Capital.
A winter afternoon.
Zhu Houzhao wandered around the palace of the East Palace, twisted his neck, and relaxed his waist. His body was strained. He didn't want to suffer from cervical and lumbar problems at such a young age.
At the door, Liu Jin came in with a few eunuchs and a bunch of memorials. Seeing the prince's eyes, Liu Jin smiled as if he was hiding, "Your Highness, this is the last point for today."
It looks like there are about twenty or thirty books.
"Put it down. I have just approved those books. Send them to the cabinet." Zhu Houzhao pointed to the books on the side, then passed by Liu Jin, took the top one, looked at it twice and came out. "Liu Jin, what time is it?"
"It's time to reply to Your Highness."
"Yeah, I understand. Fengxi,"
"I'm here." A young man who had been sitting next to him stood up and responded. His legs and feet were not good and he was crooked every time he stood up. However, Zhu Houzhao did not advise him to sit all the time, so he stood up if he wanted to. "You Look, what have I been paying less attention to lately?"
Just like during the meeting that day, Zhu Huzhao would say that I was eyeing something. But the country is so big and there are so many things. The main officials in the country alone have to remember hundreds of people. If you just rely on your brain, you will always forget, and the pressure is great. It is more troublesome to write it down in notes.
Fengxi checked the records of the prince's summons to officials. "On the first two occasions, His Highness listened to the Ming Pao's annual summary and the report on matters related to the Yichou imperial examination in the 18th year of Hongzhi. And the northwest... By the way, there is one thing After His Highness ordered his ministers to record the matter, they have not yet discussed it with the ministers."
Zhu Houzhao raised his head and thought for a moment, "Is it a drought in Shandong? Has the censor who went to Shandong returned to Beijing?"
"Your Highness has a good memory, that's right."
A good memory is not as good as a bad writing. You still have to remember well, otherwise you will really forget.
"Then let's announce it. Let's talk about Shandong together." After finishing speaking, the prince returned to the bookcase. The memorial in his hand was written by Min Gui.
Because prisoners from Zhejiang are arriving in Beijing one after another, and it happens to coincide with the New Year, Min Gui thinks it is best not to make the capital become a river of blood and wail everywhere during the Spring Festival. It is unlucky. Those who should be executed will wait until after the new year. It's not too late to execute him again.
This matter was innocuous and did not affect the overall situation. Zhu Houzhao had no other opinions, so he marked it with a red pen: accurate.
Over at Fengxi, after the prince said "Xuan", he immediately drew up a note and asked the eunuch to hand it out. It said that he ordered the cabinet Li Dongyang, the Ministry of Husbandry, and the patrol censor to enter the palace to report Shandong disaster relief matters.
Inspection censors are also called inspectors, which are somewhat similar to the central inspection team. They travel to places under the emperor's order. Generally speaking, they supervise departments at all levels. However, in the application process, they are most likely to be specifically responsible for a certain thing. In terms of operability, Zhu Houzhao attaches great importance to this system, and there are even people within Jinyiwei who have similar functions. The main tasks are to inspect warehouses, check money and food, eliminate powerful people, and uphold discipline. Of course, if a disaster occurs, Zhu Houzhao will also send patrol censors to the place.
In fact, not only the Jin Yiwei, but also the guarding eunuchs sent to various places will also submit memorials.
There is a bit of duplication of functions, but he can only stay in the Forbidden City. As long as the officials collude, they are basically blind. Being blind is terrible.
So there is nothing we can do about it.
In addition, Zhu Houzhao was somewhat different from previous emperors in that he often listened to reports from courtiers on some specific matters.
In fact, to be honest, although Emperor Hongzhi held morning and afternoon dynasties diligently, he actually did not summon many ministers. And the Chinese all know that we handle small things in the general assembly, and big things in the small meetings. When deciding the fate, just a dozen or twenty people will discuss it, and then ask you to implement it. There are so many people in the morning, and the rules are so big, what about some words? Easy to say?
In any case, Zhu Houzhao was still used to having meetings in court. It also improves efficiency. Departments involved should come, but those not involved should not come. They are all put in the morning meeting. Some things have nothing to do with some departments, and he has to stand here, which is a waste of time.
But as a result, officials in various departments of the imperial court were under great pressure.
Because the prince has to listen to reports, they are basically temporary. The luckiest people have two days to prepare, not more than three days.
It is not uncommon for officials to be dismissed on the spot for hemming and hawing, unclear explanations, and ignorance.
But in the court, all the elders from the cabinet to the six ministries and nine departments supported the prince in doing this. This is called diligent administration. Who would expect the emperor and prince to hide in the palace every day without seeing the ministers? Who dares to take this risk?
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao would sometimes intensify his efforts. He would catch those who did not do well and hold meetings with them continuously. He would not sleep until things were completed.
The eunuchs in the East Palace have gradually become accustomed to the prince's way of handling government affairs. When it comes to informing several departments, just a few people go. Today, they are the cabinet, the Ministry of Revenue and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so the three of them go in different directions. Run.
The cabinet only uses Li Dongyang. This is his coordination. He is also responsible for the drought in Shandong. More people from the Ministry of Household Affairs should come, including the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the minister in charge of disaster relief, and the chief officials below.
It's okay to patrol the censor, or bring his deputy.
There are no others.
These government offices in the Ming Dynasty were basically built close to the imperial city. The cabinet, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Household Affairs were all very close to each other, which also provided convenience for meeting madmen like Zhu Houzhao.
When Liu Jin had almost finished reading the twenty or thirty latest memorials sent by him, Li Dongyang and Han Wen had already arrived.
They saw that the prince was too busy, so they waited for a while. Anyway, they had encountered such a situation before.
"Shandong..."
Zhu Houzhao suddenly spoke. Li and Han hurriedly bowed slightly and listened carefully.
"Is Yang Tinghe there?"
"Your Highness, yes." Li Dongyang is a cabinet minister, so it is more appropriate for him to answer this question.
"He has written a memorial to me. The situation is not optimistic." Zhu Houzhao put down his pen and came out from behind the book.
In fact, running a country is often not about fighting and dispatching troops on the battlefield. Looking through the "Records of the Ming Dynasty", most of them are records of disasters and requests to the court to reduce taxes.
Especially in the climate of the Ming Dynasty, there were many cold and abnormal times.
"Last time, the Ministry of Revenue raised 200,000 taels of silver, which solved the urgent need. However, the winter is too cold. Even if the people can survive it, they will definitely be frozen. If they are slightly weaker, they will even die of cold and hunger. There are too many victims. , There is too little food, and the porridge in the porridge shed cannot be thick."
The prince talked a lot of melancholy.
Why do these ministers always support the prince? Because the prince only targets civil servants a few times a year, and most of the time he governs the country very seriously. So if you really get emotional, who dares not to give in?
Li Dongyang and Han Wen were not happy after hearing this, "Heaven and Earth are unkind and treat all things like civets. Your Highness is very concerned about it, and the Great Situ is doing his best. Now that winter has come, the court has tried its best to provide relief. I only hope that Your Highness can reduce or reduce the money and food for the disaster-stricken prefectures and counties after the spring of next year, giving the people a chance to breathe."
Zhu Houzhao knew that this was the era, and no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to do what he did in his previous life, so that no one would go hungry during a great disaster.
Material reserves, logistics, transportation, distribution, etc. cannot keep up.
"Let's first listen to what the censor said." Zhu Houzhao deliberately mentioned Yang Tinghe to let them know that I have control over the situation in Shandong, so don't expect to bluff me.
But when the seven or eight of them sat down and stared at each other, they suddenly realized something was wrong.
Han Wen turned his head and whispered to the household officer beside him: "Go and see why the patrol censor hasn't arrived yet."
Zhu Houzhao also glanced at Liu Jin. The old eunuch understood and said, "I have already gone to deliver the order. I will go find him now."
There was no other way, Zhu Houzhao could only pass the time by chatting with these people.
Today's patrol censor is afraid that he will be punished. Even if he arrives slowly, there is no reason for the prince and cabinet ministers to wait for him for so long.
What's even more exaggerated is that after about a stick of incense had passed, Liu Jin knelt down directly with the young eunuch who had gone to deliver the order, and said with cold sweat in the cold winter: "Your Highness, that...that patrol censor, he If he is not on duty, the slaves will not be able to find him."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and asked him to do something like this during the Chinese New Year.
Officials in the Ming Dynasty also had time requirements for going to work. Generally, they followed the Tang and Song Dynasties as "Chen (7 to 9 o'clock) enters You (17 to 19 o'clock) and goes out", but Liu Jin has just said that it is Shen Shi (15 to 17 o'clock) ), no one could be found in the Yamen.
"Um..." Han Wen and Li Dongyang were both a little embarrassed, "Your Highness, please calm down. Maybe there is something going on. Just ask Eunuch Liu to look for it again."
Liu Jin thought to herself, it’s such a cold day, why don’t you go.
Zhu Houzhao didn't understand such detailed history, so it's no wonder he was a little surprised. In fact, during the Hongzhi period... not to mention sitting in the Yamen, there were officials absent from the early morning court. This matter was not caused by Hongzhi, it started from the Xuande period. Even Emperor Hongzhi had the best temper, so the number of people who cheated was the largest in history.
At that time, some people also said that the morning court of Hongzhi Dynasty was the "Crow Dynasty" because there were too many absent officials, so there was no one at the Meridian Gate. When the morning bell rang, the crows' dreams were disturbed, and the sky was full of crows.
In fact, it also shows from the side that the morning court has become a ceremonial thing. It is a pity that Emperor Hongzhi did not have the vision of a later generation like Zhu Houzhao. It was useless to do the morning and afternoon court every day so seriously. The country was still like a plate of loose sand.
"Xuan Mao..." Zhu Houzhao dragged out a long sound here,
Li Dongyang was startled, and he quickly stood up, "Your Highness!"
"Xuan Mubin." After saying this, the prince thought for a while and asked Liu Jin, "By the way, call Zhang Chengtian. In addition, you are not allowed to make any noise after you go out. You know the rules of this palace. It is not that you are not allowed to sell. Favors, but no favors are allowed to be sold today. Otherwise, I will skin you!"
The last words are a bit harsh. Whenever the prince speaks like this, it means you'd better be more honest, or try to see if your neck is hard enough. Therefore, Liu Jin's heart trembled, "How dare you, slave? I will go and declare the people according to His Highness's decree."
The prince suddenly had a seizure, and the ministers in the palace also made some strange movements, and they were discussing something in low voices among themselves. But Zhu Houzhao closed his eyes and rested his mind, and said: "The rest of the people are sitting there and are not allowed to leave without my order!"
Just being late for work and leaving early would certainly not lead to murder, but Zhu Houzhao also wanted to punish them and step by step deconstruct the moral image of these 'gentlemen' who came from reading sages' books.
Fortunately, Mou Bin and Zhang Chengtian did not keep Zhu Houzhao waiting for too long.
After coming over, the two people knelt down directly.
"Your Majesty, Mou Bin, and ordinary citizen Zhang Chengtian are here to see you, Your Highness!"
Zhu Houzhao didn't waste any time and ordered: "Commander Mou, after all, you are the commander of the Jinyi Guards, and it is easier to do it, so after much thought, I still want to take up some of your time."
"Your Majesty's words are serious. Just give your orders. I will go through fire and water."
"There's no need to go through fire and water, it's a simple matter. Now take the people and immediately go and seal all the yamen of the six departments and nine divisions of the imperial court. No one is allowed in or out. Then click Mao, except those who are on business trips and are unwell. All other names shall be submitted to Zhang Chengtian."
Zhang Chengtian immediately bowed slightly when he heard his name being called.
"Zhang Chengtian, when you go back, write a report like this. The content should be simple. No one sentence is allowed to be complicated. Just say which officials are not on duty today. The information provided by Commander Mou should be more detailed, including name, age, official position, We must have Jinshi in every subject, and provide them all to Zhang Chengtian."
Li Dongyang and Han Wen looked at each other, what are they going to do?
Mr. Li Ge immediately remonstrated, "Your Highness, I am so brave. It seems a bit abrupt to act like this? Wouldn't it be embarrassing for the imperial court to rashly make this public both inside and outside the capital?"
"The imperial court has been disgraced..." Zhu Houzhao's voice suddenly turned harsh, "Is it me who has disgraced the imperial court?!"
One after another, moral gentlemen wrote memorials saying that the emperor and the prince were wrong, sometimes hurting their sanctity, sometimes damaging the image of the court. Look at what you're doing first, damn it!
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