After the wheel of history rolled over Annan like a worm, it seemed that at the end of the first year of Yongle, it paused slightly for a moment before continuing to drive towards the unknown future.

And before that, a new round of internal rectification began.

This time it's Jiang Xinghuo's round.

"See Your Majesty."

In the celebration of the city, Jiang Xinghuo came to the palace.

In fact, the examination law was proposed and brewed in the 35th year of Hongwu, and took effect after the official pilot implementation in the first half of the first year of Yongle, and began to be promoted to the whole country, which is also an important measure for the Yongle New Deal to refresh the rule of officials.

It's just that in the early days of the implementation of the new policy, due to various reasons, the examination law was not publicized in a high-profile manner, but only required the imperial court to implement it from top to bottom, and even some places did not pay much attention to its existence.

After all, for the vast majority of grassroots officials, they only have to do the things at hand that have not changed for decades, and then they can enjoy life, as for the so-called official assessment of the imperial court, those things are too far away from them and have nothing to do with their livelihood.

To put it bluntly, they are all people.

In the eyes of people these days, the test is nothing more than the emperor's whim.

The new official took office with three fires, and Zhu Di, the new emperor, naturally had to burn so many fires, which is normal.

And as time goes by, when the emperor loses his freshness, he will return to normal.

After all, the Hongwu Dynasty, which burned the most ruthlessly, tens of thousands of officials were disposed of at that time, but to put it bluntly, shouldn't the grassroots still do what they should do?

But this time, it's clearly something different.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Jingcha was still a very normal thing, and there was even a matter of the Jianwen Dynasty changing Jingcha to ten years, which fully shows that the officials of the center were not happy with Jingcha.

But as long as you have read the history of the Ming Dynasty, you should know that Jingcha in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, will become the main line of the entire temple struggle, every time Jingcha, as long as there is a party struggle, it must be bloody and bloody.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't know what kind of monster would appear after he opened the Pandora's box of "Jingcha".

But now that he has decided to go on the road of seeking a dynasty change, in order that all his efforts in the future will not be restored by the gentry and civil officials, and in order not to end up like Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng, he can only open this box.

"The national teacher is here, tell me what you think."

Zhu Di did not summon Jiang Xinghuo elsewhere, but on the city wall.

And this city wall is where Zhu Di and the others stood when Jiang Xinghuo stopped the prisoners of the country from knocking.

It's just that unlike before, there is a fixed large magnification telescope here.

Yes, when the emperor was fine and didn't want to leave the palace, he would observe the daily life of the people on the other side of Taiping Street.

There are not too many ministers around, that is, Ru Yu, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Jianyi, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Jin Zhong, the servant of the Ministry of Works, who has not spoken.

Jiang Xinghuo cleared his throat and said: "I have said to Your Majesty before that the ideal operation of the country is to be able to carry out strict comprehensive examination and approval of yamen at all levels, and carry out serious inspections of officials at all levels, so that any yamen from the central center to the local government will theoretically perform its functions and exercise its powers and responsibilities under the condition of supervision and control. ”

"Yes, I have heard that this is what the national teacher advocated in the administration and management taught in the Daming School of Administration."

Obviously, Zhu Di did not reduce his attention to Jiang Xinghuo's daily actions, and several ministers also listened, this is all a royal way, but there is nothing to question.

"The purpose of the examination law is to ensure that all officials' official activities must be recorded and examined, their achievements can be examined, and their merits can be verified, and they will be subject to inspection accordingly. If there is a full-time person, a special responsibility for the case, a time-limited situation, a clear start and end, and a clear handling process and result, everything will be operated within the scope of the rules and regulations, so that there will be no situation where the yamen kick the ball with each other, perfunctory and perfunctory responsibilities and even drag on hold, and once no one checks, the final result must be over. ”

Well, if you make an analogy, Daming is a machine, then the test method is to regularly overhaul the machine and add oil.

In Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, Zhang Juzheng's reform was carried out through the implementation of the examination method to ensure that the rusty state machine of the Ming Dynasty returned to normal operation, and played a strong role in promoting and guaranteeing the various innovations that lasted for ten years in the early Wanli period.

So why does Jiang Xinghuo want to mention it again now?

The reason for this lies in the fact that the first stage of changing the law is to fight for "fame", and if the name is not right, it will not go well, and the name of "whether or not to change the law" has already been debated; The second stage is to win the "real", which is whether the law can be changed to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and whether it can get money for the treasury; The third stage is the comprehensive and in-depth promotion of the reform of the law.

Since any policy of changing the law is implemented on the ground, it is carried out by people, so it is very necessary to make plans for the personnel struggle in advance for the sake of the three stages, whether it is out of the needs of the goal or for the three-stage rainy day.

"But the minister thinks that this year's examination method may not be as upward and downward as expected, and then the country and the dynasty will be integrated."

Jiang Xinghuo changed his words and began to sing about decay, which couldn't help but make Zhu Di feel interesting.

When things go wrong, there must be demons. The test method was proposed by Jiang Xinghuo, but now there are twists and turns, and I think there is something in it.

But the official Shangshu Jianyi also stood up at this time and said: "The minister also has something to say. ”

"Speak."

Jian Yi saluted and said: "The matter of passing the test, the minister thinks it is a good policy, but he may not be able to stick to it. ”

"Oh? What does this mean, do the heavenly officials think that the examination law cannot be implemented? ”

If Jiang Xinghuo's audience just now made Zhu Di just a little surprised, then the addition of Jian Yi at this time made Zhu Di pay attention to it thoroughly.

After all, as a representative of the conservatives, there is no reason for Jian Yi to reach an agreement with Jiang Xinghuo, and Jin Yiwei has always maintained his attention to the important ministers of the DPRK and China, and he has not found any intersection between the two in private.

Since it is not an agreed action planned in advance, it shows that Jian Yi does think that there are some drawbacks to the test method.

But this is obviously not in line with the interests of Jianyi, because Jianyi is in charge of the ministry, and the examination method is in fact a great strengthening of the power of the ministry, even if Jianyi really thinks that there are any drawbacks, he should not say it, otherwise it will affect his own power, and the power in his hands is undoubtedly the foundation of these members.

"Empty Seal Case."

Jian Yi's face was very serious, and his expression was a little solemn, as if he was caught in a brief recollection of the past.

The empty seal case is one of the four major cases in Hongwu, the reason is that the officials because of the actual situation such as time cost, in order to be lazy, directly stamped the seal on the blank official document in advance, and then filled in the specific content later, there is a practical need, but it is undoubtedly a fraud, after being discovered by Lao Zhu, Lao Zhu attaches great importance to it, and is furious, and then it is the head rolling link.

"From the empty seal case to the current situation, it can be seen that the slackness of officials and the passive confrontation with the censorship system are unavoidable, and this has started since the 'Shangji' system in the Qin and Han dynasties, and this is not a problem that can be solved by killing."

Jingcha was changed to once every ten years after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, and the lethality of the test method is much greater than that of Jingcha, and the rebound must be greater.

At present, in the cognition of many officials, the examination method is still the emperor's brain is hot when he has just ascended the throne, and he wants to rectify the rule of officials, as long as he is passive and confrontational, he will automatically die down in a few years.

And if this year not only does the examination law deal a heavy blow to the officials of the world, but Jingcha also conducts another round of survival of the fittest against the central yamen, the officials will immediately wake up from their illusions, and then everyone will be in danger, and then the resistance to the examination method will become a general consensus.

Jian Yi's next words were more ugly, and it could even be said that he was attacking Jiang Xinghuo in front of the emperor.

"The old minister thinks that the affairs of the world are not difficult to legislate, but difficult to enforce; It is not difficult to listen to words, but it is difficult to do what is said. ”

"Half a year since the national teacher suggested that the examination be completed, there have been many books and chapters, and the yamen seem to have no time to die, and they are quite diligent, but although they are diligent, it is still unknown how much they are effective."

"Though those who are called governors above are earnest, but those who listen to those who are below are always despised, and so it is. Therefore, the results of the test are great, and I ask Your Majesty not to expect too much. ”

Regardless of whether Jian Yi is loyal to the country and dares to tell the truth, or he takes advantage of this to get the advantage of the power to implement the law and sell himself here, so as to attack Jiang Xinghuo, Zhu Di is a little dissatisfied in his heart.

Because in Zhu Di's view, there are 10,000 reasons, and they are not as comfortable as rectifying this group of gentry and civil officials

Zhu Di didn't speak, but the emperor's mouth spoke for Jin Zhong.

"If you have ambitions, you can't stop with them, and those who don't have enough strength can't reach them. There is ambition and strength, but not slack, as for the darkness and confusion and nothing to match, it cannot be reached. However, the power is enough to reach the end, and it is ridiculous for others, and regretful for oneself; Those who can't do my best can have no regrets, who can be ridiculed? ”

This is a passage in Wang Anshi's "Journey to Bao Zen Mountain", and the meaning is also obvious.

- Let's do it first and then talk about whether it can be done.

Jian Yi was refuted like this, so naturally he wouldn't say anything more, so the focus returned to Jiang Xinghuo.

But Jiang Xinghuo generously admitted: "Jian Shangshu is reasonable, the first year of the examination of the law really should not expect any immediate results, and there will be great resistance in the future, but because of this, it is necessary to shorten and enable the Jingcha again, and combine the Jingcha with the examination of the law and the imperial history inspection system, so that from the center to the locality, from three years to every year and every quarter, a multi-echelon and all-round rectification of officials can be formed." ”

Hearing this, Zhu Di's heart faintly flashed a trace of suspicion, in the rectification of officials, Zhu Di and Jiang Xinghuo's positions are of course the same, but what is inconsistent is that in whose hands this power is to hold.

If it is a test method, then the power must be in the ministry.

According to the old system of the Hongwu Dynasty, the power of Jingcha was also in the hands of the officials.

Officials above the fifth grade is a set, the decision is mainly in the hands of the emperor, the official department is actually responsible for the officials below the fifth grade, including the Hanlin Academy, the six departments to the matter, the Metropolitan Procuratorate of the thirteen provinces to supervise the imperial history, the officials of the various ministries and temples, the main links are written examinations and interviews.

The written examination is that after the Beijing inspection materials of these officials are submitted to the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Officials will close the door to check and verify all the materials, and then hold an internal meeting, and only open the door after the meeting is evaluated.

The interview is the chief official of the Ministry of Shangshu and the relevant Ministry of Temple, the Beijing inspection officials are inspected face-to-face, all the personnel who are inspected are gathered in the lobby of the Ministry of Officials, in accordance with the order, one by one through the hall roll call, the hall is completed, even if the inspection is over, and then according to the different interview assessment grades to register and hand it over to the emperor, the emperor reads it correctly, and the Ministry of Officials is ordered to publicize it.

So, what does Jiang Xinghuo think?

If Jiang Xinghuo wants to transfer the power of Jingcha to the Yamen of the president's law change affairs, it will definitely be unruly, and the officials hold the examination law and Jingcha, although it is reasonable, it also makes Zhu Di feel that he has too much power, so Zhu Di did not consider restarting Jingcha immediately.

But Jiang Xinghuo's actions today once again surprised Zhu Di.

"The minister thinks that he can follow the example of the three law divisions to try and inspect the matter, and the five grades or more are the holy judgment, and the officials below the five grades are jointly agreed by the officials, the cabinet, and the president's law change affairs yamen, of which the officials are the first trial, the cabinet is the supervision, and the president's law change affairs yamen is the review, and if there is a dispute, it will still be handed over to His Majesty for the holy judgment."

"It's an interesting proposition."

Zhu Di's eyes lit up, Jingcha's power was very great, he was not at ease with handing it over to the Ministry of Officials, and he was not at ease about expanding Jiang Xinghuo's power, but if the Ministry of Officials, the Cabinet, and the President's Law Reform Affairs Yamen could contain each other, then this matter would be much stronger than the Ministry of Officials.

The stability and effectiveness of this model has been proven over the past 30 years.

If Jingcha is allowed to follow this model, it is obviously the most favorable power structure for the "referee" of the imperial power.

Ru Yu didn't say anything next to him, because it was none of his business, but according to his understanding of the emperor, he didn't have to think about it, he would definitely be happy to see it.

And Jian Yi frowned slightly imperceptibly, he just wanted to express some dissatisfaction with the change, but also wanted to use this way of complaining to win more power for the officials The crying child has milk to eat.

But who would have thought that it would backfire at the moment, Jiang Xinghuo's model of being similar to the triage of the three law divisions to conduct a Beijing inspection directly separated the power of the ministry.

Yes, although everyone did not pay attention to the decent-year Kyocha before, and the officials themselves felt that it was a formality, but once Kyocha was shortened and restarted, it immediately became the core of the power struggle, and there is no doubt about this.

Therefore, Jingcha was naturally regarded as "his own power" by Jianyi, the official secretary.

Jin Zhong spoke again: "The trial of the three law divisions is effective, and if Jingcha also conducts it in this way, there is nothing unfair and just. ”

As the de facto head of the six Shangshu, Jian Yi naturally wants to protect the interests of his own department at this time, rather than being submissive and afraid to speak.

"I don't think it's appropriate."

Jian Yi argued: "Jingcha has always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Officials, and the nature of the trial is different from that of the Three Law Divisions, and the matter of criminal names may not be fair enough, but the Ministry of Officials is supposed to perform the rewards and punishments of officials, if you don't believe in the justice that the Ministry of Officials can do, who should you believe?" ”

And at this time, Jianyi's old friend Ru Yu also came out to help, although Ru Yu would not go against the emperor's will, but since the emperor did not speak, then he might as well express his opinion.

Ru Yu said: "What Jian Shangshu said is very true, the assessment of officials is the authority of the imperial court, how can it be easily divided? ”

Zhu Di snorted and asked, "What does Jian Shangshu think?" ”

Jian Yi said: "Naturally, it should be done according to the law!" ”

Jian Yi's attitude is very clear, for other changes that do not touch the bottom line, he will generally choose to turn a blind eye, but Jingcha must follow the rules, this cannot be moved casually.

In fact, whether the Ministry of Officials presides over the Beijing Inspection, or the Cabinet and the President's Yamen participate in the affairs of changing the law, both of which have their own advantages.

Jian Yi is right, the Ministry of Officials is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of personnel assessment, which is why the Ministry of Officials can be called "Heavenly Officials", but from the emperor's point of view, the Ministry of Officials originally held the power of appointment and dismissal of tens of thousands of officials in the world, it is not an exaggeration to say that as long as Jian Yi said a word, he can decide the fate of an official, and it is an order that must be obeyed.

The examination law has further aggravated this kind of authoritarianism.

And the emperor didn't like to see any of the six departments not completely listen to him, or that the power in his hands was too great.

Why was the Criminal Department slashed hard, isn't it because the internal group of the Three Law Divisions system is too powerful?

To put it bluntly, as for the cabinet and the president's change of law affairs Yamen, in fact, they are two knives in the hands of the emperor, both of which are newly established departments that have been established for less than a year, and even if they are involved, they do not have much autonomy.

As for the imperial history inspection that Jiang Xinghuo just said, the Metropolitan Procuratorate is responsible for rectifying the officialdom in the world and maintaining the stability of the dynasty, but it cannot directly intervene in the governance of officials like the Ministry of Officials, so although they have the privilege of "rumors and affairs" that are difficult for ordinary officials to achieve, they are not at the top level in the temple, even if there is a cool official like Chen Ying in charge, at this time, as long as it does not make people too angry and resentful, and the emperor still trusts it, it is enough to make people jealous but dare not do anything.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thought he could give it a try, after all, this is also a guarantee of order in the court."

Jin Zhong suddenly said that he was not helping Jiang Xinghuo speak, but helping Zhu Di speak.

Jin Zhong's attitude is firm, on the other hand, he is really unwilling.

"National teacher, what do you think?" Zhu Di asked.

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister still sticks to his previous opinion."

Jiang Xinghuo said respectfully: "As for adhering to the law, whether the law stipulated by Jingcha is still in line with the times is to be seen by the Dharma Temple, if it is not timely, it will naturally be modified, and Jingcha is happening at the feet of the Son of Heaven, and the Jingcha of officials above the fifth grade also needs His Majesty to work personally, and it is not controlled by the Ministry of Officials. Your Majesty will be better positioned to weigh up. ”

"Huh?" Zhu Di's eyes deepened, "Isn't the national teacher asking for power for himself?" ”

Zhu Di's words were undisguised, and Jiang Xinghuo's heart was also cold at this time.

This is the round in which he took the initiative to attack, but since it is to divide the power of the ministry, it is naturally impossible to say too much, but now that it is directly pointed out by the emperor, then he simply admits that it must not work.

Jiang Xinghuo's expression condensed slightly, and he bowed his head and said: "The minister just thinks that the trend of the world is always heavy at the top and light at the bottom, so it is easy to move." What the Dharma does today is always in the lowliness; The obstacle of the momentum often lies in the strength of the crowd. And the six temples below, coercing their people, and threatening, the upper is afraid of the discussion, and the fear of the bottom, such a wind is gradually becoming, how can Your Majesty be like an arm? ”

This is to warn Zhu Di to be careful of the officials below who are in a group.

When Zhu Di heard this, he couldn't help but be interested: "So, is the national teacher here to break this situation?" ”

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head: "The minister doesn't dare to say anything." ”

Jian Yi's face became heavy, and Jiang Xinghuo directly scratched Zhu Di's itch in just a few words.

The emperor's mind is sometimes similar to that of a woman, and it is all a needle under the sea.

But one thing is the same, that is, many times it is useless to reason, what is useful is what the other party really cares about.

You talk to the emperor about the evils, about traditions, these are meaningless, what the emperor really cares about is his imperial power.

"Hahahaha."

Zhu Di laughed, his eyes full of appreciation.

Although Jiang Xinghuo's words sounded like a false game, they also suited his appetite - Zhu Di had usurped power and seized the throne through rebellion, so he always felt that he was not in the right position, and he was afraid that the people below would join forces to deceive him.

This kind of blindness is not something that Zhu Di can solve through Jinyiwei, but a psychological problem.

Even if he is stable, even if he sits firmly in the dragon chair, he will still be afraid.

And Jiang Xinghuo's method of Jingcha three points is obviously in line with Zhu Di's checks and balances, as long as Jiang Xinghuo can find a theoretical basis for him, what can others do? Who dares to question?

"Okay, I've made up my mind, and I'll restart Jingcha at the end of this year."

Zhu Di looked at Jian Yi and Jiang Xinghuo: "Then, let's go back and prepare well, remember, time is running out, half a month, do the preliminary preparations first, and at that time, I will come to see in person!" ”

"Yes."

Jiang Xinghuo breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly responded, although he knew when he came that the final result would definitely be Zhu Di's agreement with his suggestion, because this matter itself was in Zhu Di's interests, but now that he really got what he wanted, he really gained more power through this temptation, and his heart fell to the ground.

"Okay, today the national teacher is going to the Daming Administrative School, right? Don't delay the hour. ”

Zhu Di waved his hand, signaling that they could go.

Then, after Jiang Xinghuo, Jian Yi, and Ru Yu retreated, the expression on Zhu Di's face slowly faded, and he muttered in a low voice: "This national teacher's courage is good!" How dare you play slippery in front of me! ”

Jin Zhong stood beside him and didn't dare to speak at all.

"However, it also saves me trouble......

A sneer appeared at the corner of Zhu Di's mouth: "It's just an opportunity." ”

As he spoke, he picked up the letter on the table next to him, wrote a secret decree, and handed it to the eunuch: "Go, give this secret decree to Ji Gang, the commander of Jinyiwei." ”

"Whoa."

The eunuch took the order and left, Zhu Di stood up and stretched: "In the past few days, it has finally been easier. Hehe, officials in the capital, your suffering has just begun! ”

(End of chapter)