Today is the day when the imperial court holds a grand court meeting, and unlike the usual cabinet meetings attended by Jiajing, this court meeting was attended by all the officials of the six ministries and those who returned to Beijing to report on their work.

Jiajing has not been to the court for more than 20 years, so naturally he will not participate in the grand court meeting, so in the past, the great court meeting was presided over by the cabinet elders, and after the results of the discussion, it was submitted to the emperor for review.

Today, what made the ministers present feel a little incongruous was that the cabinet elders did not come forward to preside over the court meeting, but stood straight in the first row with solemn expressions.

"Your Majesty has arrived!"

Just as the ministers were whispering and speculating in private, a shrill voice sounded, Jiajing appeared at the scene of the great court meeting in a bright yellow dragon robe, and Lu Fang followed behind Jiajing.

"What? Your Majesty has come to the Great Imperial Council! ”

"Your Majesty has not been to the court for more than 20 years, how can he suddenly participate in the court?"

"Your Majesty has regained his original intention, it is really my luck in the Ming Dynasty!"

With all kinds of thoughts, the countless ministers present all knelt down.

"Your Majesty, see Your Majesty!"

"Get up." Jiajing looked at the many ministers kneeling on the ground, and after sitting on the dragon chair, he waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After hearing Jiajing's words, the officials got up from the ground one by one.

"Today's court discussion, there are three main things to discuss!"

"One is the southern and northern Tartars, the second is the rectification of the official system, and the third is the great drought in Gansu." A eunuch with a very loud voice followed suit.

"Your Majesty, the military department has a play!" Zhang Juzheng took the lead and lifted the wat (hu) board in his hand.

"Exactly." Jiajing turned his gaze to Zhang Juzheng and said lightly.

"The strategy formulated by the imperial court before was to first go south and then to the north, that is, after the troubles in the south were lifted first, the Tatars in the north were slowly planned! Not long ago, Qi Jiguang, a general under Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang and the governor of Zhejiang, exterminated a large number of Japanese pirates in Fenghua, Ninghai and other places, and later rushed to the aid of Quanzhou City, helping Yang Zongtai, the governor of Quanzhou Prefecture, to defend the city. ”

After a pause, Zhang Juzheng continued: "After these two battles, the power of the Japanese in the southeast coastal area has been greatly weakened! At present, the city has built more than 50 warships capable of going to sea to fight, and the soldiers have been trained to combat the combat power, so please send them out to fight at sea. ”

After Zhang Juzheng finished his report, he returned to his queue, and Jiajing turned his gaze to Xu Jiegaogong and asked, "What do you Hubu say?" ”

"Your Majesty, the cost of money and food for our Daming Navy Division to go to sea is estimated to be about 800,000 taels, one can keep the enemy out, and the other can enhance its combat effectiveness, this strategy is feasible."

"Since this is the case, then it will be approved, and after the court meeting is over, the household department will allocate the money and grain." Jiajing waved his hand and agreed to the proposal.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xu Jie bowed slightly and responded.

After Zhang Juzheng's report was completed, Yan Shifan held the wat board and came out of the ranks: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Industry have their own music!" ”

"Exactly."

After Jiajing agreed, Yan Shifan looked around before he spoke: "Your Majesty, in terms of rectifying the official system, the Ministry of Officials dismissed a total of 58 unqualified officials last year!" Among them, there are those who are greedy for money, there are those who collude with officials and businessmen, and even more do not do anything after taking office, and even ask someone to do the work for them, and they only know how to drink and have fun all day long. ”

"When the picket officials of our ministry went to inquire, they also said unashamedly, merit and demerit have always been done together, I don't ask for merit, no fault is merit!"

"Just imagine, if all the officials of my Ming Dynasty are like him, how will the policies of the imperial court be implemented? How can the people's livelihood be guaranteed? Therefore, the minister asked His Majesty to increase the intensity of the assessment and participate in the supervision of the imperial history Zhao Zhenji! It is precisely the lack of oversight that has allowed these officials to hold high positions. ”

After listening to what Yan Shifan said, Jiajing turned to the side and said lightly: "Zhao Zhenji, what do you say?" Xiao Ge Lao said that you didn't supervise it properly. ”

When Jiajing's words fell, Zhao Zhenji, the superintendent of the imperial history, knelt down and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Weichen also has a hard time!" Although I am supervising the imperial history, there are only so many dozens of people under my hands, how can I supervise so many officials in the Ming Dynasty? ”

Zhao Zhenji said, with a sad expression: "Those reported excerpts were stopped halfway through, and the specific situation is not known at all, how can we talk about supervision?" ”

Yan Shifan saw Zhao Zhenji behaving like this, and said coldly: "Lord Zhao, what do you mean by this?" ”

Zhao Zhenji was not stunned at all, and replied: "What I mean and what I think must be very clear to the elder of Xiaoge. ”

"You!"

"Okay, okay, don't make any noise, this is the court!" Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Jiajing spoke up to stop them.

"Is what Elder Fang Cai said true?" Jiajing turned his gaze to Zhao Zhenji and asked.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed the case." Zhao Zhenji didn't dare to hide it, and hurriedly responded.

"In that case, this is also the reason why your supervision work has not been done well, as for the difficulties you mentioned, I will consider them at my discretion and fine them for half a year."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!" Zhao Zhenji saw that the emperor had opened his mouth, so he had to take the order to return to the column.

"The next thing to be discussed by the imperial court is the great drought in Gansu, and the governor of Gansu will be summoned to see Wang Jien!" Seeing that the first two things had been discussed, the eunuch with a very loud voice shouted loudly again.

I saw Gansu Governor Wang Jien fall to the ground with a thud, crying bitterly and saying: "Minister, Wang Jien see Your Majesty!" ”

Since Wang Jien received a letter from the imperial court to let him return to Beijing to report on his work, he was anxious all day long, he couldn't sleep if he couldn't eat well, and even if he used the connections he had accumulated over the years, he couldn't find out any news, and his heart became more and more panicked.

"Get up, don't be nervous! I asked you to go back to Beijing this time to report on your work, just to hear from you about the drought situation in Gansu. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Hearing the emperor's words, Wang Jien's heart relaxed a little.

"Your Majesty, Gansu has suffered a severe drought every year in recent years, and this year is especially serious! There hasn't been a drop of rain for three months, the fields have cracked due to lack of water, and most of the crops planted by the people have died of drought! Many of the rivers have dried up, revealing bare riverbeds, and even if the government sends people to dig wells to find water, it will not help. ”

"Many people immediately cut off their cooking, and in order to survive, they had to sell their land cheaply, or go to the landlord's house to become tenant farmers! The government has begun to provide relief, and opened a warehouse to release grain, but it is only a drop in the bucket, the Gansu government can not support it for long, the current grain stored in the Gansu official warehouse is only enough for the victims to eat for a week, the minister implores His Majesty to allocate salary, save the people of Gansu! ”

After Wang Jien finished speaking, his head slammed on the ground, and his expression couldn't help but be moving.

After listening to what Wang Jien said, Jiajing seemed to be touched by it, and then looked at Xu Jie, and asked, "How much silver can you give out of the household?" ”

"Your Majesty, at the moment, the treasury is empty, and at present, the household department can produce up to 700,000 taels of silver." After listening to Jiajing's words, Xu Jie pondered for a moment before speaking.

"What? It's only 700,000 taels of silver! This is far from enough, how should the people of my Gansu live! ”

Seeing that the amount of the salary had changed from the original 1.32 million taels to 700,000 taels, Wang Jien gritted his teeth, and then put on a look of righteous indignation and spoke.