Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 189: The beginning of the prosperity of the restoration, can the Jiajing New Deal continue?

"Xiangrui?"

Zhu Houcong smiled faintly.

He could guess that this was the conservative scholars in the world testing whether he wanted to give up reform and pursue comfort.

But considering that it was not yet the time for reform ideas to completely dominate and the world was still dominated by conservative ideas, Zhu Houcong decided to pretend to be nice and confuse the conservative people in the world.

After all, he had amassed tens of millions of silver dollars in the name of suppressing the rebellion.

If he continues to show his enterprising spirit and wants to continue to seize profits from the wealthy and powerful to enrich the country and benefit the people.

It may really provoke some resentful people to take risks.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong did not show his rage and act as if he wanted to severely punish Wang Song, the Liaodong Provincial Inspector. He only asked Liang Chu:

"What does the Prime Minister think of this?"

"Your Majesty has worked hard to govern the country and ushered in a prosperous era of rejuvenation. It is only natural that Heaven has responded with a sign and sent out a white deer to congratulate you."

"So I humbly believe that you should allow it to be presented to the capital to show the prosperity of the times! Tell the world that your majesty's achievements in the restoration of the country have won the congratulations of heaven."

Liang Chu knew that the emperor was not immediately furious, but rather that he liked the auspicious music, and he just needed to say it himself so that he would bear the saliva of the crow on the road.

So, he just said so.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong said, "What Yuanfu said makes sense."

Therefore, this offering of auspicious signs was confirmed with the result of "being allowed to offer".

Although this memorial seemed to have nothing to do with the imperial politics, it concerned many ministers.

Including cabinet ministers.

Because the outcome of this memorial meant that after the emperor had many beauties at his wedding and had acquired enormous wealth by implicating a large number of Nanzhi nobles, would he continue to reform the system?

"Prince, does Your Majesty approve or disapprove Wang Song's memorial?"

Jiang Mian asked this question immediately after Liang Chu came back.

Liang Chu smiled and said, "That's right!"

Jiang Mian breathed a sigh of relief and was secretly happy.

Mao Ji also smiled slightly.

Fei Hong just nodded, but Yang Yiqing seemed to be thinking about something and looked surprised. He always felt that the emperor was not that simple.

After all, he had worked his way up step by step in the local area, and he had a better understanding of human nature and was more keenly aware of the possible reasons behind many things, so he was instinctively suspicious.

But he didn't say it out loud, only thinking to himself: "Interesting! Is Your Majesty trying to cover up his mistake or is he really going to stick to the status quo from now on?"

"What is Elder Yang thinking about?"

Liang Chu saw Yang Yiqing in a daze and asked a question.

Yang Yiqing said: "I was thinking, Your Majesty is wise!"

"How can one be a saint and wise when he is happy about auspicious signs?"

Jiang Mian asked this question in a hypocritical manner.

Yang Yiqing chuckled.

"Don't be angry, Lord Jiang!"

Liang Chu said with a smile, then looked at the ministers and said:

"However, one thing is for sure: if I follow the imperial decree, the censors will definitely make a fuss about me!"

Liang Chu sighed slightly and said:
"When the time comes, I will definitely beg for resignation, and the emperor will have to grant my resignation. Then you can all be at ease as assistants to the Taiping Pavilion and implement a peaceful and harmonious government for His Majesty!"

"Even so, we all understand the merits of Yuan Fu!"

Mao Ji bowed and replied.

"That's right. Only those who don't know the situation will believe the words of those censors! Anyone who understands knows that Yuanfu is doing a very loyal and righteous thing! Even His Majesty will be grateful to Yuanfu!"

"They are just pretending, but in fact they all hope that Your Majesty will accept the auspicious sign and feel proud and satisfied!"

"I just hope that if the criticism is too strong, the Prime Minister won't take it too seriously."

Fei Hong also spoke at this time.

although……

They were trying to comfort Liang Chu, but they also hoped that Liang Chu would not force them, the cabinet ministers, to punish the censors too harshly when drafting the bill just because the censors scolded him too harshly, thus making them bear the stigma of being in the same clique with Liang Chu.

Yang Yiqing then said: "This is what it means to want both face and substance. You clearly don't want the world to be good, but you want to act like you want it to be good. You clearly don't want the emperor to be a true sage, but you want to act like you want the emperor to be a true sage!"

"But it has been like this since ancient times. There is no point in saying this, but the Prime Minister will suffer some injustice."

Liang Chu naturally understood what Fei Hong and Yang Yiqing meant, so he smiled and said, "I'm used to being scolded. How could I care? As the Prime Minister, I supported the emperor in doing so many things that offended the rich and powerful. It's a blessing to be able to retreat with only some grievances."

Liang Chu then drafted Wang Song's memorial and allowed him to present the white deer.

That night, Jiang Mian met with his younger brother, Jiang Sheng, the Minister of Dali Temple, and asked him to find censors to impeach Liang Chu for accepting bribes from local officials, creating auspicious signs, and deceiving the emperor.

As the second assistant, if Jiang Mian wanted to become the first assistant, it would be natural for him to do such a mean thing as finding someone to stab Liang Chu in the back.

Unless he doesn't want to be the prime minister.

But Jiang Mian naturally wanted to be the Prime Minister. In order to become the Prime Minister, he had even started learning to look at the stars.

Therefore, although Jiang Mian sympathized with Liang Chu in his heart, he did not hesitate to stab him in the back when it was time, and he did not feel any moral pressure.

Jiang Sheng then found several censors and officials from the Ministry of Personnel who wanted to advance or were dissatisfied with Liang Chu, explained the risks and distribution of benefits, and let whoever impeached him take care of the aftermath, and then the impeachment was finalized.

Although Liang Chu was a good guy in the officialdom, there were still people who hated him.

There's nothing we can do about it, no one can be 100% likable.

So, a few days later, the imperial censor Su Han took the lead and used the impeachment of Wang Song for deceiving the emperor to test the emperor's attitude. In the end, he was criticized for exaggerating.

then.

Seeing that Su Han did not anger the emperor, the Imperial Censor Yan Hong continued to submit memorials, directly impeaching Liang Chu for accepting bribes and misleading the emperor.

then.

Censor Yang En continued to add fuel to the fire, saying that it was Liang Chu who instigated Wang Song to create auspicious signs in order to make the emperor complacent and no longer determined to reform, so Liang Chu was also deceiving the emperor.

Liang Chu then submitted a petition asking for resignation.

Zhu Houcong was well aware of this culture of bureaucratic infighting, so he was not too surprised. He also knew that this was a show by the bureaucrats for the emperor to change his governing strategy and replace the Prime Minister. They were acting as if the officials all over the world did not want the emperor to lose his will to innovate, and therefore angrily accused the Prime Minister Liang Chu of being a sycophant, deceiving the emperor and harming the country.

It seems that as long as the prime minister is replaced, the emperor will rekindle his fighting spirit and the world will continue to reform and eliminate corruption.

But even though he understood it, Zhu Houcong still had to cooperate with this performance.

after all……

The entire bureaucracy tends to be conservative in its overall philosophy.

Therefore, before the new opportunity came, he had to perform and get Liang Chu dismissed from office.

However, before Zhu Houcong dismissed Liang Chu, he specially summoned Liang Chu and said, "I know you are doing this for me, so I have to persuade me to agree. But now I want you to tell me the truth. Do you want me to continue the reform or not?"

Liang Chu said: "I dare not deceive the emperor. I do not want your majesty to continue to reform the system!"

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong glanced at Liang Chu and said, "Tell me your reasons."

Liang Chu hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground.

"Because your majesty's kindness to me is as deep as the sea!"

"When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, you did not dismiss me just because Yang Xindu and his party excluded me. You have always trusted me and even granted me a sedan chair in the Forbidden City. You can be said to be the most gracious of all the ministers!"

"I really don't want a benevolent ruler like Your Majesty to follow the footsteps of the late emperor and risk the disapproval of the world!"

Liang Chu's eyes welled up with tears after he said this, and he added: "Your Majesty, the people of our country are not worthy of your diligent work for them. The words of the saints are just for listening and acting out, that's all!"

"Moreover, there was a new policy at the beginning of Jiajing, which was enough to support the country's fortune to continue into the next life."

Zhu Houcong had to admit that Liang Chu was really telling the truth, otherwise he would not have said such a thing.

"Daily Records! Don't remember what Yuanfu said, or what comes next!"

Zhu Houcong suddenly gave instructions to the daily record official Xianfu.

Fang Xianfu bowed and agreed.

Zhu Houcong then stood up and walked to the wall where the "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" was hung. He looked up at the map and said to Liang Chu with his back to it:
"Yuan Fu, look, the Han and Tang dynasties were this big in the past."

"The Mongols were even more powerful. They actually conquered this far west."

"But the territory actually controlled by our dynasty is better than that of the Northern Song Dynasty."

Zhu Houcong waved his hands while speaking, and then asked Liang Chu:

"You asked me to be content with the status quo, but I can't. When I think about the fact that these things cannot be realized, I feel that everything is boring!"

"Even if you don't stop me from going on a southern tour like the last emperor did, and instead agree to my going on a southern tour, I will still find this meaningless!"

"Your Majesty, do you know that there is a powerful family in the Donglai Gold Mine who wants to take it for themselves?"

At this time Liang Chu suddenly brought up the development of Donglai.

Zhu Houcong immediately turned around solemnly: "They dare!"

"Your Majesty, money can move people's hearts. Even if they don't dare to be bold, they will have the courage to try it out."

"Your Majesty, it is clear that the benefits that the monarch has worked so hard to increase for the country and the people are often eroded into the private property of the powerful and wealthy families!"

"So, even if Your Majesty works hard to increase the benefits of the world and enrich the country and benefit the people, in the end it will only be for others to do the work, and for the common people, they don't care who they are exploiting."

"No matter if it's the imperial court or the powerful, as long as they can survive, they won't rebel!"

"But if the emperor fights for the interests of the people, he will face dangers of being attacked openly and secretly! Therefore, I have said this to go against the will of the emperor. I hope Your Majesty will understand my painstaking efforts!"

After Liang Chu said this, he kowtowed deeply.

Zhu Houcong grinned thoughtfully at this time: "Am I only able to be a king who maintains the status quo and cooperate with the performances of the officials of the world like a puppet?"

"Your Majesty asked me what I thought, so I had to tell you the truth."

"But I believe that Your Majesty is a wise and powerful ruler, and that if you want to accomplish great things, you should understand that the good should be followed, the next best is to benefit and guide them, the next best is to teach them, the next best is to tidy them up, and the worst is to fight with them."

"So, Your Majesty must understand that since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have been able to successfully implement some new policies. It is not just because Your Majesty worked hard to govern the country, but because the court was indeed short of money at that time, and the victims of the disasters in the world were indeed not recovering, and the central military was not strong. Therefore, the ministers in the court, even those who advocated abiding by the ancestral system, could not deny these problems. In this way, the majority of people in the world need Your Majesty to rectify the government, so Your Majesty was allowed to rectify the government!"

"If not for this, Your Majesty would not have been able to easily bring so many people to the capital, and Yang Taifu would not have been easily replaced by Your Majesty. He had to give up power in advance due to illness because his strategy of only cutting off the interests of the royal family without touching the fundamentals did not receive the support of all ministers."

"But now, the victims of the disaster in Huaiyang and Huguang have all been resettled, the central government has secured a strong army, and the court's treasury has greatly increased. Although the Ministry of Revenue still owes your majesty a debt, it will be repaid sooner or later."

"nature!"

"The number of people willing to work hard to reform the system will decrease significantly. If Your Majesty wants to continue the reform, you need to wait until more people are willing to continue the reform."

After Liang Chu said this, Zhu Houcong said, "Get up, give me some tea!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After Liang Chu sat down, Zhu Houcong asked Liang Chu other questions:
"What do you think of Jiang Mian and Mao Ji?"

"Your Majesty, these two gentlemen only want to be the chief ministers of peace!"

Liang Chu replied.

Zhu Houcong laughed after hearing this: "In other words, they just want to be idle in office and get the title of Prime Minister to bring glory to their family, and by the way, they can get some benefits for themselves, their family and even their fellow villagers within an appropriate scope. As for the achievements in reforming the system and strengthening the country and benefiting the people, they are naturally dispensable. Anyway, the three taboos of the venerable, as long as they don't go too far and show some respect to the wise and humble, their reputation in the future biographies will not be bad, and they can even get a posthumous title with a Chinese character?"

(End of this chapter)