Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 521: Hit with a stick and then get a date
During the grand court session, the bigwigs of the cabinet basically do not participate in the discussion.

Most of the time, as the chief minister of the imperial court, old man Zhou Jiong would even close his eyes to rest and would not even open them.

But this old man had gone through two dynasties, rising from a county magistrate to a high position second only to the second person in the government and above everyone else. His keen eyesight was so profound that even Jia Cong had to admit he was convinced.

Jia Cong read out the names on the file one by one. Every time he read out an item, a person would kneel down with trembling legs and apologize.

Zhou Jiong looked at the big Han generals gradually gathering outside the hall, with both pleasure and indifference in his eyes.

He said to Xia Lingxing: "Change means turmoil. If it was before, the Beijing Army was barely enough and the Ministry of Revenue could not make ends meet, even if Your Majesty was furious, he would have given in for the sake of the overall situation. But now... Oh, it takes ten years for scholars to rebel, but as long as the army is stable, what if half of the scholars raise the flag to rebel?"

How could half of the scholars rebel? The imperial power was sent to the countryside, but it did not abolish the imperial examination system.

There are indeed many black-hearted scholars in Daxia who use their status as gentry to control the countryside. But more scholars really take the way of sages as their life belief, and cultivate themselves, manage their families, govern the country and bring peace to the world while ensuring their own interests.

If you don’t believe me, look at the civil and military officials in the Fengtian Hall. When the emperor caught those scums, most of them were not only horrified, but also showed extreme contempt.

The reason why unspoken rules such as donations are unspoken rules is that, putting interests aside, the vast majority of scholars still adhere to moral norms and provide convenience for rural people to avoid taxes without affecting their own profits.

The idea is that everyone is good to you and I are good, but the court is bad. You, Huang Yi, are special. You want the land and other people's lives too.

You are worse than pigs and dogs. We, the disciples of saints, have never seen such a shameless person!
As Zhou Jiong said, the anger shown by the emperor this time and his intentions were actually restrained enough.

He had thought of using this incident to thoroughly implement Jia Cong's "Regulations on the Management of Public Recruitment Examinations for Daxia Public Officials (Clerks)", but he had to admit that Zhou Jiong's consideration was correct.

As an emperor, he could not do whatever he wanted.

Political compromise is sometimes necessary.

Therefore, he settled for the second best and chose to first move imperial power to the countryside, and then adopted Jia Cong's strategy of surrounding the cities with the countryside. When the time was ripe, he fully implemented the national examination for civil servants and brought all officials and clerks under the unified recruitment management of the court.

"Fei Ke, a Langzhong of the Zhejiang Qingli Division of the Ministry of Revenue, once used the hands of Gan Chaosheng, the magistrate of Rui'an County, to forcibly seize 550 acres of good farmland under the jurisdiction of Rui'an County, replaced rice with mulberry, set up a silk reeling workshop, and entered the sea trade to make profits..."

thump!
As Mr. Lin's expression changed from watching the fun to being furious, Jia Cong finally finished reading the document in his hand.

There were no less than thirty people kneeling in the Fengtian Hall, from the general who was a relative of the Liu clan and Gu Zhongyan, a third-rank official of the Imperial Household Department, one of the Five Temples, to Cheng Guangji, a seventh-rank official of the Engineering Department. It covered a huge interest group that included the royal family, the Six Ministries, the Five Temples, the Imperial College, and the Censors. For the first time, the emperor pointed out the interest chain that everyone knew but no one dared to speak of.

"Liu Shi, as a clan member, has no intention of serving the country. He bullies men and women and is unkind to his wealth. He has been stripped of his title and demoted to a commoner. He is handed over to the Zongzheng Temple for severe punishment!"

"Gu Zhongyan was not strict in managing his family. He was demoted to the magistrate of Pinglang County after the capital was moved to Yunsi. The unfilial sons and daughters of his clan were all beheaded, and the accomplices were exiled to Jiaozhi as slaves."

"The rest of the criminals will be tried by the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple!"

"Come here, drag all these people out, so as not to pollute my place!"

The emperor almost gritted his teeth when he said these words. All the civil and military officials in the palace bowed their heads to receive his orders. Even the imperial censors who had dared to confront the emperor in the past stopped talking.

Jia Cong silently put the documents into the big wooden box, and when he saw the box full of "Jiangnan local specialties", the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

Teacher, teacher, you are really patient. You actually buried such a big bomb so early.

When Jia Cong thought that his cheap teacher should have arrived in U-Tsang by now and was fighting with the monks, officials and chieftains on the plateau, he could not help but feel infinite respect for him.

Xu Jin is a true patriot!
Culture can bring peace to the country, and martial arts...

Who dares to say that Jia Cong’s teacher is a weak scholar? Xu Qingteng’s swordsmanship will definitely teach him how to be a good person!

"Jia Cong!"

"Chen is here!"

The emperor's sudden call brought Jia Cong back to his senses from his thoughts of his teacher.

After the emperor returned to his high seat, he changed the subject and said, "The position of Minister of the Imperial Household Department is vacant. From today on, you will temporarily take over the post of Minister of the Imperial Household Department and act as the minister of horse herding in the imperial court."

Ah!
He has only been dismissed for a few days. He hasn't even had time to enjoy his leisure time!
All the ministers were also stunned. A fourteen-year-old Jiuqing was in charge of a temple. There had never been such a young Jiuqing in all the dynasties!

But at this moment, the emperor seemed to be emitting cold air all over his body, which was colder than the wind in the cold winter.

No civil or military official in the entire hall dared to stand up and oppose.

As for those who dared to confront the emperor, such as Hai Gangfeng, they just smacked their lips, winked at Jia Cong, and smiled meaningfully.

"Your Majesty is wise! Jia Cong comes from a family of military honors and is familiar with horse politics. Although he is young, he is a capable official. I think it would be a good idea to have Jia Cong temporarily take over as the Minister of the Imperial Household Department!"

No one expected that the first person to stand up and second the motion would be Hai Gangfeng, who usually criticized everyone and the emperor. Then officials of all ranks stood up and bowed to second the motion.

Today's court session was too terrifying. More than thirty officials from the capital had been dragged out by the Han generals.

Don’t provoke the emperor again. It’s better to smooth the fur of the angry tiger and make the emperor feel better.

Stop singing the other side's tune and leave the court immediately. This is too scary!

Seeing his ministers bowing in submission, the emperor raised the corners of his mouth slightly at an angle where no one could see.

"In this case, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of War should draft a memorandum to select village heads and village elders and send it to the palace as soon as possible. The imperial examination and the grand plan have just begun, and so many traitors and parasites have been caught in the court. It is really shocking. Draft an imperial decree. I want to hold a special examination to select talents for the country. The Ministry of Rites should arrange it and prepare what needs to be prepared. The Ministry of Revenue should allocate silver to repair the tribute halls in various provinces and the two capitals of the north and south..."

Hu~
It’s finally over!

Let the imperial power go to the countryside. Anyway, even if the village heads and village elders are recruited by the imperial court, they still have to take exams.

These children of officials have basically been educated and learned how to write, which gives them many advantages over those peasants.

As for holding an imperial examination, none of the civil and military officials in the palace thought it was strange.

The emperor obviously wanted to use the imperial examination to eliminate some incompetent officials. He had to select some new people. As long as it didn't have much to do with them, the officials had no objection to this.

As the emperor made his concluding remarks, the ministers gradually felt relieved.

But then the emperor snorted coldly, and the officials' hearts were lifted again.

The emperor stood up again and scanned the entire hall with his eyes.

"The trend of surrendering is not in line with the ancestral system. Since Emperor Taizu Gao, Emperor Taizong Wen, and the saint have already given you the utmost favors, don't do those dirty things to disgust people. Your salary and salary are the blood and sweat of the people. It is easy to abuse the people, but it is difficult to deceive the gods. Think about it carefully, return what you should return, repay what you should repay, and don't make yourself smell like money. Do I owe you salaries?"

After saying this, the emperor walked away without waiting for his ministers to react.

Xia Shouzhong immediately flicked his whisk, shouted to adjourn the court, and chased the emperor out of the Fengtian Hall.

Ah ~
All the officials were dumbfounded. Not to mention shouting "Long live the emperor", they just stood in the distance like wooden chickens, staring at each other in bewilderment.

The custom of donation has been prevalent for a hundred years. The land in my family has been cultivated for nearly a hundred years under different names. How can I give it back? To whom can I give it back? It's so painful!

The grand court meeting ended, but no one left.

The emperor's last edict, which was not an imperial edict, was like a knife at one's neck, and no one dared to ignore it.

"Cough cough~"

During the entire court session, only old man Zhou Jiong finally "woke up" after speaking a few words to Xia Lingxing.

"My Lord, look at this matter..."

Zhou Jiong glanced at the officials who looked helpless and his face was full of warmth.

"Since Your Majesty has spoken, we should just follow His Majesty's will. Just as Your Majesty said, the country is gradually abolishing the land tax, and the people no longer have to bear heavy taxes... Besides, the court doesn't owe us any salaries, and always staring at the people's food rations is indeed a disgrace to the reputation of our disciples of the saint..."

Jia Cong was almost about to applaud Prime Minister Zhou!

Look at what was said, it completely blocked all ways for people to refuse.

Just tell me, do you dare to oppose? Do you dare?
Are you daring to oppose because you are dissatisfied with the salary given by the emperor? Or do you want to cut yourself off from the glorious holy way?

The Prime Minister's words became the last straw that broke the camel's back for all the officials. The silence of other cabinet leaders represented their approval.

Several ministers from the six ministries took the lead in bowing and accepting the order. The others could only sigh and bow, "Your humble servants will obey the order of the great minister..."

"But how can I give it up? I don't know how many times my family's land has changed hands. Even if I want to give it up, I don't know who to push it to!"

Someone expressed his worries in a distressed manner, and almost half of the court officials agreed with him.

This problem was something that several ministers in the cabinet and Daxia's God of Wealth Lin Ruhai all found difficult to deal with. The Fengtian Hall once again fell into an eerie silence.

At this time, Jia Cong, an outlier, squeezed in and grinned.

"Hey, what's so difficult about this? Those on the list can be returned as they are. Those whose original owners can no longer be found and who have no heirs can be handed over to the local government. In recent years, the imperial farms and official fields have been implementing the household contract responsibility system, and these fields will be included in the official fields and distributed uniformly by the court to the landless people..."

Ok?
Lin Ruhai's eyes lit up, he stroked his beard and smiled.

That's it!

The emperor had been patient for many years, and it turned out that he was waiting here.

When Xu Qingteng surveyed the land, the land taken from the gentry and nobles was basically designated as official land, and then divided up by the court and distributed to the landless people.

This time, they took the opportunity to abolish the tribute system and take out some land from the gentry and nobles. Basically, they could take back the concentrated land and distribute the land again, which perfectly pulled Daxia, which was in a land crisis, back from the brink of crisis.

Land is state-owned and the household contract responsibility system is adopted...

What a plan, what a plan!

……

The grand court meeting lasted until noon. Not only were the ministers starving, but even the emperor himself felt extremely hungry.

When Jia Cong strolled into the Qinzheng Hall, the palace servants were setting food for the emperor.

"You really know how to pick the time... Set a table for this kid to eat, don't let our Jia Siqing starve."

The emperor, who had played tricks on his ministers, was in a good mood at the moment. He ordered the palace servants to fetch food from the imperial kitchen and also asked for a pot of good wine. He happily drank with Jia Cong.

"I finally got rid of my anger today!"

Jia Cong raised his cup and shouted "Long live the emperor", patting the dragon's butt and saying: "Our emperor is wise and benevolent, and has benefited all people! All the people in the world should thank our emperor for his grace, for correcting the millennium-old disease and relieving the suffering of the people!"

The extension of imperial power to the countryside is definitely a major policy that will go down in history.

From now on, the Central Plains dynasty will no longer have the chronic problem of imperial edicts not leaving the capital, and the people will no longer suffer from grievances that cannot be redressed, or be oppressed by evil gentry and bad officials, causing their families to be destroyed.

Of course, today is just the beginning. Once the problem of the imperial power going to the countryside is solved, the court can start to crack down on the bureaucracy...

"Your Majesty, I think it's time to change the salary of all officials. After a beating, you should always give a handful of dates to warm the hearts of the ministers, don't you think?"

Jia Cong didn't come here just to eat for free. He came to Fengtian Hall because he had something important to say.

The emperor may vent his anger today, but the officials will not hold it against the emperor. However, they will definitely hold it against Sister Lin who caused this incident... or in other words, against the Jia and Lin families.

Why did the trend of donations become so prevalent? On the one hand, it was due to interests, but the underlying reason was that studying for the imperial examinations really cost a lot of money.

Except for those who had wealthy families, scholars who wanted to take the imperial examinations had to save up money for several years before they could go to the county town, prefectural capital, or even the capital to take the exam.

They try every possible way to make money, just to have a good study environment, and this is a reason that no one can shirk.

Even if one passed the imperial examination and became an official, be it the eighth or seventh rank, even if one passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy, the salary given by the court would at most be enough to support the whole family.

Even officials who stayed in Beijing could not afford to rent a decent house.

It's not easy to live in Chang'an, and this is not just a joke.

Houses in Beijing are ridiculously expensive!
The salary system formulated by the imperial court was established at the founding of the country.

Prices have fluctuated over the past century, and are now much more expensive than when the country was founded. However, the salaries of officials have never changed.

Therefore, the emperor actually listened to Jia Cong's suggestion of salary increase at this time.

The emperor picked up the meal and thought carefully while eating.

According to the current salary system, nobles really have no shortage of money, but civil servants are much poorer.

Many officials in Beijing may not be able to afford a house even if they have been officials for ten years.

The most obvious example is Hai Gangfeng, who was a third-rank minister of the Ministry of Rites. If the emperor had not granted him a house, this old man would still be renting a house on the outskirts of the south city, which was full of people.

"You're right, it's time to raise the price..."

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　I’ll stop here tonight and continue tomorrow. Good night!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)