Just as Chongzhen was about to turn around and leave, a worker suddenly rushed over.
"Your Majesty, I have a grievance!" the workers shouted as they ran, "I have a grievance, I have a grievance!"
Lu Jiude and the accompanying Imperial Guards quickly protected Chongzhen, fearing that something would happen to him.
But this was simply unnecessary. The worker had just ran a few steps when he was tripped and fell to the ground by the new army, and then the whips rained down on the worker.
The worker screamed in pain, but still insisted on complaining to Chongzhen.
"Your Majesty, I have a grievance. I really do have a grievance. I am wronged!"
Chongzhen pushed aside Lu Jiude and several other eunuchs and imperial guards and came forward, only to find that it was Meng Xueli, but at this time, Meng Xueli no longer had the prestige he had that day outside Chaoyang Gate.
"Your Majesty, I have been wronged." Meng Xueli was rolling on the ground in pain, but he still did not forget to cry out.
"Although I took the more than five hundred thousand taels of silver, I didn't take it for myself. I actually took it for the Holy One. I originally planned to hand over the money to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
"Really?" Chongzhen said, "What about Gu Mei and the dozen or so beautiful maids?"
Meng Xueli almost blurted out that he would only accept it because of you, the Holy One, but he swallowed it back because if he really said that, he would have no chance of survival.
At that moment, Meng Xueli said again: "Your Majesty, the reason why I accepted Gu Mei and a dozen beautiful maids was to stabilize Gong Dingzi and other two ministers, because the situation in Beijing at that time was very complicated, and I only had three thousand soldiers under my command.
Son, it is already difficult to control the more than 200,000 Manchus in the inner city, so we can only surrender to the surrender of the two generals in the outer city."
Chongzhen smiled and said: "Meng Xueli, I gave you a chance. When Zhang Huangyan first came to Beijing, if you could hand over Zang Yin, Gu Mei and other beauties in time, you would be fine. It's a pity that you didn't."
Meng Xueli was speechless and could only blame himself for not making up the right lies.
Several Qinwang scholars accompanying him also cast disdainful glances at Meng Xueli.
Meng Xueli is really the scum of the scholar camp.
…
In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed, and the time came to early August of 1649, the 22nd year of Chongzhen.
After nearly two months of hard work, Lu Zhenfei and thousands of other officials from the capital and their entourage finally arrived in Beijing. Chongzhen was very considerate of these ministers and gave them three days of leave.
Three days later, Chongzhen held a royal court in Huangji Hall.
This was also the first time that Chongzhen held a large court meeting after the Jiashen Year.
Before this, the Great Court Meeting was basically just a formality and would not discuss any substantive content. But starting from today, this formality will be eradicated by Chongzhen.
Chongzhen decided to carry out a thorough reform of the Dachaohui.
After all the officials participating in the court meeting had bowed, Chongzhen went straight to the topic: "Before starting the court meeting, I would like to establish a rule. In the future, unless there are special circumstances or major changes, no court meetings involving officials of the seventh rank and above will be held again.
Just as a formality, the ministers and officials had to get up before the fourth watch. In order to avoid being discourteous before the king, they did not even dare to drink water. Then thousands of people gathered in front of the Huangji Palace and stood there for several hours.
Why bother?"
"Is it because the prime minister in the cabinet is too idle, or is it that the officials in the six ministries really have nothing to do?"
"With such a big country waiting to be governed and so many government affairs waiting to be dealt with, where is the time to waste?"
After a pause, Chongzhen continued: "If everyone has no objections, how about adding this rule to the ancestral precepts of the Emperor Ming from today on?"
Chongzhen's move seemed to show sympathy for his ministers, but in fact he had other motives.
Lu Zhenfei and other cabinet ministers were still very alert, and they instantly realized the mystery.
"Your Majesty," Lu Zhenfei hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by the special circumstances and major changes you mentioned?"
Chongzhen said: "Major changes are easy to understand, such as the invasion of powerful enemies, or the sudden death of the old emperor, or a very serious natural disaster. All officials in the capital, big and small, need to gather together to discuss countermeasures. At this time, we will convene the big officials."
The court meeting is a matter of course. As for the special circumstances I just mentioned..."
After a pause, Chongzhen continued: "For example, if the emperor's opinions are seriously inconsistent with those of the cabinet, and no one can convince the other, then it is necessary to summon all officials of the seventh rank and above in the capital to discuss state affairs together."
The Chongzhen Reform Conference was not simply about eradicating formalism.
Chongzhen actually wanted to transform the Great Court Meeting into the Ming Dynasty version of the National Assembly. All officials of the seventh rank and above in the capital would automatically become members of the Ming Dynasty version of the National Assembly. Moreover, all the officials of the seventh rank and above in the capital also included the military ministers, that is, the military ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
, this allows the emperor and the cabinet to achieve their intentions through Congress when they disagree.
In turn, the cabinet could also prevent the emperor's bad intentions through the Great Court Meeting.
This ensures that even if there is another Baozong who engages in Qi Nian San in the future, he will definitely not be able to drag the Ming Dynasty into a state of eternal disaster by his own efforts.
This is equivalent to putting the power of the emperor and the cabinet in a cage.
In other words, from now on, this Great Council will be the true highest authority of the Ming Dynasty.
As for whether doing this would put shackles on himself? Chongzhen was not worried.
Because what Chongzhen wanted to do must be in the interests of the Ming Dynasty and would definitely win the support of the majority of Beijing officials, so even if the proposal was put to a vote at the Ming Dynasty meeting, Chongzhen was confident that he would achieve his intention.
For example, if the liquidation of the northern gentry was put to a vote by the cabinet, it would definitely be rejected.
But if it is put to a vote by the Great Court, it will definitely be passed, because the vast majority of the officials in the capital are southerners. Instead of protecting the interests of the northern gentry, they will only add insult to injury.
There is also the establishment of a Beijing Imperial College Supervisor, which will definitely be supported by the majority of Beijing officials.
Whoever has a few nephews and juniors, if the number of scholars is increased to 200,000, and the Northern and Southern Imperial College recruits 20,000 students every year, the chances of their nephews and juniors to pass the examination will be greatly increased. This is a great good thing, why should we oppose it?
?
Therefore, Chongzhen was not worried at all that doing so would weaken his imperial power. Firstly, he did not draft, secondly, he did not want to carry out large-scale construction projects, and thirdly, he did not engage in militancy. In addition, he had just eliminated Jiannu and his reputation was booming. Compared with the Cabinet Secretary and Liubu Tang
Officials, low-ranking sixth- and even seventh-grade officials obviously trust him more.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Of course, Chongzhen’s greatest confidence was the more than 5,000 people in various departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Lu Zhenfei also realized: "Does the seventh-rank and above imperial officials mentioned by the Holy One include the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"
"Of course they are included." Chongzhen said, "All the departments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are officials of the Ming Dynasty, and their ranks are high enough. What's the reason to exclude them from the meeting of the Ming Dynasty?"
Lu Zhenfei frowned upon hearing this.
This is a bit outrageous. How many people are in trouble in the Ministry of Internal Affairs now?
Even if there are not 6,000, there are at least 5,000. The military department alone has more than 3,000 for Shizhong. To do this, doesn’t the emperor have the final say on all national affairs? What else does the cabinet do?
Lu Zhenfei became anxious at that moment: "Your Majesty, you had already promised that all government affairs would be handled by the cabinet."
"That's right, I said that all government affairs will be handled by the cabinet." Chongzhen nodded and said, "The special circumstances I mentioned do not include specific government affairs. They only deal with major matters involving laws, taxation, military deployment, and selection of prime ministers.
It is applicable. For example, if the imperial court of the third rank or above in Beijing recommends a minister who I am very dissatisfied with, but cannot use the edict to remove him, what should we do at this time? We can only issue an edict to convene a great court meeting, and all seven ranks in Beijing will be appointed Prime Minister.
The above-mentioned officials shall appoint or remove them.”
Lu Zhenfei and other five cabinet members said to themselves that indeed, the Holy One wanted the right to make decisions on important matters.
The so-called passing of the resolution of the imperial meeting is just a pretense. There are so many low-ranking officials of the sixth and seventh grades in the entire dynasty, who is not a supporter of the Holy Sage? Not to mention the five or six thousand given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If it really happens,
When major matters are brought to the court and handed over to all officials of rank seven or above for decision-making, it must be the Holy One who has the final say.
However, many low-level officials were refreshed when they heard this.
Because according to the concept put forward by the Holy Spirit, the supreme power of the Ming Dynasty will no longer be in the hands of the emperor alone, nor in the hands of several ministers in the cabinet, but in the great court meeting, and in the hands of all officials above the seventh rank.
!This is simply an unprecedented event, and it’s incredible.
From now on, low-level officials like them will no longer be insignificant decorations.
A low-ranking official may not be able to do much, but as long as a sufficient number of low-ranking officials can unite, it will be enough to make the chief minister or even the emperor bow his head! This is a big deal!
Many far-sighted officials have foreseen the benefits of this proposal.
This is an eternal good government that can restrain both the emperor and the cabinet. Once passed and written into the ancestral precepts of the Ming Dynasty, it will ensure the smooth operation of the Ming Dynasty's political situation to the greatest extent, and will not cause problems due to the emergence of one or two emperors who act recklessly or a few who abuse their power.
The government was in turmoil due to the powerful ministers.
At this time, this suggestion is of no importance.
Three lifetimes later, this proposal will become crucial.
At that moment, many officials in the main hall expressed their support.
Even the second assistant, Zhang Shenyan, expressed his support and his attitude was extremely firm.
Lu Zhenfei and other prime ministers also began to quickly weigh the pros and cons.
Although it is unacceptable to transfer the decision-making power on important matters such as legislation, taxation, military deployment, and selection of prime ministers to the Great Court Council, it is inevitable that the Great Court Council can also veto the emperor, which makes people expect it.
You must know that this is fundamentally different from the six subjects of refuting the imperial edict.
This is because the Six Sections only have the power to refute and not have the power to make decisions. However, according to the Holy Sage’s idea just now, the Great Court Conference has the final decision-making power. Once the Great Court Conference makes a decision, not only the cabinet, but also the emperor will also
It must be followed, which gave great restrictions to the imperial power and prevented the appearance of a foolish emperor from causing harm to the country and the people.
Similarly, this system can also avoid the emergence of a powerful official who takes power.
Isn’t it this kind of rule that countless civil servants have been pursuing through the ages?
