Xu Jin finished reading the statistical report submitted by Huo Tao, the head of the household department, and was quite satisfied with the results, but nearly 90,000 hectares of fields were cleared in Gyeonggi, and if the whole country could clear the granges with this kind of strength, then it would definitely not be a problem for the Ming Dynasty to increase its endowment by two or three million hectares. This means that the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty can be nearly doubled, which will greatly improve the situation of the fiscal revenue exceeding its means.

Xu Jin breathed a sigh of relief, after several months, the work of clearing the fields in Gyeonggi was finally successfully completed, and such an achievement was enough to give an account to the little emperor, but there was still a long way to go to clear the land of the whole country and completely reverse the financial predicament of the Ming Dynasty.

Xu Jin put down the statistical report, smiled at Huo Tao, who was still standing respectfully in front of the case, and said, "This time has been hard for Lord Huo. ”

Huo Tao hurriedly said: "My lord's words are serious, this is originally the duty of the lower officials, and I dare to say that it is hard." ”

Xu Jin nodded and asked casually: "By the way, have the results of the retreat of the Grange by the various political secretaries been reported to the household department?" ”

"At present, only Nanzhili and Zhejiang have reported, and the other political secretaries are estimated to wait for the next year, adults may wish to guess, how many fields have been cleared by Nanzhili and Zhejiang?" Huo Tao said with a little eyebrows.

Xu Jin's heart moved: "It is estimated that it is less than 50,000 hectares. ”

Huo Tao laughed and said, "My lord has lifted it, and the sum of the two places is less than 30,000 hectares." ”

Xu Jin couldn't help frowning, the southern Zhili of the Ming Dynasty was equivalent to the sum of the area of Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, and Shanghai in later generations, plus a Zhejiang, the land area of the retreat was less than 30,000 hectares, and even half of the land in Gyeonggi could not reach, which shows how much water there is.

Of course, this was also expected by Xu Jin, he was not optimistic about the discounted Qingtianzhuang this time, and if it were not for the forced forced out of the hidden fields by re-clearing the land, it would never have been possible to achieve such a brilliant result.

As the saying goes, it's none of your business, hang high. In Huo Tao's view, it is not ideal to clear the Grange in other places, which is not only none of his business, but can better set off his outstanding political achievements, maybe this year's official assessment can be rated as excellent.

At this time, Huo Tao glanced left and right, and with a somewhat abnormal expression, he took out a notebook from his arms, and said with a sneer: "Xiaguan...... There is a note here, and I hope that Lord Xu will not hesitate to teach and correct. ”

A strange look flashed in Xu Jin's eyes, how can this scene be a little familiar, last year Zhang Xuan also took a note to ask himself to correct it, and as a result, it opened the prelude to the "Great Gift Discussion" dispute, and Huo Tao was also one of Zhang Zhang's supporters back then.

Xu Jin quietly took the notebook in Huo Tao's hand and said with a smile: "I don't dare to take the axe, it's okay to make some suggestions." ”

Huo Tao is now his direct subordinate, coupled with the "common tribulation" of the Marquis of Jianchang's mansion, the relationship between the two has become closer, and Xu Jin naturally will not refuse this small request of the younger brother. Strictly speaking, Huo Tao is the first junior brother that Xu Jin received after entering the officialdom, as for Xia Yan in the military department, he is not Xu Jin's younger brother, and the reason why he assisted Xu Jin in impeaching the Zhang brothers is entirely because he strongly supports Qingtianzhuang.

There is no doubt that Xia Yan is an assertive and politically ambitious official, and he will not be attached to the powerful. For example, in terms of the ban on opening the sea, he was clearly opposed to Xu Jin.

Compared with Xia Yan, Huo Tao is obviously more tactful, and is a political speculator like Zhang Xuan, of course, Zhang Xuan may be a political speculator, but Huo Tao is a utilitarian who really wants to climb up.

For Xu Jin, a utilitarian with no ambition like Huo Tao is obviously more suitable to be a junior brother, mainly obedient and easy to control. Of course, there is also a disadvantage of using this kind of person as a junior brother, that is, it is easy to defect, so you must not fully trust it, and you must have reservations. A person like Xia Yan is more suitable as an ally and friend, but the premise is that your political views are consistent with him.

Xu Jin browsed Huo Tao's recital, couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, raised his head to look at Huo Tao with a calm expression, and asked, "Does Master Huo really plan to sparse this recital?" ”

Huo Tao was obviously very worried, his general meaning was to ask the emperor to build a temple for the emperor in the interior, and to respect the emperor for the imperial examination, and the Hongzhi Emperor was renamed the imperial examination.

Obviously, Huo Tao's recital, like Zhang Xuan's "Great Rites", is a "sycophant" that the little emperor likes, trying to win the favor and reuse of the little emperor.

It is said that last year, Zhang Zhang's "Great Rites" kicked off the prelude to the "Great Etiquette" controversy, and in the end, Yang Tinghe, the first assistant to the cabinet, played hooligans, degraded Wang Zhan, Zhang Zhang, and other opposition representatives, and finally put down the controversy. At the same time, Yang Ge Lao also used the excuse of transferring Xu Jin out of Beijing for disaster relief, and finally forced the little emperor to agree to recognize Emperor Hongzhi as the imperial examination, and honored his biological father Zhu Youqi as "the biological father Xingxian Emperor".

Originally, this matter could have ended here, but Huo Tao planned to bring up the old matter again at this time, so as to cater to the holy will and fight for the opportunity to rise to the top. However, Huo Tao was obviously a little unsure, so he wanted to test his tone through Xu Jin, after all, Xu Jin was the favored minister of the Son of Heaven, and Jane was in the emperor's heart, if Xu Jin supported it, the possibility of success would naturally increase greatly.

Of course, Huo Tao also has the intention of pulling Xu Jin as a protective umbrella, because once this recital is handed over, it is undoubtedly equivalent to the tiger whiskers of Yang Tinghe, the first assistant of the cabinet.

Huo Tao stared at Xu Jin's gaze, and a layer of fine sweat couldn't help but ooze from his forehead, because he couldn't get Xu Jin's attitude, and said tentatively: "My lord, do you think the lower officials should take this performance lightly?" ”

Xu Jin shook his head very dryly and said, "The gun shoots the first bird!" ”

Huo Tao couldn't help but show a look of disappointment, and arched his hand: "The lower official has been taught." ”

Xu Jin changed his words and said: "However, if a group of birds emerge at the same time, then it's a different matter!" ”

Huo Tao's eyes lit up, and he took out two copies of the recital from his arms, and said with a sneer: "My lord, there are two more recitals here from the lower officials, which are from Zhang Xuan and Gui Cao, the directors of the Nanjing Criminal Department, and they asked the lower officials to ask Lord Xu to correct the axe. ”

Xu Jin's heart moved, daring to feel that these speculators had already gotten together, and it was estimated that they had already discussed playing together, and Huo Tao was responsible for testing his tone first.

Xu Jin quietly took the two copies of the recitals and read them, and found that although the content of the recitals of these three people was different, the ideas summarized were the same: first: the recital asked the emperor to build an imperial temple for his biological father in the inner hall and enjoy the treatment of national rites; Second: The emperor was invited to honor his biological father Xingxian Emperor as the imperial examination, and Emperor Hongzhi was renamed the imperial examination.

Huo Tao carefully paid attention to the change in Xu Jin's complexion, but unfortunately Xu Jin's expression was calm, and he couldn't see any attitude at all.

"What does Lord Xu think?" Huo Tao finally couldn't help but ask.

Xu Jin closed the three copies, then folded them and handed them back to Huo Tao, who suddenly felt half cold, without Xu Jin's support, what waves could the three of them be able to turn over.

Just as Huo Tao took the notebook in disappointment, Xu Jin said lightly: "Let's wait for the New Year, and then we will not be able to live in peace if we save the New Year." ”

Huo Tao was overjoyed when he heard this, his mood was like riding a roller coaster, and he hurriedly said: "Xiaguan is saved, thank you Lord Xu for your advice, Xiaguan retires!" ”

Huo Tao put the notebook in his arms, and left Xu Jin's office with great joy, even the cold north wind outside could not extinguish the enthusiasm in the chest of this thing at the moment, hehe, the opportunity to soar has come.

Xu Jin looked at Huo Tao's background and smiled indifferently, it can be expected that Huo Tao will hand over these three copies after the year, which will inevitably cause an uproar again, and the dispute over the "Great Rites Discussion", which has been silent for more than a year, will rekindle the flames of war.

Xu Jin does not take a position on the "Great Rites Discussion", and if he can, he tries not to get involved, after all, most of the officials who support Yang Tinghe are honest and Qingliu civil officials, these people may be a little pedantic, but they are better than those corrupt officials, and they still have to rely on them to govern the country.

However, if Yang Ting and the party are not eliminated, they will become a stumbling block to their own reforms. Therefore, Xu Jin planned to use his strength to use Zhang Xuan to clean up Yang Ting and the party.

According to the historical trend, Yang Ting and the party are destined to be unable to kill the upstarts such as Zhang Xuan and Guicao, so they only need to burn the fire and then watch the fire from the other side. In this way, it can not only achieve the goal of sweeping away Yang Ting and the party, but also not have a stalemate with those Qingliu officials, such as Xia Yan and the like.

Moreover, as far as Xu Jin knows, even his master Fei Hong does not support the little emperor, but he is more generous. Because of this, Xu Jin can't get involved, at least not on the surface, so as to avoid the embarrassment of working against Master Fei.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Jin walked out of the household compound, the weather was cold, and the wind was like a knife. Hanlin editor Fei Maozhong was dressed thickly and was waiting for Xu Jin to come out outside the door.

Xu Jin approached and said apologetically: "Let the people wait for a long time." ”

Now that Fei Maozhong is Xu Jin's double brother-in-law, the relationship between the two is even more iron, and he joked: "It's okay, Lord Langzhong is busy with affairs, and the officials should be waiting for him." ”

Originally, everyone was a scholar in the same department, Fei Maozhong was still the leader, but Xu Jin, the Tanhualang, was now an official to the fifth grade, and Fei Maozhong was only a seventh-grade Hanlin editor, and the gap was not ordinarily big!

Xu Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly: "If Ruyi Jixiang hears this, I guess I will have to sleep on the ground tonight." ”

Fei Maozhong laughed and said, "Just kidding, let's go, it is estimated that the banquet has already been held over there in Qionglin Building." ”

It is said that this year is the year of the township examination, and the eldest brother Fei Maoxian finally passed the examination, and entered Beijing last month, preparing to participate in the Spring Festival Competition (General Examination) in February next year.

Recently, Fei Maoxian is actively participating in various literary meetings to gain fame, and it just so happened that there was a small literary meeting in Qionglin Building today, and Fei Maoxian invited Xu Jin to participate. When the double brother-in-law opened his mouth, Xu Jin naturally couldn't refuse, so he agreed to go to the next court to participate.