At the end of June of the second year of Hongzhi, there were fewer trivial matters in the court. Because Queen Zhang gave birth to a dragon son, Zhu Youtang only asked Yanhai to pick out some major events from the memorial and the cabinet's decision-making plan every day. Listen to yourself and throw other trivial matters to the cabinet.
I have to say that the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty was very good, which greatly reduced the emperor's political pressure.
Zhu Youtang "gets off work" early every day and goes straight to Kunning Palace. A woman who has just given birth needs company. The concubine Su Yin and Concubine Li Han Qiaozi were extremely envious of staying in Kunning Palace for the past few days. Concubine Su Yin was used to it. Sister Zhang had just given birth, and it was normal for the emperor to accompany her. She felt I also secretly made up my mind to try to get pregnant next time and give birth to a son for the emperor!
Li Fei Han Qiaozi was new to human affairs, and she also tasted the fun. Zhu Youtang didn't come for a few days, and she missed him very much. At first, he sent someone every day to ask if the emperor would come in the evening. Later, he went out to wait in the Nuan Pavilion himself, expecting The emperor can stay in his palace tonight.
"I've met the emperor."
"Is the queen asleep?"
"Reply to your Majesty, your Majesty is still waiting for you!"
"Oh, I see."
Zhu Youtang nodded and stepped into Kunning Palace. He was determined to be a good husband and father. The two palace maids who had just finished their errands watched the emperor walk into the house and gently closed the door.
It is said that emperors have been ruthless and unjust since ancient times, but this long-lived man in front of him dotes on the queen and his wife, and they are like each other every day, which is really enviable.
"Did you hear about it? On the day my mother gave birth, a midwife who didn't have any eyesight actually yelled at Long Live Lord. Eunuch Li ordered people to drag her down and beat her to death!"
"Hey, I heard that no matter what you say or do in this deep palace, you have to be careful. You have to know what you should say and what you shouldn't say. Otherwise, you will die without knowing how you died. !”
The palace maid sighed and added: "Xiao Nian, you have to remember that no one in the inner court should offend Eunuch Li. He is now so powerful in the inner court that his life is just a matter of words. Even Long Live Lord Don’t even ask.”
…
Early on the next morning, Zhu Youtang got up early and went straight to Qianqing Palace. Yanhai was already waiting at the door holding a stack of memorials.
Zhu Youtang frowned when he saw the stack of memorials, which was almost as tall as a man's, and said, "It's the same today!"
"Okay, long live my lord, don't worry!" Yanhai has been in charge of Qianqing Palace for more than a year, and he already knows his master's temperament. He knows what he likes and dislikes in the memorial.
While Yanhai was looking for useful memorials and preparing to classify them, he was watching Zhu Youtang doing Tai Chi for the elderly.
The classification of memorials is also very particular. We must not only look at the content of the memorials, but also who is writing the memorials. For example, the memorials of Liu Ji, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Xu Pu, the second assistant, no matter whether they play nonsense or not , you have to pick them out and show them to the emperor. After all, where are the status of these two people, it would be against the rules if you take them away easily. If those "stinky fish and rotten shrimps" don't have a high official position, don't have much ability, and all they do are just trivial things, they should naturally throw them away, so as not to embarrass their masters.
According to the original words of Li Guang, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony: "These people are just hungry and seeking death!"
Today's memorial was different from the past. Yanhai had just flipped through it twice when he found the notebook of Liu Ji, the chief assistant of the cabinet. He took out Liu Ji's memorial first and put it first after sorting it. .
"Long live my Lord, your boxing set is really powerful! I admire you so much!"
Zhu Youtang curled his lips. His old-age Tai Chi was for health, and his boxing speed was slow. How could this be said to be a success?
"You know how to pick out nice things and tell me. Have you finished picking out today's memorials?"
Zhu Youtang happened to be tired from playing. He took the warm tea from Yanhai and took a sip.
Yanhai placed the memorial on the dragon table and said with a smile: "As for Long Live, today there are several memorials jointly signed by Mr. Ge and led by him."
"Oh? It seems like he hasn't submitted a memorial for a long time. What's going on with his gang members this time? Please read it and listen to me!"
Since the last time, Zhennanguan garrison He Zhan filed an imperial edict, Zhu Youtang sent Liu Ji's protégé Wu Zhun to prison, dismissed him from his post for investigation, and asked Liu Ji to talk to suppress him, and also sent Dali, an important member of the Liu Party, to After Wei Zhang, the minister of the temple, ransacked his house and asked for execution. Liu Dang has never expressed his opinions on court affairs again, but he has become more stable. This time, he jointly submitted the memorial, which made Zhu Youtang very curious.
"Liu Ji, the chief assistant of the cabinet, said:
It has been a year since the opening of the inner market in the first year of Hongzhi. Now that the emperor's eldest son has been born, he will soon move to the East Palace. Since the East Palace is the important place for the crown prince, the inner market should be closed down to maintain royal integrity. "
Zhu Youtang frowned, knocked on the dragon table and said: "I haven't said anything about establishing a prince yet. How did the chief minister know that the eldest son of the emperor was going to move to the East Palace? Did the other people's memorials advise me to remove the inner city? ?”
Yanhai quickly flipped through the remaining memorials, spread his hands and said: "Long live the wise Lord, the remaining memorials are all about the benefits of leaving the inner market. By the way, I second the words of the elder."
"These people are just following the lead of our chief minister of the Ming Dynasty. All their memorials have been left unpublished. The prince is still young, so let's stop discussing the inner city matters."
"I heard that Li Guang has adopted many godsons recently, Yanhai, do you know about this?" Zhu Youtang asked again.
Yanhai was about to leave with the memorial in his arms when Zhu Youtang suddenly asked, catching Yanhai off guard. He loosened his hand and scattered the pile of memorials on the ground.
"Ah...this...this, I don't know."
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "You old cunning guy, I think you know better than to say anything. You have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor!"
When Yanhai heard this, he was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and admitted his mistake. It’s not that he didn’t say it, it’s that Li Guang is not easy to mess with. Now Li Guang is not only in charge of the Chief of Ceremonies but also the Admiral of the East Factory. He is extremely powerful! Even some ministers in the court who had no backing had to give him gifts to curry favor with him. He was a small minister, but his arms could twist his thighs.
In the corridor, Li Guang was about to go in to say good morning to the emperor. When he walked to the door, he suddenly heard the conversation between Zhu Youtang and Yan Hai inside, and he broke into a cold sweat.
I didn't expect that such a small matter as how many godsons I had adopted could reach the emperor's ears. It seems that there are some gossips in the inner court. I will have to check it out later.
Li Guang took out a bill from his sleeve and looked at it. He smiled and murmured to himself: "With this, Long live the Lord will be so happy that he can't shut up!"
"Master, you get up really early these days!" Li Guang trotted in.
Yanhai was being asked by Zhu Youtang and didn't know how to answer. Suddenly he saw the initiator of this incident, Li Guang, running in. He looked at Li Guang as if he was grasping a life-saving straw.
After Zhu Youtang saw Li Guang, he said calmly: "Cao Cao will be here as soon as he arrives. Tell me, how many godsons have you accepted in this palace?"
"No, no, no, these are all other people's nonsense and slanderous slaves."
Li Guang was excited, waved his hands repeatedly, and explained.
Zhu Youtang stopped asking about this topic. He stood up and walked in front of Yanhai, saying in a cold voice: "Get up. Just answer whatever I ask you. Don't answer the question incorrectly. You can go down first!"
Yanhai kowtowed twice, stood up and left.
Seeing this, Li Guang quickly handed over the bill in his hand and said with a smile:
"Long live Lord, do you see this?"
Zhu Youtang took it and took a look and was surprised. Not long after Li Guang took power, the money in his own money tripled. Li Guang watched the change in Zhu Youtang's expression closely from the side, and took advantage of the situation to speak again: "Long live my lord, the mining supervisor of the Dujian Mansion has returned to Beijing. He said that the mining operations in various places are going very smoothly, except for a few big and powerful families. I guess there is some backing behind, it is very hard, there is a mine in the ground and the mine supervisor is not allowed to mine..."
Hearing this, Zhu Youtang's expression changed slightly and he said calmly:
"Then you kill them all?"
"Oh, long live my Lord, how dare I kill someone? I just used some tricks to ask them to collect some mineral taxes. These big and powerful families are very rich. If you don't want to move, that's fine. , just take out the comparative money..."
In this case, Zhu Youtang immediately understood that not all the money collected might go to his pocket, and Li Guang still kept some.
If you want a horse to run, you have to give it some grass.
Li Guang was very sensible in this regard. His subordinates collected cash and he personally compared the bills one by one. In the end, he took 30%, left 10% for his subordinates, and pocketed the remaining 60%. Zhu Youtang's internal funds.
As for those stubborn people, the method is very simple, that is, they are directly arrested and imprisoned. No matter how hard the backer behind you is, can it be stronger than the emperor? When the time comes to arrest you and put you in jail, it will not be easy to just collect and forge some evidence. Let’s see how dishonest you are.
Zhu Youtang nodded with satisfaction. The reason why he promoted Li Guang to the stage in an unusual way was to let him take the blame for himself and collect money. Looking at it now, Li Guang is doing a good job.
As soon as Li Guang looked at his master's expression, he knew that the emperor was very happy to see this internal money bill.
"Long live my lord, according to the people under my command, officials from various ministries have frequently been in and out of Mr. Ge's mansion in the past few days. I don't know what they are planning."
"What else can you plan? Let me stop the inner city and establish a prince early. Since they are idle again, let's find something for them to do."
At the end of the Hongzhi Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Youtang ordered the officials of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the two capitals, the fifth government, the sixth department, and the Metropolitan Inspectorate to guard the second division of the governor outside. The year and month of official service, household registration, and which officials he served are all posted in the Wenhua Hall for your own viewing, and they are posted and replaced with new ones every season.
Now that summer has passed, the new list has been sent to Zhu Youtang before it is posted in the Cultural Hall. Zhu Youtang opened the big list, and he was shocked when the name of a new person appeared. This person was Yang Tinghe, who had experienced four dynasties and served as the chief minister of two dynasties.
Yang Tinghe, named Jiefu and Shizhai, was a native of Xindu, Chengdu Prefecture, Sichuan. Yang Tinghe became famous at a young age. He passed the provincial examination when he was twelve years old. In the fourteenth year of Chenghua, he became a Jinshi at the age of nineteen and was awarded the Imperial Examination. In the second year of Zhengde, he became the young master and the crown prince. In the seventh year of Zhengde, he served as the chief assistant of the cabinet. When Emperor Jiajing was not in the capital, he had an overview of the government affairs.
Of course, he is still just a Hanlin reviewer, and he needs to focus on promotion so that he can take over the positions of these veterans in the future.
"Let them compile the true records of the late emperor. According to the decree, President Liu Ji, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was ordered to compile the true records of the late emperor. The British Duke Zhang Mao was responsible for supervising the editing. Zhan Shifu Qiu Jun, Shao Zhanshi Wang Xie, Han Lin, and Liu Ji Jian serves as the vice president of editing, and there is a Hanlin reviewer named Yang Tinghe. Let him also participate in writing, and let them decide on the rest of the writing staff!"
Since then, the actual records of Ming Xianzong began to be compiled in the second year of Hongzhi.
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