"Extend your arm and let sir show it to you," Li Qing said.
Hongxiu stretched out her hand obediently.
Li Qing put his hand on her wrist and said, "If you feel uncomfortable in the future, you must tell me as soon as possible."
"I remember." Hong Xiu nodded.
After half a quarter of an hour, Li Qing withdrew his hand and let out a long breath. It was really just an ordinary cold.
But if you encounter a quack doctor, it is hard to say if it takes ten days and a half.
"Don't take the medicine you took. Sir, I will prepare it for you again." Li Qing glanced at Lianxiang and Wanling again, "No matter who you are, you must tell Sir as soon as possible when you are sick!"
Li Qing said seriously: "Do you remember?"
"Remember sir."
"Yes." Li Qing's face softened, "You are not my husband's burden. You are his lover, wife, and spiritual sustenance. You are all fine."
"I remember." The three girls nodded obediently, tears welling up in their eyes.
Li Qing blamed himself very much. With Xiaopang's departure, he had been in a daze these days and ignored them. Otherwise, the red sleeve disease would not have been discovered for two days.
I must pay more attention to them in the future... Li Qing secretly warned: They are not young anymore, even the youngest Wan Ling is 59, Lianxiang Hongxiu is several years older than Wan Ling, alas... time flies so fast.
~
After Li Qing took the medicine, he was thinking about his thoughts while boiling the medicine.
He has been busy these years. Although he is very lazy, he still neglects them. Just going out from time to time takes several months or even half a year.
There is not much company for them.
If it happens again in the future, he is really afraid that when he goes out and comes back, they will be gone.
Li Qing sighed softly: "Two years, at most two years, after the court situation is stabilized, I will take them to Nanjing and accompany them for the last period of time."
He himself was tired and needed rest.
…
Hongxiu's illness was not serious and she fully recovered after taking a few doses of medicine.
Li Qing was no longer lazy. Although he did not go to the morning court, he still did not miss the things he should do. He never missed the afternoon court.
The days passed day by day, and in a blink of an eye, spring has arrived.
Spring is warm and the flowers are blooming. The flowers are red and the willows are green, and the eyes are full of vitality. The same is true for the Ming Dynasty.
According to statistics, more than 3 million acres of cultivated land were reclaimed in Liaodong. Counting other provinces, the additional cultivated land in the Ming Dynasty after the migration of people totaled tens of millions of acres.
Of course, as people are flocking to wasteland that is easy to cultivate, the subsequent growth of cultivated land will definitely slow down, but this is already better than expected.
The opening up of the sea was also in full swing. The wealthy private gentry could not compete with the imperial court, and they could not go far to the West. Trade was done in countries close to the Ming Dynasty, such as Japan, Ryukyu, Korea, Luzon, and Manchuria.
Even so, they also made a lot of money.
At the same time, it also brought high taxes to the court. The benefits from the sea were so great that the commercial tax in just one quarter was as much as two-fifths of the Ming Dynasty's annual tax in previous years.
The financial strain caused by the migration of people from the south to the north was greatly alleviated. Xia Yuanji had a smile on his face and was full of spring breeze all day long.
On this day, Zhu Zhanji summoned Li Qing alone.
"Uncle Qing, I have already thought out the restructuring strategy. Please listen to see if there is anything wrong with it."
"Well, you say."
"Give the cabinet authority." Zhu Zhanji said, "Over the years, the cabinet has accumulated a lot of experience and is fully capable of taking charge of its own affairs. Now with the opening of the sea and the migration of people, government affairs are more arduous than before."
He smiled bitterly and said, "Even if I don't sleep for twelve hours a day, I still won't be able to stay busy."
"This is reasonable, but..." Li Qing frowned and said, "I still say what I said, if you want to delegate power, you must first be powerful. How are you going to suppress it?"
Zhu Zhanji said: "Establish an internal study hall, teach eunuchs how to read, and set up a ceremonial department."
"No!"
"Why?"
"What if they are powerful?" Li Qing asked.
Zhu Zhanji smiled: "So what if they are powerful? Do you think they have the possibility of subverting the imperial power?"
"..." Li Qing was speechless. He went through the little known history of the Ming Dynasty in his mind, and found that it seemed that as Zhu Zhanji said, none of the eunuchs succeeded.
Even for someone like Liu Jin who "established an emperor", Ming Wuzong, who was indifferent to worldly affairs, would kill as many as he was told. Although he was extremely powerful, he did not threaten the imperial power.
"That's not possible either." Li Qing insisted, "Eunuchs... are mostly mentally ill."
Zhu Zhanji frowned: "Who did you listen to?"
"I heard..." Li Qing choked: I listened to movies and TV series, and it was said in history.
Then he realized that he could not be sure of what he had done, at least he could not believe it completely. After all, history was written by literati. The eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty were very powerful, so it was normal for them to be hacked.
However, there were too many famous eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty and they were too famous, so Li Qing instinctively resisted.
"Is there no other way?"
"How about you think of one?" Zhu Zhanji asked.
Li Qing frowned in thought, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find a better replacement.
Apart from the eunuch group, only the Xungui and military generals can compete with the civil service group. The Xungui... to put it bluntly, the Xungui has almost been abolished.
Although the civil service group has not expanded wildly, it can't bear to live up to its reputation. I don't have many heroes and my sons are heroes, and there are almost no heroes whose sons are heroes.
But now, many of them have reached the fourth generation, and there is really nothing that can be done.
Not only that, instead of being able to compete with the civil servants, they have a tendency to develop into officials and gentry, all trying to make money. This also means that they can no longer rely on them to check and balance the civil servants.
And pure military commanders... can't do it either.
It’s not that it’s unreliable, it’s that there aren’t that many battles to fight.
This is also the fundamental reason why civilian officials were stronger than military generals in the middle and late dynasties.
Seeing that Li Qing was silent, Zhu Zhanji said: "Whether it is Sanbao, Xiao Linzi from Dongchang, or the second or third in command of Dongchang, they all do a good job and are very loyal;
Uncle Qing, the reason why those civil servants hate eunuchs is because Dongchang supervises them, not the eunuchs themselves."
Li Qing was silent for a long time and said: "How about... just leave it like this and don't make any more reforms."
"No." Zhu Zhanji shook his head, "Uncle Qing, you should understand that if you want the people to live a good life and make the Ming Dynasty truly prosperous, you can't do it just by relying on a good emperor. A truly prosperous age requires
Co-governance by kings and ministers requires the joint efforts of many people."
He stood up and said: "The civil service group emerged in the Tang Dynasty. In the past, Taizong Li Shimin reused civil servants such as Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, and the Zhenguan rule was established;
Today, I want to imitate Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and create a Xuande rule."
Seeing that Li Qing was still about to object, Zhu Zhanji said directly: "Uncle Qing, do you know the term "disable eating due to choking"?
Li Qing: "..."
A military commander in troubled times and a civil servant in prosperous times, he naturally understands this truth.
Indeed, in order to restrict civil servants and thus restrict the development of the Ming Dynasty, it was putting the cart before the horse.
The same is true in order to prevent the eunuchs from becoming powerful and allowing the civil servants to grow wildly.
After some consideration, Li Qing finally agreed with Zhu Zhanji's decision.
"Tell me about your specific plans!"
Zhu Zhanji nodded: "First of all, at the local level. After Taizu established the Ming Dynasty, he established three major institutions in each province. The top officials are: chief envoy, inspectorate envoy, and general commander envoy. This means decentralization of power. What is the effect...
hehe."
"On the surface, the three agencies perform their own duties. The chief envoy is responsible for administration, the inspector-general is responsible for criminal justice, and the commander-in-chief is responsible for the military. They are not related to each other, but this is not the case."
Zhu Zhanji said: "Many things require tripartite cooperation, such as bandits, bandits, chieftain turmoil, and Japanese pirates... At this time, they started to argue with each other and pass the buck;
For example, in the 18th year of Yongle's reign, Tang Sai'er rebelled. If there was an official in Shandong who was in charge of the third division and responsible for the affairs of the province, the rebels would not be able to become bigger!"
Li Qing nodded: "So you want to set up such an official position?"
"good."
"Hmm...I have an idea." Li Qing said, "We can set up a temporary official position, which is filled by mid-level officials. The person who holds this official position is not fixed, and the time is not fixed. In this way, they may become bigger.
Much smaller.”
"That's a good idea." Zhu Zhanji nodded: "That's it."
"What is this official position called?" Li Qing asked.
"Governor!"
Li Qing scratched his head, why did it sound so familiar?
"Which group is this second step of delegating power to?"
"Censor Yanguan!"
"Expand and talk."
Zhu Zhanji nodded and said: "You also know who Yan Guan is. To put it bluntly, this group is simply born to scold the emperor. Of course, I give them power not to avoid being scolded;
In fact, most of these private officials are clean and honest."
Li Qing also agreed. Although these people are very annoying and like to hold the emperor to the standards of saints, for this kind of group, good reputation is far better than good fortune.
"So you want to send them to scold the local officials?"
"Uncle Qing is indeed smart." Zhu Zhanji said with a smile, "That's why, using their high standards to hold local officials will definitely be beneficial to people's livelihood, armaments, criminal proceedings, wealth and other aspects."
You are really bad, but I like it... Li Qing also smiled: "Having a 'vibrant' supervision system is indeed good for civil affairs."
Yan Guan's 'combat power' is not ordinary.
"So this position is called... Inspector Censor?"
"Uncle Qing, you are really a roundworm in my stomach." Zhu Zhanji exclaimed.
Li Qing's smile faded: "Uncle Qing agrees with your reformation, but Uncle Qing doesn't like your metaphor!"
Zhu Zhanji: "..."
"Okay, let me say a few words." Li Qing cleared his throat.
Zhu Zhanji said, "Uncle Qing, tell me."
"You know the extension order, right?"
"Of course I know." Zhu Zhanji nodded, "Uncle Qing, you mean...cutting down the feudal clan?"
"There's no need to cut it." Li Qing shook his head.
Because of his suggestion, as early as Zhu Di's time, he had cut it very hard, and if he cut it any further, he would really die.
It’s not that they are afraid of causing trouble, but that the feudal kings cannot participate in maritime trade. If the cost is reduced for a few generations, some of the feudal kings’ descendants will starve to death.
"I mean to cut the gentry!"
Li Qingdao: "The imperial court promulgated a law that the property of the wealthy gentry should not be passed down only to the eldest son, but all legitimate concubines, whether old or young, can inherit it, and it must be evenly distributed, so that no one can suffer."