My father is Jiajing

Chapter 465 Zhang Taiyue's Personality

Xu Jie's residence.

Prince Yu was punished to reflect on his mistakes at home and was not allowed to see anyone. At this critical moment, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others could only get close to Xu Jie, the leader of the Qingliu, and ask him to think of a way to sound out the Emperor Jiajing and see if the Emperor was willing to move the crown prince.

Hai Rui did not attend such gatherings. He believed that justice always existed. Even if the emperor was temporarily deceived and believed the slanderous words against Prince Yu, it would not always be like this.

Therefore, Hai Rui was not with Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others at all, and he was fulfilling his responsibilities conscientiously. He wanted to complete the tasks assigned to him by Zhu Zaigui before Zhu Zaigui was cleared of his grievances and reopened his government.

Therefore, when Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others gathered at Xu Jie's house to think of a solution, Hai Rui called the heads of the Road Engineering Bureau and the Surveying Engineering Bureau, as well as Pan Jixun, the current head of the Construction Department, and others to embark on a journey to inspect the construction of the toll road from Beijing to Tianjin.

Hai Rui and Pan Jixun walked together, followed by a team of professional road engineering talents and surveying personnel. Wherever they arrived at a place, they would stop to check the land conditions and survey situation of the corresponding survey area, and try to find a planned route with shorter distance and smoother road to complete the survey of the new road between the capital and Tianjin.

You should know that the distance between the capital and Tianjin would take a whole day to walk from the capital to Tianjin. If you encounter some special windy and rainy weather, which makes the road muddy and difficult to travel, it may take even longer.

And now it does not meet the time requirements for the road between the capital and Tianjin. The capital's special zone is getting better and better, and more and more merchants and goods from all over the country are gathering here. If the road from Tianjin to the capital is still as difficult as before, it will take a whole day or even longer to complete the connection between the two places. This is definitely not in the interests of the capital.

After all, most of the needs of the capital city are met by the Grand Canal, and the current Grand Canal can only reach Tianjin and cannot directly connect to the capital city. Therefore, this toll-building hardened road, which has been put on the plan, is also urgent. The sooner it starts construction, the sooner the development needs of the Beijing Special Economic Zone can be alleviated.

Otherwise, a large amount of goods would be crowded at the Tianjin dock and could not be transported to the capital in time, and the losses would be incalculable.

Therefore, at this moment, no matter what the situation on Prince Yu's side is, Hai Rui cannot put this matter on hold. He must complete the survey of the new road between the capital and Tianjin before the established plan, and strive to obtain a loan from the Northern Construction Bank as soon as possible to start the construction of this road smoothly.

Pan Jixun walked beside Hai Rui and looked at him worriedly, "Qu Zun, will our superiors be unhappy if we do this now?"

Hai Rui looked back at Pan Jixun. After working together for some time, he also recognized Pan Jixun's work ability, but Hai Rui was still dissatisfied with Pan Jixun's anxious and fearful personality.

Hai Rui said with a straight face, "You are an official of the Special Zone. Everything should be centered on the development of the Special Zone. There are some things that we shouldn't consider, so we don't need to worry about them. We just need to do our job well. As for the so-called "above", our "above" is only the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty's laws. We don't need to care about anything else!"

Pan Jixun listened to Hai Rui's words, and although he was still unsure, he saw that Hai Rui was so capable, and he was just an official following orders, so what was there to be afraid of?

Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. Besides, Hai Rui returned to Beijing with the credit for Shanxi and was a well-known upright man. If anyone wanted to touch him, they could not do it without solid evidence.

Moreover, everyone in the officialdom knew that Hai Rui dared to confront Yan Shifan in person when he was still unknown. Although he was also the chief judge of Prince Yu's Palace at that time, what kind of official position was that?

But Hai Rui was not afraid at all, and he fought Yan Shifan until his teeth were broken, but he still couldn't do anything to him. This shows that Hai Rui was a tough guy who was hard to deal with. He not only had principles, but also had means, and he was not afraid of the so-called hidden arrows at all.

Pan Jixun said, "But I am still a little worried about the toll road issue. I am afraid it will cause controversy among the government and the public. After all, since ancient times, building bridges and roads has been the responsibility of the court. When ordinary people do these things, they are kind and well-intentioned. I have never heard of charging money. If this is really announced, I am very worried about Mr. Qu."

Hai Rui glanced at Pan Jixun again and said, "I know your concerns and what you are afraid of. To be honest, when I first heard about this, I had the same idea as you. But after hearing the prince's instructions and thinking about it over and over again, I found that road tolls are the long-term solution."

"If a good road is to be kept in good condition for a long time, it must have continuous investment of manpower and material resources. Although we can mobilize local workers to do the work, how many of them can do it with care? And which officials can keep repairing the roads in their jurisdiction without caring about the people's efforts?"

"So, as long as the toll road is open and smooth, there will be countless easy and smooth roads in the future of Ming Dynasty, allowing people to travel with confidence regardless of wind and rain."

"Also, the money we want to collect for the roads we are building is from wealthy families who can afford horse-drawn carriages. How can ordinary people afford to spend so much money? Therefore, if we look into this matter in detail, we don't have to worry about any criticism. If one day in the future, the people of Ming Dynasty can all afford horse-drawn carriages, I think the people of Ming Dynasty at that time will definitely not be short of the money for traveling."

After Zhu Zaigui's enlightenment and explanation of Hai Rui's thoughts, combined with what he saw and heard in Shanxi, he can now be said to be the most pragmatic mind in the Ming Dynasty.

Others thought that Hai Rui was just upright, liked to argue, and liked to use Ming Dynasty laws to make matters worse, but in fact this was only Hai Rui's appearance. According to original historical records, when Hai Rui served as the magistrate of Chun'an and the governor of Yingtian, he was very good at doing things in accordance with actual conditions and never stuck to rigid dogma.

Before Hai Rui took office as the governor of Yingtian, the Wusong River and the Baimao River had been repaired countless times but were never completed. However, during Hai Rui's term of office, not only were the two rivers repaired, but they were also repaired at the lowest cost.

From this we can see that Hai Rui was not only an upright and outspoken official, but also a capable official who dared to act, take responsibility and take on responsibilities. Such an official is simply a treasure, and whoever finds him will wake up with a smile.

That's why Zhu Zaigui specifically assigned the task of building the toll road to Hai Rui, because only Hai Rui dared to be the first in the world and set a precedent that would benefit the country and the people!

On the other hand, when Hai Rui and Pan Jixun were surveying the route of a new road between the capital and Tianjin, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Chen Yiqin and others gathered at Xu Jie's mansion.

Xu Jie looked at his disciple Zhang Juzheng, the somewhat impatient Gao Gong, and Chen Yiqin and others, and he sighed slightly in his heart.

To be honest, Xu Jie didn't want to get involved in this mess at this time. He could only get through this crisis safely and wait for a turnaround in the future before taking action. Otherwise, he would be reluctant to confront Yan Shifan head-on.

After all, he had not yet figured out the Emperor Jiajing's intentions, and he was not sure that Emperor Jiajing would replace Yan Song with him during this period, so Xu Jie really didn't want to see anyone at this moment.

But who made him the leader of the Qingliu, the future that all righteous people in the world hoped for? So even if Xu Jie was reluctant, he had to bite the bullet and come out to meet Zhang Juzheng and others. Otherwise, these people would become disheartened and stop coming to him, and then his reputation as the leader of the Qingliu would be gone.
Zhang Juzheng bowed slightly to Xu Jie and said, "Sir, we have no choice but to come to your door today. Please forgive us." Zhang Juzheng was aware of Xu Jie's predicament, but there was nothing they could do about it. After all, Xu Jie was the only one among them who could enter and exit the Western Garden and be summoned by Emperor Jiajing.

Otherwise, these people would have tried their best to meet Emperor Jiajing and plead for Prince Yu, and would not have come to beg in such a humble manner.

Xu Jie said: "It's okay, it's okay. I know how anxious you are right now, and I also understand that the current situation has become so tense that it concerns the foundation of the country. What we have to do now is to work together to protect Prince Yu!"

After hearing Xu Jie's words, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong and others were all very excited and felt that this matter was going to work.

But Xu Jie's next words also gave them a heavy blow.

Xu Jie continued, "Now that Prince Yu has been reprimanded by His Majesty for the Wang Zhi case, our current plan is to immediately devise a strategy and find a way to defend Wang Zhi. As long as Wang Zhi is acquitted, the prince will be safe. Otherwise, once Wang Zhi is taken away by the Ministry of Justice and convicted, even if Prince Yu is released from house arrest by His Majesty, it will be difficult for him to do things as he did before as regent."

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he paused and looked at everyone. His meaning was very clear: he wanted to see if anyone present had any good ideas to help out.

Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong and others all looked thoughtful at this moment. They also understood that the most urgent task was to exonerate Wang Zhi. As long as Wang Zhi was not guilty, then Prince Yu, who had ordered Hu Zongxian to escort Wang Zhi to Beijing, would naturally have no fault.

But now Wang Bengu is insisting on Wang Zhi's crimes, and is still digging up old accounts of Wang Zhi's years as a pirate on the sea. It is obvious that Wang Bengu wants to use Wang Zhi as a stepping stone for his career and reputation. He wants to gain political benefits for himself by bringing Wang Zhi to justice.

What's even more terrible now is that the people on Yan Shifan's side have also taken action, cheering for Wang Bengu and waving flags for him, responding to Wang Bengu's just act and condemning Wang Zhi's treason.

Although Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng and others sometimes regarded themselves as clean officials and morally despised and condemned the Yan Party headed by Yan Song and Yan Shifan, in fact the so-called Yan Party was not static, and many officials jumped back and forth between the two camps.

Moreover, even if these officials jumped to Yan Shifan's side, they did not consider themselves to be members of the Yan Party, because in their view, the so-called Yan Party label was just something that some bored people over there insisted on putting up.

If they have to confront each other head-on, the Yan Party will also say that they are on the Xu Party's side. So in essence, whether it is the Yan Party or the so-called Qingliu, they are actually the same kind of people. They just cling to different people, but their way of fighting for interests is the same.

There is no such thing as a "strict party" or a "clean stream".

So now Wang Bengu speaks out for justice in the "Yan Party" camp. As for himself, he still believes that he is a moral person who speaks for justice, and is not at all a so-called corrupt official as some people say.

Moreover, even if Yan Song and Yan Shifan fell one day, as long as these people had not really participated in the core planning of Yan Song and Yan Shifan, they could still transform themselves into the "righteous" side in the end.

Therefore, in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, there are only real people who live for themselves, not chess pieces that are only divided into black and white and positions.

Zhang Juzheng thought for a while and said, "I have a solution, but I don't know if I should tell you."

When Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng, he knew that with Zhang Juzheng's intelligence and talent, he would definitely be able to come up with a solution.

At this moment, everyone's eyes could not help but focus on Zhang Juzheng. Xu Jie said, "You tell me what to say first."

After hearing Xu Jie's words, Zhang Juzheng seemed to have a clue. He said, "For now, if we want to exonerate Wang Zhi, we should affirm Wang Zhi's surrender and the amnesty, rather than the crime mentioned by Wang Bengu."

"And as far as I know, the reason why Wang Bengu was able to capture Wang Zhi was because Wang Zhi surrendered to Hu Zongxian first, and with Hu Zongxian's instructions and guidance, Wang Bengu went to Hangzhou to visit him."

"And Wang Bengu, for unknown reasons, actually relied on his position as governor and imperial commissioner to deny Wang Zhi's surrender edict, lured Wang Zhi into captivity, and took it as his own merit in Zhejiang."

"So, I think if we want to rescue Wang Zhi now, we must start with Wang Zhi's surrender to the emperor. As long as we can make His Majesty recognize that Wang Zhi had surrendered to the court before being lured and captured by Wang Bengu, then Wang Bengu's luring and capturing Wang Zhi was just his greed for merit, not the justice he claims now!"

As soon as Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, the eyes of the people present lit up. It was really wrong that they had not noticed such a simple point during this period of time.

Xu Jie said: "In this case, wouldn't Wang Bengu be held responsible? He is a man of integrity and uprightness."

Zhang Juzheng said, "Lord, Wang Bengu, as an imperial inspector, was unable to stabilize the local area, but was greedy for the credit of others and lured Wang Zhi, who had already surrendered. How can his heart be said to be upright? Although he claims to be a man of integrity, his intention to seek fame and sell integrity is obvious. If we are afraid of such people's so-called justice and fail to deal with the matter objectively, won't the court be occupied by such people who only know how to seek fame and reputation but have no real talent in the future?"

"In this case, what is the hope of our Ming Dynasty? Therefore, Ju Zheng believes that no matter what the final outcome of this matter is, we must make our position clear and severely refute Wang Bengu and other low-class people who are greedy for fame and reputation and the so-called reputation of integrity. They do not deserve the name of clean stream!"

Once Zhang Juzheng had said something, he would just say it out loud. Moreover, in the original history, although Zhang Juzheng's temper was not as impulsive as Gao Gong's, he was also ruthless and decisive in doing things. Otherwise, there would not have been the ten-year revival of the Wanli New Deal!

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Asking for a monthly ticket~~
(End of this chapter)