Daming talker

Chapter 660: The Prime Minister Does Not Want to Rest

Wang Tianguan walked away leisurely with the results of the court recommendation, without any serious expression, as if he had just come out for a stroll in a temple fair.

Although the result of the court recommendation seemed unreliable and the emperor would not approve it at all, and it seemed like a waste of energy today, Wang Tianguan still did not seem to take it seriously.

Lu Guangzu stared at Wang Tianguan's back. At this moment, he finally figured out that there was an essential difference between him and his main rival Wang Tianguan.

He wanted to accomplish things through court promotion. He wanted to put people into the cabinet. He wanted to deprive Zhao Zhigao of his position as prime minister. He wanted to disgust Lin Tailai.

Wang Tianguan didn't have any specific goals, so he didn't care if the court promotion was ruined.

Generally speaking, the result of the imperial recommendation must also take into account whether the emperor will approve it. No one would be like Wang Tianguan, who was only interested in messing things up.

This is called being unable to accomplish anything but capable of causing trouble!

Later, other people who participated in the imperial recommendation gradually figured out why the result of "Lu Guangzu first and Lin Tailai second" appeared.

It is obvious that all the iron votes of Lin's party must have been cast for Lu Guangzu and Lin Tailai. They are very concentrated and unified, and both of them have a guaranteed minimum of around seven votes.

In addition, if Lu Guangzu had a few more votes from the Qingliu Party and a few scattered votes, he would have fifteen votes; if Lin Tailai had a few more scattered votes, he would have eleven votes.

At the same time, the iron votes of the Qingliu Party were inevitably dispersed when faced with the three options of Xu Guo, Shen Li and Lu Guangzu, each of whom wrote their own votes.

The last three people each had only a few loyal votes from the Qingliu Party, but Lu Guangzu had the "assistance" of the loyal votes from the Lin Party, so he was able to stand out.

As for Xu Guo, who the Qingliu Party members plan to push hard, and Shen Li, a big shot with strong qualifications, their votes will definitely not be able to exceed those of Lu Guangzu and Lin Tailai if they only cast votes randomly.

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but sigh that the old leader of the literary world had such terrifying electoral skills that he could achieve his goals simply by manipulating the procedures.

In the past thirty years, the literary world has selected the "Five Sons" every ten years or so, and the old leader's election experience is not in vain.

On the same day, Wang Tianguan reported the results to the palace. Thus, Wang Tianguan’s work for the year came to an end, and he could prepare for the New Year with peace of mind.

At noon the next day, Zhang Cheng, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was waiting in the front corridor of the Yiku Palace, holding a memorial.

After the drunken Emperor Wanli climbed up from Concubine Zheng, he heard that Zhang Cheng was waiting, so he summoned him in.

Zhang Cheng did not beat around the bush and reported directly, "Earlier, the emperor approved Lu Guangzu's memorial and ordered the ministers of the ministries and courts to recommend two cabinet ministers. The Ministry of Personnel reported the result yesterday evening."

The selection of the two cabinet ministers was of course a major event for the court, and the final decision could only be made by the emperor, so Zhang Cheng had to disturb the emperor.

Emperor Wanli drank a few sips of soup and asked curiously, "Who was nominated?"

Zhang Cheng replied, "Left Censor-in-Chief Lu Guangzu and Lin Tailai."

Emperor Wanli was stunned. Was he hallucinating or did Zhang Cheng make a slip of the tongue?

Zhang Cheng repeated, "It's Lu Guangzu and Lin Tailai."

After Emperor Wanli came to his senses, he blurted out: "Isn't this nonsense!"

You, Lu Guangzu, jumped up and down in front of him, strongly demanding fair, just and open appointment of cabinet ministers, and shouted that there should be no private transactions, preventing him, the emperor, from making direct appointments.

After all the fuss and arguments, the result is to push you, Lu Guangzu, into the cabinet?
What is the other outcome? Nominating Lin Tailai, who is only in his twenties, to join the cabinet. Could it be more ridiculous?
Zhang Cheng proposed a reply: "Reject the result of the imperial recommendation, and then fine all the ministers who participated in the imperial recommendation?"

Emperor Wanli snorted coldly and said, "This result can be approved!"

In the entire imperial court, there is only one person who can act recklessly, and that is him, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty! No one is allowed to act more recklessly than him!
Zhang Cheng just felt tired and quickly advised: "Not at all! Your Majesty, think twice!"

Although eunuchs obeyed the emperor's orders most of the time, they still had to give advice sometimes.

It’s okay to stir up trouble, but you can’t do it just for the sake of stirring up trouble. If you do that, wouldn’t the government be in chaos?

However, Zhang Cheng was a little worried. Now there are old people in the palace who have watched the emperor grow up, and the Holy Mother Empress Dowager Li is still alive, so things inside and outside the palace will not be too outrageous.

But when these old people gradually pass away, who in the palace can persuade the willful emperor who continues to let himself go?
Then Zhang Cheng continued, "Suzhou and Hangzhou Textile Factory Director Sun Long reported the other day that it is expected that ships will be able to sail out of the new Wusongkou next year.

If Lin Tailai were to join Wenyuan Pavilion, it would be inconvenient for him to work outside. Young people are physically strong, so they should be allowed to exercise more outside. "

After his morning grumpiness subsided, Emperor Wanli, who had calmed down a little, ordered again: "This time, let Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Wang Jiaping each nominate one person!
In addition, Lu Guangzu will be punished to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors for three months, and all the ministers who participated in the imperial nomination will be fined one year's salary!"

Zhao Zhigao, the prime minister who was guarding the cabinet alone, was the first to see the imperial edict and finally felt relieved.

No wonder Lin Jiuyuan said that whether one is happy as the Prime Minister depends mainly on the support from the outer court.

If there is no support from external forces, I am afraid that the Prime Minister’s orders will not be able to leave Wenyuan Pavilion.

But Prime Minister Zhao felt that the revenge on Lu Guangzu was not enough. He only had to reflect on his mistakes for three months? As if everyone would not be persecuted in politics.

So Chief Minister Zhao picked up two memorials from other provinces that had been piled up for several days. One of them was a joint report by several officials in Henan Province, accusing Henan Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Zou Xuezhu of failing to perform his supervisory duties, which led to numerous malpractices and frequent cheating in imperial examinations in the province.

The second was that several officials from Huguang jointly reported that the Huguang Censor Hou Shiqing had seriously neglected his duties, which resulted in a large number of people being abused by the Chu royal family and had nowhere to seek justice, and even disturbed passing officials.

When the situation was still unclear, it was not easy to deal with these two memorials rashly, but now the time is almost right.

Just as I finished drafting these two notebooks, another urgent notebook was suddenly delivered.

As soon as you read the content, it makes perfect sense - there was a civil unrest in Songjiang Prefecture next to Suzhou Prefecture, and the people rioted to resist taxes!

Zhao Zhigao had just become the Prime Minister, and the novelty had not yet worn off, so he picked up his pen and enthusiastically drafted the bill.

The old prime minister doesn’t want to take a break during the New Year, but everyone else is on holiday. What should he do?
In fact, the ministers had basically expected Emperor Wanli to veto the imperial nomination. Only a fool would approve such an imperial nomination.

It was just a small matter for everyone to be collectively happy about the salary deduction. The most unlucky one was Lu Guangzu, who was punished to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors for three months, which was equivalent to a temporary suspension from work.

Although the Chinese New Year was in between, the actual suspension lasted for more than two months.

Of course, according to the law of conservation of energy, when someone suffers, someone else benefits.

After reviewing the situation, court officials generally agreed that two people benefited, one of whom was Prime Minister Zhao Zhigao.

It can be seen as a successful counterattack against Lu Guangzu, and it also temporarily eliminated the potential threat of Xu State, which established the authority of the new prime minister.

As for the other beneficiary, it was Lin Tailai, who was two thousand miles away. It was a pure win without any effort.

Although it seemed funny that he was recommended by ministers to join the cabinet and he failed in the end, this is a real qualification.

At the age of twenty-four or twenty-five, he was probably the only one in the entire Ming Dynasty to have such a qualification of being "recommended by the court to join the cabinet". Although it was approaching the end of the year, the government offices had not yet been closed, so Lu Guangzu received the imperial edict while working at the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

So Lu Guangzu had to put aside all his official duties and prepare to go home to reflect on his mistakes.

When the Qingliu censors heard the news, they all came to the residence of the Left Censor-in-Chief to pay their respects and bid farewell.

After all, we won’t be able to meet Mr. Lu for three months, and he is generally not allowed to see outsiders while he is reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors.

General Lu no longer had the fighting spirit of the past and was a little depressed. Everyone tried to comfort him, "This is just a small setback. Why should you be so discouraged?"

Lu Guangzu sighed, "How could I be discouraged because I was punished to reflect on my mistakes for three months?"

In the past, whenever Lin Tailai was not in the capital, he could always get some benefits.

But this time he did not gain any benefits, but suffered a great loss. The cabinet situation further collapsed, and he himself was also punished. How could he not feel depressed?
Looking at the dozen or so fellow censors in the room, General Lu warned, "This time Lin Tailai is not in the capital, and the Lin Party is still able to gain the upper hand. How can I not be worried?"

Fearing that his colleagues would not understand, Lu Zongxian explained: "This is enough to show that the Lin Party has condensed into a solid group around Lin Tailai!

Now even if Lin Tailai is not in the capital, they can still exert strong combat effectiveness in the court. You should be vigilant!

This incident of recommending someone to the imperial court may not seem to have very serious consequences, but it proves the formation of the Lin Party!

Although Shen Shixing is gone, an enemy more powerful than Shen Shixing and his followers has already appeared! "

After this lesson, the censors looked at each other and suddenly felt the pressure doubled.

Suddenly someone broke the silence and shouted passionately, "This is a faction, an open faction! No one in the court is blind!

Although the evildoers are rampant, I will still immediately impeach Lin Tailai for forming a clique to monopolize power, even if I die, I will not regret it! "

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was the senior imperial censor Qian Yiben.

Another senior censor, He Zhuo, also shouted excitedly: "I am willing to co-sign with Brother Qian! Even if I have to sacrifice my life, it can boost morale and let the world know that there are still people in the court who dare to speak out!"

Lu Guangzu was very pleased. Although the just cause had suffered a temporary setback, as long as there were still people with lofty ideals and fearlessness who continued to fight, the final victory would surely be achieved!

Just when the atmosphere was in place, the Left Censor-in-Chief suddenly came in with a memorial and said, "The provincial governors of Henan and Huguang provinces have been jointly reported by this province. The memorial has been approved to the Censorate, demanding a strict investigation and handling!"

Mr. Lu could guess without even looking that it must be Prime Minister Zhao who was making trouble!
After all, the New Year is coming soon, and there are only a few days left before the closure of the government office. Under normal circumstances, who would make a fuss?

At this time, the Left Vice-Chief Censor Zhan Yangbi, who usually had no presence at all, also walked in.

He really has no sense of presence. This Deputy Xianxian Zhan is nominally the second-in-command of the Censorate, but his fame is not as great as those senior censors.

However, Zhan Yangbi and former Left Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai could be called the "two prides". Both were typical of those who were famous for their uprightness in their early years but then "lost their integrity in their later years".

When Zhan Yangbi was young, he was extremely strong-willed in both his words and deeds. His writings angered Emperor Longqing, so he was dismissed from office and stayed at home for thirteen years, and then he was brought back by Shen Shixing.

After that, Zhan Yangbi's image in public opinion became "a flatterer of the powerful", and he was constantly criticized by the clean-up forces.

At this moment, Zhan Yangbi asked Lu Guangzu, "A draft document was just sent to the Censorate. Has the Chief Censor read it?"

Lu Guangzu said coldly: "So what if you have seen it?"

Zhan Yangbi didn't care about Lu Guangzu's attitude. He had become accustomed to this kind of treatment in the clean and honest community of the Censorate over the years.

He asked again, "The red letter said that there were problems with the censors in different important provinces. There must be some deep reasons behind this. The Censorate is requested to conduct a thorough investigation.

I wonder what the president thinks? What is the cause of the problem? "

Lu Guangzu answered pointedly: "Why did Henan and Huguang, two major provinces, encounter problems one after another? The reason is very simple!
It’s because this is the province that Lin Tailai passed through on his way back home!”

Zhan Yangbi: “.”

I'm trying to discuss official business with you, but you're just joking around?
Lu Guangzu said sarcastically: "Am I wrong? Isn't it Lin Tailai who is responsible?"

After taking a deep breath, Zhan Yangbi continued seriously, "I think that the problems with the magistrates in these important provinces show that there are problems with our selection and assessment mechanisms over the past few years!

Therefore, we must correct it from the root and carefully review the selection and examination of provincial magistrates in the past few years!"

The provincial censors were under the leadership of the Ministry of Justice in their work, and were also subject to inspection by the Censorate.

In the past few years, it just so happened that Lu Guang's ancestor served as the Minister of Justice and later as the Left Censor-in-Chief. If we trace back the history, he would definitely be the first to be implicated.

Lu Guangzu habitually said with contempt: "Is this your idea, or the Prime Minister's? Shen Wumen has just left the country not long ago, and you have changed a new benefactor so quickly?"

Being looked down upon like this, Zhan Yangbi could no longer endure it. He suddenly reached out to snatch the chapter and started to scold Lu Guangzu!
"You've been suspended! Why are you still pretending here? What does this have to do with you?

Why don't you get out of here right away and go home to reflect on your past! Are you so greedy for power that you can't bear to leave?"

Lu Guangzu: "."

Damn it! He was so used to being arrogant in front of Zhan Yangbi that he forgot for a moment that he had been suspended!

Zhan Yangbi, who had been suppressed for many years, still could not get rid of his anger and continued to curse:

"I wanted to talk to you nicely, give you a few token consultations, and then send you off as a courtesy, but you insisted on pretending to be so smart!
You are suspended from your post. I will be in charge of the Censorate for the time being!
I can do whatever I want with these official business, whatever the reason is, it’s the reason!
You are a person who should go home and reflect on your mistakes, why are you here giving orders?"

Lu Guangzu: "."

It's over! I'm afraid the loss this time is much greater than I imagined!

If I go home and reflect on myself for three months, it will be enough time for Zhan Yangbi to take advantage of the situation and cause a lot of trouble!
It was obvious that this was a political persecution from the Prime Minister! They couldn't even wait for the Chinese New Year, and they couldn't even wait for the New Year to come!
A man who had kept a low profile in the Censorate for many years suddenly lost his temper and shocked all the censors in the room.

Crazy, everyone is crazy. It seems that all the honest people have started to act like a violent gang overnight. Have they been infected by Lin?

Zhan Yangbi walked to the door and suddenly turned back to Lu Guangzu and said, "Don't pretend to be faint or sick, or someone will impeach you for being old and incompetent and you should get out of here completely!"

Everyone finally understood why Zhan Yangbi was able to provoke Emperor Muzong into a rage and be beaten with a hundred sticks during the Longqing period.

How could the emperor tolerate such a bad mouth? Could it be that he had been forcibly sealed by Shen Shixing before?

Half a month after Shen Shixing resigned, the Qingliu Party began to miss the old prime minister who at least pretended to be magnanimous on the surface.

(End of this chapter)