Chapter 54: Birds of a feather

When the Xin'an River embankment in Zhejiang Province collapsed with a roar and floodwaters poured out.

In the office of the Suzhou Prefecture Grain Supervisor.

Zhang Juzheng, however, had already frowned.

In front of him was a written report submitted by Hai Rui, the newly appointed Censor of the Censorate and the Assistant Magistrate of the Southern Zhili Governor's Office.

"Have you found out all this in the past few days?"

Zhang Juzheng was a little upset and pressed the document in front of him under his palm, then raised his head to look at the legendary Hai Gangfeng standing in front of him.

Hai Rui stood upright in front of Zhang Juzheng.

He was still wearing the same official robe he had worn when he set out from Jiande County to Suzhou Prefecture in the north.

But now, the hem of his robe was covered with mud spots, and the official boots on his feet had completely changed color. Along the way he walked in from outside, he left clear muddy footprints on the ground.

His face had become darker, and his beard was so messy that it was almost tangled.

I heard Zhang Ge Lao asking questions.

Hai Rui raised his head, revealing his eyes that were full of fatigue but sparkling with brilliance.

Hai Rui bowed and said in a deep voice, "Reporting to Lord Zhang, what is written here is all the facts that I have found out since I entered Suzhou Prefecture from Zhejiang Province. I can guarantee that there is absolutely no falsehood and no frame-up."

It really is a pen holder.

Zhang Juzheng sighed silently in his heart, and his head began to hurt more.

He asked in a low voice, "Is this the reason why you have not come to report to me in the few days since you came to Suzhou Prefecture? Why did you do this?"

Hai Rui nodded and replied, "Yes. But when Lord Zhang asked me why I did this, did he mean to ask why I didn't come to report but investigated the case myself, or why I wanted to find out these things?"

This guy is really stubborn!
Zhang Juzheng became more and more certain of the image of the sea pen holder he had heard about, and pressed his palm on the document harder and harder: "What are you going to do?"

Hai Rui raised his eyes to look at Zhang Juzheng, and smiled faintly: "I have been ordered to transfer from Chun'an County to the position of Supervisory Censor of the Censorate and the Tongpan of the Southern Zhili Governor's Office.

The purpose is to find out why cotton farmers in Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture planted cotton seedlings in advance this year.

Now, I have found out the reason, and it is up to Mr. Zhang to decide what to do. I dare not interfere."

What can I plan?
I am also a mess now!
Zhang Juzheng withdrew his hands from the document and gently pressed his temples with the fingers of both hands.

After a while, he finally spoke: "Is the matter really as you have investigated? No matter what the facts are, what I and you have to do in Suzhou Prefecture is to implement the national policy set by the court, convert 150,000 acres of cotton fields in Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture into mulberry fields, increase silk production and sell it overseas, and increase revenue for the court.

if……

If we investigate this matter now, will it affect the implementation of national policy, arouse greater public resentment, and cause even greater chaos among tens of thousands of cotton farmers in the two prefectures?"

In fact, Zhang Juzheng did not doubt the document that Hai Rui gave him.

He may not trust the local people, but Hai Rui, known as Hai Bijia, will never lie.

but.

Now I heard that a big thing has just happened in Zhejiang Province. I think there will definitely be some action in Beijing. Maybe now is the best time to overthrow Yan.

If the affairs of Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture were to be reported again at this time.

By then, will the Yan Party still fall?
Does the court still need to purge?

But Zhang Juzheng was extremely conflicted.

He could never have imagined that half of Xuzhou Prefecture was actually...

Including Suzhou Prefecture, the people under it are also complicated.

This couldn't help but make Zhang Juzheng deeply suspicious.

Are all people in this world the same, with no loyalty or treachery?

When he was still in deep turmoil and unable to make a choice, Hai Rui said in a cold voice: "Mr. Zhang, although I am now the deputy judge of the Southern Zhili Provincial Governor's Office and investigating the cotton farmers in Suzhou and Songjiang, I am helping Mr. Zhang to implement the national policy.

But I am still the Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate. According to the Great Ming Law, any Censor of our dynasty has the right to report to Your Majesty on his own if he hears of local corruption."

as always.

Hai Rui brought out his Ming Dynasty law.

Zhang Juzheng raised his head, his brows furrowed with worry as if they were about to break apart, and looked deeply at Hai Rui in front of him.

He knew very well that when Hai Rui said this, it had already made it clear that no matter whether he would report the matter to the court or not, he, Hai Rui, would definitely report everything to the court in his capacity as the Censor of the Censorate.

Hai Rui saw that Zhang Juzheng was in deep trouble.

I couldn't help but sigh.

"Lord Zhang, I have heard that you are quite a vigorous official in the court, and you have always advocated innovation and reforming the long-standing bad policies of the court. Lord Zhang is currently in charge of implementing national policies in the southeast. Now that the matter has been clarified, isn't this an opportunity for Lord Zhang to show his power in the court?"

Who says Hai Rui is completely ignorant of the ways of the world!

But on weekdays, he, Hai Gangfeng, disdains this.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Hai Rui with some surprise. After a while, he waved his hand and said, "I will only implement national policies. As for the local situation, Censor Hai will report it to the court."

……

Inside Yuxi Palace, Gao Gong had already sounded the horn to overthrow Yan.

Yan Shifan immediately turned his head with a gloomy look and looked at Gao Gong: "What does this mean, Lord Gao? The report from Zhejiang Province only said it was a natural disaster, why did it become a man-made disaster when it came to Lord Gao?"

Gao Gong immediately glared at Yan Shifan: "Yan Shifan!"

Yan Shifan did not give Gao Gong a chance and continued to scold him, "And what's more! What we are discussing here, Your Majesty, is the disaster in Zhejiang Province and whether the national policies of Zhili and Zhejiang Provinces can continue.

How come in the mouth of Lord Gao, a natural disaster became a matter of calling for war and killing and purging the court?

"Does Gao think that someone in the court secretly went to Zhejiang and dug up the levee? Or does Gao want to use this to eliminate dissidents in the court?"

In today's court, few people can argue better than Yan Shifan.

Gao Gong was also caught by this series of questioning.

He opened his mouth and waved his finger at Yan Shifan: "Yan Shifan, let's not talk about whether Zhejiang Dao was a natural disaster or a man-made disaster. Why did the Xin'an River embankment, which the court spent two million taels of silver to build, collapse when it was washed away by the flood this time? I remember that this matter was still handled by you, Yan Shifan."

Yan Shifan snorted coldly: "Gao Suqing, what are you talking about?"

Gao Gong stared: "What can I say?"

Yan Shifan's face darkened. "It's true that the Ministry of Industry proposed to repair the Xin'an River last year, but the river embankment was handled by the River Management Office, and the River Management Office was monitored by people sent from the palace. Do you mean to investigate the palace? Investigate the people around His Majesty?"

"I didn't say that! Don't slander me!"

Yan Shifan also glared: "That's what you mean, Gao Suqing."

After saying that, Yan Shifan snorted coldly, turned around and glanced at Jiajing, who had not spoken for a long time.

He raised his head and clasped his hands.

"For the Emperor, for the Ming Dynasty, we can endure any hardship."

"But I just don't understand! We are all doing court work, why is it that whoever does more always suffers more injustice?"

"When something goes wrong, hold the person responsible accountable, purge the government and the opposition with open mouths, and rectify the people's hearts with closed mouths."

"Who has the final say in the court of our Ming Dynasty? Who represents the will of the people?"

After finishing speaking, Yan Shifan waved his sleeves heavily.

He snorted coldly.

The young cabinet minister feels wronged!
(End of this chapter)