The next day, Fang Yizhe woke up early in the morning. But when he got up, he found that he had woken up early.
Daming's morning court was quite abnormal. He had to wake up before the sun rose at five o 'clock. Then, he would starve himself until two o' clock in the afternoon in a pile of red tape. And there was little rest throughout the year. From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, it had been like this for more than two hundred years. There was no time to deal with serious government affairs. Such a messy way of doing things was really crazy!
Fang Shoufu kept thinking that he had to go to the palace the next day. When he woke up, he remembered that Daming was finished. The new dynasty changed the rules and asked him to go at ten o 'clock. Ten o 'clock in the morning was almost noon.
"It's almost noon. This is the time to be beheaded. It's not a good sign." Fang Yizhe scratched his head, but he couldn't sleep. After getting up, he could only sit there. He waited until the sun rose and even ate breakfast before he slowly sat in the sedan chair and ran to the palace.
At this moment, the sun was shining high in the sky. The streets were full of officials heading to the Forbidden City. When the 'Revolutionary Army' broke into the city, many people died for Daming. But there were still many people alive. In the past, everyone would greet each other enthusiastically when they saw each other. But today, they were all silent. Everyone's future was uncertain, and they didn't know what was waiting for them.
There was a court in the Imperial City. Officials of different ranks had their own seats. As the Prime Minister, Fang Yizhe's official position was the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. His office was in the Imperial Library. But when they entered the Imperial Palace today, all the officials found that the situation had changed. The new Emperor asked people to fill the big square in front of the Imperial Palace with stools. Everyone went to the Emperor to register and sit down.
After all, Fang Shoufu had a high position and power. Once he appeared, he naturally attracted attention. Although no one came up to greet him, there were still colleagues who saluted him, not lacking etiquette. Most of the officials who came to the court today wore ordinary clothes, but some even wore Daming's official uniform. An official in a green robe was originally walking in front of Fang Yizhe, but when he saw him, he quickly stepped aside and let him go ahead.
Cyan and green were the colors of Daming's low-ranking official robes. Fang Yizhe did not recognize the person in front of him. If it was any other time, he would have just smiled and walked up to the other party. If the other party refused to give way, he would be unhappy. But today, he had no choice but to be modest and ask the other party to leave first. This minor official was in a stalemate, so he took the lead.
A bunch of officials lined up and walked to the plaza in front of the Extreme Emperor Palace. Fang Yizhe looked into the distance and saw a large armchair placed at the front of the queue. A young man was sitting on the chair and laughing as he accepted the greetings of the officials. The green-robed minor official walking in front of him suddenly trembled and said in shock, "Oh no, I came wearing the robes of the Ming court."
Hearing this, Fang Yizhe couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He thought to himself that this minor official was really muddle-headed. This was the first time the new Emperor had summoned someone, and there was actually someone wearing the robes of the previous dynasty. Wasn't this clearly asking for death? However, there were many officials who had come to pay their respects and wore Daming's official robes. Seeing that everyone else was wearing normal clothes, they realized that they had made a huge mistake.
The green-robed minor official wanted to turn and leave after realizing this, but the guards in charge of maintaining order shouted at him to continue forward and not to run around. The green-robed minor official immediately sweated profusely and was scared out of his wits. He trembled as he walked to the armchair in front of him. He was still a few meters away from the young man on the chair when he fell to his knees and cried.
"Imperial Astronomer Ge Chengke greets Your Majesty."
The young man on the armchair laughed and waved his hand, shouting, "Get up, get up. How many times do I have to say this? The Revolutionary Army does not like kneeling. If you kneel in front of me like this, I will be unhappy. Come forward. "
The green-robed minor official almost crawled forward. He could only get up with the help of two guards. When he arrived in front of the young man, he lowered his head and said while trembling, "I was muddle-headed and wore the official robe of the past. I didn't mean to do so, please forgive me, Your Majesty. "
"Oh, it's nothing." The young man waved his hand. "What did you say you were … Imperial Astronomer?"
"Yes." Seeing the young man laughing, the green-robed minor official's heart calmed down a little, but his hands and feet were still trembling.
"Your Imperial Astronomer seemed to have predicted the solar eclipse wrong a few years ago. It's such a big joke," the young man said casually.
The green-robed minor official immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed as if he was pounding garlic, "I'm not good at academics, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Get up first, get up first. It's true that you're not good at academics, so you have to work harder. However, I can understand that your knowledge system is too outdated, and the imperial court doesn't pay attention to you, so it's naturally difficult for you to achieve anything. However, our Revolutionary Army's Education Department is about to be reorganized into the Science Education Department. All of you in the Imperial Astronomer will be retained, and your monthly salary will be increased tenfold. Work hard in the future. "
The young man was greatly encouraged, and gave him money as a reassurance. From now on, it would be the spring of science!
What did the Imperial Astronomer do? They were in the field of astronomy and calendar. Those in the field of astronomy had to understand mathematics, and they also needed to have a good view of the world and the universe. This was a proper high-level intellectual. Moreover, the Imperial Astronomer didn't have much money. It was a typical government office that didn't have a place to be greedy, and if they made a mistake, they would be punished.
For this kind of purely academic and technical department, it was natural to give more money and develop it vigorously. The salary of the Ming Dynasty officials was notoriously low, and the low-level officials were even so poor that they had to borrow money from usury to survive. They could afford a tenfold increase. As for wearing the wrong clothes, that was not a problem.
Not only was the green-robed minor official not scolded, but he also received a promise. He was immediately overjoyed and kowtowed again to thank the young man. He smiled and walked to the young man's right side, thinking of finding a place to sit at the back. However, the young man shouted, "Wait, go to my left and find a place to sit."
Left?
Was there a difference between left and right?
The green-robed minor official didn't dare to ask and went to the left.
When Fang Yizhe saw that such a low-level official who had committed a grave mistake was easily let off, the sparks in his heart grew even bigger. He flicked his sleeves and brushed off the non-existent dust on his body. He stepped forward and cupped his hands in salute. "Subject Fang Yizhe greets Your Majesty."
Fang Shoufu lowered his head and waited for this young Grand Marshal to treat him with respect, and even give him a cushy job as a high-ranking official. However, after waiting for a long time with his head lowered, he didn't hear any movement. He couldn't help but look up slightly and found that this Grand Marshal Zhou was holding a booklet and flipping it back and forth.
After flipping for a long time, Grand Marshal Zhou asked impatiently, "What's your name again? I don't have your name in this booklet. "
"Subject Fang Yizhe."
"What official?"
"Ah …?"
Seeing Grand Marshal Zhou's serious expression, Fang Yizhe felt like he had been greatly insulted. I'm Grand Secretary Daming, don't you know?
Grand Marshal Zhou … he really didn't know who Grand Secretary Daming was. Why would he care about this? Even if someone told him, he would forget after a while.
"Oh … Fang Yizhe." Grand Marshal Zhou seemed to remember. He scratched his chin and said, "You can sit on the right."
Fang Yizhe was startled. His expectations were dashed, and he could only obediently sit on the right.
Grand Marshal Zhou spent a long time and only saw less than two hundred people. He quickly grew impatient and had the guards help him. He used a booklet in his hand as a distinction. Those with names on the booklet sat on the left, and those without names sat on the right.
In the end, the people on the left were all low-ranking minor officials, and there were countless of them. They were mainly from the government offices and technocrats. The people on the right were high-ranking officials and members of the imperial family. There were also thousands of them.
Zhou Qingfeng hadn't used his loudspeaker artifact for a long time. This time, he took it out and infused it with spirit energy to amplify his voice. He shouted loudly, "Okay, guards, bring the people on the left to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to register. Everyone will undergo three months of intensive training. Those who pass the training will compete for positions and be selected based on merit. As for the people on the right, hehehe … "
Grand Marshal Zhou's laughter made the people on the right feel a sense of impending disaster, making them feel as if they were sitting on pins and needles. After laughing, he continued, "The Daming Dynasty fell in your hands, and you are responsible. Logically speaking, I should kill all of you. You're not good people anyway, and you've done nothing good. But after thinking about it, I'll let you go …
It's not because I'm kind. I just want you to record all the political lessons you've learned these years. Also, hand over all the money you've embezzled. The gold, silver, and land don't belong to you. Do these two things well, and then go write your memoirs. I'll allow you to live the rest of your lives in peace. Otherwise, your families will be exterminated. To put it simply, your good days are over. "
Fang Yizhe and the others were in an uproar. They really didn't expect the difference between the two groups on the left and right to be so great. The minor officials on the left were leaving, and when they learned of this completely different treatment, they were all shocked. The people in the uproar all had ashen faces, and their expressions were ashen. The frightened people all whispered in surprise, turning their heads to look.
Looking at the people on his right, Zhou Qingfeng's eyes actually had a disdainful smile. He suddenly stared at Fang Yizhe, who was sitting at the very front. He reached out and pointed at him, saying, "I remember now. You're Grand Secretary Daming.
All of the government orders you've issued this year will appear in my daily report. The court all says that you're impartial and direct, and that you've resisted the eunuchs. If I had to say, you're a muddle-headed person who only knows how to smooth things over.
The Ministry of Revenue doesn't have money, you can't solve it. The Ministry of War doesn't have pay, you can't solve it. The hundreds of officials are incompetent, you can't solve it. When the enemy invades, you still can't solve it. You and those people behind you are the typical type of people who only know how to be officials but don't know how to do things, and don't even dare to take responsibility. The so-called sitting without doing anything refers to people like you. "
Being ridiculed and ridiculed by Zhou Qingfeng like this, Fang Yizhe's face alternated between green and white, and he could only sit on a small stool in a daze. After Zhou Qingfeng finished laughing, he shouted to the guards behind him, "Send these people to the Ministry of Interior to be registered. They're going to be under house arrest for a period of time. In addition, the officials who received the notice but didn't come will all be wanted as' counter-revolutionaries'. Don't let them go. "
Receiving this kind of treatment, some of the thousands of high-ranking officials and dignitaries actually began to wail bitterly. But no one expressed sympathy for them, because what Zhou Qingfeng said was right — the Daming dynasty had been defeated and destroyed by their hands.
When the crowd in front of him gradually dispersed, Zhou Qingfeng sat on his chair and shouted in a deep voice, "Ma Keshi."
"Your subject is here." Seeing the power, status, and wealth of the high-ranking officials of the imperial court being easily taken away one by one, Eunuch Ma also felt distressed. In the past, if he wanted to overthrow any one of these people, he would have to put in a lot of effort. But now, they were all done for with just a few words from Zhou Qingfeng.
This was real power.
"Wang Kunpeng's Ministry of Security will be reorganized into the Ministry of State Security. Ma Keshi, you will establish the Ministry of Public Security on the basis of the Tianjin Police Department. "Zhou Qingfeng grabbed a thick document from his hand and handed it over.
"This is the plan that Xu Bing made for your department. It contains your power and responsibility. Cleaning up these corrupt officials is the first task of the Ministry of Public Security. Squeeze all the money out of them. "
The minister of the Revolutionary Army was similar to the minister of the Ming court. Ma Keshi did not dare to flip through the document in his hand on the spot, but he knew that the person who climbed to the top of the foundation of the police department was the minister of the Ministry of Justice.
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