Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 175 King Yan regrets!

The next day.

Zheng Yuanqing walked out of Prince Yan’s mansion.

He stopped and looked back at the palace with a strange look in his eyes.

Xia Zhibai did not attend the meeting with King Yan this time.

The King of Yan did not invite him either.

Zheng Yuanqing felt something strange.

There are many officials missing in Peking now, and he came here this time to plan the iron mine for Xia Zhibai. Under normal circumstances, when asking to see Prince Yan, Xia Zhibai should also be present, after all, this is in Prince Yan's fiefdom.

But that's not the case.

And
When meeting with King Yan, King Yan and his subordinates were deliberately restrained and did not want to mention Xia Zhibai, as if there had been some unpleasantness between them, but it was only some displeasure, not to the extent of resentment.

Before leaving, King Yan also revealed something.

After two major upheavals, Peking had lost many officials. Peking was powerless and could not provide much help with the Zunhua Iron Smelting. However, it would not rashly intervene to stop it. At the same time, it also wanted to make Zheng Yuanqing understand that due to the reorganization of military discipline, the army might not be able to fulfill its promise to Xia Zhibai in a short time. During this period of time, Xia Zhibai would have to be responsible for the employment of the Zunhua Iron Smelting workers.

After hearing this, Zheng Yuanqing understood.

Where did Xia Zhibai's initial confidence come from?

So he had an agreement with King Yan.

But now the King of Yan has obviously gone back on his word and broken the agreement.

But Zhu Di is the King of Yan. Even if he really changes his mind, what can Xia Zhibai do?

Zheng Yuanqing stroked his beard, turned his head, revealed a faint smile, and said: "This Xia Zhibai is really noisy wherever he goes, and he always angers a group of people wherever he goes. But this person really has a special ability. Even if he offends people, he will not be targeted too much. It's quite novel."

Mei Jiu, a ninth-rank official standing nearby, said in a deep voice, "This Xia Zhibai is indeed talented, and he dares to think and act."

"How important have salt and iron been from ancient times to the present?"

"How many people dare to move?"

"Those who dared to make plans for the salt and iron industries in all dynasties basically had a bad ending. However, Xia Zhibai, with his reckless spirit of 'a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger', actually did something wrong. Now, many people in the court have submitted petitions to make some changes to the salt policy."

"But those people in the Salt Transport Bureau want to take back the salt industry."

"The court officials are gradually being recruited. The Jingdu Salt Industry founded by Xia Zhibai was originally a bit tricky to establish, but now it has to face reality."

Zheng Yuanqing glanced at Mei Jiu and said in a deep voice, "You are an official of the Office of the Secretary, managing the clerks and laborers under your command, but you must understand that Xia Zhibai's status in the current court is very subtle and peculiar. In a normal position, with his status as the top scholar of the current dynasty, he should be a fifth-rank official. Now he has lowered his status to engage in business and is called a merchant official, but he has no rank."

“But how many people really dare to underestimate it?”

"Hua Lun, Lian Zining and others from the Hanlin Academy have become famous in this incident and have been appointed to other positions. These Jinshi have a close relationship with Xia Zhibai, although there have been rumors that Xia Zhibai's relationship with this batch of Jinshi is not very harmonious."

"But no matter what, the fact that Hua Lun, Lian Zining and other Jinshi were entrusted with important tasks so quickly was indeed due to Xia Zhibai's efforts."

"This person is just not putting too much effort into his career right now, but who knows when he will change his mind and start using his talents for his career. With the kindness Your Majesty and Your Highness have shown to this person, I'm afraid he may be promoted as fast as 'Yang Xian' back then."

Mei Jiu nodded.

Many people in the court agreed with this point.

Xia Zhibai is talented.

Moreover, he is willing to think and work hard, and is not afraid of power, which is something that many officials envy. However, many people do not approve of Xia Zhibai's approach, because some of the things he does, to some extent, are undermining and seizing the power of other government offices.

The ones who are most dissatisfied with Xia Zhibai now are the Salt Transport Bureau, followed by the Yuheng Bureau and the Tuntian Bureau of the Ministry of Works, and then the Ministry of Personnel.

Xia Zhibai has thought about changing the current way of employing people more than once.

This made many government offices unhappy.

It’s just that there was too much turmoil in the court some time ago, and not many people dared to oppose it at that time. But now that the court is gradually stabilizing, more and more officials have expressed their dissatisfaction, and more and more people are complaining and making small moves in private.

As the chief officer of the Yuheng Division, Zheng Yuanqing did not want to get involved, so he made an excuse to leave.

Mei Jiu thought for a moment and asked curiously, "Yuanwailang, should we tell Xia Zhibai the news from the King of Yan in advance? Judging from the situation in the meeting just now, I'm afraid that the King of Yan didn't tell Xia Zhibai the news. When we really start the construction in two days, I'm afraid there won't be enough manpower."

Zheng Yuanqing stroked his beard, but still shook his head and said, "No need."

"This is the fief of King Yan."

"If the King of Yan wanted to tell Xia Zhibai, he would have told him long ago. There is no need to do this. Besides, the King of Yan did not say that he would not send anyone to help. He just said that the soldiers in the army could not spare the time for a short time. When they could spare the time, he would naturally send people over."

"This is what Xia Zhibai needs to solve."

"It has nothing to do with us."

Zheng Yuanqing didn't want to get involved in the trouble between Xia Zhibai and King Yan.

Moreover, he could sense that the King of Yan disliked Xia Zhibai, but it was just dislike, and his actions were restrained.

This actually frightened him quite a bit. The Prince of Yan had always been a reckless person. At a very young age, he came to Your Majesty alone, wanting to join the army to fight. He actually went to the battlefield at the age of fifteen. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he often talked back to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

It was really unexpected that such an impatient person would be so polite to Xia Zhibai.

Zheng Yuanqing knew.

During the time Xia Zhibai was in Peking, other things must have happened, but he had been here for such a short time that he did not have time to find out clearly.

But he didn't want to know too much.

Whether it is the King of Yan or Xia Zhibai, they are both hot potatoes. Getting too close to either side may bring trouble to oneself. The best way is to keep a distance from them, neither take the initiative nor refuse, just do your job conscientiously, and pretend you didn't see or hear the rest, and don't ask too much.

Mei Jiu nodded.

He naturally understood Zheng Yuanqing's thoughts.

They had already worked out the specific situation on the way here.

After arriving in Peking, he briefly greeted Prince Yan and Xia Zhibai, and then stayed at the construction site of Zunhua Iron Smelting. When the Zunhua Iron Smelting was almost completed, he went straight back to the capital without staying in Peking for long.

Prince Yan's Mansion.

Zhu Di sat on a chair, fiddling with the iron ring on his finger, and looked at Yao Guangxiao beside him and said, "Daoyan, don't you think it's a bit unfair for me to do this? I clearly agreed to it before, but now I suddenly regret it."

Yao Guangxiao smiled and said, "Your Highness is overthinking."

"Xia Zhibai has caused so many troubles in Beiping, and Your Highness is still tolerating him, which is already giving Xia Zhibai face. Moreover, Xia Zhibai has been in Beiping for so long, he can't always take advantage of Your Highness, right? He must think of a way himself, otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of reputation?"

Zhu Di smiled and nodded: "That's right."

"As a top scorer, he should be able to handle this himself."

immediately.

Zhu Di looked at Zhang Yu and asked, "Have the confiscated lands been returned? Have the refugees and beggars in the city been resettled?"

Zhang Yu bowed and said with a smile: "Your Highness, we have done everything as you ordered." "The land that was occupied by military officers and officials in the past has now been returned. Now the people and military households in Beiping are full of praise for Your Highness, saying that Your Highness is a rare saint king who cares about the people. And the refugees and beggars have now been allocated land and have settled down."

"In just a few days, the city's appearance has changed dramatically."

"The people in the city are full of praise for His Highness."

"This is all thanks to your highness."

Zhu Di nodded with a smile.

In fact, he had also noticed that when he went out these days, he could often hear people praising him. He had rarely had this experience in the past, and it felt so comfortable to be suddenly praised by the people.

Zhu Di laughed for a while, then stopped laughing and said in a deep voice, "Well, we've had enough fun, and it's time to start planning for serious matters. The court has already sent a memorial, and the official for the Beiping Provincial Government has been decided. He will take office in a few days. This person is said to be a Jinshi in the first imperial examination. He has been working in Shandong in the past. This time, because of the Guo Huan case, he was promoted continuously."

"I don't know much about this person's specific situation."

"You need to pay attention, too."

Zhang Yu, Zhu Liang and others nodded quickly.

They dared not take such matters lightly. As officials of Prince Yan's Mansion, they shared weal and woe with Prince Yan. If the other party came with ill intentions, they would not be able to live in peace in Peking in the future.

Yao Guangxiao said: "Don't worry too much."

"Now that Your Highness has reorganized military discipline and executed a large number of corrupt officials, the whole atmosphere in Peking has been completely changed. Even if the other party comes with a purpose, what can they do in Peking, where the government is stable and the people are harmonious? Your Highness is now popular."

"And originally, salt and iron belonged to the local governor."

"But with Xia Zhibai's intervention, the governor's control over the salt and iron industry has been greatly lost. During the rectification of Beiping this time, a large number of merchants were killed. Now, His Highness has found a successor for Beiping, and Beiping has now stabilized. Even if the officials of the Beiping Governor's Office want to regain these powers, they dare not be too aggressive."

"after all."

"Peking will not accept repeated turmoil."

Zhu Di smiled complacently.

This is indeed one of the benefits of the rectification of Beijing.

Through this thundering action, many of the powers originally held by the Peking Governor-General and the government offices previously controlled by the Governor-General were completely eliminated.

Now all the local places are filled with his own people. Even if officials from the Peking Provincial Government come, they are just a group of people without troops and can't do anything in a short period of time. And if you want to clean up the people he arranged, how could he agree so easily?

What he wants.

It was to let the new governor of Peiping vent his anger on Xia Zhibai.

After all, Xia Zhibai directly robbed the salt and iron.

This is what serves the greatest local interests.

When two tigers fight, one of them will be injured, but he just sits on the mountain and watches the fight.

He also didn't quite believe that the new Peking Governor would dare to confront him directly instead of looking for trouble with Xia Zhibai. One was a vassal king, and the other was a merchant official of low rank. He didn't believe that the new Peking Governor couldn't tell which one was more important.

There was no choice before.

Now Beijing is a "three-legged tripod".

Although Xia Zhibai's "one foot" was very weak, and even seemed to lack confidence.

But it is indeed 'one foot'.

With Xia Zhibai involved, Zhu Di will have more options and it will be easier for him to profit from it.

And Xia Zhibai has great ambitions.

From what Xia Zhibai said before, his target is the entire north. By then, he will probably deprive the local areas of more economic powers. The provincial governors will probably hate Xia Zhibai very much. These have nothing to do with him. He is a vassal king and is in charge of local military affairs, which has little to do with the local economy.

He can stay out of it in the future.

The next day.

Xia Zhibai learned the news.

This was not something Zhu Di proactively informed of, but he sent someone to inquire.

When Xia Zhibai heard the reply from Prince Yan's Mansion, his heart sank, knowing that Zhu Di had no good intentions and was deliberately trying to make fun of him. The Ministry of Works of the imperial court had already sent people over, and after a day or two of on-site inspection, coupled with the drawings that he had taken the initiative to submit, construction was basically imminent. But since the decision to start construction was made, people would naturally be needed.

But now the Peking Provincial Government Office is almost vacant.

No one dared to conscript labor.

The military households that were originally promised had been stood up by Zhu Di and would be difficult to use in a short period of time. Even if he brought Heiwa and others along, there would be less than twenty people, and it would take an unknown amount of time to complete the first phase of the project with such a small number of people. Even if Zheng Yuanqing nodded and asked the craftsmen and engineers who came with him to work together, there would still not be enough people.

Xia Zhibai shook his head.

He looked quite speechless: "Prince Yan, you are really petty. You have taken all the benefits this time, but you are still fussing over these things."

Fang Mo asked nervously, "Sir, what should we do now?"

"The construction will start tomorrow."

"If there are not enough people, we don't know when the Zunhua Iron Smelting Plant can be completed. This delay will slow down the construction of not only the salt factories in Shouzhou and Chuzhou, but also other salt factories in the north."

"We can't afford to waste time."

Fang Mo's face was full of worry.

He knew the situation at the salt factory.

There are many places that need money now. The only one that can make a profit now is the salt factory. If salt factories are not built in various places and the money and grain are not collected as soon as possible, neither the coal mines, textiles, nor the postal service that Xia Zhibai wants to promote will be able to operate.

Xia Zhibai smiled.

He patted Fang Mo's shoulder and said soothingly, "Don't be so anxious."

"What the King of Yan did was a little inappropriate, but it was indeed a reasonable explanation. It's just that the King of Yan was too arrogant. He never understood one thing: the people have sharp eyes. The people know better than anyone who is good to them."

"I never fight a battle unprepared."

"It won't happen this time either."

"It just doesn't work."

“We carry our own tools.”

"People can't be crushed by difficulties, right?" Xia Zhibai seemed very optimistic.

He called Heiwa over and whispered a few words to him. Heiwa was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly and ran outside excitedly.

　There will be three updates tomorrow. Actually, you can see that my condition is still very bad and my mind is very dizzy.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)