Han Yang, the Minister of Punishment, made the biggest mistake.
In order to complete the task of recruiting troops as soon as possible, Han Yang, the Minister of Punishment, chose to go into battle in person. He went to Jiangning Mansion, the richest place in the south of the Yangtze River.
After arriving at Jiangning Mansion, he relied on his status to forcefully allocate the amount of soldiers to the officials of Jiangning Mansion.
The officials of Jiangning Mansion could not fulfill the huge amount of money that Han Yang, the Minister of Punishment, told them, so they secretly released the news.
After the wealthy families in Jiangning Prefecture learned about this incident, they decisively went on strike and encouraged tenants and day laborers from each household to block in front of some open shops.
For a time, Jiangning Mansion was in chaos.
Han Yang was very angry when he saw this. He planned to petition the Ministry of War to dispatch local soldiers to force Jiangning Prefecture to open the market.
But before his memorial could be sent to the court, he was involved in a life-and-death lawsuit.
In an instant, Han Yang became a street rat that everyone yelled at in Jiangning Mansion.
More importantly, the wealthy families in Jiangning Mansion used their own power to bring the matter to court.
The memorial to impeach Han Yang drifted into Bianjing like snowflakes.
Lu Yijian looked at the mountain of memorials and felt a headache.
Inside the political hall.
Lu Yijian sat at the front seat with a sullen face and drank in a low voice, "Han Yang is just a fool. He went to recruit soldiers, not to cause trouble.
Just get the person, why would you cause so much trouble?
There are now hundreds of officials impeaching him, and I can’t even suppress them.”
Lu Yijian was not a powerful minister and did not have the power to dominate the government, so there were not many memorials that he could suppress.
He could not suppress the memorials of the prefects and generals of each prefecture.
As for the supervisory envoys of each government, they will not deliver memorials to the Government Hall at all.
They will all deliver the memorial directly to Zhao Zhen's desk through special channels.
When the supervisory envoy is in the local area, he is not in charge of civil affairs or military affairs.
Why should they be on an equal footing with the prefects and generals of various prefectures?
It's because they have the power to report directly to the officials.
After Wang Zeng heard Lu Yijian's angry voice, he put down the memorial he was reading and said: "Although Han Yang is a bit impatient in his work, as the Minister of Punishment, he must know the laws of the Song Dynasty.
Especially the laws involving human homicide cases.
Therefore, he must not hurt people's lives and get himself involved in lawsuits.
Therefore, the murder case that Han Yang was involved in must have been framed."
Lu Yijian glared and shouted: "Anyone with a discerning eye can see that he was framed. But now that there are both witnesses and physical evidence, he was blocked in the magistrate's office by the family members of the deceased, and there was no way he could get out.
He didn't even have a chance to find out."
Wang Zeng pondered: "Doesn't he have anyone who knows how to investigate the case?"
When Lu Yijian heard this, his face turned even more ugly.
"How is it possible that he doesn't have anyone who can investigate the case? He sent me a secret letter. In the secret letter, he mentioned that he sent three crime-solving experts to solve the case, but they all disappeared."
Wang Zeng slowly frowned, "The people under Han Yang are all imperial officials. It would be too much if someone from Jiangning Mansion hurts the life of an imperial official."
Lu Yijian stared, "They have gone too far, so what can we do? Now they have gone on strike, and Han Yang has been involved in a life-threatening lawsuit, so Han Yang can't move.
Officials from Jiangning Mansion, big and small, all wrote a letter listing twelve crimes for Han Yang."
Wang Zeng sighed and said: "Han Yang has been defeated. Even if he can clear himself of the murder case, he will not be able to continue to stay in Jiangning Mansion."
Speaking of this, Wang Zeng looked at Lu Yijian and said in a deep voice: "The wealthy families in Jiangning Prefecture have all gone on strike. In just a few days, it should be fine, but over time, it will definitely cause public resentment.
Public resentment is their weapon to force Han Yang back."
Lu Yijian naturally knew what Wang Zeng said.
He has given up on Han Yang and is preparing to call Han Yang back to Beijing.
What he is thinking about now is who should clean up the mess Han Yang made so that nothing happens.
Wang Zeng seemed to have figured out what Lu Yijian was thinking, and said thoughtfully: "Let Mr. Lu go."
Lu Yijian suddenly looked at Wang Zeng, "Sanlang? Can he do it?"
Wang Zeng laughed and said: "You used to praise Mr. Lu when you met everyone, saying that he was the Qilin son of your Lu family. How come you don't believe him when it's time to use him?"
Lu Yijian hesitated for a moment and said nothing.
He was naturally very satisfied with his son before.
But since Lu Gongzhu went to Liaoyang Mansion and was criticized by Kou Ji as worthless.
He was not so satisfied with his son.
Wang Zeng seemed to be the roundworm in Lu Yijian's belly. He saw Lu Yijian's thoughts again. He smiled and said: "Kou Ji just said that Mr. Lu has no people in his heart, but he did not say that Mr. Lu can't do things."
Speaking of this, Wang Zeng sighed: "Of all those who come from a wealthy family, there are very few who care about the common people at heart. You don't need to worry too much about this matter.
Lu Gongzhu is a smart boy, you can teach him carefully later and let him accept the common people in his heart."
After listening to Wang Zeng's words, Lu Yijian thought about it carefully, and finally sighed and said: "Then let Sanlang go..."
Lu Yijian made a decision and immediately sent people back to his hometown to pass on Lu Gong's work.
After the messenger left, Lu Yijian stared at Wang Zeng with some doubts, "Logically speaking, you are the closest to Kou Ji, so you should help Kou Ji.
Why do you want to give me advice?"
When Wang Zeng heard this, he said in a nonchalant manner: "The public is public, the private is private... Recruiting soldiers is a public matter ordered by the officials. As a political advisor, I naturally have to share the worries of the officials."
Lu Yijian curled his lips and did not believe Wang Zeng's lies.
Wang Zeng knew that Lu Yijian didn't believe it, but he didn't explain too much.
The reason why he helped Lu Yijian was to prevent Kou Ji from ascending to power prematurely.
Kou Ji's style of doing things is completely different from Lu Yijian's.
Let’s talk about what happened in Jiangning Mansion this time.
After Han Yang got into trouble, Lu Yijian's first thought was to replace him.
If it were Kou Ji, there would be no substitution at all.
He would only submit a flimsy document to the Ministry of War.
Then the soldiers and horses surrounding Jiangning Mansion will completely surround Jiangning Mansion overnight.
Kou Jicai will not reason with the wealthy families in Jiangning Mansion, nor will he accept the difficulties made by the wealthy families in Jiangning Mansion.
Be obedient and obey the court's instructions.
If you don't obey, you will be beaten.
Just when Lu Yijian was worried about this matter.
In the bamboo courtyard.
Kou Ji stood in the study and was writing. Zhao Run carefully stood beside him and helped sharpen the ink. While sharpening the ink, he reported to Kou Ji in a low voice.
"Sir, my father said that Lu Yijian sent Han Yang to Jiangning Mansion to recruit soldiers. After Han Yang arrived at Jiangning Mansion, not only did he fail to recruit soldiers, he also caused a big mess.
Now all the wealthy families in Jiangning Mansion are on strike, and Han Yang is involved in a life-threatening lawsuit."
Kou Ji's hand that was writing paused, raised his head, looked at Zhao Run, and asked in astonishment: "Will Han Yang directly give instructions on recruiting soldiers after going to Jiangning Mansion?"
Zhao Run nodded solemnly and said: "Sir, you are really good. You can guess right."
Kou Ji curled his lips and said, "He is really a fool, and he is so rough in doing things. Remember, when you hire people in the future, never use this kind of person to preside over civil affairs. It is very good to put him in the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Works.
.
What the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Industry need most is this kind of fool who dares to think, dare to act, and act resolutely."
"The student took note of..."
Hearing Kou Ji teach him how to employ people, Zhao Run immediately concentrated his attention.
But when he wanted to hear Kou Ji continue to teach him how to employ people, he found that Kou Ji had put his eyes on the paper again, and he felt a lot disappointed in his heart.
Kou Ji looked at the flat paper on the table and saw a big ink dot. He sighed, "The writing was ruined... It should be usable, right?"
When Zhao Run heard this, he immediately adjusted his mood and said with a smile: "Of course it can be used. If you imitate Kou Gong's handwriting, there will be almost no difference.
I quietly took it out to sell, and no one even noticed it was a fake.
What those people want is the authentic work of Kou Gong, they don’t care whether it is a defective piece or not.”
Kou Ji nodded, put down his pen, and warned: "Sell quietly and don't let outsiders know. If outsiders find out, I will lose face.
If I am embarrassed, you kid will be beaten."
Zhao Run said with a bright smile: "Sir, don't worry. No one will find out."
Kou Ji sighed: "My noble little Mr. Kou actually makes a living by selling fake calligraphy. I really shouldn't."
The smile on Zhao Run's face froze, and he kept muttering in his heart.
Sir! That's not what you said when you were talking about me.
Kou Ji saw Zhao Run's expression was wrong and raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is your expression?"
Zhao Runqian laughed and said: "Sir, before the heat is over, you can write a few more pieces so that we can sell them for money. When the heat is over, I'm afraid they won't be able to sell at a high price."
Kou Ji glanced at Zhao Run, changed a piece of paper, picked up the pen and started writing again.
Kou Ji no longer cares about money.
But when money was delivered to his door, Kou Ji had no reason not to accept it.
Since Kou Zhun left his name at Wenchang Academy and left Bianjing City, the value of Kou Zhun's name has skyrocketed.
There are endless counterfeit goods among the people.
Some imitation calligraphy actually sold for a very high price.
The fake ones can be sold at high prices.
Then the real price will naturally be higher.
But Kou Zhun had already left Beijing, and most of his paintings and calligraphy were either collected by the palace or by the Wenchang Academy, and the rest were taken away by him.
Naturally, it is impossible to sell the collections in the palace and Wenchang Academy.
Therefore, Kou Zhun's authentic work instantly became a rare commodity.
After Zhao Run learned about this, he decisively found Kou Ji and asked Kou Ji for Kou Zhun's authentic work.
Kou Ji does have Kou Zhun's original works, but they are all in his collection and cannot be sold.
So I casually wrote one for Zhao Run.
Although Zhao Run is young, his skills in appraising calligraphy and painting are still very good.
After all, the old Zhao family has paid close attention to the education issues of the royal family since Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi.
Therefore, the Lao Zhao family's humanistic attainments are not low.
As the eldest prince, Zhao Run had high hopes from many people, and his literary attainments were naturally not low.
After Zhao Run appraised Kou Ji's handwriting, he felt that Kou Ji's handwriting was enough to be fake, so he boldly took it out for sale.
Then he sold it for a full 20,000 yuan.
He took three thousand as commission for himself and gave the rest to Kou Ji.
After Kou Ji saw the money, he never refused Zhao Run's request for a word again.
Anyway, idle time is idle time.
It is better to be deceived by him than to let those who have been taken advantage of be deceived by others.
He has more conscience than other liars.
Although he did not give the wrong words to those who were wronged, he did give him his own words.
Although the calligraphy of Xiao Kou Gong is not as valuable as the calligraphy of Kou Gong.
But he is also a famous person, and his words are still worth a few dollars.
It can be considered worthy of the huge sums of money given by those who were taken advantage of.
Kou Ji lowered his head and was writing, while Zhao Run was thinking about something at the side.
Zhao Run thought for a long time and whispered: "Sir, the student has a question in his mind. I wonder if you can help the student clear it up?"
Kou Ji said a word without raising his head, "Say..."
Zhao Run hurriedly said: "Sir, if you face the current predicament of Jiangning Mansion, how will you solve it?"
Kou Ji said calmly while writing: "Simple... Since those wealthy families in Jiangning Mansion are unwilling to make money, then let them stop making money completely.
They liked to go on strike, so the court simply closed the market.
Then the imperial court sent people over to occupy the market and make money they were unwilling to make."
Zhao Run was stunned and said in astonishment: "Is this still possible? But if you do this, there will definitely be pedantic people in the court who say something about not competing with the people."
Kou Ji said disdainfully: "It's because the imperial court doesn't compete with the people for profit, so it takes advantage of those wealthy families."
Zhao Run pondered: "But if the imperial court competes with the people for profit, where will the people's profits come from?"
Kou Ji raised his head in surprise, stared at Zhao Run and said, "You can actually think of this?"
Zhao Run said dumbfounded: "It's not like students don't understand everything..."
Kou Ji put down his pen and said with a smile: "Since you asked here, let me explain it to you. In the eyes of officials, the court does not compete with the people for profit, which refers to all the people in the world.
But in the eyes of hundreds of officials, the court does not compete with the people for profit, which refers to those wealthy families.
Because most of the people doing business in the world are wealthy and powerful.
Even if you are a small family doing business, you will not be able to do big business.
At most, you can set up a stall, or carry a burden and hawk around.
Even if the court competes with them for profit, it can't win much money.
The truly profitable businesses are all in the hands of wealthy individuals.
In the court, 90% of the officials are from wealthy families.
Less than 10% of officials come from poor families.
Therefore, there is a big difference between the views of officials and officials on not competing with the people for profit.
The reason why officials insist not to compete with the people for profit is to protect the interests of the wealthy families behind them."
Zhao Run stared at Kou Ji blankly and said: "The so-called not competing with the people for profit is something the officials did to protect their own interests."
Kou Ji laughed and said: "Otherwise? Why do officials who usually want to knock the people's bones and suck their marrow out on them, try their best to protect the people in this matter?"
If they really care about the people, why do they still want to break their bones and suck out their marrow?"
Zhao Run was a little confused because he had never considered the officials' efforts to protect themselves from competing with the people from this perspective.
"Are my officials in the Song Dynasty... so miserable?"
Zhao Run asked confusedly.
Kou Ji smiled and said: "It's much better now. After officials came to the throne, they killed a lot of people and sent people to keep an eye on them, so there are fewer corrupt officials."
Zhao Run looked at Kou Ji and said, "So...when my imperial grandfather was in power, there were many corrupt officials?"
Kou Ji laughed, "You said this, I didn't."
Zhao Run smiled bitterly.
Kou Ji smiled and continued: "So the nonsense of not competing with the people for benefit does not work here. Some pedantic people want to make trouble with this, so let them make trouble."
Zhao Run smiled bitterly and said: "But it's not good to cause trouble... I heard from my father that when similar things happen, there will be no end every time."
Kou Ji smiled and said: "So the imperial court can secretly take charge of this matter, but it does not need to be done in a big way in the name of the imperial court.
When each family left the Song Dynasty, they left behind many experts in the business field.
It's just right to let them come forward."
Zhao Run naturally knew which households Kou Ji was talking about.
Zhao Run pondered and said: "What if the local people don't let them do business."
Kou Ji hesitated for a moment and said: "There are two ways to solve it..."
"Those two ways?"
Zhao Run asked.
Kou Ji said frankly: "Let the people who went to Jiangning Mansion to recruit soldiers withdraw from Jiangning Mansion, and then find someone to write a letter to report that there is a big profiteer in Jiangning Mansion. Then the court will send people to investigate, every day.
If you are happy, let them continue doing business; if they are unhappy, close the door and check the accounts.
They can encourage the people to resist recruiting soldiers, but they cannot encourage the people to resist the imperial court's investigation of profiteers."
The Song Dynasty was a very bad era, but it was also a very beautiful era.
The way people did business in the Song Dynasty was different from that of later generations.
Song people believe in honesty when doing business.
Once your signboard is erected, you have to strive for word-of-mouth.
If you do bad things secretly and no one catches you, nothing will happen.
But once someone catches him, he is exposed.
Then he will be abandoned by all the guests immediately.
The common people do not have much culture, so they can only protect themselves from being deceived by accepting death.
If everyone says you are good, and the government also says you are good, then the people will believe you.
If everyone says you have a problem, and the government also says you have a problem, then the people won't believe you.
Therefore, if the court investigates profiteers, the people will definitely not follow suit and cause trouble.
On the contrary, they would applaud the court's actions.
As long as the imperial court's investigation of profiteers ignored private necessities such as grain stores and cloth stores, it would have almost no impact on the people.
But those wealthy families will be tortured to death.
Therefore, this move is definitely one of the tricks to force those wealthy families to submit.
After hearing what Kou Ji said, Zhao Run asked with bright eyes, "What else?"
Kou Ji said with a smile: "Find a group of people, dress up as gangsters, and cause trouble in Jiangning Mansion. Then send troops and horses over and blockade Jiangning Mansion.
Once Jiangning Mansion is sealed off, the imperial court will have the final say on some things inside."
Zhao Run was stunned for a moment, and said with some disappointment: "I thought it was better than the first method, but I didn't expect to use troops. Using troops is not a good idea, and it will hurt many innocent people."
Kou Ji said frankly: "Moving troops is the fastest way. It is also the way to eliminate future troubles from the root. There are no government affairs that cannot be solved by soldiers and horses. If there are, it means that you do not have enough soldiers and horses."
Zhao Run looked at Kou Ji in astonishment.
Obviously, Kou Ji's remarks had a big impact on him.
Kou Ji looked at Zhao Run's little face and continued: "I personally prefer the second method... because I really don't have time to fight with those wealthy people."
Zhao Run frowned and asked, "Isn't there any way that doesn't involve troops and doesn't waste time?"
Kou Ji smiled and said: "No... if we don't move troops, it will only waste time. But we don't have to waste our own time. We just need to choose the right people and leave the work to them.
What will be wasted then is their time, not ours.
We have a large number of people working under us, so there is no need to do everything ourselves.
Just like your father, he only needs to choose three prime ministers, three privy councilors, and six ministers, and leave everything to these twelve people."
Zhao Run thought and nodded.
Kou Ji didn't want to discuss this issue with Zhao Run anymore, so he collected the paper on the desk, threw it to Zhao Run, and said with a smile: "Okay, these issues are not what you should consider now, just go and make money."
Zhao Run saw that Kou Ji was unwilling to have a deep conversation with him, so he took the letter, nodded, and left the study.
After Zhao Run left, Kou Ji smiled and shook his head, "I don't know who Lu Yijian will send to clean up Han Yang's mess. It's best to send someone more powerful.
Otherwise, things in Jiangning Mansion may become even more troublesome.
Lu Yijian, after all, you are also a famous figure in history, so you need to give me some help.
If you do more, I will be less worried about it."
Lu Yijian is now the pawn and vanguard of Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen.
The faster he rushes, the harder he hits.
Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen feel less worried.
Lu Yijian also knew that he had been reduced to a pawn and vanguard.
When he decided to take over the task of recruiting soldiers from Zhao Zhen, he knew that he would become a pawn and vanguard.
Although Lu Yijian didn't know what Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji were going to do specifically.
But recruiting troops must be related to what Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen want to do.
Now that Lu Yijian is doing things ahead of Kou Ji, isn't he just a pawn?
Lu Yijian was actually a willing pawn.
Because he was greedy for power, he was unwilling to give up his position as Tong Zhongshu's subordinate Ping Zhangshi, and was unwilling to give up his position to Kou Ji.
So he had to act as a pawn and do what Kou Ji wanted to do.
Lu Yijian didn't think it was stupid to be a pawn.
As a pawn, if he can clear the level all the way.
Then he is no longer a pawn.
Rather, he is the most important person.
As long as he can clear the level, Kou Ji can't even think about taking away the position of Tong Zhongshu's disciple Ping Zhangshi from him.
In order to clear the level.
When Lu Gongzhu left the capital to replace Han Yang, Lu Yijian specially called Lu Gongzhu to his room and gave him instructions all night.
After Lu Gongzhu digested the experience of handling things taught by Lu Yijian, he rushed to Jiangning Mansion with some servants.
When Mr. Lu left Beijing, Zhao Run went to Kou's house and told Kou Ji about the incident.
Kou Ji didn't have time to pay attention to this matter.