This Minister of the Ministry of Finance is quite energetic. These words choked Huang Qiong until he remained silent for a long time. Indeed, according to the authority, this matter should be decreed by oneself, with Zhongshu Sheng coming up with an implementation plan, and Shangshu being exempted from execution and specific implementation. Since this matter involves the Ministry of Household Affairs, as the chief official of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Minister of Household Affairs has no right to question the plan that has been formulated and can only implement it as required.
Huang Qiong, who was laughed angrily by the Minister of Revenue, but had no way to punish him, said directly: "I have already said that we are here for discussion today. If you have any different opinions, you can feel free to do so. Put it forward directly. Therefore, if Mr. Zhang has any objections, he can say it openly and honestly. Even if he goes too far and points his finger at me, I will forgive you."
"I don't just say what I say. I always deal with things when they are decided. You can speak your mind. As long as it is beneficial to the country and the people, I will never punish the crime, let alone find fault afterwards. But once the matter is decided, Once it comes down, you must unconditionally implement and implement it. If anyone remains silent during the discussion and deceives me, I will have to settle the accounts with him."
But after Huang Qiong finished speaking, Mr. Zhang stretched his neck and said: "That's not what His Highness meant before. His Highness has clearly made a final decision on this matter, and now he is asking for opinions. In this world, Is there any reason to decide the matter first and then ask for opinions later? Your Highness is now under the orders of the Emperor to govern, and he is the current Crown Prince, so you should know that you have no excuses."
"How can His Highness treat the world with integrity when His Highness is so capricious? How can His Highness allow ministers to dare to say what is from the bottom of their hearts? Therefore, rather than anger His Highness by saying it, it is better not to say it. What does His Highness ask ministers to do? , just give the order directly, and I will risk my life to implement it when the time comes. As for your opinion, since His Highness is like this, it is best not to ask."
Huang Qiong, who was very angry after being contradicted by this guy, said directly: "In that case, you must say it today. If you don't say it, I will treat you as a bully. Don't treat me like I am with you. Just kidding, I never joke about political matters. You are the Minister of Household Affairs, and you are responsible for the specific implementation of this matter. If you don't express your thoughts, how can I believe you?"
Zhang Shangshu had a bad attitude, so Huang Qiong was not polite at all and forced him to speak directly. But in the face of Huang Qiong's toughness, Zhang Shangshu still stood up and said: "His Highness has already decided. What's the point if I don't say anything? As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, I will go according to His Highness's orders." Just do it. So, Your Highness, there is no need to ask what my thoughts and opinions are."
Zhang Shangshu's confrontation made Huang Qiong even more angry. After a lot of effort, Huang Qiong suppressed his anger and said: "Zhang Shangshu, I am asking you now, but you are not asking me. You asked me a question, but as a minister you refused to answer, do you really dare to deceive me like this?" Is this what you should do as a minister? Zhang Shangshu, I don’t care what you think."
"As a minister of the imperial court, do you have this attitude when facing the emperor? Zhang Shangshu, with your attitude today, do you look down on me from the bottom of your heart, or do you have other thoughts about me? Or are you really holding your hand in front of me? You have no choice? Who do you think you are? As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, or as a second-ranked Jinshi, you have read the books of sages for so many years, and you have read them all in the belly of a dog? "
"Now I'm giving you face, but you actually take the initiative to be shameless. Shameless, right? Well, get out of here now, kneel outside the Wende Hall, and let you have a good memory. Also think about it carefully, as a minister What is your duty? Have you applied all the teachings of the saints? When you have figured it out, you will get up again. Before you figure it out, kneel in front of me outside the Wende Hall."
This Zhang Shangshu is also a stubborn person. Hearing Huang Qiong's anger, he didn't say a word. He stood up straight away and walked directly to the Wende Hall and knelt there. Moreover, he knelt in the most conspicuous place, his waist was straight, and his kneeling posture was extremely standard. He simply ignored the eunuchs and maids coming and going. When he saw a second-rank official kneeling outside the Wende Hall, he cast a surprised look.
After he left, the ministers in Wende Hall. Facing this angry man, you looked at me and I looked at you, but no one dared to intercede for Zhang Shangshu. Although Huang Qiong has been in power for a long time, and although he does not rub sand in his eyes, he is still relatively polite to those senior officials. At most, the person who is trying to bully you will be speechless, or they will find every possible way to find fault with you.
Like today, it was the first time since he took office that he punished a second-rank official in such a furious manner and publicly made him kneel as punishment. In front of a group of ministers, it was the first time since the founding of this dynasty that a minister of the Ministry of Revenue was forced to kneel outside the palace. This dynasty arose in troubled times and relied on rebellion. With the rise of this dynasty, the original clan system was completely disrupted.
At that time, Emperor Taizu was extremely disgusted with those children of the gentry who could be awarded high officials based on their family background. After the Qi army entered Chang'an, they vigorously selected officials from the lower class of the former Tang Dynasty to serve in the new dynasty. As for those children who relied on their family or their father's kindness to win official positions, especially the Guanlong family that the former Tang Dynasty had always relied on, they were massacred and even exterminated at every turn.
It is said that all the noble officials are trampled all over the streets, and not even half of the first-class noble families are. Emperor Taizong, who had always tried to dissuade Emperor Taizu from killing him, and the prince of Guilin unanimously remained silent. Through the hands of Emperor Taizu, the clan system that began in the Later Han Dynasty was completely uprooted and eliminated along with the Guanlong family that the former Tang Dynasty relied on. Unlike previous dynasties that valued the children of noble families, this dynasty paid more attention to selecting officials from among ordinary scholars, the so-called common people.
As long as the selected officials passed the imperial examination, as long as they were not eunuchs or prostituted slaves, as long as they were not criminals or the descendants of some heinous people, they could take the imperial examination. As long as you pass the imperial examination, you will be awarded an official position. And when it comes to promotion, origin is not valued. Instead of relying on the hereditary system of officials formed by relying on the support of the family behind them, which has been prevalent in all dynasties since the Later Han Dynasty.
There are even many restrictions on the enmeng of officials' children, or their promotion after entering the official career. Speaking of which, compared with previous dynasties, this dynasty was the first to select talents in an eclectic way. With the comprehensive improvement of the imperial examination, the scholar family declined completely. Coupled with the popularity of scholars, after more than a hundred years of evolution, this dynasty has actually gradually formed a situation where emperors and scholar-bureaucrats rule the world together.
What is a scholar-bureaucrat? ? A scholar is a scholar, a learned person. Doctor is the collective name for officials. Scholar-bureaucrats are civil servants selected from among scholars. You can conquer the world immediately, but you cannot rule the world immediately. To conquer the world, you need to rely on military officers, but to govern the local area and coordinate money and food, you need civilian officials. You cannot expect an illiterate person to govern a place.
Therefore, although emperors have always emphasized the divine right of kings and the herdsmen acting on behalf of heaven, they still need civil servants to govern the local area and govern on behalf of the emperor. Therefore, this dynasty has always valued scholars. Although civil servants are not allowed to be awarded titles, this dynasty is unique among all previous dynasties in its generous treatment of civil servants. Although there is no salary field and all the salary is converted into money and grain, it is not bad.
Moreover, since the Emperor Gaozong, officials who made mistakes were rarely beheaded. It usually involves demotion or dismissal from office, and exile is already a severe punishment. It can be said that it is the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China to punish a second-rank official like Huang Qiong Jin'er, who holds an important position like Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to kneel outside the Wende Hall, which is the imperial study room. Among the officials present, who dares to speak at this time?
At this moment, this gentleman is furious with what Zhang Shangshu said. At this time, I would like to give you a few words of advice and let this man get angry. Maybe I will kneel down with him as punishment. When the time comes, a group of first-, second- and third-rank officials, including several prime ministers from Zhongshu Province, will kneel there as punishment. This person will be in great disgrace. Therefore, all the officials present almost unanimously closed their mouths.
Lu Meng was about to say something, but after looking at Huang Qiong's livid face, he finally swallowed what he wanted to say. Huang Qiong looked at the group of officials here. Huang Qiong, who had completely lost his patience, finally waved in disappointment and signaled that these officials could leave. However, when the group of officials left, Huang Qiong, who had his back turned to the group of officials, suddenly said: "Master Lu, please stay for a while."
After all the officials have left. Huang Qiongcai turned around, pondered for a moment and said: "Lord Lu, you are the second-rank official in charge of political affairs, the deputy prime minister of the imperial court, and the main assistant to assist the monarch in governing the world. Although this matter may seem inconspicuous, in your eyes Maybe it’s a trivial matter. Even if it’s something that offends the people of this world, it will cause a crowd of scholars to siege.”
"So, from the top to the prime ministers of Zhongshu Province, down to the officials in local and state governments, they are reluctant to do this. It can even be said to be a bit repulsive. But even this is a small matter in your eyes. In my opinion, it is a major issue related to the stability of the imperial court. First, Ningxia Mansion is located between Shaanxi Road and Longyou Road, across the Helan Mountain and the border with Beiliao, so its location is quite important."
"In the Ningxia Rebellion, the Han people were either forced to flee, or were forced to serve as soldiers by Tuoba, as consumables used to weaken the fighting power of the government and army. Now in Ningxia Prefecture, there are no more Han people left. Even several prefectures and counties are already deserted. The frontier troops in Huaiyuan Prefecture can be said to be seriously empty in the rear. However, the food and grass needed by the three thousand frontier troops can only be transferred from Longnan and other places."
"The millions of acres of prime land around Lingzhou, Ningxia Prefecture, and the Hetao Plain, which owns the Yellow River but only benefits, are so wasted and abandoned, but in disguise, it is increasing the burden on the people of Longyou. This is undoubtedly the biggest waste. And now The number of Han people in Ningxia Prefecture has even reached that if Bei Liao chooses to join the bandits from Ningxia Prefecture. As long as they bypass Huaiyuan Prefecture, they won’t even be able to find a single reporting person.”
"Although I have completely dealt with the Pingxia tribe and the Yeli tribe, the largest tribe in Ningxia during this Ningxia rebellion and aftermath. But Mr. Lu, it is impossible for me to kill all the Dangxiang people in Ningxia Prefecture. Now in Ningxia Prefecture, Dangxiang tribe People still make up the majority. There are Beiliao in the north of Ningxia Prefecture, the prefectures in the west of Longyou in the west, and Yan'an Prefecture on Shaanxi Road in the east. There are still a large number of party tribes."
"Longyou has always been the largest source of military horses in this dynasty. The imperial court's most powerful frontier army, the Four Camps and the Xijing Camp Horse Army, require a large number of war horses, except for a few Khitan horses from the Qunmu Division in the north of Shanxi Road. , almost 70% of them are from Longyou. Once Ningxia becomes unstable again, the prefectures and counties in the west of Longyou that also have a large number of Dangxiang tribes connected to it may become unstable."
"On its own, Longyou Road cannot move a large number of people to Ningxia, and it is simply unable to fill the current population vacancy in Ningxia Prefecture. And if this situation continues, I am afraid that Ningxia Prefecture will have big troubles sooner or later. Mr. Lu, Northwest Chaos will make the world unstable."
