Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 384 I still have the final say in the world
"Your Majesty, Hai Rui's test scores were excellent, so he should have been promoted. There is nothing unreasonable about his promotion to Left Censor-in-Chief. However, I don't understand why he was transferred to the post of Governor of Henan!"

The current political system of the Ming Dynasty is not that the cabinet controls all power. The Ministry of Personnel, which is responsible for personnel appointments, can issue orders to the provincial political councils without going through the cabinet, which is equivalent to the provincial standing committees in later generations, and the provincial departments of personnel receive the orders.

The Ministry of Personnel, like the Cabinet, is naturally directly responsible to the emperor, and the emperor can appoint and dismiss officials directly through the Ministry of Personnel.

This is different from the original history where the cabinet gradually took charge of all government affairs after the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and thus also acted as the emperor for personnel power.

Therefore, Gao Gong, the chief minister of the cabinet, only learned about this news a few days after the order of the Ministry of Personnel appointed Hai Rui as the governor of Henan. As soon as he learned the news, he hurried to ask for an audience with the emperor Zhu Zaile.

"This is what the Emperor Emeritus meant."

Zhu Zaile replied and stopped talking to Gao Gong.

Gao Gong was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly said, "You can't let Hai Rui be the governor of Henan just because it's the emperor's will. Your Majesty is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty! If the governors and governors are appointed directly by the imperial decree without being recommended by the Council of State, I'm afraid that people all over the world will not accept it!"

"If you have any objections to this, you can talk to the emperor. I only know that the emperor has the final say in the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Zaile replied with this and stopped talking to Gao Gong.

Gao Gong looked at Zhu Zaile's departing back and wanted to say something, but he closed his mouth and said nothing more. He flicked his sleeves and returned to the cabinet.

The incident of Xu Jie made many civil servants understand what kind of person Hai Rui was. They would rather worship Hai Rui highly than let Hai Rui cause chaos in the local area, or even in his hometown.

Because, among officials, whose family members don't take advantage of their power to make profits? Even if there are such law-abiding official relatives, once an official like Hai Rui who only serves the people becomes the official of his hometown, and if some unruly people take the opportunity to file a complaint and slander his family, he will only favor the common people.

Therefore, Gao Gong also knew that once Hai Rui went to Henan to serve as governor, his family would be under constant surveillance by Hai Rui.

This made Gao Gong feel like a thorn in his back.

Of course, what made Gao Gong even more uncomfortable was that he could not interfere with the appointment of a governor.

Gao Gong couldn't help but wonder, is he still the chief minister of the cabinet? Is he still a minister of state?
Zhu Houzhao understood what Gao Gong did not understand.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao appointed Hai Rui as the governor of Henan not because he really intended to punish Gao Gong. Rather, Gao Gong's high profile as the prime minister of the cabinet made Zhu Houzhao realize that Gao Gong still had a strong desire to control power. He believed that Gao Gong was by no means a prime minister who could be manipulated by others. Such a prime minister and his family members might abuse their power in the local area.

When Hai Rui went to Henan to serve as governor, he could just supervise the prime minister of the cabinet.

What Zhu Houzhao wanted to protect was the interests of his own royal family and the common people, rather than considering Gao Gong's feelings. Therefore, he had to arrange someone in Gao Gong's hometown to look after his family on behalf of the court.

"This is a test from me for Gao Gong! If he manages his family well, is upright, and is willing to serve the country sincerely, even if I send another Hai Rui, what can he do to Gao Gong? Now there is no way to punish him collectively, so what is he afraid of! If he feels that this is not okay, he can choose not to do it!"

Zhu Houzhao was equally tough in his attitude, and after Zhu Zailei told him about Gao Gong's reaction, he showed no intention of compromising.

The Ming Dynasty is still an empire.

After all, imperial power is above all else.

Zhu Houzhao was willing to delegate power, and the Council of State could decide all major matters. Gao Gong, as the chief minister of the cabinet and minister of the Council of State, could directly interfere in the appointment of ministers.

However, if Zhu Houzhao was unwilling to give up power, even as the chief minister of the cabinet he could only realize some of his own ideas on domestic affairs.

It is clear.

As Gao Gong, and even many people in the Ming Dynasty today, do not want Zhu Houzhao to have the final say in the world.

these days.

Zhu Houzhao discovered that some newspapers expressed dissatisfaction with the emperor's ability to decide on official appointments without going through the Council of State Affairs.

It's not just the press that's criticizing.

The censors of the Ministry of Personnel also began to submit memorials to discuss the matter, all of which believed that Hai Rui should not acknowledge that such an appointment was legal and should refuse to take up the post.

"Father, it seems that both the officials in the court and the common people are very dissatisfied with the appointment of officials by imperial decree. What do you think about this matter?"

Emperor Zhu Zaile asked Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao smiled faintly, "I didn't discuss it with them. I made the decision alone. It's normal for people to be dissatisfied. But I still have this power now. I can't use it to cater to the preferences of the people. I want Hai Rui to supervise Gao Gong. No matter who says so, it won't work. Unless they really have the same financial and military power as me, I will compromise."

Zhu Houzhao then said, "Just like you, Lei'er, you definitely don't want me to decide everything, right?"

"My son dare not," Zhu Zailei replied hurriedly.

"I don't dare, but I definitely have this thought. But you and I are father and son, with the same interests and views. I will respect your choice, just like you respect my authority and consult me ​​on everything. In fact, Gao Gong is the same. I also respect his decision on the reform of the natives and the use of troops in the northwest. Therefore, I will not interfere with his arbitrary decision in this regard.
However, I let Hai Rui take the post of Henan Governor, which is not something he can interfere with, and he cannot interfere. He must also respect the royal family's choice! Otherwise, wouldn't the royal family in this world have the surname Gao instead of Zhu? "

Zhu Houzhao said, "No matter how the world changes, the strong will still be respected. In the economic structure of the Ming Dynasty, most of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of me and the chaebols who followed me in the past. Armaments manufacturing, industry, infrastructure, land resources, power resources, mineral resources, banks, maritime trade, etc. The most profitable industries are in the hands of our royal family and the chaebols related to our royal family. I have absolute controlling rights in the industries of these chaebols, so this is why I can dominate the strength of the Ming Dynasty! Does Gao Gong have this strength?"

"Even if the army has withdrawn from the Zhongjun Society, the Royal Industrial Company and several military academies under my control can still control all the armies of the Ming Dynasty for me. Therefore, I will still be the one who has the final say in this world! This is a reality that no one can change. Even when the Ming Dynasty was not ruled by one person, it was because I gave it up on my own initiative, not because others took it away!"

Zhu Houzhao said this calmly.

But Emperor Zhu Zailei could hear the majesty in his father's words, and he also admitted that no matter how the world advocated democracy, it could not change the reality that the strong were respected. Although his father had retreated to the backstage, and even the big chaebols controlled by him had retreated to the backstage, the national economy and people's livelihood of the entire Ming Dynasty were in their hands. Any of their companies and businesses controlled tens of thousands of families, just like the big clans in the past.

Therefore, even if he was the emperor and even if Gao Gong was the chief minister of the cabinet, it would be difficult to force these people to listen to him.

If he wanted to truly control the entire Ming Dynasty, he could only wait until his father left this world and he became the heir to all the royal industries before he could truly control the entire Ming Dynasty.

Hai Rui did not refuse the court's appointment, but went to Henan to take up the post.

The gentry in Jiangnan were relieved and bid farewell to Hai Rui one after another.

The gentry in Henan all gasped and became uneasy, but the common people were naturally happy. Those who had been unable to petition their superiors for years had already been waiting at the gates of various prefectures and counties.

Gao Gong did not choose to resign from his position as the chief minister of the cabinet as a condition to compete with the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao. He knew that it was useless. Besides, he really wanted to do something. After all, he had made a promise to the people of the world at the court meeting at the beginning of the year. In order to promote his full medical insurance coverage and funding for the north, he even had to rely on the support of the retired emperor and several financial groups behind him.

Therefore, Gao Gong did nothing else except warning his family members to be careful about their words and actions and to restrain their behavior.

Zhu Houzhao did not make things difficult for Gao Gong, and even took the initiative to convene a meeting of several major Ming Dynasty financial groups to discuss supporting the court in revitalizing the west and north.

On the day after the meeting, the families of the Duke of Yingguo, the Earl of Xinjian, the Liu Jin family, the Gu Dayong family, the Ma Wensheng family, the Jiao Fang family, the Xu Jin family and others jointly submitted a petition, expressing their willingness to ask the court to impose a ten percent monopoly tax.

Gao Gong was extremely happy when he learned about this, because it meant that the court's tax revenue would increase a lot, enough to support his transformation of the chieftains in the southwest and even in Siam into officials, and also enough to build a railway directly to the Altai Mountains.

Of course, Gao Gong also knew that this was all the power of the retired emperor, and his level was not enough to make these families spit out so much wealth.

Let these big chaebols take the initiative to apply for tax increases.

It is now Zhu Houzhao’s 80th birthday.

The people of the Ming Empire all sincerely lamented the longevity of the retired emperor. Now even the chief minister of the cabinet, Gao Gong, sincerely congratulated Zhu Houzhao on his longevity because Zhu Houzhao gave him a large sum of money to provide a stable income for the cabinet.

Even as a reward for his kindness to the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao, Gao Gong took the initiative to ask the Ministry of Rites to hold a grand birthday ceremony for the retired emperor Zhu Houzhao. Not only was the whole country given a holiday, but there were also grand parades and concerts.

Despite the development of capital industry, there were still a large number of scholars in the society who hoped that the Ming Dynasty would reform in the direction of democracy, but most of them were grateful for the changes that Zhu Houzhao brought to them.

Especially women, although Zhu Houzhao was actually an old pervert, he was still loved by almost all women because of a series of policies that were beneficial to women, such as abolishing foot binding, prohibiting the abandonment of infants and even treating it as murder, and legislating that daughters also have inheritance rights.

Even though Zhu Houzhao was eighty years old, there were still many women who offered themselves to him, including some educated young women.

……

"It's only been a year since the Queen Mother passed away, and the Emperor has announced his marriage to the seventeen-year-old Wei Yuqing. I heard that Wei Yuqing is a woman from a high-class family, and her father is Wei Shouzheng, the Earl of Xuancheng. Tell me, isn't this interesting? Our Emperor has a nineteen-year-old mother!"

"The Emperor said this was a free love relationship, and it was Wei Yuqing who confessed her love at her birthday party."

He Xinyin listened to the discussion on the tram about the recent emperor, and couldn't help laughing for a moment: "Everyone, although free love is popular nowadays, of course, He also advocates not letting the emperor or the father dominate our own marriage, but do you think a beautiful 17-year-old woman will fall in love with an 80-year-old man?

In my opinion, this woman is just vain, and she must have set her eyes on the honorary status of the emperor! Of course, it is enough to see what the wealth paid by us taxpayers has done, all of which has given the emperor the capital to marry a young and beautiful woman! "

When He Xinyin said this, all the scholars who were discussing Zhu Houzhao's second marriage looked over. One of them recognized He Xinyin and stood up to greet him:
"So it's Brother He. I'm Wu Guozheng from the Freedom Literature Society. I've long heard of your name. What you said makes sense. The current emperor lives an extravagant life. It's rumored that he likes Japanese women. It's all because of what the former Deputy Privy Envoy Qin Jin said. It was because of his love for Japanese women that he sent troops to conquer Japan. Although he killed all the Japanese pirates, he was just spending the imperial treasury to satisfy his own desires. The imperial treasury undoubtedly came from our taxes, but it was used to pay for the emperor's extravagance and debauchery. It's really infuriating!"

"It turns out that Brother Wu is also a member of the Freedom Literary Society. I happen to be one too. I have heard of you for a long time. Just as Brother He said, the retired emperor and his retainers at that time have occupied all the benefits of the world. We, the people from all walks of life, not only have no place to stand, but we also have to pay for their extravagant lifestyle. This is really intolerable! Therefore, in I's heart, there has always been no emperor and no father."

When He Xinyin said this, Wu Guozheng nodded and said, "Brother He, what you said makes sense. The so-called monarch is just like the Bodhisattva in the temple or the Zhenjun in the Taoist temple. We just worship them during festivals. We are all independent people. We should be free, independent and equal individuals. We should not be controlled by any person or force, not even our ancestors!"

"I heard that the Zhongjun Society is reorganizing recently. Brother Wu, have you heard about this?" He Xinyin asked.

"How could I not know? But it is really disappointing that, apart from that group of warriors, no one has left this evil society that is the slave of the emperor! This shows how many ignorant people there are in this world! Even Wu Xin, the councilor of Shandong Provincial Government, my father, cursed the Zhongjun Society for being worthless several years ago. Now that the higher-ups have come to him, he still refuses to leave! How hypocritical!"

Wu Guozheng replied.

"Either they are ignorant or they are just greedy for profit. However, I think that our Free Literary Society should also be reorganized. In my opinion, our Free Literary Society should also have its own leadership organization and its own social charter. We should re-screen the members of the society and only ask those who are willing to establish a free and democratic Ming Republic to join our society."

He Xinyin said.

"Yes, Brother He's suggestion is very good! I believe that our Freedom Literature Society will surpass the Loyal Emperor Society in the future and realize the ideal of transforming the Ming Dynasty!"

Wu Guozheng said.

"Now, let's each go and gather the people from the Free Writers Society. In addition, there is another thing we need to do right now. Are you interested in doing it together?" He Xinying asked.

"What's the matter?" asked Wu Guozheng and the people behind him.

"Because several financial groups have taken the initiative to apply for anti-monopoly taxes, the cabinet intends to implement anti-monopoly taxes in various provinces and let local governments decide. Now, Bi Qiang, the Left Governor of Huguang Provincial Government, intends to levy taxes on private monopoly merchants in various industries in Huguang. I have obtained the support of Mr. Cen, the Deputy Secretary of the Nanjing Li Ke Department, and I am planning to hold a large demonstration in Wuchang in the near future to unite all the gentry to oppose Bi Keng, the cruel official, for increasing taxes! This matter is not only supported by officials in the court, but His Royal Highness Prince Chang and His Royal Highness Prince Xi have also secretly funded 500,000 silver dollars!"

When He Xinyin said this, Wu Guozheng laughed happily: "Go! I'll follow Brother He's arrangements when the time comes!"

(End of this chapter)