Daming talker

Chapter 609 The Greatest Kindness
Lin Tailai was almost choked to death by what Master Chen said. He didn't expect that this seemingly unremarkable dean would occasionally show his brilliance.

"Even if my reputation is not important, why should I help you?" Lin Tailai asked.

Chen Xueshi said confidently: “This is not you helping me, but helping each other.

If you can help me transfer to the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Works, I will help you solve this problem of Sun Jigao."

Lin Tailai responded with disdain: "Sun Jigao is nothing to me."

Chen Xueshi said earnestly: "If you dismiss Sun Jigao, it means you are being used by others. It will make you look stupid, and you will feel unhappy, right?

But if Sun Jigao were to remain in the Hanlin Academy and continue to serve as a tutor to the Imperial Academy, you would be even more unhappy.

So I have an idea, transfer Sun Jigao to be the Imperial College Priest, and we can have the best of both worlds."

The system of Imperial College chief academic officers and poets was closely related, and the position of poets was often transferred.

For middle and low-level Hanlin scholars, becoming the chief academic officer of the Imperial College was equivalent to a promotion, but for Sun Jigao it was equivalent to "exile."

Moreover, the Imperial College is quite far away from the Hanlin Academy, which is equivalent to expelling Sun Jigao from the Hanlin Academy in a physical sense.

However, the rank of the Imperial College was not low. For those Hanlin scholars who competed with Sun Jigao for promotion to the third rank and wanted to use Lin Tailai as a gun, the threat of Sun Jigao still existed.

In the end, Lin Tailai would not be made to feel like a sucker and have to work hard to help others eliminate their competitors.

After thinking about it for a while, Lin Tailai found that Mr. Chen’s proposal might really be the safest option.

But he still hesitated and said: "There are thousands of students in the Imperial College. If we let Sun Jigao go to the Imperial College, what if he incites the students and causes trouble again?"

Anyway, that's how it's written in online novels. Inciting students to cause trouble is a daily routine.

Mr. Chen looked at Lin Tailai in surprise. Why is your train of thought so different from others, you Nine Yuan True Immortal?

Even the group of old losers in the Imperial College, thousands of them combined, are not as important as you, a Nine Yuan True Immortal. What are you afraid of?
People in later generations always regarded the Imperial College as the "highest institution of learning", but in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy's evaluation of students of the Imperial College was just like the way Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Peking University looked at adult undergraduates from ordinary universities.

However, in order to seek cooperation, Chen Xueshi said considerately: "Then let Sun Jigao go to the Nanjing Imperial College. You won't worry about this anymore, right?"

"That's no problem!" Lin Tailai had no doubts at all.

Not everyone can rise to prominence like Zhao Zhigao did after graduating from the Nanjing Imperial College.

The system of poets was nominally an independent system directly under the emperor and was not affiliated with any other ministry or agency. The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet also served as the general manager of the system of poets.

Things like the transfer of Hanlin's job required the dual approval of the Cabinet and the President of the Academy, and did not have to go through the Ministry of Personnel like ordinary officials.

Finally, Chen Xueshi said, "I have no problem transferring Sun Jigao to the Imperial College in Nanjing. I will definitely agree to it.

You just need to take care of the cabinet, you can't take care of the cabinet, right?"

Lin Tailai said confidently: "It's easy to talk to the cabinet! The cabinet will be present for the court meeting tomorrow, and I will take care of this matter while I am at it."

After thinking about it, Chen Xueshi gave a vague reminder: "Pay attention to the impact of public opinion. Poet officials should still be more respectable."

Thus, Sun Jigao's fate was roughly determined. The specific situation would depend on whether Lin Tailai could control the cabinet and public opinion.

After that, Lin Tailai sat in the Zhuangyuan Hall and did not go anywhere else.

A large group of people will be confronting each other tomorrow, and I can’t give others the opportunity to spy on me!
This kind of court discussion is voluntary in nature. Except for the parties in the confrontation and the nine ministers of the cabinet, the ministers can participate or not.

But by the next day, the East Court Room outside the Meridian Gate was not packed with people, but it was certainly crowded.

When Wang Tianguan from the Ministry of Personnel arrived, he almost couldn't squeeze in. He stood at the door, looking at the situation in the court room, frowning.

Later, Wang Tianguan took charge and said, "Everyone come out! Today's court meeting will be held outside the court room!"

Generally, court meetings were chaired by the Minister of Personnel, the first person in the outer court, so Wang Tianguan was certainly qualified to make arrangements.

Anyway, the morning court sessions were usually held outdoors back then, so it was no big deal for the ministers to hold a meeting outdoors today.

It's better than crowding the Dongchao room. It would be a joke if some safety accident happened.

Lin Tailai walked through the Duanmen Gate and saw the crowds of people outside the East Courtyard. He immediately felt that he had been cheated.

If you charge admission, you can make at least four figures per show.

In the past, these ministers were all unwilling to attend the morning court, but now they are quite enthusiastic!

There were many people at the scene, but they still had basic official qualities, and their standing positions naturally formed a pattern, which was similar to the positions in the court meetings.

Lin Tailai took a quick glance, then walked over to Wang Tianguan and stood there motionless.

Seeing the protagonist Lin Tailai appear, Wang Tianguan, who was presiding over the court discussion, said, "The emperor has ordered Lin Tailai to confront others in court. Those who were impeached by Lin Tailai should come out and defend themselves."

At this time, a man stood up from behind Chen Xue Shi, the president of the Hanlin Academy.

He also said to Wang Tianguan: "Although I have not been impeached by Lin Tailai, I have been blocked outside the Hanlin Academy by Lin's minions recently and cannot enter normally.

Today I want to ask Lin Tailai in person, what is the reason for setting up a checkpoint to stop Hanlin?"

After hearing this, even those who didn't know him knew that this Hanlin was Sun Jigao, the top scholar in the second year of Wanli, a super-powerful man who dared to compete with Lin Tailai for a position in the Top Scholar Hall.

However, there was another rumor circulating that Sun Jigao was tricked and took Lin Tailai's position without knowing it.

Rumors are like this, true and false, no one can tell what the truth is.

Sun Jigao continued, "In addition, there is a second question today. At the end of last year, the Hanlin Academy completed the "Records of Successive Dynasties' Instructions", which totaled 1,928 volumes.

Among the registered book editors, Lin Tailai alone copied 200 volumes, which is obviously unreasonable!
May I ask Lin Tailai, how did you copy the 200 volumes when you were not in the capital?"

Lin Tailai: "."

Shit! I fought so hard in the northwest last year to earn merits, but I actually forgot about my original job as a book editor in the Hanlin Academy.

Those ghostwriters are so good at writing. They managed to write 200 volumes for me in just two years?
So, the court still owes me an upgrade?
Also, isn't it just that a person who was often not in the capital copied only one-tenth, or about a few million words? How is that unreasonable?
Before Lin Tailai was in any danger, the Prime Minister Shen Shixing and the President of the Hanlin Academy Chen Yubi's faces turned black.

One of these two people is the editor-in-chief of "Lichao Xunlu", and the other is the deputy editor-in-chief and executive editor.

Moreover, after it was completed, it was still Prime Minister Shen who was responsible for presenting it. If any mistakes occurred, Prime Minister Shen would be held responsible.

Sun Jigao, do you want to publicly accuse Lin Tailai, or do you want to publicly slap the Prime Minister and the President in the face?

Wang Tianguan, who was presiding over the court discussion, asked tentatively, "Lin Jiuyuan, what do you think?"

Lin Tailai looked at Wang Tianguan blankly, "Does this have anything to do with the confrontation in court today?" Wang Tianguan immediately said with certainty, "It should not be related. The emperor's order is to confront each other on the content of the memorial. The issues mentioned by Mr. Sun are not within the scope of your memorial."

"Don't make trouble if you are not involved! Get out of the way! Otherwise, I will block you at home and you won't be able to go out!" Lin Tailai waved at Sun Jigao, as if he was driving away a fly.

Feng Congwu, the censor who had impeached Lin Tailai and then been counter-impeached, shouted: "Lin Jiuyuan doesn't dare to respond directly! Do you only dare to use force against Senior Hanyuan?"

Lin Tailai turned to Feng Congwu and replied, "My not giving a direct response is the greatest protection for Mr. Sun!
Using only force to deal with Mr. Sun is my greatest kindness!

"You are shouting like this, are you hoping that something bad will happen to Mr. Sun?"

Feng Congwu stirred up the crowd and said: "Such absurd talk is really unheard of! Why not let the public have a say and let everyone make their own judgment!"

He was afraid that it would be his turn to confront Lin Tailai soon, so he had to start muddying the waters early.

If we can stop or delay Lin Tailai, it would be worth sacrificing a few others.

Lin Tailai pointed at Feng Congwu and said, "You forced me to do this!"

Then, without any euphemism, he said to Shen Shixing: "I suggest to all the Grand Secretaries that Mr. Sun is no longer suitable for the Imperial Academy and should be transferred elsewhere!"

Shen Shixing nodded without hesitation: "Okay!"

The Prime Minister didn't even pretend to be magnanimous, which showed that he was really pissed off by Sun Jigao.

The fourth cabinet minister Zhao Zhigao also followed suit and said, "Yes!"

The crowd was immediately in uproar. Wasn't it too rude to play a prank like this? Wasn't it too contemptuous of the people present? Was it treating everyone like air?
This is not a private cabinet meeting, this is happening in front of thousands of officials!
Someone immediately shouted, "Taking revenge in public!"

Many people also shouted: "Unfair! Unfair!"

Shen Shixing ignored others and just looked at Lin Tailai.

The reason why he did not pretend to be lenient was that he believed that Lin Tailai, who was causing the trouble, would be able to end it perfectly. This is true trust.

Lin Tailai looked at the Third Elder Wang Jiaping and asked, "What do you think, Elder Shanyin?"

Wang Jiaping had no choice but to defend him. He pointed at Sun Jigao and replied angrily:

"Mr. Sun is the first number one scholar in the Wanli Dynasty. He has special significance. How can he be expelled without reason?"

You, Lin Tailai, dare to be unreasonable, but do you dare not talk about politics? Do you dare to risk offending the emperor's mind?

How can you expel such a signature figure as the first number one scholar after the current emperor ascended the throne and the first number one scholar in the Wanli Dynasty just because of him?

Upon hearing this, some people started to make a fuss and shouted, "Sun Zhuangyuan can't leave! Sun Zhuangyuan can't leave!"

Some people seemed to be thinking, no wonder Sun Jigao dared to confront him head-on, he did have some confidence.

The emperor would have some special feelings for the first top scholar he selected after he ascended the throne.

For example, Yao Lai, the first number one scholar in the Jiajing period, also participated in the Zuoshunmen Incident that shocked China and the world, in which a group of ministers cried collectively at the gate and were then beaten with a cane in the court.

Other top scorers, including Yang Shen, were dismissed from office and exiled, but Yao Lai was able to be reinstated.

Under the harsh Emperor Jiajing, he was promoted normally all the way, but he died young at the age of fifty, otherwise he might have been able to enter the cabinet.

Hearing Wang Jiaping's words, Lin Tailai opened his eyes wide and said in a loud voice: "I just know that it turns out that Sun Xueshi is the first number one scholar after Zhang Juzheng became the prime minister!

It turns out that when Zhang Juzheng was the chief examiner for the first time, the top scorer he presented was Mr. Sun!"

Wang Jiaping: “.”

Damn it! Although you, Lin Tailai, have gotten used to not being a human being, can you be a human being once in a while?
With these two sentences from you, the reputation of a highly respected top scholar is completely ruined!

The people who were still making a fuss suddenly fell silent, as if their throats were strangled.

Everyone knows that after the eleventh year of Wanli, the greatest political correctness in the court was to oppose Zhang Juzheng. This was the emperor's childhood shadow and his real Achilles' heel.

The emperor might be able to tolerate other things, but when it comes to Zhang Juzheng, he will definitely be dealt with ruthlessly by the emperor, without any mercy at all.

The second year of Wanli was not only the first palace examination after the emperor ascended the throne, but also the first time Zhang Juzheng presided over the palace examination after becoming the prime minister.

Rather than saying that Sun Jigao was chosen by the Wanli Emperor, who was twelve or thirteen years old at that time, it would be more accurate to say that he was chosen by the Regent Zhang Juzheng.

It was fine if he didn't say anything, but once it was pointed out, who could ignore it? Who dared to bet that the emperor had any grudges in his heart?
"Ahahaha, hahaha, hahaha!" Sun Jigao suddenly laughed out loud towards the sky, but his laughter was full of sadness.

Everyone looked at Sun Jigao silently, but no one spoke up for him. When it came to "big issues of right and wrong", no one could help.

Lin Tailai looked at Feng Congwu again and said bitterly: "I said that if I don't respond directly, it will be the greatest protection for Mr. Sun! I will use force to deal with Mr. Sun, which is the greatest kindness!

Why do you have to force me to respond? Why do you have to destroy my good intentions?

Do you really dislike Master Sun? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be forced to fight back."

Censor Feng was so shocked that he lost his voice and stood there in a daze. This was truly heartbreaking.

Everyone was silent. It was obvious that Lin Tailai was talking about all kinds of nonsense, but no one could refute him.

Being treated with force by the servants of the Lin family is truly the greatest kindness!
Chen Xueshi, the president of the Hanlin Academy, stood up and said to the cabinet elders, "There is no need to listen to outsiders' instigation regarding the affairs of the Hanlin Academy. Just transfer Xueshi Sun to the Nanjing Imperial College."

Lin Tailai chimed in: “To continue to show goodwill, I have no problem with this!

As for my disrespect to Sun Xueshi, as a meritorious official who won seven battles and seven victories, was the first to capture a city, and copied 200 volumes of "Records of Instructions of Successive Dynasties", I am willing to use some of my merits to make amends!"

Everyone: "."

Not only is the contribution not less, but it is more?
After a moment's thought, Prime Minister Shen replied, "That's fine."

It would be too embarrassing if Sun Jigao was tortured to death in front of thousands of people.

Transferring him to the Imperial College in Nanjing was just the right move, and it was exactly what the Prime Minister wanted. Even when the Emperor asked about it, he was able to answer with ease.

Lin Tailai urged Wang Tianguan again, "It's getting late. The court discussion today has not yet entered the main topic."

Everyone was complaining in their hearts, you, Lin Tailai, have openly killed the chicken to scare the monkey, and you still say you haven’t gotten to the point yet?
Wang Tianguan suppressed his laughter and asked, "Who will confront Lin Tailai first?"

The shadow of the sundial moved a tiny bit, but no one stepped forward.

(End of this chapter)