Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 187: Working as one, no privileges!

"Lord, there is another decree: since we have already paid taxes together, it is okay for officials and gentry to serve together."

Liu Tai, the secretary of the Cabinet, repeated the imperial edict from Yuxi Palace.

Officials and gentry paid taxes and served as officials together, and all industries were run by the government. These were the privileges of officials in the Ming Dynasty, but at this moment, all of them were exempted.

Hu Zongxian watched as the light in the second prime minister's eyes grew dimmer and dimmer, until it lost all its luster.

Colleague Li Chunfang was in the same situation, slumped behind a pile of government affairs, staring blankly at the roof.

Except Chen Yiqin.

The smile could no longer be hidden. Even if she used her hands to adjust her cheeks to the point of being distorted, she could still be seen smiling.

Hu Zongxian realized that the joys and sorrows of human beings are not shared. The world is full of suffering, and one has to overcome one's own sorrows and joys.

Gao Gong and Li Chunfang were sad.

Chen Yiqin was happy.

But the cabinet is the power center of the Ming Dynasty. Without the Prime Minister, government affairs are already heavy and cannot be delayed. This cannot go on any longer. Hu Zongxian said softly: "Second Prime Minister, how should the emperor's will be implemented? Should we continue to seek the best and get the middle?"

"Depend on him..."

Gao Gong subconsciously wanted to blurt out a curse in the Central Plains Mandarin, but he swallowed the words back before they came out.

The emperor's will to run all industries officially has not been implemented yet, and now officials and gentry are required to pay taxes and serve as officials together. If they continue to seek upward mobility, I'm afraid the officials of the Ming Dynasty will really not be able to survive.

Unexpectedly, the first time he used his military tactics, he was hit head-on by the emperor, leaving his head buzzing.

"Since it is a new policy, just announce it to the world directly." Gao Gong no longer thought about it and chose to face his fate.

Even if the government and the opposition are in an uproar and want to oust him as the second prime minister, they still have to set up the stage and wait for people to come up and fight.

"I second the motion!" Chen Yiqin immediately responded.

"I second the motion!" Hu Zongxian followed closely.

Li Chunfang hesitated for a while, but finally nodded and said, "I second the motion!"

All industries are run by the government.

Officials and gentry paid taxes and served as officials together.

The two new policies hit all officials of the Ming Dynasty and spread from the capital to the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Wherever he went, government offices and scholars were in an uproar.

Since ancient times, scholars have studied hard for decades just to become an official, and traveled thousands of miles to become an official just to make a fortune.

This may not be the idea of ​​all Ming Dynasty officials, but it is at least the idea of ​​more than half of them.

This half of the officials did the same.

Privileges are wiped out.

How could the officials and scholars of the Ming Dynasty, who prided themselves on living a simple and frugal life, be willing to accept this?

Surrounding the capital are two major provinces for imperial examinations: Henan and Shandong.

When officials from the two provinces heard about the new policy, they immediately resigned from their offices and submitted memorials to the capital.

The scholars from the two provinces had originally been preparing to go to the capital for the imperial examination the following spring, but they were first hit hard by the cancellation of the imperial examination, and then by the heavy blows of paying taxes and serving as officials. They could no longer bear it, and gathered tens of thousands of scholars, holding Confucius' tablets, and rushed to the capital to appeal for justice.

The local government offices were closed, and scholars gathered to go to the capital. The Jinyiwei tried their best to calm the people, but under the overwhelming situation, they did not dare to act rashly without the clear will of the emperor, and could only send a letter to the capital as soon as possible. The capital city, which was at the center of the storm, had already been in chaos. Officials from the six ministries, the Censorate, the Tongzhengsi, the Dali Temple, and the nine ministers went to the gate of Yuxi Palace, hoping to see the emperor.

The eunuch Lu Fang, who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, walked out of the forbidden gate and informed the officials: "The emperor is in seclusion and meditation. Do not disturb him."

It may be because His Majesty has been killing too many people in the past six months, which has caused civil and military officials to be afraid to enter the Forbidden Gate.

You can’t disrupt Yuxi Palace.

Zhao Zhigao, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, stood outside the forbidden gate in a daze, and suddenly shouted, "Go to the cabinet duty room and find Gao Gong!"

If you don't dare to offend Yuxi Palace, you dare not offend the cabinet?

This is what the ministers thought and did, so they turned and went to the cabinet duty room.

But when the civil and military officials arrived at the cabinet's dismounting monument, they realized that things were not that simple.

The cabinet raised the specifications of its door today. Not only were all the cabinet guards standing in front of the door, but there were also many eunuchs from the Ministry of Justice standing inside the door.

Chen Hong, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, moved a chair and sat outside the door, not allowing anyone to enter.

Zhao Zhigao led everyone to the front of the cabinet and roared, "Eunuch Chen, what's going on? The six ministries and nine officials are overwhelmed by the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and no one is taking care of so many public affairs! Did the Ming Dynasty abolish the cabinet?"

Chen Hong was originally smiling at the arrival of the ministers, but when he stood up and saw that he had said something so outrageous, his face turned ugly: "Master Zhao, who did you hear say that the cabinet was abolished? Who dares to abolish the cabinet?"

"The Prime Minister was reprimanded and locked up at home. A deputy prime minister was asked to move his family to the cabinet's duty room. The Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Guards are now guarding the door and not allowing officials to enter the cabinet. Do the official documents of various ministries still need to be drafted? Do the affairs of the two capitals and thirteen provinces still need to be handled? What on earth do you want to do?" Zhao Zhigao stepped forward, almost sticking to Chen Hong, and continued to roar.

It is true that the ministers came for the two new policies, but they had to first meet the people who could take charge of the government before they could express their demands and dissatisfaction.

The imperial guards and eunuchs from the Ministry of Justice were all guarding here, obviously to stop them.

Zhao Zhigao was very smart. He did not reveal his real purpose. He first asked to see Gao Gong and the cabinet elders in the name of military and national affairs.

After repeated interrogation, spit was sprayed on Chen Hong's face. Chen Hong's expression became cold: "Minister Zhao! The court has a new policy, and the cabinet has also made a new proposal. That is, from now on, all official documents from various departments are handed in here, and we will send them in. The cabinet will draft those that need to be drafted. Whether the Prime Minister is here or not, it will not delay state affairs. Even if there are military and national affairs that the cabinet cannot decide, there are ways to solve them.

As for the officials from various ministries, they are all required to wait outside the cabinet gate."

At this point, Chen Hong called out, "Someone come!"

Several eunuchs walked out of the pavilion door.

"Collect the official documents from Minister Zhao and the officials from various ministries one by one!"

Chen Hong's eyes gradually turned cold, and he said in a cold tone: "But if there is no military or national event as mentioned by the adults, and there is no official document, but it is just a disturbance in the cabinet, what is the crime, Minister Zhao, and the adults, I don't need to say more, right?"

These words were stained with blood.

At that time, the group of Yan's party, led by Yan Maoqing, ran around to save Yan Song, Xu Jie, and Yan Shifan, intending to cry in the Yuxi Palace. It was he who took the East Factory men to take action in front of the Forbidden Gate.

When that group of corrupt scholars from the Hanlin Academy, led by Wang Xijue, broke into the cabinet and were later held accountable by the emperor, it was he who took action with the eunuchs from the Ministry of Justice.

He had killed people in front of the Forbidden Gate, and he was willing to make up for his regret in front of the Cabinet.

Zhao Zhigao suddenly panicked.

He was just feeling proud of his cleverness, but now it has become a handle in Chen Hong's hand.

Military affairs are just an excuse to get into the cabinet. How can he produce official documents?
A group of people stood still.

Chen Hong smiled, and his smile was so cold, "You can't take it out, right? Give it to us!"

(End of this chapter)