Invincible Zhengde

Chapter 104

No one could give Zhu Youtang an answer, so Zhu Youtang asked with a dark face: "Shen Lu, does the Secretary of General Administration have the title book of Qi Huan, the magistrate of Yangzhou?"

Hearing that Zhu Youtang directly called out the name of the envoy Shen Lu, the ministers were startled and all lowered their heads. It was obvious that His Majesty was really angry, and even Shen Aiqing didn't bother to call out.Zhu Houzhao knew very well that his father was not acting, because he had never seen the title book of the prefect of Yangzhou, and it was obviously just delivered, which really angered his father.

Speaking of which, the old man has always had expectations for civil servants, but one thing is before him, so he has to believe that civil servants really have no bottom line.Whether it is the matter of the Ye family or the current matter of Nanzhili, Zhu Youtang is very, very uncomfortable in his heart.

However, Shen Lu, the envoy of the General Administration, did not dare to be negligent, and quickly stood up: "Return to Your Majesty, the Secretary of the General Administration has not received the memorial from Qi Huan, the prefect of Yangzhou."

In fact, when Zhu Youtang asked this question, the ministers knew that there would be no results at all, because with the leaky appearance of the office of the General Secretary, if Qi Huan, the prefect of Yangzhou, really reached the General Secretary, it would have been circulated long ago. Everyone in the court knows it, and it is definitely impossible to keep it secret.You must know that the Tongzheng Secretary at this time is not the Tongzheng Secretary before Yingzong.

Before the Ming Dynasty, there was no Tongzhengshi. In the Ming Dynasty, the "Tongzhengshi" was established, referred to as "Tongzhengsi", and its chief was "Tongzhengshi".

The Secretary of General Administration has been valued by the court during the four dynasties of Hongwu, Yongle, Hongxi, and Xuande. However, the good times did not last long. In the early years of Zhengtong, Yingzong ascended the throne at the age of nine and was unable to manage the government. The Chang Dynasty, which played an important role in the early Ming Dynasty, became a mere formality. It did not change in the Ming Dynasty, and a large part of the power of the Secretary of General Administration was lost.

Later, although Sanyang died, no one dared to say that the ancestral system would be restored, the General Secretary completely declined, and the General Secretary became the most embarrassing existence among the Jiuqing.

The prerequisite for the good operation of the General Administration Department is that after the abolition of the prime minister, the highly centralized system of the emperor, where the six ministries are directly responsible to the emperor, operates well.After Hongwu and Yongle, the work ability and work enthusiasm of successive emperors gradually faded. Accompanying with this, in the outer court civil servant group, the power of the cabinet increased day by day, and gradually formed a subordinate relationship with other yamen.In the group of eunuchs in the inner court, the supervisor of ceremonies became the head of the 24 yamen of the inner court, and to a certain extent, he exercised the right to approve reds on behalf of the emperor, and checked and balanced with the cabinet.

As a member of the foreign court, the Tongzheng Secretary was increasingly at the mercy of the cabinet, and the mouthpiece of the emperor became a powerful minister. For example, Zhao Wenhua, the Tongzheng envoy of the Jiajing Dynasty, recognized Yan Song as his foster father and played an important role in Yan's dictatorship.In the inner court, there was an institution called the Office of Documents, which was responsible for "enclosing the chapter in charge of the general affairs department every day", and it was necessary to reclassify the memorials submitted by the general affairs department, so that the work of the general affairs department became dispensable .

Under such circumstances, who would dare to say that the power of the Secretary of General Affairs should be restored?This is also the reason why Yingzong wanted to appoint Wang Zhen, and he wanted to regain his power.It's just that Wang Zhen wasn't smart, or that Yingzong didn't know how to employ people. The civil fortress was messed up, and Daming fell down in an instant, and Yingzong became a failed emperor.

The current Tongzheng Envoy is Shen Lu, and no one in the court pays much attention to him, but that was before, but now he has to care.

Because this envoy has now taken refuge in one person, that is, Zhang Heling, Marquis of Shouning, who is standing on the other side of the court hall, where the old god is present.

You must know that a large part of the reason why Zhang Heling is well-informed is because of Shen Lu. Although many people in the court like to use dense and sparse to go directly to the imperial front, these are the core ministers of the central government, or the officials of the frontiers from various places, and other officials in the court. Your ministers are not allowed to do this, so the Secretary of the General Administration can't do anything else, it's still okay to leak information to you.

The reason why Shen Lu flattered Zhang Heling was very simple, the envoy was Jiuqing, but now he couldn't even keep up with a servant when he went out, Shen Lu wanted to leave such a place a long time ago.

It's just that there is no one in the cabinet. It is basically impossible for Shen Lu to make a difference. The General Secretary has nothing for Shen Lu to play. it's the same.Because there is no precedent, even if everyone knew that Shen Lu had taken refuge in Zhang Heling, no one cared too much. After all, the status of the Secretary of the General Administration is too low.

Zhu Hou looked at Shen Lu who was standing down the steps, but he was thoughtful. As the "understandable" General Secretary was declining day by day, the information that the emperor received contained more and more private goods.Even the Dongchang Jinyiwei, the news they reported may not be true, which led to a significant decline in the imperial court's control over officials and localities.

Glancing at Shen Lu, then at Shouning Marquis Zhang Heling, Zhu Houzhao narrowed his eyes slightly. This seemed like a good opportunity to intervene?
"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

At this time, a person stood up, Zhu Houzhao's thoughts were interrupted, and he couldn't help but look over, who is this at this time?So brave?Do you dare to continue talking like this?The eyes of the ministers also turned away. Obviously, everyone was curious about who dared to see the person stroking the tiger's beard at this time.

Zhu Youtang also looked over, and everyone didn't expect that it was Xie Qian, a cabinet scholar who stood up at this time, which made everyone stunned.

There are three academicians in the cabinet, and people at the time said, "Li Gongmou (Li Dongyang's strategy), Liu Gongduan (Liu Jian's decisive decision), Xie Gongyou Kankan (Xie Qian's eloquence), at this time Xie Qian stepped forward, obviously not planning to do it casually." Say something.

"Xie Aiqing has something to say, but it's okay to say it!"

Seeing that it was Xie Qian, Zhu Youtang's expression softened a lot. Looking at Xie Qian's gentle voice, it was obvious that Zhu Houzhao still had respect for this cabinet scholar.

"Your Majesty, whether the case of private salt in Yangzhou is true or not cannot be determined just because of the two issues. Even if it is true, it cannot be asserted that officials from Nanzhili were involved." Xie Qian said loudly: "Salt Road An independence, even if local officials have the right to inspect and transfer, they do not have the right to intervene in specific affairs. Official salt becomes private salt, and private salt becomes official salt. This kind of matter is very confidential and rigorous, and it is difficult to find out. Nothing strange."

"The top priority of the imperial court is to find out the truth. Whether the officials are involved will be known only after the investigation. The case cannot be decided on the basis that the officials are guilty first."

Xie Qian's words were loud, but everyone in the hall was sweating for Xie Qian.

(End of this chapter)