In the Jinluan Hall of the Imperial Palace in the capital, Zhu Houzhao was holding a morning meeting. The ministers below were talking endlessly about things, but Zhu Houzhao above was dozing off out of boredom.
"I don't know when my father will come back. It's been almost a year."
"This life is really not a human life. Those who go to court every morning and review memorials are like a bird in a cage. They can't even go out to play."
Zhu Houzhao is extremely unhappy now.
Emperor Hongzhi went out to play for about a year, traveling around, eating, drinking and having fun, putting all national affairs on his own shoulders, which seriously disrupted Zhu Houzhao's normal life.
In the past, Zhu Houzhao wanted to be as comfortable as possible. When he was in a good mood, he would go to Shuntian Mansion to plan the development of the capital. In the afternoon, he would go to his own experiments to study electric lights.
Since Liu Jin's guidance, the research on electric lights has also advanced by leaps and bounds. Now we can produce practical light bulbs. We are waiting for Liu Jin to come back and discuss how to promote electric lights.
If Zhu Houzhao is in a bad mood, he might as well create a human being in his East Palace. There are hundreds of beauties from all over the world. There are beauties from all tribes, various places, vassal states, and colonies. This also makes Zhu Houzhao linger over it.
This child was created one after another.
After Emperor Hongzhi left for more than a year, Zhu Houzhao added dozens of grandchildren to Emperor Hongzhi, so that the ministers in the court were all sad because the task of naming these children fell on them. This old Zhu
There is a fixed pattern for family names. The more children are born, the more difficult it becomes to choose names.
In short, the former Zhu Houzhao lived a carefree and carefree life when he was young. He didn't need to think too much and did things he liked.
But after a year in prison, he really felt tired.
All matters big and small in the court come to him, and there are hundreds of memorials to be reviewed every day. This is after being filtered and screened by Wang Shouren and Zhong Zhong of the cabinet. Otherwise, all kinds of memorials will be reviewed every day.
There are hundreds.
In addition, the morning court must be held. Except for weekends and statutory holidays, it must be held at all other times. After the morning court, important cabinet ministers and six ministers must be summoned to the minister's room for a small meeting.
Even if there is nothing going on, the monarchs and ministers can still communicate with each other and enhance mutual understanding and trust. Everything should be open.
On important days, Zhu Houzhao also had to attend various activities, such as worshiping heaven and ancestors every day. In addition, he also had to attend important activities at the Ming Dynasty Royal Military Academy and the army, and he also had to give speeches, etc.
wait.
In short, Zhu Houzhao is very busy every day, with many things to do, and sometimes he cannot take a good rest on weekends. This makes Zhu Houzhao once again feel that being an emperor is not an easy job, but being a prince is more comfortable.
Every year, I look forward to the early return of Emperor Hongzhi, so that I can end my miserable life.
"Hmph~"
"Father, it's true that he has traveled around the entire Pacific Ocean. This little life has been so comfortable. I have done things that I have always wanted to do but have not yet done."
Zhu Houzhao's mind resounded with the route that Emperor Hongzhi had traveled in one year, and he became envious.
When it comes to playing, Zhu Houzhao naturally does his part.
He is a fun-loving person and likes to travel around.
He has long wanted to travel around the Ming Dynasty, and it would be best to take a trip around the world.
However, he was the prince of the Ming Dynasty, so he could not go out to play if he wanted to. Although he had gone out to play several times before and after, he was still not satisfied.
This time Emperor Hongzhi traveled around the Pacific Ocean, which made him very envious.
Zhu Houzhao became even more dissatisfied when he thought that while he was working hard to supervise the country, Emperor Hongzhi was traveling around.
"When my father comes back, I will definitely visit various places in the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Houzhao already had a plan in mind. Emperor Hongzhi traveled around the Pacific, so he would go west and visit Southeast Asia, India, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and other places.
The world is a big place anyway, and Zhu Houzhao wants to go out and see it.
"Your Highness~Your Highness~"
Just when Zhu Houzhao was planning his future travels, Zhong Zhong reminded him in a low voice.
"Oh, oh~"
Zhu Houzhao came back to his senses and looked at the ministers. He had just been absent-minded and did not hear clearly what the minister below said.
"Your Highness, what do you think of this matter?"
The ministers in the audience looked at Zhu Houzhao. He was obviously absent-minded and didn't know if he heard his tirade.
Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin went out to enjoy the mountains and rivers, and the situation in the DPRK also experienced many subtle changes. Many traditional and old officials who were suppressed by Liu Jin in the past were also trying to take this opportunity to make a comeback. It would be best if they could
Overthrow Liu Jin, restore many of the previous systems, and dream of living the good old days again.
Of course, the most important thing is to compete for interests, not only the power of the court, but also the interests of all aspects of the Ming Dynasty, many industries, these traditional and old officials are latecomers, and can only eat a little scraps, of course they
We will not be satisfied with this, but hope to obtain more benefits.
As long as Liu Jin can be brought down and they take control of the central government, there is still hope for all this to come true.
In the eyes of these old officials, what Liu Jin did was simply digging the graves of scholar-bureaucrats and completely destroying the traditional and old bureaucratic system.
It was so comfortable to be an official in the past. You could eat and drink. When you were unhappy, you could point your finger at the emperor and criticize him for eating an extra bowl of rice and not being thrifty enough. This would make the entire Ming Dynasty become extravagant and extravagant.
An emperor should be diligent, frugal and hardworking. Only in this way can he be a good emperor.
Being an official at that time was not very comfortable. The world was not the emperor's world at all, but the world of scholar-bureaucrats like them. The emperor controlled the emperor through various methods and restricted the imperial power, while the people below continued to annex land and exploit it.
common people.
They are the most comfortable people in Ming Dynasty.
But now, being an official is not so comfortable. The assessment system alone forces these officials to think of ways to build infrastructure, increase fertility rates and levels, raise taxes, etc.
In addition, in terms of promotion, in the past, as long as there was a connection, people from the same hometown, the same year, classmates, classmates, etc. could be promoted. If the money was in place, promotion would be much easier.
Now, even if there is a relationship, first of all, you must be excellent in this assessment to be promoted. The assessment is a rigid indicator for promotion. If you fail to meet the standards, there will be no chance of promotion at all.
If you want to meet the targets, there are too many things to do, and you can no longer sit in the yamen, eat, drink, and read newspapers like before.
They have already had enough of such days.
They miss the old days and the happy life even more.
So while Liu Jin and Emperor Hongzhi were out having fun, they should seize the opportunity to overthrow Liu Jin and overturn the proactive policies and systems formulated by Liu Jin.
However, times have changed now.
Even though Liu Jin is no longer in court, his influence is still there.
Liu Jin is the chief minister of the cabinet, and he has many officials under his command, and most of them are new-style officials promoted by Liu Jin. These new-style officials are all practical officials.
Like Han Wen, who used to be the Minister of the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, he was doing taxation work, and he did an extremely good job; like Zhong Fan, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, who used to be the Chief Envoy of Guangdong, was later transferred to Central Asia to serve as the Chief Minister
The envoys all did extremely well and were promoted to Minister of Industry.
Now I am busy dredging the Yangtze River, opening up water transportation in the Yangtze River Basin, building the Changchun-Chengdu Railway and other important major projects. I am doing very well. I estimate that the next step is to become one of the six ministers.
There is also the current cabinet minister Wang Shouren. Lao Wang's rapid promotion is inseparable from Liu Jin's recommendation in addition to his own ability.
Lao Wang is also a practical minister and talented person. He did very well when he was in Nanzhili. He built the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, focused on the development of Songhu, opened up the tax situation in the Jiangnan area, etc.
Many officials in the court were promoted and reused by Liu Jin because of their hard work. They were not only grateful for Liu Jin's promotion, but more importantly, they recognized Liu Jin's philosophy of governing the country and rejuvenating the country through hard work, rather than arguing with those who
Like old officials, they only know how to stare at the emperor every day and constantly ask him to be diligent and frugal, and to govern the country with benevolence, justice and morality.
They protect Liu Jin. In addition, the military generals and some important officials in the DPRK almost wear the same pants as Liu Jin.
Liu Jin was married to Duke Dingguo, and had a baby engagement with the British Duke. More importantly, many of his properties had already tied everyone together, and they were wearing a pair of trousers. They couldn't let Liu Jin be raped.
This is how it was defeated.
Therefore, it is very difficult to overthrow Liu Jin. The most difficult thing is that both Emperor Hongzhi and the Crown Prince have great trust in Liu Jin and have close interests with Liu Jin. Many industries
, Emperor Hongzhi and the prince are both major shareholders.
Although it is difficult, these old officials will not miss the opportunity. Even if they give Liu Jin eye drops and drive a wedge between Liu Jin and Zhu Houzhao, they still have to do it. Some things need to be done over time.
, maybe one day quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes.
"I think you are talking nonsense and wantonly criticizing the important officials of the imperial court. You have a terrible intention and are endangering the country and the country of Ming Dynasty."
"Come here, send this person's whole family into exile immediately and send him to Black Earth Province."
Zhu Houzhao is in a bad mood. You are still talking nonsense here. Are you looking for death? Zhu Houzhao is not the Hongzhi Emperor. If he is in a bad mood, I will give your whole family a banquet to the Black Soil Province.
"Your Highness, Your Highness~"
"His Majesty has returned to Beijing~ His Majesty has returned to Beijing!"