Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 244: Plan for all the officials in the world
Very satisfied with Yang Jingchen's answer, Zhu Youjian asked again:

"If I want to govern the world, what do I need to do most now?"

Yang Jingchen had already considered it, even discussed it with many officials, and immediately offered his advice:

"His Majesty once said that the first thing to govern a country is to govern the officials."

"If you want to achieve great governance in the world, you must first plan the officials in the world."

"Those who are disobedient will be severely punished, and those who are greedy and cruel will be dismissed from their posts and will be held accountable by their subordinates."

“Only by refreshing the official system can we achieve lasting peace and stability!”

This is the voice of the Ministry of Personnel and what many officials in the Ministry of Personnel hope.

Zhu Youjian was shocked when he heard his proposal. I didn't expect Yang Jingchen to be so bold and directly bring up things he wanted to do but didn't dare to do.

Extremely cautious about this, Zhu Youjian said:
"Will the officials in the court support such a big thing?"

I think that such a thing will inevitably cause opposition from many officials. After all, what official likes to be inspected?
However, Yang Jingchen's answer made him realize that the Ming Dynasty's officialdom had not been completely corrupted. There were still reliable systems in place, and there were still people willing to implement them.

Just listen to Yang Jingchen say:

"Foreign officials go to Hajj once every three years and conduct inspections at the same time."

"Next year is the year of Wuchen, which coincides with the inspection period."

"The Ministry of Personnel is already preparing to inspect foreign officials next year."

This court practice made Zhu Youjian very excited because he found that he could inspect local officials next year without having to find reasons.

So he immediately realized that this was a good time to adjust local officials. Officials who are corrupt and pervert the law can be removed and replaced with capable officials.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian immediately nodded and said:
"Since it is customary, then it will be held as usual."

"I will issue an edict and let the officials prepare."

Yang Jingchen took the opportunity and said:
"After all the officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs have passed the test, there are still some vacancies."

"Moreover, the inspection still requires the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Please fill in the vacancies."

This is a need for inspecting foreign officials next year and is also needed to stabilize the government.

Considering the heavy tasks of the two departments, Zhu Youjian nodded and asked Yang Jingchen to nominate and appoint vacant officials.

It is impossible for Zhu Youjian to appoint these low-level officials one by one. Yang Jingchen, who was in charge of the Literature and Selection Department, naturally gained corresponding powers.

Several suggestions were made one after another to greatly expand the authority in his hands. Yang Jingchen was very excited and deepened his relationship with the emperor.

So, after the next morning meeting, he started to take care of this matter. The relevant news spread from the official department.

Many people have begun to realize that this time the Ministry of Personnel does not want to follow the previous rules and procedures, and it is very likely that officials will be inspected to refresh the official administration.

Although officials in the capital don't care much about local officials, they are worried that something like this will happen to the capital. Therefore, the affairs of the officials in the world caused a lot of controversy.

December 15th, New Year's Day. Zhu Youjian officially approved the rectification of the sacrificial rituals and the immortal system in the court. This matter was made into a team and passed smoothly. But the matter of planning the world's officials is not so easy to pass, and can only be put on hold temporarily.

Just when Zhu Youjian thought the matter might be delayed for a while, a lunar eclipse occurred that night, causing the matter to be passed quickly.

People at this time believed in the theory of induction between heaven and man. It is believed that abnormal celestial phenomena mean there is something wrong in the world. One of the responsibilities of the Qin Tianjian is to calculate solar and lunar eclipses and other celestial phenomena to avoid mistakes that the court cannot explain.

Lunar eclipses are traditionally seen as omens of sin. Now that there is a lunar eclipse, it naturally means that the court's punishment is not enough and the criminals need to be punished.

Therefore, on December 16th, no official can object to the matter of planning the world’s officials and punishing guilty officials on December 16th——

This was foretold by God, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and other yamen were strongly promoting it, so of course it must be carried out.

Zhu Youjian formally issued an edict, asking the court to punish guilty officials, respect heaven and the people, and ask officials to adopt strategies to pacify the people and police officials, enrich the country and secure the border.

After the matter was passed, some people immediately suggested that the Sanfa Division should be allowed to convict the eunuchs in order to respond to the stars.

Some people even proposed that Wei Zhongxian, Hakka, and Cui Chengxiu should be killed to punish their crimes.

This suggestion made Zhu Youjian frown a little. Although the matter of realizing the plan for the officials of the world was approved, it was resisted by many officials. They didn't dare to openly oppose the court's decision, so they secretly made trouble——

If the punishment for the lunar eclipse is to punish eunuchs, then what does the punishment of guilty officials have to do with the lunar eclipse?
If I agree to this proposal, I will weaken the edict just issued to punish guilty officials. This time, the affairs of the world's officials will not be taken seriously, and will be regarded as the same process as before.

So he immediately postponed the matter, unwilling to associate the punishment of eunuchs with the lunar eclipse.

At the same time, this incident also made Zhu Youjian realize that in the name of punishing eunuchs, he had to let all officials pass the test, and he could no longer carry out the execution. Many officials want to put an end to the eunuch case so that the sword will not remain hanging.

Yang Jingchen's previous suggestion that everyone take sides is indeed necessary. Zhu Youjian has ordered the Supervisor of Ceremonies to make statistics on everyone's attitude towards the rectification of the sacrificial rituals.

Zhu Youjian is not willing to give up easily on this useful weapon that everyone can pass. He asked the officials of the Third Judiciary Division to carefully examine the cases, first try the cases of the core members of the Eunuch Party, and then convict officials with minor crimes. So that these eunuch officials who were retained in the court were always under his intimidation and did not dare to disobey the emperor.

In Zhu Youjian's view, this high-pressure policy has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it can improve efficiency, but the disadvantage is that it keeps officials tense and they will not be able to stand it.

So this is just a temporary policy, and it will have to be canceled after one or two years.

Zhu Youjian understood this very clearly. He knew that he did not have the prestige of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and could not continue to impose harsh measures on officials. Nowadays, everyone passes the test and everyone takes sides just to stay in power, and this cannot continue forever.

Even, in order to reassure the retained officials, Zhu Youjian asked the Sanfa Division to identify the core members of the eunuch party as soon as possible. Most of the remaining officials with minor crimes were retained in their posts. In order to avoid the frequent transfer of officials during the review of counter-cases, the government has always been unstable.

The treatment of the core members of the Eunuch Party was therefore criticized a few days later. Zhu Youjian followed the advice of the Sanfa Division and asked them to choose a day to execute Wei Liangqing, Hou Guoxing and others.

Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun and others were saved by him and sent to the newly established Dongning Guard overseas.

This result does not satisfy everyone. Because what Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun and others did was so bad, many people were killed by torture.

Many people believe that they should be killed to comfort the dead.

　"Si Ling Qin Zheng Ji":
　　Chongzhen went to Jiyou in the twelfth month of Dingmao. Because of the lunar eclipse, the emperor ordered:
　　I have reviewed and reviewed the records and found that the emperors of ancient times all regarded respecting heaven and caring for the people as their first righteousness. It is necessary to employ people and manage finances, pacify chaos and protect the people; each hundred bureaus guard their officials, and all surnames work together to secure their careers, so as to eliminate disasters and consolidate border defenses. The road must follow the one who is near.

　　Heaven is warning me that the lunar eclipse is too severe. I look up at the primeval phenomena and feel wary and restless. "The Biography" says "lunar eclipse repairs punishment", which means that the innocent people are wronged, which brings sorrow to the people, resulting in this weak eclipse. Stay with me all day and night, and work with your ministers to figure out how to avert the disaster. …

　　You Jiuqing, a scholar of science and education, must be sincere and tell what you have seen. Even if it is not included in the imperial edict, you might as well draw it carefully. If you can pacify the people and police officers, enrich the country and secure the border, I will adopt it. All ministers should also wash away their long-established habits and encourage public loyalty together, so as to support one person's practical intention of practicing side by side, and not just fill up the blame with empty words. He respects my orders. Special edict.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)