Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 110 Refutation
Naturally, Wang Yangming came to Zhu Houzhao to raise money to build the Imperial University of Peking.

When Zhu Houzhao found out, he decisively ordered a summons for Wang Hua.

After Wang Hua saluted Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houzhao asked: "How did you become the Minister of Finance? You don't even have the money to set up a university in Beijing. How much money can you spend?"

"Your Majesty, it's not that I am unwilling to give it, but I simply have no money! The Ministry of Revenue has been out of money since the construction of the Qianqing Palace," Wang Hua replied.

"It's not that you don't have money, it's that you don't know how to be the Minister of Finance. I have an idea for you. You can apply for a loan from the Royal Bank!"

Zhu Houzhao gave Wang Hua an idea.

Wang Hua nodded in agreement.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that a scholar like Wang Hua was not suitable to be the Minister of Revenue, but there was nothing he could do because he was selected through the so-called "democratic" method of selecting officials by imperial recommendation, which was the result of a balance of forces within the civil service group at that time.

Zhu Houzhao really couldn't dismiss him easily, and it was also most beneficial to him as the emperor. After all, the more balanced the power within the court, the better.

Fortunately, although Wang Hua was not good at managing the Ming Dynasty's currency system, he was not stubborn. He was tolerant of new things and rebellious people. Otherwise, Wang Yangming would not have lived to this day.

This is also the reason why Zhu Houzhao was still willing to let Wang Hua be in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. If he couldn't find a competent subordinate, finding a subordinate who was obedient and not stubborn was also a good choice.

It takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to cultivate a person. The talents who can truly become the pillars of the empire must also be cultivated slowly.

Zhu Houzhao sometimes thought that perhaps the Imperial University of Peking was an opportunity, but what he didn't know was how many scholars would be willing to come to the Imperial University of Peking for further studies after the palace examination.

Xu Jing finally finalized the loan agreement with the Minister of Revenue Wang Hua, and also obtained the approval of the cabinet's Jiao Fangpiao and Zhu Houzhao's approval.

Moreover, Zhu Houzhao did not allow the Ministry of Revenue to borrow only money to build the Imperial University of Peking, but also borrowed a sum of money as a reserve for purchasing military rations.

In this way, Zhu Houzhao would not have to worry about the distribution of grain affecting grain prices.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao had also thought about how the Ministry of Revenue would repay the loan. Since the Minister of Revenue Ye Qi in the Hongzhi period changed the salt system to paying silver instead of rice, the Ministry of Revenue had received no less than one million taels of silver into the Taicang warehouse every year.

In theory, this money was used by the Ministry of Revenue to purchase military rations to supply the army.

Of course, it would not cost so much just to supply military supplies, especially in peacetime, so in many cases, this money would be saved.

It became an important source of income for the central court.

In the future, the Ministry of Revenue can naturally use this silver to repay the loan. Now he can use the money borrowed from the Royal Bank to purchase grain for military supplies when the grain price is lower, thus avoiding the increase in military supply costs due to the grain prices being raised by merchants when the salt silver is paid. At the same time, it also balances prices and prevents grain prices from being too high or too low.

By doing this, Zhu Houzhao made the flow of funds in the Ming Dynasty’s central finance more flexible.

……

After solving the problem of the Ministry of Revenue's lack of money, Zhu Houzhao went to the duty room of the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department to prepare to start a day's government work.

But as soon as Zhu Houzhao stepped into the cabinet and the Silijian duty room, Liu Jin walked up to Zhu Houzhao and said solemnly:
"Your Majesty! Zuo Dongxiu, the Imperial Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, rejected the cabinet's decree on the implementation of the central civil service examination, saying that it was contrary to the ancestral law!"

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened. The Northern Pacification Division has just received news that the Minister of Personnel, Mr. Wang, was attacked by gangsters on his way home!" At this time, Guo Rong, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, suddenly appeared outside the duty room and said in a panic.

"Your Majesty! The cabinet has just received a memorial in which the censor Liao Yiming impeached Zhao Botao, a doctor of the Ministry of Civil Service, for corruption! In my opinion, this is them expressing their dissatisfaction with the central civil service examination!" Jiao Fang, the second assistant cabinet member on duty, also walked up to Zhu Houzhao to report.

After hearing these three pieces of news, Zhu Houzhao was a little dazed.

Frankly speaking, he attached great importance to the central civil service examination, even more than the so-called special examination, because it was his attempt to reform the Ming Dynasty's official selection system and an important part of the civil service reform.

Although the change from the selection of officials by the Ministry of Personnel to selection by examination only targeted officials of lower ranks, it was these officials who made up the majority of the imperial officials and determined the extent of corruption in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom.

Changing the personnel department's official selection model to one of examination-based selection will undoubtedly greatly curb corruption in the empire's grassroots administration.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao took advantage of the opportunity of a large number of official vacancies in the court after the elimination of the rebel party to implement institutional reforms in the civil service examination system. He also took into account the possible backlash from civil service forces, so he only carried out reforms at the central level.

But what Zhu Houzhao didn't expect was that he would still encounter obstacles!
First of all, it was actually rejected by the censors of the Ministry of Personnel!
Secondly, the Minister of Personnel Wang Shu, who supported the reform, had just escaped death by chance, but now he was assassinated again when he arrived in the capital. This shows how much the officials in the court could not tolerate him!
It has to be admitted that Emperor Hongzhi's decision to let Wang Shu retire might have been intended to protect him.

As for the impeachment of Zhao Botao, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Selection, for corruption by the censor Liao Yiming, as Jiao Fang said, this was Zhao Botao expressing his dissatisfaction with the imperial examination system for selecting officials, because once officials were selected by examination, his power as the Langzhong of the Ministry of Selection would be taken away!

Otherwise, why did Liao Yiming have nothing better to do than to suddenly impeach the doctor of the Ministry of Selection for corruption?

Although the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Selections was prone to corruption and contained a lot of benefits, the power was also considerable, and those who could become Langzhong of the Ministry of Selections generally had strong backgrounds.

The censor Liao Yiming must have obtained Zhao Botao's permission before impeaching him, because as soon as Zhao Botao was impeached, he could be suspended from his post pending questioning, and he could go on strike with a legitimate reason, thus preventing the reform of the imperial examination for selecting officials from the imperial court from proceeding.

Emperor Zhu Houzhao couldn't even find any fault with Zhao Botao, because he was unable to work because he was impeached.

In other words, on the surface, Zhao Botao is the victim.

Not to mention the fact that Zuo Dongxiu, the Censor-in-Chief of the Ministry of Personnel, rejected the will of Zhu Houzhao and the Cabinet to reform the official selection system, because this was a power granted to him by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and the censors of the six ministries had the power to refute.

But because of this, even if Zhu Houzhao replaced a doctor in the Ministry of Literature, it would be useless, because the intention of reform was rejected by the censors of the Ministry of Personnel!

The assassination of Wang Shu was undoubtedly a warning to some civil servants who wanted to change the official selection system.

"Very good, very good! Very good!"

Zhu Houzhao really felt the resistance to reform at this moment, and he was really angry. He couldn't help but ask Guo Rong: "How is Wang Shu now? Is he in serious trouble?"

"There's nothing serious at the moment, except that his right foot was hit by a bullet. I'm afraid he won't be able to attend court for a while," Guo Rong replied.

"What should we do? Once the prince is ill, the reform of the civil service examination will have to be put on hold!" Jiao Fang said worriedly.

"Who said it should be put on hold? I didn't say it should be put on hold, so it's not put on hold! Send an order to have Zuo Dongxiu, the official in the Ministry of Personnel, and Liao Yiming, the censor, thrown into the imperial prison and interrogated strictly! Interrogate them to see if they are suspected of conspiracy and collusion, whether they intend to block the court's new policies and disobey the order, deliberately embarrass officials in the Ministry of Personnel, or even secretly harm important officials of the court!"

Zhu Houzhao ordered coldly.

Thanks to the book friend Chao Xue Chi for the reward of 100 Qidian coins

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(End of this chapter)