Chapter 264

"The guilty subject Zhang Zhang Guoxi pays respects to the Emperor."

Zhang Junlü stood with his hands bound on the left side of the overflow dam. Seeing a group of people coming down from the dike—including the Riverway Governor Pan Pan Jixun, whom he recognized, and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works Wan Gong, as well as people he didn't recognize, such as the Secretariat Drafters and the eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial—all bustling and crowding around the armored young man in the middle.

He immediately stepped forward and knelt on the ground in fear.

The monarch and his subjects returned to the walkway on the revetment dam. Zhu Zhu Yijun took off the willow-leaf helmet on his head and held it at his waist, his expression appearing somewhat surprised.

Is it that easy to recognize me in my light armor?

"Speak as we walk." He couldn't be bothered to care whether Zhang Junlü guessed it from the grand display or remembered it from the palace examination six years ago; he just waved his hand, signaling the latter to follow. "A proper student of the Son of Heaven, how did you end up in this state? I heard you were framed with quite a few charges?"

Zhang Junlü had already washed and changed his clothes before coming, but the sense of listlessness from just being fished out of prison was still hard to erase.

He was thirty-seven this year, his nose bridge was a bit flat, and he had a slight hunchback. It was no wonder he was only granted the status of a "Tong Jinshi of the same cohort"—his appearance wasn't good enough, and usually, those who were "slipped" ended up in the third rank.

Hearing the word "framed," Zhang Junlü's expression was inexplicably dazed.

Seeing the Emperor walking far away along the dike, he came to his senses and stumbled to his feet to follow: "I have brought shame upon Your Majesty."

"Since I took office as the Chief of the Zhonghe Branch Office in Xu Prefecture, the censors, the Water Transport Office, and the prefectural Prefectural Yamen have impeached me for more than ten major crimes and several minor ones."

"This year, it finally alarmed the Three Judicial Offices, which concluded that I committed four major crimes: 'construction not according to the law' under the Construction Code, 'official negligence' under the Official Code, 'illegal appointment of officials' under the Official Code, and 'traitorous party' under the Official Code."

Hearing this, Zhu Zhu Yijun couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

They even got the "traitorous party" charge going.

It really is just: "It's fine to oppose the imperial court, but if you oppose me, then you are opposing the imperial court, and it counts as treason."

The monarch and his subjects walked slowly along the walkway on the dam, with hundreds of Imperial Guards distributed around the revetment dam.

Zhu Zhu Yijun walked in the front with his hands behind his back, measuring the Yellow River two miles away: "I know about the 'construction not according to the law' and 'official negligence'."

"The Zhonghe Branch Office of the Water Transport Office submitted a memorial impeaching you for specifically building 'tofu-dreg' projects that collapsed every time they were repaired."

"Over the years, the more than ten small dikes and auxiliary dikes you built at Fangcun, Huayang, and Niushikou, including the ones right here, have all overflowed and been destroyed."

"What is your explanation?"

In the second year of Emperor Longqing, the Yellow River breached and blocked the Turbid River, changing its course to Chacheng (present-day Zhaocheng Village), where it met the canal.

In Xu Prefecture, the Yellow River and the Canal ran parallel, with lock dams set up every so often. Starting from Chacheng, ten li to Moshi, twenty li to Qinliang Flood,

twenty li to Lüliang Flood, ten li to Fangcun, twenty li to Shuanggou, and twenty li to Pizhou.

Zhang Junlü, this Chief of the Riverway, was responsible for the three lock dams from Lüliang Flood to Shuanggou, as well as the construction of the river sections between them.

So-called "construction not according to the law" meant the project didn't meet specifications; "official negligence" meant that due to carelessness, the progress of public business was affected, leading to severe consequences.

Both were actually dereliction of duty.

Zhang Junlü was, after all, a Tong Jinshi of the same cohort; being stripped of his official robes and thrown into prison wasn't something a few impeachments could achieve.

It was precisely because the Censorate verified the memorial from the Water Transport Office and confirmed that the collapse of the dikes built by Zhang Junlü was widespread that they agreed to Xu Prefecture's request to detain him for investigation.

As for the facts—

Zhang Junlü followed the Emperor closely, his eye sockets gradually turning red, not knowing whether it was from grievance or hatred.

He took a deep breath, struggling not to lose his composure: "Your Majesty, please listen! Since I took office to repair the canal, I have been obstructed and plotted against by various parties at every turn."

"As Your Majesty asked just now, why did the dikes I repaired collapse every time?"

"It is only because the Water Transport Office assigned me specifically to build 'thread dikes'!"

Zhu Zhu Yijun stopped in his tracks, his face showing confusion.

He didn't shy away from the fact that he was a layman and turned to look at the officials beside him: "What is a 'thread dike'? Is it easily destroyed?"

There were quite a few officials following the Emperor on the overflow dam walkway, but in terms of water conservancy experts, there were only Pan Pan Jixun and Wan Gong.

The two experts looked at each other.

Pan Pan Jixun took the lead in explaining: "Your Majesty, there are more than ten types of river dikes. Our dynasty currently uses four: thread dikes, remote dikes, grid dikes, and moon dikes."

"Thread dikes are built close to the main river channel, shaped like threads, hence the name."

Once he finished speaking, there was no further explanation.

But this clearly underestimated the Emperor's level of ignorance.

Seeing that Pan Pan Jixun had finished one sentence without a follow-up, Wan Gong hurriedly took over.

He pointed to the sandy beach below the dike and the river channel two miles away, pondered for a moment, and explained to the Emperor one by one: "Your Majesty, please look at this river channel; these four types of dikes are built here."

"That dike shaped like a half-moon is a moon dike, usually built in dangerous or thin sections, added inside or outside the dike to avoid raging waters."

"Those vertical dikes are grid dikes, one every one to three li, dividing the beach into squares to prevent water disasters from spreading when a certain section of the river breaches."

"What we are standing on is a remote dike, also known as the main dike, built slightly further from the river, perhaps one li away, or even two or three li, to constrict the water back into the channel when the autumn floodwaters rise."

"As for the thread dike, it is the opposite of the remote dike; it is the dike closest to the river channel. Your Majesty, please look at the dike closest to the river channel—that is the thread dike. It can narrow the river channel before the autumn floods arrive, in order to speed up the water flow and carry away the silt."

Zhu Zhu Yijun listened to Wan Gong's explanation and gave an enlightened "Oh."

Although he was a layman, explaining it with real objects made it easy to understand.

It was nothing more than the river channel, small dikes, sandy beaches, and large dikes arranged in sequence, with grid dikes cutting the sandy beach into a grid, and moon dikes reinforcing weak sections.

While they were talking, several young eunuchs, each carrying a bucket of water, came running back from the river beach and appeared in their line of sight.

Zhu Zhu Yijun beckoned, signaling the young eunuchs to come up to the overflow dam.

He withdrew his gaze and let it fall back onto Zhang Junlü: "So, thread dikes constrict the river channel, raise the water level, and naturally are the easiest to destroy."

"The Water Transport Office specifically assigned the Chief of the Riverway to build them, and over time, he ended up with the crime of dereliction of duty."

Zhang Junlü saw that the Emperor could distinguish right from wrong and choked with sobs: "Your Majesty is sagacious!"

Pan Pan Jixun, however, frowned and suddenly interjected: "In the sixth year of Emperor Wanli, the Riverway Governor's Office personally issued a document: from Fangcun to Shuanggou, abandon thread dikes and defend with remote dikes."

"Why did you ignore this and continue to build thread dikes?"

River management requires the accumulation of experience.

Pan Pan Jixun was no exception; he was always learning and innovating.

The "constricting the water to attack the sand" method in the second year of Emperor Wanli was only a general idea. Only when it was put into practice could the difficulties in engineering be discovered, especially the realization that thread dikes were useless.

Their effect of constricting water was too strong!

With the existing quality of engineering, thread dikes couldn't withstand the rapid water flow of the Yellow River. The collapse of thread dikes was something even gods couldn't save—"Thread dikes are built close to the riverbank, constricting the water too rapidly; every time the autumn floods arrive, they are breached."

That was why Pan Pan Jixun repeatedly issued documents: "From Gu Cheng to Qinghe, a remote dike should also be built; there is no need to discuss thread dikes anymore" and "The thread dikes at Fangcun are a waste of resources; do not build them."

He even wanted to actively open the dikes to release water and widen the river channel—"At Chacheng, measure the terrain and open the thread dikes to let the water flow inward."

This was the so-called "retreating from thread dikes to defend with remote dikes."

Under such clear orders, why was the Xu Prefecture river section still building thread dikes!?

The eyes of the high-ranking officials gathered on Zhang Junlü, who felt the pressure increase significantly and could only reluctantly reply: "The subordinate also questioned the Zhonghe Water Office about this."

"Li Li Minqing replied that Governor Pan issued the document in the sixth year of Emperor Wanli, but the thread dike projects of the past few years had been reported to the Ministry of Works earlier."

"The Ministry of Personnel's performance reviews, the Ministry of Works' materials, the Ministry of Revenue's funds, and the prefectural and county laborers—all were allocated according to this."

"It's hard to turn a big ship around; we could only finish what we started. Anyway, it didn't affect other engineering projects and didn't delay the main river management business."

Zhang Junlü paused: "My side was still considered okay. I heard rumors among the clerks that for the thread dikes in Xiaoxian, the materials and laborers were never allocated, and the thread dikes only existed in the official documents."

"When the autumn floods arrived, they would report that the thread dikes had been destroyed, and the intercepted money, grain, and labor costs would go into the pockets of the local officials."

"It's just that in other places, the four types of dikes were repaired together, and the construction of thread dikes was frequently changed hands, so when the number of destroyed dikes was divided, it seemed unremarkable."

A very reasonable explanation, so reasonable that everyone was silent.

The Emperor had let everyone hear how the river and canal transport in Xu Prefecture had been ruined; now there was at least an outline.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had long had a bottom line in his heart and didn't appear surprised.

★￠O

He walked toward the wooden buckets brought by the young eunuchs on his own.

Although the wooden buckets were placed on the ground, the water inside was still sloshing, and the silt was stirred up, making it muddy and unbearable.

Zhu Zhu Yijun took the opportunity to squat down, rolled up his sleeves, and reached into several wooden buckets one by one, stirring and feeling around.

Staring at it for a moment, Zhu Zhu Yijun stood up with a solemn expression—after the Yellow River passed the three floods, it was actually much clearer!

This was not a good thing.

Clear water meant that there was a huge amount of silt that couldn't pass through the three floods blocked by the rubble!

Such a huge amount of silt remaining in the Xu Prefecture region, silting up the river channel, raising the riverbed, and accelerating the water flow, subsequently causing the flooding of Xu Prefecture, was almost foreseeable.

No wonder in history, in the seventeenth year of Emperor Wanli, the imperial court had to dig the Yi River to make the canal bypass the Xu Prefecture river section and divert it from the Yellow River.

Zhu Zhu Yijun felt worried in his heart and already had ideas about this.

However, he didn't show it and just beckoned to Luo Luo Sigong, Li Li Rusong, and others who were standing guard around the revetment dike.

Luo Luo Sigong clearly had received the order long ago. As soon as the Emperor beckoned, he responded and turned around, starting to gather the Imperial Guards standing guard on the river dike.

Zhu Zhu Yijun stomped twice on the rammed-earth overflow dam of the remote dike, threw the sand and gravel he had been kneading into his hand down onto the sandy beach, and turned to look at Zhang Junlü, who had just joined the team: "Does Zhang Qing know how to ride?"

Seeing this, Zhang Junlü knew that the Emperor was about to start surveying the next section of the river.

He immediately straightened his back: "A student of the Son of Heaven—how could I dare to forget the Six Arts of a gentleman?"

The Tong Jinshi of this dynasty knew more than just the eight-legged essay; from astronomy and mathematics to riding, archery, and law, all were subjects they had to study.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded with satisfaction: "I want to head toward Niushikou and survey all the way along. I'll trouble Zhang Qing to lead the way for me."

The glory shone right on Zhang Junlü's face, and he naturally accepted the order with wild joy.

After the question and answer.

Not far away, Luo Luo Sigong had already led two hundred Imperial Guards, neat and uniform, and set off lightly toward Niushikou—clearly, this was again to clear the road and deploy defenses in advance.

Li Li Rusong led the remaining dozens of Imperial Guards, leading horses and donkeys, waiting outside the walkway.

Zhu Zhu Yijun took his mount, put on his helmet, and was the first to flip onto his horse.

The later ones rode horses, the old officials rode donkeys, and the young eunuchs rode with the Imperial Guards, quickly forming a line.

Before long, a large group of people and horses, moving slowly along the riverbank, looked like a winter tour.

The walkways on both sides of the Xu Prefecture river were not very wide and could only accommodate three riders in a row.

The momentum of the thirty-odd riders was not small, and the pedestrians on the road avoided them early on, fearing they would cause trouble.

Zhu Zhu Yijun held the reins, swaying on his horse, and continued the topic just now: "—So, the charges of 'illegal appointment of officials' and 'traitorous party' that Zhang Qing mentioned just now were also framed by others?"

"Illegal appointment of officials" actually meant unauthorized recruitment, not the kind of staff members, but privately appointing clerks and local militia without the imperial court's approval.

There was no need to mention the "traitorous party"—colluding with cliques and disrupting the imperial government. For a Chief of the Ministry of Works sent to the local area, it was actually the crime of destroying the local political ecology.

"It was both framed and a path to death I sought myself."

Zhang Junlü was leading the way in front. Hearing the Emperor's inquiry, he pulled on the reins so the Emperor behind him could hear more clearly.

Speaking of this charge, his tone sounded somewhat emotional: "Everyone above and below knows that I have deep grievances with Xu Prefecture Prefect Wu Wu Zhipeng."

"The laborers conscripted from the villages have always been a mix of good and bad. Under Wu Wu Zhipeng's coordination, the laborers sent to my river section were all old, weak, sick, or disabled."

"But this is a chronic disease of the villages since ancient times. The official documents from the prefectural Prefectural Yamen for conscripting laborers were flawless, so even if the construction period was delayed, I couldn't find any trouble with Wu Wu Zhipeng."

"But the autumn floods were urgent, so I had no choice but to recruit young and strong men myself, set up positions, and provide money and grain. Among them, besides good families, there was no lack of desperate outlaws."

"When the Hai Yushi on Inspection Li Li Shidi heard about this, he impeached me for 'buying the hearts of the people,' 'gathering young and strong men,' 'recruiting desperate outlaws,' and 'illegally appointing officials.'"

A river breeze with a muddy smell blew over, brushing across the Emperor's surprised face.

Li Li Shidi was afraid he wanted to kill the man; "recruiting desperate outlaws" and "illegally appointing officials" were the standard configuration for treason!

The corvée labor of the river and canal transport belonged to the heavy duties. Theoretically, they should be assigned to households of the upper and middle classes.

But in this dynasty, officials and wealthy families have always colluded, releasing the rich and taxing the poor. The young and strong of the upper and middle households were unwilling to serve, so the poor along the river were hired to take their place, and the old, weak, sick, and disabled were naturally indispensable.

Wu Wu Zhipeng packed them all up and sent them to Zhang Junlü; this coordination ability could also be considered a talent.

Added to Li Li Minqing's urging for progress and the urgent floods of the Yellow River, Zhang Junlü knew it was wrong but still drilled into it.

Li Li Shidi's impeachment—a crime of a "traitorous party" that "recruited desperate outlaws" and "illegally appointed officials"—was simply impossible to defend against.

No wonder Zhang Junlü claimed that various parties obstructed and plotted against him; the Water Transport Office, the prefectural and county Prefectural Yamen, and the censors were truly in perfect tacit understanding!

Zhu Zhu Yijun's thoughts were thousands of miles away, and he asked another obscure question: "Besides the laborers, you recruited more laborers. Were the funds and grain of the Riverway Office that abundant?"

"I look at the memorials submitted by the Water Transport Office in the past, and they always say that the money and grain for the river channel are stretched thin, barely maintaining, and the laborers are starving and living in hardship."

This question stunned Zhang Junlü.

He immediately reacted, his tone inexplicable: "As long as you don't stuff it into your own pockets, the money and grain distributed by the Ministry have always had a surplus."

The implication was obvious.

Zhu Zhu Yijun secretly thought, "As expected."

He shook his head and smiled: "Money is one thing, but how are the materials and grain generally handled?"

Zhang Junlü understood the implication.

To sell black-market goods, there naturally had to be channels. The Emperor was asking about the collusion between officials and merchants in Xu Prefecture.

But such behind-the-scenes matters were not something Zhang Junlü, this marginal figure, could know.

He pondered for a moment and replied in a speculative tone: "It's mostly the aristocratic families and wealthy merchants within the prefecture, colluding with each other for trade."

"For example, the Niushi Trading Firm operated by Niu Ji, a Tong Jinshi of the fourth year of Zhengton; the Sun family of Sun Heng, a Tong Jinshi of the fourteenth year of Chenghua; the Zhu family of Zhu Ganheng, a Tong Jinshi of the twentieth year of Emperor Jiajing; and the Li Trading Firm that moved from Shanxi thirty years ago—"

"They are all close to the prefectures and counties, undertaking business back and forth, and their momentum is like the Yellow River, rising day by day."

Zhang Junlü had suffered losses in the local area after all, and when he spoke of the local powerful families, he was like a family treasure.

During this time, Zhu Zhu Yijun inevitably heard familiar names and couldn't help but frown and ask: "Wasn't Zhang Zhang Heming only a Tong Jinshi in the fifth year of Emperor Wanli?"

"A seventh-rank censor for only three years and eight months, and he has already built up a prominent family!?"

Because of the expansion of the palace examination, starting from the cohort of Gu Assistant County Magistrate and Li Sancai in the second year of Emperor Wanli, the Tong Jinshi of each subsequent cohort were more or less ahead of time compared to history.

Wu Wu Zhipeng and Zhang Junlü, who should have passed the Tong Jinshi examination in the fifth year of Emperor Wanli, were ahead of time to the second year of Emperor Wanli.

Zhang Zhang Heming was the same; he should have passed in the eighth year of Emperor Wanli, but he ate the dividends and was ahead of time to the fifth year of Emperor Wanli.

But no matter how early it was, Zhang Zhang Heming was just a minor character in history—not the Zhang Zhang Heming who was from Yingzhou, courtesy name Yuanping, and became the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince in history, but the Zhang Zhang Heming who was from Xu Prefecture, courtesy name Fuyu, and reached the fifth rank at most in history.

In just three years, a minor character had built his family into a local powerful family. The corruption and decay were a bit too fast!

Wan Gong, who was following the Emperor, hesitated to speak.

He hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to interject, explaining tactfully: "Your Majesty, at the beginning of the New Policies, the Cabinet intended to gradually implement the taxation of the gentry."

"Thus, there were policies such as the exemption quota for retired officials, the 'old methods for old people, new methods for new people,' and policies that were gradually tightened."

Wan Gong paused, seemingly weighing his words: "Some Tong Jinshi who entered the officialdom after the Emperor Wanli reign began have quite a bit of resentment—"

When the words reached this point, Zhu Zhu Yijun naturally understood.

He couldn't help but sneer: "So the means of accumulating wealth are inevitably more rampant, right!?"

He was almost angered into laughter.

Nothing exists in isolation; the occurrence, change, and development of things are always connected to other things in one way or another.

It wasn't that people would just wait for death because of the Cabinet's clever idea of "new methods for new people" to divide the officialdom.

During this time, conscious and unconscious contradictions and resistance also had to constantly experience birth and death.

No dynasty lacks people like "I studied hard, and after I get ashore, I must figure out how to make money."

Just like this Zhang Zhang Heming—you won't give retirement privileges? I'll make enough while I'm in office!

Seeing that the Emperor was somewhat annoyed, Zhang Junlü tactfully cut off the topic.

Jiang Jiang Keqian, who had been following the Emperor, suddenly spoke up and took over the conversation: "Your Majesty, there is a village drinking ceremony at Niushikou tonight. The local gentry families and the river officials and prefectural officials of Xu Prefecture are mostly at the banquet. We might be able to see them later."

"9"

Zhu Zhu Yijun was stunned: "A village drinking ceremony?"

Although he had been on the throne for eight or nine years, he couldn't be clear about the ritual system, especially the local customs.

The village drinking ceremony was a ritual custom of the village officials in the Spring and Autumn period. He had only seen it in the "Book of Etiquette," and the dynasty had picked it up again?

The Secretariat Drafter Sun Sun Jigao explained appropriately: "Your Majesty, those who serve in a place and bring benefits to the people are called 'famous officials'; those who are born in a place and whose virtues, achievements, and learning are known to the world are called 'local worthies'."

"In the twelfth year of During Hongwu, the Taizu Emperor, in order to exempt retired officials from corvée labor and determine the order of respect, the Ministry of Rites subsequently used this to draft the village drinking ceremony of our dynasty."

"It is mostly led by the long-term officials of prefectures, departments, and counties, with one retired official with virtue from the village as the guest, choosing one who is old and virtuous as the main guest, followed by the secondary guest, the third guest, and the crowd of guests, meeting and drinking in the village school, treating them with the etiquette of guests."

Zhu Zhu Yijun realized—it was just public-funded eating and drinking to win over the local gentry.

The influence of prominent families in the local area cannot be ignored.

For example, after Li Huaxi retired, he often invited the county magistrate to his residence to talk about local people's livelihood, and the latter would enter and exit "crawling on the ground."

If there was any negative public opinion unfavorable to the Li family, the county Prefectural Yamen would investigate and raid the newspaper office even faster than hunting dogs.

According to the "Petition Accusing Xu Qianxue and Others of Exploiting the Local People and Poisoning the People," which was the original words of the petitioners, it was: "Usually serving the gentry like parents, and treating the gentry like heavenly emperors."

The team members of Xu Prefecture had no news after going up to Mount Mount Yunlong, so the remaining middle-level officials felt uneasy and took the opportunity to contact the gentry and inquire about the situation, which was perfectly normal.

Zhu Zhu Yijun asked casually: "Is the main guest of the village drinking ceremony today the local worthy Niu family?"

The so-called Niushikou was named after Niu Ji, a Tong Jinshi of the fourth year of Zhengton.

Zhu Zhu Yijun subconsciously guessed it was the Niu family.

Jiang Jiang Keqian shook his head: "Your Majesty, the Niu family is not worshipped as local worthies; they have already turned to business. The main guest of the village drinking ceremony today is the Sha family descendants."

Sha Li, a Tong Jinshi of the third year of Hongzhi, served as the Vice Hai Yushi of Guangxi, offended Liu Jin, was dismissed and returned, and was worshipped as a local worthy.

The Sha family could be said to be a family of local worthies.

Zhu Zhu Yijun said "Oh": "The Sha family, I know. I heard they have considerable influence in the river and canal transport, operating several trading firms and gangs, collectively called the 'Sha Family Gang,' making the people on both sides of the river complain."

The ancestors of the Sha family might have been good officials, but that didn't prevent their descendants from lying on the achievements of their ancestors to eat people. Even if they didn't enter the officialdom, they still had to get some titles like president or director to swallow some imperial assets and exploit the people, which was easy.

Don't ask how he knew; he heard it when passing through Pei County. From Xiaoxian to Xu Prefecture, his ears were calloused—these people not only stole and ate, but also smacked their lips loudly.

It was truly a collapse-style corruption, with all five poisons complete.

"What will our Great Ming Dynasty become?"

The Emperor sighed softly, leaving behind a heartfelt exclamation, which made the officials behind him look at each other in dismay.