Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

When Hou Junji heard that the people had set up a longevity tablet for him, his expression changed slightly, and then he shook his head.

He said unhappily, "Du He, whether the common people set up a longevity tablet or not is a trivial matter, just be obedient to me!"

"Don't think about changing the laws made by the court all day long. In the end, it will make things difficult for me and Your Majesty!"

"As long as you behave yourself and manage the Ministry of Works well for me without causing any major chaos, I will surely live a long life."

Needless to say, the Shangshu You Province that he is in charge of, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice under his command are all led by steady people who will not take the initiative to cause trouble for him.

Only Du He, the Minister of Works, would scare him every now and then, which scared him so much that he began to focus all his attention on the Ministry of Works.

Du He smiled and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Hou. My nephew will be lying down for a while. You can rest assured."

Hearing Du He say such a strange word as "lie down" again, Hou Junji shook his head helplessly.

He picked up the tea in front of the table and drank it in one gulp, then stood up and gave instructions.

"Du He, I will go back to the Shangshu Province to handle official business first."

"Remember to be honest and stop thinking about compassion for all living beings all day long. If you have nothing to do, just stay in the Ministry of Works and make tea."

“If you want to do something good for the people, you can lead the Ministry of Works to innovate other farm tools like you did with the straight plow.”

Hou Junji gave a few worried instructions, and then seeing Du He nodding in agreement, he shook his head and left the Ministry of Works.

The construction officers outside the hall all looked surprised when they saw Shangshu You Pushe Hou Junji leave with a sad face.

But thinking of what Minister Yu had told them, they could only keep their doubts to themselves.

In the office.

Du He read the imperial edict from the Secretariat and Li Shimin again, and then called Yu Chang over.

"Minister Yu, the proposal of Xue Dading, the governor of Cangzhou, to repair the Wudi Canal has been accepted by the Ministry of Shangshu and His Majesty."

"People who perform labor service can receive 2 cents a day and can enjoy free meals provided by the government!"

When Yu Chang heard that His Majesty actually agreed to Du He's suggestion, an expression of surprise appeared on his face.

He really couldn't understand why His Majesty agreed so readily to such an important decree.

Could it be that Du He is His Majesty’s biological son?

When Yu Chang took the imperial edict handed over by Du He, this extremely absurd idea suddenly appeared in his mind.

Soon Du He's next words brought him back to his senses.

"Minister Yu, you must tell Xue Dading to make sure to clearly register the number of people doing corvée labor and not to withhold money and food from the people."

"Your Majesty will send someone to keep a close eye on this this time. If corruption is discovered, the consequences will be very serious!"

As for the wages for corvée labor for repairing Wudi Ditch, this was a major trial, and Li Shimin would definitely send people to monitor it.

If the relevant officials in Cangzhou became greedy and wanted to embezzle some money, they might end up being killed.

Yu Chang nodded solemnly.

The governor Xue Dading was his best friend, and he did not want this friend who was wholeheartedly serving the people to be implicated because of the embezzlement of money by his subordinates.

Du He waved his hand and said, "Minister Yu, please send someone to deliver the imperial edict to Cangzhou now. Xue Dading must be getting anxious waiting."

"The money will be spent by the Cangzhou Governor's Office first, and the Ministry of Revenue's allocation is expected to arrive half a month later."

It is already mid-October, and the weather in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, is already quite cold. It will be even colder when heavy snow falls at the end of the year.

Sending the imperial edict earlier would also give Xue Dading time to conscript labor.

Yu Chang clasped his fists respectfully and said, "As you wish!"

After Yu Chang left the office, Du He saw that there was not much time left before the end of his shift, so he went back early as well.

In the next few days, Du He, who had nothing to do, either stayed in the Ministry of Works to make tea, or went to the East Palace to listen to lectures by Ma Zhou, Cen Wenben and others with Li Chengqian.

Since the last time Li Chengqian asked Ma Zhou why the four princes of the past dynasties could not become emperors, he has not been bothered by this question these days.

Unlike Du He's peaceful life, as the Ministry of Personnel's year-end assessment is getting closer, the ministers of the court have been making a lot of moves in the past few days.

The doorsteps of Changsun Wuji, Hou Junji, Cen Wenben, Liu Li and others were almost broken down by this group of officials.

After all, everyone is eyeing the powerful positions of Zhongshu Shilang, Huangmen Shilang and Zhongshu Sheren, and many people want to climb up.

Apart from that, Fang Yiai and Chai Lingwu seemed to have disappeared suddenly, and they did not cause any trouble for Du He.

...

Ministry of Industry.

It was clearly time to get off duty, but except for Du He, Yu Chang and Xiao Kai, all the officials in the Ministry of Works did not go back.

Feng Jian, a doctor in the Military Farm Department, sighed and said, "Xie Langzhong, Wang Langzhong, tomorrow is the deadline set by Minister Du to report the results of the straight plow innovation."

"Can you share what progress your Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Water have made?"

"Otherwise, when I report to Minister Du tomorrow, I really won't have anything to say!"

Although Du He was free and easy every day, all the officials in the Ministry of Works were busy tinkering with the straight plow. As time got closer, they became more and more anxious.

Especially Feng Jian, the doctor of the Tuntian Division who was closely related to it, he couldn't sleep well in the past two days.

Because the Tuntian Division he led did not make any changes to the straight plow, and did not even have a clue.

If Du He blamed him for this, he would have to suffer in silence.

Xie Xingyun, the doctor of the Ministry of Works, shook his head and said, "Doctor Feng, our Ministry of Works has been struggling for nothing and has come up with nothing."

"In the past five days, we have dismantled several long and short straight-beam plows, but we still have no idea of making any changes."

He asked his good friend in the Ministry of Works for help, and also asked his relatives in the Ministry of Arms for help, but in the end, he returned empty-handed.

Wang Hongzhi, a doctor of the Water Department, frowned and said, "It's the same for us in the Water Department. We have been working in vain these days."

"Let's not talk about the fact that our people are not good at craftsmanship. What can we accomplish in the mere five days given by Du Shangshu?"

As Wang Hongzhi finished speaking, the office suddenly fell into silence.

Outside the lobby.

All the officials from the four departments gathered together and asked each other about the progress of the direct plowing reform in other departments.

When he heard that no one had gained anything, his originally depressed face instantly revealed a faint smile.

While everyone was discussing this with concern, a clerk from the Tuntian Division suddenly asked the people from the Yubu Division.

"Brothers from the Yu Department, the doctors from the other three departments are all extremely worried, why is Doctor Xiao from your Yu Department not worried at all?"

"And he seems to have nothing to do every day. He goes home before his shift ends!"

Hearing the words of the clerk from the Tuntian Division, the officials from the other three divisions in the hall all turned their eyes to the people from the Yubu Division.