Chapter 346: Your Majesty, Xia Yan must be punished!
The years leave no trace, spring comes and summer passes one year after another.
The Ming Empire has a history of nearly two hundred years, but the world is still singing and dancing.
Some people say that the establishment of a new dynasty will start a process of increasing entropy, while reform and stable order are a process of reverse entropy.
Zhu Houzhao has been suppressing the increase in entropy since he came to the throne. However, Zhu Houzhao does not know whether he will end the process of suppressing the increase in entropy and let the dynasty continue to tend towards a state of disorder and chaos.
Fortunately, the world is still peaceful and inactive. Children and grandchildren can only be blessed by their children and grandchildren. Zhu Houzhao cannot control future generations. Now he can only do the present and cherish his last old age.
Tingtui's fraud allowed Zhu Houzhao to discover more and more obvious signs of the newly rising business class competing for political power. He also seriously dealt with a group of officials who fell under the sugar-coated bullets of the business class.
But as the emperor, Zhu Houzhao not only eliminated the factors that caused the increase in entropy, but also had to rebuild a system that was more likely to delay the increase in entropy.
For this reason, Zhu Houzhao specially summoned the cabinet ministers to discuss the matter first.
The current government system of the Ming Dynasty is actually not very perfect. Although the various ministries of the Guards have become independent as the highest military agency, the cabinet has become the highest administrative agency, the Ministry of Personnel has become the highest personnel management agency, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate has become the highest supervisory agency. The Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple became the highest judicial organs.
But Zhu Houzhao did not have a team that worked with him to plan the overall military and political affairs of the entire empire.
Nowadays, it is mainly the cabinet ministers who still play this role. After all, the cabinet ministers are responsible for the administration of the empire and have a better understanding of the current social situation of the empire.
"The fraud in court affairs has exposed many problems. The most alarming thing is that businessmen interfere in politics! A Hou Lu, just an ordinary businessman, can actually control the selection of cabinet ministers! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it! ”
After Zhu Houzhao said this, he asked the cabinet ministers Xia Yan and Xu Jin: "What do you two dear ministers think?"
Xia Yan also saw the shortcomings of Ting Tui. He had to admit that times had indeed changed. During the Hongzhi period, the power of merchants in the world was not as powerful as it is now. Ting Tui undoubtedly made it easier for Ting Tui to push out capable ministers. Now, the merchant power is almost as eager to compete with Ting Tui. The rich and powerful are fighting against each other. In Jiangnan, wealthy businessmen have even threatened the government with strikes. Now that Tingtui is controlled by businessmen, it is inevitable that all officials will be children of businessmen.
Therefore, Xia Yan also hopes that His Majesty the Emperor can take back the power of Tai'a and directly appoint and remove officials by decree. Of course, this kind of appointment and removal will inevitably lose objectivity. After all, the emperor cannot know everything about tens of thousands of officials in the world. Therefore, in Xia Yan It seems that at most, they can be recommended by important ministers and appointed or removed by the emperor.
However, when it comes to recommending important ministers, it is inevitable that the emperor will value an important minister too much and appoint and remove officials irrationally due to the influence of this important minister.
Therefore, Xia Yan felt that there should still be court nominations, but not too many people should participate in court nominations, because letting too many people participate in court nominations proved to be ineffective in preventing businessmen from interfering in politics through bribery and other methods, and allowed a small number of important ministers to participate in court nominations. , it is easier to achieve the purpose of balancing the interests of all parties, because an important minister basically represents the interests of one party.
"Your Majesty, Tai'a is your Majesty's sole responsibility. However, the tens of thousands of responsibilities have left Your Majesty with no leisure time. It is fair and reasonable for the courtiers to make the selection. However, if there are too many people participating in the selection, it will inevitably make Your Majesty not aware of all the court officials. Whether the recommender is dedicated to serving the public good, I suggest Establish an administrative office, and regularly appoint a group of important ministers to serve as ministers. Your Majesty and the ministers will recommend officials and decide on important matters. The ministers and the emperor are an odd number. The ministers have one vote, and the emperor makes the final decision! ”
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"In order to prevent the ministers from being too monopolistic to govern, the term of each minister must not exceed ten years. Every five years, the emperor needs to re-appoint and remove the ministers to prevent the emperor from focusing on one person for too long, and the number of ministers cannot be more than nine. If Only then can the emperor know its foundation and observe its dynamics. Since he is a minister of government and an important minister of the country, and only those who are virtuous can live there, he will naturally have the country and the country in mind, and the king's kindness and righteousness will be the most important thing!"
Xia Yan stepped forward to report at this time.
Political Affairs Office?
Minister of state affairs?
Zhu Houzhao thought about it and understood what Xia Yan meant. The Ming Dynasty did not have a prime minister system, which meant that there was no decision-making organ. Although the cabinet had this role, it did not directly represent the power of the prime minister. For a super empire, there was no one Decision-making organs that coordinate the overall situation are indeed not enough.
As an emperor, he was fine when he was young, smart and capable, and could act as the decision-maker himself.
But I am older now, and there will inevitably be lazy kings in future generations. Having a decision-making body to manage the world for the emperor is naturally to prevent the world from losing order or being taken advantage of by businessmen. However, having a prime minister means that powerful ministers will appear. It means usurping the throne, and Xia Yan's method limits the term and time of the ministers.
Zhu Houzhao could guess that Xia Yan's suggestions must have been influenced by the theory about a country's operating model in sacred science, and he proposed this method.
However, Zhu Houzhao also had to admit that Xia Yan had his own limitations. He still asked the emperor to directly appoint the ministers for discussion. Although this was indeed for the purpose of ensuring that the imperial power was the sole authority of the world, it still could not avoid the consequences of one appointment. If the emperor is stupid and uses subjective emotions to appoint sycophants as ministers, wouldn't it still leave the empire without a good leadership institution?
This still has to test whether the emperor can choose the next prince.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao's ideal result is that even if the system of ministers is established according to Xia Yan's method, then the ministers should not be appointed by the emperor, and even the emperor should not rely on the family succession system to become emperor.
However, when Zhu Houzhao really wanted to say this, Xu Jin had already stood up first: "Your Majesty, Xia Yan must be punished!"
Xu Jin's words really shocked Zhu Houzhao. Xia Yan himself was dumbfounded and looked at Xu Jin in shock.
Zhu Houzhao was the first to calm down. Before Xu Jin could speak, he could guess that not only his own ideas would be followed, but Xia Yan's ideas would be followed.
It would be difficult for the civil servants of the dynasty to agree. After all, no one wanted to let the emperor and a few of his trusted people really have the final say in this country, nor did they want to let the common people in the world have the final say.
"Taizu has a teaching that the government cannot talk about the appointment of a prime minister. What Xia Yan said about setting up an administrative office is no different from setting up a secretariat, and the so-called minister is no different from a prime minister! Therefore, Xia Yan should be punished! Get rid of it! In addition, the ordering officials The Ministry, together with the six ministries, the Duchayuan, the temples, the Imperial Academy and other courts, recommended the ministers, officials, and ministers of the Ministry of War. This is the legacy of the late emperor. How can it be changed without authorization! Xia Yan intends to abuse his power, so he should be executed!"
Xu Jin showed an unprecedented tough attitude, his words were very sharp, and he gritted his teeth as if he had a blood feud with Xia Yan. Of course, the root cause was that Xu Jin did not really tolerate Xia Yan, but that he could not tolerate Xia Yan, who caused most civil servants to lose their power to influence the court's decision-making.
"Your Majesty clearly understands that my original intention is not to establish a prime minister, but to change the system of Tingtui. Although Tingtui is a legacy of the late emperor, it is not an exception. It is just a temporary expediency. The power of Tai'a is exclusively your Majesty's. Naturally, it all depends on the Holy Judgment!”
Xia Yan glared at Xu Jin. He was just making some suggestions based on the actual situation of the court, but he didn't expect Xu Jin to directly ask the emperor to kill him, which made Xia Yan's dislike of Xu Jin even more intense.
"What Xia Qing said does not mean to reinstall the prime minister. Even if he does, he cannot be killed! I have already stated that you can't kill innocent people without permission, and you can't deprive people of their lives at will. You, Xu Jin, are the leader of Qingliu, how can you The word "kill" is in vain! ”
As Zhu Houzhao spoke, he coldly questioned Xu Jin. He knew that Xu Jin's idea was your opinion and I didn't agree with it, so I was going to kill you. But as an emperor, although he had his own ideas about governing the country, he didn't want to It allowed party strife to arise in the empire. Therefore, he also resented the idea that these uncivilized officials had the idea that if you disagree with me, you are my enemy.
Xu Jin didn't expect that he would be criticized by Zhu Houzhao. For a moment, he couldn't help but secretly admire Xia Yan for being really favored by the emperor. At the same time, he also knew that His Majesty the Emperor obviously meant to approve of Xia Yan. But the more this happened, the more Xu Jin felt that he was getting more We can't let Xia Yan's idea succeed.
"I sincerely follow your Majesty's instructions. However, when discussing the matter of Tingtui today, I actually believe that Tingtui has no disadvantages at all. The real disadvantages lie in people. Because the officials selected by the imperial court are mostly based on utilitarianism and do not care about moral character, so the ministers of Tingtui are It is difficult to find an upright person. Therefore, I believe that instead of changing the court system, not letting go of the rule of officials, strict selection, and taking moral character as the first priority, a gentleman can govern the country and rectify its origins. "
At this time, Xu Jin did not dare to force the emperor to kill Xia Yan. He only changed the topic and expressed his views on Tingtui's fraud. And according to his opinion, Tingtui had no drawbacks in the first place. What really caused this result In fact, it was the officials appointed by the imperial court who were wrong.
Xu Jin did not dare to say clearly that it was wrong for the imperial court to evaluate officials based on their political performance, but in order to prevent the emperor from blaming the current phenomenon on the court, he just said that the imperial examination should still focus on the moral character of officials.
"Being good is like ascending, being evil is like falling down. From ancient times to the present, how many people can be as virtuous as saints? Your Majesty, I believe that placing the safety of the country in the Ming Dynasty on the high moral character of officials is tantamount to idiotic talk. And I propose If those who make this argument are not pedantic, they will be regarded as hypocrites who are as loyal as they are traitors!”
Xia Yan replied to Xu Jin rudely.
Zhu Houzhao can also smell the smell of gunpowder between the two people. He does know that it is difficult to ask a person to be a saint and expect him to keep giving. After all, idealists are always in the minority. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao also knows what Xu Jin said. The purpose is unable or unwilling to make most civil servants lose their purpose of controlling imperial power through the imperial system.
"Although moral character is important, it is difficult to have a standard, and serving the people requires more than just virtue. If you are at the center, you can only observe the results. This is the end of the discussion before the reform is promoted. Let's leave."
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and stopped discussing with the two people. He naturally had nothing to say about Xu Jin. He knew that this guy was not an official who would sit in the middle, but Xia Yan's proposal was given to him. Inspiration, however, Zhu Houzhao did not immediately decide to change it. After all, adding a decision-making organ was not a trivial matter, and he had to consider it carefully.
Xia Yan couldn't hide his disgust for Xu Jin, so as soon as the two came out, Xia Yan snorted and said, "Mr. Xu is not a gentleman, so why force others to be gentlemen!"
"Yuan Fu is not a villain, how can you insist that everyone in the world is a villain!"
Xu Jin replied and smiled coldly. In Xu Jin's heart, he actually didn't take Xia Yan seriously.
Because in his opinion, Xia Yan is doing practical things and will not pose a threat to his civil service group. Moreover, once he is the emperor and a minister, Xia Yan cannot be the chief minister for a few years. Now Xu Jin really wants to get rid of him. It's the West Factory, and some nerds in the civil service group who don't follow the crowd, such as Hai Rui.
Unknowingly, a rumor began to spread in the capital. The reason why Yan Houlu dared to manipulate Tingtui was because he had the support of the palace chief, and the palace chief was Gao Zhong, the governor of the West Factory, and Gao Zhong The original intention was not to manipulate Ting Tui, but to use this matter to weaken the power of the outer court and frame Qingliu leader Xu Jin. Otherwise, Hou Lu would not have confessed Wei Ying as soon as he entered the imperial prison, and said that he was Mr. Xu Ge Qingkemen.
As a result, some civil servants began to be bewitched by this, and began to shift their attention from the scandal of court fraud to the eunuchs' frame-up of Zhongliang. For some children of wealthy bureaucratic families, this view was naturally Very easy for them to accept.
"The rise of the business class in an attempt to control the government and further exploit the people is all nonsense made up by treacherous villains who want to confuse the public!
I would like to ask, how can an ordinary businessman control the government with no power or position? Behind this is naturally the powerful minister Da Xun who instigated this. Any class antagonism is nothing but lies. Even though there are businessmen who are only interested in profit, they value Confucianism and morality. There are also some, and merchants provide employment so that the poor in the city have no need for food and clothing. How can this become exploiting them!
According to the opinions of some people from poor backgrounds, wouldn't it be better if there were no businessmen in the world? In this case, who would provide them with the opportunity to work! Therefore, the fraud and manipulation by businessmen this time was nothing more than an accident. Its essence is that eunuchs cannot tolerate honest officials in the court! ”
Some scholars who supported businessmen began to express their opinions.
There are even more and more people supporting this view.
After all, the majority of scholars are those who benefit from trade and capital. What’s more, even the children of common people will forget about their parents or that they were exploited by wealthy people and had to work overtime and exhaust themselves once they study and have their own property. There is no way to live a prosperous life, and the court's welfare benefits are getting better and better, and businessmen are also more strictly controlled. As a result, many people's children have not had much painful experience of being exploited, and they have begun to provide favors to businessmen. Waving flags and shouting.
Of course, many scholars who were influenced by new ideas and had their own thinking began to criticize this view.
In any case, among the people, various opinions are beginning to become more and more opposing.
……
"Your Majesty, this is a memorial about the impeachment of the censor Lu Kai, the censor of rites, Bingbi, the eunuch of the West Factory, Gao Zhong, and the request for the court to strictly investigate Gao Zhong for falsely accusing Xu Jin." Because it was the impeachment of the censor of rites, Ni Song, the censor of Zuodu He personally delivered the memorial to the emperor.
After Zhu Houzhao looked at it, he thought to himself: "This Ni Song, the memorial to impeach Gao Zhong was submitted so quickly. At first, the memorial to impeach Tingtui for fraud was delayed for a long time. I don't believe you have no position. I just I’m afraid, I’m still wearing the same pants as Xu Jin!”
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(End of chapter)