In the bright winter sun, next to the wintersweet tree burning with agarwood, Zhu Yijun sat in a rocking chair, squinting his eyes and falling asleep listening to the sound of Concubine Liu playing the strings.
After Zhang Jing came to report the results of the court meeting, Zhu Yijun even raised the corners of his mouth slightly, feeling very satisfied.
The results of the bureaucratic group's court discussions were undoubtedly consistent with his emperor's holy will.
This made Zhu Yijun feel like the bureaucrats and scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty had returned to the ten years before Wanli.
That is to say, he does not have to kill people and shed blood, and he does not have to be authoritarian and oppressive in order to make the bureaucracy keep in step with him.
Arguably even better.
After all, Zhang Juzheng, the imperial minister and minister appointed by Longqing's imperial edict, was not under constant supervision. He was indeed more able to be as he wanted, and could listen to silk and bamboo wind music to relax his mind.
Of course, the reason why the bureaucracy was able to align with his ideas again was because Zhang Siwei was sidelined, and other cabinet ministers and the reformist civil servants left behind by Zhang Juzheng took action again.
Because these reformist civil servants were protected by Zhu Yijun and were not kicked out of the court by Yan Guan one by one, they still occupied important positions, so that the power of the empire was still in the hands of the reformists.
Even though Zhang Siwei, the first assistant, seems to be in harmony with his appearance.
As long as other ministers are willing to follow Zhang Juzheng's path, Zhang Siwei can be ignored.
Before.
It was only because these reformist civil servants were leaderless after Zhang Juzheng's death, and they were not clear about the emperor's intentions, and even because they were also landlords and had a cowardly side that wanted to retreat and stay content, that they did not confront Zhang Siwei.
Now, once they realize that they have no way to retreat, and that only by adhering to Zhang Juzheng's thought on restructuring can they be safe, they will naturally take the initiative to show their offensive side without being forced by Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun doesn't mind if they praise Zhang Juzheng next.
After all, Zhang Juzheng has passed away, so no matter how highly he is praised, it will not have much impact on his power.
What's more, Zhu Yijun is still actively praising Zhang Juzheng because the ruling class of this land is no longer conservative, and would rather stay stuck in its ways than reform, and even actively weaken itself.
Unlike people like Hai Rui who were held up to the altar while they were still alive, if Zhu Yijun had not been willing to benefit the people, Zhang Juzheng's reforms would also be beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood, and he might have become the most troublesome figure for the emperor and powerful officials.
The court meeting decided not to abolish the examination law, which also proves that the overall opinions of bureaucrats and scholar-officials are still to strengthen the power of the cabinet, control speech, and strengthen centralization.
This also means that strengthening centralization of power is still the trend of the entire ruling group, and the emperor is still following the trend, rather than acting against it alone.
Historically, after Zhang Juzheng's death, his official position became more powerful, even to the point of affecting military and national plans. This may not be related to the emperor's own connivance.
But the general trend of China as a whole is still suitable for the strengthening of political power.
"Since this is the court's decision, we should reject the petition of the courtiers and not invalidate the examination, especially the right to pass the six subjects of the cabinet examination."
"In addition, I have issued an edict that the Cabinet Grand Scholars should change their fifth rank to the first rank, and they will be able to govern the country with all due authority!"
"Add the post of cabinet bachelor and set it to the second rank. As a university scholar official, he will be responsible for the cabinet affairs. Each bachelor will be assigned a cabinet bachelor. Several cabinet bachelors will be recommended by the court to serve as the transfer minister and cabinet bachelor in the future. Waiting for the minister’s choice.”
"We also ordered the Ministry of Industry to build three rolling tents in the north corner of Wenyuan Pavilion, which will serve as a centralized office, rest and storage place for the cabinet bachelors."
"Also, in one of the Wenyuan Pavilions, there are statues of Mr. Gao Gong, Zhao Zhenji and other famous ministers of the dynasty beside the Kong statue. Anyone who enters the pavilion should not only remember the teachings of the ancient teachers, but also think about it. There are so many virtuous people today.”
"As for other famous ministers besides Mr. Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji, let them discuss it at the court!"
"Let the Qingliu from the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial College, the Ministry of Etiquette, and the Sixth Subject quarrel with the censors from the Imperial Academy. Anyway, they like to quarrel, so they don't have to keep focusing on passing the exam."
Zhu Yijun also began to learn from Shen Shixing, using the method of creating new hot spots to shift old hot spots, thereby achieving the purpose of shifting conflicts.
However, Zhu Yijun issued an edict to increase the position of bachelor in the cabinet, expand the cabinet, and list the auxiliary statue next to the statue of Confucius. This was not a sudden thought, but something he had wanted to do for a long time after careful consideration.
However, he intentionally decided to do this only after the entire bureaucracy began to fall in line with him, so as to avoid causing greater chaos by doing so when they were not.
Zhu Yijun himself knew that the Ming Dynasty was an empire based on the model of a small court.
The founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, did not trust the bureaucracy itself and intended to keep the empire running with only a small number of officials, so that fiscal expenditures would be as low as possible and taxes would be as low as possible so that the people would not be exploited to a great extent.
But the Ming Dynasty was a large empire. With the massive increase in population and the prosperity of commerce in later generations, the empire could not be managed by tens of thousands of bureaucrats across the country. To be precise, it was more than two thousand bureaucrats in the capital.
The first is that a large number of places have become neglected, especially some emerging towns.
For example, Foshan, Guangdong has become a large town with a household registration of tens of thousands in this era, no less than many state capitals. However, the government office here has only one inspection department. Naturally, although the industry and commerce in the town are becoming more and more prosperous, the industrial and commercial tax However, there has been no increase, and the security has not been effectively managed, making it a hiding place for many thieves.
Even in the suburbs of Beijing, many villages have developed into market towns, and the scale of the market towns has developed into county-level. However, these market towns are all based on the boom of commerce, so they are mostly located at the transportation hubs at the junction of counties. The land has caused the phenomenon of "disregard", which has caused many thieves and cults to breed in the suburbs of Beijing, which has also had a great impact on the security of the capital.
The problem of thieves in the capital of the Ming Dynasty has always been a big problem. It is mostly seen in actual records and official memorials. It lies in the lack of effective government management.
Therefore, Ming Dynasty needed to increase a large number of bureaucrats.
After all, such a huge empire, especially after the commercial boom and population increase in the middle and late period, determined that its trend was to centralize power and have a larger bureaucracy in order to avoid chaos.
Because whenever the power of the imperial court is weak, thieves and thieves will flourish, making people more miserable, and there will even be large-scale armed fights caused by local forces fighting for territory. In history, there have also been wars caused by large-scale separatist forces fighting for hegemony.
Of course, it is not good if the bureaucracy is too large and the central government is too centralized. It will eventually perish due to financial collapse and increasing corruption.
There are times when systems are out of place. As Luo Guanzhong said, the general trend of the world is that if it stays together for a long time, it will break up, and if it stays divided for a long time, it will unite.
What Ming Dynasty needs now is cooperation, increasing bureaucracy and strengthening governance.
Wang Guoguang also held the same view as Zhu Yijun, which made Zhu Yijun even more determined to increase the number of bureaucrats.
To increase bureaucrats, he decided to start by increasing cabinet officials, first strengthening the capabilities of the central cabinet, and then moving on to ministries and localities.
Because what Zhu Yijun can most directly control is the central cabinet, and what he can best guarantee is that the people in the cabinet are reliable people.
"Let Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji also enjoy the Ancestral Temple, for their contribution to opening up the sea and paying tribute!"
Zhu Yijun added another instruction after giving this instruction.
Zhang Jing raised his hands and said yes.
It didn't take long for the decree to reach the cabinet.
Shen Shixing personally obtained the imperial edict from the Shi Yusi, and came to the cabinet with Pan Cheng to talk to Yu Youding.
After hearing this, Yu Youding sighed: "The emperor's grace is so great! Now I don't have to stay up late!"
"yes!"
Pan Cheng also echoed with a smile.
Then, the three of them all looked at the statue of Confucius in the Wenyuan Pavilion. They all thought that if the statue could be hung here in the future, wouldn't it mean that the Ming Dynasty would not be destroyed and the grace and glory would not decline?
After all, anyone who joins the cabinet can see his portrait.
"The Holy Grace is here, don't slack off, continue to pass the exam, and make arrangements for the nomination as soon as possible!"
Shen Shixing spoke solemnly first.
Then, the three cabinet ministers continued to pass the exams in six subjects with great enthusiasm.
In addition, while taking a rest, Pan Cheng also took the initiative to say: "It can't just be Xiao Gui and Cao Sui. Judging from the Gao New Deal, Zhao Neijiang's opening of the sea, Jiangling's examination success, cancellation of exemptions and Japanese conquests, what will happen next The government must also have achievements that can be achieved!"
"That's right! Find an opportunity and let's figure it out together."
Shen Shixing nodded and said.
Yu Youding also nodded.
