I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 808 Those with the word "Nan" in their names are all idiots!
Most of the officials in the court had clear eyes and calm minds, without any disturbance.

During the past few days, there were visits during the day and study and discussion in groups at night. The leaders of various forces had already taken time to communicate with their own people, said hello, and briefed everyone on the content of today's court meeting, including the adjustment plan for all officials.

During this period, some work was done and a consensus was reached.

Although the adjustment plan for all officials is not perfect, it is generally acceptable.

It is very good that the emperor is willing to allow everyone to put forward their opinions, communicate privately, and take into account the interests of all parties to reach a compromise.

Such a mechanism is actually a good way to engage in a gentlemanly dispute.

A small number of people had unwilling looks in their eyes.

There are always some people in the world who feel they have suffered a loss if they have not gained enough advantage, especially the so-called clean officials in the court.

They want both fame and profit.

The wealth belongs to him, the taxes belong to the people, and the responsibility belongs to the court.

They wantonly occupied farmland, concealed people, evaded taxes and owed taxes. When the court tried to ease the treasury's financial difficulties by clearing debts and raising taxes, they complained that they were competing with the people for profits.

If the emperor built a palace, it would be considered extravagant. If he spent millions of taels of silver to build a "retirement garden", it would be considered elegant. If a capable minister cleaned up the taxes, he would be impeached for excessive taxation. If an honest official strictly enforced the law, he would be impeached for oppressing the people.
However, after several major purges, there are only a few such people left in the court, and the few who remain are very cautious and dare not reveal their identities.

After waiting for a minute or two, Zhao Zhenji spoke again: "Since no one has any objection, let's vote in public according to the procedure. I said raise your hands in agreement, you can raise your hands or not, and those who raise their hands agree.

I say raise your hands to oppose. You can raise your hands or not. Those who raise their hands mean they oppose at this time.

Neither of them raised their hands, indicating abstention.”

After explaining, Zhao Zhenji said, "Those who agree with the adjustment plan for some central and local government offices and some officials, please raise your hands."

Swish, out of the 126 ministers in the court, 107 raised their hands.

Of the twenty-eight senior officials and bachelors, nineteen raised their hands.

Zhao Zhenji counted the numbers and checked with Zeng Shengwu, who was also in charge of counting, to confirm that they were correct, and asked them to record them.

"You can put your hands down. We will vote on opposing opinions later. Those who have already raised their hands in favor should stop raising their hands."

Someone smiled and replied, "Mr. Zhao, I see. You raise your hands for both. This is called the two ends of a rat's head."

Everyone laughed.

After waiting for a minute, Zhao Zhenji said, "If you disagree with this plan, please raise your hands."

No one raised their hand.

It is also on record.

Zhao Zhenji held up the recorded figures and announced, "The Council of State Affairs and the Council of State Affairs have a total of 154 members, 128 of them agree with the plan, 28 abstained, and no one opposed it."

Why would anyone dare to give up power in front of the emperor?

You are a bit brave!

Or is there insufficient communication?

In fact, these people are all parties involved. Some of them retired and changed their jobs, while others were promoted and given more titles. In accordance with the gentlemanly spirit and in order to avoid suspicion, since this plan involved themselves, they simply abstained.

After Zhao Zhenji announced the voting results, he sat down and the topic was over.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling Zeng Shengwu to pause, as he had something to say.

“Why did I put the adjustment of the official system and officials first? Because I have said before that after the strategic plan for the national economy and people’s livelihood is finalized, the officials in charge of its implementation will be the top priority.

If we don’t solve the problem of good people, no matter how good the strategy and plan are, they will not be implemented correctly and will be like a moon in the water or a flower in the fog.

Now that the official adjustment plan has been finalized and everyone has accepted it, the next step is to discuss the national strategy and planning for the next three years. After the discussion and communication, once everyone agrees, we must earnestly implement it. "

Zhu Yijun looked at everyone's faces, thought for a while, and decided to add a few more words.

It is not easy to call so many ministers together. I will tell you all what I have thought of.

Don't learn from Grandpa Huang and be a riddle teller for no reason.

You can play tricks with riddles, but your ideas, directions and goals for governing the country must be clearly communicated to your executive team. Otherwise, if they are confused about the direction and unable to determine the principles, how can they implement it? How can you govern government affairs?

"I have a few more words to add. There are some things that I would rather not say, especially now that we are all gathered together. This is a rare opportunity. You said that I am the captain and helmsman of the great ship of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xiang is the first mate, and you are the boatswain and sailors.

Then I must point out the direction to everyone and explain clearly what needs to be done, otherwise the ship will easily lose its way and hit the reef. "

"I just spoke at length about the main contradictions, productivity and production relations, and many of my officials are confused."

Many people gave thumbs up in their hearts.

Your Majesty, you are right. My mind was filled with the classics of saints. Now when you suddenly tell me about productivity and production relations, I really can't get my head around it and it's hard for me to understand.

But I have a heart that desires progress. I can learn and I can transform my thoughts.

“In fact, these words, in simple terms, explain how productivity creates wealth and how production relations distribute wealth.

Before this, our productivity, that is, the old productivity, was in the agricultural era, relying on human and animal power to cultivate the fields and relying on the weather for food. The wealth created was mainly grain and other crops to solve the problem of food and clothing.

In the past few years, I have led the Ming Dynasty to develop a new productive force, the industrial age.

The ability of the two to create wealth is like the difference between a horse-drawn carriage and a train.

Over the past few years, the new productivity has been like a train running at full speed, rolling forward with unstoppable momentum. "

That’s right, in recent years, the Wanli New Deal has allowed too many people to make money and reap the benefits.

The royal family, nobles, relatives by marriage, civil and military officials, the army and navy, industrial and commercial owners, and even ordinary people received a considerable share of the profits, and it also gave birth to millions of industrial workers and new farmers on farms and ranches.

These people got on the train and formed a powerful force, so the conservative forces that tried to block the train's progress were quickly swept into the corner of history like fallen leaves swept by the autumn wind.

From the agricultural age to the industrial age, the wealth created in one year is equivalent to that created in the past ten or twenty years. Everything is accelerating, and everyone feels that the pace of change is too fast.

In fact, it is not that the speed of the new era is too fast, but that the speed of the old era is too slow, which gives people an illusion.

Zhu Yijun continued: "The problem of productivity, that is, how to create wealth, has been solved. The next most important question is how to distribute wealth?

So I asked just now, what is the main contradiction in the Ming Dynasty? It is no longer about how to create more wealth, but how to distribute wealth fairly and reasonably. If this problem is not solved well, there will be big problems.

'What is worrying is not the scarcity of wealth but the inequality of wealth'.

So this distribution system is very important.

Is it distributed equally, so everyone gets the same amount regardless of gender, age or status?

Or is it distributed according to power, so whoever holds the power gets more?

Or distribution according to capital or distribution according to labor?

I can't give a definition now, I can only explore it slowly in practice.

But there are general principles, which are to oppose egalitarianism, which will seriously undermine everyone's enthusiasm for creating wealth; and to prevent disparities and be fair and reasonable. "

Zhu Yijun laughed when he got to this point. "Look, I'm getting complicated again. Well, there are many topics to discuss later and time is running out, so I'll get back to the topic.

You all heard what I said just now. The distribution of wealth is very complicated and it is bound to lead to endless arguments. When arguing, people will tear each other apart and overturn the table. It is difficult to give in when it comes to their respective interests.

Therefore, I established the Advisory Bureau and the Court Council to create a consultation mechanism and platform. To put it bluntly, it is to provide a place for everyone to argue.

Arguing is not scary, as long as you can make things clear. What is scary is overturning the table and leaving no one to eat!
Well, the next topic is how to continue to create more wealth, and I believe that everyone has few opinions on this. Another part is how to fairly and reasonably distribute wealth, and I believe that everyone's opinions will focus on this.

It doesn't matter, just speak up if you have any opinions, don't hide them. Once you speak up, everyone can negotiate well, compromise with each other, and reach a solution that is beneficial to everyone and acceptable to all parties.

All of you here have been in the political arena for many years and are not rookies. I believe you have enough political wisdom. "

After Zhu Yijun finished speaking, he signaled Zeng Shengwu to continue the topic.

Zeng Xingwu said quickly: "Now please ask the Grand Councillor and Prime Minister Zhang Xiang to read the "Summary Report on National Affairs from the First to the Fourth Year of the Wanli Period" to everyone."

The meeting agenda continues.

As Zhu Yijun said, there was little disagreement on the military and national affairs summary report, as well as the economic development plan for the next three years. Some people even thought it was too conservative and would hinder their ability to make money.

On the 18th, when discussing major projects for the next three years, the debate began and became increasingly intense.

The debate was most intense when the four main railways, namely Jinpu-Ninghu, Jinghan-Guangdong, Jiaoji-Zhengxi, and Shanghai-Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Hunan, were being built.

Those present are all capable officials who are familiar with local government affairs.

These days, I have personally experienced the convenience of railways and trains and witnessed the prosperity of Luanzhou's factories and mines. I know very well that if there is a railway in the place where I or my forces are in power, my political achievements will soar.

With political achievements, you can embark on the road to success.

We must fight!

The dispute became more intense and an argument broke out within Henan Province over why the railway should pass through Zhengzhou instead of Kaifeng and Nanyang!

Then Sichuan cursed Hunan and Hubei, "You two bastards, why are you both allowed to build railways?"
Especially in Hunan, which is so beautiful, there are actually two railways. I don’t even have half a railway. Isn’t this bullying an honest person?

Zheng Luo, the Minister of War who was in charge of railway construction, came forward to explain.

Kaifeng doesn't need to be anxious. After the Jiaoji Zhengxi Railway is completed, another railway will be built from Haizhou to Zhengzhou, passing through Xuzhou, Guide, Kaifeng and other places.

Be patient and wait a few more years.

Nanyang is also like this. After the Beijing-Hankou Railway is completed, a parallel line will be built, running south from Guihua, passing through Taiyuan, Luoyang, Nanyang, Xiangyang, Chengtianfu, Zhijiang, and crossing the river into western Hunan.
Before he could finish his words, Sichuan jumped up again and said, "Fuck it, I don't even have half a line, and the damn Hunan has three?"
It was born by its biological parents, but we in Sichuan were raised by our stepmother?

Hunan: Brother, why are you always staring at me? Henan already has four railways.

Sichuan: You people with the word "Nan" in your names are all idiots!

Henan: Who did I offend?
Zheng Luo had no choice but to explain that Sichuan was surrounded by mountains, and the road to Shu was difficult, as difficult as climbing to the sky. Moreover, this was to build a railway, not a plank road, so the construction was too difficult.

We need to accumulate enough experience in the construction of tunnels, bridges, etc., and develop sufficiently powerful technology, before we can be confident in building the railway into Sichuan.

Sichuan still refused to give in, and the implicit implication was that now that Mr. Zhao had retired, did we, the Sichuan folks, no longer have a say?

Yin Zhengmao, the Advisory Academician and Governor-General of Sichuan-Tibet, could no longer hide his feelings and spoke up for Sichuan.

The many chieftains in Sichuan and other provinces will be the focus of the reform of the chieftain system in the next three years. In addition, they also have to bear the heavy responsibility of supporting U-Tsang and Yunnan and cooperating with them in the reform of the chieftain system. They cannot just talk about dedication without mentioning rewards.

This is too unfair and unreasonable, and is completely inconsistent with the fair and reasonable distribution system advocated by the emperor.

Having said that, Zhang Juzheng held emergency consultations with Wang Chonggu, Wang Guoguang, Li Sanjiang and Yang Jinshui and decided to increase benefits for Sichuan.

Grant Sichuan a cigarette factory license, set up in Chengdu; expand the sales range of Sichuan salt to Anhui and Jiangxi; increase fiscal transfer payments, increase by 3 million yuan per year; establish a southwestern light industry center in Chengdu, and a small-scale industrial center in Chongqing.
The benefits are not bad, and Yin Zhengmao felt it was acceptable after consultation with Sichuan officials and relevant persons.

In fact, the cabinet must have had a plan for this a long time ago, otherwise how could they have come up with a plan so quickly after just one discussion?
However, Zhang Juzheng kept these plans in his pocket, waiting to see the reaction from Sichuan.

If the reaction is not intense, fewer contingency plan clauses will be taken out; if the reaction is intense, more contingency plan clauses will be taken out.

Serve different dishes to different people.

From then on, the content of daily meetings was bargaining.

At the Advisory Council meeting, there were some things that the advisors were not comfortable arguing about, so now they could ask their own court officials to speak out.

Local opinions are the will of the people, and we must listen carefully to them.

After the meeting during the day, several giants continued to hold small meetings with others to unify their thoughts.

We must fight for what we should fight for, but we must compromise when we should compromise.

Zhu Yijun sent someone to summon Pan Yinglong to his temporary residence.

"Feng Wu, you will soon take up the post of Minister of Personnel. Do you know what your most important job will be?"

"In reply to the emperor, we will continue to promote the official management and assessment system with the performance evaluation system as the core."

Pan Yinglong talked a lot and Zhu Yijun smiled and shook his head.

"It seems Feng Wu still doesn't understand!"

Pan Yinglong was stunned for a moment.

(End of this chapter)