Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 39 Trust
What Emperor Jiajing said was the truth. In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats ruled the world together. It was not the supreme monarchy since the Qing Dynasty, and all the ministers were just slaves.

For example, according to the system of the Ming Dynasty, the promulgation of national decrees was first drafted by the cabinet, that is, the cabinet first gave its opinions and then reported them to the emperor.If the emperor agrees with the cabinet's handling opinions, he will approve the matter and then return it to the cabinet for implementation.

And if the imperial edicts are issued by the emperor himself without the approval of the cabinet, they are called central edicts, and they are also called the emperor's personal opinions.According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, after these edicts left the Forbidden City, they would be sent to the Sixth Section to Shizhong.Then this next central purpose may have three results.

[-]: After the Sixth Section has reviewed the matter and believes that there is nothing wrong with the emperor’s decree, they will send the emperor’s decree to the relevant departments for implementation;
[-]: After review by the six subjects, if they think that there are problems with the emperor's decree, but the problems are not major, then they will write a special "scientific reference" to point out the problems in the decree, and based on these problems , give your own handling opinions.Then the emperor's edict and the "scientific reference" written by himself were sent to the relevant departments for implementation. The relevant departments that received the imperial edict and the "scientific reference" must strictly follow the "scientific reference" Instruct the spirit office.

Three: After reviewing the matter, the Sixth Section concluded that the emperor's edict was just nonsense, and then they would exercise their right to refute it.

The so-called "confession and refutation" means to return the emperor's inappropriate edicts and to refute the violations of the memorials issued by the ministers.The Tang system stipulates that all edicts issued by the emperor must go through the Ministry of Education. If the Ministry of Education deems the edict to be inappropriate, it can be sealed and returned to the emperor.In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there were similar counter-examination measures. In the Ming Dynasty, the three provinces were abolished and six subjects were established. The imperial edicts were sent to the six subjects. If the six subjects believed that the emperor's will was wrong, then they would The emperor's will can be returned.

To put it bluntly, the imperial court granted civil servants the right to "refute", which was a review process for imperial edicts. When the provincial emperor got mad, he issued imperial edicts indiscriminately, and the result was a joke.

It is precisely because of these review mechanisms that among the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, except for Comrade Taizu Lao Zhu and Chengzu Zhu Laosi, these two people killed without batting an eye and had extraordinary abilities. Without civil servants, they could Handle government affairs independently.

Therefore, the civil servants really could not afford to offend the father and son, and did not dare to refute their imperial edicts. Therefore, the imperial edicts of Lao Zhu and his son could be arbitrary.As for the other fourteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, they wanted to do whatever they wanted, haha!Without the nod of the civil servant group, the imperial edict of the Ming Emperor would be nothing but waste paper that could not leave the Forbidden City.

Emperor Jiajing was a very narrow-minded person and could see through other people's thoughts at a glance. He was a master in political struggles.But he does not have the ferocity of Lao Zhu and Zhu Laosi, nor does he have the ability and diligence to handle all government affairs independently.

In the 25th year of Jiajing, although Emperor Jiajing was only 41 years old at this time, the age of the emperor was different from that of us ordinary people.The supreme status made Emperor Jiajing lose the temptation to make progress in his life.So he became tired of the world, and from tiredness to decrepitude.

From the 18th year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing stopped going to the morning court. After the Renyin Palace incident, he has been living in Xiyuan Wanshou Palace, and he has not even returned to the Forbidden City.The great ambitions of my youth were slowly worn away by these routines and decadence.

As for national power, he still holds it. If someone threatens his imperial power, he will be like an angry tiger. The tiger will pounce down from the mountain and kill those deer cats and deer.Once the threat is over, he returns to his tiger cave and continues his life of luxury and laziness.

It was precisely because Emperor Jiajing himself wanted to control the supreme imperial power and did not want to take on the heavy national affairs.Therefore, Emperor Jiajing needed the civil service group to help him work, and was unwilling to completely fall out with the civil service group.So he had to abide by the rules set by the civil service group and make do with it.

Moreover, the scholarly atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty was very upright, and there were many hard-core literati who accepted death, and they were not afraid of the emperor at all.But it was not like the literary prison of the later Qing Dynasty, where the hair was left but not the head. The hundreds of millions of Han people were killed and only tens of thousands were left. From then on, the Han literati who were killed became huskies, only wagging their tails to flatter their masters.

It can be said that in our vast country, all dynasties are filled with unscrupulous sycophants. This pattern started with the Manchus.The thousand-year-old scholars in China were also wiped out by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty, there were no more scholars in China.

The fall of Chinese scholars was in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty at this time, those civil servants were indeed very hard-boned and could not be offended or offended.So Emperor Jiajing tried to figure out the matter, and Lu Bing also realized it. He wanted to recruit a top student like Wang Daoqiu to work in Jinyiwei. This really couldn't be too straightforward. He had to play tricks and make some detours.

So Lu Bing, who understood, pretended to be stupid and gave Emperor Jiajing a thumbs up.At this time, Emperor Jiajing saw that his little friend was happy, and he was also affected. He was in a much better mood, and started playing with Lu Bing, just like they did when they were children.

Not to mention the indescribable love affair between Lu Bing and Emperor Jiajing, Wang Daoqiu slept until he woke up naturally the next morning. When he went to the well to wash up, he didn't see Qiu's sister-in-law and the little girl Sanniang washing clothes there today. I saw quilts hanging on the ropes in the yard.

Looking up at the sky, the sun was really good today, so after Wang Daoqiu finished washing, he went back and took out his bedding to dry it.

After drying up the quilt and grabbing his fishing gear, he prepared to go fishing in Kunming Lake today.But when he just walked out of the courtyard, a strong man stood in front of him, cupped his hands and said, "Mark it as a snake, I've seen you, sir."

Soaring snake!This name is awesome. I heard it yesterday. It is one of Lu Bing's guards.But why did Lu Bing's bodyguard show up at his doorstep so early in the morning?Damn it, Lu Bing’s grandson, he monitored the labor papers!

Thinking that he was being monitored, Wang Daoqiu felt like a fool, but he didn't dare to say it on his face!So he forced out a smile, pretended to be amiable and asked, "Is it your Mr. Lu who is looking for me?"

"Yes, sir, my Governor Lu is waiting for you in the blacksmith's workshop in front of the Inner Palace Supervisor." This guy Lu Bing actually started working in the Inner Palace Supervisor early in the morning. This guy is actually more diligent than me!Thinking of this, Wang Daoqiu didn't say anything. He went back to the yard to put back the fishing gear in his hands, then came out and made a "please" gesture to Teng Snake, asking Teng Snake to lead the way.

Teng She took Wang Daoqiu to the blacksmith's workshop of the Inner Palace Supervisor. At the door, they heard the extremely noisy sound of "nails and nails" being hammered inside. When they entered the workshop, they had to cover their ears.

Seeing Wang Daoqiu coming in with his ears covered, Lu Bing smiled and shook his head.Then he came over and led Wang Daoqiu through a courtyard to the office here.

Entering the house, Lu Bing's men closed the door outside, allowing Lu Bing and Wang Daoqiu to chat alone inside.

Lu Bing first asked Wang Daoqiu to sit down, and then said embarrassedly: "Xie Yuanlang, I'm too lazy. I let Xie Yuanlang come over so early, but he didn't even have a sip of tea. It's really too neglectful."

Not even a cup of tea, which is understandable, after all, this is not Lu Bing’s territory.And this is where the Lipas work. What kind of good tea can be had here?
So Wang Daoqiu did not pick on Lu Bing about the tea, but asked calmly: "Master Lu, the inner palace supervisor is in charge of the palace, right? How come you, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, are here so early in the morning? Here?"

"Oh, here's the thing, Mr. Jie Yuang. Yesterday, after I reported the matter of briquettes to the emperor, the emperor took it very seriously. That night, I asked Eunuch Lu, the Chief of Ceremonies, to go with me to a banquet with the nobles in Beijing. After we made it clear, we will purchase all the pulverized coal from their coal mines at the price of lump coal. At the same time, they promised not to imitate honeycomb briquettes and bee pellet stoves. After negotiating with those nobles, the emperor also ordered the inner palace supervisor to cooperate with us in the future. In the briquette business, the inner palace superintendent of the blacksmith workshop helps build briquette stoves, and the masons help build flues in other people's homes."

Hey, Emperor Jiajing is really concerned about making money. Not only did he ask Lu Fang, the Chief of Ceremonies, to represent him and Lu Bing to negotiate with the local gangsters in the capital to make the briquette business his territory, he also asked the palace to The craftsmen there help him make money.

Feeling sad that Emperor Jiajing wanted money for his death, Wang Daoqiu asked again: "Since Mr. Lu and the emperor have arranged this matter, why did you call me here so early, Mr. Lu?"

"Well, Mr. Jie Yuangong, the thing is like this. Yesterday, I sent the personal guards to the Xuanfu. They rode fast horses and arrived at the Xuanfu Hundred Household Office of my Jin Yiwei at midnight. The hundreds of households there were sent with me. My personal guard said that there is indeed a red stone mountain near Longguan of Xuanfu, and that red stone is indeed much heavier than ordinary stones. After receiving this exact news, my personal guard immediately sent a message back with pigeons .”

"Xie Yuanlang, this is what I think about this matter. Since there is indeed a red stone mountain there, and the red stone is indeed much heavier than ordinary stones, I think the red stone should be what you told me, Xie Yuanlang. Same, it is indeed iron ore. To be honest with Xie Yuanlang, I have reported this matter to the emperor. The emperor takes this matter very seriously and said that he wants to see with his own eyes whether that kind of red stone can produce molten iron. Xie Yuanlang is a great talent. , so Lu asked if Jie Yuanlang could help improve our iron-making furnace so that the emperor would be happy when he sees it."

It is possible to modify the iron-making furnace. This is a good opportunity to show off.Mad, this time we must shock Emperor Jiajing, so that this sixteenth-century native can see what industrial shock is.

But when I think about it, what should I do depends on what Lu Bing wants.So Wang Daoqiu asked tentatively: "There is no problem in improving the iron-making furnace, but I don't know what Mr. Lu wants the emperor to see. Are they those gadgets that can only make dozens of kilograms at a time, or are they one? Can the furnace smelt something big weighing hundreds of thousands of kilograms?"

"What, one furnace can produce hundreds of thousands of jins? Is Xie Yuanlang joking? The best furnace in the Ming Dynasty can only produce [-] jins or hundreds of thousands of jins in one furnace. How is this possible?"

"Master Lu, you just made it clear that the improved stove is for His Majesty to see. Do you think Wang dares to deceive the Emperor in person?"

yes!The improved stove was to be shown to the emperor. No matter how bold Wang Daoqiu was, he would not dare to deceive the emperor!Thinking of this, Lu Bing began to believe Wang Daoqiu's words, and he also wanted to see the furnace that could smelt hundreds of thousands of kilograms of molten iron at a time.

After thinking about this, Lu Bing said to Wang Daoqiu: "Xie Yuanlang, Lu Bing regards Xie Yuanlang as a friend, and Lu believes in Xie Yuanlang's words. Well, then Lu will accompany Xie Yuanlang crazy." Once. Jie Yuanlang boldly gives it a try. If it doesn't work, Lu should plead for Jie Yuanlang in front of His Majesty."

Lu Bing agreed, a large steel factory in the sixteenth century!Come out quickly!Thinking of this pleasure, Wang Daoqiu smiled and said to Lu Bing: "Since Mr. Lu, you believe in Wang, believe that those red stones are indeed iron ore, and believe that Wang can create that furnace that can produce hundreds of thousands of kilograms of iron." Iron furnace. There are some things that Mr. Wang knows everything about, such as the iron smelting plant in the future."

"Ironmaking requires a large amount of iron ore, coke, and carbonite, which all need to be transported by water, and the ironmaking process also requires a large amount of cooling water. These all determine that the ironmaking plant must be built beside a large river. We The big river that leads from the capital to Xuanfu is the Yongding River, and our coal mining area in the west of Beijing is also next to the Yongding River..."

Next, Wang Daoqiu explained the location of the ironmaking plant to Lu Bing in detail. In this regard, he cited the reasons for Shougang's location selection, such as the geological stability of the area, convenient transportation next to water sources, and high quality in the west of Beijing. The coking coal production area, as well as the nearby Jiangjun Mountain, are rich in limestone resources, an auxiliary material for ironmaking.

Wang Daoqiu talked incessantly for half an hour. Lu Bing listened very carefully. The more he listened, the more confident and excited he became. At the end, he couldn't sit still in the room and pulled Wang Daoqiu. Qiu went out of the city for a field trip.

(End of this chapter)