Zhang Xingcheng was pushed against the wall by several subordinates and could not get down for a while. Not to mention he was very annoyed.
But he also had to admit that his search for the Foundry Bureau as a breakthrough to control the ministry was a failure. Not only did he fail to achieve the expected progress, but he actually got into a cocoon and was unable to get off.
Five hundred thousand dollars... How can he get it?
Even if the Shandong family would fully support him, it would be absolutely impossible for them to spend so much money to support the construction of the Ministry of War for free...
But he couldn't figure it out: "When we were planning to establish the Foundry Bureau, was it all paid for by the Duke of Yue himself?"
It is absolutely impossible for the Ministry of Revenue to allocate such a large amount of money in full. Moreover, Fang Jun strongly advocated the establishment of the foundry bureau at that time. There were objections in the court and countless reprimands. Even His Majesty did not agree with it. Such a huge
How are funds resolved?
Liu Shidao: "That's why the Duke of Yue proposed to equip the troops with firearms, and completely changed the tactics of cavalry and coordination that were popular in the army in the past to use firearms as the mainstay. At that time, there was much opposition in the army and the court, and the ministers in the political hall
Fu also complained a lot, so he couldn't expect the court to allocate funds. However, the Yue State recognized that the power of fixed firearms was enough to be unparalleled in the world, so he advanced the money for the establishment of the Foundry Bureau."
When he said this, he raised his chin slightly, with undisguised admiration and reverence in his expression.
At that time, everyone believed that Fang Jun was a prodigal son who spent huge sums of money to build an unknown casting bureau for the imperial court. But today, the powerful power of firearms in previous wars has long silenced those short-sighted people.
Blocked to death.
When the foundry bureau was at its peak, all the military chiefs in the country would smile and tell jokes in front of him, the little military commander. Why?
Just to equip his troops with firearms this morning, put them into training this morning, and form combat strength this morning, thus becoming the main force in the imperial army!
Looking at the military, who would not praise Fang Jun for his foresight and sacrificing his family for the country?
It was an honor for Liu Shi to be able to work hard under such an outstanding figure. It was precisely because of his deep admiration and recognition of Fang Jun that he gave up his marriage to the King of Jin and worked hard to persuade the entire Hedong Liu family to withdraw from the throne.
In the dispute, Fang Jun stood firmly on Fang Jun's side, only Fang Jun followed suit...
Zhang Xingcheng was so shocked that he could not speak.
There are many rich people in the world, but only a handful of them can spend millions in cash. Even if they can afford that much money, there are only a few who are willing to risk the world to build the empire...
Until this moment, he didn't know what kind of opponent he was facing when he longed to consolidate the real power of the Ministry of War.
He didn't even think of the word "enemy" in his mind, because he thought he was unworthy because of his high self-esteem...
After a long silence, Zhang Xingcheng held his breath and waved his hands: "Please let Mr. Liu continue to deal with this matter for the time being. I will wait until I think of any good strategies before I deal with it."
"Here."
Several subordinates stood up, saluted, and filed out.
After a few people left, Zhang Xingcheng finally couldn't stand it any longer, let out a deep breath, and lay slumped on the back of the chair, feeling full of frustration.
There is no doubt that his attempt to consolidate the power of the Ministry of War failed in the first battle and was a complete failure.
It's not that he can't bear failure. In fact, he has experienced many obstacles and setbacks in his official career, and he considers himself to be quite strong mentally. However, this kind of situation where he is helpless in front of his subordinates and loses all his prestige is unprecedented...
Even if you are a minister and the head of a ministry, how should you motivate your subordinates to carry out ministry duties?
All prestige is lost.
After drinking boring tea in the duty room for a day, I finally made it to the next duty. I hurried out and took the car back home. After taking a shower, I changed my clothes, prepared a generous gift, and went out by car to Duke Lu's Mansion.
It was getting dark at this time, because the curfew had been lifted, so it was okay to go out. Unlike in the past, when you had to go home before it got dark, there was an endless stream of pedestrians and cars and horses on the street, which was very lively.
I went to Duke Lu's Mansion today to ask for advice on something.
Compared with the fact that he had been working in the Shangshu Province before and lacked practical management experience, Cheng Yaojin, who was very popular in the court and had a prosperous life, was obviously better able to reasonably handle this kind of superior-subordinate relationship involving more power and interests.
They are both from Shandong, and if they come to ask for advice, I believe Cheng Yaojin will not be stingy with his advice...
*****
As night fell, the water in the pond surged out from the outlet, flowed downwards and merged into the Dianchi Lake, and then overflowed out, forming the Dianshui River flowing northward into the Wei River.
There are bright lights on both sides of the Kunming Pool outlet. Countless craftsmen and civilians are working here all night long, racing against time to build various houses, warehouses, and hydraulic facilities. There is a huge construction site within a radius of twenty miles.
Gu Jian/span Fang Jun was dressed in a brocade robe and walked along the water bank with his hands behind his back. Dozens of soldiers guarded the front and rear. Cui Dunli, Liu Xi, Guo Fushan, Du Zhijing and other military officers were accompanying him. The group of people cheered in front and supported each other, inspecting along the way.
Progress of various projects.
While walking, Liu Shi whispered to Zhang Xingcheng that Zhang Xingcheng was trying to seize the real power of the Foundry Bureau, but was ultimately defeated...
Fang Jun looked at a huge waterwheel on the river bank that was erected by dozens of people under the command of craftsmen, and sneered: "The Shandong family has been far away from the center for a long time, and has forgotten the principle of protecting oneself wisely. This impatient look is really ugly.
."
His Majesty transferred him from the Ministry of War, but appointed him as the Minister of Rites, the head of the six ministries in name. This was obviously a gesture: I wanted to suppress the East Palace and cut off the military power of the East Palace, but he did not express his anger towards the subordinate officials of the East Palace.
Anyone who understands can easily see the underlying meaning of His Majesty Li Er, and can guess that Fang Jun will definitely rise again in the future, and the Ministry of War will most likely still be handed over to Fang Jun.
The reason why he took advantage of Wen Ju's order to show off his connections and strength was to prevent those blind bastards from thinking that he was unmatched and would soon be devastated when the East Palace was deposed, so they would pounce on him for profit. Of course, he was not afraid.
, which is ultimately troublesome.
Unexpectedly, the first person to pounce on him was Zhang Xingcheng, who was filled with hatred because he failed to congratulate him that day...
It can also be seen from this that the Shandong family has not controlled central power for a long time, and now its desire for power has gone crazy, and it is urgent to seize every bit of power it gets, regardless of the consequences.
Cui Dunli, who was standing next to him, was a descendant of Shandong, but he had no reaction to Fang Jun's derogatory remarks about the Shandong family. He even echoed: "Each family in Shandong claims that after Confucius, the authentic Confucianism has never left the center since the Han Dynasty. Now it is being suppressed."
For many years, I have had an extremely urgent need to turn around and do whatever it takes."
His brother Cui Yuqing died tragically, but the god He Yuan was killed. How could he be deceived by the conspiracy behind it? This behavior of sacrificing his own children to achieve his goal made him extremely contemptuous and angry.
So when a message was sent to his family asking him to cooperate with Zhang Xingcheng to gain power in the Ministry of War, he snorted as if he hadn't heard it.
Of course, this is not just personal feelings, but also his judgment of the general trend. Although his dethronement is almost a foregone conclusion, Fang Jun has not fallen out of favor with His Majesty, and Fang Jun's current prestige, power, and status will never be lost due to
The prince was deposed and was unable to recover.
Instead of choosing one of the princes in the dark and leaving the future success or failure to fate, it is better to hold Fang Jun firmly.
With Fang Jun's past temperament, he was extremely protective of his loyal subordinates...
Fang Jun nodded, looking down upon what the Shandong family was doing, and said casually: "Let him do whatever he wants, don't worry about it. Mr. Liu, your side is the top priority, and you must focus all your energy on the reconstruction of the foundry bureau."
Go ahead and strive to fully resume work as soon as possible. Can we keep up with the consumption of money and food?”
Liu Shi didn't ask why Fang Jun was so eager to restore the full production capacity of the foundry, but frowned: "Xiaguan stays here almost all day now, supervising the progress of various projects, but because all projects start almost at the same time,
We have spent a lot of money and food, and we are somewhat stretched."
The construction of buildings and warehouses, the construction of hydraulic facilities, the iron materials, charcoal, coking coal, saltpeter required for resumption of work, plus the food for people and horses, the daily cost is an astronomical figure.
Fang Jun kept walking and walked to a hydraulic forging hammer that had just been built. He watched and monitored, and said: "We will carry it for a few more days, and when all construction starts at Fangjiawan Wharf, raw materials, building materials, money and food will be fully supplied."
."
Several military officers looked at each other and stopped talking.
Where in the world can anyone use their own money and food to support the country's construction projects for free? At best, they are fools, but at worst, they have ulterior motives...
However, now that the foundry has barely resumed production, they know exactly where the ordnance produced is going, so they can only swallow back their words of advice.
No matter how you look at it, Fang Jun doesn't look like one of those idiots who would support the prince and start a rebellion after he was deposed...
Liu Shi made up his mind. Although Fang Jun said that he would let Zhang Xingcheng do whatever he wanted, as a loyal confidant of Fang Jun, he could not let it go. When he went back later, he would summarize all the money and food advanced by Fang Jun and pay them tomorrow.
Then he asked Zhang Xingcheng to pay back the money.
Aren't you the Minister of War? Don't you want to seize power?
Then give the money first.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t give it, then I will ask His Majesty to abolish the foundry bureau and let Fang Jun lose all his money...
…
On the other side, Zhang Xingcheng was welcomed into the mansion by Cheng Yaojin and held a banquet in honor of him. During the banquet, he exchanged glasses of wine with each other, but he never expected that his subordinates actually wanted to dig a big hole for him, causing him to lose all face...
He raised his glass and made a toast: "I am so lucky to be entertained by Duke Lu today! I would like to use this cup to pay tribute to Duke Lu."
Cheng Yaojin laughed loudly and raised his glass. Before he could say anything, Cheng Chumo, the eldest son who was accompanying the guest, wiped his lips, stood up and held the glass, and said carelessly: "I drank this glass of wine for my father. Zhang Shangshu is here today, which shows that he has not forgotten us.
The friendship of Shandong Paoze. In this case, I have a merciless request. You are now the Minister of the Ministry of War, commanding the world's soldiers and horses. Why don't you sign a document and transfer the order back to Chang'an, so that you can honor your father nearby. I'm here.
I know it's a bit abrupt, but I happened to be sitting at the same table with Zhang Shangshu today, so I had this feeling. If Fang Er was still the Minister of War in the past, it would only be a matter of one sentence."