I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 243: Candidates for the Six Cabinet Departments

Early the next morning, he got up under Zhang Yan's dedicated service. After having a simple breakfast, he hurriedly boarded the Dragon Boat Festival and headed to Fengtian Hall. Today was the day to go to the morning court.

Since he ascended the throne, various systems have become more complete and stable. According to the old rules, the morning dynasty is held every Wednesday, Saturday and September, and this system was also used by Zhu Youxiao.

Today's morning meeting is more important, because after nearly a month of debate, the candidate lists for the two cabinet ministers and the three ministers of the six ministries have finally been determined, and they will be announced today at the morning meeting to show public expectations.

Seeing that the dragon had arrived at the Fengtian Hall, the etiquette officials immediately started playing music. The warriors in Jinyi held five umbrella covers and four fans, climbed up to the Danchi from the east and west sides, and stood on the left and right behind the throne. Then Zhu Youxiao climbed onto the Danchi platform. Your Majesty, sit down on the golden platform of the Royal Gate.

Seeing the emperor take his seat, the two rows of tall Han generals below began to crack their whips under the instructions of the etiquette officer.Officials of Honglu Temple also began to sing "Entering the Class" to invite the ministers to enter the royal road into the imperial court in two groups: left and right, civil and military.

The civil servants "go up north to the west" and the military officers "go up north to the east" and perform the ritual of bowing once and kowtowing three times.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live."

"Everyone loves to be flat."

Zhu Youxiao has gone through this process countless times now. He went from being nervous at the beginning to being calm and normal now.

Seeing that everyone had settled down, Wei Zhongxian beside him also coughed lightly, then took a few steps forward and shouted:

"If you have something to play, you will retreat if there is nothing."

At this time, Liu Yishen, the chief assistant of the cabinet, came out of the queue with a slight cough. He bowed his hands and then said:
"Your Majesty, according to His Majesty's decree, the court recommended the candidates for the Cabinet and the Minister of Rites, Officials, and the Ministry of War. Finally, the six ministries and nine ministers recommended the candidates, and the candidate list has been selected. There are many affairs in the Cabinet, Rites, Officials, and the Ministry of War. I would like to ask your Majesty to come early. The edict confirms the candidate to reassure people."

As soon as Liu Yishen said this, Shen Guan and Ye Xianggao immediately agreed that this kind of matter should be decided early and should not be delayed.

After the cabinet recommended and screened, four candidates were identified, namely:
The first is Zhu Guozuo, the former minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was the number one scholar in the Wanli Dynasty. In the 26th year of Wanli, he served as the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, took charge of the affairs of the ministry, and supported the crown prince Zhu Changluo. In the end, he was deposed by the Wanli Emperor and stayed at home.

After Guangzong Zhu Changluo succeeded to the throne, he originally wanted to use him, but it was useless because Guangzong died soon. Now that the cabinet was being added, Liu Yishen suggested that he be invited to join the cabinet.

The second one is Zhu Guozhen, the current right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. When he was an official in Jiangnan, he proposed the equalization of farmland and equal service. He also wrote to the cabinet many times to explain the disadvantages of unfair taxation and proposed to determine the service based on acres.

Later, it was adopted and applied by Xu Minshi. With the support of Ye Xianggao, equalization of land and equalization of labor was finally implemented in Jiangnan, which cracked down on the rich and powerful. However, he had been feeling unwell and sick, so Wanli retired to go home to recuperate until When Guangzong ascended the throne, he invited him back to serve as the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

The third person is Sun Chengzong, the boss of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He first served with Yang Lian and others when escorting, and then became Zhu Youxiao's Jingyan teacher. He was very trusted by Zhu Youxiao. Finally, in order to promote equalization of land and labor in the Gyeonggi area, he He was promoted to deputy censor of Youdu, responsible for the equalization of land and labor.

Last month, Liu Yishen recommended Ye Xianggao to the cabinet when he added ministers. Initially, everyone felt that Sun Chengzong was promoted too quickly and had never held a high position within the six ministries, so they did not agree.

But Liu Yishui gave a reason that no one could refuse, which was that the emperor asked the British Duke Zhang Weixian to join the Military Aircraft Department on the grounds that no one in the cabinet knew soldiers. Sun Chengzong happened to know soldiers. Wouldn't it be better to join Zhang Weixian if he joined the cabinet? contend.

Otherwise, there would be no civil servants in the Military Aircraft Department who knew the military. Everyone accepted this. In addition, Sun Chengzong had always been prestigious, so he was successfully promoted to the list.

Most of the first three were recommended by Liu Yishen, and the last one was proposed by Shen Guan. Zhang Zhifa, the right minister of the Ministry of War, was a member of the Qi Party. Compared with others, this person was younger and was a Jinshi in the 29th year of Wanli (1601). ), once served as Guanglu Qing.

During his tenure, many of Jinghe's shortcomings were rectified. More importantly, he and Shen Guan were old acquaintances. After Shen Guan seceded from the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang Party, he was one of the few who supported Shen Guan. Therefore, Shen Guan reciprocated the favor and proposed Support him in the cabinet.

Hearing Liu Yishen's words, Zhu Youxiao nodded. Isn't that what he was doing today?

So he gave Wei Zhongxian a look, and Wei Zhongxian understood immediately, respectfully took out an imperial edict from the document, and then stepped forward and read it loudly to the courtiers.

“The country is in dire straits, and I have been working hard and long to find good talents. The cabinet is an important part of the country, and the people it employs cannot be neglected. I have ordered that we work together to recommend good talents.

Now, after being recommended by the Six Ministries and the Nine Qing Courts, I have heard from Heaven. I have selected talents from among them and appointed Sun Chengzong, deputy censor of Youdu, and Zhu Guozhen, right minister of the Ministry of Personnel, to be the bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, Taibao, the crown prince of Jin Dynasty. "

"I congratulate your majesty!"

These four people were all promoted by the Liubu Jiuqing Court, and they would not object to whoever they choose.But now that they heard the names of these two people, everyone was secretly frightened. It seemed that Liu Yishen's position as chief assistant was firmly established.

Both of them were recommended by Liu Yishen. Since they were appointed by the emperor as cabinet ministers, among the five cabinet members, Liu Yishen was now the dominant one, and neither Ye Xianggao nor Shen Guan could compete with him.

So someone looked at Ye Xianggao quietly and saw Ye Xianggao sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai with no expression, feeling that the matter had nothing to do with him. "These two people are loyal to the country and will join the cabinet to discuss affairs from now on."

"According to the order."

Zhu Youxiao had been thinking about choosing Zhu Youxiao for a long time. He actually wanted to bring Shen Guan's Zhang Zhifa into the cabinet so that Shen Guan and Liu Yishen would check and balance each other so that Liu Yishen's family would not become the dominant one. However, he carefully After thinking about it, I felt that there was no need to do this.

Since Liu Yishen came to serve as the chief minister of the cabinet, he has been trying to bridge the party disputes. At the same time, he is also enterprising and practical. He does not reject his reform measures, and some of them even agree with him. In this case, not only should he not check and balance him, but he should also He should be allowed to remain in power and continue to help him implement reforms.

The so-called checks and balances are just a means for the monarch to check and balance his ministers and prevent one family from becoming dominant when his prestige is weak. Now that his prestige is not bad, why should he check himself.

Besides, in terms of appointments, compared with Zhu Guozuo and Zhang Zhifa, Zhu Guozhen and Sun Chengzong have obvious advantages, that is, they both support equalization of land and equal service. Zhu Guozhen is the initiator of equalization of land and equal service, and Sun Chengzong is the promoter of equalization of land and service in the capital.

Now Zhu Youxiao is determined to implement this matter in Gyeonggi Province and will never give up halfway.

Now that these two people have been appointed to the cabinet, together with Liu Yishen and Ye Xianggao, who originally supported the equalization of farmland and equal service, there are four people in the cabinet who support this matter. This determination is not small, so I don’t believe that this matter will be It cannot be implemented.

Everyone present was a smart person. They knew the resumes of these four people well before they came here. Now that the emperor asked them to join the cabinet, they also understood the emperor's intention and wanted to quickly ask the well-known gentry in the capital not to object. The court I'm afraid something big is going to happen.

After the cabinet members are selected, the next step is to select the six ministers.

Before everyone could make up their mind, Wei Zhongxian held up another edict from the document, coughed lightly and began to read it out.

"Since I came to the throne, I have been admired by the people. Now I hear that there are vacancies in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of War. I feel sad and always have the heart to benefit the country. Thanks to the strategy of the ministers and the collective efforts, I have selected three wonderful people to lead everyone to peace. To comfort me, I specially appoint Zhao Nanxing as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Sun Shenxing as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Wang Zaijin as the Minister of the Ministry of War."

At that time, there were six or seven candidates recommended by the cabinet, but Zhu Youxiao was relatively familiar with these three.

Among them was Zhao Nanxing, a leader of the Donglin Party. During the Wanli period, he had served as a merit-exam doctor. Unexpectedly, as soon as he took office, he would eliminate unqualified people and related households on a large scale.

These included a large number of private individuals recommended by the cabinet, which made both the court and the government hate him. He was eventually dismissed from his post for more than 20 years. Although he was recommended as an official many times, Wanli opposed them all.

Now that the Donglin Party is back in power, Liu Yishui, Ye Xianggao and others have repeatedly written to re-appoint him, and Zhu Youxiao also agreed, although he was not very satisfied with Zhao Nanxing's formation of a party.

But now he is not afraid of the Donglin Party's power. Now the government also needs a person like him who is upright, not greedy, and dedicated to public service, so he decided to re-enable him.

As for Sun Shenxing and Wang Zaijin, one of them previously served as the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the other as the left minister of the Ministry of War. They were very familiar with the affairs of the headquarters. It is understandable that they are now taking their places.

Especially Wang Zaijin, Zhu Youxiao had heard of him in his previous life. Historically, after the failure of the Battle of Guangning, Xiong Tingbi was killed. Wang Zaijin, as the Minister of War, managed Liaodong, Jizhen, Tianjin and other places.

He then proposed the strategy of abandoning the outside of the pass, rebuilding Shanhaiguan, re-building the pass and setting up dangers to defend the mountains and seas, and to defend the capital. However, he was opposed by Sun Chengzong, Yuan Chonghuan and others, so he had to give up.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao did not have a good impression of him, and he still wanted to let Sun Chengzong serve as a minister of the Ministry of War as a cabinet minister, as in history. However, Sun Chengzong now shouldered the important task of promoting equalization of land and equalization of service, so he could only temporarily appoint Wang Zaijin.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

These people were also from the list launched by the imperial court, so everyone naturally had no objections and immediately bowed their heads in agreement.

So the candidates for the cabinet and the six ministers have now been determined. From this point of view, Donglin has won a great victory. Now there is a scene of a dominant family, but this Donglin is not the other Donglin.

After the previous struggle between Liu Yishui and Ye Xianggao, Dong Lin who came up now is not a talker like Hui Shiyang and Feng Congwu before, but a practical person like Yang Lian and Zou Yuanbiao.

This is also the Donglin that Zhu Youxiao recognized in his heart. The Donglin Party is not a party. The so-called Donglin Academy is just a place where like-minded people gather together to criticize the current ills and talk loudly.

They neither have a program nor very clear and specific ideas. There is a mixture of people among them, some who really want to get rid of old evils and reform and make new plans, and others who want to seek official positions through this, so it cannot be generalized.

Now, after a series of guidance by Zhu Youxiao, the differentiation of the Donglin Party has begun to take effect. Now it is time for these real Donglin hard-working factions to play their role.

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　　I will post the current list of the six ministerial books of the cabinet in the book circle tonight.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)