There is no doubt that although Zhao Shu has a decisive prestige in the civil service system and is highly respected by the emperor, when it comes to trust, Zhu Mou is the first person.
First of all, in terms of identity, Zhu Mou belongs to the lineage of the former King Heyang. Going forward a hundred years, he and Zhu Yixi are completely one family.
Just like Zhu Meng, frankly speaking, his abilities can only be regarded as above normal. His main strengths are his stability and his ability to open and close. Compared with You Shiwei and Chen Yongfu, he is at a disadvantage in terms of combat achievements.
But among the nobles, he is still the first Duke.
There is no way, since someone is from a clan, theoretically he can be crowned king, and he can be crowned king while he is still alive, but the emperor is not.
In terms of ability, although Zhu Mou has only attended religious education for a few years, he has been wandering in the streets since he was a child, worked as a bookkeeper, and worked as an apprentice. It can be said that he has a deep understanding of the pros and cons of the folk.
In this regard, although Zhao Shu is a scholar, the Zhao family has always been the heir of poetry and calligraphy in Daizhou. You can say that Zhao Shu cares about the common people, but this is a condescending sympathy.
Zhu Mou was different, he felt the same way.
Frankly speaking, Zhao Shu is an upright person, while Zhu Mou is an upright person.
For example, in dealing with the war, the emperor vigorously promoted it, while Zhao Shu deliberately supported the stubbornness of scholars. On the surface, he always supported the war in terms of logistical support, but privately he often advised him.
Even though he knew it was useless, he still refused to give up.
Zhu Mou is different. He will fully and wholeheartedly implement the emperor's strategy. Even if it is difficult, he will convince himself to complete it.
One is 100% effort, the other is 120%, these are completely different.
It is precisely because of this that when the aging of cabinet members gradually became serious, after Zhao Shu, Wang Yingxiong and others took office, Zhu Yixi's first consideration was to bring Zhu Mou into the cabinet.
Of course, the reason why the emperor was so wanton is that after more than ten years of development and stability, the Ming Dynasty was completely in the explosive stage, and its population, taxation, and army were already at their peak.
For example, except for Anxi and Gansu, the ten northern provinces are completely self-sufficient and do not need subsidies from the court at all. Even Henan, Shandong, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces are large tax payers.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state in which the north was in a state of chaos and with a population of about ten, has completely disappeared.
In such an era of chicken blood, a cabinet that can fully implement his orders and ideas is particularly important.
After all, every era needs its own cabinet.
Stability is no longer appropriate.
The most obvious one is the tolerance towards the Xiongnu in the early Han Dynasty. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it was completely inappropriate and counterattack and revenge became the mainstream.
Of course, in the eyes of the emperor, it seemed prudent, but in the eyes of the civil servants, it was still aggressive.
The way of thinking is different.
Among the cabinet departments, in addition to Zhu Mou, famous officials such as Du Yinxi and Yan Yingyuan also formed the territory of the future cabinet.
Although the presence of the cabinet is relatively high, it can be said with certainty that the abilities of the nine ministers are no less than them.
Without it, the executive department, without strong executive capabilities and communication skills, would simply not be able to sit still.
The thunder in the official department was heavy and the rain was light, but in the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army, the thunder was light and the rain was heavy.
There are more than a hundred officials serving in the Ten Departments of the Dudu Mansion, headed by the Military and Government Department, and because of the sale of official positions, about ninety people were dismissed directly.
It can be said that almost everyone in the entire Military and Political Department participated, and no one was left behind.
It is precisely because of this that when the houses were ransacked, a total of more than three hundred thousand yuan was taken from these people's homes, which may not seem like much, but it was cash.
Some property, such as land, shops, etc., are valuable.
The total amount is approximately one million yuan.
After being tortured and tortured, this selling of officials lasted for about three years.
These people are even very smart. They understand that being like a patrol battalion commander attracts attention, so they sell very little. They mainly rely on favors and money to sell.
And for minor officials like San Lao, who is from the ninth rank, the quantity is large, and the rank is low, so they cannot attract attention, so they sell them in bulk on a large scale.
"A three-year-old man, one hundred silver coins."
Zhu Yixi looked at the confession and couldn't help but sigh.
He didn't know whether to say the price was high or the price was low, but the soldiers should be pursuing a lot.
Because according to the salary, one hundred silver dollars can be offset in five or six years, and the rest is pure profit.
As expected, the people who purchased the quotas were basically local gentry and some relatives of nobles.
Who doesn’t have a few poor relatives?
By giving up hundreds of silver coins, you can gain a good reputation, take care of favors, and make a lot of money.
Whether they were civil servants, military officers, or even local gentry, they basically all participated in it and did not feel any difference at all.
There is no way, the three elders have entered the rank stream in name, but they are the lowest from the ninth rank, there is no room for improvement at all, they can only stay in the countryside for the rest of their lives, being driven by the government servants.
It is a turbid current that belongs to the lowly and can no longer be lowly.
It is precisely because of this idea that no one feels ashamed of buying and selling.
Zhu Yixi was silent.
Because everything has two sides of the same coin.
In a sense, a large number of civilian gentry and officials were bound to the Ming Dynasty's chariots because of selling their official positions, which was very beneficial to the rule.
Because the gentry class belongs to the local wealthy class, coupled with the popular folk tradition of beggar-thy-neighbor and treating the villagers favorably, their prestige is extremely high.
When all these prestigious people agreed with the Ming Dynasty, there was no ground for the so-called rebellion among the people to develop.
Just like in the Qing Dynasty, during the Qianlong period, there were endless cases of buying officials and titles, and the court even sold them openly and clearly marked the price, such as Li Wei.
The advantage of this is that those rich but uneducated local tycoons will concentrate on the Qing Dynasty and will not pay attention to the Tiandihui or anti-Qing and Fuming organizations.
A rebellion without the participation of scholars would never be a major event.
For example, the White Lotus Rebellion and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could only be rampant for a while, but they were unable to continue.
At the same time, these wealthy people will form a competitive relationship with scholars, which will cause the Han people to become extremely involved, with four or five candidates behind each official position.
Officials were focused on making money and posed no threat to the imperial power.
The most obvious thing is that in the Ming Dynasty, most of the local magistrates and county magistrates were appointed by juren and supervisors, and there were not even one dignified Jinshi.
In the Qing Dynasty, even Jinshi had to be on the waiting list. Although it was a tiger class and people had to fill every vacancy, they still had to wait and spend money.
The gold content of Jinshi has been greatly reduced.
"There are good aspects and there are bad aspects."
Zhu Yixi murmured, thinking of Manqing's operations really made him dumbfounded.
You can say that Qianlong was very happy with his achievements, restricted his thoughts, and was greedy for money and lust, but his ruling art and skills were already at their peak.
It can not only make money, but also stabilize the rule and strengthen the imperial power.
For a moment, he was in a daze.
Should it be changed or not?
"We can only strengthen the patch."
Zhu Yixi said in a deep voice.
For the three old positions in the local area, the patrol camp and the Beijing camp formed a competitive relationship.
In terms of quantity, the two are comparable, but the patrol camp is a local snake and is naturally in an advantageous position.
In a sense, this is also a game between the central and local governments.
Therefore, in this case, we can only study the imperial examination and implement the meat-sharing policy.
That is to say, among the original three elders, the township elder was in charge of litigation and education, and the local elders with high morals were in charge. The only ones Cao Lin could preside over were the township chief and the township police.
These two official positions are subject to local recommendation and central appointment.
The emperor immediately asked Zhu Mou to come over and express his thoughts:
"Anyone who holds the position of a village elder must have strict rules and conditions. Only those who meet them can be recommended."
Zhu Mou agreed and immediately came up with a set of criteria: "In addition to being highly respected, the most important thing for a village elder is age, because there is no standard for being highly respected, and age is what matters."
"First of all, one must be over sixty; secondly, a rotation system must be adopted, and the same family cannot continue to live in the countryside."
"What about the township chief?" The emperor was too lazy to think and asked directly.
"The township chief is naturally still the same as before. He is recommended by the Governor's Office, reviewed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and appointed."
Zhu Mou flashed an embarrassed smile. He really had no face to see the emperor because of such a big mistake in the official department.
"However, the township head must be over thirty in age; and in terms of official position, he must be team leader or above."
"Finally, his service period must be five years."
"The rest of the literacy, good posture, etc. are the same as before."
Having said this, he said in a deep voice: "If the distribution law is followed, the official department can recommend the township chief, while the county government recommends the township police."
"The prefect is responsible for the review."
"The standard is the same."
After such changes, the selection of the three elders has become much more formal.
Instead of like before, as long as the official position is satisfied, you can get a recommendation.
Zhu Yixi nodded with satisfaction. Zhu Mou's abilities were as outstanding as ever, especially his execution, which was very trustworthy.
If this were Zhao Shu and Zhao Shoufu, he would definitely talk about the importance of the three elders first.
"But it's just a matter of good appearance,"
The emperor smiled and said casually: "How many good-looking officers are there in the army? Besides, the officers who can retire are basically more or less injured and disabled."
"There are many people with scars on their faces and broken hands. We should understand."
Zhu Mou could only nod in agreement.
After such a distribution, the three elders became completely standard.
Among them, the core township chief is held by a descendant of the Beijing camp. As a trustworthy member of the Beijing camp, his loyalty is self-evident.
The village elders are the food on the plate for the local gentry, representing their interests and maintaining order in the countryside.
At the same time, the rural police are the spokesperson of the county magistrate.
Triangular relationships are the most reliable. Each party has its own spokesperson to safeguard its own interests.
At the same time, the division of pork may appear to be a loss for the imperial court, as local forces account for two-thirds, but deep down, the emperor's uneasiness is hidden.
Compared with the previous Ming Dynasty, the officials of the Shao and Wu dynasties merged and a large number of subordinate officials were recruited. In the previous Ming Dynasty, the number of people in each county was less than 100, and to the current 200, it has basically doubled.
This will inevitably lead to an increase in local strength and a significant increase in the financial and material resources that can be mobilized, which is detrimental to the centralization of power.
At the same time, Zhu Yixi admitted that the bureaucracy is good for stable rule, but for the people, this may not be a good thing.
Because the county government has loosened its control, exploitation will become more severe.
Coming from a later generation, he firmly believes in the tradition that nine out of ten officials are corrupt, and no official will be corrupt. Because the power is in hand, it will become useless upon expiration, and everyone wants to realize it in a short time.
Just like in the Han, Wei and Jin dynasties, the imperial court was exploitative, but the control was not strong. In the face of tyrannical rule, they could still flee to the countryside to preserve their vitality.
Can you imagine that in the Qin Dynasty, as a wanted criminal, Xiang Liang could drink and sing with the prefect Yin Tong all day long?
Even in the Qin Dynasty, which had strict management, local control was different from that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
But in the Shaowu Dynasty, the three elders were entrenched in the place, and even if they escaped to the village, they might be caught.
The two discussed it for half an hour, and it was lively and comfortable.
"By the way, how's it going in the southwest?"
At the end of the conversation, the emperor suddenly thought of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
"The Dian Kingdom has always refused to surrender. Sun Kewang is very stubborn. I heard that he is constantly trading muskets with the Western Yi and wants to expand eastward!"
Seeing the surprised look on the emperor's face, Zhu Mou realized that he was talking about the plateau.
Is that place in the southwest?
If the emperor says he is there, then he is.
"Kang Guo fought vigorously, while Wei Zanguo had been pampered for many years and was no match at all. According to businessmen, they were in a stalemate hundreds of miles away from Lhasa."
"Tsk, fight slowly, don't rush for a moment——"
Zhu Yixi protracted her tone and was in a very good mood.
After leaving the palace, Zhu Mou breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
This difficulty has finally passed.
No one is perfect. In this drama of selling out his official position, how could he, as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, escape?
Of course there is no overt bribery, but privately there is still some turning a blind eye and accepting some gifts.
After all, after several years of indifference, who would have thought that the emperor would pay so much attention to it today?
After he left, the cabinet received the news.
In the officialdom, as a heavenly official, Zhu Mou was very popular, and now he is receiving constant favors from the emperor. This has all gone by, who wouldn't envy him?
Zhao Shu sat firmly on the Diaoyutai.
Only Yan Chongxin felt the crisis.
He had a hunch that Zhu Mou would definitely join the cabinet either at the end of the year or at the beginning of the year.
Because there were only four people in the cabinet at this time, which did not conform to the tradition of five people, Zhu Mou, as the Minister of Civil Affairs, was definitely the first choice in terms of ability, qualifications, and favor.
Even, in a certain sense, it will have an impact on his position as the first assistant in the future.
The relationship between the two people suddenly became subtle.
"The officialdom is considered stable." Yan Chongxin sighed casually.
"Stability is a good thing." Wang Yingxiong nodded and said with a smile: "The affairs of the Governor's Mansion can be solved peacefully, and the staff can protect it well."
As soon as this was said, everyone laughed.
The officials took the blame, but the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army held considerable responsibility.
On the surface, they are just a group of civil servants, but in fact they have a huge impact on the noble community.
Because the Military and Administrative Department, known as the first department of the Dudu Mansion, is presided over by Yiguo Gong You Shiwei, his official position as Left Commander of the Left Army Governor's Mansion has been changed to Right Commander of the Hou Army Governor's Mansion.
Division 10 is no longer under supervision.
Obviously, You Shiwei has lost the power of the Governor's Office and can only be an idle Duke.