Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 180 Xia Zhibai disappeared? !
June, the nineteenth year of Hongwu.

It is early summer now. On the banks of the Qinhuai River, the newly sprouted willow branches are swaying in the wind.

The Guo Huan case has come to an end.

This case implicated twelve provincial governments of the Ming Dynasty. Officials involved included Minister of Rites Zhao Mao, Minister of Punishments Wang Huidi, Vice Minister of War Wang Zhi, Vice Minister of Works Mai Zhide, etc. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. Six ministries, including the left and right vice ministers, announced the recovery of seven million dan of stolen grain, and implicated officials from the provinces, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of people.

In order to recover the stolen grain, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a large-scale search of the rich. After several months of turmoil, all the rich families in the society were clean.

Guo Huan did not lie.

Under Zhu Yuanzhang's severe crackdown on corruption, county officials, even though they lived in remote mountainous areas more than ten thousand miles away from the capital, were all terrified and acted as if they were gods visiting their courts, and dared not act recklessly.

Today, except for the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Works, the other four ministries remain vacant.

The powers of the other four departments were all concentrated in Zhu Yuanzhang alone.

After the Guo Huan case, Zhu Yuanzhang made certain adjustments to the Chinese characters used for accounting in order to eliminate corrupt officials who tampered with numbers to embezzle and abuse power. He created uppercase numbers such as "壹、贰、叁" and at the same time announced that foreign numbers such as "1, 2, 3" would be used for accounting.

Under Zhu Yuanzhang's iron-fisted high-pressure power, the Ming Dynasty, which had been in turmoil for several months, finally slowly returned to peace as officials succeeded one after another.

Hanlin Academy.

Hua Lun and Lian Zining continued to be editors for the Hanlin Academy, but they also served as the Prince's Groom and the Prince's Proofreader respectively.

The official rank did not improve much, but the status was obviously improved.

Huang Zicheng was promoted to editor of the Hanlin Academy.

is the day.

The three heroes of the past also gathered together during their leisure time.

After the baptism of the Guo Huan case, Hua Lun has completely shed his previous immaturity and impulsiveness, and has become much more stable, but his heroic spirit is still revealed between his eyebrows. Lian Zining has grown a lot of beard, and his face looks much more mature. Only Huang Zicheng is much thinner than before.

The three of them sat down casually.

He asked a few clerks to bring him tea.

Hua Lun looked at the red official robe on his body and said with emotion: "Unconsciously, I have been in the court for a year. This year has really been like a dream. I was so proud to pass the imperial examination. But now I finally know how dangerous the court is. If I take a wrong step, there will be no chance of recovery."

Lian Zining picked up the teacup, took a sip, and said jokingly, "Is it really so exciting to pass the imperial examination?"

"Why don't I see that?"

"Who was so angry that he stamped his feet and wanted to draw his sword to fight Xia Zhibai to the death?"

Hua Lun's face turned awkward, he glared at Lian Zining with dissatisfaction, and said coldly: "Don't laugh at me, weren't you the same at that time? Among the three of us, who wasn't angry and angry at Xia Zhibai? It's not our fault, it's Xia Zhibai who always looks down on everyone."

“But it’s also thanks to him.”

"If he wasn't the top student in high school, I'm afraid the three of us would have fled in disgrace."

"Where is the scenery of today?"

Hua Lun sighed.

Thinking of the imperial examinations back then, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, which was both awkward and helpless.

Back then, he really wanted to chop Xia Zhibai to death.

At worst, one life for another.

Scholars can be killed but not humiliated.

Xia Zhibai trampled on the dignity of the three of them. Who could tolerate this?

Lian Zining smiled bitterly, and could only look helpless when thinking of the past. "What happened back then is all in the past. Who hasn't done some embarrassing things when they were young? But it was because of Xia Zhibai that we were able to truly recognize our own talents and not be too arrogant."

"Every bite and every drink is destined to happen."

"It's not that bad."

Huang Zicheng chuckled and said speechlessly, "You guys are talking lightly. It's not that you were squeezed out of the first class. The three of us are obviously almost the same in talent and knowledge. As a result, I was directly relegated to the second class. I worked hard to write articles in the Hanlin Academy and only then did I get the position of editor. One of you is also the prince's groom, and the other is also the prince's proofreader. The difference is much greater."

Huang Zicheng was full of resentment.

He wasn't really complaining, but rather a little envious.

The official positions of the Crown Prince's Groom and the Crown Prince's Schoolmaster are not high, but the power of the current Crown Prince is known to the world. Hua Lun and Lian Zining are already directly officials in the Crown Prince's Mansion, and when the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future, their future will probably be smooth sailing.

The three of them were originally very similar, but now the gap between them has widened.

He naturally felt a little jealous.

Hua Lun and Lian Zining looked at each other, both showing a bit of helplessness.

They did get promoted, but this official position was not so easily obtained. Hua Lun had been handling the account books for two or three months, and his eyes were dizzy from looking at all those books. After he finished the settlement, he lost a lot of weight and his eye sockets were sunken.

Lian Zining was not having an easy time either.

Because too many officials were involved, he was ordered by the court to handle the interrogation documents.

All six ministers were in trouble, and few of the six vice ministers were spared, as were the twelve local provincial governors. The shocking evidence of their crimes was so shocking that even now, Lian Zining still feels a pang of fear when he recalls it.

Especially because too many local officials were involved and it almost caused a nationwide riot, His Majesty ordered the execution of the Chief Justice Wu Yong in order to quell public grievances.

At that time, he was working under Wu Yong.

Everyone was terrified.

Moreover, the imperial court announced that the amount of stolen grain was 7 million dan, but he knew that it was much more than that. The actual amount of stolen grain was more than 24 million dan, which was almost the amount of money and grain collected by the Ming Dynasty in one year.

Although he didn't know the specific situation of the people, he knew from the figures collected that the people must be suffering greatly. He and Hua Lun didn't dare to mention these things in the past few months.

Because I can't bear to think about it.

Hua Lun picked up the teacup and drank the tea quietly.

After drinking most of the tea in the cup, he spoke and changed the subject, saying, "Where is Xia Zhibai? I haven't heard from him in the past six months. If his salt shop doesn't come back, I'm afraid it will be divided up by others."

Lian Zining also frowned and asked in a serious tone, "Oh, right, where is Xia Zhibai?"

"In the past six months, under the pressure of petitions from salt transport officials from various places, the salt administration has undergone so many changes. Why has he not made any moves? He has even disappeared. Could it be that he has really devoted himself to iron smelting in Peking?"

The three of them looked at each other, their eyes full of suspicion.

In this half year.

Li Sheng was transferred by the Ministry of Industry.

Because of the Guo Huan case, local riots and unrest were difficult to quell, too many wealthy businessmen got into trouble, and local people's livelihood security was in serious trouble.

Local salt transport officials jointly submitted a petition to reform the salt administration and set up salt companies throughout the country. On the one hand, they wanted to emulate the salt shops in Kyoto, lower the price of salt and benefit the people. On the other hand, they wanted the court to intervene, restore order and fill the vacancies left by local salt merchants. They would let the court run the business and hand it over to the salt merchants when order was restored.

The local salt companies are almost copies of the Xiazhibai Salt Company.

Especially steam engines.

In order to quell public grievances, the imperial court provided a large amount of pig iron support. Finally, within just a few months, salt factories were established in Lianghuai, Liangzhe and other places, and the local salt prices were significantly reduced.

Today, the salt permit system has been restored in Lianghuai and Liangzhe.

Let the salt factories produce according to demand, and then distribute salt according to the amount of salt permits.

Many salt officials submitted petitions many times to ban Xia Zhibai's Kyoto Salt Industry and hand it over to the Ministry of Revenue for unified management. They also made clear regulations that except for electricians in the north of Yingtian Prefecture, all people in Zhili Province were strictly prohibited from purchasing salt from Kyoto Salt Industry. Kyoto Salt Industry's salt would never be allowed to flow to the south.

Besides.

Lianghuai and Liangzhe continued to poach salt farmers from the capital's salt industry.

And it was not just the kitchen owners who were dug up, but also other coal workers, porters, etc. People were dug up not only from Yingtian Prefecture, but also from Shouzhou, Chuzhou and other places.

Under the joint attack of the imperial court and local governments, the salt industry in Kyoto is now in danger, and there is even a shortage of manpower.

If this continues, I'm afraid the Kyoto salt industry will be gone.

The current Kyoto Salt Industry is entirely supported by a few people such as Zhou Ning and Fan Xin, but this situation is obviously unsustainable. The Kyoto Salt Industry is now short of engineers, skilled technicians, and even porters. It is also constantly targeted by other salt companies and threatened by court officials.

Only because Xia Zhibai has a good reputation, the people of Kyoto always trust him.

This made the officials in the court dare not act rashly.

Otherwise something would have happened long ago.

even so.

They also feel pessimistic.

But they were puzzled. Even with the situation in Kyoto Salt Industry, how could Xia Zhibai remain indifferent? No reaction at all? You have to know that the confidential drawings of the steam engine were leaked by Li Sheng and other engineers, and even Li Sheng and other engineers escaped directly.

The rapid establishment of salt companies in various places was also due to Xia Zhibai's record books.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see this.

It is impossible that Xia Zhibai was unaware of this. If he had just stepped forward and confronted these matters in court, how could Liangzhe and Lianghuai have accomplished anything so quickly?

But Xia Zhibai didn't.

It was as if he had disappeared. He never showed up, and no news came out. He just let the situation develop. Now everything is set in stone. Even when the survival of the Kyoto salt industry is being squeezed, there is still no news about him.

They understand Xia Zhibai.

Xia Zhibai is not a person who gives in.

There is something obviously wrong with the current situation.

Huang Zicheng muttered, "Could it be that Xia Zhibai is doing something in private again?"

"But in Peking, what kind of news can you expect from running an iron factory? Although there were indeed a lot of problems in Peking half a year ago, it's been so long that no other news has been heard."

Hua Lun also frowned.

He also felt that something was not right.

In a moment of thought.

He thought of Xia Zhibai during the imperial examination, who suddenly disappeared, torturing them to death. When he reappeared, he made a big splash and was chosen as the number one scholar. Would this time be the same as last time?
But is it possible?

Is Xia Zhibai really that capable?
Besides, the matter is done. Even if Xia Zhibai wants to change it, can he really change it?

There is still room for officials in the court, will they really allow him to make changes?

He didn't believe it.

The only thing he was sure of was that Xia Zhibai must be holding back something big, otherwise he wouldn't have been silent for so long, but what could it be? In that bitter cold land of the north, that devastated place, could he really do something that would force all the officials to give in?
Lian Zining drank the tea in the cup and said calmly: "This is Xia Zhibai's business. His ideas are wild and unrestrained. How can we think of them? When Xia Zhibai appears, everything will be clear. I just hope he won't drag us down again this time."

"We can't afford what he has done."

Lian Zining looked bitter.

(End of this chapter)