Chapter 147 Assassination

Author: Use your soul to aim

Chapter 147 Assassination

On the morning of the sixth day of September, there was a sea of ​​people on the edge of the Yellow River outside the city of Xiazhou.

Everyone looked up at the new chain bridge that appeared on the Yellow River.

After thousands of years, a bridge connecting the two sides of the Yellow River finally appeared.

This bridge is composed of twenty-six 200-meter iron cables. The whole bridge is composed of three parts: bridge pavilion, bridge abutment and bridge pile.

The two bridge pavilions on the east and west are wooden structures with unique cornices and corners, simple and generous. There is also a blank plaque on the east bridge pavilion, and the two bridge pavilions will serve as bridge toll offices.

The bridge abutment is used to fix the iron cables. Wang Jiajia Construction and Diao Sanyi cooperated to build a furnace by the Yellow River and refine steel on site to pour the bridge abutment base.

Then, in winter, when the water volume of the Yellow River was at its smallest and the sandbank in the center of the river leaked out, the foundations of the bridge piles were surrounded by bricks and stones on the sandbank. When the weather warmed up, the bridge piles were built with cement and steel bars.

After the bridge piles are built, the iron locks are fixed on the bridge piles and connected to the bridge abutments on both sides.

The cable bridge is 400 meters long and three meters wide. The bridge body is composed of thirteen iron chains, with two iron chains on each side of the bridge railings and nine iron chains on the bridge deck.

The bridge deck is paved with wooden boards, each wooden board is three meters long and ten centimeters wide. The main walkway board in the middle of the cross bridge is seventy-five centimeters wide, and the auxiliary walkway boards at the handrails on both sides of the bridge are twenty centimeters wide.

Each iron chain consists of 1,720 to 1,982 interlocking iron rings, with a total of 48,656 interlocking iron rings; the entire bridge uses 200,000 kilograms of iron and costs nearly 70,000 taels of silver.

The original ambitious plan of the Wang family was to build three such bridges at once, but in the end it was too expensive, so they concentrated their efforts to build one first.

Zhang Zongxian deliberately chose to build the bridge on the day Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, just to flatter Zhu Youxiao. After the trial operation of the bridge today has no problems, he will ask for credit from the capital. It also gives Zhu Youxiao an excuse to

He was promoted.

The prefect of Yan'an also arrived at the scene today. He did not want to miss such a rare opportunity to leave his name in history. In fact, the governor also wanted to come, but he was too guilty to come rashly.

After the cutting ceremony was completed at the bridge pavilion, the literary magistrate wanted to nominate the bridge, but Zhang Zongxian stopped him. The naming right was reserved for the emperor.

Although the prefect was a little unhappy, he did not dare to compete with the emperor. Of course, he did not know that the emperor Zhang Zongxian mentioned was actually Zhu Youxiao, and thought he was Zhu Youxiao's father.

Then came the acceptance process. First, ten fully loaded four-wheeled carriages with a load of 300 kilograms and a total weight of no more than 500 kilograms passed through first. After the carriages passed smoothly, the people on both sides of the Yellow River burst into applause like a tsunami.

After the carriage passed safely, the prefect of Yan'an took the lead and went to the middle bridge pile to lead officials of all sizes to worship the river god. The magistrate of Linxian County, Shanxi Province on the other side also came to the scene, and the two sides met at the middle bridge pile.

Only when we got here did we fully realize the greatness of this bridge. The endlessly flowing Yellow River passed under the bridge, and the bridge piles erected in the middle of the river split the Yellow River like a sharp sword.

After worshiping the river god, the two sides complimented each other for a while, and then soon the Yan'an magistrate, the Lin County magistrate and other officials got together and began to write poems for the bridge.

Zhang Zongxian knew that these people looked down on him as a supervisor, thinking that he did not become an official through the imperial examination and was not from the same group as them.

Zhang Zongxian was not angry at these people. Instead, he called his disciples to his side, pointed at the officials and said without scruple:

“Look at these self-proclaimed scholars, arrogantly trying to leave their names on this bridge so that future generations can boast of their achievements, as if they built this bridge with their own hands.

However, the real builders are looked down upon by these scholars. They pride themselves on not touching the spring water. How can such officials be good parents and officials? How can they care for the people?

Before the bridge was built, they didn't even believe that the bridge could be built. The magistrate on the other side even called Wei Shi a fool because Wei Shi gave him two thousand taels of silver notes in order to get him to cooperate in building the bridge.

Now that the bridge has been built, they can't wait to come over to make a contribution. This is the Ming Dynasty's bureaucracy, which is rotten to the core. The most important thing of this sect is practice, and the most annoying thing is self-righteous exaggeration.

Our goal as a legislator is to drive out these bureaucrats and replace them in doing practical things for the people. You must remember that practice is the only criterion for testing truth.

Let’s go with my master to see the builders of this bridge.”

Then he led the disciples off the bridge and walked to the iron furnace originally built for the purpose of building the bridge. The craftsmen who built the bridge here were packing up their tools and were about to go to participate in the construction of the next bridge.

Lao Wangtou is also here at the moment. Now he is a wealthy employee. He is still on the frontline construction site. When he saw Zhang Zongxian coming to see them, he quickly led the craftsmen to salute Zhang Zongxian.

Zhang Zongxian had already prepared commemorative medals and asked his disciples to distribute them to the craftsmen who participated in the construction of the bridge. He cannot yet reward these craftsmen in the name of the court. He can only issue commemorative medals to them first and then reward them in the future.

After issuing the commemorative medals, Zhang Zongxian also said that he would record the names of all the craftsmen, and then engrave them all on the bridge piles, including of course the disciples who participated in the calculation and design. Let future generations know who built the first bridge on the Yellow River.

Bridge.

Then he encouraged the craftsmen to continue their efforts and strive to build a railway bridge across the Yellow River as soon as possible.

After completing the acceptance ceremony of the Yellow River Bridge, Zhang Zongxian excused himself from feeling unwell and did not attend the celebration banquet organized by the Yamen. He took his disciples to the college. The prefect and others were happy that Zhang Zongxian did not go.

The dead man who had been suffering from no chance to make a move finally got the opportunity. He expected that Zhang Zongxian would definitely return to the college, and had already laid an ambush on Zhang Zongxian's only way back to the college.

Due to the large number of people watching the excitement today, there were always people on the road, so they could not lay landmines directly on the road. They could only pretend to rest on the roadside with the flintlock short guns they bought at a high price, and wait for Zhang Zongxian's motorcade to come over.

Violent attack.

Zhang Zongxian always kept it simple when traveling on weekdays, but today the prefect came, so he had no choice but to act like a prefect and arranged for the government officials to hold a sign saying "Shout out of Silence" to clear the way ahead.

However, Zhang Zongxian did not sit in the sedan. As a time traveler, he really didn't think the sedan was useful, so he asked the yamen's sedan bearers to carry the empty sedan to the college. He rode a horse and mingled with the disciples.

Because of Zhang Zongxian's instructions, the government officials who opened the road did not deliberately drive away the people, and naturally they did not drive away the dead soldiers who squatted on both sides of the road pretending to watch the excitement.

When Zhang Zongxian's sedan passed by them, the dead soldier on the left took out a grenade, lit it and threw it at the sedan. The dead soldier on the right took out a blunderbuss and fired it at the sedan. The smoke and fire instantly engulfed the sedan.

Zhang Zongxian, who was following behind, also realized that someone wanted to assassinate him. When the surrounding guards rushed towards the dead soldiers, Zhang Zongxian and his disciples turned around and ran towards the government office.

After entering the city wall, the battle on that side had ended. All the incoming soldiers were killed on the spot. The cavalry left behind in the academy also sent a company of troops to check the situation.

After confirming that all the attackers were killed, Zhang Zongxian returned to the college under the protection of the cavalry company.

After receiving the news that Zhang Zongxian had been assassinated, the celebration party could not go on. Qian Tongzhi did not realize that the government was also present, so he hurried to the scene of the assassination. When he arrived at the scene, he only saw bloodstains and corpses on the ground and burned to ashes.

Take a sedan chair.

After asking the government officials, they learned that Zhizhou had returned to the college. They didn't know whether Shou was injured or not. They also came from behind, and the government officials who were at the scene had been taken away by the tax class.

When he arrived at the college, Qian Tongzhi did not see Zhang Zongxian. He only saw the medical women in white clothes coming in and out of the college's medical center carrying blood.

Zhang Zongxian's disciple Liang Chengyuan received him. Liang Chengyuan, with tears on his face, told Qian Tongzhi that his master had been seriously injured in a plot and was now being treated.

After Qian Tongzhi learned that Zhang Zongxian was seriously injured, he was not anxious but felt a little happy. He wondered if his chance had come. If Zhang Zongxian died, his property would be his.

As for his son and wife, the orphans and widowers couldn't afford any trouble. And thinking that he couldn't afford such a big estate, he would definitely share the majority of the profits. It happened that the prefect was also in Jiazhou, so he would burn more in a while.

The incense of the prefect goes away.

Thinking of this, Qian Tongzhi quickly arranged for his subordinates to inform the prefect that Zhang Zongxian was seriously injured and had been rescued. He stayed in the college to wait for the result.

After the magistrate learned that Zhang Zongxian was seriously injured, he immediately arranged for his men to go to the governor's Yamen to report the news, and then took over the Jiazhou Yamen under the pretense that the magistrate was injured and unable to manage the affairs.

On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, after learning that Zhang Zongxian was seriously injured, General Wang immediately ordered an attack on Qingshui Camp and Huangpu Chuanbao.

The troops in these two fortresses have been transferred to the advance base of Shuofang City. The defenders here are all young men recruited from Jiazhou County. General Wang led the Ming army and gave up without resistance.

The fortress.

After General Wang easily captured the two fortresses, he immediately blocked this section of the border wall on the pretext of the Tatars seizing the border. No one was allowed to approach the border wall. Anyone who violated the order would be punished for collaborating with the enemy.

Immediately afterwards, the prefect of Yan'an, who was still in Jiazhou, used the excuse that Jiazhou's treasury was unclear and that public and private treasury were mixed, and asked Taiping to hand over its accounts immediately.

At this moment, Zhang Zongxian already knew who wanted to assassinate him. It turned out that on the day of the assassination, Zhang Zongxian thought that someone from the palace was sent to kill him and silence him. After all, it was a dead man who was not something that ordinary forces could handle.

In fact, after coming out of the palace that day, Zhang Zongxian regretted that he had said too much. Since ancient times, emperors have always been ruthless and ruthless, threatening the people and things they rule. These emperors will never be merciful.

Therefore, Zhang Zongxian has always been afraid that Zhu Youxiao will become ruthless after becoming emperor. After returning from the capital, he has been living in seclusion until the bridge is built and needs to be inspected. Fortunately, he doesn't like riding in a sedan chair, otherwise he would really be in trouble.

So in order to confuse the audience, Zhang Zongxian asked people from the Investigation Department to bring everyone at the scene to the college. The rescue scene that Qian Tongzhi saw was that of rescuing an injured bearer.

Then Yu Nong was asked to investigate as soon as possible where these dead soldiers came from. If they really came from the palace, Zhang Zongxian would just fake his death and run out of the side wall.

When Yu Nong reported that General Yansui, led by the governor's Biaoying and his own troops, had occupied Qingshui Camp and Huangpu Chuanbao. At this moment, Zhang Zongxian already understood who wanted his life.

Fortunately, after more than half a year of construction, Shuofang City can barely produce most of the munitions, and there will be no shortage of food after the autumn harvest in the settlement.

Besides, with the current strength of the legislative army, they can break into the border wall at any time, but since the palace is not trying to kill him, there is no need to rebel now.

After informing the good ministers that he was fine and allowing them to prepare for war with peace of mind, Zhang Zongxian decided to pretend to be injured and continue to recuperate, and stayed with them for a while, waiting for news from the capital.

When the Yan'an prefect asked for Taiping's accounts, Zhang Zongxian felt that he could not keep pretending to be sick and show his face, otherwise if they seized Taiping, it would greatly affect the credit of the bills.

This was also the prefect of Yan'an's deliberate attempt to test whether Zhang Zongxian was still alive and whether he had the strength to fight back.

In fact, after Zhang Zongxian was injured, many merchants had already taken the bills and exchanged them for silver, but the run effect had not yet occurred.

Zhang Zongxian first asked Staff Zhao to find the prefect, and then he pretended to drag his injured body to meet with the president of the Jiazhou Chamber of Commerce.

The Jiazhou Chamber of Commerce was established with the support of Zhang Zongxian. Now that Zhang Zongxian was assassinated and injured, they were very anxious. They were afraid that if Zhang Zongxian's backer fell, they would become fish meat again.

Moreover, they hold a large amount of bills. Once they lose confidence and start running, Taiping Bank will not be able to survive for a few days.

Everyone in the Chamber of Commerce felt relieved after seeing that Zhang Zongxian was fine. Not only the people in the Chamber of Commerce were concerned, but the people in Jiazhou were also very concerned. Many people had Zhang Zongxian's words in their homes.

Many people also went to major temples in Jiazhou and Taoist temples to pray for Zhang Zongxian. The people knew who was treating them well, and they all hoped in their hearts that Mr. Zhizhou would be safe.

After Zhao's staff met the Yan'an magistrate in the lobby of Jiazhou Yamen, he followed Zhang Zongxian's instructions and issued an ultimatum to the Yan'an magistrate directly and unceremoniously.

"My master asked me to tell the governor that some matters are too deep, so the master should not get involved. For Master Ma's sake, my master will not care about the previous matters.

But if the master of the palace does not return home, then my master can only think that the master of the palace is bent on making an enemy of my master."

As soon as he said this, the magistrate was immediately confused. A magistrate's staff dared to speak like this, and he was impatient. He immediately gave the order:

"Come here, take this madman out to me and give him fifty big blows."

Fifty big boards are going to kill people! After all, Zhao's staff also followed the supervisory army. This kind of scene did not scare him, and after the prefect shouted, the yamen servants did not come out.

The yamen officials naturally knew that this staff member was a close confidant of Zhizhou. Now everyone in the yamen was enjoying the dividends from the wool workshop. How could they touch Zhizhou's cronies!

They know that Zhizhou is still alive, and they have seen Zhizhou's methods before, and they don't want to be the best at Zhizhou.

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