Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan finally had some free time. Now, the two of them could only visit the construction site all day long. They had nothing else to do, except for the secret plans.
The Japanese of the Four Seas Academy might have thought that the silver ores they bought were worth a good price, so they would send a batch of ores to the county every few days. They did not know how they managed to transport so many ores. It did not seem like the actions of a single person, nor was it something a small team could do.
The construction of the construction site was almost done. The people were working very hard, and the progress was very fast. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan decided to finish the first model first. Then, they could find some time to come to Lu Zhou and have a look. It was absolutely impossible for them to not occupy Luzon Island. A month had already passed, and there was still no news. They did not know if the other side had caught some important people.
The two of them still did not know that the hot air balloon they sent to the capital had become a powder keg. Many people wanted to impeach them.
At night, Wang Juan found Xiao Hong, Pomegranate, and Cherries. She said to the three of them, "The previous incident happened because Cherries has not found a husband. Otherwise, no one would use such an excuse. Xiao Hong is said to be getting married next year. At that time, her family will send her a big gift.
Pomegranate, Cherries, how about the two of you? Do you have anyone you like? You're all grown up. If you don't get married now, you won't be able to get married in the future. If you do, I'll help you take a look. If not, I'll specially choose one for you. "
When Xiao Hong heard her little wife's words, she lowered her head and did not say anything. It seemed like she really wanted to get married next year. Pomegranate and Cherries did not feel anything when they heard the first part of the conversation. However, when they heard that she was going to choose one and not ask them to find one themselves, they immediately became nervous. They were afraid that they would randomly choose one and it would be someone they did not like when the time came.
When she saw their reaction, Wang Juan was sure that the two of them had someone in their heart, but they did not reveal it. Hence, she said to Cherries, "I think Huzi is a good person. Why don't we do it together with Xiao Hong next year?"
"Little girl, Huzi already has someone he likes. She's also from the courtyard, not me. I can't ruin it. I'm not in a hurry, really, not in a hurry," Cherries quickly refused.
"It doesn't matter. Even if he has someone he likes, I'll still let him marry you. He didn't tell me, so I'll just pretend that I don't know. In any case, you don't have someone you like. Just listen to me," Wang Juan said casually.
Cherries was really anxious this time. Her face turned red, and in the end, she said very softly, "Actually, Erniu is not married."
"Oh ~! Erniu? Okay, I'll go ask Erniu again and see if he's willing. " Wang Juan understood now. Cherries liked Erniu. She didn't know what was so good about Erniu. His name sounded simple and honest, but he had nothing to do with being simple and honest.
Cherries didn't say anything this time. She followed Xiao Hong's example, lowered her head, and fiddled with the corner of her clothes. She didn't say anything, but Pomegranate next to her said, "Little girl, you don't need to ask Erniu. Look, Cherries' hairpin is not the one she bought herself."
"Don't say it, don't say it." Cherries couldn't take it anymore. She came over to grab Pomegranate, and while doing so, she revealed Pomegranate's secret. "I don't know who did it, but he said that he was working outside and often had a bad appetite, so he had to send something to nourish his stomach. He went all the way up along the river. After passing the capital, he would reach Huayuan. After Huayuan, he would reach Sanshui, but Sanshui is not as good as Little Luoshui."
Now, Wang Juan also knew who Pomegranate liked. It turned out to be Song Jinggong, who was nearly ten years older than Pomegranate. Seeing the two arguing, Wang Juan asked Xiao Hong, "Do you know if Song Jinggong also likes Pomegranate?"
"Young Master Song sent a lot of things to Pomegranate some time ago, including mine and Cherries's. But we didn't get much, and Pomegranate got a lot. There was also a small boat made of paper with words written on it. I don't know what the words were, but Pomegranate didn't let us see it."
Xiao Hong betrayed Pomegranate. After thinking for a while, she said, "Also, after Pomegranate received the things, she bought a ginseng and sent it to Young Master Song. I guess they will arrive soon. Now, they are trying to figure out how to grow ginseng. She said that ginseng is too expensive, and if they always buy it, they will have to spend more money in the future. It's better to grow it themselves."
Wang Juan suddenly understood. No wonder Pomegranate had been looking for sawdust recently. She thought she was studying mushrooms, but she didn't expect that it was ginseng. At this time, Pomegranate and Cherries stopped arguing. Hearing Xiao Hong's words, Pomegranate became more honest.
"Pomegranate, if you want to grow ginseng, you have to ask Xiao Bao. Xiao Bao should be able to give you some ideas. But you can't grow ginseng like mushrooms. You can't grow it at all. Well, I got it today. Next year, when Xiao Hong gets married, you will also be part of it."
Wang Juan came here to ask. She was most afraid that the three girls all liked Zhang Xiaobao. That would be troublesome. She absolutely wouldn't allow it, but she was also afraid that the three girls would be sad.
Fortunately, they all chose the person they liked. In this case, there was no need to ask anymore.
Xiao Hong and the other two sent Wang Juan out, then turned around and argued again.
Zhang Xiaobao was still waiting for Wang Juan's news. When he saw Wang Juan come back, he asked, "Do you know who they are?"
"Guess?" Wang Juan nodded, but didn't say anything.
"How am I supposed to guess? As long as there are no outsiders, it's fine. Otherwise, it will be troublesome. "Zhang Xiaobao was very anxious to know who they were.
"They are all our people. Each and every one of them is sneaking around. They do a good job of keeping secrets, just like spies. I will tell you when the time comes." Wang Juan smiled and said to Zhang Xiaobao.
*****
Early the next morning, when Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan came to the construction site again, the people from the Four Seas Academy came again. This time, it was different from before. They actually brought over an estimated ten thousand taels of silver ore. Zhang Xiaobao suspected that Japan sent all the ore here to be sold.
Wang Juan was very puzzled. She asked Zhang Xiaobao, "What do they want to do by bringing over so much ore?"
"What else? Aside from exchanging it for some money to buy the technology, their other goal is to make us unable to eat it all at once, so that they can sell it to other merchants. Otherwise, the land they bought won't be profitable. Also, the matter of buying straw also won't be as effective as it should be."
Zhang Xiaobao said with certainty. He had discovered the amount of ores that had been sold recently. He had probably been using the first batch of ores to consume his copper coins and cloth. This time, it was the new batch that had just arrived. He wanted to support the other two methods of earning money.
"So that's how it is. I understand. The matter of the coal is almost done. In another two days, it will be transported to the place. It should be time to make the furnace and collect the materials to make the honeycomb coal."
Wang Juan said. After thinking about it, she added, "When the time comes, we should be able to collect all the straw as well. It's just nice when their plan fails. They won't really be able to make the straw very useful."
"Not only that, I'm also preparing to transport the straw from other places and sell it to them as well. I want them to know that there are some places where not all schemes can be used." Zhang Xiaobao thought a little more than Wang Juan.
"Then make the arrangements. If you're sleepy, go to bed early. We need to arrange for the various officials to come tomorrow in advance to avoid any mistakes."
Wang Juan yawned and turned to get someone to boil water.
*****
Three days later, quite a number of people came out of Luoyang. Zhang Zhong led a group of officials and rushed to Baoxin County. There were also people from the Zhang Family and Wang Family, as well as Xiaobei and company in a house. This time, they were prepared to follow by their brother and sister's side.
This time, the entourage was even larger. All the officials had their own carriages. With the addition of the servants, the entourage was very long. When they passed by a place, the people there were surprised and wanted to ask what was going on. They wanted to know if something big had happened.
Xiaobei kept urging the group to hurry up. She wanted to see her brother and sister as soon as possible. The officials at the places where the group passed by also had to make preparations in advance. If they wanted to welcome them, they had to at least prepare some food and wine.
In the end, wherever there was food and wine, Zhang Zhong would pass through. In his words, he wanted to see his son and daughter-in-law as soon as possible. In fact, the real reason was that he was very disgusted with the local officials using the government's money to treat him to a meal.
Whenever he encountered officials giving him gifts, Zhang Zhong would keep a sullen expression and not say a word. The people at home did not dare to accept other people's gifts. Just like that, Zhang Zhong seemed to be offending people along the way.
After traveling for five days, when the group was not too far away from Baoxin County, something finally happened. Some of the officials who had prepared food and wine and gifts wrote a memorial to impeach Zhang Zhong when they saw that he did not give them face. They accused him of disturbing the people along the way and putting on airs to get people to treat him to a meal.
They had people send them to the capital on fast horses. It seemed that they would not be satisfied if they did not disgust Zhang Zhong at least once.
In the past few days, the officials in the imperial court had been impeaching Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. In the end, the impeachment was not successful. As long as Li Longji went to court, there would be many, many things to discuss, and they were all seemingly more important matters. For example, the pilgrimage, the shipping of goods, whether the spring plowing of various places was done, and whether or not there was enough rain this year, and whether or not there should be a changping.
One thing after another, the officials could not immediately neglect the important matters. They then focused on the impeachment of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan.
Just as they were vexed, the memorials to impeach Zhang Zhong arrived one after another. The officials discussed in private and began to use this as an excuse to impeach Zhang Zhong. They came with such ferocity that even Zhang Shuo pretended not to see it and allowed others to do as they pleased.
Today was the same. As soon as Li Longji went to court, before he could talk about how to increase the grain output and how to get the canal to provide assistance in farming, the officials took out their memorials and began to attack Zhang Zhong.
Some people said that his family was wealthy and suspected that he was in cahoots with merchants. Others said that he was an official in Luoyang and that the excuse of leading officials was to understand the Great Tang. In reality, he was gathering wealth for his family and had collected a lot of money along the way.
In any case, there were all sorts of things to say. They wanted to teach Zhang Zhong a lesson.
At the beginning, Li Longji felt that it was very interesting. After hearing the various reasons given by the officials, he could not help but admire their ability in this aspect.
But as he listened, his expression changed. The main reason was that someone accused the Zhang Family and Wang Family of secretly training soldiers and suspected that they were rebelling. They wanted the Emperor to send someone to check if the guards of the Zhang Family and Wang Family were carrying good weapons.
Hearing this, Li Longji stared at Zhang Shuo. A few days ago, Zhang Shuo had used similar excuses to speak. Could it be that Zhang Shuo was also involved in today's matter?
Zhang Shuo originally wanted to let others continue speaking so that he could regain the authority that he could no longer control. But when he saw the Emperor looking over, he immediately knew that something was wrong. Why did someone mention the breakfast of the Zhang Family and Wang Family again? If he did not make things clear, wouldn't the Emperor think that he was the mastermind behind this?
When that person finished speaking, Zhang Shuo immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this official believes that the guards of the Zhang Family and Wang Family are carrying weapons to protect their technology. They do not want others to steal them. If there is anything wrong with the Zhang Family and Wang Family, it is only that they have made too many things. They should be done bit by bit and not many at the same time. But this official feels that this also shows Zhang Zhong's ability."
Li Longji's expression finally improved. He nodded and indicated for Zhang Shuo to continue speaking.
Zhang Shuo heaved a sigh of relief and continued, "This official believes that we can send someone to check on the Zhang Family and Wang Family to see if they have any good technology recently. As for Zhang Zhong bringing Luoyang's officials to Baoxin County, this official feels that it is fated. Baoxin County has a model of the capital and many officials are not very clear about the matters of Gyeonggi Province.
Furthermore, there will be models of other places in the future. Rather than letting the officials not understand, it is better to go and learn. This will allow the officials to better understand the matters of our Great Tang. If anyone says that they understand Gyeonggi Province, there is no harm for Your Majesty to test them. "
Zhang Shuo no longer cared about whether or not he would go against the other people who wanted to impeach Zhang Zhong. He only knew that if he did not speak up for Zhang Zhong this time, the first one to suffer would be him.
When he said this, the people who wanted to impeach Zhang Zhong fell silent. They were really afraid that the Emperor would ask them about the matters of Gyeonggi Province. For example, he would ask about the grain output of a certain county, or how much tax a certain province paid this year.
How could they remember so clearly? What they were most afraid of was that the Emperor would ask them what the buildings of various places looked like or what kind of fish and prawns were in the rivers. Although many of these things sounded unreasonable, as long as the Emperor knew and they did not, it would not be simple.
When Li Longji saw that the people who wanted to do something to Zhang Zhong had fallen silent, he did not plan on letting them go immediately. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Investigate.
Not only do we have to investigate the officials in Luoyang, we also have to investigate the officials in the capital. Based on salary, which family has the wrong amount of things and money? When the time comes, we will definitely punish them severely. Especially those officials who used luxury goods. See which family has expensive sofas or beautiful fish tanks and fish.
If something happens to Zhang Zhong's family, we will definitely punish him with three years of salary and send him to a remote place. If anything happens to the other officials, we will also do the same. "
The meaning behind Li Longji's words was clear. Anyone who took something from the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan had to be careful. As long as he found out who gave it to them, he wouldn't ask who gave it to them. He would only ask if they could afford it.
When the time came, he would take care of everything. Let's see if you're afraid of not having three years of salary, or if Zhang Zhong is afraid, or if you're worried about being sent to a remote place, or if Zhang Zhong is worried.
Li Longji could not be blamed for doing this. Usually, the things he used were given by the Zhang Family and Wang Family. Whenever there was something he needed, the Zhang Family and Wang Family would pay for it. When the Zhang Family and Wang Family said that the money belonged to them, it felt like it belonged to them. After all, the Zhang Family and Wang Family did not spend much.
They only used it normally. He had never heard of anyone from their family going to a brothel to spend a thousand catties. What was even more admirable was that they rarely had leftovers at home. They would not put a table full of good food and throw it away if they did not eat it.
However, when it came to places that suffered disasters every year, they did not hesitate to take out money and directly sent it to those places under the name of the imperial court. The rest of the money was spent on research. For example, the medical school was a place that ate money.
Who did not know how the Zhang Family and Wang Family earned their money? And how did they spend it? If they took care of his family, Gyeonggi Province's economy would drop by 50%, and this was not including his family's revenge.
Gao Lishi did not say anything, but he was very happy. He looked at the people who accused Zhang Zhong one by one and remembered every single one of them. When the time came, he would write a letter to Xiao Bao and not give anything to these people in the future.
He understood what Li Longji meant. That was to say, even if you benefited from the Zhang Family, you're not clean either. You clearly know what the Zhang Family and Wang Family's money are used for, but you still insist on using this matter as an example. Isn't it just because I went to the heavens once that you didn't impeach me?
This is called repaying kindness with ingratitude. Take care of them all and send them to a remote place. Who would have a better life in the end?
When Gao Lishi thought of this, he almost could not control his urge to laugh again. No matter which remote place they were sent to, the Zhang Family and Wang Family were still so powerful. Even if they were sent to the poorest place, they would still have a way to build it up. Lingnan was an example. Let's see how you're going to survive.
Gao Lishi was not the only one who had such thoughts. Zhang Jiuling also thought of this. Hence, he took a step forward and said, "Your Majesty, I think this is a good idea. If there's anything wrong with any of the officials, why don't we send them to the dangerous place in Lingnan together with Zhang Zhong? Lu Zhou can be skipped. There are other places in Lingnan."
These words were so powerful that they shocked the officials who accused Zhang Zhong. Even those who did not accuse him had doubts in their hearts. In Great Tang, only Zhang Zhong could live a comfortable life when he was sent to Lingnan. Who else had the ability to do so?
The Imperial Court suddenly fell silent. No one said a word as they waited for Li Longji to make the final decision.
Li Longji looked at Zhang Jiuling with satisfaction. This suggestion was really good. How many people could take the initiative to go to Lingnan like Zhang Zhong?
When the decision was about to be made, the officials who accused Zhang Zhong just now changed their words one after another. Their words made people blush. All the shortcomings of the Zhang Family and Wang Family just now were turned into merits.
Those who accused Zhang Zhong of colluding with merchants changed their words and said that Zhang Zhong might be helping merchants to make money and prosper the local economy. Now, they all knew this set of theories and had learned a lot of vocabulary.
Those who said that Zhang Zhong brought people to Boxin County might be saying that Zhang Zhong wanted to let the officials in the Eastern Capital know more about Gongji Province. Those who said that Zhang Zhong had many soldiers and good weapons also had their own excuses. They said that Zhang Zhong and Wang Family had many officials, and some of them were people who led troops to war. They hired more guards to practice formations, not for their own use. As for weapons, of course, it was to test new equipment and take a lot of risks.
Li Longji wanted to rush down and strangle these people to death. Hearing that the people below found new excuses to exonerate the Zhang Family and Wang Family, Li Longji whispered to Gao Lishi, "Today, I am really moved. Zhang Family and Wang Family have done a lot of business in private, but the money they earned is also there. As long as the court needs it, they will take it out. They have never hesitated.
These dozens of officials have no money, but they are working hard to make money. Do they really think that I don't know? When they have nothing to do, they will go to restaurants and treat each other to meals. Zhang Family and Wang Family have always been worthy of the court and the people. There is no place where the people say that they are not good.
What about the officials? I don't know what they think all day. Sometimes, I think, what is loyalty? What is evil? What is right? What is evil? What do you think? "
Gao Lishi rarely heard the Emperor speak like this in court. It seemed that he was really angry. It should be because the person who impeached Zhang Zhong was unable to prevent the Emperor from ascending to heaven that day, so he vented all his anger on Zhang Zhong. After thinking for a while, he also replied in a low voice, "The benefits of war, the way of the economy, using it for right is right, using it for evil is evil, and the way of power is the same."
Li Longji nodded and listened to the people below continue to change their words. He felt very bored and said, "Let's talk about this later. First, let's talk about the bridge. It is inconvenient to travel between the two sides of the Yellow River. How should we build it?"
"I think that we should ask Zhang Zhong about this. He has successfully built a bridge in Shuzhou." At this time, the person who said that Zhang Zhong's ability was not good stood up and said, "I think that we should ask Zhang Zhong. He has successfully built a bridge in Shuzhou."
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