"Since Mr. Liu intercedes for him, I can no longer pursue this matter. However, the situation of chaotic functions and powers of officials must not continue like this. I don't want to see the officials of the DPRK and China care no more about their own work, and only want to hold a magnifying glass to observe the shortcomings of others, in an attempt to impeach a court minister and gain a reputation that will shake the world.

In addition to inviting fame and fortune for himself, I don't see what benefit this kind of official has for the Ming Dynasty and the people of the Ming Dynasty? They read the books of the sages but did not know what righteousness was, and they shouted every day that they put the people first, but they never put the interests of the people at heart. This kind of person is a naked hypocrite. ”

In the entire court, except for Chongzhen's cold words, the officials who had just opposed Shoufu became silent. For a long time, it was the Donglin Party who suppressed political opponents with the slogan of benevolence and righteousness, and contained the imperial power in the name of competing with the people.

But for the first time, in the court, the Donglin Party was completely morally suppressed. It is too incompatible for an emperor to beat officials at every turn with the interests of the people.

This made these Donglin Party members uncomfortable, but they couldn't deny it. Because denying Chongzhen's statement now is undoubtedly tantamount to shaking the moral foundation of the Donglin Party in the past 20 years or so.

But seeing that Chongzhen kept beating them in the name of righteousness, these Donglin Party members, and even some low-level civil officials who had just entered the official career, had not been polluted by the darkness and cruel party strife of officialdom, and were inspired by the emperor's remarks, and tended to make a big political change to the court.

When Liu Zongzhou and other Donglin ministers were thinking about how to reverse the current unfavorable situation, Chongzhen finally sent his strongest blow.

"The right deputy capital Yushi, have you sorted out the matter of rectifying the words?" Chongzhen suddenly asked Li Kuilong.

Li Kuilong immediately walked out of the queue and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has just begun to clean up and verify, and the past of the officials of the Department of Science and Technology has not yet officially begun to be formulated, and the method of removing the Department and Road officials has not yet been officially formulated. ”

"Then you can now add two articles, all the officials who have not neglected the interests of the people in the past year must be purged from the department; Anyone who, within the past year, has attacked a colleague for neglecting more than neglecting the state's deliberations, shall be given a warning and given a one-year probationary period, and those who still do not repent during the period of retention shall be dismissed. ”

Before Chongzhen's words fell, Wen Zhenmeng finally couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty treats his subordinates so harshly, the official position of Kedao is humble and powerful, it is the ancestors who set it up to balance the ministers of the court. Today, Your Majesty is so strict with Kedao, who else can control the powerful ministers of the DPRK and China in the future? ”

"If there will be powerful ministers in the court, it means that the powers and responsibilities of officials are not clear, so someone can infringe on the power of other officials and monopolize the government. It is the responsibility of the Cabinet to adjust the powers and duties of officials. Huang Shoufu can select officials of the Hanlin Academy and the cabinet to form a bureaucratic reform committee, and revise the responsibilities and powers of the cabinet, six ministries and nine secretaries. Then report to me for approval. ”

"Your Majesty, please think twice, since the establishment of the Jiupin Zhongzheng system, after the Sui and Tang dynasties, this official system has reached my emperor and Ming, and it has been irreversible. It is naturally a good thing that Your Majesty has the heart of change, but today the Ming Dynasty is an eventful time, and this rash change of the official system may not reap its benefits, but first admit its disadvantages. Han Yi realized that if they continued to let Chongzhen play, the little advantage they had finally achieved in the court today would all be wasted.

Huang Liji was finally freed from the predicament of being besieged by the ministers at this time, and Chongzhen took advantage of Wen Zhenmeng's topic to directly propose to adjust the official system, which was completely beyond Huang Liji's expectations.

According to Huang Liji's idea, we should start with local reforms that the courtiers did not pay much attention to. Gain support for the reform from local officials, and then hold local opinions hostage and adjust the center.

Through the step-by-step, step-by-step reform steps, the political reform of the entire Ming Dynasty was finally completed.

But now, Chongzhen suddenly made trouble in the court. He ignored all the forethought obstructions of the courtiers, and did not care whether the Shilin would support this political reform, and threw the issue out lightly.

Not only were the Donglin Party members caught off guard by this, but Huang Liji himself was also blinded by Chongzhen's whimsical ideas.

But at this point, Huang Liji, who couldn't stop with Donglin, had to stand up in favor of Chongzhen's proposal.

Chongzhen can block the attack of the DPRK's remarks for him because he has an irreplaceable role in Chongzhen's government affairs. But if Chongzhen retreats when he needs support, then Chongzhen's support for him will soon disappear.

As Huang Liji stood up to support the reform of the bureaucratic system, his protégés also stood up to echo. For a while, it suppressed the momentum of many Donglin Party members.

However, Li Guopu soon stood up in the cabinet to oppose it, and the momentum of anti-bureaucratic reform was once again raised.

The court has not yet made a choice among a number of neutral officials and two cabinet scholars. They are still hesitating, not knowing what it would be in their best interest to stand there.

At present, no one knows what the charter of the bureaucratic reform is, and no one knows whether this so-called reform will be beneficial to themselves.

Officials who hold real power, or who think they have power, oppose any change in the bureaucratic system, unless it expands the power in their hands. And the lowly ones are indispensable, because no amount of change will be worse than now.

And it is the mid-level officials in between who are vacillating. They don't think that bureaucratic reform will bring them any good, and it doesn't necessarily seem to be bad.

What makes them more concerned is not the bureaucratic reform itself, but the forces that support or oppose the bureaucratic reform, and who can have the upper hand.

Judging from the emotion, they are more inclined to represent the Donglin Party members who represent Shilin Qingliu. But intellectually, they have to admit that what is now in power in the DPRK and China is a political alliance united by Huang Liji and the remnants of the eunuch party.

The party struggle that began at the end of Wanli has become extremely bloody and cruel in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, so these Ming officials, who still have fresh memories of the Donglin Party's rebellion, will become extremely cautious when choosing a camp.

When the neutral officials were hesitating, a low-ranking civil official of the Hanlin Academy suddenly said: "It is precisely because it is now an eventful time for the Ming Dynasty, so the minister thinks that the official system of the Ming Dynasty really needs to be reformed, if it is not for the problems of the imperial court system, how can the Ming Dynasty encounter so many internal and external troubles." If there is no problem with the imperial court system, how can there be a change in Liaodong, a savage tribe that fishes and hunts in the mountains and forests will let the Ming official army lose troops and generals, and annex most of Liaodong within ten years, and also establish the country as Houjin?

Sichuan has always been the heart of the Ming Dynasty, and there has never been a war since Taizu founded the country. However, first Banzhou Yang Yinglong rebelled first, and then there was extravagant Chongming to attack and kill the governor of Sichuan, and An Bangyan caused chaos in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan.

These are the best proofs that the responsibilities of the Ming officials are not clear, which leads to small troubles becoming big problems. Isn't it ridiculous to close the eyes of the court and say that there is no problem with the system of the Ming court and that there is no need for any changes? ”

This official of the Hanlin Academy said very much Zhu Youzhen's thoughts, and he didn't wait for others to speak, Chongzhen preemptively said: "That's right, the Hanlin Academy is the location of the country's prime minister, and this waiter has a clear mind, is organized, and has something to say, and is worthy of being a talent reserve for the future cabinet." What is your name? ”

The 36-year-old Hanlin attendant suddenly replied with some excitement: "Ministers and grandsons, thank Your Majesty for your compliment." ”

Zhu Youzhen didn't care about Sun Zhiji's answer at all, his eyes fell on Shi Fenglai and Zhang Ruitu, two cabinet scholars.

At this time, Zhu Youzhen also abandoned the gentle appearance of the past at the court meeting, and he began to beat these two cabinet scholars who were still waiting and watching with a tough attitude.

"My cabinet just lacks young cadres like Sun Qing, which is why it seems a little twilight. Mr. Huang can first select 3-5 Hanlin officials to participate in the re-establishment of the official system. Zhu Youzhen said casually.

Several courtiers who originally wanted to stand up against Sun Zhiqi suddenly quickly retracted their right foot.

Although Sun Zhiqi patted the emperor and Shoufu's sycophants, these officials couldn't stand it. But since Chongzhen personally affirmed Sun Zhiqi's performance, it was not good for these officials to attack him immediately.

Otherwise, it will become, a head-to-head confrontation between them and Chongzhen. The image of Chongzhen buttoning Mao Jian's hat just now, they still remember it vividly, Mao Jian, who has always been able to speak well in the past, is ashamed of Chongzhen's words today, this situation is really weird.

Even if a few officials want to invite a name, they don't plan to annoy Chongzhen, a Chongzhen who doesn't know what kind of character he is.

Although the Wenchen in the Taizu and Chengzu periods did not have any Donglin Party members, the literati of those two dynasties were much harder than most of the civil officials now. However, even those literati with excellent bones had to be silent after several major cases raised by Taizu and Chengzu.

Although Emperor Chongzhen is not as good as Taizu and Chengzu's ability to govern the country, Chongzhen's behavior in the past few days has shown that he has a completely different temperament from his brother Tianqi, but there is quite a shadow of Taizu and Chengzu advocating strict punishment and strict law.

These civil officials were naturally unwilling, and were regarded as sacrificial sacrifices by Zhu Youzhen, and became the chicken that Zhu Youzhen killed and set an example for.

When Han Yi, Liu Zongzhou, Wen Zhenmeng and other Donglin leaders had not yet figured out a clue, the two cabinet scholars knocked down by Zhu Youzhen finally couldn't stand up, and they knew that if they continued to wait and see, neither Zhu Youzhen nor the Donglin Party would let them continue to hold their current position and be speculators at both ends of the first rat.

No matter how you look at it, the first assistant with the support of the emperor has a bigger chance of winning. In addition, the reform of the bureaucratic system and the clarification of the powers and responsibilities of various officials will undoubtedly greatly enhance the power of the cabinet scholars.

Shi Fenglai and Zhang Ruitu finally chose the side that supported the reform of the bureaucratic system, and with the support of these two scholars, the originally hesitant neutralists also fell to the side of the emperor and the first assistant.