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Chapter 51 Unscrupulous
Throughout the 32nd year of Wanli, Emperor Zhu Changluo of Jingyang lived a relatively peaceful life.After the cabinet was replenished, there were five bachelors, and hundreds of official positions in the court that had been delayed by Emperor Wanli were gradually approved and replenished.

In the eyes of most courtiers, the young new emperor is much more reliable, more diligent and more open-minded, and at least he has not caused any trouble to everyone, so no matter what his sect, he is quite satisfied for the time being.

But Hong Tao played a little trick here. Naturally, the additional officials must be drafted by the cabinet, and then submitted to the Supervisor of Ceremonies for approval and seal.Hong Tao did not know most of the 170 five actual officials in total, let alone heard of them. Apart from asking Tian Yi, Chen Ju, and Li Zhi, there was no source of information on who was really capable and who was a fool.

But the words of these three people cannot be taken seriously. They may be telling the truth, but everyone has different standards for evaluating a person or thing.He was originally a capable person, but looking at it from another angle, he might have become a moral scum.

Let the emperor identify them one by one. It is an impossible task in terms of time, energy, and investigation methods.This is the fundamental reason why the emperor cannot do without the cabinet and the court.

No matter how high your status or power is, you still need someone to help you execute it, otherwise it will just be a blank piece of paper.The reason why Hong Tao did not carry out reforms with great fanfare as soon as he came up, or even mentioned a word about his intention to reform, was that he was afraid of alarming the courtiers and being regarded as an alien by them.

In that case, the emperor would be trapped and die in the palace, unable to hear the real situation outside or get a true report on the state of the country. No matter how talented and strategic he is, it would be useless to give orders without leaving the palace.

Regarding the appointment of these more than 100 officials, Hong Tao's method was both simple and insidious.He first summoned the four cabinet bachelors Shen Yiguan, Shen Li, Zhu Geng and Ye Xianggao separately, distributed the list of candidate officials, and then asked them to write a separate opinion on how to deal with it.

At the same time, I specially reminded you who you agree with and who you disagree with. Don’t just name them and then vaguely praise or disparage them. You must write down the reasons clearly, that is, why you agree and why you disagree!

This thing does not need to go through the Chief Secretary or be conveyed through the Chief of Ceremonies. It is all handed over to Chen Ju alone, avoiding Tian Yi, and thus ensuring that it will not be seen by outsiders to the greatest extent.The purpose of this is to encourage academicians to stop having ideological scruples, to openly praise and curse, and to express their true meanings.

Then Hong Tao can use tricks. By comparing the contents of these memorials with each other, he can analyze which people are the officials of the Zhejiang Party, Chu Party, and Qi Party that Shen Yiguang wants to protect, and which ones Shen Li wants to protect. Donglin Party officials, who were neutrals recommended by Zhu Geng and Ye Xianggao.

Once these questions are roughly clarified, the answers are almost revealed.The Zhejiang Party group agreed to dozens of people, the Donglin Party group agreed to dozens of people, the neutral officials also agreed to dozens of people, plus more than ten people from the Taizhou School, no one would gain and no one would lose!
In addition to quantity, you also have to be a little selective in positions.If there were fewer censors and officials in the past, they would be given more points now; if there were more officials in the six ministries with real power in the past, they would be given fewer points this time, probably to achieve a balance.

This is Chi Guoguo's strategy of mixing sand into the balance to prevent any faction from gaining absolute strength or losing the right to speak.You have people in the cabinet, and I am not mute in the cabinet.You have a Minister of Rites, and he also has a Minister of Officials. There is not much difference in strength between them.

Is balance a good thing?Hong Tao’s answer is no!Whether it can be stable depends partly on whether the weights of the various points of balance are equal, and partly on whether the central point is heavy enough to hold it down. Both are indispensable.

Now there is barely a balance between the various factions in the DPRK, but the emperor's weight as the center point is obviously not enough.As a result, the struggle in the court not only will not subside, but will intensify.No faction is willing to let go of the young emperor's great opportunity to fool them. They have to gain the emperor's trust even if they break his head, so as to gain more say and squeeze out hostile forces.

If Emperor Wanli was the central point now, he would definitely not play like this.It's annoying enough when one or two factions fight, leading to a three-kingdom battle or even a four-party struggle, which can make you worry to death all day long.

But Hong Tao is willing to play like this, and he can only play like this.There is only one reason, the foundation is unstable.As a newly enthroned emperor, he ascended the throne so suddenly. There was a serious lack of transition period and even less of a ruling team.

There are only three or two kittens under his hands, and he can't even arrange the harem, so he can't effectively control the direction of the court.If you seek stability at this time, you will always be suppressed. If you want to stand up, you must use strange methods, such as sitting on a mountain and watching the tiger fight.

Only when the courtiers get busy and fight with each other until the sky is dark, the eyes are blood-red, and the brains are swollen, can the emperor use the few chips in his hand to win with small gains and chaos.

Although playing this way requires intelligence and skill, as well as character and luck, which is extremely uncertain and may even endanger the stability of the court and the country, Hong Tao firmly believes that he can win the final victory. The reason is God's perspective and understanding of human nature. understanding and grasp.

No matter how capable all court officials are, even if Zhang Juzheng survives, they will only live a lifetime at most. All their ideas, plans, and deployments must be taken step by step without any foresight.

But Hong Tao doesn't need to. He is familiar with the historical trend and every key point and every key figure. It is equivalent to making five moves ahead when playing chess.If you can't win by cheating like this, it only means that you shouldn't touch the chessboard at all!

It’s so mysterious, does it have any use?Just look at the dry expressions of the four cabinet bachelors who wanted to object but could not find allies, and wanted to agree but were unwilling to do so when they received the red approval. The answer is basically certain.

"Eunuch Tian, ​​does your Majesty have any profound meaning in such an approval?" Zhu Geng was most satisfied with this result. It should be said that it far exceeded expectations. Then he was also very uneasy. He couldn't help but chased to the door and tugged on Tian Yi's sleeve. .

"How can slaves like us just guess what Lord Long Live is thinking... But I have heard Lord Long Live say that all the bachelors are old gentlemen. As students, it is not good to favor one over another, so I chose each one from the recommendation list. Some of them came out. Alas... In order to be impartial, Long Live Master stayed up for more than two days. It can be said that he has good intentions, so you can take care of yourself!"

Tian Yi stopped and looked up at the sky first, as if there was a teleprompter on it. After seeing it clearly, he slowly answered Zhu Geng's question, then sighed, bowed his waist, and walked away with slow and heavy steps.

(End of this chapter)