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Chapter 252: One Emperor, One Courtier 2
The candidate for the position of Minister of the Ministry of War was finally determined to be Wang Xiangqian, the former right minister of the Ministry of War. This appointment was not unexpected. The Wang family was considered a family of officials and was a large local family in Xincheng, Shandong.

Starting from Wang Chongguang, the Minister of War who was posthumously gifted by the Jiajing Dynasty, his father Wang Zhiyuan, his uncles Wang Zhiyou and Wang Zhidu, and his cousins ​​Wang Xiangkun, Wang Xiangjin, Wang Xiangmeng, Wang Xiangdou, Wang Xiangjie, Wang Xiangheng and Wang Xiangchun were all Jinshi and served in the court.

Using the position of Minister of War in exchange for the gratitude and support of a large number of mid-level officials and families, the emperor definitely made a profit.

In addition, Wang Xiangqian is not just a second-generation official relying on family protection. His written examination and interview scores are both good. He has experience in commanding troops and leading large-scale operations in the Battle of Bozhou and suppressing the Miao rebellion. He is definitely worthy of being appointed Minister of War. position.

In fact, Li Hualong, the left minister of the Ministry of War, had a better resume. He was Wang Xiangqian's boss during the Battle of Bozhou. Unfortunately, he not only did not participate in the selection due to illness, but also resigned and went back to his hometown to recuperate.

Now the Ministry of War only had Wang Xianggan as the bare commander, and he had to appoint left and right ministers to help him.After the palace examination selection, two people were promoted due to their excellent performance.The former Huguang Councilor Wang was promoted to the left minister of the Ministry of War in Jin Dynasty, and Xiong Tingbi, the former patrol officer of Liaodong, was promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War.

On the surface, the selection of the two of them was recommended by the cabinet scholar Ye Xianggao and the naval governor Yuan Keli to participate in the selection, but in fact it was secretly instructed by Hong Tao.In his impression, these two were relatively famous ministers in the late Ming Dynasty, and they all agreed to retreat to Shanhaiguan to preserve their strength.

Since we are going to use the aftermath of the rebellion to launch a purge in the imperial court, the elected officials cannot all be our own people. They must at least have some convergence of ideas. Otherwise, after a long period of purge, there will still be a lot of opponents, and the effort will not be in vain. .

The Minister of Rites fell into the hands of Yang Tingyun, the former Jingzhao Shaoyin, and he was promoted from the fourth rank to the second rank in one fell swoop, skipping the fourth rank. It can be said that it is not without imperial grace.But why the emperor fell in love with him cannot be guessed by most officials. Even Wang An only knew that Yang Tingyun and Li Zhizao were from the same hometown, nothing more.

In fact, Li Zhizao did not deliberately recommend this fellow countryman to the emperor. Although the two had a good relationship, they took different paths.Li Zhizao focused more on mathematics and astronomy, while Yang Tingyun loved literature and believed in Buddhism.

The only thing they have in common is that they are all willing to associate with Xifan monks, listen to more anecdotes from outside the Ming Dynasty, and then compare them with what is happening around them, find out the pros and cons and refute them, and deepen their understanding of the world. .

It was this characteristic that made Yang Tingyun's answer sheet appreciated by the emperor. After questioning him face to face, he learned that his Latin skills could be used to communicate with monks on a daily basis. Against all odds, he was determined to promote him from the fourth rank of deputy mayor. to the position of Minister of Education, Foreign and Ethnic Affairs.

The reason is very simple, there is only one sentence: I have searched all over the government and the public, and I can pick one out of ten thousand who can take the initiative to open his eyes and see the world like Yang Tingyun, and after seeing it, think about it carefully and still have something to gain!

Hong Tao's meaning was clear. In addition to managing national education and religious affairs, the Ministry of Rites also had a very important job, which was diplomacy.

If we find some officials who don't even bother to understand where the Xifan people come from and how their culture is different from that of the Ming Dynasty, there will be no diplomacy at all. They are a bunch of frogs in the well.

The post of Minister of the Ministry of Punishments was unexpectedly but not unexpectedly held by Shen Yingwen, the former right minister of the Ministry of Punishments. Why was it unexpected? Because he was one of the candidates during the first two rounds of court nominations, but the performance report he wrote was rejected by the emperor.Unsurprisingly, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment has always been vacant. According to seniority, he should have succeeded Xiao Daheng.Could it be that Hong Tao forgot it because of confusion, or did he get an excellent result in the answer sheet this time?It's really not the case. The main reason is that Hong Tao read more than a dozen answer sheets and was dissatisfied with them all.People in ancient times all had similar understandings of the law, which was completely different from those of later generations. It was difficult to find someone who was ahead of the curve, and the only way to do it was to pick a general out of thin air.

This is not only the case for the Minister of Punishment, but also for the Censor of Zuodu. In line with the principle of using the familiar rather than the new, Xu Honggang, the original Censor of Zuodu, can only be promoted.

But the final choice of the minister of Dali Temple as the emperor really surprised everyone, including his close associates and opponents.The new minister of Dali Temple turned out to be Gao Panlong, one of the founders of Donglin Academy and a close associate of Gu Xiancheng, who was known as Gao Gu among the scholars.

If Yang Tingyun's promotion to Minister of Rites can be regarded as rocket speed, then Gao Panlong can be regarded as light speed.He had no official position before and was only a Jinshi. He had once been an eighth-rank monk, and suddenly he was promoted to the third-rank minister of Dali Temple. It was incredible.

But what surprised the officials was not the speed of promotion. Although Gao Panlong had no official position, he was well-known and had no shortage of knowledge and connections. It was not too unexpected that he was directly appointed to the third rank.

The most puzzling thing is his identity and opinions. Elder Donglin, this name used to be the representative of one of the top powers in the court, but now he has become a street rat. Unless he is really clear about it, no one will know. He proactively admitted that he had been a member of the Donglin Party.

This man was not only the founder of the Donglin Party, but also the Donglin Academy, and his status was equal to that of Gu Xiancheng.At the same time, the Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism he insisted on was not compatible with the Taizhou School and the Public Security School, which were currently in the limelight. How could he be entrusted with important tasks by the emperor who was determined to reform?
"People are light and airy without pressure. If the court is full of one argument without any objections, not only will the officials gradually lose motivation, but even I will be satisfied with the status quo.

If you listen to one side, it will be dark; if you listen to both, it will be bright.As a leader, the last thing you should do is to only listen to one voice and believe in only one idea.With him serving in the court, he can be a mirror for me and a wake-up call for the officials. "Facing Wang An's question, Hong Tao told the whole story without modification.

After the rebellion, the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, the Qi Party, and the Donglin Party all suffered devastating blows. At present, a group of Fujian and Henan officials gathered in the court, with a vague tendency to respect the leaders of Li Zhi and Yuan Keli.

If there are no checks and balances, it won't be long before the Taizhou faction and the Zhongzhou faction will replace the Zhejiang Party and the Donglin Party and continue to control the discourse in the court, suppress dissidents, and compete for power and profit.

But Li Zhi and Yuan Keli themselves did not have this idea, and it was completely carried out by the officials who took advantage of the situation.The emperor couldn't say hello in advance, so there was no 300 taels of silver left here.

How to stop this trend?Hong Tao thought of a simple and easy way, and called Gao Panlong, who was in the opposition, to serve in Beijing as one of the six ministers and nine ministers.In this way, not only the Donglin Party members can breathe a sigh of relief, but it will also make the wallflowers think more and stop rushing to hug another thick leg.

(End of this chapter)