Idle courtiers

Chapter 201 A Strict Warning
At the same time, in Xiyuan, the cabinet was on duty.

It was snowing heavily outside, and there was no wind, but the air was so cold that it seemed to freeze.

Fearing that the four prime ministers in the cabinet would be frozen, the book office lit a brazier early in the morning.

Now, the silver silk charcoal is shining bright red, and the room is as warm as spring, which attracts the pot of daffodils on the long table to bloom.

As the decision-making center of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet does not know how many official duties it has to deal with every day.

Today, the memorials of ministers from various places are laid out on the long case one by one according to the degree of urgency, and pressed with sapphire paperweights.

Xu Jie sat in front of the case and read each piece with his eyes.

Although Xu Jie is old, he looks like a little old man on the surface, but he is extremely energetic. He has to read at least tens of thousands of words in the notebooks every day, and he has to carefully consider the motives of Shangzheren and how to give instructions. It was a hard job for the three cabinet ministers.However, Elder Xu Ge felt that he enjoyed it.Because, he knew that every word written by the cabinet ministers during their instructions could determine the livelihood of tens of thousands of people in the local area and determine the future of an official.This feeling of great power is really enjoyable!

However, a small note was pasted on the memorials that had been disposed of, on which the cabinet's handling opinions were written in neat small letters.

This is the so-called bill drafting.

According to the political system of the Ming Dynasty, after the minister's memorial was delivered, he first went to the Secretary of General Administration.According to the classification, the Secretary of the General Administration sent the veterans of the cabinet who were in charge of the matter respectively.

For example, Xu Jie, a scholar of the Wenyuan Pavilion, is in charge of the etiquette system, but he is responsible for all government affairs involving ideology.For example, yesterday's sect made a big disturbance in the Ministry of Rites, so he should take care of it.

After the cabinet has an opinion on how to deal with it, the paper will be transferred to the Supervisor of Rites for trial and decision.

After the supervisor of ceremonies reads the proposed bill, he will sign and approve it on behalf of the emperor.Because the cinnabar pen is used, it is called Pihong.

After being approved, the zhezi returned to the cabinet.If the cabinet agrees, it can be implemented.If the cabinet has a different opinion, it can be returned to the Supervisor of Rituals, and everyone starts arguing.

The politics of the Ming Dynasty was to perform their duties and check and balance each other, just like a sophisticated machine.

In this national administrative machine, no one or any department can cover the sky with one hand, but it has some primitive meanings of prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendliness.

This is also the reason why Jiajing has not been in court for more than 20 years, and the later emperors Wanli and Tianqi simply acted as shopkeepers, and the empire is still functioning well.

The holy son of heaven, hang down and rule.Let professionals handle professional issues.Your Majesty, you can just be a Bodhisattva in the palace and accept our worship.If you want to work hard, if you say it is not good, it means that the layman directs the expert, and it will be bad.

The later Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne at a weak age because he was too eager to govern.As soon as he came to power, he first killed Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch who was in charge of the ceremony, and abolished the factory guards, which broke the delicate balance and made the civil service system dominant.

Finally, the Ming Dynasty also died.

Just imagine, if Chongzhen was like his predecessors in the palace to be a long live cultivator, a cricket emperor, and a carpenter emperor instead of acting indiscriminately, I guess there would be nothing wrong with me.

This is just a hypothesis, who knows what the outcome of the historical hypothesis will be!

In this process of drafting tickets and approving bonuses, although the supervisor of etiquette has the final approval power.However, the Supervisor of Ceremonies is nothing more than a servant of the emperor, acting on behalf of the emperor. To put it bluntly, it is just a secretarial organization.Therefore, if there are no major problems of principle in the handling opinions of the cabinet, they are generally accepted.After all, the two major decision-making bodies have to maintain a cooperative attitude on the surface, and the relationship cannot be frozen.

In this way, the right to draft votes is very critical, and whoever has this power is the big treasurer of the Ming Dynasty today.

As mentioned earlier, in the early years, after the ministers' papers were handed in, they had to be sorted by the Secretary of General Administration and sent to the elders in charge of the cabinet.At that time, all ministers in the cabinet had the right to draft votes.

But after Hongzhi, the chief assistant of the cabinet gradually took power, and in the Jiajing year, only the first assistant had the right to draft votes.Others can only make suggestions, not make decisions.

As the second assistant, Xu Jie couldn't draw up tickets, so he was actually just an assistant to the first assistant.

He looked at the small notes pasted on the memorial, and suddenly had a thought in his mind: If I can't be the chief assistant, what's the point of life.

With this thought, he was startled in horror, and looked at Yan Song who was sitting on the side with a guilty conscience.

The fire in the duty room was burning hot, and with the ground dragon heating installed underneath, Yan Song was taking a nap.

He is already an old man in his 80s, and he has to go to the imperial city to go to the imperial court every morning.At the end of the early morning, I had to rush to Xiyuan to be on duty again, and I couldn't bear it.

As if sensing Xu Jie's gaze, Yan Song's eyes suddenly opened and pierced sharply.

Xu Jie felt guilty: "The weather is really too cold, the leader must be careful. You always carry the heavy burden of the court on your shoulders, so don't be careless."

Yan Song's eyes suddenly softened, smiled and sighed: "People are old and their energy is low. The so-called life of seventy has been rare since ancient times, and I am eighty. For ordinary people, I have long been at home to play with grandchildren and support the sky. Nian, naihe, naihe. Gentlemen have to think twice, thinking about danger, thinking about retreating, and thinking about change. Thinking about danger means thinking about the wrong things you did before. Thinking about changing means changing what you did wrong once you have the opportunity. Thinking about retreating , I know how to advance and retreat. I am also tired and lazy, and it is time to retreat."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Xu Jie to answer, he asked again: "Zisheng, these are the papers of officials' impeachment of Shenyang and Zhang Dazhong. You have also read the old man's proposal, is it possible?"

Xu Jie: "I've read it. It is an unforgivable crime for these two people to separate the flesh and blood of the Tian family. The chief assistant's opinion is that they should be removed from official positions and guarded in Ningxia. Is it a bit stricter? Can you send them back to their hometown and hand them over to the local government?" Officer guarding?"

Yan Song said indifferently: "It's not a big deal. The clan quarreled and broke up. There was no need to be so harsh. However, the matter of Qingzhang concealing the imperial property was originally initiated by the two of them. If they want to think of it as an advancement, their hearts can be punished. Zisheng Think about it, if all the courtiers learn from Shen and Zhang, who are restless and self-centered, what will the court look like? When a gentleman acts, he should seek from the straight. Are you having fun? There are rules in governing a family and a country, and the rules cannot be broken."

"By the way, Zisheng is getting old, so you might as well rest for a while. You may not be sure that His Majesty will order you and me to serve you. You must maintain your spirits. Yesterday, Zisheng did a good job in Qingci."

Hearing this, the back of Xu Jie's neck stood up.As an old man in the political arena who has been ups and downs in the officialdom all his life, he naturally knows the elegant meaning by hearing the stringed songs, and he naturally knows that Yan Song is warning him not to have wrong thoughts.

Strictly avoid me.

(End of this chapter)