Wanli Xinming

Chapter 404

Zhu Yijun did not communicate his thoughts on political reform with Liang Menglong—it is not yet the time.After discussing the administration of officials, Liang Menglong talked about the word "quan", and initially planned to further subdivide the functions of the current nine ministries, including the Privy Council, re-plan and increase or decrease according to the actual situation.

When talking about the word "Fa", Liang Menglong said: "After the Taizu, the "Da Gao" is not used. The ancestors and clans made edicts and legislation, or based on the "Da Ming Decree", "Da Ming Law" and "Ming Hui Dian". The "Testing Method" proposed by the King of Zhongxing County has its origin in the "Hui Dian"." Zhu Yijun nodded in agreement.

Liang Menglong sighed and said, "Since the reform, the industry and commerce have prospered, and there have been many disputes. The household orders, household laws, and historical precedents in the "Daming Decree" and "Daming Law" are difficult to deal with today's civil disputes. I think that for the sake of the overall situation of the reform, we need to revise The matter of the law is imminent. This matter has been discussed for some time between the government and the opposition."

Zhu Yijun nodded in agreement, and agreed: "If there is no law, the merchants and the people will sue, and the local officials and subordinate officials will judge at will, and the merchants and people must have suffered a lot." Liang Menglong said: "Yes."

Seeing that Longyan was very happy, Liang Menglong boldly continued: "Since the emperor came to the throne, he has issued dozens of edicts and orders such as the "Forbidden Foot-Binding Edict", "Private School Management Measures", "Daming Newspaper Management Regulations", etc., only as "Daming Forefathers of the past dynasties, such edicts are even more numerous, and there are many contradictions in them. When the local government judges a case, some criminal friends who are familiar with the relevant laws and regulations quote such edicts. The Metropolitan Procuratorate still can't pick any mistakes, this is a serious problem."

"That's why I said that this political reform is based on the word 'law'."

Zhu Yijun was shocked when he heard this.Look at Liang Menglong, waiting for him to come up with a solution.Liang Menglong didn't dare to look at the emperor, looked straight at the emperor's dragon robe, took a deep breath and said: "I am thinking wildly these days, it may not be appropriate-I think that the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" should be revised and subdivided into "Xing", "Shang", " "Household", "Bing", etc., and made "Lügao" as its general outline!"

Zhu Yijun couldn't hide the excitement on his face, he hurriedly turned around and looked at the glass window of Dongnuange.Although Liang Menglong added a prelude to "thinking wildly", his heart was beating wildly after he finished speaking, and he didn't dare to look at the emperor again, and bowed his head in silence.

Zhu Yijun calmed down and said with a smile: "The Taizu ordered that 'the law should not be changed lightly', 'children and grandchildren should abide by it, and if the ministers have a slight discussion on changing it, they will be charged with the crime of disrupting the ancestral system'. Mr. Mingquan is quite courageous." The voice gradually lowered, and Liang Menglong clearly heard a very soft sigh.

On the fifth day of November, the emperor formally issued an order to nominate Liang Menglong as Prime Minister, and Xu Ting pushed it.On the next day, without the presence of the emperor, all ministers above the third rank in the court held a secret ballot in the Huangji Hall. Liang Menglong, who was supported by Luo Wanhua, received [-]% of the votes and successfully became the third prime minister after the Wanli Great Reform. Minister.

If the summons and banquets on the first day of junior high school are still common—after all, there are eighty if not a hundred courtiers who have the same experience, which is not too rare.However, after the early court on the third day of November, the emperor stayed with Liang Menglong again when the court was dispersed, which was a clear signal.

In just five days, Liang Menglong's power expanded rapidly.Those above Shangshu are still a bit reserved, waiting for Liang Menglong to write a letter or post a post; the sedan chairs below the servant have already been lined up at the gate of Liang's mansion for half a mile.

Hearing this sigh, Liang Menglong couldn't hide the turmoil in his heart, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, although the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" was made by Taizu's painstaking care and attention for nearly twenty years, he ordered it to be 'not published. However, the later descendants made laws because of the law, and the rules were born out of the rules, resulting in numerous regulations, treacherous officials were deceived by fate, and they used the rules to replace the laws, arbitrarily serious—how can the people of the world be blamed?"

Then he knelt down with a plop: "I would like to spare no effort to be a pair of monarchs and ministers with Your Majesty, so that the king of Zhongxing County will not be more beautiful than before!"

The second is that the process of appointing prime ministers and ministers has a higher standard than the "Xuanma Prime Minister" in the Tang and Song Dynasties: above the seventh rank in Beijing, all of them watched the ceremony in the square outside Huangjimen.When the prime minister saluted, the emperor stood up to receive the salute.When the edict was promulgated, the emperor personally held the edict, and the prime minister knelt down to receive the edict. The emperor bowed and said: "Mr. will be tired of state affairs, sir!"

But the fact that Liang Menglong was given a banquet seemed to have grown wings. In just two days, no one in the capital knew about it.If some people still don't understand the meaning of this banquet, there is the "tap water" to explain it.

At this time, the sun near noon penetrated through the glass windows of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, as if there were thousands of dust flying in the beam of light.Zhu Yijun turned around to support Liang Menglong, and said in a deep voice: "I believe that Mingquan's wish today will be recorded in the history of the country and set an example for future generations!"

Zhang Juzheng had no complaints, and worked so hard until his death. The most important reason was that after the reform, the Zhengshitang had the seal of "Zhengshitang Order"—this is the most essential difference between the Zhengshitang and the "cabinet".

The audience process lasted nearly two hours, and Liang Menglong was given a banquet by the emperor halfway, and had a few drinks with the emperor.

After Taizu abolished the Prime Minister, the term "Prime Minister" has disappeared in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty for 200 years.Despite the major reforms, Zhu Yijun still did not completely break through the ancestral system, and did not give Zhang Juzheng the title of "Prime Minister" in the end.

On the ninth day of November, the early court was dismissed, and the Ministry of Rites set up a seat for the emperor at Huangjimen, and issued the edict of appointment to the prime minister and ministers.

The prime minister held the imperial edict and replied: "The minister obeys the imperial edict. He must be loyal and do his best, assist the management, and do his duty respectfully!"

Another reason is that the emperor participated in the design of the appointment etiquette of prime ministers and ministers.Two of the things are most exciting:
One is that after the emperor appoints the prime minister, he will worship the ancestors. The ceremony is similar to the victory ceremony: the emperor and the prime minister fast and bathe three days in advance.On the day of the day, the emperor wore a great dress, first went to the first hall, and paid homage to the ancestors-this was the most important thing for civil servants.

Today's palace ban is many times stricter than when the emperor first came to the throne.If the emperor ordered the news to be blocked, no one would tell about the palace ban—for more than ten years, anyone who despised the palace ban and talked nonsense had a miserable end.

With this big seal, the prime minister is the prime minister, and Zhang Juzheng doesn't think it matters whether the name is "prime minister".

During this question and answer, although the prime minister knelt down to receive the edict, the emperor stood up to accept the ceremony and had to bow down!After this kind of ceremony, it doesn't matter whether the title of "Prime Minister" is "Prime Minister". On the contrary, it is the glory of "excellent etiquette" that makes every courtier's bladder swell when he thinks about it.

Of course, the etiquette does not end after this ceremony.There are also some new rules of etiquette: for example, when the prime minister travels, the prince and below must avoid the road when they meet.That is to say, both the guard of honor and the sedan chair have to wait at the side of the road, and the guard of honor and the sedan chair of the prime minister will pass first.

Others, such as the prime minister was seriously ill, the emperor came to ask about the illness and gave him medicine; the prime minister passed away during his tenure, and the emperor drove to hang; The "tradition" left after the interaction between the emperor and Zhang Juzheng.

Including the New Year's Eve, the emperor must think about the prime minister from the door god to the big and small gifts. One of the charges for Zhang Siwei's impeachment was that he had received huge gifts from the emperor, but he still failed to "diligently fulfill his duties."

(End of this chapter)