Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's unkind expression, Shen Zhanran hurriedly stopped his smile and bowed to report: "Your Majesty, the food from the south has arrived in the capital. Now Shangshu Ni and Mr. Li are distributing the food. They are afraid that Your Majesty will be anxious, so they specially asked the ministers to come and report."
Zhu Yuanzhang was still thinking about Gong Dingzi's memorial. After nodding slightly, he said: "Okay, we understand!"
After that, he handed the memorial on the table to Shen Zhanran and said, "Shen Qing, have you ever read this memorial?"
Shen Zhanran took the memorial respectfully and glanced at it, and said with some helplessness: "Master Fan discussed this matter with Wei Chen. Wei Chen also felt that this memorial was a bit strange at the time. However, due to the tense war situation, Wei Chen had no time to inquire about the details, so No objection was made.”
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he looked at Shen Zhanran and said, "Oh, tell us, what's weird about this memorial?"
Shen Zhanran bowed and said: "I heard that Gong Dingzi has always been cautious. Although he has impeached Zhou Yanru, Chen Yan, Chen Xinjia and others, he only followed the others and did not initiate it."
"Now that Jiang Shangshu has won the trust of His Majesty, Xu Yan and others are the people on whom Your Majesty has high hopes. With Gong Dingzi's character, it is really not appropriate to raise an issue at this time."
"Therefore, I feel that there must be someone behind him who is instigating. The purpose is not to let His Majesty calm the people's hearts and allow the war to continue. I also considered this point and did not object to Sir Fan's opinion."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Although what you say is reasonable, you must know that Xu Yan is just a poor scholar, and the only one he can rely on is us."
"If we deal with it according to your plan, it will be very easy for him to be ignored. If his ambition is difficult to realize, he will be disappointed and retire. If this is just one case, the impact will not be big."
"But we believe that this will not be the only case. When the wise men retire and the cauldrons thunder, the so-called Anmintun army will become empty talk."
After hearing the words, Shen Zhanran was silent for a while and said: "What your Majesty said is true. It's just that the capital has just settled down, and the rebels are still watching in Shanxi."
"If we disappoint the officials and gentry because of Wu Deyi alone, Wei Chen is worried that it will be more difficult to regain the lost territory."
"As for His Majesty's concern about the frequent occurrence of such things, Wei Chen has also considered it. However, Wei Chen feels that as long as our strength increases, we can gradually change our attitude without losing the hearts of the people. Please think again, Your Majesty!"
After Shen Zhanran said that, he immediately bowed his head to the ground.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this, he couldn't help but hesitate.
In fact, he didn't know that what Shen Zhanran said was reasonable, but he was even more worried about losing the hearts of the poor scholars in the world.
Because he had worried about this in his previous life, but fortunately he had unified the world at that time. Even if some literati did not want to be officials, he could force them or even kill them to force them to serve the court.
But that's not possible now, because today's Ming Dynasty has been torn into pieces, with all the heroes standing side by side, and the only place where he can really make the decision is in the capital.
If he still can't win over people's hearts and still wants to make peace with him and get the best of both worlds, he will only end up with a loss of personal hearts and a ruined country and family.
Because if the world is to be stable, the people must have land to grow and food to eat.
But now most of the land is occupied by powerful officials and gentry. If he does not take back these lands and distribute them to the people, the people will definitely not be able to live, and the war will not stop.
But if he asked the officials and gentry to hand over the land, those officials and gentry would definitely be unwilling and would not support him anymore.
Therefore, for his current plan, he can only choose poor scholars and common people, because only in this way can the world be stable.
Otherwise, even if he defeats Li Zicheng, a second or third Li Zicheng will still appear.
Thinking of this, he looked at Shen Zhanran and said in a deep voice: "Shen Qing, you previously wanted to ask whether our country is governed by the scholar-bureaucrats. Today I tell you that our country is governed by the poor scholars and the common people!"
Shen Zhanran, who was kneeling on the ground, could not help but tremble when he heard the words, and then said with a slight choke: "Thank you for your advice, I understand."
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Get up and answer the question!"
After Shen Zhanran kowtowed respectfully, he slowly stood up.
At this moment, Jiang Dejing and Fan Jingwen walked into Dongnuan Pavilion with heavy faces.
After the two saluted, they looked at each other again, and finally Fan Jingwen said: "Your Majesty, there is also an incident involving one county and two county magistrates in Huairou and Miyun. Now there are rumors, please ask your Majesty to judge!"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed angrily and shouted loudly: "Okay, Jiang Qing, we remember that you have only appointed five county magistrates, and now you have made three mistakes. How do you explain this?"
Hearing this, Jiang Dejing hurriedly knelt down and apologized: "Your Majesty, I was negligent. Please forgive me!"
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and said: "If I give you a crime, will these county magistrates disappear if I give you a crime?"
"These county magistrates first abandoned the county and fled, and then failed to take office within your deadline. Now that everything is fine, they came out to seize the official position. Why don't you punish them?"
Fan Jingwen saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was angry and Jiang Dejing could not defend himself, so he tried to persuade him: "Your Majesty, Mr. Jiang..."
After Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand to stop Fan Wenjing, he looked at Jiang Dejing and said in a deep voice: "Qing Jiang, how are you handling the Wu Deyi matter?"
When Jiang Dejing asked, he said with some embarrassment: "I am incompetent. This matter has not been completely resolved."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "Then how are you going to deal with it?"
Jiang Dejing glanced at Fan Jingwen and said in a low voice: "I am planning to transfer Wu Deyi to another county government, but there is currently no vacancy, so we need to think about it again."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Jiang Qing, you have been worried about talents before, but now you have finally selected thirty people from the Imperial College, and we have seen them, and they are all talented people."
"But until now you have only arranged for five people to take office. How do you realize your original vision and how do you make the people feel stable?"
Hearing this, Jiang Dejing pleaded guilty again: "I am guilty. It is because the relationships between counties are complicated and often one move affects the whole body. I have affected the overall situation, so I have to..."
"Qing Jiang, you are worrying too much. As the official minister, the first thing you have to consider is the administration of officials. As for the rest, other ministers will deal with it."
"We remember you said before that if you want peace in the world, you must first stabilize the people's hearts. We still hear these words, but why have you forgotten?"
Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted Jiang Dejing loudly without waiting for him to finish.
Then I saw Jiang Dejing's body trembling slightly, and I couldn't bear the thought of him patrolling various counties day and night these days.
So he suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice: "Jiang Qing, we know your painstaking efforts, but if you worry too much, things will not be solved."
"We remember that when the drums of injustice were heard a few days ago, Li Chengdong actually killed a few people, but since he left, we have never heard any news of killings."
"But judging from the information Wu Mengming gave us, many officials have bad records, and their crimes can no longer be atoneed by simple beheading, but you still entrust them with officials and titles. How can officials be clean and honest like this?"
Jiang Derjing kowtowed and said: "I understand, I must remember your Majesty's teachings and update the official system as soon as possible!"
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said gently: "Okay, just go ahead and do it, we will support you behind the scenes."
"As for the situation of the war, you don't have to worry at all. Reinforcements from all walks of life have gradually arrived. We can conquer Shanxi and other places in just a short time. Under this pressure, those powerful and evil gentry will not dare to act rashly."
"And as long as your officials are in place and the fields are cleared, we will immediately garrison troops, and then there will be no need to worry."
When Jiang Dejing heard this, his original sorrow immediately dissipated a lot, and he responded repeatedly.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to level up, and then asked: "We have said so much, can you tell us your next plan?"
Jiang Dejing pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty, I am going to eliminate unsuitable officials based on the past evaluations of each county magistrate and the evaluation of the people."
"If the reputation is acceptable, those with poor abilities will be demoted to deputy positions. When there are vacancies elsewhere, we will make arrangements as appropriate."
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "There is no need to look at the past evaluations. They are all misleading and useless!"
"We know that you have visited many places in the past few days, so let's use the people's evaluation as the basis. If someone is dissatisfied and there is no evidence, you can ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to check his property. If the discrepancy is not significant and there is no major If it’s evil, let him make up for previous years’ taxes and then be dismissed.”
"And those who have a notorious reputation, no matter how powerful they are behind them, will be beheaded in public after being declared guilty, which will never be tolerated!"
"As for Wu Deyi, according to Wu Mengming's information, it is really an unpardonable crime. You can peel off the day lilies for us and put them next to the county government office as a warning to others!"
"We will go back and ask Wu Mengming to assign a team of royal guards to you. Anyone who dares to resist will be punished on the spot. You must remember that if you want to refresh the official system, you will not be able to do it without killing people..."
Following Zhu Yuanzhang's series of instructions, Jiang Dejing's eyes flashed with light, while Fan Jingwen's face was full of worry.
At this time, Wu Mengming hurriedly walked into Dongnuan Pavilion.
