I

  Chapter 187 185 [Chongzhen's efforts]

  Wenhua Palace.

  The monarch and his ministers were silent, and there was a dead silence.

  Today is the 21st of the first lunar month, and before the ten-day Lantern Festival holiday is over, the ministers of the cabinet, department, and department were urgently summoned by the emperor to discuss matters.

  Those rebels in Jiangxi, although the religious bandits in Qianshan and Nanfeng were wiped out, and although the bandits in southern Jiangxi had been wiped out, the Zhao bandits in Luling became more and more troublesome. The imperial court also assigned Zhao Han's territory to King Sweeping, thinking that Zhao Han had expanded to three prefectures and seventeen counties.

  By the way, just a while ago, King Sweeper tried to expand westward, failed to attack Chaling County, Huguang, and plundered villages and towns in Chaling County.

  Cabinet minister Qian Shisheng cupped his hands and said: "Li Maofang has levied violently in Jiangxi, and has been afraid of the enemy many times. He should be recalled to the capital for questioning. Xue Guoguan recommended someone who is not a person, and should be held accountable."

   Li Maofang served as the governor of Jiangxi, which was recommended by Xue Guoguan.

  Unfortunately, Xue Guoguan went home to attend the funeral, and he is still in Ding You's time.

  The longer he was emperor, the more irritable Chongzhen's temper became, and the whole country was full of mess before him.

   "Without Li Maofang, who is worthy of this job?" Chongzhen tried to suppress the anger in his heart, and asked in a seemingly very calm tone.

  Everyone was silent.

   Chongzhen pointed casually: "Say it!"

The cabinet minister Kong Zhenyun could only stand up: "Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Zhu Xieyuan, can be the governor of Jiangxi. Although the four provinces worked together to suppress bandits, there were riots in Guangdong and Guangxi, and there was no unified control. Shen Youlong should be removed from the post of governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. His position as governor of Guangdong. Zhu Xieyuan was changed to governor of Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Zhejiang provinces, and concurrently as governor of Jiangxi.

  Cabinet minister Zhang Zhifa added: "Although Huguang's soldiers went north to encircle the bandits, they should set up a governor or commander-in-chief on Huguang South Road, which should also be under the control of the governor. Only in this way can they form a siege against the Zhao thieves."

   "Zhejiang is not allowed to mobilize troops!" Hou Xun quickly stood up and opposed.

  The monarch and his ministers are silent.

  Now the imperial court is seriously short of wealth, and it is all supported by Nanzhili and Zhejiang. Zhejiang really cannot use troops, otherwise the country's finances will completely collapse.

  As for Fujian and Guangdong, you can fight whatever you want, and the taxes contributed by these two provinces can be ignored.

  After careful consideration, Chongzhen said: "Order Li Maofang, governor of Jiangxi, to return to Beijing, and transfer Zhu Xieyuan as governor of Jiangxi, governor of military affairs in Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Huguang South Road! Give Shang Fang a sword!"

  Zhu Xieyuan once held the title of minister of the Ministry of War (vacant position), and served as the governor of the five provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, and Guangxi. It took several years to put down the chaos of She'an. Because of his contribution to the Zuozhu Kingdom, Yin Qi's son inherited Jinyi Weiqian.

  It wasn't until the northwestern bandits became bigger that the military affairs of Sichuan and Huguang provinces were changed to the governors of the five provinces in the north.

  This old man is not easy to be fooled. The She'an Rebellion spread to several provinces, and he defeated more than 100,000 chieftain rebels successively.

  Of course, there are still a few remnants of the rebel army that have not been wiped out. I don’t know if Guizhou will resume troubles after Zhu Xieyuan leaves.

  After the major event was finalized, Chongzhen said angrily: "Jiangxi General Soldier Yang Jiamo, in the name of suppressing thieves, led troops to plunder villages and towns, but was captured alive by a group of farmers, which led to the fall of Fengcheng County. How to deal with this person?"

  It is very difficult to solve the problem, but it is very simple to solve the people. The result of the discussion was quickly reached, and the Yang family was exiled into the army.

   Zhang Yinggao, who committed suicide and died for his country, died a heroic death because of his meritorious service in annihilating Qianshan and Nanfeng sect bandits.

  Shoufu Wen Tiren, did not speak the whole time.

  The more this was the case, the more Wen Tiren won the emperor's trust, and he was already a great scholar of Jianji Temple, a junior teacher, a prince and a grand teacher, and the title of Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

  Chongzhen asked again: "Yang Jiamo was captured alive by the rebels, who will be the commander-in-chief of Jiangxi?"

  Lin Qian was already dying of illness, and he didn't have so many scruples. He came out and said: "Jiangxi has many waterways, and the water army should be used to suppress thieves. Zhu Guoxun, the deputy general of Fujian, is good at water warfare, and he can be the general of Jiangxi."

  Seeing that no one objected, and Chongzhen had no better choice, he nodded and said, "Yes."

  Three years ago, when Zheng Zhilong was promoted to guerrilla, Zhu Guoxun was also promoted to general manager.

  These officers in Fujian rose rapidly by relying on pirates. Zhu Guoxun was promoted from chief to deputy chief in three years, and now he is going to be promoted to chief of Jiangxi.

  At first everything was agreed upon, but Qian Shisheng suddenly said: "The Zhao bandits in Luling are so difficult to suppress, can you try to appease him and let him lead troops north to help suppress the bandits?"

  Everyone was horrified. They didn't expect that there was someone in the cabinet who dared to talk nonsense.

   Chongzhen suddenly picked up a copy of "Da Tong Ji" and threw it at Qian Shisheng: "Look for yourself!"

  Qian Shisheng picked it up curiously. The book doesn't have many words, so you can finish it quickly after a cursory reading. The more he looked at it, the more startled he became, and he didn't dare to say anything more. In terms of nature alone, the Luling Zhao bandits were more serious than the northwest bandits!

  Because, Luling Zhao thief has put forward the theory of rebellion, and even proposed a policy program.

   What made Chongzhen most angry was that the Luling Zhao thief actually strictly enforced the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" and said that as long as the emperor could do the same, he would go to Beijing to accept his crime and die.

   Chongzhen felt a deep insult...and helplessness!

  At this moment, the cabinet ministers who opposed Wen Tiren were not actually thinking about suppressing the bandits. Instead, he was thinking about how to use Li Maofang's case to take advantage of the opportunity to cut off Wen Tiren's followers.

  In their view, the reason why Daming became such a troubled place was because of the treacherous prime minister.

   Only by cutting off the traitors, being gentle and benevolent, can we truly implement good governance and the country can get better step by step.

  The two sides have reached the point where there is no end to death. Wen Tiren can bring down one or two political opponents every year. If this continues, all the departments and departments will become Wen Tiren's world!

   All the officials retreated, and Chongzhen sat alone in the Wenhua Hall, and opened the "Datong Ji" again.

  Chen Yuding's secret performance also included a travel note of Ji'an. This inspector censor actually went to the rebel's site for a private visit.

  After reading "The Collection of Datong", Chongzhen read the copy of the Mizuo again, which recorded many strange things.

   Zhao Han has the most records, and he has been identified as a scholar in Jishui. The incident occurred because the imperial court canceled the preferential exemption for scholars, and he couldn't survive. He also said that Zhao Hanjian was simple and honest. After his wife became pregnant, he hired an old lady, and there were only seven servants. Zhao Han distributed the land to the small people, and kept only a symbolic 100 acres for himself, and paid taxes every year to set an example.

  Zhao Han himself does not wear silk clothes, only ordinary cotton clothes.

  Zhao Han also treated the officials kindly, and the salary of the mayor of the town was equivalent to that of the magistrate of Daming County.

   At the same time, he is good at managing officials. If he embezzles more than 22 taels, he will be assigned to work as a miner. The officials under Zhao Han's rule dare not take bribes and break the law.

   It's just that Zhao Han treated the gentry harshly and forcibly divided up the gentry's property.

  Zhao Han also built water conservancy and organized farmers to reclaim wasteland. The entire Jiangxi was occupied by Zhao thieves, and the grain was harvested year after year. The farmers in the area under its jurisdiction only knew that there was a Zhao thief, but they did not know that there was a Ming emperor.

   In addition, Zhao Han also gave preferential treatment to merchants and abolished exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes. Whether it is a shop, a factory, or a merchant, all of them have turned their hearts to the rebels. Chen Yuding asked for the abolition of Nanchang's private banknotes.

  These contents made Chongzhen's back sweat, and completely extinguished his thoughts of recruiting Zhao thieves.

  At the same time, Chongzhen felt a little regretful that he shouldn't have canceled the talent exemption, and forced out such an extraordinary rebel.

  Chongzhen was even thinking that if the bandit Zhao was admitted as a Jinshi as soon as possible, maybe Daming would be able to produce more capable ministers and officials.

  Chongzhen left the Wenhua Hall in his imperial chariot, all he could think about was recommending talents. In the past two years, due to the corruption of officials, the ministers have been discussing the restoration of the recommendation system in the early years of Hongwu.

  It seems that as long as you recommend talented people to be officials, you can reverse the situation of corrupt officials.

  Historically, it has indeed recovered, and it has done well.

  A large number of well-known juren, and a large number of officials of the sixth and seventh ranks with outstanding political achievements, were promoted and appointed because of their recommendation.

  Wen Tiren was originally a supporter of the recommendation system, and he wanted to use it to promote his party members. But halfway through the implementation, Wen Tiren asked to abolish the nomination system, because he recommended many Donglin Party...

   At this time, Chongzhen thought over and over again, and felt that the recommendation system should be restored.

   Talents like Luling Zhao Yan can be recommended to be officials, which can not only improve the administration of officials, but also prevent rebellion by talented people.

   Chongzhen really wanted to revitalize the country, or he was more like a drowning man, hoping to grab all straws.

  The next day, Chongzhen called the ministers to discuss the matter again. After half a month of discussion, they finally promulgated two policies in February of the ninth year of Chongzhen.

  First, recommend talents. The target group is officials with outstanding political achievements below the fifth rank, as well as juren who have failed in many trials and are well-known.

  Second, recommend the talents of the clan and select the talented children of the clan as officials.

  The recommendation system has set a lot of thresholds to prevent random recommendation from local governments. Anyway, whoever recommends will bear the responsibility, and the recommended person will have to take the blame if there is a problem.

  Especially to recommend Zongcai, one clan is an official, and five clans must guarantee it. The prince sent a long history to investigate, and the prince reviewed and conducted an interview. If something goes wrong, the prince will be unlucky, and the five clan guarantors will also be unlucky.

  Wu Jinshi Chen Qixin took the opportunity to go to Shu, and went through the shortcomings of the imperial examination.

  Officials of the Ministry of Rites also went to the Shu, requesting reform of the rural examinations and general examinations, adding subjects such as military books and arithmetic, and adding riding and shooting after the results were released.

   Chongzhen actually agreed, he was really working hard.

  But it’s useless, because art of war and arithmetic are only taken in the second and third rounds of the imperial examination, and they are classified as science subjects such as official documents, criminal judgments, and policy theory. However, the focus of the imperial examination is the liberal arts, which is mainly based on stereotyped essays, and the science subjects can at most be regarded as extra points.

  As for riding and archery, it will be determined after the examination is completed and the rankings are released. No matter how good the riding and archery martial arts are, it can only be reused at the discretion of the official.

   In any case, it can be considered a kind of progress.

  At least, Jinshi who is proficient in the art of war and martial arts can be promoted faster, unlike before who only read Confucius and Mencius articles.

   Then Chongzhen issued an imperial decree to announce it to the world.

  The general content is to admit that rebels everywhere are forced to rebel by corrupt officials. As long as you sincerely repent, you can be forgiven. After surrendering, the local government should not discriminate against those who return to their hometowns to farm. They should be called "rescue refugees" instead of "recruiting security and rebels". Those with outstanding talents in "rescuing refugees" can be hired as officials by the governor and prime minister.

   Chongzhen finally compromised.

  Thieves like Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and Zhao Han can serve as officials in the court as long as they truly repent.

  But which rebel would believe it?

   (The last chapter was not clearly written, and it has been corrected. The evaluation of military merits is recorded and reported by the military mission officer, but it must be agreed with the military chief officer and military judge.)

  (end of this chapter)