Seeing that the matter of economic inspection came to an end, Li Qiyuan, the secretary of the household department, said: "Your Majesty, there is not much silver circulating in this dynasty, and there will be a lot of fire consumption when silver is minted every year. ”

After listening to Li Qiyuan's words, Tianqi decided to leave this issue aside, the silver problem, the land problem, and the planting problem are all very sensitive issues at this stage, and there are too many loopholes in it, and it will not be solved well for a while, so I can only drag it out first, maybe I will have to rely on those loopholes to make money in the future, thinking of this, Tianqi was silent for a moment and said: "I didn't say that I am not allowed to plant mulberry, but I am not allowed to change the fields where grain is planted to mulberry trees, and mulberry and silkworm can be planted on the mountainside, riverside, and field." As for the problem of fire consumption, it is actually a small problem, but because it involves too much, I will not talk about it for the time being, and I will talk about it when the time is ripe. ”

Seeing that Li Qiyuan did not mention the issue of fire consumption again, Tianqi talked about the economic review again: "Let the officials accept the economic review will make the officials lose a lot of benefits, I don't want people to say behind my back that I am mean and unkind, so I decided to implement the system of selling knights at the same time as the economic review, which can make it convenient for the people, officials to get benefits, the court to get benefits, and I can also get some light, and any system can only last for a long time if it is a win-win situation." ”

The Apocalypse knows that simply canceling the vested interests of others will cause resistance, and canceling one item will make up for the losses of others with another, and all he has to do is to adjust, and use the limited personnel and property in the most appropriate place through reasonable adjustments, so as to get as much support as possible. Sure enough, when the ministers heard the gains and losses, they did not object, and said in unison: "The emperor is sage." ”

Tianqi smiled: "I am not a saint, I just can understand the phrase 'thousands of miles of officials are only for money', officials are officials in order to make a fortune and some are to be promoted, and the purpose of promotion is to make more money, so in general, it is still to make a fortune." Those who are full of words are for the people and the country, either people who have made a lot of money or people who are making a lot of money, it is very bad and hypocritical to say one thing and do another, and those who are truly dedicated will not say it. ”

After listening to the words of the apocalypse, some of the ministers showed hesitation, some seemed to be smiling, some bowed their heads and were silent, and some were thoughtful.

Zhao Nanxing stepped forward again at this time and said: "Your Majesty, the minister just asked about official business, and now there is another private matter, that is, the minister is seventy-six this year, and he asks the emperor to allow the minister to return to his hometown." ”

Hearing Zhao Nanxing say this, several other old ministers also came out to say that they were old and frail and wanted to go home, Tianqi thought for a while and said: "It's not easy for you all to be in your seventies, since you want to go home and enjoy the joy of family, it's not good for me to stay, so it's all right." ”

When everyone heard this, their hearts were cold, and they thought, "Even if we really want to leave, will it be difficult for you to keep your fake horse for a while?" Can't wait to get rid of us? ”

At this time, the apocalypse said, "I am accurate, but you can't leave yet." ”

Listening to the apocalypse, everyone didn't understand the meaning of retaining later, Zhao Nanxing asked, "May I ask the emperor, why is this?" ”

"It is right for the old to make room for the young, but you all have a lot of experience and you should leave the experience for later," Apocalypse said. ”

The ministers are even more uncomfortable when they hear it, crossing the river and demolishing the bridge is enough to make people unhappy, and listening to the emperor's current meaning, he still has to unload the mill and kill the donkey? Zhao Nanxing held back his anger and asked: "May I ask the emperor, this experience is in everyone's hearts, what does the emperor mean by asking everyone to stay?" The ministers don't understand, please ask the emperor for advice. ”

Seeing that Zhao Nanxing seemed to be emotional, Tianqi was stunned for a moment and said with a smile: "Lord Zhao misunderstood me, I am not the king of Xuan and I don't let you learn to compete, I just want all officials to do things according to their age group, last time I asked that the officials who enter the government affairs in the future must be sixty years old to have this consideration." In order to clarify the situation, I will first conduct an on-site investigation, and Lord Zhao and the other adults will listen carefully. ”

It turned out that there was another reason, and everyone's anger slowly calmed down, and they all expressed their desire to hear the true thoughts of the apocalypse.

Tianqi looked at everyone and said, "Qian Qianyi, the attendant of the Hanlin Academy, I asked you a few words, and you have to reply honestly. ”

Seeing that the emperor pulled himself from a few old ministers, Qian Qianyi stood up in amazement and said, "The minister must know everything." ”

Tianqi said: "Sit down and talk, I will ask you first, you have four out of forty this year, and you think that the forty-four people are low or high in their sixth grades?" ”

After sitting on the cold bench for so many years, Qian Qianyi often can't sleep when he wants to be promoted, but now he can neither say that he thinks the sixth grade is low nor pretend to be high, he has to say an answer that satisfies the emperor. Qian Qianyi sat down and thought for a while and said: "Back to the emperor, there are famous ministers who entered the cabinet at the age of forty in this dynasty, and there are also people who are still seven or eight grades at the age of forty. "Saying that wanting to be promoted is wanting to do things, it can be regarded as saying the truth decently.

Apocalypse smiled: "It is human nature to hope to be motivated, so what way do you hope to be motivated?" ”

Qian Qianyi said: "It is the business of the officials to select officials on what basis, and the ministers should not comment at will, but the emperor will say a little bit of his own shallow opinion when he sees the ministers." There is a cloud in "Zuo Biography": "There is virtue in the Tai, followed by meritorious service, followed by words, although it has not been abandoned for a long time, this is immortal." 'Virtue and meritorious service are the lifelong aspirations of Confucian people of our generation, and the selection of officials should also be judged on this basis. ”

Tianqi said: "There is no evaluation standard for the so-called virtue, and the words are generally after the success of the fame, and the rest is only meritorious service." Lord Zhao Nanxing, you are the secretary of the ministry, what do you say about the promotion of officials in the ministry, and are there any restrictions? ”

Seeing that the emperor turned around and asked himself, Zhao Nanxing thought about it for a while and said, "Your Majesty, the promotion of this official is based on merit and performance, and there are no restrictions. ”

Tianqi said: "Very good, then I will ask Qian Qianyi one last question, if you are in a position where you have no chance to make meritorious contributions, will you find the hollow mind to risk meritorious work to get the opportunity to improve?" Be honest. ”

After listening to the question of the apocalypse, Qian Qianyi felt that it was difficult to answer, not that the question itself was difficult, the main thing was that it was difficult to tell the truth, but Qian Qianyi was Qian Qianyi, he thought about it and said: "Your Majesty, the minister wants to say yes but is embarrassed to say it, if he says no, but it is obviously not the minister's original intention, the minister dares to ask the emperor, can the minister not answer this question?" ”

Tianqi said: "You don't need to answer that I already know, I believe that the ministers here have also heard of such things, there will be cases of killing good people and taking meritorious deeds, and there are also people in the local area who paint dogs and deer things to pretend to be auspicious, why is this happening?" It's because everyone knows that if you want to be promoted, you have to make meritorious service, and if you can't make meritorious service, you have to cheat on merit, and I even heard that someone set fire first and then put out the fire, shouldn't this be changed by finding a way? In fact, this kind of thing has existed since ancient times, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Gongsun Hong and Zhang Tang because of their outstanding political achievements, step by step slowly surpassed Ji Di who had already been on it, so Ji Di complained that Emperor Wu used people like a salary to make the latecomers take over, which shows that there is no reasonable order for the promotion of officials in ancient times or now. I've been thinking about how to get the officials to advance and retreat in an orderly manner, and now I have some ideas to talk about it. ”

As soon as the ministers heard that the apocalypse was going to change the rules for meritorious promotion, they all felt incredible, and Zhao Nanxing said: "Your Majesty, please speak, the ministers are very interested in listening." ”

"There is nothing wrong with promoting according to merit and merit, but there should be an age limit," Apocalypse said. I mean that an official can only become a seventh-rank at the age of thirty, fifty-year-old for five-rank and fifty-fifth, and sixty-year-old for the Vice-Chancellor of the Administrative Council or Minister of Military Aircraft for the Military Affairs Yuan, and at the age of seventy, he should abdicate to make way for those who come after him. I am preparing to set up a holy academy, and I will have seventy-year-old officials write books and lectures in the sacred academy to leave behind their valuable experience. ”

Hearing Tianqi say this, everyone was thinking, and after a while, Zhao Nanxing said: "It turns out that the emperor began to say that several of our old ministers over seventy can't leave for the time being because they want to let the ministers enter the Holy Academy, and the ministers agree with this move, but they don't know where the Holy Academy is built?" ”