Chapter 346: The New Prime Minister Is the Bridge, and All Officials Hold the Emperor Hostage

The cabinet is replacing the old with the new, and Liu Ji has become the well-deserved first person in the cabinet, and has ushered in his era.

Although the Ming Dynasty has abolished the prime minister system, since the Three Yangs, civil and military officials have silently regarded the cabinet chief as the head of all officials.

Liu Ji is now the new cabinet chief, and to some extent he can represent all officials.

According to the long-standing practice, whenever the cabinet changes new people, there will often be a more formal dialogue between the monarch and his ministers, and today is the case.

Since Liu Ji is representing all officials in a formal dialogue with the emperor, before this dialogue, he naturally has to listen carefully to the different demands of the officials below.

Because there happened to be a span of the Spring Festival holiday, Liu Ji was very well prepared this time, and had some exchanges with officials of all sizes in the capital.

Liu Ji just proposed to the emperor to forgive He Qiaoxin, which was not Liu Ji's personal wish, but a strong appeal on behalf of many officials.

In the Yangxin Palace, you can hear a pin drop.

Although Zhu Youtang was the emperor, he also had to act like a thirsty person, so that the "talents" below would continue to work hard for him.

In fact, many people have a serious misunderstanding, that is, they unilaterally believe that the emperor is the master of the emperor, and the civil and military officials below must obey the emperor unconditionally.

It's just that the emperor is often a real lonely man, and the civil service group he has to face has long been one interest circle after another.

Unlike the early days of the Guo Dynasty, officials of that era were usually from real poor backgrounds. They strongly wanted to get a job in the country, even if it could only solve their food and clothing.

Now more than a hundred years have passed, and most of the officials standing in the middle and upper levels are from the families of gentry families, and there are many second-generation officials like He Qiaoxin.

They have more choices. Once the interests of their circle are damaged, they will resign and return to the local area to live the life of a rich man, and they are also a respected and respected official gentry.

This is the case in any era. The rulers actually have to make some compromises.

Like a certain period in later generations, the rich collectively chose to immigrate overseas, which caused the domestic economy to be negatively affected to a certain extent, thus forcing concessions.

After Zhu Youtang failed to fully cultivate his own team of filial piety and loyalty, he knew that he could not become a lonely man, and that the combination of firmness and flexibility was the correct model of the emperor.

Although he knew that the empire would only slowly decline if it was controlled by the civil service group, he also knew that it was not the time to overturn the table directly, so it was necessary to communicate with the officials below through Liu Ji as a bridge.

"Forgive He Qiaoxin? How do they intend to let me forgive him?" Zhu Youtang did not expect such an absurd thing to happen in the first conversation, and asked calmly.

Liu Ji knew that this question was very sensitive, but he still said with a stiff upper lip: "According to the general request of some of them, He Qiaoxin did not embezzle this time, and he should be acquitted!"

"No guilt at all?" Although Zhu Youtang saw through the faces of the civil servants, he still couldn't help but say happily.

If it were a scholar who was deceived about the value of the goods, it would be understandable, but these officials were old foxes in the officialdom. How could they not do things for others after taking a hundred thousand taels of goods?

But now this group of people actually think that He Qiaoxin is innocent, which is really ridiculous.

Liu Ji has been with the emperor for more than three years, and naturally realized that the emperor in front of him would not compromise on this matter, so he said with a stiff upper lip: "Their opinion is: If your majesty thinks that He Qiaoxin's behavior is inappropriate, you can order him to retire!"

"In the end, He Qiaoxin lost the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice. This is what they think is the biggest punishment, right?" Zhu Youtang understood the logic and said with a smile.

In fact, there is a cognitive gap here. The position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice is supposed to be granted by the emperor, but in the eyes of civil officials, it is a position that should belong to them.

Now that He Qiaoxin "gives up" the position, it is already a sacrifice.

Liu Ji knew that this treatment would not satisfy the emperor, but he swallowed his saliva and explained: "Your Majesty, this is what I heard from many officials below, and I just relayed it truthfully!"

Since he replaced Wan An as the chief minister of the cabinet, his mentality has also undergone a subtle change. He couldn't help but get closer to the civil service group and became the leader of the civil service group.

During this year's Spring Festival, his Liu Mansion became the most beautiful mansion in the capital.

But he never thought that these officials dared to make such a request, and there were quite a few officials who made such a request, which made him feel like he was being roasted on the fire.

"Lord Liu, what do you think of this?" Zhu Youtang naturally knew that Liu Ji's family had been trampled this year, and suddenly asked with a slight move in his heart.

Liu Ji was shocked and immediately knelt before the emperor and said, "Of course I will not agree. This time I am just conveying their demands. Your Majesty's loyalty is evident to me!"

Those officials were fanciful, but he was clear-headed. How could such a ridiculous request be accepted by the emperor? He knew better who gave him his position.

Guo Yong saw Liu Ji kneeling in panic, but he knew that Liu Ji was a shrewd man.

In the current Ming Dynasty, the emperor could not replace all officials, but it was effortless to kill a specific official.

If Liu Ji showed any disloyalty, even the high-ranking cabinet chief would be replaced by the emperor in a minute.

"Get up! Those people have been holding back for so long, there must be more than one demand, right?" Zhu Youtang knew that although Liu Ji was not as loyal as Wan'an, he was also a diligent and qualified prime minister, so he expressed his opinion without any embarrassment.

Liu Ji hesitated for a moment, then took out a notebook from his sleeve and said: "They have different opinions on the "Regulations on Criminal Interrogation", so I hope to add a few more this time, please have a look, Your Majesty!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang formulated the "Great Ming Law", he also issued a statement to his descendants: "Don't be smart and mess up my established laws, and don't change a single word."

It's just that no law can be comprehensive, especially some people like to go to extremes.

For example, students are not allowed to have long hair. But how long is this long hair? Because there is no fixed standard, the standard for the director of the academic affairs office of some schools is 2 cm, and the standard for the director of the academic affairs office of some schools is 10 meters.

In addition, some events lack legal guidance, such as last year when someone deliberately spread smallpox. This kind of thing also needs to be punished severely to deter such behavior.

Although the "Regulations on Questioning Criminals" became notorious in later generations, its starting point was not problematic and even met the actual needs at the time. Problems often arise from people's greed.

In the original history, it was the "Regulations on Questioning Criminals" that was led by the civil service group, which made this new Ming Dynasty law a tool to protect their interests.

After Zhu Youtang came to power, he gradually realized that there were many textual loopholes in the "Ming Dynasty Law" and that some areas were not involved, so he made the decision to revise the "Regulations on Questioning Criminals".

But now, history seems to repeat itself, and those civil servants want to reach out again.

Guo Yong stepped forward and handed the book to Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang opened the book to check their demands, and the first item that caught his eye was: "If a civil servant commits corruption and the public proves that he is innocent, he will be ordered to stay on his salary and can pay a specified amount of charcoal, bricks, rice and other property to atone for his sins."

The meaning of this article is very clear. If there is sufficient evidence that civil officials are corrupt in the future, their salaries will be suspended, but the offending officials can choose to atone their sins with the prescribed money and grain.

Although there is no explicit request to cancel the Ming Dynasty law that beheaded 800 guan, once the "Criminal Interrogation Regulations" are adopted, corruption crimes in the future can be exempted by fines, and that Ming Dynasty law will naturally exist in name only.

Zhu Youtang looked at the first article and found that this group of people still thought they were cowardly and could be bullied, and they had the nerve to throw out such a regulation.

This regulation will not only encourage officials' corruption, but also undermine the fairness and authority of the law, and even make it impossible to punish wealthy officials.

Once he really indulges officials in corruption, this dynasty will sooner or later be hollowed out by these shrewd officials, not to mention revitalizing China, China will definitely repeat the same mistakes.

Liu Ji swallowed his saliva and added cautiously: "They said that if Your Majesty adopts these regulations, it will not only show Your Majesty's wisdom, but also increase the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty to solve the urgent problem!"

The most urgent problem of the Ming Dynasty at present is the financial problem. Whether it is the three million taels of gold mining in Luzon in the early stage or the war against the Haixi Jurchen tribe that can be launched at any time, financial support is needed.

If corrupt officials are punished by fines, although many civil servants will escape the punishment of the law, it will undoubtedly solve some financial problems.

The civil servants took the opportunity to propose this regulation because they saw that the Ming Dynasty court was short of money, but they hoped that the emperor would adopt their regulations to solve the financial problem.

"Lord Liu, what do you think of these regulations?" Zhu Youtang saw the wishful thinking of the group at a glance and asked bitterly.

It is actually impossible to say that the emperor has no weaknesses at all.

First, you need to keep some talents when governing the country. Even if a large company recalls an unethical executive for performance, this is the correct way for corporate development.

Even if you know that most of these civil officials are hypocrites, the management of the empire cannot do without these experienced managers. Even if you know that the civil official group has problems, you have to continue to employ them.

Emperor Chenghua realized this in the later period. Especially when thousands of soldiers died in Datong and no one told them, he began to lie down completely.

Zhu Youtang learned the lesson of Emperor Chenghua's rule, so he was not in a hurry to show his cards directly, nor did he plan to reopen the West Factory, but chose to "get along with" this huge civil official group.

Second, the court's finances need to be solved. Now the empire needs to support a large number of people every year, causing more and more wealth to flow into the pockets of these people.

Now if you want to lead China to rise, you need to seize the time to solve the current financial problems and complete your layout all the time.

Especially the start-up capital of 3 million taels for mining the Luzon gold mine, which is related to the continuous financial income of the empire, so it is even more urgent.

Or for these two reasons, the civil officials took the opportunity to offer bargaining chips, thus forcing Zhu Youtang to make some concessions.

Liu Ji knew Zhu Youtang's character very well, and immediately said seriously: "I will naturally not agree, but this is the appeal of the officials below. This time I am only collecting their opinions for Your Majesty!"

"What do they think of the national debt?" Zhu Youtang closed the book and took it in his hand, and asked the most concerned question again.

Liu Ji found that this question was much simpler, so he breathed a sigh of relief and said: "They all claim to be honest officials, but if Your Majesty can agree to release He Qiaoxin and add those regulations, they will make great efforts and take out all their own assets!"

The meaning of this statement is self-evident. If Zhu Youtang makes concessions, they will pay more money to subscribe to the batch of national debts that will be reissued after the new year.

Guo Yong has been listening beside him and couldn't help shaking his head bitterly.

These officials who claim to be for the country and the people have actually been considering their own interests, and even want to take the opportunity to threaten the emperor.

"If I ask you to hand over the list of officials who have made demands, are you willing?" Zhu Youtang put down the book in his hand and asked with a smile.

Originally, he just wanted to take the opportunity to update the new prime minister to have a dialogue with the civil service group, but after hearing the demands of this group of people, he now has the intention to kill.

Although he didn't know who the officials who made these demands were, he knew that the officialdom was also divided into the core circle and the periphery, and killing this core circle was not important at all.

Liu Ji hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to kneel down and said: "Your Majesty, this is the official tradition of the past, and they have always been given the privilege of being innocent. They trust the old ministers and then make requests to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty insists that the old ministers hand in the list, please dismiss me!"

Guo Yong saw that Liu Ji did not choose to break his promise and please the emperor, but he didn't know whether to accuse the old man of being unfaithful or to praise the old man for his integrity.

"Step down!" Zhu Youtang knew that he was being forced, so he raised his hand gently.

Just now he just asked casually, in fact, this matter took the initiative to listen to the voices of the officials below, because this exaggeration seemed a bit unkind.

Even if Liu Ji was willing to hand in the list, he would retaliate against those officials. Although a group of pests were eliminated, it still couldn't solve the situation of the civil servants who were seemingly united but actually divided. I'm afraid that there will be more people who oppose him in the future.

"I'm leaving now. Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor!" Liu Ji secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said respectfully.

Although he was a member of the imperial party, he also had his own principles. This time he served as a bridge between the emperor and the officials. If he chose to sell them out, he would be a loser.

Even if the emperor tried his best to protect himself from the attacks of the officials, he would not have the face to stay here if he did such a treacherous thing.

A formal dialogue between the emperor and the prime minister in the fourth year of Hongzhi ended in a not very friendly atmosphere. (End of this chapter)