Daming talker

Chapter 631 When will you leave?

It was September of the nineteenth year of the Wanli reign. The fourth day was the Wanshou Festival. As expected, the emperor issued an edict to suspend court.

The ministers could only gather outside the Huangji Gate and pay symbolic congratulations. They had no chance to talk to the emperor face to face about the issue of the succession.

Afterwards, the new Minister of Rites Luo Wanhua and the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Zhou Ji came to Beijing from the south to take up their posts, and the court was peaceful.

However, the Grand Marshal of the Ministry of War, Wang Yi'e, became seriously ill again and was bedridden at home. He submitted several petitions to resign.

The court seemed to be calm, which made Lin Tailai feel something was wrong.

In the Ministry of Rites' Department of Guests and Guests, while Lin Tailai was busy extorting maps from the Korean delegation, he also told his classmate Shen Yan that the court seemed too peaceful recently.

Shen Yan replied, "You said long ago that you would take leave to visit your family in your hometown before October. I guess they are waiting for you to leave Beijing before they can do anything."

Lin Tailai snorted coldly, "Then increase the spread of those rumors about me!"

The next day, Lin Tailai went to the Communications Department's construction site for inspection, which was the eastern half of the former Honglu Temple.

Shi Ce, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, kept pestering Lin Tailai, chattering non-stop and trying to get back the area that had been forcibly occupied.

"Without the imperial court's approval, your construction is breaking the law."

Lin Tailai responded impatiently: "I looked at the floor plan provided by the Ministry of Works, and the original area of ​​your Honglu Temple is almost the same as the nearby Ministry of Rites!
Is this good? Is this reasonable? This is very bad and very unreasonable!

So I took half of the land from your Honglu Temple to help you correct the problem.

Not only are you not grateful to me, you are also constantly obstructing the construction, and you haven't completed the land transfer procedures yet. What's the reason?"

Lin Tailai's words made so much sense that Shi Shaoqing was almost speechless. After being stunned, he said indignantly:
"It has been a month since He Siqing resigned, and the court has not appointed a new prime minister!

Without Zheng Qing's signature, the formalities cannot be processed. Can this be blamed on our Honglu Temple?"

Lin Tailai raised his eyelids and said calmly: "Then I will nominate you as the Minister of the Honglu Temple today."

Shi Shaoqing nodded calmly and said, "Okay, whatever Lord Jiuyuan wants us to do, we at the Honglu Temple will do our best to cooperate."

Lin Tailai patted Shi Shaoqing on the shoulder and encouraged him, "I heard that you are from Wuxi? Twenty years ago, you were ranked second in the second class, which is the legendary fifth place?
But you are still only a fifth-rank official in the Honglu Temple, which shows that you are truly a person who has never been stained by mud. Keep up the good work!"

In the past few years, the middle-level leadership of the Ministry of Personnel was controlled by Chen Younian, Zhao Nanxing, and Gu Xiancheng.

If Shi had flattered his fellow townsman and junior Gu Xiancheng, he would not have been still holding the position of Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple after 20 years.

With just a few casual words, Jiuyuan Zhenxian won over more people's hearts.

At this moment, Shen Yongmao suddenly ran over and said to Lin Tailai hurriedly: "Our Minister of War Wang's condition has worsened and he can no longer work. The emperor has approved Wang's resignation!"

Lin Tailai sighed and commented: "Wang Dasima's character is still acceptable. It's a pity."

So Lin Tailai stopped inspecting the construction site of the Communications Department and ordered his subordinates, "Get back to the Ministry of Personnel as quickly as possible!"

In fact, the construction site of the Communications Department is located just behind the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Personnel is next to it, just a few steps away.

This is the biggest advantage of working in the southern area of ​​the imperial city. The major government offices are close to each other, so when problems arise, a quick response can be made. This is suitable for officials like Lin Tailai who have high requirements for mobility.

Shen Yongmao stopped Lin Tai again and said, "My father wants to see you first."

Lin Tailai said seriously, "As a minister, one should put public interests before private ones. I will go to the Ministry of Personnel to finish my official business first, and then visit your father in the evening."

Application: "."

Does "putting public interests before private interests" mean to be the first to pick the peaches? I have learned it.

Then Lin Tailai quickly returned to the Ministry of Personnel and went straight to Wang Tianguan and said:
"The Ministry of War is different from other ministries. It involves military affairs and there are many situations that need to be dealt with urgently, so the Minister cannot be absent for long. It is recommended that a meeting be held immediately to nominate a new Minister of War!"

Wang Tianguan had no objection and asked his servant to call for help.

After all the officials from the Ministry of Personnel arrived, Lin Tai looked at the sun outside and said, "As for the position of Minister of Military Affairs, there are roughly six candidates who meet the requirements."

As we all know, there were many official positions holding the title of Minister of War in the Ming Dynasty. The governors-general of various border towns and the governor-general of the Beijing camp could hold the title of Minister of War.

"Benbing" is a special term in the officialdom of the capital, referring to the Shangshu who sits in the hall of the Ministry of War, as distinguished from a bunch of other Shangshu of the Ministry of War.

Lin Tailai added: "These six people are Zheng Luo, the governor of the three borders of Shaanxi, Zhang Guoyan, the minister of military affairs, Jian Da, the governor of Ji and Liao, Xiao Daheng, the governor of Xuanda, Shi Xing, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and Ye Mengxiong, the minister of the Ministry of Works."

When they heard the words "Minister of Works Ye Mengxiong", everyone suddenly felt that Ye Mengxiong was really lucky!
Not long after Ye Mengxiong came to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Works with his military achievements, the Minister of War Wang Yi'e resigned due to illness. Is this fate?

Lin Tailai didn't care what others thought and continued to express his opinion: "Zheng Luo is not good enough, but the Northwest still needs him. The bandit troubles in Xihai and Gansu have not been resolved, so he is still needed to take charge!

The Governor-General of Ji-Liao, Jian Da, is not competent. He was only appointed as the Right Vice Minister to govern Ji-Liao last year, so his experience is quite shallow!
The Governor of Xuanda, Xiao Daheng, is not suitable either. This person's merits and demerits are too controversial, and his reputation is mixed. His prestige is not suitable for being our soldier!
Shi Xing, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, is even more ridiculous. He has never been to a border town or experienced military affairs. Does he know anything about military affairs? I don’t know who selected him to the Ministry of War in the first place.”

Liu Yukui, the left assistant minister, could not stand Lin Tailai's unwillingness to let others speak, so he interrupted and asked:

"How about Zhang Guoyan, the Minister of Military Affairs who was transferred back to Beijing from the Governor-General of Ji and Liao last year? He has all the qualifications, prestige, and experience."

The Minister of Military Affairs is the governor of the Beijing camp with the title of Minister of War added on. It can be said to be the most important military position besides the military officers themselves.

Lin Tailai answered without thinking: "In the past two years, a number of ministers have become old, sick or passed away, causing some chaos in the court. The root cause is that the ministers of the ministries and agencies are relatively old. Our Ministry of Personnel should start to correct this problem.

Therefore, this time we will select officials not only based on qualifications and experience, but also on age and physical condition, so as to maintain the stability of the court!

Although Shangshu Zhang Guoyan has all the qualifications, experience and prestige, he is old, already 67 or 68 years old, and in poor health!

The Minister of Works, Ye Shangshu, is relatively young, only in his early sixties, which is not considered old for a minister.

The key is that Minister Ye is in good health, has no illnesses, and can serve the court more stably! "

Everyone: "."

Who was it that said that the cabinet was too young and should be supplemented with mature and steady "newcomers", preferably those over 65 years old?
Now you, Lin Tailai, say that the court needs to be "younger", so old officials in their sixties and seventies should not join in the fun?
Lin Tailai didn't care about other people's strange looks, and said with finality: "It's more important to select the best people than the number of people. I think Ye Mengxiong is enough, and there's no need to recommend anyone else! Okay, that's it!"

Everyone: "..."

You, Lin Tailai, once asked: "Who agrees? Who opposes?"

Now, you don't even ask this question? Just say "Let's leave it at that"?
What about politeness and respect between people?

Wang Tianguan asked again: "If Ye Mengxiong is nominated, who will replace the Minister of Works?"

After careful consideration, Lin Tailai said to Wang Tianguan, "Old Prime Minister, can you recommend someone?"

Wang Tianguan said in surprise: "Is this okay?"

Lin Tailai encouraged, “This is fine.”

After careful consideration, Wang Tianguan proposed: "The principle of selecting people this time is to make them as young as possible to maintain the stability of the court.

According to this principle, among those who are qualified to serve as the Minister of Works, Chen Yubei, the Right Vice Minister of Rites and President of the Hanlin Academy, is the most suitable.

Scholar Chen is 47 years old, in the prime of his life, and is the youngest vice minister-level official in the court today. He can help balance the problem of the high age of ministers in the ministries and agencies."

Everyone was speechless. God, what on earth have you carefully considered? What exactly is Lin Tailai thinking?
Lin Tailai was the first to express his opinion: "Old Prime Minister, your opinion is brilliant! I agree!"

The Left Assistant Minister Liu Yukui could not help but say: "The Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works Zeng Tongheng has worked hard for a long time."

Lin Tailai interrupted and said, "Since the death of former Minister of Industry Song Xun, Zeng Tongheng has been nominated twice, both times by you, and both times he failed!
So what was your mentality when you nominated Zeng Tongheng as the Minister of Works for the third time in two months?
Do you want to prove to the court that you and Zeng Tongheng are really forming a clique by repeatedly being defeated and pushed back?"

Faced with Lin Tailai, who was proficient in both literary and military attack, the Left Vice Minister Liu Yukui was so angry that he stormed out and left the venue.

After the meeting at the Ministry of Personnel, Lin Tailai went home and instructed his retainer Gu Bingqian to prepare to set out south within a few days.

In the evening, Lin Tailai went to Shen's house as agreed to visit Prime Minister Shen whom he had not seen for many days.

Sitting in the study of the Shen Mansion, Lin Tailai chatted awkwardly while carefully observing Prime Minister Shen's expression and found that he was in a bad mood.

So Lin Tailai joked, "If you don't want to see me, I'll leave now?"

Prime Minister Shen sighed, "It has nothing to do with you, I just feel sorry for Wang Yi'e."

The past two years have been really unlucky for him. Among his die-hard followers, the Minister of Personnel Yang Wei, who was over 70 years old, retired and ran away, and the Left Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai died of old age and illness.

The Minister of War Wang Yi'e had been on his side most of the time, but now it seemed that he was no longer able to do so.

Anyone with a little political experience knows that the weaker the Prime Minister's control over the court, especially the outer court ministries and agencies, the more difficult it will be for him to do his job.

Prime Minister Shen clearly felt that in the past two years, his power had been declining from its peak.

What’s even more frightening is that this downward trend shows no signs of stopping.

I should definitely talk to Lin Tailai, but I don’t know where to start.

Finally, all the words came together into one sentence: "When will you take leave and return home?"

Lin Tailai answered truthfully: "Probably in the next few days. The recommended ministers of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works will leave after passing the imperial nomination."

Prime Minister Shen immediately responded, "Your Ministry of Personnel recommended Ye Mengxiong to the Ministry of War?"

Lin Tailai replied: "Yes, and at the same time he recommended Chen Xueshi to the Ministry of Works.

Then regarding the selection of the president of the Hanlin Academy, you must want to talk to me, old senior? Oh, and the tutor of the Shujishi, we can't delay it any longer."

Shen Shoufu: "."

The poets formed their own system, and internal promotion did not go through the Ministry of Personnel. The highest-ranking cabinet minister among the poets could do it.

Therefore, who will be the president of the academy or the tutor of the imperial court is up to the cabinet to decide, and it has nothing to do with you, Lin Tailai!
How dare you say that the Prime Minister wants to talk to you about who will be the president of the academy?

You, Lin Tailai, are used to being a bully in the Ministry of Personnel, and now you want to interfere in the promotion of officials?

(End of this chapter)