So, Zhang Mingwei nodded, smiled and said to Emperor Chongzhen, "These days, when I look at the archives, I do think of a few more. The first one I want to recommend to Your Majesty is fellow countryman Min Hongxue, who was the original assistant to Wen Tiren."
This Min Hongxue was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Wanli. He served as many local officials. He once patrolled Yunnan, managed military affairs in Jianchang, Bijie, Dongchuan and other places, and supervised the pay of Sichuan noble soldiers. They also built roads in Yunnan and Guizhou and other places, and promoted schools to educate the poor people. In this way, they assimilated the indigenous people in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty, reduced the chances of rebellion, and lowered the cost of deploying troops to counter rebellion.
Later, he was promoted by Wen Tiren, the first minister, and made him the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs to control the power of the DPRK. However, this attracted fierce impeachment from the Donglin Party and the Zhou Yanru Party. Therefore, he had to resign not long after he took office. Township. Later, Wen Tiren was also kicked out of the court. Therefore, Min Hongxue was completely forgotten by the court. According to the original historical development, Min Hongxue also died in the year when the Ming Dynasty fell.
In his introduction to Emperor Chongzhen, Zhang Mingwei mainly explained Min Hongxue's local governance, especially the policies of road construction and education in Yunnan and Guizhou. This is a fundamental solution to the rebellion of the minority people in the southwest, but in later generations, there was not much public voice. Just like the Battle of Changli, it has no reputation in later generations.
After finishing speaking, Zhang Mingwei said with emotion, "It's just that Min Hongxue was a little old and was kicked out of the court. Even though Wen Tiren from the same hometown became the chief minister, he died in the end. I wonder if he is still willing to come out?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen's face suddenly turned red. Naturally, the dismissal of these important ministers must be approved by him. Obviously, he was once again blinded by his subordinates and made a wrong decision.
After a slight embarrassment, Emperor Chongzhen said sincerely, "When the Ming Dynasty is in crisis, it is in urgent need of talents. I personally wrote a decree and I will definitely ask him to help me again!"
Indeed, with enough sincerity, there probably won't be any problems.
After Zhang Mingwei nodded and said it was okay, Emperor Chongzhen asked him eagerly, "Sir, is there anything else?"
"There is another one!" Zhang Mingwei heard this and said to him again, "Fang Yuegong, the prefect of Songjiang, is now arrested and imprisoned for embezzling three thousand taels of silver. However, as far as I know, he is serving as the prefect of Songjiang. During this period, not only did he strike hard to pacify the pirates and pirates in Songjiang Prefecture, but he also built a stone pond to prevent sea tides for the local people. Even in my time in later generations, the local people are still grateful to him..."
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen's face became a little sad. Why do good officials suffer misfortune? This is another person who can do practical things, but ends up in jail again.
"... When building the nine-mile-long stone pond, the local government certainly didn't have that much money, so he visited the local squires every day and used hard and soft tactics. He stipulated that wealthy households with hundreds of acres of land would be persuaded to lose eight cents of silver per mu. For the purpose of building a pond, I just took the money to build the stone pond from their hands..."
Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately remembered what Zhang Mingwei had said before about Lu Xiangsheng's grain-based policy and Sun Chuanting's policy of replenishing taxes in Qingtun. Just like Fang Yuegong's method, they essentially started from the rich. The squire looks for money on his own without burdening the poor people.
"... In addition, Fang Yue Gong eliminated the abuses and did not allow the yamen and tolerance levels to deduct deductions at all levels. He also visited the supervisors at any time to check whether all the silver coins issued were paid, so that the Shitang project was successfully completed."
When Zhang Mingwei said this, he commented with emotion, "In this troubled world, this is one of the few practical and meaningful things that can be accomplished! However, because of this, he offended a large number of powerful people, so he became He was imprisoned for embezzling three thousand taels of silver."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was about to speak when he heard Zhang Mingwei say again, "According to some records, I don't know whether they are true or false. When Li Zicheng went to Beijing to pursue stolen money and pay, he was the only one who couldn't find any money in Fang Yuegong's mansion, no matter what No matter how hard he was tortured, there was no harvest. In the end, Thief Li had to admit that he was an upright official and let him go, but then he hanged himself."
The records of Fang Yuegong in later generations mainly focus on the stone pond he built when he was in Shanghai, which benefited later generations. But it was indeed not easy to achieve this in the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Chongzhen sighed after hearing this. But soon, he cheered up and said, "I will immediately issue an order to restore his innocence and let him do something meaningful for me!"
Having said this, he asked with earnestness, "Sir, is there anything else?"
Having fired so many officials at one time, although there is indeed no shortage of officials, what he wants is capable and capable officials who can help him revive the Ming Dynasty, not replace them with another group of officials who have nothing to do with their work. .
For this reason, even if he was proven blind again, he would not care.
Zhang Mingwei looked at the expectant look on Emperor Chongzhen's face, thought for a moment and said, "The dismissal of so many officials this time is a demonstration of His Majesty's majesty. However, thunder alone cannot last long, and we need the grace of rain and dew..."
Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but nodded and listened quietly to Zhang Mingwei's words.
"... The Martyrs' Shrine is almost completed. To rectify Lu Xiangsheng's name and enter the Martyrs' Shrine to enjoy the incense of the Ming Dynasty forever, Your Majesty might as well come here with great fanfare and let the world know what His Majesty likes and dislikes." Zhang Mingwei said while thinking, " In addition, more than a hundred members of the Lu Xiangsheng family died fighting against the imperialists. Several of his brothers also died. It would be better to promote them with gifts and let them uphold Lu Xiangsheng's ambition and serve the court."
Emperor Chongzhen heard this and was convinced that it would be better to use Lu Xiangsheng's brothers than those who just eat corpses. So, without saying a word, he agreed.
Later, when he wanted to squeeze Zhang Mingwei, three people waiting for orders outside the palace gate had already arrived.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to put aside this idea and interview the three people recommended by Zhang Mingwei first.
Zuo Maodi and Du Yinxi are both in their forties, and they have basically reached the level of experience and knowledge. Naturally, during the conversation with Emperor Chongzhen, they showed their actual level and won the favor of Emperor Chongzhen.
Especially Emperor Chongzhen's understanding based on the imminent demise of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhang Mingwei's analysis of the demise of the Ming Dynasty that he had popularized. From the questions and assessments in these aspects, the answers of these two people also satisfied Emperor Chongzhen.
After the interview, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but turn his head to look at Zhang Mingwei, and said with a smile, "The talents recommended by sir are very much to my liking!"
Hearing him say this further confirmed that Zhang Mingwei recommended them as their benefactor. Regarding this, both Zuo Maodi and Du Yinxi were very grateful to Zhang Mingwei in their hearts.
Because they themselves also knew from the conversation with the emperor that they performed well and it was time for the emperor to reuse them.
However, the two of them never imagined how useful they would be!
Emperor Chongzhen turned around, first looked at the Prime Minister Zuo Maodi, and said to him cordially, "I have just dismissed the incompetent Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and now you are in charge of the appointment and removal of officials in the world for me. I am responsible for the important task of rectifying the government." Are you willing to do it?”
"..." Zuo Maodi could hardly believe his ears. He is just the censor of a seventh-rank official in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Logically speaking, he is patrolling the world. At most, he can be a governor or governor, which is already a big deal. Unexpectedly, the emperor wanted to appoint him as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
You must know that the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the appointment and removal assessment of officials below the fifth rank were under the control of the Ministry of Personnel. The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel has the honorific title of "Heavenly Official". In terms of power, he can compete with the chief minister. There are even some officials who, if given the choice, would rather take the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel than the position of Chief Assistant.
But then again, with great power comes greater responsibility. The official administration of the Ming Dynasty was so corrupted that the official minister could never escape responsibility. It was too difficult to change the Ming Dynasty's officialdom.
Zuo Maodi, who had come back to his senses, naturally knew how heavy the emperor's responsibility was to regulate the government. Seeing the emperor looking at him, he suddenly straightened his clothes, not caring that this was the order, and immediately replied: "We must do our best to manage the staff for His Majesty!"
When they entered the palace just now, they had seen so many officials being driven out by the royal guards. From an official's point of view, the risks of being an official in the Chongzhen Dynasty were actually quite high. But he didn't think about it at all and agreed.
Du Yinxi and Yan Yingyuan were dumbfounded when they saw Zuo Maodi being promoted to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. What a leapfrog promotion!
In fact, it's not like Emperor Chongzhen has never done this before. Zhou Yanru was promoted by him beyond his level. With only a few years of official experience, he still promoted him to the position of chief minister.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen turned to look at Du Yinxi and said to him, "Is your Majesty willing to join the cabinet to take charge of the world's affairs, counsel secrets for me, and control the world for me?"
The cabinet assistant minister was originally the emperor's secretary, but gradually evolved into the "foreign minister". The draft of the memorial to the world in his hand, that is, the corresponding opinions on how to deal with it, was the emperor's most important reference and affected the situation of the world.
In other words, when the emperor handles world affairs, the most important thing is to follow the advice of the cabinet. Even if the emperor is a little lazy, the cabinet is actually in charge of world affairs. Of course, in terms of the balance of power, the Council of Ceremonies checks and balances the power of the cabinet.
However, for example, Zhang Juzheng, he defeated the Supervisor of Ceremonies and gained power over the world.
Compared with Zuo Maodi's calm acceptance, Du Yinxi was just the prefect of Changsha, and he had never been an official in the capital. He was about to join the cabinet, which really shocked him.
"I have little knowledge. If I suddenly join the cabinet, I'm afraid I will disappoint His Majesty's high expectations!" For some reason, Du Yinxi was sweating profusely at this time.
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