Yang Shiqi and the other five were moved to tears, and they all knelt down and said: "I am just fulfilling my duties as a minister. It is because of your majesty's benevolence, justice, loyalty and filial piety, and it is your destiny to return it. Only then can you save the day from danger. How can you be so happy?"
Zhu Gaochi stood up holding the table, stepped forward to help the five people up one by one, and said with tears: "You and I treat each other with sincerity, and don't say those things that are untrue!" As he said this, he squeezed the hands of Yang Shiqi and Yang Pu tightly.
, "We are called kings and ministers, but we are actually brothers!"
"Your Majesty..." Yang Shiqi and others burst into tears and burst into tears.
The six monarchs and ministers hugged each other and cried. When their emotions calmed down, Zhu Gaochi sat back on the throne, looked at Yang Shiqi and the others and said: "I am going to let Dan'an and Jie'an join Wenyuan Pavilion, and we will work together with you three as bachelors.
To me."
Dan'an is the nickname of Yang Pu, and Jie'an is the nickname of Huang Huai. After hearing this, Yang Shiqi immediately expressed his position: "Your Majesty, the emperor is wise! The state affairs are complicated and there are many wastes waiting to be done. Two talented people have joined the cabinet. I am very happy!"
Yang Rong and Jin Youzi also nodded heavily.
Zhu Gaochi nodded with pleasure. These five people were young and powerful, possessing both political integrity and talent. More importantly, they had gone through the cruel test of the Yongle Dynasty and could be fully trusted. With such a strong cabinet to assist him, his confidence was also much stronger. After a pause,
He then said slowly: "In the future, military and state affairs will all depend on the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. However, there is a problem. University non-commissioned officers are only of the fifth rank. When interacting with the six ministers and local officials, they will inevitably be very passive."
After hearing Zhu Gaochi's words, Yang Shiqi and the other two were immediately excited. The emperor's words pointed directly at the biggest weakness of the cabinet today! At that time, Emperor Taizu abolished the Central Secretary and the prime minister, directly led the six ministries and hundreds of departments, and consolidated the power into one person. However, as
As the country was founded, state affairs became more and more complicated. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang was super energetic, he could not cope with it and could only find people to help him.
However, Emperor Taizu did not want the prime minister who had gone through so much trouble to be abolished to reappear, so he thought of a way to have the best of both worlds and appointed some officials with both talent and virtue as bachelors to assist him in handling national affairs, but the bachelors
Their official rank is only fifth rank, which is far lower than that of the six ministers and local officials. It is naturally impossible to make those second-rank officials bow to them. This will prevent the academicians from becoming too powerful and becoming a prime minister who is not a prime minister.
.
Later, in the Jianwen and Yongle dynasties, the cabinet system took shape. The emperor increasingly relied on the bachelors in the cabinet. However, the official rank of the bachelors always stayed at the fifth rank, which was far from the senior officials of the court. This successfully limited the expansion of the power of the bachelors. This is also the reason of Yang Shiqi.
The real reason why others were isolated and helpless during the days of King Zhao's rebellion and had no choice but to ask Wang Xian for help.
Now that the emperor's words actually want to lift the restrictions imposed on the Grand Scholar, how can Yang Shiqi and others not be excited? They only heard Zhu Gaochi slowly say: "So I am going to raise the rank of the Grand Scholar to the second rank, and be the same as the second rank.
The six ministers are all equal to the imperial censors." He said with a smile and looked at the five people and said: "This way you will be more comfortable handling state affairs in the future."
When Yang Shiqi and the other five heard this, they were not overjoyed. Yang Rong said: "Your Majesty is so kind to me, and I am so grateful for it. However, the cabinet system was created by Taizu and perfected by Taizong. The university sergeants are only five ranks. They are already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so they were rashly promoted to
Rank two, I’m afraid it will cause an uproar in both the government and the public!”
"Even if I don't promote you, won't the government and the public be in an uproar?" Zhu Gaochi said slowly: "After ascending to the throne, I don't know how many people are preparing to oppose me. Do you think I am cowardly and dare not promote you? Or is it better?
How about promoting you to help me even more?" He sighed and said seriously: "Don't think that this is appreciation based on merit. Working with me to reinvent the old and replace it with the new is a hard job that requires suffering and getting scolded.
You will still complain about me in the future."
"I will definitely work together and assist Your Majesty with all my heart!" The five bachelors quickly expressed their stance in a deep voice...
The next day was the first court meeting after the new emperor ascended the throne. The ministers and officials, dressed in court uniforms, lined up neatly outside Fengtian Gate to welcome His Majesty the Emperor to the throne. Then they knelt down and kowtowed to the mountain and shouted long live. All etiquette was meticulous, but everyone could
I feel that the air above Fengtianmen Square is almost stagnant.
The mountain rain is about to come and the wind fills the building.
When the ministers stood up and stood still, Zhu Gaochi glanced at the officials who were looking down, took a deep breath, and began his first speech in front of the officials after becoming the emperor: "I am protected by my ancestors, and I am lucky enough to be in a great position. Naturally,
Knowledge and talent are sparse, morality is poor, and war is trembling. Moreover, the country is riddled with holes and the country is uneasy, making it even more difficult to walk on thin ice." After a pause, he said in a sincere tone: "We still need all the gentlemen and all the officials to work together to assist me, our monarchs and ministers.
Let’s work together to help Ming Dynasty overcome the current crisis.”
"I will definitely retaliate to the emperor by doing my best to my heart's content." Naturally, all the officials kept saying clichés.
"Very good." Zhu Gaochi glanced at Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, and said slowly: "Old Xia Guo, please tell us about the current situation of the Ming Dynasty."
"According to the decree." Xia Yuanji was only over sixty years old, but he looked very old. Others would believe him when he said he was eighty years old. Everyone knew that his white hair and wrinkles were all for the finance of the Ming Dynasty.
The result of a broken heart. Everyone understands that without the existence of this top financial management expert, there would be no great achievements of the Yongle Dynasty. The words spoken from his mouth are naturally the most authoritative.
"Your Majesty," Xia Yuanji's face was full of deep fatigue at this moment, and his voice was hoarse: "The current finances of our Ming Dynasty can no longer be described as dangerous. The treasury is empty, and the debts owed over the years are
, just don’t eat or drink, and if you use national tax revenue to repay it, it will take a full twenty years..."
"Hiss..." The ministers gasped. When Emperor Yongle was here, he never said this to his ministers. So although they all knew that the country was in difficulty, they all thought that it was just a temporary difficulty and would be over after a while. But no
Who can survive twenty years without eating or drinking?
"How could this happen?" Duke Dingguo couldn't help but asked loudly: "How could the debt be so high?"
"There are many reasons. Expenses over the years have been huge, treasure money has been issued indiscriminately, and disasters have occurred frequently..." Xia Yuanji saw the officials' eyes widening, so he could only explain slowly: "To put it simply, in the past twenty years, various expenditures have increased sharply.
, the imperial court's income was far from enough for national purposes, and it could only support the court's expenses by issuing banknotes. However, the excessive supply of treasure banknotes caused prices to skyrocket in various places, causing various expenses to double. The court could only print more treasure banknotes.
To make up for it, prices will further deteriorate..."
"To put it bluntly, wasting money indiscriminately means drinking poison to quench thirst. The more poisonous wine you drink, the more dangerous it is. But in order to survive, we can only drink one cup after another..."
Not accepting treasure money at all, the imperial court could only borrow from the private sector, and naturally the debt piled up in the past few years." After a pause, he said: "In addition, with the continuous domestic disasters, the decline of industry and commerce, and the severe shrinkage of the imperial court's tax revenue, it will still be a long time to pay off the debt in twenty years.
Optimistic estimate.”
After Xia Yuanji finished speaking, he retreated to his seat. Zhu Gaochi slowly swept his eyes across the crowd and said sadly: "Everyone, the glory of the past has become a thing of the past. Today's Ming Dynasty is very similar to the last years of the previous dynasty. If we don't rein in the situation immediately, we must make up our minds.
To rectify the finances, I am really worried that we will repeat the mistakes of the former Yuan Dynasty!"
"..." The ministers nodded with a heavy heart. After all, they were all dignitaries on the ship, and no one wanted to let the ship sink.
"That's why I decreed to stop purchasing, weaving, and stop our voyages to the West, and try our best to reduce expenditures," Zhu Gaochi said earnestly: "Everything is to overcome the current crisis. Starting from me, we will save national power. All the ministers must also give
The people should set an example!"
"I will obey the emperor's will!" the civil servants stood up and sang loudly, but the generals and nobles on the other side had a very ugly expression and were silent. Their idea was very simple. It's okay to save the country's money, but don't save it for yourself.
, let alone cut off your own financial path!
But these words could not be put on the table, and the generals could only stay there for the time being, not daring to refute the emperor in public. This was also the reason why Zhang Fu refused to talk to the nobles yesterday. Above the court,
No matter how insignificant the thoughts are, they have to be covered up with high-sounding words. When the emperor has stood his ground, he can only wait patiently for the opportunity.
Zhu Gaochi did not expect the military generals to sincerely support him. If they did not cause trouble, he would be very happy. He then continued: "The state affairs are complicated and complicated. I personally do not have the ability of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, so I can only rely more on everyone."
The Qing family, especially the great scholars in the cabinet." After a pause, the emperor said slowly: "I am going to reset the rank of the great bachelor to the second grade, so as to connect with the six ministers, nine ministers, and local officials.
how?"
As soon as these words came out, many officials cast envious glances at Yang Shiqi and others. Naturally, Jian Yi and other senior officials felt very unhappy. It turned out that they, the ministers and censors, were the leaders of hundreds of officials, and there was no one like them among the civil servants.
Bigger. However, when the emperor behaves like this, even though the bachelors are also of the second rank, they are more powerful and closer to the emperor, so they are naturally higher than them!
However, they also know that this is what they deserve, not to mention that speaking out against it at this time will also arouse the strong resentment of the emperor and the five bachelors. It is really not worth the gain... at least, they cannot be the one who stands out!
Just when several ministers were secretly looking at each other, hoping who would come out first to express a different opinion, a rough voice sounded in the square, making everyone's ears buzz:
"Your Majesty, I am not relying on my old age to show off my talents. I am a fifth-grade scholar. However, according to the system established by the late emperor, the bones of the Daxing Emperor are still cold. It is not appropriate for you to do this!"
Zhu Gaochi's eyes darkened, and he looked at the old man who kept saying that he was not relying on his old age, but it was actually Xue Lu, Marquis of Yangwu!
Yang Shiqi and others felt a thump in their hearts, knowing that they couldn't be kind now...