In fact, he had always been on guard against such a thing happening. The reason why he went on a personal expedition was because he felt that he could no longer suppress the civil servants who were ready to take action.
Since the Hongxi year, the power and voice of civil servants in the court gradually increased, and even Emperor Xuanzong was subject to many restrictions.
At that time, the Mongolian tribes headed by Wala invaded the border areas on a large scale, and the Datong border army was almost wiped out.
So this young emperor, who grew up in the palace and was educated by eunuchs, came up with the idea of conquering the country himself and enhancing his prestige through military exploits.
But in the battle of Tumubao, he was defeated so miserably. In this game with the civil servants, he lost all his last chips.
None of the civil servants and noble generals who supported them survived. To use the words of later generations, it means that the royalist army was completely wiped out.
At this time, the power of the civilian faction was growing rapidly. After he killed Yu Qian, he abolished all the new Beijing regiment and battalion systems reformed by Yu Qian and reorganized three major battalions.
This is to deprive civilian officials of their military power in an alternative way and eliminate the threat to themselves.
As for water transportation, he also made a big move. In the first year of Tianshun, he changed the authority of water transportation again.
He once again strengthened the powers of the water transport chief officer and staff general, and together with the water transport governor, managed the management of the entire river, and also took charge of river management.
He also increased the military power of the nobles and appointed 12 generals in charge of the canal. The entire canal was firmly controlled by these 12 generals.
Among them, there are two in Nanjing, two in Jiangnan Zhili, two in Jiangbei Zhili, one in Fengyang, Zhongdu, two in Zhejiang, two in Shandong, one in Huguang, and one in Jiangxi.
The Chief Water Transport Officer and the Water Transport Staff General directly command the Twelve Divisions to command all canal affairs, and separately control the water transport of each garrison.
When it was first established in the first year of Tianshun, these twelve generals had a total of 120,000 troops and more than 10,000 ships.
There is also Zheyang Commander, with a staff of 7,000 people and 350 sea-going ships, dedicated to maintaining the order and defense of rivers, and transporting grain and seaways. These thirteen people call the president the Yunjun.
These commanders are generally held by the military commanders and thousands of households in the surrounding provinces and regions.
And because the chief military officers and generals of water transportation were all held by nobles and held great power, the situation began where military officials were superior and civil servants were inferior.
The position of Chief Water Transport Officer was a super-ranked position in the Ming Dynasty, because all marquises and counts held this position, so it was much higher than the ninth rank or eighteenth rank.
When the Governor of Water Transport meets the Chief Military Officer of Water Transport, he needs to salute and greet him. If the Governor wants to do something more important, he must first ask the Chief Military Officer for instructions. Otherwise, he will overstep his authority and will be punished.
Zhu Qizhen's efforts were not in vain. His changes and policies once again consolidated the supremacy of imperial power, and the power of civilian officials could not expand without limit.
This situation lasted until the Wanli period, when Li Sancai took office, completely breaking the civil-military balance that had been maintained for more than a hundred years.
Li Sancai's contribution to the Donglin Party and the entire official and gentry family was huge.
After he came to power, he first drove back the mining tax eunuchs sent by Emperor Wanli, and then reached out to the authority of the Chief Water Transport Officer in an attempt to seize power.
The chief military officer at that time was Wang Chengxun, Wang Shouren's grandson. Although his grandfather was famous, he had no ability and no courage at all. Facing the powerful Li Sancai, he did not dare to fight against him.
Li Sancai saw Wang Chengxun's incompetence and cowardice, so he became even more unscrupulous. Wang Chengxun was suppressed to the point where he could not even lift his head. From then on, the military supremacy and civil inferiority that had been maintained for hundreds of years was completely reversed.
Because maritime transportation in the Ming Dynasty was extremely underdeveloped and even in a state of self-destruction, while civil servants could complete all matters related to river transportation independently, the existence of military officials became redundant.
In the 40th year of Wanli, for some unknown reason, Wang Chengxun submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting to resign and return to the capital. Emperor Wanli approved.
The civil servants took the opportunity to petition and requested the abolition of the water transport chief officers and generals. Emperor Wanli approved it. From then on, the key lifeline canal was completely under the control of civil servants.
The thirteen generals in charge of water transportation were placed under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General's Mansion, and military power naturally fell into their hands.
Since Li Sancai was dismissed from office and demoted to civilian status, the post of Governor of Water Transport has been idle for more than ten years.
However, the civil service system of the Governor's Palace still exists, and everything is operating as usual.
If Zhu Youxiao doesn't want to be strangled to survive, he can't ignore the water transportation. He must send his own people there to regain his power.
So he followed this memorial about dredging the canal and immediately asked officials to recommend candidates for the canal transport governor.
This matter was completely decided on the spur of the moment, so much so that Zhu Youxiao himself had not thought of a suitable candidate, but he could not delay it any longer.
Therefore, he had no choice but to raise this issue and let the courtiers recommend a few candidates to see if there was anyone suitable. He just had time to think about it.
The officials seemed to take advantage of the emperor's question. Not long after, an official stepped forward and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, I recommend Li Sancai, the former Governor of Water Transport and the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, to take up this important task again!"
Then the censor Fang Kezhuang quickly stepped forward to take over the topic and also supported Li Sancai's restoration as governor of water transportation.
His words were also very exciting, and he told them all in one go what good deeds Li Sancai had done during his tenure, what awards he had received, and how famous he was among the folk scholars, for fear that the emperor would not understand.
His passionate words instantly raised the atmosphere to a higher level, and many officials stepped forward to express their support for reviving Li Sancai.
Zhu Youxiao remained calm and didn't make a sound. He leaned on the pillow and continued to close his eyes slightly, touching the jade pendant in his hand and waiting quietly.
He was waiting for another voice from the court, one that was beneficial to him.
He knew Li Sancai very well. After all, he was the leader who led an interest group to the top. His influence was indeed astonishing in this era.
But as the saying goes, people are afraid of being famous and pigs are afraid of being strong. After all, Li Sancai was not a saint, and he could not make officials and scholars all over the world admire and support him.
During the Wanli period, during the late period of his tenure, he was impeached countless times.
Not only the officials in the court, but also many officials in Nanjing were jealous of him and wrote to the public to report Li Sancai's various crimes.
Nowadays, there are naturally many people who hate him. Those truly clean officials, those who dare to speak out and dare to act, are not dead yet!