Liu Hongxun's downfall was not even a splash in the turbulent political scene of the late Ming Dynasty, and it was not even mentioned in later generations' studies of history.
But this incident is a dangerous signal in today's court.
He was the first high-ranking Donglin Party official to fall.
The occurrence of this incident indicates that Emperor Chongzhen, who had just ascended the throne, only maintained his trust in the Donglin Party for less than five months.
Originally, when the Eunuch Party was destroyed and the Donglin Party occupied the court, other forces could only stay low and stay small, stay away from home, and live in constant panic.
Now, after discovering that the new emperor does not trust the Donglin Party that much, their courage and boldness will inevitably increase.
It is obvious that political disputes arise day and night.
Insightful people, such as Liu Zongzhou, Hou Xun, Cao Wenheng, etc., are all worried.
Those who fell into the whirlpool of power, such as Qian Qianyi, only thought about personal gain and ignored the overall situation.
Liu Zongzhou and Hou Xun deliberately stayed in Linqing for many days, just to wait for Qian Qianyi, hoping to bridge the conflict between him and Zhou Yanru, unite Donglin forces, and control the court situation.
Now it seems that this idea is bankrupt.
The bank supervisor dispatched by the Ministry of Accounts arrived very quickly.
Zhang Jimeng arrived in Linqing four days after the Chaoguan Incident, and the chief officer arrived in Linqing on the fifth day after a long journey.
This man's name is Wu Daochang, and he was a top three Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi.
He was originally the chief of the Huguang Qing Li Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but this time he was sent to be the chief of the Linqing Cash Pass.
This is definitely a good thing.
After all, one is a minor official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, the other is the head of the world's largest bank account, and there is no mother-in-law above his head.
Wu Daochang came over in high spirits, ran to Chaoguan Pier and took a look, and instantly his heart dropped.
There are countless sunken ships in the river, half of the pier has collapsed, and the local government has not yet finished organizing people to retrieve the dead bodies.
"My lords, when I came, your majesty and your superiors urged me to do it urgently. There are millions of people in the capital crying out for food. We really cannot afford to delay."
Wu Daochang bowed to each other, as anxious as ants on a hot pot.
He arrived in Linqing in the morning and arrived in Beijing in the afternoon.
There was no other meaning than to order him to dredge the canal as soon as possible to ensure the supply of the capital.
But as soon as Wu Daochang took a look at the situation on the ground, he knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do about this matter relying solely on banknotes.
Liu Zongzhou asked: "When will the money and food in Beijing be allocated?"
In fact, everyone here has already made an assessment of the situation at Chaoguan Wharf. If it is to be dredged and reconstructed, it must be a big project, and it will never be possible without thousands of people.
But if you want to drive thousands of people to work, you must have enough money and food. Otherwise, the people will have to rebel.
Wu Daochang's face became even more ugly.
"When I was about to leave the capital, Your Majesty said that Linqing, a local rich man, should share the worries of the imperial court."
Everyone's expressions were extremely ugly.
This is to let the horses run without giving them grass to eat.
Qu Shishu exploded on the spot.
"I have just taken over as the prefect of Linqing, and the government's account books have not been cleared yet. There is not a penny of silver in the government treasury, and everything is empty. Where can I find the money and food?"
Since the predecessor Linqing Zhizhou, Tongzhi and others were members of the eunuch party, it is obvious that they were corrupt.
What Qu Shichun received was not a fat loss, but a big hole.
Wu Daochang's mouth blistered anxiously.
"No matter what, we can't bear the safety of the capital. If there is a slight mistake, His Majesty and the imperial court will be blamed. No amount of heads will be enough to cut off."
Who doesn’t know the situation he mentioned?
Hou Xun and Liu Zongzhou looked at each other and became even more pessimistic about the future.
For a major matter related to the safety of the capital, the emperor is not willing to pay for it and wants his subordinates to complete it quickly. How can there be such truth in the world?
Zhang Jimeng thought for a while and suggested to Cao Wenheng: "Ming Mansion, I wonder if you can ask the governor and chief envoy for help?"
It's okay not to mention this. As soon as this was mentioned, Cao Wenheng slammed the table.
"The whole country was in an uproar over the incident at the wharf. To this day, does the province have any say in it?"
Everyone understands.
The governor of Shandong and the Chief Envoy are pretending to be deaf and dumb, pretending not to know.
Who is willing to get involved in such a big trouble?
Anyway, Linqing is a critical place. If there is any trouble, the capital will directly intervene. Why would the governor and chief envoy of Shandong jump into this pit of fire?
Are you uncomfortable hiding in Jinan?
Now, the situation is clear.
The emperor and the court refused to give money, but demanded that the canal be dredged as soon as possible.
The local government in Linqing had no money, and Chaoguan had limited power, but it had to get things done.
The governor and chief envoy of Shandong knew about it but pretended not to know about it, not to mention there would be any support.
All the Linqing officials present, big and small, are sitting in sleepy city, helpless.
Zuo Mengeng was a junior and was not qualified to speak on such an occasion. He was brought to participate by Liu Zongzhou.
In the past few days, Liu Zong had free time on Monday and was studying "The Wealth of Nations". If he didn't understand something, he would consult Zuo Menggeng.
Gradually, this big boss's attitude toward Zuo Mengeng changed, and he even urged him to study.
This change made Zuo Mengeng's status rise sharply.
Seeing that all the big guys were stumped, Zuo Mengeng felt that this was his opportunity.
His biggest trouble now is that he is too young and his status is too low.
If you want to do something good, you must gain recognition.
The best way is to show his results and let these big guys know his abilities.
"In my opinion, this matter may not have no solution."
When everyone is trapped in darkness, even a tiny spark can become hope.
Immediately, everyone focused on Zuo Mengeng.
Wu Daochang was the most excited and hurriedly asked: "My little friend, can you teach me?"
Zuo Mengeng didn't speak, but looked at the others.
Wu Daochang was just a small shrimp and could not help him much. What he wanted to gain was the recognition of Hou Xun, Liu Zongzhou, Cao Wenheng, Qu Shichun and Zhang Jimeng.
After all, these people are the gods hanging over his head.
How he, this little monkey, can do things in the future depends entirely on how well he protects himself these days.
Hou Xun didn't think there was anything Zuo Menggen could do, he just thought it was a young man trying to please others.
But anyway, you guys don’t have any ideas, so you might as well listen, it doesn’t matter.
"If you have any ideas, just tell me."
This is what Zuo Mengeng was waiting for.
"If you want to dredge the river and rebuild the pier, two things are most important. One is money and food, and the other is manpower..."
Everyone couldn't help but feel disappointed, thinking who didn't know?
But Zuo Mengeng continued.
"Your Excellency, you may think that manpower is easy to handle. In fact, this is not the case. Although there are many people in Linqing, they all go about their own business and run around day and night. If they are rashly hired to work, I am afraid that all walks of life will be affected."
Where will the labor force come from to rebuild the pier?
The people are just doing corvee work.
Although it is early winter and the people are busy in farming, there seems to be nothing wrong with recruiting them to do corvee labor.
However, in Linqing, only a few people make a living by farming.
As a large city with a population of one million, it is also a business center, and many people live around business.
Once these people are allowed to serve, many industries will be shut down immediately, and the losses will definitely be considerable.
The officials here, except for Zhang Zhenxiu and Zhang Zongmeng, are all from other places. They have only been around for a short period of time and do not know the situation in Linqing very well.
Upon hearing his analysis, everyone changed their minds, only to realize that it almost caused another disaster.
If a big city with a population of one million shuts down, there will probably be another rebellion in the capital.
By the time the canal was not dredged and chaos broke out in Linqing, they really could not escape the blame.
"But now there is an opportunity. There are probably more than ten thousand refugees gathered outside the city. They have no clothes to cover their bodies, no food to eat, and they freeze to death every day. They die of hunger every day. If you make good use of it, you can have two powers.
It’s convenient.”
Hearing that Zuo Mengeng's idea was to make use of the refugees, many people nodded silently, thinking this method was a good one.
The refugees have no food, clothing, or anything to do. Organizing to work can not only reduce local burdens, but also avoid chaos. It is indeed a good idea to kill two birds with one stone.
Qu Shichun didn't think so.
"Even if we call the refugees to work, we still have to feed them. In the final analysis, it still comes down to money and food. If this matter is not resolved, everything will be in vain."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
No matter what you do, money and food are the foundation.
Without this, we can't recruit people and can't open jobs.
Zuo Mengeng didn't think this was that difficult, it just depends on the courage of the people here.
"Actually, it's not difficult to raise money and food. I just wonder if you, sir, would dare to set a precedent and establish new rules? Also, how will the court react?"
Seeing Zuo Menggeng talking eloquently in front of many big shots without any stage fright, the most gratified person is Liu Zongzhou.
He originally thought that this young man was just good at writing and thinking, but today he saw that he was good at doing things.
"If you have any plans, please tell me quickly. If it works, I will credit you with it."
Zuo Mengeng received the order and stopped hiding it.
"Linqing is a fertile land, and that's true. The local wealth is more than enough to dredge canals and repair docks. The most difficult thing is how to dig out this wealth and use it for Taoism."
Before others could do anything, Zhang Zhenxiu became anxious first.
The Zhang family is a wealthy family in Linqing, so if they spend money abroad, the Zhang family will bear the brunt.
He looked at Zuo Mengeng with a very dissatisfied look. Why was his elbow turned outward?
"Allowing the gentry and village elders to pay without any reason is a way to bring disaster."
But he misunderstood Zuo Mengeng.
"Uncle Zhang, don't worry, my nephew hasn't finished speaking yet."
He simply stood up and walked while talking. In this way, everyone would not want to look at him.
He truly became the center of attention.
"It doesn't make sense to ask the villagers to pay for no reason, and it will also get poked in the back. But what if this is not free money, but an investment?"