Chapter 366: New Affairs Movement
Zhao Zhenji took King Jing’s gold and silver and successfully raised an army in De’an.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Zhenji took the edict issued by Emperor Jiajing before his abdication, and as the second assistant to the cabinet, asked Huguang Governor You Jujing to come to De'an to report on his work.
You Jujing did not doubt his presence, but was detained by Zhao Zhenji when he arrived in De'an.
Immediately afterwards, King Jing led the newly formed army into Wuchang City and took over all the government offices in Wuchang City.
Zhao Zhenji held a grand edict-proclaiming ceremony at the Wuchang Governor's Yamen, announcing that King Jing would be the governor of Huguang.
Huguang officials were completely confused.
Although You Jujing, the governor of Huguang, was imprisoned, he was determined not to follow King Jing.
However, many officials in Wuchang chose to seek refuge with King Jing and obey Jiajing's edict.
When the news spread to the whole of Huguang, the attitudes of the prefects in various places were completely different.
Xu Xuemo, the prefect of Jingzhou, directly denounced King Jing as a traitor and Zhao Zhenji as a rebellious minister and traitor who caused trouble in Huguang.
The attitude of the other prefects in various places was ambiguous, and many people were waiting for King Jing to send envoys to bargain.
The drastic changes in Huguang quickly spread across the country.
But at this time, both Mingting and Southeast were focusing on their own development.
On October 2, Gao Gong gave Emperor Longqing a "Six Proposals for Requesting New Affairs and Reform" in the capital. This memorial shocked the government and the public as soon as it was published!
Gao Gong first put forward the theory of "teaching thieves skills to control thieves". He first summarized and stated the reasons for the imperial court's repeated setbacks.
The reasons are naturally due to backward equipment, backward technology, and backward economy. These backwardness have led to overall backwardness in the war against bandits.
Gao Gong also theoretically constructed his own reform. He proposed that there is no right or wrong or position in technology. The new technology in the southeast was originally bred by the Ming Dynasty. It does not mean that the rebel army used it and it belongs to the rebel army.
Gao Gong called the new technology that helped the development of Southeast China "new affairs" and strongly praised "new affairs" in his memorial.
Therefore, Gao Gong put forward the theory of "establishing new affairs to strengthen ourselves" and formally proposed comprehensive reforms to the court.
There are six articles:
One is: Set up workshops, propagate industries and develop industries.
Second: Open ports and trade.
Three: Reform the currency system and increase commercial taxes.
Fourth: Set up a military academy to train new troops.
Five: Found a newspaper to publicize new affairs.
Sixth: Reform the imperial examination and add new examination tasks.
This memorial covers all aspects of the imperial court, and it can be said that one stone stirred up a thousand waves.
And almost every one of them involves a large number of interests and has received a lot of criticism from the entire court.
Emperor Longqing's imperial court was filled with memorials to impeach Gao Gong, and the newly established Longqing court quickly began the first round of fierce struggles in the court.
A censor reported that Gao Gong founded the New Army in Nanjing. The Nanjing New Army surrendered directly to Su Ze, and even Gao Gong's son surrendered to the enemy. The officials who wrote to him directly denounced Gao Gong as a national traitor who was lurking in the Ming court. Southeast thief army spy.
There is also the censor impeaching Gao Gong for "creating new affairs" to compete with the people, and increasing commercial taxes is increasing the burden on the "common people". Collecting taxes from merchants is equivalent to collecting taxes from the merchants' employees. In the end, large households have ways to evade taxes. And the taxes are all placed on the heads of the common people.
The most severe criticism of Gao Gong was the last part that added "new tasks" to the imperial examination.
It can be said that the reform of the imperial examination touched the foundation of all scholars. Officials used "ancestral laws" and "words of saints" to attack Gao Gong, thinking that he was using the so-called "new affairs" to cause trouble to the court.
Some scholars even took out the statue of Confucius from the Confucian Temple and placed it opposite the Gaogong gate, cursing Gaogong day and night.
After reading "Liu Tiao Chen", Gao Gong stayed at home and did not go to the cabinet to handle official business. Instead, he quietly continued to write the memorial at home.
Immediately afterwards, Gao Gong delivered another 10,000-word memorial, this time titled "Six Detailed Rules for the Reform of Requesting New Affairs". Gao Gong not only put forward in detail the importance of setting up "new affairs", but also proposed Specific implementation plan.
Gao Gong wrote in the memorial, "The more new affairs in the southeast become more prosperous, the stronger the ships and the more powerful the guns. The Soviet thieves went north to attack the capital in order to delay time and gain opportunities for development. If our emperor does not reform and become stronger, then he will The gap will continue to widen, and the southeast thieves will be even more difficult to control."
Gao Gong also proposed perfect measures in the "Six Detailed Rules".
The Ministry of Revenue and the emperor's internal funds provided money to establish new workshops, including gunpowder factories, artillery factories, textile factories, iron factories, etc., to manufacture blunderbuss and new artillery.
Dengzhou has now been controlled by the southeastern bandits. The imperial court is trying to recapture Dengzhou. At the same time, it has opened Laizhou Port in Shandong Province and Lushun Port in Liaoyang as treaty ports to trade with other countries and set up a shipping department to collect customs duties.
The Ministry of Revenue took the lead to unify the currency, mint new currencies, use new coins to replace old coins to solve the problem of money shortage, promote the development of commerce, and set up cards to collect commercial taxes in various places based on the banknote tariff system implemented by Fang Wanghai in Zhejiang Province. .
Part of the school building of the Imperial College was used to establish the "Capital Military Preparation School", recruiting people who were familiar with the new affairs to serve as teachers, and teach and train the new army.
The imperial court, led by the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy, founded the "Huang Ming Jing Bao" with the Hanlin as the editor, and established corresponding provincial newspapers in each province to publicize the court's policies and fight a public opinion war with the southeastern thieves.
In the end, Gao Gong made concessions on the reform of the imperial examination and proposed to add a "practical" examination only to the palace examination. He also suggested that the imperial examination should be held this year to recruit talents for the Ming court.
As soon as Gao Gong's "Six Detailed Rules" came out, there were slightly fewer attacks, and many officials also sensed benefits from it.
Whether it is setting up a factory, opening a port, minting coins, running a newspaper, or opening a school, all of them will have a huge impact on the situation of the Longqing Dynasty.
What's more important is that these things always need someone to do them, and those who do them will gain huge rights in the new dynasty.
The lower-level officials and ordinary scholars in the capital continued to curse Gao Gong, but some officials in the court had already seen an opportunity.
Yang Bo, the chief minister of the cabinet, remained silent, and officials from the six ministries also remained silent.
The one who broke the silence was Li Chengliang, the governor of Jiliao who was still in the capital.
Li Chengliang had always been at odds with Gao Gong before, but this time he stood up to support Gao Gong. He proposed to the court that it was necessary to "train new soldiers" to fight against thieves, supported Gao Gong's idea of setting up a military preparation school in the capital, and invited the court to Train new recruits.
As soon as Li Chengliang wrote such a letter, other commanders-in-chief of the Nine Borders and the new Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army, Mao Mu, immediately wrote in support of Gao Gong's idea of establishing a new army.
Even Gao Gong, the initiator, did not expect that the military aspect, which was the most difficult to reform, would receive support first.
In Li Chengliang's house, his fourteen-year-old eldest son Li Rusong asked doubtfully:
"Dad, why do you support the establishment of a new army? What if the court establishes a new army and kicks us away?"
Li Chengliang originally wanted to cultivate a new army. His son is a student, but Li Rusong has been brave since he was a child. During the period when Li Chengliang went south, Li Rusong was in command in Liaoyang and actually suppressed all his subordinates.
After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, Li Rusong rushed to the capital to welcome his father back to Liaodong. Originally, Li Chengliang was about to take up the post of governor of Jiliao, but he made such a big move before leaving that the emperor asked him to stay in the capital.
Li Chengliang glanced at his son and said,
"Do you know why I am always beaten by civilian officials when I am a military general?"
Li Rusong also read a book. He said, "Tumu fort?"
Li Chengliang shook his head and said, "This is just one of the reasons. Let me ask you, why can the eunuchs in the palace sometimes fight against the civil servants, and even have powerful eunuchs like Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi and Liu Jin?"
Li Rusong shook his head.
Li Chengliang said: "Because there is an inner study hall."
"The inner study hall teaches eunuchs to study, and the eunuchs can also have a place to cuddle up, support and help each other, and our court has the right to castrate. But our generals do not have an Imperial College or an inner study room. , so there are no generals."
"After the establishment of the Capital Military Academy, all officers of the new army have to study here. From then on, the military generals of the Ming Dynasty also have division commanders, some of the same year, and some of the same subjects. The military generals in the world are not just a mess, civil and military. His status will also change."
"That's why I supported the establishment of the Capital Military Academy. The generals who stayed in the Capital also saw this and wrote in support of Gao Gong!"
Li Chengliang said sharply: "Dad is not planning to return to Liaodong. We have to compete for the position of the chief instructor of the Capital Military Academy!"
Li Rusong was shocked and said: "Dad, you don't want such an important position as Governor Ji Liao?"
Li Chengliang said: "If the new army is established, Ji Liao will The governor is nothing!"
Sure enough, after the military generals took the lead, the Ministry of Household Affairs submitted a letter supporting Gao Gong's "Liu Tiao Chen".
Whether it is coinage or banknote customs duties, the final department to implement it is the Ministry of Revenue.
Both of these matters are very profitable and can greatly increase the authority of the Ministry of Accounts.
When Fang Wanghai implemented banknote tariffs in Zhejiang Province, he could even surpass the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue as a banknote tariff officer. It can be said that he has extremely heavy powers.
If the banknote tax law is really implemented in the areas controlled by the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't it mean that many powerful positions will be added in vain.
Then the Ministry of Rites also wrote a letter stating that it firmly disagreed with the reform of the imperial examination, but it still supported the issue of running a newspaper.
By now, scholars in the Ming Dynasty also understood the benefits of running a newspaper.
Regardless of whether you make money or not, controlling a newspaper can bring you huge fame.
Everyone saw how Su Ze became famous before. If he wanted to become famous in Shilin, the best way was to publish articles in newspapers.
Gao Gong proposed running a newspaper and also proposed holding the imperial examination this year. The one who would benefit most would be the Ministry of Rites.
The Ministry of Rites is the Qingshui Yamen. If it really controls the imperial newspaper, it will increase its authority.
The mood in the Ming court immediately changed, and even the inner court supported Gao Gong, because the Shibo Department was an institution of the inner court, and all the eunuchs in the palace saw the prosperity of Fuzhou City Ship Department.
If a port and shipping department are added, foreign eunuchs can also gain huge benefits.
As for those government-run factories, the emperor may still let eunuchs manage them in the end. After all, the emperor paid for them!
On October 10, Zhang Siwei returned from Xi'an and brought Jiajing's abdication edict, and the capital was jubilant!
Longqing opened the Dongji Gate and convened the cabinet, six ministers and noble generals to hold a court meeting in the Wenhua Hall to discuss Gao Gong's "Six Articles of Chen".
The final result was that the Ming court basically approved the contents of "Liu Tiao Chen", but Gao Gong finally made concessions on some details.
In the area of breeding and industrial development, government-run workshops are divided into military and civilian parts. Some workshops for military use, such as gunpowder, cannons, and muskets, are funded by the Ministry of Household Affairs and managed by officials dispatched by the Ministry of Household Affairs.
However, civilian projects such as textile workshops and civilian ironworks were funded by internal funds, but were managed by the palace eunuchs dispatched to guard them.
Mines and iron smelting plants that are used by both government and civilians are jointly responsible for the work of the inner court and the Ministry of Household Affairs.
There were no objections to the minting, opening of the port, banknote duties, and newspaper administration. The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the coinage, and the Municipal Shipping Department was responsible for opening the port. The banknote duties were temporarily managed by the Ministry of Revenue, but part of the revenue from the banknote duties must go into internal funds.
The Ministry of Rites was responsible for running the newspaper, and the editorial office was located in the Hanlin Academy. Zhang Siwei, who had just made a meritorious service, was promoted to Minister of Rites and was fully responsible for running the newspaper.
The Capital Military Preparation School failed to become an independent institution, but was placed under the Imperial Imperial College. Li Chengliang served as the first chief instructor and was responsible for the preparation of the school.
The reform of the imperial examination was not passed, and the imperial examination system remained as usual, except that new courses were added in the Imperial College and the Hanlin Academy.
The vigorous "Xinwu Movement" of the Ming Dynasty reached Nanjing, and Xu Wei immediately asked to see Su Ze.
Su Ze, who was writing "New Commentary on the Three Classics", just smiled slightly when he heard the news.
Xu Wei said: "The Ming Dynasty has to do new things, how come the governor is not in a hurry?"
Su Ze said with a smile: "New learning and new things are mutually beneficial, and the article is long. Only new things can be done without new learning." Can it be done?"
Xu Wei was stunned for a moment. He thought of the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and immediately shook his head and said: "It can't be done." "
In that case, what is there to worry about?"
"I know Gao Suqing. If it is the Ming court, There may be some hope that we can let him organize new affairs, but is it possible?" "
According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty's officialdom, if Gao Suqing wants to implement new affairs, he must divide the power and interests. What can be done in the end? It's beyond Gao Suqing's control."
"If just setting up a new business can solve all the problems, then there is no need for us to rebel."
Su Ze lowered his head and continued writing his book, while Xu Wei left his house immediately.
Throughout October, the situation changed rapidly.
The Ming Dynasty carried out the New Affairs Movement, Jiajing abdicated, and King Jing seized Huguang. There were big news in Nanjing newspapers every day.
However, the senior management of Southeast, headed by Su Ze, did not comment on anything. Southeast remained silent on all changes in Mingting.
However, the top management in Southeast is also slowly making various changes.
A new round of officer training has begun. Soldiers who performed well in the last battle have entered the Fujian Naval Academy for three months of officer training.
Nanjing Tiangong Academy has reopened its doors, and many workshop owners have sent their children to Nanjing to learn the latest technology at Tiangong Academy.
Examinations for the selection of civil servants are held regularly in various prefectures and counties. Scholars in the Southeast are looking at the Metropolitan Governor's Office in Nanjing, wondering when the Southeast will open a subject to recruit scholars.
In November, "New Commentary on the Three Classics" was fully published in Southeast China.
(End of chapter)