"That's all. After all, you haven't entered Gezhiyuan. It doesn't matter even if your family and friends know that your preferences are different from others." Zhou Shu said after listening to the account of his brother Zhou Wei's return.
"Brother, don't you blame your brother for not doing his job properly?" Zhou Wei asked in disbelief.
"Do you think your elder brother doesn't know that you tinker with weird things on weekdays?" Zhou Shu said with a smile: "Although you live in the county and don't usually go home, and you never talk about these things when you are with your friends, so family members
My friends don’t know, but my eldest brother often lives in the city, do you know? Do you think that my eldest brother is a person who doesn’t listen to anything outside the window and only reads the books of sages? How can such a person give a good answer? "
"It's just that my brother saw that you didn't delay your studies because of this, and you passed the county examination, government examination, college examination, and rural examination, so I didn't say anything. If you had delayed the imperial examination because of this, my brother would have warned you long ago."
"Brother." Zhou Wei didn't know what to say for a while.
Zhou Shu didn't pay attention to what he was about to say, and continued: "There is no need to talk about the past. In the future, it won't be a bad thing for you to get into the eyes of the emperor."
"According to your past behavior, you won't do well even if you are elected as an official. It would be better if you were a Beijing official, with fewer things to do; local officials have a lot of things to do. Now the emperor is strict about whether officials work hard, and they will most likely be punished if they mess around.
Go down."
"But since you have caught the emperor's eye because of astronomy, even if you are not admitted to the Imperial Academy, the emperor will consider this and arrange for you to be in a lighter position."
"Besides, the tone you described in the emperor's speech makes you very confident that Gezhiyuan will be very useful in the future. My brother has been reading the newspapers in the past few years. The emperor is very cautious and will never do anything he is not sure about. The emperor is so confident in Gezhiyuan,
Gezhiyuan will most likely be of use in the future."
"Besides the calendar, what else can it be used for?" Although Zhou Wei likes astronomy, he doesn't think it is of any use.
"I don't know, I can't think of it. Maybe the emperor can think of it."
…
…
As soon as he went to court on the second day, Yunxi threw out the two imperial edicts he had drafted last night and revised by Jin Shan in the morning: allowing merchants to sell foreign people as slaves in the Ming Dynasty, and the edict to abolish the Qintian Prison and establish the Gezhiyuan.
.
The ministers have no objections to the decree that allows merchants to sell foreign people as slaves in the Ming Dynasty. The ministers who can go to court are all of low grade. Even if the family was poor before becoming an official, they will not be poor after becoming an official, more or less.
They all hired several servants, and naturally hoped that the servants would all be indentured servants rather than freely hired civilians. Therefore, although there could be some arguments from the perspective of the "Da Ming Law", no one offered any advice.
But everyone has a lot of opinions on the abolition of the Qintian Prison and the establishment of the Gezhiyuan.
The officials present did not know what Yunxi said to Cao Zheng, Zhou Wei and others yesterday, so they believed that Gezhiyuan was just a changed name of Qintian Prison, plus some gadgets that the emperor liked, but even if
Therefore, they also opposed the establishment of such a yamen.
For upright ministers, the emperor's establishment of Gezhiyuan is like the Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty who loved to listen to plays. It doesn't seem to matter now, but this kind of thing must be guarded against, so he opposes it; for ministers who are not very upright, the grade of Gezhiyuan is too high.
However, a bureaucracy that was so chatty was actually promoted to the fourth rank. It was absolutely intolerable and opposed. As for some mature and prudent ministers, they felt that the changes in the yamen were unnecessary. Therefore, after the imperial edict was read out, there was a voice of opposition in the court.
Yunxi had already expected that they would oppose the establishment of Gezhiyuan, and immediately said: "Although Confucianism is the right path and the great road, it is useless if you have the way without skills. Astronomy and calendar, mathematical calculations, shipbuilding and ship repair, large-scale steel smelting, and the study of firearms,
Studying medical skills or even raising and feeding horses, which one doesn’t need to be studied?”
Although what Yunxi really wants to establish is the Academy of Sciences, he can only use technology to support him. After all, Ming officials still understand technology, but they are completely ignorant of science. As for the future, Gezhiyuan will close the door.
Who knows what to study.
"This is just a craftsman's skill. How can we set up a separate yamen for them to study these things?" said Song Lin, who had already submitted a request for retirement but had not yet completed the retirement procedure.
"Even craftsmen serve the country. How could the Ministry of Industry do so many things without those craftsmen?" Yunxi asked rhetorically.
"This," Song Lin was very dissatisfied with the fact that except for the minister, the minister, and a few doctors, the other officials in the Ministry of Industry were all literate craftsmen. But after all, the craftsmen were also serving the country, and he couldn't say anything about it.
Neng said: "In this case, if people other than those who study astronomy and calendar are assigned to the Ministry of Industry, they can not only study these things, but also save the court's money and food. Wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone?"
"Now the Ministry of Industry has a lot of errands, how can it take on these many things again?" Yunxi said: "But logically speaking, this is indeed a matter within the Ministry of Industry, and it is placed under the control of the Ministry of Industry, but it is still a separate matter.
Yamen."
"Your Majesty, if it is placed under the control of the Ministry of Industry, the grade will be a bit high. It is better to downgrade it to the fifth grade." Li Ren, the Minister of Civil Affairs, said.
"Yes." Yunxi agreed.
Since Yunxi has regressed and his words are reasonable, the officials are not opposing the establishment of Gezhiyuan.
Yunxi also breathed a sigh of relief. For him, as long as such a yamen is established, it doesn't matter the rank or name. Even if it is placed under the Ministry of Industry, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry is not a person without vision.
, do you dare to intervene at will?
After the court came down, Yunxi immediately sent someone to call Cao Zheng. In the front hall where he usually criticized Zhezi, he told him and Yang Shiqi many things about Gezhiyuan, including where the Yamen was set up and how to carry out its work.
He also asked Yang Shiqi and Cao Zheng to discuss how to establish the official system in Gezhiyuan and report back to him later.
Yang Shiqi immediately understood that the emperor was showing the importance he attached to Gezhiyuan, so that they would not have the idea of being demoted. Yes, they. There are so many people in the cabinet, including Zhongshushe and Tongshishe, and Yang Shiqi is usually the most diligent.
He is willing to work and has never made any mistakes. If he is assigned to Lengyamen for no reason, it will break people's hearts. If people's hearts are scattered, it will be difficult to lead the team. Yunxi, who understands this very well, will not let such a thing happen.
occur.
As for why Yang Shiqi was selected, there is also a secret. The people around him now, Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu, Jin Shan, Wang Gen and others, are the oldest, so he should be selected from among them; among these people, Yang Pu,
Jin Shan and Wang Gen were both Jinshi scholars, so they probably looked down on the people in Gezhiyuan. Only Yang Shiqi had only been selected as a scholar, and because his family was poor and had wandered around, he did not despise the people in Gezhiyuan.
After finishing the matter, Yunxi called Wang Gen, Yang Pu, and Jin Shan over and said with a smile: "If it weren't for the recent imperial examination, I would never have imagined that you have been with me for three years."
"In the past three years, you have been serving as officials by my side, drawing up votes and discussing political affairs. I can safely entrust you with some important responsibilities."
"Wang Gen, there is now a vacancy in the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel. I have ordered you to be the head of the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel. Go to the Ministry of Personnel tomorrow. Take charge of the Literary and Selection Department for me."
"Yang Pu, I have ordered you to be the prefect of Fengxiang and assist in military affairs. There will be a war in the northwest in the next two years. You must make good preparations for this and discuss matters with Xia Yuanji, the chief envoy of Shaanxi Province, and Xu Huizu, who has promoted military affairs in the northwest."
"Jin Shan, I order you to offer wine to the Imperial College, and still serve as the secretary of the Imperial College, and take care of the Imperial College for me."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The three of them hurriedly bowed and saluted.
Yunhe gave a few more instructions and asked them to step aside and hand over the errands at hand.
After that, it was natural to criticize and answer the memorial. After lunch, Yunxi went back to sleep. When he woke up, he was served by the eunuch and dressed while listening to Wang Xi say: "The official family, Xiao Zhuo and Zheng sent two businessmen.
Having already left the palace, Yang Shiqi reported that he would leave the palace in the afternoon to inspect the selected yamen..." He reported a lot of things in a variety of ways.
Yunxi listened carefully. These things may not be big or small, but they cannot be completely ignored, especially because his judgment standards for the importance of things are different from ordinary people. Even Wang Xi, who has followed him for more than ten years, may not be certain.
He could make accurate judgments, so every time he asked Wang Xi to report these things to him during free time, such as before and after nap and before he stopped dealing with political affairs and returned to the harem in the evening.
As he was listening, Wang Xi said: "The officials asked Cao Xing to come to the palace yesterday to discuss the selection of a member of the Zhiwei Guards to train elite cavalry, as well as an interview with Hu Yuancheng, but they are to be announced to the palace this afternoon.
?”
"Cao Xing, let him rest for a few more days." Yunxi said: "He has been away from the capital for many years, so he can spend more time with Cao Zhen. Cao Zhen is getting older now, and I don't know how many days he can still assist me. Now Cao Che
If you are in Taiwan again, let Cao Xing stay with you at home."
"However, I am somewhat interested in Hu Yuancheng's affairs. I will announce him to the palace in the afternoon. By the way, how are the people of the Hu family arranged now? How are the bodies of Hu Ji Yao disposed of?" Yunxi asked.
"Most of the Hu clan were resettled as farmers in Tianchang County, Fengyang Prefecture, and a few of them became military households in Wudewei. Those who stayed in Beijing as soldiers had their household registration settled in Jiangning County, and the imperial court granted them a place outside the city as a
Cemetery. After Hu Jiya was executed on the second day of April, the people in the Ministry of Rites did not know what the officials meant and did not dare to deal with it without authorization. They submitted a memorial to ask the officials for instructions. However, the memorial was not important, so even though it was reported the day before yesterday,
But it has not been approved by His Majesty yet." Wang replied happily.
Yunxi moved his lips and hesitated before saying: "After all, Hu Ji Ya was once a high-ranking official in Annan and had a hereditary title. I ordered the Ministry of Rites to bury him with the etiquette of a fifth-rank official. As for Hu Hancang, just
He will be buried with the etiquette of a seventh-rank official."
Wang Xi agreed, served Yunxi to the front hall, and then left Qianqing Palace to give orders.
After a long time, a man in his thirties, with dark skin and wearing the clothes of an ordinary guard soldier, walked in under the leadership of a young eunuch. After Yunxi turned his eyes, he knelt down and said: "Sinner Li Cheng,
I have met Your Majesty, long live long live long live!"
