Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 268: The rampant public resentment is not our fault!
Moon stars are rare.

The bright moonlight spread across the earth, covering the ground with a layer of silver gauze.

In such a dark night, many people are sleepless.

After Zhou Ziliang and his companions left the banquet, they did not go home directly, but went to the government office. There were not many people traveling with them, only Wang Xuanfan and Lin Shijia. The three of them each found a seat and sat down, and asked the clerk outside to prepare some tea.

Zhou Ziliang was silent for a long time, and suddenly said: "Xia Zhibai is here with bad intentions!"

Wang Xuanfan and Lin Shijia looked at each other and nodded at the same time. Wang Xuanfan said, "I can't see through this person either. From what I've heard from various sources, he doesn't seem like a smooth person, but he's not so stupid as to be this stupid. We've shown our goodwill, but he doesn't appreciate it at all."

"And he even spoke ill of me directly."

"It is hard to imagine that such an immoral person is actually a Grand Secretary of our dynasty."

"hehe."

Wang Xuanfan lowered his head and stretched out his fingers to brush off the dust on his clothes. His eyes were a little cold, and there was a bit of impatience and uneasiness.

They have made a lot of concessions.

The purpose was to allow himself to get away from it and not be disturbed by the salt affairs this time.

They believed that they had given Xia Zhibai face and enough respect, and their words were full of humility. I'm afraid no one in any provincial government in the Ming Dynasty could do such a gesture, but they did it.

However, it was beyond their expectations.

Xia Zhibai seemed not to notice at all and ignored it completely. With just a few words, he strangled their thoughts.

This made all their hard work in planning come to nothing.

Lin Shijia said in a deep voice: "It has come to this point. It is meaningless to bother Xia Zhibai any more. He is obviously using chicken feathers as a token of authority and is ready to use the banner of Your Majesty to put pressure on us, so as to force us to obey his orders and push forward his self-righteous salt reform."

"This kind of person is tough and doesn't respond to soft words!"

"We did miscalculate before."

"The most urgent thing is to think about how to fool Xia Zhibai."

Zhou Ziliang waved his sleeves, put his hands on the armrests of the chair, leaned back slightly, and said coldly: "Since Xia Zhibai doesn't take soft measures, let him take hard measures. But we can't do it ourselves. Let the Salt Transport Bureau and the local salt factories do it. I want to see if he can save face if only officials and few merchants come to the meeting he wants to host."

"Does he still have the nerve to call himself His Majesty's envoy?"

Zhou Ziliang sneered, his eyes full of sarcasm and disdain.

The people like them, the Governor, had already decided long ago that they would not take the initiative to step forward, let alone provoke Xia Zhibai.

After coming into contact with Xia Zhibai, this idea became more certain.

Xia Zhibai is a mad dog.

Being targeted by such people is asking for trouble.

How could they dare to do so? Moreover, with the Jinyiwei by their side, they really had no confidence. If they did something under the Jinyiwei's nose, the current emperor might tolerate some petty officials doing something, but he would never tolerate such high-ranking officials as them doing something, especially when the imperial envoy was around.

They were very wary of His Majesty.

Even fear from the heart.

Lin Shijia nodded.

He picked up the tea beside him and blew on it lightly a few times, producing a faint white mist.

After taking a few sips, Lin Shijia said slowly, "As the saying goes, too much talk leads to mistakes, too much action leads to mistakes. We have already contacted Xia Zhibai and have some understanding of him. We should continue to implement the original idea and not contact Xia Zhibai directly, but just cooperate with him with all our strength."

"Let Xia Zhibai take care of the follow-up matters himself."

"We are only responsible for delivering messages."

Wang Xuanfan frowned slightly and said in a concentrated voice, "What I am worried about now is not that Xia Zhibai will notice anything, but that Xia Zhibai will really lose his mind and ban all the salt merchants who didn't come. I feel like he came prepared."

"When other imperial envoys went south, they mostly brought capable assistants with them."

"What kind of people did Xia Zhibai bring with him? They are all engineers. This clearly means taking over."

"If Xia Zhibai really did that, what would we do then?"

"besides."

Wang Xuanfan paused, put the teacup on the table, and said solemnly: "The news came back from Yingtian Prefecture a long time ago that Xia Zhibai intends to streamline the salt factories in the south and is also preparing to move a large number of salt factories in the south to the north. If he insists on pushing it, I'm afraid we will become very passive."

Zhou Ziliang was silent.

A trace of worry flashed across his brows, and then relaxed.

Zhou Ziliang said coldly: "If he really dares to do this, then he can try it. Then we will have a reason to take the initiative to leave. As local officials, we should protect the people under our jurisdiction. It is Xia Zhibai who is unreasonable."

"And the people behind these salt merchants won't be as wary as we are."

"They are very powerful."

“The interests behind the salt factory are even more staggering.”

"It's not that easy for Xia Zhibai to take over. If he really wants to fight, let him fight and see what results he can get. If he can really defeat some of those meritorious groups, it will be helpful to us. At least it will help us to remove many obstacles in governing the place."

Wang Xuanfan and Lin Shijia both smiled.

They were indeed local officials, but they could not have the final say in the local area because there were too many meritorious nobles in the south. These people were arrogant and domineering, and had done many evil things. Relying on their own merits in founding the country and following the emperor, they seldom took the officials of the provincial government seriously.

They have also been dissatisfied for a long time.

More importantly.

These people have big appetites, even greedy. They have committed many illegal things. Sometimes they rely on their closeness to His Majesty to put pressure on them and force them to open the door to convenience. Although they also have their own interests involved, it can only be regarded as a compromise and being coerced.

Zhou Ziliang's smile faded, and he said in a deep voice: "Don't take it lightly."

“I always feel it’s not that simple.”

"Be more cautious in your daily life."

"Don't let the Jinyiwei find you vulnerable, and have less contact with local officials. Before Xia Zhibai leaves, try to keep a low profile and leave everything to your subordinates. At the same time, remember to keep yourself busy so that you don't have the heart to 'ask' about the salt administration."

"You have to show your attitude!"

Wang Xuanfan and Lin Shijia nodded repeatedly.

When it comes to their own lives and property, how could they be careless?

Zhou Ziliang stood up, put his hands behind his back, and thought about something in his mind for a long time. Then he said in a concentrated voice: "Now that the imperial envoy has arrived, he will start to take charge of these matters from tomorrow. You must always remember one thing, this matter has nothing to do with us, and we have no right or responsibility to interfere."

"If there really is a problem, it can only be the problem of the Salt Transport Bureau."

"Or it might be about those salt merchants!"

"Express your opinions positively, and do things perfunctorily." Zhou Ziliang reminded again.

Done.

Zhou Ziliang glanced at the sky and left in a hurry.

Wang Xuanfan and Lin Shijia exchanged a glance, sighed, and said, "I originally thought that Xia Zhibai would be fooled, but in the end, I don't know if he is stupid or just really foolish, he actually jumped out directly, which puts us in a passive position."

"Do you think he will pass on what we said at that time?" Lin Shijia said.

Wang Xuanfan sneered and said disdainfully: "What's wrong with what we said at the banquet? It's just that we each have different standpoints. He stood from the perspective of the court, while we stood more for local stability. Although there is a certain bias, we can't convict him for what he said, right?"

"I don't believe he would dare to do that."

"Besides, the court sent him here to solve the problem, not to push the problem onto higher-ups."

"Why else would you want him here?"

"I don't believe that Xia Zhibai is so stupid that he can't even see this point. He won't hand over the so-called 'documentary'."

Wang Xuanfan was very sure.

He has been an official for so long and has never heard of such a thing.

Lin Shijia nodded and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Xia Zhibai would report it to the higher-ups. That would make them even more uncomfortable, because their every word and action might very likely be reported. Wouldn't that mean they were indirectly being monitored by the court?
As a local official, I don't want to be restricted like this.

Wang Xuanfan hesitated for a moment, then ordered, "Tomorrow, you will sort out the situation of the stove owners, hand over the information of the stove owners from the Zhejiang Provincial Government to Xia Zhibai, and also focus on describing our efforts to quell the people's grievances."

"It is not our fault that the people are so dissatisfied."

"The sin is below!"

Lin Shijia smiled and nodded, with a sly look in his eyes, and said, "Don't worry, I know what to do. I'm familiar with this."

Wang Xuanfan nodded.

He didn't doubt what Lin Shijia said.

As an experienced Chief Secretary, Lin Shijia is very skilled in handling these matters.

The only problem was Lin Shijia's family, who had connections with many nobles in the city.

However, the fire has reached his eyebrows, and he believes that Lin Shijia knows the seriousness of the matter and will not drag himself into it.

The two spoke a few more words and then left.

the other side.

Xia Zhibai returned to the arranged residence.

This is a quiet little courtyard. It is very peaceful and there is a pond in the courtyard.

Under the moonlight, a faint glow was emitted, peaceful and quiet. Xia Zhibai stood alone by the pool, not knowing what he was thinking about. After a long time, he came back to his senses. He turned around, looked up at the moonlight, and quickly turned back.

"Lü Cang has been here for quite some time. I don't know how much information he has collected."

"Find a time and call him back."

"Just not right now."

talking.

Xia Zhibai smiled faintly, with a hint of teasing and mockery, and said, "I'm afraid that the officials in Zhejiang are now focusing on me, thinking about how to fool the matter. But how do you know that I intend to skip the local government and directly contact the people."

"Your plan is doomed to fail."

"only."

"Is the information provided by Yuan Gong really like this?"

Xia Zhibai frowned, thought for a while, and finally chose to believe it, then turned around and went back to the room.

Late at night.

After days of traveling, he was really tired.

As soon as I touched the quilt, I fell asleep quickly.

(End of this chapter)