Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 238 Removing Hundred Officials
"Mu... bang!"

"Entry-"

On August [-]th of the fourth year of Apocalypse, accompanied by the singing of Honglu Siqing, the long-absent Chang Dynasty of Ming Dynasty was held again.

In the Huangji Hall, more than [-] officials of the fifth rank and above have joined the class. Compared with a few years ago, it can be said that it has decreased too much.

All of this is naturally because of Zhao Nanxing, Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

It is undeniable that Zhao Nanxing does know the harm of "redundant staff" to Daming, and he has always emphasized the abolition of redundant officials, and has been doing so.

In the first year of Tianqi, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty increased to more than [-], and the number of military officials increased to more than [-].

In three and a half years, the number of military officers dropped to more than [-] after Zhu Youjian abolished the Weisuo and the Nine Frontiers, while the number of civil servants dropped back to about [-] in the tenth year of Wanli under the abolition of Zhao Nanxing. Sixteen thousand people.

The reduction in the number of civil and military officials did not affect Daming's administrative efficiency at all, but increased a lot. This is why Zhu Youxiao has not moved the Donglin Party.

The reason is simple, Zhao Nanxing and his group are really capable.

It's just that at this time, the number of civil servants can no longer be reduced, and party struggles have begun to break out violently, and the Donglin Party should also be cleaned up.

"Going to court..."

"clang--"

"Long live Long live Long live……"

When Honglu Siqing sang again, the emperor Zhu Youxiao also stepped out of the screen and sat on the dragon chair.

The minister of Honglu Temple rang the bell, and all the officials pushed the golden mountain and turned the jade pillars to their knees to salute, and then stood up in Zhu Youxiao's "flat body".

But when all the officials got up, the officials from the Donglin line stood up instantly:
"My minister, Li Tengfang, impeached the admiral Liu Zhixuan, the censor of Jiang Youqin, for embezzling the ink army's salary."

"Minister Chen Yuting impeached Liang Menghuan, the official censor of the Taipu Temple, and Ni Wenhuan, the official censor of the Taipu Temple, for indulging subordinate officials in greedy money, horses and silver..."

"The minister Wei Dazhong and the impeachment deputy governor Li Kuilong accepted bribes and condoned the private salt in the south of the Yangtze River."

"Honor Yuan Huazhong, impeachment of Nanjing Ministry of Officials Minister Fan Jishi's selection of talents and relatives..."

"Chen Zheng Sanjun..."

"The minister, the grandson and the prime minister..."

"Chen Rao Shen..."

All of a sudden, more than a dozen key members of Donglin stood up one after another, holding wat boards, and told the people they wanted to impeach and the crimes of the other party.

"absurd!"

"Sliding the world's great joke!"

"Could it be that you've heard about the incident and become demented?"

When the backbone of Donglin spoke out, the officials of the eunuch party who had been very calm in the past started to riot one after another, and the palace of Huangji was also noisy, like the entrance of a vegetable market.

"clang--"

"quiet……"

The minister of Honglu Temple struck the bell and sang, and all the officials who heard the bell closed their mouths one after another, but they still looked left and right from the corner of their eyes, and their ears were waiting for the emperor to speak.

"Submit it..."

Zhu Youxiao spoke, and he asked Wei Zhongxian to ask someone to bring up all the memorials and wat boards. At this moment, Wei Zhongxian was anxious and his steps were weak, but he still motioned to the left and right eunuchs to collect them.

After a cup of tea, all the memorials and wat boards were collected in front of Zhu Youxiao, and Zhu Youxiao slowly read them.

In the huge Huangji Hall, only the voice of Zhu Youxiao looking up the memorial was left in the silence. After a long time, in the uneasy mood of the officials, Zhu Youxiao put down the last memorial, and then said:

"Zhao Nanxing, in the opinion of the officials, are these things true?"

"Back to Long Live, it's true...not only true, but also missing something." Zhao Nanxing took a step forward, bowed and said in a loud voice:

"Cui Chengxiu, Tian Ji, Yan Mingtai, Liu Zhao, Xue Zhen, Wu Chunfu, Cao Qincheng, Li Chengzuo, Tian Ergeng, Yang Huan, Sun Yunhe, and even the cabinet ministers Wei Guangwei and Feng Quan in the court have acted indiscriminately! "

After Zhao Nanxing finished speaking, even the sound of dripping water could be heard clearly in the palace of the Emperor. Ye Xianggao, as the chief assistant of the cabinet, was running fast in his mind, trying to resolve the situation.

Because in Zhao Nanxing's mouth, not only the current eunuch party and the former five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan and Kun were involved, but also a large number of Qi royal party.

"Let's leave this matter to the criminal department to investigate..."

Zhu Youxiao said lightly, and wanted to expose the matter, and Zhao Nanxing also knew that the emperor would do this, so he stood up and said:
"Long live, since I became an official in the second year of Wanli, I have been diligent in my official duties, cultivating talents for the court, and governing peace."

"Emperor Shenzong, upon seeing this, promoted his minister to be the head of the household department and participate in the "one whip" administration."

"In the twelfth year of Wanli, the imperial court appointed a minister as a literary selector, Wailang. At that time, the minister once expounded on the "four evils" in the world.

"That is to say, officials in our dynasty slander each other in order to seek official positions, and they are not pragmatic and pragmatic. This is the "harm of doing things""

"The treacherous villain slanders the loyal ministers, so that the ministers resign and the traitors succeed. This is a "dangerous harm"

"When the local inspectors selected state and county officials, they were too casual, promoted and promoted too quickly, and did not examine the officials' ability and character, but elected officials based on the self-interest of the selectors, so that local officials were corrupt and the people's livelihood was poor. This is the "state and county" Harm"

"The power of retired officials is even greater than that of magistrates and county magistrates. They indulge their family members to run rampant in the village without any scruples, but officials who dare to punish family members are difficult to get promoted. This is the "harm of the township officials""

The seventy-three-year-old gray-haired Zhao Nanxing talked about his past, with a hint of memory in his eyes, but the memory soon turned into firmness:

"At that time, I advised Emperor Shenzong that if these four evils were not eliminated, the court would not be able to be governed. After the memorial was released, all the ministers in the court believed that what I said was right."

"But the officials criticized by Shuzhong were all sheltered by the high officials in the court, so the minister was almost demoted, and finally returned home due to illness."

"Afterwards, due to the serious "redundant staff" in the court, the minister was appointed again by Emperor Shenzong as a doctor of meritorious service. The minister was also impeached by the high officials of the court and demoted to the people."

"When the first emperor succeeded to the throne, the old ministers were already sixty-nine, and they refused to take office when they were called up."

"It wasn't until Long Live that you urged me again and again that I became an official again at the age of seventy, and wanted to get rid of the world's ills for Long Live."

Zhao Nanxing's actions made everyone hold their breath. They all knew that Zhao Nanxing was forcing Zhu Youxiao to make a decision, but they also knew that what Zhao Nanxing said was the truth.

There are capable ministers in Donglin, but there are more mediocre ministers than capable ministers.

If a person like Zhao Nanxing can live to the Chongzhen period, the group of stinky fish and rotten shrimps in the court during the Chongzhen period would not be enough for him to clean up.

It's a pity that most of these people have been cleaned up by the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and Wei Zhongxian with the help of Wei Zhongxian, leaving only a group of mediocre Donglin mediocre people who can only fight against differences and a few dozen young people who have no power.

Zhao Nanxing understood Donglin's current predicament, and he did not resent the emperor and King Qi for using such methods to deal with some mediocre people who were attached to Donglin.

What he said was not forcing the palace as the officials thought, but was expressing like Zhu Youxiao that if he continued like this, then he, an old official, really couldn't stand such torture anymore.

"Long live..." Zhao Nanxing looked directly into Zhu Youxiao's eyes, stepped forward again and said:

"The ones on your table are all treacherous and sycophantic people who harm the people and the country. If such people are not eliminated, how can the Ming Dynasty be revived?"

"..." After Zhao Nanxing's words came out, only the sound of breathing remained in the silence of the Huangji Hall, and Zhu Youxiao's brows became more and more tight following Zhao Nanxing's words.

From the perspective of future generations, the eunuch party used Zhu Youxiao's protection to do evil. The so-called Cui Chengxiu and others collected twice as much salt tax as the previous salt tax, which was actually searching for the people's fat and anointment.

The eunuchs seized [-] million taels, handed over [-] million taels to the emperor, and took [-] million taels for themselves, and Donglin was just a few dozen people who were determined to be honest, and the remaining hundreds of officials were no different from the eunuchs.

Which is better, eunuch or Donglin?If you really want to look for gold in the latrine, you can only choose a Donglin who doesn't smell very bad, Zhu Youxiao understands this.

But since he understood, why did he attack Donglin?
This is not only explained by Zhu Youjian's point of view, the actual reason is that although Dong Lin can use it, he can't stand his nausea.

A "parties unite against dissidents" is doomed Zhu Youxiao can not use them.

Above the court, there was never a time when one family was dominant. During the Ming Dynasty, only Chenghua, Hongzhi, Zhengde and the early Jiajing period were the only situations where one family dominated.

This dominance spanning half a century caused the Ming Dynasty to become more and more introverted, and it was not until Jiajing destroyed the unity of the civil servants in the south of the Yangtze River that it came to an end.

Zhu Youxiao didn't want to kill Dong Lin, what he wanted was for Dong Lin to check and balance with the Qi Royal Party and the Eunuch Party.

But right now, the lists of memorials sent by Zhao Nanxing refer to almost all the backbones of the eunuch party.

If he approves all of them, then the eunuch party will fall to the bottom from then on, and the situation in the court will become the situation of "Donglin Party-Qi Wang Party-Eun Party".

Once Donglin becomes powerful again, the Qi Royal Party and the Eunuch Party will find it difficult to support them.

Zhao Nanxing thought very simply, he wanted to get rid of all the mediocre and corrupt people, but he didn't think that after getting rid of this group of people, the emperor would have nothing to check and balance the Donglin Party in the court.

I can't, really let Zhu Youxiao use force to interfere with the court, right?

Once this head is opened, the situation in the middle and late Tang Dynasty will be the future of Ming Dynasty.

The generals in charge of military power will gradually ignore the center, because in their view, as long as they have military power, they can kill civil servants at will.

This reason cannot be opened, which is why Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian held a large army, but did not use the simplest and violent means to destroy the civil service system.

Even if the two of them can calm down the generals and military leaders below, what about after them?

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian can only use the students of Yanshan Academy to boil frogs in warm water, and there is only one year left before the first batch of Yanshan students graduate.

One year, at this time, now is a very critical juncture.

If he demoted the backbone of the eunuch party, Donglin would become powerful in an instant, and within a year, he would pull up a force against the imperial power.

If he relegated the backbone of Donglin, the eunuchs would become powerful, and then they would change from an obedient family dog ​​to a vicious dog that protects food.

Wei Zhongxian will not betray him, Zhu Youxiao knows, but he also knows that Wei Zhongxian does not actually have the ability to control eunuchs.

Don't think that the eunuchs listen to Wei Zhongxian's words very much at the moment, but once interests are involved, Wei Zhongxian may be abandoned by them at any time.

Zhu Youxiao understands that this is why he said to Chongzhen in history that "loyalty and virtuousness are available".

It's a pity that Chongzhen didn't understand, thinking that killing Wei Zhongxian and the backbone of the eunuch party would disintegrate the eunuch party, but he didn't know that this gave the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuankun a chance to change their appearance.

"Long live……"

The sudden, silent court was broken by the appearance of a person. Everyone heard the sound and saw that it was Wang Cheng'en who didn't wander around the outer court very much.

Wang Chengen stepped onto the high platform, presented a memorial with both hands, and said in a low voice, "Your Highness sent a fast horse to bring it..."

"Hmm..." Hearing that it was sent by his younger brother, Zhu Youxiao took the memorial, and then opened it in front of the officials.

He finished reading the memorial with his expression unchanged, and then closed it.

All the ministers were curious about the content of the memorial, but who sent it?Although they didn't hear it, everyone knew who Wang Chengen was.

Facing the eyes of the officials, Zhu Youxiao's brain was also running rapidly.

The content of the memorial sent by Zhu Youjian is very simple, that is, to take this opportunity to solve the officials of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan and Kun in the eunuch party, while the officials who are closely attached to Wei Zhongxian can stay.

As for Donglin, all the officials of Donglin who were arrested and imprisoned were also dealt with, but Zhu Youjian hoped that Zhu Youxiao could keep Yang Lian alive...

"..." Zhu Youxiao thought for a few seconds, recalling his younger brother's plea in the memorial.

To be honest, he doesn't want to stay with someone like Yang Lian. What he needs is that others dare not disobey him anymore, and Yang Lian, who always likes to speak out, is contrary to his ideas.

But after all, it was my younger brother who spoke...

"The Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will jointly try the officials who have been impeached. In addition, all the officials in the prison, regardless of their official positions, will be exiled to Yunnan!"

After Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, he stood up, turned around and left without giving Zhao Nanxing a chance to refute.

Zhao Nanxing, who heard this, saw Zhu Youxiao's actions and knew that the emperor was suppressing the three parties, so he suppressed his anger and shouted:

"Where is the big Han general? Take the offender to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice!"

Zhao Nanxing opened his mouth, but the big Han general didn't move. It wasn't until Wang Chengen asked them to do it, that they walked into the hall in unison, and "invited" the impeached officials to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.

At the same time, Zhu Youxiao also got on the chariot, and rushed towards Qianqing Palace with a gloomy face.

Along the way, Wei Zhongxian watched his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, and dared not speak.

Although he was incapable of means, his ability to observe words and emotions was top-notch. After seeing the emperor saw King Qi's memorial, his face was not good-looking, and he didn't pretend to be smart to provoke dissension, but waited for someone to speak.

The walking chariot came to the gate of the Qianqing Palace while waiting, and the Jingjun opened the palace gate. The walking chariot was carried into the Qianqing Palace, crossed the long palace road, and finally put it down in the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youxiao also got up, stepped over the chariot, and walked towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but when he entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Keshi just came out from inside.

At this time, in the back that Zhu Youxiao couldn't see, Wei Zhongxian cryptically said two words with his lips: "King Qi"

"Slave servant sees Long live..." Keshi saw Wei Zhongxian's actions, and immediately saluted with a smile, and then said:

"The crown prince and the eldest princess have already fallen asleep. Long live, let's deal with the memorial in the side hall."

"Hmm..." Hearing the news about his children, Zhu Youxiao's complexion improved a lot, and he turned and walked into the side hall next to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Wei Zhongxian also ordered someone to put the memorials of the supervisor of ceremonies on the dragon case in the side hall.

Just looking at the memorials, Zhu Youxiao didn't intend to deal with them, but just looked at them, frowning slightly in a daze.

At this time, Wei Zhongxian also implicitly motioned for Ke Shi to come out, and Ke Shi also walked out after seeing this.

When they walked out of Qianqing Palace and walked a dozen steps away from other slaves, Wei Zhongxian said:

"Long live seems to have a bad face after seeing King Qi's memorial. You can go and ask what happened..."

"I ask?" Keshi gave Wei Zhongxian a blank look, and then said:
"You old eunuch, let me ask about Wansui and King Qi, don't you want me to be scolded?"

"Let me tell you, don't let anyone meddle in the affairs of His Majesty and King Qi. Whoever meddles will be in bad luck."

After saying that, Keshi shook his willow waist and turned to leave, and Wei Zhongxian followed after seeing this, tsk-tsk twice.

When they returned to the side hall, Zhu Youxiao was already dealing with the memorial, and it seemed that he had resolved all the uncomfortable emotions in his heart.

However, when only three or four copies of the memorial were processed, Zhu Youxiao put down the memorial impatiently, and then said to Wei Zhongxian and Keshi:
"The Zhongxian will handle it, and Kebaba will have someone prepare the timber at the Neiguanjian shipyard."

"Yes..." Wei Zhongxian and Ke Shi respectively responded, and Zhu Youxiao got up and walked out of the side hall.

After he said "go to the shipyard of the internal official supervision", the eunuchs on the walking chariot waited for him to get on the chariot, and then Zhu Youxiao went to the shipyard where he could calm down.

He was not angry with his younger brother. What he was angry with was that the Donglin Party obviously had many powerful and capable civil servants, but they wanted to go through the muddy water for those incompetent speech officials.

The Yanguan should have been restructured a long time ago, and Zhu Youxiao has wanted to do this for a long time.

But right now, except for his younger brother, everyone is preventing him from reforming civil servants.

Regarding this, Zhu Youxiao, who was sitting on the chariot, could only take a few deep breaths, and then sighed secretly in his heart: "One year, wait another year..."

As for him sighing secretly, he suddenly recalled the evidence held by the Donglin Party today and the time when his brother's memorial was sent.

Thinking together, he quickly made a decision and conjecture.

"It is said that Cui Yingyuan and Li Ruolian went to the shipyard for internal supervision..."

"Yes……"

Zhu Youxiao asked the eunuch next to him to speak, and the other party responded honestly, and sent someone to summon Cui Yingyuan and Li Ruolian.

When the chariot arrived at the shipyard, the formerly bustling shipyard became empty after Zhu Youxiao lost interest for a period of time, and only a hundred craftsmen were left here to make furniture.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at it, then took people up to the second floor, and at the same time Cui Yingyuan also received Zhu Youxiao's summons.

When he received the summons, his first reaction was to feel guilty, and then he accepted the verbal order and was ordered to go to the shipyard.

It's just that on the way on foot, his brain was working rapidly, constantly thinking about why the emperor summoned him.

No matter what possible questions, he had prepared and answered in his heart, and when he arrived at the shipyard, he had completed the answer to the last possible question.

So, when he went up to the second floor and saw Zhu Youxiao, he was already very calm, and he bowed honestly: "See Long live..."

"Let's talk, Donglin held many handles for his officials, did your younger brother ask you to do it..." Zhu Youxiao lowered his eyes, looking down at Cui Yingyuan who was half kneeling on the ground.

"Yes..." Cui Yingyuan chose to answer without hesitation, and Zhu Youxiao also had an expression of "it really is so" on his face when he heard it.

But after showing his expression, he leaned forward a little bit, and asked:
"Did brother ever say, why do you want to do this?"

Zhu Youxiao had already read Zhu Youjian's memorials, so he naturally knew that Zhu Youjian wanted to do this to clean up the real power faction of the Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and Five Parties, but he still asked Cui Yingyuan.

He was confirming that Cui Yingyuan had not been instigated by Donglin.

"Your Highness didn't say that the minister's actions were all carried out under the instructions of Cao Bingbi and Wang Bingbi. His previous actions were also instructed by His Highness to be conveyed by them or Commander Lu."

Cui Yingyuan was very smart and did not choose to deceive Zhu Youxiao, but Zhu Youxiao squinted his eyes when he saw this, judging Cui Yingyuan's words, and then said:

"Donglin, if you have any clues, it's best to hand them over to Cui Chengxiu."

"The minister takes orders..." Hearing the emperor's words, Cui Yingyuan knew that the emperor wanted Dong Lin to suffer heavy losses as well.

The arrest and exile of only a dozen or so officials could not deal a blow to Donglin at all. Donglin must also eliminate some powerful factions in order to control their power and restore the tripartite balance.

Although most of Donglin's officials in Beijing are capable, Zhu Youxiao doesn't care about the abilities of Donglin's officials at all.

He was heartbroken that the capable officials in Donglin always loved faction, but that didn't mean he couldn't leave this group of people.

There are millions of scholars in the world, tens of millions of literate people, one group of officials will fall, and another group will come to power. He never worries that no one can be used.

"What happened to the Nanyang incident and the reconciliation incident..."

After talking about the affairs of the court, Zhu Youxiao also began to care about the affairs of the outer court.

Regarding this, Cui Yingyuan paused for a moment, and then said: "Long live, these things are only known by Beizhen Fusi..."

"Hmm..." Zhu Youxiao didn't say anything, but just responded, waiting for Li Ruolian's arrival.

After a cup of tea, footsteps appeared, and Li Ruolian also went up to the second floor, saluting together: "Long live..."

"Talk about Nanyang and Futai..." Zhu Youxiao held a piece of wood suitable for carving in his hand, and kept carving wood in his hand. Facing his inquiry, Li Ruolian replied subconsciously:

"The preparations for the Nanyang incident are already underway. His Highness has ordered all the grain, fodder and money for the autumn harvest in Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang to be transported to the Ryukyu Mansion."

"No accident, the army should set out in early October to recover Nanyang."

"As for Hetao... the [-] troops at the five gates of Shaanxi and Shanxi have already begun to recruit civilians. According to the current progress, a large number of civilians should join the army after the autumn harvest is over."

"The war should start in the twelfth lunar month or the first lunar month..."

"Well... Got it." After listening to Li Ruolian's words, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand to signal them to back down.

But when Li Ruolian and Cui Yingyuan got up and were about to leave, Zhu Youxiao added another sentence:
"Tell my brother, if you don't have enough money, come and beg me..."

At the end of the voice, Zhu Youxiao smiled a little, and Li Ruolian and Cui Yingyuan heard it, and he also breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned and left...

　Four o'clock and one more

　　
　
(End of this chapter)