Zhang Xianzhong's mansion, in the flower hall, there were more than 20 people, these are the generals who surrendered at the beginning, there are those who are in the same vein as Zhang Xianzhong, and there are others, such as Zhang Dali, Wu Guoxiong, Ma Jinzhong, Liu Jiusi, Xue Rengui. (Bar)

At the beginning, when Zhang Xianzhong first entered Beijing, they didn't interact with each other often, but since the Luo Yangxing incident, the big guy has often ventilated and moved around often.

Originally, when Zhang Xianzhong was a rogue, his strength was strong, and he had a lot of strategies, and last time everyone was caught in the Jinyi Wei Yamen, he got out of the old man's house easily, and then things calmed down, and the people came back by themselves. The means are so high that people are not admirable. As a result, other generals have been Zhang Xianzhong as the axis, often coming and going, and if there is anything they don't understand, they also ask him for advice.

Today, Zhang Xianzhong invited the backbone elements of the generals to his house, in the name of gathering together, drinking some wine, chatting, in fact, to study the matter of the election of members of the Beijing Council. The imperial court has a will, and the military generals in Beijing can be said to have one count, and they all have the right to vote and be elected. Since everyone has the possibility of becoming a member of parliament, they must fight for it.

When you are a rogue, the big guys discuss anything, and generally speaking, it is at the wine table. So today is no exception, Zhang Xianzhong prepared three tables of banquets, and invited the big guys to eat and chat at the same time.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhang Xianzhong said: "Brothers, we have been in Beijing for almost three years, to be honest, the court treats us well, we are true to our words, we are not penny, and the things of the year will no longer be investigated, we are all in Beijing." There is food and drink, and the life is very comfortable. Thinking back to the past, there were days when there was a rain of guns and arrows, and there was a day when there was no tomorrow today, we should really thank Lord Yue. ”

"That's right! Brother Zhang is right. We can live our current life thanks to Lord Yue. Otherwise, it's hard to say whether we can sit together and drink now, or whether we can have a head to drink. ”

"Yes, yes...... We are where we are today, all thanks to Lord Yue. ”……

The generals agreed in unison, and after a few moments, the voices stopped. Zhang Xianzhong said again: "Today, our brothers are drinking together, although Lord Yue is not here, we should also give him a glass and thank him for his great kindness." ”

"Exactly!" "Exactly!" ……

Thereupon. Everyone raised their wine glasses together and saluted Yue Su with a glass. After drinking this glass of wine, Zhang Xianzhong coughed, cleared his throat, and said, "Brothers." A few days ago, the imperial court had a decree to set up a parliament to let the big guys elect members. Everybody knows. This council was proposed by Lord Yue. Although I don't know what the use is, at least Lord Yue can take the lead. So. Zhang has been thinking these days, what Lord Yue is leading to do, should our brothers also go to the cheers. ”

"Big brother is right, we should go to the cheers." "Brother Zhang, you are our big brother here, what do you say we should do now, just as you are told." …… Others are in agreement.

"Brothers, don't be loud, you all know that there are secret agents sent by the imperial court in our house, and no matter what big or small things are, they will be spread to the palace. Of course, this is nothing, the people of Dongchang have set up secret agents in the mansions of all officials in Beijing. It's just that it's not good for us to discuss national affairs here and pass them on to the palace. Although, I have asked Dingguo to practice martial arts in the hall to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, but the sound is too loud and can be passed out. Zhang Xianzhong said flatly.

It turned out that before the dinner, his old man sent Li Dingguo, Ai Nengqi, and Liu Wenxiu, three righteous sons, to practice martial arts around the hall with his cronies, and forbade anyone to approach.

After listening to Zhang Xianzhong's words, the generals nodded one after another, "Big brother's words are reasonable. "Big brother preached." ……

"Alright, let's get down to business." Zhang Xianzhong said gently: "In the affairs of the imperial court, as generals, we need to keep to ourselves, and we don't have to participate." However, Lord Yue treats me a lot, which can be described as a grace of reconstruction, and the things he proposes, we should more or less go to the scene. Besides, the imperial court did not stipulate that the generals could not participate. According to the decree, the military generals will elect eight people on their own, and the vote will be sent to the cabinet in the form of a recital, and the names will be marked and announced to the public at that time. A person only has one vote, and only one person can be elected, so it will be much easier to do, although there are many generals in Beijing, but as long as we work together, it shouldn't be a problem to get a seat. ”

This is not wrong at all, there are really a lot of rogue generals in Beijing, don't look at it, they don't have any real power, but they can't stand the large number of people, and the grade is not low, just more than four grades, there are dozens of them. (Those with more than seven grades can't be counted.)

"Big brother is right, although there are not many seats for military generals, but we can't stand the number of people, and the most important thing is that the honorable military generals are not in the category, so as long as we vote together, we can definitely earn a seat. It seems that this parliament is used to elect officials, and there is no other use, but now that the DPRK and China are clearly divided, perhaps the seat we have won will play an important role in the future. Now that we have this seat, no one will treat us as useless anymore. No one dares to guarantee that this seat in our hands will one day decide the fate of which official. ”

These generals are not all big and coarse, they have been crawling and rolling for so many years, and they haven't hung up, so they naturally have something outstanding.

Zhang Xianzhong nodded again and said, "That's right, that's what I mean." Lord Yue is good to us, but generals are not allowed to join the party, so we can't become members of Lord Yue's monarchy party. But when we have a seat in the council, standing on Lord Yue's side in the council can be regarded as helping Lord Yue. Isn't it the best of both worlds? ”

"Exactly, exactly......" "Brother Zhang, whoever you say, we will choose." "What does it mean that Brother Zhang chooses whoever we choose, I think, don't think about it anymore, let's go to the fold together, and choose Brother Zhang directly." "Yes, let's choose Brother Zhang together." "That's right, choose Brother Zhang. When we have finished drinking, we will go back in the afternoon, and we will contact our brothers, and on the day of the official vote, we will vote together without delay. ”……

Seeing everyone say this, Zhang Xianzhong was very satisfied. deliberately said a few polite words, and continued to drink with everyone. After drinking this wine for an hour and a half, the big guy was full of wine and food, and said goodbye to Zhang Xianzhi. Return to their respective residences. After returning home, I couldn't forget the business, and immediately contacted the generals under my former subordinates, but together they went to the book and elected Zhang Xianzhong as a member of the parliament.

Ballots are sent to the Cabinet on the same day, also for the sake of fairness, and whoever votes must be signed. It will then be made public. In this way, it is open and transparent, and it can convince the big guys. If you want to cheat, it's impossible. Whoever voted for whom, everyone knows in their hearts that if someone dares to change, with the atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty, they will not scold their mother immediately. It's a ghost.

When all the ballots arrived, the cabinet staff began to count and count them one by one, and although the work was simple, it was complicated. It also takes a lot of time. You must know that the government and the opposition in Beijing are up and down. On this day, the folds were handed over and sent in. Gotta have as many as there are. The officials' folds are easier to handle, but the votes of the four peoples of Shinong, industry and commerce are even more troublesome, and it is necessary to send special people to collect them on the street and then count them on the spot.

However, this kind of thing does not need to be done by Lord Yue himself, compared with the election of parliamentarians, he is more concerned about the situation in Liaodong, the operation of the bank, and the establishment of the port again.

Since the opening of the sea, Anmin Bank has done a good job and has made a profit. Of course, the National Bank cannot lag behind in this kind of money-making business, but it can't do so many things all day long, and the bank's business can't be done by itself, so it can only be done by the people below.

Soon, Yue Su selected a candidate for vice president, this person was the monarch wing party that joined some time ago, his name was Yang Sichang, and Yang Sichang's father was Yang He, the governor of the trilateral side that year.

Yang Sichang was a doctor of Guozijian, and when Yue Su was out of the school, he went with him, not only knowing the soldiers, but also doing things conscientiously. After returning to Beijing, he was also rewarded, and now Yue Su decided to let Yang Sichang become the vice president of the State Bank, and in the future, he can also replace him.

Yue Su told Yang Sichang about his plan, and borrowed some people from Anmin Bank to help Yang Sichang and let him do it step by step. Whether it is a non-local deposit or a loan business, it comes little by little, but as long as it is done, it must be done well. Yang Sichang is indeed a talent, and it didn't take long for him to master the banking business and make it impressive. But that's a later story, so I won't show it for the time being.

Yue Su also carefully selected the new port on the map, but soon wanted a place - Shanghai.

The name Shanghai, which has existed in the Ming Dynasty, belongs to Songjiang Prefecture and is a county under it. Songjiang Prefecture, on the other hand, is subordinate to Nanzhili.

In order to improve the status of Songjiang Prefecture, Yue Su decided to set up a governor's yamen in Songjiang Prefecture, and it became a separate administrative unit from the jurisdiction of Nanzhili. It is directly under the responsibility of the imperial court. This proposal was discussed by the cabinet, and after the vote was drafted, it was sent to the celebrant and then handed over to the queen mother, and it was decided at one point.

As for the candidate for the governor, because the council had just been established, and Lord Yue had spoken first, the position of the governor of Songjiang had to be decided through the council. Therefore, the imperial court issued an order that all officials above the fourth grade, including the four grades, can recommend themselves. Of course, you must also write down what you will do when you take office. Moreover, in the holy decree, it was also said that ports would be opened in Shanghai County, Fengxian County and other places under Songjiang Prefecture.

As soon as the will was conveyed, the officials of the north and south were fried, and everyone could see clearly the situation of the opening of the port in Rizhao, Shandong, and the silver rolled into it like the tide, and this position was so important that it could be imagined. Such an important position is not only as simple as fat difference, but also the capital to climb up, for officials in Beijing, it may be a little worse, but for officials in Nanzhili, this is a great opportunity. As we all know, Nanzhili is a place to retire, as long as you become an official here, there is basically no future, and the rights of the military department are greater, and the other scholars are really limited in power, and the officials below are no different from eating mixed rice.

It's rare to have such an opportunity, can you not fight for it, for a while, not to mention the officials of the four products, even the left and right imperial history of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the servants of the six departments, all took action. Fortunately, the Shangshu of the six departments has a self-respecting identity and no self-recommendation. After all, in this year, letting Shangshu be the governor is a demotion, generally speaking, those who hang the title of Shangshu are all governors, and those who hang the titles of squire, capital and deputy capital are governors. Shangshu went to apply to be a governor, which was too valuable.

Officials in Beijing and Beijing were eager to try. The self-recommended excerpts have been invested in the Beijing Division. The cabinet began to get busy, began to compile and selected ten people from among them. handed it to Zhang Yan to look at, Zhang Yan looked at it briefly, and then nodded. It can be said that what she cares about now is not who will be the governor, but what the council will be like this time.

The candidates were finalized, and the officials recommended by Nanjing themselves. There were three of them, and Yue Su sent people to take a fast boat to the ship and let these three officials enter Beijing. See Parliamentary Elections.

At this point, the three of them entered Beijing. The first parliament of the Ming Dynasty was officially convened. The meeting was held in the west of the Forbidden City, where the former West Factory was located. The council hall has long been set up. The security of the outside is the responsibility of the forbidden army, and the seats inside are a total of 142 seats. The seats are arranged in an arc, in the middle of the arc. A small wooden platform was set up for speech.

Members entered the venue first. The first to come was the four people's congressmen, including Shinong Industry and Commerce, and among these people, the most conspicuous was naturally Li Wenzhang. Followed by nobles, military generals, and non-party officials, among which naturally the first noble British Gongzhang is extremely important, Wu Mengming, the new commander of the Jinyi Guard of the Son of Heaven's pro-army, Zhang Xianzhong, the first person to demote generals, and Hong Chengchou, the first person to be a non-party official.

Those who came in the back were the officials of the three parties, Qi Shijiao, Lu Weiqi, Zhang Zhenggang and others all sat down, but they didn't see Lord Yue.

Then, it was the internal officials and parliamentarians who came in. The leaders are, of course, Liu Mingguo and Cao Huachun, although Zhao Zhi has been valued by Zhang Yan, his qualifications are still poor after all, ranking behind. According to the original meaning, there are a total of twenty-five yamen in the inner palace, twenty-five eunuchs with palm prints, plus the eunuchs of the commander of Dongchang, and the eunuchs of the master of ceremonies. However, because of the limited number of places, some of the palm print eunuchs, such as the Divine Palace Supervisor, the Duty Palace Supervisor, the Shangshan Supervisor, and the Shangyi Supervisor, could only stand aside.

When the eunuchs and parliamentarians all went in and sat down, someone outside the door shouted: "The first assistant of the cabinet, Mrs. Yue has arrived!" ”

This is the leader, when anyone comes in, no one shouts, only Yue Su has this qualification. Without this aura, can you call the Minister of Tuogu.

After Yue Su came in, he didn't immediately go to his place to sit down, but walked up to the wooden platform in the middle. On the wooden platform, there were no chairs, only a table, Yue Su stood behind the table, glanced around, and the councilors who had already arrived said loudly: "You are all members of the parliament elected by all walks of life, today is the first time that the parliament has been convened, here, this official will say a few words first." This council is not a child's play, but to elect officials for the imperial court, and it is also an official of the third rank or above. These positions are all very important, and they are related to the court and the people of the world, so I hope you will have a righteous heart. The rules for parliamentary elections have been clearly told to you earlier, and today the official is here to re-examine the case, and each person has only one right to vote, and only one person can be elected among the candidates. Moreover, it is still a real-name vote, and if you do not sign your name, it will be regarded as abstention. If there is more than 50 votes for the officials who are shortlisted, if there is more than 50, they shall not be shortlisted, and if there is more than one official, it will be decided by the emperor, and if there is only one person, he will hold this position. If none of them has more than 50 votes, five of the officials with the least number of votes shall be eliminated from among the 10 alternate officials, and the remaining five officials with the largest number of votes shall be defended and a new ballot shall be cast. Ladies and gentlemen, do you understand what this official means? ”

"Understood." "Understood." ……

Among the people present, even the elected peasant councilors had read some books, and Yue Su could naturally understand what he said.

"Alright, the council is now open. In the first part, the officials who are running for election come in turn to read out the work goals after taking office, what to do, and how to do it. After he has finished speaking, you have the right to ask questions, to ask him relevant questions and to answer them. Their answers can be used as a reference for you when voting. After Yue Su finished speaking, he paused, and then said: "Okay, now the first alternate official, Sun Guanglong, the left capital of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, will come in and read out the work goals." ”

After speaking, Yue Su turned around and got off the wooden platform and came to his place to sit down.

After a while, an official walked in, it was Sun Guanglong, the imperial history of the left capital of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, who was in his fifties, a native of Jiangxi, and a scholar from Shujishi. When he was outside, someone had already told him the rules, so after he came in, he walked directly to the wooden platform, first introduced himself, and began to tell what he was going to do after becoming the governor of Songjiang.

Nanzhili is not far from Zhejiang, and the election activities of the county magistrate over there have already been carried out in full swing, and he also knows what Lord Yue means, so when he wrote the self-recommendation, he wrote his work goals and how to do it clearly, clearly, and what he did.

To be the governor of Songjiang, in addition to managing the local security, people's livelihood and other everything, the most important thing is to open a port. He had already heard about the matter of Rizhao Port, and what was done there, he would follow the practice there. Committed to the people's livelihood, that is, to sort out the lawsuits, make decisions for the people, and encourage farming and fishing, at least the people are away from Songjiang Prefecture, and the local situation is still very clear.

After he finished, it was Q&A time. The establishment of a port there had little to do with the peasants and workers in Beijing, but it was close to the merchants. Therefore, Li Wenzhang was the first to stand up. Some people want to say that Li Wenzhang is now an earl, and he has mixed up a hereditary replacement, why is it not counted in the honor.

Here is a simple point, the noble is to have a rank, there is no rank of marquis, earl or something, not a noble, just like the emperors of all dynasties will reward their father-in-law with a marquis, earl or something, this is a title, not a title. The two should not be confused. Another point is that titles are not necessarily hereditary, but titles are all hereditary.

As an example, let's talk about the Zhu family of Chengguo. At the beginning, Zhu Neng was sealed like this, Zhu Neng was named the governor of the left mansion, the prince of Chengguo, Fengtianjing was difficult to Xuanli Wuchen to enter the Ronglu doctor, the right pillar country, and the food Lu was 2,500 stones, and the descendants were hereditary.

It can be seen from here that in addition to the duke, Zhu Neng was also awarded the title of Yipin Sanguan, Doctor Ronglu of Special Entry, and Yipin Honor, Right Pillar Country. In other words, with this title, it can be regarded as a noble, otherwise, it can be regarded as a lord.

Let's talk about a Guang Enbo Liu family who sold rice at a high price, his ancestor was Liu Cai, and the reward given to him was that Liu Cai was named Guang Enbo, commanding Tongzhi, Fengtian Jing was difficult to Xuanli Wuchen to enter Ronglu Doctor, Zhuguo, Shilu 900 stones, and his descendants were hereditary. A loose official from the first rank, and a rank from the first rank.

It can be seen that Li Wenzhang is also a hereditary empty lord, and compared with Xungui, he is far behind.

"Lord Sun......" Li Wenzhang stood up and said: "Lord Shicai Yue said, after you finished talking about your goal of taking office, it is time for questions and answers, and Benjue, as a councilor elected by the business community, wants to ask more about the opening of the port." In terms of people's dedication to people's livelihood, they encourage both farming and fishing, so are there any plans and measures to encourage businessmen to go to sea to do business? (To be continued......

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