Daming: Old Zhu, we agreed not to rush!

Chapter 242 Earl?How is the Duke?

Some things, no matter how much you guess before there is no evidence, are false.

For example, the matter of the empty printing case was due to the anti-corruption system proposed by Zhu Biao before, and many people guessed that the source behind it was Su Jing.

But speculation is not fact.

What kind of role Su Jing played in it is unknown.

Maybe it was just a casual remark, maybe he guided Zhu Biao to formulate all the plans.

Or maybe the speculation is just false.

This matter has nothing to do with Su Jing at all.

Now, Zhu Biao directly announced this matter thoroughly, and the root cause behind it was Su Jing.

Empty printing case!

That was the biggest case in Ming Dynasty that killed hundreds of officials and relatives, and it affected a wide range of people, which had never happened before.

Zhu Biao naturally has no officials who dare to hold grudges, but Su Jing is different.

At this moment, many officials who were previously neutral began to alienate Su Jing in their hearts.

The anti-corruption system, for their work, the workload has increased, and at the same time, they will be accused of corruption if they are not careful.

Originally, working under Zhu Yuanzhang was hard enough, but now it is not only hard work, but also careful.

It's really tiring to be an official!

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Cui Liang was stunned for a moment, but did not answer.

Because the empty seal case is actually just Zhu Yuanzhang's anger. For officials, or for officials who need to deal with practical affairs, the empty seal method is to improve administrative efficiency.

Of course, while improving administrative efficiency, it is unclear what else they want to do.

Always, on the matter of the Kongyin case, the officials did not dare to disobey the angry Zhu Yuanzhang, but at the same time they were not so firm in their stand.

"Cui Shangshu, what's the matter? Isn't this enough?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Cui Liang.

Zhu Yuanzhang has a deep memory of the empty printing case.

After dealing with that large number of officials, he also highly appreciated the anti-corruption system that Su Jing taught Zhu Biao to designate.

He didn't like Cui Liang's attitude at the moment.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe that the crown prince's contribution to this matter has little to do with Su Jing, so it is not enough."

Cui Liang answered with cupped hands.

This remark was very clever, it didn't directly say the right or wrong of the empty seal case, but only talked about the attribution of credit.

Indeed, the formulation of the anti-corruption system was drafted by Zhu Biao. Later, when the investigation and implementation of the empty printing case was carried out, Zhu Biao even personally did it.

The credit goes to Zhu Biao, which is quite reasonable.

Most importantly, Zhu Yuanzhang was not dissatisfied with this answer.

"Biaoer, continue talking."

Zhu Yuanzhang just glanced at Cui Liang, then motioned to Zhu Biao to continue.

Zhu Biao nodded slightly, and then continued: "The moving pulley block of the Ministry of Industry was created by Master Su. It can save manpower and greatly increase the speed of construction. What contribution does Cui Shangshu think it has?"

The moving pulley block, that is, the matter of the prince lifting the tripod in front of the Fengtian Hall, was also widely spread among the officials.

Regarding the movable pulley, the officials of the Ming Dynasty didn't care much, and the Ministry of Industry knew more about it.

After all, it is an engineering project, and this kind of knowledge still belongs to the category of strange skills and obscene skills.

Orthodox scholars come to study the Four Books and Five Classics.

But the matter of the princes holding up the big tripod is not a matter of tools, it is the proof of God's blessing.

Several princes actually used only one person's strength to lift a large copper tripod weighing hundreds of catties. If such a deed is casually publicized, it will be a great event that can be passed down forever.

At that time, after several princes of Zhu Xi successfully lifted the tripod, Zhu Yuanzhang received many compliments, all kinds of flattery, and all kinds of praise the next day.

"Zhang Shilang, what is the current application situation of the Ministry of Industry's movable pulley block?"

Zhu Biao asked Zhang Bing, the Minister of Rites, again.

Zhang Bing immediately replied: "His Royal Highness, now the movable pulley block has been widely used in various large-scale projects of the Ministry of Industry, and it is expected to save one-third of the manpower every year."

In the previous Ministry of Industry, there was still some resistance to the popularization of movable pulleys.

Because the movable pulley block saves manpower, it reduces the personnel power of the Ministry of Industry in disguise.

The number of personnel that could have been placed has now been reduced a lot.

However, this did not last long.

Because the Ministry of Households' year-end account review directly included the use of the movable pulley block.

As for the false reports and empty pay, there was no cover-up, and it was completely exposed.

In this case, although many people are scolding in their hearts, they still have to promote the pulley block honestly on the surface, otherwise it will be punished as corruption.

Hearing Zhang Bing's answer, Zhu Biao was very satisfied.

Back in the small courtyard in Lishui County, Zhu Biao had already calculated how much manpower this moving pulley block could save for large-scale construction in Ming Dynasty.

Basically in line with his expected situation.

Another credit, the officials in the Fengtian Hall were so shocked that they didn't know what to say.

Zhu Yuanzhang had planned for a long time to confer the title of uncle on Su Jing today.

Cui Liang stood in the middle, listening to Zhu Biao's detailed counting, and his mind was also a little buzzing.

He is not a member of the Huaixi Group, he just expresses his views from the standpoint of his Minister of Rites.

Originally, he thought that Zhu Yuanzhang's intention to grant Su Jing the title of uncle was an act of disregarding etiquette and completely destroying the official system of the Ming Dynasty.

Su Jing is not a servant of the dragon who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight the world, and it is not too much to accept any reward.

If this sets a precedent, if Zhu Yuanzhang wants to award rewards in the future, it will be a random mess.

On the issue of etiquette, he will not budge.

This kind of thing must be persisted, even if it makes Zhu Yuanzhang unhappy.

but now.

Cui Liang realized that he might have really underestimated Su Jing.

All these incidents were told by the prince Zhu Biao, each of which was a great contribution to Daming.

Indelible credit.

Listening to this, Cui Liang felt that there was nothing wrong with Zhu Yuanzhang's award.

"Cui Shangshu, what do you think?"

Zhu Biao asked Cui Liang.

Zhu Biao respected this Minister of Rites very much, and he also knew that his father Zhu Yuanzhang admired Cui Liang very much.

In fact, as long as it doesn't touch Zhu Yuanzhang's two nerves of corruption and rebellion, as long as other things make sense, Zhu Yuanzhang is willing to listen.

It is Zhu Yuanzhang who is arbitrary and dictatorial, but it is also Zhu Yuanzhang who accepts advice with an open mind.

Cui Liang paused for a moment, then bowed towards Zhu Biao and said, "Your Highness, I have no objection."

Cui Liang agreed!
Or rather, he was persuaded.

The Minister of Rites was convinced, and there was no objection from the Minister of Rites about Su Jing's canonization, which meant that there was no problem with the ritual system.

In Fengtian Hall, the faces of the officials changed.

Especially the minister of the Huaixi Group, many of them had rather ugly expressions on their faces.

Yongjia Hou Zhu Liangzu's face twitched, he really didn't expect that Su Jing would turn into Uncle Feng in just a short time.

Not long after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were many heroes.

There are no more than 6 dukes, no more than 28 marquises, and only 2 earls.

And many of them are dead now, and belong to posthumous seals.

It can be said that if Su Jing can really become an earl, this status will be raised immediately.

I thought that if Su Jing entered the court, at least he would have to develop for a while, but he didn't expect that he would be so big when he came up.

Cui Liang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, gave in, and it seemed that this matter could not be changed.

"I think it's wrong."

At this time, Li Shanchang came out suddenly, and he was a clear-cut opposition when he came up.

For a moment, the complexions of the officials in the palace became bright again.

Because before this, Li Shanchang had always had a retreating attitude, and he had no intention of confronting Su Shi at all.

Even when a group of people from the Huaixi Group flocked to his mansion, he still didn't let go.

At this time, no matter whether it was the Huaixi Group or other ministers, they were very surprised that Cui Liang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, had nothing to say.

Li Shanchang, Prime Minister Zuo, why did he make such a move at this time.

Even Hu Weiyong, who was not far behind Li Shanchang, was equally astonished.

But for many members of the Huaixi Group, Li Shanchang's behavior is tantamount to giving them hope.

Zhu Liangzu's eyes lit up, and he stared at Li Shanchang, very surprised, but after the surprise, he was delighted.

Li Shanchang didn't pay much attention to himself before, and he didn't seem to be so angry anymore.

Zhu Biao looked at Li Shanchang with some doubts in his expression.

Li Shanchang was also his teacher and taught him. In his opinion, Li Shanchang should not speak out at this moment.

"Shanchang, what do you think is wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang went straight to the point.

Li Shanchang's ability to become the head of the six princes naturally won the trust of Zhu Yuanzhang. Even though there was already suspicion about this meeting, it still held a lot of weight in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

This means that Li Shanchang dared to speak at this time.

Li Shanchang said respectfully: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I think that due to Su Jing's contribution, it is not enough to be named an earl, but can be named a marquis."

As soon as this remark came out, the atmosphere in Fengtian Temple changed again.

What do you mean?
It is not enough to be an earl, but also a marquis?

Many officials didn't react at the moment, and they didn't expect Li Shanchang to come out like this.

It is already a great honor to be named an earl for someone who is not a member of the Huaixi Group.

Liu Bowen, as one of Zhu Yuanzhang's greatest help in bringing down Ming Dynasty, is just an earl. Of course, there are many reasons for this, but it also shows that Zhu Yuanzhang did not start with him in Fengyang, Anhui and its surrounding areas. It is very difficult to confer a good title after the founding of the country.

Li Shanchang's proposal at this meeting not only surprised all the officials, but even Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were a little confused.

This is really quite puzzling.

"Prime Minister Zuo, I think the Earl is suitable. Is this Marquis too much?"

Cui Liang came forward again, but this time he was not against Zhu Yuanzhang, but against Li Shanchang.

Li Shanchang was not annoyed, he just turned his head to look at Cui Liang and said, "Cui Shangshu, Your Highness the Son of Heaven has not finished talking about Su Shi's merits. If you are not in a hurry, can you wait until His Majesty the Crown Prince finishes talking about Su Jing's merits?"

He didn't explain it at all, or rather, his explanation was very simple.

Su Jing's credit is even more than what is said now.

Cui Liang was slightly hesitant, while Li Shanchang said to Zhu Biao: "His Royal Highness, Su Jing should have made a lot of contributions, and I will not go overboard."

Zhu Biao nodded slightly, and continued: "Master Su created a wolf constitution, weaved a mandarin duck array, and specialized in defeating Japanese pirates. This year, I will solve the problem of Japanese pirates along the Shandong coast of Ming Dynasty."

Wolf constitution!

Mandarin duck array!
As soon as this thing was exported, the expressions of the military officers in Fengxian Hall all changed.

As a sharp weapon against Japanese pirates, this wolf constitution is actually a very advanced method of warfare, and naturally it can not only be used to deal with Japanese pirates.

The military generals of the various ministries of the Ming Dynasty knew something about it, and even many of them went to learn about it.

Now that Zhu Biao said that the wolf constitution and the mandarin duck formation were all created by Su Jing, their expressions were naturally quite exciting.

"Cui Shangshu, I know that you are not good at military formations, or you can ask the military attache of the court, what does this wolf constitution and mandarin duck formation really mean."

Li Shanchang said to Cui Liang.

"No need, I know about Lang Xian and Yuan Duck Formation, and I have also served as the prefect of Jinan. Although I don't say that I am good at army formation, I can understand it."

Cui Liang replied.

This being able to become the Minister of Rites, Cui Liang's resume is naturally quite good.

As early as the Yuan Dynasty, he served as governor of Zhejiang Province, then surrendered, then became the prefect of Jinan, and then went back because of his mother's worries.

He has never led troops in war, but he still has a reserve of knowledge in this area.

He also knows about wolf constitution and mandarin duck formation.

"Then Cui Shangshu thinks that these two things are enough?"

Li Shanchang continued to ask.

Cui Liang just glanced at Li Shanchang, then looked at Zhu Biao and said, "His Royal Highness, the power of the wolf constitution and mandarin duck array still needs to be verified. Maybe we can make a decision after this year's Shandong coastal battle report is published."

It's still the same as before, this credit is not insufficient, but it can't be truly reflected now, and we have to wait.

Zhu Yuanzhang listened to the confrontation between Li Shanchang and Cui Liang, and didn't say anything, just watched quietly.

He is the emperor, if he wants to speak, he has to make a final decision.

This time, let's see the situation first.

Li Shanchang said: "Cui Shangshu, I have some different ideas. Whether it is potatoes and sweet potatoes or this wolf constitution and mandarin duck formation, you said that it needs to be verified now. If the verification is successful, wouldn't Su Shi be able to become a prince?"

Seal!

As soon as these words came out, the hall trembled again!
Earl was already a very unexpected proposal, but it would be too exaggerated to directly confer the title of duke.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, six princes were conferred.

Each of them is the humerus that laid the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, and they all followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world early on, all the way from the dragon.

What is Su Jing?
Up to now, I still have a white body, and my resume is blank.

This contribution is great, but the gap between him and Feng Gong is still hundreds of thousands of miles away.

But at this moment, Li Shanchang, as the No. 1 Duke of the state, just brought it up.

In this matter, some people also found a little different taste.

Li Shanchang didn't seem to be helping Su Jing to speak, but had a sense of flattery.

(End of this chapter)