My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 188 Convincing Jian Yi
Ouyang Yun was very dissatisfied with the Ming Daily's disclosure of officials' corruption, and he found it even more incomprehensible that the Minister of Revenue remained indifferent.

If the Ming Daily is allowed to continue operating in this way, I am afraid that the people will have no good feelings towards the officials at all, and then how will they fool the people?

There are also policies published above, including the allocation of disaster relief grain and money. If the people see them and find that there is not so much grain, they will tear up all the officials below. At that time, they will not blame the emperor, but only the local officials.

If this is the case, who among the local officials would dare to be corrupt? But if there is no corruption, who among us would have money to spend? Why is it that so much money has passed through our hands, but we dare not spend a penny for ourselves?
Ouyang Yun stood up and said, "No, I have to go find the Shangshu!"

After saying that, he left quickly.

At this moment, the Minister of Personnel Jian Yi was also worried. The Minister of Personnel was the highest-ranking minister in the dynasty, in charge of officials, commonly known as Taizai.

The reason why Jian Yi was worried was that the Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji and the Minister of War Jin Zhong were both in his office.

Jian Yi knew how harmful the Ming Daily was to officials, but he did not intend to oppose it. However, Xia Yuanji and the others were sitting here, asking him to oppose it, and Jian Yi did not want to do it.

As the Minister of Personnel, he managed the officials of the Ming Dynasty. How could he not know the character of the officials below him? There were more and more corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty, so many that he was very careful when promoting people. Sometimes, after investigating a list of four or five candidates, he found that none of them was clean. Jian Yi was exhausted and had to select people again.

Now that the two of them have come to me and asked me to oppose them, I really don't want to do that.

After all, he had served in the Ministry of Personnel during the reign of Emperor Taizu, and Jian Yi had never thought of challenging, competing for, or even planning anything to be detrimental to the emperor's authority.

"Brother Yizhi, this matter can no longer be delayed. I hope Brother Yizhi can join us in discussing this matter with His Majesty again." Xia Yuanji bowed to Jian Yi, whose courtesy name was Yizhi.

Jian Yi stroked his beard, shook his head and said, "I will not object to this matter. On the contrary, I think the Ming Daily is very good. It can let the people know the major events in the world and can also let the people distinguish between loyalty and treachery. Brother Wei Zhe, you are the Minister of Revenue. How much of the money and grain from the Ministry of Revenue will be used where it should be used after it reaches the lower levels? Also, how much of the money and grain sent by the local governments accounts for the money and grain collected by the local governments? I wonder if Brother Wei Zhe knows this?"

Weizhe is Xia Yuanji's courtesy name.

Xia Yuanji looked at Jian Yi with a frown.

Jian Yi said with a wry smile: "At the end of the 31st year of Hongwu, or to be exact, since the 28th year of Hongwu, it has become increasingly difficult for me to select officials. I have served in the Ministry of Personnel for many years. I used to be the Minister of Personnel. Most of the official selections were done by me. However, in recent years, I was optimistic about the officials I was going to recommend to Your Majesty, but when I secretly checked, I found a big problem.

There are also some that I have not investigated thoroughly, but I sent them to His Majesty. His Majesty directly sent the memorial back and asked me to re-elect. The affairs of the Ministry of Personnel are becoming more and more difficult to handle. Now I dare not nominate a county magistrate rashly. I am really afraid that they will be corrupt and His Majesty will blame me. "'

Jin Zhong immediately smiled and said, "It's not that serious, is it? As you said, there are no honest officials in the Ming Dynasty? The officials below may be a little dirty, but they are also forced to do so. If you say that they are really guilty of heinous crimes, I don't believe it. But now, the Ming Daily has published such an article. How will the people view us?
Do we have to oppose the people? If we oppose them, how can we govern the people? Wouldn't the people be unruly by then? Therefore, we must oppose this matter.

Your Majesty has previously mentioned a trial run, and has also said that it will be temporarily handed over to the East Palace. If our opposition fails, then let the Ming Daily be placed under the Ministry of Rites, so that we can distinguish those that need to be shown to the people and those that are not.

Now I heard that the writers of Ming Daily were all selected from the Imperial College, and most of them were children of military generals. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince specially selected them, and the purpose is naturally self-evident.

There are also rumors that His Majesty has gone to see Xu Qin and is preparing for a war. The Ministry of Revenue has no money now, so His Majesty is going to ask the Bureau of Trade to pay for the war.

If we fight another war, no matter what, the Ministry of Revenue will still need to plan the money and food, and the people will suffer. But once we win, Your Majesty will lavishly reward the meritorious officials, which will not only increase the expenses of the court, but also the power of the military heroes will become stronger and stronger, and it will be even more difficult to control at that time."

Xia Yuanji remained silent. After talking with Xu Qin last time, he was also thinking about what had happened in recent years, including the low salaries of officials. Why not solve the problem fundamentally, but let those officials be corrupt? But now he is the Minister of Revenue, and sometimes he has to stand up. But if he is asked to refute Jian Yi, Xia Yuanji will not refute it.

Xia Yuanji knew Jian Yi. Jian Yi did not object, so he naturally had his considerations. Jian Yi was a very smart man, but also timid and cautious. He was upright in doing things and always put his job first. Jian Yi seldom participated in other matters, and would not go even if he was invited. This was why Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong came to the Ministry of Personnel to visit him today.

After listening to Jin Zhong's words, Jian Yi stroked his beard for a moment and said with a smile: "The Tatars have always been a threat to the north of our Great Ming Dynasty, and Taizu also regarded them as a serious threat. In recent years, the Tatars have not only not restrained themselves, but have even intensified their efforts. It is understandable that Your Majesty wants to launch a war of conquest against the Tatars.

Of course, I also know that the Ministry of Revenue has no money, but Your Majesty did not ask for money from the Ministry of Revenue immediately, but asked for money from the Earl of Haozhou, which shows that Your Majesty still understands the Ministry of Revenue. As for what you said, it will be difficult to govern after the people know about those corrupt officials. I don’t agree with it. I can’t stand those corrupt officials bullying the people, and I can’t stand the rich people enjoying wine and meat while the poor people are freezing to death on the road.

But how many people in my Ming Dynasty have died of freezing, starvation, and disease over the years? Is it because my Ming Dynasty does not have enough food? Is it because my Ming Dynasty did not provide disaster relief? Is it because my Ming Dynasty did not repair river embankments? Why are there still so many floods? Why are there still so many people fleeing to various places because of drought? Exchanging children for food?

Brother Wei Zhe, you need to think about this matter. Do you really want to oppose the Daming Daily? Of course, I know that the Daming Daily is disadvantageous to us, but it is beneficial to the people and officials. The only reason they oppose it is because it cuts off the financial resources of many officials. I understand this, but if you want me to oppose it, I will not do it. "

"This! Prime Minister, if you don't object, then we will object. His Majesty may not listen to us. Besides, the Daming Daily has already been published. If we don't stop it in time, it will be out of control." Jin Zhong said anxiously looking at Jian Yi.

Xia Yuanji still didn't say anything, just thinking about Jian Yi's words and Xu Qin's words at the same time.

Jian Yi looked at Xia Yuanji. As for Jin Zhong, Jian Yi only gave respect but did not take his words seriously.

"Xu Qin said before that through the Trade Bureau, we can increase the salaries of our officials, reduce official corruption, and increase the punishment of corrupt officials. If so, what do you think?" Xia Yuanji looked at Jian Yi and asked.

"Oh, tell me in detail!" Jian Yi sat down and looked at Xia Yuanji with great interest.

Xia Yuanji sat there and told Jian Yi everything Xu Qin had said. Jian Yi kept stroking his beard and thinking.

After Xia Yuanji finished speaking, he stared at Jian Yi.

"The Earl of Haozhou is truly a talented person!" Jian Yi said admiringly.

"Oh?" Xia Yuanji looked at him immediately.

"It is true that we are not as good as him. What we want is to protect those officials, but this cannot solve the fundamental problem. If we want to solve the problem, we must solve it from the root and increase their salaries. In this way, if they are still corrupt, we can kill them. We don't need to protect them or pity them. If this is feasible, I agree." Jian Yi sat there, stroking his beard and said.

"So, I have never objected to the Trade Bureau's affairs. In fact, I also hope that they can succeed. Although we want to lift the maritime ban, we are determined not to do so. In addition, the ancestral system is still there. No matter how we suggest, His Majesty will say that the ancestral system is there, and we can do nothing about it. However, the establishment of a trade bureau can also provide the court with more sources of income and allow those workshop owners to make money.

But I am still a little worried about the Ming Daily. I am afraid that it will get out of control and it will be very disadvantageous to us ministers. We cannot ignore public opinion. Moreover, Prime Minister, think about it, His Majesty controls the military power and public opinion, and the Trade Bureau gets him money. Have you ever considered that His Majesty can kill us civil officials whenever he wants, and after that, he can even slander us in the Ming Daily without the people knowing.

In the past, we controlled public opinion, but now Your Majesty controls public opinion.

If the Ming Daily was under the control of the Ministry of Rites, then of course there would be no problem, but it is not now." Xia Yuanji tried to persuade Jian Yi again.

Jian Yi stroked his beard, still thinking about this matter.

"I am not against the Daming Daily. It has already been run. It is difficult to stop it. But I hope that the Daming Daily needs to be under the supervision of the Ministry of Rites, or our Ministry of Rites also needs to send officials there. Only in this way can we ensure that we do not lose control over public opinion." Xia Yuanji went straight to the point.

"Yeah!" Jian Yi nodded at this time, agreeing with Xia Yuanji's words.

"So we ask the Prime Minister to join us in submitting a memorial." Xia Yuanji said to Jian Yi.

"I don't oppose the establishment of the Ming Daily. I just suggest that it can be under the supervision of the Ministry of Rites!" Jian Yi stared at Xia Yuanji and said. Xia Yuanji nodded, agreeing with Jian Yi.

(End of this chapter)