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Chapter 652 The Beginning of a New Era

Under the hopeful yet anxious eyes of Wang An, Zou Yi, Li Shi, Zhang Ran, Wei Zhongxian, Cao Huachun, Wang Chengen and others, the emperor picked up the brush and personally made the final judgment on Chen Ju, praising him very highly and honoring him with great respect.

You have to know that for so many years, few people except Wang An have seen the emperor write with a brush and are willing to show it to the public. Anyone who sees that handwriting will have to frown. It is similar to that of a child, except that it has a few more years of vicissitudes.

"I am deeply grateful and burst into tears. Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor!" But this poorly written handwriting moved all the eunuchs, both big and small, so much that they burst into tears and fell to the ground.

If the fact that Tian Yi's coffin could be placed in the imperial mausoleum was a move by the emperor to win over the hearts of the people when he first ascended the throne, then the current Chen Ju was enough to prove that the emperor kept his word and did not burn bridges after crossing them just because his position was stable. At least in terms of character, he was a leader worth following.

As long as you work hard and don't make any mistakes, there is a 99% chance that you will be able to get a place in the imperial mausoleum when you close your eyes and kick your legs. Even if you are only buried in a ravine in the mausoleum area, you can still have a good starting point in the next life. This is called not losing at the starting line!

Before Chen Ju's coffin arrived, Liu Yuanlin, the Minister of Works, had another accident. This old minister, who had been the head of the Ministry of Works for more than ten years and had never stood in the wrong line or expressed the wrong attitude, drank two more cups of wine because he was happy to have a great-grandson, and fell asleep at the dinner table at the age of 60.

"Appoint him as Grand Tutor, posthumously named Wen Zhong, and have his name and achievements engraved on the monument of merit outside the Merit Gate, to be passed down through the ages!"

Hong Tao had no choice but to give him some posthumous honors. He could only sigh that good people don't live long. It was really unfair that so many idlers in the court could live to be old, but Liu Yuanlin, who worked diligently and conscientiously, did not live long.

As the saying goes, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly. The Ministry of Works, which had always been the least of Hong Tao's worries, suddenly changed its temper. On the last day of December, bad news came from Changping again. Zhao Shizhen, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Works and the director of the Royal Gunpowder Factory, died in an accident at the age of 12.

"Everyone has to die, some are heavier than Mount Tai, some are lighter than a feather! Pass the order down, I will personally go to the gunpowder factory to see Minister Zhao off for the last time. If anyone in the court is willing to go with you, please go together."

Looking at the small yellow copper cap between his fingers, Hong Tao's eyes were a little moist. The percussion cap, Zhao Shizhen was seriously injured and died when an explosion occurred accidentally while he was conducting a passivation test on the percussion cap material in the laboratory.

It can't be said that I killed him, but it's not too far off. I invented things like mercuric fulminate, silver nitrate, and red phosphorus, and I said I could use these things to improve the firing devices of muskets and cannons.

Then Zhao Shizhen plunged into it, and for four or five years he focused on figuring out how to make the percussion cap safer and more practical, which led to this difficulty.

Empty titles such as Wen Zheng, Wen Zhong, Tai Shi, and Tai Fu are no longer enough to commend the contributions of him and down-to-earth technical officials like them to the country. As the biggest beneficiaries of power, they must be grateful and give them enough honor.

When the emperor put on his imperial robes and personally saw off an official's coffin, the official had basically reached the pinnacle of his career, and his treatment was equal to that of the royal ancestors and the heavens. Zhao Shizhen not only received this, but also enjoyed the Imperial Ancestral Temple and had his merits engraved on a stele, which made him a unique figure at the time.

With his precedent, more technical officials will be willing to settle down and immerse themselves in research. Because even if one reaches the pinnacle of power, he may not necessarily receive so many honors after his death. It is said that the new year should bring a new atmosphere, but before the first month of the year, the Minister of Revenue Zhao Shiqing was also terminally ill. Several imperial doctors were sent to treat him, but all of them were unable to save him. This person simply ran out of life and died in less than ten days.

Hong Tao neither dislikes nor likes Zhao Shiqing. He is a typical representative of ancient literati. He completes his work in an orderly manner, but don't expect any breakthroughs. He is slow to accept new things, but he is not too resistant. He has a dough-like personality, neither making mistakes nor being outstanding. He is reluctant to cultivate himself and manage his family, and has no hope of governing the country.

Wen Yi, Hong Tao was not stingy with the posthumous title, and the evaluation was relatively positive. Strictly speaking, it was corruption to embezzle silver from the user department to lend money, but the accounts were well managed, and there was no major deficit, which was also considered dedicated. Everyone makes mistakes, and in this era, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is honest and dedicated to his work.

Then, the Minister of War Wang Xiangqian and the Minister of Rites Yang Tingyun fell ill in February, and three or four governors and provincial governors could no longer hold on due to age and health reasons, and they submitted petitions to resign one after another. For a time, high-ranking officials in the court seemed to have contracted an infectious disease, and they fell down in batches.

But this time it was not that someone was secretly forming alliances and deliberately giving up the task to create problems for the emperor. After investigation by the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot, it was found that most of them were really unable to do their job.

If you think about it carefully, it makes sense. Emperor Jingyang has been on the throne for more than ten years, and most of these ministers are from the Wanli Dynasty. It should be considered a happy event that they were able to assist two emperors and have a good end.

With the departure of this group of people, the political legacy or political structure left by Emperor Wanli basically came to an end. The political newcomers trained and promoted by the new emperor gradually stepped onto the political stage, starting a large-scale replacement of the old with the new.

Yang Lian, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was transferred to the Minister of Punishments, Gu Dazhang, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department, was transferred to the Left Censor-in-Chief, Yang Sichang, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was transferred to the Minister of Rites, Wang Zaisheng, the former left vice minister of the Ministry of War, was promoted to the Minister, and Li Tianjing succeeded Guo Zizhan, who retired due to illness, and was promoted to the Director of Customs.

In addition, a large number of third-class Jinshi in the Dingwei (1607), Xinhai (1611) and Jiayin (1614) dynasties were promoted and newly appointed.

There are many familiar names among them, such as Zhou Chaorui, Yuan Huazhong, Xiong Wencan, Xiong Tingbi, Wang Jiazhen, Zhen Xianshi, Liu Fuli, Zhang Chun, Yuan Chonghuan, Huang Daozhou, Zhuang Jichang, Song Yingxing, Zhou Tingru, Qian Qianyi, etc.

The fastest promoted person was Sun Yuanhua, who was initially appointed as the director of the Ministry of Industry after passing the imperial examination. Since he had learned new mathematics and geometry in his hometown, he was sent to the Luanzhou Industrial Base to help Li Zhizao for two years. He performed quite well, keeping the accounts of more than a dozen large factories and tens of thousands of workers clear, and was promoted to the doctor of the Ministry of Industry a year later.

This time, he was directly appointed by the emperor as the Minister of Revenue, jumping from the fifth rank to the second rank, a leap of six levels, which was the speed of light. In two years, he completed a journey that 99% of officials could not complete in their entire lives.

Although this appointment was very unusual and unprecedented, it did not encounter much opposition or resistance. There was only one reason: the emperor wanted to make major changes to the Ministry of Revenue, not in terms of personnel, but in terms of work content.

(End of this chapter)