I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 15: Hitting Xu Jie
Early autumn of the 41st year of Jiajing.

Xiyuan Imperial Garden.

The lake is green, the willows are green, the waves are sparkling, and the green forest is lush.

On the boulevard by the lake, Emperor Jiajing was wearing his sky-blue Taoist robe and a purple gold crown. His sleeves were swinging back and forth, and his steps were strange, a bit like the Tiangang steps that Master Lan of Chaotian Temple used when he cast a spell on Yang Jinshui.

This is a magical step for cultivating immortals that Emperor Jiajing learned from somewhere. It is said that if one practices it more often, one can become as light as a swallow and be reborn.

Zhu Yijun followed behind, walking quickly, but because his legs were short, he could not keep up with the pace of Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing walked for a while and gradually slowed down his pace, and Zhu Yijun soon caught up with him.

"Jun'er," Emperor Jiajing asked after calming his breath.

"My grandson is here."

"Half a year has passed, and the Southeast Anti-Japanese Food and Pay Coordination Office and the three major businesses are operating very well."

"With the Emperor in charge, he has great fortune and wealth, so naturally there will be a lot of money." Zhu Yijun replied with a smile.

Emperor Jiajing laughed out loud.

He had a very comfortable time during this period.

Yan Shifan, Yan Maoqing and other corrupt officials of the Yan party were overthrown, and their properties, amounting to tens of millions of taels of silver, were confiscated, half of which went into the national treasury and the other half into the inner treasury.

Emperor Jiajing had never been so well-off.

Suppress the Japanese! Suppress them vigorously! Suppress them to death. It's these bastards who cut off the sea route and affected the maritime business.

Speed ​​up the construction of the three main halls and the Wanshou Palace. Buy any scarce materials! I am not short of money anymore!
The concubines in the harem have not been rewarded for many years. Reward! The brocade and silk from Jiangnan, the white sugar from Lingnan, and the colored glaze from overseas, reward!
The royal family and relatives have been complaining about poverty for years. Grant! Three thousand taels for my cousin, five thousand taels for my uncle, and two thousand taels for my uncle. I am not short of money now.

Although money was spent like water, Emperor Jiajing felt much better and he felt that his cultivation level had reached a new level.

On the other hand, after five months of operation, the three major businesses quickly got into shape.

With the support of imperial power and Yang Jinshui's manipulation, Xing Ruixiang unified the price of silk in the southeast, raised the price of silk by 30% this year and sold it to Western merchants, making a fortune.

The cotton cloth from the southeast was transported to the north, northwest and southwest, from where it was exchanged for large amounts of accumulated silk, cotton and minerals, which were then resold to make another profit.

De Ruixiang sold tea, bought sugar from Southeast Asia and Ryukyu, and transported it to various places, making a fortune again.

Lianshengxiang's porcelain and glass business is relatively inferior, but that is compared with Xingruixiang and Deruixiang.

Compared with other businesses, it is quite good and not bad.

There was no need to worry about food and money for the suppression of Japanese pirates in the southeast, and Emperor Jiajing could also get a share of the return money, so he was of course very happy.

"Jun'er, I have read the rules you drafted, and I think they do have some tricks." Emperor Jiajing said slowly, "Improve the system, be proactive, improve efficiency, and strengthen rewards. These sixteen words are quite interesting, and they seem like a way to control your subordinates."

“Grandpa Emperor, your grandson learned everything from you.

First, we select the leaders, set up the system, delegate power to them, let them play freely within the system framework, and then supervise through finance and adjust through personnel. This two-pronged approach allows the ship to sail forward in the established direction. "

Emperor Jiajing did not have so much majesty and mask in front of Zhu Yijun.

He smiled and shook his head: "I can't teach you so much. But it's okay, the means of controlling subordinates are all figured out by yourself bit by bit. Try everything, if it works, continue to use it, if it doesn't work, try another one.

Back then, your grandfather the Emperor also tried this way, tried this way and that way, and found the weaknesses of those civil officials, and that’s how he won a great victory.”

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but mutter in his heart, Grandfather Emperor, you've tried this and that, and it does work, but it's too labor-intensive.

Hundreds or even thousands of civil servants were beaten to death in front of the Meridian Gate.

Emperor Jiajing continued, "But you hit the nail on the head with two of your words just now. The key to controlling your subordinates is to control their official hats and their money bags. If you can grasp these two things, you can sit back and relax and let them do whatever they want."

Not to mention the official hat, the emperor does hold his purse tightly.

When it was time for the Ministry of Revenue to settle the previous year's accounts every year, the Emperor would become the Chief Auditor of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Household Department would become the Ming Dynasty's general account office, and the sound of abacus could be heard in Xiyuan all day long.

Unfortunately, the backward accounting system and extensive financial and taxation system were inherently flawed. No matter how hard the emperor tried, his trial was in vain in the end.

Zhu Yijun really wanted to ask, what about the military power?

Then I thought again, this is actually within the scope of official hat and purse.

The Ming army used to be under the jurisdiction of the Five Military Commands Office, which was mainly responsible for the assessment and promotion of officers and generals, while the logistics were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, which basically maintained independence. Later, in the Battle of Tumu Fortress, the emperor Ming Yingzong, all the nobles and veteran generals were killed or wounded. Yu Qian took advantage of the defense of the capital and took over the Beijing camp with the Ministry of War.

From then on, the official hats of the Ming army were under the control of the Ministry of War, and the purses were under the control of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ming army could no longer stand up straight.

Zhu Yijun quickly replied: "Grandson has remembered the teachings of Grandpa Emperor."

Emperor Jiajing nodded and talked about another matter: "Lao Yang submitted his resignation, then took sick leave and stayed at home. This time he has to resign."

Zhu Yijun asked in surprise: "Resigned again? In the past six months, four cabinet ministers have resigned. What's going on?"

"Lord Xu is very clever. Yan Jiehu could tolerate him at the beginning, but he could not tolerate others." Emperor Jiajing's words were a bit harsh, and Zhu Yijun didn't know how to respond.

"Jun'er, what do you think we should do?" Emperor Jiajing gave Zhu Yijun a test question.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and replied hesitantly, "My grandson heard that Mr. Yan is studying hard in his hometown in Jiangxi Province, and he has done well in his studies and even published a collection of his works."

"You read?"

“I saw it, but I didn’t understand it.”

Emperor Jiajing laughed and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand it. You don't want to be the top scholar anyway."

After laughing, he asked, "Do you want Yan Jiehu to come back?"

"Yes, Grandpa Emperor. No matter what, Lord Yan is still the Prime Minister. Grandpa Emperor did not issue an official decree to depose him. Lord Cun Zhai (Xu Jie) is only acting as the Prime Minister in his capacity as the Second Prime Minister."

Emperor Jiajing put his hands in his sleeves and wrapped them in front of his chest. "It is a solution, but once Yan Shifan is gone, Yan Jiehu will lose his backbone. It is hard to say whether it will be useful to call him back."

"Grandpa Emperor, calling back Elder Yan is a warning to Elder Xu. If he doesn't wake up, Grandpa Emperor can use other methods."

"Knock?" Emperor Jiajing glanced at Zhu Yijun.

My dear grandson, I seldom use beatings. I usually use the court cane.

He pondered for a while and nodded, "Okay, let's do as you say. Let's knock on Elder Xu first to see if he wakes up."

In the cabinet, the acting Prime Minister Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng sitting opposite him with a sad face and sighed, "Yang Youshan has submitted his resignation again and is now at home on sick leave. This time he is determined to leave."

Zhang Juzheng said carefully: "Teacher, since the Emperor ordered Lord Yan to study in seclusion in his hometown, three Lords have resigned in the past six months. With Lord Yang, there are now four Lords.

There was a lot of criticism from both the government and the opposition.”

Xu Jie was also very excited. "I know there are a lot of criticisms, saying that I am intolerant and even more arrogant than Yan Song! But, I did not force them to resign!"

Zhang Juzheng was shocked, but when he saw that his teacher, who was always calm and composed, was indeed anxious today, it didn't seem like he was lying.

He asked hesitantly, "These four ministers were arrested and impeached within two months of joining the cabinet. What are the impeachment memorials?"

Xu Jie replied unhappily: "I said, it has nothing to do with me! During this period, the master has been planning to overthrow the remnants of the Yan Party headed by Hu Xianzong. They are the foundation of the Yan Party!"

"Who did that?"

"I, the master, don't know either. I asked someone to investigate, and all I know is that these evidences were secretly delivered to my door."

"Someone secretly gave it to those clean officials headed by Prince Yu's party?"

"Yes, those clean officials thought they had overthrown the Yan Party, and now they look askance at everyone. When they saw that it was the handle of the cabinet minister, they were overjoyed and rushed forward to seek fame."

"Teacher, do you know who gave you the evidence?"

"How does the Master know?" Xu Jie replied with a roll of his eyes.

The clerk brought over some documents: "Sir, these are from the Imperial Household Department."

Xu Jie took it casually, glanced at it, and saw the top one. His eyes widened.

After the clerk left, he handed the document to Zhang Juzheng.

"What? The emperor issued an edict to recall Lord Yan!" Zhang Juzheng was shocked.

Xu Jie calmed down, tapped his fingers on the tabletop dozens of times, his eyes flickered, and he sighed, "Today, I finally understand who threw these four flying knives behind me."

"Who?" Zhang Juzheng couldn't help asking.

(End of this chapter)