Li Zhi nodded, understanding that the current situation is complicated, and it is better to be quiet than to move, so as not to become more and more difficult to get on the ground.

But he also has his own concerns and extravagant hopes: "What did the Shandong family tell you?"

The Guanlong family was defeated and had to completely withdraw from the court in exchange for His Majesty Li Er's forgiveness, which resulted in many real power departments in the court being vacant. In order to avoid the stagnation of the central government, outstanding children of the Shandong family and Jiangnan gentry began to enter the court in large numbers, completely reversing the situation where these two major aristocratic alliances were under heavy pressure since entering the Tang Dynasty.

Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, nearly thirty years of exclusion and suppression have made these two major aristocratic alliances closely connected privately and gathered together to keep warm. Now they have suddenly recovered and naturally support each other and help each other.

But the interests are in place, no one can guarantee that this unity can continue. For example, when the Jiangnan gentry supported him as King of Jin, will the Shandong family follow up...

This is extremely important for Li Zhi. Once these two upstarts form a unified opinion, advance and retreat together, and fully support him in the fight for a deposit, there is great hope of success.

Even if the father and emperor do not allow ministers to join forces with the prince to participate in the dispute over the crown prince, it is impossible to ignore the momentum of the two major clan forces joining forces.

Xiao Yu looked worried, shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "The people in Shandong are probably used to being in remote areas, full of pedantic spirit, stubborn and conceited, and have a high opinion of themselves. They are more silent and profitable, and may not be willing to be in the same mind as us."

Li Zhi said nothing.

This is actually normal. The so-called "people who do not commit themselves to themselves will be punished by heaven and earth will be destroyed." The Shandong family has been rejected from the center for too long. The desire for power is beyond reach. "A hundred birds are worse than one bird in the forest." Instead of looking forward to the future achievements of following the dragon, it is better to hold real power in your hands now.

For example, Zhang Xingcheng is in charge of one of the six ministries such as the Ministry of War, and the most important part is to hold all the power in the ministry in his hands. How could he risk offending His Majesty and angering the King of Wei to support him, King of Jin?

****

Just as Li Zhi and Xiao Yu were worried, the entire Shandong family now focused on obtaining official positions in the court and consolidating the power.

The first thing to bear is Zhang Xingcheng.

Although the Ministry of War was one of the six departments, it was not true because it lacked the power to dispatch troops and was not in line with its name. It had become a support department focusing on logistics and supplies, and even the Ministry of Works was inferior to that of the Ministry of Works. After all, the latter was in charge of the palaces in the world, and the construction and maintenance of the city was so fat that it was so fat. Although the Ministry of War had weapons supervision and other departments, it was subject to supervision from multiple parties, which was really useless.

However, since Fang Jun took office, he began to make drastic reforms to the internal affairs of the Ministry of War. At the same time, relying on His Majesty Li Er's favor and his own strong strength, he gradually expanded the power of the Ministry of War, and even proposed to set up a "Military Affairs Office" to become one of the Ministers of Military Affairs as the Minister of War.

As a result, the Ministry of War became the real power yamen second only to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

As long as the power of the Minister of War is completely gathered, not only will the Shandong family increase its strength, but Zhang Xingcheng will also become the banner figure of the Shandong family. While holding great power, he will also receive strong support from the Shandong family, and is only one step away from the prime minister.

However, it is so difficult to grasp the power of the Ministry of War...

...

Early in the morning, Zhang Xingcheng drove to the Ministry of War.

The original yamen had been destroyed by war, and the new ministry started on the original site, but it did not cut corners. Why was it built so grand? However, because the construction time was still short and the decoration had not been completed in many places, it looked grand and grand, but in fact it was simple everywhere...

When he arrived at the duty room, Zhang Xingcheng sorted out his clothes and sat meticulously behind the desk, and handed over several powerful figures in the department.

Soon after, Cui Dunli, Guo Fushan, Liu Shi and others came one after another.

The clerk presented incense tea and left the door...

Zhang Xingcheng smiled softly and asked everyone to drink tea. He briefly talked about several department affairs, and his subordinates also cooperated with each other, which seemed very accomplice.

But he knew that he had not touched his core interests yet, otherwise it would inevitably cause exclusion and rebound. He, the Minister of War, looked majestic, but in fact he was just a puppet who was erected...

After drinking a cup of tea, Zhang Xingcheng coughed lightly and looked at Liu Shi: "Now that most of the foundry bureau has been rebuilt, and some workshops have resumed production. I don't know the types and quantity of daily ordnance production?"

Liu Shi quickly put down the teacup and looked respectful: "The foundry office was almost flattened to the ground, the craftsmen were scattered, and the equipment was damaged. In fact, it could be restored in a short while? The daily production quantity is almost negligible."

Zhang Xingcheng's face froze, and as soon as he touched the core interests, he began to develop resistance and rejection...

He held back his anger: "No matter how small it is, there must be a number, right? This official is the Minister of War. He has the right to investigate any affairs in the department. He must not only know the production of military ordnances, but also reasonably allocate the produced military ordnances to various places. Now you are vague about the matter, what do you mean?"

He knew that the Ministry of War was Fang Jun's territory. Even if he became the Minister of War now, he could not follow his arms and follow his words. It was necessary to obey the subordinates' slander. However, he still did not expect that the Ministry of War was a solid body. Even the Minister of War had to think twice before instructing a clerk in normal times, otherwise he might be rejected in person and lose all his face...

This is the current situation in the Ministry of War. He is promising himself by a group of subordinates every day, and he is very respectful, but the affairs of the Ministry of War cannot be inserted at all.

Originally, this situation should be done slowly, but the Fang family held a banquet for Wen Ju, but he was humiliated by Fang Jun without invitation. This made him very angry and didn't care about too much. He tried to sort out the internal affairs of the Ministry of War as soon as possible and completely control the power.

So today it is abnormal and a little aggressive.

Gu Hu/span Liu Shi was naughty, lowered his head.

Zhang Xingcheng ignored Liu Shi. As the uncle of King Jin, this man was Fang Er's tyrant, so he looked at Cui Dunli: "What did Mr. Cui say?"

Although he "airborne" the Ministry of War was actually blocking Cui Dunli's way, both sides were from the Shandong family. At this time, shouldn't we abandon past grudges and be united in the external world?

Cui Dunli was drinking tea slowly, and when he heard the sound, he put down the teacup, his attitude was submissive, and sighed: "Shangshu Zhang, don't make things difficult for Langzhong Liu. The foundry bureau is a major area of ​​the Ministry of War, with a very heavy weight, and it is related to the interests and status of our Ministry of War. The foundry bureau covers a very wide area, has many buildings, and needs to build many new water conservancy machinery. At present, the reconstruction fund is very short of money. You are our Shangguan, the Minister of War of Zhengyin. At this time, you should have the responsibility to solve the funding gap."

Zhang Xingcheng held his breath in his chest and laughed angrily.

This official asked you to mediate in the center and assist me in controlling the Ministry of War. Not only did you not cooperate, you arranged a very difficult task for me?

Let me solve the funds?

Mother!

However, he was still angry, and he knew that Fang Jun was operating the Ministry of War as an iron barrel. He could only take full control of the Ministry of War and could not come even if he was anxious. Moreover, if the chief officer of a department wanted to control everything, it was inevitable to establish prestige, and the best way to establish prestige was naturally to solve difficult things.

Although he didn't know how much money it would cost to rebuild the Foundry Bureau, he also knew that this must be a huge number. After all, it was an important department for the research and development of firearms and equipping the entire army.

The Shandong family is rich and rich, each with a profound background and countless money. If they can help them control the Ministry of War, they will definitely donate generously.

Furthermore, as long as money is injected into the foundry bureau, the reconstruction of the foundry bureau will be controlled and it is not difficult to properly arrange the trustees to achieve the goal of fully controlling the foundry bureau...

There are opportunities in the dilemma.

He was excited, ignored Cui Dunli's difficulties and asked, "How much money is needed to rebuild the foundry bureau?"

Cui Dunli touched his beard under the jaw, avoided answering, turned to look at Liu Shi: "Since the foundry Bureau was built, Doctor Liu has been in charge of the management. He has worked hard and made great contributions. He is also aware of all the affairs of the foundry Bureau... He has to ask Doctor Liu for the money needed for reconstruction."

Liu Shi understood and said respectfully: "It will cost about 500,000 guan."

"What?!"

Zhang Xingcheng widened his eyes and looked directly at Liu Shi: "Five...500,000 guan?"

Did you say it wrong or did you think I was stupid?

Now, relying on the prosperous maritime trade and commercial tax reform, the central finance of the empire has made a huge leap, almost five times that of the early days of the founding of the country. But even so, the central financial income per year is only more than 40 million yuan... How can a foundry bureau be rebuilt, and it will cost one-eighth of the empire's annual financial resources?

It's simply ridiculous.

Too much bullying!

His questioning of the family's angry expression made his subordinates dissatisfied...

Liu Shi had a bitter face: "The officials dare not say anything falsely. The reconstruction accounts are clear and clear. Every expense is documented. The accounting work is neat. Otherwise, if the censor investigates, how many heads will the officials have enough to cut them?"

Cui Dunli next to him put down the teacup and looked cold and displeased: "The account of the foundry bureau has always been supervised by me. Every straight line must be reviewed by me and signed and sealed. Mr. Zhang did not believe it, and suspected that the official was full of personal pockets and was greedy for personal gain? However, although Mr. Zhang was the chief officer, he had no right to supervise. If he was determined to be corrupt, he could report it to the Censorate, or even go to his subordinates to file a lawsuit. However, he must not question the character, personal ethics, and ethics of his official in this way, and he must not slander his arbitrary!"

Guo Fushan is a good man. He was not dissatisfied with being blocked by Cui Dunli before. Now, Zhang Xingcheng has no expression when he is airborne. He only wants to do something in the yamen and support the children of several clans. When he gets old, he will no longer care about these affairs in the officialdom.

Seeing that the two sides were at a strife, they thought for a while and persuaded: "Shangshu Zhang was just a new arrival, and he must not be clear about the scale and importance of the foundry bureau. To be honest, this is just a reconstruction. After all, although the foundry bureau was damaged, the foundations were still there, so there was no need to re-site, level the land, and design them in full... I remember that when Duke Yue led us to create the foundry bureau, it cost no less than one million yuan."

Zhang Xingcheng was both angry and surprised.

Could it be that this foundry was really made of copper coins?

It's simply horrifying.

Several subordinates unanimously expressed their dissatisfaction to him, thinking that he was not as good as Fang Jun, which made him even more annoyed. When will I accuse you of Cui Dunli of being greedy? As the Minister of War, can't you even ask about the affairs of the Ministry of War?

You can't bully people to this extent!

But in the face of such a huge money gap, he was helpless...
Chapter completed!