The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Another day of court meeting.

Another day Zhu Youtang stood me up.

When the minister came out of Fengtian Gate with extreme dissatisfaction, the people in front had already passed Chang'an Left Gate, and then a group of censors started arguing at the palace gate.

"Your Majesty hasn't attended court for more than ten days. He just said he would hold court today, but it's been delayed again. Will we be able to see your Majesty before the New Year?"

Wang Wei, the Chief Censor of the Ministry of Personnel, had a very tough attitude, as if he was questioning the emperor's actions.

"Then give your advice directly." Zhang Ban, the Minister of Rites, said loudly.

"Correct!"

A group of people seemed to support Zhang Ban's decision.

Someone immediately questioned, "Shouldn't there be someone who started all this? What's the point of just going to Your Majesty and telling him the truth? At this moment, the ministers should know who is the main culprit. If he persists in his evil deeds, should we be polite to him?"

"Who said that? Who said that?"

Because there are too many people, life is very noisy, and no one even knows who is making the noise.

"Do I even need to ask this?" Wang Wei said, "This person is Zhang, the Minister of War. I want to ask you, how long has it been since your Majesty last attended court? Why don't you, the military officials, impeach him?"

Wang Wei was very excited and his target was Zhang Zhou.

Normally, this group of censors seemed fearless, but when Zhang Zhou was mentioned, many of them who had been very emotional before pretended to be silent.

It’s not that they don’t want to fight Zhang Zhou, it’s just that... they are beyond their ability.

And judging from the results of direct confrontation with Zhang Zhou in the past few years, whoever takes the lead will be unlucky.

The Military Department's Chief Secretary said, "Why don't you go and impeach them yourself? Why do you have to ask our Military Department to come? What's the reason? You go and speak on your own. Do you want to tell others what to do when you speak? Isn't this forming a clique for personal gain?"

Many people look down upon bending and stretching.

This shows that the military department among the six departments is almost useless, because the military department does not dare to confront Zhang Zhou head-on now, mainly because there is no need to.

There is no concrete evidence to prove that Zhang Zhou has violated the law. Zhang Zhou did so many "unforgivable" things in the past and nothing happened. If you impeach Zhang Zhou now for no reason, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

Besides, we in the military department have a comfortable life, why should we be the vanguard? You people in the civil service department are really cunning.

Wang Wei said: "The Ministry of War is in a mess, why should the Military Department stay out of it? Even if we don't impeach that person, we should at least rectify the malpractices within the Military Department."

"Censor Wang, let me say something. Please listen first."

A man leaned over and looked over. It was the Minister of Public Security Shen Lu.

"Shen Yintai, do you have the qualifications to speak here? We are discussing something, what does it have to do with you?" Wang Wei was like a mad dog, biting whoever he saw.

Shen Lu said awkwardly, "I want to ask, have there been fewer things happening in the court recently? In the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works, many officials have been convicted. Shouldn't you... be more careful? I'm afraid people will gossip about you now."

Someone asked, "What are you talking about? We are talking about important matters in the court."

Shen Lu shook his head helplessly.

I thought to myself, why are you guys pretending to be confused?
Everyone can see that the thorough investigation of the government's malpractices led by Zhang Zhou has affected the interests of too many people. Even if you are not directly involved in the case, your relatives or cronies have also suffered a lot in this case.

Now you suddenly want to unite to impeach Zhang Zhou. The emperor is not a fool and can see it at a glance. I am afraid that you will not be able to protect yourselves by then.

I'm reminding you with good intentions, and you may not appreciate it, but why are you making a fuss?

"hehe."

Shen Lu was also a smart man. Seeing that his reminder was ineffective, he wanted to leave immediately.

At this time, Tong Rui, the deputy secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, stopped Shen Lu and asked, "Shen Yintai, there is something I have been wanting to ask you. The war in the northwest has dragged on without any results. The Ming military and political losses are huge, and the soldiers are very tired. Why is there no follow-up on this matter? Is there no memorial from the local authorities?"

Shen Lu smiled and said, "How would I know?"

Tong Rui said: "As the manager of the Silver Office, you must be aware of the memorials submitted by the world, or who has suppressed the memorials recently?"

Shen Lu shook his head and said, "I really don't know. Don't ask me nonsense. Please move aside."

Then Shen Lu pushed through the crowd and got out.

Before he could take a few steps, he was stopped again, but this time it was Lin Han who brought a few people to rescue Shen Lu.

"Everyone, if you have anything to say, it's best to go back to the government office and talk about it." After all, Lin Han is now the Minister of Personnel, and his words carry a lot of weight. After he helped Shen Lu out of the predicament, no one dared to step forward to make trouble.

……

……

When Shen Lu followed Lin Han out, he heard someone shouting from behind: "Go impeach!"

"This is our duty."

A group of people seemed indignant.

Shen Lu shook his head helplessly. He seemed to have seen the difficulties that this group of people were about to face and what they were about to encounter.

Lin Han said, "You really don't need to bother with them, Ruxue. In the past few days, someone came to me and talked about Bingkuan's affairs. I said I knew nothing about it and would not ask about it. After that, no one came to me again."

Shen Lu asked, "So Mr. Lin is going to stay out of this forever?"

Obviously, in Shen Lu's opinion, it is too obvious that you, Lin Han, are now acting like a fence-sitter.

No one takes you seriously now.

In the past, the Minister of Personnel could be said to be a role model for civil servants, always being at the forefront of everything. So much so that even someone as old and confused as Ma Wensheng had to step down after failing in the game with Zhang Zhou.

As for you, Lin Han, you are ranked first among the external officials, but you just don't care about anything?
Lin Han said indifferently, "I'm just doing what I do. Do you think I don't want to set things right? But the question is, where is the chaos and what is right? How can I define it? There are so many people watching me. It's not that I don't do anything, but some people don't give me a chance."

Shen Lu really wanted to ask, who didn’t give you a chance?

Is it Zhang Zhou?
Or the emperor?

Or those traditional civil officials in the court who have high expectations of you?

Lin Han said, "Bingkuan did come over recently and had a cup of tea with me, but I didn't feel like asking him about the affairs of the court."

"Oh, Mr. Lin, you finally have the chance to meet the Duke of Cai, why don't you talk to him more?" Shen Lu said helplessly, "You may not know, after the case was concluded this fall, there are complaints from all walks of life, saying that the court is checking the accounts of previous years for no reason, with the intention of implicating and retaliating against political enemies, and the spearhead is all directed at the Duke of Cai."

Lin Han asked: "Is there anyone you know?"

Shen Lu nodded and said, "Yes, it is true."

Lin Han shook his head and said, "At least I didn't have any grudges with anyone when I was in the Imperial College. As for who is involved in the case and who is not, it has nothing to do with me. The court is moving in the direction of Qingming. Do I have to go against it? We are all experienced people. We have seen so many ups and downs in the court. Why are you still so stubborn?"

"you……"

Shen Lu wanted to say, you are really open-minded. Lin Han said, "In a few days, I will come to my son's full moon celebration."

"..."

Shen Lu was speechless.

The government and the people are in constant dispute right now, and you, Old Lin, are still giving birth to a child, and you are staying at home to be your old father? And you even... gave birth to another one?
Lin Han said: "I don't know what they are doing with all this commotion. Maybe they would be more comfortable if they could just enjoy their retirement."

……

……

In the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youtang is listening to Yang Peng's report.

The news that Yang Peng brought was that the censors wanted to jointly impeach Zhang Zhou, as well as the Eastern Depot, and even to redress previous cases.

Zhu Youtang held a memorial in his hand, read it carefully, then threw it on the ground and said, "I don't know what it means."

Yang Peng said, "Your Majesty, the people in the court have a lot of opinions, especially about the depth of the investigation. They think it should be... stopped at the right time, but so far, there is still no... big fish caught."

Zhu Youtang said, "Don't I know? If we continue to investigate, half of the court will be implicated. What has the court become in the past ten years since I ascended the throne? Ministers give gifts to each other, and even decide their closeness based on the amount of gifts, or even promote their own cliques... It looks like an investigation of mining taxes, but once the window paper is poked open, there is really no way to see what's underneath!"

"Then your majesty... do you want to continue investigating?"

Yang Peng was also a little worried.

The censors had been very low-key before, so Yang Peng didn't think there was much to worry about.

But once the censors start to make trouble, it will no longer be completely safe. It is very likely that the emperor will choose to sacrifice a few people due to pressure from certain things.

For example, Li Zhang, the former commander of the Eastern Depot, was sacrificed in this way.

Yang Peng thought that people in the court would not dare to take any action now, but the censors were still making a fuss.

Zhu Youtang said: "It has already started, why should we stop? I remember that during the time of the previous emperor, we also investigated the ministers in the court and were able to dismiss thousands of people at once. Why can't I do the same?"

Yang Peng thought so too.

Your father, the Emperor, is known for his stupidity and indifference to state affairs, but when he gets ruthless, he can't help himself.

As for you, you are really kind to those ministers, but the result you get is naturally that they take advantage of you.

"Go tell Bingkuan that no matter who it is, even if he is a minister, as long as he does evil, he cannot stop. And the cabinet...cannot stay out of it."

The emperor meant that the next step should not be to investigate only the prime ministers and vice ministers, but to directly investigate the chancellors and cabinet ministers. This would better serve as a warning to others.

……

……

Cabinet value.

Liu Jian came back from outside and immediately called Li Dongyang to his office to prevent Wang Ao outside from knowing what they were talking about inside.

Liu Jian dropped a memorial impeaching Zhang Zhou and asked, "Did you know?"

Li Dongyang picked it up, took a look, and shook his head, "I just found out."

"Alas!" Liu Jian said, "I understand that your majesty wants to restore the integrity of the court, so he is a bit harsh on his ministers. I even opposed this before, but if we rashly impeach Zhang Bingkuan, it will still not have any effect. There are always one or two such incidents a year. Haven't they learned their lesson yet?"

Li Dongyang asked, "What if we impeach the Northwest Army for doing nothing about this battle?"

"What do you mean?" Liu Jian asked.

Li Dongyang said he didn't know, but immediately he acted as if everything was within his plan.

Li Dongyang said: "This time, the Northwest military operation has cost a huge amount of money and food. Even if Zhang Bingkuan is not responsible, the generals who led the troops should also bear the responsibility. We still need to investigate whether there are any people who are afraid to fight and are not advancing. The local authorities will definitely report this matter."

Liu Jian asked, "You mean, the reason why the battles on the front lines were fruitless is not because we didn't encounter the main force of the Tatars, but because they deliberately avoided fighting?"

Li Dongyang said: "Who knows? Logically speaking, with such a large battle, the troops have entered the grassland for a thousand or two thousand miles, but they didn't even notice the main force of the Tatars. Isn't it too weird?"

Liu Jian was silent for a moment, there were some things he himself didn't understand.

Li Dongyang continued, "The Tatar cavalry can come and go freely, but what about their tribesmen? Tribes, at least hundreds of thousands of people, just disappeared like that? Or is someone deliberately trying to delay the war and deplete Ming's armaments?"

"Binzhi, are you saying that we should first impeach Tang Yin, and then impeach Duke Cheng Zhu Fu and others, and use this to put the blame on Zhang Bingkuan?" Liu Jian frowned.

Li Dongyang said, "I know what you are worried about, Zhongtang. You think this move will not have any effect. But you should also know that Zhang Bingkuan is not as sharp as he was a few years ago. Now is the time for him to turn inward. If we don't give him a push now, he may successfully move behind the scenes. In the future, he will take the credit, and others will bear the blame."

Liu Jian said: "He did so many things before, it's not easy to hide."

Li Dongyang sighed, "But if we impeach him now, the chances of success will be slimmer, right?"

Liu Jian's face was gloomy.

"Since ancient times, there have been treacherous ministers and powerful ministers. It was only thanks to the consistent persistence of the civil officials that they were finally able to return to the clean stream. If we do nothing, we can only sit back and watch them monopolize the government." Li Dongyang said.

Liu Jian said: "It's up to you what you want to do. But I hope it's not because of your brother."

These words were a bit like a slap in Li Dongyang's face.

Li Dongyang had been hostile to Zhang Zhou before, but he did not rush forward directly without saying anything, and even pushed Xie Qian out to die.

Now Li Dongyang can't wait to be the first to speak out and says that it has nothing to do with Li Dongming being questioned, but Liu Jian doesn't believe it.

"If someone does evil things and we just sit there and do nothing, we would not be benevolent officials." Li Dongyang had a dark face.

Liu Jian said, "Now is the time to contact Zhang Tingmian and others. Zhang Tingmian was recently fined tens of thousands of taels of silver and deprived of his job at the Governor's Office. He is currently sitting idle in the mansion doing nothing. If you don't go in person, you should find someone to go, at least... have more helpers."

"Yeah." Li Dongyang nodded.

……

……

Inside the theater.

Yang Peng came to visit, but just put down a note and got up to say goodbye.

Zhang Zhou picked up the note and looked at it.

Liu Gui asked, "Master, is there something important? It's so quiet, Eunuch Yang didn't even say a word."

Zhang Zhou said: "It's nothing serious, it's just that Shouning Hou is coming back and brought military grain that has just been grown in Liaodong." (End of this chapter)