Gu Dingchen has been proud of the spring breeze these days. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Ever since he was appointed by the Son of Heaven as the deputy examiner of the examination, he knew that his time had come.

From the envy of thousands of people, to the noble Hanlin Xiu, and then to the unsatisfactory East Palace speaker, Gu Dingchen's career is not perfect.

Fortunately, the Son of Heaven did not forget him, and with the repeated support of the elder of the small pavilion, he was promoted to the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites and entered the cabinet to participate in government affairs. He also made up the title of university scholar after Xie Qianzhishi. Although it is only the last ranked scholar of the East Pavilion, it is also a scholar, and it can be said that he is a minister.

The draught did not forget to dig the well, all of this in addition to the emperor's grace, thanks to the old Xie Shen of the small pavilion.

Gu Dingchen was naturally grateful to Xie Shen and vowed to do his best to repay the kindness of the little pavilion boss.

Xie Shen asked him to promote the craftsman academy, which was a hot potato, but Gu Dingchen responded without hesitation.

In his opinion, this is a great opportunity to show what he can do. Since he joined the cabinet, he has not presided over any major events alone, how to convince the hundred officials?

The more controversial the matter, the more convincing it can be, and Gu Dingchen urgently needs to prove himself now.

The doctoral instructors of the Craftsman Academy are all craftsmen, but most of the high-level officials are Confucian officials. This is also something that cannot be helped, after all, the imperial court is controlled by civilian officials, and it cannot be changed overnight.

The original official position of the craftsman academy was Langzhong of the Ministry of Works, and he was not a small official. Although he was awarded a higher grade of craftsman academy sacrificial wine, Kong sacrificial wine was not happy at all.

Officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers.

This is the ranking of the six. Although the Ministry of Industry is in the end, it is still six.

From such an important yamen "devolved" to the craftsman academy of Laoshizi, it is estimated that normal people will not be happy.

But there is no way to be unhappy, this is the will of the Son of Heaven himself, Kong Saijiu can't enter the palace and hug the thigh of the Son of Heaven and cry to ask the Son of Heaven to change the holy decree, right?

With Zhu Houzhao's character, it is estimated that the Kong sacrificial wine will be spanked by the brocade guard to the court staff outside the noon gate.

Since you can't refuse, let's do it honestly. What's more, even Master Gu of Dongge University came to take charge of this matter, what else did he have to complain about?

On this day, Gu Dingchen came to the Craftsman Academy to inspect, and Kong Saijiu accompanied him with a smile on his face.

"Elder Gu Ge, these are all students recruited by the National Academy...... Ah, these are the doctors of the National Academy, and the instructor ......"

Kong Saijiu introduced it diligently, for fear that Gu Dingchen's impression of him would be reduced because of something wrong and missing.

Gu Dingchen pushed his hand and coughed and said, "There is no need to introduce the Kong sacrifice wine in a hurry, these officials are all in their eyes." What the officer really cares about is whether these students have any new inventions? ”

"Uh......"

In the face of Gu Dingchen's inquiry, Kong Saijiu was obviously at a loss.

Inventing this thing doesn't mean that you can have it.

"Qi Qi Gu Ge Lao, not yet."

"Oh."

Gu Dingchen was a little disappointed, and said in a deep voice: "In addition to teaching, we should also guide the students to think, after all, the purpose of the imperial court to cultivate them is to be able to bring forth the new." ”

Kong Saijiu nodded hurriedly and said, "Xia Guan understands." ”

Gu Dingchen threw up his sleeves and walked all the way to the cabinet.

As soon as he entered the cabinet room, he said to Xie Shenli: "Little Pavilion Elder, the situation of the Craftsman Academy is probably not as ideal as imagined." ”

Xie Shen put down his pen and nodded: "This is nature, invention is not like making an eight-strand article, how can it be easy." Jiuhe should not be in too much of a hurry. ”

"Alas, the lower officials are worried that this will happen in the long run, and they give those who are jealous a reason to attack."

Xie Shen squinted his eyes slightly, but did not answer immediately.

Jiuhe's worries are not unreasonable. But what about their attacks? Can it change His Majesty's will? ”

Xie Shen said unhurriedly: "The Craftsman Academy was strongly promoted by His Majesty, how could it be changed overnight." Jiuhe let go and do it, and when the sky falls, His Majesty and this official will give you a top. ”

Gu Dingchen was overjoyed when he heard this, Xie Shen said this, what else could he say? It would be hypocritical for him to say anything more!

"Jiuhe, take a look at this note, this is the top priority."

Xie Shen handed the music in his hand to Gu Dingchen, and Gu Dingchen carefully took it and read it word by word.

After reading the song, Gu Dingchen's expression was extremely solemn.

"Xiao Ge Lao, this canal matter is related to the fortunes of the country, and it cannot be dealt with hastily."

Xie Shen nodded and said, "How can the official of Jiuhe not know?" The canal is the main road connecting the north and the south, and it is the lifeblood of the Ming Dynasty. Now the river is silting up, and the navigability is greatly reduced, and the situation will only worsen if it is not treated. ”

Gu Dingchen asked tentatively, "Does the little pavilion elder have a plan in his heart?" ”

Xie Shen tapped his finger lightly and said, "There are roughly two ways now. The first was to dig a new canal to connect the Grand Canal. The second is to dredge the silt and dredge the river. ”

Gu Dingchen said respectfully: "Which one does the little pavilion elder prefer? ”

Xie Shen smiled bitterly: "In fact, no matter which one it is, it is a huge project, and the requirements for financial and material resources are extremely high. ”

It's really a thankless task.

Well done, people will say you deserve it. If you don't do a good job, someone will immediately jump out and attack you, saying that you are spoiling the country's treasury silver.

In fact, the capacity of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal to the Ming Dynasty has been greatly reduced. The section from Shandong to Beijing is a new canal dug again.

But even so, just after a hundred years, the river was raised by silt, and the navigable capacity was greatly reduced to the stage where it had to be remediated.

The reason for this is that the Grand Canal is an artificial river, and the river flow rate is too slow, and the silt is easy to deposit. Therefore, every once in a while, it is necessary to manually desilt it, or a new river channel has to be dug to replace the original one.

Digging a river is certainly expensive, but it can last for a long time, at least for a hundred years.

And the results of dredging are fast, but maybe ten or twenty years will have to make the same old problem.

"This matter depends on Your Majesty's intentions, and my generation is just presenting the pros and cons to Your Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao's will played a decisive role in this matter, and without the support of the emperor, the canal would not have been completed either by re-digging or dredging.

"Well, that's how it should be." Gu Dingchen also thinks that it is safest to report the song to the Son of Heaven first.

The Grand Canal of the Ming Dynasty was so important because it was irreplaceable.

Cao Yun mainly transports the grain from Jiangnan and Huguang to the north, and if the loss is too great by land, it is relatively better to transport by water.

Until better modes of transport emerge, the Grand Canal's status will not change.

Xie Shen hopes that one day the Ming Dynasty will no longer rely on the canal, which will prove that there has been an innovation in the mode of transportation.

With the Craftsman Academy, he believes that day will eventually come.

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The cabinet threw the problem to Emperor Zhengde, which gave Zhu Houzhao a headache.

He had become accustomed to the cabinet helping him handle government affairs, and it was really uncomfortable for him to suddenly be asked to be arbitrary. What's more, as soon as he came up, he threw such a big problem at him, and there was no buffer.

The excavation of a canal is not something that can be decided by patting the head. If it is not handled properly, it will cause great public resentment and even riots.

There had already been a peasant uprising in the early years of Zhengde, which made Zhu Houzhao feel palpitations, and he had been cautious for fear of arousing public resentment again.

After pacing a few steps in the hall with his hands behind his back, Zhu Houzhao still couldn't make a decision, and sighed several times in annoyance.

Seeing the sad appearance of the Son of Heaven, Zhang Yong said cautiously: "Since Your Majesty is also in trouble, you might as well ask the Jiuqing Court to take a look." ”

Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up.

This is a good idea, and the cabinet can't give an answer for a while, so it's always good to ask for more opinions.

Zhang Yong then went to the foreign court to preach the message.

Nine important courtiers such as the six Shangshu, the general political envoy, the imperial history, and the Dali temple gathered together to discuss, the matter of the canal is difficult to discuss and come up with a reason, and Jiuqing is in a hurry to express himself, it is inevitable that there will be disagreements, fortunately, Jiuqing are all characters with heads and faces who know how to restrain their emotions, at most they are negative and silent, and there is no embarrassing situation of fists and feet.

After a full day, the proponents of dredging prevailed, and Zhang Yong returned to the leopard's house to report to the Son of Heaven that Jiuqing advocated dredging of the canal.

This also coincides with Zhu Houzhao's opinion.

He really didn't dare to order the reopening of the canal at this time. Once a new canal is dug, it may not be enough for the treasury or even the money in the treasury. The most important thing is that the excavation of the canal requires a large amount of conscription, which can cause resentment.

Although Zhu Houzhao is the Son of Heaven, he is also afraid of change.

Didn't Tang Taizong say that the people are the water and the king is the boat. Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize a boat.

If an emperor acts against the will of the people, it will definitely lead to a crisis.

Zhu Houzhao let out a long breath, waved his hand at Zhang Yong and said, "What are you waiting for, pass the will to the cabinet." ”

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......

When Zhang Yong arrived at the cabinet to announce the decree, it coincided with the presence of the three cabinet giants.

Li Dongyang, the first assistant of the cabinet of the scholars of Huagai Temple, pondered for a long time before asking: "Your Majesty is wise, but even if the river is dredged, it must be levied and levyed, is it only levied from Hebei or with Shandong?" ”

"This ......"

Zhang Yong was just a microphone, where did he know how to answer, and said with a sad face: "Li Ge Lao, this slave doesn't know." ”

Theoretically, the entire river from Shandong to Beijing should be dredged, but if at least a few hundred thousand people were to be levied in this way, the number was not much less than that of digging a canal, but the time for conscription was greatly reduced.

And if you steal some seriously silted up sections of the river, the number of conscripts can also be reduced.

The remaining sections of the river that are not too heavily silted can wait and then be conscripted to clear the dredging after a while.

Staggered time, the reaction of the people will not be so fierce, in fact, it is the most reasonable.

"Then there will be Lao Zhang's father-in-law to run again. This kind of thing is related to the country's overall plan, and there is no mistake in the slightest. ”

"The slave knows."

In front of Li Dongyang, Zhang Yong naturally had to pretend to be a grandson, and hurriedly left.

As soon as Zhang Yong left, Xie Shen arched his hand and said, "Xiya Gong thinks that he should clean up a section first, or desilt all of them?" ”

"What do Siming think?"

Li Dongyang asked rhetorically with a smile on his face.

"All dredging, of course."

Xie Shen said categorically.

In fact, he had hoped to dig a new canal to divert the water. But in this way, it will cost too much money, and the Ming court may not be able to bear it.

Then implement the alternatives. But it would be too bad to even buckle the cable as an alternative.

"Sectional dredging is tantamount to deceiving yourself, and in a few years, the uncleared and elevated riverbeds will have to be desilted. It's better to repeat this in one step. ”

Li Dongyang nodded approvingly and said, "The old man thinks so too." What do you think of Nine and His? ”

Li Dongyang turned to Gu Dingchen again, with a hint of expectation in his eyes.

Gu Dingchen took a deep breath and said, "The student is foolish, and thinks that all rivers should be dredged. ”

"The reason why the old man asked Gonggong Zhang to go to play the Son of Heaven is to let His Majesty think about this issue independently. If everything is done by the cabinet, if there is really a major matter that requires His Majesty's discretion in the future, I am afraid that there will be problems. ”

What Li Dongyang said is already very clear. Zhu Houzhao is a big treasurer and hands over almost all government affairs to the cabinet.

Of course, this is no problem in terms of the ability of the cabinet ministers, but as Li Dongyang said, the Son of Heaven has been holding the cabinet as a crutch, and what if he can't let go one day in the future?

There are some things that the cabinet can handle, and there are some things that the cabinet can't.

If the Son of Heaven loses the courage to be arbitrary, it will be the most terrible thing for the Ming Empire.

"Xiya Gong is really well-intentioned."

Xie Shen couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "If Your Majesty can regain the responsibility of governing through this matter, it would be the best." ”

"There's no need to worry about conscription. Siming, after the tax reform, there has been a lot less forced labor, and people can still afford it if they only need to clear the river once in a few decades. ”

Xie Shen nodded and said, "That's true." However, the tax should be reduced for at least one year for those who were subject to forced labor. ”

It is not uncommon to use forced labor to offset taxes, and Xie Shen also hopes that the people's hearts can be more balanced.

"Haha, the old man has no objection. As long as Siming can persuade His Majesty, the old man will definitely support it. ”

This is tantamount to showing that he supports Xie Shen. With the relationship between Xie Shen and Zhu Houzhao, as long as you want to convince the Son of Heaven, you will definitely be able to do it.

"The grain in the south of the Yangtze River must not be cut off, otherwise the garrison in the north will be hungry. This matter should be done sooner rather than later, and when His Majesty has made a will, he will send six departments to copy the newspaper in the middle of the matter. ”

Li Dongyang was a little tired and yawned: "The old man will take a nap first, if there is anything, you can wake up the old man at any time." ”

Xie Shen's eyes turned red and said, "Xiya Gong rest assured, here are me and Jiuhe." ”

Although Li Dongyang's body is stronger than Xie Qian's, he is also an elderly man after all. An old man of such an age has to come to the cabinet every day to be on duty, and he is heartbroken for the Ming Dynasty, which is really worthy of respect.

Xie Shen felt that he should take on more responsibilities to make Li Dongyang somewhat easier.

He pulled Gu Dingchen aside and whispered: "Xie Mou is going to leave the cabinet for a while, and there will be Lao Jiuhe here." ”

Gu Dingchen nodded and said, "Second assistant, don't worry." ”

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