I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 480: Zhang Juzheng's First Waking of Insects

The Ziguang Pavilion in the Western Garden was formerly the location of the Silijian. Later, the Silijian moved to the more spacious former Yuyongjian near Nanhua Gate. This place became the place where Zhu Yijun convened the Cabinet and the Supervisory Office for meetings.

Today, the five cabinet elders, Chief Minister Li Chunfang, Second Minister Zhao Zhenji, Cabinet Elder and Minister of Personnel Zhang Juzheng, Cabinet Elder and Chief Secretary Chen Yiqin, and Cabinet Elder and Minister of Revenue Gao Gong, are all here, sitting on the left and right sides.

The Chief Secretary was a new position created by Zhu Yijun, similar to the Secretary-General, responsible for handling the daily affairs of the cabinet and correspondence.

Zhu Yijun sat at the top seat.

Cabinet Chief Secretary Chen Yiqin is making a report.

"Your Highness, the preliminary trial of the first batch of criminals in the Zongfan treason case has ended. The 27 main criminals, led by Zhu Yuntan, the Prince of Baoding of Shen, Zhu Jingrong, the Prince of Longde of Qin, Zhu Shenjing, the temporary governor of Jin, Zhu Linhu, the Prince of Shou'an of Jing, Zhu Heluo, the Prince of Yanning of Lu, Zhu Kanwu, the Prince of Pingyang of Dai, Zhu Jinliang, the Prince of Dening of Qing, Zhu Youluo, the Prince of Shouchun of Huai, and Zhu Chengfan, the Prince of Baoqing of Min, have all the witnesses and evidence, and they have confessed to the crime.

The special case team of the Ministry of Justice deliberated and sentenced them to be executed by public execution. The vassal states of Shen, Qin, Jing, Qing, Huai, and Min were abolished.
In addition, there is irrefutable evidence that the Prince of Jingjiang's mansion had colluded with the rebel chieftain and stolen and sold weapons and armor. The special case team of the Ministry of Justice deliberated and sentenced Prince of Jingjiang Zhu Bangzhu to be confined to Zhongdu, and the Jingjiang vassal state was abolished.

The first generation of Jingjiang Prince was the grandson of Emperor Taizu's brother, Prince of Nanchang Zhu Xinglong, and the son of Emperor Taizu's nephew Zhu Wenzheng. He was not a descendant of Emperor Taizu, but was actually considered a clan relative.

This time, he was caught while hunting rabbits, and he was cleaned up at the same time, without any surprises.

Chen Yiqin's voice echoed in the room. The air was filled with solemnity, and the six elders all looked heavy-faced.

At the beginning of the year, six vassal states were eliminated, and now six more have been eliminated. The twenty-six vassal states that had been passed down from Emperor Taizu to the Longqing period were eliminated by Zhu Yijun with a few swords, and now there are only fourteen left.

What is even more shocking is that the last time the feudal lords were reduced in power, they were only imprisoned, but this time they were directly killed and beheaded.

Throughout all the dynasties, only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has such courage, and this courage is terrifying.

The six ministers were in very complicated moods.

They were well aware of the heavy burden that the royal family and vassal states brought to the imperial court, and that this burden would grow bigger and bigger like a snowball, suffocating the Ming Dynasty.

The six cabinet ministers know it clearly, but don’t the famous ministers of the previous dynasty know it?

Everyone knows it, but they are afraid to act rashly.

Emperors of all dynasties always thought of their common ancestors and always fantasized that these relatives were the cornerstone of imperial power.

If the emperor doesn't want to move, how could the ministers be willing to be the first to take action?

Besides, the ministers have an even deeper taboo. After the reduction of the power of the princes, what should the emperor do if he wants to reuse the princes in order to strengthen the imperial power?
After two hundred years of shirking responsibility, the late Emperor Jiajing finally took action to abolish the Yi vassal state and fiefdom. However, he ended up with a bad reputation for being cold and indifferent, and no one dared to take any action again.

When the Crown Prince came to power, everyone knew that he was a skilled and daring man, and would definitely attack the vassal states. But no one expected that he would directly swing an axe and chop them down.

Not only the various feudal lords were frightened, but all the civil and military officials in the court were frightened.

When rectifying the royal family, the crown prince invited members of the royal family to participate in politics and gradually granted official positions to some princes and dukes.

Zhu Zaiting, the Prince of Zhou, was granted the seal of the Imperial History Bureau; Zhu Ying, the Prince of Chu, was granted the seal of the National History Museum; Zhu Xuanqi, the Prince of Shu, was granted the title of the Chief of the Imperial Clan; Zhu Xian, the Prince of Zhao, and Zhu Zaiyao, the Prince of Zheng, were granted the titles of the Left and Right Envoys of the Xuanhuiyuan; Zhu Langqi, the Grandson of the Prince of Han, was granted the title of the Right Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple; Zhu Youfu, the Prince of Yongding, the Prince of Rong, was granted the title of the Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Observatory.
The royal family passed the recruitment examination and served as low-level officials.
Although the civil servants felt very uncomfortable, they kept it to themselves and dared not speak out.

When the prince goes crazy, he even kills clan members. It is better for me to keep silent than to say anything.

Safety comes first when working in the officialdom.

Chen Yiqin paused in his report, and Zhu Yijun glanced at the silent crowd and continued, "I am thinking of our common ancestry, so I will change the sentence of these treason ringleaders to hanging, and leave their bodies intact.

They can ignore the emperor's grace, disregard the clan's feelings, and be extremely treacherous and evil, but I cannot be unkind and unjust. "

You are indeed the good grandson of the late emperor. You have said all the good words and done all the good things.

The meeting will continue, and Chen Yiqin will report next.

"Your Highness, as of the day before yesterday, 31,643 children of the royal family from various places had signed up for the training school, 6,255 had joined the army, and the rest had sought other ways to make a living."

Faced with the bloody facts, royal families from all over the country finally faced reality.

It is useless to file a complaint with the emperor, because who are you to file a complaint against me?
There is no point in crying at the tomb, unless you cry Emperor Taizu back to life, then maybe there is room for negotiation.

The imperial court also issued a stern decree to the world, declaring that the old system of rice salary would be completely stopped after one month's salary.

From now on, only the princes, dukes, and generals who defended the country/assisted the country/served the country who passed the examination would receive clan salaries. The standards would be set separately, and they would be divided into a certain amount of rice and silver.

For the rest, only those who honestly enrolled in the training institute and learned a skill would be given a three-month subsidy. And those who were admitted to the academy or the Imperial College were indeed talented and would also receive subsidies.

As for the rest who make a living on their own, there are subsidies.

As for those who are still making trouble and insisting on being supported by the court, there is only one word for them: death!
Zhu Yijun turned to Gao Gong and said, "Lord Gao, the three-month subsidy for the royal family members to study at the training institute, as well as the start-up subsidy for self-employment, must be paid on time by the Ministry of Revenue.

According to the new method, they will be asked to open accounts in the four major banks, namely, Fuguo, Huijin, Tongshang and Huimin, and the Ministry of Revenue will directly transfer the money to their accounts, so that they don’t have to accuse someone of exploiting them and causing them to get entangled. "

The method of directly transferring funds to bank accounts is gradually being promoted, especially the Ministry of Revenue’s allocation of funds from the national treasury, which is now required to be transferred through bank accounts.

Although this is cumbersome, as Zhu Yijun said, it is better to spend more time and effort on writing and accounting to eliminate as much opportunity as possible for clerks to take advantage of the situation and embezzle money.

Gao Gong replied: "Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue has already budgeted all these funds and has prepared them properly, and they can be disbursed on time.

Your Highness is kind and considerate. He not only considers the interests of the court and reduces the burden on the people, but also takes into account the feelings of his relatives. He devotes all his energy and thinks very carefully for them.

I hope these vassal clans can appreciate your highness's painstaking efforts, strive for self-improvement, and not let your highness and the court down." The other five cabinet ministers stared at Gao Gong.

Tall and bearded, you have changed.

You were not like this back then!
He dared to confront Yan Song and Xu Jie in person and could ignore the words of the late emperor. Now he is so submissive and gentle in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. We really can't get used to it for a while.

Gao Gong glanced around, taking in the looks of his colleagues, and curled his lips in disdain.

If you have the guts, then jump and act like a troublemaker for me to see!
See how His Royal Highness the Crown Prince deals with you!

The late emperor only tried to kill you with a stick in court, but if you angered the Crown Prince, he would kill you and destroy your heart, and make sure that your line of succession will not last more than three generations.

Everyone's eyes intertwined in the air for a while, and then everyone withdrew their troops.

Everyone knew that the affairs of the various vassal states had come to an end.

The 100,000 royal family members will live according to the new system in the future. A few will continue to enjoy the benefits of worshipping the ancestral temple, while most of them will devote themselves to the construction of the new Ming Dynasty. The advantages of reincarnation will disappear.

Li Chunfang interrupted and reported, "Your Highness, the cabinet has received reports from officials in Hunan and Hubei that there are royal family members active in Qizhou, Wugang, Changsha and other places, colluding with bandits and robbers, and are ready to make a move. The court should make preparations early."

Zhu Yijun smiled coldly, "These scums of the royal family are willing to degenerate, so let them be. If the sky wants to rain and my mother wants to marry, let them be.

The Imperial Guard had long been keeping an eye on the various vassal states, and had already submitted reports of their abnormalities. The Supervisory Office had already sent a letter to the court to mobilize four regiments of the Marine Corps to march upstream in disguise and station in Wuchang and Changsha.

They are in a hurry to die, so I am willing to bury them."

The five elders of the cabinet remained silent. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince always had a plan for everything he did. When he made such a fuss about the royal family, he must have expected that some people would become desperate.

We have already deployed spies and are keeping a close eye on these people.

Now he has drawn out his gold medal thugs, the Marine Battalion, and quietly deployed them in Wuchang and Changsha, waiting for an opportunity to act, just waiting for those royal family members to jump out and commit suicide.

Next, Zhang Juzheng reported on the implementation of the "Officials' Performance Evaluation System."

Let’s start with the departments and halls of the six ministries and temples.

The sub-offices of the six ministries and the sub-offices of the temples are all central agencies in charge of a certain matter, and the chief and deputy officers are both called Langzhong Yuanwailang.

It is the best place under the feet of the emperor. If there is anything good, let them try the imperial examination first.

This test was disastrous, and all the six temples complained.

As soon as Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, Gao Gong, who had been holding back his temper, immediately started to get angry.

"Kaocheng, Kaocheng, I think it's like putting someone in shackles and torture. The Ministry of Revenue is busy, and officials from all departments are busy from morning till night, and they have to deal with the rules and regulations of the Kaocheng Law.

I used to be able to devote myself to government affairs, but now I have to spend half of my time dealing with the performance appraisal regulations. Now the various departments of the Ministry of Revenue are being delayed more and more.

If this continues, the Ministry of Revenue will be corrupt and government affairs will be delayed. Your Ministry of Personnel will not be held responsible, but we will be held responsible."

Zhang Juzheng refuted bluntly: "The purpose of the performance evaluation system is what Your Highness said, efficiency and integrity.

The purpose of all these regulations is to make the six ministries and temples act in accordance with the rules, put an end to the tendency of emphasizing empty words over facts and exaggeration, prevent deceiving superiors and bullying subordinates, and false reporting. Through monthly examinations and annual records, officials are encouraged to be consistent in their words and deeds and thus improve efficiency.

The Ministry of Revenue had many things delayed, not because of the obstacles caused by the Performance Evaluation System, but because the Performance Evaluation System uncovered many long-standing malpractices in the Ministry of Revenue. If it had continued to follow the previous bad policies and outdated practices, it would have been impossible to move forward.

Only by innovating and eliminating malpractices, actively making improvements, and taking the performance evaluation system as the guideline, can we improve efficiency and make government affairs more orderly and smoother. "

Gao Gong's eyes widened, and he continued, "The rules of the Ministry of Revenue were established at the beginning of the country and have been in place until now. What's wrong with that? The Ministry of Personnel is trying to be different by establishing the performance evaluation system. It is deliberately making things difficult for other departments in order to highlight your authority."

Zhang Juzheng laughed and said, "Gao is making a fuss here. You are also a well-read person in history books. Of course you know that since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there have been vassal states that have practiced the method of the upper plan.

The system of this law is clear. Officials need to give a detailed account of the household registration and taxation conditions in the area they govern, and divide the report into two parts, one for themselves and one for the monarch, to ensure that the assessment is fair and transparent.

At the end of the year, officials went to the capital to meet the emperor and put the two halves of the record together. The emperor would compare the information from last year with that from this year to assess the effectiveness of the officials in handling government affairs over the past year and ensure that the assessment was objective and fair.

Gao Ge Lao said that the rules of the Ministry of Revenue have been used since the imperial court and do not need to be changed. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince once said that everything should be based on facts. Then how about the rules of the Ministry of Revenue that have been used for two hundred years? The rules of the Ministry of Revenue, the national treasury, the grain depot and the silver should be used as the standard.

Then Zhang would like to ask, is the Ming Dynasty's treasury becoming more and more prosperous, or more and more impoverished?"

Looking at the passionate Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong was stunned for a moment.

In the past, in the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng was very low-key and could fly side by side with the king of low-key, Chen Yiqin.

In past cabinet meetings, whether in the Tuanheqi Hall or the Ziguang Pavilion, Gao Gong had the loudest voice and spoke the most.

Zhang Juzheng was the one who spoke the least. He was silent, just smiled and nodded, and most of his opinions were in agreement with those of the Prime Minister Li Chunfang.

Today is the first time in a while that a cabinet meeting has been held in Ziguang Pavilion. I didn't expect him to suddenly become so powerful. It's really unexpected!
He asked whether the Ming treasury was becoming more and more prosperous or more and more impoverished?

This question caught Gao Gong off guard.

In the first year of the Longqing reign, Gao Gong was appointed to the Ministry of Revenue. He was overwhelmed by the financial difficulties of the national treasury. All the civil and military officials in the court saw it, and he could not lie with his eyes open.

Gao Gong was very depressed. Lao Zhang, did you take the wrong medicine today?
(End of this chapter)