Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

There are eunuchs who constantly add firewood to heat the pit, there are beautiful palace maids who serve tea to the East Warm Pavilion, and there are eunuchs who change sandalwood on time, etc., all of them revolve around one person.

It is said that the person who is taken care of by dozens of eunuchs and palace maids in turn, he should be happy and happy, but at this moment, Zhu Youji's brows frowned slightly.

After the first visit, the era of his reign has officially arrived.

It's just that as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he not only has to face the early dynasty every day, but also has to deal with the music from the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and manage the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty.

As the saying goes, once a son of heaven and a courtier, not only the factions in the court are crushing each other, but the local officials have also launched a very fierce fight.

The local forces that were able to maintain the status quo ante in the Chenghua Dynasty seemed to have become the last straw that broke the camel's back with their official accession to the throne.

Now that local officials are impeaching each other, issues such as embezzlement of ink, party affiliation, predatory, and careless human lives have been exposed, and dozens of officials have been impeached here.

Zhu Youzhu did not feel happy at this moment, and even felt irritable, as if he saw the faces of ugly and greedy officials in the locality.

However, the Ming Dynasty wanted to firmly grasp this vast territory, but it had to hand over local management functions to these officials.

Zhu Youzhi referred to the draft opinions submitted by the cabinet, as if he had forgotten that the great ancestor "as long as the embezzlement exceeds 80 times, or the prison guards steal up to 40 times, they will all be hanged to death", and the maximum punishment for officials who are greedy for ink is only to reduce their posts and serve the people.

Although I really want to cut off the heads of these corrupt officials as soon as possible, the current situation cannot make him so tough, otherwise it is easy to provoke an "official mutiny".

Fortunately, Wan An and Liu Ji still know the restraint now, and they did not propose to themselves the absurd plan of "paying silver to atone for their sins".

"Your Majesty, something has happened!" Near noon, Guo Yong hurriedly walked in from outside to report.

Zhu Youzhu glanced up at Guo Yong, the eunuch who had been recommended by Liang Fang, and picked up the teacup very calmly and said, "What's the matter?" ”

"Your Majesty, the enthronement edict issued a few days ago has not been distributed to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Households, and it has just been officially refuted by Chen Shou in the matter of the Household Division!" Guo Yong swallowed and foamed, and reported cautiously.

In order to prevent the imperial power from being restrained in the slightest, the Ming Dynasty followed the system of the previous dynasty and also set up a system of sealing and refutation.

The edict must be carried out by the six divisions, and the divisions must be followed, and if there is something improper, Xu Feng will also be performed.

Decrees sent by the Imperial Palace to the six ministries must be reviewed by the Six Divisions, and if there is no problem, the decrees will be archived and forwarded to the relevant yamen, but the Six Divisions have the right to seal and reject them in the face of inappropriate decrees or letters.

Zhu Youzhu blew the tea stalk floating on the hot tea, and seemed to have expected it: "What about the reason given by Chen Shou for refutation?" ”

The reason given by Chen Shou for refutation was that this move undermined the salt law. According to him, the Ministry of Household claimed that the indiscriminate distribution of salt was the main reason for the poor salt law today, so he implored His Majesty to retract the order and adopt the policy of the Ministry of Rites to 'replace the introduction with silver'! Guo Yong noticed that Zhu Youji was not angry, but he still reported cautiously.

Zhu Youzhu took a sip of hot tea, and still reasoned very calmly: "In this way, the crux of the problem is actually on the household!" ”

"That's true!" Guo Yong was slightly stunned at first, but then nodded in hindsight.

Zhu Youzhu put down the teacup, and made a decision: "You immediately send someone to the household yamen, and let all the household officials above the head immediately come to the Huagai Hall to face the saint!" ”

"Yes!" Guo Yong didn't understand Zhu Youji's intentions, but he still obeyed the order unconditionally.

Zhu Youzhu looked at Guo Yong, who was leaving, although he had expected today's result, he still didn't expect these Wenchen to use the big killer weapon of the right of refutation so early.

It's just that judging from the reaction of the civil officials, they will undoubtedly not easily give up the big cake of salt administration, but they do not intend to compromise with their new monarch.

By noon, the sky in the capital was still gray.

The Hubu Yamen is located in a lane in the Dongjiang Rice Lane, on the right is the Yamen of the Ministry of Officials, which controls the promotion of hundreds of officials, and on the left is the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, which cultivates the minister.

"Spread the word of Your Majesty! The household department is still in charge of the book, down to the principal, and a cadre of officials immediately goes to the Huagai Hall to face the saint, without delay, Qin this! The eunuch Liu Gonggong faced the officials kneeling in the courtyard, and conveyed the will.

"Ministers, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" Li Min, the head of the household department, frowned slightly, and also led all the subordinate officials to lead the order and thank him.

In the face of Gonggong Liu's urging, Li Si, the left attendant of the household department, stepped forward and gave Gonggong Liu two words of silver: "Gonggong Liu, you have worked hard, please go to the inner hall for tea first, and we will wait for you to enter the palace to face the saint!" ”

"Well said!" Gonggong Liu checked the silver taels in his hand, and then carried out the tunnel.

The Yamen of the Household Department has just been filled in personnel, and Li Si, the original right attendant of the Household Department, has been promoted to the left attendant of the Household Department, and the vacant position is filled by Ye Qi.

Things are also very coincidental, and now the three chiefs of the household department are all Jinshi of Jingtai for five years.

Their teacher was the former head assistant Shang Hui, and he had a good relationship with Xu Pu, the left waiter of the Ministry of Officials and a bachelor of Hanlin in the same year. Especially Ye Qi, who was able to be successfully promoted to the right waiter of the household department this time, is the result of Xu Pu's operation behind the scenes.

The three chiefs of the household department happen to be from the same department, and this seemingly coincidental thing actually hides a mystery in it.

The civil official group not only has a "brotherly" relationship, but also has a "inheritance between teachers and students", and Wan An and Liu Ji's teacher is the former Shoufu Takaya.

It is this bond from Gao Gu that not only connects the three of them together, but also involves Xu Pu, the court boss, so that some people ridicule the current household yamen surnamed Xu.

Ye Qi followed Li Min to the side, and immediately speculated seriously: "Lord Zhengtang, Your Majesty suddenly summoned our household officials into the palace, I'm afraid he wants to inquire about the refutation!" ”

"Except for the matter of refutation, why does Your Majesty need to make such a big move, this time it must be to ask our household master for his guilt!" Li Si arranged for a Lang Zhong to take care of Gonggong Liu, and when he came back, he expressed his opinion.

Li Min was the eldest of the three, and he stretched out his hand and stroked his beard lightly and said, "This time, let's take care of the household department!" When we meet Your Majesty, all of us must speak in unison, advancing and retreating together! ”

"Advance and retreat together!" Li Si and Ye Qi glanced at each other, and said firmly and firmly.

Not to mention that the three of them are in the same camp, even if they are in different camps, they have the obligation to unite in the face of "Your Majesty's chaotic government".

The reason why their civil official group was able to stand still under the pressure of the Jinyi guards and eunuchs, and even trampled the once-prominent Xungui group under their feet, was precisely because they had enough internal unity.

Since the current majesty doesn't seem to plan to rule honestly, then they naturally want to unite to see if this new monarch has the same skills as Emperor Chenghua.

Li Min reached a united front with Li Si and Ye Qi, and then made a short speech in the main courtyard of the Hubu Yamen, and then followed Liu Gonggong to the Forbidden City.

"What's going on?"

"Look at this situation, it's not a small matter!"

"What's so hard to guess about this, Huke's refutation has caused His Majesty to be dissatisfied!"

"What about dissatisfaction? Today's salt law is corrupted because of the indiscriminate distribution of salt! ”

……

Since the household department was fully dispatched, it immediately attracted widespread attention from the yamen in the same lane, and many officials ran out of the yamen door to discuss enthusiastically.

Li Min and the other three took a sedan chair to the square in front of the noon gate, and under the leadership of the little minions, they entered the Forbidden City from the noon gate, and then went to the Huagai Hall together.

Although Zhou Li had a saying that he took off his shoes and went to the palace to show respect, Zhu Yuanzhang did not like this kind of behavior that was neither gorgeous nor sinful, so he specially issued an order requiring all officials to wear boots to the palace.

In the canopy hall, sandalwood wafts from the copper furnace.

Since the first time he looked at the court, Zhu Youzhu no longer needed to wear filial piety clothes, and today he is often wearing a dragon robe, and he is resolutely a young man full of energy.

"Ministers to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" Li Min, the head of the household department, saw Zhu Youzhu appear, and immediately led the household officials to kneel respectfully.