Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 9 Silver Medal Secret Memory
Hearing Zhu Youjian say his name, Hou Baoshan felt excited, knowing that he was already in the emperor's heart, and tried to offer his advice:
"It is not impossible for His Majesty to directly appoint officials from other countries."

"Just convey your intention to the cabinet and let the cabinet vote on it."

"Today's four bachelors are still easy to talk to."

"They can also solve the problems of rejection in the six subjects."

Hearing what Hou Baoshan meant, Zhu Youjian completely understood Wei Zhongxian's role.

If Wei Zhongxian hadn't kept the outer court in order, the four bachelors today would never be so obedient.

But for Zhu Youjian, he needs courtiers who can not only be obedient, but also help him solve internal and external troubles. Those ministers who were submissive and flattering to Wei Zhongxian obviously failed to meet their own requirements. It is necessary to use some ministers who were driven away by Wei Zhongxian to work for the court and help the court solve difficulties.

It is difficult for Wei Zhongxian to agree with this, because he is not the only eunuch, but also officials such as bachelors, ministers, ministers, etc. who are attached to him. These people are all thinking about pulling down the people above them for promotion. How can they be willing to let those people come back to compete for official positions?
As long as Wei Zhongxian was in his right mind, he would not leave them alone. Instead, he would allow the emperor to appoint ministers who opposed him.

Therefore, if Zhu Youjian wants to use capable ministers, he must defeat Wei Zhongxian and a group of people loyal to him. Free up their official positions and place them in positions of ministers.

Moreover, the Donglin Six Gentlemen and Seven Gentlemen incidents caused by Wei Zhongxian were handled too roughly. His actions quickly intensified the party struggle in the Ming Dynasty and caused chaos in the court. The so-called eunuchs under his command have also been in chaos. The eunuch ministers in the court last year are no longer the same people as this year.

Therefore, in Zhu Youjian's view, even if Wei Zhongxian is willing to take refuge, it is completely a negative asset to him. The only value is to use his life to appease everyone in the government and the public.

It would be best if he could be praised by scholars and gain the reputation of being a wise king:
"I will definitely make great changes to the Ming Dynasty's system in the future. The reputation of a wise king is still very important——"

"I want people to know that I am doing it for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, and that I can distinguish right from wrong, so that their loyalty will not be in vain." 』

“In this way, we can attract more people to support and follow a wise king. 』

If a foolish king changes the court system, it will most likely be called chaos. Even if various policies are formulated, they are difficult to implement.

But Mingjun is different. There will be a group of people who support and form arguments with opponents.

Zhu Youjian can find courtiers who support him during the debate and help them rise to high positions.

Therefore, no matter how long Mingjun's reputation lasts, it must be there initially in order to attract talents and build a team.

Wei Zhongxian's cruelty to the scholars gave him the opportunity. As long as he vindicates these people, he is likely to gain the gratitude of scholars and gain the reputation of a wise king.

This is Wei Zhongxian's greatest value now, and it is also the reason why Zhu Youjian must get rid of him.

After turning these over in his mind, Zhu Youjian had made up his mind to get rid of Wei Zhongxian, but from Emperor Tianqi's actions, he knew that if the civil servants were disobedient in the future, he might need a eunuch to suppress the courtiers——

This person should be capable, but not monopolistic.

He must be able to bear the infamy, but not like Wei Zhongxian who made people angry and the court torn apart.

Hou Baoshan is definitely not able to shoulder this important task now. Xu Yingyuan has this idea, but he is too ambitious and may be worse than Wei Zhongxian.

Wang Tiqian might be able to, but he was too deeply involved with Wei Zhongxian, and he didn't show any intention of seeking refuge with Zhu Youjian.

Maybe you can try Tu Wenfu and see if he can afford it!

As the eunuch and eunuch of the Royal Horse Eunuch, Tu Wenfu had sufficient qualifications to serve as the eunuch and eunuch of the Royal Horse Eunuch, and he was also familiar with government affairs. In addition, he took refuge before he ascended to the throne, even if it was to reward him, he had to be promoted.

However, this person is one of the core members of the Eunuch Party, so I am afraid that he will be involved in something illegal and I will have to deal with it.

There is no rush on this matter for the time being. After Zhu Youjian vindicates the murdered scholars, he will definitely have a honeymoon period with the civil officials, and the decree can be implemented. Therefore, he was not in a hurry to use eunuchs to suppress civil servants. He planned to take a closer look and examine more candidates. Wang Chengen, Cao Huachun and other famous eunuchs in history are all on his list.

Not knowing what the emperor was thinking, Xu Yingyuan suddenly felt a sense of crisis in his heart when he saw that Hou Baoshan was praised by Zhu Youjian because of these common sense in the court.

Especially what Hou Baoshan said just now secretly pointed out Wei Zhongxian's role, making Xu Yingyuan worried that Zhu Youjian would continue to appoint Wei Zhongxian because of the troubles in the court.

So he racked his brains and finally remembered something and said:

"Your Majesty wants to use the Zhongzhi to appoint bachelors, so there is no way out." "Master Wanli used the Zhongzhi to appoint Fufang Congzhe. Later, he was the only one left in the cabinet, and he was called the 'Independent Prime Minister'."

"Although there are many slanders in the court, Mr. Fang Ge's position has always been secure."

Zhu Youjian laughed secretly, feeling very interesting. Emperor Wanli left Fang Congzhe alone, and other civil servants either pinched their noses and accepted the reinstatement of the bachelor, or faced the crisis of having no bachelor and the cabinet system overturning. It can be said that he used his own method to resist the control of the civil servant group.

However, this approach is okay in times of peace, but is absolutely unfeasible in times of internal and external troubles. Zhu Youjian didn't believe that a bachelor could handle so many affairs.

Therefore, Emperor Wanli's approach can be used as a reference, but cannot be adopted.

If we really want to say that there is something worth learning from, of course it is the Military Aircraft Department at the pinnacle of autocracy.

However, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty had a tough neck and were not afraid of being killed by the Manchus. It is impossible for them to be willing to kneel and accept the transcript like the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Youjian could only learn a little bit and see what the effect was.

Thinking of the secret memorial system supporting the Military Aircraft Department, Zhu You asked Hou Baoshan:
"The memorial can only be sent to the imperial court after passing through the General Administration Department and the Clerical Office."

"There is a risk of leakage, which is quite detrimental to military and national affairs."

"Is there a system for secretly performing things? And who is in charge?"

Hou Baoshan has been in the library for many years and has some understanding of this kind of thing. Hearing this, he immediately replied:

"During Master Jiajing's reign, he gave ministers silver seals to seal their affairs."

"It is said that it was invented by Mr. Hong Xi. There are four characters on the silver medal, 'rope jiu miao', which means to report mistakes and correct mistakes."

"But after Mr. Jiajing, there were few people who spoke with silver seals. Ministers outside felt that such things were shameful and would damage their reputation."

Zhu Youjian didn't care about this, he just felt that he had found a way to break the situation. As long as this ancestral system exists, I can continue to expand it and make it a new system.

Thinking of this, he became even more satisfied with Hou Baoshan and said:
"You did a good job in the clerk's room. It can be seen that you put your heart into it."

"From now on, you will be in charge of the secret documents of the Silver Seal."

"Think about how to make the silver seal secret message more confidential so that no one can see it."

Zhu Youjian casually handed over the matter to him, wanting to see if his ability could surprise him.

Hou Baoshan happily accepted the order, but when he saw that Zhu Youjian had no more instructions, he withdrew. Zhu Youjian finally opened the box to see what memorials there were.

Hu Tingyan, governor of Shaanxi Province, said:

Lin Gong's salary shortage lasted until five or six years, and the number reached more than 200,000. Jinglubian Fort was short for two or three years. From the forty-seventh year of Wanli to the sixth year of Tianqi, Guzhen Jingyun owed a total of more than 159,000 taels of silver. At first, the armies were still selling their clothes and selling arrows, but now they are When the son left his wife, he was still begging for food in the street at first, but now he is deserting the army and running away. At first he was still talking in the sand, but now he is shouting openly. I beg the general to pay the two taels of silver he owes in advance to protect the dangerous frontier. News.

Zhu Youjian was shocked by the sparse section of the first memorial, and he was no longer as calm as before. Because he knew that no matter how chaotic the court was, it was still within the constraints of the Ming Dynasty system, and he could use the system to deal with it calmly.

What happened in Shaanxi would brew drastic changes that would overthrow the Ming Dynasty. This is a fatal thing for myself.

Especially the "leaving the army and absconding" in the memorial made Zhu Youjian even more worried. The refugees alone are not scary, but after these border town soldiers join in, the refugees will become rogue thieves who are familiar with the official army and can no longer be contained.

If this matter is not handled well, it will soon lead to a peasant uprising and overthrow the entire Ming Dynasty, just like in history.

　"History of the Ming Dynasty": Renzong... taboo Gao Chi.

　　In the year of Wuxu, Jian Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Jin Youzi were given a silver medal each, which was called "Sheng Zhen Jia Miao", and he was ordered to cooperate and support the work. If there is anything wrong with the speech, it should be sealed with a seal to hear. …

　　(Yang Shiqi) entered Shaobao, and was awarded the "Sheng Zhen Jie Miao" silver medal with his fellow officers Yang Rong and Jin Youzi, so that he could speak in a sealed manner.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)