get up in pain, wash and dress under the care of the maids.
When Li Hao walked to the main hall, Mrs. Wei, who was sitting in the front, saw Li Hao first and immediately said, "Why did you come so late? How rude are you to make the guests wait for so long?"
Before Li Hao could answer, Wang Shiping, who was visiting, said directly: "What the hell, it's rude of us. We didn't say hello in advance before coming over."
Seeing what Wang Shiping said, Mrs. Wei didn't say anything about Li Hao anymore. After all, Mrs. Wei was just being polite and trying to show her face.
As for Li Hao, seeing that Wang Shiping had said this, Li Hao also said a few polite words, and then sat next to Zhang Guifen.
In fact, by now, Li Hao could basically guess the reason why Wang Shiping and the others came.
After all, at this time, Wang Shiping and the others suddenly came over, what else could they be for besides rushing for the position of Ying Tianfu Yin.
But speaking of it, compared to Wang Shiping's current rank of Minister of War, Cao Shilang, although Ying Tianfu Yin does not serve in Bianjing, he is ranked above him.
Through this transition, he might be able to reach a higher level when he returns to the court again, so no wonder Wang Shiping is tempted.
It's just that Li Hao thought that he had no reason to help. Maybe it was because the Wang family's mother and son were a little more polite, unlike the original Mrs. Xiao Qin, who always asked people to come to her door for help.
】
Li Hao cursed in his heart and made up his mind to paint the lake to the end, so after sitting down, he just watched Mrs. Wei and Mrs. Wang chatting.
Seeing Li Hao not opening his mouth, Wang Shiping didn't know what to say for a while.
After all, you are someone who wants to lose face, so it is not easy to just ask for help.
At this time, Mrs. Wang was more lively. She brought the topic to the commercial tax reform and asked Li Hao:
"When I passed the city gate these days, I saw that the tax collectors everywhere had been replaced by people from the Third Division, and I heard what the businessmen said.
Since the reform, all taxes and profits have been audited, and there are no more excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes. If you say this is good government that benefits the people, they will be grateful to you! "
Hearing this, Li Hao had to reply and said: "This is what the court should do, and it does not deserve such praise."
Mrs. Wang replied: "No matter what, it was you who proposed and implemented this matter, and I should also thank you.
However, such good governance has been implemented in Bianjing. When do you plan to promote it everywhere!
In addition, didn’t it say that Yingtian Mansion was implemented together with Kaifeng Mansion? Why didn’t I hear anything happened in Yingtian Mansion? "
Seeing that Mrs. Wang was deliberately leading her in this direction, Li Hao said with a smile: "Originally, I did have such a plan, but the situation changed later, so I stopped the matter there first."
Seeing that Li Hao refused to talk about Yingtian Fuyin, Wang Laotan had no choice but to mention it himself: "Yes, Yingtian Fuyin has just been replaced, and a new candidate has not been officially appointed yet. It is indeed difficult to carry out changes.
But you have to pay attention. After all, commercial tax reform inevitably requires the support of local governments. The new Yingtian Fuyin still has to find someone he can trust, so as not to miss your important event, don't you think? "
Li Hao saw that Mrs. Wang finally said this, and he also understood that Hu Tu couldn't get through it by just pretending to be Hu Tu.
Then he laughed twice and said: "Of course this is the truth, but Ying Tianfu Yin is an important minister in the court. I can't comment on his choice. Everything depends on what the two great ministers think about."
Naturally, Mrs. Wang would not let Li Hao throw the problem to Ouyang Xiu and Fu Bi. After all, given the current situation of the Wang family, there was almost nothing they could say to each other, otherwise Mrs. Wang and Wang Shiping would not have come to ask Li Hao for help. work.
Moreover, looking at Li Hao's evasive appearance, he had obviously guessed his purpose, so he could no longer play riddles.
After making up her mind, Mrs. Wang said: "That's true. The specific candidates will naturally have to be approved by the two prime ministers. However, the commercial and tax reform will ultimately be led by you, and the prime ministers will also consult you in the future. Opinion.
In fact, when we came here today, we also wanted to ask you to see if Shiping had a chance to become Yingtian Fuyin. "
Then, without waiting for Li Hao to speak, Mrs. Wang talked about Wang Shiping's advantages: "Shiping has served in the local area for many years and has rich experience. There will be no problem in handling affairs when he works in Yingtian Mansion.
In addition, Shiping's father was also a supporter of the New Deal, so Shiping was deeply influenced by his father and strongly agreed with the New Deal.
If he were to take office this time, he would definitely do his best to assist the Third Division in completing the commercial tax reform.
In addition, my Wang family also has some old friends in the court, and I can persuade them to support the New Deal and your business tax reform. "
When Wang Shiping heard this, he immediately replied: "That's true. If I can go to Yingtian Mansion to work, I will definitely support you with all my strength."
When these two people were talking, they emphasized the pronunciation of the word "you", obviously implying that as long as Li Hao could help Wang Shiping earn the Yingtian Prefecture Yin, Li Hao would also be able to use the Wang family's connections in the future. .
It's just that Li Hao really doesn't think highly of the Wang family's connections. If these people were really useful, these two people wouldn't come here to ask him for help.
Of course, it is also possible that the Wang family itself is not able to contribute, so those other families are unwilling to contribute. After all, mutual benefit can last long.
The Wang family can't bring benefits to others now, so it will be difficult to get others to help. It might be different if it were you.
After thinking for a while, Li Hao said: "I will ask Mr. Ouyang to see what he thinks. Of course, it is just a question, and it may not be of any use."
After hearing this, Wang Shiping stood up and said: "As long as you help me, I will never forget your recommendation."
Li Hao accepted this and asked Wang Shiping to sit down and continue talking.
But now that the conversation was over, the Wang family's mother and son didn't stay any longer. After a few words of greeting, they stood up and left.
After they left, Mrs. Wei also left, leaving Zhang Guifen sitting next to Li Hao and curiously asked: "Are you really planning to help Wang Shiping get an official position? You have always looked down on him."
"Well, it depends on my mood. If I'm in a good mood and it happens to happen to me, and I still remember it, I'll ask him for it.
If I forget, then consider him unlucky. "Li Hao was so happy after saying this.
After laughing, Li Hao remembered to go to Nan Workshop to have a look. Ever since the cannon amazed everyone when it was first used in actual combat, many generals, including the British Duke, were full of interest in this new type of firearm.
At that time, Li Hao was urged to officially include artillery in the army, but Li Hao always believed that the current artillery was not perfect yet, and at least the cost had to be reduced first.
You must know that today's artillery is all made of bronze. At this time, copper was cash. You can imagine the cost of this cannon.
However, in order to deal with them, and as the overall situation in Beijing was decided, there was no need for the artillery workshop to be located in Zhengzhou, so it was moved back to Nanshoufang, which was convenient for Li Hao to come to give guidance.
It's just that Li Hao has been busy with official duties during this period, so he did go there less, so he just went over to take a look when he was free today.
As a result, when Li Hao arrived, he found that by chance, Gu Tingye, Yang Wenyuan, and Yuan Wenshao were all here today.
Then he stepped forward and asked, "What a good day today is. Why are you all here? We made an appointment."
Seeing that Li Hao was coming, Gu Tingye replied: "When I came here, Master Chen said that the matchlock gun you mentioned earlier has been built and can be tested today, so we came to take a look."
After hearing this, Li Hao said doubtfully: "Yeah, why haven't I heard about this?"
Just when he was about to find someone to ask, Master Chen, who was in charge of the matter, hurried over after hearing this and explained: "Sir, because it has just been developed and has not been tested in practice.
In order not to disappoint you, we plan to wait until the test is correct before submitting your request. "
Li Hao said: "Well, it just so happens that I am here today. I just want to take a look at your results together. Forget it today.
But in the future, if you make something I asked you to make, please let me know in a timely manner, do you understand? "
Hearing this, Master Chen nodded his head as if pounding garlic, and replied: "Yes, I understand."
Seeing him like this, Li Hao said: "Okay, don't blame those who don't know. Just go down and let people prepare."
After sending the people away, Li Hao called over the judge in charge of the South Workshop and ordered: "All craftsmen related to artillery, muskets, and gunpowder production will be registered separately. I will allocate another sum of money as their reward.
In addition, you have to tell them that everything they create now is a secret of the court and must not be disclosed to the outside world. Otherwise, it will be a crime of beheading. Do you understand? "
The judge replied: "I understand, I will arrange this later."
Li Hao nodded and asked him to go down and get busy.
After Gu Tingye and others walked away, he said: "As for you, there are not only artillery and muskets in the South Workshop, but also things like the Eight Ox Crossbow and so on. There is no leakage."
Li Hao explained: "That's different. For heavy crossbows such as the Eight Ox Crossbow, it takes several years to prepare in advance to ensure that the materials are available, and the number of materials that can be used is not much. Even if it is learned by others, Go, the actual harm it can cause is not great.
But artillery is different from muskets. Once this technology is mastered, it can be mass-produced, so one must be cautious. "
Having said this, Li Hao felt that the current guards outside the hospital were not reliable, so he said to Gu Tingye: "By the way, after you go back, dispatch a team of people to garrison here and work together to protect safety."
Although Gu Tingye had seen artillery, he did not pay as much attention to firearms as Li Hao, so he did not understand Li Hao's excessive caution.
But it didn't matter. Nan Workshop was already outside the city anyway. It was not difficult to mobilize a team of people to garrison here, so he agreed directly.
The next test firing of the matchlock gun was really good, at least in terms of armor-piercing effect, it was much better than that of a bow and arrow.
As for the accuracy, it wasn't that good. Twenty shots were fired at a distance of a hundred paces. Only two of them hit the target, and the rest didn't know where they went.
Gu Tingye was a little contemptuous of this. Seeing Gu Tingye like this, Li Hao reminded him: "These are all novices. As long as they fire a few more rounds, I believe the hit rate will naturally increase.
And just training to aim and shoot in a straight line is much easier than training archers, and even without training, as long as the number increases, the power will not be small. "
When Gu Tingye heard this, he realized that this was true. It would take at least three years to train an excellent archer, and the efficiency was quite different.
However, Gu Tingye then thought about it. In fact, to a certain extent, the training speed of crossbows was also fast, and their power was not much different. He suddenly felt that Li Hao was exaggerating.
It's just that Gu Tingye didn't argue with Li Hao in the end, he just listened.
After seeing the test here, Li Hao explained the matter again and returned to Bianjing City with Gu Tingye and the others.
