Politics is the art of coordination, the art of balance.

Although Zhu Mingzhong, as the emperor, can't remember where he saw this sentence, one thing is for sure, the dominance of the civil official family was one of the many drawbacks of Ming Dynasty politics, and the dominance of civil officials in the society of imperial examinations seems to be insoluble.

It is precisely because of this that how to break the monopoly of civilian officials and ensure the balance of power has become something that Zhu Mingzhong had to consider, although he set up a group of honors based on the founding heroes and retired officers and soldiers, and passed strict laws to prohibit civilian officials from getting involved in the army, and replaced the imperial examination system through modern civil official examinations. Generally speaking, however, the influence of civil officials, who hold the power of the central and local governments, as well as in terms of personnel, finance, and law, is still far from being comparable to that of military officials.

How to break the monopoly of civil officials?

If the opponent is too strong and can't be completely defeated, then mix sand into it. As for the so-called "sand", it is the "subordinate division" set up in the first year of Xingqian, which seems to be an internal court attendant institution, and has become the only institution in the civil official system that does not need to pass the civil official examination to serve as an official. In the civil service system, they are an outlier, and their origins determine that they cannot be purely civilian.

As a subordinate servant, Gu Cheng knows very well that he is not a pure civil official, and as a "fortunate minister", he must have the consciousness of being a fortunate minister, but he must correct his position.

"The subordinate is His Majesty's subordinate subordinate!"

Although he adheres to this principle, when the prince is in charge of the country, he will also actively provide some suggestions to the prince for his reference, but this time, he chose to remain silent, not because he did not have suitable suggestions, but because of the prince's mansion, the prince of the Ming Dynasty can set up his own shogunate, can recruit officials on his own, and directly appoint officials, so, beside the prince, there are also a group of talented officials, the prince at this time, often ask for their opinions, as a servant Gu Zhi will choose to be silent.

"Your Majesty let the crown prince take charge of the country, not only to train the prince, but also to train the prince's shogunate."

"The subordinate is His Majesty's subordinate subordinate!"

This truth, the court officials understand, as the crown prince Zhu Hejia also knows very well, maybe the subordinate will be his staff to deal with state affairs, but he prefers to believe in his "subordinate boss", that is, the crown prince's shogunate.

As the first crown prince shogunate of the Ming Dynasty, when the shogunate was established, Zhu Hejia had almost no experience to learn from, what officials should be the main officials? Although he did not have similar experience, his experience in the army made him make another choice, he did not need to be an experienced officer, because most of the time, the prince's staff did not have practical affairs, he needed a staff officer who was just a staff officer and provided him with advice.

Just like now, when the matter of how to deal with hundreds of thousands of prisoners was "thrown" by the cabinet to himself, facing such a thorny problem for the first time, Zhu Hejia naturally thought of his "chief of staff".

However, the "chief of staff" that Zhu Hejia chose for himself was not an official of the DPRK and China, or even an official at all, but just a scholar.

"Mr. Jiang Zhai, now the cabinet has handed over the aftermath of the Western Regions to the palace for disposal, you know how tricky this matter is, how should this palace deal with it?"

Maybe it's because of the relationship between serving in the military academy and the army since he was a teenager, so Zhu Hejia has always acted directly and simply.

"Well, Your Highness drinks tea."

Mrs. Wang nodded slightly, but did not say anything.

Although he was a member of the Prince's staff, he was not an official, not so much because he was a staff member than because he was a "Qingke" in the Prince's Mansion, and most of the time, he still taught at the academy as he had done in the past. Actually, he was

On the surface, he doesn't look like a staff member of the prince's mansion, but just a well-known professor, but in fact, everyone knows that as one of the prince's former teachers, he has a lot of influence on the prince, and the prince has great respect for him.

"Actually, from the time His Majesty went on patrol, the minister knew that this matter would eventually fall on the crown prince."

Wang Fuzhi, who is sixty-five years old, speaks in a very slow tone, among the early officials of the Xingqian Dynasty, his experience is the most bumpy, when he was the governor of Xuezheng, because he failed to prevent His Majesty from abolishing the imperial examination, and was criticized by Shilin, which even directly led to his resignation, and later served as a professor in Qinghe Academy, and then returned to his hometown to found Xiangtan Academy, but a few years ago, because of the advocacy of restricting the monarchy, he was boycotted by the gentry of the academy, and finally had to leave the academy he founded, and then received an invitation from Qinghe Academy, He returned to the College as a professor again. Such an experience full of twists and turns cannot be described as rich.

"It's a rare opportunity."

Zhu Hejia said with a smile.

"My father wants to take this opportunity to let the palace hone it, no matter what the final outcome of the matter is, he will accept it, in fact, ......"

"Actually, Your Majesty's arrangement is very safe, since Emperor Gao, although the crown princes have participated in state affairs by His Majesty's side, they are only participating, most of the time, they are only as observers, in fact, most of them do not have much experience in the host country. And after His Majesty ascended the throne, his thoughts were beyond the reach of previous emperors. ”

may have always advocated restricting the monarch's power, but for His Majesty, Wang Fuzhi also highly admired, and even this is the reason why he advocated restricting the monarch's power - it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to have a second monarch like His Majesty.

"Therefore, since His Royal Highness returned to the Central Capital, His Majesty has often gone out to inspect, and each time the prince supervises the country, although the cabinet can handle most things, but the prince inevitably still needs to decide on state affairs, so the stability of the prince's affairs for several years is also obvious to all, and it is also His Majesty's original intention, but, these years the world has been peaceful, there has been no major event, although everyone in the world says that His Royal Highness is wise, but in fact it is just that there is nothing in the world, and His Majesty ordered His Royal Highness to supervise the country, what is it for?"

Looking up at the crown prince, Wang Fuzhi asked and answered.

"Naturally, after His Royal Highness inherits the unification in the future, he can continue the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, so that the state affairs will not collapse because he does not know the state affairs."

Nodding slightly, Zhu Hejia said.

"It's easy to fight the country, but it's difficult to defend the country", the father and the emperor laid down such a large area of the country, which can be described as an unprecedented foundation in ancient times, if it is lost in the hands of this palace, then this palace is a sinner in the world, so this palace will never dare to slack off."

For Zhu Hejia, as the crown prince, he knows how much pressure he has on him, the empire he is facing is an empire that exceeds all dynasties, and in the next few decades, under the impetus of his father, this empire will continue to expand, and all this will eventually be handed over to him, at that time, what kind of test will he face? It was something he never dared to imagine.

The current issue of the Western Regions is just the beginning.

"His Royal Highness is diligent, the world knows, but state affairs are by no means a diligent word, Emperor Shizong and Emperor Shenzong have never talked about diligence, but it is the time of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Xiaolie is almost not inferior to Emperor Gao in terms of diligence, but how can he turn the tide?"

Wang Fuzhi's rhetorical question made Zhu Hejia's brows furrow slightly, and he also had some doubts in his heart, wondering why he didn't give a suggestion?

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Hejia seemed to hear the meaning of Wang Fu's words.

"Mr. Jiang Zhai, what do you mean...... Cabinet? ”

"Your Highness!"

Seeing that the prince reacted so quickly, Wang Fuzhi said with a smile.

"Your Majesty let the prince supervise the country, it doesn't mean that the prince must be personally involved in everything, otherwise, why did Daming set up a cabinet? The cabinet is His Majesty's auxiliary minister, since the prince is in charge of the country, he is naturally the prince's auxiliary minister, this time the matter of the Western Regions, the cabinet can not make a decision for a while, and ask for the opinion, so it is indeed ordinary, but this time it is impossible to decide, or because of the thorny problem, this ball was kicked to His Royal Highness? ”

Wang Fuzhi's rhetorical question made Zhu Hejia's face change slightly, at the beginning, he really thought that this was a rare training, but now it seems that the training is not necessarily for a problem, to make a specific decision, what is the training that his father wants?

"Actually, even if His Highness makes a decision that satisfies all parties this time, what about the future? I have more than 10,000 miles of greatness, there are many affairs in the land of 10,000 miles, today there are things in the Western Regions, tomorrow there are things in the South Seas, things are different, is it possible to encounter problems every time you have to "make a holy judgment"? What's the use of the cabinet in this way? ”

After leaving Qinghe Academy, Zhu Hejia's expression in the carriage changed from time to time, and he even thought of his father's words when he was a teenager.

"The most important thing to be an emperor is not how to deal with things, but how to use people, as long as you use the right people, the country will be peaceful!"

Employment!

Recognize and employ people......

Zhu Hejia seems to understand, understand why many Ming monarchs write down the name of a certain minister on the screen, and why the father always writes down some names in his pamphlet, and instructs his subordinates to transfer their information, the father seems to rarely care about the government, in fact, it is precisely because the father can find talents, and can make the best use of talents.

But knowing and employing people is just the beginning, what is more important?

After figuring out the key to it. Zhu Hejia's heart was full of joy, at this moment, he even saw that his father's purpose in letting him supervise the country was not to let him personally solve domestic affairs, it was a minister's business, for the emperor, what was needed was to use a good minister, which was the foundation of dealing with state affairs.

After returning to the Prince's East Palace, Zhu Hejia directly instructed the female official to take the cabinet recital, and then directly reviewed it on the recital, and then ordered someone to send it back to the cabinet.

"Got it!"

With such three words, when he was sent to Fang Yizhi, he was suddenly dumbfounded, and a cold sweat broke out on his back before he could think about it.

"Your Highness is angry!"

Throwing the fold to Zhang Huangyan, Fang Yizhi smiled bitterly.

"Cangshui, it seems that we still haven't figured it out!"

"Don't forget that the prince was taught by His Majesty, and His Majesty has never said it, which doesn't mean that the prince can't learn."

After a long sigh, Zhang Huangyan looked at the three words on the fold and said with a wry smile.

"Come on, let's deal with this matter quickly, Your Highness is angry, but if we don't deal with this matter well, when the time comes, I'm afraid it won't just be angry."

Looking at Zhang Huangyan, who shook his head and smiled bitterly, Fang Yizhi suddenly smiled.

"Actually, that's a good thing."

"Oh?"

"The prince is only in his twenties this year, and he has seen through the fundamentals of being a king, His Majesty has a successor, and the future of the Ming Dynasty can be expected."

After saying this, Fang Yizhi and Zhang Huangyan both laughed, and while laughing, as if they remembered something, Fang Yizhi asked again,

"If it's not bad as expected, this time Gu Sheng's life should not be easy!"

It's not just a bad feeling, it's as simple as knowing how to feel it, almost after learning the edict of the prince's instructions, Gu Derivation seemed to be in a hurry to clarify something, and rushed to the East Palace as soon as possible, and before he could explain, he had to stand in front of the prince with a wat to meet the prince's thunderous anger.

"Gu Derivation, you tell this palace, what is the subordinate of the door?"

"The subordinate is a court attendant, a close minister of His Majesty, and a counselor for His Majesty in state affairs......"

With sweat on his forehead, Gu Derivation's face looked extremely unnatural.

"Then this palace asks you, since my father is out on patrol and this palace is in charge of the country, whose staff should my subordinates be?"

"Since, self should be the ...... of His Highness's staff affairs"

Gu Zhen, who was holding the wat deeply, did not explain his thoughts, no matter what the explanation, it was pale in front of the facts.

"And how did you manage your staff in this matter?"

After a cold rhetorical question, Zhu Hejia said directly.

"Gu Derivation, you are a subordinate appointed by your father, it stands to reason that it is inconvenient for this palace to hold you responsible, but since you are derelict in your duties when you were in charge of the country in this palace, then the responsibility for this dereliction of duty must always be investigated, and the servant is a close minister of the palace, and there is no room for dereliction of duty! Now that the term of office of the governor of Pingnan has expired, you can go to Pingnan......"

When Gu Cheng left the East Palace in despair, his disposition immediately spread throughout the central capital, and the government and the opposition were all shocked, for a while, the attention to this matter even exceeded the attention to the Western Regions, although the public opinion was not in an uproar, but also saw the other side of His Royal Highness, after all, Ren has always been a "rule", and the service can at least be a Shangshu, but now it is directly assigned to the most remote Pingnan, which can not help but be shocking.

And what is even more surprising is that for Gu Derivation's appointment, the cabinet did not return it, everyone knows that they did not return it, not because they took the opportunity to suppress the subordinate minister, but because the prince was also extremely dissatisfied with the cabinet, because the subordinate subordinate was a palace attendant, so he could deal with it directly.

Although Gu Derivation's resignation is not about killing chickens to show monkeys, one thing is for sure is that the prince is no longer the prince of the past......

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