The First Corrupt Official of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 324 Mr. Ye was resented for no reason, and Zhu Yuanzhang singled out the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty, competing for high official status and high merit!

Under the golden dragon coiled dome of Fengtian Temple,
  Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao just nodded in tacit understanding, and Zhu Yuanzhang asked the eunuch Chang Shi to arrange for the court.

Outside the open Fengtian Hall, the eunuch who often served looked at the Fengtian Gate opposite the large square in front of the hall. He just raised the dust and made arrangements in the sharpest voice.

"A great dynasty with hundreds of officials, the emperor is sitting in the big square in front of the palace!"

Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao arrived at the main square in front of the palace.

Under the gate of Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting under a tent with yellow cloth and dragon patterns, waiting for the start of today's dynasty.

The court meetings in the Ming Dynasty were divided into big court meetings and small court meetings. Generally, they were small court meetings attended by officials from three heads and six ministries.

And not all officials will participate, only the principal and deputy officials from each department, totaling less than a hundred people.

Therefore, they held a court meeting in the main hall!

But for this kind of big court meeting, all officials above the fifth rank in Beijing must participate, and the so-called officials in Beijing are not just Beijing officials.

If a foreign official of rank five or above like Ye Qing happens to be in the capital and encounters a great court meeting, he must attend!

Because of this, there were more officials attending the imperial meeting, and if the meeting were held in the main hall, it would be too crowded!
  Today is not a major festival day, nor is it a time for the army to return in triumph. There is no reason to hold a court meeting at all, but Zhu Yuanzhang notified the court meeting in advance this morning.

There is no other reason,

Just because he has three major policies to govern the country that he wants to announce and implement, and just because he is afraid that today's war of words will topple the dome of the hall.

Of course, this is just an exaggerated description. He is afraid that the limited hall will affect everyone's performance.

Another one is that he wants to announce these three major strategies for governing the country in front of as many Beijing officials as possible, as well as foreign officials working in Beijing.

Just when Zhu Yuanzhang and his son were waiting in formation on the large square in front of the palace, the civil and military officials who were already outside also walked across the Waiwulong Bridge that connected the imperial city to the palace.

Under the doorway of Chengtianmen,

Xu Da, who was walking in the front of the military attache, and Hu Weiyong, who was walking in the front of the civil servant, just looked at each other, walked side by side, and led their team towards Zhu Yuanzhang's location.

At the same time, their minds were filled with scenes from the small meeting the night before.

The number of people in Xu Da's small group was not large, but he and Wang Baobao, because they were both general marshals who did not need a commander's seal, and represented the Han army, the Meng Yuan and Semu armies within the scope of the Ming Dynasty's power.

Hu Weiyong's small meeting last night had a very large number of people.

For the first time, there were not enough seats in the reception hall of his house. Many earls could only stand and obey.

Kong Kebiao, who is neither a marquis nor an earl, can sit down just because his ancestor is Confucius.

It is worth mentioning that the real host of Hu Weiyong’s meeting was Li Shanchang, who had been leading them through letters.

Li Shanchang didn't come here, but he gave all the tricks to deal with this in the letter!

The meeting at Hu Weiyong's family last night was just to get them to cooperate with Li Shanchang's tricks!
  "I pay homage to Your Majesty and wish His Majesty the best regards!"

“I pay my respects to Your Majesty and send you my holy greetings!!”

“I pay my respects to Your Majesty and send you my holy greetings!!!”

"."

On the large square in front of Fengtian Hall, including the foreign officials who came to Beijing for business, and the civil and military officials of fifth rank and above, no fewer than four hundred people knelt here.

Of course, the people standing at the front and able to speak directly to Zhu Yuanzhang and his son were the same people who usually held small court meetings.

As for other people, if they want to speak, they have to raise their hands first and wait until Zhu Yuanzhang sees it before speaking.

Zhu Yuanzhang and his son looked at the scene in front of them, and they were really kneeling in submission.

But he knew that most of these people had a meeting last night and already knew from Hu Weiyong what he was going to do today and had the so-called countermeasures.

"I'm safe, stay safe!"

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he looked at Xu Da and Wang Baobao.

The two of them also stood up and nodded to Zhu Yuanzhang, indicating that he could start.

Zhu Yuanzhang just winked at the eunuch Chang Shi, and he opened the imperial edict and began to read it very loudly.

"Fengtian carries the emperor, and the edict said:"

"As the saying goes, people suffer when things go up and people suffer when things go down. In order to alleviate the suffering of people all over the world, I have promulgated three laws."

"The first one is 'spreading a small amount into an acre'!"

"The second is 'return the fire to the public'!"

"The third is 'the gentry and the gentry work together as servants and receive food as one body'!"

"From now on, all the people in the world will carry out the imperial edict."

When the civil and military officials listened to the details of these three laws, they suddenly felt like a thousand arrows piercing their hearts.

Because this is tantamount to digging out their hearts, robbing their money, and throwing away their food. It is simply more uncomfortable than killing their parents.

Although the word Ye Qing was not mentioned in the edict, they all knew that this was definitely not the idea that His Majesty the Emperor came up with.

Although His Majesty the Emperor has a way of dealing with them, he is far from having such talent, and even less capable of poking directly into their hearts.

But no matter what, it is enough to prove that His Majesty the Emperor is already in cahoots with Ye Qing.

It can be said that this shameless Emperor is trying to steal Ye Qing's creativity, but it can also be said that he is trying his best to protect Ye Qing!
  Letting Ye Qing stay out of the matter openly is the most powerful protection!
  It's just that they never expected that Zhu Yuanzhang would be so strong, so he would just issue an edict?
  Didn't you even come to court to discuss it?

I have to say that this was beyond everyone’s expectation, and it was also beyond Li Shanchang’s expectation.

Among the civil and military officials of the court, only Xu Da and Wang Baobao did not show any surprise on their faces, and looked calm and calm.

in their memories,
  In the imperial study room, Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting on the dragon chair, with Xu Da and Wang Baobao sitting on both sides.

"Tell me, how should we tell this?"

"Just one sentence, how should we start?"

Xu Da cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think we should make it clear at the court meeting first, but our attitude must be strong."

"When the time comes, no matter how strong our support is, they should not dare to say anything."

Wang Baobao immediately asked: "Your Majesty, are you sure this was Lord Ye Qingye's idea?"

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes at him and said: "I have shown you his autographs and there are still some fake ones. Why don't you suffer a lot and go back and forth eight hundred miles to ask questions?"

Wang Baobao just smiled. He knew what he would become after rushing eight hundred miles back and forth.

He just wanted to confirm. As long as he was sure it was Ye Qing's idea, he would execute it unconditionally.

Wang Baobao clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, I think sometimes we have to follow the same rules as on the grassland."

"I know that for a decree like this to be announced to the world, according to the etiquette and rules of the Central Plains, decisions must be made after deliberation first, to show that the emperor is not a tyrannical person."

"But the so-called arbitrariness is sometimes just a kind of 'moral shackles' used by the Confucian scholars to control the emperor!"

"The emperor should sometimes make decisions domineeringly, and be as ruthless as if one person had the final say."

"The great khans on the grassland, most of the time, have to hold meetings to discuss things!" "But for things like this, which are clearly beneficial but easy to be restricted by others, they will always say 'I'll let it go. If you don't listen to me, you'll be fine.'" Gotta die'!"

"Your Majesty can strike first and issue an edict directly!"

"No matter what the other party says next, they have already committed the grave crime of resisting the decree."

As soon as Wang Baobao finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da's eyes immediately lit up, and then they looked at this former enemy with admiration.

Yes!

The rules in the Central Plains are often good things, but they can also be controlled by others!
  Why can't we just obey the rules when we know it's beneficial?

It's really a good start to strike first and put aside the "crime of resisting the imperial decree" first, and to be ready to be charged at any time.

On the large square in front of Fengtian Temple,
  Wang Baobao looked at the scene where the civil and military officials in the court were shocked, and he also smiled proudly with satisfaction.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da looked at this scene and once again looked at Wang Baobao with admiration, and felt that the decision to surrender him without killing him was still worth it.

Through this incident, Xu Da realized why Wang Baobao still liked him so much after being beaten so badly by Ye Qing.

Because their work styles are somewhat similar!
  "How is this going?"

"Shouldn't this kind of edict, which is announced to the world, be discussed with Zhongshu Sheng first, and should not be finalized by the imperial court first?"

"If the emperor is so arbitrary at any time, why do we need three songs and six departments, and what do we need the civil and military officials of the dynasty?"

"."

Their voices were not loud, and although they could not reach the ears of the superior Zhu Yuanzhang, they could reach the ears of Xu Da, Wang Baobao, and even Prince Zhu Biao.

Hu Weiyong just stayed there and said nothing.

But he never expected that Zhu Yuanzhang would do this. Wasn't he afraid that the civil servants would label him as arbitrary?

"He's not afraid."

"Because he must have labeled officials who dared to raise objections as disobedient in advance."

When Hu Weiyong thought of this, he placed the blame on Ye Qing again.

In his opinion, although Zhu Yuanzhang sometimes behaved erratically and did not follow rules and regulations, he abided by the rules and regulations of right and wrong better than anyone else.

As for his close ministers, they are all disciplined people.

He glanced at Wang Baobao, but it was just a glance.

In his opinion, Wang Baobao definitely didn't have such a bad mind, it must be Ye Qing's bad idea!

Just when Hu Weiyong was thinking like this, Kong Kebiao, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, who although he did not have a title, but was able to represent the world's scholars, suddenly walked out.

Not only was his legs and feet very nimble, he was also very excited.

He did not have any title, and his salary was not as high as Xu Da's, but he was the richest and most landed person among the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty.

There is no other reason, just because he has an ancestor who is a god in the world, and an ancestor who has been worshiped by emperors of all dynasties.

No matter which dynasty or generation, no matter what emperor comes to power, he will treat his family with courtesy and give someone a position that has little real power but is enough to represent the world's scholars.

Although the salary of each generation is not high, it cannot sustain the management of a thousand-year-old family!
  Not to mention the Han dynasties such as the Han, Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties, even during the Yuan Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties when the Wuhu invaded, the emperors whose surnames were Borjijin, Tuoba, and Yuwen would treat their families as meat and potatoes.

Especially during the period when the Five Hus invaded, those foreign barbarian emperors who invaded would, if they caught any Confucius family member, they would argue that the Confucius family here was the direct descendant of Confucius!
  There is no way, in this era where Confucianism dominates, their family is so popular!
  By the same token, this is also the reason why Kong Kebiao can live to this day without being killed by Zhu Yuanzhang!
  Kong Ke paid a respectful bow, and then said with great excitement:

"Your Majesty, no, absolutely no!"

"After a hundred years of incompetent rule by the Yuan barbarians, our land of China has almost lost its learning atmosphere. The exam results of Hongwu's three years are the best proof."

"This is a huge country, but now it doesn't even have the confidence to hold imperial examinations. The court has spent a lot of money to run schools in various places to encourage children to learn to read."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "I still need you to tell me about the ten-year plan for cultivating scholars." He was stunned when it came to his lips, but he swallowed it directly.

Kong Kebiao continued to express loudly and excitedly: "The reason why the students are so enthusiastic is precisely because the imperial court has previously stipulated that those who have achieved fame are not required to perform corvee service, and they are not required to kneel before officials."

"Those who have passed the examination and are qualified to serve as officials will not have to pay taxes!"

"If all these conditions are gone, and the policy of 'gentlemen and gentry working as servants and receiving food as one' is implemented, I am afraid it will chill the hearts of the students."

"At that time, no one will enter the school. How can we pass on our splendid Chinese writings!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

As soon as the words fell, more than [-]% of the officials present knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Among them, there are many generals who are brave enough to kill enemies and never fear death.

Of course, this is not the fault of the generals!

Military generals are also greedy people. Who in the world wants to be cut off from their wealth?

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could speak,
  Kong Kebiao continued to say excitedly: "Your Majesty, take a look, this is what everyone wants. Your Majesty, please think again!"

"Please, Your Majesty, think again!"

More than [-]% of the officials present knelt down and kowtowed, asking His Majesty to think twice.

They thought in their hearts that Xu Da and others who were still standing would definitely join them.

Not to mention the fact that they have a large number of people, even Xu Da should follow the trend. This alone hurts Xu Da's interests. Xu Da should also stand on their side this time.

They are very confident about this.

While they were thinking like this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at each other and Xu Da, Wang Baobao, Lan Yu, Mu Ying and others, and then nodded.

The next moment, Xu Da was the first to stand up and said: "My lord, Xu Da, who is the Grand Tutor of the dynasty, the Right Prime Minister of Zhongshu, the Prince's Shaofu who serves as a state minister in the army, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, hereby obeys His Majesty's edict!"

Immediately afterwards, Wang Baobao stood up for the second time and said: "My lord, Wang Baobao, the commander of the Jingwei Commander's Department, the Chief Chieftain of the Red Ancient City, and the Grand Marshal of the Guanwai Department, hereby obey your Majesty's edict!"

Mu Ying followed closely: "My lord, Mu Ying, the general who governs the country and the commander of the governor's office, obeys your majesty's edict!"

Lan Yu followed closely behind: "My lord, the governor's office directs Lan Yu to obey your majesty's order!"

"."

In fact, when Xu Da came to Lan Yu to talk about this matter, he was still very unhappy.

After all, he is still young and cannot reach the ideological level, and he is not considered a noble person himself.

But Xu Da still managed to get him with just one sentence!

That sentence is: "If you don't agree, you will be punished by the one-armed black warrior next to Ye Qing!"

As soon as these words came out, there was no reason why Lan Yu would disagree.

All the civil and military officials were shocked when they saw this scene.

They even called them "good guy" in their hearts. This is not more than the number of people, but directly higher than the official level and merit?
  　Please follow up with the support of the officials, and please support the recommendation ticket and monthly ticket, thank you!

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)