My father is Jiajing

Zhu Zaigui looked at Li Chunfang's reaction and understood Li Chunfang's dilemma.

But who wouldn’t have a hard time being an official like him?

Being an official of this level, no matter whether you are working or not, you have to face countless people and things every day.

How can it be so easy to satisfy and please all these people and things?
Therefore, if you want to be an official, and a high-ranking official, you must be prepared to offend people!

How can you get things done if you don't offend people?

Will everything be fine if I just be a good guy?

Little do people know that being a good man will also lead to people scolding him for being a figurehead.

Zhu Zaigui said: "I know this is difficult, but no matter whether it is a difficult thing or an easy thing, as long as you are in this position, whether you do it or not, Mr. Li, some people will be dissatisfied, dissatisfied, and even hate you."

"But just because of the dissatisfaction of this part, should the court stop working? This is obviously not in line with the basic laws of things. Therefore, I only hope to have a clear conscience and be worthy of the vast majority of the people."

"Even if these people won't be grateful to the court or me, as long as their lives can be better than before and the country can be more stable and peaceful, what I and you have done and the infamy we have to bear are all worth it."

When Li Chunfang heard what Zhu Zaigui said, she was immediately moved.

The fact that Zhu Zaigui could speak to him so openly and sincerely showed that he obviously did not regard him as a transitional prime minister of the cabinet, but also wanted to give him enough trust and support to allow him to make historical contributions that were worthy of his conscience in this position!

After Li Chunfang realized this, he immediately bowed deeply to Zhu Zaigui and said, "Thank you very much for your teachings, Your Highness. I will live up to your majesty's wishes and handle this matter properly!"

Zhu Zaiqi looked at Li Chunfang with satisfaction and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Li."

Then Zhu Zaigui walked back to his desk and took out a new scale document from it.

Zhu Zaigui said to Mr. Li: "It is important to deal with the criminals and related stakeholders in the Jiangnan case, but that is only a temporary policy. How to manage and restore the people's livelihood in Jiangnan and even the entire Ming territory is the top priority of the cabinet!"

"I have a major event that will affect future generations, and I want Mr. Li to take the lead. Do you dare to take it?"

When Li Chunfang heard this, he bowed again hurriedly, and without asking what it was, he replied directly: "I am willing to accept it!"

Zhu Zaigui said: "Okay! I admire Mr. Li's courage and responsibility!"

After hearing Zhu Zaigui's praise, Li Chunfang couldn't help but feel excited.

Because Li Chunfang knew that Zhu Zaigui could praise him like this, it meant that he was an important minister worthy of Zhu Zaigui's trust and reliance.

With such trust and reliance, even if Gao Gong returned from Nanjing, it would be difficult for him to pose a direct threat to him for the time being.

So at this moment, Li Chunfang was not only excited, but also had an extremely bright vision for the future.

Zhu Zaigui raised his hand and handed the Ming Dynasty administrative planning proposal he had prepared to Li Chunfang.

Li Chunfang took it with both hands respectfully, and then unfolded it and saw that it was actually a map of the Ming Dynasty's territory!

However, the Ming Dynasty depicted on this map was very different from the division of two capitals and thirteen provinces that he was familiar with, and many places had been changed.

Li Chunfang looked up at Zhu Zaigui in surprise and bewilderment, "Your Highness wants it."

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "However, I have to re-plan the current two capitals and thirteen provinces. Since the Xuande period, the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty have not changed for more than a hundred years."

"I believe that the administrative divisions over the past century have already fulfilled their historical mission. They should also undergo some changes that are appropriate to the times and the needs of the Ming Dynasty as the Ming Dynasty undergoes new changes."

"So, after thinking about it, I decided to take advantage of the current opportunity to divide South Zhili into three parts, setting up Zhili Yingtian Prefecture, Jiangsu Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office and Anhui Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, and re-dividing the area to set up Zhili Shanghai Prefecture on the basis of the original Songjiang Prefecture. These newly demarcated administrative regions are equivalent to the original thirteen provinces. North Zhili, where the capital is located, will also follow suit, dividing Zhili Shuntian Prefecture and Hebei Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office."

"The Tatar land in the northern desert, where the Anda tribe was located, was designated as the Tatar Autonomous Region, and the Anda autonomous management was implemented, with the court assisting management. This will further integrate the Tatars' northern desert region with the Ming mainland, creating a new ethnic structure where you are in me and I am in you."

"In addition, the newly developed Hetao and Hexi Corridor regions will be managed more effectively and uniformly by setting up the Gansu Provincial Administration Commissioner Office."

"At the same time, we will restore the Hami Guard, establish the Hami General's administration, and restore the administrative and legal responsibilities of the Central Plains since the Han and Tang Dynasties in the Western Regions. As for the Snow Region, we will also follow the Tatar Autonomous Region and establish a plateau autonomous region. The specific management will be temporarily managed by the Living Buddha monks. In addition, the court will also establish and improve the Living Buddha reincarnation certification method implemented during the Yongle period."

"From now on, no matter if it is the living Buddha in the snowy plateau, or the living Buddha in Sichuan, Tatar and other places, they must be reported to the court and certified by the court before they can be considered the reincarnation of the orthodox living Buddha. Otherwise, they will all be treated as heretical cults."

"In addition, we will restore the Nurgan Regional Command in Liaodong, and set up the Shenyang General, Heilongjiang General, and Liaodong General to carry out differentiated management. At the same time, we will strictly control the activities of the Jurchens in Liaodong, and provide them with Ming agricultural and medical books to help them complete the transition from fishing and hunting nomadism to farming and settling down."

"As for these newly designated areas with difficult conditions and undeveloped cultural heritage, the imperial court should also give them some policy preferences as appropriate. For example, in the imperial examinations held every three years, these areas can be guaranteed to receive five Jinshi candidates, so that they can quickly integrate into the mainstream culture of the Ming Dynasty."

"Of course, these guaranteed Jinshi must also follow the Ming Dynasty's principle of serving as officials in other places, but their other places can be within the provincial government or autonomous region. But they must be far away from their original hometowns, so that they don't rely on their family power to cause trouble and oppress the people."

After hearing what Zhu Zaigui said, Li Chuntao couldn't help but take a breath!
He never expected such a big move!
Li Chunfang widened her eyes, "Will this happen?"

Li Chunfang also worried that rash changes in administrative divisions would give rise to some unpredictable problems.

Zhu Zaigui chuckled: "Mr. Li, do you find it difficult?"

Li Chunfang held the new map of the Ming Dynasty's territory in his hand, his fingers trembling slightly.

He never expected that Zhu Zaigui would actually change the administrative divisions that had not changed for almost two hundred years!

This period also caused Li Chunfang to suffer from indigestion.

Zhu Zaigui stood up from his so-called dragon throne again and walked in front of Li Chunfang. He waved his hand and asked Meng Chong to push out a larger screen with a map of the Ming Dynasty's territory.

Zhu Zaigui stood in front of the screen, looking at the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty drawn on the map, and said, "This is the decision I made after years of thinking! The ancients said that when you are poor, you must change, and when you change, you will be able to get through, and when you get through, you will last. Nothing in this world is immutable." "Now we have just caught up with a once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity. Of course, we can't just sit aside and watch. When the time is right, we should take the initiative to fight for more and more beneficial opportunities for the Ming Dynasty."

"The area under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili was too large, and the local officials had no clear superiors. It was not a long-term solution to rely solely on the six ministries in Nanjing to manage it. Moreover, what role Nanzhili played in the past two hundred years, I don't need to explain, but Mr. Li should be able to understand it."

"So, this time I will split up Nanzhili to make its administration orderly and realize direct management by the imperial court, so as to avoid the recurrence of such horrific major cases as the Jiangnan nest case!"

"Although the imperial court and Tatar are now in a period of peaceful development, who can guarantee how long this peace can last? If we don't take advantage of the current situation to implant the culture and ideas of the Ming Dynasty into the Mobei grasslands, what will we wait for?"

Zhu Zaigui's words also made Li Chunfang silent.

He knew that what Zhu Zaigui said was right.

But in practice, this matter cannot be changed by just drawing a map.

The relationships and interests involved, as well as the practical problems, are all important issues that cannot be ignored.

If you are not careful, it may not be done properly.

This might make the ethnic minorities in these places think that the Ming Dynasty wants to destroy them!
If this kind of thought were to emerge, there would be chaos in more than one place.

So, Li Chunfang was really panicked and conflicted.

At the same time, he also understood that if he could really accomplish this, or even if he only accomplished one-third of it, he would be able to go down in history and be remembered by future generations as a famous prime minister of the time!

Although there was no prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, after Emperor Yingzong, people in the court and the public automatically assumed that the cabinet minister was the prime minister.

Since you are a prime minister, if you cannot make achievements that will be remembered by history, what is the difference between you and a salted fish?
Therefore, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, people like Yang Tinghe, Zhang Cong, Xia Yan, Yan Song, Xu Jie and so on, their goal in serving as officials was to regard themselves as prime ministers who could support the emperor and manage the country.

Every generation of them is either so-called loyal or so-called treacherous.

What he really wants to achieve is to accomplish great deeds and go down in history.

It’s a pity that in the real world where human nature and destiny are intertwined, some of them have lost their original intentions, while others have stuck to them.

Therefore, later on, deviations occurred between their reality and ideals, which eventually led to some of them becoming treacherous and mediocre officials who were reviled by history, while others simply became the background board of their history. When some famous historical figures are not mentioned in later generations, their names will not even be remembered.

Now Li Chunfang is standing at a critical crossroads of historical choice.

If he could live up to what Zhu Zaigui said, he would receive rich historical rewards and become a famous minister and prime minister who is no less famous than Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng in history.

But if he had not seized the opportunity, he would have become the background board of this period of history, just like the original history, and would have been compared with the famous historical officials before and after him. Even hundreds of years later, when people talked about this period of history, they would automatically ignore him and jump directly to the topic of Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others.

Li Chunfang hesitated for a while, then he raised his head firmly, looked at Zhu Zaigui's back, and bowed solemnly: "I am willing!"

Zhu Zaigui turned around and laughed, then looked at Li Chunfang bowing solemnly to him, and reached out to hold Li Chunfang's arm, "Mr. Li is truly a national hero!"

Zhu Zaigui did not forget to give Li Chunfang a compliment.

After all, being an official is the limit for Li Chunfang.

So at this time, these false reputations are the only things that can encourage and stimulate Li Chunfang.

Of course, if he was a greedy person like Yan Shifan, that would be a different matter.

But looking at history, how many people who have reached the highest position in the government were greedy and vulgar people?
Which one of them is not an ambitious trend-setter who wants to revitalize the times?
It’s a pity that some people are unlucky and some people have limited abilities.

Therefore, most of the people who held high positions in history were just mediocre people. They were not as famous as those poets who wrote a few casual poems and lyrics. At least these people remembered something.

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Then Mr. Li, please keep these things. I hope you can come up with a concrete and feasible plan before the end of this year so that His Majesty can also feel your sincere attitude of devoting yourself to the cause."

Li Chunfang bowed again and said, "I understand. I will definitely live up to your expectations, Your Highness!"

Zhu Zaiqi hummed, waved his hand and said, "Okay, then I won't keep you here. Go back to the cabinet and prepare with your colleagues. Mr. Gao will be back soon. You two must help each other in the cabinet and work together for state affairs. Don't do anything that would secretly trip you up or sabotage each other."

"I hope that your cabinet this term will be a cabinet that works wholeheartedly. Can you understand this, Mr. Li?"

When Li Chunfang heard this, his heart trembled.

He knew that Zhu Zaigui had long known that he had not cooperated with former Prime Minister Xu Jie in the cabinet.

Now Zhu Zaigui told him this matter, firstly to warn him, and secondly to remind him not to be as petty as he was when he was the Second Assistant.

But after the heart tremble, Li Chunfang was also excited.

He also understood that if Zhu Zaigui could warn him in this way, he would certainly warn Gao Gong in the same way.

In this way, wouldn't it be easier for him to work in the cabinet in the future, and he could better use the power of the cabinet to achieve his ambitions!
After figuring this out, Li Chunfang suddenly became excited.

Li Chunfang bowed to Zhu Zaigui again excitedly: "I understand. I will take my leave now!"

Zhu Zaigui watched Li Chunfang leave with a smile. He was in a very good mood at the moment.

After seventeen years of settling down, he can finally make a breakthrough and do something exciting in history!
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Ask for monthly ticket~~~(End of this chapter)