In the fourth year of Zhengde, that is, 1509 AD, Emperor Zhu Houzhao was nineteen years old. According to the calculations of the ancients, it was okay to say that he was twenty.
A year and a half has passed since the last battle of Liangxiang.
In addition to the battles in the capital, the battles in Yulin and Ningxia in the northwest were also successfully won under the command of Yang Yiqing and Wang Shouren. However, they did not capture Huo Si. Huo Si fled back to the grassland with more than a thousand remaining soldiers, and he had to be on guard against the Ming army at all times. Will there be another 'suppression'?
On the capital side.
After the war in the northwest ended, Yang Yiqing relieved himself of the responsibility of governor of the three sides and returned to the duty room of the cabinet to assist the emperor in handling government affairs.
According to the emperor's sorting out after the imperial meeting in the third year of Zhengde, the new concept of 'division of responsibilities' was also popularized in the cabinet.
Yang Yiqing entered the cabinet earlier than Wang Hao and Wang Bingdu, so he can naturally be called the chief minister. Since it is the first official, the burden will be heavier. The emperor asked him to mainly contact the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites and the General Affairs Department.
Wang Hao is responsible for contacting the Ministry of Revenue, the Shaofu, and the Ministry of Industry, while Wang Bing is responsible for contacting the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
At the same time, both of them have the responsibility to assist Yang Yiqing.
The so-called connection is a wonderful word.
It only manifests itself during 'big events'.
For example, regarding horse administration, war horses are "strategic materials" at this time, and naturally they are important matters.
Ma Zheng is under the jurisdiction of Taipu Temple, which is under the Ministry of War. When Zhu Houzhao was dealing with matters related to horse affairs, he would require the cabinet chiefs, military officials, and Taipusi ministers to participate.
This will create a situation in which all major matters are handled by the cabinet minister. The chief minister is the head of a hundred officials, and the personnel and resources he can mobilize are unparalleled. The 'major affairs' he is responsible for have become a national strategy in a sense, and no one dares to violate it easily.
In addition, because Ma Zheng involves money and repairing some buildings, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works need to participate.
For particularly important Tianzihao affairs, such as the Hetao Military District, the cabinet and the six ministries all participated.
Because Wang Hao and Wang Bing themselves also have the responsibility to assist the leader, they must fully cooperate as required when something happens.
Of course, in this process, there will be phenomena such as buck-passing, non-cooperation, and pushing things that are not yours to others. This belongs to the friction and running-in of the political system in the process of operation. The emperor will solve it.
For Zhu Houzhao, the advantage of this model is that it can pinpoint people: there is a person in charge of whatever the matter is, and if there is a problem, he knows who to look for.
The so-called "everyone is in charge" means that everyone is indifferent. Hundreds of ministers are talking all over the place in Fengtian Palace, but no one actually does it, or if problems arise, no one is responsible. That is very bad.
This reshaping of the responsibility system plays an important role in improving administrative efficiency. Of course, don’t expect that this will eliminate the formalism, bureaucracy, corruption and other ills that exist in the original bureaucracy.
But at least one advantage is that when facing major affairs, the emperor's will can be effectively implemented, because it is deduced layer by layer. Of course there will be situations where it cannot be pushed forward, but it doesn't matter, the emperor will ask after a while.
Once the actual results are unsatisfactory, it will prompt officials in the chain to engage in risky behaviors that "have to deceive the superiors and conceal the inferiors", thus quickly driving up their political security costs.
To put it simply: lie if you dare.
This would be much better than the situation where "government orders do not leave the Forbidden City", and it would be much better than leaving a group of officials idle and doing nothing.
Zhu Houzhao is more accustomed to this. His morning court now has become once every three days, and more government affairs handling methods have become based on him calling in responsible officials.
In this way, normal government affairs are handled by the civil service system, and the emperor will grasp important matters, and the entire country will naturally be managed by someone.
A year and a half later, apart from the changes in the cabinet.
Ministers from various ministries in Beijing and central China were also transferred.
After Wang Bing entered the cabinet, he no longer served as Minister of War. The emperor transferred Qi Chengsui, the former governor of Shaanxi, to Beijing to take over. This is another example of rewarding meritorious officials after a successful plot.
Qicheng Tunnel originally belonged to the Yang Yiqing Group. There were two wars in the northwest in the past few years. There was no credit but hard work. Besides, being recognized by Yang Yiqing showed that this person was not a freeloader.
There were actually many Qingliu officials in the DPRK, but Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to let such people get involved in the Ministry of War.
When the time comes, he doesn't like generals like Zhou Shangwen and Yang Shangyi who prefer to attack. He suppresses them, then randomly transfers them, and asks the emperor himself to clean up the mess. It is better to appoint people from the original military merit system. They are familiar with each other. For the border generals, it is also convenient to maintain a stable and peaceful relationship with the capital.
In addition, more than three months ago, Min Gui, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, became an official. He was born in the fifth year of Xuande (1430). He was really very old in his seventy-nine or eighty years, so he submitted his resignation three times, and Zhu Houzhao agreed. He returned to his hometown for retirement, but it was still winter at the time, so he planned to return home this spring.
Min Gui is from Huzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. As long as the weather is better, he can take a boat all the way south.
In fact, in addition to the weather, there was another factor that prevented him from returning in a hurry.
After two years of construction, the library garden in the capital was officially completed.
The Book Collection Garden is located in the south city of the capital. It is composed of a rockery, an artificial lake, and a library. It is decorated with corridors, pavilions, and bookstores that are intertwined. Of course, there is no shortage of various flowers, plants, and green trees. This can be A scholar's 'Royal Courtyard'.
In order to ensure a certain level of safety, the Library Garden has a walled courtyard with only one south gate. Above the gate are the words "Book Library Garden" and a plaque personally written by Zhu Houzhao.
The purpose of establishing this garden is engraved on the stone wall on the left, which is also a famous quote.
Books are like medicine. Good reading can cure stupidity.
There is also a text on the stone wall on the right, which mainly records how the emperor decided to build a library garden at that time. Among them, the name of the official responsible for this matter, Shaofu Zhang Chi, appears.
March brings spring and flowers bloom.
People from the Shenwu Guard and the Jinyi Guard were standing inside and outside the Library Garden.
Nowadays, it is not uncommon for the emperor to leave the palace again. The library garden project cost the court millions of taels of silver, so you must come and see it no matter what.
The entire structure of the garden is an oval, with mountains, water and bamboo forests in the middle. It is divided into left and right sides, with Confucianism on the left and miscellaneous studies on the right.
All the way down the stone road, there is a sage garden in the Confucian Institute, where the works of Confucius, Mencius, Zhu Zi and others are placed according to their names.
The Sage Garden is divided by dynasty further down, so there will be differences between Han Fu, Tang poetry, and Song poetry. Some literary masters and historical books of that era have been collected.
The miscellaneous garden is simpler to build and is divided by majors, such as medicine, military science, agriculture, physics, weapons, geography, arithmetic, etc.
These independent courtyard buildings have different styles, but what they have in common is that a large vat is placed at the front entrance, filled with water, so that if a fire occurs, water can be obtained immediately to extinguish the fire and minimize losses.
In addition to books, there are also some necessary shops in the library garden, which are opened by the library garden itself, such as simple restaurants, four treasures of the study shop, paper umbrella shops, etc.
Reading is free, but everything here costs money, and this business is not open to private individuals. Anyway, I can get some money back, thinking that I can earn back the wages of the management and maintenance staff.
Although there is no charge for reading, in order to carry out necessary management, there are requirements for those who enter. That is, those who come in must register and indicate which kindergarten they go to. In this way, a voucher will be issued and they can enter the kindergarten with this certificate. When you come out after reading, you must also indicate whether you are leaving or going to another garden. There will also be a voucher for this.
This can leave traces. If the books in the garden are stolen or damaged, you can accurately locate who has entered the garden.
Beware of villains rather than gentlemen. Only by being meticulous in doing things can you have the possibility of success.
Of course, Zhu Houzhao didn't need these things when he came here.
He came in mainly to check three points. One was whether tables and benches were sufficient for reading books. The second was the collection and classification of books. The third was overall safety. For example, there should be no places near the walls. Tall trees, this is basic common sense.
The emperor followed the cabinet chief Yang Yiqing, the Minister of Rites Lin Han, and the Shaofu Ling Gu Zuo.
These are all departments directly related to the library. For such less important matters, Wang Hao and Wang Bing do not have to accompany them. They also have to discuss the government affairs at hand with their subordinates just like the emperor.
It is not necessary for everyone to follow the emperor all the time.
Zhu Houzhao first went to the Saint's Garden, which was a required action. Here he mentioned another picture as a gift to everyone who came to study:
Learned martial arts and goods from the imperial family.
"Your Majesty's calligraphy has improved again." Mr. Yang Ge said the truth.
Zhu Houzhao still practices regularly.
But that was just a simple practice when cultivating sentiments, "Just write it simply. I don't want to be Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. Whether the handwriting is good or not is not the key."
"Your Majesty, shall I hang this calligraphy in the Saint's Garden? This will also be an encouragement to those who come here to study." Zhang Chi, an official of the Shaofu, suggested.
"It's okay, you can take care of it. Zhang Chi,"
"I'm here."
"Today Mr. Yang Ge, Li Shang and the Young Master are all here. The importance of the library garden is no less than one hundred thousand soldiers and horses, but if it is to be more important than one hundred thousand soldiers and horses, it will take at least ten years of work. After the garden is completed, You are the leader of the garden and are usually responsible for management. Management mainly involves three aspects. One is to ensure the normal order of people entering and exiting. This is a place for reading and no chaos is allowed. The other is to treat people who make a living in the library garden well. When recruiting workers, What is the salary? Don’t default or deduct it; third, do a good job in maintenance and cleaning. Books will get damaged if they are turned over frequently. They must be repaired or replaced. This cannot be stopped. The environment of the library garden must also be fresh and clean, and it must also be fire-proof and Moisture-proof and insect-proof. In short, don’t let a library garden become a landscape building. I will come every once in a while, and if there is any problem, I will come to you.”
Zhang Chi handed over his hand: "Your Majesty, don't worry. The library contains my hard work. Just like my child, I will do my best to take good care of him."
"A man must be responsible for what he said." Zhu Houzhao pointed at him with his finger, and then turned to look at the minister he brought over, "You also heard what he said. If the library garden is destroyed by someone, then find the person who destroyed it. , but first we must punish him for the crime of inadequate supervision.”
Yang Yiqing and others had nothing to say.
This is the style of the emperor now, which is very simple, but also very crude. If he focuses on a problem, he will find a person. If he does it well, he will be promoted, but if he does not do it well, he will be punished. So there was no surprise for them, including Zhang Chi.
"Your Majesty, would you like to go outside again? There are also stone tables and benches in the corridor. The scenery is pleasant and you can also read."
"Okay, let's take a look."
…
The emperor was out and no one could be found inside or outside the Forbidden City, which made the harem anxious.
Queen Xia patted Concubine Shu's hand: "I have asked someone to look for her. This is a happy event. Your Majesty will definitely be happy to hear it."
Concubine Shu is the Shen family. She was selected into the palace because she looked like Qiu Yun. It has been two years since she finally felt something in her belly.
