Zhu Youxiao came to the consort Gong Yonggu.
Before this, Gong Yonggu had always complained about the emperor in his heart.
After all, Gong Yonggu can be regarded as a talented person no matter what, and he is also good at reading. If it were not for being selected as the Prince Consort, let alone becoming a Jinshi, it would be okay to gain fame.
But now, because the emperor is strong and has strict control, officials from the inner court and the outer court do not dare to mess around. They require that the selection of the prince-in-law must no longer be a crooked melon and a jujube, but must be both good in appearance, talent and learning, otherwise he will be severely punished!
And he was therefore chosen as the Prince Consort.
Just become the consort.
The most they can do is that they can no longer take scientific examinations, can no longer be a powerful official, and can no longer participate in government affairs.
It's not bad to be a wealthy and idle person.
But the key point is that after becoming a consort, even if you want to just live the life of a wealthy and idle person, you have to report to your aunt and bribe the princess's aunt to even see your wife.
Moreover, even if you bribe your mama to see the princess, you cannot see your wife every day, otherwise you will be said to be shameless.
If you are not a consort, you will not be able to experience this feeling of frustration.
Gong Yonggu knew that all this was related to the current emperor.
If the emperor hadn't become so powerful now that he required the clan to select the prince's son-in-law by itself, without the involvement of civil servants and eunuchs, and would severely punish those who were perfunctory, the princess would also be allowed to issue an edict to ask for leave because she was dissatisfied with the prince-in-law, and the fairness of the selected officials would be checked. Or not, thus forcing the officials who choose the prince-in-law to dare not be careless, then he will not be selected.
Therefore, Gong Yonggu was quite complaining in his heart.
Of course, he was just a little dissatisfied, and reason told him that the emperor was right to do this.
But now, what surprised him was that after the emperor came, he did not reprimand himself for having a secret meeting with the princess from the perspective of etiquette, or even punish himself like his mama. Instead, he safeguarded the authority of His Highness the Princess. He directly killed his mother-in-law and the eunuch who beat him.
Although Gong Yonggu knew that His Majesty the Emperor was not venting his anger for himself, but for the princess.
But he still felt very relieved, and he suddenly became fond of the harsh king who was rumored outside.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for not being able to pay you any courtesy."
Gong Yonggu gritted his teeth and said hello to Zhu Youxiao with sincere gratitude, instead of pretending to be stunned and refusing to communicate with the emperor.
When he thought that Gong Yonggu had sacrificed his life for the Ming Dynasty in history, and his character was considered acceptable, Zhu Youxiao became more concerned and ordered: "Send it to the imperial doctor and show it to the consort."
"According to the order!"
Wang Chengen replied.
Zhu Youxiao then looked at Princess Le'an, smiled, and asked: "Why are your eyes so red? Didn't I vent my anger on your behalf? There will no longer be any nuns in charge of you. I have decided to get rid of you." How about this system where the mother-in-law transmits the news, the princess and the consort can live together like an ordinary couple, and even travel together?"
Princess Le'an nodded and smiled: "This is good! Is it true, brother Huang?"
Zhu Youxiao rolled his eyes at Princess Le'an and said: "How can what I say be false? Do you only have eyes for your consort? I have been standing here for so long, why don't you invite me to sit down and let others know? Would you like to make some good tea?"
"No, how dare my sister neglect my brother!"
As Princess Le'an spoke, she took a step forward, stood at the bottom of the steps of the main room, stretched out her hand and said, "Brother, please!"
At the same time, Princess Le'an hurriedly ordered people to prepare tea.
Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly and walked to the main room, chatting with Princess Le'an as he walked.
Wei Zhongxian and Wang Chengen also followed.
The consort Gong Yonggu was still lying on the spring bench in the yard. Seeing this, he couldn't help shouting in his heart: "Why did you leave me alone!"
…
"This is the consequence of being disrespectful to Her Highness the Princess! Please be more honest in the future, don't forget your identity, and don't regard your duty of teaching Her Highness the Princess as an opportunity for you to make money. Otherwise, if the higher-ups find out, our family will suffer no good consequences. If you eat, you will also have no good fruit to eat!”
At this time, a young eunuch from the inner court brought the head of the steward of Princess Le'an's Mansion and the heads of several eunuchs who beat the prince-in-law with sticks. They came to the mothers and eunuchs of the other princesses' mansions and began to lecture them. .
"Then what good will everyone gain from this?"
"That's right. I obey Her Highness the Princess's orders in everything. So what's the point of this nanny in front of me? She watches young couples flirting and flirting all day long. It's better to kill us old ones!"
"Why does the Emperor even care about this? Life is indeed not as easy as before!"
The nuns below started talking rather dissatisfiedly.
And the young eunuch was actually in a very depressed mood, because he was in charge of these nuns, so the bribes they received from the princess would be somewhat filial to him.
But now His Majesty the Emperor does not allow the nuns to disobey His Highness the Princess, which naturally cuts off this income for the nuns, and the young prisoner also naturally loses this income.
Naturally, the young eunuch did not dare to take his anger out on the emperor, so he simply yelled at the nuns: "Why are you making such a fuss! Do you even think about your life? Your Highness the Princess is a person of wealth, and she is not locked up to make money for you!" "
These nuns shut up and did not dare to speak anymore.
…
"Eighth sister, I have said that you can only rely on yourself for many things in this world. This grandma is so ignorant, why didn't you mention it to me earlier and insisted on waiting for me to come in person?"
Zhu Youxiao is asking Princess Le'an here.
Princess Le'an explained: "My sister doesn't dare! The prince-in-law said that Aunt Shouning was reprimanded for telling her parents such a thing before, and the prince-in-law even suffered a heavier punishment for it."
"Then do you think it's right for the court to do this?"
Zhu Youxiao asked.
Princess Le'an shook her head: "My sister, I don't know."
"You have to know! It's something that concerns you. You have to think about whether it's right or not, speak out for it, and learn from the civil servants and scholars outside. Whenever they have any dissatisfaction, they will speak up and give advice. Even if you know it is your fault, you will still quibble with it! Although this world belongs to me, I am the emperor of everyone, and also your emperor. You must take the initiative to talk to me about these issues and put forward your own opinions. "
Zhu Youxiao said earnestly.
"Would this be said to be political interference?"
Princess Le'an replied.
"Absurd! It concerns your own system, princesses. How can it be considered as intervening in politics? Do you want future princesses to be like you, living like widows after getting married? Moreover, the civil servants are talking about the imperial examination. Doesn’t that count as doing politics?”
Zhu Youxiao asked as he spoke.
"this!"
Princess Le'an didn't know what to say, but she suddenly realized in her heart that her imperial brother's question was quite reasonable. Why did she say that things related to her were about doing politics, and things related to civil servants? If you ask, is it not interfering in politics?
"Brother Emperor, when I was studying, the masters only said that relatives in the harem should not be involved in politics, but they did not say that civil servants should not be involved in politics!"
Princess Le'an replied.
Zhu Youxiao asked: "Is the Hanlin master who teaches you a civil servant?"
"yes!"
After Princess Le'an answered, she suddenly realized: "My dear sister, I understand! The masters only say things that are good for them."
Zhu Youxiao nodded and smiled.
Then, Zhu Youxiao said: "But you should know that when Hanlin masters say a truth, they will cite examples from history books or words of saints in classics to support themselves. Therefore, sometimes Even if you are an emperor, it is difficult not to admit that what he says is reasonable, and even regard it as a guideline, so that others can be convinced by it. This is what you really need to learn from those Hanlin masters, and learn how they can make words that are good for themselves be convinced by others. The world is right!"
Princess Le'an nodded as if she had some understanding.
"After I remove all the nuns and allow you clan girls to live the lives of ordinary couples, I will definitely make these nuns dissatisfied, the eunuchs in charge of them, the eunuchs in their charge, and even the outsiders will be dissatisfied. The courtiers were dissatisfied;
Undoubtedly, by doing this, I am trying to oppress you and fight against many people who maintain their own rights and interests. Therefore, I cannot rely on me alone. I cannot fight against them for the rest of my life. You must also rely on you to speak for yourselves. If someone does not let you speak, , then you should oppose and refute it, and recruit more people to oppose it with you;
Learn from those civil servants, read more books, and bring saints and heroes in history into your own camp to help you speak. If you can't find a saint who can speak for you, then become a saint yourself, so that you can imagine yourself in the future. Also, be a part of the princess who strives for justice for herself, so that she can use you as an example to refute others, and she can also imitate you. "
Zhu Youxiao said this not only to Princess Le'an, but also to himself.
After hearing this, Princess Le'an seemed to have opened a door to a new world, and the corners of her mouth raised involuntarily. She eagerly wanted to look through historical books to find out if there was any saint or hero who could form an alliance with her.
…
"I summoned you here for one thing, that is, for my relatives from the Ming clan, what new ways can I arrange for them?"
"In other words, in addition to holding some positions in the inner court and managing the internal affairs of the clan, relatives of the clan, regardless of gender, can also engage in government affairs of the outer court?"
"As far as I know, there are still many relatives of the clan who live in idle life. If they are allowed to just fight cocks and run horses every day, it would be fine. If they are not effective, they will have no ambitions. But now, in order to keep the world in order, the imperial laws and regulations will not be changed due to some illegal activities. When privileged people are in trouble, even dandies must devote themselves to studying and abide by the laws. In this way, the number of dandies who have ambitions and ambitions, want to serve the court, dedicate themselves to the king's affairs, and protect the country will increase, and no money will be given to them. Wherever they can do something, they will cause trouble!”
"I am not an alarmist. I have learned arts and martial arts and am a member of the emperor's family. If you don't let them have a place to show off their skills, they will cause even greater trouble."
After Zhu Youxiao returned from Princess Le'an, he summoned Yuan Keli and other cabinet ministers to the Daming Garden to discuss the reform of the corresponding system of the palace.
What Zhu Youxiao is talking about now is how to allocate work to the nobles who are relatives of the clan and are related to the emperor, that is, to solve the employment problem of these nobles.
Although these people are not short of money, they can still live well and live well without doing anything.
But Zhu Youxiao didn't want the tax-paying people of the world to support idle people, nor did he want some capable relatives of the clan to be able to play birds and crickets from now on, without checking and balancing other political forces for him.
Therefore, for the first time, Zhu Youxiao put aside his hobby of strange skills and tricks, and met with the cabinet ministers once.
"According to the ancestral law, relatives outside the clan are not allowed to interfere in politics, but what your Majesty said is reasonable. The previous emperors and ministers did not control these people because they did not know what to do after they were controlled. It would be better to let them be ineffective and idle every day. , but now it seems that not controlling them will only cause more trouble, so we must strictly control them now!"
"And what your Majesty said is true. To strictly control them, it is necessary to arrange what they will do in the future. In my opinion, it is okay to serve as envoys to foreign missions. Since relatives of the clan are dignified and honorable, as envoys, it is not It can also make the foreigners pay more attention to the exchanges with the country. Secondly, because the relatives of the clan are nobles and noble relatives, there is no need to create wealth, and the possibility of colluding with the foreigners to betray the court is small; thirdly, the ministers should be straightforward and use the relatives of the clan as envoys. Your Majesty, my position may be more consistent with His Majesty’s, because they are both nobles!”
Xu Guangqi replied.
"It's not bad to be an envoy. Now the Ming Dynasty has dispatched envoys to Korea and Japan according to Xu Ge's advice. There will be many envoys to other foreign countries in the future. Nowadays, there is indeed a shortage of envoys. It happens that the relatives of the clan are appointed The talented ones among them will make up for it.”
Yuan Keli replied.
"Well, it is a good idea to allow relatives outside the clan to engage in foreign affairs. What else?"
Zhu Youxiao nodded and asked.
"There is also scholarship! In the 19th year of Hongwu, there was an example of Mei Yin, the consort, admiral, supervising academic affairs in Shandong. His Majesty has also said several times that after the national treasury is full, it is better to use the surplus to study instead of exempting people from taxes, which will last a long time. According to the plan, now that the imperial treasury is becoming more and more abundant, the scale of academic studies should be expanded, and academic administration is only about selecting talents and promoting virtues, and does not involve military and civil affairs, so it is appropriate."
Bi Ziyan brought it up at this time and said: "But there is one thing. If relatives outside the clan govern academic affairs, it is inevitable that students and former officials will appear. If they form cliques for personal gain, it may not be good!"
"It doesn't matter. Relatives of the clan cannot be central ministers. Even if his disciples and former officials are in the same party, it is difficult for him to pursue personal interests. At least it is not as easy as the scholar-officials. Unlike the scholar-officials, some of them are from the same township or even the same clan, or belong to the same business class. , nationality, etc., their requirements are still different from those of the clan. If relatives outside the clan are allowed to engage in academic studies and other clean things, yes, it can be allowed."
Zhu Youxiao replied.
"yes!"
Bi Ziyan replied, thinking that his Majesty was indeed not that easy to fool, and he knew his scholar-officials very well.
Zhu Youxiao continued to ask: "Is there anything else that can be done by relatives outside the clan?"
The cabinet ministers fell silent.
Foreign affairs and scholarship are already the largest political territory that they, the civil servants, can cede. They do not want their relatives to be involved in important powers such as military, finance, supervision, and prison.
"How about allowing relatives outside the clan to serve as officials?"
Zhu Youxiao asked.
"Yanguan?"
Yuan Keli and other ministers didn't know what to say after hearing this.
Yanguan mainly controls the power of supervision. If this is given to relatives outside the clan, it undoubtedly means that although they, the civil officials, dominate the government, they will be impeached and supervised by these relatives outside the clan.
Today's public speaking officials are enough to give many ministers a headache, but fortunately everyone is a civil servant, and basically they will not deliberately impeach anyone. But now, if a relative of the clan is really allowed to become a public speaking officer, this clan has different interests and demands. I am afraid that many civil servants will be impeached miserably by their relatives, and it will be even more difficult for those who want to live a simple life.
Han Xu became worried at this time and said: "Your Majesty, those who are upright and unafraid of powerful people are always required to be officials. It is easy to attract the jealousy of others. If relatives outside the clan are allowed to serve as officials, it may make the relatives outside the clan even more jealous of the world."
"The relatives of the clan are already powerful, so why should they be afraid of powerful people? As for attracting the jealousy of the world, this is a good thing. What I am afraid of is that they do not attract the jealousy of the world, and they are even praised as polite and virtuous corporals. What kind of virtuous kings and benevolent men they are."
Zhu Youxiao said.
"I made a mistake!"
Han Xu had no choice but to reply.
"It is okay for relatives outside the clan to serve as officials, and they may be aware of more disadvantages in the court than the civil servants. However, Your Majesty, I believe that military affairs, money and food, and criminal and prison justice cannot be participated by relatives outside the clan, because these three things are all easy to deal with. The power of Tai'a has been transferred to one side, and your Majesty should be in charge of it alone!"
Yuan Keli replied decisively at this time.
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