Mao Cheng's official appointment was finally decided.
Yang Tinghe was very reluctant to accept Mao Cheng's appointment. Although Mao Cheng had not completely obeyed Yang Tinghe's arrangements on many matters in the past two years, after all, with Mao Cheng around, Zhu Si had never done anything about the ceremony.
article.
Now if a new minister from the Ministry of Rites is appointed, who knows if the little emperor will cause any trouble again?
But Mao Cheng is on sick leave.
The illness was indeed so serious that he was unable to go to court.
Originally, Mao Cheng should have returned to his hometown in Nanzhili after receiving permission to return to his fields. However, due to his serious illness and inability to walk, he could only stay in the capital temporarily.
The person who will succeed Mao Cheng as Minister of Rites has also been decided, and it turns out to be Luo Qinshun, Minister of Civil Affairs in Nanjing. This person is still on his way to the capital.
After Mao Cheng left the court, Zhu Si was really ready to take action. He discussed with Zhu Hao several times to see if he could make a fuss about the ceremony in advance, as if he wanted to use the ceremony to force Yang Tinghe to leave.
However, Zhu Hao continued to comfort Zhu Si, letting him calm down and wait for Yang Tinghe to leave the court.
…
…
One day in mid-April.
Zhao Huang, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, took a copy of the book and went to Yang Tinghe's house overnight to pay a visit.
Because Zhao Huang belonged to a neutral faction in the court, and the Ministry of Industry itself was not involved in the political disputes, Zhao Huang had the lowest status as the Six Ministers, and his presence in the court was even lower than that of Jin Xianmin, the censor of Zuodu.
This time he came to see Yang Tinghe and learned something strange.
Yang Tinghe met him in his study.
Zhao Huang opened the book and found a drawing, which showed the scene of a train rumbling along the railway track. This was a copy obtained by the Ministry of Industry from the Xishan Coal Mine, which described in detail the relevant
Train operation conditions.
"...Zhongtang, I heard that your Majesty has been secretly planning this matter for many years. I heard that this thing is as powerful as an ox, and can load thousands of stones of grain at a time, and can transport hundreds of people at a time. This thing needs to be supported by something called a rail, no.
It can be operated in both cold and hot weather, but the Ministry of Industry has not been involved from the beginning to the end."
"Now the railway tracks have been laid for more than ten miles. The news from the people in the mines is that the imperial court plans to lay this track from the Western Mountains to the capital and connect it to the canal..."
Zhao Huang had no choice but to come to Yang Tinghe.
Because this matter was caused by the little emperor.
From the perspective of Zhao Huang, the Minister of Works, the imperial court had embarked on a major project but did not say hello to the Ministry of Works, which was tantamount to treating the Ministry of Works as transparent.
Looking at the posture, it is clear that this is a large-scale project that wastes people and money. What does it mean that the emperor does not say hello to the Ministry of Works?
Clearly he doesn’t believe the Ministry of Industry!
If this kind of thing were known to outsiders, they would think that he, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was secretly helping the emperor, so Zhao Huang had to explain clearly to Yang Tinghe, making it clear that the matter had nothing to do with him, and at the same time, he hoped that Yang Tinghe could stop the matter.
Zhao Huang did not want to do anything harmful to the imperial court in the name of the Ministry of Industry.
What kind of train?
There was no such thing before the Ming Dynasty, and I don’t think we will need it in the future.
Yang Tinghe's eyebrows showed an incredible anxiety, and he said: "Can you confirm that it is true?"
Yang Tinghe didn't really believe it.
Mining in Xishan, no matter how hard it is, is just a matter of a few mines, but it is actually necessary to create a kind of transportation that has never appeared in this era?
From the looks of it, it seems that we have to dig mountains and pave roads, which will definitely require a lot of manpower and material resources. Even if these are just preliminary preparations, it is estimated that the cost will be more than 100,000 taels, or even hundreds of thousands taels.
No matter how arbitrary the emperor is, if he wants to do this, where will he get so much money?
Zhao Huang sighed: "I sent someone to check, it should be right."
Yang Tinghe thought about it for a long time, but couldn't figure out what the secret was.
When the emperor, Yang Tinghe, was still in the court, he dealt with these unreliable things. Can it be said that this was actually some kind of cover-up against Yang Tinghe?
Yang Tinghe always wants to involve himself in everything he encounters, because he knows that one day when he is in court, the emperor
The emperor's main goals were focused on him alone.
Yang Tinghe asked: "Then...is it possible for the Ministry of Industry to inspect the accounts?"
Zhao Huang shook his head.
"Is there any news from the Ministry of Finance and the Internal Affairs Bureau?"
Yang Tinghe continued to ask.
Zhao Huang still shook his head, but added: "I don't know."
If Zhao Huang is the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, it would be good if the accounts of the Ministry of Industry can be sorted out clearly, but can he also be in charge of the Ministry of Accounts and the Internal Affairs Bureau?
Besides, now that Sun Jiao is on the rise, who knows whether Sun Jiao was behind the scenes to help the emperor complete this matter? But if Sun Jiao was involved, the money must come from the treasury. The problem is that whenever there are additional expenses beyond the normal expenses
,How could Yang Tinghe be completely unaware?
Things were so bizarre that Yang Tinghe couldn't figure out the secret.
"Go and ask Sun Zhitong."
As if giving an order, Yang Tinghe said to Zhao Huang, "If he also says he doesn't know, let's discuss it in the court. Otherwise... maybe it's just that the thunder is loud and the rain is light, and it doesn't cost much money, so there is no need to make a fuss."
…
…
Yang Tinghe is very cautious.
Before he knew what the little emperor was up to, he would not rush to the court meeting to argue with the emperor. If he stopped improperly, the emperor would push him back when the time came, and Yang Tinghe would lose face again.
Just looking at the drawings, I feel that the amount of work is huge, but no one knows what is going on. After all, it is only a dozen miles of road. From the drawings, it looks like that. I have never seen the real thing. Who knows whether it is an empty shell or whether it is still there.
real stuff?
Even the width of the rails, Yang Tinghe didn't have a very intuitive feeling when he wrote about it.
Zhao Huang, under the instruction of Yang Tinghe, went to visit Sun Jiao overnight.
Sun Jiao had already fallen asleep, but his sleep was disturbed by Zhao Huang's unexpected arrival, and he had to get up to entertain the guests.
"Tingshi, why did you come here late at night? Isn't it about the Queen's father's residence?"
Sun Jiao was old and frail. He finally fell asleep but was woken up by someone, which inevitably made him a little angry when he woke up.
Recently, the Ministry of Engineering has an important task, which is to build a residence for the Queen's father, Chen Wanyan, in the capital.
Since it was built according to the specifications of the earl's mansion, it cost a lot of money. Zhao Huang had previously argued with the emperor as minister of the Ministry of Industry, requesting to lower the specifications or use a ready-made house for renovation, but the emperor refused to listen, so Sun Jiao naturally thought that
Zhao Huang sought his help for this matter.
Zhao Huang took out the drawings for Yang Tinghe to see and asked, "Brother Zhi Tinghe, do you know what this is?"
Sun Jiao took a look, what the hell?
But after thinking about it for a moment, Zhao Huang came here at night just to ask him if he had seen this thing before.
Something fishy!
Sun Jiao did not answer directly, but asked instead: "Since you came to ask, I guess you are aware of it?"
Zhao Huang did not hide it: "Your Majesty ordered people to build this in Xishan. He said it was to connect Xishan and the capital, transport coal from Xishan to the capital, and transport it to the south of the Yangtze River by canal ships."
"hehe."
Sun Jiao was relieved upon hearing this.
This is what Zhu Hao did.
It's just that in the past, Sun Jiao didn't think that Zhu Hao could create any big battles, but now it seems that he seems to be able to do so.
Zhao Huang was a little confused when he saw Sun Jiao's strange smile.
I told you this, and you, Sun Zhitong, actually have the nerve to laugh?
Does that mean you know about this?
When Sun Jiao saw Zhao Huang looking at him, his expression was full of doubts, and he hurriedly explained: "Cao Zao Zao, does the imperial court provide any money? It's free, why not give it a try?"
Zhao Huang stared and asked, "Is the imperial court allocating money?"
Sun Jiaodao: "Are you suspicious of Lao Lao? Yes or no, it's not just as simple as the accounts of the Account Department, everything can be traced... You didn't ask the people in Jingcang, the governor, whether the imperial court had allocated money.
?」
Zhao Huang thought about it and found that it was indeed true.
Yang Tinghe didn't know, nor did he, the Minister of Industry, and he was confused when asked. Now it seems that Sun Jiao can also
Maybe it's not clear.
"Tingshi, some things are not what you think. His Majesty is a king who works hard to govern, and his unconventional actions are completely understandable. Just don't tell Jiefu. What's going on with Jiefu?
They all want to take care of it, but if they do, there will be trouble... If you let him know, there will be some articles in the court... It will be tiring!"
Sun Jiao persuaded.
Zhao Huang shook his head repeatedly.
It seemed that he had to tell Yang Tinghe, but in fact he met Yang Tinghe first and then came to see Sun Jiao, and the matter could not be changed.
Sun Jiao sighed: "If you want to say it, it's up to you. When asked about my household department, the household department can only say that they don't know anything. Your Majesty has never allocated any funds from the household department, and the money and food are useless. Besides... there are just a few iron frames.
How much money can you spend on something that looks like an ox cart? What a fuss!"
Zhao Huang hurriedly said: "But I heard that this thing is very huge. It is marked on it that it is two or three feet high and hundreds of feet long. If such a huge thing is built on a large scale, wouldn't it be... a waste of people and money?"
"Then you can wait until it's time to waste people and money, otherwise it will be unfounded worries."
Sun Jiao looked a little impatient and glanced at Zhao Huang with a look full of unkindness.
Originally, I wanted to give you a hand and let you join my camp.
It seems that you would rather believe Yang Tinghe than me.
Then you came to see ***?
Just to ask if the Ministry of Accounts secretly transferred money?
If this kind of thing is really going to happen, who can we hide it from?
It is precisely because the imperial court has not spent any money so far that it can be kept secret from everyone. Even you and I, the six ministers, only know about it today.
Zhao Huang was quite upright and said, "Since we are like brothers and don't know, I can only speak to the meeting."
"Um."
Sun Jiao nodded.
He wanted to persuade Zhao Huang to turn back, but he knew he couldn't.
What kind of temper does Zhao Huang have? He doesn't want to suffer from that stubborn temper at all. He has good abilities, but he is very calculating. This is why Zhao Huang can be in the position of minister of the Ministry of Industry, and has not joined any faction until today, but can still be safe.
The reason for being comfortable.
The whole thing is that he is basically not involved in the party disputes in the court, and only cares about the one-third of an acre of the Ministry of Industry. When he encounters someone who is unhappy, he will directly say it, and it has nothing to do with anything else. No matter how big the matter is, he will stand by and watch.
"You go and ask Yang Jiefu first. If he agrees, then you can bring it up. Otherwise, you won't be able to do anything well."
Sun Jiao reminded again, "In addition, you must also understand His Majesty's attitude towards this matter. If His Majesty has already made up his mind, I'm afraid that you will be like the old man and come back in trouble."