Zhu Di took Zhu Gaochi's question book and held it in his hand. While looking at it, he said casually: "What did the boss say? Do you think it is feasible?"
Xu Jingchang said: "Your Majesty, I can't say this. The question lies here. Whether to give medicine to treat the disease or not is up to Your Majesty to decide."
Zhu Di hummed: "What do you call this? How can you not take medicine when you are sick?"
Xu Jingchang said quietly: "It's a disease that must be treated, and it's a medicine that contains three parts of poison!"
Zhu Di was at a loss for words again. Xu Jingchang seemed to have said nonsense, can a disease not be cured? The country has a problem, how can it not be solved? But no one is born a miracle doctor. Three doses of medicine can guarantee a cure and the disease will be cured.
If the wrong medicine is prescribed, the patient will die if he takes it.
If the way of governing the country is wrong, the country will be ruined.
Don't take the porcelain job without that diamond.
If you can't make it better, it's best not to mess around.
However, Zhu Di did not believe in evil. He looked at the ministers and said to Lu Zhen, the Minister of Punishment: "The prince said that there will be additional case judges who will be responsible for local cases and redress the grievances of the people. What do you think?"
Lu Zhen's expression suddenly changed, and he didn't know what to say.
He told Xu Jingchang that he did not agree to conduct assessments on officials with criminal titles... The reason was simple. If this was done, it would be applicable locally and would inevitably be extended to the imperial court, and then no one in the Ministry of Punishment could escape.
If he, the Minister of Justice, failed to pass the exam, he would be in great embarrassment.
So even if he is from the prince, he cannot agree.
However, Xu Jingchang went too far. He laid out the truth about Jiangxi in advance, layer by layer. If he really wanted to pursue it, he wouldn't even think about escaping unscathed. He might even end up with his head missing.
This is the great thing about Xu Jingchang. Once he sat in the position of General Secretary, he was able to make full use of this position and dominate the process of discussions.
For example, in this case, if we directly discuss Zhu Gaochi's suggestions regarding Jiangxi, we will face collective opposition from the ministers.
But the current situation makes them wary and worried. If they want to stop it, they will be responsible for the bad things in Jiangxi. But the question is who has eighty-one heads?
"Your Majesty, the number of cases accumulated in the local area is astonishing. Although there is a prosecutor's office, there are still some oversights. I am also thinking hard and don't know what to do... If His Highness the Crown Prince's plan is feasible, I will fully support it."
Obviously, Lu Zhen no longer had the courage to object.
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "Lv Shangshu, the situation is like this. You said that there is an inspection department in the local area, but in prefectures and counties, these are all handled by one official. At most, the county magistrate and the chief registrar can take care of them...
After all, it all depends on the chief officer. However, most of the chief officers came from the imperial examination and did not pass the criminal title, so they can only rely on the help of their masters. The masters are also informal officials, so there are no need to elaborate on the disadvantages. His Highness the Crown Prince advocates examinations.
I just want to hand over the important matter of criminal charges to a responsible official. The Ministry of Punishment, the Procuratorate and Envoys Department, including the Supervisory Office and the General Affairs Department, we all have the power to access the case files, so that we can investigate the rights and wrongs of the case, so that it will not be unclear."
Xu Jingchang's eloquent talk has sealed off any possibility. Lu Zhen wanted to refute, but there was no way to refute.
"Dingguo Gong is a bright mirror. In this case, the Ministry of Punishment has nothing to do with it."
"Wait!" Xu Jingchang stopped him, "Lv Shangshu, please don't be busy... Actually, I noticed that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that he visited the countryside and found that no matter how outrageous the statement, some people believe it. To sum up,
The power of the imperial court did not reach the countryside at all, the imperial power did not extend to the counties, and the gentry controlled all directions. As a result, even if there were good policies and for the sake of the people, they could not be implemented at all. When it comes to criminal names, it is also a cliché that there are not enough officials in the court.
, and in order to govern the country with benevolence and unwilling to commit mass killings, many civil affairs were handed over to large households. This is the so-called patriarchal governance."
Lu Zhen endured the pain in his head and had to nod his head, "What Duke Dingguo said is absolutely true. What is the most urgent task? What should we do?"
Xu Jingchang said: "This is what I think. The selection of people for the exam cannot be changed. This is a good method. The question is how to use these people after the exam."
Zhu Di said: "Xu Jingchang, do you have any good ideas?"
"Your Majesty, I wish that all officials who pass the criminal title examination and are familiar with the laws of the Ming Dynasty will be granted the status of county magistrate. However, this county magistrate will not work in the county government. Instead, he will go to every village to solve problems for the people.
If there is any dispute, settle it in the fields. After three years, if you can visit every village and town and handle civil disputes well, you will be promoted to county magistrate immediately, or to the inspector general. There must be a rule in the future.
More than 70% of the officials of the Ministry of Punishment and the officials of the Inspectorate and Envoys Department must have local experience. And those with outstanding performance can also be promoted to chief officials, and the court will not hesitate to promote them."
"good!"
Hearing this, Zhu Di couldn't help but clapped his hands.
This method is really great.
The criminal title examination is carried out. After passing the examination, he will go to the local area to work as a case judge for three years. He will be promoted and promoted according to his political performance, and officials will be replaced from bottom to top.
And doing so will not increase administrative expenses much.
The most important thing is that the county magistrate's criminal master can be omitted, and the judicial power is from top to bottom, like an arm and a finger.
The essence of this is to let officials go to the countryside and among the people.
The imperial court is no longer high in the sky and the emperor is far away, and the officials are no longer superior lords. They go to the people to resolve cases beside the people, explain the laws to the people, and understand the laws of the Ming Dynasty.
The impact this can have cannot be overestimated.
"Dong Guo, you have been careful this time."
Zhu Di couldn't help but praise, and Xu Jingchang smiled modestly, "Your Majesty, this is just an arm's length talk on paper. It's really not easy for Your Highness to go to the people to visit people in person. I thought that His Highness the Crown Prince can go there, but others are more noble than His Highness the Crown Prince? This started from the Crown Prince, and it's even more important.
It was formed by the Ministry of Punishment. Now the burden is all on Lu Shangshu."
Zhu Di set his sights on Lu Zhen. At this time, the minister could not get up or get down.
Again, he was unwilling to follow Xu Jingchang's ideas, but to be fair, Xu Jingchang's method was indeed feasible.
Not to mention anything else, it would be enough for 3,000 imperial students and 1,000 people from official schools in various places to pass the criminal examination and serve as local trial officers.
These people need to go deep into the countryside, solve problems for the people, and preach laws. This can offset the influence of the wealthy gentry and regain control of the place.
Lu Zhen asked himself, if he were Zhu Di, his heart would be pounding, and he would give it a try no matter what the resistance was.
"Your Majesty, I remember that when the imperial court opened Enke, it gave many masters the opportunity to officially become officials. Everyone knew about the emperor's favor and the people were grateful." Lu Zhen said: "This time, the criminal title examination is taken separately.
Come out or merge with Enke?"
Lu Zhen also played a trick, it was better to put it in Enke. This is not just a matter of the Ministry of Punishment. If it happens, everyone will suffer together.
When the matter came to this point, Huang Guan, the Minister of Rites, finally stood up.
There was no reason why he wouldn't stand up.
My son-in-law is truly remarkable. With his own strength, he can defeat the courtiers with ease. Apart from him, there is no other.
In this section just now, the courtiers were hung up and beaten directly, which can be called a classic.
Moreover, when announcing the plan, Xu Jingchang also pushed the Ministry of Justice to the front and asked Lu Zhen to charge into the battle for him. This approach was well-founded and easy to do.
Even he can't learn three points.
But at this moment, when the imperial examination matter was mentioned, he also had a chance to speak.
"Your Majesty, the so-called Enke can only be obtained by the emperor's favor. Since the last Enke, it has been delayed for many days. I think it is better to change the strategy of the imperial examination. In addition to the Jinshi subject, we should also restore subjects such as criminal names.
, it’s not a bad idea to imitate the Tang system.”
Zhu Di smiled and nodded, "This is a good idea, but if we have to change the imperial examination, will it have too much impact and make it inconvenient to handle?"
Huang Guandao: "That's not possible. What's more, the benefits are in the court, and the ministers will not hesitate to do so."
Zhu Di was overjoyed and said, "Okay, very good. Dear ministers, if you are just like Huang Shangshu and have the courage to do things, why should I be so worried and unwilling to eat!"
What else can anyone say? Just when the ministers were once again preparing to taste the fruits of failure, Xu Jingchang said again: "Your Majesty, after the decree is implemented and the court manages the local area, we must work hard on finance and taxation. Jiangxi has lost so many businesses.
Do we need to find a way to recover the tax?"
The ball suddenly fell to Xia Yuanji's feet, and Lao Xia was really frightened.
In fact, Lu Zhen's problem is not that big of a deal, the real fatal problem is on his side.
Jiangxi's tax arrears, too much smuggling, loss of business tax, and officials' misappropriation of disaster relief grain, annexation of land, and personal enrichment... Any of these things could land him, the Minister of Household Affairs, in jail.
But Xu Jingchang did not continue the pursuit, but said that the situation in Jiangxi was special. Zhu Di was not in a hurry to take action on the Ministry of Household Affairs.
This means that the Ministry of Accounts must be given a chance.
They also all know that if they blindly replaced Xia Yuanji, the successor may not be able to do it, and that is not the core of the problem.
"Your Majesty, I believe that corresponding officials should be assigned to the governors of each tax district. All inland waterways should be monitored by personnel. Any smuggling and tax evasion will be severely punished once discovered!"
Xu Jingchang immediately said: "Xia Shangshu, finance and taxation are the lifeblood of a country, and there is no room for sloppiness. I wonder if Xia Shangshu has any improvement methods that can restrain all officials and prevent them from fooling the court and deceiving His Majesty?"
Xu Jingchang really did not neglect at all, Ding is Ding, Mao is Mao.
Lao Xia could only say: "What Duke Dingguo said is absolutely true. Let me see it this way. The taxation-related part must not only be included in the evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel, but also the Ministry of Punishment must be asked to formulate corresponding laws."
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "Xia Shangshu is really wise. In the past, officials used frivolous corvees and low taxes, cherished the people's power, accumulated tax debts, and fooled the court. If there are such officials again in the future, I am afraid they will be punished according to the law?"
Xia Yuanji paused and said with a smile: "I'm afraid I have to ask Jian Shangshu about this matter."
Jian Yi couldn't run away, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, the officials in Jiangxi are really incompetent. They have failed the holy grace and failed the people. As I wish, I want to order the governor Hu Yan to investigate thoroughly, remove him from office, send him to the army and behead him."
, can’t be vague.”
Zhu Di was satisfied, and Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "Now that everyone has clear suggestions, I will submit the suggestions to the General Affairs Department later and ask His Majesty for approval, and then they can be enacted."
