A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 135 Do you want to restore the old Hongwu system?

"The Empress Dowager, why don't you ask the ministers to submit the contents of the prepared letter to the cabinet in advance, and we will discuss and decide in advance, and then give the answer to Your Majesty so that he can memorize it."

"In this way, Your Majesty will be able to deal with everything smoothly at the court meeting the next day."

This is what Yan Keng came up with.

Although it gives people a very formal feeling, sometimes this kind of formality can maintain the emperor's authority, and little Zhu Qizhen will grow up sooner or later. This is also a kind of training for him, allowing him to participate as soon as possible Come to the affairs of the court.

"What a great idea!" Mrs. Zhang said happily, but then she added:

"Your Majesty is young after all, and the court affairs are so complicated. If you remember them all, would it be a bit energy-consuming..."

"Then let's limit the matters to be reported each time to...just eight! The rest will not be discussed at the court meeting, only for us to discuss and decide."

"Great kindness!" Empress Dowager Zhang held up her palms and showed a delighted smile:
"The late emperor often said that Chen Guogong was full of wisdom and tricks. Now that he has seen that his reputation is well-deserved, he will follow your tricks!"

So before going to court the next day, all the ministers were given orders. If there were matters to be reported to the court in the morning, they should be sent to the cabinet the day before.

They looked at each other, wondering what the hell was going on. Since they were already going to discuss it in the morning, why did they have to send it to the cabinet a day in advance? However, they still obeyed the cabinet's order obediently.

Subsequently, Yan Keng selected the eight most important memorials from them and asked the corresponding ministers to tell them to come out in order tomorrow. As for the others, he sent someone to inform them that they were not allowed to come out to present the memorials in the morning. After that, the cabinet would Tell them the corresponding matter handling plan.

Now, all the courtiers understood that co-authorship was just a pretense, right?

However, some people are dissatisfied with this.

This is the kind of person who bites off everything he sees.After all, Yan Keng had just served as assistant to the government, and he only had Li Xian under his command. The rest were all from the former military governor's office and did not participate in politics at all, so Yan Guan had no fear at all.

He secretly began to prepare bullets.

The next day, during the court meeting, everything went according to normal procedures at first.

The eight selected ministers stood up one by one to speak, while Zhu Qizhen sat on the throne and answered according to the prepared answers. Although it was just a formality, everything went smoothly.

There were only eight people to report, so the court meeting ended quickly. Seeing that no one came out to report, Zhu Qizhen signaled to the palace officials that they could withdraw from the court.

However, just when the palace man raised his voice and was about to speak out, a voice came out from among the ministers:
"Slow down! I have my own notes!"

A middle-aged man stepped out of the team, and then he announced his family name. He was a royal censor, which is often called a Yanguan.

Seeing this middle-aged man appear, Zhu Qizhen suddenly looked confused. Chen Guogong didn't say this yesterday!

He immediately turned to look at Yan Keng, but he didn't know that Yan Keng also had question marks on his face.

Where did the disobedient guy come from?Could it be that the person who notified yesterday was lazy and missed this product?

But when he heard what this person said, Yan Keng's expression gradually became serious.

"In the past, Taizu had an order that during the daily court meeting, the ministers were required to advise His Majesty on 180 five matters and discuss and resolve them together with the ministers. This was an ancestral system. Taizu also used this to hope that future generations would diligently handle government affairs and prosper the Ming Dynasty."

"However, I received news yesterday that a decree came from the palace, requiring all ministers to hand in the prepared memorials in advance, but only eight people were allowed to present the memorial, and the rest were not allowed to speak."

"I don't know why. If the court meeting only discusses eight matters, what about the rest? Should it be left to the cabinet?"

"Is there someone with ulterior motives who wants to exercise power on His Majesty's behalf? Or is Your Majesty just trying to have fun, so he only takes eight things and ignores the rest?"

"Is it possible to violate the ancestral system?" This is true. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang indeed had such regulations, requiring ministers to advise the emperor on 180 five matters during the court meeting.

As soon as the ancestral system came out, no one dared to speak, and some even had gloating smiles on their faces. They were ready to see the chief minister's joke.

You can think of it with your buttocks, this must have been arranged by Yan Keng.

Facing the quiet court, although the official's face remained calm, his heart was filled with joy.

This time he made a big show of his face.

Angrily criticizing the emperor, Yin Yang became the chief minister of the dynasty, and he suddenly became famous among the civil servants, and he might even gain a reputation as an outspoken person who dared to remonstrate.

As for how young Zhu Qizhen handled those 180 five things, he had no control over it.He is just a public speaker. He only needs to raise issues, but he is not responsible for solving them. Let others have a headache.

Zhu Qizhen was also stunned immediately. He didn't know what was going on. The official spoke of ancestral systems and Taizu's words, which frightened him. Taizu's laws were absolutely unacceptable. It was against the law, the emperor knew this very well, and he immediately turned his helpless eyes to Yan Keng.

Yan Keng's mind was racing. He had also experienced strong winds and waves, and he immediately stood up.

He first raised his hands to the sky and said: "The ancestral system was set by the Taizu and cannot be changed. This behavior of the humble minister is indeed inappropriate. Your Majesty, please punish the minister for his crime!"

With that said, Yan Keng knelt down and bowed deeply to the emperor.

Seeing this scene, the Yanguan became even more proud and laughed wildly in his heart.

This was the chief minister of the dynasty, the representative of the nobles, and the man who even San Yang was forced to give in!Now, he is forced to admit his mistake under his own words!
He could already imagine how Shilin would spread his reputation in the future, and he was even more proud of himself for being able to seize this opportunity.

But he underestimated Yan Keng. Although Chen Guogong admitted his mistake, he did not finish his words.

"However, as far as I know, the regulations of the Taizu Dynasty have been loosened and people in the world no longer abide by them. How can I tolerate this? Therefore, I suggest that the old Hongwu system be fully restored, including the beheading of those who have committed corruption over 50, and the cabinet Cabinet ministers must not exceed the seventh rank and other regulations!"

As soon as this statement came out, the officials were in an uproar.

Restore the old Hongwu system?That era of extreme harshness?
We have finally survived Hongwu's suppression. The good days are coming for everyone. Are you going to deal with this for us now?
Not to mention anything else, just being beheaded for embezzling 50 taels would bring down half of the ministers in the court.

Corruption has already appeared as early as the Yongle Dynasty, but at this time the official administration was still relatively clear, and everyone did not get much. In addition, the salary in the Ming Dynasty was that officials were not treated as human beings, so as long as the courtiers were not too greedy, , the emperor also turned a blind eye.

But no matter how little you have, you will definitely have passed 50 taels.If this is restored, the swords in Caishikou will be sharpened.

In an instant, all the eyes of the audience were focused on the famous official. After all, it was this guy who first proposed the ancestral system.

Suddenly, Yan Guan felt countless blazing eyes gathering on his body. The gloating eyes had long since disappeared, leaving only anger!
You just want to restore the old Hongwu system?
At this time, the official's claws were also numb. He was so helpless under the condemnation eyes of the officials.

Yes, it is indeed the job of an official to speak out about affairs. Generally speaking, the emperor cannot put an official in jail just because of what he said.

But if you offend the ministers, it will be hard to say. After dozens or hundreds of impeachment memorials, the emperor will shrug his shoulders and look helpless:

It’s not that I want to punish you, it’s just that you have been impeached by so many people and your crimes are too numerous to list!

Then he did it naturally.

What's more, the little emperor now listens to Yan Keng.

　Thanks to "Molu" for the tip.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)