Chapter 426 425 Impeachment of Wu Peng
Yuan Wei is now really in high spirits. He just moved from the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Mansion to the Ministry of Rites last year. He was ordered to stay in the Ministry after only one month in charge of the academy. After only one month in the Ministry of Rites, Yuan Wei was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.
His speed on the road to the cabinet can be said to have created history. There is no official who can be promoted faster than him. Moreover, his official career is the standard Hanlin path to the cabinet, and others can't help but want to join.
The most frustrated person after the issuance of this decree is actually Gao Gong.
Obviously, his actions are one step slower than Yuan Wei.
In the promotion of official positions, one step slow means all steps slow. This failure has actually destined him to lag behind Yuan Wei.
That night, Wei Guangde heard a few complaints from the drunk Gao Gong, blaming Emperor Jiajing for ignoring the government affairs and being obsessed with practicing Taoism, and also blaming himself for not spending enough time on Qingci and not writing a few Qingci masterpieces to please the emperor.
Come to think of it, Yuan Wei had been studying and researching in the Hanlin Academy before, and was promoted from the editor of the Hanlin Academy to the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.
A few years ago, Emperor Jiajing intended to let Yuan Wei go to the Nanjing Ministry of Rites as a minister and take charge of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy. Yuan Wei submitted a petition to resign and was willing to continue his original salary. Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty was very happy and immediately promoted Yuan Wei to the bachelor of the imperial reading.
In recent years, Yuan Wei has devoted his energy to Qingci, and has repeatedly presented excellent Qingci works to win the emperor's favor, and at this moment the effect has finally appeared.
However, Gao Gong only sank for one night. On the next day, Wei Guangde still saw the previous Gao Gong, who was still full of energy and devoted to the government affairs of the Ministry of Rites.
Wei Guangde knew that this was Gao Gong's goal to replace Wu Shan again. The impeachment memorial forced Wu Shan to stay at home for a long time to avoid suspicion, and his resignation had entered the countdown.
At this time, if the Ministry of Rites was managed well, Gao Gong felt that he still had a chance.
As for the Left Vice Minister of this department, the elderly Kang Taihe is afraid that his health will not be much better than Zhou Yan's. He has also submitted a resignation letter. It is believed that Emperor Jiajing will not give him the position of Minister of Rites.
Therefore, Gao Gong's only competitors now are Yan Ne and Li Chunfang. However, considering that Li Chunfang has just taken over the Hanlin Academy for more than a month, it seems that there is not much chance, so Yan Ne is the only opponent left.
At this time, the news that Zhou Yan, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, is seriously ill has already spread throughout the court and the public. Wei Guangde also keenly felt that many officials from other provinces seemed to be gloating over this.
The seven most powerful central government offices in the Ming Dynasty, the six ministries and the Censorate, may have to resign two people at once, and they are all from Jiangxi.
This feeling is also thanks to Wei Guangde's previous life. He was not from Jiangxi, but he was reincarnated into a Jiangxi person in this life, so he could vaguely feel this change.
Sure enough, whether he got a hint or not, Kang Taihe, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, soon submitted a petition to resign, and this resignation was soon approved by Emperor Jiajing, "Promote Kang Taihe, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to the Minister of the Ministry of Works in Nanjing."
Kang Taihe went to Nanjing, of course, not to go to Nanjing for a promotion and to improve his rank, but to really go to Nanjing for retirement.
What surprised Wei Guangde was that when Kang Taihe received the imperial edict and was about to take up his post in Nanjing, Wu Peng, the Minister of Personnel, reported that the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites was vacant and asked for recommendation.
Just like the last time Emperor Jiajing directly issued an edict to Yuan Wei, Emperor Jiajing's instruction was very brief, "No need to recommend, Yan Ne will be promoted to the Left Vice Minister of this department."
Gao Gong stayed where he was, and then the two who moved out of the Hanlin Academy took off directly to the Left Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. In the eyes of many people, Gao Gong's career seemed a little bad.
In these few short days, Xiyuan continued to issue edicts involving the appointment and removal of the third-rank officials of the current dynasty, which Wei Guangde thought was abnormal.
In the past, similar official positions were mostly postponed by the Ministry of Personnel and the Emperor Jiajing was asked to appoint them with his own pen. However, these few times were all arbitrary decisions made by the Emperor, as if the Emperor had already prepared for it.
I don’t know what others think, but Wei Guangde thought so, and when chatting with Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde also noticed that Zhang Juzheng’s attitude towards this was similar to Wei Guangde’s.
“Your Majesty did not consult the Cabinet for the appointment of the Ministry of Rites and the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.”
Zhang Juzheng said to Wei Guangde: “At least my teacher was also surprised when he received the order from Your Majesty, and so was Lord Yan.”
At this time, Yin Shizeng was teaching Prince Yu in the study next door, and Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng talked about the affairs of the court, and the topic naturally shifted from Gao Gong to the appointment and dismissal of officials this time.
“Does Your Majesty plan to reorganize the six ministries and the Censorate? Maybe he has already made a plan.”
Wei Guangde threw out his own ideas and wanted to see if Lord Xu and Zhang Juzheng had such judgments.
"It is certain that Wu Shangshu will not be able to stay. The position of Zhou Yushi of the Censorate and Ouyang Shangshu of the Ministry of Works seem to be the same."
Zhang Juzheng directly named the officials who were already known to be incapable of continuing to be competent for the Shangshu level.
"However, the candidate for the Minister of Works should still be recalled. Lei Lilei, who is in charge of the imperial mausoleum project in the capital and in Changping, is actually not much different."
Zhang Juzheng talked freely, but Wei Guangde heard it, and he didn't know whether it was Zhang Juzheng's idea or his teacher Xu Jie's opinion. However, it didn't matter, because Zhang Juzheng was right to judge it, at least it showed that he was not the only one who felt this way.
"Who do you think is most likely to take the position of Minister of Rites and Left Censor of the Censorate?"
Wei Guangde asked.
Zhang Juzheng curled his lips, and then a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth and said: "It should be the four most likely, Yuan Wei, Guo Pu, Yan Ne and Li Chunfang, hehe"
"Haha."
Wei Guangde also laughed, and after putting away his smile, he sighed: "I'm afraid Gao Suqing will be disappointed. My uncle is very quick in thinking. You might as well put more effort into Qingci Yiyi. Maybe it will come in handy at the critical moment."
Zhang Juzheng was cheerful, he heard Wei Guangde was teasing him.
After the news of Yuan Wei's change of officialdom came out, everyone in the official circles of the capital realized that it was only a matter of time before Yuan Wei entered the cabinet. From this, the outside world began to have a new title for him, "Qingci Prime Minister".
Correspondingly, the so-called "Four Great Talents" in the Hanlin Academy who were good at Qing Ci also began to spread. Before, this was just a private joke among those who studied the classics and history in the Hanlin Academy. Now they are out of the circle and making trouble. The entire officialdom in the capital knew that the four of them wrote Qingci well.
The dawn of Yuan Wei's entry into the pavilion has emerged, so naturally the other three will not be too far away.
"Qing Ci, Xiao Daoer."
Zhang Juzheng shook his head, "My teacher said that if they wanted to be promoted at that time, they had to focus on this Qingci. In our generation, forget it."
Having said this, Zhang Juzheng glanced at the inner courtyard of the palace inadvertently and said: 'This man in the palace is not interested in these things. If he really relies on Qing Ci to get to the position, I'm afraid there will be no good fruit in his hands. ’
Wei Guangde nodded with deep understanding. Not to mention that these might be the future prime ministers of Qingci, Wei Guangde was very worried about whether the group of alchemists currently favored by Emperor Jiajing would be able to get a good deal in the hands of the new emperor.
Last year, Tao Zhongwen, the alchemist who had won the favor of Emperor Jiajing, Shenxiao Zifu Chan Fan Baoguo, preached great virtues, promoted Dharma, taught true loyalty, filial piety and Bingyi, passed away. Emperor Jiajing was very sad, and specially ordered a burial ceremony according to the Shaoyuan Festival ceremony, with a special posthumous title of " Rongkang Huisu".
In those days, Emperor Jiajing was very sad, but His Royal Highness Prince Yu was very happy and held banquets in the palace for several days.
Although he didn't say the reason, he just let the palace officials come to drink, but Wei Guangde also knew that it was because King Yu heard that Tao Zhongwen was dead.
Whether true or false, Tao Zhongwen's motto "Two dragons never meet" meant that Jiajing and his son had not seen each other for twenty years. It is strange that King Yu could not hate Tao Zhongwen deeply.
But today, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng chatted about Qingci in court, which naturally had a purpose.
"I heard that Liang Menglong and Mr. Xu Ge were close to each other during the incident?"
Wei Guangde suddenly changed the subject and asked.
Hearing Wei Guangde's words, Zhang Juzheng immediately concentrated his energy and nodded, "He is also the teacher's disciple."
"I heard that this time His Majesty denounced Ke Dao for his official position and salary to support his health."
"Well, I heard that this is the case."
"Mr. Xu Ge didn't consider it and asked Liang Daren to follow suit and impeach?"
Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng kept mumbling in low voices as they asked and answered questions.
When I talked to Zhang Juzheng before, the emperor seemed to want to adjust the officials of the six departments. In fact, it was also a test by Wei Guangde. First, to see if his judgment was consistent with others, and second, that was today's purpose.
Nowadays, the only obstacle that can stand in the way of Prince Yu's family and Xu Gelao's family is the Yan family. And among the six departments, the departmental officials, who have the most say, have almost become Yan Shifan's voice because of Wu Peng.
Taking advantage of the power of the official department, the Yan family attracted many people inside and outside the capital to work with them.
Now that Emperor Jiajing intends to adjust the six departments, Wei Guangde feels that the Yan family's power in the official department should be eliminated.
But he was hesitant as to how to proceed.
However, after seeing someone using the Li Ke impeachment memorial against the Minister of Rites, Wei Guangde naturally thought of the Li Ke, and from this he also learned about the relationship between Liang Menglong and Mr. Xu Ge in the Li Ke affair.
"Wu Shangshu, there are not many impeachment memorials in any year, but his official position remains unchanged."
Zhang Juzheng heard the meaning of Wei Guangde's words, and he seemed to want to fish in troubled waters, so he copied the strategy of bringing down Wu Shan and wanted the Li Ke to impeach the Minister of Li Bu.
However, Wu Peng is different from Wu Shan. Wu Shan may not be impeached all year round. It is really because of his personality and there is no reason to blame him.
But Wu Peng was not. He was impeached every year, but he was as stable as a mountain every year, and he looked like a tumbler in officialdom.
"These days are different."
Wei Guangde smiled and said: "The lectures next door will be finished soon. You might as well ask Prince Yu and Master Yin to talk about it. If it is feasible, we can visit Mr. Xu Ge's house later."
Zhang Juzheng nodded. He now came back to his senses and understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's previous temptation.
He had just talked about this matter with his teacher Xu Jie last night. Xu Jie also had his own judgment on the upcoming personnel changes in the imperial court, but he did not consider the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
In fact, if Wu Peng had not been impeached several times in a year, he might not even get used to it.
Xu Jie was also used to him being as steady as an old dog, so he really didn't consider him here.
But now, Wei Guangde suddenly mentioned Wu Peng, and Zhang Juzheng had to think about it seriously.
First, he knew that what Wei Guangde said before about Emperor Jiajing's rebuke of Ke Dao was true. In the past few days, many censors and ministers had written letters of impeachment. Anyway, they just impeached anyone who didn't like it. The emperor couldn't say it. I am taking care of myself.
Under this trend, it makes sense for the Li Ke to impeach the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the impeachment of Wu Peng does not require collecting any evidence. It is enough to read out the previous impeachment memorials and revise them, and directly use the sentence "Justice has been hindered for a long time, and the virtuous will be defeated." "Zhi" to impeach the official department under Wu Peng.
The evaluation of "justice has been blocked for a long time, and the virtuous will be destroyed" is also the unified view of most officials today towards the bureaucracy, so every impeachment memorial focuses on this criticism.
Another important reason is that Zhang Juzheng is still thinking whether Wei Guangde's words at this time are meant to convey the message from the palace.
Zhang Juzheng is very clear that Wei Guangde has connections with the eunuchs around Emperor Jiajing, and they often convey some of the emperor's ideas that are difficult to publicly instruct through people like Wei Guangde.
Zhang Juzheng is not sure whether this idea was thought up by Wei Guangde or intentionally done by the palace.
However, after some calculations, Zhang Juzheng suddenly felt that it seemed that impeaching Wu Peng might not be a bad idea.
No one can say that impeachment at this time is wrong.
Everyone is impeaching people, and if the censors do not impeach at this time, they are just holding on to their salary and living on their own.
As for the result after impeachment, if it succeeds, it will be famous, and if it fails, it will be over by bowing to Wu Peng. At this time, will Wu Peng still dare to think about revenge?
Everyone's impeachment is just a formality, just for Emperor Jiajing to see, why take it seriously.
Besides, even if it is true, what does it matter? The Kedao in the court is outside the three realms and not in the five elements. If the Ministry of Personnel really wants to retaliate, it is not afraid of the joint impeachment of the entire Kedao, which is really a situation of no end.
It is the duty of the censors to impeach others. If they are retaliated because of being impeached, then they will all be unlucky in the future, and they will do the job of offending people.
The folk saying of "sweeping the snow in front of your own door, don't worry about the frost on other people's tiles" is not feasible, it is just a saying to fool the people.
It seems to be protecting yourself, but you don't know that it is precisely because of this that you are exploited and oppressed.
If you don't care about other people's business, why should others care about you? The final result is that everyone is oppressed by the powerful.
If a censor is retaliated today, then the people who impeached him before will also retaliate, and all the censors will probably be unlucky.
We are all scholars and understand the truth, so we are more united on this issue.
As long as you give in once, there will be countless concessions next, until there is no more room for retreat.
Wei Guangde was also considered a member of the censors, at least before he resigned from the post of censor of the Censorate.
It was just that he was now in charge of the Prince Yu's Mansion, so he didn't have to consider the accusations of Emperor Jiajing against the Kedao, but he had a deep understanding of the feelings of his colleagues.
About half an hour later, Yin Shizhan finished his lecture, and Prince Yu was reluctantly invited into the house by Wei Guangde to discuss the matter.
At first, Prince Yu didn't feel anything about impeaching Wu Peng. Now that Prince Jing had left, the pressure on him was not so strong.
However, Yin Shizhan was very interested. After repeated calculations, he felt that he could really give it a try, at least there was no harm.
Prince Yu thought about his inner court affairs, sat listlessly for a while, and said: "Since there is no problem, then do it. Shandai and Shuda will go to the residence of Lord Xu for this matter."