Chapter 165 The professional scapegoat is back! (Here he comes!)

July is on fire.

On July 15, Zhang Heng finished his half-month-long lecture on the Sutra Banquet and finally had time to return to the branch office to handle government affairs.

The Song Dynasty has not been peaceful recently. In March, Jiaozhi captured the Champa State and became a hidden danger in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.

At the end of June, Zhao Zhen ordered the Guangxi Transportation Department to arrange fortifications in advance. The Privy Council then searched 16 major water and land transportation routes leading to Jiaozhiyun since the Tang Dynasty, and ordered Guangxi Transportation Envoy Du Qi to secretly patrol and send additional soldiers to guard these passages.

Since troops have been dispatched, military expenditures are inevitable. All kinds of food and grass, the construction of fortifications, weapons and armor, etc. must be arranged urgently.

Zhang Heng was too busy during this period, but fortunately there was a Kongmu officer in charge of each case. However, Zhang Heng still had to come back and keep an eye on it when he had time, and look over all the expenses before he could feel at ease.

In mid-July, Zhang Heng also welcomed an old acquaintance - Bao Zheng back to Beijing.

As soon as Bao Zheng came back, he came to visit Zhang Heng.

Zhang Heng saw Bao Zheng again and found that Bao Zheng had become a lot more shady again. He couldn't help but laughed and said, "Master Bao, why are you so shady again?"

Bao Zheng's face darkened: "Master Zhang, please don't call me "Sir" anymore. I can't bear it. You are now a living minister, and my official position is much lower than that of you. If you call me like that again, no one will hear you.

Okay, where can I put my face?"

Zhang Heng smiled and said: "My old boss is my old boss. Forget it, I'll call you Brother Xiren from now on."

Only then did Bao Zheng laugh and talk to Zhang Heng about Quanzhou.

"... Han Zihua has actually been in Quanzhou for a long time. I originally wanted to return to Beijing as soon as possible to report on my work, but Han Zihua refused to let me go, saying that I needed me to teach him how to deal with things in Quanzhou.

Although I am eager to return to Beijing, after thinking about it, this matter in Quanzhou is your hard work. If I didn't explain it clearly and let Han Zihua mess it up, wouldn't I be sorry for you?

So I stayed in Quanzhou to guide him for a while, and waited until June to return to Beijing."

Zhang Heng quickly thanked him: "Brother Xiren is really thoughtful. Brother Zihua should be more skilled now, right?"

Bao Zheng nodded and said: "It's nothing. It's just to restrain state and county officials from interfering with the operation of business. It is strictly forbidden to set up cards between states and counties. To ensure smooth communication between states and counties, then business will develop rapidly."

Having said this, Bao Zheng looked at Zhang Heng with great admiration and said: "...Ju Zheng, the foundation you laid is too solid. With your previous plan, Quanzhou is completely on the right track. Needless to say, there are several seaside cities in Quanzhou.

Maritime trade is developing in full swing, which is a matter of course. The key is the inland Dehua, Yongchun and Qingxi counties. They are also developing quite well.

Dehua's carvings are now the best-selling foreign trade products besides Feiyan soap. Every time sea trade goes overseas, Dehua County's products account for a large share.

The same is true for Yongchun County. The key is Qingxi County. They sold forest trees at first, and then planted tea trees all over the mountains. Did you know that the first batch of tea trees this year has been harvested..."

Bao Zheng took out a few bags of tea and handed them to Zhang Heng: "... Now, the magistrate of Qingxi County asked me to bring this to you. I asked you to taste it."

Zhang Heng made a fuss and said: "It's amazing, it's amazing, the incorruptible Bao Qingtian actually accepted bribes, and even bribed his superiors. This is incredible!"

Bao Zheng rolled his eyes and pretended to take the tea back: "Don't pull it down!"

Zhang Heng quickly grabbed it, changed the tea leaves, and said with a smile: "How about trying this Qingxi tea."

After boiling water and making tea, Zhang Heng handed a cup to Bao Zheng. He sniffed it gently and found that it was indeed very fragrant. He took a sip and his mouth was filled with fragrance in an instant. He smashed it again and there was a long and sweet aftertaste.

Zhang Heng said happily: "This tea is really good. How is the sales situation now?"

Bao Zheng smiled and said: "They are all engaged in maritime trade. The volume is not large now, so there are as many maritime merchants as underwriters. Now Qingxi County is also a well-known wealthy county.

People who grow tea at home, or have forest land, have built new houses and built rural roads one by one, giving them a completely new look.

If you go there again, you may not recognize him very much, so I admire you very much for what you have done.

In the past, my administration was mainly focused on public security and education, but the Quanzhou delegation has taught me a lesson.

Any kind of public security education is not as good as developing the local economy. People who have enough warehouses know etiquette. This is the right thing to do!

In the past, the public security in Quanzhou was relatively chaotic, but then the economy developed and various industries in various states and counties required a lot of labor. The original thieves and the like disappeared.

The public security in the prefectures and counties near Quanzhou has improved a lot, and thieves may have come to work."

Bao Zheng was very emotional.

Zhang Heng said with a smile: "Most of the people in the Song Dynasty were very hardworking. As long as they had a mouthful of food to eat, who would be willing to become a thief?

Therefore, to govern the prefectures and counties well, let alone other things, only by improving the economy can the people live and work in peace and contentment, have enough to eat, and then the people will be grateful to the court and send their children to study."

Bao Zheng nodded and said, "That's the truth."

Zhang Heng asked: "Brother Xiren, what missions did you receive when you returned this time? Shouldn't this official position be mentioned?"

Bao Zheng smiled and said: "We are going to become colleagues. When the officials saw that Quanzhou was well governed, they thought that I was good at economics, so they promoted me to the judge of the Ministry of Household Affairs. As for the official position, I am now Zuo Sijian."

Zhang Heng frowned when he heard this and said: "The assignment is good, but this official position... the officials are a bit stingy, right? You have done so well in Quanzhou, why should you be promoted?"

Bao Zheng suddenly became anxious: "Ju Zheng, don't talk nonsense. It's already good to be promoted to one level. I'm just watching for you in Quanzhou. I don't have any merit. It's already quite good to be promoted to one level."

That's right, okay, what you said is disrespectful to the officials, and if someone hears it, it will be detrimental to you!"

Zhang Heng felt a little funny when he saw Bao Zheng acting like this. Are you afraid of offending the officials?

But looking back, Bao Zheng was honest, and he probably still respected Zhao Zhen.

After talking about what happened in Quanzhou, Bao Zheng suddenly whispered: "As soon as I came back, I heard about Jingyan. It was said that you were planning to set up a bank. How is the situation now?"

Zhang Heng smiled and said: "Brother Xiren is so well-informed, he knows all this."

Bao Zheng shook his head and said: "This matter has been widely spread. I heard about it as soon as I came back. Isn't there a lot of resistance?"

Zhang Heng pursed his lips and said: "It's not small. I originally thought that the banquet would come to a conclusion on whether to set up a bank, but after half a month of discussion at the banquet, the officials didn't say anything, and neither did Jia Xianggong. Even this

Song participated in the government, and Ding participated in the government and kept silent."

Bao Zheng's eyebrows were lowered, as if he was thinking about something. After a while, he suddenly stood up and said goodbye: "I just came back. I still have a lot of things to do, so I won't disturb you anymore."

Bao Zheng stood up and was about to leave, but Zhang Heng quickly stopped him: "Hey, brother Xiren, why are you so impatient? You just came back. I will pick you up at Fanlou tonight!"

Bao Zheng turned around and smiled, with two rows of white teeth exposed, which matched his dark face: "I'm saving this wine for now. I'll have a good drink with you when I want to drink some time later!"

After saying this, Bao Zheng turned around and left.

Zhang Heng scratched his head, wondering what Bao Zheng was doing.

But Zhang Heng found out the next day.

The next day, as soon as Zhang Heng arrived at Duzhi Division, Wang Gongchen sent someone to find him and told him that there was an internal meeting of the three divisions.

Zhang Heng arrived at Wang Gongchen's living room and saw Wang Gongchen and Bao Zheng talking. Wang Gongchen saw him and said with a smile: "Ju Zheng is here?"

Zhang Heng quickly bowed and said, "I've seen Mr. Ji."

Wang Gongchen waved his hands and replied with a smile: "Come on, sit down and talk."

Zhang Heng sat down and Wang Gongchen said with a smile: "Judge Bao is here to take office today. I want you to come over and have a chance to meet him so that we can work together later."

Zhang Heng smiled and said: "Judge Bao is my old boss before I went to the official position, so I am very familiar with him."

Wang Gongchen said with a smile: "I still don't know, haven't you always said that you want to organize a bank? When Judge Bao came today, he mentioned this matter to me. Judge Bao fully supports you. You What do you think?"

Zhang Heng glanced at Bao Zheng in surprise, and Bao Zheng nodded with a smile.

Zhang Heng said quickly: "I am naturally very happy. Prime Minister, do you agree?"

Wang Gongchen nodded and said: "Tomorrow I will ask the officials to convene the second government and the three departments to discuss this matter. I will explain it to you first. You may be required to attend then, so I will tell you first."

Zhang Heng quickly agreed.

After leaving the office, Zhang Heng quickly invited Bao Zheng to his branch office. Bao Zheng knew that Zhang Heng had many problems, so he nodded and followed.

When he came to Zhang Heng's mansion, Bao Zheng didn't wait for Zhang Heng to ask, and said: "I persuaded Prime Minister Ji to go there. I have a close relationship with Mr. Ji. I was recommended by Prime Minister Ji when I was serving as a censor. You know this."

Zhang Heng nodded and said: "Of course I know about this, but as soon as you came to Sansi, you fully supported the establishment of the bank. What's going on?"

Bao Zheng smiled: "I met with the officials the day before yesterday."

Zhang Heng was stunned: "Are you here to take the blame again?"

Bao Zheng touched his face and said, "I'm getting more and more shady. I'm probably used to taking the blame. I'm used to it too."

Zhang Heng laughed loudly: "Judge Bao is taking the blame, so it's done!"

Bao Zheng laughed, and then said with emotion: "It's a good thing to take the blame for you. You see, every time I take the blame for you, my official position will go up a level. Isn't this a good thing?"

Zhang Heng also sighed with emotion: "It's not easy to do things."

Bao Zheng shook his head and said: "But every time you do something, the imperial court will benefit from it, isn't it? Previously, when you were contracted by the Minister's Treasury, you helped the imperial court save millions of guan and generated another million guan in revenue.

The same thing happened in Quanzhou later. The people of Quanzhou benefited a lot. The key is, the imperial court also benefited greatly!

Although I don’t understand much about the bank’s preparation this time, I trust you, so I must bear the blame.”

Zhang Heng nodded and said: "This time it's not that simple. Among the supporters of the second government and the third division, there are also many who oppose it."

Bao Zheng patted Zhang Heng on the shoulder and said: "You have always been good at doing such impossible things, and you can definitely do it this time. When you went to the south to prepare food for disaster relief, everyone thought it was impossible, but you just did it.

It’s done, you can definitely do it this time!”

Zhang Heng took a deep breath and felt the weight on his shoulders, but nodded decisively: "Well, it will definitely succeed!"

Bao Zheng comforted him: "Don't worry, the officials support you, otherwise they wouldn't let me come back."
Chapter completed!