Chapter 420 Zhang Juzheng’s reforms
were different from Gao Gong’s. Zhang Juzheng had no feelings for Emperor Longqing.
Zhang Juzheng's current status was earned step by step by himself, and had nothing to do with the emperor's personal relationship.
Zhang Juzheng's original ambition was that of a traditional scholar-official, assisting the king to achieve a career.
But as he came into contact with Su Ze's knowledge, coupled with the emperor's series of saucy operations, Zhang Juzheng realized that the Ming court's problems might come from the emperor himself?
For personal enjoyment, mine supervisors were dispatched to Huguang.
In order to support the clans all over the world, the Ming court's expenses were tight.
But Zhang Juzheng did not believe in Su Ze's theory that "sovereignty lies with the people."
Sovereignty lies with the people? What do ordinary people know about governing a country?
Not to mention the principles of governing the country, many people in this land have never left their county in their entire lives and spend their lives in a muddle. How can you tell these people that sovereignty belongs to the people?
He did not believe in the "divine right of kings" or that "sovereignty rests with the people." The path Zhang Juzheng chose was to govern the country by elites.
Restoring the power of the prime minister and recommending ministers. Zhang Juzheng's eyes lit up when he heard the direction of political reform in the southeast. This was the political ideal he pursued.
The best way is to let the emperor retreat to the deep palace, "rule from the top" like the emperor, and not interfere in the government affairs.
After Gao Gong resigned as prime minister, Zhang Juzheng finally took action.
On December 15, Zhang Juzheng wrote a letter in support of the public letter and publicly supported "restoring the power of the prime minister and recommending ministers."
Zhang Juzheng wrote a memorial of ten thousand words, starting with the current chaos in the world.
Zhang Juzheng quoted Hai Rui's book "Public Security Shu" during the Taiyuan Mutiny, and attributed the current confrontation between the north and the south to the emperor's obsession with Taoism, the so-called "taking the world for private interests."
In the memorial, Zhang Juzheng put forward a point of view.
If you meet an emperor who is as "virtuous" as today's emperor, he will naturally be able to govern the country well with the "assistance" of his ministers.
If you encounter an emperor who is as stupid as the emperor and refuses to listen to the advice of his ministers and insists on going his own way, it will be a disaster for the world and the source of turmoil in the world.
Just like ordinary families, there are some talented and incompetent descendants, and the same is true for the royal family.
Zhang Juzheng also said straightforwardly that since there was no guarantee whether the emperor was worthy or not, worthy ministers like Duke Zhou should be reused to "assist" the emperor in governing the world.
Zhang Juzheng made a grievance and asked the Ming court to restore the prime minister system abolished by Zhu Yuanzhang and establish a prime minister in the court to assist the king in governing the world.
The goal of political reform proposed by Zhang Juzheng was to restore the prime minister system of the early Ming Dynasty.
In fact, the prime minister system in the early Ming Dynasty was also copied from the provincial system in the Yuan Dynasty system.
The prime minister in the early Ming Dynasty was not actually called prime minister, but Zhongshu Ling.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the Menxia Province and the Shangshu Province in the three-province and six-ministry system were abolished, leaving the Zhongshu Province alone. The Zhongshu Province was in charge of hundreds of officials and formulated and implemented government orders for the world.
The "Xing Zhongshu Province", also known as the "Xingzhongshu Province", is established locally. This organization takes over the decrees of the Zhongshu Province and implements local policies.
Zhang Juzheng proposed that the imperial court should re-establish the "Zhongshu Province" to be responsible for drafting and executing government decrees. The emperor's decree must be confirmed by the Zhongshu Province before it can become a legal edict, and the right to seal and refute edicts should be returned to the "Zhongshu Sheng" ".
And Zhang Juzheng also keenly saw Mingting's weaknesses.
Nowadays, the court basically relies on Huguang to provide food and grass for war, while soldiers rely on Jiubian.
In order to get local officials from other provinces to support his reforms, Zhang Juzheng also proposed returning to the provincial system, merging the local chief envoys, inspectors and governors into provinces, and establishing "senior officials" at the local level. "This position controls the administrative and military power of a province.
At the time of writing this memorial, Zhang Juzheng had already contacted the local governors of Shanxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces.
The governors of these four provinces were tortured a lot by the mine supervisors sent by the emperor. Naturally, they also supported Zhang Juzheng's reform, and they all attached their names to the reform memorial.
In addition, Zhang Juzheng has sent people to the capital and published the full text of his reform proposals in the capital's newspapers.
People rushed to deliver the memorial, and Zhang Juzheng let out a long sigh.
He thought of Gao Gong, who had been dismissed as prime minister, and also thought of the scene when he was a poor Hanlin scholar and Gao Gong was a lecturer in Prince Yu's palace, and the two of them discussed the world in the small courtyard.
Su Ze's face reappeared in Zhang Juzheng's mind. It had been many years since Su Ze went to Beijing to rescue Yu Dayou and saw him in Lingji Palace.
In these years, Gao Gong became an auxiliary minister and a local official himself, while Su Ze became the governor of the southeast, ruling half of the country.
Looking at the white hair in the mirror, Zhang Juzheng strengthened his thoughts as time flew by.
The high-arched road is doomed to failure. Since this road doesn't work, it's time to go your own way.
The law must be reformed as soon as possible so that Mingting can have the capital to confront Southeast!
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, in the early morning, a fast horse rushed into the cold and solemn capital.
This year, due to the war in Shandong, the Aoshan Lantern Festival was finally suspended.
Because of the turmoil in the court, the emperor was in no mood to hold any celebrations, and the capital seemed deserted.
As the Chinese New Year approaches, prices in the capital remain high.
The fabrics produced by the Xinwu Textile Workshop founded by Gao Gong are several times more expensive than fabrics from the southeast.
Forget about cloth, you don’t have to buy it after all, but the price of coal remains high this year, and people have already frozen to death in the capital.
Under this circumstance, newspaper sales increased rapidly.
This is naturally due to the popularization of printing press technology, which has led to a further decline in the cost of newspapers. Today, some tabloids with poor printing quality only cost a few cents a copy.
With such pricing, these newspapers will naturally lose money.
But even at a loss, there are still several newspapers published in the capital market.
The reason is also very simple. After using newspapers to carry out propaganda offensives many times in the Southeast, everyone understands that newspapers are the position of public opinion, and seizing the position of public opinion is more important than anything else.
A newspaper that costs only a few cents a piece naturally loses money, but what it earns is influence. Except for the "Huangming New News" edited by the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty and the "Jingshi New News" published by Southeast in the capital, the remaining newspapers are all privately funded.
Just when Zhang Juzheng's memorial was sent to the cabinet through the General Affairs Department, he was about to send a copy to the Sixth Section to Shizhong.
The entire contents of Zhang Juzheng's reforms have been published in various newspapers in the capital.
Today is destined to be the happiest day for the newsboys, all the newspapers are selling like crazy!
As long as newspapers published Zhang Juzheng's reform memorial, they were snapped up by the people of the capital.
The literate people simply read aloud on the roadside, attracting onlookers from three levels outside and three levels outside of the illiterate people.
The people in the capital had long hated the emperor because of last year's Aoshan Lantern Festival. This year the emperor elected maids and sent mine supervisors everywhere. The people in the capital still missed the emperor.
The people naturally vented their hatred on the emperor himself.
The full title of Zhang Juzheng's letter to the emperor was "Requesting the Emperor to Revise the Reform", but the title published in various newspapers was "Essay on the Reform".
To put it bluntly, this is not a memorial, but a letter of war to the Ming court, just like Su Ze's "Essay on Rebellion" and "Essay on Condemning the People and Criticizing Crimes".
At this time, in the Ming court cabinet, both Yang Bo and Gao Gong claimed to be ill at home.
Their resignation letter had been approved by the emperor, and it was only the emperor's kind words to comfort them until after the Lantern Festival. If you are still in the cabinet at this time, you will be said to be clinging to power and not really wanting to resign.
After Yang Bo and Gao Gong resigned, Li Chunfang was in high spirits.
Through a series of political speculations, he finally became the only remaining cabinet minister in the capital cabinet and reached the highest peak of power.
Zhang Juzheng’s memorial?
Li Chunfang opened the memorial. When he finished reading the first page, he broke into a cold sweat.
He quickly finished turning over the memorial, and Li Chunfang collapsed on the couch in fear.
How dare Zhang Juzheng!
Li Chunfang was naturally not stupid for being an important minister in the cabinet. He soon realized that Zhang Juzheng really dared!
Now the most elite new troops of the Ming Dynasty are on the front line of Shandong. Shandong has just been defeated, and it is necessary to stabilize the defense line to resist the southeast.
The Jiubian army must defend the grasslands and the increasingly restless Liaodong Jurchens.
Huguang is now the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhang Juzheng also has soldiers at his disposal!
It can even be said that if Zhang Juzheng stops supplying grain and grass to the front line in Shandong, the recruits in the three towns in Shandong will rebel first!
The four provinces of Shanxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Henan, plus Huguang, now account for most of the Ming Dynasty.
Not to mention they rebelled, as long as they did not obey the orders of the Ming court, the current capital court would be doomed.
Li Chunfang immediately realized the seriousness of the matter, and he immediately shouted: "I want to go to the palace to meet the emperor!"
Li Chunfang rushed to the palace in a hurry, but did not see the emperor. The person who came forward was Feng Bao, the chief eunuch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Because of the matter of dispatching mine supervisors and eunuchs, civil servants and eunuchs were at loggerheads. Li Chunfang did not want to get too involved with Feng Bao. He held up his hands and said, "Eunuch Feng, I have something important to ask to see your majesty." Feng Bao narrowed his eyes and
said
: "Your Majesty worked hard on state affairs until midnight last night and is still resting now. Mr. Li Ge, please stay for a while?"
Li Chunfang immediately became anxious. He said: "The state affairs are urgent! Please go and pass the message quickly!"
Feng Bao was a little unhappy, but He remembered that the emperor still valued this elder, and finally put aside his likes and dislikes and entered the palace to report.
Emperor Longqing was indeed busy all night yesterday, but it was not for state affairs.
He was woken up by Feng Bao from the soft jade golden fragrance, showing an unhappy expression.
But after hearing that Li Chunfang was anxious to see him, Emperor Longqing changed his clothes and summoned Li Chunfang.
Li Chunfang presented the memorial and said:
"Your Majesty, Huguang has rebelled!"
Emperor Longqing was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed, he stood up and shouted: "What!"
But just after he got up, he suddenly stood up again, Emperor Longqing felt his feet go weak and fell down on the throne.
"Your Majesty!"
Feng Bao immediately stepped forward and supported the emperor.
Emperor Longqing suppressed his dizziness and asked Feng Bao to open the memorial and read it aloud.
Feng Bao could only hold up the memorial and read it.
The more he read, the more frightened Feng Bao became, and his voice became smaller and smaller.
Emperor Longqing's face became increasingly uglier, with the flush gradually fading and turning into a pale white.
Li Chunfang looked worriedly at the emperor's face.
Since he ascended the throne, Emperor Longqing's health has been getting worse and worse.
The court meetings that were once held regularly were canceled many times due to the emperor's health problems.
In the past six months, due to the emperor's physical problems, many sacrificial activities have been entrusted to nobles.
When Gao Gong was in power, he advised the emperor to maintain good health and stay away from women.
At this time, Long Qing's body kept shaking. After Feng Bao finished reading, Long Qing looked at Li Chunfang.
"Mr. Li Ge, what can be done about it?"
Li Chunfang felt bitter in her heart. Zhang Juzheng united with the governors of the four provinces to write this memorial. This was already a failure.
Even when Gao Gong was still in power, Zhang Juzheng was already connecting this matter.
Now Huguang is the granary of the Ming court, and the four provinces are the most important areas controlled by the Ming court. The governors of these places support Zhang Juzheng, so the Ming court has no way to resist.
Only then did Li Chunfang realize that she, as a pavilion elder, was nothing, and there was nothing she could do when encountering such a thing.
Li Chunfang lowered his head and said:
"Your Majesty, the top priority is the new army in Shandong. Your Majesty, please summon Mr. Yang Ge and Mr. Gao Ge to the palace to discuss matters."
Emperor Longqing was stunned, and he said with some displeasure:
"Both Yang Gao and Yang Gao have been ill for a long time. I can't take matters seriously. I'm asking for your opinion!"
Li Chunfang said bitterly:
"The New Army in the three towns is the top priority. If Li Chengliang, the Minister of the New Army, also turns to Zhang Juzheng, the court will have no choice." "
Gao Ge . Mr. Gaoge and Zhang Juzheng have an old relationship. The top priority must be to know whether Mr. Gaoge is connected with Zhang Juzheng. Mr. Gaoge is promoting new affairs in the capital, and his disciples and former officials are all over the yamen in the capital. If the two are connected, the court will be in danger." Li Chunfang breathed out
. After speaking, Emperor Longqing's body trembled even more.
Emperor Longqing's eyes suddenly darkened and he fell down with a thud.
"Your Majesty!"
Feng Bao's exclamation came to his ears, and Li Chunfang stepped forward quickly regardless of the court's etiquette, but Emperor Longqing soon stopped hearing any sound.
Feng Bao looked at Li Chunfang in horror and asked:
"Mr. Li Ge, what should we do now?"
Li Chunfang immediately calmed down:
"Block the news and secretly summon the imperial doctor to the palace."
"Don't you inform Mr. Yang Ge and Mr. Gao Ge?"
Li Chunfang immediately shook his head: "The positions of the two of them are unclear, and His Majesty's physical condition cannot be told to them." "
However, the news in the palace cannot be blocked for too long. We still have to wait for the imperial doctor's diagnosis before making a decision!"
Feng Bao was also at a loss. Yes, he listened to Huang Jin's theory of empty weapons and always regarded the emperor's will as his own.
But no one expected that the version would change so quickly!
It’s hard to say whether the emperor’s own will can still be determined by the universe. What should he do, a parasite attached to the imperial power?
"Yes, call the imperial doctor quickly!"
I caught up and posted it first. If there are any typos, I will correct them later
(end of this chapter)