Chapter 339 Guoben
Zhu Houzhao learned the whole story from Zhu Zailei. He had been in power for more than fifty years and was not surprised by this kind of official corruption. He did not get angry and ransack his homes like he did when he was a young emperor. The genocide, even his emotional excitement at this time was not as high as Zhu Zailei's.
But this does not mean that Zhu Houzhao will despise this issue or Xu Jin.
"In this matter, if you continue to follow Pan Gu's advice, you should use this money to teach you a lesson and pay for tuition. The illegal income flowing into some people's pockets can be recovered sooner or later. Now if I send someone to Even if the factory goes to investigate, Xu Jin can’t be blamed. Instead of doing that, we can only play a long game and catch the big fish first.”
Zhu Houzhao knew that even if he asked Dongchang to arrest Pan Gu and arrest and convict the person in charge of Xujia Iron Works, he would still have no evidence to deal with Xu Jin. After all, Xu Jin was not involved. Shuai, for exterminating relatives for justice, he had to reward Xu Jin.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao did not think about taking action against the Xu family directly. After all, the Zhu Houzhao now was no longer the Zhu Houzhao he was when he was a boy. He was more disciplined in doing things and thought before he acted.
And when it comes to the matter of establishing a prince, Zhu Houzhao doesn't want to deal with it casually. He doesn't know who is planning these things. Is there a bigger manipulator behind the scenes, or is the eldest son of the emperor in front of him, Zhu Zailei, directing it himself? All this.
The older he gets, the more complex his thoughts become, and his actions become less vigorous and resolute. Zhu Houzhao did not notice that his behavior had changed, but the only thing he had not changed was that he persisted in his own thinking and analysis conclusions.
He didn't understand where some civil servants had the courage to ask the prince to protect him on the basis of supporting whoever became the prince. He really didn't know that he, the emperor, had never been an emperor who did whatever others said, or was it because of human nature that he believed that he If I support you, you should repay me. Therefore, do you think that since you support your eldest son as the crown prince, your eldest son will naturally have to take care of the interests of my civil servants?
Zhu Zailei followed Zhu Houzhao's instructions and did not continue to publicize the matter. He followed Pan Gu's arrangement and spent an extra sum of money. He not only purchased galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works to replace the original inferior steel pipes, but also continued to purchase galvanized steel pipes from Sanxin Iron Works. My family's iron factory purchased a batch of inferior steel.
The second prince Zhu Zaitu also got hold of Zhu Zailei's "bribery" through Pan Gu, and thought that he had more chances to win in the battle for the heir apparent.
Xu Jin also learned through indirect means that the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei did not deal with Pan Gu or even stopped buying inferior steel from his Xu family. He was very happy and relieved about this.
Naturally, Xu Jin did not insist on obtaining such benefits from the emperor's eldest son through this invisible method. It was not that he did not know that this matter would affect him once the emperor's eldest son revealed it, but he still Choosing to do this was just to test the eldest son of the emperor.
Xu Jin was not worried about the fact that his Xu family's iron factory was selling low-quality steel to the imperial court, because it was Pan Gu who took the initiative to contact his Xu family from the beginning to the end. He did not know, and his Xu family did not know that these steel pipes would be used. Used to make water pipes.
Therefore, Xu Jin believed that even if His Majesty knew about it, he would at best ask his Xu family to refund the money and take back the steel sold to Pan Gu out of loyalty and unwillingness to let the court's interests be lost in vain. Not only should his Xu family not be punished at that time, , and should be praised by the emperor.
But in that case, it means that the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei is not willing to take care of the interests of civil servants like himself, and is not willing to be consistent with his own civil servants. If he loses the chance to enter the cabinet for promotion, the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei will also Therefore, he lost the opportunity for his fellow civil servants to support him.
Therefore, Xu Jin was testing the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei by doing this.
Obviously, the behavior of Zhu Zailei, the eldest son of the emperor, was to take care of the interests of a clean civil servant leader like him and to give him face. Therefore, he was very satisfied and couldn't help but say: "Your Highness is so kind! You have the style of a virtuous king. Be the master of others in the future!”
Of course, Xu Jin reciprocated the favor. His student Wang Zibi, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, soon sent a petition to Emperor Zhu Houzhao to follow the etiquette and establish a direct lineage to establish the foundation of the country. The implication was to make the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei the crown prince.
"Qingliu is also a human being, and his eyes are full of interests."
Zhu Houzhao said something secretly in his heart after seeing this memorial.
Xia Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet, did not dare to draft such a matter at will, so he submitted it to the emperor and let him handle it himself. However, Zhu Houzhao's opinion on how to deal with it was very simple. He replied: "The matter of establishing a prince will take five years." Discuss later.”
Except for some truly pedantic civil servants or young civil servants who were not familiar with the world and did not understand why His Majesty the Emperor had to postpone it for another five years, Xu Jin and other Qingliu civil servants did not express any further opinions.
Because, in fact, they did not force the emperor to establish the heir immediately. They just expressed their attitude to the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Zailei. After all, your emperor's eldest son gave us such a big benefit, so we had to express it no matter what.
Xia Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet, saw all this. Although he did not know what the emperor Zhu Houzhao was planning, he could also guess that the emperor's delay in appointing a prince was because he was worried about losing power and improper selection. However, he is also worried that if the reserve remains vacant, more villains will profit from it.
"Your Majesty, the matter of establishing a crown prince should not be pending for a long time. I am worried that over time, the courtiers will not focus on government affairs, and it will cause people's hearts to be distracted, officials to become corrupt, and cause party strife."
Xia Yan advised.
Why wasn't Zhu Houzhao worried that this would cause problems? After all, the dispute over the country's foundation in the Wanli Dynasty in history consumed a lot of national power and created party disputes, causing the country to decline because the courtiers and the emperor were working all day long to establish a prince. Fighting over affairs resulted in government affairs being left in ruins.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao did not rebuke Xia Yan for being alarmist, but he indeed could not accept the invitation of Qingliu civil servants to make Zhu Zailei the prince now.
Not only because he doesn’t want these clean civil servants and representatives of the bourgeoisie who are just and dignified on the surface but are actually selfish to succeed easily, and he doesn’t want his imperial power to be easily surrendered to the civil service group, but also because he is still not sure that Zhu Zailei is suitable. Not suitable to be the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Houzhao admitted that his eldest son was actually quite good in many aspects, such as talent and character.
But that's not enough!
Zhu Houzhao is not yet sure whether he can stand up for the interests of the people, and is even willing to sacrifice his own interests to serve the interests of the country and the people.
Because he chose the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the helm of the empire, it was not just as simple as choosing the patriarch of the Zhu family. He needed his successor to be a statesman rather than a politician, and the so-called politician must dare to Those who attack their own class in the face of the interests of the country and the people.
Or to put it simply, Zhu Houzhao is not sure whether Zhu Zailei has the integrity and courage to stand up for the people of the world.
Not everyone can do this. As long as they are ordinary people, they will have a weak side. Zhu Houzhao knew that he could make Ming Dynasty come to this point not because he was smarter than those scheming civil servants, nor because he was so lucky, but because he had the courage to do so. The courage to be the first in the world, the courage to risk the disapproval of the world.
The more wealthy people were, the less courage they had. Wanli gave in and finally asked the civil servants to appoint Zhu Changluo as the crown prince. As a result, the situation deteriorated and the Ming Dynasty's political arena continued to fight for decades. Zhu Houzhao was not sure whether Zhu Zailei had such courage. .
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao only said to Xia Yan: "Xia Qing, I have the final say when to appoint the crown prince, and I have the final say who to appoint as the crown prince! I don't want to appoint someone as the crown prince at the invitation of some people! I am here When choosing an emperor for the whole world, and the majority are silent, I can only be cautious!”
"This is my responsibility. I don't want to let the world down. However, this is not your responsibility. What is the meaning of your existence as the chief minister? I hope you understand. It is not to urge me to establish a prince early, but to prevent me from making choices. When you are worried about important matters such as who should be appointed as the heir, and you have no time to care about the government, you can manage the government for me and not let the government and the public neglect the government! I don’t want you to be the second...Wang Hao! Be the spokesperson of the officials!" br>
Zhu Houzhao almost said that he hoped Xia Yan would not become the second "Shen Shixing", but when he thought that Shen Shixing's era had not yet appeared, he had to change his mind. However, he also believed that the dispute over the country in the late Wanli period caused the ruin of the government and the monarch and his ministers. The imbalance of the relationship is not unrelated to the cowardly and fearful chief assistant Shen Shixing's incompetence.
Because as the chief minister, he was already the second-largest figure in the Ming Empire. Especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, he was actually the same as the prime minister. Even the people referred to him as "a certain prime minister". He was already considered the decision-maker of the empire, but he could only work with him, not replace him. The emperor took over the daily government affairs and took charge of all the officials. He had no prestige, and he could do little or nothing.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao knew that the reason why Shen Shixing behaved like this in history was related to the miserable fate of Xia Yan and Zhang Juzheng, the first assistants responsible for their responsibilities in history. This made Shen Shixing afraid and had to protect himself wisely without offending the emperor. Do not offend the civil servants.
However, Zhu Houzhao's current Ming Dynasty does not have this problem. Since Ma Wensheng, no chief minister has been punished. Even Jiao Fang can die well. Even Zhang Cong, who has offended all classes in the world, he has punished. The highest honor.
Therefore, Xia Yan was very touched after hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, and hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "My lord, Xia Yan, please remember your Majesty's instructions!"
Although Zhu Houzhao's tone was calm, it still sounded in Xia Yan's ears like a loud bell and a giant drum.
The whole afternoon, Xia Yan sat in the cabinet duty room in a daze. He was in a different situation from Zhang Cong. Before he became the chief minister of the cabinet, his proactive policies, whether it was increasing welfare subsidies, reducing taxes outside customs, or reducing bank interest, allowed people from all walks of life to They all benefited and gained support and fame from people from all walks of life.
Even if he chose Xiao Gui and Cao Sui, or to be precise, Zhang Gui and Xia Sui, many people only criticized him for being weak and did not question his morality and ability.
However, the warning from His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao made Xia Yan realize that he was not only weak. He seemed to be incompetent as the chief minister of the cabinet. If the government was in ruins, it was not just because the matter of establishing the crown prince had been unresolved for a long time, but also because of himself. It has something to do with not doing a good job as prime minister of the empire.
"The dynasty is no longer the beginning of the founding of the country. The people at that time only knew how to farm, and the scholars at that time only knew how to read. The Ming Dynasty was nothing more than two or three affairs, and the cabinet was nothing more than the king's documents. But today, it is not the king's laziness that leads to The assistant minister is the reality, but the affairs of the country are becoming more and more complicated, and the assistant minister is the reality. I, Xia Yan, must have the consciousness to be the prime minister!"
After Xia Yan figured it out in his mind, he slapped the nanmu chair heavily with his palm.
At this time, Ning Hao, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, Fei Cai, the imperial wine minister, and Zhang Xing, the young minister of Taichang Temple, came to see him and said directly to Xia Yan: "We have come here to disturb the central government because we really want to plan for the world. Please make a statement before the emperor and establish the crown prince immediately!" Xia Yan did not expect that these officials would come directly to the cabinet to confront him about this matter. This was obviously a suspicion of forcing him.
But Xia Yan has now firmed up his thoughts and does not want to be led by the nose by these civil servants. Although he knows that these civil servants are actually motivated by public interests at this moment. They may have relatively simple thoughts, but he now has his own He knew that he could not be a conciliatory person, so he agreed to these civil servants and tried to please His Majesty at the same time, so he just said directly:
"Your Majesty has already approved this matter. The matter of establishing the crown prince will be discussed again in five years. Why are you anxious? The cabinet is a central and important place, and you are all important ministers of the various ministries and temples in the imperial court. Who asked you to waste government affairs and come to the cabinet to do it? It’s about this!”
Xia Yan said in a serious tone.
The officials present did not expect Xia Yan to be so serious and majestic. They were not used to it and were somewhat resistant. They thought that everyone was a civil servant and had a good relationship, so why did he act like a prime minister.
Ning Hao, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, even said directly: "Why did the Duke say this? The Duke is the prime minister of the world. He should consider the country and the country. Government affairs are only a matter of one day, but the foundation of the country is a major matter that affects the empire for a long time. You should not abandon the foundation and pursue the end." , I hope Yuan Fu will take up the responsibility of Bigan and advise the emperor to establish a prince as soon as possible."
"You are the minister of Yuan Dynasty, so you should be like this!" At this time, Feicai, who was offering wine at the Imperial Academy, also agreed.
Xia Yan became even more angry because he could feel that these officials were not afraid of him or the rules of the court. It seemed that they had really forgotten the superiority and inferiority in the distribution of administrative power because of the influence of the idea that everyone is equal under the emperor. When I got up, I couldn't help but slap the table, stood up, and shouted:
"Your Majesty has given instructions to discuss the matter again in five years. Do you want to force me to force you to force me to resist your Majesty's decree?! What are your intentions!"
After Xia Yan finished speaking, he continued: "I don't want to go into this matter any further. The affairs of the cabinet are complicated. If there is nothing important, please go back to the headquarters to do things. If you stay in the cabinet again, discuss the country's affairs privately and want to blackmail the cabinet, Your Majesty, I will order the cabinet guards to escort you all to the Metropolitan Procuratorate!”
After Xia Yan finished speaking, he directly asked the secretary of the cabinet to bring the memorial and ignored these civil servants.
These civil servants were still unable to get used to Xia Yan's sudden outburst, and they were stunned for a moment, and then they had to throw up their sleeves and leave.
Many times, when a person becomes a person in power, he must have the consciousness of a person in power, which means that he cannot always be gentle. Although Xia Yan's behavior at the moment made the civil servants dissatisfied, it did uphold the outline of the court and prevent the government affairs from being affected by the appointment of a prince. Things fell into disrepair, and sometimes he was the only one who became a villain, but he kept the conscience of the entire empire functioning.
However, the role of the chief minister of the cabinet in the stable and orderly conduct of the daily government affairs of the empire cannot last only one day. New things happen in the court of the Ming Empire every day, and new phenomena that accumulate over time will appear every day.
On this day, it was the first lunar month. As usual, Emperor Zhu Houzhao visited the Fengtian Palace to receive congratulations from his ministers. However, Zhu Houzhao occasionally felt cold, so he ordered his ministers to just salute to the throne outside the Fengtian Palace.
However, because Zhu Houzhao has been delaying the establishment of a heir apparent in recent years, coupled with various policies that do not consider the bourgeoisie but only consider the common people, many civil servants are unhappy. As time goes by, the rule of law inevitably begins to loosen up again, and the emperor He himself was not sick, so many of the courtiers who came to congratulate him were late and late.
Xia Yan discovered this phenomenon. He even found that even the censor who was responsible for roll call in this kind of court etiquette did not come. This made Xia Yan very angry. He was originally worried that the government would be disrupted because the court had been stuck in a national dispute for a long time. It was abandoned, the ministers were slack, and discipline was lax. But now, Zhu Houzhao's instructions made him realize his responsibility as the chief minister.
then.
Xia Yan immediately sent a letter to the Dongchang Supervisory Department and the Ministry of Civil Affairs after the congratulations. He also left the memorial in front of the imperial court, saying: "As a magistrate, Guo Weifan, the imperial censor, should be strict with himself, but he delayed in sending congratulations." Come, I neither ask for leave nor plead guilty. I really despise the imperial court and have no father in my heart. I plan to recommend dismissal from the post and suggest the Dongchang Inspectorate to investigate strictly!”
Xia Yan's memorial was quickly approved, and Guo Weifan was immediately dismissed from his post and questioned. Xia Yan personally asked for instructions again and was approved to punish Guo Weifan with a hundred sticks and beat him to death on the spot!
Several other officials who were late or deliberately did not come to congratulate him were also dismissed from their posts and exiled.
Although Xia Yan's behavior protected the imperial court, it also angered the civil servants because they felt that Xia Yan's punishment was too harsh. After all, everyone is a civil servant, and you, Xia Yan, are not His Majesty the Emperor. Why are you so domineering? .
Tao Xi, the imperial censor, impeached Xia Yan.
Immediately afterwards, Yuan Zongru, the censor of Youqiandu, also impeached Xia Yan.
However, Zhu Houzhao ignored all of this. Instead, he was very pleased. As the emperor, he knew that Xia Yan was doing the right thing, and he also knew that when the chief minister was constantly being impeached by his subordinates, he was the one who When the emperor should be most at ease, if the chief minister is not impeached by anyone or even praised by his subordinates, then he, the emperor, should be worried.
Among the civil servants, Zuo Tongzheng and Zheng Shen still ignored their own business and advised the emperor to establish a prince as early as possible.
However, before his memorial came to the imperial court, Xia Yan criticized him for being "too troublesome", and immediately used the authority of the prime minister to send a letter requesting the Ministry of Personnel to transfer him to Nanjing to handle general affairs. This was equivalent to denigrating Zheng Shen.
Zheng Shen was naturally dissatisfied and scolded Xia Yan for his power.
Naturally, the civil servants could not accept Xia Yan's behavior, which was becoming more and more like a prime minister. In fact, the eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Zailei, was also somewhat opposed to Xia Yan's behavior at this time. If he did not want to be the prince, it would be fine. False. Therefore, he still admired the civil servants who actively suggested that he should be crown prince, so he naturally felt a little uncomfortable with Xia Yan's behavior of suppressing them.
But Zhu Zailei also knew that Xia Yan was right to do this, otherwise, the court would become more and more chaotic because of this endless dispute over the country.
"Remember, every word you say and everything you do, I am testing you!"
Emperor Zhu Houzhao's words still linger in Zhu Zailei's ears, making Zhu Zailei know that he can't complain about anything now. The only thing he can do is to complete the government affairs in his hands.
Although it cost an extra sum of money, the tap water supply and heating supply construction project of Shuntian Mansion was still very successful. Zhu Zailei successfully brought tap water that can be used at any time to the people of the capital. warm.
This project is beneficial to people's livelihood and is also conducive to promoting the economic development of Ming Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty is really nice. Now that we have running water, I finally don't have to go to the backyard ditch to fetch water in this harsh winter!" An old lady couldn't help but sigh to her friend at this time.
Zhu Zailei, who was passing by incognito, couldn't help but feel a sense of joy after hearing this. He liked this feeling very much, this feeling of being praised by the people, but it also increased his desire to become the emperor and benefit the world more. .
Of course, these political achievements also gave him another opportunity to be promoted.
Not long after, under Zhu Houzhao's instructions, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued an order to promote Zhu Zailei to the position of censor of Zuoqiandu, governor of Henan, and concurrently as censor of the Henan section of the Beijing-Beijing Railway.
Henan is a major agricultural province, and Zhu Houzhao's purpose was very clear, which was to give Zhu Zailei more experience in managing a large province where the agricultural population accounts for the majority.
but.
It was not just Zhu Zailei who was promoted. Soon, the second prince Zhu Zaitu, who had been transferred back to the Ministry of Revenue to familiarize himself with the ministry, was also promoted to governor of Susong in order to hone his experience in maritime trade.
And because of this, many courtiers have begun to see the purpose of His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Houzhao's arrangement, but they have not exposed it. The second prince Zhu Zaitu also understands and is more confident in getting the position of prince.
However, because Zhu Zailei followed Zhu Houzhao's instructions and gave benefits to the Xu family, and the civil servants still strongly supported Zhu Zailei and even went to court many times, he was still a little jealous, and couldn't help but say: "As long as my father really wants to make a decree. The emperor’s brother is the prince, so he will tell the world about him and the Xu family!”
When the second prince learned that the eldest prince had been appointed governor of Henan, he even hatched a plan.
It was not that Zhu Zailei had never thought that his other imperial brothers would use various means to compete with him, but he knew that instead of worrying about being competed and won by others, it was better to do his own thing well at the moment.
Zhu Houzhao also knew that these princes would inevitably compete and even form cliques, but he also knew that he could not stop it. He simply turned a blind eye and continued to live every day with careful observation, but because the cabinet bachelor The appointment of Prime Minister Wang Ting put the matter of recommending an assistant minister to the cabinet on the agenda.
However, the person recommended by Wang Tingxiang happened to be Xu Jin, the Minister of Academic Affairs and the President of the Hanlin Academy.
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(End of chapter)