Daming talker

Chapter 612: Not Fooled

When He Zhuo and Qian Yiben brought the joint impeachment letter to Huiji Gate to deliver it, it also shocked the eunuch Sun in the secretariat of the Silijian.

In the eyes of technical bureaucrats, offensive impeachment cannot be made casually, but also requires timing.

For example, Hai Rui's "Memorial on Public Security" that was directed at the emperor was inadvertently timed very well. Jiajing died right after Hai Rui was imprisoned, so he was able to escape unscathed in the end.

If it had happened a few months earlier, or before Yan Song fell from power, Hai Rui might have lost his head or died of illness in prison.

Impeaching Lin Tailai at this time is like going against the wind, and is a very bad choice from a technical point of view.

Anyway, if Eunuch Sun were allowed to make the choice, he would definitely not impeach Lin Tailai at this time.

However, Eunuch Sun is just a tool for sending and receiving memorials. What other people choose has nothing to do with Eunuch Sun.

Just as I accepted the memorial impeaching Lin Tailai, I saw Lin Tailai himself strolling over.

"Are you going to submit another petition?" Eunuch Sun asked in astonishment. Are you, Lin Tailai, really afraid that the world will not be in chaos?
Lin Tailai replied, "I didn't submit the memorial. I helped Uncle Zheng get it. You can keep it!"

Eunuch Sun had nothing to say. No matter how magical the things that happened to Lin Tailai were, they seemed normal.

On the same day, Emperor Wanli met Zheng Guotai in the Yiku Palace, and Concubine Zheng was there with him.

Zheng Guotai fell to the ground and angrily said, "Yesterday, I went to Chaotian Palace to burn incense, but was intercepted by Lin Tailai, and dozens of my servants were beaten and injured.

Lin Tailai was extremely violent and rude, but no one dared to intervene! He even looked down on the emperor's relatives, which was also disrespectful to the emperor!

I have nowhere to turn to for help, so I have no choice but to come to the palace and ask Your Majesty to make the decision!"

Emperor Wanli was in a state of uncertainty, and his mind was constantly thinking about the memorial signed by several people yesterday requesting the enthronement of the Crown Prince.

His professional sensitivity as an emperor told him that this was a very bad sign and that the ministers were about to start causing trouble for the country again.

How to deal with this wave is really a headache.

As for what Zheng Guotai said specifically, most of it went in one ear and out the other.

Seeing that the emperor was absent-minded, Concubine Zheng wiped her tears and said in a sobbing voice, "Your Majesty! I only have this one brother, but he has been humiliated repeatedly. How can I not feel sad in the palace!"

Emperor Wanli regained his composure, looked at Uncle Zheng and said, "Lin Tailai is doing this for your own good!"

Zheng Guotai: “.”

Is this still the dearest brother-in-law? Is this still the emperor who dotes on his sister the most?
Emperor Wanli added: "Lin Tailai asked you to submit a petition to enthronize your eldest brother, which would reduce the criticism of your Zheng family by foreign officials!"

Zheng Guotai replied, "It's obvious that Lin Tailai was being bullied and had no other choice, so he used our Zheng family as a shield."

Emperor Wanli asked in return: "Then what do you want Lin Tailai to do? After Lin Tailai is squeezed out, will he openly submit a petition to enthrone his elder brother and denounce your Zheng family like the other ministers?

Why doesn't Lin Tailai dare to support his third brother as the Crown Prince? It's all your Zheng family's fault!"

Zheng Guotai trembled, "Brother-in-law, why are you so sympathetic to Lin Tailai? It's obviously Lin Tailai who has been stepping on the Zheng family's face!"

Emperor Wanli just felt tired. The Zheng family really couldn't help at all!

So what if Lin Tailai keeps stepping on your Zheng family? This shows that he didn't want to publicly support the eldest prince!
Hearing this, Concubine Zheng wiped her tears again.

Emperor Wanli sighed. This woman had a lot of clever tricks and was an interesting and good companion, but she didn't have much wisdom.

He first ordered the eunuchs to beat Lin Tailai in the palace, and then instigated the third prince to publicly say that Lin Tailai was the "evil number one scholar."

Lin Tailai was different from other ministers. He should have been a neutral person and should not care who became the crown prince. However, he was forced to "rebel" by a stupid woman like you.

Doesn't the experience of these five years prove the point? Looking at the entire court, how difficult is it to find a truly neutral faction?
The biggest problem now is that no minister dares to support the third prince, and the emperor can only deal with it passively.

It is necessary to consider using some small tricks to induce or force some ministers to support the third prince.

Thinking of this, Emperor Wanli instructed his attendants, "I have a secret letter to ask you questions. Ask the Secretariat to send someone to pass it to Lin Tailai!

No, let's see which eunuch is on duty in the Yangxin Palace and let him go!"

The type of minister he is, the higher the level of the eunuch he should be.

As Lin Tailai was one of the loudest men in the court, Emperor Wanli decided to give him a better salary.

In the end, the fourth eunuch Chen Ju accepted the imperial edict, held the secret letter, and left the palace.

When he arrived at the Meridian Gate, Chen Ju happened to meet the Prime Minister Shen Shixing.

Chen Ju looked at the sun, it was not time to get off work yet. If Prime Minister Shen was leaving get off work now, it would be too early, and if he was going to work, it would be too late.

This doesn't seem like your style, Shen Shixing, or are you also planning to follow the emperor's example and behave badly?

Prime Minister Shen explained, "Today I received a memorial regarding the arrangements for the prisoner surrender ceremony. This is a grand ceremony that the country has not had in decades, and it cannot be neglected or treated lightly. I will go to the Meridian Gate to conduct an on-site inspection."

Chen Ju suddenly realized and nodded, "You are in power now."

Prime Minister Shen also casually asked, "Is the eunuch going to leave the palace to do some work?"

Chen Ju thought about it and said with a bit of evil humor: "The emperor seems to have some doubts. We will leave the palace according to his order and ask Lin Tailai for questioning."

Prime Minister Shen was shocked and speechless.

Sending the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department to question him, isn't this the treatment for the elders? Why was this arranged for Lin Tailai?

Or is it that, in the emperor's mind, Lin Tailai is on par with the cabinet?
In the past, the emperor would consult him for secret letters, but this time he actually consulted Lin Tailai.
After chatting with Shen Shixing, Chen Ju continued to walk out.

After exiting the left gate of Chang'an, Eunuch Chen swaggered to the Hanlin Academy first, but Lin Tailai was not there.

Then Eunuch Chen went to the Ministry of Personnel in a swagger, and Lin Tailai was not there either.

Afterwards, Eunuch Chen went to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites in a swaggering manner, but Lin Tailai was still not there.

After taking a walk around the Qinglong Street area, which was densely populated with government offices, Eunuch Chen suddenly felt that he had become a conspicuous person walking around in a swagger.

"Where is Lin Tailai? Is he openly slacking off and neglecting his duties?" Eunuch Chen stood in the courtyard of the Ministry of Rites' Chief Guest Department and shouted at Shen Yan, the head of the Chief Guest Department.

Eunuch Chen, who was usually calm, also became angry when he found himself becoming a conspicuous person.

Shen replied weakly, "He has always been wandering back and forth between the various government offices. He left a quarter of an hour before the eunuch arrived.

I heard him say that the next stop is Taipu Temple."

Eunuch Chen: “.” The Taipu Temple government office is different from other government offices. It is not located in the Qinglong Street area in the southeast corner outside the imperial city, but is located alone in the West City.

If I had known this earlier, I would have left from Xi'an Gate! I've never had such a troublesome imperial edict!
But the task had to be done, so Eunuch Chen had no choice but to bypass the imperial city and go from East City to West City.

Fortunately, this time Lin Tailai was finally blocked at the gate of Taipu Temple, otherwise Eunuch Chen would have really exploded.

They found a court in the Taifu Temple and drove out all the other outsiders.

Then Eunuch Chen said to Lin Tailai, "This is the emperor's secret letter. It contains questions. Please answer them in the secret letter."

Lin Tailai did not open it to read. He said to Eunuch Chen first: "I will give you a verbal reply. Please repeat it to me, Da-eun."

Eunuch Chen asked curiously, "Why?"

Lin Tailai replied: "I am afraid that the written document will be leaked."

Eunuch Chen thought that this was referring to him, and could not help but angrily asked, "Who do you think I am?"

Lin Tailai added: "What I am worried about is not the big eunuch!"

Historical experience shows that during the Wanli Dynasty, one must never trust the confidentiality of secret memorials, and one must never write on paper words that are not suitable for public disclosure!
Both Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue suffered great losses and even stepped down because of this!

Eunuch Chen looked at Lin Tailai deeply. He had never seen anyone so cautious.

Lin Tailai made another excuse: "Besides, I am not a cabinet minister. I don't have a silver seal and I don't have the right to write secret memorials!"

So Eunuch Chen took the secret letter and asked Lin Tailai: "The Emperor is asking you, and it seems that you are not ignorant. Can you really not support the Third Prince?"

Lin Tailai responded, "I have a deep hatred for the Zheng family. If I support the third prince, I will be hated by all the officials. I will be surrounded by tigers and wolves and will surely die without a burial place!"

Chen Ju asked again: "If the third prince becomes the Crown Prince in the future, how will you cope with it?"

Lin Tailai answered without hesitation: "No matter what the emperor decides, I will only follow his orders!"

This is called execution with understanding. You still have to execute even if you don’t understand.

Chen Ju continued to ask: "Now there are people talking about the country's foundation and clamoring to establish the Crown Prince. How should we deal with it?"

Lin Tailai thought for a while. What was the meaning of the emperor asking these questions?
The emperor knew very well that he could not support the third son and should support the eldest son, but he insisted on asking himself how to stop the calls to enthrone the eldest son. This was definitely intentional.

Thinking back to the fact that he was at a critical moment where "great merits were hard to be rewarded" and "his position was low but his power was great", which emperor would not have doubts in his heart?
So the emperor probably wanted to test his attitude? Or more bluntly, to test his loyalty?
If Lin Tailai was willing to help the emperor with advice even though he knew that the third prince would die if he came to power, then he would be truly loyal to the emperor.

So after thinking about it, Lin Tailai could only imitate the emperor's words and replied helplessly: "Emperor Taizu Gao has instructed that the legitimate heir should be appointed instead of a concubine's heir.

If the eldest prince is enthroned as Crown Prince today, while the Empress is still young and may give birth to children in the future, how should the title be bestowed upon her?
This is why Your Majesty has been hesitant to make a decision, but none of the ministers understand Your Majesty’s painstaking efforts.”

Eunuch Chen was emotionless, just a machine asking questions on behalf of the emperor, and he continued to ask: "If coping is not enough, how can we take the initiative to fight back?"

Lin Tailai gritted his teeth and said, "Now that the eldest and third sons of the emperor have grown up, although the fifth son is still weak, he can be crowned king for the time being, in the future, to establish the heir apparent, or the eldest son as the heir apparent. Order the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites to prepare the ceremony!"

There was no precedent in the Ming Dynasty for the eldest son to be crowned king. Once the eldest son and the third son were crowned king together, he would be on the same level as the third son and would lose his unique status.

Even the "treasonous" title conferred on the three kings was brought up. Do you, the Emperor Wanli, still doubt Lin Tailai's loyalty?
If the civil officials really caught this evidence, Lin Tailai would immediately be condemned by everyone.

In history, when Wang Xijue was the Prime Minister, he did not handle the issue of enfeoffment of three kings well, which led to his downfall.

Damn it! Chen Ju's eyes flashed inexplicably. Lin Tailai, you are really bold to say that. No wonder you don't want to leave any written words!
After asking this, Chen Ju retreated as it was impossible to ask further.

It was already dark by this time and the palace gates were locked. Eunuch Chen could not return to the palace to report the emperor's order and could only stay in the outer residence.

Early the next morning, Eunuch Chen hurried into the palace, and then waited in the courtyard of the Yiku Palace until noon before he was able to see the emperor.

Emperor Wanli said with some dissatisfaction, "I issued an order yesterday afternoon, but you have only replied now. You are really lazy."

Chen Ju almost vomited blood. He really didn't want to take this meaningless blame, so he rashly said:

"I left the palace quickly yesterday to do my work, but Lin Tailai has too many part-time jobs. I spent a lot of time looking for Lin Tailai in various government offices. I was helpless."

Emperor Wanli asked, "Did Lin Tailai give any reply?"

Chen Ju replied: "Lin Tailai gave an oral reply and asked me to relay it."

Then he repeated Lin Tailai's words verbatim.

Emperor Wanli asked again, "Why did he only ask you to relay his message and not send any secret letter?"

Eunuch Chen replied, "He said that secret memorials are the privilege of cabinet ministers, and outsiders dare not use them without permission."

Emperor Wanli laughed after hearing this, "This man actually didn't fall for it!"

Reading secret letters and writing secret memorials is the "honor" that belongs to cabinet ministers, and Lin Tailai was able to restrain this vanity.

Otherwise, they would have another handle on Lin Tailai.

Recently, many memorials have been delayed by the emperor and have not been approved and issued yet. However, the emperor's response to the memorials from He Zhuo and Qian Yiben impeaching Lin Tailai was extremely quick.

Two days later, an imperial edict was issued: "Lin Tailai, the military supervisor of Ningxia's anti-rebellion movement, has behaved arrogantly, violated laws and regulations, and disturbed various government offices, causing great indignation among officials and civilians. Now, he will be punished for his meritorious deeds and his reward of title will be revoked.

In addition, the post of Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department in Shaanxi Province was promoted to Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department in order to reward Xiandeng for his contribution in suppressing the rebellion, while the rest of his official positions remained unchanged.

After seeing this imperial edict, many people's tense nerves finally relaxed.

To use a common phrase hundreds of years later to describe it, the shoe has finally dropped.

In fact, for some people, the shoe dropping may not necessarily bring good news. But at least the situation is becoming clearer, so people don’t have to run blindly, which would be too suffocating.

You know, in the current court, the issue of Lin Tailai's reward is regarded as the most important weather vane. It is no exaggeration to say that it affects the entire body and has a chain effect on many other matters.

It can be seen from the imperial edict that Lin Tailai’s core position, that is, “Hanlin and Langzhong of Three Departments”, has not changed, and all real powers are still in his hands.

This shows that the emperor had no intention of hanging Lin Tailai and wanted to continue using Lin Tailai, which disappointed many people.

As for the promotion from Shaoqing of Xingtai Pusi to Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, it was only a symbolic promotion in rank, indicating a promotion from the fourth rank to the regular fourth rank.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple was just a nominal title, meaning that one enjoyed the treatment of a fourth-rank official.

It would be unacceptable if the first meritorious officials did not receive any reward at all.

Anyone with a discerning eye has already seen that Lin Tailai was "punished" by losing his title, so those who were impeached by Lin Tailai will probably be in trouble as well, otherwise there will be no balance.

(End of this chapter)