Li Mengyang's memorial said: "In today's world, there are two diseases, three harms and six diseases.
The two diseases are: one is a disease of vitality, which means that morale is declining; the second is a disease of the heart and heart, which means that internal officials are becoming increasingly violent. The three harms are: one is harm from the military, the second is harm to the people, the third is harm to the hungry people in the fields, and the sixth is gradual.
The first is the progression of scarcity, the second is the progression of robberies, the third is the progression of bad reputations, the fourth is the progression of laws and regulations, the fifth is the progression of alchemy and bewitchment, and the sixth is the progression of arrogance and extravagance of nobles and relatives..."
The memorial was very long, and the second disease, three harm and six symptoms were all explained one by one with evidence. The words were fierce and merciless. According to the content of this memorial, the entire Ming Dynasty was still a peaceful and prosperous era. It was simply a time when the people were in dire straits, thieves were rampant, and officials were
It was a time of chaos, corruption, arrogance and extravagance among the nobles, and incompetence of the court. According to his memorial, the Ming Dynasty was not far away from collapse.
What's even more outrageous is that Li Mengyang focused on two things in his memorial, one was the growing arrogance of internal officials, and the other was the increasing arrogance and extravagance of noble relatives.
Needless to say, an internal official is a chamberlain in the palace. However, the examples given are not the eunuchs who are responsible for the ceremony, nor the old man who is the royal horse supervisor, but Liu Jin, Ma Yongcheng, Zhang Yong, Gu Dayong and other personal chamberlains beside the emperor.
name.
Li Mengyang gave some conclusive examples. On a certain day of a certain month, a certain official met with the emperor and asked for a bribe of 500 taels for an internal official as a means of attracting the emperor. On a certain day of a certain month, a certain official did not accept the money for the audience and became an internal official.
He made things difficult and waited for three hours without being able to see him. On a certain day in a certain month, the internal officials gave the emperor a banquet, and the next day the emperor was too drunk to come to court to discuss matters.
The key issue is that the things in Li Mengyang's memorial are not nonsense, but are real. The time, people, places and events are all roughly correct, and even the words and situations at the time are very clear.
Regarding the arrogance and extravagance of noble relatives, Li Mengyang directly named two people. One was Zhang Heling, the Marquis of Shouning, and the other was Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang. Li Mengyang criticized the Zhang brothers in the memorial.
How about relying on pampering, plundering, recruiting scoundrels, and profiting from thieves? How about living up to the emperor's favor, corrupting the world, being greedy, bullying and coercion, etc. There is a lot of ink in Li Mengyang's belly, and there are many words of criticism.
Of course, Li Mengyang did not just criticize and criticize. He also cited many examples. For example, he cited the Zhang brothers' seizure of the Zhou family's land as evidence. Zhang Heling had previously forced renters to seize the tenant's daughter to pay the rent, and indulged the family as a slave.
Beating people and running rampant in the market were also found out
Come. One of the more serious accusations is that a slave named Li Heizi recruited by Zhang Heling was recently recognized in Shandong as the leader of a group of bandits in Shandong. This is an extremely serious accusation, and the implication is that
They were accusing Zhang Heling of having an affair with a thief.
This memorial was handed over, and the government and the public were in an uproar. Some people admired Li Mengyang's courage and courage. When the new emperor came to the throne, he dared to hand over such a memorial, criticizing the government, the chamberlain around the emperor, and the two princes of the Empress Dowager Zhang's natal family.
This is really astonishing courage. Some people understand that Li Mengyang
Although he is a man of upright character, how dare he, a small head of the household department, dare to discuss government affairs in such a way and open fire and criticize everywhere. This must be someone supporting him behind his back. Li Mengyang's memorial represents not only himself.
, and the will of the person behind him. He is just a ghostwriter.
Both the government and the public were watching and listening to the development of this matter with countless pairs of eyes and ears. They were waiting for news from the palace and how the emperor would respond to this memorial.
…
During this period after the New Year, Zhang Yanling's main energy was still devoted to the construction of Wild Dog Ridge and the opening of various workshops. Zhang Yanling's only thought was to immerse himself in what he should do. He did not even think about the ups and downs outside.
Go and take care of it.
The construction of Wild Dog Ridge continued on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and it has now been in full swing for more than two months. Coupled with the construction in the past few months, the appearance of Wild Dog Ridge today has completely changed.
The smelting workshop on the top of the mountain has three blast furnaces including the Lotus furnace and the ordinary smelting furnace. On the north side is the smelting and forging area. The tall and huge workshop building built with iron and steel frames connects the smelting furnace area to form an assembly line process.
A lifting device connected to a rail hub and a huge chain has been fully put into use.
To put it simply, the molten steel smelted from the smelting furnace can reach any location in the workshop through the lifting and sliding of the crucible, and various molds can be cast immediately. After that, the cast components go through several cleaning, polishing and inspection processes.
Finally becomes the finished product.
Although at present, the entire smelting workshop cannot fully play its role. Because so far it is only a small-scale production activity of casting bird guns and firearms, so there is no need for such a large scene. But Zhang Yanling is obviously considering it for the future. In Zhang Yanling
In our plan, small firearms such as firecrackers are just the beginning. When developing other artillery or firearm vehicles, or casting other required components in the future, this workshop will be fully capable and there will be no need to expand again.
Rows of house courtyards have been built on the south side of the mountain top. This is the living area of the smelting workshop. Due to limited land, all two-story blue brick buildings were built. Two rows of two-story buildings, plus a large
A piece of green grass flows out from the canteen and kitchen and water room near the wall, thus forming a living area. This has greatly improved the living environment. It is no longer the previous situation of living in Datongpu and squatting outside to eat.
.
The tall, dilapidated beacon tower on the top of the mountain has been repaired and is now a huge sentry tower more than eight feet high. A fence platform has been built on the top. Standing on the top of the sentry tower, if the weather is clear, you can see all the scenery within a ten-mile radius.
Looking back, the sentry tower has been taken over by the Jinyi Guards who are stationed there. The guards are stationed every day to observe the surrounding situation.
The entire top of the mountain is surrounded by tall walls, forming a workshop space that can be closed at any time.
On the hillside platform to the east is the blacksmith workshop. Fine workpieces are made here. In the large courtyard also enclosed by walls, eight blacksmith workshops are built along the hillside. They are all spacious and flat with two main rooms. One is for operation.
, a room for storing materials.
The steep slope on the south side has not been greatly adjusted, but the slope near the reservoir below has been leveled off. A beautiful villa courtyard has stood here. That is the Youtang Villa that Zhang Yanling promised Xu Youtang to build for her. But it is different from the original one.
Compared with the original design, this courtyard is now much larger in scale and closer to the reservoir below. It is designed in two areas according to the topography, with the villa courtyard at the top and the waterside trestle and several pavilions at the bottom.
This is a modification of the plan based on Xu Wanyi’s idea. Because although it is Youtang Villa, it is obviously not possible to just prepare a residence for Xu Youtang. Xu Wanyi’s idea is that everyone in the Zhang family can live here.
I live in a villa where I can go outing, boating and appreciate lotus flowers in my free time. This place should be turned into a garden.
Zhang Yanling naturally would not object to this matter. In fact, the construction of Youtang Villa was decided upon by Xu Wanyi and Xu Youtang. Zhang Yanling did not pay much attention to it. Zhang Yanling was actually concerned about the establishment of key workshops.
In February, the project of excavating the interior of the Wild Dog Ridge mountain began. The Wild Dog Ridge is really not big, and the interior can be hollowed out to expand the space. At the same time, the Wild Dog Ridge has become a veritable solid fortress, with more privacy and protection.
. In the future, it can even become an underground shelter. If a large amount of supplies and food materials are stored, the situation can be reversed at a critical moment. Since Wild Dog Ridge is to be built into an arsenal, all the space must be fully utilized to achieve as much as possible
Best results.
Of course, Zhang Yanling would not let the masons excavate and chisel stone all at once. He used gunpowder. Using an appropriate amount of gunpowder to dig, supplemented by the construction and extension of the iron-wood frame, and manual chiseling and repair methods, the progress of the project can be regarded as smooth.
.
It is already March. If you can take a bird's-eye view of the entire Wild Dog Ridge from the air at this moment, you will find that the entire Wild Dog Ridge is very beautiful. A wide avenue extends up from the east slope. There are two surrounding slopes on the hillside.
A large number of flowers and trees have been planted on the roads, hillsides and even between the houses.
Six water reservoirs were built using explosives in small low-lying areas on the hillside. This was to solve the water problem of the entire Wild Dog Ridge workshop. After several snows and rains, these reservoirs were already full of water and had already been filled with water.
Can meet daily water needs.
The location in the south of Shanshan is the most beautiful. The Xishan Reservoir is like an emerald inlaid among the mountains and fields. On the north side of the reservoir is a beautiful villa garden. It has not been damaged much, so it is already lush and lush with wild flowers in bloom.
scene.
The renovation project of this small wild dog ridge was extremely large, and it took seven or eight months. On average, more than 200 people participated in it every day. At the peak of the agricultural slack, all the tenants of the Xishan Manor, men, women, old and young, came together to work.
There are as many as seven to eight hundred people, and more than a hundred craftsmen of various types have been hired here. So far, only the surface construction has been basically completed. The subsequent internal excavation will take at least a year to complete.
Zhang Yanling invested almost all his money here. Fortunately, Jishitang Pharmacy and Medical Clinic opened, the business was very good and the income was high. But even so, Wild Dog Ridge sucked in all the money earned like a bottomless pit.
.
Zhang Yanling did some calculations. The amount of money he invested in it has exceeded one hundred thousand taels. This is simply an astronomical figure. Everyone thinks in their hearts that Mr. Hou is crazy, why should he invest money in it?
There is really no point in doing this. Only a few people know that it is worth it.
Zhang Yanling wants to build Wild Gouling into a large-scale firearms R&D and manufacturing base. His future may depend on this base to create and protect. Gun barrels are everything, and hot weapons are the future, so he will do it at all costs