The world of film and television begins with Ning'an as a dream

Wang Yue didn't have the patience to slowly make deals with big families from all over the place. He arranged for Changsong to set up Shengshi Shipping Line in the name of the government.

The Wang family invested 50% of the profits, and the officials of Yixing County issued a notice to recruit workers and paid people to dredge the river.

Money makes things easier. When people heard that the government was paying for help to dredge the river, many clients who had lost their land signed up enthusiastically, and construction began in the entire Yixing County.

Wang Yue selected some suitable locations based on the drawings and built bridges, which would also serve as toll checkpoints in the future.

Originally, building a bridge was very time-consuming. However, Wang Yue had cement and gunpowder, and there were hills nearby, so it was very convenient to purchase stones. While the river was being dredged, the bridge was quickly built.

The river channel was dredged even faster. In just one month, the main river channel in Yixing was not only dredged, but also widened by more than eight feet.

After the river was dredged, Wang Anshi came to inspect it and said with emotion, "Yixing's river dredging is better than Yangzhou's. It seems that the people are not against corvée, but they are against being treated like slaves and not given a hot meal."

Wang Yue didn't expect Wang Anshi to speak so directly, but he was telling the truth and the reality was indeed like this.

In some places where the officials are better, you can at least eat enough by doing corvée labor, but in some places you can only get half full at most, and people with big appetites have to bring their own money.

Wang Yue also quickly flattered, "I heard that when the adults were dredging waterways in other counties, they were always inspecting the rivers in various places, eating and sleeping on the rivers. This can be regarded as loving the people like their own children.

Because the adults often went to eat, the people who were doing corvée labor also ate much better. At least they didn’t have to pay for their meals. This was a good thing for the people who were doing corvée labor.”

Wang Anshi looked at Wang Yue for a long time and found that Wang Yue really praised him and was not mocking him. He shook his head and said, "This is how an official should be. Let's not talk about this. I see that those things made by gluing stones together seem very magical. Where did you come from?"

Wang Yue did not hide it and said straightforwardly, "To be honest, sir, this is a product of our Wang Family Chamber of Commerce. It is very convenient to use it to build houses, repair bridges and pave roads.

In order to quickly open up the situation this time, I asked Changsong of the Sheng family to set up a trading company, with the Wang family investing money to run a fleet together with the government.

This is against the rules, so in order to prevent any further trouble, I asked my family to donate a large amount of cement."

Wang Anshi knew that Wang Yue was from a merchant family, so he did not feel disgusted. He just said solemnly, "This is the only time you can do this. You must never do this again. You have a bright future, and you cannot let it be ruined like this."

Wang Yue nodded and said solemnly, "Sir, with Yixing as an example, other counties will probably rush to contract the river after seeing how much money Yixing has made."

Seeing Wang Yue mention the river toll again, Wang Anshi took the lead and walked to a bridge. He asked a toll collector, "How much did you collect today?"

The yamen runner knew Wang Yue. After all, Wang Yue often appeared at various bridges these days. He found that Wang Yue was following behind Wang Anshi, so he hurriedly said respectfully, "Sir, so far today, we have collected more than one or two taels of silver."

Wang Anshi took a deep breath. It was only a little after noon and he had already collected more than one or two taels of silver for just one bridge. He had heard from Wang Yue's report that more than 20 bridges had been built in Yixing.

Even if all the bridges only collected more than one tael of silver a day, it would be more than 300 taels of silver a year. For these more than 20 bridges, it would be more than taels of silver a year.

Wang Anshi did not expect to make such a huge profit. He said with a somewhat grim expression, "Yan Hui, I am afraid I will have to take Shengshi Commercial Bank back to the government. Don't blame me. After you take the money, the censors will definitely not let you go."

Wang Yue had been prepared for this and said calmly, "Don't worry, sir. I calculated the income yesterday and was prepared for this. It seems that my original plan was flawed. If I give this power to those businessmen or aristocratic families, it would be a bad move.

My Lord, I think it would be better if other counties could ask corvée to expand the waterway like Yixing did, so that merchant ships can pass through and more bridge fees can be obtained. After receiving the money, my Lord will reimburse these corvée.

This will be the case every year from now on. The money collected from the bridge tolls will be used to hire laborers to dredge the river. This money must be used for a specific purpose and must not be used anywhere else. "

Wang Anshi understood this truth, so he patted Wang Yue on the shoulder and said happily, "Yan Hui, you really didn't let me down!"

Wang Yue was a little amused and helpless. Fortunately, he was not greedy for money, otherwise, he would probably be disliked by Wang Anshi because of the shipping charges.

He shook his head helplessly and said, "Sir, my family is rich, so I am not short of money. How could I be obsessed with money?

Based on my experience with Yixing water transport, I think the bridge toll must be set up with rules and it would be best to set up a monument to clearly state the rules so that people cannot change them at will. Otherwise, if a corrupt official encounters it, it may become a tool for them to make money.”

Wang Anshi also thought of this. Seeing that Wang Yue had found it at the age of seventeen, he said with great appreciation, "It's great that you have such an opinion at such a young age, but you must remain firm in your original intention."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Wang Yue with burning eyes, as if waiting for Wang Yue to change.

Although Wang Yue had been through many lives, he still felt his scalp tingling when he was looked at. Fortunately, he remained very calm and said calmly, "I will not let you down!"

Chapter 188: Wang Anshi gets promoted!

Time flies, and three months have passed in the blink of an eye. Changzhou has undergone earth-shaking changes.

After listening to Wang Yue's advice, Wang Anshi was worried that the bridge tolls would be embezzled by local officials, so he changed the power of collecting tolls to cooperation between prefectures and counties, allowing more officials to know about the money and reducing the possibility of private embezzlement.

At the same time, he used the bridge tolls in Yixing to persuade officials in Changzhou to implement it throughout the territory, and at the same time paid the wages of the laborers who went to perform labor service this year.

Wang Anshi's reason left the other officials speechless, that is, only one of the bridge toll and the wages of the laborers could be kept, it was impossible to collect both at the same time.

After all, if the project is built by civilians, you cannot charge them bridge tolls if you don't pay them.

The top two leaders in Changzhou agreed, and the others had to agree as well. Or they understood that the laborers were only a minority after all, but the number of ships coming and going was huge, so they did not care about paying the laborers.

The laborers were very happy after receiving their belated wages. When they heard that the prefect was planning to recruit more laborers, they all signed up enthusiastically and worked very hard.

Under the leadership of the prefect Wang Anshi, 30% of the 250,000 people in Changzhou, excluding the elderly, the weak, women and children, were mobilized. The project, which was originally expected to take several months, was completed in less than two months with the concerted efforts of all people in Changzhou.

According to the plan of Wang Anshi and Wang Yue, they took advantage of the slack season to widen the river channel, and built several sluice gates on large lakes and rivers to ensure the water level of Changzhou's farmland, thus completing the Zhongce plan. As long as there was no major flood, rice farming in Changzhou would be basically safe.

At the same time, Wang Yue used the Shengshi Shipping Company he founded to launch water bus services in Changzhou. Boats would sail on the water at regular intervals, some from towns to county towns, and some from county towns to the provincial capital.

People were not used to this bus boat at the beginning, but because the fare was cheap, the bus boat was safer than ordinary boats, and several times faster than ordinary ferry boats, it soon became popular among the people in the country.

The people who originally made a living by ferrying people were recruited by Shengshi Shipping Company to work as sailors and received a fixed salary. At the same time, the number of voyages of those simple boats was reduced, making the waterways more unobstructed.

Because the charges were cheap and the service was relatively punctual, the people's range of activities expanded a lot, which also made the county towns of Changzhou more lively. It not only attracted more merchants to do business, but also increased Changzhou's taxation, creating a scene of prosperity.

Wang Yue arranged Changsong to work at Shengshi Shipping Company, responsible for operating the public transport boat. The shipping company operated for two or three months. At the end of the year, he took Changsong with him to report the results of the operation to Wang Anshi.

When Wang Anshi learned that the bus had been running for nearly three months and had been losing money every month, he immediately thought of the tax increase in the past three months and realized something.

He was still unsure, so he asked in confusion, "Yan Hui, you didn't intend to hand over your public boat to the government from the beginning, and use the money earned from the bridge toll to guarantee the daily public boats for the people in the territory, right?"

Wang Yue nodded and shook his head, pointing to one of the largest expenses, and said sincerely, "Sir, in fact, the bus boat is profitable, but it needs to pay a huge bridge toll, which leads to a loss in operation. The bus boat, which benefits the people, should be handled by the government. I just sorted out this matter, and the rest is up to you, sir."

Wang Anshi took a closer look and found that, just as Wang Yue had said, in addition to the ship's fee which had to be repaid in installments, the bridge toll was the second highest expense, even higher than the sailor's fee.

He thought of the convenience of the bus boats and the increase in tax revenue in the country over two months, and realized that the bus boats must be retained and must be operated by the government.

He made a decision immediately and appointed Changsong as the Changzhou water transport supervisor, in charge of Changzhou's public water transport. From then on, the public ships belonged to the government, and Changsong officially entered the officialdom.

Changsong was overjoyed when he heard this. Although the position of the Grand Canal Inspector was very small in Wang Yue's opinion, he was able to manage more than a hundred yamen runners, which made him very satisfied.

So he quickly knelt on the ground and shouted, "Thank you, sir! I will definitely live up to your trust!"

Wang Anshi just gave a few words of encouragement and asked the chief secretary to draft a document, which was considered Changsong's formal appointment.

Spring of the third year of Jiayou, Lantern Festival

Wang Yue originally invited Minglan to join him for the tour, but he didn't expect that after they arrived at the Lantern Festival, they met Wang Anshi and Wu, who were strolling around with their son and daughter. Their original appointment to watch the moon rise over the willows after dusk turned into two large groups of people playing together.

Wang Anshi knew Minglan. He knew that Wang Yue and Minglan were engaged, so he said apologetically, "Yan Hui, I'm really sorry. I didn't want to disturb your interest, but I got the news that I might be transferred again, so I have something to say to you."

Wang Yue was stunned. He originally thought that Wang Anshi was tactless and ruined other people's dates, but he never dreamed that Wang Anshi would be transferred just one year after taking office as the magistrate of Changzhou.

He did not know the details of Wang Anshi's situation, but he knew that Wang Anshi was about to write a memorial of ten thousand words. He was originally prepared to get involved, but he did not expect that he would miss the opportunity.

According to this itinerary, I'm afraid that the memorial was written by Wang Anshi in his new position.

Wang Yue thought Wang Anshi must have something to ask him, so he asked curiously, "Sir, transfer is normal, but why did you transfer after only one year?"

Wang Anshi simply turned onto the city wall. From here, the lights in the city looked quite different, but the wind was a bit strong. He walked a few steps and thought about it, so he said to his wife, "You two should go for a walk first. Yan Hui and I have something to say. We will come to you later."

Wang Wu knew her husband's temper, so she smiled and invited Minglan to go for a stroll with her. Minglan did not refuse, but just glanced at Wang Yue and followed him.

Wang Anshi waited until Wu left before he said solemnly, "Originally, several senior officials wanted me to take up a post in Beijing, but I found excuses to refuse, so they arranged for me to be sent out.

As for my temporary appointment as the prefect of Changzhou, it was because the previous prefect, Lord Li, died young, and now is not the time for the Ministry of Personnel to conduct an inspection, but this year is the time for the Ministry of Personnel to conduct an inspection. "

As for this Lord Li, Wang Yue knew him. He was the prefect who was about to die that Minglan had mentioned. He was also from Suzhou. He was resolute in his administration and decisive in eliminating evil. As soon as he took office, he took an iron-fisted approach to the chaos in Changzhou.

When Lord Li first came to Changzhou, he found that Changzhou had a large population, a complex composition, and numerous gangs, and that things that harmed the people often happened.

Officials at that time were either corrupt or isolated, and the government was in name only. The people had nowhere to turn to for help and suffered terribly.

Therefore, Lord Li used thunderbolt-like means to impose severe punishments on chaos, punish evil and promote good. Any local tyrants, bullies, hooligans and scoundrels who oppressed the good people would be brought to justice as long as they violated the criminal law.

In addition, Lord Li also dug deep into the corrupt officials who colluded with him and completely severed the intricate chain of interests between them.

But God is jealous of talented people, and Lord Li lost his life while fighting against evil forces.

Lord Li found out that a medical officer had committed many evil deeds. The medical officer was afraid that his crimes would be exposed one day, so he took advantage of Lord Li's illness to poison him. However, he was exposed when he was poisoning, so Lord Li had his servants beat the medical officer to death while he was still alive.

It was because Lord Li decisively and quickly eliminated the evil forces that Wang Yue and Wang Anshi did not encounter so many troubles when they governed. It's a pity that Lord Li died early, otherwise there would be no more dirt in Changzhou.

Wang Yue then understood why Wang Anshi was transferred so quickly. It seemed that he was temporarily arranged to stabilize the situation. Now the prefect appointed by the Ministry of Rites was probably about to arrive, so Wang Anshi had to be transferred elsewhere.

He didn't expect that the two of them were going to separate when they were working happily together, so he asked hesitantly, "My lord, you don't want to go to the capital to be an official, is it because of Prince Yong and Prince Yan?"

Wang Anshi saw Wang Yue bring it up, so he said very seriously, "Of course not. As long as we are dedicated to the public, we don't need to consider who is fighting. It's just that I'm tired of the fact that people in the capital are always hindering each other, so I want to do practical things.

I called you this time, firstly, to remind you that it's better to hone your skills outside for a while before coming to Beijing, and secondly, I want you to secretly investigate the cause of Lord Li's death.

Now it seems that you don't need me to remind you about the things happening in the capital. You are mentally prepared. But I don't have time to investigate Lord Li's affairs.

I don’t know what kind of person the next governor will be, and I don’t know when Lord Li will be able to clear his name.”

Wang Yue didn't expect Wang Anshi to remind him on purpose, so he quickly said gratefully, "Thank you for the reminder, sir. As for Lord Li's matter, I have been investigating since I came to Changzhou. I was planning to report to you after the New Year and start planning, but I didn't expect you to leave."

Wang Anshi looked at Wang Yue in surprise. He asked curiously, "Yan Hui, do you also think that Lord Li's death is a bit strange? Have you found any evidence?"

Wang Yue saw that Wang Anshi was really asking, so he said helplessly, "Sir, my hometown is Suzhou. Although I have never seen the situation in Changzhou, I have heard about it a long time ago.

Therefore, although there is no substantial evidence for Lord Li's death, it is clear that it is not that simple. I don't believe that a medical officer has the courage to kill the prefect. This is just to fool people."

Wang Anshi was very disappointed when he saw that Wang Yue had no evidence. He said helplessly, "In this case, the matter concerning Lord Li will be handed over to Yan Hui."

Chapter 189 Trap!

In the third year of Jiayou, at the end of February,

Wang Anshi was promoted from the magistrate of Changzhou to the position of inspector of the Jiangdong Prison. After his promotion, he went to take up the post very promptly without any intention of lingering.

After hearing about this, the people of Changzhou originally wanted to see him off, but they had not even prepared the "Wanmin Umbrella". They did not expect that Wang Anshi would just leave, leaving them with no time to see him off.

Wang Anshi passed away early, but the court had not yet decided on a new prefect, which forced Wang Yue, the second-in-command, to do the work of the top leader.

Now that he has such a good opportunity, Wang Yue is ready to conduct an in-depth investigation into the cause of Li Zhizhou's death.

Anyone who dared to order a lowly medical officer to poison a prefect must be a powerful official or a local aristocratic family.

Wang Yue was originally from Suzhou, and Changzhou was right next to Suzhou, so of course he wanted to run this place as his own. Even if he left in the future, he could still continuously draw available people from here.

But before that, he must cut out the backers of those evil forces. If he doesn't cut out these people, after he's gone, those evil forces will revive, and everything he's managed will likely be wiped out.

So, when Wang Yue heard Wang Anshi say he was leaving, he started to make plans and secretly mobilized a lot of people to come.

As soon as Wang Anshi left, Wang Yue immediately signaled to Zhang Dong, the chief constable of Changzhou, and said very straightforwardly, "Captain Zhang, what do you think of the case of Mr. Li who died in Changzhou?"

Zhang Dong was obviously stunned when he heard Wang Yue's order. He didn't expect that more than a year had passed, but Wang Yue, the judge, suddenly started investigating the matter, which made him feel very difficult.

You know, precisely because more than a year had passed and Wang Anshi and Wang Yue seemed to be only concerned with repairing the river and had no intention of investigating the cause of Li Zhizhou's death, those behind the scenes thought that everything was calm, so they compensated the medical officer's family.

Neither Lord Li nor Lord Wang, who were from outside, knew this, but as the local chief constable, he certainly knew it.

If Wang Yue investigated at this time, he would probably be able to find evidence in no time and implicate a large number of people.

So, Captain Zhang carefully agreed, "Sir, the chief of the criminal justice department of Jiangzhe West Route has already looked into this case, and it has been closed."

Wang Yue looked at Captain Zhang with a half-smile and asked sternly, "Captain Zhang, you are the chief constable of Changzhou. You wouldn't think that a medical officer would have the courage to poison the prefect, would you?"

Captain Zhang lowered his head quickly, not daring to look Wang Yue in the eye, and said in fear, "Sir, I don't know."

Wang Yue saw that Captain Zhang had already made his choice, so he waved his hand and said, "Go and help me investigate the family of the medical officer and bring them here for me."

Captain Zhang heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't know that he had made the wrong choice. He sent someone to inform the head of the Zhang family and let him handle it. He could be said to have done his best.

Although his surname is also Zhang, there are many families with the surname Zhang in Changzhou, not to mention ordinary people like him.

This time he took the risk of informing the head of the Zhang family, which was already worth the money he received.

But he didn't know that Wang Yue had already started to lay out his plan. Now the dragnet was ready, just waiting for the mastermind behind the scenes to show up.

……

Wujin County, Zhangjia

When almost all the invited guests had arrived, the old man of the Zhang family said in a deep voice, "Everyone, I just received news that our Tongpan is going to thoroughly investigate the case of Liu Zhizhou being poisoned. I asked you to come here just to come up with a charter together?"

After hearing this, the magistrate of Wujin County was somewhat surprised and said, "Isn't this case already closed? Even if we want to re-examine it, it has to be sent back for re-examination by our Liangzhe West Road Criminal Court. What rights does he have as a judge?"

Mr. Li shook his head in disapproval and said helplessly, "The magistrate has the right to review previous cases, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Moreover, I don’t think it’s necessarily that he, a Tongpan, wants to do this. After all, he is only seventeen years old. If it weren’t for Wang Jiefu’s request, His Majesty would have planned to let him stay in the capital for a few years. So, this time, someone must have asked him to do this behind the scenes.”

After hearing this, everyone felt that it made sense. After all, how could a 17-year-old child, who was not very knowledgeable, understand the strangeness in the case of Li Zhizhou?