Chapter 4063: Visiting for advice
Zhang Xingcheng was pushed against the wall by several subordinates and could not get down for a while, not to mention how annoyed he was.
But he also had to admit that his search for the Foundry Bureau as a breakthrough to control the ministry was a failure. Instead of achieving the expected progress, he was trapped in a cocoon and unable to get off.
Five hundred thousand dollars... How can he get it?
Even if the Shandong family would fully support him, it would never be possible 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 countless people in the court who opposed and criticized it. Even His Majesty did not agree with it. Such a huge How are funds provided?
Liu Shi said: "That's why the Duke of Yue proposed to equip the troops with firearms, and completely changed the tactics of cavalry and infantry coordination that were popular in the army to focus on firearms. At that time, there was much opposition in the army and the court, and the ministers in the political affairs 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 Ding's firearms was unparalleled in the world, so he advanced the money for the establishment of the foundry. "
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 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, start training this morning, and form combat strength this morning, so as to become the main force of 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 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 Liu family in Hedong to withdraw from the throne. In the dispute, I stood firmly on Fang Jun's side, and only Fang Jun followed suit...
Zhang Xingcheng was so shocked that he couldn't 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...
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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 never even thought of the word "enemy" in his mind, because he thought he was not worthy...
After a long silence, Zhang Xingcheng held his breath and waved his hands: "For now, please let Mr. Liu continue to deal with this matter. I will wait until I think about 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 setbacks and setbacks in his official career, and he considers himself to be quite strong mentally. But this situation of being helpless in front of subordinates and losing all prestige is unprecedented...
Even if you are a minister and the head of a ministry, how should you motivate your subordinates and carry out ministry duties?
All prestige is lost.
After drinking boring tea in the duty room for a day, I finally got through to the next duty. I hurriedly went out and drove home. After taking a shower, I changed my clothes, prepared a generous gift, and went out by bus to Duke Lu's Mansion.
It was getting dark at this time, because the curfew had been lifted, so it was easy 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.
Today I went to Duke Lu's Mansion to ask for advice.
Compared with his previous job in the Shangshu Province, which 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 the night falls, the water in the pond surges out from the outlet, flows downward and merges into the Dianchi, and then overflows out, forming the Dianshui 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.
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 Shi, Guo Fushan, Du Zhijing and other military officers accompanied him. The group of people cheered in front of and behind, inspecting the progress of various projects along the way. .
While walking, Liu Shi whispered about Zhang Xingcheng's attempt to seize the real power of the Foundry Bureau, but ended up failing...
Fang Jun looked at a huge waterwheel on the river bank that was erected by dozens of people under the command of craftsmen. He 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 served 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 orders 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. , it’s troublesome after all.
Unexpectedly, the first one 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. It urgently needs to seize every bit of power it gets, regardless of the consequences.
Cui Dunli, who was on the side, was a descendant of Shandong, but he had no reaction to Fang Jun's disparaging remarks about the Shandong family. He even echoed: "Each family in Shandong claims to be the successor of Confucius and the authentic Confucian school. They have never left the center since the Han Dynasty. Now they are being suppressed." For many years, I have had an extremely urgent need to turn over and do whatever it takes.”
His brother Cui Yuqing died tragically in Heyuan. How could he be deceived by the conspiracy behind it? This behavior of sacrificing his own children to achieve his goals made him extremely disgusted and angry.
So when a message came from his family asking him to cooperate with Zhang Xingcheng in taking back the power of 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 situation. 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 affected by it. 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 tightly.
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: "It's up to him to do whatever he wants, no need to 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 Bureau, 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 spent a lot of money and food, and we were a bit stretched.”
The construction of houses and warehouses, the construction of hydraulic facilities, the iron materials, charcoal, coking coal, and saltpeter required for resumption of work, plus the consumption of 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: "Just a few more days, and when all the construction at Fangjiawan Wharf starts, raw materials, building materials, money and food will be fully supplied." .”
Several officers of the Ministry of War looked at each other and stopped talking.
Where in the world do people use their own money and food to provide free supply to the country for project construction? If you say it sounds good, you are a fool; if you say it sounds bad, you have ulterior motives...
However, now that the foundry had barely resumed production, they knew exactly where the ordnance produced was going, so they could 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. After returning home later, he will summarize all the money and food advanced by Fang Jun, and ask Zhang Xingcheng to pay back the money when it is added up tomorrow.
Aren't you the Minister of War? Don’t you want to seize power?
Then give the money first.
It’s okay if you don’t give it, then I will ask Your 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. They exchanged glasses of wine at the banquet. Who could have imagined that his subordinates actually wanted to dig a big hole for him and make him lose all face...
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He raised his glass and made a toast: "I am so lucky to receive the hospitality of 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 guests, 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." In this case, I have a merciless request, you are now the Ministry of War. The minister, who controls the world's troops, why not sign a document and transfer me back to Chang'an, so that I can honor my father nearby. I also know that it is a bit rude, but I happened to be at the same table with Zhang Shangshu today, so I have this feeling. If it was the second room in the past. Still serving as Minister of War is just a matter of words.”
Zhang Xingcheng's face suddenly darkened...(End of Chapter)