Zhu Youzhen made up his mind to change the cabinet chief.

But he encountered a problem.

Zhu Youzhen has always remembered the example given by Su Tiancheng, what the Ming court needs is the cabinet chief assistant who can turn the tide, not the cabinet chief assistant who tinkers, and the current situation is that some changes are taking place in Shaanxi, but the cabinet is very indifferent to this kind of change, and there is not even a basic attitude, no one is interested in the imperial court, and some people even think that Shaanxi's reform is nonsense, anyway, Shaanxi's status is not important, even if it is completely changed, there is not much of a matter.

If you want to promote reform in Daming, the biggest difficulty is the south.

The vast majority of the officials in the imperial court are southerners, and they have a lot of power in their hometowns, and these officials pay great attention to safeguarding their interests in their hometowns, and the conditions in the south are good, and compared with the north, they are generally richer, which is also the main reason why Shaanxi is carrying out reforms and many people do not care.

The conditions in the north are poorer, for example, Shaanxi, before Su Tiancheng went, it had reached the point of exhaustion, and the imperial court could not collect taxes for many years, and it was necessary to paste the silver upside down, otherwise some government offices would not be able to maintain, and no one would care about such a place at all.

Whether it is the reform of Shaanxi, or the changes in Jiangning County and Henan Prefecture, they have not been able to attract too much attention in the imperial court, which is directly related to the cabinet.

Zhu Youzhen understands that if you want to carry out reforms in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, or to make relevant preparations, you must create a certain atmosphere, not to mention that the officials who support the reform have the upper hand, but at least there needs to be such a force.

Wenhuadian's questioning shocked Zhu Youzhen, and he felt the difficulty of reform. Sun Chengzong and Su Tiancheng undoubtedly belonged to the reformers, but they were impeached, and even said that they wanted to rebel, if they did not have an attitude and could not resolutely support them, the Ming Dynasty could not have made great progress and development.

Zhu Youzhen's talent is not so outstanding. He is not an excellent emperor, but his starting point is good, since he ascended the throne, all he thinks of is the development of the Ming Dynasty, and the people can live and work in peace and contentment. It wasn't until six years after Chongzhen that the situation slowly took a turn for the better, all because of the emergence of a Su Tiancheng.

With such a precious change, Zhu Youzhen naturally wanted to persist and expand this regrettable situation, but unfortunately the pressure on him was extraordinary, judging from the current situation. There are some policies that are really inappropriate.

But the first assistant of the cabinet was replaced. Having Sun Chengzong, who insists on reform, as the first assistant to the cabinet can at least create a good atmosphere and prepare for future reforms.

Sun Chengzong already knew what this meant, but he wrote a twist and turn, and resigned as the first assistant of the cabinet.

The reason why he did not serve as the first assistant to the cabinet was because of his age.

There is some truth to this reason. But Zhu Youzhen believes that this may not be the main reason.

After Sun Chengzong entered the Heart Cultivation Palace, Zhu Youzhen stood up and walked to the opposite side of Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong hurriedly prepared to kneel down and salute, but Zhu Youzhen grabbed Sun Chengzong.

"Sun Aiqing. I have said many times that when you are old, you should not perform this prostration, except for the Great and Early Dynasties, and the rest of the time, this etiquette should be dispensed with. ”

"The minister thanks the emperor for his mercy."

"Sit down and talk about it, in this Heart Nourishing Hall today, there are two people, I and Aiqing, I have some things, I think strange, I really want to hear Aiqing's explanation."

"If the emperor has any doubts, just ask, the ministers know everything and say everything."

"The main thing is the problem of the first assistant of the cabinet, I know that Wen Aiqing is also very good, over the years, I have suffered a lot of grievances, in the court, some people scold him, some people hate him, I don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are not at home, Wen Aiqing has done a lot of things, such as encountering the jealousy of some people, so, some time ago, I was still a little hesitant, but this time I was very sad, Wen Aiqing actually said such words, I don't know what is going on, I originally thought, Let Aiqing be in charge of some things in the cabinet, it seems that Wen Aiqing may have an idea, so he did it. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Lord Wen has indeed done a lot of things over the years to maintain the stability of the government, and the emperor doesn't have to take those rumors outside to heart."

Zhu Youzhen shook his head, took out a copy of the fold from the top of the imperial case, and handed it to Sun Chengzong.

"Look at this excerpt, look at what Wen Aiqing has done, I don't mean that the lieutenant can't contact the ministers of the court, it's impossible to cut off such contact, but doing things like this, I'm really chilling."

Sun Chengzong picked up the fold and looked at it carefully.

Looking at it, his face turned pale, and he couldn't imagine that Wen Tiren secretly colluded with Cao Huachun, this is not an ordinary thing, it can be described as a big rebellion.

The eunuch is completely loyal to the emperor, is the emperor's servant, the most taboo is to collude with the ministers of the court, Wen Tiren is the first assistant of the cabinet, if it is because of the affairs of the court, there is any connection with Cao Huachun, or there is some connection with the great eunuch Wang Chengen, this is very normal, as long as these connections can be made public.

But secretly colluding is not good for a certain minister, such a thing, after the emperor knows about it, he is deeply disgusted, although such things are endless.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this kind of thing is not very credible, Lord Wen has been the first assistant of the cabinet for six years, if there is collusion with the central official, he will not wait until now, according to the minister's knowledge, over the years, Lord Wen has never had much contact with the central official, that is, it involves major affairs in the DPRK and China, and the rest of the cabinet went to coordinate, if it is said that Lord Wen took the initiative to contact, the minister does not believe it."

"What Aiqing said makes sense, I don't believe it, but this matter is indeed true, I didn't wronged Wen Aiqing, as for whether Wen Aiqing took the initiative to contact Cao Huachun, it's not very important, I think that during this time, Wen Aiqing has thought too much, so that doing these things can be regarded as self-inflicted."

"Your Majesty, the minister is here to intercede for Lord Wen, and I implore the emperor not to punish Lord Wen for the sake of Lord Wen who has done things for the court for many years."

Zhu Youzhen's face had a look of depression.

"I won't be like anything, this matter has made me think a lot, in the court, this kind of thing, it's not the first time, I trust Wen Aiqing so much, what can I get, what is it, I can't say it openly and honestly to me for anything, I always have to use means behind my back, but I don't know if this is counterproductive."

After being silent for a while, Zhu Youzhen spoke again.

"It's not easy in the court, I know the way, but I have to rely on you Aiqing, at this moment, Aiqing doesn't want to abandon me."

Sun Chengzong hurriedly stood up in a panic and knelt in front of Zhu Youzhen.

"Your Majesty, the minister will not dare to have such thoughts, and the minister will do his best."

"Aiqing stand up and speak."

After watching Sun Chengzong stand up, Zhu Youzhen spoke slowly.

"Ai Qing resigned from the position of first assistant to the cabinet, I don't know what else Lu Dao has in mind."

Sun Chengzong paused slightly.

"Your Majesty, the minister does have a hard time, the emperor is exhausted, thinking that the world is peaceful, the country is rich and the people are strong, the minister sees it in his eyes, and dares not to do his best, but after the minister becomes the deputy assistant of the cabinet, everything he does is not very consistent with the ancestral system, so the minister thinks that his image is afraid of being questioned by his colleagues in the DPRK and China, besides, if the minister is appointed as the first assistant of the cabinet, his colleagues in the DPRK and China will definitely be a little flustered, thinking that the court will have some big moves, and even involve them, the minister thinks, I have not completely exterminated the Liukou in the Ming Dynasty, and Houjin is also eyeing the enemy, in such a situation, the court situation needs to be stable, but for these reasons, it is not good for the minister to say it directly, so he excuses himself on the grounds of age. ”

Zhu Youzhen was stunned for a while, and didn't speak for a long time.

After a long sigh, Zhu Youzhen spoke.

"Aiqing's words were beyond my expectations, Aiqing has been in the court for many years, and has encountered many grievances before, I know it, Aiqing has never defended, this resignation is also due to age, I would rather suffer from my reproach, Aiqing's loyalty, the sky can be learned, please accept my worship."

When Zhu Youzhen hugged his fist, Sun Chengzong's face turned pale, and his body shook a little, accepting the emperor's salute, which is not an ordinary honor.

When Sun Chengzong was about to kneel down again, he was stopped by Zhu Youzhen.

"All Aiqing's thoughts, I know the way, I ascended the throne, but in the year of the weak crown, I suddenly encountered so many things, and I was trembling, these years have passed, I have figured out, what should come is always coming, in this case, it is better to meet these things earlier, Aiqing will not shirk, if the situation in Shaanxi can be completely improved, I will have to consider the implementation of the abolition of the guard army in various parts of my Ming Dynasty, I have already known that the abolition of the guard army is not a simple retrenchment, it is related to the people's livelihood, It takes all kinds of actions, so this dismantling of the guard army is an opportunity. ”

Sun Chengzong's throat moved, and finally he just said a word.

"The emperor trusts, the minister can only repay the service after death, although the minister is old, he must be old and strong, and do his best."

"Okay, Aiqing has such a determination, I am relieved, I think, the cabinet also needs to be adjusted, Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou, Tang Shiji and others can enter the cabinet, all these years have passed, the cabinet has not changed, and now there are a lot of things to do, this adjustment is also necessary." (To be continued......)