Be the emperor from the postman

Chapter 513 To be a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, you should dare to speak out (third update)
Chongzhen did not admit his mistake, and the chief assistant Zhou Yanru would not give a sound reminder.

I didn't see that His Majesty was furious. To make admonishment at this time is to hit the head of anger, and the gain outweighs the loss.

Chen Yutai, the champion of the new division, did not understand many principles of officialdom, so he hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, these rebels are divided into two groups. The Wanggong factory exploded again. It was they who made it to cause more chaos and mobilize troops to rescue the people at the Wanggong factory."

"In this way, these people have planned long ago?"

Chongzhen borrowed the donkey from the slope, stood in the hall and took two steps.

"Your Majesty, this group of rebels came to attack the imperial city for a few dozen taels of silver!"

"What did you say?"

Chongzhen frowned, realizing that there was something else hidden about this rebellion.

The number one scholar Chen Yutai immediately confessed all the news he heard from Zhang Guangcan.

The dignified army of the Ming Dynasty is coming to attack the imperial city for dozens of taels of silver?

To do such a rebellious thing?
"Ridiculous! All excuses!"

Chongzhen was so angry that he shook his sleeves.

Daming's military expenses were huge, and he increased Liao's salary for the first time in December last year, just to pay the soldiers under his command.

As a result, only a few months have passed, and some rebels actually came to the imperial city to make a fuss?

Or for dozens of taels of salary.

Who would believe this?
Chen Yutai, the champion of the new division, raised his head immediately:

"Your Majesty, what I said is true, and there is not even a single word of falsehood. This minister also finds it inconceivable."

"Shut up for me!"

Chongzhen couldn't help stretching out his foot and kicking Chen Yutai's shoulder.

This kind of conclusion is unacceptable to him!

Doesn't it mean that it is a wrong policy for him to increase Liao's salary?
Especially for this new champion, Chongzhen had great expectations, but now the rebels are doing what they say!
Do you have a little brain to think for yourself?

But Chongzhen forgot, and Huang Taiji also used two eunuchs to eavesdrop, which aggravated Chongzhen's suspicion of Yuan Chonghuan and sent him to prison!

The reason for the delay this year is that Chongzhen was dissatisfied with the performance of the courtiers since he came to power.

It is the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty that the imperial court selects scholars through imperial examinations and reuses top-ranking talents.

Various important positions in the central and local governments are almost exclusively occupied by Jinshi, and even the governors of various places who hold heavy soldiers are all from Jinshi.

During the few years when Emperor Chongzhen himself was in power, he deeply felt that those Jinshi and Hanlin who were experts in stereotyped essays were mostly stupid when dealing with actual military and political affairs.

He really wanted to pick out a group of capable talents among the Jinshi selected by himself, and he personally came up with the policy questions.

The Palace Examination is an examination presided over by the emperor himself. The emperor personally writes the questions, invigilates the examination, and checks the papers to evaluate the rankings. Therefore, Jinshi proudly claims to be the disciples of the Son of Heaven.

Most of the emperors in the late Ming Dynasty had no interest in government affairs, so the so-called chief examiner was only in name.

Some emperors made a ceremonial appearance in the examination room, while others did not attend at all, leaving all matters to the cabinet ministers.

Only Emperor Chongzhen, who was always hands-on, had to go to the palace exam every time, and every time he seriously and directly intervened in all aspects of the exam.

The palace examination time is relatively short, and usually only one policy theory is tested, which is to answer one's own opinions on some major affairs of the country according to the "policy questions" put forward by the emperor.

This is equivalent to the "policy questions" of the test questions, which are usually drawn up by the cabinet and then selected by the emperor.

Most of them are empty and empty, and the tribute scholars also wrote some praises and handed in the paper with air to air.

With very few exceptions, all the tribute scholars who participated in the palace examination can get a "Jinshiji", "Jinshi background" or "same Jinshi background".

Because of this tradition, the tributes who participated in the palace examination this time have already drawn out the original two "policy questions" from the cabinet through various relationships.

I have written two eloquent and empty articles in advance, and I plan to transcribe them once during the palace examination and pass the test.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen was not satisfied with the two "policy questions" drafted by the cabinet this time, so he re-wrote the policy questions one day in advance and hurriedly printed them.

It can be summed up in five aspects.

First of all, he is extremely dissatisfied with the entire bureaucratic group.

In Chongzhen's view, the bureaucracy as a whole has become extremely corrupt, with corrupt morale, mediocrity and incompetence, which must be thoroughly rectified.

But what method can be used to revive the morale and make the bureaucrats both industrious and honest, with both ability and political integrity, he has no idea in his mind.

In addition to rectifying morale, the issues raised in the "Policy Questions" also include resisting foreign aggression, eliminating internal strife, managing finances, and employing people outside the rules.

For every aspect of the problem, Chongzhen expressed his views positively.

Then point out the core of the problem and ask the scholars to provide solutions to the problem.

Regarding foreign aggression, he believed that Jianzhou Jurchen were originally barbarians, with a narrow area and a sparse population.

But once it launches an attack on the dynasty, it is unstoppable, which is really incredible.

With regard to civil strife, he believed that thieves and natural disasters were caused by each other, and it was difficult to solve the problem fundamentally.

Regarding the finance of Chongzhen, he spoke more specifically, saying that the bandits were spreading, the military was in a hurry, the treasury was empty, and the food and payment were not enough.

Those who speak up don't consider the overall situation of the country, and always ask for tax relief.

The people are the foundation of the country, how could the court not show mercy?
But we need to be sympathetic to the people, and we need to raise soldiers. I don’t know what is the best way to achieve both?
No one has an answer.

Finally, he specifically mentioned: In the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was no distinction between civil and military occupations.

In the early days of the country, it was not always necessary to employ people with academic backgrounds, but now it has become an unbreakable rule. This kind of bad rule that suppresses talents must be changed.

Gongshi devoted themselves to stereotyped essays all year round, so of course they couldn't offer any insight into these major state affairs.

Under the watchful eyes of the emperor, they discovered that the topic was completely different from what they had spent money to inquire about.

I was distracted for a while, and I had no ideas, so I bit the bullet and each dealt with a paper.

On the contrary, Wu Weiye, who was originally the number one scholar, had no way out, but instead became less nervous, answered the questions calmly, and performed well.

Due to this kind of loss, many tributes who spent money can only be dumb and eat coptis.

But who is Chen Yutai, his money is not in vain, and his relationship is also hard.

Even if Chongzhen changed the problem overnight, the chief assistant Zhou Yanru would know about it, so that people could be fully prepared.

The Ming Dynasty paid special attention to the imperial examination, and the imperial examination only emphasized the eight-legged essay, leading a large number of scholars to study the scriptures and craft their lives, and their minds were empty except for a set of dogma of temperament, righteousness and reason in Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism.

As a result, bureaucrats and scholars at all levels in the Ming Dynasty could only talk about the principles of nature, with little political, economic and military talent.

Chen Yutai, the number one scholar in the new division, never thought that the emperor would be so furious, but at this moment, he still spoke with a strong voice:

"What I said is not the slightest lie. Increasing Liao's salary will only make the people's lives miserable, and the appetite of the soldiers is getting bigger and bigger. Your Majesty should be sympathetic to the people and don't increase taxes."

He was bullied by the rebels and made him choose to shut up, not daring to reason.

But when Chen Yutai was in front of the emperor, he dared to speak the truth!
As a courtier, especially a loyal minister, you should dare to speak out against the emperor's wrath!

Chen Yutai felt that he was the embodiment of justice at this time. The more he persuaded the emperor, the more famous he became, and the more he could show that he was a loyal minister of Ming Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)