Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 10 Voting Plan
Worried in his heart, Zhu Youjian could only pass the memorial to the cabinet according to the procedure and see how the four bachelors would deal with it. At the same time, in order to express his attitude, he wrote the word "urgent" on the memorial with an imperial pen and asked the cabinet to handle it urgently.

Then, he said to Xu Yingyuan:
"Ask Jinyiwei to send out three investigation teams to investigate the situation in Shaanxi separately."

"We need specific data on refugees and thieves, as well as money, food, population, etc."

"Which team investigates well, I will give a heavy reward to which team, let them investigate carefully, and the results will be reported directly to the emperor."

Worried that the results would come out too slowly, Zhu Youjian said:
"Make statistics on the officials in the capital who were born in Shaanxi and have served in Shaanxi since the Apocalypse, and order them to write a memorial each."

"I want to know what Shaanxi is like now. Are the people living in dire straits?"

Xu Yingyuan agreed upon hearing the words, but Zhu Youjian was really worried, and ordered him to collect the current list of officials in Shaanxi, their resumes, as well as the number of garrison troops and vassal clans, etc., so that he could know it well.

Xu Yingyuan was surprised to see Zhu Youjian attaching so much importance to Shaanxi. It was decided to send the Jin Yiwei with whom he had made friends to Shaanxi in order to be appreciated by the emperor in the future.

Continuing to read the memorial, Zhu Youjian saw the Shandong governor Li Jingbai's report about the floods in Shandong, and he became even more worried about the current situation of the Ming Dynasty:

There were droughts in Shaanxi and floods in Shandong. The climate of the Little Ice Age was indeed a bit abnormal.

We must find ways to adapt to climate change.

Every time the Little Ice Age comes, it is a disaster for mankind. Especially during the transition to the Little Ice Age, the climate alternated between hot and cold, and floods and droughts occurred frequently. There was no certainty at all, which caused great damage to agriculture.

Zhu Youjian knew that the arrival of the Little Ice Age could not be changed, and could only hope that this change process would pass as soon as possible. Then let the people of the Ming Dynasty adapt to the cooler climate and carry out agricultural production.

We must step up efforts to build water conservancy projects and prevent and control floods and droughts. These traditional practices must be stepped up to improve our ability to respond to natural disasters.

The American crops brought by the Age of Discovery must also be promoted more intensively. Some of these crops have higher yields, and some can be planted on previously unused wasteland, which can increase food production.

Crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and peanuts have begun to be introduced into China. Maritime merchants and coastal officials are required to collect more, cultivate improved varieties suitable for China as soon as possible, and promote them in various places.

This matter needs to be done as soon as possible, and the most suitable candidate should be Xu Guangqi, who wrote "The Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs".

Thinking of this name, Zhu Youjian asked Xu Yingyuan:

"What is Xu Guangqi's current position?"

"What are you doing now?"

Xu Yingyuan was somewhat impressed by this senior official with the same surname, and replied:
"Xu Guangqi is currently retiring from his job and living idle. I heard that he is studying in his hometown."

"Before he resigned, he served as the right minister of the Ministry of Rites."

Unexpectedly, Xu Guangqi had such a high official position. Zhu Youjian was a little surprised and found it a bit troublesome.

It would be okay if Xu Guangqi's official position was not high, and not many people would care about reinstating him to his original position. However, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites is already qualified to serve as a bachelor, and hastily reinstating Xu Guangqi to his original position may bring unnecessary speculation. Some people in the DPRK may feel that he is sending a signal and want to shake up the cabinet.

Although he had the idea to adjust the cabinet, it was only after overthrowing the eunuch party.

Now that he has just reached the top, it is not appropriate to cause trouble.

After careful consideration, Zhu Youjian said to Xu Yingyuan:
"I heard that Xu Guangqi had good relations with Westerners and was unique in mathematics."

"Now that the climate is abnormal, the calendar needs to be revised to guide the farming season."

"Send someone to ask Xu Guangqi and let him give his thoughts."

"Also, ask him to present Xiu's book. I want to take a good look at it." Xu Yingyuan heard the words and agreed, knowing that Xu Guangqi was already in the emperor's heart. Thinking about how to make friends with each other and see if they can be used as aid. A minister who is qualified to join the cabinet is still very precious to him now.

Continuing to watch the memorial, Zhu Youjian also saw matters such as the governor's salary and honoring the martyrs, etc. As usual, he sent it to the cabinet for voting.

However, Zhu Youjian also expressed his own opinions on the voting plan:
"There should be at least two cabinet votes, one of which is drafted or approved by the chief minister."

"I want to listen to multiple opinions and not just listen to one side."

Looking for a reason to strengthen his decision-making power, Zhu Youjian asked Xu Yingyuan to write an order and signed it with his own pen. Prevent him from exaggerating and abusing his own name.

Then, Zhu Youjian felt that he should not be too harsh on the officials and wanted them to receive his kindness and speak good words for himself, so he ordered:

"Every official has made great achievements in assisting me and should be rewarded as usual."

"Let the cabinet draft a decree as soon as possible to reward the relevant meritorious officials."

After dealing with these, Zhu Youjian felt really tired. After hurriedly arranging other things, he quickly fell asleep.

It's just that he can sleep, but others can't. After everyone in the eunuch party learned that Liu Zhao led his troops to retreat, some people had already vaguely realized that Wei Zhongxian was gone.

This kind of coup must be either not done or never done. There is absolutely no reason to give up halfway or to end in an anticlimactic manner. Otherwise, settling the accounts after the fall will be an attempted treason, which will inevitably lead to a trip to prison and a ruined life and reputation.

Some alert people have already begun to consider a retreat. He asked Xu Yingyuan, Wang Guotai and other old people in Wang Qiandi's residence to inquire about the new emperor's preferences, and even asked Hou Baoshan.

The four bachelors in the cabinet also knew the news at this time. The four of them looked at each other and smiled bitterly, feeling that there was a hidden danger.

Although they did not participate in the rebellion, as bachelors, they must be involved in such a big event happening in the court. In particular, the four of them have a close relationship with the Eunuch Party. If the Eunuch Party collapses in the future, they will inevitably be expelled.

But it's hard to say how scared they were. After all, they did not participate in the rebellion, and they also contributed to assisting the new emperor in ascending to the throne. Even if the new emperor is angry again, he will not do anything to them. At most, they will be dismissed and returned to their hometown, and they will still be treated as "old ministers".

When the memorial was delivered, Xu Yingyuan sent an order. The four of them felt at ease and felt even more relieved:

The emperor asked them to draft a decree to commend the meritorious officials, which shows that he kept the merits of his rise to power in mind.

Even if he gets implicated in the future, there won't be any big problems.

Maybe it's just a small punishment but a big warning, and he can continue to serve as a bachelor.

With this idea in mind, the four bachelors also became active and felt that they should work hard to make the emperor feel useful.

As a result, they did not dare to easily object to Zhu Youjian's changes in the voting method. Especially for Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, and Li Guopu, in the past, the voting power of the chief assistant was in the hands of the chief assistant. Now, in addition to the vote drafting of the chief assistant, they can also vote independently. Naturally, they would not object to this move to strengthen their power.

For Huang Liji, although Zhu Youjian's changes gave other cabinet ministers the independent power to vote, it also clearly stipulated that the chief minister must vote for every memorial. It can be said that this was in fact The power of the chief minister was recognized. This strengthened the authority of the chief minister.

So after thinking about the pros and cons, Huang Liji finally decided to acquiesce. After all, he has never thought about making decisions arbitrarily, nor does he have the prestige and ability. He even comforted himself:

Compared with Wei Zhongxian who randomly sent a few young eunuchs to ask cabinet ministers to change the votes, the new emperor's approach was much gentler. Several votes were proposed at the same time, and the final decree was changed based on the opinions of all parties, leaving no one speechless. For the cabinet ministers, they also avoided being humiliated by the little eunuch.

In this way, Zhu Youjian's first test of the cabinet passed without incident.

　"History of the Ming Dynasty": After Renzong, many great scholars came from the Jin Dynasty, such as Shangshu, Bao and Fu. They had respected tastes and lived close to each other. They were able to express opinions and comments, and the decision-making mechanism was all drafted by voting. The importance of the cabinet power was changed by the Han and Tang Dynasty prime ministers. , especially not in the prime minister's name. Among all the assistants, Shou Kui is especially important.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)