Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 498 6.69 At least there is no problem in ascending the throne.

Volume VI

6.69 At least there is no problem in ascending the throne.

In the next few days, Zhou Yang basically spent time in the palace, handing over most of the royal resources to Li Hong and the reluctant Emperor. Military control was strictly enforced in the capital to eliminate all possible hidden dangers, and outside the capital there was Yongchang. The public servant is in charge, blocking any channels for news to spread to the outside world to prevent local instability.

Until the afternoon of April [-], as the three thousand families of fusiliers who had withdrawn from Baishan and Heishui openly settled in the original Imperial Forest Army camp, just one day later, two thousand Ryukyu fusiliers settled in the Shenji camp. There were still some in the capital. All the forces that were ready to move had completely lost hope, and Zhou Yang could finally breathe a sigh of relief, because returning with this group of soldiers and horses were also the remains of Changxing Emperor Guo Kai, and even Niu Jizong and other generals. They handed over the soldiers and horses directly. After meeting Zhao Tong and a few, he returned to Beijing alone to clarify his attitude.

April [-]th, early morning, Daming Palace, Imperial Study Room.

Those who can participate in the small court meeting are still the same candidates as before, but the people who will sit on the throne are no longer the same people as before. Fortunately, Wu Xun's side has already negotiated the "conditions", and even those who have just returned Niu Jizong, Hou Xiaokang, Shi Guangzhu and others were all happy, but the civil servants were not so happy.

"I have met your Majesty!" When Zhou Yang strode into the imperial study, Wu Xun bowed and saluted without hesitation, expressing his surrender and greeting. The civil servants were quite interesting, Li Mian, the Minister of Rites, and Lin Ruhai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. They all saluted but did not speak. The other ministers of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Punishment stood motionless with complicated expressions. Wen Fu, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who was almost "escorted", simply looked angry.

"General Zhou, your majesty's body is still cold. Aren't you afraid of the world's ridicule for doing this?" So, as soon as Zhou Yang entered the door, Wen Fu stepped forward to question him without hesitation.

"You have the final say?" Zhou Yang was not interested in being spoiled, and his face turned red with one sentence. Wu Xunfang smiled happily, making the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue feel ashamed and angry, "I am summoning everyone today, isn't it? What we want to discuss is not to ask you to agree to anything, but to tell you directly that the matter has been decided, and there are still some small things that have been decided together.

On the military side, I have already sent official documents to you about the restructuring of the Privy Council, and I believe you are well aware of it. There is also the government side on the restructuring of the Government Affairs Council. I think it would be better to explain it in person, and you may wish to listen to it together. This restructuring matter cannot be accomplished by just a few words from one person. We still need to listen to other opinions. "

"General Zhou, are you still willing to listen to your opinions?" Wen Fu's face was full of sarcasm.

"Master Wen, the door to the imperial study room is not closed. You can leave at any time. There are not many others in this world and there are many people who want to be officials." Zhou Yang lazily pointed at the door and looked at Wen Fu who was almost furious and said. , "Or does Mr. Wen want to imitate the sages and commit suicide by killing his head and the ground? I can make it happen for you. In the history books, it is just one more corrupt official who commits suicide out of fear of crime."

The reason why I inherit Dabao is not because of anyone's support, let alone anyone's charity, but because of my ability and strength. Furthermore, royal affairs have their own royal arrangements. When will it be your turn to make irresponsible remarks?What are you, huh?The imperial edict of the Supreme Emperor and the Queen Mother is here. Is it possible that you still have any dissatisfaction?
Well, I can also take this opportunity to give those losers a chance or an excuse. For example, it would be good to "kill the pillars and steal the throne" - come here, Lord Wen will be sent on his way, and his head will be displayed to the public for three days. Anyone who dares to collect the corpses will be punished as an accomplice. The corpses are abandoned in mass graves and allowed to be eaten by wild dogs. No male over the age of six is ​​left in the nine tribes, and all the men under the age of six are demoted to slaves. The female family members are included in the Jiaofangsi. It is vicious enough. Already? "

As soon as these words came out, not to mention the civil servants were all dumbfounded, the military officers also felt extremely confused - you don't follow the rules!Logically speaking, shouldn't we be able to persuade others with good words and personally untie them?How can anyone open his mouth and destroy the nine tribes?If this spreads out, it will really mean that he is "tyrannical and cruel to loyal people". Do you want your reputation anymore?

"Your Majesty, please have mercy!" No matter how hard Lin Ruhai behaved, he could not bear to see Wen Fu end up like this. He quickly stepped forward and bowed and said, "Master Wen was just talking angrily. How dare you really ask about the inheritance of the royal family?" Everything has its own royal law, and the ministers and others only need to obey orders, and never dare to ask right and wrong."

"Wei Chen, I'm guilty!" Wen Fu's face turned pale. He only relied on Lin Ruhai's support to keep him from falling. He didn't have the courage to beep any more, so he hurriedly struggled and knelt down to plead guilty.

"I said just now that I'm not asking you to discuss anything, but just listen to my instructions and do it." Zhou Yang glanced at Wen Fu coldly and said disdainfully, "What's wrong with this world is nothing. No matter which one is the same, as I just said, there are many people in the world who want to be officials. For the sake of Mr. Lin, I will spare your life and make arrangements for you to go back to your hometown. Is the left minister of household affairs here?"

"Yan Yu, the left servant of the minister's department, has seen His Majesty!" A very handsome man hurriedly came out and knelt down.

"From now on, you will - well, it just so happens that the position needs to be adjusted. I won't say the specific position for now. Just listen and take over his official duties from now on. Go back!" Zhou Yang looked at Wen Fu after giving the order, " Is there anything else, Mr. Wen?"

"Your Majesty, please retire!" Wen Fu kowtowed bitterly, respectfully took off his black gauze hat and placed it on the ground. Then he stood up with the support of Lin Ruhai and walked slowly out of the imperial study room.

Everyone in the Imperial Study Room, regardless of their literary skills, looked at Wen Fu's retreating figure with sympathy. This Minister of Household Affairs, who had been serving in the Ministry of Household Affairs since the reign of the Supreme Emperor, and whose abilities were recognized by everyone, left the court alone. No one expected that Zhou Yang would be so strong, that he would give up on everything he said, without any mercy at all.

"You think I'm too strong and even cold-hearted?" Zhou Yang guessed the worries of these people with just one glance. Naturally, he wouldn't let them have their random thoughts, "I just want to find a chicken to kill. Look at those who still have ideas. In fact, they don’t care who is killed. Wen Fu bumped into him, so don’t blame me for being cruel. Everyone in this world has ups and downs, but if you don’t have vision, don’t talk about it even if you die. Unjustly accused.”

A group of civil and military personnel were petrified again, and none of them followed someone's thinking. Even if it was to scare the monkeys or to make a new official take office, it wouldn't be so simple to say it, right?At least you should look serious, right?

"Your Majesty just mentioned government affairs. Well -" my good father-in-law Lin Ruhai quickly spoke to bring the topic back on track.

"It is the establishment of the Government Affairs Council." Zhou Yang said lightly, "The general idea is similar to that of the Privy Council that has been handed over to you. It is centered on five grand masters and is responsible for the implementation and supervision of all government affairs. However, these five people only have the authority to be in charge. , does not hold any specific actual duties, and is only responsible to me.

My plan is that in the future, the candidates for the Grand Bachelor and the Minister of Military and Aircraft will be selected through the "Ting" method. I have the final decision-making power here, but for the first term, I can only decide on the suitable candidates first, and then slowly add them in the future. ——Lord Lin, from now on you will be the Chief Bachelor and the person in charge of the Government Affairs Council. The other four people are Li Mian (the Minister of Rites), Yan Yu (the person in charge of the Household Department), Shen Chu (the Minister of the Ministry of Industry), and Liang Bo (the Minister of the Ministry of Justice). ), I believe you have no objections. "

"Your Majesty, how should we adjust the six-ministry restructuring?" Yan Yu, who had just picked up a cabinet minister for free, asked hurriedly. Among the current civil servants, he is probably the most supportive of someone.

"Generally speaking, it means decentralization and separation of powers." Zhou Yang did not hesitate in this aspect, "Take the Ministry of Rites as an example - of course, I am not saying that I only use the Ministry of Rites as an example. It is the same for other ministries. This is just an example. The Ministry of Rites is currently Responsible for many aspects of work, including but not limited to culture and education, publicity, imperial examinations, sacrifices and even foreign exchanges, etc. Mr. Li Ge, do you understand every aspect?"

"This -" Let alone Li Mian, it is impossible for any minister to understand the work of his subordinates. Basically, he only understands a general person and leaves specific tasks to specific people. "So, you also have to manage a few subordinates who are actually in charge and rely on them to promote official affairs." Zhou Yang said unceremoniously, "I plan to directly divide the management and give names to those who were originally in charge. The Ministry of Rites is tentatively divided into The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Propaganda, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc., please report to me the specific arrangements for how to assign them - the same goes for other ministries. Don't take any chances. If it doesn't work, I will replace it with a capable person.

From now on, each such department will be assigned the post of Minister, each in charge of its own affairs and responsible to you and me. The specific division of powers and department allocation will be discussed and reported to you. They will be responsible to you at ordinary times, and they will be responsible to you when necessary. You can also report directly to me, but there is one thing. From now on, these ministers of the 'ministry' will no longer be as valuable as you before, and they will all be reduced to the third rank.

As for the cabinet elders and military aircraft, they will no longer be temporary assignments in the future. They will all be replaced by actual vacancies. There will be five civil and military positions. They are the highest positions in the imperial court that are truly "courteous and courteous". The military aircraft foreman and the cabinet chief assistant enjoy additional benefits from the second rank. As for the additional titles, as for the additional titles above the second grade, it all depends on your performance. "

"Oh?" Not to mention the ten military planes or the elders, even the "presenting" personnel behind them all looked happy, because for them, this was equivalent to giving them a "single-handed leader" for nothing. "The opportunity saves at least five years of hard work. Although it is downgraded from the third rank to the third rank, it is still a minister. It is better than the second and third leaders now, right?
"It's just." Shen Chu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was obviously thinking more, "Your Majesty, if I hear you correctly, the next minister will be downgraded to the third rank, but the governors and admirals of all provinces will be the third rank, and even cloth The political envoy, the inspector general, and the nine-border general military officer are all from the third rank. If there is any negotiation in the future, it will be difficult to talk, right?"

"Then let's demote them together." Zhou Yang was very straightforward on this point, "In the late Ming Dynasty, official positions were rampant. There were almost high-ranking second- and third-rank military officers all over the place, so much so that there was a saying that 'the official position was as cheap as a dog' The proverb of "the governor is walking around the streets" has seriously damaged the majesty of the imperial court. The highest in the province is the governor, and the person in charge of the imperial court is the minister. The two should be on the same level, and there should be no distinction between superior and inferior.

Of course, this is the long-term goal. We will first make plans for the restructuring of the imperial court. After the operation is stable, we will then discuss the restructuring of local government affairs. During this period, there will be a transition period of about a year. The new ministers may be a little uncomfortable. When the imperial court is stable, the Privy Council will The Jingying firearms transformation must have been completed over there, and when the local adjustments are made, some dishonest things can be quieted down. "

At this time, the expressions of the civil officials were dull again, but Wu Xun's expression was happy. It was obvious that the His Majesty in the middle attached great importance to and reused the army and military power - in fact, all emperors in the past dynasties did not attach importance to military power, but "valued" It is not the same thing as "emphasis on use", just like "iron-blooded gift". The method of "emphasis on" is to suppress it to death. It is better to be a dog to foreign enemies than to prevent the army from getting bigger.

"Dare to ask Your Majesty, I don't know how to proceed with the restructuring of this place?" Liu Fang asked with a sense of current affairs.

"Actually, it is similar to the restructuring of the imperial court. Generally speaking, it is just eight words, 'separation of military and political affairs, independence of powers'." Zhou Yang said lightly, "With the existing positions as the core, we must achieve absolute 'separation of military and political affairs' and relative 'powers and powers'" Independence', which requires the military and civilian ranks to be equal and have the same status.

Taking a province as an example, the highest level of government affairs is the governor, who has overall responsibility for the affairs of the province. The subordinate chief envoys assist in government affairs, the inspectorate envoys are in charge of inquiries and investigations, the inspectorate supervises officials, etc. I will bother you with the specific arrangements, but in general In terms of military affairs or government affairs, no one can be allowed to "cover the sky with one hand" in the future. Even the highest-ranking person does not have the power to kill and seize the lives of those below! "

"This-" A group of big guys were dumbfounded.

"Your Majesty, if you do this, I'm afraid the place will be uneasy!" Li Mian said uneasily. He was the second brother of the queen, so he naturally got the hint early. He was very honest from the beginning of this meeting. Even so, he was also criticized by someone I was frightened by the restructuring.

"So, our conversation today can only exist in this room. If one sentence is leaked, I may not be able to reach too far away now. But in the Gyeonggi area and even north of the Yellow River, I can do it like an arm." !" Zhou Yang's words made everyone shiver, "After one year's transition period, the restructuring of the Jingying camp has been completed, and there are elite soldiers in hand. As long as the Gyeonggi camp is stable, the only thing that may have problems is the area in the south of the Yangtze River. , just in time to clean up together!"

"But I don't know what the 'Beijing camp restructuring' your Majesty mentioned?" Niu Jizong asked bravely.

"Abolish the three major camps and transform them into [-] regiment camps." Zhou Yang was very calm. "Based on the Shenji Camp, all the troops in the Beijing Camp were eliminated and integrated into [-] regiments and battalions with a system of [-] households. Among them, the Imperial Forest Army Two of them will be directly transferred from the Shenji Battalion, and the other ten regiments and battalions will be expanded with elite firearms soldiers as the backbone.

Firearms training is very fast, one year is enough. With these [-] elite firearms soldiers, it doesn't matter if there are ten times more rebels. At most, it will take some time to tie the knot. As the saying goes, 'If you don't break, you don't build.' You won't know if you haven't shed blood. There are so many people in pain, so if a few of them die, things will be easier to handle and progress will be more efficient! "

"Your Majesty," Lin Ruhai said with a bitter smile, "The world is so big, how can we be sure that only Jiangnan will have problems?"

"Whether it is farmers or craftsmen, it is impossible for this era to produce truly capable leaders. At most, they are Li Zicheng or Huang Chao. The only ones who can really disrupt the country are those local people who don't know how to die." Zhou Yang sneered and looked at the people in front of him. , "Without the secret support of local powerful families, can anything be accomplished by relying on hungry people alone? Do they know how to govern a country or lead an army?
The Three Kingdoms were in turmoil. Did the Yellow Turbans overthrow the Later Han Dynasty?Who really asked Emperor Xian to abdicate?During the Jin Dynasty and the Sixteenth Kingdom, the northern region was in chaos and many people were killed. Didn’t the wealthy people in those places still drink and eat meat?At the end of the Sui Dynasty, rebel kings were everywhere. Who were the biggest forces after the great waves?Which one wins the world?

History books are like knives, they are all in them. Read more and think more. Don't think that I care about your so-called 'people's hearts'. Do you know why that old man Liu Lun had to die?Open your mouth and shut up to 'compete with the people for profit', even the two late emperors never cared about it. Do you really think that Dazhou is like those short-sighted trash from the previous Ming Dynasty? "

"Your Majesty, your Majesty!" All the civil and military officials quickly bowed and saluted.

"Okay, that's all for today. From now on, the Wenhua Hall will be the center of the Government Affairs Council, and the Wuying Hall will be the center of the Privy Council. You should each sort out the official positions and departments that need to be established according to the restructuring standards I mentioned, and hand them over as soon as possible. Give it to me - don't miss your normal official duties!" Zhou Yang said with a cold face.

"The minister obeys the order!"

"Your Majesty, the funeral of the late emperor." Li Mian said with a sad face.

"The late Emperor - I followed him step by step to get here today!" Zhou Yang looked at Li Mian, the uncle of Emperor Yonghe and the uncle of Emperor Changxing, and nodded with a wry smile, and no one objected to this. , and they all even knew that Emperor Changxing could only ascend to power because of the support of someone in the army, "Just follow the usual arrangements, don't be shabby!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Seeing all the civil and military personnel walking out of the room, Zhou Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least he would have no problem ascending the throne!

(End of this chapter)