Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 47 The right to appoint the chief assistant

"Your Majesty has another intention, don't you see it?"

"This time, Chief Assistant Huang is given the title of Assistant Minister. What if the next Chief Assistant is not given the title? Can he still be called Chief Assistant?"

"In the past, becoming the chief assistant relied on seniority, and His Majesty also acquiesced in this, but after today, I'm afraid it will be different!"

Continuing to shake his head, the official said.

The official nearby heard this and also remembered this. In the past, the chief assistant was determined by established rules, and the emperor also acquiesced in this. However, after having the title of Assistant Minister, those who do not get this title in the future may not be able to call themselves Chief Assistant.

After all, although the Minister of Bi Zheng, the Minister of Discussion, and the Minister of Administration are among the four auxiliary ministers, they are not as clear as the auxiliary ministers with the word "auxiliary". Once the emperor adds the title of auxiliary minister to a certain cabinet scholar, these people have to take a back seat.

In this way, the emperor actually had the power to appoint the chief minister of the cabinet. You only need to add an auxiliary minister to a certain cabinet minister when the chief minister is vacant, and he can become the chief minister of the cabinet. The power of appointing the chief minister was firmly controlled by the emperor.

This situation made some people frown. Out of the instinct to safeguard the power of civil servants, some people immediately said:
"Such an important position should be promoted by the minister."

"I will write to Your Majesty at the next court meeting!"

Many officials present had this idea, but the official who was shaking his head struck a blow:
"What's Tingtui? When did you see Tingtui, the Three Gongs and the Three Solitary Men?"

"These titles are all your favor, how can you ask for them?"

The words left everyone speechless, thinking of the previous discussion about whether the fourth minister was real or not. They still have reasons to strive for promotion in their actual positions, and their false titles are entirely due to the emperor's grace. Could they still be dissatisfied and take the initiative to ask for it from the emperor?

This realization makes some people feel depressed. Some people even thought of Yang Jingchen, who had been promoted as a special supervisor, and knew that the emperor had sent someone to take over the power of tingtui. Even if they fought for the appointment of the four ministers as imperial candidates, the power would still fall to Yang Jingchen, the deputy minister, and in the end it would still be in the hands of the emperor.

It can be said that the emperor's purpose in this standing meeting was to seize power. If there are still people who don't understand, Zhou Jiachun, who is ordered to shut up and think about his mistakes, will be their fate.

Those present who can serve as officials under the eunuchs will naturally be able to bend and stretch. If you know something cannot be done, you will certainly not be stubborn.

In this way, Zhu Youjian regained some power from the civil servant group when the eunuch party was in power. When the eunuch party falls in the future, things may not be so easy.

However, Zhu Youjian will definitely not thank the eunuch. Every time he saw "I and the ministers" in the decree, he felt offended. I am also a little tired of the eunuch’s endless temptations:

"Li Yongzhen came to ask for resignation again. What's going on?"

"Didn't I put him in charge of the late Emperor's mausoleum? Isn't he still dissatisfied?"

Xu Yingyuan didn't understand what was going on. He didn't know why Li Yongzhen had promised to support him before, but then resigned again after returning from inspecting the late emperor's tomb. Seeing the emperor's anger, he could only explain:
"Perhaps Li Yongzhen is still uneasy and wants to know His Majesty's thoughts."

"Why don't your Majesty meet him once and reassure him."

Zhu Youjian was bored, but knew that this was not the time to deal with Wei Zhongxian's confidants, so he could only say reluctantly:

"Bring him here!"

"Let him explain what's going on."

Xu Yingyuan hurriedly went to take Li Yongzhen away, complaining constantly on the way. It's his fault that he promised to support him, but then resigned without saying hello, making himself embarrassed in front of the emperor.

Li Yongzhen felt helpless, but it was difficult to express it to Xu Yingyuan. He himself had no intention of resigning, and even planned to take a step further after Xu Yingyuan took office. But this time when he came back from visiting the mausoleum, Wei Zhongxian called him over and asked about "please add nine tins".

This shocked Li Yongzhen, knowing that Wei Zhongxian wanted him to keep silent. If he didn't resign voluntarily, he might die of illness in the palace at any time. He was so panicked that he hurriedly wrote his resignation and asked the emperor to resign again.

How could he explain this to Xu Yingyuan? He could only assure him over and over again that he still supported him, but he had to retreat due to the factory boss's orders. After he comes to power, he can call himself back. This made Xu Yingyuan even more confused, wondering what happened, and asked Wei Zhongxian to order Li Yongzhen to resign. After thinking about it, he could only think that Li Yongzhen's support for him might have been noticed by Wei Zhongxian, so he ordered him to stand down.

Thinking he understood the reason, Xu Yingyuan was angry and blamed Wei Zhongxian for not knowing what is good and what is good:

Well, Wei Zhongxian, you don’t even understand the principles of being an emperor and being a courtier. You need someone to teach you.

I am His Majesty's sidekick. After His Majesty ascends to the throne, I should be in charge. You, an old minister of the late Emperor, why are you still hanging on?
If you don’t know what’s interesting, I’ll find a way to make you know what’s interesting!

Feeling a little cruel in his heart, Xu Yingyuan didn't have much fear of his old friend who had all the power in the world, so he was determined to teach him a lesson and let him resign voluntarily.

Taking Li Yongzhen to visit the emperor, Zhu Youjian encouraged him with words, and knowing that he was greedy for money, he rewarded him with twenty taels of pure gold. Li Yongzhen was moved in her heart, but knew that this was not what she needed now, so she could only shed tears and say nothing.

Zhu Youjian was very unhappy, thinking that he looked down upon his reward. Li Yongzhen could only reluctantly accept it, and it was difficult to resign.

After sending Li Yongzhen away, Xu Yingyuan said to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, Wei Zhongxian forced Li Yongzhen to resign."

"I couldn't resign this time, and I will resign again in a few days."

Zhu Youjian was puzzled and didn't know what was going on. Xu Yingyuan told Li Yongzhen's preference for him, and slandered Wei Zhongxian for being in love with power and not wanting to take the initiative to hand over power.

Xu Yingyuan was unwilling to comment on this. In order to attract the emperor's attention, Xu Yingyuan could only use the secret weapon he found and said in front of the emperor:

"Your Majesty, the eunuch Wang Yongzuo asked me to ask to see your Majesty."

"He has served in the East Factory and can take over the East Factory."

This news suddenly changed Zhu Youjian's expression. At this time, he clearly realized that the conditions for eradicating Wei Zhongxian were basically in place:
Dongchang is Wei Zhongxian's core department. If someone can take over it, he won't worry about Wei Zhongxian causing trouble.

The eunuch in charge of the ceremonial eunuch can be replaced by a eunuch named Bingbi, while Tu Wenfu, the eunuch in charge of the imperial horse eunuch, has already taken refuge.

Eradicating Wei Zhongxian now will not cause chaos in the palace.

Thinking of this in his mind, Zhu Youjian wanted to order someone to deal with Wei Zhongxian immediately. But when he thought about the affairs of the foreign dynasty, he felt that it was still necessary to stabilize the situation, establish a new title system, and take back the power to appoint senior officials from civilian officials. Then replace the eunuch ministers and find capable people to take over.

The purpose of eradicating Wei Zhongxian is to gain power, not the ultimate goal. Now he can still seize power from the civil officials through the suppression of the Eunuch Party. When the Eunuch Party falls and an upright but stubborn minister like Erzhou comes back, it will not be so easy to change.

He must first practice with the civil servants who are attached to the eunuch party, perfect the newly established rules, and accumulate experience in fighting with civil servants, so that they can fight according to the rules they have set, instead of using the conventional civil servant rules to suppress themselves.

After realizing this, Zhu Youjian immediately scolded Xu Yingyuan with his changed expression:

"What nonsense are you talking about here!"

"When the emperor brother was dying, he also told me that Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian were loyal and could plan important events."

"Let Wang Yongzuo do his job well and stop thinking nonsense."

Xu Yingyuan responded repeatedly, but he knew in his heart that with Wang Yongzuo, there was no place where Wei Zhongxian could not be replaced in the emperor's heart. Sooner or later, one day he will be able to replace Wei Zhongxian.

(End of this chapter)