Logically speaking, someone should have been eyeing such an important second-rank position as the Minister of Works. Even based on seniority and convention, the first person to be considered should be the Deputy Minister of Works, not Xie Shu.
But it just so happened that the former Minister of Works had already been imprisoned, and the entire Ministry of Works was under a thorough investigation.
At this juncture, Xie Shu's performance assessment was one in a hundred, and the Ministry of Works was in charge of various engineering, water conservancy, transportation and military farming matters. Xie Shu was the right person for the position. Although he had been away from Beijing for a long time, there were many people in the court who recommended him, so this matter was a natural thing.
As for why the Minister of one of the six ministries was imprisoned, the story began three years ago.
Since the founding of Daqing, border troubles have been a problem. At first, the Tatars occasionally plundered the border, but did not pose a major threat. Until 20 years ago, the Tatars invaded Hetao and then regarded Hetao as their supply base.
With the support of Hetao, the Tatars grew stronger day by day, so Daqing had to send more troops every year, but faced with the ferocious Tatar cavalry, they suffered more defeats than victories.
Before being stationed in Shaanxi, the Protector General Shi once wrote a letter advocating that the entire army search the Hetao area thoroughly, but this was not carried out due to insufficient military equipment.
Later, someone wrote a letter to the emperor, arguing that the only way to quell the border threat was to recover Hetao. However, starting a war and mobilizing the entire country would be a waste of money and manpower, which was a major undertaking and required long-term planning.
Three years ago, Qi Tan invaded the border again. Emperor Qing promoted Wang Zhen as the Protector-General to guard the border. However, not long after he took office, Qi Tan led a hundred thousand soldiers to rush into the border wall.
Wang Zhen led his men to defend the border at all costs, but the garrison was also badly damaged. Emperor Qing was very dissatisfied with this result, so Wang Zhen brought up the old matter again and wrote a letter requesting to lead the army to recapture Hetao.
Emperor Qing did not comment on this resolution and left it to his ministers to review.
Lu Shuo saw this opportunity.
Although Lu Shuo had been demoted before, everyone could see clearly that Emperor Qing trusted and favored him and was very dependent on him.
Lu Shuo knew that the border was now a major concern for Emperor Qing and that Wang Zhen was of great use, so he could not touch the aristocratic family.
Therefore, if he wants to get to the position he wants, Wang Zhen must not stay.
This time, Emperor Qing asked his ministers to discuss whether to let Wang Zhen lead the army to recapture Hetao. Lu Shuo expressed his opinion: "Wang Zhen wants to lead tens of thousands of people to go deep into the difficult and dangerous areas to drive out the soldiers who have been entrenched for decades. How easy is that?"
As soon as he said this, he was immediately refuted by the Minister of War Wang Kui.
Wang Zhen is Wang Kui's nephew, and they are both members of the Wang family. However, Wang Kui adheres to the principle of employing people based on their relationship with him. He also trusts Wang Zhen's abilities, so he naturally would not undermine his nephew.
In addition, if Wang Zhen can really recover Hetao, and the entire Wang family will be honored and favored from then on, what will Lu Shuo be?
So Wang Kui criticized Lu Shuo for not understanding war and being weak, and said that now the country is prosperous and the army is strong, as long as they are determined to recover Hetao, they can clear the border from now on.
Wang Kui's words were immediately echoed by many people, and Emperor Qing was also somewhat moved, so Lu Shuo stopped talking.
A few days later, Emperor Qing issued an edict, ordering the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Works to prepare for the war by raising funds for the border defense and manufacturing weapons.
At this time, the people in the court were excited, and not many people noticed that this edict was still drafted by Lu Shuo.
In the eighth year of Tai'an, just one year after Xie Shu took up the post of governor of Hetao, Wang Zhen sent 100,000 troops to Hetao. In the same year, Lu Shuo was reinstated as the Ziwei Order.
Once the war starts, there is no end.
Every few days, military reports were transmitted from Hexi to the capital, and soon they piled up like a mountain.
Emperor Qing was very interested at first, but after staying up late to read for a few nights, he began to feel bored. Military reports are not like ordinary memorials, and military situations cannot be fully explained in one sentence. The battlefield changes rapidly and information also needs to be identified.
But rulers only look at results.
Originally, the Minister of War Wang Kui, the Minister of Revenue Gu Qian, and Lü Shuo were involved in the maintenance work, but Gu Qian was old and Wang Kui was related to Wang Zhen, so Emperor Qing only summoned Lü Shuo when something happened.
Lü Shuo had already bribed the emperor's close attendants and instructed the border generals to frame Wang Zhen and conceal his defeat, withhold military pay and enrich himself, and the Minister of the Chancellery Cui Yuan was in cahoots with him.
In front of Emperor Qing, Lu Shuo reminded Emperor Qing that Wang Zhen wanted to take back Hetao this time for the military power.
This is not an unprecedented incident. The chaos in the previous dynasty was caused by the fact that the local military governors had their own troops and were self-reliant, and some of the aristocratic families were responsible for this.
Emperor Qing was suspicious to begin with, and he immediately began to wonder if the excessive suppression of the aristocratic families in recent years had caused them to harbor rebellious thoughts.
When one's regime is threatened, the border is no longer the top priority.
What's more, Emperor Qing was not so determined to recover the border. Seeing that the national treasury was shrinking day by day, but there was no final victory report, Emperor Qing could not sit still.
Half a year ago, under Lü Shuo's careful planning, Emperor Qing finally got angry and asked why Hetao had not been conquered for so long? Who can take such responsibility for the suffering of all living beings now?
Emperor Qing's rage was too sudden and the officials were totally unprepared. Then Lu Shuo produced a lot of evidence. At this time, Wang Zhen, who was far away in Hetao, had also been arrested and imprisoned.
Shangshu Ling Cui Yuan had to abandon his plan to save his king in a hurry, and his people were in four of the six ministries. Except for the Ministry of Justice which was not involved, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War were both crucial. Only the Ministry of Works had always been at the bottom of the six ministries.
The Ministry of Industry was the agency in charge of construction engineering matters, and was also responsible for military equipment and other armaments, so in the end the blame could only be placed on the Ministry of Industry.
Emperor Qing then ordered Lu Shuo to confiscate the property of the Minister of Works. Unexpectedly, three million pieces of silver were seized. Most of the silver went into the national treasury, and a small portion went into Emperor Qing's private treasury.
After that, the matter of recovering Hetao was also shelved. Wang Zhen was imprisoned, Wang Kui was fined one year's salary, and Shangshu Ling Cui Yuan voluntarily requested to resign several times. Emperor Qing did not approve it at first, but agreed in the end.
Cui Yuan's move was a step forward. His eldest son Cui Lu went from being the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Rites to the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, a third-rank official. Cui Yang went from being the Chief Censor to the Imperial Envoy, also a third-rank official.
However, the prestige of the family was still severely hit, and Lü Shuo's honor and favor could not be increased. Although Emperor Qing left the position of Shangshu Ling vacant, he gave Lü Shuo the position of Taifu, one of the three highest officials. Even today, Taifu is only a nominal position and has no actual responsibility for teaching the prince.
This year, Emperor Qing was already fifty-four years old. In the common people, most people would not live to this age, and even if they did, it would be time for them to enjoy their old age.
Emperor Qing also wanted to live a luxurious and lazy life, but there were always people who wanted to disturb him, so he used various methods to concentrate all the power in his own hands, and now he finally achieved some results.
However, the court was still in turmoil, so Emperor Qing would occasionally cheer himself up, play games on the chessboard, and toy with his power, but most of the time he was bored.
And Lu Shuo was the most useful knife, so most of Emperor Qing's power fell into Lu Shuo's hands.
Of course, Emperor Qing is not old enough to be confused. He knows that Lu Shuo is also a double-edged sword and can hurt him if he is not careful, so Emperor Qing will criticize Lu Shuo from time to time. At the same time, Lu Shuo will not be approached by any of his sons.
Speaking of his heir, Emperor Qing was somewhat disheartened. Crown Prince Shao An was 26 years old this year, but Emperor Qing did not like him in terms of both ability and character, and he even had a rift with his father because of the suppression of the aristocratic families!
The Third Prince Shao Zhen was originally the most beloved by Emperor Qing, and Emperor Qing also had high hopes for him. However, over the years, his performance has been less than satisfactory. Emperor Qing has seen the tricks he used in private, and his disappointment has increased.
Emperor Qing had no choice but to focus his attention on other princes, but he never found a better candidate. However, Emperor Qing was not so anxious. He felt that he was still full of energy. After all, his youngest son, the Eighth Prince, was just born two years ago.
What surprised Emperor Qing was that the Eighth Prince Shao Yuan was accompanied by auspicious signs. When Wei Qingtong, who had been promoted to a noble prince, was pregnant, she dreamed of a red sun falling on her bed. The Eunuch said that this was a symbol of good luck.
After Xie Shu received the imperial edict, he was ready to set off that same day. Upon learning that Xie Hedu was leaving, the people flocked to him and soon filled the embankment near Jiangpu City.
The river bank, no longer affected by floods, is now covered with green grass, willow branches are swaying in the wind, and peach blossoms are smiling.
Red and green are interspersed, brilliant as brocade.
Not only the officials in Jiangpu City but also Wan Linming and his son came to see Xie Shu off in person.
Wan Linming bowed his head with a smile and said, "I bid farewell to Master Xie today, and I don't know when we will meet again."
In this year's assessment by the Ministry of Personnel, Wan Linming was promoted to the position of prefect of Jiangnan Province due to his outstanding political achievements. The prefect is a third-rank official position, so it was very appropriate for Wan Linming to call himself "your humble official" in front of Xie Shu.
Xie Shu smiled slightly and chatted with Wan Linming for a while.
Two years ago, Yu Chuxi's father Yu Wanli died of illness. Xie Shu was busy with river management at the time and could not spare the time to accompany Yu Chuxi back to Jinling, so Xie Shu wrote a trust to ask Wan Linming to take care of the Yu family.
Wan Linming did his best in this matter, and Xie Shu also kept it in mind.
At this moment, Wan Linming regretted that he had not arrived a few days earlier. Seeing that Xie Shu was ready to leave, Wan Linming glared at his son and said, "Thank you, sir. I will trouble you more from now on. Why don't you thank me quickly?"
Xie Shu smiled but said nothing, shaking his head to show that there was no need for formalities.
It turned out that Wan Linming had mentioned this matter some time ago, wanting Wan Tianyun to stay with Xie Shu.
Xie Shu had no objection, as he was already short of people around him. Wan Tianyun had worked for him when he was in Jinling Literary Society.
Wan Tianyun was extremely helpless. He was already married and had a family, but his father still didn't give him face in front of Xie Shu.
Of course, Wan Tianyun is now convinced of Xie Shu, and is willing to follow Xie Shu to Beijing. He is not good at studying, so his father donated a substitute for him as a Tongzhi, but a real man has great ambitions, so how can he be willing to be a dog son in the eyes of others?
The dense and heavy clouds slowly moved forward, changing unpredictably from time to time, and the capital city was already in sight.
Three years ago, Xie Shu left the political chaos of the central government and devoted himself to the cause of river management. Now he is back, and his second visit to Beijing has a different feeling.
Actually, the time he spent in the capital was very short. When he was compiling the Geography of Kyoto, Xie Shu often took his husband to travel in the suburbs and seldom stayed in the city.
But because of Yu Chuxi's presence, the time in Kyoto became unusually vivid and happy.
However, whether he was immersed in the ancient books of Yuzhang State or in the cold nights of wind and rain, Xie Shu never relaxed.
He knew that this center of supreme power was like a whirlpool, and everyone was caught up in it.
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