He had already done the mining and exploration work before, and this time he came to confirm with Lao Jiang the location of the mining, and then improve the mining methods, and discuss clearly the hiring and dividend ratios, etc.
"My dear son-in-law, you are saying that the emperor has given you a reward to open a coal mine in Xishan? That would be a big profit, but you are not familiar with this place, so where can you open it?"
When Jiang Dezhong came with Zhang Zhou, Zhang Zhou seemed to be waiting for him to pick up the money.
When he arrived at the place, he found that what he had found was barren mountains and wild mountains, which seemed to have nothing to do with picking up money.
Zhang Zhou pointed to a depression in front of him and said, "Did you see it? There is a shallow coal mine here. The quality is very good, but no one has developed it yet."
"How did you know?"
Jiang Dezhong was somewhat speechless about this son-in-law.
If there really is such a good place, would it be Zhang Zhou’s turn?
Zhang Zhou thought to himself, am I telling you that in the next few hundred years, there were hundreds or even thousands of coal mines in Xishan? If you want to know where the mines are, just go to Xishan and see where there are ruins.
"Let's open it. I'll pay for the capital, but father-in-law, let's make an agreement. I'll share 20% of the profits with you. The coal mine will be in your name, and you will be responsible for anything that happens."
"But don't worry, you don't have to worry about the sales of the coal. Either the court will take it, or we will digest it ourselves and calculate the dividends for you according to the coal price on the market. You need to recruit people. The ones that can be used now are even one hundred
Not enough people are there, it’s far from enough…”
What Zhang Zhou means is that I will make the bulk of the money, you will recruit the people, you will run the business during the day, and you will bear the risks.
I am the boss behind the scenes and you are the CEO.
Jiang Dezhong felt uncomfortable when he heard this. He said: "Twenty percent, isn't it a little less?"
Zhang Zhoudao: "Do you think everyone can open a mine? Policy is the most important. I will choose the location for you. In the first year of opening the mine, there will be at least 18,000 taels of harvest, and there will be more every year in the future. With coal, there will be
Iron smelting and other harvests are all profitable. Do you have anything to lose?"
"That's what I say... But since it's such a good deal, why don't you do it yourself?" Jiang Dezhong is not a fool. He knows that the preliminary preparations for mining are very troublesome and consume a lot of energy.
He will be responsible for future management matters.
He gave the effort, but Zhang Zhou basically made away the money.
Zhang Zhou shook his head: "I am a person who is going to be admitted to the Jinshi. How can I have so much time to be responsible for this kind of thing? If you think it is not suitable, I will find someone else to do it. Isn't it just to find an agent? The imperial decree is to open the mine, and there are Dongchang and
The people in Jinyiwei help keep an eye on the risk, and the nobles dare not come to snatch it... We are snatching food at the emperor's feet. Who dares to play when there is no way?"
Jiang Dezhong took a breath after hearing this.
Tired and tired.
But when he heard about the political resources hidden behind it, he was very attracted to it.
It feels like I suddenly changed from a lowly businessman to a great person.
"Then I will risk my life to accompany the gentleman, not just to mine, but to do it!"
Zhang Zhou could see that Old Jiang had no intention of refusing, but was just wrangling and wanted to fight for something, but when he woke up with his words, he was too embarrassed to argue.
Two percent profit.
I did not treat Lao Chiang badly.
"Xian son-in-law, can we find a place to have a drink?" After the matter was settled, Jiang Dezhong became interested.
Zhang Zhou gave him a look and said, "Business matters, I don't want to drink. I won't wait until the first batch of coal comes out of the coal mine before we can have a good time over wine."
…
…
Court meeting.
After three days of preliminary review by the Nei Lian officer of the examination, a preliminary report was made. On that day, Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, made a summary in the morning meeting.
All in all, there is only one thing... no evidence or proof.
"...So far, no examination papers have been found that involve doubts about vend questions. The examiner will unseal them today after asking for instructions, match the red scrolls with the ink scrolls, and check again."
After being reminded by Xiao Jing, Li Dongyang became more cautious when reviewing the papers.
He did not open the seal directly on his own initiative, or Li Dongyang was afraid that the emperor had other plans.
Follow the steps step by step, and immediately report to the court for instructions after completing a step.
Zhu Youtang looked at the ministers present and said, "What do you think?"
Obviously it was Li Dongyang who asked for the order, but Zhu Youtang allowed the ministers present to discuss it, which means that I am willing to listen to your opinions.
But this kind of thing...
Is there anything else worth discussing?
Zhu Juan didn't see the problem, shouldn't he look at Mo Juan?
Liu Jian came out and said, "Your Majesty, I wonder if there will be any results from the questioning of the people involved in the case?"
Zhu Youtang gestured to Xiao Jing, and Xiao Jing walked to Zhu Youtang's right hand side and said: "Tang Yin and Xu Jing are both in Fusi, Beizhen. They have not passed through the hall or been interrogated. Let them make their own statements." There is no conclusion about the crime. As for Hua Chang... he insists that it is his duty to speak up to the officials and does not involve personal grudges or instigation by others."
Having said so much, in summary, there is no torture and no results.
Liu Jiandao: "The results of the general examination have not yet been released. If this is used to open the seal, it means filling in and posting the results. If the candidates Tang Yin and Xu Jing are involved, I don't know whether they should be deposed."
Even Liu Jian mentioned the word "deposed".
This also made the emperor realize that there should be precedents for selecting people and then moving on.
Otherwise, why would Liu Jian directly say what Zhang Zhou might do when he reminded Li Dongyang? Liu Jian himself was not informed of this matter.
"If there is a problem, why should they be deposed? If Tang Yin and Xu Jing are involved in the scandal, there is no such thing, and they have not committed any misconduct, so what is the reason for depriving them of the opportunity to pass the examination?" "
Zhu Youtang actually wants to "have a bowl of water to balance everything" now.
Zhang Zhou can be acquitted if there is no evidence.
Then Tang Yin and Xu Jing had no evidence, so why should they be convicted or even deprived of the opportunity to enter the court?
"Ministry of Rites!" Zhu Youtang asked Xu Qiong who came out to perform.
Xu Qiong said: "If the old minister's intention is found to be unsubstantiated, it should not be widely implicated. If this precedent is set, I am afraid it will affect the authority and fairness of the examination of the Ministry of Rites. Scholars will gradually become more and more controversial after the Spring Festival."
Xu Qiong will not completely side with the cabinet.
He didn't mean to be arrogant. In the eyes of the Ministry of Rites and most of the courtiers, this matter was a bit of a "big fuss". Cheng Minzheng was involved in the issue twice in three months. He refused to say anything without evidence. Now there is still public opinion to ask the emperor to investigate strictly. And condemnation, where does sin come from?
If the investigation is completed this time, the next time the scholars are upset about something, they will talk about it outside, and the court will investigate again...
This is not a good example, but an evil example.
Zhu Youtang said: "I also believe that the imperial court should not convict others for unprovoked actions. If the candidate involved is indeed selected, his name should be kept first, and he will decide whether to be deposed after the matter is found out."
Min Gui, the censor of Zuodu, came out and asked: "Your Majesty, now Hua Chang, Tang Yin, and Xu Jing have been sent to Beizhen Fusi, but Cheng Minzheng still cannot be brought to justice. Please investigate and deal with them together so that the case can be revealed." Clearly."
Cheng Minzheng was not imprisoned, which is always a pity for traditional civil servants.
Now that everything has happened, if we don't investigate Cheng Minzheng, I'm sorry for the trouble.
Zhu Youtang still looked displeased, and immediately said: "The results of the general examination have not been released, so if I decide to take the examination at Beizhen Fusi, it is inevitable that there will be doubts about it. We will wait until the results are released."
This means that we are not saying that we should completely let Cheng Minzheng go, but now is not the time to arrest him and interrogate him.
At least let's wait until the test results are available.
Min Gui saw that it was not easy to arrest Cheng Minzheng for questioning in person, so he went back. There were also many ministers holding their breath. If the request could not be made in person, then the request would be made. If one person could not do it, then several more people would make the request. .
…
…
The meeting ended.
Zhu Youtang was walking very fast on the way back to Qianqing Palace. Both Xiao Jing and Dai Yi had to hurry up and slow down to keep up.
"...Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang went to Xishan and said he would be back in the next two days. As for Bachelor Cheng, although he was given some hints, he did not list a single word in the confession, as if he was determined to fight. in the end."
"As for whether he had discussed with Xu Jing, Tang Yin and Tang Yin discussed possible questions in the examination, but it was unclear. Cheng Minzheng, Tang Yin and Xu Jing did not make any explanation about this."
"But it is now confirmed that Mr. Zhang did not have any private communication with Cheng Minzheng, and it was not involved in anything involving issues..."
Xiao Jing has not been idle at all these days.
I walked around Gongyuan, Beizhen Fusi, and the Imperial Palace, and my legs almost broke, but I still couldn't come to any conclusion, and all I told the emperor were trivial things.
Dai Yi asked: "Your Majesty, do you want Fusi of Beizhen to torture Tang Yin and Xu Jing?"
Zhu Youtang said: "How to interrogate something that has no basis? Is there any mention of the personal and material evidence?"
Apparently the emperor also had a stubborn temper.
The results of the general examination have not come out, and Cheng Minzheng is not involved in grading. Even if Tang Yin and Xu Jing are involved in the questions, they can only rely on "discussing with Cheng Minzheng in advance the questions that may be asked in the general examination", but There is no evidence that Tang Yin and Xu Jing discussed the test questions for this exam in advance.
In this way, Tang Yin and Xu Jing were interrogated. The emperor felt that it was unfair to them.
It’s still a question of whether a bowl of water is level.
Dai Yidao: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang has not had any public meeting with Bachelor Cheng, so it is easy to explain everything. But if Xu Jing and Tang Yin had visited Bachelor Cheng, the external discussions would not easily stop. "
Dai Yi just wanted to remind the emperor that Zhang Zhou was different from the other two.
Zhang Zhouna simply made something out of nothing.
However, Tang Yin and Xu Jing's visit to Cheng Minzheng was well known to everyone. They often used this matter as a means of showing off and never denied their visit.
Zhu Youtang kept walking forward with his head down, and after a while he gave the order: "Go, bring Bingkuan back from Xishan earlier and ask him what he wants."
"Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang is a candidate after all. Could it be..." Dai Yi quickly reminded him that it was inappropriate.
Wouldn't this bring criticism to Zhang Zhou out of thin air?
Zhu Youtang said: "I haven't asked you to consult publicly, just ask privately! Just ask everyone in the government and the public, who else foresees this matter earlier than him, and who can take the overall situation into consideration better than him?"
Dai Yi retracted his head.
He understood that the reason why the emperor did not hide Zhang Zhou's identity as a candidate and wanted to ask for Zhang Zhou's opinion was because Zhang Zhou was capable and could predict what would happen today. He did a good job in avoiding suspicion and the prophecy was given.
suitable.
When the emperor was in dire straits, who could he ask other than Zhang Zhou?
"Go to the Gongyuan again and supervise the whole process of opening the seal. Report the results first. Before releasing the results, make a report. Those who completed the results will be released in advance."
The emperor had previously said in front of the ministers that he did not shy away from allowing Tang Yin and Xu Jing to be selected, but that was just official rhetoric and it seemed that the emperor was fair and just.
But if Xu Jing and Tang Yinzhen are among them, whether to let them get their wish is another matter.
Who says that it was Li Dongyang who deposed Tang Yin in history? Or maybe it was the emperor who ordered Li Dongyang to do this in order to calm the discussion.
