allonlinenovel Chapter 1134 Are they deliberately trying to make things difficult for us?
Chapter 1134 Are they deliberately trying to make things difficult for us?
Li Shanchang looked coldly at Liu Bowen and said in a sarcastic tone, "The Marquis of Chengyi is well-read and should know that throughout history, all reforms have either been implemented from the top down or from the bottom up."
“Those who come from the top down either fail due to infighting among various factions or due to insufficient manpower and resources.”
“Those who act from the bottom up will cause turmoil in the world and make it difficult for the people to live in peace.”
"Based on these two points alone, Marquis Chengyi should know that the world has just been settled, people are eager for peace, and various forces have not yet taken shape. With the border markets and gold and silver mines in Yingzhou, the grain supplies of the various vassal states are available, and manpower and money are barely sufficient, it is the most suitable opportunity for reform."
Liu Bowen's eyes lit up, and he immediately interjected, "What the Duke of Han just said is that it will take about ten years to start implementing reforms, and thirty to fifty years to complete them."
Li Shanchang was stunned—did I just say that?
Emperor Zhu also glanced at Liu Bowen with suspicion.
Liu Bowen nodded very seriously and said, "In fact, what the Duke of Han said is right. It will indeed take about ten years to start implementing reforms, and it will indeed take thirty to fifty years to complete the reforms."
"However, now is indeed the most opportune time for change, because if it drags on for too long, the power of those aristocratic families, officials, maritime merchants, and gentry may rise from the ashes, thereby affecting the implementation of the reform."
Li Shanchang was even more bewildered, and the Emperor Zhu's doubts deepened.
Liu Bowen looked at Li Shanchang, then at Emperor Zhu, and said in a deep voice, “Your Majesty, I have been fortunate enough to guess some of the ideas of the Duke of Han—he wants to force me to quickly implement the reforms of the Censorate, and then use the Censorate’s supervisory role to keep an eye on those aristocratic families, officials, maritime merchants, and gentry, thereby buying time for training students and formally implementing the reforms.”
Li Shanchang blinked unconsciously.
Is that what I think?
No, it was that old scoundrel Liu Bowen who started the trouble for me; I was just forced to retaliate.
How did it come to him as if all of this was about me pushing for reforms within the Censorate?
Before Li Shanchang could even sort out his thoughts, Liu Bowen immediately unfolded a map of the Yan state: "Your Majesty, I am willing to buy time for reform, but as you know, the Censorate is a position that offends people, and it is also an office that requires a large number of people."
"I am not afraid of offending people."
"The problem is that we are really short-staffed."
"Our Great Ming Dynasty currently has more than a thousand prefectures and counties. As our army continues to expand, I'm afraid it will become more than two thousand prefectures and counties in the future."
"Even if we set up a subordinate office of the Censorate in each prefecture and county, and each office only needs five people, there would still be a shortage of more than 10,000 people."
"Therefore, the students of the eighth year of Hongwu's reign, as well as those children who completed their studies in community schools but were not qualified to pass the imperial examinations..."
Liu Bowen stared expectantly at Emperor Zhu, his fawning expression practically spitting out his tongue and wagging his tail: "Shouldn't we allocate these personnel to the Censorate as much as possible first?"
As Liu Bowen finished speaking, Li Shanchang was completely dumbfounded.
So everything I just said was just a stepping stone for that old scoundrel Liu Bowen?
So, I am the Gotham mascot that Yang the Madman was talking about?
Emperor Zhu was completely bewildered and even wanted to grab Liu Bowen by the collar and interrogate him thoroughly—explain to me what a shortage of more than 10,000 people means.
Damn it, even though our good son-in-law is always short of tens or hundreds of thousands of manpower, that bastard wants laborers!
The prisoners of the Ming Dynasty can be used as laborers. We can have Xu Da and Chang Heizi grab some prisoners of war from anywhere and they can do it too!
Ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty could even earn money by working!
But what do you want, you old scoundrel?
What you need are more than 10,000 scholars, and more than 10,000 scholars who have passed the imperial examination at the level of a child prodigy or above!
Starting from the establishment of community schools in the third year of the Hongwu reign, it has only been a little over three years. That means the first batch of kids who entered the community schools have not even finished their studies yet. Where the hell are we going to find more than 10,000 students to take the imperial examinations?
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the angrier he became. Li Shanchang, however, rolled his eyes and looked at Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, what Marquis Chengyi said is right. Let the Censorate keep a close eye on those aristocratic families, officials, maritime merchants, and gentry. This will not only buy time for reform, but also crack down on smuggling along the coast and curb the chaos of land annexation. It's a win-win situation."
Emperor Zhu glanced at Li Shanchang and asked, "So? Your cabinet and other ministries are not planning to hire any more people?"
Li Shanchang chuckled and stroked his beard, saying, "Look at what Your Excellency is saying. The Censorate is short-staffed, and the Grand Secretariat and the various ministries, directorates, temples, and academies are equally short-staffed. How could I possibly be short-staffed?"
Before Emperor Zhu could say anything, Li Shanchang interjected, "I just realized that relying solely on the Censorate to monitor those aristocratic families, officials, merchants, and gentry is like walking on one leg; it's far less efficient and stable than walking on two legs."
Emperor Zhu looked at Li Shanchang with suspicion. "Walking on two legs? I wonder what Mr. Shanchang's thoughts are?"
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled again, saying, "Naturally, we will simultaneously initiate reforms in the court—although other aspects are not easy to change, the cabinet aspect is relatively easy to change."
"For example, add a few more assistant ministers and scholars to the cabinet to be in charge of a certain aspect."
“For example, I am skilled in civil affairs, but not in the affairs of workshops.”
"If we could bring Wang Guangyang into the cabinet to oversee the workshops..."
At this point, Li Shanchang smiled meaningfully and said, "Don't forget, Your Excellency, Wang Guangyang has been in Shandong for a long time and is quite familiar with road construction, workshops, and mining. No matter which aspect he is in charge of, it can be considered that he is making the best use of his talents. Even I can benefit from this and be able to devote myself to other affairs."
"There are also ministers, directors of other ministries, supervisors, temples and academies, and directors of other ministries, supervisors, temples and academies. Apart from the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of War, the other officials of the various government offices could also enter the cabinet as assistant ministers and scholars."
"In this way, it will not only make it easier for superiors to understand the situation of each department, but also better realize what the Prince Consort said about 'assigning responsibility to individuals,' which can be considered as killing two birds with one stone."
"..."
Li Shanchang spoke eloquently, while Emperor Zhu unconsciously blinked.
I always felt that Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were right.
But something felt off.
Or perhaps these two old scoundrels have also been corrupted by some scoundrel and are deliberately trying to cause us trouble?