Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 184 Reprimanding Consul Ju Zheng and Gao Gong!
In Yuxi Palace.

Suddenly it was quiet.

Zhu Houcong's face was stiffer than the bronze chime in the hall, and he was waiting for Zhang Juzheng's reply.

Zhang Juzheng was lying on his stomach, no longer as relaxed and carefree as he usually was when meeting the emperor, and his body was trembling slightly.

Today's response has caused the wrath of the Holy One. If the next answer is not good, it will be a step into the abyss.

He was ready to gamble.

But how to bet? His heart was in his throat and he was thinking frantically.

His Majesty saw through the lies of past civil servants and found out the truth why taxes in the Ming Dynasty could not be increased for a long time.

The horse breeding and people's livelihood industries are government-run.

If he continued to lie to the emperor, he would not be able to get through this hurdle. But if he agreed to allow all industries to be run by the government, how would he explain to the officials in the two capitals and thirteen provinces?

It is true that power requires responsibility for the source of that power.

However, as the head of the cabinet and the chief of all civil and military officials, if he cannot make life better for court officials, I am afraid it will be difficult for him to win the support of the people in the future.

It is difficult to advance and it is difficult to retreat. It is a dilemma.

"If you don't want to reply, then there's no need to reply."

Zhu Houcong's patience was exhausted, and his voice was colder than his face, "Get lost!"

A curse.

This caused Zhang Juzheng to be struck by lightning.

Even though Yan Song did so many wrong things, the emperor only executed all nine clans of Yan Song and did not insult him.

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were so frightened that they buried their heads even lower.

Yuan Fu has been facing so many challenges and finally he can’t bear it anymore.

Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but look up at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please understand the hardship of the court officials..."

"What's the hardship?"

Zhu Houcong was furious and said in a cold tone: "I'm afraid that countless people in the Ming Dynasty are willing to bear the hardship of being rich and poor for the officials of the court!"

Zhang Juzheng's heart was trembling, and his voice was trembling too. He kowtowed several times and said, "Your Majesty, please understand that the salaries in our Ming Dynasty are so low that they have never been seen before. Even if I don't have staff and ministers, it is difficult to make a living."

"Stop pretending!" Zhu Houcong stopped him. "In our Ming Dynasty, the ninth-rank official has an annual salary of 50 dan of rice. In our dynasty, one dan of rice costs 5 qian of silver, which is 25 taels of silver. Zhang Juzheng, how many people in our Ming Dynasty can earn 25 taels of silver a year?"

"Your Majesty, officials are very different from ordinary people. There are many 'personnel affairs' in the officialdom, which are incomparable to ordinary people." Zhang Juzheng revealed the truth about the officialdom.

This personnel.

It's not about personnel appointments and dismissals, but about where the money is spent.

In official circles, every aspect must be taken care of. Even if one is really capable, he still needs someone to support him.

If you want others to support you, you must show your sincerity. There is no need to say more about how to show sincerity.

Your Majesty has previously abolished the bad habit of officials hiring staff, which reduced a large amount of expenses for officials. Your Majesty can abolish things that are obvious, but how can he abolish the "personnel" that is done secretly?
"personnel?"

Zhu Houcong clapped his hands and laughed in anger: "Great! You are talking to me about human affairs!"

Thunder became even angrier.

Zhang Juzheng had no way out and had to kneel there waiting for what happened next.

Zhu Houcong looked at Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang, and Chen Yiqin and said, "Did you also get the position of cabinet minister by relying on personal connections?"

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Chen Yiqin immediately replied: "In reply to Your Majesty, it is not the case." Gao Gong had always been honest and upright. Apart from accepting the Xuande incense burner from Shen Weijing, a traitor trained by the court, and handing it over to the national treasury, he had never accepted or given any gifts.

The reason I have reached my current position is that I have overcome many difficulties along the way.

Although he sometimes gets confused when it comes to power struggles, most of the time he is a person who hates evil.

Hu Zongxian was accepted as a disciple by Yan Song shortly after entering the court. With a teacher who was the chief minister of the cabinet at the time, everything went smoothly for him and he rose rapidly to the position of Governor-General of Zhejiang and Governor of Zhejiang.

After Yan Song fell, Hu Zongxian tried his best to be filial to his teacher, but he failed to save his teacher. He was appointed as prime minister by the emperor.

As for the holiday gifts and birthday gifts given to Yan Song on the three festivals and two birthdays in the past, they had nothing to do with arrangements.

Chen Yiqun is even more pure. Members of the Chen family are the typical example of 'learning literary and martial arts, and selling them to the royal family', but they have never deliberately pursued how much skills they have learned and what price they can be sold for.

Before Chen Yiqin, the Chen family had not been in official service for three generations. There were many people who had made great achievements, but they were never granted official positions by the court.

The reason is that personnel management was not properly managed.

Chen Yiqin was able to reach the position of cabinet minister without any support or arrangements. He was promoted step by step. In addition to his ability, it was more due to luck.

In the 20th year of Jiajing's reign, he passed the imperial examination and was selected as a scholar-official.

In the 22nd year of Jiajing's reign, he was appointed as a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy.

In the 24th year of Jiajing's reign, he served as the editor of the Huidian.

In the 26th year of Jiajing, he supervised the imperial examination.

In the 31st year of Jiajing's reign, he was appointed lecturer in Prince Yu's Palace.

In the 35th year of Jiajing, he was appointed editor of the Hanlin Academy.

In the 37th year of Jiajing, he was promoted to Xima of the Sijing Bureau and concurrently served as a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy.

In the 38th year of the reign of Jiajing, the academician who was in charge of the Hanlin Academy was in mourning, and Chen Yiqin took his place.

In the 39th year of the Jiajing reign, the Minister of Taichang Temple died suddenly, and Chen Yiqin took over the duties of the Imperial College.

At the end of the 39th year of Jiajing's reign, he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. In the first month of the 40th year of Jiajing's reign, he was changed to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Later, Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Yan Shifan were expelled from the cabinet, and Chen Yiqin became a cabinet director together with Li Chunfang.

After serving as an official in the court for twenty years, he reached a position that countless court officials could not reach.

The elders of the Chen family once searched through the family books and found that throughout the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, there were only a handful of people as lucky as Chen Yiqin.

In the end, the elders of the Chen family could only sigh that the luck of the previous three generations might have been accumulated on Chen Yiqin.

When good fortune comes to you, what are human affairs?
Li Chunfang's face suddenly turned red.

Now in the cabinet, he and the prime minister Zhang Juzheng were of the same year and took the same exam. In the 26th year of Jiajing, he defeated Zhang Juzheng and won the top place in the palace examination.

In March of that year, he saw all the flowers in Chang'an.

But he did not have the support of Yan Song like Hu Zongxian, or the support of Xu Jie like Zhang Juzheng. He also did not have the family background and luck like Chen Yiqin, nor did he have the courage to overcome difficulties like Gao Gong. After entering the court as an official, "human resources" were indispensable everywhere.

Li Chunfang stood there awkwardly, not knowing whether to answer or not to answer.

Zhu Houcong glanced at him and ignored him. He turned to look back at Gao, Hu, and Chen and said, "If I leave the personnel affairs of the court to you, will there still be 'personnel affairs'?"

When they heard the two people, Gao Gong's heartbeat seemed to skip a beat, but then it started beating violently again.

What does Your Majesty mean?
Hu Zongxian and Chen Yiqin were still confused, Gao Gong spoke first: "We will definitely live up to your expectations!"

"I see that Zhang Juzheng is ill, so he should go home to recuperate. Gao Gong, from today on, you will move to the cabinet duty room and take charge of the cabinet affairs first."

(End of this chapter)