met free Chapter 583 You two, father-in-law and son-in-law, have finally figured things out!
Chapter 583 You two, father-in-law and son-in-law, have finally figured things out!
Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi began to speak passionately.
"You Ministry of Works and Ministry of Rites are all talking without any remorse!"
Do you know how many people were counted in the population statistics this year?
Yang Siyi feels like crying whenever Dingkou Data is mentioned.
"I originally thought that the addition of more than one million households and more than five million people in the second year of Hongwu was already a lot."
"But according to this year's statistics, there are more than two million more households and nearly ten million more people in the entire Ming Dynasty."
"This is just the extra amount from this year!"
"Who among you can guarantee how much more there will be next year?"
As Yang Siyi finished speaking, Xue Xiang, Minister of Works, Le Shaofeng, Minister of War, and Qian Yongren, Minister of Rites, who had supported revising the Five-Year Plan, were immediately silenced.
But to everyone's surprise, Minister of Personnel Hong Yi stood up to support him at this moment: "Minister Yang is right. You lot shouldn't just stand there and talk without understanding the situation."
"I'm willing to agree to revise the original five-year plan, but you have to solve my manpower problem first."
"Especially the Grand Governor's Office, you should at least tell me how many prefectures and counties you plan to bring back this year, and how many officials you need."
"Don't do things without knowing anything beforehand, only to dig a hole when you're already in trouble."
Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, who had been standing by watching the commotion, suddenly became anxious.
"You old bastard, who are you calling someone who digs a hole only after they've already shit their ass?"
Chang Yuchun retorted directly: "When the Northern Expedition took place in the first year of Hongwu's reign, were you prepared to appoint a magistrate for Ningyang County? If it weren't for your Ministry of Personnel dragging your feet, would I have needed to arrest Yang the Madman as the magistrate?"
Xu Da also started to speak sarcastically: "Old Chang, do you know how to talk? Did the Ministry of Personnel only drag things down in the first year of Hongwu? They drag things down every year!"
Lan Yu added a precise remark: "My brother-in-law just arrested Yang the Madman and made him the county magistrate. Look how well he governed Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture. And look at the officials selected by the Ministry of Personnel. Tsk tsk, the Plowshare Case, the Blank Seal Case, and this time the Black Coal Mine Case. I have to say, Lao Hong, you have a really good eye."
Hong Yi clenched his fist immediately.
Niang Xipi!
I've only been in office for a few days, and you're already throwing mud at me!
Yang Siyi was completely dumbfounded.
Is Lao Hong some kind of guy sent by the other side to mess with me?
Why did you have to drag those scoundrels from the Grand Commander's Mansion into this mess?
As Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Lan Yu took to the stage, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen could no longer remain silent.
Li Shanchang coughed and said, "Minister Hong is actually right. In the past two years, our Great Ming has indeed added a lot of prefectures and counties, and there is indeed a shortage of manpower."
Liu Bowen nodded in agreement: "Moreover, the Prince Consort has also proposed adding smaller government offices between prefectures, counties, and villages. This will require more manpower and involve significant changes, so we must be cautious."
The topic gradually veered off course again.
The discussion veered off-topic from whether or not to revise the Five-Year Plan to focusing on issues at the local government level.
The Emperor Zhu, who had been watching the show with a smile, suddenly had a bright idea in his mind.
"Speaking of the restructuring, we do have a few words to say."
Emperor Zhu said with a forced smile, "The original matter, we were talking about all those messy and trivial things that happened before today. From today onwards, let's turn the page on them."
"Let's have a good discussion today, Your Majesty and your ministers, and see how this reform, from the imperial court to the county level, should be carried out."
“We have a diagram of the government offices of Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture here. It was drawn by that bastard.”
Emperor Zhu reached out and picked up a memorial from the table, gesturing for Chen Zhong to hand it to Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, and others.
"As far as we know, Dengzhou Prefecture and its ten subordinate counties, plus Ningyang County, have basically achieved clear responsibilities and smooth implementation of government orders through this structure."
"If ordinary people need to get something done at the government office, they only need to follow the instructions and go to the corresponding government office."
"So we thought, why don't we have the Provincial Administration Commission also reform in this way?"
"We could try it out in Shandong first."
While listening to Emperor Zhu's endless ramblings, Li Shanchang carefully examined the memorial in his hand.
After handing the memorial to Liu Bowen, Li Shanchang stroked his beard and said, "What you say makes sense."
"The system that the Prince Consort implemented in Dengzhou Prefecture was indeed quite good. It was also quite reliable to try it out in Shandong Provincial Administration Commission first."
After glancing at Xu Da discreetly, Li Shanchang began to betray his ally without hesitation: "It just so happens that Hu Yuan has been quite restless lately. The Duke of Wei is going to Beiping to handle border defense matters, which will also allow him to keep an eye on the reform of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission for his superior."
Xu Da's eyes widened immediately.
You old scoundrel, do you want to hear what nonsense you're spouting?
It's already a headache for me to go to Beiping to handle border defense matters.
You son of a bitch want me to oversee the reform of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission on behalf of the higher-ups?
That old scoundrel! He's not even human!
Xu Da's eyes darted around, and he suddenly bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, I am going to Beiping to handle border defense matters. We may have to go to war with the Hu Yuan at any time. Therefore, I request to resign from the position of Right Chancellor of the Central Secretariat."
This time, Li Shanchang was dumbfounded.
Xu Da resigned from his position as Right Chancellor of the Secretariat.
Damn it, will the Secretariat be left with only the Left Chancellor from now on?
Damn it!
I have no grudge against you, Xu Da, and we are old brothers from Huaixi. I was just thinking of giving you the task of overseeing the reform of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission, so that you could gain both power and fame. And this is how you treat me?
Li Shanchang grew angrier the more he thought about it, and couldn't help but snort coldly, saying with a dark face, "The Duke of Wei has certainly played his cards right!"
Xu Da responded with a forced smile: "Likewise, Mr. Shanchang's plan is also quite clever."
Emperor Zhu coughed and said, "Let's discuss Tiande's resignation as prime minister later. Right now, reforming the system is the priority."
Damn it, if Xu Da gets away, won't that old scoundrel Li Shanchang immediately claim to be ill?
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu coughed lightly and said, "I just remembered something else."
"Mr. Shanchang and Mr. Qingtian are both over sixty years old now, and they have been handling many political affairs in the Ming Dynasty for us. They have worked very hard."
"In our Ming Dynasty court, there are many veteran officials like Mr. Shanchang and Mr. Qingtian."
The more Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen listened, the more uneasy they felt. They exchanged a glance, and their hearts skipped a beat.
broken!
Zhu Chongba is after the two of us!
Emperor Zhu said with a smile, "Let them continue to work hard for the country. I feel bad for them, but I'm also afraid people will say that I, Zhu Chongba, don't know how to be considerate of my subjects."
"But let them retire directly. We can't bear to part with them, and we don't want people to say that we can't tolerate our old brothers from back then."
Damn it!
Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were in utter despair.
If Zhu Chongba had said something else, I could have at least found a way to deflect or decline.
But he had already said both good and bad things. If he were to make excuses and refuse again, wouldn't he become the bad guy who led the monarch astray?
Look at what he said; he didn't want people to say he couldn't tolerate his old comrades from back then.
Is this something a human being could say?
You can tolerate your old buddies, but you're making them work like slaves for you, you bastard!
Li Shanchang was so angry that tears welled up in his eyes.
Even one's own servants and livestock need a moment to rest.
And what about me?
I'm not even as good as a damn animal!
You bastard, are you afraid people will say you can't tolerate your old brothers from back then? Don't you think I'm afraid people will say I'm clinging to power?
Damn it, I've finally figured it out. Neither of you two, father-in-law and son-in-law, are any good!
One of you comes up with the ideas, and the other executes them. You two have really figured out how to work together like this!
Just as Li Shanchang was cursing inwardly, Emperor Zhu actually lied through his teeth: "Brother Shanchang, don't get so agitated. We genuinely care about you old brothers!"