Daming talker

Chapter 619 Crow’s Mouth

After all the cabinet ministers arrived, Shen Shixing showed the impeachment book of "Ten Crimes" to Wang Jiaping and Zhao Zhigao.

After reading it, Wang Jiaping kept silent and did not express his opinion.

But Zhao Zhigao said something fair: "Li Guan is not a censor, how can he speak out based on hearsay and impeach cabinet ministers? This precedent should not be set!"

Shen Shixing sighed, "It seems that what I have done has angered people and the heavens. Even a censor who has been away from home for many years dares to impeach me! Do they really want me to resign?"

Zhao Zhigao felt something was wrong and followed Shen Shixing into the inner room of Wenyuan Pavilion, advising:
"Prime Minister, please stay calm! The man who submitted the impeachment, Li Guan, is not even a censor. He is clearly a death warrior!
His purpose does not care whether the impeachment is successful or not, he just wants to alienate the relationship between the Prime Minister and Lin Jiuyuan!
As the saying goes, if you want to get rid of someone, you must first clip his wings!"

Prime Minister Shen suddenly asked back: "Then who is Yu Yi?"

Zhao Zhigao was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously said, "This is not important, right?"

Shen Shixing glared at Zhao Zhigao and said, "I think this is very important."

Zhao Zhigao responded weakly: "What's more important is that you must not fall into the trap of alienation, Prime Minister."

Prime Minister Shen snorted coldly, said nothing, and asked Zhao Zhigao to leave.

Zhao Zhigao had no choice but to go out quickly and send the Secretary of the Central Secretariat to inform Lin Tailai.

However, the secretary who was assigned to report the news was out for half an hour before he found Lin Tailai in Jiaofangsi Hutong.

After hearing the news, Lin Tailai was also shocked. He had never seen such a thing, and there was no similar experience in history to refer to.

Previously, the Prime Minister hinted that if he was impeached, he would let himself help resolve the situation. But now that it has become like this, how can he help?

If I still take action under such circumstances, wouldn't it be tantamount to confirming the "Ten Sins" in the impeachment?
It can only be said that the Qingliu Party evolved quite quickly, and Lin Tailai was unable to make up his mind for a while.

All we can do is wait and see what the Prime Minister wants to do.

Then Lin Tailai quickly went to the Ministry of War and asked Shen Yongmao, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of War, to find out more after returning home tonight.

When Shen Yongmao returned home that night, he asked Prime Minister Shen, "I heard that my father was impeached again today?"

Prime Minister Shen asked back: "How do you think I should deal with this?"

Shen Yongmao answered very wisely: "A lack of patience can ruin a great plan, and a real man can bend and stretch, and a prime minister can hold a boat in his stomach."

"Get out!" Prime Minister Shen asked the eldest son to get out in a round way.

Lin Tailai, who got wind of the situation, sighed. It seemed that he could only ignore it for the time being.

In any case, we cannot further intensify the conflict when the Prime Minister is in a sensitive mood.

The next day, Lin Tai came to the Ministry of Personnel for inspection and happened to meet Wang Tianguan at the gate as he was about to leave.

While greeting him, he asked, "What could possibly have caused Old Master to leave?"

Wang Tianguan replied, "The two positions of Minister of Works and Vice Minister of Works were recommended by the ministers of the imperial court today."

The main methods of selecting court officials were nomination by the Ministry of Personnel, recommendation by ministers in the court, and final approval by the emperor.

Lin Tailai said casually: "At the previous meeting of the Ministry, the reason why I agreed to nominate Zeng Tongheng as the Minister of Works was mainly for your prestige.

If the candidate nominated by the Ministry of Personnel fails in the court recommendation, wouldn't it be a serious blow to your prestige as the Minister of Personnel?

So I let Zeng Tongheng go and let you gain more prestige."

Wang Tianguan replied, "There is no need for such polite words between you and me, right?
By the way, the literary conference is about to start, Jiuyuan, don’t forget about this, set aside a day for it.”

Although he may be the biggest beneficiary, Lin Tailai still instinctively complained: "This is so hasty, can this be considered a conference?"

As Lin Tailai pointed out, the overall trend of the focus of literature is to move downward, from the officialdom to the palace, and then from the palace to the mountains and forests.

Under this trend, the capital gradually lost its status as a literary center, and local literary factions emerged.

If a literary conference is hastily convened in the capital, I am afraid that 90% of the literary giants will not be able to attend.

In response to this question, Wang Tianguan said to Lin Tai with certainty: "As long as you and I both participate, it must be a literary conference."

Lin Tailai no longer pursues perfection, as long as he can achieve his goal, it's fine.

"There is one more thing." Wang Tianguan said, "I would like to give you the position of leader of the New Literary Alliance at this literary conference. What do you think?"

Lin Tailai refused without hesitation and said, "No! I can't be the leader yet."

Wang Tianguan couldn't understand, Lin Jiuyuan, are you sick again? You like being the deputy and don't like being the main one?
Does it make any difference whether you are the leader or not? Why not just be the leader?

"If I were the leader of the literary world, and the literary world jointly requested to change the cymbals for the prisoner surrender ceremony, wouldn't it seem too much like I was directing and acting in it myself?

That would be totally unconvincing to the outside world, and would give others an excuse to doubt it!"

Wang Tianguan sighed helplessly. It seemed that he would have to continue serving as the leader of the literary world for another one or two years. What a waste of his energy!

After leaving the Ministry of Personnel, Lin Tailai went to the Hanlin Academy and sat in the public housing of Mr. Chen to chat.

"The results of the imperial recommendation will be announced today, and will be reported to the court. If everything goes well, your new appointment will be announced within a few days.

I would like to congratulate Mr. Chen in advance for getting what he wanted!"

Thinking about leaving the Hanlin Academy, Chen Yubi felt a little sad: "If it weren't for the last resort, who would be willing to hide like this?

Now to tell you the truth, if I don't leave now, I'm afraid I will be forced to take on the role of Zhanshi in the Zhanshi Mansion, and then I will have to express my stance on the Donggong issue."

When a person is about to leave, his words are kind. Lin Tailai comforted him by saying, "The position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works is really good, much better than the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice who is far away in Xicheng.

At present, the main task of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works is to supervise the construction of Shou Palace. This is a good job that can keep the emperor in the emperor's heart. As long as there are no mistakes, he will definitely be promoted. "

Chen Yubi nodded and said, "I admit this. I appreciate it!"

Lin Tailai then asked, "Who would you recommend as the next president of the Imperial Academy and the next tutor of the Imperial Academy?"

The gameplay of the Ci Chen system is very different from that of other government offices, and it has a bit of the meaning of an "acquaintance society".

People in other yamen are divided into superiors and subordinates, while in the system of poets, there are seniors and juniors.

In the system of poets, it is normal for the predecessor to recommend the successor candidate, but it is also normal to be criticized by all the Hanlin scholars if the recommendation is wrong.

If it were in other government offices, when a minister was about to leave, it would be impossible for him to recommend the next minister.

When Chen Xueshi heard Lin Tailai's question, he replied, "How can I, a person who has been appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, have the face to recommend a successor?"

This means that our transaction is complete.

I helped you deal with Sun Jigao, and you arranged for me to be the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and forget about the rest.

At the same time, in the East Court Room, Wang Tianguan, who had already secured his position as the Minister of Personnel, was skillfully presiding over the court recommendation.

"My Ministry of Personnel wants to nominate Zeng Tongheng as Minister of Works. What do you think?"

The nine ministers spoke one after another. Left Censor-in-Chief Lu Guangzu and Minister of Justice Sun Pi Yang were the first to express their agreement. Minister of Revenue Wang Situ also agreed after a little hesitation.

Seeing that the situation seemed to have become clear, Yu Shenxing, the Minister of Rites, suddenly expressed strong opposition. Then Wang Yi'e, the Minister of War, Zhou Cai, the Minister of the Supreme Court, and Xu Shen, the Left Vice Minister, successively came forward to oppose.

Under such circumstances, the proposal to nominate Zeng Tongheng as the Minister of Works obviously could not be forced through.

Since Zeng Tongheng could not be promoted to the position of Left Vice Minister of Works, then Chen Yubei's proposal to transfer him to the position of Left Vice Minister of Works would naturally be invalidated.

Wang Tianguan was completely confused. He didn't expect that Lin Tailai's joke in the morning would actually come true.

The nomination of the Ministry of Personnel was really not approved, and the face of himself as the Minister of Personnel was stepped on.

Who the hell is making trouble in secret?
Everyone thought beforehand that today's court session was just a formality and there wouldn't be any twists and turns.

Since this was a result that both the Qingliu Party and Lin Tailai had tacitly agreed to, what other surprises could there be?
Even someone like Lin Tailai did not try to find ways to exploit loopholes and personally went to the scene to supervise the battle, which shows how certain he was.

In such an unexpected situation, this court promotion ended abruptly.

Although no one said it explicitly, everyone felt the giant hand reaching out from the cabinet.

In the main hall of the Hanlin Academy, Lin Tailai was still trying to persuade Chen Xueshi: "I, Lin Tailai, am known as Jinbu, and I am Jibu, who keeps his promises. If you help me again, I will definitely repay you!"

At this moment, Wang Tianguan's followers came running over and shouted outside the door: "Master Jiuyuan! The court recommendation is over!"

Chen Xueshi, who was very alert, was horrified and shouted subconsciously: "It's broken!"

If it had ended normally, Wang Tianguan would not have bothered to send his followers to inform Lin Tailai, so it was most likely an accident.

"No way?" Lin Tailai said doubtfully, "There's no reason for an accident to happen."

But the facts are not subject to human will, and the attendant immediately said: "The court recommendation did not pass!"

This result was really unexpected for Lin Tailai, and he was immediately shocked and confused.

This was the result agreed upon by both him and the Qingliu Party. There should be no more than three people in the court who have the power to veto this nomination, right?

Chen Xueshi became even more agitated. He stood up and asked, "How could this happen? What went wrong?"

Lin Tailai replied: "Of course."

But he stopped talking halfway through. Even if he had thought of it, it was not appropriate to say it publicly at this time.

Chen Xueshi asked Lin Tailai, "Aren't you a man of your word? Aren't you the most trustworthy? Why did you break your promise to me?"

Facing Chen Xueshi's questioning, Lin Tailai felt a little ashamed, "Don't panic yet, let me go and test the waters!"

Then Lin Tailai was too embarrassed to sit down and left in a hurry.

But Lin Tailai knew that at this time, many people would pay attention to his performance.

He didn't want to show any abnormality, otherwise he would be considered guilty.

So after Lin Tailai left the Hanlin Academy, he continued to visit various government offices as usual.

It was not until the evening that he started visiting relatives and came to visit the home of Wang Situ, the Minister of Revenue.

To Lin Tailai's surprise, he met the Minister of Rites Yu Shenxing at Wang's house.

Although Yu Shenxing and Wang Situ are both from Shandong, they are not the same kind of people in any aspect.

Yu Shenxing was more inclined towards literature and art and the path of a poet-official, and did not belong to the mainstream faction. He was regarded as a competitor by Lin Tailai and was secretly suppressed.

Wang Situ was a student who focused on studying, doing practical work and managing the world, and later formed an alliance with Lin Tailai.

Apart from greeting each other during the holidays, the two of them basically had no contact with each other.

So Lin Tailai really didn't expect Yu Shenxing to appear at Wang's house tonight.

Although Lin Tailai served as a Langzhong in the Ministry of Rites, he never took the initiative to visit the officials in the department when he went to the Ministry, so he hadn't seen Shangshu Yu for a long time.

When I suddenly saw Yu Shenxing at this moment, I felt that he looked much more haggard, with some gray hair on his temples. It seemed that he had been really anxious recently.

You know, Yu Shenxing is the youngest Shangshu and he is not even fifty years old yet.

As the Minister of Rites, he must have been at the center of the dispute over the country's foundation. It is difficult for outsiders to imagine the pressure.

Lin Tailai joked, "I just harassed the Jiaofangsi twice recently, and it didn't affect the Ministry of Rites' treasury. Why did the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan follow me here?"

Wang Situ said beside him: "Jiuyuan, please show some respect to Brother Yu!"

"What's wrong?" Lin Tailai asked in surprise.

How did I disrespect him? I usually talk like this.

Wang Situ added: "Prime Minister Shen has issued an ultimatum to me: either join the party or get out!"

Lin Tailai blurted out an accusation, "So it was you, Grand Master, who voted against me! No wonder the proposal was not passed today! You have ruined my reputation of making a promise!"

Wang Situ: "."

Is this the point? Compared with your so-called "a promise worth a thousand gold", aren't there more important signs to pay attention to?
Lin Tailai thought to himself that an independent person like Yu Shangshu would not normally vote against a decision and offend others unless his own interests were involved.

Today, Shangshu Yu took the lead in strongly opposing it, and there was obviously a special reason behind it.

Judging from what Situ Wang said just now, Shangshu Yu was probably controlled by the Prime Minister through some unknown means.

And the Prime Minister wanted to keep Yu Shangshu as his dog, so Yu Shangshu started to panic? He even ran to the Wang family to ask for advice?
This is the tragedy of independents. They are happy alone at ordinary times, but once they encounter strong external forces, they find that they don’t even have a trustworthy companion, and can only seek help from all kinds of sources.

Wang Situ certainly couldn't bear the pressure from Prime Minister Shen, so he looked to Lin Tailai.

After Lin Tailai pondered for a moment, he said to the Shangshu: "If you don't want to be a party to Prime Minister Shen, there are ways.

That is to join our Renewal Society Preparatory Group. Although you, the Minister of Rites, are in turmoil, you still have some value. "

Poof! Wang Situ spat out a mouthful of tea! Lin Jiuyuan, do you know that this is called taking advantage of the fire?

You know how angry Prime Minister Shen is now, so how dare you compete with him for people?
After being stunned for a moment, Yu Shenxing simply turned away.

What is the difference between you, Lin Tailai, and Shen Shixing? You, who are full of party aspirations, can't stand others being independent?
When Wang Situ sent Yu Shenxing back, he heard Lin Tai say, "Yu Shangshu won't be in office for long."

Wang Situ ignored Yu Shenxing and asked again, "Prime Minister Shen suddenly went berserk. Are you okay? Do you want to show weakness?"

Lin Tailai comforted him, saying, "It doesn't matter. As long as I have Wang Tianguan from the Ministry of Personnel and you supporting me, the situation will be as solid as a rock!
Strength and interests will make Prime Minister Shen regain his sanity. We must believe in the cultivation of a politician."

After talking with Wang Situ, it was already midnight. Lin Tailai was too lazy to continue and went to rest in the palace.

Early the next morning, before Lin Tailai left the palace, someone suddenly banged on the gate.

Anyone who knows a bit about the ways of the world knows that if someone knocks on your door like this, bad things are likely to happen.

When Lin Tailai walked to the front hall, he saw someone kneeling in front of Wang Situ, crying, "The old lady is gone!"

What the hell! Lin Tailai was shocked. What happened to him these past two days? He always had a bad mouth!
Wang Situ's mother was indeed still alive before, she was over eighty years old. Now she is gone, and Wang Situ has to observe a period of mourning.

(End of this chapter)