Chapter 462 461 Promotion

For these old officials of Prince Yu's residence, even if they want to be promoted, they must have merits, otherwise even if it is an unspoken rule, they will be criticized by their colleagues.

Even if they actually accept your promotion by the new emperor, it is not legitimate, and they don't know how it will be arranged behind the scenes.

But if you have the merit of copying books, even if it is a small merit, as long as the emperor recognizes it, it can be infinitely magnified into a great merit.

Don't forget that the official positions in the court are one by one. If you want to be promoted, you must first have someone to vacate the position, and whether he is promoted or retired, someone will always leave the court.

Just when they were discussing that the emperor might order someone to copy the "Yongle Encyclopedia", Xu Jie stood with his hands down in Yuxi Palace, waiting for Emperor Jiajing to consult.

On the throne above, Emperor Jiajing read the memorial in his hand and then put it on the imperial desk.

"You drafted the memorial of the Ministry of War, what do you think?"

Emperor Jiajing asked indifferently.

"Your Majesty, this time the Ministry of War wants to rotate the senior generals in the nine border towns. I think it is feasible."

Emperor Jiajing did not question the people involved. After all, the Ministry of War must know more about these generals than he and the cabinet ministers.

"The Ministry of War has this plan. It should have discussed it with the cabinet beforehand."

Emperor Jiajing asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xu Jie was not surprised that the emperor summoned him to ask about this matter. Although Yan Song was the chief minister, Yan Song's current health was indeed unable to perform the post of chief minister.

If Emperor Jiajing summoned Yan Song to ask, Yan Song's slow answer would probably give Emperor Jiajing a heart attack.

"The Ministry of War sorted out the intelligence collected from Altan Khan's army and concluded that Altan Khan's army might adjust the border violation habits formed in recent years. In the past, the invasion of our Ming Dynasty was mostly concentrated in Xuanda and Liaodong, located in the east of the nine borders. At present, Altan Khan's army has shown signs of moving westward, so some generals have been gradually transferred westward."

Emperor Jiajing sat on the throne in silence, just listening to Xu Jie's answer quietly.

The memorial of the Ministry of War has a detailed dialectical analysis of this, and it is not the result of an imaginary thought, and then there is a plan to replace generals on a large scale.

If Yang Bo is asked, it is naturally the idea of ​​the Ministry of War, and Emperor Jiajing wants the cabinet ministers to answer, naturally wanting to know how the court views this major replacement of generals.

Xu Jie's answer did not exceed the content of the memorial of the Ministry of War, which made Emperor Jiajing not very satisfied.

In other words, the Ministry of War has already convinced the cabinet members in the previous communication, which makes it difficult for him to understand the court officials' views on this matter through this conversation.

In this case, it is meaningless to continue such a meaningless conversation.

"Well, I know."

Emperor Jiajing said casually.

According to convention, when the emperor finished his inquiry, Xu Jie should leave, but when he was leaving, Emperor Jiajing stopped him again.

"A year ago, I asked you, who can be the chief editor of "Da Dian", do you have any candidates to recommend?"

Emperor Jiajing kept Xu Jie and talked about the previous matter again.

Xu Jie was very clear about the emperor's inquiry. The previous hint was clear enough, so he didn't know it.

"Your Majesty asked me that day, and I have seriously thought about who is suitable for the chief editor. After careful consideration, I think Gao Gong, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Qu Jingchun, the left envoy of the left spring office of the Zhanshi Mansion and the attendant reader, are both suitable people."

Xu Jie had already prepared a draft for this. When Emperor Jiajing asked this, he naturally talked about his candidates.

"Gao Gong, Qu Jingchun."

Emperor Jiajing just read out the names of these two people and did not make much statement.

"Recently, the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate submitted a performance report. Yin Shizhan, the lecturer of Prince Yu's Palace, has been in Prince Yu's Palace for six years and was rated as superior. I wonder if there are any vacancies in the court?"

This is Emperor Jiajing's promotion of Yin Shizhan.

Xu Jie thought about it quickly in his mind. There are not many ways for the lecturer of Prince Yu's Palace to be promoted. The positions of the assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel are full, and they have just been promoted by the emperor's decree. There will be no vacancies in the short term.

The rest are in the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Mansion.

"Your Majesty, the Hanlin Academy is full of scholars, and only the position of the Right Shuzi of the Right Spring Office of the Zhanshi Mansion is vacant. Yin Shizhan can take this position."

Xu Jie thought about it and felt that the position of Shuzi was feasible.

Yin Shizhan was previously a Xima in the Sijing Bureau, a fifth-rank official. If he was promoted to the Right Shuzi, he would be promoted half a level and become a fifth-rank official.

This time, Emperor Jiajing nodded slightly, which was considered to be a clear attitude towards his opinion.

"Who will take over the post of Xima of the Sijing Bureau?"

Emperor Jiajing continued to ask.

In fact, most of the official positions in the court were arranged in such conversations between the emperor and the cabinet ministers. Of course, this was limited to those who Emperor Jiajing was interested in.

Under normal circumstances, he would not pay attention to the official positions below the fifth rank, and most of them were arranged by the Ministry of Personnel.

However, this time he was making some advance preparations for Prince Yu and promoting him to the lecturer of Prince Yu's mansion, so he specifically asked Xu Jie to discuss.

He naturally had his considerations for asking Xu Jie instead of Yan Song.

However, at this time, Xu Jie was shocked in his heart, as he had guessed Emperor Jiajing's plan.

Xima of the Sijing Bureau, a fifth-rank official position, he Xu Jie never took it seriously.

Asking him this question, in fact, Emperor Jiajing's attitude was very clear, who is the person in Prince Yu's mansion who is suitable for promotion now?

Chen Yiqin was already a fifth-rank official, but he was still in mourning, so he was naturally excluded. The remaining ones were Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde and Tang Ruji.

As for Tang Ruji, Xu Jie would naturally not speak for him.

Zhang Juzheng was his own student. Although recommending him would be considered nepotism, it would also be considered as recommending the virtuous without avoiding nepotism. This might be the fundamental reason why Emperor Jiajing asked him.

But could he recommend his own student?

Of course not.

He had already made arrangements for Zhang Juzheng. What was there to fight for a horse-washing position? The position he arranged for Zhang Juzheng was the Imperial Academy's Jijiu, a fourth-rank position.

The main reason why he had not taken action yet was that he had not negotiated the conditions with Yan Song and others, and the timing was not ripe.

In the past, Xu Jie was not very anxious to get this done, but after Emperor Jiajing wanted to re-record the Yongle Encyclopedia, things became urgent.

If Zhang Juzheng were to take up the position of horse-washing now, it would be a bit of an obstacle for him to operate the position of Imperial Academy's Jijiu.

Since Zhang Juzheng was not suitable, Xu Jie would naturally recommend someone else. The only person left in Prince Yu's Mansion was Wei Guangde.

After thinking for a while, Xu Jie replied: "I recommend the lecturer of Prince Yu's Mansion. Wei Guangde was allowed to serve as the Xima of the Sijing Bureau in the Zhanshi Mansion."

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he clearly saw a hint of confusion in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, although it was only for a short moment.

Of course, Emperor Jiajing did not know Xu Jie's plan. The official position he arranged for Zhang Juzheng was much higher than the normal promotion. Once successful, Zhang Juzheng would surpass all the officials of Prince Yu's Mansion except Gao Gong.

"Wei Guangde? But Zhang Juzheng in Prince Yu's Mansion seems to be very suitable, not to mention that Zhang Juzheng was a Jinshi in the 26th year, while Wei Guangde was only a Jinshi in the 35th year."

Emperor Jiajing said.

The meaning is very clear. The time difference between the two men in terms of qualifications and becoming Jinshi is very large. It is not appropriate for them to serve as officials of the same rank. Therefore, Emperor Jiajing wanted to promote Zhang Juzheng by half a level to make him surpass Wei Guangde. Unexpectedly, in Xu Jie's case, Wei Guangde surpassed Zhang Juzheng by half a level.

"Your Majesty, Wei Guangde had read classics in the Hanlin Academy Library, the Imperial Academy and other libraries in order to teach Prince Yu. And as far as I know, Wei Guangde has an excellent memory and can remember all the books he has read. Such a person is more suitable for the post of Xima in the Sijing Bureau."

Xu Jie also has his own reasons, otherwise he would lose points in front of Emperor Jiajing if he didn't have an explanation.

The Sijing Bureau, which is in charge of classics and attendants, is simply the government office that prepares books for the prince. However, the Jiajing Dynasty no longer has a prince, so it naturally becomes idle.

Xu Jie's reasons seem to be very powerful, and Emperor Jiajing can see from them that Xu Jie really does not intend to promote Zhang Juzheng to this position.

"I'll think about it again."

Emperor Jiajing said calmly.

Although Emperor Jiajing said so, Xu Jie knew that the matter might have been decided if Emperor Jiajing did not make a dictatorial decision and insisted on appointing Zhang Juzheng to this position.

If Emperor Jiajing insisted, as a minister, no matter what he did, he would be powerless, but he did not believe that Emperor Jiajing would be so bored as to interfere with a fifth-rank official position.

Emperor Jiajing was not in a hurry to arrange this discussion with Xu Jie, because two days later, the latest battle report from Fujian was sent to the capital, which once again caused a stir in the court and the public.

"The bandits invaded Huai'an County, Fujian. The Admiral and the Chief Censor You Zhende issued an order to command the camp. Wang Bo led the three guards in Fuzhou Prefecture, and the judge Peng Dengying led the local soldiers to suppress them. Dengying's soldiers first experienced the defeat of the bandits and blamed Bo. Zhende arrested Bo and flogged him, and beheaded the captain and four others. The three guards were dissatisfied and complained. When the deputy envoy Wang Daokun came to the training ground for review, Cao killed several local soldiers and asked to kill Dengying but failed. They camped in the south of the city for a long time before dispersing."

"The Japanese pirates in Tongan, Fujian attacked at night and broke the Yongning Guard City. They forced the commanders Wang Guorui and Zhong Xun, and the thousand households Cai Chaoyang to surrender and leave."

The rebel Zhang Lian attacked Huai'an County and defeated the official army. He also caused internal divisions and mutual oppression. This really puzzled the officials in the capital.

Surrounded by foreign enemies, they actually fought among themselves. Don't they know that everyone will be punished if they lose the war?

As for the Japanese pirates' night raid on Yongning City, forcing the commander and the thousand households to surrender, the court officials were greatly disappointed. In such an environment, when will Fujian be able to restore order?

Seeing such a battle report, Emperor Jiajing has made up his mind that he must make a major change in the Fujian officialdom, otherwise it is unknown when the situation can be saved.

At the same time, he also had an opinion on Hu Zongxian, who was in charge of Zhejiang.

Hu Zongxian had long been ordered to lead the army to wipe out the rebels, but Hu Zongxian had been using the excuse that the Japanese pirates were not peaceful and refused to send the army into Fujian.

The court officials were naturally not fools, and they had begun to spread rumors that Hu Zongxian was raising the pirates for his own benefit.

Such rumors seemed to be hidden, but how could they escape the surveillance of the factory guards? Naturally, they also flowed into the Western Garden and appeared on the desk of Emperor Jiajing.

Within two days, the Censorate submitted an impeachment memorial to Li Tinglong, the inspector of Fujian. "In the middle of October last year, the pirates broke into Ningde County. The lieutenant general Wang Mengqi and the county magistrate Li Yaoqing fought against them from the city. They all died. The governor Liu Tao and the commander Zhang Quan and ten others were guilty of negligence."

"It is not easy for the governor of Fujian Liu Tao to stay in office. Let him go to Nanjing to wait for the assignment. The cabinet will report the candidate as soon as possible with the Ministry of Personnel."

In the Yuxi Palace in the Western Garden, Emperor Jiajing loudly instructed the three cabinet ministers.

After receiving the memorial sent by the Censorate today, Emperor Jiajing ordered people to call the three cabinet ministers. His purpose was naturally to take down the governor of Fujian Liu Tao.

Since Zhang Lian's uprising, Liu Tao's series of actions in Fujian have greatly disappointed the emperor, and he no longer wants to give him another chance.

Yan Song wanted to protect Liu Tao again. After all, Hu Zongxian wrote in a previous letter that he hoped Liu Tao would not be dismissed.

This is not to say that Liu Tao has any dealings with the Yan Mansion, but that he simply does not want to interfere with the Fujian invasion. It is better for Liu Tao to solve the mess by himself, but in the current situation, it is obvious that Emperor Jiajing no longer intends to endure it.

Yan Song chose to remain silent, while Xu Jie and Yuan Wei naturally had nothing to say, and all three of them bowed to accept the order.

"Has the Ministry of War discussed when Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian will send troops to suppress the rebels?"

Last year, Yang Bo Shang Shu wanted to use troops to attack Zhang Lian's lair. After so many days, Emperor Jiajing was now very concerned about how the preparations for the troops were going.

This kind of mobilization of the army naturally requires the assistance of the cabinet, the Ministry of Revenue, etc., so since the three ministers of the cabinet are here today, it is just right to ask about this matter.

Yan Song spoke at this time and said: "Zhang Nian, the minister of the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, reported before that the traitor Zhang Lian is very rampant. According to the order of the Ministry of War, he has mobilized 100,000 wolf soldiers to suppress the thieves, but the men and horses have not yet arrived.

Jiangxi's army has gathered in southern Jiangxi, and they can only wait for the arrival of two large armies to send troops to suppress the bandits. "

"Where is Zhejiang? I asked Hu Zongxian to send troops south. Did you follow the order and Tan Lun hasn't joined the army yet?"

Emperor Jiajing continued to ask.

"Your Majesty, it is already one month, and the Japanese pirates will arrive in two months. At this time, if we send the army south to Fujian, Zhejiang."

"That's enough, that's enough."

Yan Song was rudely interrupted by Emperor Jiajing before he finished speaking.

"I understand."

After that, Emperor Jiajing just said a few words, then glanced at Xu Jie and Yuan Wei behind Yan Song, then waved to Huang Jin on the side and ordered: "Xuan."

"According to the order."

Huang Jin, who was beside him, bowed and replied, then took out the holy edict that he had prepared and read: "I was promoted to the Bureau of Economics and Washed Horses, and Yin Shizhen, the imperial minister, was the right concubine of Youchunfang, and I was promoted to Zhanshifu, Zuochunfang and Zuozhongyun. , Wei Guangde, a scholar in the Imperial Academy, washed horses for the Bureau of Economics and was in charge of government affairs."

The decree was issued very suddenly, and the cabinet acted very quickly. In the afternoon, the angel carrying the decree had already arrived at Prince Yu's Mansion.

Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde took over the decree. Although they were happy in their hearts, their eyes were unconsciously looking at Zhang Juzheng on the side.

In the past, such news would come from his mouth in advance, but this time there was no sign before, which is really strange.

However, King Yu was still very happy. He sent someone to reward the angel and ordered Li Fang to send him out. Then he took Yin Shizhen with one hand and Wei Guangde with the other hand back to the house.

"Double happiness is coming today. The palace is hosting a banquet to celebrate."

After Li Fang came back, King Yu asked Li Fang to go down and arrange a banquet.

"Uncle, what's going on?"

However, Wei Guangde knew that something was wrong. There was still someone in Prince Yu's palace who should be promoted, but something bad happened to him.