Chapter 1149 Governor Zhao Wanxian!

Dongning, Governor's Office
An official in his early thirties was handling official business in the hall. He was of moderate build, with a square face and sparkling eyes. He looked very energetic. However, the most eye-catching thing was that the patch on his official uniform was a golden pheasant...
The colorful and lifelike pheasant not only showed that this person was a second-rank civil official of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but also revealed his identity as Zhao Wanxian, the governor of Liaoyang of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

Zhao Wanxian looked at the file in front of him with a hint of hesitation in his eyes, and just as he was hesitating, the officer outside came over and reported:

"Mr. Zhao, Councillor Wang requests to see you!"

When Zhao Wanxian heard that it was his subordinate Wang Qinghe who wanted to see him, he nodded without saying anything. The officer also took the order and left without saying anything.

Soon, Wang Qinghe, who was tall but somewhat plump, walked into the hall. As soon as he came in, he couldn't help but bow to Zhao Wanxian and congratulate him with a happy face:
"Congratulations, sir, on your promotion!"

Zhao Wanxian said calmly:
"They are just provincial governors, not really a promotion."

Wang Qinghe smiled and said:

“Although they are both provincial governors, Liaoyang is a bitterly cold place, while Ji and Yu are the heart of the Central Plains. My lord, after you have been away for many years, I am afraid that you will soon be appointed as a prime minister...”

Although his expression remained calm, when Zhao Wanxian heard the words "enter the cabinet and become prime minister", a hint of joy flashed across his face.

In official circles, everyone likes to be promoted, and if you want to be promoted in the current Great Zhou, in addition to having the trust of the Marshal, you must also have the ability and talent to achieve some results in your own little piece of land!
As an official promoted by the Marshal himself, Zhao Wanxian had no doubt about the Marshal's trust in him, so what he needed to get promoted was political achievements, achievements that could shut up all those who questioned him!

That year, after being promoted to the position of governor by the Marshal against all odds, Zhao Wanxian came to Liaoyang despite all the doubts and skeptical looks. At that time, he was full of energy, and he wanted to prove to those who doubted him that their views were totally wrong!

Not only is Zhao Wanxian qualified for the post of Liaoyang governor, he can even do it better than others!

In order to accomplish this goal and repay the Marshal's appreciation and trust, Zhao Wanxian has been working day and night in Liaoyang in recent years and has basically treated the Governor's Office as his own home!
Normally, he is either working in the government office, or running around the mines, farmlands, and markets, inspecting and conducting research at the grassroots level, trying his best to provide more taxes, grain, and minerals to the court while ensuring the welfare of the people!
With such hard work, he indeed handed in a report card to the court that silenced his doubters and made him very proud!
However, Zhao Wanxian was very clear that while this transcript helped him secure his position as Liaoyang's governor, it also planted a lot of hidden worries for his future...

After all, Liaoyang is the birthplace of the Fengwu Army. There are too many people from Liaoyang holding high positions in the Fengwu Army, and these people have many relatives and clansmen in Liaoyang. These people control considerable industries and influence the local rules and order!
As the saying goes, all the people in the world are seeking profit. In Liaoyang, there are too many people who think they have a good background and supporters and want to ignore the rules and order in order to seek greater profits and earn more money for themselves!

What these people did not only harmed the interests of the people but also affected the government's income. Therefore, Zhao Wanxian, who was transferred to Liaoyang at that time, faced a multiple-choice question of choosing one of two options!
If he wants to achieve some political achievements, he can either go along with these people, make the people suffer, and squeeze out all the money from them to ensure the tax revenue paid to the court!
Or they can choose to strike against these powerful groups and make these wealthy people give up the benefits that do not belong to them!

Although Zhao Wanxian is quite strict with himself, he is not the kind of honest and upright official like Hai Rui or Bao Zheng who hates evil, loves the people like his own children, and cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes!

Therefore, Zhao Wanxian also hesitated and thought at the beginning. After all, once the choice is made in this multiple-choice question, there is no turning back!

And if you make the wrong choice, you will most likely be imprisoned and fall into an irretrievable situation·····················

After repeated thinking and careful consideration, Zhao Wanxian finally chose the latter. The reason for making this choice was, on the one hand, out of sympathy for the common people. Zhao Wanxian himself was from a commoner class. His father was a poor scholar and his mother was a traditional housewife. Most of the family's income came from the meager income from his father's private school, and the rest came from his mother's spinning and weaving to subsidize the family.

Zhao Wanxian lived in poverty when he was young, so he knew very well how hard and difficult the lives of ordinary people in the Great Zhou Dynasty were, so he stood on the side of the people emotionally! Although Zhao Wanxian sympathized with the people's experience, he was in the officialdom, especially at this moment of deciding his own destiny, so he naturally would not be emotional and be swayed by emotions!

The real reason why Zhao Wanxian chose to protect the people and crack down on the powerful was because Zhao Wanxian believed that Marshal Ye, the de facto controller of the current Great Zhou world and the person who promoted and appreciated him, was a rare and famous monarch throughout the ages!

Marshal Ye's original intention in promoting and appreciating Zhao Wanxian was to hope that he could serve the people. Therefore, if he colluded with the powerful and oppressed the people, he would not only deviate from Marshal Ye's original intention of appreciating him, but also let down Marshal Ye's cultivation and appreciation of him!
As a result, Marshal Ye will be disappointed. He will not be able to stay in office as the Liaoyang governor for long and may even face imprisonment...
If he chooses to protect the people and strike against the wealthy and powerful, then although he will offend those wealthy and powerful people, he has the support of the Marshal behind him. As long as he behaves uprightly and does not leave any handle for others, he has nothing to fear. After all, the Marshal's words are law in the court and his prestige is at its peak!
Therefore, even if those powerful people regard him as a thorn in their eyes and a thorn in their flesh, as long as Zhao Wanxian has the Marshal's protection, he can rest assured!
It was with this idea in mind that Zhao Wanxian carried out drastic reforms to deal with those relatives of the powerful and wealthy who did not abide by the rules and order.

The powerful people under the coercion of Zhao Wanxian naturally hated Zhao Wanxian to the core, and for a period of time, memorials impeaching him flew into Ye Mingsheng's study like snowflakes!
But just as Zhao Wanxian had thought, although his methods angered those powerful people, they won the Marshal's praise. Under the Marshal's intentional protection, those memorials impeaching him did not make any progress!

Even though he was eager to make achievements in his political career and caused some problems that resulted in considerable losses, and was impeached, the Marshal only punished him by deducting his salary and asking him to reflect on his actions!

Although he secured the position of Liaoyang governor by virtue of his own political achievements and won the admiration and support of the people, Zhao Wanxian never thought of continuing to work in Liaoyang...
Zhao Wanxian is 35 years old this year. In this era where the average life expectancy is less than 60 years, he is no longer considered young, but in the officialdom, especially among senior officials, he can be said to be very young. Therefore, Zhao Wanxian also has ideals and ambitions in his heart and wants to do something great!
Zhao Wanxian wanted to step onto a higher and bigger stage to display his talents, and even go down in history and promote Marshal Ye to become a great monarch and his ministers!
This brings us back to the original question. If you want to make further progress in the officialdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty, in addition to having the trust of the Marshal, you must also make some achievements!
Although Zhao Wanxian has made some good achievements in Liaoyang, as the governor of Liaoyang, Zhao Wanxian has become increasingly aware that due to factors such as weather, geography, and humanities, Liaoyang's development has reached its ceiling. For a long time to come, Liaoyang's development will enter a stable stage, and it will be difficult to achieve leapfrog development!
This also means that it will be very difficult for Zhao Wanxian to continue to make such remarkable developments in Liaoyang in the future, and in a sense it is even impossible!

So Zhao Wanxian realized that his career had reached an important watershed again, and he needed to make a decision that could determine his destiny!
Either continue to stay in Liaoyang and do things to the utmost to develop Liaoyang as much as possible, or leave Liaoyang and go to some places with better foundation·······················

Just like last time, Zhao Wanxian chose the latter this time. Zhao Wanxian knew very well that the Marshal appreciated him because of his achievements in Liaoyang. Therefore, if the development of Liaoyang gradually slowed down, it was hard to say whether the Marshal would still treat him the same way as he does now!
Once he loses the Marshal's trust, a lot of things will change, and even the powerful people he had offended before may take the opportunity to counterattack!

Therefore, Zhao Wanxian wanted to leave Liaoyang at this time and go to places like Youyan, Qilu, Jiyu that had a good foundation, or Jingchu and Huainan that had a lot of work to do. He was confident that with his own abilities, he would be able to achieve results quickly!
However, even though Zhao Wanxian intended to leave Liaoyang, he couldn't just tell Ye Mingsheng that he wanted to leave, as that would be the same as saying he was a deserter!

Zhao Wanxian could only make some indirect hints, and his actions worked. Ye Mingsheng also said that he would consider transferring him to other places.

Just when Zhao Wanxian was thinking that he might be able to govern Youyan, Jiyu, and had even begun to think about the specific development policy, news came from the court that the Marshal intended to transfer him to be the governor of Youyan, but the Minister of Personnel Gu Sansi disagreed, and then the Marshal listened to the advice and did not issue the order...

Zhao Wanxian was completely stunned when the news came out. He even didn't quite believe it. After all, he seemed to be ruthless in cracking down on the powerful and wealthy in Liaoyang, but in fact he had concerns about some issues, which led to him treating people differently based on their situation!
For example, when it comes to issues involving the Ye family and the Cui family, although Zhao Wanxian also deals with the children of these two families, he mainly uses intimidation and coercion. As long as you spit out the things, at most you will be beaten with a stick, but you will not be really killed!

As Gu Sansi was the Minister of Personnel and a close confidant of the Marshal, Zhao Wanxian was also very careful in dealing with issues involving him. So Zhao Wanxian asked himself that he had never offended Gu Sansi, so he didn't know why Gu Sansi targeted him!
So when Zhao Wanxian confirmed that it was because of Gu Sansi's obstruction that he did not take over as the governor of Youyan, he was very angry!
He felt that since I had not offended you, Gu Sansi, and you took the initiative to target me, then there was nothing to say. If you can be the first day, I, Zhao Wanxian, can also be the fifteenth!

So Zhao Wanxian also found out some problems concerning Gu Sansi in Liaoyang, and just when Zhao Wanxian was about to confront Gu Sansi on this issue, news came from the court again. Although he did not become the governor of Youyan, the Marshal appointed him as the governor of Jiyu...
Although the status of the Governor of Jiyu is lower than that of Youyan, it is also a very important position in the current Yijing court. Moreover, under the previous governance of Murong Yuliang, the economic foundation of Jiyu was also very good, and it was possible to achieve some results!
Therefore, Zhao Wanxian is now facing a problem, that is, now that he is about to be transferred to the post of Governor of Hebei and Henan, should he still trouble Gu Sansi about this issue!

Wang Qinghe glanced at the files on Zhao Wanxian's desk and saw the hesitation in Zhao Wanxian's heart. He immediately advised him:
"Sir Zhao, this Gu Sansi is the Minister of Personnel, a person of high power, and the Marshal is very fond of him. The problems in this file are not small, but they are not big either, and they are not issues of principle!"

"It's unlikely that you can use this file to bring down Gu Sansi. I think the most it can do is disgust Gu Sansi! In the end, it will most likely turn a big thing into a small thing!"

"If you, Lord Zhao, had not been transferred to Ji-Yu, then exposing this matter would have helped Gu Sansi vent his anger. But now you have been transferred to Ji-Yu, so in my opinion, it is better to take a step back and let the world run wild. After all, it is better to resolve a feud than to create one!"

“As the saying goes, more friends mean more roads, more enemies mean more walls. My lord, you already have enough enemies in the court. Minister Li of the Ministry of Justice hates you to the core. In my opinion, you must not offend Minister Gu who is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel…”

(End of this chapter)