The next morning happened to be the regular court meeting held once every five days.
Because Chongzhen received the good news the night before, he slept very peacefully in Queen Zhou's palace and was full of energy in the morning.
He knew that the ministers had not yet heard the good news about Yang Gelao that was delivered last night, so he deliberately suppressed it first and took advantage of this opportunity to forcefully implement several other internal affairs appointments.
Therefore, he deliberately did not mention the military merits and commendations for the suppression of bandits, but first let people discuss the "rewards and punishments for the sponsors of the Lijin reform" that the cabinet had been pressing for many days.
As an emperor, if you are the kind of person who is a dictator and a thief of the people, he doesn't like to "pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger". They prefer to act directly and arbitrarily.
However, many emperors of the Ming Dynasty were constrained by the cabinet and ministers for a long time. If they wanted to implement something, there was always a lot of resistance. Under such circumstances, they would inevitably develop some bad tastes. They always wanted to slap the opponents in the face, and the more brilliant they were.
The happier the emperor is, the more he can let out a bad breath.
At this moment, Chongzhen might have some of this kind of mentality.
The court meeting officially began soon. After a few daily routine issues, it entered the first highlight of the day.
Chongzhen spoke in person, setting the tone for what was about to be discussed:
"My lords, there is a major matter that must be discussed in today's court meeting. The Lijin Law has been implemented for more than two months. The three southern provinces have also reported the amounts for April and May, which has indeed reduced the military expenditure of hundreds of thousands of taels to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs, in the remaining six months of this year, the direct expenditure of the Ministry of Household Affairs can be reduced by at least 1.5 million taels. Should such good governance be implemented in the southern provinces and agree on a time for Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang to gradually
Start the expedition."
As soon as Chongzhen said these words, several officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs showed dissatisfaction and wanted to jump out and give advice.
However, it seems that considering that it is better to hand out discounts in private than in the main hall, a group of Ministry of Revenue officials took the initiative to take the lead in opposing the policies promoted by the Ministry of Revenue. It was a bit outrageous, so they temporarily tolerated it.
However, they all winked at each other, always trying to choose someone with less suspicion to take the lead. After a final exchange of glances, it was the turn of Zhou Shipu, Minister of Industry, to come forward.
This Zhou Shipu was from Guide Prefecture (Shangqiu) in Henan Province, and he was a fellow villager and old colleague of Hou Xun, who had been the Minister of Household Affairs for many years (Hou Xun was also from Shangqiu).
Seven years before Chongzhen, when Hou Xun was the Minister of Household Affairs, Zhou Shipu successively served as the left and right assistant minister of the Household Transfer Department. Later, when Hou Xun was overthrown and imprisoned, Zhou Shipu was transferred to the Ministry of Works and promoted to the position of Minister.
However, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Household Affairs have always had close working relationships, and the Ministry of Works is a big spender. Based on the darkness of the officialdom in the late Ming Dynasty, it is obviously impossible for all the government project funds allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs to be spent by the Ministry of Works.
In practice, at least a considerable part of it was directly returned to the appropriators as rebates, sharing the benefits with each other.
Therefore, Zhou Shipu was obviously very resistant to "two to three million taels of silver every year. From now on, it will be collected by the local government and spent directly on the local government without going through the Ministry of Household Affairs." He and the Hou Xun faction in the Ministry of Household Affairs
They are old officials and have very strong common interests.
Therefore, Zhou Shipu took the initiative to face the emperor's suspicion and jumped out: "Your Majesty, I think that the method of trimming gold has serious drawbacks. In the long run, it will lead to the disaster of separatist vassal towns in the Tang Dynasty.
The former Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty spent six hundred years decentralizing power among local armies and property, so that we could have such a long period of peace and prosperity. Your Majesty, please do not act in such a retrograde manner just because you are short of money for a while!"
Chongzhen was quite angry when he heard this, but now that he had the confidence, he didn't need to show his anger too easily, so he said with a smile:
"Zhou Qing! In your opinion, is the law of gold only a matter of money? I think you are all deceived by lard! The most urgent task now is to eliminate evil and put down the thieves!
What I want is the combat power of the local garrison! What I want is for the troops to protect their hometowns with their lives! If Lijin’s method can improve the military strength of each province, shouldn’t it be promoted! You all want to collude with the bandits, but you can’t!"
This passage from Chongzhen,
The tone was relatively calm at first, but the more he spoke, the more stern he became. Step by step, Zhou Shipu and others were directly placed in a treasonous position: "If you don't support Lijin, you don't support improving the combat effectiveness of the local army, and you are colluding with the bandits."
Zhou Shipu was speechless and did not dare to speak for the time being.
Chongzhen took advantage of the victory to pursue the victory, and added a few words of humiliation: "Zhou Qing, you don't need to tell me how clean your Ministry of Works is, right? I heard that I sent Zhang Yixian to the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Cashier of the Ministry of Works, but you still resisted. You clearly said yes.
You are ashamed of being associated with eunuchs, but you know exactly what you are actually thinking!"
It turned out that just a few months ago, Chongzhen felt that Zhou Shangshu was too greedy, so he went against all opinions and sent an eunuch to serve as cashier in the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works to find out the money allocated by the Ministry of Households to the Ministry of Works.
Exactly how each sum of money was spent.
Historically, Zhou Shipu had a big conflict with Zhang Yixian and was dismissed by the emperor on the grounds that he was "ashamed to have his accounts audited by eunuchs".
After he was deposed, he returned to his hometown in Shangqiu. The next year (the fifteenth year of Chongzhen), he met Li Zicheng and conquered Shangqiu. Zhou Shipu was a little late at the last moment, and his whole family hanged himself after Li Zicheng destroyed the city.
(Note: However, some historians believe that he was afraid of being humiliated after being caught by Li Zicheng, and was not necessarily loyal to the Ming Dynasty and refused to surrender. Because Li Zicheng was never merciful to the vassal kings and corrupt officials who had amassed huge wealth, and he did not use it at all.
If you accept the surrender and kill them, all the money will belong to Li Zicheng, and you can get a reputation as a greedy killer)
Now, because of Shen Shuren's butterfly effect, the struggle over the Lijin system has ignited the conflict between Chongzhen and Zhou Shipu in advance.
Who made Zhou Shipu look bad? He wanted to be the one who stood out today and let the people from Hou Xun's faction in the Ministry of Revenue owe him a big favor. As a result, he was kicked against the iron plate.
After being insulted by the emperor, Zhou Shipu was still a little angry and said bluntly: "I am indeed ashamed to associate with eunuchs! But what happened today has nothing to do with it! Your Majesty said that Lijin can improve the combat effectiveness and morale of local and provincial garrison troops. I'm afraid it's just that.
Wishful thinking.
In my opinion, this is nothing more than a new money-making method invented by the local government. In the end, so much money was collected, but the soldiers were not trained well, and I don’t know whose pocket it all fell into!"
Chongzhen was overjoyed. In fact, he had wanted to kill Zhou Shipu from the day he sent out the eunuchs to check the accounts. Unexpectedly, he wanted to hunt down rabbits today. He originally wanted to kill a few disobedient thorns in the Ministry of Revenue, but ended up with the Ministry of Works.
There are some blind people jumping out here.
I ignored Yang Sichang's good news and mentioned reforms first, and it really had a miraculous effect!
Chongzhen then took out the victory report and signaled Wang Chengen to pass it to the ministers for circulation: "Who said that after the implementation of the Lijin method, there was no improvement in local military pay, soldier morale, troop training and preparation for war?
How long has it been since the fifth battalion of Ge Zuo was suppressed? They surrendered again and again. When the troops were sent out, they all said that they had won the battle. When asked about the results of the battle, not all the thief kings were wiped out! Who took the head of the thief chief to offer it?
?
It has only been two months since the Huguang Lijin Campaign was implemented. The morale of the new army has been greatly boosted, military pay is sufficient, the people are safe, and He Jin and He Yilong's heads were presented to the palace! Does this mean that the combat power has not been improved? "
As soon as the emperor said this, the whole court was in an uproar. I really didn't expect that on the battlefield of suppressing thieves, he would make such a big contribution all of a sudden. In any case, this was the execution of two battalions of thieves chiefs themselves!
Of course, this kind of contribution has been made by others before, even greater.
For example, in the fourth year of Chongzhen, Cao Wenzhao killed the first generation of thief king Wang Jiayin.
In the eighth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang killed Cao Wenzhao to avenge Wang Jiayin, and his prestige rose to the top of the thieves, becoming the new "King of Chuang".
But the following year, Sun Chuanting killed Gao Yingxiang again, which was also an extraordinary feat, and then there was another generation of new "Chuang King" Li Zicheng.
From this perspective, even if someone kills Li Zicheng now, the credit will only be on the same level as Cao Wenzhao and Sun Chuanting. Unless in the future, when Li Zicheng commits a greater crime and his head becomes more valuable, the credit for killing Li Zicheng will be
Only then will it rise to another level.
The thieves chieftains Shen Shuren has killed now are at least one level lower than Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai, Ma Shouying. Even if they kill two at once, their achievements are slightly lower than those of the above-mentioned giants.
Therefore, Shen Shuren's military achievements this time can only be said to be worse than those of Cao Wenzhao, Lu Xiangsheng, and Sun Chuanting during the Chongzhen period, barely ranking fourth in the contemporary era. If Yang Sichang and Hong Chengchou's overall coordination efforts are also included, Chen Shuren ranks the highest.
Sixth, it is not an "immortal merit".
But in any case, as a "demonstration case of the efficacy of promoting reform", it is adequate and sufficient.
The emperor dropped such a bombshell, and the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty did not dare to raise a single objection except to praise his virtues. Anyone who makes the emperor uncomfortable at this moment is joking about his own future.
Chongzhen saw the sincere submission of all the civil and military officials in the dynasty, and he felt very happy in his heart. In the end, he did not forget to give Zhou Shipu a finishing blow, and said coldly:
"Zhou Qing, I have asked someone to check the accounts of the Ministry of Accounts and the Ministry of Works. They haven't been settled yet! I'll wait for you to settle the matter with you when the big things here are settled!"
As soon as this statement came out, other civil servants who were not clean about money and food became more and more silent, knowing that they must not hand the emperor a knife to investigate themselves at this time.
Chongzhen was very satisfied. After announcing a few measures, and seeing everyone's cooperation, he announced a decision he had wanted to finalize earlier today:
"That being the case, there is another matter that I want to discuss by the way. Jiang Dejin, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, has made great achievements in promoting Lijin. In addition, Cheng Guoxiang, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, has been ill for a long time. I have decided to promote Jiang Dejin to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. You can discuss it.
"
Such a major personnel decision cannot be made by the emperor with just one sentence. The process must be followed.
At the court meeting, all the cabinet bachelors discussed and discussed together, and finally the emperor's appointment was approved in principle. The relevant documents were completed after the court meeting.
Jiang Dejin stood in the queue of civil servants, and he was also in a strong mood. He had been working hard for more than a year for this step from deputy to full-time, uukanshu.com www.uukanshu.com, and he had won over so many subordinates and presided over so many reforms.
, now this step has finally been officially taken!
He couldn't help turning his head and glanced at his subordinates behind him. Shen Tingyang was still just the manager of the Shipping Department. He was a well-received younger brother who could help him with big things. It was not in vain that he had always supported him in the Ministry of Household Affairs. The reform can be regarded as mutually beneficial and win-win.
After discussing the matter of Jiang Dejin's promotion, Chongzhen followed suit and proposed that Shen Tingyang, a doctor in the Department of Household Transport, should be promoted to the position of Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing.
Go to Nanjing to preside over the promotion of Lijin reform in the southern provinces, and strive to promote the Lijin method in Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang next year after this year's pilot, and further deepen the reform of water transportation to sea.
At this point, the Hou Xun faction in the household system was finally completely unable to resist. The emperor was able to kick Shen Tingyang to the "Sixth Ministry of Elderly Care" in the south. They were already grateful and did not dare to cause more trouble. .
Even if it were given directly to Shen Tingyang, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, they wouldn't care.
Anyway, the Six Ministries in Nanjing actually only manage matters in the southern Zhili area. If you want to manage other southern provinces, it depends on whether you have the skills and strength, and whether the Ministry of Household Affairs in Beijing is willing to cooperate.
At the same time, Jiang Dejin was also thinking in his heart: "The Shen family needs to unite well. Officials in the Nanjing Household Department are not valuable anyway. Brother Ji Mingxian is too junior. He was only a doctor before, so he can only be a minister for the time being when he is promoted to Nanjing." .
And as long as he performs well after he goes there, we will find a way to help him advance to another level within a year or two, even if he becomes the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing. I believe that his son Shen Shuren will also accept our favor and work in the future. Be more cooperative in other aspects and reciprocate."