Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 93: The Cabinet? The Imperial Household Department? Don’t even think about deceiving me
Then he issued several decrees in succession.

Wang Zhi was promoted to the position of Chief Minister of the Cabinet and Prince Taibao.

Shang Lu was promoted to Grand Secretary of Jinshen Palace.

Prince Qing was in charge of the Central Army Commandery and concurrently supervised the twelve battalions.

Li Xian was promoted to Minister of Personnel.

……

The imperial edicts were issued one after another, not only promoting some of his own people, but also taking care of the officials of the Queen Mother's party. The first morning court of his personal rule passed just like this, and everyone was happy.

After court, Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Qizhen convened the cabinet and the six ministers to discuss the matter.

There were still thunder and lightning outside the palace, and heavy rain. When the ministers entered the palace, their court robes were soaked, and they looked quite embarrassed. Zhu Qizhen glanced around and sighed: "I have just taken power, and the problem has come. This is an urgent report from Henan, which is 600 miles away. The Yellow River has burst three times, and hundreds of thousands of people have suffered."

He asked the eunuch Jin Ying to pass the memorial to the ministers for review. After reading it, Shang Lu said anxiously: "Your Majesty, I suggest that grain be immediately transferred from neighboring provinces to the disaster area, and the Ministry of Revenue should immediately allocate funds to repair the river embankment and provide disaster relief."

"Sir Shang." Xu Youzhen, the Minister of Revenue, bowed. "Neighboring provinces have no grain to transfer, and the Ministry of Revenue has almost no money to allocate. The autumn harvest has not yet arrived, and the tax grain has not yet come in. The court is tightening its belt to make ends meet."

"What?" Shang Lu was anxious, "What do you do in the Ministry of Revenue?"

Xu Youzhen smiled bitterly and spread his hands: "Sir Shang, how long have I taken over the Ministry of Revenue? When I took over, it was already a mess, and I have been trying my best to maintain it during this period."

"This is indeed not Lord Xu's fault." Zhu Qizhen laughed at himself, "Blame me! This is a punishment from heaven. I just took power and I'm facing a situation of no money, no food, and a disaster."

Xu Youzhen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, you are the new ruler, so this is not your fault. However, now is not the time to discuss this. The Ministry of Revenue can only allocate 400,000 taels of silver at most, and according to the disaster situation, we are short of at least 3 million taels of silver for disaster relief."

The ministers gasped. Where could they find three million taels? Everyone's eyes fell on the emperor.

Zhu Qizhen pondered for a moment and ordered:

"The Ministry of Revenue will first allocate 400,000 taels to buy grain from wealthy households in the capital and quickly transport it to the disaster area to relieve the urgent need. For the remaining money, an imperial envoy will be sent to Jiangnan to raise funds to purchase grain."

"Xu Youzhen, you are the Minister of Revenue, so you should go to Jiangnan to raise funds to buy grain."

The ministers were secretly shocked that His Majesty handled government affairs very decisively.

……

Kunning Palace.

The Empress Dowager also held a small court meeting, and those who came to pay her respects included Prince of Qin Zhu Qiyu, Duke of Cheng Zhu Yi, New Marquis of Huichang Sun Lian, and Minister of Justice Yu Shiyue.

The Queen Mother said calmly, "I must avoid suspicion in the future, so as to avoid being criticized for not wanting to give up power. From now on, if there is no urgent matter, you don't need to come to my Kunning Palace so often."

Duke Cheng bowed and smiled: "Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. Even if you are no longer ruling the country from behind the curtain, we will still follow your lead. Ruling the country from behind the curtain is just an empty title."

The Queen Mother waved her hand and said, "Your Majesty has stopped using my seal. Well, I will just focus on growing flowers and plants from now on. If you have any business, you can consult with the King of Qing."

The meaning of this statement is very clear; Prince Ying represents the Queen Mother's intention.

Everyone was secretly shocked when they heard this. After all, Prince Qing had been on the side of His Majesty before, and it was he who first impeached the Queen Mother that led to the current situation.

The Queen Mother said in a deep voice: "This palace and the King of Qing have formed an alliance. From now on, you all must obey the orders of the King of Qing. Do you understand?"

Duke Chengguo, Marquis Huichang and others looked at each other and nodded, "We will obey the Queen Mother's order." Prince Qing smiled and said, "Everyone, I have gained the Queen Mother's trust. I also hope that you will trust me. There is still a long way to go."

He was secretly delighted that everything was going as Mr. Tung had expected.

Coming out of Kunning Palace, Prince Qing and Duke Cheng walked side by side on the imperial road. Prince Qing spread his hands and smiled: "Duke, why are you still so stern? From now on, we are on the same boat."

"Your Highness, how did you convince the Queen Mother?" asked Duke Chengguo.

"Some things will become clear to you when the time comes." Zhu Qiyu frowned, "I heard that His Majesty sent Xu Youzhen as an imperial envoy to Yangzhou to raise grain and money. Duke Cheng, do you have some connections in Yangzhou?"

Duke Chengguo looked alert: "What do you want to do?"

Zhu Qiyu came closer and lowered his voice, "Of course we don't want Xu Youzhen to succeed. They have done everything perfectly, doesn't it make us look useless?"

Duke Chengguo sneered, "I do have some friends in Yangzhou."

……

Wenhua Hall.

The cabinet has been working here recently, and all memorials from the court are sent here first.

After receiving the memorials from their subjects, the cabinet ministers would write down their own comments on the small slips and then submit them to the emperor for review. These comments would eventually need to be approved by the emperor.

Starting from Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, in order to handle the heavy government affairs, he established the "Inner School" for eunuchs to study, thus the position of the eunuch who held the pen was born. The duty of the eunuch who held the pen was to review the memorials on behalf of the emperor according to the cabinet's draft, and this process was called "pihong".

Later, this practice gradually became a custom, allowing the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department to exercise the emperor's decision-making power when the emperor was inactive.

The eunuchs in charge of the seal and pen of the Silijian were responsible for handling internal and external memorials and imperial documents, and approving the documents in accordance with the cabinet's proposals. Their nominal authority was to approve the cabinet's proposals, but in reality, their authority could be expanded indefinitely, and sometimes they could even influence or even manipulate the handling of political affairs.

The cabinet ministers proposed their opinions through ballots, and the Silijian was responsible for approving these opinions and making them official edicts. In this process, the cabinet and the Silijian checked and controlled each other.

Therefore, the key to the power struggle between the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department still lies with the emperor.

Zhu Qizhen thought that he was not a model worker and could not be compared with Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. Therefore, he did not want to change and continued this system. Let's see if it can be changed in the future.

"Cough... cough... cough..." Wang Zhi was coughing while reading the memorial.

"Someone, bring a cup of hot milk to Lord Wang." Zhu Qizhen looked at Wang Zhi and said, "Lord, I was not thoughtful enough to let you run around in such heavy rain."

Wang Zhi shook his head and sighed: "Your Majesty, I am old. It is time for me to retire and return home..."

"Mr. Lord, why are you bringing this up again?" Zhu Qizhen had a helpless expression.

"Your Majesty, I am speaking from the heart." Wang Zhi said seriously, "Your Majesty, you have just taken power. I will support you again, but Your Majesty, you need to consider this."

Zhu Qizhen looked at Wang Zhi with a head full of white hair, and his heart suddenly ached.

This old man is over seventy years old, and he is still working hard. Since the Battle of Tumu, if there was no old minister like him in charge of the cabinet, it would definitely be more chaotic.

"Lord, please let the people below handle the matter." Zhu Qizhen said sincerely, "Even if you sit in the cabinet every day and drink tea, you will be the pillar of the Ming Dynasty."

Wang Zhi laughed out loud. The emperor's words were very heartwarming.

(End of this chapter)