Idle courtiers

Chapter 450 Fragmentation of Power

Yuxi Palace, Jiajing Jingshe.

Zhou Nan had been waiting outside for a long time, but the emperor never paid any attention to him.Jiajing is eating, well, wait!
After standing for a long time, he was so hungry that his stomach was rumbling, and he was already a little out of breath.

At this moment, a eunuch was seen carrying a copper pot and a wooden basin.

Zhou Nan took it naturally and waved at him: "Go!"

Then he walked lightly into the room.

Firstly, Jiajing was old, and secondly, he had taken the so-called elixir for a long time, and his blood vessels were blocked, especially the hands and feet far away from the heart, which had already accumulated pre-spots.Therefore, every afternoon when the yang energy is at its most positive, people will ask someone to boil hot water to wash his feet.

There is nothing to say about the copper basin, but this pine basin has a lot of exquisiteness.It is to be made of freshly planed pine boards and must not be painted.What is used is the aroma that new wood emits when it meets hot water.

After using it once, the fragrance of pine wood will fade, and Jiajing will discard it and give it to the eunuchs, or send it directly to the imperial dining room as firewood.

360 five days a year, every day.

The Son of Heaven is rich all over the world, so it is nothing to use a wooden basin every day.However, the problem lies in the fact that the utensils used by the emperor have to go through many Taoist hands, and they have to be exploited layer by layer. The wooden basin worth one coin of silver has been sent to the emperor, and it has already cost a sky-high price of 200 taels.

This is true of wooden basins, and so are other things.Even though the items in the Jiajing House are all ordinary objects, if you dare to damage them, you can be compensated according to the price, and you will be bankrupt immediately.

The Ming Dynasty was better, but my Qing Dynasty was even more outrageous.According to the memoirs of Emperor Xuantong and a loyal socialist citizen, Comrade Aixinjueluo Puyi, Emperor Guangxu wanted to eat a piece of soup one day, but he couldn't do it, so he asked Yushanfang to make it.The eunuchs replied, this thing is too expensive, the Lord Long Live has run out of money, so just bear with it!

Emperor Guangxu was amazed and asked, how much is a bowl of this soup.He replied, 1000 taels.

The emperor was taken aback. It shouldn't be. I heard people say that the most famous restaurant in Beijing only costs [-] cents for sliced ​​soup. Go buy it!

The eunuch replied that the business was not good and had closed.

Just kidding, go out of the palace to buy, then how much money do we make, relying on the monthly salary of a few taels of silver from you, Long Live Lord?There are old people in our family, young people in the bottom, and Meijiao Niang in the middle, who must starve to death.

Speaking of the Ming Dynasty, according to historical records, several emperors loved money and were called poor. In fact, a large part of the operating expenses spent by the emperor's personal expenses was spent by the people below, and what he enjoyed was nothing more than The tip of the iceberg of spending.

Jiajing closed his eyes and was sitting cross-legged on the futon. He had already changed into a wide Taoist robe, and the hem of Songjiang cotton covered his legs.

Seeing Zhou Nan coming in, Huang Jin signaled him not to speak, took the wooden basin and copper pot and put them at the feet of the emperor, and then tipped the pot.

A line of hot water falls into the basin, and the fresh scent of pine is diffused with the white air.

After pouring out the water, Huang Jin straightened Jiajing's feet, dragged off his shoes and socks, and submerged in the hot water.He said in a low voice, "Master, this is the old pine tribute from Lin County. I wish you everlasting youth, Master."

Zhou Nan looked over intently, feeling a sudden shock in his heart.But Jiajing's two legs were skinny and covered with red and blue spots. Huang Jin's finger pressed down and there was a small pit, and he couldn't recover for a long time.

Jiajing took a long breath and was finishing his work.

After a while, he opened his eyes, and there was some redness in them: "Evergreen for thousands of years, it's not easy. As the saying goes, pines and cypresses don't come in, Huang Jin."

"The servant is here."

Jiajing: "I'm also a little deaf recently, and my memory is not very good. When I was doing the exercises just now, I was attacked by a demon, and suddenly fell into a day more than 20 years ago. At that time, you and I were still young! But when I opened my eyes , but saw that you are already a gray-haired old man."

Huang Jin: "The emperor and the servants are old, and the servants probably don't have a good life for a few years. But if the master ascends from the sky, the servants can also enjoy some glory."

"Who can say for sure what will happen in the future? Cultivation is something you do against the sky. God will never let you get the way for nothing. I put aside the mundane affairs and strive forward bravely, but there are so many things that hinder me. down."

Huang Jin: "The country cannot live without His Majesty, and the court cannot live without an emperor."

"What you say is against your will. Without anyone, this world is still the same world, and the sun rises and sets. Maybe, in the eyes of some people, it will be more refreshing. The predecessors scattered soil, fascinated the eyes of future generations, and blocked If it leaves the way for people to make progress later on, then it is not beautiful.”

As soon as these words came out, not only Huang Jin, but even Zhou Nan was terrified.

After finishing speaking, Jiajing stared at Zhou Nan with bright eyes, and pointed to the wooden basin.

Zhou Nan knew that the emperor was playing a riddle for himself, and he had obviously blamed himself for dragging King Yu into it with his previous words, so he was suspected of provoking their father and son's feelings.However, in that case, to protect Xu Jie is to protect himself, and he should not do anything for it.As for offending King Yu, he couldn't even care less about offending the emperor.

Zhou Nan said: "Your Majesty, I do not agree with this statement. It is true that there is a saying that pines and cypresses are not allowed to enter the door. Isn't there a saying that pines and cypresses are evergreen? Everyone can say auspicious words, but this is of no use to practitioners. I had a lot of considerations, but I planted my demons. Changchun Master said: Freedom and restraint, the heart is not greedy for glory and the body is not humiliated. Only by seeing through and letting go can you be at ease."

"You are free and unrestrained, let go, that's right, you should let go." Jiajing suddenly shouted: "Zhou Nan, I ask you, how can I let go? An empty case involving two princes and a cabinet minister , an admiral of the East Factory, an envoy of the Jinyiwei Commander, and by the way, Yuan Wei. It's really a big news, tell me, what do you want to do?"

Knowing the critical moment, Zhou Nan said, "Naturally does Son Sheng have a decision?"

"How to break it? I can't figure it out, I want to hear from you."

Zhou Nan: "Son of Heaven, Shengming, if this matter is to be properly resolved, we only need to set up a chief assistant in the cabinet."

Jiajing: "How do you say?"

Zhou Nan: "The Kong Ming case is not a big deal, as long as the real culprit is found out, it will be settled. But some people want to direct the disaster to Mr. Xu Ge. I'm afraid everyone in the world knows why. There is no cabinet The first assistant, Mr. Xu Ge is the second assistant, so it is natural to advance sequentially. Just as His Majesty said just now, the predecessors scattered the soil, fascinated the eyes of future generations, and Mr. Xu Ge blocked the way of others. This is the motive, Your Majesty just needs to hurry up Appoint the chief assistant, and if others have no chance, they will naturally die down."

These words have completely clarified the fact that Chen Hong wanted to win the position of chief assistant for the prince's teacher Gao Gong in order to please King Yu.

Huang Jin was shocked when he heard the words, and scolded: "Zhou Nan, how important is the court's affairs, the master has his own holy judgment, what is your identity, can you put your beak on this matter?"

Jiajing waved his hand at Huang Jin, and stared at Zhou Nan sharply: "Zhou Nan, you were the one who proposed not to set up a chief assistant, and now you are the one who said that there should be one. What should I do?"

"Your Majesty, at this time, at that time. May I also ask Long Live, Mr. Yuan Ge has always been at odds with Mr. Xu Ge, why do you speak for him today?" Zhou Nan said: "I heard that Mr. Xu Ge intends to let all the cabinets The ministers jointly drafted an edict for the emperor's ticket."

Jiajing's expression changed: "Really?"

Zhou Nan: "My ministers dare not deceive the emperor. Xu Xiang once asked his ministers to write a banner to be hung in the cabinet, and it was true that it was written that 'Return the Lord with prestige, return the government affairs with the ministers, and return the public opinion with the punishment and reward'." .”

Jiajing's expression was disturbed again, he suddenly smiled, and said to Huang Jin who was washing his feet: "Xu Jie is also old, how many years has he served me?"

Huang Jin carefully dried the emperor's feet with a towel: "Old Xu Ge was in the second year of Jiajing's spring exam, and he was ordered to edit by the Imperial Academy. In the third year of Ding You, he began to serve the master in the sixth year of Jiajing." Pick up a new pair of socks to put on.

"It's almost 40 years in a flash." Jiajing shook his head: "It's better to wear old socks. People say that new clothes are not as good as new ones. I think it's better to wear old clothes."

When Zhou Nan heard the emperor's words, his heart was filled with ecstasy: Xu Jie was saved, and my old Zhou was also saved.The emperor's mind, the emperor's mind sounds abstruse, but in fact it is simple to put it bluntly, it is "balance" and "sovereign power."

It doesn't matter to Jiajing whether the murderer behind the Kongming case is King Jing or Xu Jie, or whoever it is.

As soon as the incident happened, he only cared about four points.

One, officials are making trouble, and the situation is about to get out of control, how will it end.

Second, Chen Hong took refuge in King Yu. Was the influence of the royal family too great to dare to frame the cabinet minister?In the future, is there going to be a Xuanwu Gate incident?Even if King Yu is filial, what about the people below?

Third, if the power of the royal family is suppressed, the cabinet will win this battle, and the strength of the civil servants will increase. Will the old incident of Yang Ting and himself being too stubborn be repeated when King Yu takes over the throne in the future.

Fourth, if the power of King Yu's Mansion is suppressed, King Jing sees an opportunity and something happens again, how to deal with it.

What Zhou Nan said just now gave Jiajing a perfect solution. In a nutshell, it is: use the civil service system to suppress Yuwangfu, and then use the cabinet elders to share votes to draw up decrees to decentralize power.

This is exactly the same as Zhou Nan's original intention of not setting up a chief assistant, or even more brilliant.

Isn't this a variant of the Han Dynasty's Tweeting Order? Not bad, not bad, really good!
Jiajing put on his socks and stood up: "It's not unreasonable for the cabinet to have no chief assistant. When the Kongming case is over, let the court recommend it?"

These words have clearly conveyed a meaning, he has already preferred Xu Jie to be the chief assistant.After all, Lao Xu has now formed an alliance with Yuan Wei, and now he has the support of Ke Dao, so he can only be recommended by the public.

Huang Jin: "Yes, this servant is drafting an order."

Jiajing: "There should be four people in the cabinet, let's make up for Gao Gong!"

"Yes, sir."

Jiajing thought about it again; "According to the old system, there should be six bachelors, all completed."

Zhou Nan was clear in his heart that the emperor wanted the cabinet to continue to be fragmented.After all, Gao Gong is the teacher of King Yu, and Li Chunfang is from the palace.In this way, the power of the Wangfu in the cabinet was suddenly strengthened.Now that we have to do it, we can simply add two more people. When the cabinet has something to do, the six of you can argue with each other. If you can't, I can come forward.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, there are generally six cabinet bachelors, but usually only four.

The six ministers of the cabinet are the Grand Scholars of Zhongji Temple, the Grand Scholars of Jianji Temple, the Grand Scholars of Wenhuadian, the Grand Scholars of Wuyingdian, the Grand Scholars of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the Grand Scholars of Dongge.

It is legal and compliant, and there are two more places for assistant ministers. Everyone has a chance. Can the civil servants not support it?
(End of this chapter)