I studied in modern times

Chapter 826 Opening the Net
The boat Yang Ji was riding on was moving slowly in the river. The calm water was flowing under his feet, and there were tall and solid embankments on both sides.

Looking up and far away, a magnificent embankment pier appears in sight.

At the dock, countless workers were crowded together, moving back and forth in the stacking yard like ants.

Two huge wooden structures stood on the embankment.

The huge canal boat was moored at a corner of the dock.

From the huge wooden structure, there extended a beam-like object with a thick rope hanging from it.

Package after package of goods were lifted up from the canal boat and then transferred to a corner of the dock.

"Sir, that's the gantry crane..." Li Erhu beside Yang Ji said softly, "I heard that it was invented by Song Zhaoxuan, a great mink crane who is close to the current emperor, in the eighth year of Yuanfeng, when he was doing disaster relief in Hebei..."

Yang Ji nodded slightly.

He turned his gaze and looked towards the dock.

There was also something there that he couldn't understand.

A long, strange-looking wooden object extended from the pier.

On top of it, there are several rectangular boxes connected together.

The porters at the dock were loading the goods into the carriages one by one.

In front of the carriage, there were several horses.

"What is that?" Yang Ji asked.

"Track carriage!" Li Erhu followed the direction of Yang Ji's finger and saw the track, then explained: "This was invented last year by Shen Tiju, who was in charge of manufacturing military equipment, under the order of the emperor!"

"Now, it has become the most important means of transportation in various storage yards and workshops in and outside the capital!"

"The number of Taiping carriages in the capital has been reduced by more than half!"

Speaking of this, Li Erhu began to sigh.

In the past, the main logistics of Bianjing City relied on bulky and dangerous Taiping carts.

Taiping carts ran rampant in Beijing, often obstructing traffic. Almost every one or two days, pedestrians would be killed or injured by Taiping carts.

Therefore, people in Bian Jing were afraid when they saw the Taiping chariot.

They were afraid that these huge machines weighing thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds would lose control.

But, since the advent of rail transportation, these things have become less common.

Because merchants inside and outside the city began to use rail carriages to transport goods more and more.

Compared with the Taiping car that runs everywhere, the rail car that runs on a fixed wooden track poses much less danger to pedestrians.

Nowadays, there are only a few cases of death or injury caused by rail carriages in a month.

Yang Ji listened with bright eyes.

As they were talking, the boat had already docked.

The official from the Embankment Administration did not show up. Instead, a man in blue holding an abacus and carrying an account book appeared.

Seeing this, Li Erhu quickly apologized to Yang Ji and stepped forward.

The man in green came on board, took a look around, and then started clacking away on an abacus with great skill.

Yang Ji looked at everything in front of him. It was so unfamiliar. He moved his lips, and finally went up to the dock with his Yuan followers, carrying their luggage.

But before leaving, he ordered an attendant to inform Li Erhu that if he wanted to report to the authorities the extortion he had suffered by government officials in Xiangyi and Chenliu counties yesterday, he was willing to testify and explain the matter.

However, the entourage soon came back to report that Li Erhu had politely declined his kindness.

Yang Ji didn't take it to heart.

After all, the people do not fight against the officials!

Especially for merchants like Li Erhu who need to travel around for business, they are most afraid of offending the government.

Moreover, they have another characteristic - the lower the level of government, the more afraid they are.

So, Yang Ji didn't say anything and took his men away from the stacking yard.

As soon as I left the stacking yard, the hustle and bustle of Bianjing City hit me.

After taking only two steps, Yang Ji heard the hawking voice of the "Bianjing Newsboy" that he had heard repeatedly in Yingtian Prefecture and Jiangning Prefecture.

"Sell newspapers! Sell newspapers!"

"Here is today's edition of the Bianjing New News!"

"The Jiaozhi envoy Li Zhong and others were blamed. Our newspaper commentator Hu Feipan commented on this: A mere official tried to sow discord and destroy the friendship between the emperor and the Jiaozhi prince. He deserves death! Fortunately, the emperor is wise and sees through the situation and knows the hypocrisy. The world is fortunate!"

Yang Ji was immediately attracted to the scene. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a child of about twelve or thirteen with two children who looked about eight or nine years old. They were holding a thick stack of tabloids in their hands and carrying a bag of money on their backs.

Their faces were clean, their eyes were clear, and their clothes were even cleaner.

Seeing this, Yang Ji said softly, "This is Bianjing City. We must not harm anyone here..."

He had heard the legend of the Bian Jing newsboy in Jiangning and Yingtian Prefecture.

According to legend, these newsboys walked the streets, and their bags were always filled with hundreds to thousands of copper coins.

However, no matter whether it was the ruffians in Bianjing or the arrogant second-generation yamen officials, no one dared to rob or harm them.

Because the cost of hurting them is something that ordinary people cannot afford!
The last person who hurt them was Wu Anchi!
And Wu Anchi has been imprisoned in the Imperial College until now!
The sentence in the imperial edict of reprimand: He abandoned the saints' teachings of benevolence and forgiveness, and did not care about the suffering of the people, directly nailed him to the pillar of shame and was despised by the people of the world.

And its origin was simply that Wu Anzhi beat up a newspaper boy.

Although some people think that it might just be an excuse and the palace is just taking advantage of the situation.

However, even in Jiangning Prefecture, if the sons of the yamen were to go to the capital, their elders would give them many warnings - never make things difficult for the newsboys!

The power of God is unpredictable!

What if?
Therefore, these newsboys became the "invincible men" in this imperial capital, and many legends and stories were derived from them in the local area.

Thinking of this, Yang Ji smiled. He walked forward, took out five coins from his pocket, and said to the three newspaper boys, "Give me one!"

"Okay!" The older newsboy took the copper coin skillfully and threw it into his bag. An eight-year-old newsboy immediately handed a few tabloids to Yang Ji and said in a baby voice, "Sir, you are buying my Bianjing Newspaper today, but you are buying it!"

"In addition to the court newspaper and the government newspaper, today's tabloids also have the latest serialized version of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and a new story from our Bianjing Newspaper, called The Journey to the West, which tells the story of the great Tang monk Xuanzang's quest for Buddhist scriptures!"

"So, there are more tabloids today than usual!"

"Oh!" Yang Ji took the tabloid and laughed: "Is that so? Thank you very much!"

After buying the tabloids, Yang Ji took them and his followers to find a nearby Sunjia Shaozhupu - he had heard of the reputation of this barbecue restaurant in Yingtian Prefecture, which was said to be as good as the Shaozhupu in Daxiangguo Temple in terms of taste.

He ordered the signature dishes of Sunjia Shaozhupu and also ordered wine and meat for his followers.

Only then did he take the tabloid, sit down at a window seat in the shop, and read it slowly.

"Interesting...interesting..." Upon seeing this, Yang Ji's brows raised.

It is true that the "Bian Jing Xin Bao" is just as the legend says.

The words he used were straightforward and he never piled up words. He only used words that the general public, especially the idlers, could understand to narrate and introduce the affairs of the court or the palace.

The so-called commentator's articles written by the so-called commentator named "Hu Feipan" are the most interesting in this tabloid.

Because people can express their "brilliant opinions" on diplomatic matters without restraint.

You must know that this is something that many court officials may not dare to speak about casually.

His contempt and neglect for Jiaozhi are vividly displayed in the text.

Coincidentally, the diners not far from Yang Ji's seat were also discussing the contents of today's Bian Jing News.

"Even if you are the Prince of Jiaozhi, you cannot destroy the friendship between Jiaozhi and the Song Dynasty!"

"This Hu Feipan finally started to speak human language again!"

"Just based on these words, I should drink this cup to the full!"

Yang Ji looked in the direction of the sound and saw a few men in coarse linen clothes, sitting around a plate of roasted meat, drinking wine and chatting.

"Hu Feipan? He finally speaks human language?" Yang Ji chewed on what those men said: "That is to say, what the Bian Jing Xin Bao said for a while was not very pleasing to the public..."

This is a very crucial thing.

Because, even in Jiangning Prefecture, there were people who knew the attitude of the Bianjing Xinbao, which might be the attitude of the palace.

Therefore, reading newspapers is a compulsory course for officials in Beijing.

Legend has it that the crows in the Censorate would read the Bianjing New News every day in order to find a shortcut to Zhongnan.

Continuing to flip through the tabloid in his hand, Yang Ji saw a report the size of a tofu block in the corner of the second page - county and town clerks may be dissatisfied with Kaifeng Prefecture.

Looking at the content again, although there are only a few dozen words, adjectives used are mostly such as "probably", and "I heard".

But what was reported was what Yang Ji saw on the road yesterday - the clerks below were trying every means to set up checkpoints again and exploit passing merchants.

"So..." Yang Ji picked up a piece of roasted meat and put it in his mouth: "The young master in the palace also knows about it?"

He was thinking about what he had seen and heard yesterday on the Bian River.

First, officials from Xiangyi, under the pretext of inspecting the cargo and cracking down on contraband, turned the small cargo ship upside down.

In the end, Li Erhu and the captain of the ship could only pool together five strings of cash to send him off.

When we arrived in Chenliu in the afternoon, we met the officials who were collecting money for repairing the sluice gates.

They took away another five strings of cash!

This amount of money is almost the same as the amount of taxes paid in the past, neither more nor less.

The people below were indeed targeting Kaifeng Prefecture, and they did it on purpose.

But why does the Bian Jing New News use adjectives like "heard", "said", and "rumor"?
Yang Ji was in high spirits.

His political intuition told him that there might be opportunities here.

As long as you grasp it, maybe you can leave a capable image in front of the emperor before meeting him!

But this opportunity is fleeting!
Because only the first group of people who can see through the palace's thoughts and scratch the palace's sore spot will be noticed by the palace.

When everyone finds out...

That's just following the trend!

Those who follow the trend can never get any credit!
So, have to gamble!

"It just so happens that I have to report to the Ministry of Personnel today, and I also need to present a letter to the emperor, explaining my situation in Huangzhou over the past two years..."

“This is the chance!”

Yang Ji was thinking about the various news he had heard along the way.

He also looked at the content of the tofu block in the tabloid. "Let's gamble!" He said softly, "Wealth and honor are sought through risk!"

He is a first-generation official.

Before him, there had never been anyone in his family who held an official position.

He didn’t even pass the Jinshi exam!
He has been in the selection class for many years, with ups and downs.

He started out as a judge and worked hard to get his current position.

He was appointed as Baowen Pavilion Attendant and Chao San Da Fu, and once reached the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and Chief Justice of the Dali Temple.

Now that he has returned to the court and is appointed as the Director of Water Conservancy, Yang Ji certainly does not want to retire from his post.

He also has lofty ideals!

I also dreamed of touching that cool umbrella!

In particular, the current emperor publicly swore before the late emperor that he would not kill the deputy ministers or punish the prime ministers.

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His desire for the cool umbrella became even greater.

……

Lu Gongzhu was looking at today's Bian Jing News.

His eyes narrowed.

"Did Xing Heshu really go to the Honglu Temple and reprimand the envoy from Jiaozhi?" he asked Li Chang in front of him.

"Yes!" Li Chang nodded. "After Uncle Xinghe met the emperor yesterday, he went to the Honglu Temple and severely reprimanded the Jiaozhi envoys. It is said that his words were very unpleasant and the Jiaozhi people were scolded to tears!"

"Oh..." Lu Gongzhu nodded.

Since he became prime minister, he has never cared about the affairs of Guangxi and Xihe.

He knew that these two places could not be touched.

There’s nothing we can do, there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers everywhere!
The Gao family and the Xiang family gathered together!
I heard that even people from the Cui family and the Ren family ran over.

The Gao family and the Xiang family are the families of the two palaces.

The Cui family and the Ren family are the Empress Dowager’s family.

He, Lu Gongzhu, can't afford to offend anyone!

I can only stay away.

Fortunately, these in-laws who have always caused trouble in the past seem to be doing real things now.

At least they didn't cause any trouble.

When Lu Gongzhu saw this, he simply ignored it.

Now, he won’t care even more!

He had witnessed with his own eyes how his good friend Sima Guang was besieged day and night by the ladies of the Gao and Xiang families after he offended the Gao and Xiang families.

Poor Sima Guang, the late emperor had clearly issued an edict, mentioning his name and appointing him as prime minister, and the emperor was also quite fond of him.

However, there were people around the two palaces who were saying bad things about him day and night.

Therefore, he only governed until his death.

Only after his death was he posthumously awarded the honorary title of prime minister - Tongzhongshumenxia Pingzhangshi.

Lu Gongzhu didn't want to end up like Sima Guang.

Therefore, Lu Gongzhu just asked one question and stopped caring about it. Instead, he looked at the report about the tofu block in the corner.

"What does Kaifeng Prefecture think about the chaos within the prefecture?" asked Lu Gongzhu.

Li Chang shook his head: "Cai Yuanchang has been busy holding civil service exams recently..."

"He pushed all the cases reported by the prefectures and counties to the Kaifeng Prefecture Judge Zhang Tianjue (Zhang Shangying)..."

"Zhang Tianjue?" Lu Gongzhu was puzzled for a moment: "But he is the younger brother of Zhang Cigong (Zhang Tangying)?"

"Ok!"

Lu Gongzhu listened and sighed.

He was not familiar with Zhang Shangying, but Zhang Tangying was his close friend.

During the Zhiping period, Zhang Tangying and he used to discuss the past and present together, sleep with their feet touching, and regard each other as close friends.

But God is jealous of geniuses!

Zhang Tangying died early, otherwise he would have been the prime minister in the court now.

"What is Zhang Tianjue's attitude towards these things?" asked Lu Gongzhu.

Li Chang shook his head: "I don't know..."

"I heard that they just issued an official letter, asking the prefectures and counties to conduct self-inspection and self-correction..."

As Lu Gong listened, his brows furrowed.

An official edict is an informal command document issued by the Song Dynasty government.

This kind of document is usually written on paper and handed over to clerks to handle.

Generally speaking, its effectiveness is far lower than other formal documents.

What's more, this official edict only requires local governments to conduct self-inspection and self-correction.

Isn't the Song Dynasty's self-examination and self-correction equivalent to telling the people below that it is okay to cover up?
"Cai Yuanchang doesn't care?"

Li Chang nodded.

Lu Gongzhu felt that he couldn't understand it.

He knew very well who Cai Jing was.

That is a vicious wolf who will do anything to achieve political achievements.

Now, this evil wolf watched helplessly as the people below disregarded his policies and laws.

What on earth is he doing?
Where does he get the courage from?

Lu Gongzhu looked at the words on the small piece of tofu in the Bian Jing New News and fell into deep thought.

He knew that the palace was tracking the prices of goods in various areas of Bianjing City in real time. How could it be possible that it didn't know what was happening locally?
Cai Jing, a power-obsessed man, chose to ignore it even though he knew that the palace already knew about it.

This matter is weird from the inside out.

"En Xiang..." Li Chang also noticed something and asked, "Should we send someone to impeach him?"

Lu Gongzhu thought about it, shook his head and said, "Don't worry about him!"

"You and I have more important things to do first!"

"The pawnshops will be closed in the next few days! We can't let outsiders disrupt this!"

The mortgage loan should have been completed in April.

But Lu Gongzhu dragged it on until today!
Because he couldn't bear to!

If you don’t manage the household, how can you know how expensive firewood and rice are?
He is now the Left Prime Minister. Every day when he opens his eyes, there are countless people asking him for money.

After the pawnshop took over the pawnshop, the profits it brought made it difficult for him, the left prime minister, to extricate himself.

However, delaying it until now has reached its limit.

If we delay any further, those foreign relatives and nobles will file a complaint with the emperor!

Since he couldn't delay it any longer, Lu Gongzhu could only announce that he would formally accept offers from all parties.

However, he did not intend to sell the mortgaged property at a low price.

Want to buy a pawnshop?

You have to come up with enough money!
But this will inevitably lead to conflicts with those foreign relatives and nobles.

Lu Gongzhu was not going to give in.

Because the money for buying the flutter is related to many of his plans and his political achievements.

Therefore, at such a moment, Lu Gongzhu was unwilling to distract himself and get involved in other things.

Li Changzi also understood, so he bowed and said, "Yes!"

……

Zhao Xu was sitting in the back garden of Baoci Palace, watching Wen Xunniang, Meng Qingqing and Di Qiang flying kites in the back garden.

"Everyone……"

"The Ministry of Rites delivered the letter of apology from the Jiaozhi envoys..."

Zhao Xu turned his head and looked at Feng Jing who was walking in front of him.

"Did the Jiaozhi people give in?"

"Of course..." Feng Jing smiled and said, "Yesterday, Scholar Xing severely reprimanded them, so that they finally knew how to serve everyone and how to respect the Song Dynasty..."

Zhao Xu listened and stretched out his hand and said, "Bring the apology letter from the Jiaozhi people here so I can see it..."

"promise!"

Therefore, the letter of apology from the envoy of Jiaozhi was presented to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu picked it up, scanned it, and closed his eyes.

He thought for a while, and then ordered Feng Jing: "Feng Jing, immediately find someone to go south to Jiaozhou and convey my order to Lu Jiawen and Gao Zunhui, asking them to remind Li Taide..."

"Don't go to see Li Qiande alone..."

"Let him always bring a group of capable soldiers with him wherever he goes!"

Yuwen Tai and Gao Cheng are both typical examples of people who were careless and forgot to dodge.

Zhao Xu didn't want the lackey he had worked so hard to support to be killed in the palace or even on his bed.

If he were to die like this, it would be difficult to support another comprador who is so obedient!
Feng Jing was stunned for a moment: "What everyone means is..."

"It's better to be prepared!" Zhao Xu said, "Li Qiande's complaint won't work, he might overturn the table!"

"You always have to be on guard!"

But Zhao Xu had heard that Li Qiande of Jiaozhi was an infertile monarch.

This kind of person is prone to extremes!
(End of this chapter)