Chapter 65 2. Guiyuan Temple's lawsuit against Huguang Superintendent's Office

The news that the Russian crown prince will come to Wuchang next year brought great excitement to Zhang Zhidong.When the Iron Works was still under construction, it attracted the attention of the world. After it was completed and put into operation, it would definitely cause even more shocks in the world.It must be built before the Russian crown prince comes to China. Let him see how magnificent the iron factory founded by Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang. He also gave me Zhang Zhidong's name.He gave an order to Cai Xiyong, the supervisor of the Iron and Steel Bureau: Hanyang Iron Works must be built according to the highest specifications in the world. Ask for everything from the best, don't be petty, don't be thrifty.Second, we need to speed up the progress. We need to figure out the general scale next autumn, and let the Russian crown prince have something to see.As for the money, he will raise it without distraction.In order to allow Cai Xiyong, Xu Jianyin and others to devote themselves to the construction, a group of personnel will be dedicated to handle the allocation of money and expenditures, the proposed sending and receiving of documents, the coordination of personnel arrangements, and the assignment of errands in the Iron Political Bureau, and another iron political bureau to assist the Prime Minister This co-organizer is the candidate Dao Li Dianxian who presented "Interpretation of Dongpo" and took the lead.

Li Dianxian is worthy of being a capable person.Within a few days after he took office, he took care of the trivial matters that Cai Xiyong was troubled by, and sent additional servants, sedan horses, coachmen, and chefs to Cai Xiyong, Xu Jianyin, and another co-organizer, Chen Nianfeng, to feed their daily meals. The living and cooking were done properly, and a piece of land was allocated at the southernmost end of the Guishan factory site, and they planned to build a small western-style building for each of them, in order to facilitate future work.Li Dianxian's actions were quickly appreciated by Cai Xiyong and others. They praised the newcomer Li Xieban in front of Zhang Zhidong for his ability to handle affairs.Zhang Zhidong was happy for his eye-catching talent.

Soon, Li Dian first submitted to Zhang Zhidong a plan for the establishment of the Hanyang Iron Works.He intentionally left the technical department under the jurisdiction of Xu Jianyin and Chen Nianchu vacant, and the department under his jurisdiction was very thoughtful.These departments are divided into five shares: income and expenditure unit: audit unit, material unit, business unit, health unit.There are four to five departments under each share. For example, there are five departments in the revenue and expenditure department: the bank raising department, the foreign bank department, the distribution department, the accounting department, and the review department.Each department has one chief trial office and two deputy trial offices. If there are more than one office staff, there are two to three rooms under its jurisdiction, and each room has a head and several staff members.In this way, all matters are classified into categories, and responsibilities are clearly defined. Each department performs its duties and assumes its own responsibilities. The logistics management of the entire ironworks is well organized and orderly.

When Zhang Zhidong saw this post, he readily agreed, and ordered Li Dian to do the same first. He just emphasized that the responsible personnel at the two levels of the department must submit a detailed resume for his review, and the letter of appointment should be signed by him and stamped with the governor of Huguang. The purple flower seal is used to show solemnity and elevate the status of the incumbent. Li Dian first held Zhang Zhidong's order and wantonly displayed his talents in employment and administration.His friends who are candidates for officialdom, brothers who have become sworn brothers, friends who have met on various occasions, and relatives who are close and far away, he arranges them in different ways according to the strength of closeness, characteristics and strengths.He assigned those who could make a decent resume to the chief and deputy review offices at the two levels of the department, and handed them over to Zhang Zhidong for review.Zhang Zhidong checked the stacks of notebooks, and seemed to feel that everyone was innocent. From his background, experience, and errands, he couldn't see any inappropriateness or favoritism in Li Dianxian's selection of personnel and assignment of positions. Almost always.As for those who couldn't get it on the table, they were placed in the stock office as clerks.Zhang Zhidong didn't ask questions about these people, Li Dianxian didn't even have to do anything.Zhao Maochang also placed a large number of private individuals in it, and Li Dianxian followed suit.Zhang Zhidong would also make his own decisions and arrange for some people he thought reliable and capable. Of course, Li Dianxian did not dare to disobey and obeyed his orders one by one.But after a period of time, if he finds that this person is not good for him, he will transfer this person quietly, or pay for errands, or go up and down secretly. .It didn't take long for the logistics units controlled by Li Dianxian to be turned into large and small yamen. The breeding spread everywhere.Machinery stocks, chemical iron stocks, steel-making stocks, and laboratory stocks belonging to the technical department also followed suit.The organizers of these departments also recruited private individuals one by one and formed cliques. An office department of the iron factory that originally only needed a dozen people, soon reached more than 300 people. Many people occupied a seat and did nothing but pay. What's more, it's a matter that every unit is involved in everything, both have to exercise their own powers, and they don't assume their own responsibilities.

All the deep-rooted bad habits and chronic illnesses in Chinese official circles have deeply entangled the new Hanyang Iron Works within the first half year. Cai Xiyong, Xu Jianyin, Chen Nianfeng and others were deeply troubled by this situation, but there was nothing they could do about it. However, the construction of the ironworks is still on schedule.The embankment has already been built, the site of the factory has already been filled in, and major factories such as steelmaking plant, rolling mill, steel bar factory, motor factory, sand foundry, and repair shop are also being built successively.All kinds of machines purchased from Britain, the United States and other countries traveled across the ocean, entered the Yangtze River from Wusongkou, and then went up the river, and were continuously transported to Linjiangmen Wharf, and then transported to the foot of Guishan Mountain.Under the command of Xu Jianyin, the Daye Iron Mine and the Ma'anshan Coal Mine are also under accelerated construction.Zhang Zhidong would come to the construction site of the iron factory in person every three or four days, watching the busy scene on the construction site, listening to Cai Xiyong talking about various issues, and seeing that the land at the foot of Guishan Mountain was changing with each passing day and flourishing. He was happy.He was especially proud of Xin Lidian's report of good news but not bad news first.Now, he wants to free up his hands to do a major event that must be done wherever he goes-to establish a school and promote academic administration.

Jingxin Academy, located on the bank of Dusi Lake in Yingfangkou, Wuchang, was founded by Zhang Zhidong in the eighth year of Tongzhi when Zhang Zhidong was serving as a political scholar in Hubei. For more than 20 years, this academy has trained hundreds of candidates for Hubei, but in recent years, there have been many signs of decay.The year before last, Dusi Lake was flooded, and part of the houses were flooded, and it has not been repaired until now. Several famous gentlemen went to other provinces to teach, so the number of students who came to study in Jingxin Academy also decreased.Zhang Zhidong came here for inspection, and saw that the academy he had put so much effort into running had been turned into such a state, as if he had seen his grown-up son fail, and felt very uncomfortable.The reason for the inspection is that the school has been incompetent in recent years, the governor has not paid enough attention to it, and the funds allocated are insufficient; the second is that the head of the academy is not a person who is enthusiastic about education, and his greater interest is to be in the officialdom, and he often appears in various government events. In this kind of activity, instead of imparting knowledge and cultivating talents, he was the leader of the teacher, which caused dissatisfaction with some decent teachers, and finally abandoned him.

Zhang Zhidong decided to rectify Jingxin Academy.He dismissed the headmaster who was enthusiastic about socializing but not teaching, and invited Liang Dingfen, whom he admired, from Duanxi Academy in Guangdong to be the new headmaster of Jingxin Academy.Liang Dingfen has accumulated a lot of experience in running Duanxi Academy in Guangdong in the past few years, and influenced by the atmosphere, he has added many concepts of new-style schools in his mind. After inspecting Jingxin Academy, he proposed a grand plan to Zhang Zhidong . "Xiang Shuai, this Dusi lake is shining with water, surrounded by lush vegetation, it is an excellent place to run an academy, according to the students' intuition, this place will produce great people in the future."

Zhang Zhidong said with a smile: "I chose this place myself. Unfortunately, the Academy has not been successfully established in the past twenty years. Now you will take over. I hope that what you just said can be fulfilled. When you were the head of the mountain, the Academy One or two big shots." Hearing this, Liang Dingfen's blood boiled with excitement, and he said, "Xiangshuai values ​​students so much, students must devote themselves to running the academy well, and living up to Xiangshuai's expectations." "Okay, the head of the academy should have this kind of thinking. It is naturally the goal of the academy to have a few more scholars, but the real thing is to cultivate talents who can do things. Many of the scholars are actually just nerds." Four Books You can memorize the Five Classics very well, and you can do stereotyped essays well, but you can't do things well, and you can't do well as an official. You have to have real talents and learning to do things and politics. In the future, you should pay more attention to these aspects in the Long Academy. Kung Fu pays special attention to discovering and cultivating people with outstanding talents. If there are one or two big figures who can turn the world around like Zeng Wenzhenggong and Hu Wenzhonggong in the academy in the future, you, the head of the mountain, will be immortal."

Zhang Zhidong's expectations aroused Liang Dingfen's enthusiasm even more, and he expanded the original plan in his heart: "Xiang Shuai, the students want to make a major renovation of Jingxin Academy and make it the largest school in the country. The newest academy." Zhang Zhidong always likes to be number one in the world as his goal, and Liang Dingfen can also have this idea, which is what he appreciates most.He smiled and asked: "The largest and newest academy in the country, this idea is very good. I support you. What measures do you have?" "Students want to first expand the scale of this academy, at least double it, and secondly, increase the number of teaching categories. Jingxin Academy currently only has four subjects: Confucianism, History, Neo-Confucianism, and Rhetoric. Students want to learn more on the basis of these four categories. Add two more categories of economics and western learning. In western learning, subjects such as arithmetic, astronomy, geography, surveying, chemistry, mining and metallurgy will be set up."

"That's a good idea," Zhang Zhidong interrupted Liang Dingfen. "After the iron factory and the gun factory are set up, there is a great need for Western talents. In the future, a large number of talents in this field will be cultivated. You can hire two perennial Western learning teachers. Foreign craftsmen can also take part-time classes." "With Xiangshuai's support, the students are more courageous. The third idea is to hire the most famous teachers in various subjects in the country with high salaries. Whether the academy is running well or not depends on whether there are good teachers. You use A lot of money to hire celebrities, I agree."

With this sentence, Liang Dingfen became more confident, "Xiangshuai agrees, and the students can do it with confidence. The biggest problem right now is money. The students are thinking, the most important thing is to repair the old house and build a new house. It takes seven or eighty thousand taels of silver to do it. The student wants to ask Xiangshuai to set aside the money." Zhang Zhidong stroked his beard and thought for a moment, and said, "I can't allocate 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver for a while, so I'll give you 30,000 taels first, and you can use it, and I will allocate it slowly." "There are 30,000 silver, so we can do it first." Liang Dingfen stood up and said goodbye with satisfaction. A month later, he excitedly told Zhang Zhidong that the president of the Wuchang Tea Merchants Association expressed that the association was willing to donate 200,000 taels of silver to the Jingxin Academy. Ten spots are reserved. The demands of tea merchants are not unfounded.As early as 20 or 30 years ago during the war, the imperial court used the method of "increasing the quota" to reward and donate military salaries.There is a fixed number of Chinese-style places in the rural examinations in each province and cannot be increased.When military pay was tight, this also became a way for the imperial court to make money: if the province donated an extra one million taels of silver, the civil and military places in the township examination would be expanded by one person each; As a rule, it will never change.This is actually the same thing as donating money to buy a top: exchanging famous utensils for silver. Chinese officials have always pursued the policy of focusing on the root and suppressing the end.The origin is agriculture, and the end is business. Pay attention to agriculture and mulberry, and suppress merchants.There are many restrictions on merchants. Some dynasties even stipulate what color clothes and hats merchants can only wear, making them unable to hold their heads up in public.Although this kind of humiliating policy has not been implemented for a long time, there have been strict restrictions on the admission of merchants' children to become officials in the past dynasties.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the spread of the west wind, this phenomenon has changed a lot. However, in the eyes of traditional conservatives, merchants are always associated with treachery, and there are many resistances for merchants' children to enter the academy.It is based on this background that the Wuchang Tea Chamber of Commerce hopes to exchange 200,000 taels of silver for ten disciples. Zhang Zhidong said: "Wuchang tea merchants are willing to use 200,000 taels of silver to subsidize the academy. This is a very good thing. Ten places are not many." After a pause, he said, "I think this matter can be done better. Let the Wuchang Tea Chamber of Commerce contact the Hunan Tea Chamber of Commerce. They can also donate 200,000 taels of silver to the Hunan Tea Chamber of Commerce. There will be ten places each year. In addition, in the future, Hubei and Hunan provinces will each donate 15,000 taels of silver each year, as tuition fees for the academy and subsidy for poor children. In this way, ten more places can be added, five in each of the two provinces. There are a total of 30 children of tea merchants. In addition, in order to show support for the business community, the academy also recruits 10 more children of merchants from Hubei and Hunan who have contributed greatly to the country every year." Liang Dingfen said happily: "The merchants from the two lakes really want to worship Xiangshuai as a living Buddha." Zhang Zhidong was also happy for his sudden inspiration.He stood up excitedly, and said while pacing quickly: "Ji'an, I think this matter should be done perfectly. As the governor of the two lakes, I should serve the interests of the people of the two lakes. This academy has recruited tea merchants from the two lakes. My son, it is better to get out of the confinement of Hubei Province and open the door to all the people in Hubei and Hunan. After the completion of the Jingxin Academy, one hundred scholars will be selected from Hubei and Hunan provinces every year." Liang Dingfen couldn't help clapping his hands: "It's wonderful, this is really the decision of the governors of the two lakes. From this point of view, the size of the Zhaizi has to be doubled." Zhang Zhidong's interest increased greatly: "If I don't do it, I will not stop, so I simply named this academy Lianghu Academy." "Okay, this name is very powerful." As the head of the mountain, Liang Dingfen certainly hoped that the scale of the academy he was in charge of would be bigger and more prestigious.What about Jingxin College?He asked, "Is the Jingxin Academy gone?" For more than 20 years, Zhang Zhidong has successively established academies named by himself. In addition to Jingxin Academy in Hubei, there are Zunjing Academy in Sichuan, Lingdetang in Shanxi, and Guangya Academy in Guangdong.Regardless of whether he is an academic platform or a governor, wherever he is in charge, he takes building a strong literary style as his duty.His love for the academy is even better than his own children.Jingxin Academy must not be allowed to perish! "Let's find another place to move Jingxin Academy. All the teachers and students of Jingxin Academy will move there, and the area of ​​Dusi Lake will be handed over to you, and you will run a brand new Lianghu Academy." There are undoubtedly many troubles in the connection between the old and the new.This decision swept away all these troubles, just like a founding emperor reorganizing the country, all the old rules and bad laws will be completely swept away; just like a farmer opening up a new field, all the ditches and boundaries can be rearranged.Liang Dingfen has a bright vision for the future Lianghu Academy. The Lianghu Academy by the Dusi Lake and the Hanyang Iron Works at the foot of the Guishan Mountain across the river are under construction in full swing.Seeing that the grand plan in his chest is becoming a reality in his eyes, Zhang Zhidong is excited almost every day.He never imagined that at this moment, a huge storm was rising on the ground, hitting him violently, and blowing the big red coral top above his head to wobble, almost rolling fell to pieces. The proximate cause of this big participation in the case was the donation from tea merchants in Hunan, but the distant cause was the liquidation of warehouse funds in Shanxi ten years ago. Unlike the chairman of the Hubei Tea Chamber of Commerce, Zhao Hengjun, the chairman of the Hunan Tea Chamber of Commerce, is a conservative and stingy person.This Hengshan native, who started by selling Nanyue Yunwu tea, was born in a poor farming family, had no education, and learned a few words by drifting.With shrewdness and extraordinary frugality, his wealth increased year after year, and he finally became the largest tea merchant in Hunan.His annual sales volume and profit are nearly one-fifth of that of all Hunan tea merchants.Because of this, he was elected as the chairman of the Hunan Tea Chamber of Commerce.The Hubei Tea Chamber of Commerce sent an official letter to the Hunan Tea Chamber of Commerce for the donation. After reading this official letter, Zhao Hengjun felt very uncomfortable.Hunan will donate 200,000 taels for the founding fee, and 15,000 for tuition and fees every year in the future. According to the proportion of his property accounting for one-fifth of the whole Hunan, 40,000 taels will be donated for the first time, and every year thereafter Take out three thousand taels.It's like cutting off a big piece of his belly and letting go of half a bowl of blood in his chest! He was reluctant anyway.Moreover, he learned from his own experience that getting rich has nothing to do with studying and making a fuss.How many sour rots full of poems and books have been impoverished all their lives, and they can't even support their wives and children.He didn't go to school all day, but he was full of gold and jade, with many wives and concubines. He did business by calculating shrewdness, grasping the market, and luck.Which sage book can teach you these skills?If you believe what the sages say to correct their schemes but not their merits, and keep their righteousness but not their benefits, they will lose all their wealth and ruin their fortunes! His eldest son and second son have only studied for three years. After they have a little understanding of arts and sciences and know how to write and keep accounts, they follow him into the business field, go to the rivers and lakes, and go to the dock. Although the ten-year-old son is still studying in a private school, he is He also never had the idea of ​​letting his youngest son go to the academy to study Confucian classics and history hard. Zhao Hengjun originally wanted to reject the invitation from the Hubei Tea Chamber of Commerce, but other tea merchants also knew about it, and most of them thought it was a good thing.The three towns of Wuhan are metropolises, so it is very desirable for the children to go there to attend a regular college, especially since it means that the status of the tea merchants will be greatly improved, so the donation is worth the money.It didn't take long for a sum of money to come together. Seeing the enthusiasm of the crowd, several hesitant tea merchants also took out their share of money.As a result, Zhao Hengjun, as the chairman, had to bear the pain and bleed.The two hundred thousand taels of silver were sent to Wuchang, but Zhao Hengjun felt uncomfortable for a long time. At this time, he received an invitation from Rongfu of Guangdong Province: the child is scheduled to get married on the eighth day of next month, please come and make Rongmen more brilliant. Zhao Hengjun was worried for several days after receiving this invitation.Rong Fu invited him to a wedding wine, but it was just a cover, and the real purpose was to knock him some money.Not only rich, this was also the general ethos of the officialdom at that time.Marrying a daughter-in-law, marrying a daughter, giving birth to a child, birthday, and bereavement are all important events, of course. In addition, as long as they can get involved, such as gaining fame in school, promotion, transfer, three dynasties, marrying a young concubine, etc. Forgive me, send out invitations early.Especially those who want to ask them and have money, such as businessmen, are even more closely targeted.Find out the roster and post posts according to the list, so that no one will be missed, even if they are far away in other provinces.After a banquet, a windfall comes into the house, and the benefits vary according to the size of the official position: as little as a few hundred taels, as many as tens of thousands of taels. Zhao Hengjun really didn't want to go to this wedding banquet. Firstly, it would cost him money, and secondly, it would take time and energy, but he had to go.Every year, 20,000 to 30,000 tans of tea leaves pass through the Guangdong Customs Passage and drift across the sea. If Rong Fu's hand gets stuck, he will have to pay an extra 7,000 to 8,000 taels of customs duties.So every year during the Chinese New Year, he would go to Guangzhou to pay New Year greetings to Rong Fu in person, and then give a red envelope of one or two thousand taels of silver.Rong Fu accepted it happily, and he breathed a sigh of relief: this year's tea pass will not encounter much trouble.If Rong Fu showed displeasure on his face, he would have to think about it, and find some excuse to make up for it.It's such a happy event for Rong's mansion to ask for a daughter-in-law, can you not go?I can't bear to bleed!He took out a two-thousand tael ticket and put it in a red paper bag. After thinking about it, he felt that one thousand taels was too little, so he gritted his teeth and took out a middle ticket of two hundred taels to add. Write a word of congratulations on the red paper bag.Ten days before the wedding, Zhao Hengjun went south to Wuyang City with a red envelope. On the eighth day of the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, the Rong Mansion was festively decorated with lanterns and festoons, there were tall cars and four horses, there were a lot of doors and alleys, and eighty tables were set up for the banquet.Among the guests of the Rong Mansion, Zhao Hengjun can only be regarded as the upper class in the lower class.The seat was arranged in the 60s, and he was seated with several merchants from Guangxi, Jiangxi, and Fujian who were similar in strength to him.After drinking a few glasses of wine, the merchants complained bitterly: the porcelain merchants in Jiangxi lamented that the porcelain could not be sold, and the longan merchants in Fujian lamented that the year was not good.Zhao Hengjun also complained to them, not only complaining about the hardships in the business field, but also taking this opportunity to let out the suffocation that was suppressed in his chest during this period.He added fuel to the air, made a fuss, changed the letter from the Hubei Tea Chamber of Commerce into an official document from Zhang Zhidong's supervisory office, and used this to accuse Zhang Zhidong of extorting personally, and imagined that there must be something in the construction funds of the Hanyang Iron Factory and the Gun Factory. Less similar extortion money.When it comes to emotional excitement, coupled with the impact of strong alcohol, he simply cursed Zhang Zhidong's wanton creation since he became the governor of the lake.Zhao Hengjun's remarks made by drinking to make him angry, those merchants didn't mind listening to them, and didn't take them seriously. Unexpectedly, there was another person among them who listened carefully and remembered them one by one. Man is the maidservant of the bride.And the bride's natal family is none other than Baogeng, the former Shanxi feudal official whom Zhang Zhidong served as governor of Jin Dynasty. Ten years ago, Bao Geng was dismissed and investigated for embezzling disaster relief funds, and locked up in Beijing. Ben was sentenced to be sent to Xinjiang. , the family managed some money for him, but he was released on bail for medical treatment.After another year, the issue of allotment disappeared without a sound.He was afraid of attracting people's comments in the capital, so he bribed the descendants of Prince Rui who was guarding the imperial tomb in Shengjing, and would rather go to Shengjing to guard Taizu Taizong in order to atone for his sin.Shouling is an extremely lonely and deserted job, and most people are unwilling to do it.Baogeng's request was quickly agreed.Within half a year after arriving in Shengjing, he became the little boss.Three years later, unexpectedly, a fourth-grade crystal stone top was worn on his head.Baogeng was not reconciled to living this kind of semi-exile life.It was also his good opportunity, when the navy donations were booming at that time, he donated 50,000 silver to the navy yamen, and then found someone to carry out activities in Prince Jin's mansion for him, and he was actually promoted to be the Minister of Taichang Temple in a dignified way.Taichang Temple is the yamen in charge of the imperial court's sacrificial ceremonies. Although the power is less than that of the six ministries, its status is also very high.After six or seven years of hard work, Bao Geng, the corrupt official back then, was restored.However, he never forgot his hatred for Zhang Zhidong.It's just that Zhang Zhidong is favored by the Queen Mother and King Chun, and his official career is prosperous, so he has nothing to do. Rong Fu is also from Zhengbai Banner, and the two families engaged in baby marriage more than ten years ago.After Baogeng's accident, the Rong family did not break up the marriage. Baogeng was grateful, and while he was on leave to recuperate from illness, he personally sent his daughter south to get married, as a way of thanking his in-laws for their friendship. Tong Wu, the servant who accompanied him to the south, followed him when he was in Shanxi, and he knew that his master hated Zhang Zhidong to the bone.That night, Tong Wu told the master exactly what he heard at the banquet. When others scolded Zhang Zhidong, it was as if they were venting their anger on his behalf, and Baogeng was extremely happy.Zhao Hengjun's move gave Baogeng a great inspiration: Not long after Zhang Zhidong became the governor of the lake, some people hated him and scolded him. He had been the governor of Guangdong for five years, and there must be more people who hated him and scolded him.After finally coming to Guangdong, why not take this opportunity to widely collect Zhang Zhidong’s political affairs in Guangdong, and file a complaint with the imperial court. It would be better if he can participate in the impeachment. To suppress the resentment in my chest. He first invited Zhao Hengjun into Rong's mansion and asked him to talk in detail about his donation to Lianghu Academy. Seeing that Rong Fu's in-laws are dignified and courteous to him, Zhao Hengjun, a commoner, is flattered. After getting Bao Geng's guarantee that he will not reveal his name, the president of the Hunan Tea Merchants told him what he said at the banquet in front of Bao Geng. After explaining it in detail, he fabricated the increase of salt tax and foreign medicine tax in Hubei to allow Zhang Zhidong to set up factories and mines to gain fame.After Zhao Hengjun left, Bao Geng recorded all his words in a pen. The information provided by Zhao Hengjun further increased Baogeng's confidence.So he stayed in his in-law's mansion and devoted himself to finding all kinds of fallacies about Zhang Zhidong's five-year question.The hard work paid off, and after two months of hard work, the former Shanxi feudal chief finally found a lot of charges for his enemies.Baogeng divides it into several categories: An arrogant famine.Daoist officials have to wait in advance for their visits, and when they arrive, they sometimes wait for an hour or two to disappear, and some even wait for nothing.As for the alternate states and counties, there are almost none.Usually, daily life is impermanent, orders are unpredictable, and all the bureaucrats suffer from it. There is no way to appoint anyone.Those who like it have more than a dozen part-time jobs, and those who don't like it will never get a side, and most of the people they admire are frivolous and profiteering. Three extortionate splurges.Those who have a lot of money in their families will definitely take the opportunity to blackmail them, forcing them to confess to donate, or to admit to a fine, the most of which can be as high as 200,000.The money collected is called daily office work, but in fact it is squandered and wasted.There are many dissatisfied people in wealthy families in Guangdong Province. To Baogeng's delight, besides Zhang Zhidong, many bad deeds of his two cronies, Wang Zhichun and Zhao Maochang, were also under control.If it is said that Zhang Zhidong’s own crimes are unfounded, Wang Zhichun’s unclear accounts of the 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver when he installed the telephone line during the grain road, and Zhao Maochang’s corruption in the management of the gambling are all true. Many people have reported it, and the evidence is solid.As for these two people, Zhang Zhidong relied heavily on them, and when he was transferred to be the governor of the lake, he transferred them to Wuchang.Zhang Zhidong is at least responsible for negligence of Wang Zhichun and Zhao Maochang, if not in collusion.With this stack of important materials in his arms, Bao Geng excitedly bid farewell to his daughter and in-laws and returned to Beijing. At this time, Wang Ding'an also happened to live in the house of his son who was a small Beijing official. After learning that his old boss had returned from the south, he went to see him. Wasn't Wang Ding'an sentenced to ten years in prison? How could he walk around at will?It turned out that Wang Ding'an only sat in prison for one year, and was released on bail through Zeng Guoquan's joint.The purpose of Zeng Laojiu's guarantee for him to come out was to ask him to write a history book of the Hunan Army.In the first year, Wang Kaiyun was entrusted by Zeng Jize to print the engraving of "Xiang Jun Zhi", which had been changed several times in cold and heat.Because Wang Kaiyun intended to establish a history of trust, he had many criticisms of many important generals of the Hunan Army, and was quite dissatisfied with Zeng Guoquan's practice of burning the Tianwang Mansion, so he only understated Lao Jiu's military exploits and did not deliberately exaggerate them. Although the literati spoke highly of "Xiang Jun Zhi", a group of generals of the Hunan Army headed by Zeng Laojiu were very dissatisfied, and even called it a slander.How the scholar Wang Kaiyun was the opponent of the high-ranking warriors, in the end, "Xiang Jun Zhi" ended up burning books and destroying editions. In order to eliminate the influence of "Records of the Hunan Army", Zeng Guoquan released Wang Ding'an from prison and wrote another "Records of the Hunan Army" for the generals of the Hunan Army, especially for himself.Wang Ding'an is grateful to Zeng Guoquan for eliminating the disaster of imprisonment for him, so he shakes off all the talents and learning of his life.He didn't care about Shi De and historical knowledge, and completely complied with Lao Jiu's requirements, and spent three years carefully crafting a 220,000-word masterpiece.Zeng Guoquan was very happy after reading it, and personally wrote a preface for it, praising Wang Ding'an for "fewer burdens on talents, not in harmony with the vulgar, from the prefectural and county calendar supervisors to the establishment of Zhuo Zhuo", publicly rehabilitating Wang Ding'an, Rehabilitation.He also said that he "cariously caries at the time, Yan Jian Hushan, and writes about his old age, and people cherish it. However, the tripod is not poor. The husband's name is famous for a while, but the articles are for a thousand years. Han Yu's so-called "do not take what you get" Those who are easy to lose are so called!" He not only complained about his dismissal and imprisonment, but also boasted that his "Xiangjun Ji" could be immortal for thousands of years. This is another typical example of previous articles that cannot be fully trusted.Thanks to this "The Story of the Hunan Army", Wang Ding'an was freed early, got a generous amount of embellishment, and relied on it to deceive the world, and lived a leisurely life in his hometown in Donghu.In the sixteenth year of Guangxu, Zeng Laojiu passed away as governor of Liangjiang. He made a special trip to Jiangning to cry bitterly, and then completely lost the idea of ​​making a comeback.This time, because his son gave him a little grandson, he was full of joy. He came from Hubei to congratulate him, and also took this opportunity to see his old friends, especially Bao Geng. After recounting the years of farewell, Baogeng told Wang Ding'an about his great harvest in Guangzhou. "Okay, let's make a good total and make a big article to stink Zhang Zhidong." Ten years later, the former Ji Ningdao will never forget the past, and the hatred for Zhang Zhidong will be with him all his life. "Ding Weng," Bao Geng handed to Wang Ding'an the complete set of materials he brought back from Guangzhou. "You are very resourceful. Take a closer look, ponder over it, and see what is the best way to do it. I will pay for the money that needs to be spent." "Okay." Wang Ding'an rubbed his sharper and thinner dry chin and said in thought, "The emperor has been in charge for two or three years. I heard that the emperor is not willing to listen to the queen mother when he encounters problems, and wants to make his own decisions. The emperor especially trusts Weng Tongfu. Zhang Zhidong used to rely on the favor of the Queen Mother and King Chun to dare to be so domineering and arrogant. Now that King Chun is dead and the Queen Mother has returned to power, we have to feel the attitude of the Emperor and Weng Tonghe. If the Emperor and Weng Tonghe are not like the Queen Mother and King Chun , then we'll be fine." "You still have far-reaching considerations." Baogeng nodded and said, "Let me inquire about the internal affairs of the court." Baogeng paid close attention to the developments in this area, but did not gain much.A few days later, Xu Zhixiang, Minister of Dali Temple, invited him to listen to an opera. Unexpectedly, when he was a guest at Xu's residence, he easily got the information he wanted. Xu Zhixiang and Baogeng are both Jiuqing, and they are very familiar with each other. They have a common hobby, that is, listening to operas and music.If they hear that there are some opera actors who can sing well, they will invite them to sing a few songs at home, and then they will invite a group of friends to listen together.The two often invite each other, and after listening to it, they set up a dinner as usual, discussing the play while drinking, and everyone feels that this half day is very happy. On this day, Bao Geng was listening to Cheng Jizong who came to the capital from Anhui and sang old students in the Sanqing Troupe in Dashilan. It is said that he is the descendant of Cheng Changgeng.Cheng Jizong sang several old-fashioned pieces, such as "Straw Boat Borrowing Arrows", "Empty City Strategy", "Catch and Release Cao", etc. These old-fashioned plays were sung vigorously and full of charm, and everyone applauded from time to time.After dinner, when the fanciers bid farewell and went home, Xu Zhixiang specially asked Bao Geng to stay for a chat. "Bao Weng, let me tell you an interesting and strange thing. Recently, Dali Temple received a complaint against Zhao Maochang, the copywriter of Huguang Governor's Yamen. The officials of Dali Temple all said that it is a rare and strange thing for a monk to sue an official and directly to Dali Temple.” This is not only a miracle, it is simply a joy from the sky. I am looking for Zhang Zhidong's handle. Isn't this handle brought up?He suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, and said with a smile: "Hey, it's really a rare and interesting story. Is this monk the abbot of Guiyuan Temple? What did he tell Zhao Maochang?" "It's not the abbot, it's the supervisor." The name of the Buddhist temple is the pure land outside the world, but in fact it has the same strict hierarchy as the secular officialdom.All Buddhist temples that have begun to take shape have a strict management system. The highest-ranking monk in the temple is the abbot, and the monk below the abbot is the supervisor. The supervisor is responsible for managing all affairs in the temple, just like the general manager.Next are the Zhike monk in charge of reception, the monk in charge of picketing, Wei Na in charge of monks and guests, Dian Zuo in charge of making affairs, Liao Yuan in charge of guest rooms, mantle in charge of abbot’s room affairs, and secretary in charge of documents.From the bottom of the prison to the secretary, known as the eight deacons, each performs their own duties, and the top and bottom are clearly defined. "The name of this prison is Qingji." Xu Zhixiang continued with great interest, "Qingji said in the certificate that Zhao Maochang, the chief clerk of Huguang governor's yamen, was ordered by the governor to buy the property of Guiyuan Temple and set up an iron factory. Zhao Maochang and Guiyuan Temple The abbot, Zhike monk, and Weina colluded with each other to make huge profits. Zhao Maochang accepted a bribe of three thousand taels of silver from the abbot, and the abbot, Zhike monk, and Weina each embezzled one thousand taels from the 23,000 taels of silver sold. , six hundred taels, and four hundred taels, the abbot, Zhike monk, and Wei Na took the slanderous money to buy private houses outside the temple and raise women, breaking the temple rules. The monks in Guiyuan Temple were very angry and asked Dali Temple to be the master and severely punish this Criticize lawbreakers." Bao Geng clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "Interesting and interesting. A monk bought a private house to raise a woman. Guiyuan Temple is a famous temple in China. What happened is really big news. Dude, Qingji sued not only the officials, but also the monk." Xu Zhixiang also said with a smile: "Dali Temple didn't accept this kind of complaint originally, but my colleagues accepted it with great interest. First, it is quite interesting for monks to sue officials and monks for internal conflicts. Second, for the sake of the prison, the matter involved Huguang governor’s yamen, which yamen in Hubei dares to accept this lawsuit? He has no choice but to sue Dali Temple.” Bao Geng tentatively asked: "He Lao, you are not afraid of getting into trouble when it involves the governor's yamen of Huguang. That man Zhang Zhidong, thanks to his great victory outside the pass, now has eyes on the top of his head, and the tiger's buttocks can't be touched. !" "I have been with Zhang Zhidong in the Imperial Academy for many years. What am I afraid of? I don't know the details of Zhang Zhidong? Hmph." Xu Zhixiang's "hum" from his nose fully revealed his state of mind . "Zhang Zhidong has been so proud these years, I have to knock him on the head a few times." Xu Zhixiang has indeed worked with Zhang Zhidong in Hanyuan for many years. Like Zhang Peilun, Zhang Zhidong and others, he is also a person who likes to talk about things.But he lacks Zhang Peilun's incisiveness and Zhang Zhidong's prudence. He is easy to be impulsive and likes to show off.Therefore, although he had many visits, he had very little influence. At that time, the Jingshi Qingliu Party headed by Li Hongzao did not value him very much.As the same speech officer, seeing Zhang Zhidong's reputation all over the world, but his own reputation is far less, he couldn't help but feel a little sour.This sour jealousy became more and more intense as Zhang Zhidong's official career went smoothly. More importantly, he and Zhang Zhidong held very different views on Westernization.光绪十年，在中国要不要修建铁路的大争论中，徐致祥连上了两道措辞激烈的反对奏疏，被斥为荒谬，予以降三级处分。事隔四年，关于铁路的讨论再次展开，张之洞力主修建，并提出先建腹省干线的主张，徐致祥仍持反对论。 徐致祥在朝廷高层中并不乏支持者。去年，他的处分被撤销后，立即擢升大理寺卿。他因此并不把时下正走红的张之洞放在眼里。归元寺这桩事，无论于公于私，都令他快意无比。 徐致祥的态度很令葆庚欣慰。他思忖着：纠弹张之洞的事若由此人出面，则是很合适的，只是还得再摸摸他的底。 “张之洞是国家重臣，此事要谨慎点才是。” 徐致祥说：“这我懂。有人说，这两年曾国荃、彭玉麟也相继辞去，老一辈的中外大臣，只剩下李鸿章、刘坤一，一个坐直隶，一个坐两江，这天下第三位总督便是坐湖广的张之洞。他是后起之秀，要不了几年，领海内疆吏之首的便是此人了。敲他的头，我当然会谨慎。实话对你说吧，葆翁，若没有可靠的支持，我也不会轻举妄动。” “此人是谁？”葆庚的肥大圆头凑了过去。 “翁同觫。” “噢！”葆庚的小眼睛睁得圆圆的。他知道眼下国家的大权，名为握在二十一岁的皇上手里，实际上是皇上的师傅翁同龢在操纵着。他没想到，张之洞在朝中竞有这样的对头。看来，张之洞的风光日子不会太久了。 “为归元寺和尚告状一事，我专门去翁府拜谒过翁师傅。他没有丝毫迟疑地对我说，这个状子大理寺要受理。莫说赵茂昌只是湖广总督衙门的总文案，就是湖广总督本人又怎样？贪污受贿，天理不容，即便普通百姓告状也得受理，何况出家人？若不是有十足的把握，料想他们也不至于走到这一步。你去办吧，有什么难处只管找我好了。” 这真是踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费功夫。张之洞呀，张之洞，你也会有今天！葆庚暗暗在心里得意着。 “和老，翁师傅支持，其实就是皇上的支持，再也没有别的顾虑了。”葆庚小声说，“你有这个决心，兄弟我当助你一把。” “葆翁如何助我？” “张之洞这个人其实不可怕。他色厉内荏，外强中干，看起来好像是个能干的有操守的总督，其实大谬不然。我这次从广州回来，亲自听到有关他在两广任上的不少荒谬。至于那个赵茂昌，更是一个坏透的小人，两广人恨之入骨。还有原广东臬司王之春，也是个贪财厚敛之辈。张之洞对他们都信任有加，大肆包庇，前年又将他们调到湖广。” “好，这些你都有证据吗？”徐致祥巴不得有人能给他多提供些关于张之洞过失的证据。 “有。明天请和老放驾到敝寓去坐一坐，我把从广州带来的东西给你看。我还有一个朋友，是当年曾文正公和九帅的文胆，此人极有谋略，又工于文章，我叫他来跟您一起琢磨琢磨。” 第二天，徐致祥应约来到葆府，王定安早已在此恭候，葆庚为他们二人彼此作了介绍。然后便一边看广东方面的揭发，一边讨论着如何办理。最后，徐致祥决定暂时把归元寺的状子放一放，擒贼先擒王，先给张之洞上一道严厉的参劾。树倒猢狲散，只要张之洞被弹劾，赵茂昌的事也便迎刃而解了。当晚，徐致祥再次来到翁同龢府，把张之洞在两广失政的事向翁作了详细禀报，翁同龢毫无保留地予以支持。 几天后，由王定安起草经徐致祥修改润色，并由他具衔的参折，由外奏事处送到内奏事处，由内奏事处呈递到年轻的光绪皇帝手中。