At the end of the imperial court meeting, Zhu Daming returned to the Qianqing Palace, rested for a while, and continued to go to the Wenhua Hall to discuss with the cabinet. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info now there are only two cabinet ministers, and Sun Chengzong is not there most of the time on the day of the non-dynasty, so Zhu Daming has to seize the opportunity to communicate with the two and settle down the matter of supplementing the cabinet ministers as soon as possible.

Entering the Wenhua Palace, Li Guowei and Sun Chengzong were already seated, they saw the emperor, quickly got up and saluted, and sat down after the ceremony. Zhu Daming said first: "Now that the court is busy, and there are only two ministers left in the cabinet, Sun Aiqing is now the governor of Zhili, resident in Tongzhou, and I want to add two more ministers to the cabinet, and I want to discuss with the secretary and others today the matter of adding ministers." What do Li Aiqing and Sun Aiqing think? ”

When the new emperor had just ascended to the throne, Li Guowei was in an embarrassing situation, carrying the suspicion of eunuchs, and he was not comfortable in the position, because of the emperor's trust and standing firm.

At the same time, in the process of investigating the case of Wei Wei and the eunuch party, the three law divisions and Jin Yiwei found many clues about the courtiers' party attaching to Wei Wei from the old files of Wei Zhongxian and Tian Ergeng's private residences, but there was indeed none involving Li Guoyi, and his suspicion of eunuching was gradually eliminated. After all, if there is no evidence, you will be guilty of slander.

And Sun Chengzong successfully recommended his fellow townsman Cheng Jiming to be promoted to the secretary of the ministry today, and felt that the emperor was already too kind to him, and the government and the opposition had already discussed, and now he added cabinet ministers, and he couldn't say too much. Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Li Guoyan say to the emperor: "Your Majesty Shengming." Since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has made great efforts to govern the country, and the Wei Party in the DPRK has been empty, which can be regarded as a prosperous dynasty. The ministers thought that it was time to add ministers. Then he paused, and then said: "Regarding the addition of cabinet ministers, Your Majesty's previous will is very clear, and anyone who does not have a book or supervision experience cannot enter the cabinet. It is the minister's opinion that the candidates for the additional cabinet ministers can be selected among the six Shangshu of the current Jingshi and Nandu, and the six departments of the Jingshi can be preferentially selected. ”

Of course, among the governors, the governors are the first, and the governors that Zhu Daming is optimistic about, only Yuan Chonghuan and Yuan Keli can be cabinet ministers, but these two people are the new governors, and they really can't be replaced at will. Therefore, the candidates are basically limited to a few people from the six Shangshu of the Beijing Division. Needless to say, Cheng Jiming has just taken over. Needless to say, Sun Chengzong is already a minister. The rest is four people.

Thinking of this, Zhu Daming said: "In this way, this time the cabinet ministers should be supplemented with priority among the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Industry. ”

Li Guowei and Sun Chengzong glanced at each other and said, "The ministers think that it should be so. "Who the emperor prefers in his heart, they often meet with the emperor to discuss matters, and there is still a base. Therefore, then Li Guowei said: "Your Majesty has decreed that the cabinet ministers should be supplemented with those who know the military affairs first, and now Sun Ge Lao is also the governor of Zhili and is stationed in Tongzhou, and the ministers think that there should be one of the additional cabinet ministers who is also the minister of military aircraft. Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Banghua, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, are both known for knowing soldiers, and these two may be able to enter the cabinet to do things. ”

This is exactly the result that Zhu Daming wants. However, there was a scholar in the palace who recorded the situation of the monarch and the minister, so he had to say a few more words, so as not to make his intentions too obvious: "How about the criminal department and the household department?" ”

This time, it was Sun Chengzong who replied: "Your Majesty, the affairs of the Cabinet and the Military Aircraft Department are complicated, and they are on duty in the morning and dusk, and Qiao Yun, the secretary of the Criminal Department, is over seventy years old, and Your Majesty should be sympathetic to the old ministers." And the new secretary of the household department, although he is good at money and food, he does not know the name of the soldier. Compared with Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, his qualifications are slightly insufficient, and compared with Li Banghua, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, he lacks the position of governor. It is the ministers who think that what the first assistant said is a righteous opinion. The minister seconded. ”

After discussing the matter of adding cabinet ministers, Li Guowei reported on the progress of the trial of the eunuch case, and submitted the list of eunuchs drawn up by the three law divisions and the situation of the crime.

Sun Chengzong reported on the revocation and relocation of the Jiliao Governor's Mansion and the site selection and construction of the Zhili Governor's Mansion, everything is going smoothly, and now the border towns and state capitals of the North Zhili, and the subordinate relationship between the upper and lower levels in military affairs and government affairs have been straightened out. The Yamen of the Recruiting Residents Reclamation in Tongzhou has also moved into the Governor's Mansion of Zhili, and the Agricultural Institute led by Xu Guangqi has also been basically ready, and the affairs arranged before are also operating normally. The grain and rice purchased by the Juntun Division from Jiangnan have been transported to Tongzhou, which is enough to meet the food problems of the disaster victims, refugees and other displaced people who have come to apply for recruitment.

The grain purchased by the household department for the Beijing division and the nine sides is also being transported to the household warehouse on both sides of the Tongzhou Canal, and the previous chaos and disorder have been greatly improved, and everything is gradually on the right track. After listening to the report of the two, Zhu Daming was also very happy, encouraged them to make persistent efforts, and then ended the discussion of the Wenhua Palace.

Just after returning to the Qianqing Palace, he heard Wang Chengen come to report that Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Banghua, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, had requested an audience, and Zhu Daming of course summoned him immediately. first met Xu Guangqi.

Xu Guangqi was in good spirits and in good condition, first talking about the settlement of the Agricultural Academy, then talking about the progress of sending people to Fujian and Guangdong to purchase potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn seeds, and finally talked about the necessity of revising the calendar, and proposed to hire Western missionaries to join the Qintianjian, and also mentioned the fact that several Western missionaries wanted to enter the palace to meet the emperor.

Looking at Xu Guangqi's last worried expression, Zhu Daming quickly dispelled his doubts and said to him: "Aiqing is solely responsible for matters related to the procurement of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn varieties by the Agricultural Affairs Institute, and the promotion of planting in the north. What Aiqing has done is for the benefit of the country and the people, and I will fully support it. As for what Aiqing said about Western missionaries, if he has real talent and real learning, I have no reason not to use it. Qin Tianjian is now under the control of the Qing, and the Qing can make a list, and I will naturally not be stingy with what kind of positions need to be granted. As for the matter of entering the palace for the audience, the secretary is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and as long as it is in accordance with the etiquette, the secretary can make arrangements in advance. ”

After saying this, Zhu Daming paused, and then said: "Today's Wenhua Palace discussion, I and the cabinet agreed to add two cabinet ministers, the first assistant and the second assistant both recommended Aiqing to me, and I also agreed, but I don't know what Aiqing wants?" ”

When he heard the emperor mention that Wenhua Hall had agreed to add two cabinet ministers, Xu Guangqi already had a hunch, because the emperor would not tell him this for no reason, although he was still calm on the surface, but deep down he was no longer calm. In the imperial era, being able to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister was the dream of every Wenchen's dream of life.

Although Xu Guangqi learned both Chinese and Western, the background of Confucianism could not be changed, and after listening to the emperor's final question, he was already slightly excited, got up and left his seat, bowed down and said: "The minister has no objection." It is an honor to be promoted for the Son of Heaven. ”

Zhu Daming was worried about what kind of literati temper these ministers had at the end of the Ming Dynasty, obviously he wanted to do it in his heart, but he had to say no, and he had to be persuaded by the emperor three times and five times, as if he didn't show the emperor's attention and his own character. Fortunately, although Zhu Daming has seen many such cases in history books, he has not encountered such people in reality.

Xu Guangqi is obviously not this kind of person. Zhu Daming asked Xu Guangqi to sit down again, and then talked for a while about Sun Yuanhua's contact with the Western missionary John Tang and the sending of people to Hao Jingao to buy Portuguese muskets and artillery.

After Sun Yuanhua received the task, the first person to contact was Xu Guangqi, and through Xu Guangqi contacted Tang Ruowang, because Tang Ruowang was far away in Xi'an to preach, and he couldn't catch up for a while, so Xu Guangqi matched Sun Yuanhua and contacted Long Huamin, the head of the Jesuits who are currently preaching in the Beijing-Tianjin area, Long Huamin was very active, and soon sent his assistants, Jesuit priests Luo Ruwang and Xiong Sanba, to meet with Sun Yuanhua, and finally Luo Ruwang accompanied Sun Yuanhua's two sons and sons and children and Ding and Sun Hedou, He led the Jinyi guards and the craftsmen of the Firearms Bureau to quickly go south to search for muskets, artillery, Portuguese gunners, gunners, craftsmen and other technicians.

Xiong Sanba, who knew a little about iron ore mining and smelting and Western artillery casting, as Sun Yuanhua's assistant, explored iron ore and coal mines in Zunhua, Qian'an, Fengrun, and Kaiping, and finally chose to build a new gun foundry in Tongzhou, where water and land transportation were convenient. After reporting to the emperor through the Military Aircraft Department, the emperor immediately agreed to allocate 300,000 taels of silver to build the new site, and ordered him to relocate the powder magazine and firearms bureau of the Wang Gong factory in the capital city, as well as more than 2,000 craftsmen and technicians, to the new factory in Tongzhou.

Because Xu Guangqi was proficient in Western artillery and other knowledge, and Sun Yuanhua was Xu Guangqi's fellow villager and personal disciple, so after Xu Guangqi arrived in Tongzhou, Zhu Daming ordered Sun Yuanhua to ask Xu Guangqi for advice and asked Xu Guangqi to guide nearby. Xu Guangqi was not very satisfied with the construction of the gun foundry in Tongzhou, he wanted to build it in Zunhua, after all, the border land there is iron ore, coal mines, and dense forests for charcoal steelmaking, but Zhu Daming still approved the construction of Tongzhou in Sun Yuanhua's report.

Not only considering the developed water and land transportation in Tongzhou, but also an important reason that cannot be spoken, that is, in the second year of Chongzhen in history, Zunhua was captured by the Jianyu army led by it, and the property and population were killed and captive, and it was not safe to build a Western-style musket and artillery foundry there.

In addition, built in Tongzhou also has the benefits of Tongzhou, most of the displaced people who came to Beizhili Tunken reclamation, most of them have to go to Tongzhou to apply for recruitment, many of them have not been recruited, they were recruited by Sun Yuanhua to the new site of the gun factory with work for relief, and now Sun Yuanhua is leading the craftsmen and technicians of the Firearms Bureau of the original gunpowder factory and thousands of young and strong people hired by work for relief to build workshops in full swing.