It is now the twentieth day of the twelfth month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, and there are ten days to pass this year, and next year is the first year of Hongguang. In Dongguan, Guangdong, there was the atmosphere of the New Year early, and this year, His Royal Highness King Tuochu was blessed, and everyone in Dongguan County had a good time.

Needless to say, the king of Chu trusted the scholars very much, and the fact that the shogunate was full of scholars was proof of this. There is also the most important one, the landlords and old wealth of Dongguan County have heard the news, and the county will increase manpower after the Chinese New Year.

This is not to hire a few more helpers in white clothes, but there are ranks, and the state recognizes that they can be officials. As soon as this news was released, the whole county was in chaos, and the county ordered Gong Dacheng's house to become a market. People come to visit every day, and all the gentry who come are famous gentry in the county, and it is not a way for Gong County to not receive them.

So now Dongguan County Yadu Chengdu has become a mailroom. In the end, Gong County ordered that there was no way, so he asked Changshi Ma Mingyuan to simply post a notice at the door, making it clear that the news was accurate, but at present, it was only a plan on paper, and it had to be reported to the imperial court for approval.

When the landlords and old fortunes saw that the news was true, they immediately launched their respective relations to find out the news, and under the indulgence of those who had a heart, within a few days the gentry of the whole county knew the detailed plan for this official reform. As soon as everyone saw that there were more than 60 official positions above the ninth grade, and there were more than 1,000 staff members recognized by the state, the whole county was boiling.

By inquiring that this was proposed by the King of Chu in order to solve the problem of the career of the local gentry, the gentry of the whole county immediately sent a representative to see Zhu Hongsan. As for what vassal kings are not allowed to interfere in politics, the ancestral precepts are so pale and powerless in the face of actual interests.

The representatives of the gentry came to see Zhu Hongsan, the king of Chu, and got a definite answer here from Zhu Hongsan.

Zhang Jiayu's eldest brother Zhang Jiasheng asked: "Your Highness, what if this plan is not approved by the imperial court?" Zhang Jiayu was a Jinshi of Chongzhen for 16 years, although he surrendered to Li Chuang in Beijing, but this did not delay the Zhang family to become the number one landlord in Dongguan.

Zhu Hongsan said: "This king doesn't care, it depends on your energy." "There are less than ten Jinshi in Dongguan who are still officials in other places, and the energy is really pitiful.

Zhu Hongsan saw that these landlords and old fortunes were embarrassed, and thought of fanning them. Zhu Hongsan said: "This is simple, I will give you an idea, there are still ten days left for the New Year, and the adults of the court can only work after the fifteenth day of the first month." You can use this time to spread the word in Nanzhili. The culture in the Nanzhili area is prosperous, and I believe that the local scholars will naturally help you. ”

When these guys heard it, yes, this kind of good thing for all the scholars, Nan Zhili's gang of candidates to death will definitely welcome it.

Hearing that the king of Chu gave such an idea of lack of morality, everyone immediately turned cloudy and sunny, got up one after another to say goodbye, and went home to spread the news to their relatives and friends.

After seeing them leave, Zhang Jiayu on the side asked, "Lord, your idea is ruined." As soon as this decree was passed, the state finances immediately increased more than tenfold. But if any of the adults objected and became the target of everyone, the spit of the people in the world could drown him. ”

Zhu Hongsan smiled: "Anyway, we have enough money, and others don't care." Yuanzi, you are also a scholar, and you don't agree with this plan when you look like you? ”

Zhang Jiayu thought for a while and said: "Lord Wang, my eldest brother has two sons, one Xiucai and one Tongsheng, and they basically have no chance to participate in the imperial examination. This plan of the prince made my eldest brother see hope, and as a person, of course I hope that this plan can be implemented. But as a member of the prince's staff, I hope this plan will not be implemented. ”

Zhu Hongsan was very strange and asked, "Let's hear the reason." ”

"Lord Wang, the reason is very simple, so many people are all paid by the treasury, it was okay a few years ago, but I am afraid that there will be no follow-up power after a long time."

It turned out that he was afraid of spending money, but this Zhang Jiayu was also loyal to himself and could say this. Zhu Hongsan thought about it and felt that he should confess to Zhang Jiayu.

Zhu Hongsan said: "Yuanzi, you are the secretary, you have seen all the documents." Now the security team in our factory area, the urban management team in the county, the six departments under the long history department, and how many people are there in our fortunes? ”

Zhang Jiayu thought for a while and said, "There are probably more than eight hundred people." ”

"That's it, we have to raise so many people anyway, wouldn't it be nice to give them another name?"

Zhang Jiayu thought: "I see, the king of Chu just put the personnel in the dark on the bright side, and gave them the hope of promotion, which is really high." ”

Zhang Jiayu bowed and said, "The prince is really talented. ”

Zhu Hongsan smiled and said in his heart: "What is this, haven't you seen that there are five or six thousand civil servants in a county in the future!" ”

Let's not talk about Zhu Hongsan, who succeeded in his treacherous scheme.

Dongguan County's plan to increase the number of official posts was sent to Nanjing the day before the Chinese New Year, that is, on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year. Unexpectedly, as soon as this letter arrived in the cabinet, it caused an uproar.

Now Ruan Dacheng, a small court in Nanjing, is using the Shun case to attack the Donglin Party, and several people have been put in prison.

However, in Dongguan County, the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party were surprisingly unanimous in their opposition to this matter. Of course, both the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party are bureaucrats with experience in governance, and they know that this plan is not feasible as soon as they see it. In order to implement the above-mentioned measures, it is necessary to increase the number of salaries in a county by a hundredfold, which is simply impossible at present.

Therefore, all the adults in the cabinet felt that this was a grandstanding order from Dongguan County, and they didn't take this matter seriously, and the letter was put on hold indefinitely.

Next is the New Year, the imperial court is going to repair for fifteen days, everyone is very happy, they have been fighting for a year, and it is very good to be able to take a break.

But I don't know that the leaked the Dongguan County Order, and posted the plan on the streets of Nanjing, which stabbed the hornet's nest.

You must know that Nanjing is the economic and cultural center of the south, and scholars and literati from several surrounding provinces are living in Nanjing. The reason is very simple, if you are close to the core of power, you may enter the eyes of the old man at some point, and then you will be able to become an official. But there are only a few people who can have this kind of good luck.

Now everyone saw that a county decree proposed to set up more than 60 official positions recognized by the imperial court in one county, and it immediately spread among the intellectuals. At this time, there are people who say that the elders do not agree, and everyone will stop doing it.

Now that you cabinet elders have blended into the system, you will set up obstacles to prevent future students from becoming officials? This is a typical example of beating a monk after reciting the scriptures, scolding the cook when he is full, and putting down the stick to beat the flowers.

At first, these scholars thought that the eunuchs Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng did not approve this plan, so they went to Ruan Dacheng's house on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and set fire to it. The angry Ruan Dacheng came out and scolded, saying that I really didn't do it this time, and Qian Qianyi, the leader of your Donglin Party, didn't agree.

When these young scholars heard that Qian Qianyi did not agree, they were even more angry. You Qian Qianyi forgot how to be a cabinet elder? If it weren't for our young scholars, Qian Qianyi would still be at home and draw Liu Ru's eyebrows. Now that you are developed, you forget your roots, and you don't do this as a person.

Such a young scholar immediately rushed to Qian Qianyi's house, regardless of thirty-seven twenty-one, smashing and robbing. The old money is unlucky, he was robbed by Zhu Hongsan half a year ago, and he hasn't eased up yet, and he will come again. I couldn't get the old money, and I sold another batch of books to get through it.

In the end, Emperor Hongguang knew about this matter, and he hurriedly ordered to ask what was going on. There is no way, the elders can only enter the palace to explain this matter.

Hongguang couldn't help it when he heard it, the country had no money. The year before last, in order to pay the military salaries to the four towns in the south of the Yangtze River, the state treasury had already taken out 4 million taels, but now it can't get a penny. Besides, this is not something that can be solved with four million taels. Hubu Shangshu estimated that 20 million to 40 million taels of silver would be needed every year. You must know that Chongzhen's annual income was only four million taels, so this plan is not feasible at all.

But the group of scholars outside doesn't care if you are feasible or not, and now there is such a good county order that proposes a way out for everyone, and whoever does not agree will be killed.

Therefore, several elders in the court also frowned, and they also knew that blocking people's wealth was like killing their parents, so everyone didn't know what to do.

In the end, Ma Shiying came out and proposed a solution, he said that since Dongguan County said that it would be tried in Dongguan County first, let him try it first, and let him solve it by himself.

Gao Hongtu on the side asked: "To put it simply, there will always be a day when the trial will be over, what will I do in the future?" And where does the silver come from? ”

Ma Shiying said: "In this way, this problem needs to be solved by Dongguan County." Let him raise the money by himself, give him a trial time of two years, and after two years, let him go to an unfeasible excerpt, and then transfer him to another place to become a governor. ”

Everyone thought about it, this is also a way, it can be delayed for a while!