Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 311 Qionghua Banquet

Entering the Qianqing Palace, Fang Guiwei saw the emperor and felt that everything was different.

If there were still ministers who dared to despise the emperor before this, then after today, those who still think so would be very stupid——

Because the emperor had already established a foundation among the scholars by winning over Juren. All the ministers in the court can be replaced by these people.

Even those who did not pass the exam would speak well of the emperor after returning to their hometowns and spread the emperor's kindness to all people in the world.

It can be said that after this, the current emperor has a deep foundation in the entire world.

This is Zhu Youjian's intention to win over Juren, and it is also the reason why he continues to show kindness.

Now that scholars have the right to speak, as long as they win over the more than 5,000 candidates who participated in the examination, his reputation in the world will change qualitatively.

There was even a contingency thought in his mind.

That is, if the civil unrest in Shaanxi cannot be controlled, the people in the countryside will be allowed to form and train local militia groups.

Use these people who are loyal to you to fight against the refugees and control the civil unrest within a certain range. Wait until the court calms down before completely pacifying them.

It can be said that he attached great importance to the selection of people in the Ming Dynasty, and even regarded it as the foundation.

Now, under his control, these people showed their power through sit-ins, helping him to intimidate the court ministers. In order to show his kindness to them, Zhu Youjian immediately ordered after hearing Fang Guiwei's report:

"Now that the proposal to create additional county officials has been approved, the Ministry of Personnel will be in charge of this matter."

"What I mean is to try it out in Shaanxi and Beizhili. All prefectures and counties in the two places must add more officials."

"Fang Qing will discuss with the officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs to rearrange the grades of local officials and standardize the promotion routes."

"We must ensure that the promotion path is wide and capable officials are selected."

After giving these instructions, Zhu Youjian was about to get up and go to see the scholar, when he suddenly heard Fang Guiwei say:

"The veteran has felt quite tired since he took office."

"Now that my eyesight is dim, I am really unfit to serve."

"I sincerely ask Your Majesty to allow the old minister to take up his official position and retire from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

Zhu Youjian frowned when he heard this and said:
"Is there something wrong with Fang Qing?"

"You cannot tamper with your position as a Heavenly Official!"

"Besides, I said last year that people over 70 would serve for one year."

"No matter what, Fang Qing must persist until his term expires."

Zhu Youjian was still satisfied with Fang Guiwei, the minister.

Although he is not very active in his work, he is still cooperative.

In Zhu Youjian's view, he is very suitable as a transition candidate.

Just looking at the magnificent house, he seemed to feel that there was too much turmoil in the court, and he obviously wanted to retreat.

This made Zhu Youjian have to comfort him, telling him to persist for a while no matter what, and not to cause turmoil in the barely stable court again because of his position as Minister of Civil Affairs.

Fang Guiwei smiled bitterly in his heart when he heard the emperor's words. He had long known that he was not the emperor's confidant and that the position of Minister of Staff was only temporary.

After hearing that the emperor wanted to sort out the grades of local officials, he thought about the difficulty of the matter and did not want to bother with it.

Then he thought that the emperor might clean up the court, so he proposed to become an official. After all, for him, who is bound to leave office, it doesn't matter if he serves as the Minister of Personnel for a year or a few months. When he first sought this position, he just wanted to serve as the Minister of Personnel.

So in his heart, he really didn't want to do it anymore. Just looking at the emperor's eager eyes and the courtesy these days, he could only suppress the idea of ​​becoming an official immediately and said:

"Your Majesty is so kind to you, I am very grateful to you."

"It's just that the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel are complicated. I sincerely request Your Majesty to appoint officials to act in charge of the Ministry."

"When the minister is sick, he handles the affairs of the staff and attends court meetings on his behalf."

The implication is that he can still occupy the position of Minister of Civil Affairs, but in terms of actual power, the emperor can appoint other people.

This made Zhu Youjian realize that Fang Zhuangwei really didn't want to do it anymore. If you force yourself to keep it, you may cause trouble.

So he thought for a moment and said:

"Let Fang Qing recommend the candidates to act as ministers!"

"But Fang Qing can't be completely lazy in the future and attend at least one or two court meetings."

"In court meetings and court promotions in which the senior ministers participate, Fang Qing also participates."

"I also plan that after Fang Qing takes office, he will be responsible for presiding over the Zizhengyuan!"

He was really reluctant to let go of Fang Guiwei, a knowledgeable minister, so Zhu Youjian gave him face and asked him to recommend Yang Jingchen. Then he thought that if he wanted to establish a parliament, he would inevitably expand the Zizhengyuan, so he planned to let Fang Zhuangwei serve as the minister of the Zizhengyuan and preside over the Zizhengyuan in the future.

Fang Zhuangwei really didn't expect that despite his repeated requests to retire, the emperor kept increasing his posts. He even made arrangements for what happened after he retired.

This made him smile bitterly and feel relieved at the same time. The previous worries about the emperor's purge of the court have also alleviated a lot——

Such a benevolent emperor should not do anything to clean the court. Even if some officials need to be replaced, the methods will be gentle and natural.

But they don't know that Zhu Youjian's kindness to officials is limited to those who cooperate. If an official deliberately causes harm in the process of recreating rituals and music, he will not be so merciful when dealing with it.

Ruan Dacheng's matter is currently in progress. Zhu Youjian planned to use this person to warn all officials.

At this time, Jin Yiwei had already investigated some of Ruan Dacheng's illegal and criminal facts. After seeing Ruan Dacheng being elected as the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, he collected thousands of taels in bribes in just a few months.

Although Zhu Youjian knew that this was a common practice in official circles, he still planned to warn other officials by dealing with Ruan Dacheng.

No matter what the previous practices were, the new officials appointed after he ascends to power must have a new style——

Corrupt officials must be severely punished in the name of "not stopping after Chongzhen".

At the same time, Ruan Dacheng's case must be included in the textbooks of the School of Administration to warn newly appointed Jinshi, so that they know to be respectful and not to be corrupt at will.

Although he doesn’t know how effective this will be, Zhu Youjian still plans to promote a new trend in the officialdom:
"Remake rituals and music, change customs. 』

"Rectifying the atmosphere of officialdom is the first step in changing customs. 』

“We must earnestly advance the previously agreed property declaration for officials. 』

Thinking about these things, Zhu Youjian took Fang Guangwei, accompanied by the officials at the service, to the Chengtian Gate Tower.

Looking at Juren who was still sitting quietly, he ordered:
"Get up!"

The surrounding officials immediately shouted and ordered people to sit quietly and stand up.

In fact, when they found the emperor standing on the tower, some of them wanted to get up and bow down.

Just because they had been sitting quietly for a long time, many people looked around and did not stand up for a while.

Now, after hearing the emperor's order, these people stood up one after another.

Then, without the emperor's order, they consciously bowed five times and kowtowed three times to the emperor, shouting "Long live" - ​​at this time, they were excited in their hearts. For many people, the chance to see the emperor may only be once in their lifetime.

Thinking that the emperor had shown kindness many times and now came forward in person, how could they not be grateful in their hearts.

The ministers who had just finished the court meeting and had not yet left had different expressions when they saw this scene, knowing that the emperor had completely grasped the hearts of the soldiers at this time.

Looking at this scene with satisfaction, Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with today's events.

Although he knew that launching a sit-in would have sequelae, it would stimulate unofficial scholars to participate in politics, and he might be intimidated by public opinion in the future.

But he still launched this incident, hoping to use these still energetic soldiers to attack the lifeless ministers in the court——

We must let them know that if they do not cooperate, there will be many scholars who can take their official positions.

However, in order to reduce future troubles, Zhu Youjian still placed restrictions on meditation, saying:
"The scholars sit in for a sit-in and demonstrate. This is unprecedented. I will not punish you."

"But if we do anything like this in the future, we must get approval from Weiwei Temple, so as not to affect public security and the order of the government and the public."

"If scholars have suggestions, they can go to the Secretary of State for Dredging, or they can propose them in Congress."

"I have decided to follow Mr. Liu's suggestion and establish the Ming Congress based on the National People's Congress of the Zhou Dynasty."

"The Ming Dynasty built the Mingtang Hall as a place for the emperor and the people to discuss matters."

The matter of the Mingtang Congress was officially brought up by him.

When many people heard this, they shouted long live the mountains again. They all felt that the current emperor valued the attitude of scholars and was really a wise king.

Even the officials were surprised by this incident. Because they didn't expect that the emperor would give up power so simply. He even made a promise directly in front of many people.

This made them feel very emotional:
Judging from the emperor's behavior a few years ago, many people think that the current emperor has taken power and is trying every means to compete with his ministers for power.

Unexpectedly, now he has taken the initiative to transfer power and let all people in the world participate.

The current emperor's behavior is really hard to fathom.

Some people's views on the emperor also quietly changed. He believes that although the current emperor holds power, he attaches great importance to public opinion and cares about all the people of the world.

Liu Zongzhou, in particular, originally thought that the emperor was eager to seek governance, had some power and focused on utilitarianism, so he advised the emperor to be benevolent and righteous and follow the principles of Yao and Shun.

Bringing up the National People's Congress was also his test of the current emperor. I want to see if the emperor is firm in his determination to remake rituals and music, and if he is willing to delegate power.

Unexpectedly, the emperor's approach was even better than he expected. It was decided to build the Ming Hall and establish the Ming Congress.

This made him feel the emperor's firmness in his heart, and he had the urge to die for his confidant, and he was determined to do this well.

After all, the preparations for the establishment of the National Assembly will inevitably be left to him. The regulations of the Ming Hall must be in line with the Ming Dynasty rituals and music. All these must be taken into consideration when recreating rituals and music.

Zhu Youjian felt extremely emotional when he heard the voices of many scholars.

In fact, he hesitated whether to announce this in public.

He is worried that his mind will change in the future, and what he announced today will lay the foundation for future troubles.

These days, he did not let people discuss the affairs of the Congress in newspapers. Instead, he used the funeral of Emperor Tianqi to divert the attention of the government and the public. In fact, it was also because of this concern.

However, after several days of consideration, Zhu Youjian finally decided that the congressional affairs should be announced in public to avoid regrets.

He has seen many cases of power corroding people. In order to prevent himself from degenerating and becoming more authoritarian in the future, he decided to announce the incident in public without giving himself a chance to regret it.

That's why the scene before us happened, with people sitting in for a sit-in and protesting.

After announcing the affairs of the Congress, Zhu Youjian ordered again in order to further win over Juren:

"To express my kindness, all candidates are allowed to serve as officials in frontiers and overseas."

"If there are vacancies in frontier and overseas official positions, they can be filled by candidates."

"Those who have served in the local area for more than six years and have made outstanding achievements are allowed to serve as officials normally."

"If there is a candidate who is willing to join the army, he can be directly awarded the title of Ninth Grade Protector of the Army and enter martial arts studies."

"Those who have served in the military for more than ten years and have made outstanding achievements are allowed to be transferred to civil service."

This decision made everyone cheer. Because the road to becoming an official is open to all candidates.

Although overseas and border areas are dangerous, and military attachés are despised by civilian officials, they are still official positions and can be held by them.

The current emperor is really kind and makes all of them eligible to serve as officials.

Zhu Youjian did not discuss this matter with the court officials, but the ministers could not object. Because the emperor made a promise to all the people who were elected, and if they dared to go back on it, they would be against all the people who were elected.

What's more, many ministers have families who have failed to pass the Jinshi examination, and their opposition is not that fierce -

The emperor opened the door to serve in frontiers and overseas, and they were confident that they could expand this door and allow their own sons and nephews to serve as officials.

For people in the Ming Dynasty, being an official and not being an official are completely two different concepts.

If no one in the family is an official for several generations, no matter how large the family fortune is, it will decline.

If you can get an official position, no matter how small the position is, you will still be a member of the bureaucratic group——

At least the local subordinates dare not bully the officials' families.

The reason why Zhu Youjian was so generous was actually to enrich his border and overseas considerations. Another thing is to encourage people to join the army and prepare for the launch of group training in the future——

Although he felt that this was unlikely, he needed to reserve some talents anyway.

Moreover, joining the army with many candidates can also improve the cultural level of the army. When communicating with civilian officials, these people can come forward.

If the channel for military guards to become civil servants is smoothed, the opening for military attachés to become civil servants will also be opened in the future.

As for whether this will increase too many officials and cause redundant officials, Zhu Youjian thinks this problem is not big. Because the number of people who were elected in the Ming Dynasty was actually not that many——

There are only more than 10,000 Juren alive in the entire world. Nearly half of the more than 5,000 candidates who took part in the examination this time.

Even if all of these more than 10,000 people become officials, Zhu Youjian can still afford it. The annual increase in salary is only more than 400,000 dan.

And because they were not Jinshi, their promotion speed was very slow. The rate of salary increase is also very slow.

It can be said that it was precisely because of the grinding method that Zhu Youjian dared to increase the number of low-level officials on a large scale and granted many people official status with very low salaries. He has been advancing the matter of replacing civil servants with lower-level officials.

After this decision was announced, in order to put an end to the matter and allow the candidates in front of the Chengtian Gate to disperse, Zhu Youjian announced the third item, releasing the results of the Mingfa and Mingshu subjects, and inviting the candidates on the list to the Huangji Hall for an audience. . He would bestow the fourth and fifth grade Jinshi in the palace and accept these people as disciples of the emperor.

At the same time, in order to show his importance to the new Jinshi, Zhu Youjian ordered a banquet to be held on Qionghua Island in Xiyuan. Invite new scholars to the palace to attend the banquet.

Among the envy of many candidates, those whose names were read entered the palace one by one from Chengtian Gate and went to the Huangji Palace to have an audience.

Some Juren who took the Mingfa and Mingshu exams but did not participate in the meditation, after hearing the news, also hurried to Chengtianmen to see if they were on the list.

After holding a ceremony imitating Chuan Lu's ritual, these new scholars went to Qionghua Island in Xiyuan for a banquet under the guidance of the chamberlain.

This banquet later became customized and became the Qionghua Banquet that must be held after becoming a Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)