Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 198 Nanjing Officials and Neutralists
Looking at Wu Shangmo's performance, Zhu Youjian decided to use more senior officials in the future.

First, these people are older and need a channel for rapid promotion so that capable people can be promoted to important positions.

Second, these people are mature and prudent and will not easily put others off the stage.

Like Wu Shangmo, if he were a young man, his words would be more intense. It is impossible for Zhu Youjian to over-promote him to avoid having to face this person often in the future.

But Wu Shangmo was sixty-six years old and could only serve as an official for a few years at most. Zhu Youjian was very tolerant of him and did not hesitate to be promoted. The courtiers would not criticize him, but thought that he was giving preferential treatment to the old ministers.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian plans to use more older officials as officials to prevent young people from being enthusiastic and hot-headed.

After this episode, the atmosphere in the court finally relaxed a little. All the ministers believed that the emperor was tolerant and could still tolerate Wu Shangmo who went against his will.

Then there is the main topic of today, the promotion of Nanjing officials.

Among the Nanjing officials, the most important was the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, who had the responsibilities of counselor and machine maintenance. Together with the Nanjing garrison and the Nanjing eunuch, they were known as the three giants in Nanjing and were the most important positions.

However, today's court push is to adjust the Nanjing officials as a whole, naturally in the order of six departments, starting with the Nanjing Civil Service Department.

There are not many affairs in the Six Ministries of Nanjing. Usually there is one Shangshu, one Right Minister, and one Secretary, with different officials in each department. However, since the eunuch party was in chaos, Nanjing officials were in chaos, and some departments had two assistant ministers.

From the perspective of Zhu Youjian, an emperor who valued staffing, the extra officials would naturally be eliminated.

It just so happened that these people could be convicted of treason, and the reasons for their removal were all ready-made, which did not embarrass him at all.

First of all, Wang Zaijin, the Minister of Civil Affairs in Nanjing, once wrote a book praising the beauty. This is not a big crime, and Zhu Youjian considered that his proposal for Juehua Island was correct and could be kept as a backup official, so he was designated as the eighth grade. After his dismissal, he resumed his original position.

The left minister of the Ministry of Personnel was in charge of Lin Yuji, the right minister, and he did not act rebelliously, so he remained in his original position.

According to the convention that one of the two ministers in the Ministry of Personnel must be from the Imperial Academy, this person has experience in the Imperial Academy and is qualified to become a cabinet minister.

Lin Yuji was mentioned last time the court recommended a bachelor. This man was from Jinjiang, and he was a cousin of the great scholar Zhang Ruitu, and Zhang Ruitu's son was his son-in-law. Zhu Youjian wrote down the name.

There is no need to move these two people. There are no officials in the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs who need to be promoted.

Then came the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs. Shangshu Zhang Pu and right minister Guo Song had been dismissed by Zhu You as the fifth class. Some people said that left minister Wang Yao was an eunuch. Zhu Youjian ignored it and ordered:

"Wang Yao retained the position of Zuo Shilang due to his contribution to Guizhou, concurrently served as the Right Shilang's governor's grain storage position, and was given the title of Censor of Qiandu."

"From now on, the six departments in Nanjing will have one minister and one minister. The minister is no longer limited to the left and right. He can be the right minister or the left minister, depending on his qualifications and achievements."

"But there can be no overstaffing. The Nanjing Civil Service Department is responsible for keeping statistics on Nanjing officials. Any overstaffing or lack of staff will be reported."

"Now let's start to recommend the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing."

Conveniently adding another responsibility to the Nanjing Ministry of Civil Affairs, Zhu Youjian asked the ministers to select the Nanjing Minister of Household Affairs according to the court recommendation method just formulated.

This position was recommended by the ministers of the third rank and above. At the same time, because of the responsibility of money and food, Zhu Youjian asked him to be selected from officials with experience in the Second Department of Household Works or as governors.

Nowadays, most of the ministers in the court are the remnants of the eunuch party. Zheng Sanjun, promoted by the Donglin Party, was defeated by the relatively neutral Cui Jingrong. Because this person did not adhere to Wei Zhongxian, he was impeached by the eunuchs to protect Donglin and deprived him of the people.

Of course such an official would be revolted, and Zhu Youjian immediately ordered Cui Jingrong to be appointed Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing.

Han Rizuan, the Minister of Rites in Nanjing, and Li Sunchen, the minister, did not commit any rebellious behavior and were retained by Zhu Youjian in their original posts without any change.

Then there is the most important Nanjing Military Department. Mao Yilu, the left minister, and Pan Ruzhen, the right minister, have both been dismissed from office by Zhu You. Shangshu Liu Tingyuan was deeply involved in the assault case, which also led to Wang Zhiyin's tragic death in prison. Zhu Youjian did not want to keep him and cause controversy, so he designated Zan Dao as the sixth-class counter-criminal and dismissed him from his post and reduced his status to the people.

Therefore, the Minister of War and the Minister of War in Nanjing all need officials to be promoted by the court.

This position was so important that Zhu Youjian had of course prepared candidates in advance. His favorite was the famous neutralist Huang Kezuan.

Although this man was older, already seventy-eight years old, Zhu Youjian decided to retaliate against him and sent a clear signal to the government and the public:

His new emperor likes to use the neutral faction!

However, the two ministers of the Ministry of Li and Bing are the officials of the fifth rank and above. There were too many officials involved, and it was impossible for Zhu Youjian to fully control it.

The final result was that Wang Yongguang was the positive recommendation and Huang Kezuan was the supporting recommendation.

Wang Yongguang is also a neutral faction. This person is relatively complex. He once praised Wei Zhongxian in the book, once opposed Wei Zhongxian's rebellious garrison eunuchs, and even advised Emperor Tianqi to be open to the Donglin Party network.

Such people, of course, cannot gain a foothold in the strife between the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party. But he was quite popular. He was related to Li Hualong, Cui Jingrong, Yang Shaozhen and others, and many officials recommended him.

After Zhu Youjian considered it, he ordered:

"Wang Yongguang and Cui Jingrong are relatives and it is inappropriate to serve in the Sixth Department of Nanjing together."

"Moreover, he once wrote a poem to praise Wei Zhongxian, and ranked him as the eighth grade in his poems. He cut off his official rank before becoming an official. After his recovery, he took up a post in Beijing. His position was later promoted."

"Huang Kezuan was reinstated and served as the counselor of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. He was appointed as the Taibao and Youzhu Kingdom, and received a first-class salary."

"Let him learn from Mr. Wang Xiangqian and work hard to serve, and he must persist for at least one year."

Another student and Taibao, the ministers were so envious that their eyes turned red. In particular, the emperor was worried that Huang Kezuan would not accept the birth of Sangong, so he specially added the right column to the national honors in order to get a first-class salary. This is really for the sake of the ministers, and he really values ​​​​Huang Kezuan.

Yang Jingchen was finally relieved when he heard that Huang Kezuan successfully became the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. This person was also from Jinjiang and was recommended by Lu Tunan. After the emperor knew that he was a famous neutralist, he decided to take up an important position. Now, after many twists and turns, he has been reinstated as Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, finally achieving his goal.

But for Wang Yongguang to be promoted, a good position must also be arranged. Otherwise, Huang Kezuan may be criticized for being appointed as the Minister of War in Nanjing.

Fortunately, this person was convicted by the emperor of the eighth-level ci poem, so it was easier to arrange. There were vacancies in the Ministry of Punishment and the censors of the left and right, so he could be appointed.

Others may not know this idea, but Su Maoxiang, who is also from Jinjiang, couldn't figure it out.

When he heard that the emperor was going to reinstate Wang Yongguang to serve in Beijing, he felt bad. Because the special supervisor promoted Yang Jingchen to the rank of assistant minister, he might recommend Wang Yongguang for a good position for the sake of the reputation of Jinjiang officials.

Then the position of Jiu Qing might be taken by Wang Yongguang. How many more positions can he, the minister in charge of Cangchang, have to be promoted?
In the past few days, Prime Minister Su Mao wanted to attract the emperor's attention so that he could be promoted to an official position. Unexpectedly, the emperor's brain circuit was different from his, and Mingjun's standards were also different from those of many civil servants.

Therefore, his request to abolish the Jinyiwei and Wensiyuan did not impress the emperor. Instead, the emperor established the Shaofu Temple to improve the status of the Wensi Academy.

Now Prime Minister Su Mao has no other choice. Seeing that more and more officials are resurrected, the position of Jiuqing may be occupied. If he doesn't take action, he will lose his position.

Looking at Xue Fengxiang, who was also the Minister of the Shaofu Temple and was retained as Minister of the Ministry of Industry by relying on the emperor, Prime Minister Su Mao secretly gritted his teeth and decided that even if he was dependent on the emperor, he would still serve as the Nine Ministers——

In any case, he, who had served as the Minister of Household Affairs in the Governor's Cangchang, had to actually serve as the Minister!

(End of this chapter)