Chapter 272: One Wave After Another, Speaking Irresponsibly

Beijing, the second month of winter.

Today is the Longevity Festival of the Empress Dowager Cishang; most court officials went to the Longzong Gate early to starve and freeze, waiting to pay their respects to Empress Dowager Li.

It is said that most of them, because the officials of the ministries and courts were busy with official business and could not separate themselves, only sent the congratulatory memorials personally, and then turned to the Wenhua Hall to continue the morning court discussion.

"Digging the Yi River?"

Li Youzi, Vice Minister of Revenue, because of his illness, often traveled between the court meeting and the latrine. As soon as he returned to the hall, he caught up with the matter of adding the river.

Zhang Juzheng did not drag his feet, standing at the head of the left column, facing his colleagues and getting straight to the point: "The discussion of adding the river has had one wave after another. Now, after His Majesty's personal investigation, there is finally a conclusion."

The discussion of the Yi River, from the first proposal in the fourth year of Longqing, has been more than ten years, and the saying of one wave after another is truly appropriate.

However, Hai Yushi-in-Chief Hai Rui had spent most of his life in the locality and was not clear about the origins of many issues in the center.

He asked cautiously: "The Grand Secretary calls it a conclusion; for such a major national event, shouldn't it go through court deliberation?"

The Emperor's southern tour naturally prepared a team; the Cabinet's ticket-drafting and the Directorate of Ceremonial's red-batching were fine in terms of procedure.

But the problem is.

Opening a new river, costing millions of taels of silver, conscripting hundreds of thousands of laborers, involving people on both sides of the river, and several government offices; shouldn't the scope of such a massive project be more extensive?

Just sending a "conclusion" back to Beijing, what is this?

Although Zhang Juzheng had complaints about the Emperor promoting Hai Rui to the position of Hai Yushi-in-Chief, he still maintained sufficient respect and politeness on the surface: "The Hai Yushi is unaware."

"The discussion of the Yi River started in the Longqing years, and until today, it has never stopped."

"Unfortunately, most of it is paper talk, castles in the air, so that the court officials argue endlessly and it is difficult to reach a conclusion."

"His Majesty has already said in advance that without investigation, there is no right to speak."

"This southern tour, His Majesty led Vice Minister of Works Wan Gong, Canal Administrator Pan Jixun, former Canal Administrator Fu Xizhi, and Director of the Water Department Liu Dongxing and others, personally stepped through Xuzhou and both sides of the Yi River, and only then brought up the old matter again."

Hai Rui was relieved and silently returned to the ranks.

There were many court officials like Hai Rui who did not understand the river situation, and they all looked at Zhu Heng for answers.

Zhu Heng, as Minister of Works, naturally took the lead and took the initiative to step out: "According to His Majesty's estimate, the river-adding project is 260 li long, and after the full line is connected and navigable, stone gates, stations, and government offices will be relocated, with a total cost of 800,000 taels—"

As soon as the words were spoken, a burst of whispering sounded in the Wenhua Hall.

Li Youzi, Vice Minister of Revenue, frowned and couldn't help but question: "Grand Minister of Works, look carefully, is it really 800,000 taels?"

"This official still remembers that in the fifth year of Longqing, Minister Zhu and Vice Minister Wan personally surveyed the Yi River and said that just digging the giant rocks at the bottom of the water would cost more than five million taels."

"Full navigation would cost more than ten million taels of silver!"

The Ministry of Revenue was very sensitive to project costs.

Involving national projects, the Ministry of Works' savings treasury was never enough to spend; the previous dredging and port construction of sea transport had taken hundreds of thousands of taels from the national treasury.

If Zhu Heng missed a digit, the national treasury would be emptied by Zhu Heng.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng, at the head of the column, intervened appropriately: "We are sitting at home, Grand Minister of Works, please bear with us and start from the beginning."

Compared to quoting the Emperor's "no investigation, no right to speak," "sitting at home" here means almost the same thing.

Zhang Juzheng said this twice, not without complaints.

Regarding the discussion of adding the river, the court had been arguing for more than ten years, each confident and speaking with certainty.

Now that the Emperor's investigation report is out, I know how absurd these people's intracranial governance is.

I don't know how one can not be deceived by the irresponsible talk of those below while holding a high position?

Looking at it this way, the southern tour, which was previously regarded as frivolous, now has a few more points of recognition.

Zhu Heng nodded and greeted the Supervising Secretary to pass the case files brought by the Ministry of Works to his colleagues.

He himself narrated: "In September of the fourth year of Longqing, the Yellow River breached at Pizhou, and the Huai River to Qiligou was silted for more than ten li, and the ancestral tombs in Sizhou were also facing siltation."

"The root cause is the siltation of the three floods in Xuzhou, the Yellow River cannot pass, the water potential accumulates, and it overflows."

"At that time, I proposed to divert the Yellow River, guiding the flood from Suzhou to Xiaofuqiao in Xuzhou, reducing the siltation of the river."

"The river administration office Weng Dali then proposed on this basis that since we want to divert the flood, why not go a step further and open the old Yellow River channel in Yugou Town (now Huaiyin, Jiangsu) to divert the Yellow River."

Everyone didn't interrupt and listened to Zhu Heng's narration.

These discussions on the general direction, not involving specific projects, were all clear to the court officials.

Although Weng Dali was punished by the Emperor, his status as the initiator of the new river did not need to be avoided.

However, from September to April of the following year, Weng Dali only discussed but did not govern, talking about big plans all day, but did not start diverting the flood, and the people on both sides of the river were resentful, and he was impeached by Song Liangzuo, then a Supervising Secretary in the Ministry of Revenue, and transferred to the Ministry of Justice.

Feeling the eyes of his colleagues.

Song Liangzuo, who had been promoted to Temple Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, coughed lightly and did not spare the knife: "Weng Dali talked about everything, his belly was empty, money, grain, route, laborers, he didn't calculate anything, how can he be considered an initiator."

Whipping the corpse is a must.

Otherwise, if Weng Dali was far-sighted at that time, what would he, the official who impeached him, become?

Zhu Heng wanted his colleagues to look at the old employees of the Ministry of Works dialectically, but was topped back by Song Liangzuo, and immediately knew that his words were inappropriate.

He sighed silently and had to follow Song Liangzuo's words and continue: "That being said, the discussion of the new river did not stop."

"In the fifth year of Longqing, the Yellow River breached again, and the river administration office discussed again, Xuzhou was silted, it is better to open the Yi River, separating the Yellow River and the Canal, so that it can slow down the Yellow River's water potential and keep the canal transport safe."

"The route starts from Majiaqiao (now Weishan, Shandong), passes through Weishan Lake, Chishan Lake, Lvmeng Lake, Gexuling (now Weishan, Shandong), Liangcheng (now Pizhou, Jiangsu), etc., to Yikou Bay, and then passes through Hamang Lake (now Zaozhuang, Shandong) to the straight river mouth of Pizhou."

"This bypasses the three floods of Xuzhou, and it is also the most silted section of the Yellow River, and the canal goes directly from Shandong, through Yikou, into Xuzhou."

As soon as Zhu Heng said this, Wang Zongyi, Minister of Rites, seemed to remember something and realized: "The Ministry of Rites has records of this."

"At that time, Luo Zun, a left supervising secretary of the Ministry of Rites, took leave and went to Xuzhou and the Yi River area alone to survey the people's feelings."

"After returning to Beijing, he wrote three memorials and presented them to Emperor Mu."

"One said that the giant rocks under the water in Liangcheng Bay are huge and difficult to dig; two said that the construction of dikes in Hamang Lake, Zhouliu Lake, etc., is huge in cost and difficulty;"

"Three said that the river administration office was derelict in its duties, even if dikes were built around lakes like Weishan and Lvmeng, it was necessary to open Gexuling and Dibin Ditch to drain water at the same time, but the plan was in order, which shows how perfunctory the planning was."

Luo Zun is still very capable.

If it weren't for this practical work, how could he have been protected by Emperor Mu after impeaching Gao Gong for ten crimes?

Zhu Heng nodded lightly: "After Emperor Mu heard this, he immediately ordered the Ministry of Works to re-survey, and Wan Gong and I went personally."

He looked at Li Youzi, Vice Minister of Revenue, and pointed out the source of the number mentioned by the latter: "It was also this survey that Wan Gong replied to Emperor Mu, saying that in Houjiawan, Liangcheng, giant rocks of immense size stretched for dozens of li, and if we wanted to dig them open, it would cost at least more than five million taels."

It's not that the project is difficult, but mainly there is no money.

Just in Liangcheng alone, it would cost five million taels, and the whole river would be unimaginable.

At that time, the empty national treasury could barely pay salaries, and facing such an astronomical figure, the Ministry of Works had to follow the trend and turned from advocacy to opposition.

Hearing this, the court officials were even more puzzled.

Even Hai Rui's steel face couldn't help but show a puzzled expression: "Since the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works surveyed it one after another, and it cost more than ten million."

"How did His Majesty use such divine craftsmanship to suddenly drop it to 800,000 taels?"

It was only because the current Emperor had always been steady in his actions that Hai Rui could ask seriously.

If it were the Wanli Emperor, everyone would be wondering if he was like Emperor Qinzong, believing in people like Guo Jing, and wanting to use the Six Dings and Six Jias to dig the river.

Zhu Heng was about to speak, but saw Zhang Juzheng looking over, so he silently gave up the right to speak.

Zhang Juzheng took over the conversation and said unhurriedly: "Around the first year of Wanli, I heard that the imperial flood control in the Huai and Si areas was very poor, and I was at a loss, so I wrote to Canal Administrator Fu Xizhi to discuss it."

"In the letter, he said that the siltation carried by the Yellow River is the main cause of the siltation of the canal, especially in Xuzhou, where the river bed is silted higher than when he took over from Weng Dali in the fifth year of Longqing, far exceeding the speed of dredging the canal."

"In addition, the manpower and material resources on both sides of the river are already exhausted to support the year-round work of blocking the river and building dams. If this continues, not only the canal transport, the ancestral tombs of Sizhou, but even the fertile land of Su and Yang will be in danger."

"He requested the Cabinet with tears and blood to see if the Yi River could be opened."

"I immediately presented this to His Majesty."

"But the discussion of adding the river in the fifth year of Longqing was a warning, and His Majesty had not yet personally governed at that time, so he gave a hand-written edict to Fu Xizhi to survey step by step before reporting."

In the end, project argumentation goes through a long period of time, repeated discussions, whether open or secret.

Don't think of our Wanli Emperor as too bizarre.

Zhu Heng explained: "Afterwards, Fu Xizhi refined the plan of the Ministry of Works in the fifth year of Longqing and adapted it to local conditions."

"He abandoned the project of crossing Lvmeng, Weishan, and other lakes in the original plan, and started construction from the mouth of the Quan River, picking and digging southeast along the original line to avoid construction in the lake."

"The hard rocks in Gexuling, Houjiawan, Liangcheng, and other places were dug and opened, lowering the water level to expose the giant rocks, and then construction was carried out, while avoiding the main stone areas, only dealing with the key area of about 80 zhang."

"According to estimates, the labor cost is about 400 taels, and more than 40 stonemasons—"

As the words fell, the officials in the Wenhua Hall were dumbfounded.

Dropped from five million taels to four hundred taels?

How much was saved? A national treasury of silver!

It turns out it wasn't the Emperor's divine craftsmanship, but Fu Xizhi's ingenious work!

"—In addition, in the section from Pizhou to Qinghe, the old road can be used, among which Zhao Xian Village to Maling Mountain has sand and stone, but the difficulty of digging is small, and Chenjiazhuang to Dahekou has old rivers that can be dredged, which is convenient for lake water to drain into the Huai."

"In short, the new route from the mouth of the Quan River to Dahekou is more than 530 li long, avoiding the crux, and shortening the original canal route by more than 80 li."

"The cost used dropped from ten million taels to more than one million taels."

The exclamations in the hall came one after another.

Yao Hongmo, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was the first to react and hurriedly asked: "Since this is the case, why wasn't this matter discussed in court at that time, but instead Fu Xizhi was dismissed?"

The officials of the Ministry of Personnel didn't care about the project, but they remembered the personnel appointments very clearly.

As soon as this was said, the officials of the ministries and courts also woke up.

Back then, Fu Xizhi was not dismissed because of illness, but was dismissed by an imperial decree without any face.

Such punishment clearly was not the attitude towards a capable official—Fu Xizhi's proposal must have had problems!

Before Zhu Heng could speak, Hou Yuzhao, Libationer of the Imperial Academy, suddenly interjected: "Because His Majesty subsequently ordered the Ministry of Works to re-examine."

Everyone looked at Hou Yuzhao one after another.

They immediately remembered that around the first year of Wanli, Hou the Libationer was the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Works.

Since it was time to declassify the secret edict, Hou Yuzhao didn't need to wait for Zhu Heng to distribute the Ministry of Works' archives.

He recalled the report he had written with his own hands on the spot: "In June of the first year, the Ministry of Works, together with Zhang Chun, a Director of the Ministry of Works, Feng Mingong, a Councilor of Shandong, and Fan Kezhai, a Vice Prefect of Yanzhou, re-surveyed from the mouth of the Quan River to Dahekou, a total length of more than 530 li."

"The first section, from the water surface of the mouth of the Quan River to the top of Xingyi Ridge, is two zhang, four chi, and five cun high, and the river needs to be deepened and picked by one zhang, and the Xingyi Ridge section needs to be dug to three zhang and five chi."

"It cost 382,039 taels and 4 mace of silver, which is 130,000 taels more than what Fu Xizhi estimated."

"The second section, from Xingyi River to Chahekou, digging deep four zhang and four chi; the project of digging mud and making dikes at the mouth of the Quan River, 10 li long; the dredging and picking project below Qingu, 23 li and 70 zhang—avoiding below Taierzhuang, to the picking project of Chahekou, 13 li long."

"It cost 1,345,182 taels and 1 mace of silver, which is more than 610,000 taels more than what Fu Xizhi estimated."

"—"

"In addition, from Liangcheng to Matiwan, there are many dark stones at the bottom of the water. After the river water is drained, the stone slabs at the bottom of the river are exposed, 550 zhang long."

"Not the 80 zhang that Fu Xizhi said."

"The above picking river project, dike building project, and gate dam building project cost a total of 3,976,708 taels of silver."

Hou Yuzhao paused and shrugged at his colleagues: "This doesn't count the labor cost of widening the river, thickening the river bed, and relocating government offices after completion."

"Although it is far less than the ten million taels discussed in the fifth year of Longqing, it is not the more than one million that Fu Xizhi falsely claimed could be built."

"With such a big difference, it naturally couldn't be discussed in court."

The court officials listened to Hou Yuzhao's detailed data, and comparing it with the archives kept by the Ministry of Works, there was indeed no room for questioning.

That's no wonder, that's no wonder.

How poor was the first year of Wanli? At that time, they were building ships and opening the sea. Several ports in Tianjin and Huai'an were all built in installments.

If they had listened to Fu Xizhi's suggestion, there would have been a hole of several million taels, and things would have inevitably gone wrong.

I don't know how scared the Cabinet was at that time. The re-survey was completed at the end of the first year of Wanli, and Lv Diaoyang dismissed Fu Xizhi at the end of the month. In August, Gao Yi directly recommended Pan Jixun to the Emperor, without giving Fu Xizhi any chance to argue. (Chapter 128)

Hearing this, Hai Rui couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder the Grand Secretary said one wave after another earlier."

Clear investigation in the Longqing years, dark visit in the first year of Wanli, and this time the Emperor personally investigated, it was already the third time discussing the river.

If Emperor Shizong had put his mind to governing the country instead of cultivating the Tao, I think it would have been nothing more than this.

Li Youzi didn't care about one wave after another, just wanted to confirm how much money it would cost: "Since the previous Ministry of Works items were clear and carefully listed that it would cost nearly four million taels."

"How did His Majesty reduce it to 800,000 taels? Could it be that he was deceived by Fu Xizhi again?"

Li Youzi, nicknamed "Three Pots Minister," perhaps because frequent urination harms people, making his thinking a bit sluggish.

Song Liangzuo, Temple Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, reminded: "The Grand Secretary relayed His Majesty's virtue, claiming that the river project is 260 li long, which is half less than the 530 li calculated by Fu Xizhi, so it must have been avoided again."

As expected of a court official who had participated in the river discussion, he was much more sensitive.

Project cost is not calculated proportionally. Reducing the project by more than two hundred li must have used more old rivers and avoided more engineering difficulties.

Zhang Juzheng cast an appreciative look at Song Liangzuo and nodded: "Exactly."

"It is indeed a change of river channel. The starting point was moved further south from the mouth of the Quan River, starting directly from the border of Jining and Pei County, Xiazhen, to dig."

"Southeast through Hanzhuang, Taierzhuang, Yikou, and ahead of schedule into the Yellow and Huai rivers at the straight river mouth of Pizhou."

"The project is divided into three sections. The first section, from the Peng River branch canal, leads the flow into Xiazhen, connects to Hanzhuang, and opens the flow paths of Weishan Lake, Chishan Lake, Zhaoyang Lake, Peng River, Shu River, etc."

"The total length is 40 li, estimated to cost 50,000 taels, conscripting 10,000 laborers, taking five months."

"The second section, from Xiliuzhuang (now Tengzhou, Shandong) to Hanzhuang, merges with the first section, and opens the Houjiawan and Liangcheng to Kouhe sections."

"The total length is 45 li, estimated to cost 100,000 taels, conscripting 50,000 laborers, taking two months."

"The third section, from Yikou to the straight river mouth of Pizhou, this section is naturally formed."

"Together with full-line dredging, dike building, and gate dam building, it costs 500,000 taels, 100,000 laborers, taking one year."

"The canal transport is led to this point in one year and seven months, with a total length of 260 li, costing 650,000, and the full line is connected. Together with the subsequent deep river bed building and relocation of government offices, it costs a total of 800,000 taels, taking two years."

Although the child prodigy is old, he is still an old child prodigy, and he can recite the route and accounts by heart.

Speaking of this, the court officials finally had a concept of the river-adding project.

Some people were deeply convinced on the spot and clapped in surprise.

Some people were even more puzzled, frowning and thinking.

Pan Sheng, Minister of Justice, generally does not participate in the discussion of such matters, but at this moment, he felt a bone in his throat.

He reminded tactfully: "Grand Secretary, adapting to local conditions and remaking the canal is naturally in line with the Way of Heaven."

"It's just this labor cost—is it a bit too optimistic?"

"The total length is 40 li, costing 50,000 taels, which is unheard of."

No, dredging 260 li of river channel, everyone believes in saving money, but this cost is 800,000 taels, isn't it a bit too trusting in the integrity of our Great Ming officials?

Back then, in the 45th year of Jiajing, the new river in Xiazhen was opened, from south of Nanyang, east to Xiacun, and east to Liucheng, a total of 141 li, how much did it cost?

Two million three hundred and seventy thousand taels!

Especially this first section, 40 li, 50,000 taels, it's a bit too ridiculous—50,000 taels is not enough for a Director to embezzle!

Most of the court officials have no concept of the cost of such projects, but they are deeply convinced of the embezzlement ability of their colleagues, and they all look at Zhu Heng.

Zhu Heng didn't answer, spread his hands, and looked at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng hesitated for a moment and touched his chin: "His Majesty intends to hand over this section to Shu Yinglong for supervision. Shu Gong's integrity is rare in the world, and he will certainly live up to expectations."

Old Zhang's expression seemed a bit unconfident.

Of course, it's not that he is unconfident in Shu Yinglong, but the wording in the Emperor's letter is too exaggerated.

Saying that the 40-li Hanzhuang branch canal, Shu Yinglong only used more than 38,000 taels, and the project was completed in less than five months, so giving 50,000 taels now is more than enough.

It makes it seem like he can know the future, which is truly shameful, even if it's the Emperor's original words, he can't say it.

Thinking that the Emperor's certainty is not reliable, Zhang Juzheng had to make his own claim to give his colleagues a reassurance: "Don't worry too much about the funds."

"Chen Wude punished corruption in Xuzhou, and before the trial was concluded, he had already confiscated 900,000 taels of cash."

"Taken from the people, used for the people, the stolen money is just used as the river project funds, no need to dispatch the national treasury."

Hearing that there was no need for the national treasury to pay, Li Youzi let out a long sigh of relief.

Dirty penalty silver, that's fine.

He immediately regained his spirit and hurriedly expressed his position: "Canal transport corruption, two million may not be enough to complete the project, but now that the discipline is rectified, 800,000 is more than enough!"

Several supervising secretaries of the Ministry of Revenue followed closely and clapped in praise.

Whether it's enough or not, don't ask the Ministry of Revenue for money.

In this way, the Emperor's personal survey, the river officials' discussion, the Cabinet's tacit approval, and the Ministry of Revenue's praise, it is naturally a settled matter.

Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng nodded with satisfaction: "Since this is the case, after the meeting, the ministries and courts will coordinate this matter."

Zhu Heng naturally didn't need to be ordered; the Ministry of Works was currently discussing the matter and could refine the Emperor's plan before the New Year.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Yao Hongmo, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and arranged personnel directly: "Reinstate former Canal Administrator Fu Xizhi as Vice Hai Yushi-in-Chief, with full authority to supervise the Yi River project."

"Director of the Water Department Liu Dongxing was transferred to Director of the Water Department of the Zhonghe, preparing for the second section of the Yi River."

"Promote Li Hualong, Magistrate of Leshan County, to Investigating Hai Yushi of Southern Zhili, to assist in the river administration."

"Change Supervising Secretary Xiao Liangyou to the position of Manager of Xiazhen, Zhonghe, to immediately recruit laborers—"

A series of personnel appointments were spat out from Zhang Juzheng's mouth.

After Zhang Juzheng returned to the court, Yao Hongmo, this Vice Minister of Personnel, began to look at others' faces again, and in addition to accepting everything, he could only fill in the gaps: "Grand Secretary, instead of setting up Fu Xizhi to supervise the Yi River, why not let Pan Administrator concurrently lead it?"

Anyway, the ones doing the specific work are Shu Yinglong, Liu Dongxing, and others, so there is no need to set up a Governor.

Streamlining administration is not it.

Zhang Juzheng shook his head: "The Yellow River and the Canal are separated, and the water potential will inevitably be greatly reduced."

The Grand Secretary is steady, and the words are not clear.

Yao Hongmo was stunned for a while before he realized.

Pan Jixun wants to bind the water to attack the sand; for the river project of separating the Yellow and Canal and weakening the water potential, he may not be happy to see it!

Strictly speaking, this is the dispute over the route of the river administration office.

No wonder the Emperor didn't use Pan Jixun and went around a big circle to reuse Fu Xizhi!

Everyone couldn't help but look at Zhu Heng. Pan Jixun and Fu Xizhi each have their own merits, and the outcome is difficult to distinguish. If the Emperor still wants to use these two people, he can't do without this old Minister to suppress the middle.

When will Zhu Heng, this Minister of Works, vacate his position?

People who want to climb up have many ideas, but there are also many pure officials.

Hai Rui only grasped the key points from the Grand Secretary's surface words and worried about the world's worries: "Grand Secretary, the Yellow and Canal are separated, where will the people on both sides go?"

This sounds obscure, mainly involving ancestors.

In the past, river governance was based on Emperor Xiaozong's guiding ideology: "The ancients governed the river to remove the harm of the people; today's river governance is afraid of hindering the canal transport," so it had to be governed.

Now that the canal has been changed to the Yi River, according to Xiaozong's saying, then the Yellow River doesn't matter whether it is governed or not, anyway, it doesn't infringe on the property of the canal.

But you can't be an official without a conscience.

Zhang Juzheng reached out and pressed down, signaling Hai Rui not to be impatient: "After His Majesty finished discussing the Xuzhou matter, he had already rushed to the estuary of Haizhou in Huai'an to survey Yuntiguan."

"In the future, the affairs of the Yellow River will still be entrusted to Pan Jixun, who will use his life carefully."

The Emperor rushed from Xuzhou to Huai'an, exhausted, to survey the estuary. With this dusty appearance, how could he abandon the Yellow River?

Moreover, after the Xuzhou meeting, the political pattern of the Ministry of Works on the river administration was generally formed. Fu Xizhi governs the canal, isn't Pan Jixun more energetic to govern the Yellow River?

Hearing that the Emperor's attitude was correct, Hai Rui said "Your Majesty's benevolence" according to etiquette, and there was no doubt.

However, this question and answer, mentioning the people, caused a topic.

Zhang Heming, a Hai Yushi of the Sichuan Circuit from Xuzhou, couldn't help but sigh: "It is the livelihood of a million canal workers; changing it easily will inevitably cause inconvenience."

Some people mention the people, that is really caring for the people.

But Zhang Heming is clearly not among them.

He stood at the end of the column, although he was low-ranking, his voice was very loud: "I heard from former Ministry of Revenue Director Wang that the transfer of the canal route will cause the livelihood of merchants and people to fall through."

"In Xuzhou, there are complaints, and they are accusing the court."

"Even the kind old man Director Wang has many complaints."

"Grand Secretary, although His Majesty has a golden mouth, as the Hai Yushi said, shouldn't we discuss it more extensively?"

His Zhang family finally relied on the canal transport to operate a few acres of houses, but he didn't expect that without even saying hello, he wanted to change the cage and change the bird.

Simply bullying people too much!

If things don't go well, he will definitely record this matter in his collection, so that later generations will know how Xuzhou became poor!

The court officials heard this and looked at each other.

Hai Rui and Zhu Heng looked at each other, and it took a lot of effort not to roll their eyes.

Fortunately, Zhang Juzheng had enough cultivation, unmoved, frowned and said in a deep voice: "Could it be that Hai Yushi Zhang was deceived by treacherous people?"

"Xuzhou is a heavy town of canal transport. The ferries, ports, and shops along the line are the opportunities for the people to survive. How could His Majesty not know?"

"After changing the canal route, in order to avoid the people losing their livelihood and wandering, after many experiments and surveys by the Water Department, His Majesty has already decided with the ministries and courts."

"Build cement on a large scale! Abandon the three-in-one soil, and build a large official road that connects the two capitals of the north and south and accommodates four carriages with cement as the base."

"Its hub is Xuzhou!"

"Once this matter came out, not only were the people of Xuzhou happy, but even the old Director Wang, under the inspiration of His Majesty, voluntarily destroyed his family to relieve the disaster, widely recruited gentry, and built a cement factory on the original site of the Water Department."

"The gentry and worthies are afraid that Xuzhou will fail and become a sinner in history, and they are determined to contribute their meager strength to the rebirth of Xuzhou."

"Now Xuzhou is up and down, and they are all preparing for the big official road in full swing, so why would they complain?"

Zhang Heming was stunned, as if he hadn't reacted to what Zhang Juzheng meant.

After a long while, he instinctively opened his mouth: "Ah?" ===== CHAPTER 273 =====

"Now that everyone in Xuzhou, from top to bottom, is busily preparing for the Great Official Road, why would they hold any resentment?"

Zhang Heming was stunned upon hearing this, seemingly failing to grasp the meaning behind Zhang Juzheng's words.

After a long while, he instinctively opened his mouth wide: "Ah?"