Emperor Jiajing was an emperor of extraordinary talent. Although he was delayed by his cultivation of immortality and alchemy and had not attended court for more than ten years, not attending court did not mean that he was not in charge of government affairs. Emperor Jiajing had a firm grip on government affairs and any disturbance in the court could not escape his eyes and ears.
Since he ascended the throne, there has never been a single day when power has fallen into the hands of others. He has mastered the art of power to perfection. Zhang Cong, Xia Yan, Yan Song... seem to be in great power, but they are just pawns in the hands of Emperor Jiajing.
Genius is not scary, what is scary is a diligent genius.
It is true that Emperor Jiajing was obsessed with cultivating immortals and refining elixirs, but he was also known for his diligence and often reviewed memorials until late at night.
I guess nowadays, most people can only play games until late at night.
The Jiajing Emperor, the ruler of a country, was so hardworking. Shouldn't we also be a little hardworking from time to time
Emperor Jiajing was decisive and resolute.
When it was almost time to get off work in the afternoon, Emperor Jiajing lost his temper in the cabinet. After that, he ordered a court meeting to discuss the issue of the empty treasury.
Court discussion refers to the gathering of court officials, which is a deliberative system that began in the Ming Dynasty.
Because the incident happened suddenly, Zhu Ping'an and other cabinet officials were sent out to urgently notify relevant personnel to hold a court meeting.
Zhu Ping'an was responsible for notifying the Minister of Revenue Sun Yingkui.
When Zhu Ping'an arrived at the Ministry of Revenue, many officials had already gone home after get off work, but Sun Yingkui was still working.
Sun Yingkui was a white-bearded old man in his sixties, wearing a neat official uniform and with his white hair combed meticulously. After hearing Zhu Ping'an approaching to tell him about the court meeting, Sun Yingkui looked up at Zhu Ping'an, smiled formally and said, "Please wait for a moment, Mr. No. 1 scholar, until I sort out the income and expenditure of the warehouse before leaving. Liu Er serves tea to Mr. No. 1 scholar."
"Thank you, Minister Sun, but please hurry up."
After Zhu Ping'an bowed to Sun Yingkui to thank him, he reminded Sun Yingkui to tidy up quickly, and then sat down and waited for Sun Yingkui.
The clerk named Liu Er in the room poured Zhu Ping'an a cup of tea, and Zhu Ping'an bowed and thanked him again.
Sun Yingkui checked the books while sorting out Taicang's income and expenditure.
Zhu Ping'an silently glanced at the pile of books and several organized income and expenditure records on Sun Yingkui's desk, and he understood that Sun Yingkui had sorted out most of them long before he came, and now all that was left was the finishing work.
It seems that Sun Yingkui had anticipated today when he wrote the letter, so he did not leave work after get off work, but was sorting out the income and expenditure of Taicang.
Sun Yingkui was not a prominent figure in history, and Zhu Ping'an did not pay much attention to Sun Yingkui in modern times.
However, after Zhu Ping'an came to the capital, he had heard of Sun Yingkui.
In other people's eyes, Sun Yingkui was an upright official who offended the powerful many times when he was young. However, since Sun Yingkui got older, especially after he took charge of the Ministry of Revenue, his reputation has not been as good as before. People's evaluation of Sun Yingkui can be described by an idiom: living in mediocrity.
No matter what everyone thinks, based on this brief contact today, Zhu Pingan dare not underestimate Sun Yingkui.
This old official was able to predict the thoughts of Emperor Jiajing. There were not many officials in the entire Ming Dynasty who could do this.
Regardless of whether he is living in peace or not
Zhu Ping'an dare not underestimate him just because of his political acumen.
When Sun Yingkui said "a cup of tea is enough", it meant a cup of tea. When Zhu Ping'an was almost finishing his cup of tea, Sun Yingkui had already cleaned up.
The Ministry of Revenue was just outside the West Garden, and Zhu Ping'an and the Minister of Revenue Sun Yingkui quickly arrived at the West Garden.
This court meeting was held in Wuyi.
Three cabinet ministers Yan Song, Lu Ben, and Xu Jie, the Minister of Revenue Sun Yingkui, the Minister of War He Ao, the Minister of Works, the Minister of War, the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of Rites, the Minister of Public Administration, the Left and Right Censors of the Censorate, and more than a dozen other senior officials, divided into two rows and entered the Wuyi Hall one after another, faced the dragon throne in the center, knelt on the ground, and waited respectfully for the arrival of Emperor Jiajing.
Zhu Ping'an, Li Chunfang and four others, as Cabinet officials, also had the honor of attending this court meeting. They also knelt on the ground in a more remote place in the hall.
I knelt like this for about ten minutes.
Zhu Ping'an was kneeling at the back, and he was sure that Emperor Jiajing was still angry and was deliberately late to annoy these ministers.
I was implicated.
After kneeling for ten minutes, they heard three blows of the whip, and then two teams of eunuchs came in one after another holding golden incense burners, Bagua mats and other supporting utensils. They burned ambergris and arranged the supporting utensils in an orderly manner. Then, a team of palace maids holding palace fans came in, escorting the Emperor Jiajing, the emperor of heaven.
Emperor Jiajing, as usual, wore a blue cloth Bagua Taoist robe and sat on the dragon throne with ease, looking extremely majestic.
After Emperor Jiajing sat on the dragon throne, the officials who were kneeling on the ground, led by Yan Song, shouted in unison, "Long live the emperor!" After shouting three times, they bowed their heads to the ground. Everyone was extremely respectful to Emperor Jiajing.
"Please stand up, all the nobles. Huang Ban, give Wei Zhong a seat." Emperor Jiajing sat on the dragon throne, glanced at everyone and waved his hand.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." The officials shouted their thanks and then stood up one after another.
Huang Jin led a young eunuch and brought a cushion embroidered with the Bagua pattern to Yan Song, and asked Yan Song to sit down to discuss matters. Although Yan Song was old and frail, he still insisted on kneeling down to thank Emperor Jiajing. Only after Emperor Jiajing waved his hand did Yan Song dare to sit down.
This was a unique benefit for Yan Song; other officials had to stand while discussing matters.
The sound of a chime marked the official start of the court meeting.
The young eunuchs in the hall lowered their heads and walked quickly out of the hall and closed the door.
"I'm sure you all know why I called you here today. You are all my loyal subjects, so please speak freely today. I won't punish you for what you say. I'll listen to what you have to say today."
Emperor Jiajing glanced at each of the ministers with a burning gaze, then waved the wide sleeves of his Taoist robe and leaned back on the dragon throne.
The hall was silent for a second, and then Yan Song spoke. As the chief minister of the cabinet, it was only right for him to speak first at this time.
“In recent years, our dynasty has encountered many troubles, including the invasion of invaders in the north and the Japanese invasion in the south, as well as natural and man-made disasters... But as the saying goes, a country prospers in times of adversity. Fortunately, your Majesty is wise, and our dynasty has become more stable after going through hardships, and our country is as beautiful as a painting... Your Majesty’s grace is great and has benefited the people. We who are basking in your grace should think about serving the country. If we cannot share your Majesty’s worries, how can we have the face to bask in your grace? It is better to resign..." Yan Song said slowly.
"Mr. Yan is right." Xu Jie was the first to nod.
"Sir Xu, where do you think we should start?" Yan Song looked at Xu Jie and asked.
"Just now, Lord Yan said that our dynasty has encountered many troubles in recent years. I believe that the national treasury is the key. If the national treasury is full, the border pay will be sufficient, and we will not have to worry about the northern barbarians and the southern Japanese. If there is food and money for disaster relief, we will not have to worry about natural disasters. Whether the national treasury is sufficient or not is nothing more than two things: revenue and expenditure. If the revenue is more and the expenditure is less, the national treasury is sufficient; if the revenue is less and the expenditure is more, the national treasury is empty. No one knows the situation of the national treasury better than Minister Sun of the Ministry of Revenue. I would like to ask Minister Sun of the Ministry of Revenue to tell us about the revenue and expenditure items of Taicang so that we can have a better target." Xu Jie bowed and said slowly.