Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 191 The sad bridge
A Beijing camp force set out from the capital and marched along the south. This unit was guarding Zhang Xiao and his party.

At this time, Zhang Xiao was chatting with the commander of the army, Xu Wen of Qianhu in Jingying.

"Xu Qianhu, I didn't expect to see you again during this business trip. How was it? Have the wages been paid after that?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"Ashamed, ashamed. At that time, Xu was instigated by everyone, and ran to ask for wages in a hurry. Fortunately, the court did not blame him in the end, and the wages were distributed in batches later. But maybe my voice was a little louder that day when I was making payments. I was disliked by Shangfeng, so when I went to fight in Korea later, I couldn't go," Xu Wen said.

"Xu Qianhu, don't worry too much, guarding the capital is also an important matter."

"Zhang Prince Consort, our Beijing camp has been ordered to guard this time. If you need anything here, just ask Xu to do it, and Xu will definitely do it."

"Don't go to such trouble, just keep guard as usual. It's not easy for you to go out, and I don't want to cause trouble to you. But there is one thing to be more vigilant about. After all, Henan has just been hit by a disaster. Although the imperial court has also provided relief, there must be care. There are some bandits and bandits in places that are not accessible, and it is not impossible to encounter some White Lotus demons, so your brothers should not take it lightly and stay vigilant."

"What the Prince Consort reminds us is that Xu will send the most elite soldiers to be on duty day and night to protect the Prince Consort's safety."

"When I arrive in Henan, I may have to send people to check the local areas. I will also have to send people to protect Xu Qianhu, and I may also wander around. Of course, the place I choose will not look for those remote places. "

"Thank you, Prince Consort, for your consideration."

"I see, then Xu Qianhu, you are also the successor of Zhongliang. You will have great potential to achieve more military exploits in the future."

"Thank you for your hard work. After I return to Beijing, I will do a favor and see if I can run a supervisor for you. It would be unreasonable to keep you so busy."

"The student has always carried it with him. Please take a look at it." Lu Zhang said as he handed over the picture.

"Wenhua, I'm sorry for bothering you to run back and forth. Now that the scientific examination is about to take place, why did you come with me?" Zhang Xiao said, looking at Lu Zhang who was running back and forth.

"As for the boss, without the reward from the boss, the student's family will be unable to open the door. With the student's talent and the things he has done, it is not worth the money that the boss has to pay. The boss treats me with great courtesy, and I will always follow him. owner.”

"Xu's ancestral home is Shandong. In the past, Emperor Yingzong went to the north to hunt and the capital was empty. Xu's ancestors came to Beijing to serve the king, so it was adapted into the Beijing camp."

"Yes, and because of this, Jing has been trembling with fear since he came to Henan, fearing that he would not be a good parent official. It's just that Jing has little talent and little knowledge, and his political performance has been mediocre since he took office, and he has been busy with the prince-in-law coming to supervise matters. It's really... I am ashamed of my divine grace." Governor Jing said.

"I dare not say anything about it. Prince Consort, I would like to ask something. Is it inconvenient?"

"It is a student's honor to serve the master. The imperial examination can be taken again after three years. The master's important events must not be delayed." Lu Zhang said.

"Governor Jing, Henan ranks among the best in the world. I walked all the way from the capital and found that Henan is indeed densely populated." Zhang Xiao said.

"This picture of hungry people was presented to Your Majesty by Yang Qimei, who was in charge of the Criminal Division at the time. Although it was modeled on the precedent of the Song Dynasty, I really admire you for having the courage to hand over such a picture to Your Majesty." Zhang Xiao sighed.

"That's fine. I also need a capable person by my side. I'm glad that you are willing to follow me all the time. His Majesty gave me the "Picture of the Hungry People" before he left. Can you find it and give it to me now?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"Xu Qianhu, please speak."

"Yes, the Korean War has only been a year or two. Many of my acquaintances have died in the battlefield, and many of those who survived were injured and disabled. The Liaodong Army has been fighting for these years, and the casualties are probably the same. Not small."

"All the officials in the court know these things, and you, Xu Qianhu, must also believe that the problems are solved slowly one by one. After all, Jingying is already pretty good, and although the food and salary are in arrears, they can be made up slowly. It's hard to say about the troops outside. When you say that the frontier troops have gains, you're talking about the success of beheadings. But if the frontier troops want to have the success of beheadings, they have to go deep into the grassland to destroy their nests. The Mongols are not just standing there as scarecrows. It is not easy for the frontier troops to make achievements while waiting for you to attack. In the past few years, the Liaodong Army's performance was more outstanding, but after so many years of fighting, the Liaodong Army also suffered heavy casualties. "

"By the way, I haven't asked yet, where is Xu Qianhu's place of residence?"

"This is a matter that can only be decided by the officials of the imperial court, and Zhang really doesn't know. However, the capital camp is full of loyal people, and the imperial court will not rule it out in one fell swoop."

When Zhang Xiao and his party arrived in Kaifeng, the capital of Henan Province, there was naturally another story about socializing.

"Xu also knows that the Beijing camp has become increasingly unusable in recent years, and the imperial court still relies on the elites of the Nine Sides. But this cannot be all blamed on me. After all, the Beijing camp has not been paid enough in recent years, and it is really difficult to train. For example, the frontier troops in Jiubian still have some income, but the Jingying camp will have to work in vain. "

"I heard that the imperial court is training a new army in Tianjin recently. Is it true that the new army is built and the Beijing camp will be disbanded?"

The team marched to the inn, Zhang Xiao entered the inn to rest, and the Beijing camp was set up on the spot to be on guard.

"Governor Jing does not need to blame himself too much. When Henan was hit by a disaster, you did not hide your illness and avoid medical treatment, but reported all the disaster. At that time, the imperial court was busy with the war against the Japanese and did not bother to provide relief for a while. It still relied on You have completed the disaster relief work, but now that it has been two years since the disaster, the amount of money and food in Henan has not been restored to its original state, and the court's expenses are now high, so your Majesty asked me to come here to understand the official situation and the people's situation, and to pay taxes. The name of the payment has been decided. Of course, if there is any corruption or malfeasance, Zhang will go directly to Tianting, and I ask for your understanding and cooperation."

"This is a natural principle, but Jing is a little acclimated these days, and his health is not very good. If Zhang Huimai has official business, he can go directly to Zhong Yushi. In the past two years, Zhong Yushi has also been ordered by the emperor. If you have any questions to supervise disaster relief matters, you can directly ask Yushi Zhong." Governor Jing named Yushi Zhong.

"Well, since Governor Jing said so, Zhang will chat more with Yushi Zhong." Zhang Xiao also looked at Yushi Zhong.

"Zhong also wants to talk to Prince Consort Zhang about something." Zhong Yushi signaled.

The next day, Zhong Yushi came to visit. "Zhong Yushi, please take a seat." Zhang Xiao saw the visitor and hurriedly greeted him and sat down.

"Zhang Prince Consort is so polite. The imperial court is coming to investigate the sentiments of officials and people in Henan. Zhong thinks it is very necessary. Zhong has been an official in Henan in the past few years and has witnessed many things. However, he was busy with disaster relief at the time, so he could only Big things have been reduced to trivial matters. Prince Consort Zhang is planning to conduct inspections this time. Can you please let me know so that Zhong can cooperate with me?"

"My plan is to write this thing to all officials with official positions above the seventh rank. Then I will open the door to see if anyone will submit a letter. As for how to check it later, I'd better stay in the provincial capital and look at the written materials." Zhang Xiao said as he handed over a piece of paper.

"Integrity self-examination and self-correction form? When did the Metropolitan Procuratorate have this charter?" Zhong Yushi took it and looked at it, and couldn't help being surprised.

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate doesn't have this charter yet. I came up with it all. When the time comes, I'll have to thank Yushi Zhong to help me find the roster of Henan officials and make sure this form is distributed to everyone and everyone fills it out. return."

"Zhang Prince Consort, can Zhong say something less respectful? Which corrupt official would take the initiative to confess that he had been corrupted and accepted bribes, not to mention that the country punished corruption so severely. Although the punishment is not as severe as it was during the Hongwu period, the crime must be punished If so, it would be too much to bear.”

"We have to give everyone a chance. If he confesses voluntarily, Zhang will be frank and lenient. If he doesn't confess, the errand is not done well, and evidence of corruption and perversion of the law is obtained, then Zhang will be sorry. Zhong Yushi, the imperial court previously gave Henan the power to make cheap arrangements. For example, it could open warehouses and release grain at a cheap price, and tax reductions and exemptions could also be made. However, this cheap deal was also for the convenience and benefit of the people, and could not be used to allow officials to take bribes and pervert the law. Convenience. Zhong Yushi, you were also appointed by the imperial court to come to Henan for disaster relief. You know this process much better than me. I need to check the accounts these days. Can you come with me? Because there are some amounts I want to ask. Understand faster.”

"Of course there is no problem with this, but in recent years for Henan disaster relief, the accounts may have too many entries and the numbers are not easy to align."

"It doesn't matter. I won't read all the accounts. I'll just pick some and look at them. Time is limited. Zhang can only say that he's grasping the big ones and letting go of the small ones."

"Zhong Mou has one more thing to ask. Is it possible for Prince Consort Zhang to reach Tianting directly? If possible, can you help Zhong Mou pass the two books written by Zhong Mou to His Majesty? Zhong Mou is always thinking about these two books. It can also be of some use to government affairs.”

"Of course you can." Zhang Xiao agreed while taking the books handed over by Zhong Yushi. There were mainly two books, one was "Pictures of Relief from Famine" and the other was "A Brief Note on Relief in Yu".

"These two books are Zhong's experiences during disaster relief. "Illustrated Notes on Famine Relief" contains pictures and words, depicting scenes of disaster relief, and also contains Zhong's brief experience of disaster relief. "A Brief Story of Relief in Yu" is also written by Zhong during his time in Henan. My experience in disaster relief over the past few years is just a bit cumbersome to write.”

"These two books are indeed useful masterpieces. Zhang, please read them carefully in the past few days. After all, I also read about the disaster in Henan from books and newspapers. Unlike Zhong Yushi, you are on the front line. Yes. By the way, Zhang has another question, why does it seem to me that Governor Jing is not very energetic? Is he sick or tired? "

"Governor Jing was not in good health at first. After coming to Henan, he became a little acclimatized and often took medicine."

"I see. Then I will send some supplements to Governor Jing later. Yu Shi Zhong, you should also take a good rest. Don't worry about being exhausted."

"Thank you very much, Prince Consort Zhang, for your concern. However, the disaster situation in Henan Province has just improved. Zhong is really worried and does not dare to betray His Majesty's trust."

In this way, Zhang Xiao distributed the self-examination form and hung up the report box. Of course, all the forms are recycled and written as "no". As for the report box, I did receive a few letters, but they were all about innocuous things. Zhang Xiao took a quick look at them, but didn't see any reason, so he turned around and put them on the other side.

Seeing that Zhang Xiao was fine for the time being, Lu Zhang came forward and said a few words. Zhang Xiao nodded. When Lu Zhang entered again, there was a thick pile of information on Zhang Xiao's desk.

Ten days later, Zhang Xiao and his group suddenly appeared in a county in eastern Henan.

"My boss, we have found so many problems, why did my boss come here?" Lu Zhang asked softly.

"It is precisely because the problem is not big and the matter is relatively simple, so I came to take a look first and leave the big problems for later. This is a bridge to be built with special funds for disaster relief. You can tell what the bridge is like at a glance. "Zhang Xiao also replied in a low voice.

"Zhang Prince Consort, if something really happens, Xu has prepared a few fast horses. I also ask Prince Consort to deal with it on time and don't worry about me." Xu Qianhu lowered his voice and said.

"Xu Qianhu is thoughtful, but today is more than that. We just came to see a bridge." Zhang Xiao also replied in a low voice.

But when Zhang Xiao arrived at the river, he was stunned because he didn't see any trace of a bridge, except for this simple pontoon bridge in front of him.

"Where are you from? Are you going to cross the bridge? It costs ten cents each time to cross the bridge. If it's not a bridge, just get out of the way and don't disturb everyone's way." A helper guarding the pontoon shouted.

"Brother, we are businessmen traveling back and forth. I remember when I came here before, there used to be a bridge here. Could it be that I got the wrong place?"

"You're not wrong. It turns out that the bridge is right in front of you. The floods broke the bridge the year before last. Our Mr. Wang Dashan saw that it was inconvenient for people to take boats, so he specially took out his own boats and built this pontoon bridge. , it is convenient for people in the countryside to walk, and they only charge ten cents each time. "

"It costs ten cents to cross the bridge. Isn't it too expensive?"

"What do you mean? This bridge was built by Mr. Wang Dashan himself. It is only for the convenience of the villagers that everyone can walk on it. If you think it is too expensive, then take a detour by yourself, or find a boat to row across. If you're not in a hurry, you can build a boat and paddle across. But I have to remind you that the trees in this area also belong to Wang Dashan's family. If you cut them down, you'll have to pay for them."

"We, the country bumpkins from out of town, were offended by what we just said. Let's do this. These are the copper coins for crossing the bridge. Please accept them."

"Sorry, this money is not enough."

"Brother, didn't we agree that it would cost ten cents per person?"

"Just now, now is now. If you are disrespectful to Mr. Wang Dashan, you are not getting along with me. Then the price will be increased. Anyway, those of you who can hang around outside are all rich people. One hundred yuan per person, otherwise you Just take the long way around," shouted the helper.

(End of this chapter)