I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 267: Can the Ming Dynasty’s Treasury withstand it?

Gao Gong and Gao Yi involuntarily turned their heads to look at Xu Yangzheng.

Do you still have questions?
There were three major forces in the court: the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Party headed by Xu Jie, the New Party headed by Gao Gong, or the Gao Party, and the Prince's party.

It is impossible for Xu Jie to mess with himself, and the Gao party is out of reach of Songjiang Prefecture. The only ones capable of causing trouble are the prince's party.

When Xu Yangzheng saw the two men's looks, he thought for a moment and realized that he had asked the wrong question, which showed that he had a low political understanding. He changed his mind and quickly tried to find amends.

"Lord Xinzheng, Lord Nanyu, what I mean is that the prince and his party planned this incident. What is their intention?"

Gao Gong felt that Xu Yangzheng's political savvy was not high, but he was diligent and willing to give him some advice. However, his mind was full of how to solve the problem and he had no intention of giving him any advice, so he winked at Gao Yi.

Gao Yi spoke slowly: "The prince's party is the most powerful at the time, but the prince has always suppressed them. Brother Mengquan, do you know why?"

Xu Yangzheng was a little surprised, "The prince is suppressing them? I don't think so."

Gao Yi glanced at Gao Gong.

These eight sages of Liuzhou were talented and well-educated, but they did not have much experience in political struggles.

Gao Yi continued, "The prince's party, Li Shilu and Zhang Shuda entered the cabinet. They had a teacher-student relationship with the prince and were his close ministers, but they were very distant from Hu Ruzhen and other southeastern factions. In fact, they could not be considered a party."

After this hint, Xu Yangzheng understood.

Yes, the rise of the prince's party started from the southeast. Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, Liu Tao, Wang Yi'e, Cao Bangfu and other ministers were all capable officials at the time. They were indeed not the same kind of people as Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji.

It can be said that the prince's party is actually divided into two factions. One is the Southeast Faction, also called the Local Faction, because Hu Zongxian and others were all trained in the Southeast, and most of them now serve as local governors and hold real power in the local area.

The other faction is the Hanlin faction, also known as the Central Government faction. Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Zhao Zhenji were all selected as Shujishi and entered the Hanlin Academy, and served in the central government.

Zhang Juzheng only served as a border inspector for a short period of time and as the governor of Shandong for a year, and barely had some experience as a local official.

Zhao Zhenji was demoted to a local place just because he offended Yan Song. That was not an official position at all, but just a disguised form of exile.

The two factions are not of the same kind at all, and their philosophies of governance are also very different, but with the presence of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the two factions are in harmony.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was also quite resourceful. He used the Southeast Faction headed by Hu Zongxian to firmly control the military and financial power. He also used the Hanlin Faction headed by Li Chunfang to fight against Xu Jie and Gao Gong in the central government, and communicated with the upper and lower levels to firmly control the real power of the country.

Do local faction leaders such as Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, and Cao Bangfu want to join the cabinet?

Of course I did.

So it was just right that when Lord Gao had surveyed the land in the three towns and had made great gains and was preparing to carry out a large-scale survey, the incident of Prefect Cai kneeling in front of the gate of Xu's house happened.

If it had happened in the previous dynasties of Jiajing, Zhengde, Hongzhi, Chenghua, etc., as soon as this kind of thing came out, the Xu faction and the Gao faction would have already fought each other to pieces, and with someone secretly fanning the flames, the outcome might have been a lose-lose situation, and then the Southeast Faction headed by Hu Zongxian would have reaped the benefits and entered the cabinet safely.

However, this incident happened in our dynasty, during the Longqing period when the Prince of Xiyuan was in power. Except for dozens of upright officials who submitted memorials to impeach Xu Jie, the backbones and followers of Xu's party, Gao's party, and the prince's party all behaved themselves and none of them dared to step down.

The public opinion may seem lively, but in reality, it is just like that and cannot cause much waves.

why?
Because the attitude of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Xiyuan is unclear!
He kept silent, and the people from the three parties all pretended to be deaf and dumb and refused to make any public statement.

When Xu Yangzheng thought of this, he was shocked.

He was an old Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing's reign. After all, he had spent more than 20 years in the Jiajing dynasty. He had been to Beijing and Nanjing. He was also beaten with a stick in the court and demoted to Yunnan for impeaching Yan Song.

The previous emperor of the Jiajing Dynasty also sat firmly in the Western Garden and had clever tactics, but the various parties in the court had never been so tacit.

Xu Yangzheng's heart was beating fast.

This was a major party dispute involving a prime minister, two cabinet ministers, and several ministers. If it had happened in other dynasties, it would have exploded long ago. But in the Longqing Dynasty, everything was calm, and the three parties did not dare to speak out first. They were all secretly trying to figure out what the man in the Western Garden was thinking.

Did the late emperor have such skills?
Xu Yangzheng thought about it again and felt a little frightened.

It seems that there has been no more beatings in court since the new emperor ascended the throne.

I heard that the skills of those executioners in the Eastern Depot's Jinyiwei are becoming rusty.

The late emperor was cruel and dared to kill people. He would beat officials with a stick in court from time to time. This killed the arrogance of civil officials, but encouraged the trend of selling integrity to seek fame.

His good grandson not only dares to kill people, but also destroys their hearts.

He will not give you the opportunity to sell a direct invitation, but will directly let you go to the border to do practical work.

If you are really guilty, the three judicial officials will jointly judge and decide that he will either be beheaded and his family confiscated, or he will be stripped of his official position and honors, and his three generations will not be allowed to take the imperial examinations. My dear mother, this one makes many noble families tremble with fear.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is more disciplined than the other ministers, and he does not act as he pleases like some previous emperors. However, this discipline makes the ministers feel uncomfortable and afraid.

Seeing Xu Yangzheng's expression, Gao Gong and Gao Yi knew that he had realized it, so they did not pursue the topic further.

"Lord Xinzheng, I heard that Li Shilu has been holding back on the plan for the reform of the central government for more than half a year. Will it be discussed at the Taiji Hall meeting soon?"

"Yes."

"Does Lord Xinzheng know any news?"

The rectification of civil service administration and the reform of the central government concerned the official hats of tens of thousands of officials. In addition, the person in Xiyuan was a particularly troublesome person, so all the central governments and local governments were concerned.

Even the usually aloof GAO Yi is not immune to this trend.

Xu Yangzheng widened his eyes and listened eagerly.

Gao Gong stroked his beard and thought for a while. "This time, the rectification of the civil service and the reform of the central government involve the adjustment of official salaries, which is related to the Ministry of Revenue. Naturally, I was asked to participate. However, Xiyuan is keeping a close eye on this matter. Although you two are my own people, I can only say what I can say."

Gao Yi quickly replied, "It should be so. Lord Xinzheng, please speak."

"The purpose of this administrative system reform is to eliminate the drawbacks of bloated institutions, unclear responsibilities, redundant personnel, excessive operating costs, and low operating efficiency. The main content is the three determinations."

Gao Yi and Xu Yangzheng looked at each other.

Sanding, what the hell?
"It means defining functions, institutions and staffing. To define functions and institutions is mainly to streamline the administration and clarify responsibilities. To define staffing is to prepare for the unification of the country's finances and taxation."

Gao Yi understood something and asked tentatively, "Lord Xinzheng, are you going to make a big change?"

"The big change can be described as a thorough change after the Hongwu Dynasty, which is even bigger than the changes in the Yuanfeng period of the Song Dynasty."

Gao Yi was shocked. He was about to say that it was against ancestral rules, but he swallowed the words back.

Both the grandparents and grandchildren of Xiyuan are not the kind of people who take the ancestral rules seriously, especially His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. As soon as you talk to him about the ancestral rules, he will ask you if skinning and stuffing with straw is also the ancestral rule, which will shut you up with just one sentence.

The ancestral system is just a piece of paper used by civil officials to fool the emperor. Now that people have seen through it, there is no point in mentioning it anymore.

Thinking of this, Gao Yi missed the "Legal Ancestor" Emperor Xiaozong very much, and was somewhat nostalgic for the legendary "Hongzhi Restoration".

Xu Yangzheng also understood what he meant, and asked in shock: "The reform of the former Song Dynasty in Yuanfeng? Lord Xinzheng, will it cause any unrest?"

Gao Gong glanced at him and said, "What kind of unrest has been caused? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has corrected the malpractices in the civil service, increased the salaries of officials and provided additional benefits. All officials are so grateful that they can't wait to express their gratitude. How can there be unrest?

But the benefits of Xiyuan are not so easy to get. If the officials dare to neglect their duties and be lazy and negligent in their work after receiving the high salary, he will make you live like a dead man when he governs you. "

Yes, the official system of the Ming Dynasty established by Emperor Taizu can be described as not giving you enough food, but also asking you to work like a cow or a horse. In such a harsh situation, who can do it except for a few people with high moral integrity?

After twenty years of studying hard, one must fight against thousands of opponents to pass the imperial examination, work hard to get an official position, and still have to bring one's own dry food and endure hunger to serve the country and share the worries of the king. Who would do that?
Now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has begun to reform the official system and administration on the basis of gradually clarifying the financial and taxation systems. The first step is to ensure that officials of all ranks are well fed and well clothed.

This is great news for thousands of middle and low-level officials.

If anyone dares to oppose under the banner of ancestral system, thousands of officials will work together to ask you to go to Emperor Taizu and take back the original ancestral system.

Just as Gao Gong said, the benefits of being the Prince of Xiyuan are not so easy to obtain.

If he gives you the benefits, he can justifiably rectify the administration of officials and severely punish crimes such as corruption, inaction, dereliction of duty, etc. He doesn't have to skin you alive and stuff you with straw, but can directly confiscate your property, exile you, and remove you from your post and reputation.

If you are even more cruel, three generations of three clans will not be allowed to take the imperial examinations, which will bring disaster to the clan’s descendants and make your life a living hell.

Gao Gong looked at Xu Yangzheng's hesitant and panicked expression, and said angrily: "Brother Mengquan, why are you so panicked!"

"Mr. Xinzheng, the students are still a little worried about the sudden implementation of such a major change. Someone will take the opportunity to stir up trouble and cause unrest!"

Gao Gong sneered disdainfully and was too lazy to answer.

Gao Yi replied leisurely: "Nine Frontiers, Beijing Camp, Southern Zhili, all the soldiers that the Ming Dynasty can use are controlled by Xiyuan; salt administration, maritime merchants, and mutual trade, the most profitable ways for the Ming Dynasty are all controlled by Xiyuan.

Who dares to cause unrest? Who can cause unrest? Maybe Xiyuan is hoping someone will jump out and kill this chicken to scare the monkeys. "

Xu Yangzheng thought about it and agreed. He then asked, "But if the salaries of officials increase, can the national treasury afford it?"

(End of this chapter)