Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen: Rectifying Officials
The words of the new Emperor Chongzhen rang loudly in everyone's ears, quite shocking. These words that sounded so shocking were actually even more shocking in practice. Most people only thought that the imperial court encouraged the assassination of those who rebelled, but they did not know that this might even have an impact.
It may affect the overall situation, and it may even play a decisive role at certain times.
If your Majesty really declares the world like this, it will completely determine the path of death for those rebellious ministers. As long as you are in the enemy camp, you will be in panic all day long. Although the court cannot kill you, it is uncertain.
One day, the people around me cut my throat with a knife.
This may be a good way to effectively prevent Ming officials from constantly surrendering to the rebels. But if you think about it carefully, there are still disadvantages. For example, it is very likely that some people will take the heads of ordinary people to get silver rewards, and although the court
We know that this person exists, but it is extremely difficult to prove his identity.
Was he really assassinated? Could this belt be a forgery? Or would some traitors directly kill those traitors to receive the reward? If so, wouldn't it be in vain to make a wedding dress and give it to others?
But everyone wanted to go again, and someone spoke up, so there were several possible ways. For example, you could take the official's personal belongings and let the Jin Yiwei confirm the news. It would not be too late to wait a few days before giving the reward. To avoid anyone taking it
If someone else's head is fake, after all, the money from the imperial court is not free.
A question suddenly arose regarding this matter. Should the money come from His Majesty's internal funds or from the Ministry of Finance? This matter must be settled no matter what.
"Your Majesty, is this silver reward coming from Your Majesty's own internal funds, or from the Ministry of Household Affairs? There must be a conclusion, otherwise if a strong man comes to receive the reward money, the Ministry of Finance will not give it to you, and you will be miserable.
In their minds, if it comes from the Ministry of Household Affairs, what is the proportion? They also have to decide what money will be used in advance and what money will be used later."
Wang Jiayan was not an official of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but he asked so many questions that the Ministry of Household Affairs should ask. The truth made Zhu Ling, who was sitting under the hanging mirror, a little dumbfounded.
It can be seen that he currently only has one hundred thousand taels of silver, and these one hundred thousand taels will naturally be used for other purposes. The Hubu took away only 1.5 million taels, which was quite useful when he went to Yingtian.
It's a lot, but it can't be directly allocated to a hundred thousand taels. The military pay alone will cost a lot. Without the military pay, it will be like the sky is falling, and it must not be reduced.
Hearing this, Zhu Ling showed a worried expression and frowned. Maybe he had been too hasty and wanted to do everything at once, but he forgot to do everything in order from the most serious to the least.
"We have talked about money. After all, nothing can be done without money." He sighed sadly, the most difficult thing is still the most important thing. He thought for a long time, his eyes flashed, and then he raised his eyes and said to everyone
: "I asked Wang Chengen to write a letter and send it to Yingtian as quickly as possible, and asked Ni Yuanlu to find a solution. As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he will naturally bear the brunt of making money."
Everyone could only do this after hearing this. The situation facing the court now is not an ordinary difficulty. Everything requires money, but the fact is that money cannot be obtained. Otherwise, there would not be so many Ming troops and people doing this.
The traitor.
"The edict still has to be issued, but we need to wait a little longer. First call in the Cangzhou magistrate who is kneeling outside. Everyone here will join me in trying this person."
The emperor had already spoken, and everyone stopped arguing about what they had just said. They all turned their attention to Ma Kui, the magistrate of Cangzhou, who was forcefully dragged in by the Jin Yiwei outside the government office.
The weather in Cangzhou is still a bit cold. The geographical location is slightly south of Beijing, and sometimes there is a bit of chill in the air. Ma Kui knelt on the ground outside for a long time. The silk and satin on his body had long been stripped clean by Jin Yiwei.
Only one piece of underwear was left, which was extremely thin.
The officials standing outside the government office saw the Jin Yiwei coming out quickly and carrying Ma Kui directly in. They couldn't help but have some discussions, and they all speculated on the fate of Lord Zhizhou. But most of them would be sentenced to death. After all, their majesty could
He is not a kind person, but the chief and assistants are often changed. He is just a fifth-grade official, so naturally he will kill him at will.
"Perhaps, King Chuang's place is really good..." Someone suddenly said this, and immediately fell silent, for fear of attracting other people's attention.
Here, Ma Kui was brought in and was still on the ground. Xu had been kneeling for too long, and his legs were already numb and stiff. He couldn't help the sudden pressure and fell forward to the ground in an instant. But after all, His Majesty was right in front of him.
This would only be a crime of disrespect by Your Majesty, so I wanted to kneel down but I couldn't change my posture.
Wang Guoxing saw it and immediately winked and asked the two guards standing behind him to help him up. However, Zhu Ling raised his hand to stop him. He looked solemnly at Ma Kui, looking almost panicked.
Ma Kui has long lost his former state-defining attitude, but now he looks like a refugee outside the city.
Not to mention what he was wearing, the silk and satin clothes were stripped off, which was naturally beyond words. But looking at his expression, you could tell what he was thinking in his heart at this time.
"Does Cangzhou know Ma Kui?"
After hearing this, Ma Kui couldn't kneel down, so he leaned forward and replied: "The former magistrate of Cangzhou, and now the guilty minister, Ma Kui, bow to your majesty!"
I heard Zhu Ling say again from above: "Ma Kui, we just sent people to surrender about the trespassers, but you arranged it?"
After hearing these words, I felt a sense of impending disaster sweeping over me like a flood. I almost fainted, but I had no choice but to answer: "Your Majesty, it was the guilty minister's fault."
"Were you the one who framed our colleague Huang Bodang?"
"Exactly."
"Ma Kui, let me ask you, are you afraid of intruders or do you simply think that intruders are good?"
Hearing this, Ma Kui was about to raise his head and deny it, but was stopped by Zhu Ling, saying: "You can answer clearly. I don't allow you to lie for the sake of your life. Do you understand?"
"The sinner understands."
Ma Kui wiped his cold sweat, took a breath, and then said thoughtfully: "The guilty minister only felt that if the intruders were coming, and there were not many soldiers in Cangzhou City, if they fought with death, the people would not suffer, and the lives of the people would be ruined. If one day
The imperial court once again regained lost territory, and the guilty ministers were naturally the first to respond."
After hearing this, Fan Xianchao couldn't help but snorted on the spot, obviously despising and disgusting with his words. Wang Jiayan also felt that he should not be so merciful. Such a cowardly and rebellious minister should be beheaded directly. Why did he say such a thing? Wang Guoxing was even more like this.
Such a disdainful gesture, if this person had fallen into his hands, he would have been miserable.
On the other hand, among the people present, only Meng Zhangming remained standing still, as if he was always in a state of unchanging expression as if the mountain was collapsing in front of him.
"So that means you are a loyal minister? Then why did you frame Huang Bo to take the blame for you? Is this what a loyal minister did?"
Ma Kui immediately did not dare to speak anymore. The excuse he just made was just nonsense. Now that he was exposed, he naturally did not dare to speak like that again. Otherwise, not only would his own life be saved, but the lives of his wife and children at home would also be in danger.
"Push it down."
Zhu Ling was too lazy to say anything more. After all, it would be unnecessary to try this person. But the purpose is that as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he will not become angry because of what the rebels did, thereby disturbing the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Even if Ma Kui did it to kill
He did not want to behead him directly, but chose to go to court for trial.
The Cangzhou officials standing outside are the highlight of this time. Promoting useful people and weeding out those useless and treacherous people are the first small steps to rectify the overall situation of the Ming Dynasty's officialdom.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, officialdom had already become a situation that was difficult to change. Even in the Southern Ming Dynasty, corruption was common, and even the top-down trend of buying and selling officials was prevalent. With such a situation of officialdom, it is difficult to say that Nanming would not be destroyed, but Zhu Ling, as a time traveler,
Those who do this naturally lack experience in these matters.
Such a major event as rectifying the officialdom cannot be done as one wishes, nor can one simply select the loyal ministers recorded in history. There are only a handful of loyal ministers recorded in history, but the territory of the Ming Dynasty is very vast. The most important thing about the official administration is to focus on the grassroots, those who
Historical records indicate that naturally all loyal ministers could not be decentralized to other places.
Therefore, it is extremely important to learn how to select useful and loyal people. It is not only the responsibility of the officials, but also the heavy responsibility of the emperor Zhu Ling and other ministers.
The road to becoming a wise and capable ruler is quite long, and today is the first stop.
"Bring Cangzhou officials into the government offices from bottom to top according to their grades!"