Although you, Liu Jin, are the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, known as the Heavenly Official, and are in charge of the promotion, assessment, appointment and dismissal of officials all over the world, but that is only for officials of the fourth and first grades. For second-grade officials like Feng Shiyong, the chief envoy of Southern Zhili, the rank is all the same.
It's almost the same as Liu Jin, who has no power of appointment or removal at all.
There was nothing Liu Jin could do against Feng Shiyong.
Furthermore, Feng Shiyong is already over sixty years old. He has been in the officialdom for many years and has countless disciples, former officials, etc. Among other things, among the important ministers of the Ming Dynasty in front of him, there is no telling how many of them are related to Feng Shiyong.
Therefore.
Even if Feng Shiyong doesn't hate you Liu Jin, what can you do to him?
Everyone looked at Liu Jin, waiting to see Liu Jin's joke.
"As the official minister of the imperial court, I select and appoint talents for the emperor. Naturally, I have to promote and appoint more capable people. I will naturally dismiss officials like you who are mediocre and unwilling to make progress."
"Thousands of people in South Zhili are waiting for an accomplished official to lead them to a more prosperous and better life. But you, who have received the emperor's favor and hold important responsibilities, have done nothing to solve the problems in South Zhili.
After asking three questions, I don’t know that such officials are harmful to Nanzhili and the Ming Dynasty."
Liu Jin stood up, looked at the old man Feng Shiyong, and said righteously.
Then he turned to Emperor Hongzhi and said: "Your Majesty, I sincerely request the removal of Feng Shiyong, the chief envoy of Southern Zhili. The reason is that he has done nothing and has done nothing. He has no knowledge of the affairs of Southern Zhili. I have failed to honor your majesty's great trust and I have failed to honor Southern."
Directly under the control of tens of millions of people."
Seeing Liu Jin directly requesting Emperor Hongzhi to remove Feng Shiyong, everyone present could not help but take a breath.
The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel cannot directly appoint or remove officials of fourth rank or above, and he has no power to appoint or remove officials from the feudal frontiers such as the Chief Envoy of Southern Zhili.
Generally, the appointment and dismissal of officials of fourth rank and above are discussed with the cabinet first, and then reported to the emperor after the discussion is completed, and the emperor chooses one from among the selected candidates.
However, if the Minister of Personnel feels that a high-level official has failed to act, and the Minister of Personnel formally proposes to the emperor for removal, it will basically be approved.
Not only will the emperor approve it, but the cabinet will also approve it, because the Minister of Personnel still needs to give his face, and the majesty of the Heavenly Official must be maintained, so that the officials of the world can be in charge.
Of course, the Minister of Personnel would generally not do this, and few officials would force the Minister of Personnel to directly apply to the emperor for his removal. After all, where does the power of the Minister of Personnel lie?
Now Liu Jin directly proposed to Emperor Hongzhi to remove Feng Shiyong, which basically means that Feng Shiyong will definitely go home to grow sweet potatoes, and it will even be impossible for him to go to Nanjing for retirement.
"You~"
After hearing Liu Jin's words, Feng Shiyong was so angry that he couldn't speak. He pointed at Liu Jin and was so angry that he couldn't breathe.
I think of him, Feng Shiyong, who was a Jinshi in the Chenghua Dynasty and served as an official for more than thirty years. Then he finally reached the position of Chief Envoy of Southern Zhili step by step and became a big official in a feudal territory. It is the fulfillment of life that must be enjoyed to the fullest.
At that time, I even thought about whether it would be possible to go further in the future.
However, who could have imagined that Liu Jin would be so stubborn that he directly applied to Emperor Hongzhi for his removal.
Liu Jin was a popular person around Emperor Hongzhi. He was already a very popular minister at a young age and had always been deeply trusted by Emperor Hongzhi. When he opened his mouth, he definitely wanted to go home and plant sweet potatoes.
Even though there are many old friends, disciples, old officials, fellow disciples, fellow villagers, etc. in the court, do they dare to speak out for themselves?
Feng Shiyong was so angry that he couldn't breathe when he thought that he really had to go home for retirement.
As for the officials below, they were all surprised, and then they all looked at Emperor Hongzhi.
Some secretly rejoiced that they and Liu Jin were not at odds, while others scolded Feng Shiyong as a fool. How old is this?
Emperor Hongzhi and the court had repeatedly issued orders and policies, and he actually opposed the policies decided by many big officials. The key was that in his position, he didn't know anything about the situation in Nanzhili, so he was dismissed.
Well deserved.
Others are already thinking about whether they should find someone to move around. The position of chief envoy of South Zhili is a bad job, and the land of fireworks in the south of the Yangtze River is far from comparable to other places.
Many governors, governors, chief envoys, etc. who served overseas were eager to be transferred back to the Ming Dynasty to serve here.
"Oh, this Feng Shiyong~"
Liu Jian looked at Feng Shiyong and couldn't help but shake his head. This Feng Shiyong was from Henan and was from the same hometown as Liu Jian. He used to be his disciple and he could be considered his disciple. He could be the chief minister of South Zhili.
Position is inextricably linked to Liu Jian's promotion.
But who knew that Feng Shiyong would do such a poor job in the position of Chief Minister of South Zhili.
Although Zuo Long, the chief envoy of Northern Zhili, did not do well, he was very clear about the situation in Northern Zhili and built a lot of roads. It was considered a political achievement. Although he could not be promoted, he could at least speak to the emperor.
In the past, there was an explanation.
But what about you, Feng Shiyong, who doesn't know anything about all the questions and tries to use flowery rhetoric to deal with this debriefing meeting. Are you, the emperor, and all the ministers in the dynasty fools?
Sitting on the dragon throne, Emperor Hongzhi looked serious. He was also thinking about many issues.
He remembered that in the past, in the past, most of the officials in the imperial court were similar to this Feng Shiyong, or even far inferior to this Feng Shiyong.
Being an official means being an official with one's legs crossed. When it comes to matters within one's jurisdiction, one often has no idea what the population is, how much tax can be collected in a year, and what is the income of the people?
When you were an official, did you do anything good or practical for the people?
Most of the officials in the past were only good at talking, and their words were more beautiful than the others, and their articles were more beautiful than the others. However, when it came to handling national affairs, few had real talent and learning.
The imperial court was invaded by foreigners, and the army was poorly equipped, lacked training, was old, weak, sick and disabled, and was vulnerable. It was invaded and plundered by the Tatars from the north every year, but they could only defend the city. In many cases, the Tatars were very ambitious.
, went straight to the capital, threatening to move into the Central Plains again,
Even the Japanese pirates along the southeast coast are becoming more and more rampant, but no one useful can be found to exterminate these Japanese pirates.
There is also the issue of taxation. The huge Ming court could only receive less than three million taels of silver a year. The treasury could starve to death, and nothing could be done.
If you want to do something, what these officials are best at is telling you that you have no money, so you need to pay for it from your majesty's internal funds. So that even after being the emperor for ten years, you can say that nothing has been accomplished.
In the final analysis, there are too many officials like Feng Shiyong. They are doing nothing, doing nothing, and their thoughts are not to share the king's worries or to provide some welfare for the people.
This Feng Shiyong, as the Chief Envoy of Southern Zhili, actually knew nothing about the situation in Southern Zhili. He didn't know anything. I really don't know how he became the Chief Envoy.
South Zhili, a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River, has always been the richest place in the Ming Dynasty. However, now it has been surpassed by North Zhili, and the gap is getting wider and wider. This is largely because there are many places in South Zhili.
There are too many officials like Feng Shiyong.
"That's right~"
Emperor Hongzhi softly uttered two words.
After hearing Emperor Hongzhi's words, Feng Shiyong collapsed immediately.
After decades of hard work in the officialdom, he finally became a second-grade border official, but now he was dismissed with just one sentence.
He really couldn't accept this fact.
More importantly, he felt that he had never done anything wrong.
He just did things according to the tradition and style of being an official. In fact, he felt that he was still an upright official, with a clean mind, and he attached great importance to cultivating talents. When he was an official in Nanzhili, he attached great importance to the imperial examination, and worked with many local
The gentry and others jointly organized many private schools, academies, etc.
He felt that his philosophy of advising people to do farming and mulberry farming, and to take corvee lightly and pay taxes lightly was right, because this had been the case since ancient times.
The court should tax less, let alone set up tax bureaus and use tax agents to forcibly collect taxes from the people. This is robbing people of their wealth and is wrong.
I didn't do anything wrong, but in the end I got this result.
He is not convinced!
"Your Majesty, I feel that I have done nothing wrong."
"Since ancient times, we have emphasized the policy of light corvee and low taxes, encouraging teachers to farm and mulberry trees, and recuperating with the people. The imperial court established tax bureaus to force tax collection. This is wrong in itself. It is plundering the people's wealth and support."
"I'm not wrong. I'm an honest official and have a clean slate. I can't accept all this."
Feng Shiyong looked at Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin and said very loudly.
He was not convinced, he was so angry that his beard was twisted with anger.
"Why did the imperial court set up a tax bureau to force tax collection? Don't you, the chief envoy of South Zhili, know this?"
"In the past, the imperial court's annual tax revenue was only three million taels, and even the officials' salaries were somewhat difficult to support. What did the imperial court use to build a strong army, and what did it use to build the country?"
"In years of famine, people will starve to death all over the land, wars will break out, and foreign tribes will invade and plunder our border residents year after year, and even threaten to move into the Central Plains again."
"The imperial court is extremely poor, but the gentry and businessmen in Jiangnan and other places are extremely rich. They can spend a lot of money on flower boats, but they are not willing to pay even a penny to the imperial court."
"The establishment of the tax office is just to collect the taxes that the court should collect, but you here say that you are robbing the people of the people, bending the facts, and making arbitrary comments on the government. You are still a second-rank official. You can't even understand this."
"Come on, take away your title, dismissal from your post, and go home and plant sweet potatoes."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Feng Shiyong and opened his eyes.
He is even more angry than Feng Shiyong. Is this the official of the imperial court?
Is this an important official of the imperial court?
A dignified second-grade official didn't understand the imperial decree at all. The imperial court established a tax office to force tax collection, which was just to collect the tax that should be collected. When it came to him, it turned out to be a plunder of people's wealth and wealth. This made Emperor Hongzhi half-dead angry.
.
Originally, I just wanted to remove you as an official, retain your title and rank, and allow you to go home and take good care of yourself in old age. In anger, I also took away your title and everything else.