I want to ruin the country

Lin Zexu was stunned.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

Yining said with a smile,

"From now on, unless there are special circumstances, you will go to and from get off work on time, and you won't have to get up at five in the morning and go to bed at midnight.

You are all quite old, if you keep going on like this you will eventually get sick from exhaustion."

Lin Zexu hurriedly said,

"As a minister serving our country and our king, how can we be afraid of hard work?"

Yining Road,

"Lord Lin, that's not the way to say it. You have worked hard for the country your entire lives and are the treasures of the country. I still rely on you!

From now on, no matter what time it is, if you feel tired, just go inside and lie down to rest. If it’s cloudy or rainy, you can stay here if you don’t want to go back home, so you don’t have to run back and forth!

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding!"

Yining Road,

"I have also arranged a small kitchen for you. You can decide what to eat and when to eat.

They will do what you tell them to do. If they are hungry all year round and have an irregular diet, they will get sick!

You are all treasures of the country, I can't bear to let you get sick!"

Lin Zexu and others were moved to tears!

Here I will briefly talk about the working system of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

After Zhu Di became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, a fire broke out in the palace and burned down the "Golden Palace" where he used to hold court.

There was no other choice, so everyone had to make do in the Taihe Gate archway for a while.

After a while, the emperor liked holding court in the doorway.

Because in the summer, the breeze in the doorway was quite cool, but in the winter when water froze into ice, the ministers were all frozen like grandsons, so they spoke much more concisely.

With less nonsense, efficiency will naturally improve. Some things that can be reported or not will not be mentioned. In this way, the emperor will save a lot of trouble.

After Daqing took over the world, it basically copied everything from the Ming Dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the practice of "holding government affairs at the imperial gate" was implemented, which meant that the emperor would receive princes and ministers in the archway of the Qianqing Gate and handle important military and national affairs.

The time for "Imperial Court Hearings" is 6:00 a.m. in winter and summer, and 5:00 a.m. in spring and autumn.

In order to "hear government affairs at the palace gate" on time, the emperor had to get up at four o'clock.

The ministers were even worse off. They had to get up at two or three o'clock and rush to the Forbidden City in the dark.

Everyone knows how far it is from Tiananmen Square to Qianqing Gate to enter the Forbidden City!

Think about it, these ministers have reached this level of status. They are already in their seventies and eighties, and they still have to run inside, even several times a day. How can they feel comfortable with such a toss?

Besides getting up early and walking, another big problem is eating.

There was a period of time in the Ming Dynasty when the emperor prepared breakfast for his ministers, but he stopped doing so when the stingy Wei Zhongxian came to power.

Man is like iron and rice is like steel. If he doesn't eat for a meal, he will be hungry. If the emperor doesn't give him food, some people don't have the conditions to prepare their own food and can only go hungry.

Some smart eunuchs and Sura set up breakfast stalls on Tianjie outside Qianqing Gate, selling snacks such as fried dough sticks, soy milk, Suzhou meat, fragrant sesame cakes, and fried liver.

Although there are snack stalls, sometimes it is too late and you can’t get any food, as the food is either cold or hot.

Eating is a big problem, but going to the toilet is an even bigger problem.

It is very rude to go to the toilet during the morning court or when making a report to the emperor!

Here the minister was reporting to the emperor that the border was being invaded by foreign enemies. It was extremely urgent. Suddenly, the minister covered his stomach and said,

"Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I ate too much lamb skewers last night and need to go to the restroom first!"

There was no toilet in the palace. People in the palace used toilets in the form of urinals. The emperor said anxiously,

"Don't go out. I'll have them bring a toilet. You can sit here and talk while you poop!"

Do you think this situation is awkward? In order not to be disrespectful in front of the emperor, most ministers chose to go hungry and wait until the morning court was over before eating.

Some people are trying to argue and say, let alone me not eating in the morning, even if you don’t eat the night before, can you guarantee that you won’t have stomach problems?

There's really no way to talk about this. I can't control my stomachache. What if I poop in my pants? There's no other way, I can only take sick leave!

Someone else asked, what should I do if I suddenly have diarrhea after coming?

There is a way. If someone has a stomachache and can't help it in front of the emperor, he can't poop in his pants. He can just frown and lie on the ground and pretend to be sick!

It has been said since ancient times that the emperor would not care about the patient. The emperor could not argue with the patient, so he could only let the eunuchs carry the patient out and then find a place to solve the problem of excrement and urine.

After reading this, you know how hard the ministers work!

Yining came from the modern era, and the first thing he thought of was humanistic care. He not only prepared meals for the ministers, but also cleaned the toilets. If you hold your feces and urine for a long time, you will get sick!

Du Shoutian and Lin Zexu thanked the emperor from the bottom of their hearts.

"Thank you, Lord, for your grace!"

I will never be afraid of working overtime and staying up late again.

After the matter was settled, several people left together.

You Zongtang helped Lin Zexu move his luggage to his new residence.

When he arrived and took a look, Lin Zexu was stunned. It turned out that the residence arranged for him by the emperor was Prince Yong's Mansion.

A while ago, it was occupied by the Sticking Pole Office. After it was vacated, Yining let Lin Zexu live there.

The status of Prince Yong's Mansion is obvious, and the emperor's intention in arranging Lin Zexu to live here is also very clear. In the future, Lin Zexu will be the chief military minister.

Lin Zexu stood at the door and thought again and again, then said,

"I can't live here!"

You Zongtang asked,

"Why? This is a gift from the Emperor!"

Lin Zexu said,

"These past few days, we have been hearing and seeing how the emperor cares about the country and the people and practices frugality.

If I stay here, it will go against the emperor's frugality. How can I be worthy of the emperor's kindness? I will go back and resign!"

You Zongtang thought what Lin Zexu said made sense and stopped trying to dissuade him!

When Yining heard that Lin Zexu had come back to ask for a meeting, he thought to himself, he must have come for accommodation, he was afraid of causing trouble!

Sure enough, Lin Zexu met Yining and explained his purpose. Yining said,

"I have already decided to appoint Lin Zhongtang as the Chief Military Minister. If you don't live here, who will? Besides, there are many mansions like this in the capital, not just the Prince Yong's Mansion."

Lin Zexu said,

"There are only about a dozen people in my family, so we don't need such a big house. A courtyard with two entrances is enough for us to live in.

The emperor is promoting frugality, and the old ministers should set an example.

The Emperor has already said that several more ministries will be established. I think it would be better to use them as government offices in the future!"

Knowing that Lord Lin had made up his mind, Yining had no choice but to agree. He also asked Wenqing to find him a courtyard with an area of ​​about 20 acres and three entrances nearby. Only then did Lin Zexu reluctantly move in.

After Lin Zexu left, Yining ordered someone to call Zaiquan over.

Zaiquan was the great-great-grandson of Emperor Qianlong, the great-grandson of Emperor Yonghuang, the grandson of Mian'en, and the son of Emperor Yishao.

He handed him the two memorials with a serious face.

"Look at it!"

Zaiquan didn't know what was going on. He hadn't seen the emperor for a few days. Why did he call him here today?