Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1695 The Evil of Meeting You!

Yijing, Provincial Administration Office
Zhang Yilin was looking at the memorial in his cell. As the second-in-command of the Provincial Administration Commission, he was entitled to a separate cell and office, just like the Provincial Administration Commissioner Zhang Zhiwen, according to regulations. His responsibilities in the Provincial Administration Commission were agriculture and water conservancy construction.

Zhang Yilin was not very satisfied with the work he was in charge of. After all, everyone in Daqian knew that His Majesty had put forward the political slogan of "industry and commerce revitalizing the country" and regarded the development of industry and commerce as the national policy of Daqian in the future. Therefore, under such a background, industry and commerce can be said to be a field that has attracted much attention and is easy to achieve results.

In comparison, agriculture and water conservancy construction are two very difficult tasks!
Especially now that His Majesty is vigorously developing industry and commerce!

Although the Great Qian produced many agricultural tools and purchased a large number of cattle from the grasslands, it was able to replace some of the human labor to a certain extent with agricultural tools and animal power!
However, under current technological conditions, human resources remain extremely important for the development of agriculture and water conservancy projects!
However, because working in a factory now earns more than growing crops at home, and big cities are more attractive than small villages!
Therefore, many young and middle-aged people of working age prefer to work in cities rather than farm at home like their parents.

This has also impacted agriculture and water conservancy construction. Although Daqian currently has a sufficient labor force and the impact is not significant, Zhang Yilin, who is in charge of these two areas, has developed a sense of crisis…
Zhang Yilin felt that although Ye Mingsheng put forward the slogan of "industry and commerce revitalize the country" and regarded the development of industry and commerce as the future development direction of Daqian, the reality was that agriculture was still the cornerstone of the country!
While industrial products such as kerosene lamps, glass, and matches are certainly good and have made life more convenient, they are merely icing on the cake!

Even without these things, the people of Daqian can still live, it just won't be as convenient!

But agriculture is different. Agriculture is indispensable. If the land can't grow food, or if no one is willing to grow food, then the grain production will decrease, and if the grain production decreases, some people will go hungry!
If people don't have enough to eat, there will be starving people everywhere. At that time, people will not sit idly by and wait to die; some people will inevitably take risks!
Therefore, agriculture and food are matters of life and death for all people, for the stability of the court, and for the lives and fortunes of countless individuals!

Therefore, Zhang Yilin felt that this matter could not be taken lightly. Even though the labor force in Daqian was sufficient and the problem of reducing the agricultural labor force was not very obvious at present, it still needed to be given full attention!
However, the problem now is that the imperial court attaches great importance to grain production, and will investigate and even hold people accountable if grain production is found to be reduced. But it does not pay enough attention to the migration of labor from agriculture to factories.

Zhang Zhiwen, as the Provincial Treasurer, recognized this problem and realized that although the situation wasn't particularly obvious yet, given the current developments, grain production was not optimistic. Therefore, he took precautionary measures and assigned this arduous task to the Deputy Provincial Treasurer, Zhang Yilin…
Zhang Zhiwen himself was in charge of industry and commerce, which was the easiest to achieve results in. He wanted to build an industrial and commercial city in Zhuoxian County as a stepping stone to the position of Minister of the Six Ministries. Zhang Zhiwen's plan was good, but Zhang Yilin, who was the Deputy Provincial Governor, was suffering!
At first, Zhang Yilin did not realize the problem of labor force. On the contrary, he was somewhat complacent. After all, agriculture is a very important field where he can display his talents and abilities.

However, as time went on and Zhang Yilin's management deepened, he gradually realized the seriousness of the labor problem and understood why Zhang Zhiwen had entrusted this area to him!
Realizing the problem, Zhang Yilin silently cursed Zhang Zhiwen in his heart, while a question also arose in his mind!
That is the issue of labor force. Why hasn't it received enough attention from the imperial court?

The problem now is that the imperial court attaches great importance to grain production. If the grain production in your region decreases, you need to report why the production decreased and what the reasons are. Weather factors are slightly better, but if it is due to human factors, the officials in charge will be held accountable or even punished!

However, the court did not pay enough attention to the deeper reasons related to labor. Even when someone raised this issue, the court only said that you could use farm tools and animal power instead, and that the reduction in grain was because you did not do your job well!

However, based on Zhang Yilin's own field visits to most towns and villages in Youyan, while farm tools and oxen could replace some human labor, they were only a portion. Under current conditions, human labor remained irreplaceable. For a bumper harvest, besides favorable weather, a sufficient labor force was still essential…

More and more young people are now attracted by the bustling prefectures and counties, and they are willing to work in the factories there. This situation is becoming more and more obvious. Although there are still many middle-aged and elderly people who can support the economy and the food problem is not too serious, if this trend continues, some things will be inevitable!
When you raise this issue, the court's attitude is to use farm tools and animal power as substitutes. When you say that they cannot completely replace them, the court means that you are making excuses for not doing your job well, which creates a vicious cycle.

When Zhang Yilin was troubled by this problem, he also studied it!

He believes the reason for this problem lies with one person!

This person is none other than!
It is none other than the current Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, Ye Mingsheng!

The reason Zhang Yilin believes the root of the problem lies with Ye Mingsheng is because someone had previously raised this issue with Ye Mingsheng, and Ye Mingsheng's solution was to use farm tools and animal power to replace some of the human labor!
And this is the source of the imperial court's attitude!
Zhang Yilin believes that Ye Mingsheng's solution at the time was actually correct!

After all, the industry and commerce of Daqian were in their infancy at that time, with few factories and a small labor force. You could replace them by popularizing agricultural tools and animal power!

However, with the Great Qian Dynasty's nationwide focus on developing industry and commerce, factories of all kinds have sprung up across the country, creating a huge demand for labor. This has begun to compete with agriculture for workers, exacerbating the current situation and making it impossible for agricultural tools and animal power to fill the gap…

Now, no one is telling Ye Mingsheng that your vigorous development of industry, commerce, and agriculture has led to a shortage of labor due to the inability of agricultural tools and animal power to make up for the labor shortage!
After all, if you say that, it means you are criticizing the emperor, saying that his slogan of "promoting the country through industry and commerce" is wrong, and that his national policy of vigorously developing industry and commerce is wrong!
In the GL system of the Great Qian Dynasty, the emperor is supreme, glorious and righteous, especially the founding emperor like Ye Mingsheng, who is the epitome of wisdom and might!
So how could such an emperor be wrong?
The problem must have been caused by the subordinates being lazy and slacking off!

Zhang Yilin was also very helpless about this. He knew that he was not the only smart person in Daqian, and he was not the only one who discovered this problem!
Even if we don't talk about others, just the Provincial Treasurer Zhang Zhiwen, he must have discovered the same problem!
However, the solution he chose was not to write a memorial directly to Ye Mingsheng and tell the emperor that he was wrong!

Instead, he chose to shift the blame, taking the fall for the problem himself!

The saddest thing is that there are quite a few people like Zhang Zhiwen. Basically, everyone does the same thing as him. Everyone rushes to do things that can produce results, but everyone shirks responsibility for things that are more important, and they all flatter the powerful!

Zhang Yilin felt helpless about the current situation in the gaming industry, but what troubled him the most was that Zhang Zhiwen could shift the blame to him, but who could he shift the blame to?

What's more infuriating than lamenting that everyone is shifting blame is having no one to blame!
Faced with this situation, Zhang Yilin felt an impulse. He felt that although His Majesty had done many outrageous things, such as not valuing the words of the sages, but instead favoring strange and ingenious skills, and even allowing concubines to open medical clinics and show their faces in public!

Overall, His Majesty is quite enlightened. Those censors from the Censorate frequently criticize him, but His Majesty hasn't executed them to shut them up! Therefore, Zhang Yilin felt he could be the first to take the plunge, and perhaps His Majesty would even appreciate him for this, allowing him a meteoric rise in rank…

Moreover, Zhang Yilin is not the kind of person who only raises problems without offering solutions!
He also has his own solutions to the labor problem!
Since they all want to work, we can't let them all have it easy. There should be conditions and requirements for working!

Just like road signs, there can also be factory signs!
For example, if your family's crops are doing well, you will be issued a factory permit, allowing one male member of your family to work there. Without a factory permit, you cannot work there!
Zhang Yilin believed that as long as he strictly implemented his method of introducing factories, he could solve the current labor problem. He was quite pleased with his idea and thought that Ye Mingsheng would appreciate him if he knew about it.

Although Zhang Yilin himself had the idea of ​​directly advising Ye Mingsheng, his wife, Wang, would not allow him to do so.

Wang felt that Zhang Yilin was taking too much risk by directly pointing out the emperor's mistakes. What if His Majesty didn't accept his advice and instead flew into a rage? He, the deputy governor, would lose his job and might even be imprisoned.

Therefore, it's best not to say these things yourself. You can take a roundabout approach and reveal the situation to those censors, letting them say the truth. This way, you can achieve your goal!

Zhang Yilin thought his wife's idea was good and could reduce the risks. However, he was conflicted because if His Majesty got angry, although the blame would fall on the censor, if His Majesty adopted the suggestion, the credit would go to the censor, and Zhang Yilin would get no credit and lose face in front of His Majesty...

Therefore, Zhang Yilin also found it difficult to choose between the potential gains and the risks!

Just as Zhang Yilin was holding the completed memorial and hesitating whether to hand it over to Ye Mingsheng, his personal clerk, Nie Tao, mysteriously entered the room.

Upon seeing Nie Tao arrive, Zhang Yilin, who had been hesitating, raised his head. Nie Tao, without keeping him in suspense, spoke directly:
"My lord, my fellow townsman in the Provincial Surveillance Commission just told me that news has come back from Zhuo County that Magistrate Wang Chong has been arrested!"

"Wang Chong has really been arrested?"

"Yes! It's absolutely true; His Majesty personally issued the order!"

After being taken aback by Nie Tao's affirmative answer, Zhang Yilin began to make plans in secret.

Actually, because of Chu Zhiyi's previous investigation of Wang Chong, Zhang Yilin was somewhat prepared for Wang Chong's arrest. Although Wang Chong wasn't under his jurisdiction as the Deputy Provincial Governor, as the Deputy Provincial Governor of Youyan, Zhang Yilin still had some informants. He knew what outrageous things Wang Chong had done over the years to allow factories to open in Zhuoxian without tax exemptions or reductions...
The key issue is that Zhang Zhiwen and Chu Zhiyi had negotiated before. Zhang Yilin felt that Chu Zhiyi would give Zhang Zhiwen some face, since Zhang Zhiwen was the Provincial Administration Commissioner and Chu Zhiyi needed Zhang Zhiwen's cooperation in many tasks at the Provincial Surveillance Commission. Therefore, Chu Zhiyi would at least not take down Wang Chong now and make Zhang Zhiwen lose face.

But now it seems that Chu Zhiyi is indeed as stubborn and obstinate as that rock in the latrine, showing no respect for Zhang Zhiwen at all. He must have had someone present Wang Chong's information to His Majesty long ago, which is why His Majesty was able to take down Wang Chong so quickly!

Just as Zhang Yilin was pondering the case, his clerk, Nie Tao, cautiously reminded him:

"You should have prepared for this situation as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yilin was taken aback at first, then asked with some confusion:

"Wang Chong is Zhang Zhiwen's man and has nothing to do with me. What do I need to prepare?"

Upon hearing this, Nie Tao said meaningfully:
"My lord, it is precisely because Wang Chong is Zhang Zhiwen's man that you need to be prepared. His Majesty once said that opportunity favors the prepared mind!"

"Opportunity favors the prepared mind?"

Upon hearing Nie Tao's words, Zhang Yilin initially didn't quite grasp the meaning, but after careful consideration, he seemed to understand what Nie Tao meant.

Zhang Yilin was initially surprised, but after careful consideration, he realized the possibility of the matter, and a hint of joy was faintly revealed in his surprised expression.

A moment later, Zhang Zhiwen waved his hand, and Nie Tao immediately bowed and left the room. This dedicated clerk knew that his master already understood the implications, so there was no need for him to say anything more.

After Nie Tao left, Zhang Yilin looked at the memorial in his hand again. Compared to his previous hesitation, this time his eyes revealed a hint of fervor and anticipation...