This banquet didn't cost much, but it produced a lot of rewards. It at least boosted the general's confidence.
The civil servant group felt a little uncomfortable, but they did not react. In their view, the loss of political soil could not be changed by the emperor's attitude alone.
A thousand words are said and ten thousand words are said. The role of generals is to fight. There is no war to fight. Even if the emperor talks about it in vain, it will not help.
Military generals in troubled times and civil servants in prosperous times have been the same since ancient times!
What's more, more than half of the generals who hold military power are in local guards and important border towns. They are also restrained by guarding eunuchs, and there are also royal horse supervisors in the Beijing camp to check and balance.
It can be said that in this temple, whether it is the number of people or the momentum, the civil servants are absolutely dominant.
'What's the harm in just letting them do it once? '
Most of the ministers have this mentality and are very contemptuous...
Zhu Jianshen intended to expand the influence of this battle. He gritted his teeth and issued rewards as high as 500,000 taels. In addition, using this excuse, he promoted and replaced a large number of middle- and lower-level generals, making the lower-level generals younger.
At the same time, he did not offend the elderly and provided good financial compensation, which was very popular.
In addition, the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief, Zhao Fu, were granted the title of Marquis of Wu Jing!
Deputy Commander He Yong was promoted to Governor of the Left due to his military merits and was granted the title of Jing Anbo!
After doing this, Zhu Jianshen did not give up, and then started the deployment of the Hetao: withdraw the three thousand battalions, let each tribe select warriors to fill the vacancies of the three thousand battalions, and then transfer thousands of Shenji Battalion soldiers to the Hetao!
At the same time, Zhu Yong was granted the title of Chief Military Officer of Hetao, Prime Minister of Military Affairs of Hetao, and was promoted to the title of Marquis of Funing!
…
Zhu Jianshen's series of actions were too fast, and they were carried out almost at the same time. His appointment and dismissal were all based on the purpose.
By the time the civil servants group reacted, it was a done deal.
This made them very angry. The little emperor couldn't afford it, so he launched a sneak attack again!
Since the last business tax inspection, they were fooled by the young emperor again. It was only now that he had to pay attention to the young emperor's skills and abilities.
They even saw the shadow of Taizu and Taizong in this young emperor.
So decisive!
If you don't take action, that's it. If you take action, you will get something.
And judging from the efficient issuing of orders, it was obvious that these had been planned a long time ago and had been simulated countless times before they were caught off guard.
They admitted that they were careless again this time, and at the same time, they also extinguished the mentality of "it doesn't matter if you let the generals do it once".
We can't let it go anymore!
The generals can't give in, and the emperor can't give in either!
If no measures are taken and this model continues to develop, it is debatable whether military generals can rise, but civilian officials are destined to decline.
This is unacceptable to them. Think about how brilliant the civil servants were in the early days of the Zhengtong Dynasty.
But as time progressed and the imperial power changed, not only did they fail to make further progress, but their decline became more obvious.
I can no longer sit still and wait for death...
~
This time, Zhu Jianshen relied on his sword to take a different approach and successfully won another victory.
Of course, he also paid a heavy price.
This time, the rewards, promotions, and pensions for the soldiers were all spent on internal funds.
Of course, if Zhu Jianshen is really determined, he can indeed force the Ministry of Household Affairs to provide some money, but that will alert the enemy, and it is hard to say how much money can be squeezed out.
In order to be foolproof and ensure that the decree took effect quickly, Zhu Jianshen could only grit his teeth and grit his teeth.
Secondly, the civil servants were completely awakened.
They no longer had any illusions, developed a strong resistance to him as the emperor, and began to fight in the ring.
The drama of kneeling at the palace gate is happening again!
There are three demands:
First, the emperor should not issue decrees frequently. If everything is arbitrary, what should the ministers do?
Second, the emperor should not put most of the tax revenue into internal funds, but should take it from the people and use it for the people. The wealth of the country should be regarded as private property, which is not the behavior of a wise king.
Third, ask the emperor to diligently attend the Sutra banquet, study the sacred knowledge, rule the world with the knowledge of the saints, rectify the sacred heart, and obey the world.
Zhu Jianshen was furious! He agreed to reopen the sutra feast, and also said that he would seriously consider the distribution of national tax revenue. As for the central decree... he also promised to use it with caution in the future!
But this time the civil servants didn’t really buy it, and they were just talking without proof, and they needed proof.
Of course Zhu Jianshen would not issue an edict, so how could he do such a stupid thing as to restrain himself?
: I have made a concession, what else do you want?
Naturally, the officials refused: Your concession is too vague. Do you dare to be more specific?
It is impossible to be specific. If you continue to force me, I will impose a salary penalty... Zhu Jianshen issued an order: Don't kneel down, go back and work hard, reward!
Those who delay official duties by asking for their first names will be punished!
Upon hearing this decree, the already suffocating civil servants became even more furious, with nearly a thousand people kneeling at the palace gate.
When Zhu Jianshen saw this posture, he immediately became scared and stopped talking about the fine. However, he did not compromise and chose not to act.
If you want to kneel down, just kneel down. I don’t care about you, right?
Do we want to kneel down? We want you to be a wise king, okay?
The struggle between the scumbag and the jealous wife lasted for more than ten days, and Li Qing finally went to court.
He knew that despite Zhu Jianshen's arrogance, he could hardly stand it anymore and had to divert the conflict.
Li Qing did not play tricks. As soon as he came to the court, he led the cabinet to wage war against the six ministries and disintegrated the civil service group from within.
This is almost a clear sign, and of course the civil servants understand it, but they can't help but think that everyone has selfish motives!
Peng Shi, Shang Ren, and Liu Dingzhi responded immediately, taking advantage of the Six Ministries' war with the emperor to stab him in the back...
The Metropolitan Procuratorate has always been unwilling to be left alone. No matter whether the Six Ministries are interfering with the Cabinet or the Cabinet is fighting against the Six Ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will always help - Gong Huo!
Based on this, everyone knew Li Qing's plan, but due to the selfish instinct of human nature, the interest alliance formed by the civil servants quickly fell apart.
What started as a common enemy to put pressure on the emperor turned into a power struggle, allowing Zhu Jianshen to escape.
As soon as Zhu Jianshen turned from a contestant to a referee, he immediately began to point fingers and further divide the civil servant group.
However, under Li Qing's guidance, the storm did not last long and came to an end in less than a month.
The cabinet won a small victory, and the six ministries did not suffer any losses. However, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the little brother who was so angry, lost all the benefits and even suffered a big beating.
It's a bit miserable, but it's not unfair at all. It's obviously not a circle of people who are forced to work together. If you don't get beaten, who will?
However, the turmoil subsided, but the relationship between the monarch and his ministers did not ease. The resistance of the civil servants to the emperor was still strong...
This way,
Li Hong and Zhu Wanqing also spoke out and set the wedding date in two years. No matter what happens by then, they must make concessions for it.
Zhu Wanqing sent a letter to Jinling and asked her father to send someone to pick her up. Li Hong was also preparing to take up a post in Hetao.
Li Qing resolved the rivalry between emperor and ministers and resumed his ordinary life. Except for going to the cabinet for an hour every day to handle official business, he had a leisurely life all day long.
~
In the palace, Zhu Jianshen rarely had time to relax and took Zhen'er for a walk in the imperial garden.
Zhen'er was still in a low mood, with no trace of joy on her face. No matter what Zhu Jianshen did, she could not change her depressed state.
"Zhen'er, you can't..." Zhu Jian was tired and smiled bitterly: "I'm sad that you are always like this, so don't dwell on it anymore, okay?"
"It's my fault that I am making the Emperor sad," Zhen'er said quietly, "I am now old and frail, and it is an eyesore to the Emperor."
"...You know, I didn't mean that." Zhu Jianshen grabbed her hand and looked at her tenderly, "All the women in the world are not as good as you. I like you and it has nothing to do with your beauty."
The two looked at each other affectionately. For a long time, Zhen'er was defeated and threw herself into his arms and sobbed...
Zhu Jianshen sighed softly and just hugged her and patted her back gently without comforting her.
After a long time, Zhen'er raised her head and looked up at him with hazy tearful eyes.
Zhu Jianshen gently wiped away her tears and chuckled: "Zhen'er looks so beautiful when she cries."
Zhen'er couldn't help but burst into tears and smiled, and gave him an angry look, "No way, my concubines are already old, so I can't compare to them..."
Her tone became calmer and finally turned into a sigh: "Alas...!"
This sigh contains too much.
After sighing, she was relieved.
Accepting the fact that her son died in infancy, she also accepted the current situation of her old age and sexual decline...
"emperor."
"Well, you say."
"I want to go to the Huanyi Bureau." Zhen'er said softly.
Zhu Jianshen nodded: "Show off!"
…
clothes bureau,
The arrival of the emperor made everyone even more cautious for fear of something going wrong, even the eunuchs in charge of management.
Especially the first eunuch, when he saw Zhen'er again, he was almost frightened out of his wits.
Be a good boy, I was so brave back then... He almost lowered his head to the ground, for fear of being recognized by the imperial concubine.
Fortunately, Zhu Jianshen and Zhen'er walked away quickly, otherwise they would have scared him to death.
The two of them didn't notice the eunuch at all. They walked arm in arm and fell to their knees wherever they went.
After walking around for a while, Zhu Jianshen had a sudden idea and said, "Zhen'er, let's go to the place where we met that time?"
"Hmm...ok." Zhen'er nodded lightly...
The warehouse is very large, as big as several houses put together. The washed clothes are sorted into categories and stacked in various areas.
Due to the obstruction of sight, the people in the warehouse did not come over to see the gift immediately. When Wynn saw this, he shouted: "The Emperor is here."
Suddenly, the relatively quiet warehouse became noisy. Then, an older palace maid led two palace ladies and two young eunuchs, hurried over and knelt down to salute:
"Slaves, long live my emperor, and my queen...!"
Zhu Jianshen was quite disappointed, glared at Huai En, waved his hand and said, "Everyone, get up, you go out first."
After a pause, he pointed at Wynn and said, "You go out too, you don't have any discernment."
"...Yes, I obey the order." Wynn also followed the slaves and retreated angrily.
Zhen'er suddenly tugged on Zhu Jianshen's sleeve and pointed at the little eunuch with the shortest head, "Your Majesty..."
Zhu Jianshen looked in the direction she pointed, but only saw a short back, which disappeared immediately. He quickly shouted: "Wynn!"
"The slave is here." Wynn came in again.
"Go and bring over the... smallest slave."
"Yes." Wynn went out again.
After a while, Wynn came in again, "Your Majesty, is it him?"
Zhu Jianshen looked at Zhen'er.
"It's him." Zhen'er said.
Zhu Jianshen nodded, "Wynn, please go out."
"Yes..." Wynn went out again.
Zhu Jianshen then looked at the little slave and saw that he was wearing loose and unfitting clothes. He was estimated to be about six or seven years old. He was kneeling on the ground and did not dare to raise his head. His small body was trembling slightly.
"Raise your head!" Zhu Jianshen said.
The little guy trembled and slowly raised his head.
Zhu Jianshen saw his appearance clearly and couldn't help but be startled: What a beautiful little guy.
