Of course, Liu Zongzhou achieved his goal by being a loyal minister who died for his country and left his name in history. However, he was far inferior to the heroes like Zhang Huangyan who rose again after repeated defeats, remained indomitable, and sacrificed their lives without hesitation.
As for the distinction and comparison between "dying for fame" and "dying for the country", Zhu Youxiao prefers to use Liu Zongzhou and Zhang Huangyan as representative figures.
Just as Zhu Youxiao had expected, the next day, the desk was covered with resignation letters, mainly from the civil servants who defended Li Sancai and the shameless Minister of War Zhang Heming.
The stolen goods were displayed at the Meridian Gate, and all the memorials were posted. The emperor slapped him in the face like this, and many civil servants who claimed to be noble could not stand it.
It would be better if you can't stand it. Resigning is giving you some face. If you don't resign, I will dismiss you from your post!
Zhu Youxiao was too lazy to read the text inside, so he asked Liu Ruoyu to sort out the list, scan it once, and then approve it in batches.
Not to mention these people, if a few more batches of them leave, the court will be quieter and the country can function as usual.
Tsk, there are really some shameless people who don’t even want to give you any respect. Don’t blame me for being rude.
Seeing that there were still officials who had defended Li Sancai and had not submitted their resignations, Zhu Youxiao despised them but would not show mercy.
"Draft an imperial decree: Sun Chengzong, Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, will take over as Minister of War."
"Draft an imperial decree. Denglai Governor Tao Lang will resign and come to Beijing to take over as Minister of Personnel."
"Permit the Minister of Revenue, Li Zongyan, to retire and return to his hometown. He will be promoted to Junior Protector, given a reward and clothing, and sent to see him off by a messenger."
"Promote Li Qiyuan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to the position of Minister of Revenue."
"Draft an imperial decree. I have rejected Yuan Shizhen's petition for resignation. He is to remain in office, be promoted to the rank of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and be granted the douniu uniform."
"Draft an imperial decree, Lu Shanji, Director of the Military Affairs Department, will be promoted to Censor and appointed Salt Administration Commissioner of Guangdong and Fujian, to manage the salt administration of Guangdong and Fujian."
"Draft an imperial decree to promote Zhaoqing Prefecture Procurator Deng Shiliang to the position of Left Provincial Governor of the Guangdong Provincial Administration Commission."
"Issue an edict to commend the Eastern Depot Commander Wei Zhongxian and grant him an additional three ranks of honor."
Zhu Youxiao felt that he was becoming more and more adept at handling government affairs and arranging officials. This was all thanks to his frequent reading of memorials and officials' resumes, which enabled him to identify capable officials.
For example, Yuan Shizhen was only a fourth-rank official, but he proposed the "Ten Proposals on Salt Law" and introduced a mechanism that was both simple and long-lasting - the "Gangfa".
After the implementation of the "Gangfa," the results were remarkable. By the end of the year, 700,000 taels of salt tax had been remitted to the Ministry of Revenue. Emperor Shenzong issued an imperial edict commending Yuan Shizhen, promoting him one rank higher and retaining him in office.
From the end of the 45th year of the Wanli reign to the present, Yuan Shizhen has been managing the salt administration in Lianghuai for four years, resolving the salt administration crisis. Merchants found it convenient, the people benefited, and salt taxes increased.
He can pay nearly one million in salt tax every year. Isn't he a capable minister?
Moreover, Zhu Youxiao felt that this "Gangfa" seemed to be still in use during the Qing Dynasty. In other words, this salt system was inherited by the Qing Dynasty and had an impact for hundreds of years.
So he carefully read Yuan Shizhen's outline and could not help but applaud his surprise.
This is a great innovation and an extremely bold reform!
The change from the on-site monopoly system established in the Western Han Dynasty, which was established by the people and collected and sold by officials, transported and sold by merchants, to the commercial monopoly system which was established by the people and collected, sold and transported by merchants, was truly an epoch-making historical change.
As for the impeachment, Zhu Youxiao thought it was just an outbreak of jealousy. Some people were eyeing the lucrative job of "managing the Lianghuai Salt Administration" and were plotting to bring down Yuan Shizhen.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao not only had to praise Yuan Shizhen, but also had to promote and implement the Outline Law, and even more so, he had to dismiss and expel those bastards who were making random comments.
Deng Shiliang, the magistrate of Zhaoqing Prefecture, was relatively unknown, but Zhu Youxiao believed that his contributions could change history.
In the first year of Taichang, a ship named "Unicorn" of the British East India Company sank in the waters of Yangjiang, Guangdong due to a typhoon.
Upon hearing that the ship contained Western cannons, Deng Shiliang sought out skilled sailors to salvage them. He then donated his salary to hire a carpenter, designed a winch, and used the "Cao Chong Weighing an Elephant" technique to salvage the thirty-six red-haired cannons.
In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Hu Yingtai, the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, transported 24 of the cannons to Beijing, and the rest were stored in the Zhaoqing Prefecture Arsenal.
These cannons became the first batch of red-haired cannons acquired by the Ming Dynasty. In addition to leaving a dozen to protect the capital, eleven of them were transported to Liaodong.
The eleven cannons transported to Liaodong were historically deployed in Ningyuan and played a huge role in the Battle of Ningyuan.
Others were dismissive of Deng Shiliang's attempt to obtain the Red Cannon, so how could Zhu Youxiao remain indifferent?
Apart from anything else, how much silver were these thirty-six red-haired cannons worth? And how much could they contribute to accelerating his naval construction and strengthening Liaodong's combat power?
Judging from the process of retrieving the cannon, Deng Shiliang was no mere bookworm. Although he held a low position, he was well-educated and talented, and was therefore quite capable of great use.
Now, Sun Chengzong of the Ministry of War, Tao Langxian of the Ministry of Personnel, Li Qiyuan of the Ministry of Revenue, Xu Guangqi of the Ministry of Works, and Zhu Youxiao have already used their trusted people to take control of these key departments and have preliminarily completed the plan of forming their own team.
If you want to reform, you need a bureaucracy that can operate according to your will. If one person can't accomplish anything, even the emperor can't.
Of course, this is only the first step, but it allows Zhu Youxiao to start the reform plan, even if it is only a small step.
Most of the changes of dynasties in history have two main internal causes, namely loss of popular support and political corruption.
The Ming Dynasty had many problems, but if these two major ones were solved, the Jiannu in Liaodong would be nothing more than a minor infestation and would not be able to shake the vast empire at all.
Political corruption has already begun with curbing party disputes and punishing corruption, and losing the support of the people is also about to begin.
In Zhu Youxiao's view, the people didn't really ask for much, just enough to eat. And to get enough to eat, land was the key.
Given the population of the Ming Dynasty at the time, the amount of land was clearly insufficient to achieve the principle of "land to the tiller." Even more fatally, the land was concentrated in the hands of a very small number of wealthy landlords.
Zhu Youxiao could not create land, and developing industry and commerce to solve the problem of excess population would not be effective in the short term, and he was temporarily unable to expand outward.
But he believed that he could still strangle the exploitative landlords and gentry and allow the larger number of poor tenants to breathe a sigh of relief and have more full meals.
Do not do to others what you do not want done to you. Be strict with yourself and reflect on yourself.
Since the Qingliu are always keeping an eye on the royal family, why not start with the imperial farms, which are the source of much public resentment, and strike a blow on yourself to set an example for them?
Next, an imperial decree will be issued, starting from one prefecture and one place, and then implemented nationwide. I will have the confidence to arrest or kill those who violate the law and disobey it, and there will be no need to talk about punishing without teaching.
Zhu Youxiao took out the regulations he had written, handed them to the eunuch in charge, and asked him to take them to the Royal Printing Bureau and publish them in the newspaper.
The royal family had everything. Not only could they brew wine, pickle vegetables, and make soy sauce and vinegar, they also had a printing house and could undertake external business.
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