This time in the turmoil of Guide Mansion, with the conclusion of the government trial cheating case, the Zhao family finally lost, and the local Haoqiang paid the summer grain in accordance with the imperial court law, and the Cao grain finally ended.

After Lin Yanchao took power, it can be said that he won a complete victory.

This year's water situation is between the 11th year of Wanli and the 10th year of Wanli.

Although there is no scene in the tenth year of Wanli, when the entire Yellow River burst its embankment in the north and south, and the country was thousands of miles away, for the officials on both sides of the strait, the people were once again flooded.

In the more than 200 years of history of the Ming Dynasty, the frequency of floods in the Yellow River to this empire is not once every five years, nor once every three years, nor once every two years, but an astonishing two times a year.

This time, the flood of the Yellow River is menacing.

In the end, the south bank burst the embankment, and several counties in Shaanxi and Henan became Zeguo, and where the flood passed, all the houses and fields were flooded.

The news came that the Son of Heaven was furious and wanted to ask Li Zihua, the governor of the river.

However, Li Zihua defended himself and shirked the responsibility for the Yellow River's embankment breaking on the fact that Cao Yun and the river are not under each other's control, and it is difficult to take care of both of them.

Li Zihua threw the pot to Cao Yun, and spent money to make a point, and finally the Son of Heaven ordered Li Zihua to rule the river for three years, and he was responsible for the grace of heaven, and he wanted to dismiss the official and copy the house, but he thought of the dignity of the minister and changed the order to the official.

Li Zihua escaped in the end, which made all the officials cry out unfairly. Li Zihua ruled the river for three years, and everyone knows what the river has become.

Not to mention embezzling public funds for river workers, but also ordering officials along the river to buy river materials from his designated house, this year's river flooding, Li Zihua, you can't escape the blame, but the Son of Heaven spared him like this, which really made the corrupt officials go unpunished.

However, Li Zihua's behavior in the river still aroused public resentment.

On his way home, someone leaked the news of his journey, so his official sedan chair was besieged by the people at the post station. Li Zihua had to disguise himself as a common man to escape, and died of depression only a year after returning to his hometown.

After Li Zihua was dismissed, the various ministries of the imperial court discussed, in order to change the situation that Caoyun and the river were not subordinate to each other, so it was decided to set up a large member, the prime minister of the river and the two affairs of Cao.

That is to say, the imperial court no longer has a governor of the river and a governor of Caoyun. Instead, the two yamen of the river and the Caoyun were merged and placed under the management of one official.

After hearing the news, the court shook, and the Cao Canal Road was the two most important political affairs of the imperial court.

The new governor, the prime minister of the river, the second matter of Caoyun, and also the governor of Fengyang, this can be described as unprecedented power, any official along the river must listen to his dispatch, such a position, which official can be competent?

There is also the Governor of Caoyun who is attached to the title of the Metropolitan Inspectorate, and the Governor of the River is attached to the Ministry of Industry, so the two things are combined, and the new Governor is in the Ministry of Industry or the Metropolitan Procuratorate?

At first glance, the title is a trivial matter, but the name behind it is not small. This is not the dispute between the two yamen of the Ministry of Industry and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, nor is it the center of gravity of the imperial court. Or is it mainly to control the river?

The essence behind it is the confrontation between the cabinet and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Shen Shixing, the first assistant of the cabinet, belonged to the Ministry of Labor, but Li Zhi, Jiang Dongzhi and other officials belonged to the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

This can be seen as a confrontation between the cabinet and the spokesman.

In the end, the official title of the new governor was that the governor Caoyun was also the commander of the military affairs of Fengyang and other places in charge of the river.

As a result, the officials won a big victory, and Li Zhi, Jiang Dongzhi and other officials clapped their hands to celebrate, but this time they raised their face fiercely, and severely frustrated the face of Shen Shixing, the old horseman.

However, Li Zhi and Jiangdong laughed for less than two days, and the imperial court appointed Pan Ji as the new governor of Caoyun, Fengyang, who was also in charge of the river.

Who is Pan Jitao?

Zhang Juzheng, Shen Shixing's two first assistants,

When Zhang Juzheng raided his house, Pan Ji tamed the Son of Heaven and interceded for Zhang Juzheng.

Then in the Gao Qiyu Township trial case, Li Zhi and Jiang Dongzhi impeached Shen Shixing and Yang Wei, who was the secretary of the Ministry of Justice, and Pan Jitao, who was the secretary of the Criminal Department, spoke for Shen Shixing, but was impeached and dismissed from office and removed from office for the people.

After Pan Jitao was dismissed, there have been officials in the DPRK and China who have spoken for him and complained about grievances.

This time Li Zihua made such a mess of the river, and the Son of Heaven remembered Pan Jitao.

When Pan Jitao was the governor of the river, the Yellow River was well managed and did not encounter any major disasters.

The dam built by Pan Jitao in the lower reaches of Xuzhou did not throw a tael of silver into it behind the imperial court, and there was nothing to do in the flood for several years.

To summarize Pan Jitao's exploits in one sentence, it is 'the river is flowing safely'.

Li Zihua's level as the governor of the river is not even qualified to support Pan Jitao, as the so-called national disaster thinks of good generals, the Son of Heaven also understands that he was sorry for Pan Jitao at the beginning.

Therefore, when Shen Shixing recommended Pan Jitao to the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven threw aside the list of Li Zhi, Jiang Dongzhi and others recommending the governor of the river, and Yang Yikui, who was determined to win, was also defeated. In the end, the Son of Heaven issued an edict to appoint Pan Jitao, the new governor of Caoyun, who was also in charge of the river and added the crown prince Taibao.

From a pusher to the crown prince, Pan Jitao has become a very popular minister.

As soon as the news came out, all the officials clapped their hands and celebrated, and the court thought that the matter of governing the river had to be Pan Jitao.

At this time, Pan Jitao, who was idle in his hometown in Zhejiang, had been a eunuch for many years, fell ill, and was very old.

But after Pan Jitao received the holy decree, he didn't say a word, and went to the post with a firewood cart scarf.

Not to mention that Pan Jitao went to office, but to say that as soon as the news of Pan Jitao serving as the governor of Caoyun and the governor of the river came out, the court and the court laughed at Li Zhi and Jiang Dongzhi, and they fought for a long time and worked hard, and ended up making wedding clothes for others.

They thought that the new governor would be a victory if he fought for the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but in the end, Shen Shixing recommended Pan Jitao to cut off the beard, which really made the two vomit blood.

On the river, the waves crash on the shore and the turbid waves emptilate.

The Fuqiu flood has passed, and the banks of the Yellow River can be described as a wolf.

Pan Jitao, the new governor of Caoyun and the governor of the river, visited the banks of the Yellow River non-stop after paying homage to the seal in Huai'an.

Pan Jitao's boat came to Kaifeng Mansion in Henan.

The new governor, Cao Canal Road, has unprecedented power, whether it is the cabinet or the imperial history platform, he has to sell his face.

Therefore, as soon as Pan Jitao came to Kaifeng, it can be said that the officials of the entire province were shaken.

Not to mention the top-down officials of Kaifeng Mansion, they are the feudal divisions, the divisions, and the governor Zang Weiwei are also here to face the wind.

There were two tables at the banquet, and the Shan Governor of Kaifeng Mansion, who was the landlord, was also accompanied by the second table.

The main table is accompanied by important members of Kaifeng Province.

It is true that now Pan Jitao is the crown prince and Taibao, with a first-class title, and the prefect of Shan is the prefect of Kaifeng, although he is a member of the fourth grade, but it is still not qualified to sit at a table with him.

At the beginning of the banquet, Pan Jitao didn't drink a drop of wine, and then said to everyone: "This governor is not a new official, since the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, he has been ordered to govern the river. ”

As soon as Pan Jitao arrived, he put on his old qualifications, as if I had eaten more salt than you had eaten, and all the officials immediately put down their wine glasses and lowered their heads to listen to the training.

Pan Jitao continued: "This time, all the banks of the Yellow River have been affected, and Kaifeng has also been affected. The Governor knows that you are all pinching and not reporting, but you think that you can hide it from the hundred officials, the ministry, and the saints, but you can't hide it from the Governor, and this year's river situation is not worse than in previous years, but why did you fall into this field? How devastating is the disaster? ”

"Where is the river industrial silver that the imperial court allocates one million taels every year? Don't push it all on Li Zihua! He has failed the grace of God and messed up the errand, but now that the river workers are in this mess, are you not responsible? After returning today, the governor will be limited to three days, and you will truthfully report the disaster situation to the governor in various places, and you will not be allowed to hide it. This governor will play according to the facts, even if it is a shame for civil and military officials. ”

The officials below Zang Weiwei, the governor of Henan, who said this, are all shameless, this is to pull them out and hang and beat them in front of hundreds of officials!

"That's the end of the past. After that, whether it is the government, or the state and county, the accounts of the river workers must be strictly audited in person. Ben Du has ruled the river for 20 years, and he has never seen any doorway, so don't think that he can deceive Ben Du, and have a fluke heart. In this ugly words, put away those carving insect skills, otherwise the white blade will not be spared! ”

Pan Jitao's words made all the officials break out in a cold sweat, and their lives were not easy from then on.

The next day, Pan Jitao went to Zhuxian Town to inspect the newly opened Jialu River.

Pan Jitao was very satisfied with the grain boats coming and going on the river, and said to the officials on the left and right: "When this official was the governor of the river in the past, he had the intention of dredging the Jialu River, which is really a move for the benefit of the people. ”

All the officials said yes.

Pan Jitao immediately frowned and said: "However, this new river is about to open, and the grain ships in Huguang should be parked up and down the wharf, why are there so few grain ships in Huguang on the wharf." ”

The prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture sneered three times in his heart, and then said: "The Taibao doesn't know, it's good that this Jialu River province has decided to dredge the new river, but the Guide prefect said that since the Jialu River is dredged, the old river and the new river should be dredged together." So he made a fuss about the words, asked the province to take money to dredge the old Jialu River, and took tax exemption as a benefit, so that the Huguang grain boat would rather take a detour from the old river to Kaifeng than from the new river. ”

Pan Ji was surprised: "There is such a thing? ”

When the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture on the side heard this, they all complained: "Back to the Taibao, this matter is really true, the old river leads to the water of the big river, and if it floods, it will not only block the old river, but also easily affect the new river." However, the prefect of Guide insisted on going his own way, and he must dredge the old river, not to mention the waste of the imperial court's money and grain, and also caused a river disaster. ”

"And after dredging the old river, most of the grain ships in Huguang went from the old river, resulting in our Kaifeng Mansion not being able to collect taxes at the checkpoint on the new river, I thought that we could borrow the boat tax to subsidize the previous river dredging fee, but now we can only watch the tax of the imperial court be lost in vain."

The officials of Kaifeng Mansion below the prefect here have been holding grudges for a long time, and now they have been smearing and handing over small words in front of Pan Jitao.

When Pan Jitao heard this, he immediately asked, "Where is there an official who does something like this?" Who is the prefect of the Defu Prefecture? ”

On the side, the prefect Shan was secretly refreshed, and the governor of Henan, Zang Wei, said: "Back to Taibao, now it is returned to the prefect of Defu, and the former Hanlin Lin Yanchao of the Hanlin Academy." ”

Pan Ji was surprised: "It's him?" ”

Shan Zhifu said in his heart, it's not good, Lin Yanchao had a wide range of contacts when he was an official in Beijing, this Pan Jitao may have a relationship with Lin Yanchao, this will be miserable, and he will be beaten upside down by Lin Yanchao.

But seeing Zang Weiyi, he asked, "Taibao, are you familiar with Lin Sanyuan?" ”

Pan Jitao smiled and said, "How can you not know? When he was appointed as Tongzhi, he said that he did not need to build the river independently with a tael of silver from the imperial court, and the governor wrote a letter to question it at that time, but he was shelved by him. ”

As soon as Pan Jitao said this, Shan Zhifu and others were overjoyed, which was great.

At that time, although Pan Jitao was idle at home, he was a famous minister who controlled the water three times, and Lin Yanchao thought that he had stepped down and lost power, so he ignored others.

Now that the people have been reactivated by the Son of Heaven and the mountains are resurrected, don't you have to settle the new accounts and the old accounts together. Hmph, it seems that no one will be able to save Lin Yanchao.

But seeing the prefect of Shan said: "Qiyu Taibao, I heard that this Lin Sanyuan likes to amplify words, not pragmatic for officials, not to mention the construction of a hundred miles of embankment before, after serving as the prefect, he also does unrealistic things all day long, so he is happy and presumptuous." ”

"I heard that the officials in his palace have not been able to pay salaries for two years, and under such embarrassment, the Lin Governor's Mansion also forcibly dredged the Jialu River, abusing the people's power, not to mention, and wasting the court's money and grain."

Another official said: "Qi Yu Taibao, there is a sentence that Xia Guan should not say, but at this moment, he can only say it, Xia Guan heard that the Lin Governor's Mansion and the Mei family, a big businessman in Suzhou and Hangzhou, have a very close relationship, and this time I am afraid that he is running for the Mei family by dredging the old river." This dredges the old river, the water is very deep! ”

As the so-called wall fell down and everyone pushed it, another official said: "Not only that, the Lin Governor's Mansion is also suppressing the local heroes, and the local grievances are boiling, but the external whitewash is peaceful. ”

"The Taibao has repeatedly ordered the officials below us not to conceal the disaster and to report it truthfully, but Governor Lin is just talking nonsense with his eyes open, relying on someone in his court, and not taking the Taibao Lord in his eyes."

The officials are very good at figuring out their intentions, and after Pan Jitao slightly revealed his dissatisfaction with Lin Yanchao, the officials below were all criticized.

But some officials will think that Pan Jitao was elected to power by Shen Shixing this time, and Lin Yanchao is Shen Shixing's protégé. Will Pan Jitao show mercy to his subordinates?

But most people think it is impossible, and Pan Jitao is now a new official and is about to clean up the mess of river engineering. Now that Lin Yanchao has committed a crime, he just wants Pan Jitao to be used as a model, which is difficult to ride a tiger and must be dealt with.

After Pan Jitao listened to the complaint of the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture, he also pondered for a while, and he did not say anything rashly. Although he was the first technical official in the Ming Dynasty, he was not ignorant of the way to be an official.

It's just that for Pan Jitao, the way to be an official is just a small road, and the road is a meritorious service.

So Pan Jitao first asked Zang Weiyi: "What does Zang Futai think of Governor Lin?" ”

Pan Jitao asked Zang Weiyi first, in case something happened to Lin Yanchao, Zang Weiyi, as the governor, would definitely take the blame.

Zang Weiyi: "Back to Taibao, I am ashamed to say that Zang supported the dredging of the old river at the beginning. But after the cultivation, Zang didn't ask. Zang thought that hearing is false and seeing is believing, whether Governor Lin's move is beneficial to the people, it is better to see with his own eyes. ”

Pan Jitao nodded, he was extremely clear as an official, when he was the governor of the river, he handled so much silver in his hands, but he didn't greed a penny from it, so he hated others for greed for ink the most.

And if Lin Yanchao is greedy, it's easy to say, but if he talks about his merits all day long, but he makes a miasma in his return to Germany, then he is also incompatible, and he is the new governor of Caoyun and the river is in charge, how can he see such an official doing evil under his rule.

In this way, even if Shen Shixing is unhappy, he will have to deal with Lin Yanchao again. Even if he is said to be ungrateful, he can't mix a little sand in his eyes.

Thinking of this, Pan Jitao asked, "How far is it from Zhuxian Town to Guide Mansion?" ”

Zang Wei replied: "After the new river and the old river are dredged, it will take half a day." ”

Pan Jitao said to the left and right: "In this case, it is better to pick the day than to hit the sun, you will accompany the governor to return to the Defu to see the old river, and give the order to go down, and the local government is not allowed to report in advance, and you will all follow the governor on the boat!" ”

Shan Zhifu and others were pleasantly surprised when they heard this, and Pan Jitao said this because he was planning to make a surprise inspection.

You must know that the general officials will say hello in advance when they go to the place, and if they don't say hello and go directly to the door, then the magistrate will not prepare in advance, and it is easy to cause an "accident".

So the surprise inspection only illustrates one problem, and that is to deliberately trouble you.

This kind of thing can only be done by Pan Jitao, who is not afraid of offending people.

Of course, Zang Weiyi's proposed inspection was to go openly, while Pan Jitao was a surprise attack, and the two had different meanings.

So after Pan Jitao finished speaking, Zang Weiyi was taken aback, but after thinking about it, he smiled and agreed with it.

And Pan Jitao's sudden decision made Shan Zhifu secretly cool, if Pan Jitao and Lin Yanchao were not in harmony, then it would inevitably make Shen Shixing in a dilemma, so Li Zhi and Jiangdong didn't know how to be grateful to themselves afterwards.

At that time, Gong Daqi, the political envoy of Henan Province, also accompanied Pan Jitao, and the three Yuan factors of the public security came to admire Pan Jitao, and this time he also came.

Gong Daqi said to the public security Sanyuan, and when Pan Jitao was going to take the provincial officials to raid the Guide Mansion, the public security Sanyuan was shocked.

They also knew that this move was looking for trouble, and Yuan Zhong said at the moment: "Grandpa, did we send a message to Mr. Xuegong in advance, so that he could prepare early?" ”

Gong Daqi smiled when he heard this: "Now that the ship is offshore, and the officials of the province are on board, it is too late to inform them temporarily." But what do you have to worry about? Lin Sanyuan's talent, don't you know? ”

Yuan Hongdao said worriedly: "We know Mr. Xuegong's talent, but he is not half prepared for this matter, in case anything is found out, with Cao Du's character who can't mix sand under his eyes, the consequences are unimaginable." ”

Gong Daqi said with a smile: "This is why you are worried, if Lin Sanyuan has an accident, the first person who can't hold his face is Zang Futai, who supported him at the beginning, but Zang Futai is not worried, what do you have to worry about?" ”

The three public security officers were all stunned when they heard this.

At present, Pan Jitao, who was newly appointed as a new official, and a number of officials in Henan all took a boat from Zhuxian Town to Guide Mansion.

After boarding the ship, Pan Jitao ordered all news to be blocked along the way, and no local notice was allowed.