I am the emperor, so having two days off a week is not too much, right?
Zhu Youxiao returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity from Concubine Wang Liang. Looking at the piles of memorials on the desk, he couldn't help but stroke his forehead. He still couldn't stop!
"Read it!" Zhu Youxiao waved his hand weakly and leaned back in his chair, not in a good mood.
Liu Ruoyu had already sorted the memorials into categories and pointed to a few of them, asking for instructions: "Your Majesty, this is an impeachment against the Minister of War, Zhang Heming."
Zhu Youxiao pursed his lips, feeling somewhat pleased, and said, "Who are they? Just tell me their names, and you don't need to read the content."
According to the Ming Dynasty system, once a court official was impeached by a censor, regardless of whether it was true or false, he had to first submit a petition to resign. If the impeachment was unjust, the emperor would then try to retain him.
Therefore, censors were able to impeach at will to satisfy their own selfish desires, and court officials also bribed censors to attack their opponents.
The Minister of War Zhang Heming was reluctant to cling to his power, but since he had been impeached by more than one or two people, he had to go through this procedure, which just met Zhu Youxiao's wishes.
Liu Ruoyu flipped through the report: "The Imperial Censors Liu Honghua, Hui Shiyang, Zhou Chaorui, the Imperial Censors Jiang Bingqian, He Jianke, Xie Wenjin, and the former Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo who resigned and returned home."
"What are the charges?" Zhu Youxiao tapped the armrests of the chair lightly with his fingers, and his voice became clearer and clearer.
Liu Ruoyu was holding Zhou Jiamo's memorial, and he unfolded it and said, "Zhou Jiamo impeached Zhang Heming for advocating war and harming the country." After a pause, he reported each memorial one by one.
Zhu Youxiao raised his hand to stop Liu Ruoyu's report and said, "The report will be sent out tomorrow and submitted to the cabinet for discussion."
Liu Ruoyu responded and followed through, knowing full well that the emperor's treatment of Zhang Heming was completely disrespectful. If Zhang Heming had known the opportunity to resign, he might have been able to escape punishment and retire. Otherwise...
With Wang Huazhen, the boastful king, apprehending Zhang Heming is a piece of cake. We're just waiting for someone to impeach him! If there's no one, I'll find one myself.
The chief minister Ye Xianggao was Wang Huazhen's teacher. He also sided with Wang Huazhen during the "discord between the governor and the governor", and was also at fault for oversight.
According to the court conventions at the time, Ye Xianggao would also have to submit a petition to apologize and request dismissal. Zhu Youxiao took advantage of the situation and was able to get rid of another person.
Very good, this is very good. No mass incarceration, no fabricated charges, let's just get down to business. Fighting the civil service clique with schemes and tricks is just bullying.
Zhu Youxiao was thinking about how to take down Zhao Nanxing so that there would be more positions in the cabinet.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Censor Fu Li impeached Zhao Nanxing for 'disrupting the old system and establishing his own private interests'..."
Yeah, just when I was thinking of a trick, a sticky rice dumpling fell from the sky.
Zhu Youxiao's spirits perked up, and without even listening to Liu Ruoyu finish, he waved his hand and said, "I will send a report to the court tomorrow and submit it to the cabinet for discussion."
Liu Ruoyu grinned secretly. The emperor's arrangement was equivalent to driving away another person.
That’s right, this was the political tradition at that time, or the court convention.
Once an official is impeached, there are usually two options: one is to submit a memorial to defend himself, and the other is to ask for leave and resign.
If the emperor is inclined towards the impeached official from the beginning, he will often keep the impeachment memorial in his possession and not send it out; if the impeachment memorial cannot be suppressed after a series of impeachments, the emperor will also comfort and persuade the official to stay when he asks for leave.
Zhu Youxiao sent the impeachment memorial to the imperial court, and although he did not express his inclination clearly, it seemed that he was leaving it to public opinion, but it also made people speculate that the emperor had no intention of protecting Zhao Nanxing.
Next, it is estimated that more people will follow suit and impeach Zhao Nanxing, because he has offended so many people!
In the 21st year of the Wanli reign, Zhao Nanxing was appointed Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department. When he participated in the imperial examination for the first time, he made a harsh statement: "The internal inspection is conducted every six years. Gentlemen hate evil, and villains seek revenge at this time."
What he meant was simple. "We, the Donglin Party, have power. This only happens once every six years. It's not easy. Seize the opportunity now, don't miss it. We must avenge our grudges and grievances, and punish them to death."
This is what I mean, but scholars need to be more elegant. They are obviously excluding dissidents, but they still call themselves gentlemen and villains.
What are gentlemen and villains, what is eliminating evil and promoting good, all sound high-sounding, but they are nothing more than partisan ganging up on dissidents.
No matter what your abilities are, no matter how good or bad your political achievements are, people judge right and wrong based on their camps.
This kind of imperial inspection, which targets people instead of things, is only possible thanks to Zhao Nanxing's shameless claim that "if something is beneficial to the country, then it should be done. If someone is in line with morality, then they should be associated with him. There is no way to avoid suspicion."
That imperial examination was also seen as a sign of the rise of the Donglin Party, and from then on, the court was plagued by factional struggles.
Now, thirty years later, it's time to seek revenge again. With Zhao Nanxing still in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, wouldn't he be even more aggressive in distinguishing between gentlemen and villains?
Zou Yuanbiao's impeachment and dismissal marked the beginning of the struggle surrounding the imperial examination. It was no surprise that Zhao Nanxing became the target of public criticism.
Historically, Zhao Nanxing and other Donglin Party members used the Beijing inspection in the third year of the Tianqi reign to eliminate all those who opposed them, had different opinions from them, and even some moderates in the Donglin Party, and they seemed to be able to dominate the government.
Then it was simple. The officials who were marginalized and attacked stood on the same front and joined Uncle Wei, forming a political group known as the "Eunuch Party."
But Zhu Youxiao had no time to wait. Even though it would be easier to deal with the civil service group if he waited until it split, he would not be blamed.
What's wrong with being a tyrant? Why are you digging up my grave after I die? I'm a materialist. I don't care if I'm burned to ashes. I'm not afraid of anything!
What is this Fu? Zhu Youxiao wanted to get to know this official who came to his aid in his time of need, so he frowned after taking a look at the memorial.
Just call it "Kui"; what does it mean if you add a "wood" radical? If Liu Ruoyu hadn't just read it out, I wouldn't have known it. Bad review!
Zhu Youxiao put down the memorial and didn't have the courage to ask Liu Ruoyu what this Mu Toukui meant.
Liu Ruoyu continued to read the memorials to the emperor one by one. When he read the memorial from the Minister of Revenue Li Zongyan, Zhu Youxiao's face looked very ugly.
The Liao people were relocated to the pass for resettlement, the soldiers were maintained and paid... There was a financial gap, so Li Zongyan asked Zhu Youxiao to draw money from the treasury.
It's not that he felt bad about the money, but it did hurt. Zhu Youxiao thought about it again and again and decided to use the treasury to help the emergency. But this was not a long-term solution. How long could he save so much?
"Summon Wei Zhongxian to the palace for an audience." Zhu Youjiao calculated the time and made up his mind to make a big move before the palace examination to get some money to spend and to intimidate the ministers in the court.
Liu Ruoyu picked up another memorial, while Zhu Youxiao leaned back in his chair, looking very bored.
"The Tianjin Supervisor of Military Revenue's Assistant Minister is vacant. The cabinet has deliberated on the appointment of Zheng Sanjun, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."
Zhu Youxiao thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, "This proposal is inappropriate. Tianjin Governor Bi Ziyan has economic capabilities. I recommend that you promote Bi Ziyan to the positions of Right Censor-in-Chief, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and concurrently Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."
After a pause, Zhu Youxiao continued, "Nanjing's treasury is empty, and the provincial taxes and grain payments are also declining. I have ordered Zheng Sanjun, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to be transferred to Nanjing as the Minister of Revenue to clean up and rectify the situation."
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