After Huang Liji issued a proclamation in the name of the cabinet on the package of relief policies for the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi, officials headed by Shanxi and Henan provinces immediately united to fiercely criticize and impeach him and the cabinet members.

Although the other provinces are not within the scope of the implementation of the policy of unified grain purchase and marketing, officials from these provinces do not mind adding fuel to the fire at this moment and beating the side drum for these officials who impeached cabinet members.

After seeing this situation, some officials in Hebei and Fujian, who had been strongly supporting the cabinet's policies, also stopped and began to stop and watch the situation of the DPRK.

In the face of the impeachment concert that flew like snowflakes, and the remarks against him in the public opinion of the government and the opposition, Huang Liji was also a little unbearable. He had to follow the unspoken rules of the past court and ask Chongzhen to resign voluntarily.

Chongzhen, who was busy drawing up a plan for the reorganization of the armed forces with the General Staff Headquarters and urging the logistics department and the ordnance supervisor to arrange various arrangements for the supply of military supplies, had no choice but to convene a special meeting of the state to expand its personnel.

In addition to the previous six ministries and nine secretaries, a cadre of officials who have been impeaching the cabinet in the past few days have also been summoned to the Wenhua Hall today.

Seventeen officials led by Shu Rong in the Ministry of Rites and Zhang Deheng, the imperial history of Jiangxi Province, were preparing to do a big job when they entered the palace.

Since the Great Dynasty was reduced to twice a month, it was difficult for these low-ranking officials to see the emperor in person.

If you want to be promoted in the Ming Dynasty, one is to accumulate qualifications, the second is to win prestige, and the third is to be simple in the emperor's heart. Even if you can't even see the emperor's face, how can you leave a deep impression in the emperor's heart?

The impeachment of Shoufu can not only make them shake the world immediately and quickly win a direct name that is not afraid of power, but more importantly, they can quickly let their name enter the emperor's sight.

Although everyone knows that the fastest way to gain prestige is to directly scold the emperor and gain the reputation of an honest and outspoken minister.

But it is still risky to scold the emperor directly, after all, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty are not all broad-minded people, and there are also those who are small and like to take revenge directly.

Comparatively speaking, Shangshu's impeachment of a certain minister is also a shortcut to the south, and the risk is much smaller, after all, the emperor is very happy, and someone knocks down some powerful ministers that he has to rely on, but is jealous.

For this kind of low-level officials who impeach the ministers, the emperor will generally exert protection, at most, put them somewhere for a period of time, and then recall him to the capital after the limelight has passed, and promote him to several levels.

Shu Rong and Zhang Deheng saw that after the cabinet reform, the power of Shoufu rose sharply, and it faintly overwhelmed the imperial power. They believe that the emperor may need someone to knock Huang Liji, the head of the cabinet.

Therefore, he took the opportunity of the unified purchase and marketing policy of grain issued by the cabinet to arouse the disgust of the gentry in various places, and gathered party henchmen to make trouble against Huang Liji and several other cabinet elders.

There are not many officials in the court who have the same thoughts as these two people, but some people are more calm than them, and they want to wait for the promulgation of the policy of unified purchase and marketing of grain, and make some trouble in the local area, so that they can impeach the cabinet with real evidence.

Shu Rong, Zhang Deheng and others couldn't wait to jump out, it just shows that these people have not yet understood the trick of mixing officialdom.

When the officials who should attend the meeting were roughly present, a eunuch in the corner of the hall rang the bronze bell in front of him, and after a soft sound, under the guidance of Wang Chengen, Chongzhen walked out of the apse.

Not long after Chongzhen sat down, Zhang Deheng couldn't wait to take a step forward and admonished the emperor: "Minister Zhang Deheng has a book..."

As soon as he got up, Zhu Youzhen raised his hand to stop him and said, "I have already seen your impeachment recital, so you don't need to repeat it in front of me." Before the meeting, I just want to confirm a few things before we discuss the content of your impeachment. ”

The emperor's sudden move not only stunned the officials who wanted to directly impeach the cabinet chief assistant at the meeting, but even Huang Liji, who was about to be impeached, stopped coming out of the ranks.

Glancing at the ministers who had quieted down, Zhu Youzhen asked the first question: "Shaanxi was affected by the disaster, should the imperial court provide relief to the affected people?" ”

The officials in the hall looked at each other, and Huang Liji's heart moved, and he seemed to have some confidence in his heart.

Liu Zongzhou immediately said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, it is natural for the imperial court to provide relief to the victims, is there still someone who wants to sit back and watch the victims starve to death, it is really not a son of man." ”

Most officials apparently did not have the courage to say publicly in front of the emperor that the imperial court did not need relief for the victims of the disaster.

At this moment, Shu Rong's mind was very quick, and she immediately thought that behind the emperor's question was to determine the tone of today's meeting. If the emperor had linked the policy of providing relief to the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi with their opposition to the policy of unified purchase and marketing of grain, they would not have benefited from it today.

"Your Majesty, the ministers are not against the relief of the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi, but the unified purchase and sales policy formulated by the cabinet is completely a move for the remnants of the people. If the imperial court wants disaster relief, it should find a way to raise silver taels, how can it find a way to plunder the people's wealth? The minister thinks that His Majesty should allocate more money from the inner treasury..."

Chongzhen did not stop Shu Rong's speech, and after he listened quietly, he asked Huang Liji on the side: "Mr. Huang, is there no need to give money to the unified grain purchase policy formulated by the cabinet?" ”

Huang Liji immediately said: "There is absolutely no such thing, the grain procurement policy stipulates that the average local grain price last year is used as the standard price for grain requisition, and it is also stipulated that grain producers must sell a certain amount of surplus grain to grain merchants designated by the government in addition to leaving rations, and hoarding is prohibited. ”

Zhu Youzhen asked Guo Yunhou, the head of the household department, who was standing under him: "Is there a shortage of funds for requisition by the Household Grain Bureau?" ”

After Guo Yunhou saluted Chongzhen, he said calmly: "There is no shortage of funds allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs to the Food Bureau for requisition, and the minister has not been reported to be short of funds for the time being. ”

Shu Rong's foreheads were slightly sweating, and between Chongzhen and the two cabinet ministers, they had completely vetoed the main content of their impeachment of the first assistant of the cabinet.

Zhang Deheng was still a little unwilling to defend himself: "Your Majesty, it is a normal business practice to go to the market with you. Now that the cabinet is forcing the people of the three provinces to sell grain at a fixed price, isn't this a forcible plunder? How should the history books record His Majesty's actions today? ”

When Zhang Ruitu was about to stand up and defend the emperor, Zhu Youzhen was already quite impatient and sarcastic: "So I am a mediocre monarch who is helpless in the face of starvation and death of the people under his rule?" Or is it better to be a faint king who plunders people's wealth? ”

Chongzhen's question was obviously not a multiple-choice question, and the officials who originally wanted to speak, after Chongzhen determined their tendencies, immediately stopped waiting and wanted to wait and see.

Zhu Youzhen paused for a while, and saw that no one continued to jump out and contradict him, so he continued: "More than 80% of my Ming Dynasty's tax revenue comes from agriculture, which means that everyone standing here today, including me.

Most of what we wear on our bodies and what we use at home comes from the contributions of farmers. If the peasants are starved to death, what qualifications do you have to sit in this court and continue to enjoy the money provided by the people of the Ming Dynasty with peace of mind? ”

Chongzhen's questioning is quite like the moral questioning method of the Donglin Party people, which is very different from his previous style of talking about things, and it also makes the officials in the palace quite uncomfortable.

However, because of this, Zhang Deheng and the others could not continue to argue with the emperor, because this would only paint themselves darker and darker.

Zhu Youzhen did not stop there, but continued to ask: "Since you think that the unified grain purchase policy is not good, then tell me what way the imperial court should adopt to help the victims of the entire Shaanxi?" ”

Shu Rong, Zhang Deheng and the others muttered for a long time, but they did not come up with a feasible suggestion, after all, if they wanted to raise a sum of materials that could help the whole of Shaanxi, they either used coercive means to requisition them at a fixed price, or provided an astronomical amount of money to meet the appetite of those merchants and gentry.

The officials in the palace knew very well that with the greed of the merchants and gentry, even if the court allocated more money, it would not be able to buy enough supplies.

Giving relief to the victims and rescuing the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi are completely different things. The former only needs to come up with a sum of money to mean it, and if you want to do the latter, then the policies issued by the cabinet are undoubtedly the best response.

Even a few officials who have always been in conflict with the cabinet did not dare to speak rashly for Shu Rong, Zhang Deheng and others at this moment.

Zhu Youzhen waited for a long time, and then he didn't wait any longer, he asked angrily: "The six ministries and the nine secretaries and the cabinet gentlemen have always been busy, for the sake of a few of you specially gathered here today, I don't know how many important things to delay, do you have a trace of pity for the victims in your heart?" Otherwise, how could you not even come up with an idea? ”

Shu Rong and Zhang Deheng could neither answer that they had no pity, nor could they say that they had any good ideas, so they had to resort to the trick of silence.

"I think you have eaten so much delicacies from the mountains and seas that you can't feel the pain of the victims, so you can't even think of an idea. Mr. Liu, I handed over all these people to you, let them go to the Xishan Official Academy, and enjoy the life of the victims.

When I heard that the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi had no food, I fed on the fluffy grass and Guanyin soil in the mountains. I will not be so cruel, I will prepare clear water bean rice for them every day, and when they feel the same way, I will consider the victims before letting them come back. ”

The emperor's thoughts made everyone in the palace look sideways, and even Liu Zongzhou couldn't bear it.

Ni Yuanlu couldn't help but step forward and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty cares about the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi, and he is indeed a benevolent monarch. However, Shu Rong and others just did not know what to do, so the content of the impeachment was deviant.

However, according to the ancestral legal system, it is right for the DPRK and Chinese officials to impeach the wrongdoings of the ruling government. Is there something wrong with His Majesty's handling of this? If it is spread out, and there is a mistake in governing in the future, who will dare to report it to Your Majesty? ”