The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Yan Chengjin had just walked out of the hall when he was asked by the clerk to go to the cabinet.

Knowing that Li Dongyang could not avoid this, he simply followed the clerk to the duty room.

At this time, Li Dongyang was sitting in front of the desk with a thoughtful expression. The new emperor and Chengjin wanted to vacate the official positions in the court and clear the way for promotion. The original intention was good.

There were more and more Hanlin scholars piled up in the Hanyuan.

Like a big tree, the old leaves fall off and the new leaves have the opportunity to grow.

But fifty-five is too young. Many officials are in their prime and can still handle the affairs of the ministry.

"Why fifty-five?"

Li Dongyang looked at Yan Chengjin in front of him. Even if he had to set the age of retirement, he had to set it at sixty.

According to this standard, at least three people in the cabinet and the six ministries would retire.

Others would not be officials for many years.

Yan Chengjin walked into the duty room. The six ministers sat on chairs, like an oval table meeting.

"The population of the Yellow Book is increasing day by day. A large number of students take the imperial examinations, but fail due to insufficient quotas.

In the future, there will be more and more. How should the court accommodate these scholars?"

When Liu Jian was the chief minister of the cabinet, some censors impeached him for blocking the way of speech and occupying positions.

The scholars in the world are already dissatisfied with the officials of the court. The officials who came ashore first hold power. Without a retirement system, the court will slowly decay.

In the previous Ming Dynasty, the population of the Yellow Book remained almost unchanged, and the number of officials did not need to increase.

But thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, now is different from the past.

In a prosperous age, talents are reused. If the old officials do not retire, how can new officials come up?

The old ministers are certainly strategic, but Zhang Cong, Xia Yan and others are not necessarily worse than them.

The court buries many talents every year because of insufficient quotas for scholars.

Perhaps, some talents are buried in the mountains and fields, so they are forgotten by history.

"A prosperous era must be achieved step by step. At this point, we must do the corresponding things. This is the way of being an official."

Yan Chengjin looked at everyone and revealed his cards.

Li Dongyang glanced at Yan Chengjin, showing a bit of helplessness. What bad thoughts can a timid person have?

It's nothing more than a different way of governing the country.

…………

The cabinet meeting was over.

Yan Chengjin returned to the duty room of the Censorate. Before he could warm up his chair, the eunuch came to summon him to the Fengtian Hall.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao was standing in the center of the hall, but his momentum was weaker than that of the emperor. He stiffened his neck and said:

"Old Gao has a reasonable saying. Has your father ever heard it?"

"Say it."

"The king is not the king who lost the country, and the ministers are all the ministers who lost the country."

Zhu Houzhao looked at the emperor Hongzhi, with a smug expression on his face, "father teaches his son."

Old Gao said that this was said by the saint, but he knew that this was said by the dog official Old Gao. He just thought it made sense, so he wrote it down.

"Father, what do you mean?"

The retired emperor Hongzhi put away his serious expression and looked at Zhu Houzhao with some curiosity.

He wanted to teach Zhu Houzhao the truth he had just realized while playing chess, but he was taught a lesson instead:

"Tell me about it."

"The people who can destroy the country are not only the king, but also the ministers. The king is a wise king, but if the ministers are all traitors, the country will also be destroyed."

Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it.

Who said that the boat must be the emperor and not the ministers?

The retired emperor Hongzhi heard some truths, but he didn't agree with all of them. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows:

"You said that Master Zhang and Han Qing's family are traitors?"

"Of course, I'm not talking about the two masters, but the local officials.

They have no hope of promotion, so they start to be lazy and derelict in their duties. The local malpractices have been repeatedly dealt with. It's better to dismiss them."

Yan Chengjin wanted to wait until the father and son finished the line before going in to finish the job.

But Xiao Jing had already discovered him...

I'm afraid he and Zhu Houzhao will have to fight two against one.

The news that the retired emperor Hongzhi did not summon the cabinet and the six ministries had spread throughout the court. He had not attended court for only three or five days, but the court was turned upside down.

But he had decided to hand over power to Zhu Houzhao.

At this critical juncture, he could not show up, otherwise he would fail again.

Yan Chengjin's expression did not change. He looked up at the retired emperor Hongzhi. Although he was a young man, he showed the acting skills of an old actor:

"The retired emperor summoned me?"

"You and the new emperor want to dismiss officials over 55 in the court?" The retired emperor Hongzhi was a little regretful.

This is the country he built.

This move is undoubtedly destroying and disintegrating the achievements he built, which is a pity.

"It's not dismissal, it's the establishment of a retirement system. In addition to the annual plan, the Ming Dynasty has no law for officials to retire, which is not good for the court and officials."

Yan Chengjin secretly blamed Zhu Houzhao for playing too much and causing the retired emperor Hongzhi to misunderstand.

This is not to lay off officials, but to establish a system to ensure that young officials have the opportunity to become officials.

"I heard that you want to increase the number of candidates for this year's provincial examination?"

According to Xiao Jing's report, Shuntian Prefecture will add more than 500 students for this year's provincial examination, and other places will also increase the number of candidates.

"Yes."

Yan Chengjin thought about it and had a straight talk with the retired emperor Hongzhi.

"I think that when a crisis breaks out, the one who can resolve the crisis is a wise king.

But there is a kind of wise king who is more powerful than the wise king who resolves the crisis. He can predict the crisis and strangle it in the cradle.

Just like Bian Que, he divided medical skills into three levels."

"You mean, if this matter is not solved, it will lead to disaster?"

"Yes."

There are more and more scholars waiting to enter the official career in the world, and the court must solve the employment problem.

Many dynasties did not realize the seriousness of the employment problem, which led to their demise. Didn't Li Zicheng rebel because his employment problem was not solved?

Solve the employment problem.

Either encourage entrepreneurship or implement a retirement system to allow old officials to retire as soon as possible.

Merchants have a low status, and Confucian scholars can't do business or farm.

Therefore, it is most appropriate to establish a retirement system.

"Moreover, Lord Zhang and Lord Han don't have to retire. The new emperor can issue an order to re-employ them, which does not conflict with the law."

I heard from Ye Zhun that the emperor was hiding by the river in Chengxian Street to play chess.

Avoiding the officials, he intended to hand over power to Zhu Houzhao, otherwise, he would not dare to bring it up.

"The cabinet and the six ministries are not moving? Just don't move!"

The emperor Hongzhi's face was relieved a little.

Yan Chengjin and Zhu Houzhao looked at each other and watched the emperor Hongzhi leave. The atmosphere in the palace suddenly became lively.

"Lao Gao, you write the imperial edict."

"It's time for me to go to work."

"...I will give you a salary increase." Zhu Houzhao said happily.

Yan Chengjin calmly picked up the signboard, took two steps at a time, and walked out of the hall in a leisurely manner, rushing to get off work.

He couldn't write the imperial edict, so he had to leave it to Zhu Houzhao.

This was a chance to be famous for thousands of years.

At least on Zhu Houzhao's Baidu Encyclopedia, there would be one political achievement: the first emperor in the Ming Dynasty to establish a retirement system.

Half a day later,

Li Dongyang and his men went to the Qianqing Palace, but couldn't find the emperor.

It was like playing hide-and-seek with them.

The little eunuch didn't know where he had gone.

In desperation, the gentlemen had to force their way into the harem and came to the Kunning Palace, but heard from Empress Dowager Zhang that the emperor was not there.

"It seems that the emperor acquiesced?"

Jiang Mian turned his head. Xiao Jing would not hide such a big thing. The emperor's failure to show up meant acquiescence to the new emperor's decision.

But will the new emperor govern the world?

Moreover, this move does not respect the elderly at all and goes against the teachings of the saints.

"We will submit our petition at the morning court tomorrow."