Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4065
Li Zhi nodded, knowing that the current situation is complicated, and it is better to be still than to move, so as not to be more difficult to get off.

But he also has his own worries and extravagant hopes: "The Shandong family...have they revealed anything to you?"

The Guanlongmen faction suffered a crushing defeat and had to completely withdraw from the court in exchange for His Majesty Li Er's forgiveness. As a result, many real power departments above the court were vacant. The alliance of the two great powers has been suppressed since entering the Tang Dynasty.

Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, nearly 30 years of exclusion and suppression have made the two big alliances closely related in private and kept together for warmth. Now that they have recovered suddenly, they naturally support and help each other.

But at the moment of interest, no one can guarantee that this unity can continue forever. For example, when the Jiangnan gentry supports him, the King of Jin, whether the Shandong family will follow up...

This is extremely important to Li Zhi. Once the two upstarts form a unified opinion, advance and retreat together, and fully support him in fighting for reserves, there is great hope of success.

Even if the father forbids the ministers to connect with the prince in private to participate in the battle for the reserve, it is impossible to ignore the momentum of the two powerful forces joining forces.

Xiao Yu looked worried, shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "Those people in Shandong are probably used to living in poor villages and remote areas. Be of one mind with me."

Li Zhi was silent.

This is actually normal. The so-called "people do not kill themselves for themselves", the Shandong family has been excluded from the center for too long, and the desire for power is unattainable. "A hundred birds in the forest are not as good as a bird in the hand." From the power of the dragon, it is better to hold the real power in your hands now.

For example, if Zhang Xingcheng is in charge of one of the six ministries, the Ministry of War, the real power department, the most important thing is to hold all the power in the department, how can he support him, the King of Jin, at the risk of offending His Majesty and angering the King of Wei?
*****
Just as Li Zhi and Xiao Yu were worried, the entire Shandong family is now focusing on obtaining official positions in the imperial court and consolidating the power they have acquired.

The first to bear the brunt was Zhang Xingcheng.

Although the Ministry of War was originally one of the six ministries, due to the lack of the right to deploy troops, the name does not match the reality. It has been reduced to a support department that focuses on logistics and supplies. It is even inferior to the Ministry of Industry. After all, the latter is in charge of the construction and maintenance of palaces and cities in the world. , The fat is fat, and although the Ministry of War has weapons supervision and other departments under it, it has to be supervised by many parties, which is really tasteless.

However, since Fang Jun took office, he began to make drastic reforms to the internal affairs of the Ministry of War. At the same time, relying on the favor of His Majesty Li Er and his own strong strength, the power of the Ministry of War was gradually expanded, and he even proposed to set up a "Military Aircraft Office" to become one of the Ministers of Military Aircraft with the post of Secretary of the Ministry of War. .

As a result, the Ministry of War has leapt to become the real power yamen second only to the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

As long as the authority of the Shangshu of the Ministry of War is completely collected, not only will the strength of the Shandong family increase greatly, but Zhang Xingcheng will also become the banner figure of the Shandong family.

However, it is extremely difficult to grasp the power of the Ministry of War...

……

Early in the morning, Zhang Xingcheng drove to the Yamen of the Ministry of War.

The original yamen had been destroyed by the war, and the new department hall was built on the original site, but it did not cut corners, and it was built in a very grand style.It's just that due to the short construction period and many decorations that have not been completed, it looks grand and majestic, but it is actually simple everywhere...

When he came to the duty room, Zhang Xingcheng tidied up his clothes, sat down behind the desk meticulously, and handed over several powerful figures in the department.

Not long after, Cui Dunli, Guo Fushan, Liu Shi and others came one after another.

The scribe offered fragrant tea and exited the door...

Zhang Xingcheng smiled warmly, invited everyone to drink tea, and briefly talked about some departmental affairs, all his subordinates also cooperated, and they seemed to get along very well.

But he knew that this was because he hadn't touched the core interests, otherwise it would definitely lead to rejection and backlash. His Minister of the Ministry of War looked majestic, but he was actually just a puppet erected...

After drinking a cup of tea, Zhang Xingcheng coughed lightly, and looked at Liu Xun: "Most of the foundry bureau has been rebuilt, and some workshops have resumed production. I don't know the types and quantities of ordnance produced every day?"

Liu Xun quickly put down his teacup, with a respectful expression: "The foundry bureau was almost razed to the ground, the craftsmen were dispersed, and the equipment was damaged. In fact, it can be restored in a short while? The daily production volume is almost negligible."

Zhang Xingcheng's face froze. Sure enough, as soon as the core interests were touched, he began to resist and repel...

He held back his breath: "No matter how small, there must be a number, right? I am the Minister of the Ministry of War, and I have the right to investigate any affairs in the Ministry. I need to know the situation of ordnance production, and I must distribute the produced ordnance to various armies in a reasonable manner." Middle. Now you are ambiguous, what exactly do you want?"

He knew that the Ministry of War was Fang Jun's territory, and even if he became the Minister of the Ministry of War, he could not follow the law with his arms and words. Even if you instruct a scribe in normal times, you have to think twice, otherwise you may be rejected face to face, losing face...

This is his current situation in the Ministry of War. Every day, he is highly respected by his subordinates, but he can't get involved in the affairs of the Ministry of War.

Originally, this situation should be solved gradually, but Fang’s family held a banquet to stay warmly, and he was humiliated by Fang Jun when he left without invitation. Hold the reins.

So today, uncharacteristically, a little aggressive.

Liu Shi mumbled and lowered his head.

Zhang Xingcheng ignored Liu Shi, this person is Jin Wang's wife and brother-in-law, but he is Fang Er's lackey, so he looked at Cui Dunli: "What did Minister Cui say?"

Although his "airborne" military department actually blocked Cui Dunli's way, both parties belonged to the Shandong family. Shouldn't they abandon their previous suspicions and unanimously speak out at this time?

Cui Dunli was drinking tea slowly at the side, put down his teacup when he heard the sound, and said with a submissive attitude, "Zhang Shangshu, don't embarrass Mr. Liu. The Foundry Bureau is an important place in the Ministry of War. The land is extremely vast, there are many houses, and many water conservancy machines need to be repaired, and the reconstruction funds are currently stretched. You are our Shangguan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and you are duty-bound to solve the funding gap at this time."

Zhang Xingcheng held his breath in his chest, and smiled angrily.

The officer asked you to mediate and assist me in controlling the military department. Instead of cooperating, you arranged an extremely difficult task for me?

Also let me solve the funding?
motherfucker!

But let's get angry, he also knows that Fang Jun runs the military department like an iron barrel, and he can only take it slowly if he wants to completely control the military department, and he can't rush it.Moreover, if the head of a department wants to control everything, it is inevitable to establish prestige, and the best way to establish prestige is naturally to solve difficult problems.

Although he didn't know how much money it would cost to rebuild the Foundry Bureau, he also knew that it must be a huge figure. After all, it was an important department for developing firearms and equipping the entire army.

The rich and powerful families in Shandong, each with deep background and countless money, if they can help him control the Ministry of War, they will surely give generously.

Furthermore, as long as money and silk are injected into the Foundry Bureau, then the reconstruction of the Foundry Bureau will be in the hands, and it is not difficult to properly arrange cronies to achieve the goal of completely controlling the Foundry Bureau...

In adversity, lies opportunity.

He cheered up, ignored Cui Dunli's difficulties, and asked instead: "How much money and silk will it take to rebuild the casting bureau?"

Cui Dunli stroked his beard under his chin, avoided answering, and turned to look at Liu Shi: "Since the foundry bureau was built, Mr. Liu has been in charge of managing it. He has worked hard and knows everything about the foundry bureau... For the money needed for rebuilding, you have to ask Liu Langzhong."

Liu Xun understood, and said respectfully: "Probably 50 guan is needed."

"what?!"

Zhang Xingcheng stared at Liu Xun with wide eyes, "Five...50?"

Are you wrong, or do you think I'm stupid?
Now relying on the prosperous sea trade and the reform of commercial taxation, the central finance of the empire has made a huge leap, which is almost five times that of the early days of the founding of the country.But even so, the annual income of the central wealth is only more than [-] million yuan... Rebuilding a casting bureau actually costs one-eighth of the empire's annual wealth?
Simply ridiculous.

Deceiving too much!

He questioned the angry expression of the family, which actually aroused the dissatisfaction of his subordinates...

Liu Xun said with a bitter face: "The lower officials dare not say half a word, the reconstruction accounts are clear and clear, every expense is well documented, and the account books are neat and tidy, otherwise, once the censor investigates, how many heads will the lower officials have?" Enough to chop?"

Cui Dunli next to him put down his teacup, with a cold face and displeasure: "The accounting books of the Foundry Bureau have always been supervised by the official, and every transaction has to be signed and signed by the official after review. Zhang Shangshu does not believe it, and suspects that the official is full of private pockets and greedy for money Selfishness? However, although Zhang Shangshu is an officer, he does not have the right to supervise. If he finds that this official is corrupt, he can report it to Yushitai, or even go to His Majesty to file an imperial complaint. However, he must never question his character and private Morality, integrity, let alone slander!"

Guo Fushan is a good old man. He was not dissatisfied with being blocked by Cui Dunli before. Now that Zhang Xingcheng is airborne, he doesn't express anything. He only wants to do something in the yamen and support a few clan children. thing.

Seeing that the two sides were at war with each other, he thought for a while and persuaded him: "Zhang Shangshu is new here, so he must not be aware of the scale and importance of the Foundry Bureau. To be honest, this is just a reconstruction. After all, although the Foundry Bureau was damaged, there are many The foundation is still there, and there is no need to re-select the site, level the land, and design the overall plan... Back then, when Duke Yue led us to establish the Foundry Bureau, it cost no less than a million guan.”

Zhang Xingcheng was angry and surprised at the same time.

Could it be that the casting bureau was really made of copper coins?
Simply appalling.

And several subordinates unanimously expressed dissatisfaction to him, thinking that he was inferior to Fang Jun inside and outside the words, which made him even more annoyed. When did I accuse you, Cui Dunli, of being greedy for ink?As the Minister of the Ministry of War, can't you even ask about the affairs of the Ministry of War?
You can't bully people like this!
But in the face of such a huge money gap, they are helpless...

(End of this chapter)