A few days later, morning came.
"Your Majesty has an edict, which is reported by the Ministry of Rites, and orders all the kings who are visiting relatives in Beijing to return to the vassal state within a month. The ancestral palace reports that the vassal vassal will be moved to Zhangzhou Mansion. The king is sincere and filial, and he is ordered to earn thousands of dollars of food and salary, and draw it in his true colors."
As Wynn spoke expressionlessly on the imperial steps, the ministers below immediately exploded.
With so many vassal kings in the capital, it was difficult not to attract attention, not to mention that they had just caused such a big trouble.
There have been rumors in the past few days about the transfer of the feudal clan on behalf of the king. Especially two days ago, King Min petitioned in the name of Da Zongzheng to replace the king and request the transfer of the feudal clan, which caused a lot of discussion in the government and the public.
However, what no one expected was that in the early morning, the emperor directly issued an edict and made the final decision without leaving any room for negotiation.
The voice of the edict echoed in the palace, and the ministers discussed it one after another, with different expressions on their faces, but basically they all frowned.
Immediately afterwards, a censor spoke up and said.
"Your Majesty, the Daifan is a title granted by His Majesty Taizu. He is located in an important place in Datong. His position is important and cannot be touched lightly. I ask Your Majesty to think twice."
"Yes, Your Majesty, the vassal kings of various places have the responsibility to protect the country. How can they change their fiefdoms at will? Last time, the vassal was transferred to celebrate the vassal, and this time, the vassal was transferred so frequently that the clan may become increasingly alienated from the court."
These are officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology, followed closely by officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that changing the vassal territory is a major event. The king did nothing wrong. It is against etiquette and law to rashly move it to the barren land of Zhangzhou."
"Moving the vassal territory is very wasteful. The construction of the royal palace requires corvees, craftsmen, and money. The Zhangzhou Prefecture is barren. Moving the vassal territory to Zhangzhou will definitely make the local people's burden heavier. Please be considerate of the people and stop the transfer. please."
Officials below all made noises and spoke out, but almost without exception, they were all objections.
This scene made Zhu Qiyu frown, obviously a little displeased. After pondering for a moment, he asked a few important ministers on the side.
"Although this matter is a request from the clan, it is also related to the Ministry of Rites. What does the eldest uncle think?"
Hu Hui's face was a bit complicated. It was rare for this old man to not make an immediate decision. On the contrary, he was obviously entangled for a moment before he stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I also believe that this matter is of great importance and we need to think twice before acting."
The words were simple, but the attitude was very clear, not like his usual smooth style at all, but this answer was obviously not what the emperor wanted.
So, Zhu Qiyu turned his attention to the other important ministers aside and asked.
"What do the six ministries and the cabinet mean?"
All the ministers present could naturally see that the emperor was seeking support from other important ministers. However, this time, everyone, including the Heavenly Official Wang Wen who always followed the emperor closely, seemed a little hesitant.
You must know that the reasons given by the minister who just came to remonstrate are basically not lies. From the court's point of view, the transfer of the feudal vassal is not only cumbersome, but also very expensive. Just building the palace will cost no one knows how much money it will cost. Moreover, Zhangzhou Prefecture is desolate after all, and frequent transfers of feudal vassals can easily arouse discussions between the government and the public.
These manpower and material resources will not be spent if they are not used, so naturally they do not want to agree.
In addition, another reason is that many of them know that the acting prince has always wanted to move the feudal vassal. However, some time ago, the kings joined forces to force Yu Qian to come and apologize. This was regarded as a disincentive to the entire court. , especially civil servants, felt even more slapped in the face.
Due to the dignity of the vassal king, it was difficult for them to fight back. However, at this moment, they were allowed to comply with the wishes of the king, but naturally they were unwilling to do so.
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Xun from the Ministry of Industry was the first to speak.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that the national treasury has been empty recently. Following your Majesty's wishes, many projects in various places have stopped construction. If the vassal vassal is moved, it may be difficult to build the royal palace for a while. Therefore, I believe that this matter can be postponed until the national treasury When we have enough time, we will discuss it again.”
Mr. Chen was very considerate in his work. Taking the emperor's face into consideration, he did not directly deny it, but just said he would postpone the discussion.
But as we all know, in the court, some things are slowly discussed, but in fact they are gone.
and……
As soon as these words were said, Shen Shangshu's face suddenly darkened. "Chen Xun, you are an old boy. You just want to steal my words. Why do you think these words are all the fault of my household department?"
If you don’t want to build it yourself, you don’t want to build it. You have to blame the Ministry of Household Affairs for the reason, tui!
Why, the palace cannot be built because of the Ministry of Household Affairs?
Holding his breath, he glanced at Chen Xun next to him with dissatisfaction, and Shen Yi followed suit and said.
"Your Majesty, this year there are reports from Huaizhou, Xuzhou and other places in Jiangxi Province that there will be little snow throughout the winter and there is a risk of drought. In addition, reports from Henan and other places are that the water in rivers and canals will rise this year and the embankments need to be reinforced."
"In addition, the Ministry of War has just compiled the specific figures for the reorganization of military camps last year. There are still many acres of land that need to be redeemed, and silver is needed everywhere in the court."
"There is also chaos in the grasslands across the border, which will inevitably affect our country. In recent days, many tribes have been affected by the war and have been unable to survive. They often harass the border. This year's military expenditures for the border armies also need to be adjusted... and next year's Will try..."
"It is not a good opportunity to transfer the feudal vassal title at this moment. Therefore, I sincerely ask Your Majesty to put the people first."
When it comes to crying about poverty, the Ministry of Household Affairs is the expert!
Shen Shangshu rambled on, and began to calculate one by one. Anyway, the summary is that there are many places to spend money, and there is no money to build the palace for the Ministry of Industry.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu frowned even more tightly. This was obviously a rogue act, but it was indeed useful.
Because even if he were the emperor, facing such specific difficulties, he would not be able to force the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Household Affairs to implement it. This is not to say that it cannot be done, but once forced, there will be nothing more than two consequences.
One is that everyone shirks each other, is passive and slows down, procrastinates and is sloppy; the other is that he sends people to keep an eye on it and forces each department to handle these things properly, but this will lead to even more uncontrollable consequences.
After the previous restructuring of the craftsmen household, the Ministry of Works now adopts the hired craftsman system. In other words, if the Ministry of Household Affairs does not give money, then the Ministry of Works cannot find the craftsmen. Even if it does, it will make the craftsmen work in vain. These The burden will eventually fall on the heads of ordinary people.
If they are asked at that time, they will argue with each other again. If the Ministry of Accounts is asked to disburse the money in advance, then there will be a new problem, that is, the palace has spent money. The series of places where money is needed just listed by Shen Yi are To cut back.
Once something goes wrong in the end, the people will suffer, but they will continue to argue. In the end, the emperor will only be blamed for his arbitrary actions.
Of course, this kind of situation has actually been encountered before, and the solution is very simple, just don't let the Ministry of Accounts pay.
In fact, most of the time, he did exactly this. If the Ministry of Accounts had no money to do it, he would just transfer money from the internal treasury.
But this time it's different. Firstly, it's a huge expense to build a royal palace. It's not that the inner treasury can't afford it, but it's really painful. Secondly, it's not an option to always be like this. The war on the grassland is not over yet. The mutual trade is now intermittent, the income of the emperor's shop has also been reduced a lot, and the emperor's family does not have much food left, so he cannot be beaten all day long.
However, looking at the silence of all the ministers below, Zhu Qiyu felt helpless. He pondered for a moment, and was about to speak, but unexpectedly, at this time, a voice suddenly sounded in the palace.
"Your Majesty, I thought that the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry were just excuses. The affairs of the imperial court are all important, and the country's political affairs are always difficult. This is a normal thing. The ministries and yamen are set up to assist in government affairs. If you complain about difficulties everywhere, you must Your Majesty, what's the use of all the government offices? As a minister, if you can't share your worries for your Majesty, that's called incompetence!"
As soon as these words came out, the faces of all the seven ministers present could not help but darken at the same time.
You know, these words are not about one person, but a range of attacks. According to this statement, ministers like them can't talk about it if they have difficulties?
But if everything that is ordered by the emperor is not handled well, it means incompetence?
As a result, everyone looked at the person who spoke, but the identity of this person surprised them.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army, Zhang Xian!
Why did he show up?
Everyone frowned and looked at Zhang Min with a rather strange look. They swallowed back the words they were about to curse.
It's not that Zhang Shi's identity is scary. He is a powerful British official and is among the noble military officials. Not to mention Zhang Shi, even if Zhang Fu was around, he would definitely be impeached if he said such words.
The reason why they hesitate is because everyone in the court now knows very well that Zhang Shi is a member of the Supreme Emperor. If he interferes in the clan affairs at this time, is it possible that there is the shadow of the Supreme Emperor behind this?
Several important ministers looked at each other and couldn't help but remember that a few days ago, it seemed that the Supreme Emperor had sent Cheng Guo Gong Zhu Yi to the Tenth Prince's Mansion to meet with Prince Yin.
Although I don’t know what they talked about, the two princes started to make friends with the feudal prince at the same time. Could there be some hidden secret behind this that they didn’t know about?
However, when did the Supreme Emperor agree with the Emperor's opinions? Is it possible that he also wants to win over the clan?
All kinds of speculations surged in their minds, which naturally led several important ministers to unanimously choose to stay put.
When they are at this stage, it is taboo to rashly express their position without knowing the situation clearly. Of course, and more importantly, with their status, they are qualified to wait until the situation becomes clear before making a decision.
However, it was inconvenient for these important ministers to speak, but the officials below were not among them. Seeing Zhang Shi's "arrogant and provocative" look, a censor immediately stepped forward and said.
"What does Zhang Tongzhi mean by this? It is normal for the government to be complicated and complicated. Your Majesty allows us to speak freely. However, Zhang Tongzhi opened his mouth and criticized the officials in the court for their incompetence. Is this a discussion of government affairs?"
At the same time, another official stood up and said coldly.
"It is the duty of a minister to share the king's worries, but when discussing government affairs, it is about each describing the situation, the king and his ministers discussing together, and discussing countermeasures. This is the real sharing of the king's worries. Could it be that what Zhang Tongzhi means is that as a courtier, he should deal with everything Everything is in order, and there shouldn’t be the slightest objection, right?”
"If that's the case, then in the civil war, didn't the British Lord assume that he was invincible and that every attack was invincible?"
These words are extremely cunning, and they are simply piercing people's hearts.
Zhang Min didn't expect that someone above the court would speak so venomously. When he looked closely, he saw that it was Shen Jing who had just been promoted to the post of Young Master of the Prince's Mansion.
As a result, Zhang Xi's eyes immediately turned to Heavenly Official Wang Wen, who was standing beside him with nothing in his hands.
Who doesn't know that Shen Jing's backstage in the court is Wang Wen. Shen Jing was his right-hand man at the time of the big time. Later, he was transferred to the Ministry of War as a doctor. In just one year, his career has skyrocketed. The so-called 'initiator' of the prince's resignation from the cabinet was squeezed into the East Palace.
Now, the Ministry of War has not even finished rectifying the military garrison, and hastily transferred Shen Jing to the position of Young Master of the Prince's Mansion. This level of favoritism is truly unparalleled.
Shen Jing, too, always followed Wang Wen in the court to help him everywhere, but now, he has learned this way of speaking, which is just as annoying!
"Master Shen's tone is quite impressive. He has moved from being the sixth-rank chief to the fourth-rank Shaozhan in three years, and he has also been promoted. People who are proud of their fortune will naturally behave in a arrogant manner."
The mention of Zhang Fu touched Zhang Xi's back. He turned around and glared at Shen Jing. His face was gloomy and he spoke in a cold voice.
"My elder brother is the Duke of England from the throne of Emperor Taizong. His Majesty has given him the posthumous title of King Dingxing. He has made numerous military exploits in his life and served the country with all his strength. What kind of rat do you dare to talk about my elder brother?"
It should be said that Zhang Shi was not the only one who was angry. Although Zhang Fu died, his prestige in the court, especially among the noble military officials, was very high. Therefore, as Zhang Shi spoke out, other ministers also began to denounce Shen. Respect, they all said.
"Yes, how heroic King Dingxing is? How can you, a junior, talk about it?"
"This is simply disrespectful. Your Majesty, how can such a wild and rebellious person be allowed to stay in the East Palace? Your Majesty, please punish me severely!"
Suddenly, the court became boiling.
Seeing this situation, Wang Wen frowned at the side. Finally he could no longer stand by and watch, so he took two steps forward and came to the palace.
Immediately, many of the military officials who had been noisy just now also fell silent.
The shadow of a famous tree, who doesn't know the great reputation of Wang Tianguan, if you offend him, even a noble family will lose its skin.
Wang Tianguan stopped, bowed his hands to the emperor, and then said.
"Your Majesty, Shen Jing is young and energetic, and there is indeed something inappropriate in his words. I believe that he should be ordered to return to his residence to reflect and reflect as a punishment."
Quiet meditation?
After hearing these words, the faces of the military ministers below changed, and they were a little ready to move.
Seeing this situation, the superior Zhu Qiyu also had a headache. After all, Zhang Fu's identity was different. Shen Jing's words were indeed a bit exaggerated. It would not be easy to get through this lake. After pondering for a moment, Zhu Qiyu said .
"Shen Jing's inappropriate words offended the late King Dingxing. He must be punished. He will be fined three months' salary and grounded for seven days as punishment."
The punishment was not severe, but it was barely tolerated. Shen Jing didn't have any objections, so he accepted the order and retreated.
However, the matter is not over yet. As the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Wen rarely makes friends with ministers. In addition, he has a temper that makes people dare not approach him. Now in the court, he is really the one who shows his face. There are actually only a handful of people in his direct lineage, and Shen Jing is considered the most capable among them.
Now that Shen Jing was punished because of Zhang Shi, Wang Wen naturally wanted to get this situation back. With a narrowed look, the Otsuka Prime Minister's eyes fell on Zhang Shi and he said.
"Shen Jing's words are indeed inappropriate, but what I am curious about is that since Zhang Tongzhi is so loyal, he will naturally be able to share the worries of the king. In this case, I wonder if Zhang Tongzhi has any good ideas for transferring the feudal title to the vassal?"
