The plan described by Guo Yunhou is too ambitious, and anyone who cares about it only needs to make a rough calculation will know that this plan cannot succeed unless it is tens of millions of taels.

Even Liu Zongzhou and Huang Daozhou, who have always talked about Xiaomin, did not speak out and supported this hugely expensive plan.

Huang Liji looked at the suddenly cold court meeting, and had to take the initiative to come forward and say: "Although Guo Shangshu's plan is good, the funds and manpower consumed are too amazing, and the treasury can't afford it at all." ”

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a long time, he couldn't figure it out, when New China had just been founded, in the face of a country that was in ruins, how did the leaders of the republic complete water conservancy projects all over the country, and the republic at that time did not get any inheritance.

The officials of the court were also silent now, and they looked at the silent young emperor sitting on the high throne, and they couldn't help but wonder in their hearts that perhaps the staggering amount of money spent on the Haihe River had frightened Chongzhen.

Ni Yuanlu couldn't bear Chongzhen's embarrassment, and stood up and said: "Your Majesty, in the opinion of the ministers, it is better to return to Wu Shangshu's proposal, only dredging the North Canal, and wait for the wind and rain to be smooth and the treasury is sufficient, and then it is not too late to discuss the plan to cure the Haihe River." ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced up at Ni Yuanlu, who comforted him, before he spoke: "The population of Beizhili is nearly 10 million, and the people affected by the Haihe River Basin are almost 3 million. If the Haihe River can be cured once and for all, millions of acres of land will benefit from this, and the burden of transporting grain from the south to the north can also be reduced. If the Haihe River is to be cured, it must also be cured. ”

Zhu Youzhen paused word by word, and said solemnly and firmly, as if he was trying to convince the ministers, and as if he was convincing himself.

After saying his decision, Zhu Youzhen suddenly felt relaxed, and he immediately said briskly: "The first thing we need to control water is people, not money. I have decided that I will personally preside over the governance of the Haihe River, select competent personnel from various ministries, and set up a headquarters for river control.

As for the funds for the control of the Haihe River, I will allocate a part of it from the Inner Treasury, and the people of Gyeonggi who will benefit from the management of the Haihe River will contribute a little, and the national treasury will contribute a little more, and I think the problem will always be solved. ”

Chongzhen's words made the civil officials below suddenly dumbfounded, the sentence 'Eat the king's fortune, share the worries for the king' has long become the motto of the officials, but today no one dares to use this sentence to squeeze Chongzhen.

In the final analysis, there is no money, since Wanli, there is no year that the household department is not in deficit, and the funds that can be taken out to control the water are at most 10 or 200,000 taels per year.

As for the money in the inner treasury, to be honest, the civil officials and the eunuchs themselves do not like each other, and now they have to take more than 1 million taels from them every year, which is not much different from the difficulty of serving as the Jiliao Governor to quell the Jurchen rebellion.

On the one hand, Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou and others admired Chongzhen's determination, but on the other hand, they felt a little incomprehensible that Chongzhen personally ran a practice and ignored major national affairs.

Liu Zongzhou finally couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty, this matter of water conservancy is important, but it is only one of the major events in the world. Your Majesty, as the son of the Great Tomorrow, should deal with all the things under the Great Tomorrow, instead of giving priority to one over the other and making the power go by. ”

Huang Daozhou and Ni Yuanlu also echoed: "Yes, what Liu Shangshu said is very true, if Your Majesty is entangled in secular affairs, then who will approve state affairs?" ”

Xu Guangqi finally stepped forward and said: "The old minister still has some research on farmland and water conservancy, it is better for Your Majesty to hand over the matter of governing the Haihe River to the old minister, and the old minister will definitely do his best to manage the Haihe River for His Majesty." ”

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand and stopped the officials below who still wanted to continue to admonish. He said in a firm tone: "The ancients: If one room is not cured, why is it that the family and country in the world are still young, and they are only shallow in learning, and every time they come to the court, they often feel like walking on thin ice.

Now that the policy of reforming the powers of the cabinet has been passed, it is natural that it must be implemented, otherwise what would I do to promote the reform of the cabinet? With a cabinet to deal with state affairs, I can start learning how to govern the country, right?

I plan to start implementing the cabinet responsibility system from January 1st. In the future, the celebrant will approve the red, and change it to the opponent and hand it over to me for approval. If there is no reply within 24 hours of the Cabinet of Ministers, it will be regarded as acquiescence. ”

Huang Liji was suddenly overjoyed, he withstood the pressure of his colleagues and supported the emperor so much, and finally received the most generous reward. The change in the system of celebrity supervisors approving red is also equivalent to increasing the power of the cabinet.

The cabinet has changed from only what is allowed to do things to what is not allowed to be done, which means that the cabinet chief assistant has truly become the first person below the emperor.

The officials who were thinking that they had a chance to join the cabinet all stood silently, as if they had not heard what the emperor had said.

Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou, Ni Yuanlu and others suddenly became a little anxious, and they tried to make Chongzhen understand that this kind of political reform has made the power of the cabinet somewhat unrestrained, and if there is another traitor like Yan Song in the court, then the Ming dynasty will really be chaotic.

And Huang Daozhou said: "... Your Majesty should learn the way of governing the country, why bother with craftsmen and river workers, Your Majesty should open the feast and preach, add the saints to learn the holy virtues, and hear the way of the sages, then the way of governing the country is self-evident. ”

After listening to the reasons of these people, Zhu Youjian asked with a smile: "It seems that Yu Shen should not go to control the water, but should ask Huang Bian Xiu to give a lecture on the scriptures." Haha, I'm just kidding, that's it, I don't want to discuss it anymore. ”

Although Chongzhen said that he was joking, none of the officials in the DPRK could laugh.

The scripture feast refers to the imperial chair specially set up by the emperor since the Han and Tang dynasties to lecture on the scriptures and discuss history. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, the three Yangs began to formulate the scripture and feast notes.

The Ming people attached great importance to the sutra feast, which was regarded as the first thing to teach, "... If the mind and spirit of people are multiplied, they will be naturally sensitive. After the feast and lectures, the righteous man opens his mind and inspires the spirit. ”

Of course, in the eyes of civil officials, the ultimate purpose of the feast is to reform the monarch's heart and correct the monarch's heart, which is a kind of moral education that makes the emperor close to Confucianism.

This is also the restriction of the imperial power by the civil official group, planting the concept of Taoist system above political unity in the emperor's heart, and using the way of heaven to restrain the uncontrolled imperial power.

Since Chongzhen's accession to the throne, civil officials have requested several sutra feasts in an attempt to exert educational influence on the emperor, which is what later generations called brainwashing.

But Chongzhen made excuses every time to push it back, and today he even threw out the story of Dayu's water control to resist the request of the zodiac Zhou to open the feast.

As a kind of moral education, civil officials should first make the emperor feel that the words of the sages are truly authentic, and let Chongzhen voluntarily accept his own doctrine.

But obviously, the sage could not educate the Three Emperors and the Five Emperors, because the rule of antiquity admired by the sage refers to these Chinese ancestors.

The ultimate goal of the way of the sages is to restore the rule of antiquity. Some civil officials who were a little more thoughtful couldn't help but think, "Is it possible, Your Majesty meant." Am I not qualified to educate him? It's like the master can't educate Yushen. ”

Seeing that Huang Daozhou was dumbfounded and speechless, and was quietly pulled back by Ni Yuanlu on the side, Zhu Youzhen continued: "Of course, when the imperial court opens the seal next year, the first assistant of the cabinet and the chief officials of the six ministries will issue a policy report within the next year. ”

The officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, who have been suppressed these days, finally heard good news.

Huang Liji only hesitated for a moment and then said yes, and with him taking the lead, the heads of various ministries made statements one after another.

Zhu Youzhen, who felt his mouth dry, finally waited until the end of the court meeting, and when he was about to get up, he suddenly remembered something and said to Wang Chengen: "Let Qian Shilang of the Ministry of Rites stay, I will summon him in the upper study and talk to him about compiling books." ”

After returning to the Qianqing Palace, with the help of Lu Qi, Zhu Youzhen changed into light regular clothes. After drinking a cup of tea in the upper study, Qian Qianyi was finally brought in.

Qian Qianyi, who entered the Qianqing Palace for the first time, had a sense of excitement that he couldn't bear to bear, although he has always been called the leader of the literary world and the leader of Donglin, but what he wants to do more is the leader of the political arena.

Qian Qianyi had thought of the reason for entering the Qianqing Palace countless times, but he never thought that he would walk here for this reason.

Facing Chongzhen, Qian Qianyi suddenly didn't know what to say, he felt as if he had become the expectation of meeting His Majesty for the first time after being admitted to the Jinshi Examination mixed with excitement.

Qian Qianyi is thinking about only one thing now, that is, how to take this opportunity to gain Chongzhen's trust, so as to overwhelm Liu Zongzhou and others to enter the cabinet first.

Under Chongzhen's questioning, Qian Qianyi recounted his thoughts on how he wanted to edit the history book.

After listening to Qian Qianyi's thoughts, Zhu Youzhen asked coldly: "Qian Qing's idea is very good, but such a study and writing from the Western Zhou Dynasty does not meet my requirements at all. ”

Qian Qianyi, who was originally spitting around, was blinded by Zhu Youzhen's words, and he couldn't help but be a little anxious to justify: "But Your Majesty, the historical facts before the Western Zhou Dynasty have not been completely confirmed, and what is left is only a few words, and there is no need for academic research." ”

Zhu Youzhen had to interrupt him and said: "Qian Shilang, I think you seem to be mistaken, first of all, the history book I asked for is not used for scholars to learn, this is to popularize a basic history for ordinary people;

Secondly, I think the editors of this book should grasp two main themes, the first is to tell Xiaomin who we are and where we come from. The second is why the land under our feet belongs to our nation.

Finally, it should be noted that the Jianzhou Jurchens have nothing to do with the Haixi Jurchens of the Song Dynasty, they are nothing more than a group of savages who have been exiled from the Tunguska Ice Field.

I, the Ming Dynasty, uphold the virtue of God's good life, let this group of savages live in Liaodong, but these savages are not grateful for the favor of the Ming Dynasty, but instead raise the butcher's knife to the people living in this land, these are humanoid beasts..."