Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun arrived at about the same time, and the two were already together, but Cao Huachun knew what the emperor was going to ask, so it took a little more time to sort out the official documents of the celebrant and eunuch.

The emperor saw Wang Chengen first, "This is a letter from Kebaba to Wei Zhongxian. ”

Wang Chengen took the letter and read it, and under the guidance of the emperor, he understood those tricks and nodded, "It should be okay now, Wei Zhongxian originally had the heart to hand over the secret sect system, it was useless for him to keep it, the only thing he was worried about was that the emperor refused to let him go, with this letter from Kebaba, there should be no problem, the old slave will do it immediately." Let a brocade guard send this letter to Wei Zhongxian. ”

The Emperor muttered, "Do you really think that Wei Zhongxian will hand over the secret sect system with a letter from Kebaba?" I still don't know the bottom of my heart. ”

Wang Chengen smiled slightly, "Your Majesty, you are too nervous, and if you care about it, you will be chaotic, give Wei Zhongxian this letter, and we will do our best to obey the destiny of heaven." ”

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen frowned and nodded, "Maybe my nerves are too tight, you go and let Lu Xiangsheng prepare to dispatch a thousand Imperial Forest Army Iron Cavalry to attack, and send the Jian Xun Lou Prison Army!" I'm going to see it for myself! ”

Wang Chengen sighed, "The old slave has already greeted Lu Xiangsheng, and the old slave knows that it is useless to persuade the emperor, but please remember that safety comes first, nothing is more important than the emperor's dragon body." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and talked to Wang Chengen a few more words, and then asked him to change Cao Huachun to come in, Cao Huachun reported the urgent official duties that he routinely had to report to the emperor every day, and after the emperor approved them one by one, he felt that the situation was strict, and asked Sun Shenxing to come in to discuss.

"Lao Chen also happened to have urgent matters to communicate with the emperor, first, the examination order was generally boycotted, and most of the students in the Gyeonggi area did not come to register. Second, after the Beijing inspection plan, half of the officials came to me to resign, and third, the grain shortage in the capital has reached its peak, and the price of a stone of grain has risen more than 40 times! Now it is still martial law, and once it is lifted, there will be even more riots! There was no food in the treasury of the Five Cities Terracotta Division yesterday, and many people who couldn't buy food were shouting and scolding at their doorsteps, and the situation was getting worse and worse! In a few days, it will be out of control! Fourth, it has been determined that this issue of grain will not come, and the news of the Jingcha plan has spread to the south, and officials from all over the country have resisted the practice of the imperial court, which is actually deliberately delaying! Fifth, Huang Taiji not only robbed people and animals this time, but also maliciously destroyed the farmland and pasture! If they do this, even if the thieves retreat, the common people will not be able to farm next spring! The entire Gyeonggi region will be completely dependent on supplies from all over the country, and it seems that the places are no longer under the control of the imperial court. Sun Shenxing read the notes that had been written a long time ago to the emperor one by one.

Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen was terrified when he heard this, he didn't expect the reaction from all over the country to be so timely! Domino effect!

Cao Huachun secretly blamed Sun Shenxing for reporting everything truthfully! At least, you don't have to put it in front of the emperor all at once! "Your Majesty, things are not so strict, as long as the Tartars retreat quickly, and Gyeonggi recovers normally, merchants from all over the country will naturally come and go one after another, and as soon as the merchants move, the food problem will at least be alleviated, and all localities will not listen to the dispatch and immediately dismiss a group of officials! If the officials in Beijing are selected and dispatched, the situation will be controlled, but in fact, there are more vacancies in the Gyeonggi area, which does not affect the operation of the imperial court. ”

Sun Shenxing became furious when he heard this, "Gonggong Cao, what happened to you, it seems to be a trivial matter, no one is an official, who do you let go down?" Huang Taiji goes, do you think he has the intention of leaving? Occupying the four cities of Qian'an, Yongping, Luanzhou, and Zunhua, do businessmen dare to come to Beijing? Can you still adjust the Emperor Taiji? ”

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand and calmed down his feelings, at this time, the emperor can't mess up, originally these were also in his expectations, "Taifu, don't get excited, I know it, it's not as strict as you think, and it's not as easy as Cao Huachun said, since the Jingcha plan has been completed, martial law can be lifted today!" Cao Huachun will let people go down to pass the decree, cancel martial law, and restore normal order to the Jingshi! When the time comes, I will free up my hands and clean them up one by one, and record the list of officials who have delayed the major affairs of the imperial court in various places! ”

Cao Huachun and Sun Shenxing received the decree one by one, and the emperor's calmness also made the two of them feel at ease for the time being. Cao Huachun led the celebrant and Sun Shenxing led the entire officialdom of Gyeonggi, and the two were actually the cabinet of Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen.

Cao Huachun coughed, "Your Majesty, this examination order is important, you have brought down so many people at one time, there must be an official to fill it, otherwise, the situation will get out of control, the old slave thinks that this should be the focus of Lord Sun's report just now." ”

Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen snorted, "Teacher, why are these people unwilling to participate in the examination, and are they not willing to be my Ming officials?" ”

Sun Shenxing sighed, "The old minister has already let the officials of the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division be notified door-to-door, it stands to reason that the emperor's selection standards this time are lowered, and more people will come, but the showmen think that you are going to abolish the previous imperial examination system, which is unfair to them, so they boycott, and some people think that adding arithmetic is disrespectful to scholars, the Ming Dynasty has always valued agriculture over business, and put scholars in a very high position. It will be despised by them, so they also boycott it, which makes the number of applicants greatly reduced. ”

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen slapped the table angrily and stood up, "What kind of backward concept is this, can a person live without arithmetic?" Where can I live without arithmetic? If a person in charge of an official can't even figure out the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, wouldn't it be a joke! This also resists, lowers the standards, and does not weaken their level, if the level of their talent is higher than ordinary people, what is there to be afraid of? This is even more nonsense! As many people sign up, as many people as you can test! Text questions, which can express the meaning of changing the law and progress, are considered qualified, and those who can do half of the ten questions correctly are also considered qualified, and the standard is so low! Those who don't want to come, let them blush when the time comes, as soon as I wait for Huang Taiji to withdraw his troops, I will immediately add candidates from Shandong, Zhili, and Henan, such a low standard, will there be anyone who doesn't want to take the exam? Other than that! Women can also come and take the exam! ”

Cao Huachun and Sun Shenxing were frightened by the emperor at the same time, and the two of them looked at the emperor blankly, thinking that they had heard it wrong.

Zhu Youzhen calmly repeated, "Women can also take the exam!" From now on, the women of the Ming Dynasty can also be officials! ”

Sun Shen knelt down for the emperor again, "Your Majesty, you just killed the old minister, and the old minister didn't approve of it!" If this holy decree is issued, Lao Chen promises that even if people force people to take the exam with a knife, no one will come to the exam! Moreover, if any woman dares to come to the exam, she will definitely be drowned in the saliva of the neighbors! ”

Cao Huachun also knelt down in agreement, "Emperor Mingjian, this is not a joke, what Lord Sun said is not wrong at all, except for a few female officials in the palace, I really haven't heard of women being officials, women are officials, this is a joke in the world, the emperor, don't do it!" ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled faintly, "I just want to test your attitude, of course I know that concepts don't change just like they change!" Cao Huachun, add female officials in the palace! Enrich the secretarial department of the Central Council, and at the same time issue a holy decree that women can be officials in Beijing and Tianjin, this is at the feet of the Son of Heaven, I want to see who dares to oppose me! ”

Cao Huachun and Sun Shenxing still want to persuade again!

Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen smiled and waved his hand, "Don't persuade me, don't they like to boycott?" They are waiting and seeing, if I compromise, how to face the world in the future, I will intensify! Even if only one person comes to the election this time, it will be held as scheduled! It will be held on the first day of next month! Come rain come shine! ”