My life skills in Daming Liver

Zhang Juzheng entered the capital city and first went to the palace to meet Emperor Longqing, who was already hemiplegic.

Seeing that his former student was now unable to pronounce his voice accurately and could not even control half of his face, Zhang Juzheng also showed a sad expression.

The Ming Dynasty he took over, like Emperor Longqing's body, was half destroyed, and the remaining half was also riddled with holes.

Zhang Juzheng solemnly saluted the emperor, and Li Chunfang and Feng Bao, who were accompanying the emperor, finally felt relieved.

Although Zhang Juzheng was domineering, he did not want to usurp the throne and had no intention of deposing the emperor.

After his stroke, Long Qing finally regained his power and made this important decision.

Zhang Juzheng spoke loudly to Emperor Longqing about his reform program.

"First, the Zhongshu Province is restored, and all important ministers are changed to senior officials of the third rank or above, Tingtui. However, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Sixth Section can refute the Tingtui decision."

"Second, continue to promote new services throughout the Ming Dynasty and order each province to build new workshops and new schools."

"Third, withdraw mine supervision, crack down on local private checkpoints, and establish a unified banknote customs office under the imperial court to collect banknote duties."

These three items were all proposed by Zhang Juzheng in the newspapers before he came to Beijing, and the emperor was also mentally prepared.

But Zhang Juzheng's next words stunned everyone.

Zhang Juzheng said: "Fourth, we are preparing to convene a constitutional convention. We, the Ming Dynasty, will also formulate a constitution."

What?

News of a constitutional convention being convened in the southeast has also spread in the north.

Privately, civil servants have mixed reviews of the constitution.

Some officials believe that this is Southeast's true implementation of the idea of ​​"sovereignty lies with the people" and that Su Ze's words and deeds are consistent.

Other officials believe that this kind of meeting is nothing more than child's play. How can these representatives who are selected by unknown methods represent public opinion? And what do they know about governing a country?

The first constitutional convention in the Southeast can be said to be very chaotic, and can even be described as child's play.

The selection of these representatives to the Constituent Assembly is also decided by each province and county, and there are various methods of selection.

For example, in an area like Susong Erfu, where the economy is developed and the literacy rate of the people is relatively high, the local government drew up a list of candidate representatives for the Constitutional Assembly and then published it in newspapers for people to vote.

Naturally, there are many loopholes in this method. For example, the "Warning World" published several scandals about wealthy businessmen in the Susong area buying votes and forcing their employees to vote.

Some people publish articles in private newspapers, publish scandals about competitors, and even discredit their opponents.

In areas like Guangxi, almost all representatives to the Constituent Assembly are appointed by the government. They were also criticized in newspapers, saying that Guangxi had too many representatives with military backgrounds.

In addition to active military personnel, almost all representatives from Guangxi have something to do with the military. People like Dan Yun are considered military dependents, and many are simply retired soldiers.

In Fujian and Guangdong, there are many representatives of older clan forces.

Although the clan power in northern Fujian has been gradually disintegrating with the development of industry and commerce driven by port trade such as Fuzhou.

However, in Chaozhou and other areas at the junction of Fuzhou and Guangzhou, clan influence is still deeply rooted.

These people had huge local influence and were naturally elected to the Constitutional Convention.

In short, this time, the representatives of the Constituent Assembly were directly elected, indirectly elected, appointed, and spontaneously elected. There was even a dispute between two representatives in one county in South Zhili, and the final decision was made by drawing lots.

It is also because of the many hassles involved in the Southeastern Constitutional Convention that the Southeastern Constitutional Convention is very popular in the north.

As soon as Zhang Juzheng returned to the capital, he did not reorganize the cabinet, adjust personnel, adjust financial work, or intervene in the army. However, he immediately mentioned that a constitutional convention should be held in the north.

Li Chunfang really couldn't understand.

I only heard Zhang Juzheng say:

"I wonder why the army in the southeast always fights more bravely than the official army?"

Zhang Juzheng did not expect Li Chunfang to answer, so he asked and answered directly: "The ship is strong and the guns are powerful, and the weapons are advanced, but there is another more important thing."

"consensus."

Li Chunfang muttered these two words, but Feng Bao couldn't understand them at all.

Zhang Juzheng said: "I am commanding the troops in Huguang. In the army there are people from this province, people from other provinces, people from Jingxiang, people from Wuhan, people from the country, and people from the guards."

"But there is no Ming Dynasty."

"These soldiers gathered in the military camp, but they didn't know that they were fighting for the Ming Dynasty."

Li Chunfang and Feng Bao looked at each other. Not to mention the army, even in the imperial court, there were many small groups based on their place of origin. It could even be said that if Su Ze raised troops in the southeast, the concept of the Ming Dynasty was not clear.

“How can soldiers fight to the death if they don’t know why they are fighting?”

“How can officials love and protect the people if they don’t know who they serve?”

Zhang Juzheng looked at the emperor and said: "In the old days, the one who unified this consensus was your majesty. He was bound by the hope of all people, and only then could the emperor be so kind and kind to the whole country, but that is not possible now."

Emperor Longqing's body trembled as he stood on the imperial platform. He blinked helplessly, which was considered to be recognition of Zhang Juzheng's statement.

Although Jiajing was a Taoist and ruthless, he was indeed a master of politics.

Before Su Ze rose to power in the southeast, Jiajing managed the court, whipped the ministers, and pushed the imperial power to its peak.

However, since Jiajing's Western Hunt, the emperor's prestige has dropped to its lowest point.

Longqing's own prestige and ability were far inferior to those of Jiajing. Now that the wind was so strong that he could not speak out, the banner of imperial power could no longer be erected.

This seems to be the source of the current chaos in the Ming court.

Zhang Juzheng said: "Then our Ming Dynasty needs a new consensus."

"Constitution-making is such a consensus, a consensus that unites all provinces of Ming Dynasty."

"In the name of constitution-making, we summon the governors of all provinces to Beijing to discuss state affairs together, so that we can unite the top and bottom and avoid the crisis of division again."

Li Chunfang looked at Zhang Juzheng and thought to herself that the biggest rebel is Mr. Zhang Ge!

Why did he suddenly become a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty as soon as he entered the capital?

Even Feng Bao can't be punished. This memorial he wrote before made him want to go to the capital to seize the bird position. Why is it now a script of surrendering and dying?

In fact, Zhang Juzheng also made two preparations.

If the emperor does not cooperate, then he will break out and become a domineering official.

But now Longqing has lost his ability to govern. Faced with such an emperor, Zhang Juzheng must serve as a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty and safeguard the imperial power.

As he thought, imperial power is still a flag in the hearts of many people. Before a new flag is erected, if the imperial power is cut off, there will be no capital to confront the Southeast.

Now it is Zhang Juzheng's turn to take charge of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he will continue to use the banner of imperial power to unite some people. At the same time, he needs the banner of "constitution making", that is, "people's mandate" to unite other people.

As for what proportion of the people of the Ming Dynasty the "people" in Zhang Juzheng's words accounted for, that is not Zhang Juzheng's concern.

After obtaining the imperial edict signed by Emperor Longqing, Zhang Juzheng, the newly worshiped Prime Minister of Zhongshu in the Ming Dynasty, the second thing he did after leaving the palace was to go to the Imperial College.

Zhang Juzheng went to the Imperial College in person and announced that the Ming court would also convene a constitutional convention. Naturally, the Ming Dynasty’s constitutional convention could not turn into a “farce” like the one in Southeast China. Zhang Juzheng announced in the Imperial Palace that he would convene the “virtuous literature” from across the country. , gathered in the capital to discuss state affairs.

The so-called virtuous literature naturally refers to scholars with a good reputation. This is also the main supporter of the Ming Dynasty, the local gentry and landlord class.

As the main beneficiaries of the imperial examination system, the landowners and gentry were the most supportive of the Ming court.

In the Shandong area, there are still a large number of landowners who spontaneously formed regiments. Although their weapons and equipment are not advanced, they are the most active in resisting the southeast on their own land in Shandong.

In addition to the attraction of the imperial examination career, landlords also feared the increasingly developed commodity economy.

The reason why Shandong needs to strengthen its walls and clear the country is not only to prevent infiltration from the southeast, but also because the landlords in Shandong are afraid that their tenant farmers will flee south.

In the small-scale peasant economy, the life of small and medium-sized landowners is actually not very good, and they may not have enough to eat when encountering a famine.

Therefore, many small and medium-sized landowners are even more greedy than large landowners and exploit their tenant farmers more seriously.

Because their prosperity is entirely based on exploiting their tenant farmers.

They are afraid of the attractiveness of the Southeast to the population. The workshops in the Southeast can accommodate a larger population. Working in a workshop in the city may be about the same intensity as farming in the fields, but the rapidly developing economy in the Southeast allows hired workers to earn more than sharecroppers. Much higher.

The living environment and living standards in cities are much better than those in rural shacks.

Before Shandong Jianbi was cleared, a large number of Shandong refugees went south, and Southeast also accepted all the laborers who went south, and just arranged them for the renovation of water transportation projects, and then transported them to southern cities according to their capabilities.

These small and medium-sized landowners themselves did not have enough knowledge and ability to set up workshops. They were also opponents of the imperial policy during the New Service Movement promoted by Gao Gong.

Zhang Juzheng's speech at the Imperial College was quickly published in full in newspapers controlled by the Ming court, arousing fierce responses from various places.

Suddenly, all kinds of disgusting carols appeared in local newspapers in various provinces, and Zhang Juzheng suddenly won the support of most areas of the Ming court.

The third thing Zhang Juzheng did when he arrived in the capital was to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Like Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, the Prime Minister of Zhongshu, also served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel and the Secretary of the Ministry of Hubu. The person in charge of the daily work of the Ministry of Hubu was Huang Bingkun, the minister of the Ministry of Hubu.

This gentleman was regarded as a direct descendant of Gao Gong, and one of the few talents in the Ministry of Household Affairs who understood the theory of wealth. Huang Bingkun had been trembling with fear when Gao Gong stepped down and Zhang Juzheng came to power. At this time, he bowed and welcomed Zhang Juzheng into the yamen of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

After Gao Gong's management, the household department is now a huge government office, which is also responsible for managing the entire operation of all Xinwu workshops.

Huang Bingkun, the Minister of Household Affairs, was considered a fat vacancy, which was why he still refused to resign after Gao Gong's downfall.

"Prime Minister, this is the recent income of the thirteen new workshops in the capital."

Zhang Juzheng did not look at these account books, but asked:

"How much silver is left in the Ministry of Accounts' inventory?"

Huang Bingkun was stunned and could hardly take out the carefully crafted fake account in his hand.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Huang Bingkun and said: "We have just celebrated the New Year this year, and there is already a silver shortage in the capital. Some places in the capital even have no money left. Where did all the money go?"

Huang Bingkun shouted, "No, this Prime Minister Zhang is not as easy to fool as Mr. Gao Ge. He really understands economics."

No matter how good-looking these account books are, the outflow of silver from the capital area has already shown that under the vigorous new affairs movement of the Ming Dynasty, the actual competitiveness of the workshops is false and prosperous.

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Huang Bingkun and then said:

"If it's just a pure outflow of silver, it doesn't make any sense if the Southeast only gets silver. To put it bluntly, silver is just a mine dug out of the ground."

"More importantly, what exactly did these southeastern businessmen buy from us?"

Huang Bingkun almost knelt down and said quickly: "Prime Minister, spare your life!"

Of course, it is impossible for southeastern merchants to earn silver purely from the north. To put it bluntly, goods are valuable only when they circulate.

The prosperity of Dagu and Dengzhou ports is not only due to unilateral sales from the southeast, but also a large number of merchants from the north selling goods to the southeast.

Horses on the grassland, cotton from Huguang and Guanzhong, and fur from Liaodong.

These commodities are constantly being sold to the southeast, and the Xinwu Workshop sponsored by the Ministry of Household Affairs is one of the big export channels.

For example, the cloth sold by Xinwu Textile Workshop was actually bought from the southeast, and the share of cotton raised by Gao Gong was also resold by them to merchants from the southeast.

Nowadays, the trade of exporting war horses to the southeast is almost taken over by the Qingyuan Bo Li Wei family.

Huang Bingkun said to Zhang Juzheng almost in a begging tone:

"Prime Minister, I am willing to accept the crime."

Zhang Juzheng looked at him playfully and said, "What's the crime?"

Huang Bingkun calmed down a little and looked at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng said: "Give me a name."

Huang Bingkun opened his mouth and said a name after a long time: "Uncle Qingyuan."

Zhang Juzheng stood up and left. Huang Bingkun quickly caught up and said:

"Prime Minister, what's going on in the workshop?"

Zhang Juzheng said directly: "Workshops related to people's livelihood will continue to be run, and war-related materials must not be leaked out. Anyone who exports war horses and weapons to the southeast will be punished as a collaborator."

Zhang Juzheng left the Household Department directly and finally said:

"The money law must be cleared as soon as possible. The truth is that a whip law must be implemented. No matter what method you use, you must let the money in the world circulate."

Huang Bingkun looked pale, and Zhang Juzheng said coldly: "Before this, no one in the household department is allowed to resign. Let's go and do it."