"Master, it's time to take medicine." The maid came in holding a bowl of medicine.
Li Hao was wrapped in a cotton blanket and was reading a book carefully on the bed with a magnifying glass. He was old and his eyesight was not very good. Fortunately, he had a magnifying glass, otherwise he would have to be recited.
In the impression of traditional Neo-Confucianists, although the physical school "confuses the public", it is not entirely without merit. They like magnifying glasses and reducing glasses (myopia glasses) very much.
Li Hao took the potion, drank it in one gulp, and then waved the maid to leave.
After reading another page of the book, Li Hao gently put it down. He really wasn't in the mood to read.
This old gentleman is over seventy years old!
A few years ago, when the Yellow River burst, the governor of the river channel offered sacrifices to the mountains and rivers, but Li Hao rebuked him for offering sacrifices to He Bo. The dignified minister of the Ministry of Industry did not think about how to regulate the river channel, but he was entangled in this issue. He seemed to be a fatuous and incompetent person.
But a few people still remember that Li Hao was promoted based on his political performance.
When he was young, he went to Shanxi to provide disaster relief. He not only rescued countless victims, but also presided over the excavation of canals to irrigate millions of acres of farmland. Today, the largest water conservancy project in Shanxi was built by Li Hao despite all the pressure.
He also built fortifications in Miyun. From then on, Mongolia no longer invaded from the south of Miyun because Li Hao's defense line was built without any flaws.
Li Xia was Liu Daxia's confidant. Although Liu Daxia had a bad reputation in later generations, he was a truly capable official and a traditional reformist (except for opening up the sea, Liu Daxia advocated reform in other aspects).
Li Hao was also a reformist before. Before Li Dongyang took office, Liu Daxia and Li Hao participated in the formulation of the reform plan left to Wang Yuan.
Zhengde succeeded to the throne, Liu Jin took power, Liu Daxia got out, and Li Hao followed suit.
It wasn't until Liu Jin executed him and Li Dongyang gained power that he recalled Li Hao.
But Li Dongyang retired soon, and Li Hao had no choice but to drift along in order to protect himself. He reluctantly cooperated with Yang Tinghe, and then reluctantly cooperated with Liang Chu, and also accepted the wooing of eunuchs and generals. He occasionally advised the emperor not to build large-scale construction projects, but once the emperor gave the order
, Li Hao will still try his best to cooperate.
At first, everyone, including Wang Yuan, thought that Li Hao had taken refuge with Yang Tinghe. But now everyone understood that this old guy didn't take refuge with anyone. He just wanted to live quietly until he retired.
However, during this period, Li Hao suddenly became tough again!
Because Wang Yuan helped the Ministry of Industry to recover some of its financial rights, the Ministry of Industry established a new Jieshen Treasury. All customs duties, including Hangzhou Nanguan, would be handed over to the Jieshen Treasury for disposal by the Ministry of Industry.
Qingliu and the eunuch are eyeing Jieshenku at the same time!
Yang Tinghe wanted his confidants to manage the Jieshen Treasury, and Zhang Yong also wanted to set up a supervising eunuch in the Jieshen Treasury. Li Xun, who had always been obedient, suddenly regained his youthful demeanor and guarded the Jieshen Treasury to prevent anyone from getting involved.
Yang Tinghe and Zhang Yong were offended.
This old dog still has a few teeth left, so it may be inconvenient to bite people, but it has not lost its ability to protect food.
"Prepare the sedan!"
Li Hao suddenly got up from the bedside, threw away the magnifying glass in his hand, and went straight to the prince's house in the west of the city in a sedan chair.
The attendant handed over the greeting card. When the disciple saw the minister of the Ministry of Industry coming, he quickly ran in to report the news.
Wang Yuan personally came to the main entrance to greet him, helped Li Hao into the house, and asked, "What important matter does Li Shangshu have that he comes here in person in the snow?"
Li Hao did not answer directly, but said in a more indirect way: "Shilang Wang is really capable. He can turn waste into treasure and turn useless carbon ash into honeycomb charcoal to benefit the people."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "It's all the physics students who are busy."
Li Qi raised his hand and said: "I am also very interested in physics, and I have also studied the new arithmetic created by Wang Shilang."
Wang Yuan asked: "Li Shangshu is also interested in arithmetic?"
Li Hao smiled and said: "After all, I am also the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and he also presided over many projects when I was young. If I don't study arithmetic carefully, won't I be deceived by Xiaoxiao?"
"I made a mistake." Wang Yuan apologized with his hands in hand.
Li Hao said sternly: "The new money made by the Ministry of Industry is of poor quality and insufficient materials, which has ruined the important matter of Wang Shilang. I am here to apologize to Wang Shilang. I also ask Wang Shilang not to blame. I will put things in order immediately."
Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry!”
Wang Yuan asked curiously: "What's the secret behind this matter?"
Li Hao explained: "Because of the Jieshenku matter, I offended Mr. Yang Ge and Zhang Yong. Seeing that it would be beneficial for the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs to make money, he also wanted the Ministry of Works to make money, but he was too embarrassed to ask Wang Shilang for help.
After all, this is suspected of robbing political achievements. Jiang Bin happened to come to the door and was willing to help His Majesty with the job of making money. The old man was confused and agreed to him. "
It seemed that the explanation was very straightforward and thorough, but Li Hao still had some things he didn't say.
He chose to temporarily cooperate with Jiang Bin because he offended Yang Tinghe and Zhang Yong, and did not want to get too close to Wang Yuan. Unexpectedly, after Jiang Bin took the agreed profits, he was still greedy and secretly collaborated with Bao
The Yuan Bureau officials cut corners and made silver coins that could be broken directly with their hands - too much lead and tin were mixed in!
Li Hao was dumbfounded. He was put on the shelf and couldn't get off. He had already offended Zhang Yong and Yang Tinghe. Could it be that he had fallen out with Jiang Bin again?
We can only ask Wang Yuan for help, and we must completely surrender to Wang Yuan, otherwise this matter will never end!
As a veteran minister in his seventies, although Li Hao followed the trend, he was extremely arrogant in his heart. He only obeyed people of Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Liu Daxia's generation, and looked down on Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu and the like, and even regarded Wang Yuan as his grandson.
Being forced to seek refuge with Wang Yuan, Li Hao felt aggrieved.
"Jiang Bin's holy family is in full swing. They cannot be defeated. The old man is caught in the middle and has become the target of public criticism." Li Hao shook his head and sighed, "You are really an old fool. How can you trust Jiang Bin? I believe that he can do it with just a little benefit."
give up!"
Wang Yuan thought carefully, probably trying to understand the situation, and asked with a smile: "Does Li Shangshu agree with the reform?"
Li Hao half-squinted his eyes: "If you don't change, you will inevitably decline, but you must be cautious."
Wang Yuan shook his head and said: "Those who preside over reforms must be cautious, but when they really start reform, they must move forward with great strides. Reform is about sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat!"
Li Xing stroked his beard and laughed: "Haha, Wang Shilang has mastered the samadhi of politics, so maybe there is some hope that the reform will succeed."
"Li Shangshu is willing to help me?" Wang Yuan asked directly.
Li Hao sighed and said, "I can't make it. I'm already over seventy years old. How many more years can I live? But I have someone I can recommend to Wang Shilang."
"Which wise man?" Wang Yuan asked.
Li Wei said: "Zhao Huang, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, is determined to reform, impartial and selfless, and has outstanding abilities. With his talents, political achievements and qualifications, he should have been promoted to the left minister long ago, but he stopped because he offended too many people.
."
Wang Yuan asked again: "How about Liu Yong, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry?"
Li Hao smiled and replied: "A member of the Yang Party."
Wang Yuan said: "Since he is the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, he should share some of the blame for Baoyuan Bureau's casting of bad money, right?"
"This is how it should be with both emotion and reason." Li Hao said.
Zhang Yong and Yang Tinghe both wanted to control the warehouse of the Ministry of Industry, and they hated Li Hao's secret cooperation with Jiang Bin, so they planned to join forces to get Li Hao dismissed from office. Since Li Hao was willing to join Wang Yuan, Wang Yuan would not refuse to take over the work.
Ministry, just let Liu Yong, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, take the blame.
Liu Yong has a very bad official reputation and has been impeached for corruption many times. Only Yang Tinghe has protected him until now. He is the perfect candidate to take the blame!