"I reserve my opinion." Fu Changzong said the same as before after Zhou Yingqiu finished speaking.

Fu Changzong's attitude made Bi Ziyan, Sun Chengzong and others very embarrassed.Fu Changzong is the core of the "imperial party", the emperor's uncle, his "reserved opinion" means opposition, and their insistence will not only have an impact on future government affairs, but also leave a bad impression on the emperor.

However, Bi Ziyan insisted on continuing to expand the power of the cabinet and strengthen the influence of the six ministries in order to ensure authority and increase the voice and power of the cabinet in implementing the "New Deal".

Bi Ziyan ignored Fu Changzong, and said: "Then let's settle it like this. Regarding the right servant of the household department, I suggest that Wang Weijian be transferred."

Wang Weijian was the governor of Shandong during the Tianqi period. He made great contributions to quelling civil unrest and was also a famous person in the court.

Bi Ziyan is clearly going to join the household department.

Fu Changzong looked up at Bi Ziyan, but didn't speak this time.He believed that the emperor had already thought about the six parts, and what they discussed here might not be in line with the emperor's thoughts. He didn't need to argue with Bi Ziyan now.

Seeing that Fu Changzong didn't speak, Bi Ziyan turned to Zhou Yingqiu, the "No. [-] figure" of the imperial party, and said, "What do the officials think?"

Zhou Yingqiu glanced at Fu Changzong, his expression pondering.

The cabinet has always been weak, but recently it has become stronger, especially in personnel affairs, and now it has directly extended its hands to the interior of the six departments!

However, Fu Changzong had argued about the appointment of Zhang Bingwen and others before, so why did he remain silent when it came to him?

Zhou Yingqiu's heart turned silently, and he didn't speak immediately.

Although Fu Changzong is low-key, it doesn't mean that he is easy to provoke. Even if he insists verbally here, Bi Ziyan can only give in in the end. Not to mention the emperor's attitude, the cabinet without the support of the Ministry of Household Affairs is half abolished, and the other half is in Zhou Yingqiu's hands , The two of them have always advanced and retreated together.

Therefore, offending Fu Changzong is tantamount to offending the "Emperor Party", and offending the "Emperor Party" is tantamount to emptying the cabinet!

Zhou Yingqiu couldn't figure it out for a long while, so he raised his head and said, "The official department has no objection."

Bi Ziyan nodded calmly, as long as Zhou Yingqiu did not object, the matter would basically be settled.

"Okay, let's talk about the finance and budget for next year." Bi Ziyan said.

Shen Xun, Zhang Wenda, Xu Dahua and the others generally kept silent, and it had become a habit. Cabinet affairs were always decided by Zuo Cifu, Fu Changzong, and Zhou Yingqiu.

Fu Changzong spread out the book in front of him, glanced at it, and said: "This year, the imperial court has overdrawn 300 million shi for grain and 200 million taels of silver, and disaster relief, immigration, war, major projects, the army, and officials' salaries account for 800% of the total. .Next year’s financial budget is expected to decrease by 500%, about 600 million yuan in grain, and about 500 million taels in silver, which already includes the income of Huitong Commercial Bank, etc. The military expenditure is about 800 million yuan, 800 million yuan in grain, and one for disaster relief. Thousands of [-] million, food more than [-] million, and others have no evaluation."

Bi Ziyan and the others frowned suddenly. These two items alone accounted for more than half of the year, and they were afraid that they would lose a lot of money next year. How could they make it if they were living without money?

Now the court can collect taxes and collect food to the extreme. Now it is impossible to increase income. The only way is to "reduce expenditure"!

In the past few years, the imperial court has been spending money like water, lavishly, and it is easy to save money, but if you want to implement it, you need the emperor to nod.

Bi Ziyan also had a lot of things to discuss with Zhu Xu. After thinking about it, he said, "The Ministry of Households should make an assessment as soon as possible, and it should be done before the end of the month. The plan, the progress of the 'political reform' of the Ministry of Punishment, and a series of matters of the Ministry of Rites must be brought together to the cabinet before the end of the month. This year's affairs must be dealt with cleanly, so as to fully promote the plan for next year..."

A group of people responded one after another, which is considered a habit.

"Does Mr. Sun Ge have anything to say?" Bi Ziyan turned to look at Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong thought for a while, shook his head and said, "No."

Military affairs are basically not discussed in the cabinet. Sun Chengzong and Shen Yongmao report directly in the imperial study and make decisions immediately.

Bi Ziyan turned his head to look at the others, and said, "Then let's go." After saying that, he got up and walked to the side door.

The six ministers couldn't help but look at each other, this elder Bi Ge became more and more powerful.

Fu Changzong didn't have any idea, he would leave Beijing after the next year, so he got up and walked out the door.

Zhou Yingqiu looked at his back, moved in his heart, and followed him out.

The expressions of the others were a little strange. Today's cabinet meeting was a bit weird. Fu Changzong and Zhou Yingqiu seemed to be completely out of it.

After tidying up in the cabinet class, Bi Ziyan left the cabinet with the memorial and turned to the Jingyang Palace and the imperial study.

Zheng Youyuan, the secretary of the cabinet, followed beside him and said, "My lord, is this going too far? I'm afraid the ministers have their own ideas in their hearts."

Bi Ziyan looked firm, and said: "National affairs are difficult every day, and the cabinet is vacant, and it will not last long. I will speak to the emperor about this matter, so there is no need to worry."

Zheng Youyuan nodded, he understood what Bi Ziyan was thinking.

The Six Departments control almost all the power of Ming Dynasty. It seems to be concentrated and powerful, but it also disperses the power invisibly. It is restrained in many matters, slow to respond, and the cabinet has no real power.

Elder Bi Ge wanted to change this situation. Under the circumstances that the six ministers could not be moved, it was undoubtedly a good way to find a new way to arrange cabinet members inside.

Bi Ziyan was anxious in his heart. The life of the imperial court was becoming more and more difficult. Taxes were reduced and expenditures were huge. Moreover, taxes would decrease and expenditures would increase. The ever-expanding huge financial hole would swallow up Ming Dynasty sooner or later. !

This situation must change, and if you want to make a change, you must strengthen the power of the cabinet!

Although Bi Ziyan was worried, thoughtful, and capable, he was very worried.

The emperor has held the power in his hands since he ascended the throne, and the six departments belong to the emperor. If he intervenes in the six departments, will the emperor be unhappy or even suspicious?

Chapter 803 Centralization of power again

Zhu Xu had just returned to the imperial study, and before he had a sip of tea, Bi Ziyan arrived.

"Your Majesty, I have a few thoughts, and I would like to ask His Majesty to review them." Bi Ziyan said with a note in his hand.

Zhu Xu quickly waved his hand to motion for Liu Shimin to take it, and said at the same time, "Bring another chair to Master Bi."

Bi Ziyan quickly thanked him and sat down slowly on the chair.

Zhu Xu took the playbook, there were three in total, he opened it and looked at it slowly.

The first book was about several personnel appointments, namely Zhang Bingwen, Lu Xiangsheng and others. Zhu Xu thought about it, but kept silent.

In the second book, Bi Ziyan hopes that the cabinet can supervise the appointment, assessment, and promotion of officials, as well as have the right to check and change the money and food in and out of the household department, and expenses.

In the third book, Bi Ziyan intends to sort out all aspects of finance next year, cut expenditures and plug the deficit of the national treasury when it is impossible to increase revenue, so that the imperial court has spare capacity to deal with other emergencies.

After reading it, Zhu Xu held up his teacup with a thoughtful expression on his face.

These three memorials were obviously written very early, and the handwriting was dry long ago.The three memorials were all written by Bi Ziyan after careful consideration.

If an outsider sees it, they will indeed think that this is an extremely reasonable policy for the country.

But Zhu Xu needs to think carefully, he is planning to make large-scale adjustments to the court, and Bi Ziyan's these are disrupting his plan, but before the plan fails, Zhu Xu can't say too much to Bi Ziyan. Much—he must object!

Zhu Xu pondered for a while, and decided to tell Bi Ziyan one or two things, otherwise there would be trouble again, and tapped his finger on the table, he said: "Master Bi, I plan to adjust the court situation, this time it will be bigger, the main purpose is to centralize power Weaken the six ministries and strengthen the power of the cabinet. A strong cabinet will greatly promote the pace of the 'New Deal'."

Bi Ziyan's expression changed slightly, he got up quickly and said, "Your Majesty's words are serious?"

It wasn't that he was reckless, but that he had been worried before he came, worried that the emperor would think his hands were too long and insert them into his territory.

Zhu Xu didn't care, and thought about it: "Now that we've said it, I'll tell you what's on my mind."

Still in shock, Bi Ziyan raised his hand and said, "Please speak, Your Majesty."

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