Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 87 The General Secretary, The Fast and the Furious

To kill, to destroy the flesh.

Punish the heart, destroy the spirit.

When the two axes were swung down, the main members of the Donglin Party and the Fushe died, and those who left left, the wind and the wind scattered.The political situation in the court is no longer turbulent, and the turbulent party struggles gradually subside.

Just when many unwilling Qingliu people lamented that the situation was over, the emperor suddenly ordered Qian Bingti, Fang Yizhi, and Chen Zhenhui to join the cabinet to assist Shi Kefa, the chief minister of the cabinet, in handling government affairs.

Qian Bingti was an out-and-out member of the Donglin Party, while Fang Yizhi and Chen Zhenhui were young heroes. Together with Hou Fangyu and Mao Xiang, they were known as the four young masters of the late Ming Dynasty, and they were the mainstays of Fushe.

When the news that these three people joined the cabinet at the same time came out, many people were stunned.The emperor's heart is as deep as the sea, and it is always difficult to figure out.

Outside the Elephant Taming Gate, there is a tavern on the roadside.

Gu Yanwu and Huang Zongxi drank farewell here. The two of them made an agreement that one would go east and the other go west. They would travel around to increase their knowledge and knowledge, and seek a good way to save the Ming Dynasty. They would meet in Nanjing three years later.

"I advise you to drink more wine. There will be no old friends when you leave Yangguan in the west." Huang Zongxi said sadly, raising his glass.

Gu Yanwu was much more optimistic, forced a smile and said: "Brother Huang, don't be too sentimental. Scholars of my generation take the world as our responsibility, and there are many like-minded friends. Don't worry about having no confidant in the future. No one in the world knows the king! "

The two drank and were about to say goodbye when they saw Fang Yizhi and Chen Zhenhui hurrying over and blocked their way.

Fang Yizhi said: "The two dear friends are great talents. After leaving Nanjing, they stayed away from the court. Isn't it a waste of strategy?"

"If the country has the way, we will be loyal and support it. If the country has no way, we will retreat to avoid it. I have decided to go!" Huang Zongxi said.

Chen Zhenhui said with a smile: "You don't know that the two of us entered the cabinet at the same time as Mr. Qian Bingdeng, do you?"

"Really?" Gu Yanwu was taken aback and froze.

Huang Zongxi smiled wryly: "It's nothing more than the emperor's mind, is it worth your joy?"

"Brother Gu, what do you think?" Fang Yizhi looked at Gu Yanwu.

Gu Yanwu looked at the sky and exclaimed in admiration: "The emperor has such a good method! Kill a group, fight a group, win over a group, and completely disintegrated the Donglin Party. It is indeed like Brother Huang said, this is the emperor's mind."

"But it's more than that. The emperor let Donglin Junzi into the cabinet to tell the world that he didn't kill Qian Qianyi and others for the sake of party disputes. It was entirely out of public interest and put on a detached posture. You are wise, we The emperor is getting smarter!"

Fang Yizhi said: "We scholars, what are we studying hard for ten years? It's not for the sake of the common people in the world, but to serve the country! These days, I also want to understand that many things in the past can't be said that the Donglin Party is not wrong. Now the emperor still trusts us, and shows a detached attitude, and no longer pursues the matter of party disputes, it is really like a wise monarch. How dare you not do your best to be loyal when you meet such a holy monarch?"

The words made sense, and Gu and Huang were tempted.

Gu Yanwu said: "Then I will stay in Nanjing and wait and see for a while! Brother Huang, what are your plans?"

"I...forget it, drink, if you want me to stay, you'd better get me drunk." Huang Zongxi said.

The other three laughed, Chen Zhenhui took Huang Zongxi's arm, sat down at the wine table, and shouted loudly: "Little Er, serve the wine!"

……

Li Cunming did not exterminate the remaining Donglin party members, for one thing, he would never fall into the vortex of party struggles, and the emperor must always stand above all kinds of struggles;
The second is to cherish talents. In any case, no matter how hateful the Donglin Party is, talents come out in large numbers. Killing all scholars is not good for the country.

The Donglin party is a pile of shit, and the sky is full of stars. As long as you handle it well, you can gather talents from all over the world.

Gu Yanwu and others could naturally think of these two points, but they still underestimated the emperor's ability.Li Cunming, a man who will always stand in the atmosphere, not only wants to win over Shi Kefa and others, but also uses them as pawns!

Fang Yizhi and Chen Zhenhui entered the cabinet at a young age, which is the pursuit of many people's life.The two of them were also very excited and worked very hard. They arrived early and left late every day, wishing they could lay the floor in the cabinet's duty room and devote themselves to their work.

As the days passed, they gradually realized that something was wrong.

First, the emperor issued an order to abolish the authority of the inspector of ceremonies to approve reds, and the cabinet still retained the right to draft votes. Fewer and fewer memorials could be sent to the cabinet.

The General Affairs Department, whose full name is the General Affairs Department, was an administrative department established during the Hongwu period. It was mainly responsible for conveying government orders and submitting various memorials and documents. It was equivalent to the emperor's secretarial agency.

In fact, the cabinet was only the emperor's secretarial body at the beginning, but its power continued to expand, and it gradually became the highest governing body of the Ming Dynasty.But the Secretary of General Administration declined, and became a mediocre yamen with few people.

Facing the situation where there was almost nothing to do, Fang Yizhi said cautiously: "Old Shi Ge, the emperor values ​​the Secretary of General Administration so much, do you want to weaken the power of the cabinet?"

After experiencing the big case, Shi Kefa became extremely cautious, saying: "Thunder, rain and dew are all God's grace. The world belongs to the emperor, and he has deep meanings about who he values. As a courtier, don't make wild guesses. It is the right way to keep your own place."

Qian Bingdeng said: "Maybe the emperor just had a whim, the cabinet system is the foundation of our dynasty, and it is not so easy for the emperor to shake it!"

But the cabinet members didn't know that the emperor had really made up his mind to shake the cabinet system.

A few days later, a row of one-story houses was built outside the Qianqing Gate, and the Secretary of General Administration has been working here since then.This place is very close to the emperor's bedroom, only a few tens of meters away, and the emperor can summon the officials of the General Administration Department at any time.

What's even more strange is that the Secretary of General Administration originally had positions such as general administration envoy, left and right general administration, and left and right councillors, all of which were abolished and no longer specially established official positions.The officials who entered the General Administration Department were dispatched from various departments, and they were all the emperor's confidantes.

These people are assigned to the Secretary of General Administration every day, and they have no additional official titles or salaries.After the discussion is over, they still go back to the office of the headquarters.

The Secretary of General Administration has become a special institution that has no special officials and no government offices, but is closest to the emperor.

Li Cunming formulated a series of rules and regulations for the Secretary of General Administration, in short, three words, "diligence", "speed", and "secret".

"Diligence" means that the tasks must be completed on the same day, no matter how many official documents there are, they must be completed on the same day.Even if there are hundreds of memorials in a day, they must be processed overnight.

"Speed" is to emphasize efficiency and speed. After the minister of the General Administration of Government entered the post, at about five or six o'clock, it was just dawn, and he had to go to the Qianqing Palace to meet the emperor and listen to the emperor's opinions on handling government affairs. This is called "Chengzhi". .

When the emperor issued instructions, the ministers would rush back to the General Administration Department and "report" the emperor's intentions to the officials, who wrote the "drafts" like flying pens.The minister took the drafted decree and rushed back to Qianqing Palace to report to the emperor for approval.One came and one went, but within an hour, many government affairs were dealt with.

Li Cunming once said to Yan Ermei with a smile: "I just want to stage a show of speed and passion in the Ming Dynasty. I want to race cars and play drifting. You ministers have to hurry up!"

"Secret" is the biggest characteristic of the Secretary of General Affairs.The outside of the Tongzheng Division is guarded by guards, and private entry is strictly prohibited from the princes and ministers to the eunuchs and maids.Even the service personnel are stipulated that they must be illiterate eunuchs under the age of 15. After the age of 15, a new person is immediately replaced.

Li Cunming's improvements to the Department of General Affairs were completely copied from the Qing Dynasty's Military Aircraft Department system.But he didn't use the name Military Aircraft Department, because this name is deeply tied to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and he always felt a little offended;
Second, new wine in old bottles, the ministers of the DPRK and China are slow to respond and will not strongly resist.When they react, the overall situation is settled.Li Cunming used warm water to boil frogs, digging the corners of the cabinet little by little, depriving the cabinet of power.

After the Secretary of General Administration was fully operational, Shi Kefa and other talents belatedly realized that the cabinet had become a rubber stamp.

No, it's not even a rubber stamp, it's just a decoration!
But Li Cunming still did not abolish the cabinet. He used the cabinet as a vase and stuffed it with Donglin party members and Qingliu for people to admire and admire. He gave honor to these people in name, but actually let them retire.

The cabinet existed in name only, and Fang Yizhi and Chen Zhenhui gradually became disheartened from their initial ambitions.They were so depressed that they invited Gu Yanwu and Huang Zongxi to drink to relieve their worries.

"Hey, everything is just a fantasy. Looking at the flowers in the fog and looking at the moon in the water, today I can clearly see the true intention of His Majesty the Emperor!" Fang Yizhi said.

Chen Zhenhui complained loudly: "In the past, the cabinet and the ceremonial supervisor jointly held power, which could check and balance the emperor's power. Now that the general affairs department has become the center of the court, all government orders are decided by the emperor alone, and we are useless!"

Huang Zongxi exclaimed: "Did you see that? I have already said that today's emperor is too cunning, and he uses the way of kingship, which violates the teachings of Confucian sages."

Gu Yanwu asked about the operation and process of the General Administration Department in detail, and said cautiously: "In all fairness, doesn't the General Administration Department have half of its advantages? The government orders are smooth, efficient, and highly centralized, completely eliminating party disputes..."

Huang Zongxi widened his eyes and said, "Brother Gu, you have always advocated 'rule between the emperor and the subjects of the world' and opposed 'rule by one husband', why did you suddenly say such a thing?"

Gu Yanwu stood up and said: "I also said, 'Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world'! Now that the world is in chaos and our court is weak, it is at the critical moment of rise and fall. The emperor's actions have shouldered the responsibility on his shoulders. I Of course, we must fully support it. As for the people of the world to rule the world, we have to wait until Haiyan and Heqing to talk about it.”

Fang Yizhi and Chen Zhenhui were thoughtful, Huang Zongxi was dumbfounded for a while, and drank the wine in a sullen mood.

Gu Yanwu patted Huang Zongxi on the shoulder and said, "Just wait and see, my impression of the emperor has improved a lot, so don't keep holding prejudices. Anyway, I will stay in Nanjing for a while longer, and look forward to seeing more of the emperor." With this move, perhaps the best way to save the Ming Dynasty is in the hands of the emperor!"

(End of this chapter)