I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 511 Qixinting Meeting

Yang Jinshui suddenly spoke, breaking the silence in the pavilion.

"Your Majesty, I heard that Lord Shilu has packed his luggage and is looking for a broker to sell his property. He said that he will return to his hometown to study after carrying the late emperor's coffin into the mausoleum."

Zhu Yijun laughed out loud: "I can't bear to let Shilu go. I will use courtesy first and force later. Tomorrow, I will invite Shilu to visit the West Garden and sincerely ask him to stay. How can a student ascend to the throne, but the teacher wants to retire and return home?
If he insists on returning home, I will block him at the door of his house."

After saying that, he laughed out loud, and everyone else chuckled a few times, with a complicated expression.

Zhang Juzheng, in particular, felt mixed emotions.

Li Chunfang thought highly of Zhang Juzheng. On the surface, Zhang Juzheng and Li Chunfang had a good relationship, but Zhang Juzheng actually looked down on Li Chunfang and had no respect for his fellow champion.

When he passed the imperial examination in the same year, Zhang Juzheng was only 22 years old and was very proud of himself.

Li Chunfang is already thirty-six years old.

Zhang Juzheng always believed that Li Chunfang's top scorer status was entirely due to the fact that during the palace examination, Li Chunfang guessed the Emperor Shizong's intention and deliberately wrote a standard poem with the meaning of "dipping into the sky" and similar to the Qingci. Emperor Shizong took a fancy to it and selected him as the top scorer.

When he was a cabinet minister, he was unknown and had no political achievements; when he was a prime minister, he was cautious, quiet and adhered to the rules.

Now I heard that the emperor kept Li Chunfang in Beijing and that he was in charge of the Law Courts and compiled the Six Laws. Then I heard from the emperor that he respected Li Chunfang.

Zhang Juzheng must have felt uncomfortable.

Your Majesty, where is I?
Am I not your only favorite?
Zhao Zhenji, who was standing next to him, calculated in his mind that in addition to the six ministries and the Rong government which specialized in military affairs, the central government now also had the Censorate which specialized in supervision, the Dali Court which specialized in the highest judicial power, and the Xuanhui Court which specialized in civil affairs of Mongolia in both the southern and northern deserts.

Now there is also a court of justice that specializes in compiling laws.

Zhao Zhenji gained a new understanding of Zhu Yijun's political philosophy and realized what they would talk about next.

He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty, what is the difference between laws and regulations?"

Zhu Yijun turned and looked at Zhao Zhenji.

My teacher is very politically sensitive.

"Mr. Dazhou, the laws are compiled and formulated by the Law Courts, approved by me, and officially promulgated as the basis for governing the country. The regulations are formulated by the six ministries and temples on the basis of the laws, and their content is the specific details of following the laws and implementing national policies.

I also call regulations administrative rules, which are drafted by the six ministries and temples and are responsible for a certain industry or aspect of administrative affairs. After I review and approve them, they are promulgated in the name of the six ministries, temples or the cabinet.

The law is above the regulations. The Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, and the Supreme Court of Justice all use the law as their standard when conducting investigations and adjudications, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate conducts supervision. The six ministries, temples, and various provincial governments, prefectures, and counties all use the regulations as their model when administering and comforting the people.

Everyone nodded to show that they understood.

Zhu Yijun nodded, "Let's stop here today on the topic of civil service administration. Next, let's talk about another important aspect of reform, which is the economy.

My principle is to strictly enforce the administration of officials and to revitalize the economy.

Master Zhang, are there any plans to promote industry and commerce in your new policies? "

Zhang Juzheng's face froze slightly.

This really doesn't exist.

Although he vigorously implemented the New Deal and insisted on reform, he mainly focused on the two major areas of civil service administration and finance and taxation, and paid relatively little attention to people's livelihood.

But he knew that he must not play dumb in front of Zhu Yijun because the emperor was too shrewd.

"Your Majesty, my new policy now focuses on the administration of officials and finance and taxation, as well as the development of water conservancy and support for farming and weaving."

Historically, the main contents of Zhang Juzheng's New Deal reforms were to survey the land, conduct a population census, and implement the Single Whip Law; to rectify the administration of officials and work hard to establish a performance evaluation system; to rectify border defenses, show control externally and strengthen defense internally.

Others included building water conservancy projects, controlling the Yellow River and the Huai River, dredging the waterway, suppressing the royal family, nobles and aristocratic families.
Now that border defenses were under the control of the military government, Zhang Juzheng had no control over them, nor did he dare to intervene.

Pan Jixun and Zhu Heng were the first to take action to control the Yellow River and the Huai River and to develop water conservancy projects.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng's considerations for the new policy reforms were more focused on the administration of officials and finance and taxation. He did not think too much about the rest and knew that he was not good at it.

Zhu Yijun nodded. He also knew Zhang Juzheng's strengths and weaknesses.

Not to mention his strengths, his weakness is that he is also a traditional Confucian disciple and he really doesn't have much knowledge or means about industry and commerce.

"Master Zhang is self-aware. Improving administration and regulating finance and taxation are your strengths. As for developing industry and commerce and revitalizing the economy, you should learn more from Yang Jinshui."

Zhu Yijun pointed at Yang Jinshui without any hesitation and said to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng's brows twitched slightly.

This is the emperor reminding himself.

The new policy reforms must include content to invigorate the economy, which is a very important part. If you don’t understand it, just listen more to the opinions of Yang Jinshui and others.

Listen to the advice of a eunuch?

But Zhang Juzheng's biggest advantage over Gao Gong is that he can hide his arrogance in his heart and be very flexible.

In history, he could have formed an alliance with Feng Bao, flattered him, and praised this eunuch whom he despised from the bottom of his heart. Now, after listening to Zhu Yijun's words, he could naturally put Yang Jinshui in the right position.

Yang Jinshui glanced at Zhang Juzheng's face and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is praising me. What I am best at is to unswervingly and meticulously implement all the instructions of the emperor.

When the Emperor was still the Prince of Yu and the Grandson of the Emperor in the Western Garden, he had already set a grand strategy and made detailed rules and regulations. I followed them one by one, summarizing and reflecting on them day and night, not daring to make any mistakes, and that is how I was able to accomplish this modest achievement.

Other than that, I can only collect money, nothing else."

Zhu Yijun looked at Yang Jinshui and said meaningfully, "Being able to collect money is an advantage! Master Zhang, when the fiscal and taxation system is standardized in the future, the Ministry of Revenue will only need to collect money and not interfere.

The way of Huang-Lao is to let nature take its course. When it comes to making money, none of you here can compare to businessmen.

They go wherever they smell money to be made.

They will figure out how to make money on their own.

There are two things we need to do. First, we supervise them to follow the right path and not make money by illegal means, including tax evasion.

The second is to find ways to smooth the flow and provide good conditions so that they can make more money and we can collect more taxes. Yang Jinshui, remember I once told you that silver dollars are the platform.

Yang Jinshui immediately replied: "Your Majesty, I remember. Silver dollars set the stage, and the economy plays the show."

"Jinshui has a really good memory. We just need to set up the stage and let the businessmen perform on it. If they perform well, they will get more money, and naturally they will become more and more popular.

I didn’t sing well, and was fired after two days. I left in disgrace.”

Zhu Yijun spoke for a long time and everyone understood him, including Zhang Juzheng.

If you don't understand economics, don't do anything blindly. Remember to follow instructions. "Your Majesty, I remember this."

Zhang Juzheng, who was flexible and adaptable, responded immediately.

Seeing that Zhang Juzheng was very understanding, Zhu Yijun also began to talk about the most important thing of gathering everyone.

"For the new policy reform, the person in charge must hold power in order to remove obstacles and implement the reform. I divide the power of state power into several types.

The parallel ones are administration, supervision, justice and military administration. The upper and lower ones are decision-making and execution. "

Zhu Yijun said a few simple words. He had mentioned these words to his close ministers before, and they all understood what he meant as soon as they heard them.

"On the first day of February, during my first morning court session, due to the impeachment of the ministers, a strange phenomenon occurred from the sky. The cabinet elders, as well as the six ministries and various temple officials all resigned.

I may resign, but I cannot delay the affairs of state. I will also take this opportunity to adjust the central government so as to facilitate the reform of the new policy."

Zhu Yijun glanced at the crowd and continued, "From now on, the Cabinet will be in charge of the administrative power of the Ming Dynasty, and will be in charge of the six ministries of civil service, military, household, punishment, ritual, and engineering, and the seven temples of Guanglu, Taichang, Taifu, Taipu, Honglu, Sinong, and Dushui.

The administrative power of the Ming Dynasty is exercised in accordance with the cabinet clauses added to the National Law.

The Censorate continued to exercise the Ming Dynasty's supervisory power, the Supreme Court exercised the Ming Dynasty's highest judicial power, and the Military Government was in charge of the Ming Dynasty's military affairs.

The Cabinet, the Censorate, the Supreme Court, and the Military Government are both decision-making and executive offices. They all execute my decisions. I am the will of heaven, and my decisions are the highest decisions of the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that I can't make decisions on all matters, big or small. Therefore, I authorize the Cabinet, the Censorate, the Supreme Court and the Military Government to make decisions within certain limits.

At the same time, the Advisory Bureau was set up to participate in the affairs of state and assist me in making decisions, such as approving the memorials of the Cabinet, the Censorate, the Supreme Court and the Military Government.

The Advisory Bureau will set up a secretariat. I will make decisions through the Advisory Bureau, and the secretariat will write to the relevant officials, supervise the implementation, and provide feedback and summary.

The Secretariat was composed of the Imperial Household Department and selected officials from the outer court.
Lord Ruzhen, Mr. Dazhou, Master Zhang, and Mr. Tan, I appoint you as advisors."

Finally, Zhu Yijun's gaze fell on Zhang Juzheng's face.

"Master Zhang, I would like to ask you to concurrently serve as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty's administration, the head of the six ministries and seven temples, and preside over the new policy reforms!"

Zhang Juzheng remained silent.

Hu Zongxian, Zhao Zhenji and Tan Lun understood Zhang Juzheng's inner conflict.

In order to implement new policies and reforms, he needed great authority from the emperor.

Now the emperor has given him great power.

The Prime Minister was in charge of the administrative power of the Ming Dynasty, and even the six ministries and seven temples were placed under his jurisdiction. His power was almost equal to that of the Prime Minister, which was enough for him to promote new policy reforms.

At the same time, an incredible new official system put a tight rein on him.

The Prime Minister's Cabinet seems to be equivalent to the Prime Minister of the previous dynasty, but the most important military affairs have been taken away.

Next, supervisory and judicial powers were also taken away.

In fact, the four smart people all knew that the establishment of the Court of Justice had given the emperor an extremely important power. The laws it made must be followed and implemented by the Cabinet, the Censorate, the Supreme Court and the Military Government.

First, the power of state power was split into four parts, each moving forward while checking and balancing each other, like four horses pulling a carriage.

Then the four horses were bridled, and the emperor held the bridles firmly in his hands through the Law Courts and the Advisory Bureau like two reins.

The emperor appointed Zhang Juzheng as the prime minister of the cabinet, granted him enough power, and allowed him to supervise and stop at any time.

He is indeed the good grandson of Emperor Sejong.

Hmm, that's not right.

Emperor Sejong did not have so many fantastic ideas.

Zhang Juzheng hesitated for only a dozen seconds and quickly made a decision.

This situation is the best.

There are only two situations in which ministers want to take power away from the emperor: one is that the ruler is weak and the ministers are strong, and the other is that the ruler is wise and the ministers are virtuous.

The first one is impossible.

The Wanli Emperor, who sat opposite him, was the second most powerful person in the country. After the miracle on February 1st, he even surpassed the Taizu Emperor and could be the first.

The second type requires the ruler and his subjects to get along with each other and be of one mind.

Zhang Juzheng knew that although he was a teacher trusted by the emperor, the emperor would not easily grant power to him.

The emperor is not Emperor Longqing, but an enhanced version of Emperor Jiajing.

It was not until the second year of the Longqing reign that he decided to authorize himself after seeing the open and covert struggles between him and Gao Gong for the leadership of the New Deal reforms.

And we have also taken adequate precautions.

fair enough.

In the history books, all the powerful officials in the past dynasties, no matter they benefited the country and the people or brought disaster to the country and the people, never had a good ending. I don't want to suffer misfortune either.

Who can be a powerful minister under such a shrewd and powerful emperor?

Zhang Juzheng stood up and knelt, saying solemnly: "I thank the emperor for his grace. I am willing to work hard to eliminate the evils of the Ming Dynasty and promote the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty until my death!"

Zhu Yijun quickly helped Zhang Juzheng up and laughed, "Master Zhang, it's settled. You push the new policy and reform in the front, and I fully support you.

We, the teacher and the student, will work together with other ministers to achieve unprecedented achievements and create a new Ming Dynasty!"

"It's been a pleasant conversation! We have almost finished the discussion. Gentlemen, let's go back."

"Yes!"

Zhu Yijun stood up and left the pavilion. Turning around, he saw a plaque hanging above the pavilion with the words "Qixin Pavilion" inscribed on it.

"Well, Qixinting, this name is good. My king and his ministers held an important meeting here to point out the direction for the future of Ming Dynasty.

Well, it's a good omen. It really is God's will. Qi Yan, have you written down all the conversations I had with you?"

"In reply to the emperor, the six eunuchs took turns to record everything."

"Well, good. There will be such a record in history books in the future, "The Qixinting Conference", haha!"

(End of this chapter)