There were even those who brought up Fu to argue that the Emperor could tolerate rebels, yet could not tolerate loyal officials!
Zhu Ci turned a deaf ear to such voices.
Let them curse; the ones jumping out to curse most enthusiastically are all those with connections to Ma Shiying and Gao Hongtu.
These two had been active since the Chongzhen era; their ability to install Zhu Yousong as Emperor already demonstrated their influence.
People continued to denounce them, yet no one listened to those seeking justice for them, the groups petitioning for justice seemed massive because they were all scholars.
During this process, the Censorate naturally also submitted memorializing documents, advising the Emperor not to take such drastic measures.
As a result, the Censorate received a sudden, heavy blow: the Right Censor Huang Chunyao was suspended from his post and his salary was withheld pending investigation, those connected to him were treated the same. The Censorate was temporarily placed under the management of the Left Censor Yan Yingyuan.
Once this order was issued, the Censorate itself fell into a state of chaos.
For a long time, the Right Censor has not had a very strong presence within the Censorate.
First, it was because Huang Chunyao did not relinquish power; the Right Censor and the Left Censor of the Censorate were actually of equal rank, though the Left Censor had always been the de facto leader, but there were exceptions.
To consolidate his own position, because he and Zhu Ci had indeed known each other since their humble beginnings, Huang Chunyao's influence within the Censorate was almost equivalent to being able to cover the sky with one hand.
Not to mention that many of his old acquaintances had also been placed in the Censorate.
And Yan Yingyuan himself did not have the same background as Huang Chunyao; his highest official position was only that of Jiangyin Bailiff, he later resigned his post due to his mother's passing.
He had no old acquaintances, even if he did, he wouldn't have had the qualifications to enter the Censorate.
Even if he were to be appointed as the Right Censor, it would still be considered very strange by everyone.
Even if the imperial court were desperate for people, it wouldn't be reasonable to appoint someone of such background as the Right Censor.
However, Zhu Ci overruled all opposition, because only he knew that in the original work, this person had once led the people of Jiangyin to hold an isolated city for eighty-one days, even dealing a heavy blow to the Qing Army.
He just hadn't expected that this obscure Right Censor would actually have a day when he could rise to prominence.
Yan Yingyuan was not happy about this, but rather terrified.
What merit or ability does he have to lead the Censorate!
Moreover, given the current situation, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the people are in a state of intense indignation; the fact that there hasn't been an uprising is purely because His Majesty the Emperor simply does not care about those insults.
At this time, he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, so in the future.. when Huang Chunyao returns, what will he do?
Yan Yingyuan's relationship with Huang Chunyao was not bad; he knew very well that Huang Chunyao had absolutely no involvement in the cases of Ma Shiying and Gao Hongtu, so an investigation would yield nothing.
Now that there is a shortage of people in the imperial court, there is no telling when the other party might return, when that happens, he might be the one in trouble.
However, Zhu Ci anticipated his possible concerns and said directly, "I am well aware of your past actions, so go with peace of mind. As long as you are devoted to the country, I will never fail you."
Yan Yingyuan felt a little more relieved after hearing this; if nothing else, the Little Emperor's credit was quite good.
During the New Year, the Little Emperor paid out of his own pocket to distribute a lot of money to everyone, even distributed quite a bit of land.
In short, as long as one worked honestly, the Little Emperor never treated anyone poorly.
Yan Yingyuan worked honestly; his former job was to apprehend and manage prisoners, so he had quite a bit of experience in how to manage people.
Whether they were criminals or high officials, sometimes they were all much the same.
The Censorate gradually grew quiet under his hand, no one submitted any more memorials.
Of course, it was primarily because they were frightened by the Little Emperor's resolve.
People outside were cursing them like that, recently, even within the imperial court, everyone was in a state of panic, terrified that they might have any connection to those two.
Even if there were no connections between them, what if their relatives and friends knew the relatives and friends or younger generations of Ma and Gao?
It was truly too difficult for the scholars of Jiangnan to completely avoid these two people; some large numbers of court officials were already discussing whether to resign collectively.
They refused to believe that even this wouldn't make the Emperor back down!
However, the Little Emperor turned a deaf ear to it, continuing to do exactly as he pleased.
Yan Yingyuan was breaking into a cold sweat, desperately wishing the Little Emperor would restrain himself a bit and stop causing such chaos in the imperial court; what if everyone truly decided to resign from their posts?
In the entire history of Great Ming, only the Taizu and Chengzu could withstand such pressure, but even those two relied on their personal prestige. As for the Little Emperor now.. he is still lacking a little.
However, he did not dare say anything either, could only hope that the Grand Secretary Fu would offer some advice, but the Grand Secretary simply did what he had to do, appearing not to care at all.
What on earth are those two thinking?
Just as Yan Yingyuan was feeling puzzled, two orders arrived from the Grand Secretariat: first, the imperial court would hold new examinations, with both the Civil Service Examination and the Military Service Examination being held concurrently; the Junior Examination would take place from the second to the third month, the Provincial Examination and Metropolitan Examination would begin in the fourth month, the Palace Examination would be held in the fifth month.
Second, the palace will select female officials. Female officials are not required to reside within the palace; any woman with a clean background who is literate and capable of handling documents may participate.
Third, the palace will select eunuchs; they must likewise be of clean backgrounds and in good health.
The third point also emphasized that once castrated, one would instead lose their eligibility.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: If you don't want to do it, then don't, I'll find someone else. [Catty cat printing exam questions while grumbling. jpg]
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 148
With the first piece of news out, the second one seemed less significant.
However, that order to select eunuchs was somewhat baffling. Since ancient times, eunuchs have always been used in the palace, so the Emperor's sudden decision to change the old rules and stop using eunuchs was quite strange.
Later, some people suggested it was because the Emperor felt that castrating normal people went against human nature, in a moment of softheartedness, he decided to stop using eunuchs.
Many people could not help but fall silent after hearing this.
Ma Shiying and Gao Hongtu were still embroiled in a bloody struggle. Although Ma and Gao were still alive, many members of their families had already been executed due to being implicated in murder cases.
On one hand, he executed people at the drop of a hat; on the other, he was soft-hearted and thought castration was problematic. How could this Little Emperor be so contradictory?
Zhu Ci was preparing for his examination matters while simultaneously feeling suspicious.
He knew that Zhu Ci had released such heavyweight news only to minimize the impact of the cases involving Ma and Gao.
But now, it seemed the effect had not been achieved; instead, the situation was only escalating.
Those scholars had already publicly declared that if the Emperor did not rescind his order, they would boycott the examinations, turning the imperial examinations into a laughingstock.
The grand wave of strikes by scholars was on the verge of beginning, it seemed the upcoming Provincial Examination had already been affected.
Zhu Ci couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, is there really no problem?"
Zhu Ci smiled. "Don't worry, what could the problem be?"
But what if they really don't go to the examination?
"Someone will go and take the exams." There was not a hint of panic on Zhu Ci's face.
Seeing that Zhu Ci still didn't understand, he couldn't help but lean in and say, "How many people do you think are waiting for an opportunity after fleeing from the North? Go back and take a census, then give them a green light."
Zhu Ci slapped his forehead after hearing this; he had almost forgotten that such a group of people existed.
In fact, quite a few had escaped from the North back then, but many found it difficult to participate in the civil service examinations because they lacked local household registration.
After Zhu Ci returned, he immediately had people conduct a census and then investigate their identities.
In truth, investigating their identities was no easy task; after all, many things had already been lost, it was unknown whether these people were spies sent by the Tartars.
After all, even if they were Han people, they might have surrendered to the Tartars.
Zhu Ci said calmly, "There's no need to be so meticulous. If one truly wants to plant a spy, they can find a way to get them in, no matter what."
It's just like how there are actually Great Ming spies among the Tartars—or to put it simply, they are actually spies sent by Fu.
This was unavoidable.
In any case, even if one becomes a Top Scholar in Great Ming, it doesn't mean they can immediately govern a region; they must first undergo training, this involves rotating through the Six Ministries. During this learning process, it is difficult for them to come into contact with state secrets.
As for the future.. once they have defeated the Tartars, they won't have to worry about these things anymore.
Zhu Ci glanced at Zhu Ci and said helplessly, "Your Majesty is quite easygoing about it."
Zhu Ci spread his hands. "We can't just stop holding the civil service examinations because of this, can we? And even if we were to restart the recommendation system, it wouldn't necessarily be without flaws."
He hadn't even considered restarting the recommendation system, or anything like the recommendation of the filial and incorrupt. Having good character didn't necessarily mean having good ability; one couldn't simply become an official because of that.
Moreover, sometimes the recommendation system for filial piety and incorruptibility has loopholes that can be exploited.
The civil service examinations are already the most fair and just.
After the Imperial Court began assigning identities in large numbers to the scholars fleeing from the North, many scholars from the South began to panic.
Their first reaction was to marginalize these people, but when they truly tried to marginalize them, they found that it was impossible, as the imperial court had directly settled all those without household registration in one place.
Such places were not hard to find; in areas ravaged by the Qing Army, it was no exaggeration to say that nine out of ten households had been wiped out.
Setting aside everything else, at least there are places in Huaian Prefecture that can accommodate them.
Although this kind of resettlement would require some people who had already settled down to move to a strange new place, it wasn't strictly necessary; after all, it was a fixed rule that without household registration, one could not participate in the civil service examinations.
Considering one's own future, if moving house is what it takes, then so be it.
If they can't push him out, they'll just start cursing him.
The scholars from the south began to accuse the scholars from the north: they had fled in a panic, knew nothing but how to run away, had lost their ancestral legacy, yet they still had the audacity to come south and dictate terms.
The Northerners who had fled were not to be outdone, cursing the Southerners for knowing nothing but flowery prose and poetic nonsense, claiming they lacked even the slightest ability to save the state in the face of a great enemy.
The two sides traded barbs for a moment, in an instant, the conflict shifted to the North and the South.
Zhu Ci frowned. His intention was to tell those troublemaking scholars: If you won't take the examinations, there are plenty of others willing to take them.
But if this continues, I fear it will only lead to factionalism.
Don't all factionalism start with people forming cliques based on their regional origins?
If factionalism were to reappear because of this, he might as well let those people continue cursing him; it wouldn't hurt at all and wouldn't affect him in any way.
After understanding, Fu Qingsheng said thoughtfully, "Your Majesty, factionalism has been unavoidable since ancient times. Even if it is not due to regional differences, there are other possibilities. What Your Majesty must do is maintain a balance."
As long as there are interests, people will naturally form cliques. Setting aside everything else, was there not competition between him and Huang Chunyao before?
As the Grand Secretary, why had he previously said he could not be a solitary official? Was it not simply because people were always scrambling to cluster around him?
It was the same with Huang Chunyao.