Xie Ming

Chapter 412: Palace Discussion (Part )

Zhu Cilang suggested that Li Shichun should be persuaded to come up with a reform plan!

When I heard about it, I wanted to see the attitude and reaction of the cabinet chief Qiu Weizheng.

After hearing this, Prime Minister Qiu could no longer hold back and spoke out to stop it!
"Hehehe"

"Okay! Wow!"

"It's a good idea to say that strong medicine can cure a stubborn disease!" Qiu Weizheng added sarcastically.

"Can"

"Ho ho ho."

"Little do we know that the three-foot-thick ice is not formed in a day!"

"Eliminate bad government or punish corruption!"

"In every dynasty, as time goes by, we always need to come up with new ways!"

"But let's get back to the present situation!"

"I do feel that, although the new policy reform will benefit the long run, the current situation is not a good time!" He immediately raised his eyes and glanced at Li Shichun.

"The current situation is so serious!"

"To put it bluntly, it's not an exaggeration to say that we have internal and external troubles, right?!"

"After most of the northern border was lost, there is no worry of war in the south of the Yangtze River for the time being!"

"But the new dynasty has just been established, and people's hearts are already turbulent. Both the government and the opposition are still in the process of adjusting to each other."

"The war has started again on the northern front, and the soldiers are short of pay and food!"

"In the imperial court, there are so many things to deal with, and we have to work hard to deal with them and fill in the gaps. We are afraid that something will get out of hand and cause chaos!"

"If we start a major reform now, I'm afraid..."

Speaking of this critical juncture, Qiu Weizheng expressed worry in his words. He turned over and glanced at Zhu Cilang to guess what the emperor was thinking!
Seeing that Your Majesty remained silent and showed no impatience, he continued with the speech.

"Ugh"

"If the officials are in a state of panic and do nothing, they will be afraid of getting into trouble!"

"Minister Li, may I ask, what will you do then?!" He asked.

"Furthermore, once the rectification begins, the situation will get out of control, with powerful enemies outside approaching and the court at large ceasing to work, everyone will be in danger, and disaster will result!"

"Can you clean this butt, or should I?!" Follow up with a second question!

"This is a serious matter!"

"It's important to be careful!"

"To control the people, you must first control the officials!"

"After all, the entire cabinet, including all the members of our six ministries, is only a few people?!"

"They are all a pair of shoulders, carrying a head!"

"No one has three heads and six arms!"

"When things really need to be done, don't the subordinates at the lower levels have to do it and maintain it?!"

"To implement any reforms at this critical moment is like adding fuel to the fire!"

"It's definitely not as if the words are spoken with such ease!"

Qiu Weizheng spoke slowly and calmly, seemingly exhorting and advising, but in fact he was scheming and had a hidden agenda!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang also understood his intention and could not help but try to compromise and set the tone to push the situation forward.

"cough cough"

"Haha, that's right! That's right!"

"Mr. Prime Minister, you are loyal to the country. This is what a mature and wise man should say about state affairs!" First, he tried to appease him.

"what"

"Old..., this old minister is terrified!"

"Your Majesty." Qiu Weizheng was old and had sharp eyes. Seeing the situation, he even wanted to lay the groundwork with a few more words!

Unexpectedly, Zhu Cilang just waved his hand to interrupt his actions!

"hehe."

"Not urgent!"

"It's not that urgent right now."

"Li Shichun, this strong medicine has to be swallowed!"

"It can save lives, but if you're not careful, it can kill someone, and that's not uncommon!"

"In my opinion, you might as well draft some reform proposals first!"

"If it doesn't affect the overall situation, maybe we can try it once or twice, that's fine!"

Zhu Cilang hurriedly made a decision and strongly advocated that Li Shichun promote new reform policies!
Seeing that the situation could no longer be changed, Qiu Weizheng had no choice but to swallow his words and lead the cabinet members to pay their respects.

"Yes Yes!"

"Our emperor is wise!" The cabinet members knelt again. Li Shichun, along with Dechou and Ma's party, were each given fifty lashes of the cane. It was a miserable end!
Afterwards, when everyone stood up, Zhu Cilang hurriedly asked again, asking about the cabinet's deputy assistant Ni Yuanlu.

"Uh, Mr. Ni, why don't you speak up?!"

"What ideas do you have? Let's discuss them together!" Zhu pointed out.

Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu had no choice but to respond.

"Uh, yes! Yes!" After bowing, Ni Yuanlu stood up and began to speak.

"This, haha, I am just an old official listening quietly from the sidelines!"

“It’s quite beneficial!”

"Mr. Qiu is loyal to his country and always considers the overall situation. I admire him deeply!"

"Well, as for the issue of increasing the tax on new recruits?"

"Hey, I think it's better to do half of it first!"

Ni Yuanlu paused, and deliberately came up with this new statement. He glanced at Qiu Weizheng and the emperor's expressions, and left the rest to say!
"Oh?"

"What do you mean?" Zhu Cilang was the first to respond, and Qiu Weizheng used stillness to control movement.

"Ho ho ho."

"Actually, there's nothing new about it!"

"In my opinion, this tax increase policy does increase the burden on the people's livelihood!"

"But, the treasury is empty right now. We have to send troops to the north, and we need to keep the supply flowing at all times!"

"This is really a waste of money!"

"In order to solve the problem of temporary financial shortage and to ensure the overall stability of the southern border, why not first select one or two wealthy prefectures and cities as a pilot for the new tax!"

"This way, first, we can increase tax revenue and ease public sentiment. The situation in each state and prefecture can be controlled and will not affect the entire country!"

"Secondly, with the scope fixed, the possibility of inciting chaos will be much smaller!" Ni Yuanlu explained.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang became thoughtful and decided not to continue the conversation, waiting for Qiu Weizheng to respond.

"Hehehe"

"Ruyu, Ruyu!"

"You're just like a paperhanger, always trying to smooth things over!"

Seeing the situation, Qiu Weizheng didn't want to refute it anymore. He took a breath, smiled, and said something to ease the atmosphere for His Majesty to see.

"Cough cough."

"Haha, it's just as Mr. Qiu said, it's indeed so!"

"well!"

"Lord Ni, don't stop, just continue!" Zhu Cilang smiled and said to Ni Yuanlu.

"Haha, yes!" Ni Yuanlu responded.

"Uh"

"Then let's talk about Li Shichun's recent advice to punish the rich merchants and gentry according to their crimes."

"Haha, I, this old minister, also think that it is not impossible to do it!"

"This method of confiscating the wealth of the rich is easy to do!"

"The pros and cons are both obvious."

"In the short term, it can solve the problem that we are missing a while ago, okay!"

"But it can't last long, it's a one-time deal!"

"If we do too much, the consequences will be even worse and the country will be in turmoil!"

Ni Yuanlu paused here again, and Li Shichun acquiesced without further comment.

Then, Ni continued talking.

"As for the new reform policy that has just been introduced."

"Hehehe"

"Your Majesty has just said this clearly, and it is the right thing to do!"

"You should know that our Ming Dynasty has been in existence for more than 270 years, starting from the reign of our great ancestor, Hongwu, and ending with the reign of our great sage, Kaiyuan and Hongguang!"

"The court has been plagued by many old rules and regulations, and the government offices are so old that they are difficult to change. They are no longer able to function as they used to, and the salaries are wasted, and greed is rampant. They have become a dangerous tumor!"

"The new dynasty has been established, and Your Majesty is a young emperor, brave and ambitious!"

"So, we should promote the new and get rid of the old, reform bad policies and fight corruption in a timely manner!"

"This is a necessary measure!"

"Throughout the dynasties, whenever a ruler of a revival came, innovation was the only way out!"

"This is also the right path that our Ming Dynasty must take to be reborn from the ashes!"

(End of this chapter)