Seeing the candidates recommended by Zhang Juzheng, Gao Pingshi snorted in his heart and said to himself: No wonder you took several days to make any move in private. So that's what happened.
On Wushen Day, Liu Fenyong, the Minister of Shangbao, said: "Six years after the emperor came to the throne, the domestic situation is not uneasy, but the disasters have not disappeared; the foreign barbarians are not unfaithful, but there are opportunities to consider. If the government policy is upheld, and The big handle is gradually moving; the official path may be cleared, but the old habits remain. There are officials who lead the way to see the governance, but the emperor's spirit and will gradually fail. Although the first minister is humble, he can't bear to remain silent because he misses the old kindness of Qiandi. Matters need to be decided by Ying Ying..."
What an accusation!
Gao Pragmatic Lanwen sneered: If you criticize the Fa like this, then nothing in this world can be considered to be done, and it never will be.
Look at this statement:
The emperor has been on the throne for six years, and the country seems to be stable, but in fact disasters still happen from time to time - yes, yes, but the question is, which dynasty and generation can be free from disasters? What does your statement mean?
Although the foreign barbarians seem to be submissive, they are still surrounded by dangers. These people may be harmful to our Ming Dynasty at any time - yes, yes, but unless there are no foreign barbarians around you, the foreign barbarians will always be in danger to you. What you said has no meaning?
Chao Gang seems to have been more vigorous, but the power of the imperial court is gradually declining. Don't you think it's dangerous, Your Majesty? Yes, yes, the Emperor has entrusted most of the government affairs to my third uncle, and he trusts Chao Gang very much, so now Chao Gang Zhenzheng, but if the emperor does not give him the power to do things, where will Chao Gang's zhenzhi come from? The current situation is the result of the emperor's choice. What is the meaning of your words?
It seems that the officialdom has been eliminated a lot, but there are too many old habits, and not much has changed now - yes, yes, the officialdom has been eliminated a lot, but the old habits have not changed much, but you don't want to fucking think about it, Gao Gong controls the officialdom The ministry has only been in power for a little over two years, and it is already a miracle that the officials can be eliminated! Is it that easy to change the old habits of the past two hundred years? What does your words mean?
Gao pragmatically said: Sure enough, a troll will always be a troll. As long as he wants to troll you, no matter how well you do, he will be able to find out where to troll, and he will do it with confidence.
Gao pragmatically continued to look down. The first of the five things Liu Fenyong said was "Sacred Bow of Security". Gao pragmatically skipped it after looking at it twice - this one said to ask the emperor to take care of himself.
When he saw the second item, Gao Pragmatic knew the key point: Liu Fenyong said, the second day is to take over the power.
"With the power of etiquette, music, and conquest, the leader must make every policy and decree, and no ministers dare to pursue their own selfish interests. In the past, the emperor was wise and decisive, and his kindness was unpredictable. For a time, the ministers and ministers were overwhelmed. Today's government The proposal was carried out by the Secretary, not without the support of the Emperor. And when the decision was made to comply with the violation, did the Emperor ever make an arbitrary decision? The use of talents was done in accordance with the public opinion, and he did not dare to express his own thoughts. Enmity? I don’t dare to know. All the changes in state affairs are due to loyalty and conspiracy, but no one dares to use private opinions to control others? I don’t dare to know."
"Just like tutoring the East Palace, it is the responsibility of the cabinet minister, but he often dares to do anything for the benefit of the country; the famous imperial weapon, which was originally a tool to inspire the world, is now a thing of favor from the market. Who dared to do this in the time of the previous emperor? Fu Yuan Du Guan In all changes, the great power cannot be transferred down. All the plans for the establishment of the common government and the votes of the cabinet ministers are specially kept for clear inspection. When arbitrary decisions are made, the ministers will not be able to predict the opportunities, and the political power will not be too heavyweight."
This is really hehe.
Although Liu Fenyong did not mention anyone by name when he said this, anyone who is not a fool would definitely be able to tell that although what he said seemed to be talking about the emperor's lack of arbitrary power, in fact the blades were all pointing at Gao Gong!
As for his suggestion, it was very simple. To put it bluntly, he said: Your Majesty, you can't just listen to Gao Gong's words!
Gao pragmatically curled his lips and continued reading. It turned out that the third article was basically nonsense, and it was to persuade the emperor to be frugal. He said that since the emperor came to the throne, the inner palace has taken hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, "seeking rare treasures to make lamps for Aoshan, to serve as royal utensils, and to decorate them with gold, carvings and jade. It is practical for the body and mind. What are its benefits?" ?" - This is the same truth, but when Gao Pragmatic compared the expenses of the "Mingjun Holy Lords" of the Qing Dynasty, he just laughed.
Six years after an emperor came to the throne, he managed the country to a great extent and made the treasury rich. However, he himself actually spent a little over 300,000 taels, an average of 50,000 taels a year, less than 60,000 taels of silver. Is this a fucking extravagance?
Qianlong, the "perfect old man" who was boasted by later generations, spent 20 million taels on his trips to the south of the Yangtze River; the emperors of the Qing Dynasty spent 15.6 million taels on the construction of the Old Summer Palace, and the maintenance cost was several times or even ten times the construction cost; Cixi repaired the Summer Palace in eight years. Spend at least 30 million taels per year...
If you think about it again, the Shunzhi period began with the large-scale expansion of the Nanyuan left by the Ming Dynasty; the Kangxi period began to build the famous Changchun Garden; the Yongzheng period began to build the more famous Old Summer Palace; in the Qianlong period, not only the Old Summer Palace was continued to be built, but also new buildings were built There are Qingyi Garden (the predecessor of the Summer Palace), Jingyi Garden, Jingming Garden, etc. In addition, there are countless others like Chengde Summer Resort. As for the Three Tombs outside Guanwai, the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty, and the Western Tombs of the Qing Dynasty, I don’t even bother to mention them.
How much did it cost?
Among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Longqing was indeed considered a man who could spend money. But if he could spend money, how could he be compared to the Qing Dynasty? It’s just a drop in the bucket!
As for daily expenses, don’t talk about anything else, just talk about food. Longqing loved to eat donkey intestines, but later he felt that to eat donkey intestines, he had to kill the whole donkey, which seemed a bit wasteful, so he greatly reduced the probability of serving donkey intestines; Cixi usually had 108 dishes for one meal. He also said there was no place to put down chopsticks!
Gao pragmatically skipped this item with a bored look on his face and continued reading. Liu Fenyong said: The fourth is to pay attention to the chapter.
Gao pragmatically glanced at this one and continued to skip it - it actually means the same as the second one: Your Majesty, you can't just look at Gao Gong's draft plan for everything. Although what everyone said may not be completely correct, at least it is commendable for its loyalty. , just because Gao Gong thought it was nonsense and there was no vote, you can’t just reject it and just keep it in! Otherwise, "the party that suppresses the power of thrift, fear, and thrift will reincarnate into jealousy, guarding the subordinates and covering up the superiors to achieve their traitors"!
Gao Qingshi snorted, continued to skip, and looked down at the last item. Liu Fenyong said: On the fifth day, be honest and upright.
"Those who are loyal and upright are the pillars of the country. They are not just those who follow the decree of Wangfeng to express others' feelings; they are also like those who cater to the powerful and establish a party of promiscuous friends. Since the emperor came to the throne, there have been those who have been rebuked and abandoned by the ministers who have not been summoned yet. I also accept him, and I hope to forgive his sin of being arrogant and upright, commend him for his sincerity, be generous and forgiving in the past, and be upright in the future. Then the emperor's virtue will be replicated by the same emperor, and it will be greatly added to the country's history."
Oh, so the loyalty you mentioned are those demoted officials?
That group of people were mainly divided into three categories: those who followed Xu Jie's inversion; those who made trouble for the emperor's private life every day; and those who opposed various major policies and reforms of the imperial court - such as Beijing Cha, An Da's tribute, sea trade, and one Whip method, etc.
The first and second categories are purely talkative parties who are just trying to make ends meet. Regardless of whether they are the emperor or Gao Gong, as long as they want to clean up the administration, they will not be tolerated. There is nothing to say.
As for the third category, you people must have never heard of "firm political stance and consciously align with the central government in thoughts and actions" - it is inherently difficult to govern such a large country. As court officials, you, in total, If all the officials in the world are like you when the major policies of the imperial court are in line, how can the imperial court carry out its work?
So after Gao Pragmatic read it, his evaluation was very simple: it was all nonsense, and the only focus was on the second point.
But the key now is whether Gao Gong will adopt his suggestion that night and hold back until the emperor loses control and intervenes.
With this in mind, Gao pragmatically came to the cabinet in the name of returning the memorial to Guanzheng. He wanted to understand Gao Gong's attitude.
