Wandering the Heavens

"Yu Qian? This name sounds familiar?" Zhu Zhanji muttered to himself as he looked at the memorial sent by the Ministry of Personnel.

"Isn't this the drunkard who advised Emperor Taizong to stop the war at the Qionglin Banquet?" Sun Ruowei, who was massaging Zhu Zhanji's shoulders, glanced at the name on the memorial.

"So it was him? Back then, the emperor threw him to the Earl of Xuanwu, and I heard that he was scolded. It is said that as a son, when he heard the news of his mother's death, he did not think about how to go home as soon as possible, but got drunk, and even went crazy at the Qionglin Banquet. Then he wrote a letter to apologize and went home to mourn, and it has been three years now." Zhu Zhanji was also very impressed by this person.

"Then how will the emperor deal with this number one scholar?" Sun Ruowei seemed very curious.

"It's difficult! With his temper, no one will want him anywhere. If he is sent to a local position, he has never been in the Hanlin Academy and his qualifications are even lower. It's difficult!" Zhu Zhanji turned around and looked at Sun Ruowei as if he remembered something, then turned around and put the memorial aside, and picked up another memorial.

After a long time, Zhu Zhanji felt dizzy, had backaches and finally realized how difficult it was for his father.

Zhu Zhanji stretched without any image and continued to work, and then he received the memorial from the Censorate. Within a year, the Ming Empire had three emperors, personnel changes, and officials were frequently transferred. In the case of insufficient officials, most of the censors of the Censorate were transferred out, and there was a serious shortage of censors, so they could not request to add censors.

Zhu Zhanji's eyes lit up, and he gave Yu Qian's memorial and this memorial to his personal eunuch to take to the cabinet.

"Call the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Personnel to see me!" Zhu Zhanji said, and then he stood up and stretched his muscles: "You go back! I have something to deal with."

"I'll take my leave!" Sun Ruowei bowed with a smile and left the hall.

Zhu Zhanji watched Sun Ruowei turn around with the help of the palace maid, and his originally affectionate face suddenly became extremely cold. He was a little perverted now, and he liked the way Sun Ruowei looked like she couldn't stand him but couldn't get rid of him.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Personnel request to see you." The words of the personal eunuch interrupted Zhu Zhanji's thoughts.

"Pass it on!" Zhu Zhanji sat back in his seat.

"Your Highness, I, Jian Yi/Lü Zhen, pay my respects to His Majesty."

"Please stand up, gentlemen. I summoned you two here today to talk about something. These days I have received memorials from the six ministries and the Censorate regarding official vacancies. I want to add a special examination next year, which is the first year of Xuande. What do you two think?" Zhu Zhanji gestured to the two to stand up straight before speaking.

It’s not a big deal. The current policy of the Ming Dynasty has shifted from being aggressive to being conservative. The so-called shortage is nothing more than everyone seeing that the new emperor does not understand the situation and wants to grab resources and win over colleagues.

Moreover, the emperor himself wanted to start his own era as soon as possible, so he also wanted to take this opportunity to recruit a group of imperial disciples under his own name. This selfish desire could not be hidden from the minds of old foxes like Jian Yi and Lu Zhen.

The imperial examination was held last year, that is, in the 22nd year of Yongle. The tradition of holding it every three years could not be broken in any way. Otherwise, if future emperors also followed suit, the country would not be able to withstand such a turmoil.

Besides, the Ministry of Personnel has a lot of juren on record, and they can just pick some and put them in less important positions.

"Your Majesty, I have recently sorted out the data of all registered officials. Except for the officials assigned by the Censorate to inspect various prefectures, the vacancies in various ministries and local prefectures are under control and will not affect the country's major policies and the governance of the country and the people. I think there is no need for special examinations, and it will not be too late to fill the gaps in the second year of Xuande." As the Minister of Personnel, Jian Yi naturally knew what these officials were thinking.

"I and Minister Jian share the same opinion." Lu Zhen didn't say much, but Zhu Zhanji's heart sank a little.

"However, there are too many memorials from various ministries regarding the recruitment of additional officials. It would not be appropriate for me to keep all of them without dealing with them." Zhu Zhanji thought that he had to give himself some face.

"Your Majesty, I have a solution."

Jian Yi and Lu Zhen looked at each other, and Jian Yi spoke last.

"Come and take a look at what your family has to say!" Zhu Zhanji thought that he had to make some changes in personnel matters.

"First, transfer the local officials who have performed well to the imperial court, and then promote the local officials step by step according to the evaluation. Most of the vacant official positions are from the seventh to the ninth grade. These positions will be filled by the Ministry of Personnel from the candidates on record. In this way, the problem of official shortage can be solved."

After all, Jian Yi was a veteran who had been in the officialdom for many years. With just a few words, he tricked Zhu Zhanji and those officials who wanted to recruit people for him. This advantage was given to the successful candidates instead of to the emperor and his colleagues.

"Minister Jian is worthy of being a veteran minister of four dynasties. His words made me suddenly enlightened. Then the Ministry of Personnel should come up with a set of regulations and submit them to me as soon as possible. I will approve them and implement them then." Zhu Zhanji compromised.

The problem was solved, and Zhu Zhanji chatted with the two for a while before letting them go back.

Looking at the backs of the two old men, Zhu Zhanji breathed a sigh of relief. Who said that being an emperor is easy? It's always the case that he gets drunk and sleeps with his beautiful wife, and then wakes up to hold power over the world. Pull this guy out and I will beat him to death!

He had only been the emperor for a few days when he felt that he was already a little overwhelmed. In addition to the physical fatigue, he was also mentally exhausted. These ministers who were so respectful to him were all old foxes who had become cunning. Their words and memorials were all traps for him. If he was not careful, he would fall into their trap.

If I continue like this, I'll probably have to go downstairs to see my biological father in two days. I have to think of a way!

"Your Majesty, it's time to eat!"

Zhu Zhanji came back to his senses and looked at the eunuch beside him. He felt that the old eunuch who had grown up with him was becoming more and more handsome. Suddenly, he thought of an idea.

"I remember that you can read, right?"

"When the emperor was studying, I also secretly learned some of it by sitting next to him." The eunuch's personal attendant quickly lowered his head.

"Go and do one thing. Pick out some smart ones, no matter which government office they are in or what their rank is. Bring these people together. I want to meet them." Zhu Zhanji knew what to do.

The news that the emperor had set up an inner study hall and found some eunuchs to study soon reached Yu Xian's ears. Yu Xian had thought that this day would come, but he did not expect it to come so soon. Zhu Zhanji could not bear it after only a few months as emperor. His biological father worked diligently until his death.

The Inner Study Hall had been set up, and the Imperial Household Department would soon obtain the power to approve documents. In addition, Zhu Gaochi deliberately raised the status of the cabinet during his reign. The two hundred years of love-hate relationship between the imperial power and the civil officials of the Ming Empire was about to begin.

Now it is less than 30 years since Emperor Taizu passed away. The imperial power that he had concentrated with all kinds of infamy was soon divided up by Zhu Zhanji. It was really like selling the father's land without any regret. I wonder how angry Emperor Taizu would be if he knew about this...

City people really know how to have fun!

Yu Xian sighed and continued teaching. It was more important to complete his task. What about the approval power of the Imperial Household Department and the civil servants' cabinet? They were just waiting to be strangled to death by these kids in front of him. You must study hard, because the future of the empire depends on you!