On the evening of the tenth day of June, Chongzhen summoned the Minister of Personnel Qiu Yu to the Qianqing Palace.
Qiu Yu bowed and said, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Chongzhen asked: "Minister Qiu is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. He should know all the officials of our dynasty well, right?"
Qiu Yu thought Chongzhen wanted to promote a certain official, so he whispered, "I do know some things, but who does Your Majesty want to ask?"
"Huang Daozhou, former Nanjing Minister of Personnel."
"Huang Daozhou?" Qiu Yu was a little surprised by this person.
Huang Daozhou was born in the 13th year of the Wanli reign and is now 67 years old.
Older than Fan Jingwen.
Why promote him?
However, since Chongzhen had asked, Qiu Yu could only answer honestly: "Huang Daozhou was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi. In May of the nineteenth year of our dynasty, Huang Daozhou was dismissed from his post and sent back to his hometown because he falsely accused Zheng Zhilong, the commander-in-chief of the Fujian Navy, of smuggling."
Chongzhen nodded.
Although he didn't say anything, he gave Qiu Yu a look.
Qiu Yu guessed, "Your Majesty wants to promote him?"
"This man is upright and honest, and is indeed a good official in the Ming Dynasty."
Seeing that Chongzhen really intended to use Huang Daozhou, Qiu Yu had to remind him: "An official from the same hometown as Huang Daozhou once told me that Huang Daozhou's leg disease is very serious and he can't walk. If Your Majesty promotes him, I'm afraid he won't be able to do the job."
Chongzhen stared at Qiu Yu's eyes for a long time and slowly shook his head.
Qiu Yu was very puzzled.
He had already said that Huang Daozhou had difficulty walking and could not serve as an official again.
But Chongzhen showed an expression of disagreement.
You can't force Huang Daozhou to take on the position when you know he's not competent, right?
Just when Qiu Yu was at a loss, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind.
Did Chongzhen want to use Huang Daozhou?
No!
I want to vindicate Huang Daozhou.
But problems continued to arise.
The reason Huang Daozhou was dismissed from office was that he slandered Zheng Zhilong for smuggling.
If Huang Daozhou was rehabilitated at this time, it would mean that Zheng Zhilong's smuggling was true.
The subsequent chain reaction is probably not something that he, the Minister of Personnel, can withstand.
In order to confirm his guess, Qiu Yu asked again tentatively: "Your Majesty means to give it to Huang Daozhou..."
"Minister Qiu!" Chongzhen interrupted Qiu Yu's guess, "Some things are fine if you understand them in your heart. There's no need to speak them out. But you can't keep them in your heart forever. You have to tell the right person at the right time and place."
"Ah?" Qiu Yu was completely confused by this sentence.
Right time, right place and right people?
Not to mention him, the Minister of Personnel, even the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty could not know this information.
In desperation, Qiu Yu could only plead, "I am stupid, please enlighten me, Your Majesty."
"It's not stated explicitly, but you will understand when the time comes."
"Your Majesty..." Qiu Yu wanted to say something.
"Minister Qiu, please step down. I am exhausted!"
Qiu Yu looked as if he had eaten a fly and left with a gloomy face.
After Qiu Yu walked away, Chongzhen walked out of the Qianqing Palace and went outside the hall to enjoy the scenery outside.
He cherishes everything he sees.
If nothing unexpected happens.
For a long time after several months, he would not be able to come outside the temple openly to enjoy the scenery.
The morning court three days later.
With the support of the cabinet, a decree was passed to enforce the currency reform.
Just as the court meeting was about to end, Jinyiwei commander Li Ruolian walked in.
In front of everyone, he said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the Jinyiwei who entered Korea sent back the news."
Chongzhen and all the civil and military officials in the court were excited. He couldn't help but ask directly: "What's the news?"
Li Ruo Lian saluted and said, "The Jinyiwei disguised themselves as Koreans and entered North Korea and tracked them all the way. They found that the Jiannu first stopped briefly after arriving at the border, and then entered and stopped in Jiazhou, Hamgyong Province, North Korea."
"How far is Jiazhou from the border?" asked the Minister of War Wang Jiayan.
"Less than a hundred miles."
“This is quite troublesome,” Wang Jiayan shook his head. “It’s not close, but it’s not far either!”
"It's really troublesome!" Cabinet Chief Minister Fan Jingwen also frowned. "The Jiannu can attack the Ming border if they advance, or go deep into Korea if they retreat. Unless we send a large army to Korea to fight, it will be difficult to completely wipe them out."
After others expressed similar thoughts, Chongzhen suddenly asked, "Where do the Jiannu get their food and grass from?"
"According to preliminary investigation, the people in the Jiazhou area are complaining about the local grain collection."
Chongzhen looked at Wang Jiayan again and asked, "What is the attitude of the Ping Liao army?"
"The original intention of the Ping Liao army was to enter the court directly to pursue the Jian Nu, but the national treasury was empty and could not afford to support them to enter the court. So they planned to send several small cavalry units to surrender and harass the Jian Nu. Since the money and food consumed were limited, the Ministry of War did not object."
Fan Jingwen then said: "The cabinet has handed the official document to the Imperial Household Department, and it can be implemented after it is approved."
Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Since there are no problems, let the Ping Liao army do what it wants."
Although the Ping Liao army's harassment plan was approved, everyone knew that it was only a temporary measure.
If we want long-term stability, we must enter Korea to pursue the Jiannu.
Only in this way can we achieve long-term stability.
As the discussion ended, the court meeting also ended.
Officials from various ministries returned to their offices and began to prepare to forcibly implement the currency reform.
Especially the Ministry of Households.
This is a big project.
The people at the top only need to talk, but the Ministry of Revenue has to formulate various rules to prevent the officials below from taking advantage of the situation.
In the eyes of most people, the forced implementation of currency reform was to solve the deficit in the national treasury and the military expenses of the army to pacify Liao.
Only a very few people know that the two things have almost nothing to do with each other.
The imperial court was indeed short of money, but Chongzhen was not.
If it was just a lack of military funds, Chongzhen could have taken out several million taels of silver from the treasury to support the Ping Liao army to fight in Korea.
But Chongzhen did not do so.
Because his real purpose in forcing the currency reform was to test the obedience of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.
In short, it's a compliance test.
If they obey, everyone is happy.
If they didn't obey, Chongzhen would raise his butcher knife.
In order to justify raising the knife, Chongzhen needed a reason.
For this reason.
First, he wanted to save Dorgon's life, secondly, involve the crown prince, and finally, drag Zheng Zhilong into the water.
When the obedience test ends, everyone's fate is determined.
At the same time, Chongzhen will also kill the enemy!
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