Chapter 110 Refutation
Naturally, Wang Yangming came to Zhu Houzhao to raise money for the establishment of Capital University.
After Zhu Houzhao found out, he decided to summon Wang Hua.
After Wang Hua saluted Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houzhao asked: "How did you become the Minister of Household Affairs? You don't even have the money to build a capital university, and you can't spend much money?"
"Your Majesty, Fei Chen is not willing to give it, because he really has no money! Since the Qianqing Palace was built, the Ministry of Revenue has no money," Wang Hua replied.
"It's either because you don't have money or you don't know how to be the Minister of Household Affairs. Let me give you an idea. You can get a loan from the Royal Bank!"
Zhu Houzhao gave Wang Hua an idea.
Wang Hua nodded in agreement.
Zhu Houzhao also knew that a scholar like Wang Hua was not suitable to be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but what he couldn't do was that he was selected through the so-called "democratic" official selection method, which was the result of the balance of forces within the civil service group at that time. result.
Zhu Houzhao really cannot be dismissed easily, and it is also the most beneficial to him as the emperor. After all, the more balanced the forces within the court, the better.
Fortunately, although Wang Hua is not good at managing the Ming Dynasty's Money Law, he is not stubborn and can tolerate new things and rebellious people. Otherwise, Wang Yangming would not be alive today.
This is why Zhu Houzhao is still willing to let Wang Hua take charge of the household department. If he can't find a competent subordinate, it is also a good choice to find a subordinate who can listen to what others say and is not stubborn.
It takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. The talents who can truly become the pillars of the empire must be cultivated slowly.
Zhu Houzhao sometimes thought that maybe Capital University was an opportunity, but what he didn't know was how many literati and scholars were willing to come to Capital University for further studies after the imperial examination.
Xu Jing finally finalized the loan agreement with Wang Hua, the Minister of Household Affairs, and it was approved by the cabinet Jiao Fang and Zhu Houzhao.
Moreover, Zhu Houzhao did not let the Ministry of Revenue only borrow money to establish the Capital University, but also borrowed a reserve fund to purchase military rations.
In this way, Zhu Houzhao did not have to worry about the impact on food prices if the food distribution continued.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao also thought about how to repay the loan for Wang Hua. Since the Hongzhi period, Ye Qi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, changed the method of salt production to accept silver instead of rice, and the Ministry of Revenue has been receiving more than one million yuan every year. Two pieces of silver entered the treasury.
In theory, this money is used by the Ministry of Household Affairs to purchase military rations to supply the army.
Of course, supplying military supplies alone will not cost so much, especially in such peaceful times, so in many cases, this money will be saved.
It became an important income for the central court.
In the future, the Ministry of Revenue can naturally use this money to repay the loan, and now he can use the money borrowed from the Royal Bank to purchase grain for military supplies when grain prices are low, avoiding the need to wait for the salt and silver to be paid due to grain prices. Being raised by merchants caused an increase in the cost of military supplies, and at the same time balanced prices to prevent food prices from being too high or too low.
Zhu Houzhao's actions made the capital flow of the Ming Dynasty's central finance more flexible.
……
After solving the problem of lack of money in the Ministry of Household Affairs, Zhu Houzhao went to the duty room of the Cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies, preparing to start the day's government work.
But as soon as Zhu Houzhao stepped into the cabinet and the supervisory room, Liu Jin walked up to Zhu Houzhao and said solemnly:
"Your Majesty! In the incident, Zuo Dongxiu rejected the cabinet's decree on the implementation of the central civil servant selection examination, saying that it went against the ancestral law!"
"Your Majesty! Something bad has happened. Beizhen Fusi has just received news that Prince Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs was attacked by gangsters on his way home!" At this time, Guo Rong, the commander of the Imperial Guards, also suddenly appeared outside the duty room, looking panicked. said.
"Your Majesty! The cabinet has just received a memorandum. It is the imperial censor Liao Yiming's impeachment of Zhao Botao, the director of the literary selection department, for corruption! In my opinion, this is their dissatisfaction with the central civil servant selection examination!" Jiao Fang, the second assistant to the cabinet on duty, was on duty. He also walked up to Zhu Houzhao to report.
After Zhu Houzhao heard these three pieces of news, he was in a daze.
Frankly speaking, he attached great importance to the central civil servant selection examination, even more than the so-called Enke, because it was his attempt to reform the Ming Dynasty's official selection system and an important part of the reform of official administration.
Although the change of official selection from the Ministry of Civil Affairs to official selection by examination only targeted officials with lower official positions, it was these officials who made up the majority of the imperial officials and determined the degree of corruption in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom.
Changing the official selection model to examination selection will undoubtedly greatly curb the corruption of grassroots officials in the empire.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao took advantage of the opportunity of the large number of official vacancies in the court after eradicating the rebellion to implement the reform of the civil service selection examination system. Moreover, he also considered that it might cause a backlash from the civil service forces, so he only carried out reforms at the central level.
But what Zhu Houzhao didn't expect was that he was still hindered!
First of all, he was actually rejected by Li Ke Yan Guan!
Secondly, Wang Shu, the Minister of Civil Affairs who supported the reform, had just escaped death, but now he was assassinated again in the capital. This shows how much the officials in the court could not tolerate him!
I have to admit that Emperor Hongzhi had no intention of protecting Wang Shu when he asked him to serve.
As for the imperial censor Liao Yiming's impeachment of Zhao Botao, a doctor in the literary selection department, for being corrupt, as Jiao Fang said, this was Zhao Botao expressing dissatisfaction with the imperial court's examination system for selecting officials, because once officials were selected by examination, he, as a doctor in the literary selection department, would be deprived of his position. right!
Otherwise, Liao Yiming was too full to hold on, so why did he suddenly impeach the director of the literary and selection department for being greedy for ink?
Although the official position of Doctor of Selected Works is easy to be greedy and has a lot of money, the power is not small, and those who can become the Doctor of Selected Works usually have a strong backing.
The imperial censor Liao Yiming must have obtained Zhao Botao's permission before impeaching him, because as soon as Zhao Botao was impeached, Zhao Botao could be suspended pending questioning, and he could go on strike in a legitimate manner, preventing the reform of the imperial official selection examination from proceeding.
The emperor Zhu Houzhao couldn't even figure out what was wrong with Zhao Botao, because he was unable to work because of his impeachment.
It is equivalent to, on the surface, Zhao Botao is the victim.
Not to mention Zuo Dongxiu's decision to overrule Zhu Houzhao and the cabinet's reform of the official selection system in the Li Ke Gai incident, because this was the power given to him by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and the Liu Ke Langyan officials had the power to refute.
But for this reason, it would be useless even if Zhu Houzhao changed to a doctor in the Literary and Anthology Department, because his reform agenda was rejected by the Yanguan of the Like Department!
The assassination of Wang Shu was undoubtedly a warning to some civil servants who wanted to change the official selection system.
"Very good, very good! Very good!"
Zhu Houzhao really felt the resistance to reform at this moment, and he was really angry. He couldn't help but ask Guo Rong: "How is Wang Shu's current situation? Is it serious?"
"Nothing serious at the moment, I just got a bullet in my right foot. I'm afraid I won't be able to go to court and participate in politics for a while," Guo Rong replied.
"What can we do? Once the prince recovers from illness, the reform of the official selection examination will have to be shelved!" Jiao Fang said with some worry.
"Who said it should be shelved! I didn't say it was shelved, so there was no shelving! Send an edict to send the officials Zuo Dongxiu and the imperial censor Liao Yiming to prison for strict interrogation! Are they suspected of conspiracy and collusion? Are you deliberately obstructing the new policies of the imperial court and disobeying the decree, deliberately embarrass the officials, and even assassinate important officials of the imperial court? ”
Zhu Houzhao ordered coldly.
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(End of chapter)