Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

As a promoter of the newspaper industry, Zhu Youjian still attaches great importance to newspapers. In particular, the "Beijing News", which is mainly published by itself, is a must-read in every issue.

The headline of the "Beijing News" on February 17 was that the former chief minister Fang Congzhe passed away, and his obituary was published in the newspaper.

Zhu Youjian knew about this yesterday and felt quite sorry.

Fang Congzhe was the first minister to congratulate him on his ascension to the official position. Zhu Youjian was very impressed by this. He also added senior ministers a year ago, Yin's son Dongning Weibaihu, and Yin's son entered Taixue to study. I plan to check his situation and observe whether he can take charge of the Zizhengyuan.

I didn't expect Fang Congzhe to pass away so soon, which is really a pity.

Considering that this man had served his grandfather and brother for three generations, Zhu Youjian felt extremely sorry for him. Not only did he give sacrifices to the Nine Altars, he also asked the Ministry of Rites to draft a posthumous title and present it to the Taifu. The posthumous title Wenduan——

Among the posthumous titles, this can be called a beautiful posthumous title, ranking second only to Wenzheng, Wenzhen, Wencheng and Wenzhong. It is usually awarded to Neo-Confucianists and ministers with upright character.

For a much-criticized chief minister like Fang Congzhe, being given the posthumous title of Wen Duan was considered lucky. Some courtiers in the court were somewhat critical of this.

However, Zhu Youjian ignored it and asked the Department of Rites and Music of the Ministry of Rites to draft an obituary and publish it in the newspaper.

Based on the death of Fang Congzhe, the obituary format and regulations for publishing obituaries in newspapers were formulated.

Among them, the obituaries of honorable officials and first-rank officials should be placed on the front page of the newspaper. If a bachelor or a prince dies, it will be the headline.

The obituaries of other officials are placed on other pages. Obituaries for officials of third rank and above are drawn up by the Department of Rites and Music, and are notified to be published by Di Bao, Beijing News and other newspapers.

In principle, obituaries for officials below the third rank are not required to be published compulsorily by newspapers and periodicals. Instead, they should be published in a special section in newspapers focusing on politics such as "Beijing News".

Generally, only officials and celebrities can have their obituaries published for free. Others need to pay a fee if they want their obituaries published in newspapers——

A "death notice" service is a special type of newspaper classified advertisement.

This is what Zhu Youjian thought of after Fang Congzhe's death. With the current transportation and communication conditions in the Ming Dynasty, news of a person's death may take months or even years to spread. With an obituary, word can spread quickly.

Those who want to pay their respects can go to the funeral according to the funeral time announced on the obituary. Those wealthy families probably don't mind spending some money to publish obituaries in newspapers to prevent relatives from not being notified and missing the funeral time.

As long as this kind of paid service can be accepted by people in Ming Dynasty, advertising will be accepted by more people. The newspaper and periodical industry can obtain other income besides selling newspapers and periodicals.

In addition to Fang Congzhe's obituary, the Di newspaper also published the appointment and dismissal of some officials, especially the matter of supplementing the censor.

The imperial court has discussed this matter many times, and now it has finally been decided. According to the emperor's request, the new censor will be selected mainly from among the recommended officials.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian was inspired by Wu Shangmo's incident, and most of the censors he chose this time were over fifty. Use these mature and prudent officials to reduce accidents in the court.

At the same time, it can also give these people a fast lane for promotion, allowing those capable but older talents to rise to high positions as soon as possible.

This matter is even more controversial because there are many officials who serve as county magistrates and are waiting to become Kedao. For example, Qian Qianyi's disciple Qu Shishu was a typical example. After Ding You's resurrection, he sought to take up the post of Ke Dao. However, Zhu Youjian began to promote the promotion of Kedao officials from judicial officials last year, and did not add censors for a long time. The officials in the court were worried that the fight would continue and the censor would not be able to be supplemented. With the push of Li Banghua, the deputy censor of the capital, and Liu Zongzhou, Xu Zongli, Yang Suoxiu and Geng Ruqi, the censors of the capital, they approved the matter. Wang Yongguang, the censor of the left capital, and Cheng Jiming, the censor of the right capital, who had just entered Beijing, also did not object to this. Most of the newly selected censors come from recommended officials.

After Zhu Youjian came to power, the Metropolitan Procuratorate finally began to be fully staffed and play its role.

Zhu Youjian ordered Liu Zongzhou and other censors of the capital to set up the newly established general administration, assign tasks to the newly appointed censors, and guide them to focus on supervising officials' lawlessness. In case these censors have nothing to do, they want to criticize the emperor.

After the appointment of the censor, the official election in February also officially began, and appointments for various vacancies and official positions that needed to be adjusted were begun.

Except for some minor officials who were asked by Zhu Youjian to be retained as new scholars, officials such as the chief envoys and inspectors of each province who needed to be adjusted were all adjusted under the auspices of the Ministry of Personnel.

The Donglin Party members who were previously ordered by Zhu Youjian to lift the ban on the party and allow them to resurrect were also recommended by officials in the court and appointed to these positions——

The rising momentum of the Donglin Party was not interrupted by Qian Qianyi's previous setbacks.

Even because Liu Zongzhou was ordered to remake rituals and music, and Qian Qianyi was reused by the emperor because of his theory of constant industry, many members of the Jingdong Lin Party circled around them and made various noises.

According to Zhu Youjian's knowledge, Huang Zongxi, Liu Zongzhou's disciple, was quite restless. Together with Zhou Maolan, Zuo Guangming and other family members of the victims, they created a great momentum in the capital, demanding heavier punishment for eunuchs.

Many people agreed with their actions out of sympathy and admiration for Mr. Donglin. There were even many eunuchs whose crimes were discovered and presented to Dali Temple.

This approach was inconsistent with Zhu Youjian's idea of ​​stabilizing the court, but he could not stop it.

Because blood revenge is a righteous matter, Huang Zongxi and others did not kill their enemies directly, but respected the court's laws. President Zhu Youjian cannot say that they should not have any thoughts of revenge and should always keep them in their hearts——

If he dares to do that, some people will dare to call him an "unprincipled and ignorant king", and the good reputation he has established before will be lost.

So Zhu Youjian can only let this matter go now and let Huang Zongxi and others vent their hatred.

Fortunately, most of the people in the eunuch party have already been sentenced, and the trial was held in the court and has been carried out.

No matter how much trouble Huang Zongxi and others make, they can't change the decision of Tingjing unless they can get the majority of courtiers to agree to hold Tingjing again.

However, now that Zhu Youjian has made it clear that he is seeking stability, most officials in the court do not want to bother. The possibility of another trial for a case that has already been pronounced is infinitely close to zero. At most, the punishment for some people will be increased based on supplementary crimes.

After Zhu Youjian fulfilled his promise to Jin Yiwei, he didn't care much about Wu Biao. Exile them directly to Dongning Guard and let them fend for themselves.

With Huang Zongxi and others making trouble, these people may be more grateful. He knew how much effort he had put into protecting them.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian basically let the matter go, letting Jin Yiwei pay attention to the behavior of Huang Zongxi and others, but did not take the next step. Still following the previously set steps, the victims were rehabilitated in an orderly manner and gifts of commemoration were given to the ministers responsible for their deaths. (End of chapter)