On December 12, the first year of Wanli, the heavy snow stopped and the sunny day shone brightly.

The monarchs and ministers in the Wenhua Hall had just finished a lecture on Confucian scriptures.

The speakers are still unsatisfied.

Emperor Zhu Yijun couldn't wait to discuss with Zhang Juzheng about the situation of the new policy.

"I've already read the question book for the results. However, there are more than 50 caregivers who are incompetent! Is it really so bad, sir? ”

Zhu Yijun asked directly before and after Zhang Juzheng came to the palace.

Zhang Juzheng arched his hand and said, "Your Majesty." It's bad, but it's not incorrigible. At least Your Majesty can still know how bad the officials are. This shows that the caress at the bottom can still be loyal to the court, and know how to report truthfully, not conceal it, and not pass the buck; ”

"And if you don't even want to report it, or make a false report, and whitewash the peace, then it's time to be irretrievable!"

"Therefore, Your Majesty need not be disappointed in his ministers, although they are often lazy and even mediocre, but at least they are still loyal and not flattering."

"What's more, this examination is based on the standard expected by Hai Rui, to be both cheap and capable and not to swim in the powerful, it is difficult here, if it is not for the reign of Mingjun, it is impossible to make the world care for all the virtuous people to this point."

Zhu Yijun nodded.

Zhang Juzheng saw that Zhu Yijun listened, so he continued: "Moreover, this also shows that they believe that the imperial court will deal with it impartially and will give a disposition decision that convinces them, and they also believe that Your Majesty and the ministers and other rulers can distinguish between right and wrong, have a heart of forgiveness and understanding, and will understand their difficulties, not to the point of disharmony and mutual suspicion." ”

"What does Mr. mean, at the moment the emperor is still clean and upright, although the officials are bad, but there is no sign of the country's demise, but if it goes on like this, I am afraid that it will be completely different in a few decades, right?"

Zhu Yijun asked.

Zhang Juzheng nodded: "Your Majesty said yes, so now you should cure it while it can be treated!" It cannot be that in the future, every time the palace makes a policy, whether good or evil, the matter will be opposed, and the scholars will gather to resist, and the palace will oppose the proposal, so that the party will rise up and the king will also be disturbed by it. ”

Zhu Yijun heard Zhang Juzheng say this, and suddenly thought of the dispute between the country and the country in the late Wanli period in history, which can really be described as a disharmony between the top and bottom, the monarchs and ministers all ignored internal and external troubles, and fought for the affairs of the first prince for decades. In the end, although Zhu Changluo ascended the throne and the so-called "Zhongzheng Ying Dynasty", it intensified the dispute between the party and the party, and fought over the transfer of the palace and the red pill, even when he arrived in the Southern Ming Dynasty, he also engaged in a fake prince case, arguing endlessly.

In this comparison, the so-called great bad governance of officials in the early Wanli period is indeed not serious, and these powerful officials are at least willing to truthfully explain to the imperial court the situation of their completion of government affairs, rather than questioning the correctness of the rulers, and choosing to disobey orders or disobey the yang.

Of course, Zhu Yijun knew that this did not rule out that Zhang Juzheng had communicated with Xu Jie, a leader of Shilin, in advance, and had also laid out the layout for many years, so that the governors and inspectors were still willing to give him Zhang Juzheng, cooperate with him in reforming, and truthfully explain his problems.

"So, I can't be too harsh on them?"

Zhu Yijun also asked Zhang Juzheng because of this.

Zhang Juzheng arched his hand: "Your Majesty Shengming!" His Majesty's change of the examination system is not to be the enemy of thousands of ministers in the world, but to guide their public and private interests, and to regulate their yin and yang. As the saying goes, the king is like a father, and the minister is like a son, and His Majesty's use of power to the minister is not to kill him, but to make him a talent, and to benefit the country and the people. They are all protégés of the Son of Heaven, and they are His Majesty's medicine for the ills of the world, not the ones who want to get rid of them. ”

Zhu Yijun smiled slightly.

He had to admit that Zhang Juzheng taught himself, obviously never intended to let himself, the emperor, regard the bureaucratic class as an enemy, but tried his best to persuade himself, the emperor, to believe in the bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty and make good use of the bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun understands this.

After all, Zhang Juzheng is also a member of this, even if he is a politician who is determined to reform, he is also one of them, and it is impossible to really instigate him, the emperor, to step on the bones of the world's ministers, and would rather believe in domestic slaves than Confucianism.

"If Mr. said so, why is he willing to use Zhao Zhenji in the end?"

Zhu Yijun asked with some curiosity.

Because Zhu Yijun already knew through the factory guard, as soon as Zhao Zhenji entered Beijing, he threatened to depose incompetent officials and transfer all incompetent officials from the six departments to foreign officials.

In this era, the transfer of foreign officials is a very heavy punishment for the six branches, which basically means that the quality of the career will be greatly reduced.

Even most people can only reach the end of their careers below the third grade.

There is no doubt that Zhao Zhenji is a more ruthless person than Zhang Juzheng.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun asked about Zhang Juzheng.

"Back to Your Majesty, Zhao Ge is not a person who is the same as the light, so the minister recommends him to be used in a sincere word."

"As a minister, it is advisable to be honest in things, and sincerity is without gaps, so it is better to be resentful than to deceive. Although Zhao Ge Lao is not decent, he can be a good minister of His Majesty; Although the officials are afraid of him, they will not complain because of his sincerity, and they will not complain about him, and they will use him to benefit His Majesty to show kindness and kindness to the world, and they will not lose the wisdom of employing people. ”

Zhang Juzheng replied.

"I see. Thank you sir for your advice. ”

Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Zhang Juzheng immediately gave up: "The minister is afraid! ”

Wanli took the initiative to ask and was willing to listen, which made Zhang Juzheng a little difficult to hide his excitement, and he opened his mouth to say more.

At this time, Zhu Yijun turned his head and asked Shen Li behind him: "Do you remember?" Mr. Today's words cannot be omitted from the living notes. ”

Shen Li arched his hand and replied: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has remembered it and has not missed anything." ”

Zhang Juzheng saw the corners of his mouth grinning, but he didn't say anything more.

Zhu Yijun continued at this time: "Listening to Mr. today, I have benefited a lot, and I know that I need to be a Ming Jun first, so that I can guide the ministers to be virtuous and capable ministers who meet the requirements of the examination. ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Zhang Juzheng replied.

Ask the canal to be as clear as promised, for there is a source of living water.

Zhu Yijun knew that the Wanli Dynasty in history was able to flourish in the early stage, the original reason was that the emperor Wanli himself at this time had the heart to govern, whether it was caused by the innocence of the youth, or because the young man's spirit was still there, or it was really infected by Zhang Juzheng's words and teachings, in short, the Wanli New Deal was not only related to Zhang Juzheng, but also related to the emperor Wanli at this time.

As for why the later Wanli Emperor changed, it is naturally indispensable for Wanli himself, not to mention Zhang Juzheng's reasons, and the reasons for the degeneration of the entire landlord class.

"Emperor, after the confiscation of the family property of the Feng Bao family, it has been sorted out, including the Xu family's one-year Haili, which has also arrived in Beijing and registered for storage, with a total value of more than 3.5 million taels of silver."

After Zhu Yijun returned to the palace, Zhang Hong reported to him the final verification results of the confiscation of Feng Bao's family property.

After hearing this, Zhu Yijun thought of what Zhang Juzheng said to him in the morning, and knew that at present, his emperor was caused by a group of reformers and doers under him, so that he, the emperor, had no room to sing white faces, so he could only use grace to mediate grievances, so as not to exacerbate the internal contradictions of the bureaucrats because of the restructuring, so he asked Zhang Hong first: "I remember that the eunuchs and female officials and maids in the palace of the 24 yamen of the inner court have not been paid enough money for a long time?" ”