"Zihou is a man of great talent. One can know the whole picture by just seeing one part. God is so unfair. Zihou's writing skills and calligraphy are so excellent. I didn't expect that he also has such a unique political vision." Zhang Siwei sighed and joked at Zhu Ping'an.
"How can this be considered political vision..." Zhu Ping'an curled his lips in disapproval, picked up the teapot and filled it with tea for Zhang Siwei and himself.
"Just be modest." Zhang Siwei shook his head and looked at Zhu Ping'an with a smile, then continued speaking.
"The Imperial Censor Zhang Sijing and others were presenting a congratulatory message to the emperor at Zhaiqiao, but they made the mistake of mentioning the word 'Long Live the Emperor'. The emperor was furious and had all the Imperial Censors beaten with a stick in the court. He also ordered that the Imperial Censors Zhang Sijing and others be beaten with a stick while wearing court robes... None of the Imperial Censors of the six departments could escape the punishment. It was a complete disgrace to the emperor," said Zhang Siwei with a sigh.
The Six Censors were an important part of the Ming Dynasty's censors. Together with the thirteen imperial censors, they formed the Ming Dynasty's censor system. The censors of the Ming Dynasty were not of high rank, but had extremely broad powers. Although they did not have real power, they could advise the emperor and supervise the officials. They could be said to be the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Ming Dynasty.
The Six Departments of Imperial Censors have a close relationship with the Hanlin Academy where Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei are located. They belong to the same four government offices. To some extent, the Hanlin Academy can be regarded as a censor in a broad field. The Six Departments of Imperial Censors, the Thirteen Imperial Censors, the Hanlin Academy, and the Ministry of Personnel are collectively known as the Four Government Offices.
The six censors were of great importance, but Emperor Jiajing actually beat them all
"The entire Jieshizhong was beaten?" Zhu Ping'an was a little surprised when he heard this. He had never noticed this incident in modern times. The Jiajing Emperor had always had a bad attitude towards censors, and now he beat the entire Jieshizhong in court for a single word. This insult to the officials was unprecedented, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for the censors to do their jobs.
"Yes, all of them." Zhang Siwei nodded.
"But even so, the Imperial Censor has not forgotten his duty." Zhang Siwei said with appreciation, "The Imperial Censor Wang Mingchen submitted a memorial requesting that the royal palace be strictly prohibited from occupying tax grain. He said: Now the royal families have seized the people's land for their own private property, and use their power to control the local areas, so that the officials cannot be assigned to collect taxes, which has caused a lot of grain in the villages. Please order the inspectors to strictly investigate the occupation of the taxes on the land of the village and village, and use them as the salary grain of the royal palace. If any official condones it, he will be punished. The emperor approved the memorial."
Zhu Pingan nodded when he heard this. Land annexation was a cancer of the feudal dynasty. The last time he passed the imperial examination, the villagers donated their land, and he realized the seriousness of this problem. Of course, as a modern person, it is not surprising that he realized this problem. It is rare and precious that Wang Mingchen, the official in charge, realized this problem and reported it.
It can be seen that there are still many knowledgeable people in the Ming Dynasty. Although Wang Mingchen only saw a corner of the land annexation, which was only the land annexation of the royal family, it is still commendable.
"The Ministry of Revenue reviewed the proposal of Wang Guozhen, the Minister of Finance, to save money on six issues: First, rewards for frontier troops should be differentiated according to the distance of the place and the length of time, and officials and troops in the interior should not be allowed to make arbitrary requests based on precedents..."
"Xu Shen, the censor of Jiangxi Province, requested the removal of redundant and inefficient officials..."
"The Ministry of Revenue revised the salt law, the Ministry of Works minted coins..."
"Half a month ago, the Mongolian leader Altan Khan led more than 20,000 cavalrymen to break through the border wall from the north of Datong, and looted the left and right guards of Datong and the 17 guards of Andong. A few days later, he divided his troops to plunder Pinglu Guard, Shuozhou, Yingzhou, Shanyin, Mayi and other places. Afterwards, he divided his troops to attack the three passes of Shanxi and Ningxia. Fortunately, he did not continue to move south, otherwise it would be another disaster... The Chief Censor Mao Bowen and others once petitioned to build an outer city of the capital to prevent the disasters of previous years, but the officials of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works said that there was not enough money and silver, so they had not been able to start the construction... For this reason, the two sides had a long war of words..."
"Because of the Mongol Khan's incident, the emperor issued an edict the day before yesterday to change the old inner training ground into the inner palace camp to train the eunuchs. The purpose is that the soldiers in the capital are not enough to resist the enemy, and they want to rely on the inner palace camp to resist the enemy and protect the capital."
…
"Oh, and Lord Yan felt that His Majesty's palace maids in the Western Garden were too few, so he requested that 300 civilian girls aged eight to fourteen from the capital and the eight prefectures of Shuntian be selected to enter the palace. His Majesty approved the request, and Shuntian Prefecture began selecting civilian girls yesterday..."
Zhang Siwei recounted in detail what had happened in the capital, and Zhu Ping'an was silent for a long time after listening.
It can be said that the political situation in the capital was all being played out by Xu Jie, Yan Song, and the senior officials of the six ministries. At the very least, it was the political veterans like the Jieshi Zhong who had already made their mark on the stage. They took turns to take the stage, and it had nothing to do with the new minor officials like Zhu Ping'an.
Not to mention performing on stage, they probably wouldn't even get a seat under the stage.
They are far from qualified and can only stand aside and watch from a distance.
Of course, Zhu Ping'an was not silent because of this, but because the bigwigs in the capital were changing their minds, and the political situation was rising and falling, but almost nothing was related to the people's livelihood. He had seen a lot of hardships in the people's livelihood since he came from Xiahe Village.
Especially when passing through Henan and Shandong, I had a deeper understanding of the hard life of the common people.
Henan and southwestern Shandong have suffered repeated natural disasters in the past two years. Floods, droughts, locust plagues and other disasters have ravaged the people in this area. Last time when I was taking an exam, I encountered a disaster where victims were displaced. It was the floating ice on the Yellow River that caused the river to be blocked. Juye and Jiaxiang areas were the worst hit.
In fact, during this journey, through listening, watching, and asking, Zhu Ping'an learned a lot about the administration of officials in the Ming Dynasty, and he knew that corruption among officials in the Ming Dynasty was very serious.
The result of natural disasters is that people are living in poverty and the hungry people are displaced.
More than a month ago, a private salt dealer named Shi Shangzhao in Henan led the hungry people to rise up, and was opposed by Emperor Jiajing. Speaking of private salt dealers, it seems that private salt dealers are one of the professions with the highest rebellion rate in ancient China, such as Cheng Yaojin in the late Sui Dynasty, Huang Chao in the late Tang Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng in the late Yuan Dynasty, and Qian Liu in the Five Dynasties...
This Shi Shangzhao put forward the slogan of "no killing, no robbery, generous disaster relief, and relief to the poor". Within a few days, he developed tens of thousands of armed forces and was deeply supported by the people. For a time, his reputation was greatly shaken, and he echoed the Shandong volunteer army from afar. His achievements were far and wide. He destroyed Guide and moved eastward, destroying one prefecture, two states, and eight counties.
Of course, when Zhu Ping'an passed through Henan and Shandong, Shi Shangzhao's uprising had already failed, and he and his clansmen were all beheaded and hung on the city wall.
This was the peasant uprising closest to Zhu Ping'an. He had only seen it in books before, but this time it was a bloody reality. When Zhu Ping'an passed by the area, the bloodstains under the city wall had not yet been washed away...
This uprising exposed many problems of the Ming Dynasty. Although the government troops suppressed and wiped out the rebels in just forty days, their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced and they were not much stronger than the peasant uprising.
Moreover, Shi Shangzhao's slogan of "no killing, no robbery, generous disaster relief, and relief for the poor" can easily mobilize tens of thousands of armed forces...
This proves how disappointed the people are with the government. If there is any way out, who would risk their life to revolt
The common people were living in poverty and were displaced.
However, the bigwigs in high positions were too reluctant to even look at them, so it was no wonder that the common people were disappointed enough to join the rebellion.
Every citizen is responsible for the rise and fall of a country; the country is responsible for the rise and fall of every citizen. As officials who manage the country, we naturally have an obligation to do so.
I want to go on stage...
Put on a show.
Zhu Pingan picked up the wine glass, drank a glass, and turned his eyes to the window, looking at the West Garden, the political power center of the Ming Dynasty. (To be continued.)// ( )