The ministers' sedans could no longer be carried inside after reaching the Meridian Gate. All the officials got off the sedans one after another and waited outside the Meridian Gate. Looking around, there were python robes and jade belts everywhere, and tall crowns. The winter morning was extremely cold. The officials
Wearing warm mink furs outside their official uniforms and holding small copper-nickel hand stoves in their hands, they stood under the felt tent and waited for the door to open.
Seeing Liu Ziguang standing in the queue, the ministers were a little puzzled. They soon realized that he was here to deliver an order. This trip to Jiangnan had brought a lot of money to the court. It seemed that Uncle Zhenwu's holy love was even stronger.
Many officials who were good at adapting to the situation came and congratulated Liu Ziguang, firstly for his wedding, and secondly for the great success of his trip to the south of the Yangtze River. Liu Ziguang returned the favor one by one with a smile.
Without the arrogance of a favored minister, a group of censors in the distance breathed air from their noses when they saw what was happening here. They turned around with disdain and cursed in a low voice: "Shameless."
At the sound of five drums and ten minutes, the Meridian Gate opened wide, and officials filed in from Yemen, walking in small steps on the stone road in the square. In the quiet morning, only the sound of gentle footsteps echoed.
The golden armor on Guard Lin's body seemed to be still covered with frost. The tall soldiers clutched the golden melon axes with red lacquer poles and looked straight ahead with solemn expressions. No one dared to make any noise. They walked quickly past Fengtian Gate, and then
Turn left and enter Wuying Hall. The reconstruction work of Fengtian Hall, which burned down in the summer, is almost in progress. It will be completed after the final painting. But now you can only go to Wuying Hall to attend court. After entering Wuying Hall, you can only hear the sound inside.
There was a sound of heavenly music, and I could faintly hear Honglu Temple singing: "Scheduling." The whip was sounded three times, and a team of internal officials took out incense burners and burned ambergris. The palace ladies held palace fans and surrounded the emperor.
After ascending to the throne, the ministers were arranged on both sides of the hall according to their rank. Liu Ziguang was a superior count and a military commander, so he stood on the right hand side with Wei Guogong.
Zhu Youxiao was sitting on the throne, his face calm and unfazed, and he looked like he was dominating the world. It seems that power can really make people mature. After just a few months of training, the seventeen-year-old
He had a bit of the majesty of an emperor. Wei Zhongxian, the chief eunuch who was standing next to the throne, glanced at the ministers, stood a step forward, and shouted at the top of his voice: "I'll leave the court if I have nothing to do."
"
Everyone was silent and focused on Liu Ziguang. Everyone agreed that it would be more appropriate for him to speak first in this morning meeting. After all, the trip to Jiangnan was a great harvest. Everyone will be happy when the results are listed. A good start is half the success.
, after the atmosphere became harmonious, the following topics were naturally easy to unfold. Liu Ziguang did not disappoint everyone, and went out to report: "My minister Liu Ziguang patrolled the south of the Yangtze River on orders, and found the weaving companies in the south of the Yangtze River that were corrupt and perverted the law, and ignored human lives; the Governor of Shanghai Road and the Municipal Shipping Secretary
For embezzling national funds, colluding with foreign captors, and conspiring to rebel, the criminals Cao Yin is now in custody, and the criminals Cheng Liangjue and Chen Ziang are still being hunted. I believe they will be brought to justice in the near future."
"Ai Qing dug up two moths and one cancer for the Ming Dynasty, good!" Although these things had already been reported, Zhu Youxiao was very excited to hear Liu Ziguang say it with his own ears. After all, he was the one who sent Liu Ziguang out on errands.
Yes, the emperor's face will be glorious if he achieves results. There are many noble families in the south of the Yangtze River, and the families are mixed. If it were ordinary people, they would either be bribed or destroyed. Only Liu Ziguang, an alien who is incompatible with them, can achieve such results.
"I searched the criminal's property and seized a total of three million taels in cash, antiques, calligraphy, paintings, property, houses, cars and ships. The specific details have been registered and submitted to the inner treasury. After Jiangnan Weaving was reorganized, the output increased sharply, and the quality was also improved compared to the past.
; After the Shanghai Shipping Department replaced all the officials and reopened the business, the tax revenue received increased by more than 80% compared with the same period in previous years." Liu Ziguang then reported that these figures were reported after careful calculation, which not only ensured the safety of his own pocket
The expansion took care of the psychological standards of the emperor and the ministers. As expected, the figure of three million taels made everyone very satisfied. Many old ministers stroked their beards and began to whisper to each other, apparently praising Liu Ziguang's search ability.
"Okay, okay, Aiqing, go on." Zhu Youxiao said two more good words, and his excitement was beyond words. The serious face he put on just now has been lost long ago, and now he looks like a child who has received lucky money.
.
"The auction of the Qishuyan Machinery Factory, led by ministers and supplemented by the East Factory of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Housing and Industry, has been completed. A total of 1,010,000 taels of silver have been auctioned, and the money has been deposited into the treasury of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development." Liu Ziguang said calmly.
said.
Everyone was in an uproar. The auctioneer in Changzhou conducted the auction privately, and the relevant personnel also received a gag order and were not allowed to disclose the auction price. Therefore, except for a few senior officials and the emperor present, this was the first time for most people to hear this unbelievable event.
The astronomical figure, ten million taels, is equivalent to the imperial court's tax revenue for one and a half years. Although the Qishuyan Machinery Factory has long been confiscated, to the imperial court it is just a pile of factory buildings and scrap copper and iron, far from cash.
It was a good move. Liu Ziguang's move was equivalent to revitalizing the bad assets and selling the backlog of goods at a high price. Therefore, even the censors who had criticized him were dumbfounded at this moment. The only one who was a little unhappy was Wei Zhongxian. This time
The auction did not allow Wuchang Zuo to win the bid according to his wishes. He took so much money and failed to get things done. Where will Eunuch Wei's face and credibility be in the future? Moreover, Liu Ziguang also made his confidant Dai Yi lose so much face in public.
, and secretly killed two of their Dongchang fans. Wei Zhongxian remembered this account very clearly. Although there was a smile on his face now, he was saying in his heart: Uncle Zhenwu, if you don’t give our family face, don’t
I blame our family for causing trouble for you in the future...
Seeing everyone's happy expressions, Liu Ziguang was also secretly happy. With this great move, he not only got state-owned assets in his name, but also gained fame and prestige. It was a wonderful win-win situation. He couldn't help but feel proud that he had agreed to cooperate with them in the first place.
Hu Yimin was pleased with the alliance. Without the support of the Ministry of Revenue and Rishengchang, Nanchang alone would not have been able to do such a big deal.
"Aiqing has made great contributions to our Ming Dynasty. I want to reward you. Well, soon after Aiqing's wedding, I will give you twenty palace maids to serve Madam Gaoming." Zhu Youxiao offered a strange reward. This is
He came up with the idea after thinking about it for a long time last night. Liu Ziguang has no shortage of money and power, so he can only work on honor. Giving palace maids is a good way. It is low-cost and high-level. The palace can use the palace maids as
Servant, how cool is that, and these maids are all selected from all over the country, and have been strictly trained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It is a good choice to use it as a ring or to take over the house as a concubine.
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty." Liu Ziguang kowtowed and returned to his original squad. The imperial mission of patrolling the south of the Yangtze River was considered a successful one and it was over.
After Liu Ziguang returned to work, Qian Qianyi, the chief minister of the cabinet and the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, went out to report the latest situation of the Qiu Wei incident to the emperor. As a representative figure of Jiangnan officials and the examiner of this examination, Mr. Qian certainly did not want those
The unreasonable demands of the candidates in the north were met. If they were allowed to retake the exam, wouldn't it be an admission of fraud in the exam? Wouldn't it be a slap in the face to himself? So after stating the situation, he once again emphasized his opinion and demanded that the trouble be suppressed.
Candidates, keep the original list unchanged.
Qian Qianyi was indeed confident in doing so, because this examination was basically fair. The foundation of those students from the north was indeed not as solid as the candidates from the south, especially those young talents from Donglin Academy who produced eight-legged essays.
It's absolutely gorgeous and impeccable. Even if we send someone to check it again, we can't find any faults.
"It is absolutely forbidden to suppress candidates. This will definitely dampen the hearts of students all over the world to serve the country. Just imagine that they have traveled thousands of miles from the north under alien rule to the capital to participate in the Autumn Festival. Not only will they all lose their names, but they will also be arrested by the officers and soldiers.
, What is the use of such a treatment besides causing pain to the loved ones and happiness to those who are worried?" The first person to stand up against Qian Qianyi was Taichang Qing Zuo Maodi, who was from Denglai, Shandong and was born with a tough mind.
, was not afraid of going against the cabinet chief, which made Liu Ziguang look at this person with admiration.
After Zuo Maodi, some officials from the north came out to oppose one after another. However, they were soft-spoken and could not come up with any good plans. Therefore, the situation in the court was still controlled by the Jiangnan officials headed by Qian Qianyi.
With.
Zhu Youxiao looked at the heat and coughed slightly. Wei Zhongxian immediately stopped everyone's argument loudly and announced that the emperor had something to say.
"I received a brochure yesterday, which contains a method for solving this case. All the ministers may wish to listen to it and see if there is anything unique. Xiao Weizi~~"
Wei Zhongxian lowered his head and said he obeyed the order, then picked up a memorial from the Long Bookcase and started reading it from the script. This memorial was exactly the new civil service examination method proposed by Liu Ziguang, but it had been re-polished and supplemented by Eunuch Bingbi, and added
Some of Zhu Youxiao's new ideas appear to be more complete.
After listening to Wei Zhongxian's reading, the hall was silent. Everyone was savoring this new method of selecting scholars. The so-called "Shen Lun" was the same as the policy theory of the Song Dynasty. Both candidates were asked to write their own strategies for governing the country. The so-called "Administrative Ability"
The "Test" focuses on the examination of the candidates' adaptability and judgment ability, while the "Basic Knowledge" tests the candidates' general knowledge in order to eliminate those nerds who are ignorant of all kinds of things. To be fair, this is really a near-perfect set of tests.
However, the officials headed by Qian Qianyi knew the level of the Jiangnan candidates very well. All they had learned in the past ten years was the Eight-legged Essay. As the saying goes, they were deaf to world affairs and only read the books of sages. As for the Eight-part Essay,
They know very little about outside knowledge. If they really follow this method to take additional tests, I'm afraid not too many people will be on the list.
"It's ridiculous, ridiculous." A minister came out and said. This person was Hou Xun, the father of Hou Fangyu, the first of the four princes in the south of the Yangtze River, and Hou Xun, the Minister of Rites.