My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 13 Please revise the national history
——[Simulation Start]——

A day later, the "Memorial Requesting the Revision of National History" was sent to the cabinet, where it was criticized by the cabinet chief Xu Jie as "making irresponsible remarks on the major affairs of the country."

Two days later, the "Memorial Requesting the Revision of National History" was redacted by the Imperial Household Department, and Su Ze, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, was fined three months' salary for making irresponsible remarks about the country's major plans.

——[Simulation End]——

Sure enough.

If I follow the normal procedures, this memorial of mine will not be passed.

But Su Ze is a systematic person.

[Do you want to spend 20 points of prestige to ensure that the "Petition to Revise the National History" is executed?]

really!

Su Ze’s guess about the system was correct. The “prestige value” consumed by this system was linked to the difficulty of execution.

It was quite difficult to cancel the morning court session. Although Emperor Longqing himself was unwilling to attend the morning court session, the pressure from his ministers was still very great.

However, the emperor would not actually object to his "Memorial to Revise the National History". The biggest difficulty was to bypass Xu Jie, the prime minister.

Therefore, only 20 points of prestige are needed to force the passage of this memorial.

After Su Ze was promoted to Hanlin editor, his prestige value increased by "+2" every day, and as of today, he has accumulated exactly 22 prestige points.

"Yes!"

[Ding! Prestige has been deducted. Please submit a memorial in real life. The simulated settlement will be carried out after the memorial is executed!]

Su Ze handed his memorial to the official from the Ministry of Public Administration, and then returned to his official residence to wait.
-
cabinet.

Zhang Juzheng had just finished his lecture to the emperor and returned to the cabinet when he heard a quarrel.

All I could hear was Gao Gong's iconic loud voice, speaking forcefully:
"Lord Xu! These censors have been impeaching Su Ze all day, repeating the same things over and over again. They are disturbing His Majesty. Our cabinet should share His Majesty's worries and should not send these memorials."

But Xu Jie said:
"Your Excellency Gao is wrong. We, the ministers of the cabinet, are merely advisors to Your Majesty, helping him to relieve his worries and assist in the administration of government affairs. Even when the treacherous minister Yan Song was in power, your memorial to impeach him could have been sent to the late emperor's desk."

"Now that the Holy Emperor is in power, how can we block the channels of speech and hinder the censors' right to submit petitions?"

Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but cheer for his teacher, he was worthy of being called Lord Xu!

Even Gao Gong, who was always aggressive, was stopped by Xu Jie's words and could only return to his seat and sulk.

Zhang Juzheng returned to the cabinet, greeted the Prime Minister Xu Jie, and returned to his seat to draft the memorial.

Another memorial impeaching Su Ze.

During today's imperial lecture, Zhang Juzheng had already tested the emperor's attitude.

Faced with the endless attacks from the censors, Emperor Longqing, who had always been easily influenced, began to waver and was ready to find a reason to transfer Su Ze out of the capital.

When Zhang Juzheng was in Prince Yu's mansion, he often gave lectures to Longqing, so he naturally understood his character very well.

Emperor Longqing was indecisive. Although he had a kind heart, he found it difficult to stick to his work. Unlike his predecessor, Emperor Jiajing, he never looked back once he made up his mind.

Anyway, the purpose of not attending the morning court has been achieved. Let Su Ze bear it for now. At worst, I can compensate him in a few years.

Zhang Juzheng could probably guess what the emperor was thinking. When Xu Jie used the late emperor's will to force Gao Gong to leave, Emperor Longqing was thinking the same thing.

Although he came to his senses later and recalled Gao Gong to the court, his support for Gao Gong was not firm, so Xu Jie was still able to suppress Gao Gong.

At this time, officials from the Ministry of Public Administration sent another batch of memorials.

Zhang Juzheng caught a glimpse of Su Ze's memorial and was about to take it away when Gao Gong suddenly took it away. Zhang Juzheng had a bad feeling in his heart. Sure enough, after Gao Gong finished reading Su Ze's memorial, he immediately stood up and said:

"it is good!"

After saying this, Gao Gong took out a piece of paper, wrote down his opinions, and then walked towards Xu Jie.

"Lord Xu, please draft this memorial and send it to the palace as soon as possible."

Xu Jie took the memorial and as soon as he saw Su Ze's name, he chuckled in his heart.

This was probably because Su Ze could no longer bear it and submitted a letter of apology.

But when Xu Jie saw the title of the memorial, "Petition to Revise the National History," his expression changed slightly.

When Xu Jie opened the memorial and read the first paragraph, even with his cunning mind, his palms began to sweat!

This is not a letter of apology!
Instead, Su Ze requested Emperor Longqing to compile a "History of Ming Dynasty" starting from Emperor Taizu of this dynasty!
The reason Su Ze gave in his memorial was very simple. This dynasty had daily records and official records, but there was no national history in the form of chronicles.

The practice of official compilation of national history is a precedent throughout the dynasties. The Song Dynasty did a great job, and the history books of the Northern Song Dynasty were completed by the Song people themselves.

It is better to write your own history now than to have it written by future generations.

Moreover, unofficial histories are rampant in our dynasty because the country has no official history. Only when there is official history can there be evil. Once the official history comes out, those unofficial histories will naturally disappear.

Su Ze also wrote in his memorial:
"Once the national history is completed, the great achievements and noble virtues of the Holy Ancestor will be passed down through the ages; the great plans and noble counsels of the virtuous ministers will shine through the heavens and earth and be immortal."

Finally, Su Ze said:

"Once the national history is completed, it can serve as a mirror and a teacher for future generations. Once the national history is completed, it can also allow future generations to remember your majesty's achievements and make them a great achievement that will last forever!"

After reading this, Xu Jie knew how the emperor Longqing would react if this memorial was delivered to his desk.

Which emperor could withstand such temptation?
Not to mention the emperor, if the work of the History Museum was changed from compiling real records to compiling national history, the chief executive officer would definitely not be Chen Yiqin, the second assistant minister of the cabinet. The emperor would have to appoint himself, the chief assistant minister of the cabinet, as the chief executive officer.

Once the national history is completed, as the chief editor, I will be as famous as Xie Jin, the chief editor of the Yongle Encyclopedia!

But what is the deep meaning behind Su Ze suddenly submitting such a memorial?
Xu Jie's intuition told him that something was wrong.

But Xu Jie was old after all, and his mind was unable to wrap around for a while, so he said to Gao Gong:

"Lord Su, such an important matter should be discussed in the cabinet first, and then a consensus can be reached before submitting it to the palace."

Xu Jie's strategy was to buy time. He wanted to delay the situation and then go back to discuss it with his disciples to see if there were any loopholes in Su Ze's memorial.

But Gao Gong obviously didn't give him time to think. He brought up Xu Jie's reason just now and said:
"Now that the Holy Emperor is in power, how can we suppress public opinion? Such a major matter must be immediately presented to His Majesty for his divine judgment!"

Xu Jie was helpless after being contradicted by Gao Gong's words. Gao Gong simply attached his own draft opinion and directly called the officials of the Ministry of Public Administration to send the memorial to the palace as soon as possible.

As expected, when Emperor Longqing saw the memorial, he immediately issued an order personally, ordering the History Museum to be transformed into the National History Museum.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Xu Jie, the Grand Secretary of Jianji Hall, was appointed as the chief executive officer, and Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin were appointed as deputy chief executive officers to supervise the compilation of national history.

Everyone in the court and the country was shocked by Su Ze's bold move, and more people sighed and lamented. How could Su Ze seize such a good opportunity to flatter the emperor and his cabinet?

Once the national history is completed, what a great achievement is this?

Lu Shude was so angry that he gritted his teeth and swore again to kick Su Ze out of the History Museum.

After Lu Shude finished discussing with his colleagues and continued to intensify the impeachment of Su Ze, he returned home drunk, only to see a shocking scene.

(End of this chapter)