Chapter 343 The Disadvantages of Ting Tui
Although the expedition to Spain was the Ming Dynasty's first expedition to another country, because the Ming Dynasty and Spain were tens of thousands of miles apart, after the expedition went to sea, everyone in the empire stopped paying attention to the matter and only waited for the results in a year and a half. , and the ports responsible for providing logistical supplies and supplies to the expeditionary force were only carrying out military production and food transportation step by step.
For the empire, the dispatch of the expeditionary force is not a major event that deserves too much attention. What the officials and citizens of the empire really pay attention to is the matter of the reserve.
After all, the current Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao is nearly seventy years old. This age is considered a long life in the Ming Dynasty. Even for several emperors of the Ming Dynasty, at this age, almost no one can predict when he will die.
The Ming Dynasty's system determined that the level of the monarch still played an extremely important role in the operation of the country.
Therefore, everyone in the world is guessing who the next generation of prince will be.
In fact, many people would rather the emperor fixed the position of the prince and directly follow the system of establishing heirs and elders. This would avoid everyone's guessing and not knowing where to stand, and it would also lead to all the princes in the country not daring to Offended, for fear that one of them would become a prince in the future.
However, Xu Jin and Zhou Luo's remarks about "establishing virtuous people" prevented the emperor's decision to establish a direct heir, so that the matter of the throne is still unresolved. Therefore, many people complained about Xu Jin and Zhou Luo.
However, there are also many civil servants and scholars who know that the political intentions of the emperor's eldest son Zhu Zailei are not in line with their own class interests support the views of Xu Jin, Zhou Luo and others.
Zhu Houzhao is actually in good health now. He has been exercising since he was fifteen years old. For decades, he has restrained greed, paid attention to health, and did not accumulate depression and boredom. As a result, his temples are still not stained with white frost and he can hardly walk. It needs help from others, but it can still control a girl every day, and it does not become soft even when the incense goes out.
Of course, this may be related to the fact that Zhu Houzhao was fond of martial arts and active since he was a child, and also because Emperor Hongzhi cherished him more and did not let him endure hardship because of his own tragic childhood experience, so that he could keep up with his nutrition since he was a child. Zhu Houzhao is still in good health.
It cannot be ruled out that it is related to factors such as the development of Daming dairy industry technology, the further improvement of nutritional levels, and the improvement of drug research technology.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao sometimes did not understand why the people of the world were so anxious to establish him as a heir apparent, as if he really felt that he was going to see the late emperor soon.
Of course, the ministers around Zhu Houzhao did not have these worries. They could see that His Majesty was still in extraordinary health. Xia Yan, who was over seventy years old, was convinced of this.
Because, he could see that His Majesty the Emperor was much healthier than when he was this age.
For Zhu Houzhao and Xia Yan, they naturally age slowly. After all, one of them is the emperor, one is the chief minister, and the other makes the Ming Dynasty powerful. The people do not know hunger and cold, and they are both ministers, so they don't have too much anxiety. and pursuit are nothing more than thinking about how to stabilize the country.
But for many people, they really hope that time will pass slower and they will age slower, but they have no choice but to watch their hair turn white and their skin color darken.
This day is Yan Song's seventy-seventh birthday.
The Minister of Agriculture, who saved the Ming Dynasty from famine by promoting sweet potatoes and potatoes, had always had a close relationship with Zhu Houzhao, and the two had a deep cooperative relationship in agricultural scientific research.
Yan Song was very good at building relationships, especially with his Majesty the Emperor, but he was also criticized by many people for inviting favors.
But in any case, Yan Song is indeed very good at building relationships with the emperor. Recently, his research on rhizobia has made Emperor Zhu Houzhao pay more attention to him. And Yan Song boldly invited Emperor Zhu Houzhao to celebrate his birthday this time.
Zhu Houzhao, who was accustomed to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas in the palace, also wanted to taste the birthday banquet of the bureaucrats and scholar-bureaucrats, so he readily agreed and asked the inner government to prepare a gift.
But what people didn't expect was that Xia Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet, also came to congratulate him in person, although it was not ruled out that he was worried that the emperor would start to pay more attention to Yan Song.
But for Yan Song, it is naturally a great honor for the emperor and the chief minister to come to celebrate his birthday!
But at Yan Song's birthday hall, although Zhu Houzhao came to wish him a birthday, he actually didn't know Yan Song's age, so he asked about Yan Song's age.
Young Master Yan Song couldn't help but replied: "Old minister, seven out of seventy this year!"
"A bit older than Yuan Fu, Xia Qing, you should call me brother", Zhu Houzhao said to Xia Yan with a smile after hearing this.
"Your Majesty's words are very true. The old minister and Yan Gong are both from Ganxi. We should call him brother", Xia Yan said, and then said:
"However, eldest brother, he doesn't look like he is nine years older than Your Majesty, but rather nineteen years older than Your Majesty. It can be seen that my brother has also worried a lot about the court in recent years, so he should take some of his burden off. It’s the younger generations.”
Zhu Houzhao knew that Xia Yan was hiding a hint of treachery in his words. He was obviously afraid that Yan Song would gain his trust, so he deliberately poked Yan Song's sore spots. The implication was to remind Yan Song that you are old. Don't focus on trying to please and be a good boy. You should think about retirement. thing.
Zhu Houzhao could hear the implication of Xia Yan's words. How could Yan Song not hear it? He was naturally very unhappy in his heart. Why didn't he want to wear a first-class seven-beam crown like Xia Yan? Although Xia Yan came to celebrate his birthday today, he didn't wear it. male He was wearing ordinary clothes, but the first-rank Yunhe Buzi also made Yan Song look envious. He is still the second-rank official, and the Buzi is still a golden pheasant. The key is that he is older than Xia Yan, and even once Xia Yan was still own students.
However, Yan Song did not dare to be angry with Xia Yan in front of Zhu Houzhao, so he said elegantly and implicitly: "Thank you so much for your concern, but I really don't deserve the title of Yuan Fu's brother. In fact, I should call you Yuan Fu's brother." Yes, in front of His Majesty, I dare not trust the old man. In fact, although I am seventy-seven, I am obviously not as good as Yuan Fu is more mature." Xia Yan smiled slightly and said nothing more. Although he was disgusted with Yan Song's tact and habit of inviting favors, he also knew that the Ministry of Agriculture could not do without Yan Song. Now that Yan Song said that he was more mature, he could only do it. Admit it, and you must admit it, after all, how can you become the first assistant if you don't become more mature.
Zhu Houzhao sometimes got tired of sitting and chatting with these civil servants, and he obviously did not have a happy time with the military attachés, because these people all liked to talk in circles, but Zhu Houzhao could not force these civil servants to speak more straightforwardly, so he only smiled and said: "You, Xia Yan, are so unforgiving!"
Yan Song could see that although His Majesty the Emperor only talked about Xia Yan and meant to criticize Xia Yan, he obviously still valued Xia Yan who dared to do things, otherwise he would not have said that Xia Yan was just a mouthful. Forgive me, instead of saying that Xia Yan is narrow-minded and jealous of talents!
But Yan Song didn't hate Xia Yan that much. In other words, he and Xia Yan hadn't reached the point where they were incompatible with each other in history.
Yan Song even admired Xia Yan. He admired that when he was young, Xia Yan dared to stand up and confront Wang Hao, the leader of the Qingliu at that time, and gained the respect of His Majesty. Later, he exposed the traitor's conspiracy to murder His Majesty in the Ordnance Bureau, and his official career became prosperous. He became an important minister because of his tour of the West.
However, Yan Song never felt that he was inferior to Xia Yan. His research on chemical fertilizers in Nanzhili and his later promotion of sweet potatoes and potatoes helped the Ming Dynasty avoid famine caused by severe droughts, and also thwarted several hoardings by profiteers. The conspiracy of Qiju, and now every family has a surplus of food, has a lot to do with the agricultural research they engage in.
Therefore, Yan Song believes that his political achievements and actions can be ranked in the cabinet like Xia Yan, but what he has no choice but to do is that everything he does basically benefits the people, and the people are the most silent. As for the scholar-bureaucrats who controlled public opinion and discourse, they did not highly praise Yan Song.
Unlike Xia Yan, a tax reduction outside the customs was greatly praised by the government and the public. The businessmen who visited the Western Seas for trade grew as a result, and Xia Yan became even more famous overseas.
But no matter what, Yan Song still persisted in agricultural research, because even though the people had eaten enough and read books, they only followed the children of aristocratic families to shout for tax cuts and exemptions, and increased welfare, and they forgot about him as the Minister of Agriculture.
But he knew that His Majesty the Emperor knew his role, otherwise he would not have agreed to come to wish him a birthday and give him shares in the agricultural industry, so that although he was not as proud as Xia Yan in the officialdom, he was not as proud as Xia Yan in terms of assets. But he is richer than Xia Yan.
It's just that Yan Song knew that he was not interested in women. He had a lot of daughters-in-law and only one daughter-in-law. What he was interested in was to be an official, the biggest official!
And whoever can make himself the greatest official is naturally the emperor.
Therefore, Yan Song was still willing to please Zhu Houzhao. Even if it was his birthday, he could not help but follow Zhu Houzhao's preference and said: "Your Majesty, I recently built a bacterial fertilizer plant based on the nitrogen fixation effect of rhizobia. The purpose is to promote the production of legumes. complete You actually said that the people of the Ming Dynasty could not eat enough, but had to eat well. Now the demand for legumes in the Ming Dynasty has not declined due to the decline in the demand for horses, but has increased day by day. If you don't want to move over and take a look, it is in the minister's residence. West side! ”
When Yan Song said this, Zhu Houzhao became interested and moved to watch.
Seeing this, Xia Yan could only shake his head slightly. He did not object to Yan Song's research in this area, and even supported it. After all, he also hoped that the Ming Dynasty's grain production would continue to increase. However, he had to admit that Yan Song obviously did not care about his aging. To grow bigger and to reduce the pursuit of power.
Zhu Houzhao was very satisfied with Yan Song's research on rhizobia, and expressed his support after visiting Yan Song's bacterial fertilizer factory. After all, this kind of thing that was supposed to appear in the 1930s in history can now appear in advance in the Ming Dynasty. This undoubtedly shows that Ming Dynasty has far surpassed other civilizations in the research of microorganisms.
However, shortly after Zhu Houzhao visited Yan Song's bacterial fertilizer factory, news came from the Ministry of Rites that Zhang Jing, a cabinet scholar, died suddenly. Zhu Houzhao was deeply sad after hearing this, thinking that one of these old ministers had now passed away, but for Yan Song However, it is a matter of joy, because Zhang Jing's death means that he has the opportunity to join the cabinet.
Zhu Houzhao didn't mind letting Yan Song join the cabinet. After all, aside from Yan Song's false accusation of Xia Yan in history, Yan Song had done a lot of practical things in this life, but Zhu Houzhao didn't mind that Yan Song couldn't join the cabinet. After all, the empire could join There were many officials in the cabinet, and Yan Song would not have any influence on the Ming Dynasty if he did not join the cabinet.
But when the court introduced Wang Yongbin as the official and Zhou Luo as the companion, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but frown. He clearly remembered that Wang Yongbin was a representative of Shanxi merchants. Since he became an official, he had been asking the court to reduce business taxes, and Zhou Luo Not to mention, an official who has just established his reputation as a virtuous person has been scolded by people all over the world.
Since Zhu Houzhao came to the throne, he has not tampered with the Ming Empire's imperial recommendation system. He has always let the officials below elect important officials of the empire by voting. After all, such officials seem to be more fair and democratic, but Zhu Houzhao can't help but find out now , it seems that the officials promoted by Ting are not very favored by themselves, or they are too concentrated on officials with rich business backgrounds.
"Your Majesty, Xichang has investigated. Since Zhang Gong passed away, these qualified officials have been running around. A man named Hou Lu from the Shanxi Guild Hall donated more than 300,000 silver dollars free of charge to the Wang Clan Association. , to help Wang Yongbin win the title of Dongge University Scholar in the court recommendation. ”
Xichang eunuch Gao Zhong reported to Zhu Houzhao Xichang's investigation on the court promotion. After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao had to admit that with the development of capitalism, these businessmen had begun to control court politics, not only training their children to study and become officials, but also He also learned to use capital to manipulate imperial officials to promote such national events.
Zhu Houzhao was wondering whether he should take back the power of court nomination. Originally, cabinet ministers should be appointed by himself. However, since the eighth year of Hongzhi, Qiu Jun passed away, so Emperor Hongzhi issued an edict to appoint officials such as the Ministry of Civil Affairs. From then on, the imperial cabinet ministers were recommended by officials.
"This court recommendation looks very democratic, but it is inevitably exploited by capital. Although the elected officials can be accepted by the courtiers, they will inevitably not be grateful that I promoted them, but be grateful that the courtiers promoted them, thus becoming The spokesperson of the civil servants and gentry group will not become my loyal ministers. However, I am getting older and have taken back the power of Tai'a, but I have no energy to carefully select officials who are not popular with the public to hold important positions."
Zhu Houzhao fell into confusion. He used to be proud that the Ming Dynasty had a democratic system like Tingtui, but now he had to admit that this system did have great hidden dangers, because this seemingly democratic system could easily be used behind the scenes. controlled by the plutocrats.
"Since my body does not allow me to judge the world by myself, I will make it public directly so that more people in the world can see the true inside story of this tingtui. Xichang will disclose the matter of Hou Lu's manipulation of tingtui through Huang Mingbao, so that Everyone in the world looks at it, but I don’t believe it. This world is really just a world for the rich and powerful,” Zhu Houzhao ordered.
After Zhu Houzhao said this, he did not immediately appoint Wang Yongbin or Zhou Luo as the new cabinet bachelor. He only hid in the inner court and continued his life of fishing and teasing birds.
Huangming Bao is the official newspaper of the Ming Dynasty and is directly managed by Zhu Houzhao's attendant's office.
The officials in the Attendant's Office were all selected from officials who had just entered the official career and were all impartial. Therefore, when Xichang brought the investigation results about Ting Tui to the Attendant's Office, the officials in the Attendant's Office were shocked at first.
Among them, Hai Rui, who has been appointed as the director of the Attendant Office and the editor-in-chief of Huangming Pao, couldn't help but slapped the table: "There is such a thing, merchants manipulate the court to re-register, is this world still a world for all people?!"
Thank you book friend for the 100 starting coin reward for a pound of sugar. As I write this, I find that there are indeed many drawbacks to Tingtui, because the officials elected in this way are not appointed by the emperor, but selected by hundreds of officials. Therefore, who do these officials listen to and who are they grateful to? There is no doubt about it, and if the chaebol continues to control it, the results will be really terrible. However, Zhu Houzhao is old and it seems difficult to select the right person if he is asked to appoint him. After all, he cannot always know who should be promoted, who is suitable, and what reform suggestions the book friends have.
(End of chapter)