Last winter was extremely cold, and it is still raining and snowing after the new year.
A large ship frozen in the small sea became the place where the emperor occasionally summoned his ministers.
"Successful people all have one characteristic: focus. Once you set a good direction, you will continue on without turning back."
The emperor put on a bearskin cloak and came to the bow of the ship to greet his ministers.
"It's snowy and windy, so I summoned all my dear friends at short notice. Thanks for your hard work, please go to the cabin. It's very warm inside and has hot tea."
Invite the ministers into the cabin.
The emperor could see that the ministers had countless things to say to the emperor, but he did not give them a chance to speak. After a pleasantries, the emperor directly took out a booklet.
"Please Mr. Yu Shen, please read it out for me first."
Everyone had no choice but to shut up and sit down patiently.
The cabin was originally narrow, but due to special modifications, it was actually quite spacious inside, especially because it was very warm. Under the Emperor Chilong's throne, there were two rows of long tables, and there were actually many pots of green vegetables and garlic sprouts on the tables. Cabbage, celery, coriander, etc. grow lush and green.
Using vegetables instead of flowers seems a bit unique.
Zhang Guowei, a bachelor of Wuyingdian Palace, held the folded book with both hands. As soon as he opened it, he recognized that it was written by the emperor himself. It had the charm of Zhao Mengfu and even a bit of Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming.
However, compared to the emperor's beautiful running script, Zhang Guowei was more concerned about the content of the poem at this time.
Like all emperors, even Emperor Shaotian who raised troops halfway was still naturally wary of the stability of imperial power. Even now, ministers in the court believe that the emperor is more autocratic and even appears to be dictatorial and domineering.
The emperor had just passed his thirties, but his achievements were enough to occupy a place among the emperors of China. Even if he died suddenly at this time, it would be comparable to the achievements of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yu Wenyong, and Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Chai Rong.
Or, in the Battle of Feishui, he defeated the 800,000 former Qin army, gathered power and restored the imperial power. Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sima Yao, who was the only one who truly held power in his hands, selected northern refugees to build an army capable of fighting the Beifu army and defeated the former Qin Dynasty. , and even sent Liu Laozhi to fight all the way to Yecheng, Hebei. Unfortunately, he later re-employed Sima Daozhi and indulged himself in drinking and sex. In the end, because of a joke about finding a new love, Zhang Guiren suffocated him to death with a quilt after he drank. People sigh.
Or for example, Li Chun, Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, known as Little Taizong, during the era of separatist vassal towns in the late Tang Dynasty, he was able to rectify the imperial court, flatten the vassals, and achieve the prosperity of Yuanhe and Zhongxing. Unfortunately, he reused eunuchs in his later years, took elixirs, and finally died of eunuchs. hand.
In just a few years, Zhu Yihai's achievements are already comparable to those of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yu Wenyong, Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Chai Rong, Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Chun, and Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sima Yao.
No matter how bad it is, it is comparable to Zhuangzong Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty at the beginning of his succession.
But now the emperor does not show any sign of becoming self-indulgent.
Even if the emperor suddenly said this time that he would clean up Donglin and release a large number of officials, Zhang Guowei and others did not think that the emperor was in trouble.
They were full of doubts and just wanted an explanation from the emperor. The content written by the emperor himself in this booklet is undoubtedly the answer they want.
Today's emperor is wearing a five-claw dragon robe of the Nine Dragons Regiment. Among the purple robes in the cabin, the bright yellow dragon robe is more conspicuous.
A few years ago before the city of Beijing fell, Zhang Guowei was ordered to go to Beijing to raise food and pay, train the soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River, and went to Yanzhou on the way to ennoble the general Zhu Yihai as the new generation of King of Lu.
At that time, although Zhu Yihai could ride and shoot with guns, he still wore expensive gold and jade finger gloves when entertaining him, and he still had the nobility and ostentation of a young vassal disciple.
Later, I met King Lu again at Men Island in Qiantang Bay. He was already a supervisor, and his whole person had become passionate and passionate. However, over the past few years, His Majesty, the current emperor, has tempered his energy and became calm and mature.
That face was more resolute, without even half of the fat, and was as tough as a knife and an axe.
His eyes revealed calmness and wisdom.
This is already an emperor who is difficult to understand and guess, but who is always admired by his ministers.
Zhang Guowei is in his early fifties. Among today's ministers, he is actually considered to be in the prime of life, or it can be said that he has relatively low qualifications. At least here, there are more than 20 cabinet bachelors in Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties.
, not counting those who joined the cabinet during the Hongguang Dynasty.
However, Zhang Guowei's status in Shaotian Dynasty was higher than most people here. Not only was he ranked third in the cabinet, but he also had the title of Prime Minister.
Not only was he the court minister who enthroned King Lu, he was also the first to come to support Zhu Yihai after he raised his army. He also served as the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for a long time. He has excellent qualifications, loyalty, and ability. And now he has a daughter.
The emperor's concubine.
"This time, foreign officials are not demoted, nor are they guilty, but they are decentralized to gain experience, especially experience as local officials, so they are called temporary posts."
The emperor gave the ministers a new term.
Officials who were sent out of the capital and sent down to the lower levels were not called demoted or moved to the left, but were called temporary posts.
For example, Mao Pijiang, who was originally a third-rank official in the Admonition Court, was given the title of Chief Editor of the Guardian. He was also the editor and special commentator of several major newspapers such as Admonition Daily and Fuxing Daily. This time the emperor named him.
He went to Taipei Prefecture on Taiwan Island in Fujian Province to serve as the fifth grade Tongzhi, or the second Tongzhi, and served as the newly established right Tongzhi of Taipei.
This is obviously a punishment and demotion, and even has the intention of being relegated to guard the frontier.
But now the emperor said that he was not demoted, but posted on a temporary basis.
Everyone was confused when they heard this new word, but fortunately there was a specific explanation in the emperor's book.
Originally, under the old system of the Ming Dynasty, there were many types of punishments for officials. The specific ones were divided into poor performance evaluation, which was generally serious, such as loss of office, and the lighter ones, which were demotions.
There is also the punishment for official crimes. In the Hongwu period of the early Ming Dynasty, official crimes were even assessed with demerit records, and only three or four offenses were punished according to the law. In the Yongli period, officials were still punished and returned to their posts, and three offenses were punished according to the law.
From Xuande to the Jingtai Dynasty, officials who had committed corruption were sent to the people of their place of origin after atonement. From Tianshun to the Chongzhen Dynasty, in addition to committing corruption, other deeds that were considered to be unfavorable were also sent to the people after atonement. At the end of Chongzhen, corruption was
If there is too much left unfinished, there will be no atonement.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There are actually many types of punishments officials receive due to various reasons such as performance evaluation or crime.
The lightest penalty is the salary, which ranges from one month to two years.
On top of the salary is demotion, which is divided into different penalties such as downgrade by one level, downgrade by two levels, downgrade by three levels, demotion with retention, downgrade and transfer.
Demotion or higher means dismissal.
Dismissal can also be divided into three categories: dismissal and retention, dismissal, and dismissal never.
There are two types of dismissal, one is to live idle with a title, and the other is to remove one's nationality and become a citizen.
Guandai Qianqian means that although he has been removed from his official position, he still retains his rank and can still enjoy some corresponding rank benefits when he returns to his hometown. He is still an official and gentry.
To remove official status and become a commoner means to remove official status and become a commoner directly. If there are immediate relatives who are officials, they will be treated as relatives of officials.
As long as you are not expelled from the country and become a citizen, and you never use it again, there is still a good chance that it will be reinstated and put into use.
There is another important distinction between official punishment, that is, public crimes or private crimes.
The consequences are the same, but the punishments are different. The punishment for private crimes is greater than that for public crimes, and one level of crime is often added to the public crime.
Of course, officials in the Ming Dynasty were punished not only by those punishments, but also by the court rod, exile or even beheading, confiscating their homes, punishing the ten clans, and other more severe punishments.
In the Ming Dynasty, the punishment of officials was relatively severe. There were countless people who were beaten to death by imperial rods. Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and Lieutenant Zhu Youjian were both emperors who killed many officials.
After Zhu Yihai raised troops and proclaimed himself emperor, he was still very lenient to officials in order to win people's hearts.
He even issued an edict to officially abolish the official imperial staff, and also seriously restored the eight-level system. Among them, those who are distinguished, ministerial officials are above the third rank, casual officials are above the second rank, and those who are nobility are above the first rank. For those who commit crimes according to the eight-level discussion, the punishment will be determined without correct judgment.
, those with crimes below the level of exile are reduced by one level, and officials above the fifth rank can enjoy various privileges of immunity or light punishment. Official crimes are even tried exclusively by Dali Temple, Duchayuan Tai Prison, Chao Prison, etc.
In addition to criminal sanctions due to economic problems, etc., there are more administrative sanctions for various problems, including fines, demotion, and dismissal.
Zhu Yihai basically canceled the punishments of royal rod, exile, house confiscation, and execution. Unless it was for crimes such as treason and disrespect, generally, especially for corruption, malfeasance, dereliction of duty, etc., the punishment would not be excessive.
It is precisely for this reason that this time the emperor wanted to decentralize thousands of officials at once, which caused such a big reaction in the court and the central government. Everyone was worried that the emperor was trying to change the old customary system.
During this special period of turmoil, officials firstly faced chaos in their administration, and secondly, many people made detours.
The emperor's previous treatment of Mao Pijiang and others was considered by everyone to be a demotion.
But now the emperor said that he was on temporary duty.
"Mao Pijiang retained his position as a member of the Admonition Court, Li Ke, Zhang Du, and Shizhong, and also retained his rank as a third-grade prose official, Jin Ziguanglu. He was only exempted from holding concurrent positions as Hanlin bachelor, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, etc., and was decentralized to temporary posts to gain experience.
, appointed as the right magistrate of Taipei Prefecture..."
Zhang Guowei was reading there, and a group of bachelors and ministers sat there to listen and read carefully.
Emperor Shaotian liked the system of the Tang and Song Dynasties, so he made many changes to the Ming Dynasty ancestral system in the past two years. For example, the Tang Dynasty system used by casual officials, and the honorary officers and titles were also restored to those of the Tang Dynasty.
Many old practices from the Tang and Song Dynasties were even used in the punishment of officials.
When conferring a job, the casual official is first awarded, and the official rank is determined as a post-remuneration official, while the official official is a real-duty official.
The treatment of officials also shifted to the Tang and Song Dynasties' methods of demotion, demotion, and dismissal. Demotion and dismissal all refer to the dispersal of official ranks, as well as demotion, dismissal, and removal from office. Transfers between the same levels are considered the slightest demotion, which is called transfer.
. Demotion and demotion mainly include going abroad, that is, the central official is demoted to a local place, and there are also near, big, and far small.
There are also those who are dismissed without waiting for the expiration of their term of office. If the circumstances are minor, they need to be re-elected, appointed upon vacancy.
A serious rebuke is to be directly demoted to various idle officials, basically without duties, and not even allowed to handle official business or sign official documents.
