Fengtian Temple, the Great Imperial Meeting.

"Silence, silence!"

"The emperor has arrived, and the ministers bow down!"

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, excuse me, flat!" Zhu Qizhen sat on the throne with a smile on his face, stretched out his hand and raised it slightly, and opened his mouth to say loudly.

Meng Yan did not come to attend the court meeting, he was selected today as the rotating thousand households of the Fengtian Temple court meeting.

The position is next to the second colonnade near the Emperor.

There was a commotion among the civil and military officials, if not for anything else, but for the fact that the person who stood at the top of the civil officials was not Chen Xun, the second assistant of the acting cabinet chief assistant that everyone was used to, but Yang Pu, the first assistant who had not appeared in the court since he was sick last year.

Because the emperor was there, the courtiers put away their thoughts to say hello.

When did Yang Pu, the first assistant of the cabinet, enter the main hall, if he had come in early, no matter how bad everyone's eyes were, they wouldn't be unrecognizable, right?

Meng Yan snickered in his heart, standing aside and looking at the expressions of these ministers, it was actually a very interesting thing.

Although these people are all members of the imperial court, the tiger always has a casual look and expression when he naps, which can best reflect his attitude towards someone or something. "Long live Qiyu, the old minister is old, and his energy and body are not as good as before, I implore the quasi-old minister to resign from the post of first assistant to the cabinet, and let the old minister return home to retire for the rest of his life." Yang Pu knelt down and lay on the ground and said.

"Elder Ge quickly please, come on, quickly move a stool for Elder Ge." Zhu Qizhen hurriedly commanded.

Thinking that Xiao Huangmen hurriedly brought a round stool from the side and sent it over, helping Yang Pu up from the ground. I sat on a round stool.

"Yang Ge Lao has already submitted his resignation to me three times, the first two times, I have stayed in the middle and not sent it, this is the third time, although I have the heart to stay with Ge Lao, so as to continue to listen to the teachings, but Ge Lao has already made up his mind, if I am a strong man, it is inevitable that it is not the work of Renjun, so I allow Yang Ge Lao to return to his hometown. At the same time, the old man of the pavilion is crowned as the master! Zhu Qizhen said.

The civil official is a master. This is the highest honor of the Ming civil official, and the emperor gave him the honor of a prince when he retired, instead of waiting for him to be crowned after his death, which has a completely different meaning.

"The old minister bows to thank the emperor for his grace!" Yang Pu heard this. Kneeling excitedly. Old tears are rampant. Hands trembled.

"Yang Lao Aiqing is flat, when the first emperor was alive, he told me. Among the three Yangs, you Yang Pu is the oldest and most serious, Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong have passed away one after another, and now you are leaving, I feel very sour in my heart, very reluctant, but I have to let you go, I really can't bear to let an old man work hard for the Ming Dynasty anymore, I want to give you a peaceful old age, but also to give all the officials who worked hard for the Ming Dynasty a peaceful old age! Zhu Qizhen announced loudly.

"The emperor's grace, the ministers and other ministers are inscribed!"

"I am here today to announce an edict, the name is called, the Ming Dynasty Official's "Edict on the Compulsory Order"!" Zhu Qizhen continued.

"I feel that when everyone reaches a certain age, his energy and body are not as good as before, and he needs to rest in order to live and live a long life, so the ancestors formulated the Zhishi system, but I feel that although this system is good, the implementation is somewhat arbitrary, so I decided that all officials below the fourth rank will retire at the age of sixty, and officials above the third rank will retire at the age of sixty, and the officials of the first rank can enjoy the love once, but the time shall not exceed three years, that is, from now on, the maximum age of officials in the court is sixty-eight years old, over sixty-eight years old, can hold some retreat idle positions, but all the positions above the six departments and nine secretaries must be resigned! ”

What the? The emperor wants to change the number of years of Zhishi, and also forcibly retires, there is an ancestral system in the early Ming Dynasty, and the civil officials are seventy, and the military attaché is sixty.

As soon as the term is up, it is natural to hand over power, but above the officialdom, there are many people who do not retire when they reach the age limit.

Who doesn't want to die, half of this is done, and if you don't let it be done, isn't this going to kill these people?

Meng Yan was taken aback, Meng Yan only mentioned it to the emperor once, but he didn't expect the emperor to really want to implement this system.

Isn't this too advanced, although there are those who have returned to their hometowns in the past dynasties, and there are also those who have been ordered by the emperor to give office, and it is not uncommon for them to go to the official position, but from the system, it is stipulated that officials must step down at a certain age, and it is still enforced, which is probably only possible in advance in later generations.

If this system is really implemented, there will be many officials who have reached the age lever, and this will have to hand over power, and I am afraid that many people will be unwilling.

People in this era can live to the age of sixty to be considered long-lived, and many people die at the age of forty or fifty.

This age limit is actually not too harsh, sixty years old, and still a fourth-grade official, this life is estimated to be over, it is better to retire and enjoy your old age.

Even the ordinary people of later generations are almost sixty years old and retired, this standard is actually not low, of course, those who love the power of the stack are a different matter.

The Emperor stood up and swept his gaze across the faces of his ministers, finding the stunned expressions of almost all the ministers.

Zhu Qizhen suddenly found a feeling called scolding Fang Xuan and pointing out the country, this feeling was the first time he felt it for so many years as an emperor.

These courtiers are all older than him, and they are more preachable than the other, what can't be done, what can't be done, it's rare that he, the emperor, let the civil and military ministers in this hall all brush up to the town.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of my "Forced Decree to the Age of Officials"?" Zhu Qizhen was very satisfied with the reaction of the ministers.

One by one stopped talking, obviously, everyone has selfish intentions, and it is not against it, and it is not against it.

"Dare to ask the emperor, is this aimed at civil officials?"

"Of course."

"The old minister has no objection!" Unexpectedly, the first person to stand up and support the emperor's "Retirement Edict" was actually Hu Hu, who was the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and the James Mansion of James.

Hu Hu was born in the seventh year of Hongwu, and this year is the eleventh year of orthodoxy, so if you count it, Hu Hu is already 70 years old this year. It's been two years past this retirement period!

Then isn't he going to retire from the Ministry of Rites and return to his hometown?

This Hu Hu is the favorite minister of Yongle Ye, who has not fallen after four dynasties, and can be described as a tumbler in the Ming officialdom.

He's going to retire too?

"Hu Lao Aiqing thinks my edict is good?" Zhu Qizhen said in surprise, in fact, he was also a little apprehensive, changing the retirement years of civil officials, and dividing them into grades, which is equivalent to shortening the number of years of many officials at once.

If you exceed the fourth grade, you will continue to work for ten years, otherwise. You're going to have to hand it over. Let the younger ones below come up.

This change is not insignificant, and it is calculated as an official on the fourth grade, and the number of years of this Zhishi has also been shortened by five years, if it were not for the emperor's affection. It can only end at the age of sixty-five!

According to this new standard. Although Hu Hu is an official residence, he is second-class. He still received a good salary, but if he exceeded the age standard of sixty-eight years old, he should have retired a long time ago.

"What about the generals. Your Majesty, should we also send a message to the Emperor in advance? Chengguo Gong Zhu Yong asked.

"The number of years of military generals will not be changed for the time being, this time it is only for civilian officials!" Zhu Qizhen said.

Limit civil servants!

This shocked all the officials, is the emperor going to attack the civil official group?

"I accepted Yang Ge Lao's Jianyì, and after careful consideration, I made such a decision." Zhu Qizhen threw out Yang Pu, the head of the cabinet who was leaving.

Yang Pu knew that if he wanted to leave, he had to block this last shot for the emperor, and he had to admit it whether he had built it or not.

This may not have been the emperor's own idea, but when it came out of his mouth, it meant on behalf of him.

"The old minister is indeed to the emperor from this to build yì, this is also the old minister has a feeling, as he gets older, this energy and thinking are not as good as before, sometimes think about problems, do things are to go sharp, if the court is a group of old men like us, then how can the Ming Dynasty create a glory comparable to the predecessors?" Yang Pu said emotionally, "So, after thinking about it, the old minister thinks that it is enough for those of us who are officials to be sixty years old, and it is time to hand over the power and let the young people continue to do it, and we can also take care of our children and make fun of our grandchildren, how good?" ”

"What Elder Yang Ge said is that the whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister, even if he is a minister, he can also give advice to the emperor and the court." Guo Nu said suddenly.

That was when he received a hint from Meng Yan, if he didn't grasp the opportunity, he would be really stupid.

"Guo Aiqing also supports my "Edict on the Age of Officials"?" Zhu Qizhen was overjoyed, and the Wenchen had the support of Hu Hu and Yang Pu, two highly respected and only surviving auxiliary ministers, and among the generals, the powerful and powerful Jinyi Wei commander also expressed his support, which shows that he is not fighting alone.

"Weichen thinks that the emperor's "Edict on the Age of Forced Officials" is very good, but even if it is an official of Zhishi, he can continue to be loyal to the court and the emperor in another way." Guo said angrily.

"What is good about Aiqing?" Zhu Qizhen asked with a smile.

"For all the old officials, the imperial court can rehire them in the form of staff or think tanks, and they can provide the emperor with experience and advice in governing the country, but they do not make any decisions." Guo said angrily, "Just like Yang Gelao, the emperor promised to let him become a minister, and he can also stay in the cabinet with the same treatment." ”

"Rehire?"

What is this new term?

"Guo Aiqing, what does this rehire mean?" The emperor asked, observing the expressions of the two monarchs and ministers, I'm afraid that they are playing double reeds together, right?

The old man is not authentic, and he didn't reveal anything about such an important matter, don't forget that the word "rehiring" was taught to him by himself.

"The meaning of this rehiring, as the name suggests, is that it is not in an official position, but there are some aspects that still need to be borrowed and retained, and there is no decision-making power, only the right to build." Guo Nu deliberately pinched it and explained solemnly.

"Lord Guo means that this person who has been hired back is equivalent to a staff member?"

"It's almost, but this staff is not mandatory, it's free, if you don't want to do it, you can just leave, no one can stop it, neither can the emperor, it's okay to continue to do it, but you can't do it all the time, no more than five years at most."

"Guo Aiqing's mention is good, this can not only allow the elder to continue to play a role, but also allow the people below to come up and play the role of young people, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone." Zhu Qizhen said with great satisfaction. (To be continued......)