The Wang family's reception room has almost turned into a government meeting room.
Gong Hong, a veteran minister who was over seventy years old, never thought that one day he would come to visit a young man.
Wang Yuan was so enthusiastic that he cupped his hands and said, "Gong Xiantai, please take a seat."
"I don't dare to be called Xiantai," Gong Hong bowed in return and said a little awkwardly, "Wang Shilang, I have no other intention of coming here. I just want to ask for your help to deliver a memorial."
Wang Yuan asked: "I wonder what Gong Xiantai said?"
Gong Hong replied: "The old governor has been running the river for four years, and now the Yellow River is in danger. Since the early years of Zhengde, the Yellow River has been moving northward. Two of the three embankments built back then are no longer useful. The old man wants to take advantage of this.
When the water falls, we build a dike to prepare for erosion, and we are worried that the rivers in Shanxi and Shaanxi will flow into Henan and overflow from the two dikes that have been broken. At that time, the water of the Yellow River will return to its original path and flow into the sea.
, Shandong has become a country thousands of miles away."
"This is a big deal, Gong Xiantai, please speak freely." Wang Yuan immediately looked at it seriously.
Gong Hong continued: "I suggest that we build a dike more than 200 miles long, 100 feet wide and 15 feet high from Changyuan from Huanglinggang to Yangjiakou, Shandong Province. Then, we should build another embankment ten miles away from this embankment.
Build an identical dike. In this way, even if the Yellow River floods and rushes through the old dike, there will still be ten miles of land as a buffer to prevent greater disasters. When the water falls in autumn, the old dike will be repaired, and five new and old dikes can be formed!"
Wang Yuan asked in surprise: "The Yellow River is so dangerous that it can't wait until the water falls in autumn to repair the old embankment?"
Gong Hong shook his head and said: "I can't wait. Two of the three dams in Huanglinggang have been breached, and one is in danger. If there is enough rain this year, the Yellow River will definitely burst, and more than millions of people will be flooded."
Wang Yuan asked again: "The Yellow River is so dangerous, why are you thinking about building dams now?"
Gong Hong smiled bitterly and said: "The old governor wanted to repair the old embankment at the beginning of the river course. But in the first year, your majesty fought in the border town, and the court could not spare any money or food to repair the river. In the second year, King Ning rebelled, and the money and food were lost.
It was used to quell the rebellion. In the third year, His Majesty visited the south, the imperial concubine in Beijing was in charge of the government, and the six cabinet ministries were fighting together, and the matter of building the river channel was not decided for a long time. Last year, His Majesty finally returned to Beijing, but encountered major disasters in various provinces, and the imperial court
There is no money to regulate the Yellow River. Wang Shilang, we really can’t delay it any longer. The only remaining embankment has been difficult to carry for the past few years."
Wang Yuan asked again: "Have you delivered the memorial to the cabinet?"
Gong Hong replied: "I submitted it. The cabinet sent it to the Ministry of Industry, which has already discussed (agreed) it. However, the officials from the Engineering Department and the Household Department came out to block it, saying that the old man was alarmist, and even insinuated that the old man wanted to use governance.
Earning money from the Yellow River. In the end, the cabinet approved it and asked the old man to re-formulate the plan and reduce the money for river control to less than 300,000 taels."
Most of the Liuke Yanguan are young people, and the top leaders are only in the seventh rank, but they have great power.
If the Six Ministries are collectively opposed to something the Six Ministries want to do, they will enter a state of repeated wrangling. This is a typical example of using the small to control the big, and it is the supervision of the Six Ministries' power. Zhang Juzheng relied on the Six Ministries to completely control the court.
However, the Sixth Section is filled with a large number of angry young people, and there are countless people waiting for meritorious service and promotion, who often jump out to impeach for no apparent reason. Many of them have insufficient experience and ability to understand the thoughts of the big bosses, causing national affairs to be delayed.
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During the Zhengde period, the Six Sections, like the cabinet, had not yet fully grown, but there were already signs of that.
Wang Yuan accepted Gong Hong's memorial and did not go to the Leopard Room immediately. Instead, he went to Huang Ke and Li Hao to inquire about Gong Hong.
Li Wei commented: "Compared with Gong Yuanzhi (Gong Hong), my talents and virtues are not as good as mine. Gong Yuanzhi's talents and moral character are more than ten times better than mine. This gentleman can be trusted and used."
Huang Ke commented: "If Gong Yuanzhi patrolled Beizhili back then, there would have been no chaos like Liu Liu and Liu Qi. This person can be in charge of government, can do things, and can stop the army."
Well, according to the two people, it can be summarized as follows: Gong Hong, Zi Yuanzhi, Politics: 90, Intelligence: 80, Special Skills: Anmin.
With Gong Hong's ability and qualifications, he is qualified to be the Minister of Zuo. But his starting point is too low. He is not from the Hanlin Academy. He does not even touch the six subjects or six departments. After the mid-term examination, he was directly transferred to other places and climbed up step by step based on his political achievements.
rise.
But Gong Hong's political achievements were so impressive that he was transferred to the Ministry of Justice within a few years. He was so highly regarded by his bosses because of his political achievements that he was promoted to the position of doctor of the Literature and Selection Department. Then he was unlucky. Because of his unselfishness, he offended too many people, including his bosses.
He couldn't keep it, so he was thrown into the local magistrate's office, and he soon became involved in politics. Later, when Ding You returned home, he simply stopped serving as an official and lived in his hometown for thirteen years.
It was not until the fall of Liu Jin that he was activated by Li Dongyang, and he has been working in the local area. His current position is the right deputy governor of the capital, governor of rivers, and in charge of canals.
It's a pity that this man is already seventy years old, and Wang Yuan won't be able to use it for a few years even if he wants to.
Wang Yuan immediately went to the Bao Fang to meet the saint and took out Gong Hong's memorial: "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance, and I have to convey it beyond the bounds of protocol."
Zhu Houzhao browsed it casually and asked: "What did the cabinet say?"
Wang Yuan replied: "The cabinet thought that too much silver was consumed, and ordered Gong Yushi to reconsider the method of saving. However, Gong Yushi said that there is only one dike left in Huanglinggang, and whether it will be broken depends on luck. Can it be done as soon as possible?
If we want to control it, we should control it as soon as possible, otherwise if there is a flood, water transportation will be interrupted for at least half a year."
"Then let the Ministry of Accounts and the Ministry of Works allocate the money." Zhu Houzhao gave Wang Yuan face.
However, Zhang Yong and Yang Tinghe were angry because this was not in line with the process.
A memorial was delivered directly to the emperor without going through the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies. Where did the Cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies fit into this?
Wang Yuan destroyed the imperial system!
The public officials in the department almost attacked in groups, and Wang Yuan seemed to have become "Jiang Bin's second".
A month later, Tang Xun suddenly came to Wang Yuan angrily: "Shilang Wang, Yang Ting and this man are avenging their private revenge and want to start a party dispute!"
"What happened?" Wang Yuan asked.
Tang Xun explained: "This year's Shujishi dispersed early, and those who stayed in the Hanlin Academy were all Yang Dang. Those who stayed in the Sixth Section, Sixth Department, and Metropolitan Procuratorate were also related to Yang Dang to some extent. And I am related to the Physics School.
Disciples, all of them are being sent to other places, you don’t even have the face to do so!”
Yang Tinghe had already turned his back and took revenge on Wang Yuan by bypassing the cabinet to deliver the memorial.
The Shuji scholars were all future elites, and they were the successors of the key training center. Yang Tinghe chose to cut off the roots directly and squeezed the Guizhou scholars and physics disciples out of the court from the beginning, so that Wang Yuan could not slowly cultivate his confidants.
Wang Yuan wanted to laugh loudly. He broke the rules and delivered the memorial, but he was inevitably worried. It was normal for him to be attacked by civilian officials.
Unexpectedly, Yang Tinghe also broke the rules, so wouldn't everyone be even?
Generally speaking, the proportion of Shujishi who stay in the Hanlin Academy is about 30% to 40%. If they cannot stay in the Hanlin Academy, they should be assigned to be officials in the capital. Being thrown away from the six ministries is considered a grievance. It is normal to be an official in the Department of Science and Technology.
Release is a special case, either because he disobeyed the superior official, offended the emperor, or got involved in party disputes.
Any concubine who was exposed was the center of attention. Yang Tinghe actually exposed all the concubines who were related to Wang Yuan.
What is this called?
Join the party and defeat those who are different!
The number of memorials to impeach Wang Yuan decreased sharply, while the number of memorials to impeach Yang Tinghe increased. Yang Ge Lao's move was tantamount to provoking all officials with shujishi origins.
Wang Yuan sometimes felt that Yang Tinghe was actually quite cute, and he was definitely not the kind of scheming person.