Seeing that Qian Qianyi was speechless for a long time, Zhu Youzhen also knew that it was indeed difficult for a strong man to make such a difficult choice for the other party in a short period of time, but in the current situation, everyone needs to make a difficult choice, just like he himself made such a decision after a long period of consideration.

Zhu Youzhen did not find it surprising at all about Qian Qianyi's hesitant attitude, although he had served as the first assistant for six years, he still did not show the ability to lead an empire forward. According to private rumors, although this is the first assistant of the empire, it is his student and Mrs. Ru who lead this first assistant forward.

Because of this, young officials have always been dissatisfied with the first assistant. thought that he was too weak in front of the emperor, and he was too pampered by his students and Mrs. Ru. In other words, it lacks its own position politically.

The reform of the Ming Dynasty has been carried out in its twelfth year, and the old power structure has been completely broken under the destruction of Wei Zhongxian and the restructuring promoted by Huang Liji's cabinet. And the new power centers are also being established day by day, the Imperial Secretariat, the six cabinet departments, the State Council, the Criminal Department, the Army and Navy Staff, the Ming Times, and the Prime Minister's Yamen, these seven power centers are building a new Ming political system.

The new political system has led the old bureaucracy to find that they have lost most of their power in this revolution, and that the emperor is tearing the old system of power apart with new departments and new rules.

For example, they never imagined that a propaganda agency like the Daming Times could become part of the new center of power. Although the Ming Dynasty had the setting of clear rumors, these clear rumors were not independent, and they were still attached to the ruling ministers or the mouthpiece of the emperor.

But after the emperor abolished the gossip officials, he took control of the mouthpiece of public opinion on behalf of the official in a new way. To the indignation of these officials, the Ming Times had become a hall of the emperor's word, and since the newspaper reporters were not officials, the emperor could replace those who were unwilling to submit to him at any time.

The Daming Times selected reporters mostly depressed literati, and these people did not have a good impression of the officials who were proud of the imperial examination, so they were almost unrelenting in their sarcasm about the officials and gentry. Naturally, such a tool of public opinion will not be liked by officials, and some officials are eager to seize control of the Daming Times.

In addition to the three power centers of the Sixth Cabinet Ministry, the State Affairs Council, and the Criminal Ministry, which are still controlled by bureaucrats who are from Jinshi, the other four emerging centers of power are basically filled with officials from non-imperial examinations.

With the retirement of Huang Liji and the coming to power of Qian Qianyi, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty began to enter a stable period, and the old bureaucrats naturally had great expectations for Qian Qianyi. It is hoped that the leader of the Jiangnan literary circle can set things right, restore the corrupted officialdom system of Wei Zhongxian and Huang Liji, and let the officials from the imperial examination regain control of the country's power.

However, it is obvious that although Qian Qianyi is very famous and talented in governing history, he has always had no political opinions. He didn't even have a political stance on Wei Zhongxian and Huang Liji, at least when these two were attacked by the Donglin Party, they knew that everything they did was to maintain the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and they never wavered.

Therefore, Wei Zhongxian and Huang Liji did a series of things that offended the gentry, but the internal and external troubles of the Ming Dynasty never endangered the existence of the Ming Dynasty. It's just that they are limited to their own knowledge, and they can only treat their heads and feet with headaches.

Although Qian Qianyi is quite up to expectations, he can also talk about the rule of three generations, but if he wants to understand the real dilemma that Daming is facing now and come up with a specific solution, he still can't do it. But Qian Qianyi still has such an advantage, although he doesn't know what he should do, he can follow the emperor's instructions, make a microphone in a down-to-earth manner, and won't mess around by himself.

Of course, in the eyes of many officials, Qian Qianyi, who holds the power of the cabinet, is too submissive to the emperor. However, they did not think about the need for the cabinet to exist when they overthrew the emperor's claims but could not get their own things.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Qian Qianyi and shook his head, and decided to push him again, so he continued to speak: "In my opinion, the Jiangnan gentry still have surplus grain in their hands, and now that the country is facing such a crisis, these Jiangnan gentry should also be allowed to exert their strength."

And this is not my opinion alone, Wang Qi, the prefect of Henan Guide, wrote to me, and he said two things: one is to promote the integration of the official gentry to pay grain and spread the land into the whole province of Henan; Second, it is hoped that the imperial court can issue a decree requiring the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan to help with grain and disaster relief. Wang Zhifu said: If the imperial court cannot implement this decisive policy, the people of Henan will be in danger.

He also said to me: My people are going to die, and the world has reached such a state, why should we stick to the old laws and regulations? As long as it is a good policy, as long as it is a policy that can keep the people alive, even if it offends the gentry of the world, what does it matter.

I think he is right, there are people without kings in this world, but there will never be kings without people. Mr. Qian, I don't know what you think? ”

Qian Qianyi was already sweating at this time, although he was sitting opposite the emperor and talking, he felt that the pressure on his body was about to bend him. The gentry in Jiangnan is certainly a behemoth, but the emperor in front of him is also not easy to mess with, he is entangled in his heart, and finally realizes that the crisis he wants to face at the moment is how to deal with the emperor, not those gentry who are far away in Jiangnan.

After thinking about this, Qian Qianyi felt that his throat was finally able to move, and he replied tremblingly: "But Your Majesty, those gentry are also Your Majesty's people, and seizing their property to help others may be a wave of unsettled."

In addition, the gentry have always controlled the township, and the court asked them to help with grain, but they may not be able to pay the grain honestly; The second is that the ministers are worried that someone will distribute the grain to the common people under the pretense of the order of the imperial court. At that time, it will cause turmoil in Jiangnan and other regions, and won't the gains outweigh the losses? ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said: "Mr. Qian's consideration is not wrong, the imperial court formulates a good policy, if it cannot be implemented correctly, it will eventually backfire." The failure of many reforms in history has taught us many lessons.

If you want to collect surplus grain from the Jiangnan gentry, you can't do it without a reliable grain collection organization. In order to transport this lot of food security to the disaster area and distribute it effectively, we also need many people who can read, write and calculate.

We can't expect the local officials to be able to carry out all the orders of the imperial court perfectly according to our ideas, after all, they have such and such relationships in the local area, and it is impossible for them to act impartially.

However, since last year, the second batch of middle school students have also graduated, and the secondary education in other provinces has not yet been counted, but there are 116 counties in Hebei, the least county also has 34 middle school graduates, and the most county has more than 200 middle school graduates, and a total of 4,783 middle school students graduated in Hebei last year, and this year will not be less than that.

These middle school students have no contact with the Jiangnan gentry and the Henan gentry, and in terms of the use of the first and second batches of middle school students, they are still extremely outstanding administrative personnel. Now that there are not many days left before the graduation of the third batch of middle school students, I think it is completely possible to select a group of middle school students who are willing to contribute to the imperial court, train them for a short time, and then arrange them to be involved in disaster relief affairs.

Then the imperial court selected a group of officials and took these middle school students to the provinces to requisition surplus grain. The southern provinces are not all grain-producing areas, so there is no need for every province to requisition, and based on the grain production of the past three years, we will select the provinces with a large amount of surplus grain for surplus collection. Zhejiang was affected by the disaster this year and can be eliminated.

In addition, in order to protect the safety of the grain collection team, we will send troops to accompany and protect it. What the Cabinet needs to do now is to first set up a Disaster Relief Committee and set up four departments: the Department of Collection, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Distribution, and the Department of Supervision.

Second, communicate and coordinate with the officials of the various provinces that collect grain, and publicize to the local people that under the current situation, any landlord, merchant, official, or other person who hoards grain is an enemy of the people, and the imperial court will not only confiscate all the grain they have hoarded, but also impose strict penalties on these personnel.

The third and sixth ministries communicated that the investment in some basic projects in Henan can be implemented in advance to achieve the effect of cash-for-work.

Fourth, the main traffic arteries in Henan should be controlled, and disorderly personnel relocation should never be allowed, and if the officials of the prefectures and counties in Henan allow the people under their rule to move around, they should be immediately dismissed from their posts and investigated.

Fifth, we should understand the extent of the disaster in the disaster-stricken areas in Henan and Shandong and the bearing capacity of the southern provinces, organize a good fleet, and consider moving the people in the disaster-stricken areas who are most affected to the south for food..."

When Qian Qianyi returned to the mansion, he still felt confused, Qu Shiyun happened to come to visit the teacher, Qian Qianyi couldn't help revealing the emperor's meaning to him, hoping that Qu Shiyun could come up with some ideas for himself.

However, Qu Shiyun was only shocked when he heard this, and said to him: "The teacher is wrong, how can Your Majesty accept this will?" Teacher, does this want to be Wei Zhongxian? The master and apprentice were silent, and sat opposite each other for a long time before retreating.

Qian Qianyi held his forehead and sat in the study in a daze. At this time, Liu Ru walked in with a basin of hot water and said to him enthusiastically: "Please wash up." ”

Qian Qianyi was very bright at the moment, and looked at Liu Ru in front of him and couldn't help blurting out: "You just overheard my conversation with Jia Xuan next door again?" This is not good, we are talking about national affairs, and there are some things that you should not know. ”

Liu Ru put down the basin, wet the towel and sent it to Qian Qianyi, and then said with a temperament: "Who is willing to listen to your national affairs, the concubine is just sitting next door, and she is suddenly disturbed by you." ”

Qian Qianyi took the towel and wiped his face, the hot towel made him sober up a little, and when he handed the towel to Liu Rusi, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "I don't think it will be able to disturb your purity in the future." You heard it just now, and now I can't be the first assistant for long, and I can't say that I will go back to the countryside in a few days. ”

For Qian Qianyi, who suffered from such gains and losses, Liu Ru couldn't see it, she threw the towel into the basin, and said to Qian Qianyi: "Master's words are bad, Qu Jiaxuan compares himself to Xin Jiaxuan, but from the perspective of a concubine, he is really not as good as a little finger of others."

The master is now the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, the first person under the Son of Heaven. How can you look forward and be like a little woman? Who is there today, since he ascended the throne, step by step, turning the tide and helping the dangerous building on his side. Attacking Jiannu in Jizhou, raising Mongolia outside the Guan, conquering Japan and conquering the South Seas, can you see that Your Majesty has been defeated? ”

Qian Qianyi was stunned, and only replied after a long time: "Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, it can be said that there is no last resort. There is no setback. However, now His Majesty wants to move the Jiangnan gentry, more than 200 years of peace, these wealthy families have already taken root in the place, how can it be easily moved. This great drought in Henan made His Majesty impulsive after all. ”

Liu Ru sneered, "The master is really a sincere gentleman, how can Your Majesty be an impulsive person because of the drought in Henan, could it be that Your Majesty expected that today, as soon as he ascended the throne, he would establish a primary and secondary school?" ”

Qian Qianyi was silent for a long time, pretending not to hear Liu Ru's words speculating about Chongzhen, and asked the lover: "Then according to you, I should be on His Majesty's side?" Your Majesty has a chance to win? ”

Liu Ru was much more cautious now, and pondered for a long time before saying: "If the gentry in Jiangnan want to rebel against the imperial court policy, they always need a righteous name. Opposing the rescue of the victims in the north, the concubine thought that this was not a slogan to shout. Although the Jiangnan gentry had great power in the south, they did not have an army in their hands.

And the southern soldiers are only Zhejiang soldiers and Fujian soldiers who are still worthy of a battle, but the military horses in these two places are in the hands of the imperial court. If the Jiangnan gentry are not chaotic, they will lose some money, if they are chaotic, the concubines really don't know how they will resist the two-sided attack of the imperial army? ”