Daming talker

Chapter 624 A few more come up (asking for monthly tickets)
Lin Tailai's explosion was so sudden that the emperor didn't know what to do for a moment and subconsciously looked at the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department.

The eunuchs were also speechless. They had originally thought that today they just had to keep the emperor happy for a while and that would be it.

Unexpectedly, the ceremony of surrendering prisoners had just ended and the emperor had not yet left the Meridian Gate when the situation suddenly became turbulent.

Although this was a lot of fun among the civil officials' infighting, they always had to help the emperor with his advice.

They also understood the emperor's mentality, which can be summed up in two words: "good results" and "no responsibility".

So Zhang Cheng, the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, asked Lin Tailai, "Are there any ministers in the list you mentioned?"

Lin Tailai said, "Three of the Nine Ministers are missing. The rest have not been nominated, so of course they are not on the list."

Then Zhang Cheng said to Emperor Wanli: "Why not call up the nine ministers and let them discuss the matter together in front of the emperor!"

Major personnel issues other than those concerning the poets, grand secretaries and ministers of the Ministry of Personnel in the court must be approved by the outer court in accordance with the procedure.

If the appointment is made directly by the emperor or recommended by the cabinet, it is called internal decree and imperial edict, which are illegal procedures that ministers strongly oppose.

Therefore, the meaning of the suggestion made by the eunuch Zhang Cheng, who holds the seal, is that the problems caused by Lin Tailai are ultimately personnel issues, and the ministers from the outer court can be called up to share the blame.

Otherwise, if the Emperor and the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet reach an agreement here, the civil servants in the outer court would complain that the procedure was wrong because it was not discussed and recommended by the court.

This was a good idea, and Emperor Wanli said, "It suits my taste very well!"

Wang Jiaping, the third assistant, said, "Can we summon the officials from the ministry and the court?"

In addition to the Shangshu, each ministry also has a Shilang, which means that the cabinet and ministerial meetings become enlarged meetings of the cabinet and ministerial offices.

As everyone knows, Lin Tailai's forces have both top-level combat power and mid- and low-level combat power. Lin Tailai alone holds three or four mid-level official positions.

However, the third and fourth grades, which are the middle and upper levels, are the weakest link in Lin Tailai's power.

Hearing Wang Jiaping's proposal to expand the meeting, Lin Tailai said in a gloomy tone:
"Several assistant ministers are on the list of suspected traitors. What is the purpose of the Third Elder wanting to bring them up?"

Wang Jiaping gritted his teeth and said, "They are not necessarily treacherous ministers."

Lin Tailai immediately said to Emperor Wanli: "Wang San. Sange Lao Jiaping is forming a clique, and forming a clique openly in front of Your Majesty."

Three, three you! Wang Jia held his breath and said nothing.

Emperor Wanli still wanted to give face to his former teacher, and decided to say: "Mr. San San's words make sense, but the noise from so many people is giving me a headache, so let Jiu Qing come up first."

At some point, people both inside and outside the government were infected by Lin Tailai's habit of referring to the ministers by numbers.

So all the officials who were waiting outside the Meridian Gate to eat melons suddenly received an imperial edict.

Summon the Minister of Personnel Wang Shizhen, the Minister of Rites Yu Shenxing, the Minister of War Wang Yi'e, the Minister of Punishments Sun Piyang, the Left Censor-in-Chief Lu Guangzu, and the Left Vice-Chancellor Xu Shen to go upstairs!

Most people waited for a long time but didn’t get to eat any melons. They just watched others go upstairs one by one.

Now there is already an emperor, a cabinet and nine ministers above them. Are they going to hold an emergency meeting of the top leaders? What big thing has happened?
But the six outer court ministers who had entered the Meridian Gate already knew what had happened.

I was completely unprepared and was also shocked to the point that my head was buzzing.

Lin Tailai's accusation actually means that the court officials collectively drank the blood of meritorious officials and divided up their achievements.

So during this period of time, Lin Tailai's show of weakness was equivalent to luring the snake out of its hole?

He was just waiting for the day of the prisoner presentation ceremony, so that when he had the opportunity to meet the emperor in person, he would threaten the emperor with resignation in person?
At this time, Wang Tianguan couldn't help but look at Lin Tailai and asked, "Is this what you mean by 'kneeling down in a few days'?"
Is this how you kneel? Do you think resigning from office to the emperor is kneeling?

Among the newly appointed ministers, the one with the most intense emotional reaction was the Left Censor-in-Chief Lu Guangzu.

Previously, Prime Minister Shen fought against the Qingliu forces and Lin Tailai together!

Now it is Lin Tailai who is fighting back against the Qingliu forces and Prime Minister Shen’s followers!
It is true that it is the Qingliu forces that are trying to sow discord between you two, but can't you two just fight each other directly?

Why do you always involve the Qingliu forces when you fight among yourselves?
Why is it that only their Qingliu forces have been beaten? So Lu Guangzu said angrily: "How can we say that these people are treacherous ministers just because they were not nominated by Suo Lintai?
Could it be that whether he is a traitor or not is up to Lin Tailai to decide?"

Lin Tailai didn't even bother to hide his anger and started to criticize directly: "You can't even understand the most basic semantics. How did you, Lu Guangzu, pass the imperial examination?
Who was the chief examiner of the examination in the 26th year of Jiajing? You and Zhang Juzheng were the two who were admitted. You really have a keen eye!"

Lin Tailai was scolding Lu Guangzu, but everyone glanced at Wang Tianguan.

The fruit of the imperial examination in the 26th year of Jiajing is still in the court.

Wang Tianguan said that I am just a low-key and transparent person and don’t want to talk.

Zhang Cheng, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, had to step out to maintain order. "If you have something to say, just talk about it. Don't confront people directly!"

Lin Tailai then said to Emperor Wanli: "What I am concerned about and accusing of is that most of the nominees are people who are hostile to me. Is this reasonable?
However, Lu Guangzu misinterpreted it as meaning that these people were criticized by me because they were not nominated by me.

Therefore, Lu Guangzu clearly has ulterior motives and deliberately changed the concept, committing the crime of deceiving the emperor!"

If he had not resigned once last month and it almost became true, Lu Guangzu would have resigned right now!

Lu Guangzu was so angry that he was shaking all over. He said to the emperor directly: "I dare to guarantee with my own head that those nominated are definitely not treacherous officials!"

Lin Tailai: "."

Mr. Lu, it’s boring if you say that. Can’t you afford to have fun?
Emperor Wanli suddenly became interested and asked Lin Tailai, "What do you think of Lu Guangzu's guarantee?"

What this means is, do you, Lin Tailai, dare to guarantee with your life that those people are all treacherous ministers?

As an official who convinced people with reason, Lin Tailai would not be as reckless as Lu Guangzu. He said:

"Even if they are not treacherous ministers, they are still forming a clique! Otherwise, how could it be a coincidence that they are all people who are hostile to me?
This malice is not only directed at me, but also at the meritorious officials, and at your majesty's love for the meritorious officials!"

The word "party" echoed in the mind of Emperor Wanli several times. He inadvertently glanced at the Minister of Personnel standing nearby and asked, "Selecting and employing people is the responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel. What do you think?"

Logically speaking, when meetings were held before the Emperor, the ministers standing closest to the Emperor were the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet and the Minister of Personnel.

In the early years, the Minister of Personnel was the closest, and later the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet was the closest.

Therefore, at such meetings, the Minister of Personnel is often the main speaker.

But Wang Tianguan didn't have this mentality at all. In such occasions, he just wanted to be a low-key guy.

I didn't expect that I would be called upon by the emperor out of the blue and I didn't know how to respond.

After all, he had been dominating the literary world in the south before, and was not familiar with the current Emperor Wanli at all. This was only their second meeting!
However, Wang Tianguan has been the leader of the literary world for decades, so he is still able to adapt to changing circumstances. After recovering from his shock, he spoke:

“I believe that the court needs fresh personnel at the top and middle levels to avoid stagnation. As the saying goes, running water never stagnates.

Otherwise, if we keep using the same old people, it will be like a pool of stagnant water, without vitality and energy."

Everyone was speechless. Wang Tianguan, are you using the same rhetoric you used when you hosted the literary world? Or are you summarizing the lessons learned from the decline of the retro school?

"Very interesting." Emperor Wanli praised.

Encouraged, Wang Tianguan finally relaxed and guessed Lin Tailai's thoughts and said, "There are many vacancies in the court this time, so this is a good opportunity to replace new people.

As for this nomination list, we can discard it all and nominate new people!"

Lu Guangzu could not help but scold: "Do you think the nomination of the Ministry of Personnel is a joke? This is also the responsibility of the Minister of Personnel.

If all eight nominations are invalidated, then you, the Minister of Personnel, have failed in your duties!"

Wang Tianguan, who had just been in the spotlight for a while, immediately exposed his shortcomings as an elderly literary and artistic man with little experience in court, and made his proposal without first clearing himself of responsibility.

He didn't know how to respond to Lu Guangzu, so he subconsciously looked at Lin Tailai.

(End of this chapter)