One day in August of the first year of Tianqi, Emperor Zhu Youxiao of the Great Ming Dynasty suddenly issued an order yesterday to hold a morning court on this day.
Therefore, before dawn, the ministers entered the palace early and waited for the morning court.
The Ming Emperor Zhu Youxiao also came to Fengtianmen early in his chariot.
The morning ritual must be held every day.
But in the late Ming Dynasty, it was not strictly implemented.
After all, it was indeed too early to go to court in the morning.
It is a very tiring and hard work for both the emperor and the ministers.
Therefore, only emperors like Zhu Yuanzhang who really loved their work and emperors like Zhu Youtang who were really obedient would strictly implement the early dynasty system.
Zhu Youxiao didn't want to be a workaholic and his health would decline due to lack of sleep, let alone be the kind of good emperor that scholars thought.
What's more, Zhu Youxiao didn't like to use the early court method to govern.
Because too many people participate in political discussions, it will obviously affect policy efficiency.
As for the fact that this makes it look more dishonest, Zhu Youxiao doesn't think it will be of any benefit to the current Ming Dynasty's administration.
Because the common people who really make up the majority of the people have no chance to participate in political affairs, this kind of cooking method brought by the early dynasty will not bring any benefits to the people.
Therefore, after Zhu Youxiao came to the throne, he never issued an order to hold morning dynasties on the grounds that he needed to study scriptures and banquets.
However, today, Zhu Youxiao ordered an early court meeting just to use the early morning court to announce something.
This is in line with Zhu Youxiao's ideal governing rules.
In such a large court meeting where many people participate, the results are basically announced, and the strategy is decided before by the emperor and several close ministers.
With the sound of a whip.
The ministers filed in.
After that, Emperor Zhu Youxiao sat on the imperial stage and accepted the salutes of the ministers.
After the ceremony, Zhu Youxiao first asked: "Where is the censor who took the roll call and inspected the court ceremony?"
Because the emperor was sitting high on the throne, and there were many officials attending the morning court, except for a few important ministers in the palace, the officials below could not hear the emperor's words, and even those who stood far away could not even see the emperor's face clearly.
Therefore, after Zhu Youxiao asked, the big men of Jinyiwei shouted loudly to convey Zhu Youxiao's question.
Only then did Censor Guo Wenxu hear the emperor's question from the big man in Jin Yiwei, so he hurriedly walked forward and knelt down: "I'm here to inspect Censor Guo Wenxu and listen to your majesty's instructions!"
"Is there anyone who messed with the etiquette in the morning?"
Zhu Youxiao asked.
"Your Majesty, no."
Guo Wenxu replied.
"How many people are absent from the morning service?"
Zhu Youxiao asked.
Guo Wenxu was panicked for a moment and didn't know what to answer, because nowadays the imperial court's discipline has long been weakened, and officials' laxity has become common. Therefore, he, the picketing censor, is actually just a symbolic roll call, and he really doesn't count them carefully.
After all, this was not the early days of the dynasty. The censor, who was also a civil servant, had to embarrass his colleagues and strictly monitor attendance.
Especially if some higher-level civil servants are late or absent from work, censors like Guo Wenxu don't have to make it difficult.
"Why don't you speak?"
Zhu Youxiao asked seriously.
Guo Wenxu suddenly broke out in sweat on his forehead, and said hurriedly and tremblingly: "Return to your majesty, sir, I haven't had time to make a careful calculation yet!"
Zhu Youxiao had read some historical materials before and knew that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, not only the emperor was lazy, but also all the officials. In many cases, even if the emperor went to the morning court, many civil and military officials would be absent from the morning court without any reason.
This happened in the early years of Wanli. The young and energetic Emperor Wanli, who ascended the throne at that time, also dealt with a group of people.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao also guessed that some ministers would be absent from the morning meeting because they were accustomed to laziness, so he specially called the censor who was responsible for roll call to come forward and ask.
But Zhu Youxiao didn't expect that what he expected was indeed correct. The government of the Ming Dynasty was often overstaffed.
Even the imperial censor who named the officials did not seriously name the officials who were absent from the morning court.
However, Zhu Youxiao was not in a hurry to deal with Guo Wenxu now. He only ordered: "Then immediately check how many people are absent, who they are, and whether they have gone to the book in advance to ask for permission to attend the morning court."
"yes!"
Guo Wenxu immediately started to follow the instructions, but soon he found that he seemed to be unable to do this, because he did not contact the cabinet in advance and got the list of those who would not be able to attend the morning court.
For a moment, Guo Wenxu was very embarrassed. He couldn't help but turn around again and said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, forgive me! I don't know who has requested the order and has been granted permission not to attend the morning court today."
"How did you become a censor?"
One can imagine Zhu Youxiao's mood at this time.
Guo Wenxu buried his head deeply, not daring to look at Zhu Youxiao. He only trembled and didn't know what to do for a moment.
"Go to the cabinet yourself and look at the archives of yesterday's red approvals! Go quickly! Don't just stand here."
Zhu Youxiao said seriously.
"yes!"
Guo Wenxu had no choice but to turn around and head towards Wenyuan Pavilion.
All the ministers present were secretly glad that they did not come to court early because of their greed for spending time with their lovely wives and concubines, otherwise they would have been found out by the emperor.
Of course, the civil and military officials did not expect that the emperor would conduct such strict inspections.
After a while, Guo Wenxu rushed back.
Zhu Youxiao hurriedly asked Guo Wenxu to call the roll again.
At that moment, Guo Wenxu finished counting the names and said: "Your Majesty, there are seventy-four officials in total who did not come to the morning court without requesting the order. There are thirty-nine officials who did not go to the morning court without receiving the order. There are thirty-nine officials who did not go to the morning court after receiving the order. There are twelve in the future.”
"I know that the morning court is hard, but I don't have to do the morning court every day. Now I hold a morning court specially, but so many people are absent for no reason. Why, do you not pay attention to the court regulations, or do you not take my words seriously? Or are you really used to being lazy?! Fang Aiqing, please tell me."
Fang Congzhe made a cursory observation and found that the officials who were absent from the morning court were not only officials from the Donglin family who did not come to court, but also non-Donglin family officials, including not only civil servants, but also military attachés, and even honorable ministers.
Therefore, he had no choice but to say: "Your Majesty, the government's policy is weak and officials are lazy, so that Wen Tian's military activities have reached a point where they must be cured. In my opinion, it's not because they don't take the imperial edict seriously, but It is true that they are lazy and lucky, thinking that His Majesty will not investigate the matter in detail, and deliberately muddle through. This is also related to the censor's dereliction of duty. If the censor strictly abides by the court regulations, there will not be so many people who are neglectful of the government. .”
"This is reasonable. The censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is an official, but he does not strictly abide by the court regulations. It really disappoints me! We drafted an order to remove the censor Guo Wenxu from his post to serve the people, never to use him again, and exiled him to Suzhou Wei Serve! Those who were absent from the morning court without requesting an order were also dismissed from their posts and served as civilians, and were exiled to the five guards of Ganzhou as garrison soldiers! Those who were absent from the morning court without permission despite requesting an order, still had some court rules in their eyes but did not strictly abide by them. They will all be dismissed from their posts and serve the people, thinking that they still have awe of the imperial court in their hearts, and they will only be exiled to build seawalls along the coast of Guan Nei!"
Zhu Youxiao started talking at this time.
Except for Zhu Youxiao's decision to torture those who committed treason, colluded with foreign enemies, and those who were corrupt, for other crimes, he only planned to exile these civil servants as much as possible.
First, the labor force and cultural abilities of these civil servants can be used to strengthen education and infrastructure construction in poor areas to avoid wasting human resources;
Secondly, Zhu Youxiao discovered through historical research that some civil servants actually made great leaps in their literary and even political abilities after experiencing hardships such as being demoted and exiled. Qingliu, who used to only love empty talk, would even become a man who focused on For practical officials, Wang Yangming is an example. After being exiled to Guizhou, his abilities in both military and academic affairs were greatly improved.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao believed that deporting these civil servants as much as possible could be regarded as a kind of transformation of them. If the transformation was good, it would be good. In this case, the society would not have supported their studies for so many years in vain.
"Your Majesty, I have neglected my duties and am really guilty. I am willing to die! Your Majesty, please do it!"
