"The so-called checks and balances are covenants and balances! Managing a big country is like cooking small dishes. You can't be impatient. The first thing you have to do is to stabilize the court. If the court is unstable, the country will be in chaos!"
"If the court wants to be stable, it must have restrictions on all forces and maintain the balance of all forces!"
"The civil service group is very strong, but they are not monolithic. Among them are loyal ministers, capable ministers, corrupt officials, clean-minded officials who are seeking fame and reputation, and sycophantic officials!"
"Zhao'er, you have to remember that these ministers have their own uses. You can leave them alone, but there is no time when they can't be used!"
Zhu Houzhao was a little puzzled, "I understand that my father, loyal ministers, and capable ministers will be retained, but why should other sycophants and corrupt officials be retained?"
"This is the way of checks and balances that I want to teach you. For example, when you need to establish your authority on corrupt officials, you can definitely take them out and attack them!"
"For another example, if you want to do something, but the ministers object, you can't act like an emperor and break up with the ministers, right? At this time, the role of the sycophant comes into play. They can do it for you.
Your throat can speak for you, and it can also attract the attention of the ministers and shift the target to them, while the emperor can still be the final arbiter from above, without losing the royal majesty!"
"Majesty, although it seems illusory, is actually very important. When an emperor has many direct arguments with his ministers and gradually loses his authority, the emperor and his ministers will fall out of harmony, and people's hearts will collapse. At that time, there will be no more
Without the cooperation of the courtiers, the emperor's will may not even be able to get out of the capital!"
Having said this, Emperor Hongzhi laughed at himself, "Do you suddenly feel that being an emperor is very troublesome and not very interesting anymore?"
"Well, it's completely different from what I thought before!"
"Haha, not only is it boring, it's actually very tiring!" Emperor Hongzhi shook his head and continued: "The civil service group needs to win over some, break up some, and suppress some. In short, they cannot be made monolithic, otherwise,
The throne is in danger!"
"In addition to achieving balance within the civil service group, external support is also needed to compete with the civil service!"
"Originally, it was the safest way for civil and military forces to restrain each other and maintain a balance. But unfortunately, the powerful military attachés failed to live up to their expectations. There was no other way. We, the emperors of the Zhu family, could only support the factory guards vigorously!"
"Zhao'er, when you ascend the throne as emperor in the future, you don't have to be in a hurry to make changes in the court, you can make them slowly, but you must have absolute control over these two organizations, Dongchang and Jinyiwei. If you can't do this with this power
Once you are under control, in the future, those civil servants will have many ways to evade you!"
"Pinning your own destiny on the integrity of civil servants is a taboo for kings throughout the ages. You must keep this in mind!"
"Dongchang, Jinyiwei?" Zhu Houzhao nodded thoughtfully, "Father, don't worry, I will definitely control this power in the future!"
...
The emperor taught him the art of the emperor, and the two talked until midnight before Prince Zhu Houzhao left with a solemn expression. He had always been carefree in his life, and this was the first time he felt the difficulty of being an emperor.
As soon as the prince left, Emperor Hongzhi raised his hand and summoned the eunuch in charge of the ceremony.
"Wang Yue, go check it out. Who did the prince come into contact with and what did he do when he went out this time? I need to know any details!"
"My slave obeys the order, so go down and do it now!"
...
Dongchang's work efficiency is indeed very high. In the middle of the night, an extremely detailed secret report was presented to Hongzhi's desk.
"What do you think of Master Lin, whom the prince worshiped?" Hongzhi turned to the eunuch beside him and asked after reading the contents.
"Your Majesty, first of all, I can confirm that that person has no ill intentions towards the prince!" The eunuch Wang Yue, the eunuch Wang Yue, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony, gave his answer after careful consideration.
The iron law that eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics did not apply in the Ming Dynasty.
The decline of the military attache group left the emperors of the Ming Dynasty with no one to use, so they had to vigorously promote the eunuch group around them to compete with the literati group, so that the eunuchs could not only intervene in politics, but also have a significant influence on the emperor's decision-making.
Even though Emperor Hongzhi was regarded as a benevolent emperor among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, he still had no intention of abandoning Dongchang. Although he was kind, he was not stupid and would not be fooled by civil servants into making the decision to abolish Dongchang and Jinyiwei.
.
"Of course I know this!"
Hongzhi knew very well that with the opponent's ability to kill thirteen elite Jinyi guards in an instant, if he wanted to kill the prince, it would be really difficult for the prince to survive.
Precisely because the other party was not an assassin hiding there to assassinate the prince, Hongzhi could talk about the matter calmly now, otherwise the imperial army would have been sent to capture the person!
"Your Majesty, I think that since that person has no ill intentions towards the prince, your majesty only needs to pay attention to this person from time to time and not to interfere too much in this matter. After all, the prince is already old and has some ideas of his own."
Hongzhi was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but nodded, "You're right, my position will be passed on to him sooner or later. As the emperor and the ministers, it's time to form his own team to take care of him!"
From the beginning to the end, neither Hongzhi nor Wang Yue took Lin Nuo's martial arts to heart.
Martial arts? Little Doyle!
No matter how strong you are, can you still stop the imperial army?
...
On the ninth day of the second lunar month, it was still dark, so Lin Nuo got up early. Today was the day of the test.
After briefly washing up and having breakfast in the inn, he walked out of the inn accompanied by Xiu'er.
"A rich family does not need to buy fertile land, there are thousands of grains of millet in the book; there is no need to build a high hall to live in peace, there is a house of gold in the book; when marrying a wife, don't hate an unscrupulous matchmaker, there is a beauty like jade in the book..."
Before I walked out of the inn, I heard people on the street outside singing this poem to encourage students to study. At first, there were only a few people singing in twos and threes, but it didn’t take long for many people to join in.
The sound even surpassed that of the watchman.
Lin Nuo smiled, but he didn't mean to laugh at it. This test was a real effort to cross the single-plank bridge with thousands of troops.
If you can pass the exam, you must have the title of Jinshi. With this title, fertile land, beautiful concubines, official status and wealth, you can basically get it at your fingertips. It’s no wonder those candidates who took the exam were so excited. Who else would it be?
At the peak of life, it may be difficult to keep your mind calm, right?
Even Lin Nuo was a little excited. After all, how much happiness he would have in the future depended on this examination.
Moreover, he had never been an official in his previous life, so in this life, he was still very interested in trying what it felt like to be an official!