After the river yamen became a permanent office, the governor of the river yamen came up with a way to save money for the imperial court. The original hired river workers to dig the silt were replaced by prisoners held by the yamen in various places. On the surface, it was a cost-saving project for the imperial court, but in fact, it was delaying the progress. When the common people did not have farm work, they could not only increase their income but also eat a full meal. These people are the people on the river, and they know that it is also very beneficial for them to manage the river well, so they work not only seriously but also carefully. If you put in those prisoners, it's very different. Not only did the prisoners not get the money, but they were forced to work by the people of the river yamen, and of course they would not do their best. If you let these people work, not only will their progress suffer, but their work will not be secure. The people of the River Yamen need this result, they can have a reason to repair and clean up every year, and if something goes wrong, they can also blame these prisoners. Originally, this plan would not have been adopted, because there is a specialization in the art industry, and it takes experienced people to clean up the river. But Zhu Yuanzhang is a person from a hard background, and being stingy and saving money are his biggest problems, and this plan has been fully supported by Zhu Yuanzhang. Besides, the world has just been calmed down, and the yamen in various places need to vigorously rectify public order, and the prisons are almost overcrowded. At this time, letting these prisoners work can not only alleviate the problem of the prison, but also save expenses for the imperial court, Zhu Yuanzhang is of course happy. Because of this, the river yamen hired river workers to dig up river silt for the use of prisoners. In the following ten years, there were many accidents, so that the imperial court and the yamen finally understood that it was impossible to completely solve the problem of river engineering with prisoners alone. Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to issue a new order, and the river yamen continued to supervise the work of the prisoners, and at the same time hired experienced river workers to guide everyone in their work.

After years of operation, the river yamen has become an independent yamen, which not only often lies about the disaster, but also often deducts the wages of the river workers. Zhang Juzheng learned some clues from Feng Bao, a big spy, and it is said that this river yamen has become one of the most oily and watery yamen, and the problems inside are quite serious. Every year, the imperial court allocates no less than 300,000 taels of silver for maintenance, but there are still disasters every year, and problems large and small are uninterrupted. Feng Bao privately told Zhang Juzheng, the head of the cabinet, that the river yamen had owed the river workers no less than three million silver in wages. Those river workers went to the river yamen or local yamen many times to ask for wages, but they did not have much effect. In order to make a living and have work for the future, these river workers did not dare to completely offend the people of the river yamen, and the officials of the river yamen also knew this, so they dared to act so recklessly. Because of the large amount of arrears of wages, the river workers were not convinced, and of course they did not work hard when they worked. The project could not be completed in time, or the quality was not good, and problems immediately appeared, which became the reason for the river yamen to blame the river workers. If such a vicious circle continues, how can the project of the river yamen be good? The river yamen is not strong, the project is not qualified, and the river control has become a decoration, which has made the people suffer.

Governing officials needs to offend a large number of incumbent officials, and Zhang Juzheng did not dare to completely put himself on the opposite side of many officials, so Zhang Juzheng did not dare to make a big move. To ease the relationship between the government and the people, it is necessary for the imperial family and the emperor to take the lead in making some concessions first, and Zhang Juzheng did not dare to say it explicitly. Because it is almost absolutely impossible to get the royal family and the emperor to cede their interests, and they are unwilling to let the gentry below not agree, this problem still exists. The problem of river engineering involves the relationship between the local government and the central government, and even more so in Ouchi, so Zhang Juzheng is also a bit of a bogeyman. As early as the Xuanzong period, the royal family was worried that the river yamen had too much power, so a small agency was set up in the river yamen to supervise the river yamen. This agency is nominally to supervise the work of the river yamen, but in fact it supervises the Hyugha expenses of the river yamen. This institution does not exist in the official institutions of the Ming Dynasty, but it is an institution with absolute authority and ability. They need to supervise and account for how the funds allocated each year are used and how the budget for the next year is statistically formulated. They are not in the official yamen establishment, they belong to a type of internal officials, that is to say, these people are one of the eunuch organizations under the celebrant eunuch. These people supervised the river yamen on behalf of the emperor, but in fact, after they went to the river yamen, they were already in the same stream as the people of the river yamen. These people were reluctant to return to Beijing or leave when they had eaten and drunk enough, and stayed in the river yamen for several years or even more than ten years. Feng Bao wanted to insert his cronies in many times, but the effect was not obvious, which made Feng Bao gradually know that there was a problem inside. This matter cannot be made public, because if it is made public, it will cause trouble among the common people. And if it is made public, the river workers will collectively demand wages, and the imperial court really can't give so much silver to everyone. Zhang Juzheng, the head of the cabinet, did not want to bear this charge, so the court and the people pointed their noses and scolded Zhang Juzheng for being a traitor.

It's not that Qin Tai doesn't know that Zhang Juzheng is difficult to do, but Qin Tai hopes that Zhang Juzheng can take action within a certain range. But Zhang Juzheng didn't dare to do anything for the stability of his reign, and even helped these people hide everyone and the emperor. Qin Tai compared the entire imperial court and the royal family to a sick person, and now this patient has accumulated too much to return. Although it is possible to persist for a while with some methods that consolidate the foundation and cultivate the yuan, the fundamental problem cannot be solved. To solve the problem, if you want to cure the disease, the only way is to use strong medicine. With a kind of courage similar to the broken arm of a strong man, pay a certain price to completely cure the pain. Although the process is a little painful and even somewhat damaged, the effect is very obvious. Qin Tai is also a person who understands medical skills, and knows that this treatment method is the most effective for Da Ming, so he suggests that Da Ming be given a major operation. Qin Tai, as a criminal minister who stayed at home and waited for his fate, no one would listen to his words, let alone be willing to implement them. Therefore, he hopes that Zhang Juzheng, the current leader of the cabinet, will listen to it and be bold to try.

But Zhang Juzheng not only didn't want to listen to it, but also laughed at Qin Tai for still being so naïve all these years. This result made Qin Tai very angry and incomprehensible, and even looked down on this friend Zhang Juzheng. Telling the truth, trying to find a way for the court and the people has become a joke, and for the country and the people has become a reason for the other party to say that he is naïve. Qin Tai was famous for his steadiness back then, so Zhang Juzheng and Tan Lun, who had a much larger color box than himself, became friends. At that time, when the three of them were chatting together, everyone said that Qin Tai was a doer who had goals and could do things. Now Zhang Juzheng said that Qin Tai not only had strange ideas, but also bordered on naivety, which did not match Qin Tai's current age. Qin Tai finally broke out, and Qin Tai said what he didn't say in the letter.

Zhang Juzheng has made some mistakes over the years, some mistakes that even Qin Tai can't understand. Qin Tai took into account Zhang Juzheng's face and prestige, and has been helping Zhang Juzheng maintain it. But this time Qin Tai finally said his true words, he wanted to tell Zhang Juzheng some truth. Zhang Juzheng has made at least three major mistakes, and these three mistakes will bring a huge crisis to Zhang Juzheng. It was the first time that Qin Tai brought it up without any disguise, and it was also the first time that Zhang Juzheng heard the truth head-on.

The first is the seizure incident. Zhang Juzheng, as the first assistant of the cabinet, the head of the world's hundred officials, and the leader of the scholars, how could he agree that the emperor would not keep filial piety for his old father because the court affairs were inseparable from him? In ancient times, the father was very important, the heaven and the earth were invisible, the emperor was distant, and only his father was the closest and most common elder. Now that the emperor is too young to let Zhang Juzheng respect, Zhang Juzheng can only be regarded as respectful to the emperor at most. Zhang Juzheng is not filial piety if he does not respect his father, and if he does not keep filial piety to his father, he is disrespectful. This is beyond the scope of filial piety, Zhang Juzheng has already offended the law of superiority and inferiority between heaven and earth. Only Zhang Juzheng himself didn't notice that something was wrong, and even the royal family and the emperor would look down on this Zhang Juzheng.