Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 454 Don’t Shoot

The imperial examinations were the main channel for the court to select talents, and at the same time it was also a transfer of power from the central government to the local governments.

This statement may seem easy to understand at first glance, but the underlying logic requires careful consideration.

At this time, the clan not only has the assets passed down from ancestors, but also has continuous additions from descendants.

With such material conditions, even if a branch family falls into poverty, it can still obtain a certain amount of support from the family property. When it enters the official career, no matter what it does, it has to seek benefits for the clan entrenched in the local area.

There was such an example during the Wanli period. A young man whose family had fallen on hard work finally passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi with the support of his clan. After ups and downs in his official career, he eventually became the head of a certain department, which brought honor to his family.

At this point, it was time for him to give back to the clan, but he was an incorruptible official. He had no money or property to supplement the clan assets, and he was unwilling to use his power to cover up for his clan. In the end, he was forced into a corner by repeated requests and visits, and had to resign.

It is obvious that the clan has a certain blessing on individuals, but they also have to be constrained by it under the influence of etiquette and human relations.

This is one of the most important internal logics of China.

Ordinary people always regard the fact that dynasties have a cycle of hundreds of years as a bottleneck in the development of productivity, which seems to be an unsolvable problem. However, in Zhu Cilang's view, navigation technology was able to support ocean voyages as early as the Song Dynasty. If productivity was really not enough to support the expanding population, they could just go out to sea.

There are still so many wild lands around, and the Central Plains dynasty can take them over with its ability.

At that time, people like Huang Chao and Li Zicheng could have become pioneers in expanding China's territory, and there would not have been a sea of ​​blood and corpses fighting for the limited living space.

But the reality is not developing in this direction.

Needless to say, during the Ming Dynasty, the Zhu family's several overseas expansions were interrupted by opposing forces. Even the voyages to the West, which greatly enriched Zhu Di's purse, was recorded in history books as a face-saving project that wasted the national treasury.

If we understand it in more detail, it seems that even the various incidents during the Song Dynasty were closely related to maritime games.

The reason for this situation is probably due to conflicts of interest, but if we think more deeply, the landlord class's nature of tying people to the land played a decisive role.

After all, the value of land can only be reflected when it is cultivated by people. If the oppressed tenants have other ways out, the interests of the landlords will inevitably be greatly affected.

Therefore, it became a natural need of the landlord class to tie people to the land through various means, and specific means such as clan rituals and returning to one's roots were bound to emerge.

Having said that, things became clear.

In order to maintain these measures for a long time, the landlords naturally had to collude with the powerful. The imperial examination was the main form of collusion, and the bureaucrats who were born as landlords or wanted to become landlords were the main medium of this collusion.

Zhu Cilang knew very well that there was nothing wrong with the imperial examination system itself, and that it was much more stable to have open bureaucrats governing the country than to have a puppet perform on the stage.

But the content of the current exam was really not suitable for the development of the times, and he wanted to change it. So after accepting Yang Tinglin's suggestion to hold an imperial examination to recruit scholars, he mixed some personal ideas into it.

"Mr. Yang is right. The imperial examination is the foundation of the country. Only by selecting talented people can the country be peaceful and the people be safe." Zhu Cilang nodded very solemnly, but paused for a moment. Then he showed some thoughtfulness on his face. After a few breaths, he suddenly said, "This matter cannot be delayed any longer. Please act quickly."

"Your Majesty is wise. I will complete this matter before the end of the year."

Yang Tinglin spoke in a high-pitched voice and at a steady pace, and it was obvious that he was very satisfied with Zhu Cilang's attitude.

With the approval of His Majesty, he felt that he had achieved his goal. However, when he said goodbye and was about to return to the yamen to arrange the matter, His Majesty's voice came again.

"Oh! That's right! The staff in the Advisory Council is somewhat mixed. I plan to test them and select those who are capable to replace all the unqualified ones." At this point, Yang Tinglin turned around. When he cast a puzzled look at Zhu Cilang, his indifferent voice came over: "The Ministry of Personnel also wants to prepare for the imperial examination, so let's organize the Advisory Council as well."

"I wonder what your majesty plans to test? And who will take the test?"

"I will consider the test papers again. The people taking the test are probably just clerks and servants in the government offices."

After he finished speaking, Yang Tinglin suddenly lowered his head, as if he had thought of something.

He is an extremely special one among Zhu Cilang's ministers.

Qian Qianyi valued his position as the Prime Minister, and his obedience to Zhu Cilang was probably due to this; as Liu Zongzhou was a representative of Zhejiang literati, his entry into the cabinet was more like a cooperation.

People like Yuan Jixian and Zhang Guowei were loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the legal system; Li Yongmao and Xu Yu were loyal to Zhu Cilang personally.

The only one who was loyal to Chongzhen and then loyal to his son was Yang Tinglin.

To be honest, as the Minister of Personnel, he naturally knew the role of this Advisory Council.

But it is not known whether it was this highly personal loyalty that led him to betray his own class, or whether it was because he saw Chongzhen, who had been kept in the dark from beginning to end, and he did not want his son to repeat the same mistake.

After realizing that the Advisory Council was Zhu Cilang's eyes and ears, the Minister of Personnel never expressed any dissatisfaction with this institution that was on the fringe of the court, and even gave it convenience within his authority.

At this point, although he was aware that Zhu Cilang's purpose was not simple, when the words fell, he just responded very calmly: "I accept your order."

After saying this, Yang Tinglin turned and left, but Zhu Cilang's eyes were somewhat complicated.

He knew that this old minister could be trusted, but if the ruler is not discreet, he will lose his ministers, and if the minister is not discreet, he will lose his life. For something like digging into the landlord class, it would be safer to hide the real destination deep inside.

According to his thinking, the change of the content of the imperial examination was inevitable, but if it was just pushed forward, there was no telling when the flag of Yingtian City would have to be changed one morning.

Therefore, he planned to add some things other than the Four Books and Five Classics to the examination of the Advisory Council first, and then after the Advisory Council had infiltrated every corner of the Ming Dynasty, he would take advantage of the situation and create some ranks such as the tenth rank and the junior rank.

By then, the resistance this move will encounter will be no less than it is now, and officials who have come up through the formal imperial examination system will inevitably be gradually replaced by those who come from the Advisory Council.

In the final analysis, the officials selected by the imperial examinations at this time were actually no different from those selected by elections. Compared with the clerks and runners who were involved in government affairs all year round, those people were too incompetent in mundane affairs. When these two forces collided, it was obvious who would win and who would lose.

Eventually, the local forces that could easily influence a county or a prefecture would no longer be prevalent due to the increase in official positions, and the Ming Dynasty's mobilization capabilities would naturally reach the limit of this era.

"Your Majesty? Mr. Yang has already gone far away."

Just when Zhu Cilang was still deducing in his mind, a light call pulled him out of his thoughts. When he turned his head to look at the source of the voice, Xu Shaoyue's angry face came into his sight.

"Hurry up and leave. Something might happen soon."

"Ok!"

As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them fled into the palace. After passing through one palace gate after another, the imperial garden in the northwest corner appeared before them.

It is the transition period between midsummer and early autumn. Although the hot summer is gradually fading away, the various flowers in the flower beds are still competing with each other in splendor.

Jasmine and gardenia emit bursts of fragrance, which fills the air and is intoxicating; bees and butterflies dance among the flowers, creating a harmonious and beautiful scene.

The lotus flowers in the pond of the Imperial Garden are in full bloom, as elegant and refined as fairies. In the middle of the pond stands a pavilion, which is obviously designed for viewing the beautiful scenery.

To be honest, this was the first time that Zhu Cilang had come to the Imperial Garden after such a long time on the throne. When he and his wife walked slowly to the pavilion, he immediately felt refreshed, and even his somewhat sluggish thoughts became active again.

"Zhou Quan, remember this."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhou Quan really lived up to his name. As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, he had already taken out paper and pen.

Seeing this, Empress Daming, who had been intoxicated by the beautiful scenery just a moment ago, immediately frowned. However, she was not ignorant. Although she was dissatisfied with His Majesty for delaying her rest time, she still patiently listened.

"Tell Gu Yuanjing that the issuance of banknotes must be based on the amount of money in the bank. It doesn't matter if it is issued slowly. Stability is the most important thing." Zhu Cilang paused for a moment before continuing, "At most, issue half a percent more, just to see the impact."

The previous lawsuits in Guangxi and Yunnan made him feel unsure about how to deal with them. If he had not thought of Zhang An's troops, he would have split Jiao Lian's Guangxi troops into two.

After this incident, he became conflicted when he saw Gu Yuanjing's memorial asking how paper money should be distributed.

As an ordinary person, he knew the general principles of the steam engine and the general development trajectory of thermal weapons, but when it came to financial knowledge, he only knew that issuing too little paper money was not good, and issuing too much was not good either, but he had no idea to what extent the money should be issued.

Fortunately.
"Yue'er's method is indeed effective. I was at a loss as to how to deal with Gu Yuanjing's memorial just now, but now I have a solution."

Regardless of whether Zhu Cilang's surprised expression was deliberately pretended to please his wife, or he truly felt that combining work and rest could make his mind more agile, when Xu Shaoyue saw that this method seemed to help her husband, she couldn't help but smile from the bottom of her heart.

As the saying goes, a single smile can bring out all the charm.

Although Xu Shaoyue did not look back at this time, her smile under the sunlight showed the girl's vigor and innocence to the fullest, like a flower blooming in spring, both subtle and full of vitality, making Zhu Cilang forget all worldly affairs, and his eyes were full of this girl who once wanted to lead the troops to save him.

When love is deep, you can't control yourself.

Zhu Cilang involuntarily took a step forward, and then took his wife's hand. At this moment, a breeze blew by, and the corners of their clothes swayed continuously, but their eyes met and could not be separated.

Feeling the warmth coming from his palms, the fatigue brought by the tedious government affairs disappeared instantly. At this point, he seemed to want to go further, but doing that in broad daylight at such a time was always a sin. In the end, he just stroked his wife's hand, and after a while, he diverted his attention with other topics.

"I heard that the Duke has not even seen any visitors these days?"

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang seemed to notice a change in the surrounding situation. After looking around, he found that Zhou Quan and the eunuchs and palace maids had disappeared. Then he couldn't help but laugh in his heart, and then turned his attention back to Xu Shaoyue.

"Well, this is good. Back then, the palace was in decline, and there weren't so many people coming and going. Now that I've entered the palace as the empress, I don't know where so many people have appeared from. Having too many connections will always cause trouble."

Realizing that her husband had restrained his thoughts, Xu Shaoyue felt a sweetness in her heart, but the fluttering feeling she had before was difficult to get rid of for a while.

So when she spoke, her face was still flushed, and she looked as if she was annoyed by those people who were currying favor with the powerful.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang wanted to comfort himself with a few words, but before he could say anything, Xu Shaoyue's voice came again.

"Your Majesty, it's nothing. My father is not a person who likes socializing. This is a good opportunity for him to get away from all the troubles. He still has his work to do, so he won't be idle."

"Yeah, that's right. Those people outside are very cunning. If you're not careful, you'll fall into their trap. Back then."

Zhu Cilang originally wanted to tell his wife how he had deceived Duke Wei and Duke Bao, but he changed his mind and it seemed inappropriate, so he stopped talking halfway. Even though Xu Shaoyue looked curious, he just smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.

For Zhu Cilang, this was indeed a rare relaxing time. Afterwards, somehow, Xu Shaoyue asked about what was happening on the battlefield. While he was talking, he deliberately concealed all the dangers involved. The emperor and the empress then chatted in the pavilion like an old couple.

Time passed little by little, and the figures of Zhou Quan and the palace maids and eunuchs appeared again not far away. After a long time, although Zhu Cilang was still reluctant to leave this gentle land, the memorials in the warm room kept appearing in his mind.

Faced with such a situation, he had no choice but to go back. After all, Xu Shaoyue was a well-educated and well-mannered lady, so she didn't feel the slightest bit dissatisfied about this.

Then the two of them walked hand in hand slowly towards the Qianqing Palace. When the majestic main hall came into sight, they saw a figure in a bright red official robe pacing outside the hall.

"Since the court officials are waiting, I will not go with Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)