I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 510 We can’t accept it for the time being!

"Since I ascend the throne, I will implement new policies and comprehensive reforms!"

Zhu Yijun's words shocked Zhang Juzheng.

Comprehensive reform!

Finally heard this sentence!

I waited for three years and three years, three years and three years, from the Jiajing period to the Longqing period, and then to the Wanli period, and finally I heard this sentence.

If the Ming Dynasty doesn't implement new policy reforms, it will really be over!

God has finally given the Ming Dynasty a chance to survive, and also given me a chance to turn the tide.

Zhu Yijun saw the eagerness on Zhang Juzheng's face.

Before this, he had been testing whether Gao Gong or Zhang Juzheng would be the host of his new policy reforms.

Both of them were famous officials and left their political achievements and names in history.

Zhu Yijun tried hard not to have preconceived ideas or be blinded by historical records, and let the two compete in actual government affairs.

Whether it is a mule or a horse, you will know after taking it out for a few walks.

Both have flaws.

Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were both very arrogant and intolerant.

The two men are talented and arrogant. When they are successful, they become arrogant and always think about seizing power.

It doesn’t matter. There is no perfect person in this world. When employing people, you should use their strengths while also tolerating their weaknesses.

In comparison, Zhang Juzheng is still one step ahead.

Both of them were arrogant, but Zhang Juzheng was arrogant to the core and knew how to keep his arrogance under control.

Gao Gong is not like that, he is a complete psychopath.

Zhang Juzheng was better than Gao Gong in terms of court struggles. He was soft-hearted towards his allies but ruthless towards his opponents.

After all, he learned a lot from his mentor Xu Jie.

But the most important thing is that Zhang Juzheng had faith in the New Deal reforms, while Gao Gong was more of a political speculator.

Now it is time to decide on the host for the New Deal reforms.

Walking to a pavilion by the Zhonghai Lake, Qi Yan, who had received the signal long ago, had already set up the place, with wooden tables and chairs, brewed hot tea, and provided a dozen plates of snacks.

"Please take a seat, everyone." Zhu Yijun gestured for everyone to sit here and chat.

Everyone sat down. Zhu Yijun picked up the hot tea and took a few sips. He felt relaxed and happy as he smelled the fragrance of the tea, felt the spring breeze, and basked in the warm sun.

Putting down the teacup, Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng.

"Master Zhang,"

Zhang Juzheng hurriedly put down his teacup and replied respectfully, "I'm here!"

"I hope you will preside over the Ming Wanli New Deal and promote comprehensive reforms in the Ming Dynasty!"

There was silence in the pavilion, and everyone was looking at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng's face flushed red, and after half a minute, it gradually returned to normal. He replied in a deep voice: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I am willing to do my best and go through fire and water."

Zhu Yijun nodded: "Comprehensive and in-depth reform does require going through fire and water. Any reform requires great courage.

Why? Because any reform will affect the interests of existing interest groups and will be strongly opposed.

It is beyond our ability to rely on you and me alone. What should we do? Support a new interest group.

New groups versus old groups, new interests versus old interests, this is the way to go! "

Hu Zongxian, Zhang Juzheng and the other three looked at each other. What the emperor said today was so insightful that it was hard for them to accept it for a while.

I am extremely honored!

Zhu Yijun saw through the four people's thoughts and explained: "You are my pillars of support, the pillars of governing the Ming Dynasty, and the ministers I trust the most.

From now on, we, the king and his subjects, must fight side by side and overcome all difficulties. We must speak openly and honestly, so that we can work together and be of one mind. "

Waving his hand, Zhu Yijun stopped Hu Zongxian and the other three from flattering him, "Stop flattering me now. Wait until I'm in a bad mood, and then you can say it to make me happy."

Hu Zongxian and the other three smiled inwardly. No matter how mature and prudent the emperor was, he was still a sixteen-year-old boy at heart.

"We will talk about the fostering of new interest groups in detail later. Now let's talk about the New Deal reform. If we want to carry out the New Deal reform, we must do new things in a new way. The reform must look like reform. At the very least, we cannot perform a new play on the crude old stage.

First, let's talk about the administration of officials. Mr. Zhang, you did a great job in the performance evaluation system a few days ago. The responsibilities are clearly defined, and the procedures are clear, which improves efficiency.

Someone submitted a petition saying that the Ming official system was redundant and bloated and demanded that the government be streamlined. I said that this person did not understand the Ming official system at all and did not know the truth.

The Ming Dynasty's official system was redundant and bloated, not because there were too many officials, but because there were too many officials who did not take care of their jobs.

Now the Ming Dynasty does not need to streamline the military and government, but needs to improve the organization and clarify the powers. My dear gentlemen, I ask you, what is an official and what is a clerk? "

Zhao Zhenji stroked his beard and replied, "Your Majesty, I think officials are in charge and clerks are the ones who do things."

Zhu Yijun looked at the other three.

Tan Lun answered, "Your Majesty, officials are selected by the court through imperial examinations, and appointed to govern a region; clerks are recruited and appointed by officials. It can be seen that officials work for the court and for the country, while clerks only work for officials."

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian, and they smiled at each other, "Your Majesty, Mr. Dazhou and Mr. Zili have finished speaking, and I have nothing to say."

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "The court selects, recruits and appoints officials through imperial examinations, forming a big circle in which all civil and military officials are included.

Officials were either appointed to the six ministries or temples, or sent to local prefectures and counties. They recruited assistants and employed clerks, forming a small circle centered on themselves, with assistants inside and clerks outside.

Then the big officials and the small officials, the big circles within the small circles. In the end, the Ming Dynasty court, from the local to the central government, was a series of circles of different sizes, and finally gathered into a huge circle. "

Big circle, small circle, big circle within small circle.

The four of them looked at each other and found the emperor's statement very interesting.

“Everyone in a circle does not need to be responsible to the court and the country, nor does he need to be responsible to the common people. He only needs to be responsible to the people in the circle.

What is the result of such a bureaucratic system? There are many factions and fierce party struggles. People do things regardless of their responsibilities or laws, but only according to their circle. There are many policies and everyone does their own thing.

If we don’t do what we should do and don’t fulfill our responsibilities, it will naturally lead to redundancy and bloat. Master Zhang, the reform of civil service is to break up the circles.”

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, is the purpose of officialdom governance to eradicate factional strife in the officialdom?"

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, "No, that's not it. If there are no factions in the government, there will be all kinds of strange things. If there is no party struggle in the court, it will be earth-shattering! How can there be no factions in the officialdom, how can there be no party struggle?
We must find ways to turn disadvantages into advantages. Factions, let common ideas become common interests, work together, and strive for common ideas.

"Party struggles are about public interests, not private interests."

Zhang Juzheng seemed to be thinking about something and asked, "Your Majesty, what is public interest and what is private interest?" "Master Zhang is from Jiangling, Hubei. You are working hard for the people of Huguang. This is public interest. The court plans water conservancy projects, dredges rivers, and builds straight roads. Master Zhang has secured more project budgets for Huguang. This is public interest!"

At this stage, the requirements for officials cannot be too high. If they can devote their whole heart to benefiting the people of their hometown, they are already considered good officials.

Seeing that everyone understood, Zhu Yijun continued, "In the reform of civil service administration, the performance evaluation system is only one of the means. In essence, we must break the bad habit that I just mentioned, that is, the big circle contains the small circle, and the small circle does its own thing and is only responsible to the center of the circle."

Zhang Juzheng asked: "Your Majesty, please explain clearly."

"You can have your own circles, but all officials must be responsible to the National Law!"

"Responsible for national law?"

The four of them suddenly realized that the "National Law" the emperor was talking about was the previous "Official Law", whose main content was the national system and institutions, as well as the official selection, duties, definition and punishment of violations of laws and regulations in the official law.

Zhang Juzheng's eyes lit up: "What the emperor meant is that the national law stipulates the official system and responsibilities, and officials at all levels can form cliques and small circles when they act on a daily basis.

But you must fulfill your duties as stipulated in the National Law and do the work assigned by your superiors. Otherwise, no matter whether you are in a big circle or a small circle, you will be severely punished according to the National Law. "

"To govern people, to govern the country."

Zhu Yijun's voice was not loud, but it sounded like a loud bang in the ears of Hu Zongxian and the other three.

From ancient times to the present, there has been more rule by man and less rule by law. Especially in the early Song Dynasty and the Guo Dynasty after the rise of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, it was said that the rule of man must be the rule of the country. Only rule by man can be a rule of virtue and can be a benevolent government.

The rule of law is the vile and crude law of the Legalists, which is cold and heartless, harmful to the people and the country.

Yang Jinshui looked at the stunned expressions of the four ministers and smiled in his heart, "Now you finally understand how powerful the emperor is. Take your time, there are even more surprises for you to come."

He stood up and replaced the tea for Zhu Yijun, Hu Zongxian and the other three with hot tea.

Today, Yang Jinshui was summoned by Zhu Yijun to attend such an important meeting, and the panic he had felt in the past few days was swept away.

The first day of February was the day of the emperor's coronation. Gao Gong's performance was so ugly and clumsy that Yang Jinshui knew that Gao Da Huzi's career was over.

Alas, how come I have such a stupid teammate?

I am paired with Gao Gong, Feng Bao is paired with Zhang Juzheng. Is the emperor a piece of lean meat paired with a piece of fat meat?

Now that Gao Gong has fallen, what should I do as his ally?
There is no danger of downfall for the time being, but the future will be bleak!

In the dispute among the ancestors in the inner court, he was at a disadvantage.

These days, Yang Jinshui was very upset and worried day and night.

Yang Jinshui was suddenly summoned to Xiyuan today and was still very nervous.

But when he saw the participants, he was in a good mood, especially when he saw that his competitor Feng Bao was not qualified to attend.

He soon realized that in the emperor's heart, he was still a core minister.

According to the new statement, it still belongs to the core decision-making level!
Good thing!
Yang Jinshui's mood instantly improved.

But he also kept his identity in mind and listened more, thought more and spoke less.

Zhu Yijun picked up the new tea that Yang Jinshui had changed, took a sip, and continued.

“Those great scholars are terrified of the rule of law, and they always talk about benevolent governance and moral governance, but in fact they are just rule by man.

Why?

Because the moral standards for measuring right and wrong are in their hands, sometimes they are high and sometimes they are low. Their main focus is to be lenient with themselves and strict with others, and to be flexible and maneuverable.

Now I want to enact laws and regulations as the standard for governing the country. The key is to grasp the standard of right and wrong."

The four of them were startled and grasped the standard of right and wrong. This move was both accurate and ruthless.

"Rule of law, no matter how perfect the laws and regulations are, they are still enforced by people. In the final analysis, it is still rule by people. But why do I still insist on governing people by rules and governing the country by laws?

There is a balance for everything. There must be a standard for managing people and governing the country. I cannot judge and decide everything. I will first set the standard of right and wrong. When you govern and manage, you should compare yourself with this standard. If you do well, you are good, and if you do not do well, you are not good.

In the past, the Censorate was a supervisory agency.”

When Zhao Zhenji heard that Zhu Yijun had mentioned the Censorate, his eyes lit up.

"They say that people speak out based on hearsay, impeach each other, and those who are found to be true are rewarded, and those who are not are not punished. It is actually a model of openness to speech. I find it really ridiculous.

I'm not laughing at what you hear, but you have no standard of right and wrong when you speak, and you rely entirely on so-called morality and the evil in your heart. Isn't this nonsense?
Morality is a subjective judgment of each person. If it is a heinous crime to others, it will never be forgiven. But if it is related to oneself, it is justified.

Over time, it has become partisan strife and has nothing to do with eliminating corruption and correcting mistakes, and has deviated from the original responsibility of supervision. "

Zhao Zhenji asked: "Your Majesty is wise, and I also think that the Censorate should exercise its supervisory power in accordance with laws and regulations, publicize what is right, and criticize what is wrong."

"Mr. Dazhou is right. The Censorate exercises its supervisory power to guard the most important door for me and the court. Laws and regulations are the key to open this door."

Hu Zongxian couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, the laws and regulations are the standard, but the laws and regulations of our dynasty are a bit rough."

It's not just rough, it's simply crude!

What’s even more infuriating is that after Emperor Taizu established these laws, he proudly said that the laws I have established are perfect, can be used for thousands of generations, and cannot be changed!
But up to now, I don’t know how much has actually changed.

Thus, the inherited ancestral system and the laws that were changed by successive emperors were mixed together like a big ball of dough, which made it easy for civil officials to fish in troubled waters.

Whenever they encounter any problem, they should use their expertise to search through the piles of old papers to find clauses that are beneficial to them. This is the ancestral rule and must be followed.

Everyone else, including the emperor, could only stare blankly.

Who among these Hanlin officials who were Jinshi graduates could pick out sentences from a pile of old papers?

Zhu Yijun said: "Mr. Ruzhen is right, so we must change it.

When the late emperor ascended the throne, I, as the crown prince, took power and had people sort out and edit the laws of the Ming Dynasty, dividing them into six categories: Constitution, State, Civil, Criminal, Commercial, and Norm. Three years later, only a small part of it had been completed.

To control people and govern the country by law, we must first have a legal system. The Six Statutes are the laws and regulations. After I ascended the throne, I decided to speed up the compilation.

It just so happens that the Cabinet, the six ministries and all the temples have resigned, so I have asked Mr. Shi Lu to specialize in compiling the Six Laws.

A special Law Court was set up, and Shi Lugong was invited to take charge of the court's affairs, leading a group of lawyers to concentrate on compiling the Six Laws.

"Mr. Shilu was a man of profound learning, great talent, impartiality and fairness, a man of sincere heart and sincerity who cared for the country. When he was the prime minister, he helped the emperor to be virtuous, helped the ministers, and organized the various departments. He was diligent and respectful, and silently assisted the country in achieving peace and prosperity."

how?

Will former cabinet chief Li Chunfang be retained?
A special law court was also set up for him to specialize in compiling the Six Laws.

What about Zhang Juzheng, who was in charge of the New Deal reforms?
One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, except one male and one female.

After resigning, former prime ministers usually returned to their hometowns, such as Yan Song, Xu Jie, etc. However, Li Chunfang was left in the capital.

The news was so shocking that everyone was unable to react for a while.

There was total silence in the pavilion!
(End of this chapter)