Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Looking at Xue Fengxiang kneeling on the ground, Zhu Youjian was determined to change the business department to someone else. But he also knew that Xue Fengxiang's position as Minister of Industry could not be changed.

This is the only minister he keeps. Even if he is to show off to the world, he has to keep him——

People cannot think that the ministers the emperor brother uses are not good enough, nor can people think that the emperor himself is impatient and does not want to use any of the ministers left by the emperor brother.

In addition, Xue Fengxiang was quite obedient. Zhu Youjian reluctantly suppressed his anger and asked Wang Chengen, who was accompanying him, to help Xue Fengxiang up and said:
"Xue Qing is the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry has never been in charge of business matters before, so it is understandable that he does not understand these things."

"You have done a good job in printing research, and you have also worked hard to build the imperial mausoleum. You were previously demoted to the rank of Vice Minister and Acting Minister, but now you can be promoted back."

"What do you recommend as the candidate for the left minister of the Ministry of Industry?"

These words gave Xue Fengxiang a high hat and a promotion to his official position. At the same time, he was also asked to recommend a minister to be responsible for business matters.

Xue Fengxiang had been messing around in the officialdom for so many years, how could he not understand what the emperor meant. The emperor thought he was doing too poorly in the Commerce Department and wanted to appoint a Zuo Shilang to take charge of it. So he got a blessing in disguise and was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

Xue Fengxiang thought for a while and said:
"If His Majesty is willing to use it, both Xu Dahua and Huo Weihua are qualified for this position."

"It's just that these two people are listed as counter-criminals, which may not be convenient."

Of course it is inconvenient. Xu Dahua and Huo Weihua are the fourth-level counter-criminals and core members of the eunuch party.

Even if such a person is talented, it is inconvenient to use him, otherwise the descendants of the murdered Donglin Party who have just been appeased will immediately cause trouble.

Xue Fengxiang mentioned the names of these two people, probably with the intention of testing the emperor's mind, rather than sincerely recommending them.

Zhu Youjian guessed that he probably wanted to find someone to attract firepower so as to avoid being impeached by the Donglin Party. He said without hesitation:

"Xu Dahua and Huo Weihua have been exiled to Dongning Guard."

"If they have talent, let them develop it on the island. I will not treat those who have made meritorious service to the country badly."

"Xue Qing still recommends those who can serve. With your merits, you will have the opportunity to obtain a worldly position in the future."

These words were intended to promise a knighthood in the future. After all, many ministers already knew about the news of the worldly job being transformed into a Spylord.

At the same time, it also means that after the emperor dealt with Wei Zhongxian and others, he had no prejudice against the remaining eunuch officials. Criminal officials like Xu Dahua and Huo Weihua were also likely to be awarded titles for meritorious service.

This made Xue Fengxiang very happy, knowing that the emperor really had no prejudice against him. What you need to do is to keep making meritorious deeds.

So he thought about it carefully and recommended:
"Guo Shangyou, Governor of Water Transport, and Huang Yuntai, Governor of Tianjin, both are good at financial management and have dealt with canal merchants."

"I believe that these two people are qualified to serve as the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, and they are qualified enough."

Both of these two people were also involved in counter-cases, but because of their previous meritorious service, they were retained by Zhu Youjian.

Now that he heard their names again, Zhu Youjian glanced at Xue Fengxiang and felt that he really wanted to find a eunuch to attract firepower in the court.

After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian said:
"Water transport is of great importance, and the governor of Tianjin has the important responsibility of paying for Liaodong, so he cannot be replaced easily."

"The terms of these two people will not expire until next year, so let them stay in office!"

Let Xue Fengxiang choose another person to continue recommending.

There were only so many that could be recommended. Xue Fengxiang tried his best and suggested two more people.

These two are no longer involved with the Eunuch Party, and one is included in the Donglin Party:
"Shang Zhouzuo, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, is expiring this year, and His Majesty also praised him a lot."

"He Dao Nan Juyi, the former governor of Fujian and the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, is also qualified for this position."

Zhou Zuo of Shang Dynasty was the only one among the six governors who was not involved with the eunuch party. Moreover, he was ordered to collect firearms and did a good job, which made Zhu Youjian quite satisfied.

Nan Juyi was included in the Donglin Party, and was eunuched by the Party to rely on the family and reduce his membership for the people. Zhu Youjian remembered his name, because he was the leader of the recapture of Penghu. Sun Guozhen, the governor of Denglai, and Yu Zigao, the admiral of the navy, also made achievements in that battle and embarked on the fast track for promotion.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with these two candidates. Thinking of Zhang Nai, Zhou Yongchun, Qian Xiangkun, Sheng Yihong and others who had already come to Beijing, Zhu Youjian felt that the remaining vacant ministers also needed to be recommended:
"Nowadays, there is no shortage of ministers in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Punishment. The left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs is vacant, and Li Qiyuan, the minister of pay for the army, has not taken up the post. 』

"The Ministry of War is short of a right-hand minister and a minister-in-charge of the capital, and the Ministry of Works is short of a left-hand minister. The senior officials of Shaofu Temple have not appointed any appointments, so they are all given part-time jobs by the Ministry of Works. 』

"It is estimated that after some time, I will still need to be promoted. 』

Ever since he became the emperor, Zhu Youjian has been recommending officials in the court, which makes him feel a little annoyed. He also understands the reason why the previous emperors did not participate in the recommendation——

There are really too many officials who need to be promoted, and the terms of office of Ming officials are also very short. If the emperor wants to manage Tingtui, everything in the court must revolve around Tingtui.

But personnel power is the core of power. Zhu Youjian has just been in power for less than a year, and his power is not yet stable. Of course, he cannot let go of such an important power.

Therefore, he could only be patient and preside over the official's recommendation:
"There are many vacancies among the six departments and nine temples."

"I will ask Yang Shangshu to recommend it at the end of this month or next month."

"If Xue Qing has any candidates to recommend, you can mention them in time."

Then he said, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally:
"Lu Xiangduo has made many meritorious deeds and has been promoted to the top five ranks."

"With this level, you are qualified to serve as a temple minister, right?"

"Xue Qing currently holds the position of Minister of Shaofu Temple. Have you ever thought about recommending someone to serve as Minister of Shaofu Temple or as Shaoqing?"

Hearing this, Xue Fengxiang felt a thump in his heart, knowing that something difficult was coming.

He had made mistakes in matters related to the Department of Commerce before, but the emperor not only did not punish him, but also promoted him to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Now he was finally given a difficult task:
"No matter how high Lu Xiang is, he is also a craftsman!" 』

"Let him be the prime minister of the temple, and there won't be a lot of noise in the court!" 』

He deliberately ignored this matter, but he knew that the emperor's trust was not given to him in vain. And the hint of knighthood made him very excited.

So Xue Fengxiang thought hard and came up with an idea, saying:

"Your Majesty, Lu Xiang has made many meritorious deeds, and I think he should be awarded a Yuanshi."

"If he can obtain a Yuanshi background, there will be no hindrance to him becoming a temple minister!"

He left this matter to the emperor.

When Zhu Youjian heard this, his eyes lit up. Because when he established Yuanshi before, he had thought of giving Yuanshi status to science and engineering talents.

Lu Xiang, a craftsman, is naturally among them. As the head of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, his status in Zhu Youjian's view is that of the dean of the Academy of Engineering.

Such an important position certainly deserves the status of a Yuanshi, so Zhu Youjian immediately said:
"That's exactly what it should be!"

"This must be done properly."

"In this way, you ask Qian Jiazheng to publicize Lu Xiang's achievements in printing, and then send the bayonets made by Lu Xiang to the Liaodong front line so that Liaodong's guns can be equipped with bayonets as soon as possible."

"Tell Qian Jiazheng, Sun Yuanhua, Mao Yuanyi and other Yuanshi scholars to apply for a special Yuanshi birth certificate for Lu Xiang."

I plan to use this method to reduce people's criticism.

After Xue Fengxiang heard this, his eyes brightened even more. Because of Lu Xiang's achievements, he, the Shaofu Temple Minister, obviously also had a share. If we promote Lu Xiang’s achievements, shouldn’t we also promote his?

This made Xue Fengxiang really feel the hope of being knighted in the future——

As long as he guards the treasured place of Wen Si Yuan, he will have many achievements to share in the future. It is true that he strongly supported the Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was even ridiculed by some officials.

After leaving the palace with satisfaction, Xue Fengxiang immediately found someone to handle the matter. Zhu Youjian looked at Xue Fengxiang's leaving figure and thought about the candidate to chair the Commerce Department.

This department is responsible for unified procurement and is equally important as the unified taxation of Taifu Temple. It’s just that one spends money and the other receives money.

That's why Zhu Youjian planned to let Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry take charge.

According to Xue Fengxiang's proposal, the candidates include Shang Zhouzuo, Nan Juyi and others.

However, these officials are not very satisfactory to Zhu Youjian. He does not think that they have any business insights. They may even be inferior to Wang Chengen, who is in charge of the inner palace supervisor——

At least Wang Chengen is loyal. Even if his business ability is slightly poor, he can get things done under Zhu You's meticulous instructions.

Those civil servants are not very capable, but they are stubborn.

"So, choose someone with a softer personality. 』

"Let him copy the inner-office supervisor's homework even if he doesn't understand!" 』

With this idea in mind, Zhu Youjian gradually made plans for the candidate of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry.

Then I read the article in the newspaper, and I was still angry at Guanglu Temple, and I made up my mind to put the entire yamen of Guanglu Temple in order.

At the same time, he praised the "Master of Qilu Zhai" who wrote the article:

"The master of Qilu Zhai should be Zhang Pu's pen name, right?"

"Other than him, a celebrity with seven records and seven burns, who else uses this pen name?"

Wang Chengen next to him smiled and said:
"That's Zhang Pu and Zhang Tianru. He is very famous among the scholars in Jiangnan."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, indicating that he knew this person. This is not only because he has learned "The Story of Five Tombstones" in his textbook, but also because Zhang Pu is the leader of Fushe and is known as the successor of the Donglin Party.

Zhu Youjian was already tired of one Donglin Party, how could he sit back and watch the second Donglin Party appear.

Therefore, he had already decided to recruit Zhang Pu, Chen Zilong and other core members of the society to restore the society, so that they would have no energy to carry out the restoration of the society.

Moreover, he had chosen the person, and that was Xu Fuyuan, the great-grandson of Xu Jie's younger brother Xu Zhi, who was recommended by Xu Bengao and had close contacts with Jiangnan scholars.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Pu came to the capital before this person was used. Now that Zhu Youjian has met him, it is of course impossible to let him go.

Intentionally encouraging private writers and asking them to monitor public opinion, Zhu Youjian said:
"Summon Zhang Pu for an audience!"

"I want to meet this imperial student."

Ask Wang Chengen to send someone to invite Zhang Pu over.

Zhang Pu felt excited when he heard the emperor's summons.

Although he wanted to become famous through his articles, he also hoped that the emperor would read newspapers as rumored.

However, he never expected that the emperor would summon him after reading the article in the newspaper.

He was so happy that he hurriedly sent his classmates to inform Zhang Cai and others. After dressing up, he followed the young eunuch into the palace.

Entering the palace, Zhang Pu was quite bold and looked around behind the young eunuch, looking greedily at the majestic and solemn palace.

As the concubine of a maidservant, Zhang Pu suffered humiliation in the Zhang family since childhood. After losing his father, he followed his mother to live in Xiguo, and his room was called Qiluzhai.

Thinking of the rude frame-up by his uncle Zhang Fuzhi's family, Zhang Pu thought of what he had written on the wall in blood:

"A slave without hatred is not a son of man!" 』

This has also been his motivation to study hard.

Now, he is twenty-seven years old. Although he is only a student, he has been summoned by the emperor. Let him really see his opportunity for revenge:

"My uncle's highest official position is that of Minister of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing. 』

"I am so respected by the Holy Spirit, don't I have the chance to become a Jiuqing and a Grand Scholar?" 』

"Zhang Pu, Zhang Pu, you must behave well and don't forget the oath written on the wall!" 』

After gathering his mood, Zhang Pu followed the young eunuch and entered the legendary Wuying Palace.

In the Wuying Hall, Zhu Youjian was looking at the "Comprehensive Map of Kunyu and All Nations", drawing according to the world map in his impression. Seeing Zhang Pu arriving, he waved, called Zhang Pu to him, and asked:

"Has Zhang Qing seen this picture?"

"Have you ever seen any Westerners in Suzhou?"

Of course Zhang Pu had never seen this picture, but he had been exposed to Western things. After all, Suzhou was the first prefecture of the Ming Dynasty. Like Songjiang Prefecture next door, there were Western merchants and missionaries.

So he looked at the image in front of the emperor and said:

"This is the Complete Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms. The students have not seen it, but they have heard about it."

Zhang Pu had heard of the name of this image. Moreover, he also knew that the emperor explained this picture to the ministers and asked the bachelor to compile "A Brief History of the World Chronicle".

Zhu Youjian was very happy when he heard that Zhang Pu knew about this picture.

He felt that young people like Zhang Pu could be reformed. So he asked:
"Then take a closer look, where is Suzhou?"

Zhang Pu looked for a long time and finally found South Zhili and Hangzhou. Pointing to the riverside and the sea, he said:

"Near the sea is Songjiang Prefecture, and next to it is Suzhou."

I was secretly amazed that the area of ​​​​the world on this map was so huge that even Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture were not written on the map.

At the same time, he also vaguely understood the emperor's intention, which was to let him look at the world and not just look at Suzhou Songjiang and other prefectures.

Sure enough, Zhu Youjian said to him:

"See it!"

"The world is so big. Although my Ming Dynasty is powerful, it only occupies a small corner."

"Now that foreigners from Europe and the West are coming to the West, as a student of the Ming Dynasty, you must learn to look at the world!"

Having said these words sincerely, Zhu Youjian asked Zhang Pu:
"Zhang Qing, what is your ambition?"

"Is there anything you want to achieve in your life?"

Zhang Pu hesitated for a while and was embarrassed to say that his wish was to take revenge on a slave, so he said:

"My lifelong wish is to provide for my mother and let her receive her royal decree!"

He thought that if he fulfilled this wish, he would naturally be able to take revenge on that slave. At the same time, the reason why he laughed at himself disappeared without a trace.

Zhu Youjian felt happy when he heard this wish. It's hard for him to talk about other things. Isn't it very simple to seal a decree?

As long as Zhang Pu can perform meritorious service, he dares to promise to grant imperial orders. No one in the court would object without opening their eyes! (End of chapter)