The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 169 Rectifying Officials
"Well, Ma Aiqing really deserves to be a veteran minister who seeks the country. I still believe in Ma Aiqing's ability, but other than that, all the officials have to be exchanged." Zhu Cihong nodded, and then said.

"Your Majesty is wise, the old minister is not in case."

Ma Shiying was also taken aback, and then turned his head to worship, he did not expect His Majesty to be more thoughtful and terrific than him, so at this moment, he is not completely flattering, but admiring from the bottom of his heart.

At the same time, I also understand that His Majesty probably already has a complete set of New Deal implementation plans in mind.

In the early days of the garrison, prostitutes were sent to explain to the people, opened imperial stores, and rectified the salt industry. Today’s rectification of officials is closely linked. Every step is to prepare for the implementation of the New Deal, and every step is related to the success or failure of the New Deal. .

With such a meticulous mind and sophisticated methods, it is hard to imagine that a young emperor who was born in the palace could come up with all these.

Thinking of this, Ma Shiying was also filled with emotion, the old Zhu's family finally produced a wise and powerful emperor, and the civil servants were not wronged at all.

"This new policy is related to the next hundred years of the Ming Dynasty. Only success is allowed, and failure is not allowed. Ma Aiqing just let go and don't have any worries. From now on, Aiqing, an official below the third rank, can be appointed and dismissed on his own, and he can report it afterwards!

Once the New Deal is successful, you, Ma Shiying, will be my minister of Zhongxing, and your reputation and achievements will not be worse than those of Yu Shaobao and Zhang Juzheng. "

"I am trusted by His Majesty, and I only take this heavy responsibility. I am willing to do my best for Your Majesty and Ming Dynasty, and I will die!"

Ma Shiying was so excited that he burst into tears, knelt on the ground and trembled unbearably, once again shocked by the courage of the little emperor.

What is a holy king?This is the Holy King. Officials below the third rank are appointed and dismissed on their own. The purpose is to make him Ma Shiying rule out dissidents and say what he says among civil officials.

This kind of decentralization, with the support of soldiers and horses, as long as the emperor does not waver, what kind of New Deal cannot be implemented?
"Okay, Ai Qing, don't worry, the one I am most ashamed of is the kind of ancient foolish king who kills donkeys. Today I assure you that you will never betray me, and I will never betray you!"

This stalwart is allocated to the mu, and the government and gentry pay taxes together, which is just the surface of the New Deal. There will be many earth-shattering reforms in the future, and Ai Qing must be prepared in her heart.

This is a detailed policy plan on land. Go back and see if there is anything wrong with it. If it is not done, it will be implemented immediately after the rectification of officials. "

After Zhu Cihong finished speaking, he took out a booklet and handed it to him. As for other aspects, he is not in a hurry to talk about it yet.

The reason why he chose Ma Shiying was because compared with the boastful Donglin party members in history, this Ma Shiying still has some means and abilities, and his knowledge is also good.

Compared with Wei Zaode, Hou Xun, Gao Hongtu, Shi Kefa, Qian Qianyi and others, their abilities and methods are much stronger, and they should be the most suitable candidates at present.

Historically, if Qian Qianyi, Gao Hongtu and other Donglin party members hadn't dismantled him, maybe this guy would have been able to keep half of Daming's power.

In history, after the city of Beijing was breached and the news of Chongzhen's hanging spread to the south, Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, immediately joined forces with the generals of the four towns in Jiangbei to prepare for King Fu's succession.

Although the Donglin party members obstructed in every possible way and wanted to support King Lu, they were still no match for King Fu, who was supported by the general soldiers of the four towns. After all, King Fu's succession was justified.

After King Fu went to Nanjing to supervise the country, Ma Shiying, who was a supportive hero, naturally became the head of the cabinet and the chief assistant of the civil servants.

Then, relying on King Fu's support, this guy managed to suppress the Donglin party members in the court, and forced them out of the court.

The most important thing is that at that time, Ma Shiying proposed to jointly recruit and flee to Xiangyang, and the remnants of the intruders in Nanyang to jointly fight against the Manchu Qing, and at the same time facilitate the check and balance of Zuo Liangyu who supported himself in Huguang.

It's a pity that this proposal was strongly opposed by the Donglin Party members, who stood on the high ground of morality and scolded Ma Shiying, and finally even King Fu had to give up.

After all, his father was killed by intruders, and Chongzhen was also forced to death by intruders. Facing the scolding and opposition from the Donglin party members, he really had no confidence to refute.

If it was just like this, Nanming might not be defeated so quickly, but the Donglin party members saw that they could not fight against Ma Shiying, and after being pushed out of the court, they even ignored the overall situation and asked Hou Xun to encourage Zuo Liangyu to bring troops to Nanjing Qinwang Eliminate traitors and force Fu Wang to kill Ma Shiying and reuse Dongdang Lin.

Really until death, they are still fighting for power.

And Zuo Liangyu didn't know what to think, but he really foolishly brought troops to King Qin.

At that time, Zuo Liangyu had millions of troops in Wuchang. Anyone with a little bit of knowledge and ambition would choose to march north without hesitation, and take the important town of Xiangyang occupied by intruders at all costs, completely locking the entrance of Jingxiang , and then use the entire Jianghan Plain as the foundation to recruit talented people, diligently cultivate internal affairs, and plan a great cause.

But how did Zuo Liangyu do it?The one who made a good Huguang was riddled with holes. He only knew how to destroy but not how to produce, which made the gentry and literati in Huguang extremely repel him.

Forget it, a military general also frequently intervened in Jiangnan party struggles, so much so that he finally led troops to help the Donglin party force the palace. In the end, in order to resist Zuo Liangyu, King Fu and Ma Shiying had to let the four Jiangbei towns fight.

The ending was that the two sides fought inexorably. The Tazi army took the opportunity to go south and captured Jiangbei with ease. Xiangyang, Zuo Liangyu died of illness, his son Shuaijun surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Gao Jie died of internal fighting, Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing surrendered, Huang Degong was alone, and finally die in battle.

But here, Ma Shiying, who was called a shameless villain by the Donglin Party members, chose to die for the Ming Dynasty. He was full of benevolence and morality, and opposed the surrender of the remnants of the trespassers. Qian Qianyi and others who wanted to avenge Chongzhen turned into traitors in Kaicheng.

If there is no internal fighting, Zuo Liangyu will guard Huguang honestly, and the four Jiangbei towns will guard Huaibei together. Even if they don't unite with Liu Fangliang, Li Guo and other remnants of the intruders, they can still firmly guard half of the country.

Because originally Ma Shiying was able to suppress the four towns in Jiangbei by virtue of his status as chief assistant and the trust of the emperor.

However, in order to seize military power, the Donglin party members sent Shi Kefa, the Minister of the Ministry of War, to Jiangbei to supervise the division.

The name is Superintendent, but it is actually provoking and wooing. Sure enough, after some manipulations, the four towns are in a state of chaos, and the dog's brain is almost shot out in the end.

Therefore, the reason for the defeat of Nanming is inseparable from the struggle for power and profit of the Donglin Party members.

If you can't do the right thing, it's one thing to drag your feet and tear down the stage. With such pig teammates, it's no wonder that Ma Shiying and Fu Wang didn't get tricked to death.

After Ma Shiying left the Imperial Study Room and returned to the Wenhua Palace, she still couldn't suppress the excitement in her heart.

With the power in his hands and the full support of the emperor, all the eunuchs were also very excited. Ma Shiying immediately asked the officials of the prefectures and counties in Nanzhili to report all the detailed lists and positions of the officials in all levels of yamen within one month. Come up, those who overdue or make false reports will be dismissed and investigated, and the Minister of the Ministry of Officials will be responsible for recruiting and evaluating talents.

With the issuance of the emperor's imperial edict and the cabinet's decree, all officials, gentry and literati in the entire Southern Zhili knew that the Ming Dynasty was about to change.

Some scholars who failed the examination for a long time, even Juren who dreamed of becoming an official, immediately rushed to Nanjing to participate in the assessment by the Ministry of Officials.

And the magistrates of counties, prefectures and prefectures all over the country did not dare to slack off, and they all knew that whoever dared to be perfunctory at this time would be killed as an example to others.

But it might as well be that they took the opportunity to make a fortune. Almost all officials, big and small, were blackmailed by their own officials.

In order to obtain high grades, some officials even spared no expense in bribing prefects and counties, hoping that they would falsely report their positions.

Ma Shiying had already prepared for this. After the list of yamen positions in various places was reported, he dispatched more than 100 inspectors and censors to various places to verify them one by one.

All officials who make false reports will be dismissed on the spot, handed over to Dongchang for legal action, and inspected and censored to take over their posts.

After more than a year of development, Dongchang has branches all over Huguang, Nanzhili, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and now it is rapidly extending to Fujian and Guangdong.

The patrol censors sent out were also Xinke Scholars who wanted to be officials and wanted to be crazy, so they couldn't be bribed with money at all, and they all wanted to find out the old officials of the local officials.

However, Ma Shiying didn't care about the former favoritism, fraud, corruption and perversion of the law, and only caught the false report and concealment this time.

Even so, there were still countless civil servants who were sacked in the whole of Nanzhili and sent to prison, and almost half of them were civilian officials.

The Donglin Party members were naturally unwilling to be spectators, and the gentry and landlords everywhere were also unwilling to just sit and wait for death. The two sides hit it off almost immediately.

Although he didn't dare to point the finger directly at the emperor and the New Deal, he dared to point the finger at Ma Shiying and the eunuchs.

For a while, the public opinion in the entire Southern Zhili was one-sided, and they all slandered Ma Shiying. What kind of ulterior motives, party formation and monopoly, and intentional rebellion were all revealed.

Similarly, some scholars who were dismissed by the official department also felt resentful. They knelt and petitioned at the gate of the palace, accusing Ma Shiying of cronyism and unfair evaluation by the official department.

Ma Shiying is not a red lady. Facing such a massive crusade, she is also under great pressure. She can't sit still, so she has to go to the palace to see His Majesty. One is to test the emperor's attitude, and the other is to seek psychological comfort.

It's a pity that Zhu Cihong was already busy arranging for the shipbuilding business, and it was still Zhang Yan who was interviewed.

"Ma Aiqing, Your Majesty has already gone to the Longjiang Shipyard. When he left, he left a message, telling you not to be afraid, just let it go, and rectify the bureaucracy as soon as possible. It must be completed before April, and then start to compile household registers and measure land."

After Zhang Yan finished speaking, she couldn't help asking: "How is the administration of officials going?"

"After returning to the Empress Dowager, the officials in various places have been counted clearly, and the corresponding grades have been awarded according to the new regulations. The lack of officials in various places has also been filled. I am preparing for the transfer, but I am afraid that many officials will not be willing. If you go to another place to take office, I suggest that you give the local officials a month's salary first, so as to dispel some of their worries."

When Ma Shiying saw such a big event, His Majesty did not sit in the palace, but went to the wasteland of the Longjiang Shipyard to inspect.

"That's true. How much money will it cost? Please report the amount first!" Zhang Yan nodded and said, she also had no choice but to treat Hong'er for not doing her job properly.

"Returning to the Queen Mother, there are more than 30 officials in Nanzhili, big and small. According to the salary stipulated by the New Deal, a total of about [-] taels of salary is needed."

"It's so much? 30 taels a month, isn't it more than three million taels a year? This is only a province in Nanzhili. If you add the salaries of the officials in the whole country, wouldn't it be 4000 to [-] million taels?" Expenses?"

Zhang Yan was so shocked that her face turned pale with fright.

"That's true, but the Queen Mother should not worry too much. After the implementation of the new land tax policy, the tax collected from the whole country may be more than 4000 to [-] million taels, not to mention the business. Your Majesty must have plans."

Ma Shiying hurriedly explained that he knew that His Majesty dared to offer such a high salary, so he must have been prepared.

Even if His Majesty is not prepared, he intends to suggest that His Majesty levy commercial taxes and set up a shipping department, otherwise the imperial court will absolutely not be able to afford it.

"Okay then, Aijia will allocate 50 taels to you temporarily, but can you guarantee that the money will be distributed to those officials?"

Although the red lady took away ten million taels of silver, Nanjing still left nearly 5000 million taels, all of which were kept by Zhang Yan herself.

"This... the old minister can't guarantee it, and can't guarantee it."

Facing Zhang Yan's questioning, Ma Shiying was also a little embarrassed, but he had to answer honestly.

"You can't guarantee it, so how dare the Ai family allocate the money to you?"

Zhang Yan still knew the virtues of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty. Seeing his appearance, she immediately didn't want to give it away.

"Queen Mother, as the saying goes, when the water is clear, there will be no fish. If officials are afraid of corruption, they will not pay salaries. This..." Ma Shiying also wanted to cry but had no tears.

"Huh, if you don't behave well, you will behave badly. There are plausible arguments. The money belongs to the royal family, not the imperial court. Your Majesty handed over the money to the Ai family, and the Ai family will never be allowed to be corrupted for a while. You have to find a way." Solve it, if you can't solve the corruption, then wait for His Majesty to come back."

Zhang Yan waved her hand, obviously under Zhu Cihong's indoctrination, now she also clearly distinguishes the royal family from the imperial court.

She was sure that if the money was given to Ma Shiying in this way, it would be no more than [-]% of the money that would be distributed to the local officials in the end.

Seeing what Zhang Yan said, Ma Shiying had no choice but to give up, and then asked for instructions on how to deal with the troubled scholars outside the palace, as well as the public opinion in various places.

"Scholars at the gate of the palace will be dealt with by the family. You don't have to worry about it. As for criticism from various places, it is inevitable. As long as it doesn't affect the implementation of the New Deal, you don't have to care too much.

You are not afraid of crooked shadows. Your majesty has long expected this situation. As long as you do things with all your heart and act righteously, your majesty will not listen to greedy words. "

Zhang Yan said slowly, and looked at him meaningfully.

Ma Shiying also knew that Zhang Yan looked down on him as a eunuch from the bottom of her heart, so she didn't say anything more, bowed and left.

"Xu Lan, go to the gate of the palace and tell those scholars and literati that His Majesty will thoroughly investigate the matter of the official department's assessment, and let them all go back, and those who don't listen will be dismissed."

After Ma Shiying left, Zhang Yan gave Xu Lan instructions.

The reason why Xu Lan didn't deal with it immediately was because she had a little selfishness, and wanted to scare Ma Shiying and hit him by the way.

"Yes!"

Xu Lan immediately replied that she was already impatient with the noisy scholars outside the palace gate.

(End of this chapter)