Qian Qianyi's heart agrees with the emperor's statement, since the implementation of the imperial reform, the power of the cabinet has caught up with the former prime minister.

The expansion of the power of the first assistant first brought about busy political affairs. Although the Cabinet ministers have also redefined their powers and responsibilities, most cross-departmental policies and decrees still require the first and even the final decisions to be made by the first and second ministers.

Reform is not limited to the cabinet, but also the day-to-day administration of the six ministries and local governments has also undergone tremendous changes, and the original criterion for judging the performance of local officials has now been changed to what local officials have done during their tenure.

In the past, local officials, especially those who presided over a county, focused their daily work on nothing more than local education, the trial of judicial cases, and the collection of taxes. However, with the reform of the bureaucratic system, the construction of water conservancy projects, the guarantee of grain production, the development and management of industry and commerce, the statistics of the county's population and various data, and so on, cumbersome new tasks have emerged.

The amount of new work that has been added at the local level has immediately increased by tens or hundreds of times as the new work that has been brought to the cabinet. Even those young officials who go back and forth six times a day to deliver documents have to complain, let alone an elderly person in his early sixties like Huang Liji.

Therefore, if you want to enjoy the power of the head of the cabinet, you must first have the ability to handle the daily weight of government documents, and it is obviously impossible to do it without abundant physical strength.

In fact, some officials argued that the bureaucratic reform did not expand the power of officials, but rather strengthened the emperor's control over the bureaucracy. Because the final decision on all government affairs was in the hands of the emperor before, but except for Taizu at the beginning of the country, there were almost no emperors who could clean up government affairs every day for decades.

Therefore, as long as the civil officials formed an alliance with the father-in-law of the celebrant and the celebrant to let the emperor see whatever documents he wanted, he could see any documents; If you don't want the emperor to see any documents, you won't let the emperor see any documents. In the end, the country's government affairs are still controlled by civil officials, and the black pot of this decision ultimately falls on the emperor.

Even if there is a problem in government affairs, the emperor wants to hold him accountable, and the responsibility will be eliminated in the mutual conflict between the celebrant and the cabinet. But now, in addition to the budget and final accounts of various ministries, the appointment and dismissal of personnel, and the power to manage the army, the chief and auxiliary ministers of other political affairs can make the final decision.

In this way, once there is a real problem in political affairs, the first person to be held accountable is the first assistant, and then a series of officials.

The emperor, who was detached from cumbersome political affairs, and the celebrant who was unwilling to be left in power, became the biggest supervisors of the cabinet's work. Standing aside to make a critical evaluation of the person who does things is to stand and talk without backache. It's like the previous criticism of the emperor, the cabinet, and the six ministries, but the emperor rarely spoke out.

However, once there was a deviation in the governance of the imperial court, the remarks of the Holy Son being blinded by the mediocre ministers were flooded among the people, which means that the people of the Ming Dynasty are now more acceptable to the views of the virtuous and traitorous ministers.

Also, when it comes to disaster relief and the promotion of education, public health care and other policies and activities that benefit the people, the attention and remarks of the emperor or the palace concubines can always be seen, which has erected a very successful positive image for the emperor and the imperial family.

As for the policies that harmed the interests of the local bureaucracy and gentry, they were issued in the form of cabinet announcements. As a result, in the mouths of the people, the cabinet and the six ruling officials are often scolded, but the emperor is always praised, which is also a strange phenomenon recently. Even if some squires tried to reverse such public opinion, they were often attacked by public opinion first.

Of course, Qian Qianyi felt that if he could sit in the position of the first assistant, it would be worth it even if he was scolded every day. The only thing that worries him is whether he will be attacked by the courtiers if he breaks the rules like this.

Looking at Qian Qianyi's dilemma, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but smile and said, "Actually, I think that if Mr. Qian is worried about material discussions, there is a way to eliminate most of the competitors. ”

Qian Qianyi suddenly looked up at Chongzhen and asked expectantly, "Your Majesty's method?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him calmly and said: "Previously, the imperial court had always said that it would implement the official retirement system, but it had not discussed the detailed rules, but it was only piloted in the counties and cities around the capital. If we proceed at the current pace, it is estimated that within 17 or 8 years, the retirement system for officials will not be able to be popularized on a large scale.

I believe that the abolition of the lifelong system of officials and the implementation of the official retirement system are very necessary for the reform of the Ming Dynasty, on the one hand, to eliminate the voices of opposition to the reform as much as possible; On the other hand, it can also give young and energetic officials the opportunity to be promoted and give them a place to use.

If the six ministries and nine secretaries and cabinet ministers can play a leading role, the voice of the officials below who oppose retirement will be much smaller. For Mr., the implementation of the retirement system is also equivalent to eliminating a large number of opponents competing for the first assistant, so that no one will question whether Mr. is qualified enough. ”

Qian Qianyi was dumbfounded, and forgot to respond to Chongzhen's proposal for a while. Indeed, by continuing the official retirement system and allowing those officials who have not yet joined the cabinet and have become the six ministries and nine secretaries who are over 60 years old to retire, many positions can be vacated at once. As the officials who fill these positions are promoted, there must be many young officials who will be grateful to those who have introduced the retirement system.

However, those officials who are forced to retire are expected to hate those who implement the retirement system. These officials in the DPRK and China were able to go to the position of the six ministries and nine secretaries, and had the qualifications to enter the cabinet, which was not a cold window and studied hard, and sat on a cold bench in the Hanlin Academy for an unknown number of years. Some people only entered the official career at the age of forty or fifty, and this official position that took most of their lives to be boiled up by hard work was brutally knocked down like this, can you not be angry?

In history, the Tang Dynasty once implemented the rule of seventy Zhishi, when there was a soldier named Hou Zhiyi, in order not to be retired, he said that he could still work for a few years; While galloping away enthusiastically when going to the court, it is light. The ancients refused to retire at seventy, but today the emperor wants to let these officials go home in their sixties, and if he listens to the emperor's hint to do this work, won't he be hated?

Seeing Qian Qianyi stumbling, thinking about the position of the first assistant, but not wanting to do something that offended people, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but be disappointed. He stared at Qian Qianyi and thought, "This water is too cold, it is really no different from what is written in the history books, and he is too responsible to do things, and he is not as decisive as Huang Liji, who was scolded for being a remnant of the eunuch party." ”

Although Zhu Youzhen was disappointed in his heart, he didn't show it at all, he just said with some displeasure: "It seems that Mr. Mu Zhai is not ready to replace Mr. Huang and preside over the cabinet work." If you want to become the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, it is useless to just support the reform with lip service, Mr. should go back and think about it first, and then we will talk about it after thinking clearly. ”

Qian Qianyi was suddenly shocked in his heart, and he hurriedly said, "Doesn't Your Majesty still have something to tell your ministers to do?" ”

Zhu Youzhen's body leaned back on the back of the chair, his hands were crossed in front of his lower abdomen, and he said with a somewhat cold expression: "Originally, there was, but I forgot it just now, let's talk about it next time I think about it." ”

Looking at Wang Chengen, who came to invite him to leave, Qian Qianyi made a lightning decision in his mind, bowed his head to the emperor and said: "The minister has already thought about it, and the minister thinks that the official retirement system is the good governance to eliminate the mediocrity of those people in the Ming Dynasty, and the minister implores His Majesty to start implementing the retirement system from among the officials in the capital..."

Only then did Zhu Youzhen regain his smile and said: "Such an attitude is right, the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty is like the person who presides over the big folk family for the Ming Dynasty, if you don't have the ability to make decisions, how can you make the clansmen trust you?"

In the past, Zhang Jiangling began to take power in the first year of Wanli, and in eight years, he inspected the world's acres and implemented the new policy, and died of a violent illness in ten years. ”

Qian Qianyi thought carefully in his heart, and then said cautiously: "Zhang Jiangling bullied the monarch too much during his lifetime, died of a violent illness, and did not arrange to take over the person who presided over the new policy, and most of the new policies were abolished by Emperor Shenzong. ”

Seeing that Qian Qianyi could have such insight, Zhu Youzhen was quite surprised, but he quickly continued: "You said almost a lot, so I think that if the reform that the Ming Dynasty is carrying out now wants to continue, there must be a leader who supports the reform to become the next first assistant, so that the reform will not be repeated."

After all, the time for us to implement the reform is still too short, and the number of officials who support the reform is still only a small part compared to all the officials of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the central government must unswervingly hold up the banner of reform and not allow those officials who oppose reform to take power, thus hindering the cause of reform.

Of course, don't worry, sir, it may seem that there are not many officials who support reform now, but as long as the center of the court is in the hands of officials who support reform, there will only be more and more officials who support reform. Conservative officials who oppose reform will eventually be eliminated one by one.

In addition, although there are many officials who oppose reform, they are not monolithic among themselves, and they also have their own interests. The number of officials supporting the reform is small, but it is relatively united internally. Therefore, as long as we persist in the cause of reform, the final victory will inevitably belong to us.

The reason why I want Mr. to preside over the implementation of the official retirement system is also to hope that Mr. can gain the approval of some reformist officials, otherwise even if you sit in the position of first assistant, without the trust and support of these officials, you will not be able to do a stable job. ”

At this time, Qian Qianyi was able to firm up his decision, and said to Chongzhen: "Thank you Your Majesty for mentioning it, the minister is willing to take on this matter, and he will never hesitate again, please rest assured Your Majesty." ”

Only then did Zhu Youzhen put his mind at ease and said: "You don't have to worry too much about what obstacles you will encounter, I have already thought about it, if you directly let these old officials go home, I am afraid that the resentment is indeed not small."

Therefore, I intend to expand the establishment of the House of Lords, and open the House of Lords, which was previously only accessible to nobles, to these retired but healthy high-ranking officials.

Officials who are above the fourth rank and who are older than the limit for appointment but have spare energy can become members of the House of Nobles. Members of the House of Lords are treated like members of the State Council, and have the right to discuss politics in case I consult on military affairs..."

Hearing that the emperor had also arranged a decent retreat for these high-ranking officials, Qian Qianyi finally felt a lot more at ease, and he responded again and again, and then asked the emperor: "Then dare to ask Your Majesty, summon the ministers here today, but do you have anything to tell the ministers?" ”