Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 231: As soon as he resigned from office, he was demoted to a commoner

Zhu Houzhao knew that it was the entire civil service group that was putting pressure on him, but he did not intend to use the Imperial Guards to directly interfere in internal affairs. He believed that the current Ming Empire should be different, at least the civil service group should not be as united as he imagined.

The next morning.

Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon chariot, ready to hold a grand court meeting.

At this time, civil and military officials had begun to enter the main hall one after another, waiting for Zhu Houzhao to appear.

Zhang Cong, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel who had just arrived in Beijing, was attending such a grand court for the first time and was very excited. He had been busy with the establishment of the National School of Administration in recent days.

Moreover, Zhang Cong was the first to set a precedent in establishing the Loyalty to the Emperor Society in a school institution like the National School of Administration. He even obtained the approval of Emperor Zhu Houzhao to become the head of the Loyalty to the Emperor Society of the National School of Administration. Based on this, Zhang Cong decided to give priority to officials with a background of being members of the Loyalty to the Emperor Society when selecting and training the first batch of people at the National School of Administration.

Of course, Zhang Cong also recently knew about the establishment of the Inspectorate of the East Factory, but what he knew better than others was that the Inspectorate was directly appointed by the emperor and was not responsible to the East Factory Commander-in-Chief. Even the staff of the Inspectorate were all members of the Loyal Emperor Society. It was precisely because of this that Zhang Cong could accept the emergence of the East Factory Inspectorate.

What Zhang Cong is more concerned about now is whether the emergence of the East Factory Inspectorate will cause an impact on the established policies of the court when most of the civil servants representing the interests of the gentry express their protest by resigning, and whether the system of border trade and external expansion will no longer be implemented.

"Everyone, remember the beliefs of our Loyalty Society. No matter how many court officials want to resign, we cannot resign. Do you understand? Once these people resign, it will be a good opportunity to assign members of our Loyalty Society to various departments. Zhang has already received permission from His Majesty to allow the National Academy of Administration to give priority to training officials with a background as Loyalty Society members."

Zhang Cong still remembered what he said at the temporary meeting organized within the Zhongjun Society before going to court.

At this time, other court officials did not realize that there was already a group of civil servants who were not on the same page with them.

After Zhu Houzhao entered the main hall and all the officials saluted, Zhu Houzhao asked directly: "If anyone wants to resign now, please stand up and report it! The Censorate should come first!"

then.

A group of censors from the Censorate stood up.

"Your Majesty, I, the Left Vice-Chief Censor Yan Hong, wish to resign!"

"Your Majesty, I, the Left Censor-in-Chief Qiao Ying, wish to resign!"

"Your Majesty, I, the Imperial Censor of Huguang Province, Jiang Chao, would like to resign!"

……

At one time, many censors stood up from the court one after another and expressed their intention to resign.

Seeing this, Zuodu Yushi Hang Huai couldn't help but feel secretly happy, thinking that His Majesty might be in a bad mood at the moment. However, when Hang Huai raised his head, he found that some censors had not come out to express their intention to resign.

Zhu Houzhao also discovered this at this time, and asked the group of censors: "Do you also want to resign?"

"Your Majesty, Henan Province Censor Guo Dongshan, will not decline!"

"Your Majesty, Cheng Cai, the Imperial Censor of Shaanxi Province, will not decline the offer!"

"Your Majesty, Tao Xie, the Censor of Sichuan Province, will not decline the offer!"

……

At this time, several censors who had remained silent stood up.

Upon seeing this, Zuo Du Yu Shi Hang Huai was so angry that he didn't know what to say. He wondered why these guys suddenly changed their minds!

The Left Vice-Chief Censor Yan Hong was even more angry when he saw this, and asked in a low voice: "You, you, what do you want to do?!"

"Your Majesty, I impeach the Left Vice-Chief Censor Yan Hong for being disrespectful in the court and threatening me!"

Guo Dongshan immediately played.

As a member of the Zhongjun Society, it is normal for Guo Dongshan, who has become the representative of the interests of the emerging capitalist class, to change his mind temporarily.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao also reprimanded Yan Hong: "Yan Hong, they are the censors of the Censorate. Although they are your subordinates, they are also officials appointed by the court. You must not intimidate them!"

Zhu Houzhao then gave another direct order: "Listen to the decree, Guo Dongshan will be promoted to Left Vice-Chief Censor to replace Yan Hong! Cheng Cai will be promoted to Left Assistant Chief Censor! Tao Xie will be promoted to Right Assistant Chief Censor. Since the other censors are going to resign, you should take charge of the Metropolitan Censorate first, and there must be no mistakes!"

"I will obey your orders!"

Guo Dongshan and others replied.

Yan Hong was greatly surprised and thought to himself, was he going to be demoted from his position as Left Vice-Minister of the Imperial Censorate just like that?
……

While Yan Hong and other censors who expressed their resignation were still in shock, Zhu Houzhao asked the Ministry of Personnel: "Which officials in the Ministry of Personnel want to resign?"

"I, Lu Zhaoji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, would like to resign!" Lu Zhaoji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, stood up first.

At this time, Zhang Cong, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I will not resign! I will not be a minister who abandons the king!"

Seeing this, Lu Zhaoji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was furious. He thought that it was understandable that the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai did not resign, but Zhang Cong was so impatient to say that he would not resign. What did he mean by that? Did he wish for the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel to resign? Are you calling him a minister who abandoned his emperor?

"allow!"

Zhu Houzhao first said something to Lu Zhaoji, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and then ordered: "Listen to the order, Zhang Cong, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, will be transferred to the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel and continue to be in charge of the National School of Administration!"

Lu Zhaoji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was stunned. He did not expect that His Majesty would agree to his resignation so easily, and immediately promoted Zhang Cong to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. "Lun Wenxu, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, resigns!"

At this time, a civil servant still stood up and looked at Zhang Cong angrily. He was obviously unwilling that the collective resignation of officials in the Ministry of Personnel in protest was disrupted by Zhang Cong. He thought to himself that he would resign as a Langzhong of the Ministry of Selection and see how Your Majesty the Emperor would make the civil servant selection work of the Ministry of Personnel proceed smoothly.

But in fact, Zhang Cong was not the only one who disturbed the situation. At this time, Pan Tong stood up at Zhang Cong's signal and said, "I, Pan Tong, the head of the Ministry of Literature, will not refuse!"

"Very good. In that case, we will allow Lun Wenxu to resign from the post of Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel. Zhang Cai and Zhang Cong of the Ministry of Personnel will be promoted. Pan Tong, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, will be promoted to Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, responsible for the imperial civil service examinations, to avoid a large number of resignations from the Ministry of Personnel affecting the imperial court's examinations!"

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.

Lu Zhaoji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Lun Wenxu, the Doctor of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Division, were both stunned at this time. Lu Zhaoji hated Zhang Cong for coming out to disrupt the situation and taking his position, while Lun Wenxu hated Pan Tong for coming out to disrupt the situation and taking his position.

……

At this time, the Minister of Justice Gu Lin couldn't help but shook his head, but he still stood up stubbornly: "Your Majesty, I also resign!"

Zhu Houzhao nodded and asked Wang Hua, the chief minister of the cabinet: "Wang Qing, are you resigning?"

"Your Majesty, I will not decline!" Wang Hua replied.

Zhu Houzhao then asked the second assistant Liu Yu, who replied, "I will not decline!"

Zhu Houzhao asked Wang Qiong again, and Wang Qiong replied, "I will not refuse!"

"Very good. Since the three cabinet ministers are not willing to resign, the government can still function. I approve your request to resign as Minister of Justice Gu Lin. Wang Hua, convene a court meeting immediately to elect a new Minister of Justice!"

Zhu Houzhao spoke directly at this time.

Gu Lin opened his mouth in surprise, thinking, His Majesty won’t even try to keep him?

……

All of a sudden, many civil servants who wanted to threaten the emperor by collectively resigning found that it was impossible for them to control the emperor in this way, because some civil servants were unwilling to resign.

"I, Han Lian, the editor of the Imperial Academy, accept my resignation!"

"I, Ge Hao, a doctor in the Elementary School Department of the Ministry of Education, will not decline the offer!"

"I, Xiong Zhuo, a clerk in the envoy department, will not decline!"

At this time, some officials with little power also bravely stood up and expressed their inner thoughts. They did not have any political purpose, but felt that the court was now offering very generous treatment and there was no need to resign. After all, everyone is good at doing business, and not everyone is born into a wealthy family.

But at this time, when these low-level Beijing officials also came out to express their opinions, they completely angered the hundreds of civil servants who attempted to resign together and force the emperor to do so.

Yan Hong was the first to shout: "Enough!"

As he spoke, Yan Hong questioned all the civil servants who had expressed their willingness to resign: "Everyone! What are you doing? Are you willing to sit back and watch the East Factory surpass all other officials?!"

"We are all disciples of Confucius and Mencius, and we all read the books of sages. Why, why are you doing this! Are you going to betray the entire scholar community?"

Lu Zhaoji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, also shouted and questioned, appearing extremely distressed, because he had not expected that there were still so many officials unwilling to resign.

Zhu Houzhao had no intention of stopping them. Instead, he wanted to see what these civil servants would do when they became emotional, and whether they would resort to physical combat like they did during the Zhengtong period.

"How dare you! This is the imperial court! Not a teahouse or a wine shop. You are not allowed to shout and yell here. Don't think that you can do whatever you want just because you are the emperor's disciples. But since you asked me today, I will answer you. The reason why we don't resign is because we believe in His Majesty and believe that His Majesty will not let the eunuchs monopolize power. We trust His Majesty!"

"In addition, you cannot represent the scholars, let alone the public opinion. Mr. Hengqu once said, 'Establish a mind for the world, establish a destiny for the people, inherit the lost knowledge of the past sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity.' This is why we will not resign!"

After Zhang Cong finished speaking, he bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said, "I have violated the rules in front of you, Your Majesty. Please punish me!"

Yan Hong, Lu Zhaoji, Gu Lin and others were all stunned when they saw this.

At this moment, these more than one hundred officials did not know whether they should leave here or apologize to the Emperor like Zhang Cong did, but they knew that they had completely lost, not to the Emperor, but to their own people. They did not understand since when did some civil servants become so disunited?

"Dismiss the court! All those who resigned in the court today shall resign! I will grant them all! However, most of you are new ministers who have not made any contribution to the country and have not implemented any good policies for the people. Therefore, I cannot allow you to resign and still enjoy the treatment of officials!

The Ministry of Personnel and the Cabinet, listen to the decree: All those who have resigned from office and have served in the government for less than 20 years will be demoted to commoners. The court treats scholars as scholars in order to make them national heroes and seek the welfare of the Ming Dynasty. Since you are unwilling to work for the country, you can only become commoners. Whether you farm or do business, your wealth and poverty are all up to your own luck! "

After Zhu Houzhao said this, officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites stood up and said they would obey his orders.

They knew that His Majesty was taking revenge on the civil servants who had tried to force him to compromise, because after several major purges, there were not many officials who had stayed in the court for twenty years.

Now the Minister of Personnel Zhang Cai, the Vice Minister of Personnel Zhang Cong and Pan Tong of the Ministry of Literature have not resigned, and the three grand secretaries of the cabinet have not resigned either, so Zhu Houzhao's order can still be executed.

But these hundreds of civil servants regretted their decision. They did not expect that they would become commoners after resigning.

However, what they would never have expected is that even though Yan Hong, Lu Zhaoji, Gu Lin and other officials who were too presumptuous in the court have already resigned, they will still be held accountable when the time comes.

However, this time, the people who arrested them were not from the East Factory Inspectorate, but from the Ministry of Justice.

I wrote this chapter just to express the purpose of the internal division of the civil service group due to the changes in the social economy of the Ming Dynasty, which was divided into two classes: traditional gentry and emerging bureaucratic capitalists. It is also because of this that the bureaucratic capitalists who followed Emperor Zhu Houzhao in the reform of Zhu Houzhao and tasted the benefits of opening business, mining and colonial expansion will no longer be in the same mind with the traditional gentry, and the direct manifestation is that officials such as Wang Hua and Zhang Cong are unwilling to resign. But the author always feels that he has not written this flavor, but unfortunately his writing skills are limited. Book friends, please bear with it. I will try to write more vividly, more vividly and more deeply in the future. In addition, the East Factory will have a way to check and balance him, which I will write later.

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(End of this chapter)