Chapter 515 at the beginning of the year

A spring drought swept through the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, and in the spring of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, when the situation in the country was tending to improve, it was hit so hard again. The civil unrest in the Central Plains, which had been basically extinguished, has once again reared its head.

Before dusk, a team of horses appeared outside the Yongding Gate, the cold wind in early spring was still there, and the knights on horseback were tightly wrapped, escorting a carriage to the city gate.

Hong Chengchou really has to be grateful to Chen Xie, otherwise he would be tired and tired along the way. After leaving Sichuan, entering Huguang, following the Han River to Xiangyang, and turning north, everything was different from before. The official road has been renovated, straight and spacious, and open as a rock. In Xiangyang, I sat in a four-wheeled carriage with shock absorption, which was much more comfortable than the previous two-wheeled vehicle.

The Dengzhou camp provided relief through work in Henan, and millions of hungry people had a place to earn a mouthful of food, which greatly alleviated the crisis in Henan. Along the way, Hong Chengchou was deeply touched. For Chen Xie, Hong Chengchou's mentality is very complicated, on the one hand, he hates him to the core, on the other hand, he can't admire his talent, and on the other hand, he is deeply afraid.

The official road from Xiangyang to Jingshi, after leaving the territory of Henan, the situation of the road has undergone some changes. Obviously, the quality of the official road of Beizhili is not as good as that in Henan, although Beizhili is also learning from Henan to work for relief, but in comparison, the officials of Beizhili do things, and they can't compare the quality with the siege presided over by the Dengzhou battalion.

A few years ago, Sun Chuanting went from Shaanxi to Sichuan and took over Hong Chengchou's position. The reason for this adjustment is because Sun Chuanting has done a good job in Shaanxi, and basically the civil rebellion has subsided. Zhu Youzhen was dissatisfied with the cabinet's ability and repeatedly made adjustments. After Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin were successively activated, Hong Chengchou was transferred back to Beijing. The selection of ministers of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that an adjustment will be made. Since the 16th year, the cabinet ministers no longer have to be Hanlin, but they must start from the county level and have the experience of serving in the government at all levels. This condition is a prerequisite. Only with such experience can he be regarded as a qualified candidate by the Ministry of Officials and submitted to the list of Tingtui. The rules of Tingtui have also been adjusted to no longer be as limited as in the past, but to adopt a rule that expands the scope. Officials at the level of governors, governors, and three departments of each province. All officials in Beijing who are above the seventh rank (including the seventh rank) have one vote. What makes the civil officials even more inspired is this article, once the court promotion procedure is complete and there is no phenomenon of cheating, the cabinet ministers who are elected will be promoted. Seats are determined based on the number of votes cast by each individual. As the emperor, in this election process, he must not interfere in the election, let alone deny the members of the cabinet who were born in accordance with the legal process. In other words, the selection of this cabinet minister in the future will be decided by the ministers by vote.

Hong Chengchou turned over all this issue of the newspaper along the way, pondered it repeatedly, but he didn't figure it out. How could Zhu Youzhen, the emperor, formulate such a rule. It is said that Zhu Youzhen is an emperor with a strong desire to control, how can he compromise so much on such a heavy issue? I haven't heard of the previous struggle between Wenchen and the emperor to win a heavy victory. The degree of today's cabinet ministers. There is no emperor in the entire Ming Dynasty who can compare.

The current cabinet assistant is Zhou Yanru, the second assistant is Chen Yan, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, followed by Yang Tinglin, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Lu Xiangsheng, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and a Hong Chengchou is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and Rites of Dongge University. Such a team, according to the new court push rules, will be appointed for a period of five years. A court push is held one year before expiration. If during the period of employment, there is no mistake of double dà. In principle, you can stay in the cabinet for five years.

Why such rules are introduced, Hong Chengchou can't figure this out. This is not Zhu Youzhen's style.

When the carriage passed through the city gates. I was unexpectedly stopped. Hong Chengchou in the carriage was a little surprised, which was a rare thing before. The soldiers guarding the city gate were not much different from a dog in his opinion. Hong Chengchou, who was displeased, sat up straight from the soft seat, stretched out his hand to dry his hands on the stove in the carriage, and the concubine opposite was his famous and prostitute in Xinna, Sichuan. The concubine carefully brought him hot tea, brought it to his mouth, and added charcoal to the charcoal stove.

The sound of a knock on the door interrupted Hong Chengchou's comfortable enjoyment, and motioned to the concubine to open the door, and the general outside said: "Master, the rules of the city gate have changed, and now the officials who enter Beijing have to come forward in person and register in person." Hong Chengchou listened to the boss with his mouth open, and only probed from the car door for a while before saying: "This official is Hong Chengchou, who returned to Beijing to report on his duties at the behest of His Majesty." ”

An officer immediately stepped forward and kowtowed before saying, "Please don't blame the lord, this is the request from above, and the small one is just doing things according to the rules." The big man doesn't have to get out of the car, just fill it out on the car, and the little one will go back to the business. ”

Only then did Hong Chengchou suppress his anger, snorted heavily, and took the registration book before he realized that it was actually a form booklet. Take a closer look, there is a note in the next line, produced by Jinan United Printing Factory. It's this Chen Sihua again, and the new tricks are one after another. Pick up the pen and ink, finish the registration of the brush, and throw it out to pull the door. With the nods of the soldiers guarding the gates, the convoy passed through the city gate and headed for the inner city.

Jingshi has not changed much, Hong Chengchou didn't have the heart to look around, and when he was about to continue reading his book, he heard his concubine Xinlan say: "Master, Jingshi is really clean." When Hong Chengchou heard this, he couldn't help but lift the curtains curiously and take a look, and only then did the Jingshi have some changes. This road has been walked many times in the past, and the sewage on the street is usually dumped everywhere, and the dirt is not visible at all. Now that the qiē is gone, the stone pavement on the street has been turned into a concrete road, and it is clear that the road has been newly repaired, and the street does not look like the zài garbage that used to be everywhere.

What's going on? Hong Chengchou was puzzled, when did Shuntianfu become more capable? Do you know that you have to build roads and do a good job of hygiene? Just wondering, the carriage stopped again, and this time Hong Chengchou couldn't sit still in the car, because there was an acquaintance on the other side.

Wu Fu's current position is the left squire of the military department, and when Hong Chengchou was the governor of the three sides, the two had many intersections. When you encounter it on the road, you naturally have to come forward and speak. "Brother Luyou, it's been a long time." Hong Chengchou took the initiative to say hello, he had been busy outside, and he needed to know about the situation in Jingshi, so Wu Fu sent it to the door. There is another point, Hong Chengchou's entry into the cabinet was appointed by Zhu Youzhen. That is, this cabinet may well be the product of the will of the last emperor. The new rules broke the traditional unspoken rule that only Hanlin ministers could enter the cabinet, and Hong Chengchou also wanted to know the reaction of the officials in Beijing.

"Brother Hengjiu, I heard a long time ago that you were going to come to Jingshi, but I didn't expect to meet you on the road." The two carriages met in Beijing, and after some politeness, Wu Fu "enthusiastically" sent Hong Chengchou to live in the post house. Then he stepped down and talked about it alone.

"Jingshi has changed a lot." As soon as Hong Chengchou opened his mouth, Wu Fu nodded with a smile and said, "The current Shuntian prefect has worked in Dengzhou for a few years, and he moved one set over there to Jingshi. That is, the roads in the inner city have been repaired, and the outer city is still the same. Brother Hengjiu, you don't have to go around the bend, I can guess your thoughts. The new rules for the cabinet ministers have been confirmed to be written into the general notice. His Majesty's attitude is very resolute, and I guess it is because the cabinet has been ineffective in these years, which has disappointed His Majesty too much. I heard that during the last cabinet meeting, His Majesty said that without the experience of the ruling party, how can he govern the world? He also said that in the future, the officials should not make mistakes in their appointments, but should see whether they have a solid heart. Officials cannot benefit one party in life, and those who eat and boil seniority all day long will not be promoted. ”

Hong Chengchou seemed to sense something from these words. Just as he was about to speak, Wu Fu said again: "By the way, Chen Sihua has entered Beijing." The Beijing master who entered three days ago was immediately called into the palace by His Majesty, the edict of the saint, the great of the saints, and the extreme of the ministers. ”

Hearing Chen Xie's name, Hong Chengchou's eyelids jumped, saying that it was bitter and hateful, which was not false at all. On the road to official career, the biggest humiliation was given by Chen Xie.

"What, does Chen Sihua want to stay in Jingshi? Is it possible to become a scholar of Wuyingdian University? I have been in the cold for more than ten years, but I can't compare to a fortunate minister who was born as a martial artist. Hong Chengchou's words were not very disgusted. Wenchen's position is similar, but Wu Fu's attitude towards Chen Xie is quite objective.

His Majesty had this thought, and it is said that Chen Sihua refused again. I also heard that the rules of the new cabinet minister's court push were built by Chen Sihua to His Majesty. It's not clear how to say it, but there is a message in the palace that says that the cabinet changes too frequently, which is not conducive to the long-term nature of national policy. A cabinet minister has an idea, and the order changes overnight, and the local government is at a loss. I also heard that Chen Sihua said these words to His Majesty a long time ago. There are rumors in Beijing that this new initiative launched by His Majesty Xià is eighty percent of Chen Sihua's meaning. Speaking of which, this Chen Sihua is really incomprehensible. Wu Fu said with a helpless wry smile, Hong Chengchou was deeply touched, nodded and said, "I really don't understand." ”

Why can't I read it? The most intuitive one is that Chen Xie started by making money in business and leading troops to fight, and as a result, he was more energetic than anyone else in collecting business taxes. Who thinks they have a lot of money?

Wu Fu said again: "Have you heard from the household department, after the commercial tax was changed to ten taxes and one tax, more than 3 million silver yuan was collected in half a year. There is also a ship department, and the ship department of Dengzhou, Huating, and Xiamen, which open the sea, collects a total of 2.3 million yuan in taxes. Moreover, these silvers do not need to be escorted into Beijing, they can be deposited directly in the local money bank, and they can be withdrawn from the Beijing division with the bills, which is really convenient. ”

mentioned this matter, Hong Chengchou was also deeply touched. When I was in Sichuan, the money from the household department had to be transported over, and it took two months to make a trip. It's just too much trouble, and it's easy to delay things. (To be continued)

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