Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 39 Clay Sculpture Prime Minister
At the end of March in the seventy-third year of Chongzhen's reign, you were granted the title of "Prime Minister" and were allowed to establish a government office and establish a new government!

【When the news came out, the whole world was shocked! 】

From Shanhaiguan to Zhennanguan, from the Hexi Corridor to the hills south of the Yangtze River, your reputation is known to everyone...

[Both the public and the officialdom were surprised by your sudden appearance as "Prime Minister," and they were divided into two factions.]

One group consists of the people, long tormented by natural and man-made disasters. They've long awaited a new policy to save their lives. Now, the Divine Emperor has reversed his past behavior and issued a direct edict of apology, declaring that he will fully entrust you, the "Prime Minister," with the task of rectifying the empire. This undoubtedly excites them! Consequently, they naturally have a favorable impression and anticipation for your new policies, which have yet to be implemented!

The other faction consists of those with vested interests, including corrupt officials, members of the imperial clan, aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and landlords, and so on. All their comfortable conditions in the past came from the connivance of the Divine Emperor, and the Divine Emperor himself was their greatest umbrella of protection.

Now, the umbrella of protection has actually been cut off, and a "Prime Minister" has been found to implement the new policy. Isn't this...this is going to kill them?!

[Under such circumstances, the vested interests naturally refuse to be controlled. However, since even the Divine Emperor is on your side, resistance is futile. Therefore, they can only wait for death in despair, hoping for a lighter sentence so that they can continue to be wealthy in the future...]

[But, January, February, March...]

The two factions waited for several months, each with their own thoughts, but saw no further news from the capital, as if the order for the new policy had never been issued...

[Hmm? What's going on?]

[People from both groups were completely confused: Is this still a new policy? ]

Is the new "Prime Minister" also a corrupt official, and are the so-called new policies just a tool for you to gain fame and fortune?

[Or perhaps, you... you've become the second Commander-in-Chief Yuan, and have been thrown into the Imperial Prison by His Majesty after he changed his mind?]

【Or……】

[There were many different opinions at the time, but everyone was confused: What on earth were you doing? ]

【…】

"What am I doing?"

In the capital's "temporary prime minister's residence," you, the newly appointed "prime minister," sit helplessly alone at your desk.

"I'm a parachuted-in prime minister, with a title but no real power. What can I do? I can't do anything..."

【Ideals are full of hope, but reality is very harsh! 】

The appointment of the "Prime Minister" in March was truly impressive. It seemed as if the treacherous villains could be eradicated in the next moment, restoring the glory of the sun and moon!

[But the reality is, you, the "Prime Minister," are nothing but a commander without any support...]

[In order to allow you to reorganize a clean and efficient court, the Divine Emperor directly allowed you to establish a government office! On the surface, this may seem like your power is beyond measure, but in practice, you are actually restricted by this system!]

[No matter how powerful you are, you still need officials to help you execute your orders, right? But now that you've established your own government, you can't go to the imperial court to recruit people to help you. The court is basically full of corrupt officials who have been entrenched for many years. How can you, the head of a new policy, ask them for help? Wouldn't that just undermine your own foundation?]

Purity is your most important foundation...

[So, for the past few months, besides finding people from the Ministry of Works to help you build the "Prime Minister's Mansion," you've been busy recruiting new people!]

[Based on this, besides the intimidating name, does establishing a government and a yamen have any practical purpose?]

[Obviously not, because the time is too short and you haven't even put together a makeshift team yet...] [This is exactly what's bothering you: the theory is powerful, but it's completely unusable.]

[Looking for a group of capable people with clean backgrounds to serve as officials in the Prime Minister's Mansion? You really won't find any!]

[The existing officials are too poor to be used by you. Trying to find a good official is like panning for gold in a ditch.]

There aren't many normal people among the reserve officials like the juren and jinshi. After years of brainwashing by the Divine Emperor, the high-level talents selected by the imperial examination system have long been more famous than capable. They're good at claiming loyalty and making money, but when it comes to actually getting them to do anything, it's incredibly difficult to deal with them!

There's no other way. You can only select some relatively normal people from the few newly-minted scholars with clean backgrounds, and then assign them to the empty prime minister's office, cultivating their ability to govern and handle affairs from scratch.

[I really want to let a newcomer take charge, but I think it's better for him to settle down first...]

[And if you don't put in a few years of practice, you won't achieve anything!]

[During this difficult time, you can't help but secretly curse the old idiot, the Divine Emperor: he claims to support the new policies, but in the end, he only supports them with a formal organization and a name...]

But then I thought: It seems that the Divine Emperor really can't help you much. The Ming Dynasty is in such a mess now. It's good enough that He can give you a position and a title... How can truly capable officials exist in the court?

[Thinking of this, you can't help but sigh: This mess is truly terrible! God Emperor, you truly deserve to die...]

[And the above is just one of the problems you currently face. What makes your new policy even more difficult is the stubborn resistance of the Beijing bureaucracy!]

Although the Divine Emperor has clearly supported your new policies, which has made corrupt officials feel uneasy and afraid to openly resist, they can still put obstacles in your way.

After all, you clearly want to overhaul the civil service system, perhaps even wipe out the entire bureaucracy to replace it, so they're naturally opposed to you... In this situation, even with the threat of the Divine Emperor, they'll inevitably confront you for the sake of wealth, glory, and their lives!

What makes them even more excited is that, up to this point, the Divine Emperor has only verbally supported your new policies, and has never expressed any intention of personally helping you deal with them...

What does this mean?

[This clearly shows that His Majesty the Divine Emperor's resolve is not thorough enough. Although He issued an edict of repentance to sever ties with the Ming officialdom, He also intends to continue to maintain the officialdom's "loyalty"...]

As for what "He" was thinking, no one knew. His ambiguous attitude left people speculating... and this became the court's last ray of hope: What if His Majesty was just pretending?

[Hmm! Don't give up yet!]

【loyalty!】

[Under the influence of this last ray of hope, the court officials could not help but look down on you, and many of your orders were ignored by them...]

[The entire court of officials has reached an unprecedented consensus before you, the airborne "Prime Minister." They have rallied closely around the Cabinet's Chief Minister "Chen Shuxue" and the six ministers and other high-ranking officials, determined to fight you to the end!]

[Thus, under the dual dilemma of internal emptiness and external hostility, you, the "Prime Minister", are like a clay statue. Your decrees cannot even leave the capital, let alone the Prime Minister's residence...]

This makes you even more upset: What exactly does the Divine Emperor mean? Does He support me, or does He not?

[What the hell! How come all the Zhu emperors are riddlers? Back then, the old Taoist Jiajing was notoriously difficult to understand. Now, after being emperor for over seventy years, the old Chongzhen has also changed and started playing riddles. I have to figure out his intentions...]

[Ding! Faced with internal and external difficulties, coupled with the Divine Emperor's ambiguous attitude, you, lacking social experience, are truly frustrated and at a loss as to what to do... Your choice: (?) Please devise your own strategy!]

……

(End of this chapter)