Jinyi champion

Chapter 485 The road to the cabinet has been paved

In the court meeting on April [-], the five senior ministers of the Zhengde Dynasty, including the four ministers of the central court and the right capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, were replaced in the most direct way.

Even the Minister of the Household Department was appointed as Sun Jiao, a veteran official who was born in Anlu, to succeed him.

Only Zhang Zilin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment and Mao Cheng, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites are still in their positions.

Now the greatest pressure falls on Zhang Zilin, because the new emperor has clearly ordered that the Ministry of Punishment will thoroughly investigate the case of Wang Qiong and Wang Xian, and will provide the exact charges within a few days to facilitate conviction.

The meeting ended.

On the way of the ministers leaving the palace, a "little court meeting" was completed in the process of walking.

Yang Tinghe is naturally the leader of this small court meeting.

"Mr. Yang Ge, His Majesty's action is clearly aimed at yesterday's court ceremony. If His Majesty intends to insist on it and then implicate the matter in other parts of the court, is it necessary to change all the ministers of the court? It was also said that Nanjing The hall is going to be cleaned up, and now it seems that without me waiting to take action, His Majesty will kill himself!"

The person who put forward these views is Liu Zhu in the criminal department.

Yang Tinghe said: "The matter of the great ceremony has long been settled. It is decided that Tao and King Pu will discuss it, and the successor will succeed. Why do you need to repeat it here? In the past few days, I will sort out the matter of the great ceremony and report it to Your Majesty, so that His Majesty can understand. The legitimacy of his own succession... Ming Dayi is the foundation of the emperor!"

This was said to Mao Cheng, Minister of Rites.

Mao Cheng didn't answer.

On the issue of great ceremony, Mao Cheng, as Minister of Rites, can naturally feel that Yang Tinghe's point of view has a lot of loopholes, but now he can only bite the bullet and stand by Yang Tinghe's side, and all civil servants must keep pace. Since he was adopted under Xiaozong's name, he had to draw a clear line with King Xing.

Zhang Zilin asked: "The crimes of Wang Qiong and Wang Xian..."

"You don't need to ask me, everything should be determined by the law, do I need to remind you of this?"

Yang Tinghe actually didn't want to preside over this small court meeting on the way out of the palace. The results of the previous court meeting far exceeded his imagination.

The civil servants felt that they had won in an all-round way, but Yang Tinghe felt that Zhu Siming had given up the appointment and dismissal of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of War in exchange for the candidates he proposed to be the Secretary of the Household Department and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry to be passed in the court, and the selected people were very To be precise, neither Sun Jiao nor Zhao Huang is his confidant of Yang Tinghe, so it is tantamount to injecting third-party power into the court.

This made Yang Tinghe re-examine the scheme behind the young emperor.

A little emperor who had just arrived in the capital and succeeded to the throne for less than ten days, first held on to the big gift, decisively obtained the power of edict and prison, and now he attacked the officials of the imperial court...

Yang Tinghe has a little sense of crisis.

At this time, Shi Ping, who had just succeeded as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, asked: "Zhongtang, should the matter of the palace examination be put on the agenda now? The tributes of the Gengchen Division are still in the capital. It’s hard to maintain.”

A group of foreign candidates will not be able to eat the imperial food after passing the imperial examination. It is equivalent to waiting in the capital for more than a year, and they have to rely on their family to support them.

Many Jinshi and middle- and lower-level officials can hardly support themselves with the salaries they receive from the imperial court, let alone a group of juren who sit on the mountain and eat nothing?

These days, it is said that if you pass the exam, you can collect rent through the way of rich households attaching to the fields... But this is only limited to some areas. He has a reasonable source of income, does not become an official and does not teach apprentices, and only thinks about taking the imperial examination. The poor family cannot support it at all.

This also means that many Juren's lives are also poor, especially those who were recruited by the new imperial examinations.

Yang Tinghe said: "It will be in the middle of next month and report to His Majesty earlier. This kind of matter should not be sloppy, it is the first subject after the new emperor ascends the throne, we must select good candidates..."

The first subject of the new emperor, but the real examiners are still Yang Tinghe and his disciple Gujiu, and the disciple of the emperor is also a disciple of his Yang family.

……

……

When noon was approaching, Zhang Zuo went out of the palace to find Zhu Hao, and told Zaochao the details face to face.

"...Your Majesty would like to ask Mr. Zhu, can we imitate Emperor Xiaozong and set an example in the Wu Dynasty, so that the major issues in the court can be resolved as soon as possible?" Zhang Zuo asked in a tone of asking for instructions.

Zhu Hao smiled.

Zhu Sigang has only been emperor for less than ten days. He probably feels that being an emperor gives orders to all officials in the court, and he has a great sense of accomplishment.
The minister compares you to Xiaozong, do you really think of yourself as Xiaozong?

"In my opinion, there is no need."

Zhu Hao said, "It's not easy to fully control the court now. Even if we want to reopen the Wu Dynasty, we have to wait for a few years... There are too many ghosts and monsters in the court now. If you don't wait for me, why let your majesty look for trouble?" ?”

If the court were all your own people, you would open the Wu Dynasty, but now they are all orthodox Confucian officials who seem to be at odds with you. Is it fun to argue with them?

Zhang Zuo said with a smile: "Your Majesty has drawn up an edict, sent people to Anlu, recruited Mr. Sun to the capital, and secretly sent people to Jiangxi to invite Fei Lao to the capital, and prepared to let him re-enter the cabinet... But this matter has not yet been resolved. Mentioned in the court."

Zhu Si didn't know many famous ministers, except what Zhu Hao told him, which was what his father Zhu Youzhao said.

Huguang and Jiangxi are mostly Confucianists, and apart from Sun Jiao, Fei Hong is the most famous.

Zhu Hao couldn't help thinking that when Huang Zan was an official in Jiangxi, one of Su Xigui's business partners was from the Fei family, and the Fei family had a huge influence in Jiangxi. This time, it was a good move to transfer Fei Hong back to the capital to join the cabinet. .

Tang Yindao: "I am afraid that the matter of joining the cabinet must be approved by that Yang Shoufu, and besides the four cabinet ministers now, I am afraid that it is difficult for anyone to replace them."

Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Just wait, someone is probably about to resign."

"Who?"

Zhang Zuo and Tang Yin simultaneously set their sights on Zhu Hao.

Zhu Haodao: "I think it should be Liang Dashi. Among the four cabinet ministers, Liang Dashi used to be the chief assistant when Yang Ge was old. When the new emperor ascends the throne, it is the time when the old and the new are changing, not everyone wants to work hard in the cabinet."

Zhang Zuo understood: "If Grand Master Liang resigns, there is a reason for Mr. Fei to join the cabinet, that is..."

"Wait, don't worry, this matter has to be done step by step, just pass on the edict, and then invite people to the capital, there is no telling when it will take. In addition, Xie Qian Xie Ge from Yuyao is also a famous Confucianist in the world. , These people may not come out of the mountains as soon as they are recruited, but they must always give people a sign that His Majesty wants to use the veterans of the Hongzhi Dynasty, so that people know that His Majesty has the heart to set things right."

After Zhu Hao finished speaking, not only Zhang Zuo nodded again and again, but Tang Yin also sighed and nodded slightly, obviously deeply agreeing.

The Emperor Zhengde was too troublesome, so many celebrities chose to avoid the court and go back to spend their lives. In fact, many of them were not very old when they left, and they can return to the court to take important positions now. Except for Sun Jiao and Fei Hong, There are still famous officials such as Xie Qian and Yang Yiqing, but not everyone is willing to come back.

Everyone knows that the new emperor ascends the throne and the court is unstable. When he comes back, he will be involved in the vortex between the new emperor and the civil servant group, so why come back?

I've been idle for several years or even more than ten years, so I have to make fun of myself?

Zhang Zuo smiled and said: "How can you say that with Mr. Zhu here, Your Majesty doesn't have to worry about anything? There is also news that the palace examination is approaching, and the specific time has not been set, but I heard that the Ministry of Rites plans to set it on the fifteenth day of next month." .”

"Ah."

Zhu Hao nodded and said nothing.

Zhang Zuoxi said happily: "Your Majesty, when Mr. Zhu is admitted as a Jinshi, he can enter the Imperial Academy, appointed as a Hanlin Bachelor, and he can enter the cabinet in one or two years..."

The ideal is full, but the reality... Yang Tinghe will not agree!
Tang Yin next to him was jealous for a while.

Look at the others, they are already the emperor's most trusted ministers before being admitted to Jinshi, and they have already made plans to join the cabinet. Is there any minister in the world who can be like Zhu Hao?
Zhu Hao shook his head and said: "I think His Majesty should arrange some old people from the Xingwang Mansion in the court as soon as possible, such as Mr. Tang, he should have an official rank... But he is only a recruiter, and it is not easy to get a high position directly. Realistic, but it is still necessary to plan in advance and rise from the grassroots step by step, so that His Majesty will have many helpers in the court in the future."

"Of course it's good."

Zhang Zuo said with a smile, "What Mr. Zhu thought of, His Majesty can think of it, and our family will help think about it, but I don't know what position is suitable for it..."

Tang Yin's mentality changed from envy, jealousy and hatred to fear and fear in an instant.

Tang Yin hurriedly said: "No need, I'm a loose person in the countryside, why would I dare to expect too much?"

Zhang Zuo said: "Mr. Tang, we are all on our own. We grew up with His Majesty. The court is surrounded by wolves, tigers and leopards. Even if you want to be an individual, do you still have to worry about His Majesty's safety? This is not for your personal gain. It is to take care of the important affairs of the family and the country, and also to ensure the stability of Daming."

After all, Zhang Zuo knew how to flatter, and what he said was very useful.

It is not a reward for you to be an official, but out of trust in you. You must know how to repay His Majesty's trust.

Tang Yin sighed and did not refuse again.

But the matter of appointing Tang Yin to an official position has to be carefully considered. After all, a Juren has no experience in being an official, and everyone knows that Tang Yin has no intention of serving the court... Plus Tang Yin pretended to be crazy and fled from Nanchang before, everyone thought Tang Yin was a fool. Mad maniac.

It takes a process for him to move from behind the scenes to the front.

……

……

Zhang Zuo asked many questions and pestered Zhu Hao for a long time.

We had a meal together at noon. When we left in the afternoon, Zhu Hao specially reminded Zhang Zuo to be careful. After all, the new emperor has done several important things, Yang Tinghe should also be vigilant. If Yang Tinghe knew that Zhang Zuo often went out of the palace, naturally You will suspect that someone is offering advice behind the scenes.

Zhang Zuo said with a smile: "Our family understands. According to what His Majesty said, if we are allowed to leave the palace publicly in the future, we should visit Yuan Changshi more often, so that others will have no doubts."

From the emperor's ascension to the present, Yuan Zonggao's sense of existence is very low.

Although Zhu Si also summoned Yuan Zonggao alone in the middle, to show that it was Yuan Zonggao who offered advice and suggestions, but in the court hall, Yuan Zonggao had a hard time saying a word.

Yuan Zonggao's mediocre ability was also reflected at this time.

Zhu Hao reckoned that Yuan Zonggao was very depressed now. The chief of the palace, Shi, he did it well and freely. After the death of King Lao Xing, he basically took all the power on him, but now he felt that he was struggling to enter the court, and he was exhausted physically and mentally.

(End of this chapter)