Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 384: Fame of the World

The tenth year of Taichang arrived.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Duke Yansheng of Shandong arrived in Beijing with a memorial requesting that the court send officials to allocate sacrificial land, and that the needs of the Dacheng Xianshi Temple in Qufu would be paid from a fixed amount by Shandong local government.

The magistrate of Qufu also resigned again.

After reading it, Zhu Changluo asked Wang An: "Did anything happen?"

Wang An dropped his sleeves and replied, "One elder of the clan hanged himself, two died of illness, and there was a fight in the Confucius Mansion."

Zhu Changluo laughed: "Oh? Duke Yansheng has been away from Qufu for a long time, how did you suppress it?"

"Duke Yansheng gave up three of his own farms and six properties in Jining and Linqing, and completely separated the main branch and the side branches. With the help of the side branches, the people in the main branch can't cause much trouble."

"So, there are no people from the Shandong government office?"

"No."

The distant emperor was well aware of what was going on in Qufu, whether this information came from the Shandong government or the reformed Neicar Bureau under Wang An.

Zhu Changluo sighed: "After all, it is not easy to be rich and powerful for a thousand years. There is always a way to survive."

For such a large clan, with three high-ranking elders' "noble lives", it was undoubtedly a "coup" within the Kong family.

Apart from these three lives, the rest of the internal bleeding can be imagined.

But Kong Shangxian finally started to spend money to avoid disaster. His merits and demerits in the clan will be discussed by future generations.

Today, he can get by with Zhu Changluo.

"Go tell Kong Shangxian's son that he will be appointed prime minister in three days, and he should watch the ceremony on his father's behalf." Zhu Changluo ordered, "I am very pleased that Duke Yansheng cares about the country. I decree that Duke Yansheng has made great achievements in studying the theory of the extension of knowledge through investigation of things, and grant him the title of Taichang scholar, and order him to preside over Tainan Academy in Yanzhou."

There are now three academies in Shandong that were converted from royal palaces: the Imperial College Shandong Academy, which was converted from the Prince De's Palace in Jinan. It is an official school with the same academic level as the Imperial College Middle School and can grant the title of Juren after graduation; the Tainan Academy, which was converted from the Prince Lu's Palace in Yanzhou, and the Taidong Academy, which was converted from the Prince Heng's Palace in Qingzhou. These two are slightly inferior and can only grant students.

By giving Kong Shangxian a job to do, but not making him preside over the "highest institution of learning" in Shandong, Zhu Changluo was sending a signal.

That’s all we need to do now.

By the tenth year of Taichang, every province in the Ming Dynasty had at least one branch of the Imperial College.

As more and more students graduated, the number of candidates and students in the Ming Dynasty increased.

Against the backdrop of the New Deal, the contradiction between preferential treatment for officials and gentry and financial planning would eventually be raised.

It’s time to deepen the reform.

These things are the missions of the eight ministers in one house and seven courtyards.

Zhu Changluo has only served as a backing and provided firm support.

After the imperial edict was announced, although some officials in Beijing felt sorry that the turmoil ended so quickly and they were unable to gain more capital, they could still accept it.

Anyway, the attitude has been clearly expressed through this incident.

We must make good preparations for the Prime Minister's ceremony on the ninth day of the first lunar month.

Needless to say, Ye Xianggao's house was packed with visitors during this Spring Festival.

But Ye Xianggao was also very cautious. Although the position of prime minister was good, it was also very dangerous. Although the emperor clearly stated that the monarch and his subjects should rule together, he could not allow him to be complacent and arrogant.

A person who fasts, burns incense, and reflects on himself before the grand ceremony can avoid seeing the guests.

It is said that there are only eight ministers, but there is a special person among them, that is the young Duke Dingguo.

With him as the core, the new and old meritorious officials need to be properly arranged.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, the emperor gave another banquet in the Wu Tower. This time, only civil and military officials from the Privy Council and the Security Council attended.

Niu Yingyuan, the chief civil official of the Security Bureau, was still on his way from Nanjing to Beijing. Although the list was announced on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the decree to summon him to Beijing was issued earlier.

The focus of today's banquet is not him, but the new and old meritorious officials present in Beijing.

"Although we cannot say that each generation is worse than the previous one, it is always easier to produce unfilial descendants." Zhu Changluo's words to them were simple. "When I first came to power, I first disciplined you and helped you make money with Changming. After all, there will be only a few people willing to fight on the battlefield. Now we have the Security Bureau, which is a new way out, but I want to make it clear."

How important is the system of the Court of Public Security? From now on, it can be said that the Privy Council is responsible for external conquest and national defense, while the Court of Public Security is responsible for internal arrest and suppression of bandits. In addition, more importantly, the military force of the emperor's will is extended to the local areas - they will be the military force system that deals with the local areas the most, and also the military force system that deals with the people the most.

"You don't need to have very good skills in fighting and killing the enemy. This will allow more of your descendants to have a way out. The prerequisite is that they must understand the principles of being an official and a people-friendly military officer." Zhu Changluo looked at them, "Except for Chengde Prefecture and Liaoning Province, other provinces will not immediately set up a public security department. But you must prepare in advance. The generals you promote to the army and your own descendants will be selected by the Privy Council and the Public Security Council in the spring. They will first enter the martial arts training camp and then go to the Tongzheng Academy for further study."

Starting from this matter, the first thing is to place some people with less ability recommended by new and old meritorious officials into the military, and secondly, let their appointments be infused with unified will from the central government, and finally select the best ones for appointment.

The framework was built first, and then the retirement arrangements of many veterans from the five prefectures were involved. The local authorities had to cooperate by selecting and eliminating the existing police officers, and then a special public security system would be formed.

They involve local law enforcement power, which is a new thing, so Zhu Changluo has to spend a lot of time on this.

The organs with similar nature to the Court of Public Security were naturally the Court of Internal Affairs and the Court of Official Property.

Needless to say, Fang Congzhe had talked a lot with Zhu Changluo on the way to Tongliao and back. Fang Congzhe knew very early that he would have this position of prime minister, and his current work is also very clear: the implementation of the follow-up strategy of the northern border countries, the preparation of this year's Guangzhou Trade Expo and the pilgrimage of the outer Yunnan and Nanyang countries.

He Shengrui really rose to prominence during the Taichang period.

He first presided over and undertook many large projects in the Ministry of Industry, and initially laid some industrial foundations for northern Zhili and Chengde Prefecture. Now he has suddenly become a prime minister, and a very special one at that.

Under the Ministry of State Property, first of all, there are the money bags such as the grain transport, horse administration, salt administration, banknote customs, and the Maritime Customs, as well as mines and factories...

To be honest, He Shengrui was a little at a loss as to what to do with these things, but fortunately the emperor also gave him special treatment.

"The Yamen is very simple. It will basically remain the same as before, and the Taxation Bureau will also be involved. But I use you because you are good at management and auditing." The morning of the eighth day of the first lunar month was reserved for He Shengrui. Zhu Changluo told him the key points, "The business also focuses on employing people and auditing. Many of them will not be used by the Government Property Bureau. The other one department and six bureaus, and even in the future, each province will have its own business. The core of the Government Property Bureau is still auditing, to ensure that losses have long-term goals, profits can be recovered according to the law, and assets are not lost..."

Government property. Nowadays, apart from the salt fields, mines, and ranches opened up in new borders, the largest government property is the local government fields.

In the past, local governments cooperated with local wealthy households, who would rent the land and recruit tenants. Of course, this kind of thing should be managed more meticulously in the future.

It was not until the afternoon that Niu Yingyuan arrived in the capital on the first day of the ceremony of becoming prime minister.

The first thing he did after arriving in Beijing was naturally to meet the emperor and express his gratitude, so the afternoon was left to him.

Niu Yingyuan stayed in the palace until after dinner before leaving. That night in the capital, all civil and military officials and various departments were quietly preparing.

Ye Xianggao got up before dawn, and his servant brought him a plate with a newly made official robe on it.

At this point, the official robes of the Ming Dynasty had a new color: purple for the first rank.

Ye Xianggao dressed excitedly and went to the main hall of the mansion. He first accepted the congratulations from the family members. Then the housekeeper came forward and said, "Prime Minister, the imperial sedan chair has entered the mansion."

"Did you entertain me well?"

"nature."

Ye Xianggao nodded, took a deep breath and said, "Let's go."

The emperor granted him the right to carry a sedan chair in the Forbidden City, which was a special grace given by the emperor to show his respect for him.

Ye Xianggao was still young and in good health. In the future, he would not sit in this sedan chair. But today was different. Today was his big day. He wanted everyone in the world to know that he was appointed prime minister by the emperor.

The ceremony was meticulous, and it was time to sit down. I wanted to sit down too!
A more magnificent and noble sedan chair and seven official sedan chairs are carried by the Embroidered Uniform Guard today. In the future, each of the seven courtyards will prepare special sedan chairs and special personnel to greet and see off the eight ministers when they travel between the Forbidden City, their homes, and the various government offices. This is the treatment given to the eight ministers.

They set out from all over the capital, and Zhu Changluo also stood up.

Guo Lanzhi adjusted his robes for him and then looked at her son who was wearing the crown prince's formal attire.

"Come."

Zhu Changluo stretched out his hand, held his son's hand, nodded to Guo Lanzhi, and went to the Qianqing Palace from the Kunning Palace.

"Father has changed the ancestral system. From today on, you will also have to care about the gains and losses of government affairs."

"Your son will remember this." Zhu Youjian was still young, so he just had to be obedient.

Zhu Changluo led him slowly and said casually, "When human power is limited, the emperor can only rely on employing people to stabilize the world. There are ways and techniques to employ people. If you only know the mind of the emperor and the tactics of power, you can certainly sit firmly on the throne, but the factional struggles among the ministers will be a misfortune for the country and the people. Over time, the people will lose their hearts. Appointing a prime minister and delegating power is to treat the wise with sincerity. Everyone has ambitions and dignity. Don't regard them as slaves of the emperor, but treat them as national heroes. The Ming Dynasty is so big that there is never a shortage of people with both talent and virtue. You must learn to stick to this way and learn how to distinguish between talent and virtue. Dad has given you a difficult problem in the future, but I also have greater expectations for you."

Zhu Youjian seemed to understand but nodded: "Son, remember this first. I will try my best to understand it."

Zhu Changluo certainly posed a big problem for him.

It is easy to delegate power, but extremely difficult to take it back.

He did not want to see this structure regress in the future, as his descendants would not be able to do so and would simply use violence to change it with the still supreme imperial power.

The trend of the times cannot be stopped. Now that he has opened up the situation of developing industry and commerce and improving productivity, the imperial system will eventually come to an end.

From Zhu Changluo's selfish point of view, even if his descendants would be mediocre in ability in the future, he hoped that they would have a less cruel ending.

From this point of view, isn't it the same for Kong Shangxian, who forced three clan elders to death?
So today, he will take his son to watch the ceremony first.

Let him watch as his father solemnly and seriously took the position of prime minister, hoping that these important officials could assist him in governing the country well and do things that would be more beneficial to the country in the long run.

Let him see it, and then continue to educate him.

Outside the Meridian Gate, all officials watched as the Imperial Guards, who had always served the emperor, carried the Eight Prime Ministers.

They were the first to feel this, and felt how difficult it was to understand the emperor using common sense.

Of course, he has his stubborn side. From the time he took the throne to the present day, he has been constantly showing his fangs towards the group of officials and gentry.

But he also has this side, which is to give respect and treatment to the ministers who he thinks are worth using in a way that was previously unimaginable.

It's exactly the same as the contradiction he raised.

Three drum beats were given and the palace gates opened wide.

Tian Le and others got off the sedan chair first, but Ye Xianggao still sat firmly in it.

What is the same is that all eight ministers can enter the palace through the Imperial Road: this was specially changed from the Grand Ceremony Notes after being personally reviewed by the emperor.

Among the eight ministers, the prime minister is the most respected and can be called the prime minister.

Purple robe, imperial road, and sedan chair.

Zhu Changluo sat upright on the throne in the Fengtian Huangji Hall, quietly waiting for them to enter the hall to pay homage.

Nowadays, of course, there are still clear levels.

There is no need to avoid it, even if hundreds of years pass, it will still be the same. However, by then, we will enter an era where there are not so many rules on the surface.

But now it is still the Ming Dynasty. At this stage, providing standards and divine authority will help him carry out what he wants to do.

Among the eight ministers at this moment, not all of them were Tian Le at that time, because their ideals resonated with those of the emperor and they served loyally.

Ye Xianggao's reputation and prestige were poor before. Since he was determined, Zhu Changluo had to help him improve his prestige.

"The emperor ascends the throne, and all the ministers come in to pay their respects!"

The voice of the ceremonial officer was heard from far outside the hall, followed by the door of the Fengtian Hall opening wide.

Ye Xianggao had already gotten off the sedan chair in front of the palace gate and stood at the front.

This time, the civil and military officials were not divided into two groups, and those superior dukes and marquises did not stand in front of them.

Ye Xianggao did not walk in front first, but said to Tian Le and the other seven people: "Everyone, let's go into the hall together."

"Prime Minister, please!"

"Your Majesty is very kind and we are all your subordinates. How can we not advance and retreat together?"

Ye Xianggao understood very well that, in fact, one emperor and eight ministers only had one mind, and he should not stand out too much.

So with his insistence, there were actually some minor changes when the ceremony was carried out.

But this is a small change that reflects Ye Xianggao's intelligence and also a small change that reflects his authority.

This small change was equivalent to rejecting the ceremony and rituals approved by the emperor, but the emperor was not unhappy.

On the contrary, he has the authority to improvise.

The eight ministers were in front, followed by the ministers.

Walking step by step through the long corridor between the Fengtian Huangji Hall, they saw the trays held by the seal-bearing and pen-holding officials of the Silijian and the eunuchs in the hall.

On each plate, there is a seal, a waist badge and a set of four treasures of the study.

The pen body is painted with cinnabar red lacquer, but the ink is still black.

But this already symbolizes that they have the power to deal with those things that have been delegated to the one room and seven courtyards on behalf of the emperor.

The long imperial edict was chanted, echoing in the Fengtian Huangji Hall.

The central idea is exactly what the emperor said when he gave a banquet here years ago, except that the selfish expressions such as "this is also for me and for you" have been removed.

It's all public-spirited.

Scholars study hard, study things to acquire knowledge, cultivate themselves and manage their families, in order to govern the country and bring peace to the world. Now we appoint ministers to fulfill their ambition to serve the country and to display their talents in governing the country.

The Holy Emperor is in power, promoting the virtuous and employing the virtuous. He personally appoints the ministers and entrusts them with the heavy responsibility of governing the country. He hopes that all the righteous people will fill the court, and only the livelihood of the people will be the national concern. Together, we will govern a prosperous and prosperous era with peace and prosperity.

In the tenth year of Taichang, the year 1832 in the Chinese era, the emperor appointed eight ministers in the Fengtian Huangji Hall, personally handed over the imperial seal, and solemnly opened a new chapter in the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

Shen Shixing, Shen Yikuan, Wang Xijue, Shen Li, Xiao Daheng and other advisory scholars watched this scene with emotion.

Ten years ago and ten years later, things are completely different. Duke Yansheng has been living a miserable life, and who would not repay the courtesy of the Eighth Prime Minister today with his death?

At least at this moment, they are envious.

Fame, at the end of this life, how can I let it go...

(End of this chapter)