Chapter 760 859 Beijing Inspection

In the Ming Dynasty, although the government offices were to be opened at the beginning of the first few days of the first lunar month, the officials' minds were still immersed in the atmosphere of the festival.

This leisurely atmosphere would continue until the 20th day of the first lunar month, which was ten days after the Lantern Festival, because there were three days off on the first lunar month, while there were seven to ten days off on the Lantern Festival.

The specific number of days off was determined by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, perhaps determined by some kind of Yin-Yang magic, and finally reported to the emperor for approval.

There was only a difference of ten days between the first lunar month and the Lantern Festival, so officials naturally would not be able to concentrate and deal with state affairs seriously.

Of course, important government offices like the Ministry of War would be exceptions, after all, military affairs were not trivial.

Moreover, each government office would also arrange personnel duties during this period, and others would just go to the government office to report for duty, and then move freely.

However, this was only the case for most government offices. In addition to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate were also very busy during this period, because they were also busy with the Beijing Inspection.

Before the establishment of the Beijing Inspection System in the Ming Dynasty, the assessment of Beijing officials was mainly in the form of full examinations.

However, the examination system focuses on the achievements of officials in the position, and the examination is conducted every three years. Officials who have passed the examination three times, that is, nine years, will be promoted or demoted.

Because the examination cycle is too long, officials who are greedy and undisciplined cannot be dismissed in time. Officials need to be examined regularly or irregularly in the meantime to ensure the purity of the bureaucracy, and the Beijing inspection system was gradually established.

The Beijing inspection is an inspection of the morality and ability of all Beijing officials, distinguishing the virtuous from the unvirtuous, punishing and dismissing unlawful officials, and rectifying the officialdom.

Any new thing has a process of continuous improvement, and the Beijing inspection system pioneered in the Ming Dynasty is also the same.

In September of the sixth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, issued an edict to examine Beijing officials every thirty months, and each examination could be promoted by one level. This is the prototype of the Beijing official examination system.

In December of the ninth year of Hongwu, it was stipulated that an examination should be conducted every year, and nine years would be the end.

In October of the 14th year of Hongwu, the assessment method and assessment cycle of Beijing officials were regulated. Beijing officials below the fifth rank were evaluated by their yamen officials.

The assessment results were either competent, average, or incompetent. The cycle was three years, and the promotion and demotion were determined every nine years.

The promotion and demotion of officials above the fourth rank were decided directly by the emperor.

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was stipulated that "the promotion and demotion of Beijing officials will be carried out when the assessment is completed." During the Hongwu period, Beijing officials were evaluated in the form of full assessment. At that time, there was no ten-year or six-year Beijing inspection.

After a period of no regular inspection of Beijing officials, it was not until the eighth year of Tianshun that an imperial decree was issued to inspect Beijing officials every ten years.

According to the Ming Dynasty Code, "In the eighth year of Tianshun, it was approved that the examination should be held every ten years, regardless of whether the officials are in office, receiving salary, mourning, official business, recuperating, or attending sacrifices, and all officials in the same government office should be examined."

The examination system stipulates that officials in Beijing should be examined and demoted every nine years, but the examination in Beijing is held every ten years. During the examination, many officials in Beijing may have been transferred to other positions, so the examination of officials in Beijing every ten years is imperfect.

So in February of the ninth year of Hongzhi, Huang Bao, a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel, took the lead in proposing that officials in Beijing should be examined every six or nine years.

Emperor Hongzhi did not pay much attention to this, and naturally did not issue an order for this.

In July of the fourteenth year of Hongzhi, the Ministry of Personnel reviewed the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel Minister Lin Han and others, and reiterated that the examination cycle in Beijing was too long, and local officials should go to Beijing once every three years for the pilgrimage and examination.

Military officials inside and outside the capital should also be examined every five years, and only officials below the fifth rank in the two capitals were examined once every ten years, which was too long.

Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty also agreed with this, but still did not issue an order to change the Beijing inspection system.

It was not until May of the 17th year of Hongzhi that Xu Tianci, a member of the Ministry of Personnel, reported the disaster and again requested that Beijing officials be inspected every six years.

It can also be seen from this that the use of disasters to request adjustments to national policies had actually begun in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and it also became an opportunity to change national policies.

Perhaps under pressure from the repeated proposals of the ministers in the court, in June of the 17th year of Hongzhi, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty finally issued an order: "Order the Ministry of Personnel in the two capitals to conduct public inspections together with the Censorate and the officials of each government office, and from now on, once every six years, as an order."

Since then, the six-year inspection system has been fully established, but due to special circumstances, the six-year inspection is sometimes not strictly observed.

Whether it is because of the succession of a new emperor, or because of natural disasters, or because the people in power need to exclude dissidents, the Beijing inspection will be held temporarily, and such inspections are also called leap inspections.

Leap inspections began in the Zhengde and Jiajing periods, and became a deep pit for powerful officials to trap loyal people.

The holding of the imperial examination was carried out by the cooperation of various government offices in the court and the public. "The Ministry and the Court presided over it from above, and the Ministry of Personnel, Henan Province, and the Ministry of Examination assisted from below." The Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate were responsible for the presiding work of the imperial examination.

The Ministry of Examination was the department of the Ministry of Personnel directly responsible for the imperial examination, and was mainly responsible for the specific work of the imperial examination. The Ministry of Personnel was mainly responsible for a series of preparatory work before the imperial examination and the work of picking up the missing items after the imperial examination. The final result of the inspection of officials was "subject to the emperor's decision", and the emperor decided whether the inspected officials should stay or leave.

The inspection of officials in Nanjing "should be jointly inspected by the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate in Nanjing, and the examination of officials in Nanjing was not handled by the Ministry and Court in Beijing, but was fully responsible by the Ministry and Court in Nanjing.

The imperial examination was presided over by the Minister of Personnel, and the duty of the Vice Minister of Personnel was to "mainly support the prime minister" and assist the Minister of Personnel. His functions ran through all aspects of the preparation, implementation and conclusion of the imperial examination.

Unfortunately, the person in charge of the imperial examination initiated this year, or the intercalary examination, was Gao Gong, the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace and the Minister of Personnel who had just returned to the court.

After Yang Bo retired, Emperor Longqing did not ask the cabinet to recommend a new Minister of Personnel, but directly ordered Gao Gong to take charge of the ministry in his decree.

This is also the reason why Gao Gong was not in a hurry to retaliate against some people after returning to the court. He had plenty of opportunities to slowly fabricate some people.

The preparation stage of the imperial examination began with the pre-inspection suggestions of the officials of the Ministry of Personnel, and then the officials of the Ministry of Personnel reviewed the contents of the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and requested to start the preparation work for the imperial examination.

The filling of the evaluation and the interview form was an important task in the preparation stage of the imperial examination and the main basis for the court trial.

The officials of the Ministry of Personnel ordered the officials of the department to prepare the list of officials to be inspected, and secretly asked the officials of the Ministry of Personnel to consult with them. According to the results of the consultation, the interview form was filled out and reported back to the officials.

In addition, the evaluation or evaluation filled out by the officials of each yamen for their subordinates, as well as the self-report of the self-reporting official, were collected by the officials of the Ministry of Personnel after being notified.

And these collected documents will be sealed in the Ministry of Personnel Examination Department, waiting for the emperor to decide the time for the imperial examination.

After the start of the imperial examination, the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs jointly held a meeting to discuss the initial results of the officials being examined, so that the officials of the Ministry and the Ministry of Justice could understand the basic situation of the officials before the trial.

In addition, more than 20 days before the official start of the imperial examination, the officials of the Examination and Reward Office had to stay in the Ministry to handle matters related to the imperial examination. The general time was "after the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Examination and Reward Office stayed in the Ministry".

Finally, on the day of the trial, the Langzhong of the Examination and Reward Office was responsible for "rolling the names" and other related matters, and the Yuanwailang was responsible for submitting the manuscripts. "The Langzhong was responsible for the investigation, and the Yuanwailang was responsible for submitting the manuscripts".

After the official's evaluation results came out and were written, the imperial examination was not over yet, even if the emperor had already approved it, because there was still a final review by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Therefore, after the end of the imperial examination, the Examination and Reward Office still had to stay in the Ministry to handle the examination petitions of officials with objections, which was the matter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.

The Censorate was the highest supervisory agency in the Ming Dynasty. Its duties were to impeach all officials and supervise all roads. Its own supervisory function must be involved in the imperial examination work with the Ministry of Personnel. "The Ministry and the Ministry are one, and they should assist in the planning and management, and they should not be neglected".

The Censorate was divided into thirteen regions, and of course not all of them participated in the Beijing inspection. According to the division of functions, the censors of Henan Province were generally responsible for assisting the Beijing inspection and impeaching the Beijing inspection officials.

It seemed that Gao Gong, the Minister of Personnel, had great power at this time and could influence the results of the Beijing inspection of Beijing officials. In fact, the Ming Dynasty did a good job in the checks and balances between officials.

The officials of the Censorate mainly played the role of leading their subordinates throughout the Beijing inspection, but they had to directly participate in the court trial presided over by the Minister of Personnel, or in other words, the Censor-in-Chief also had a decisive power in the evaluation of Beijing officials.

Therefore, if Gao Gong wanted to strike and retaliate against a group of officials through the Beijing inspection, then the first thing he had to face was Wang Ting, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

This was also the main reason why Wei Guangde was not worried about Ouyang Yijing and others being retaliated by Gao Gong at the beginning. With Wang Ting there, their people should be able to get away with it.

The Beijing inspection in the fourth year of Longqing was also the last thing Wang Ting had to deal with. After that, he would ask for retirement and resign and return to his hometown in Sichuan to retire.

At this time, Wei Guangde was also discussing the candidate for the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate with Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhan.

This position is too important. It can be said that if this position cannot be controlled by their people, no one can check and balance Gao Gong, and the officials below may be moved at any time.

"After the imperial examination, Gao Xinzheng should understand the importance of the position of the Left Censor-in-Chief. The person recommended by Brother Yifu is afraid that it will be difficult to get the emperor's approval."

Wei Guangde sighed.

"Dazhou is strong, loyal and heroic, and his arguments are generous. He has the style of Kong Wenju and Su Zizhan."

Chen Yiqin, of course, picked the good ones, so he spoke.

Hearing Chen Yiqin say that Zhao Zhenji has the character of Kong Wenju, Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of a joke he saw on the Internet in later generations, which is said to be the view of American children on "giving up pears".

That is unfair.

First of all, it is strange that Kong Rong's father asked Kong Rong, who was four years old, to share the pears. Secondly, why should they be divided into everyone to eat? If they don't want to eat, they don't eat. If they want to eat, they can take it themselves. Isn't it okay?

In the end, all the brothers had to get pears according to Kong Rong's preferences. Their chance to choose was deprived, and the brother who got the biggest pear might just not like to eat pears.

What surprised Wei Guangde even more at that time was that Kong Rong applied inconsistent and absolutely opposite standards to his elder brother and younger brother, because the pears he gave to his elder brother and younger brother were bigger than his own, and he was questioned for not having principles.

Therefore, people suspected that he didn't like to eat pears, so he picked the smallest one for himself.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but smile, but it was very strange in Chen Yiqin's eyes, and he didn't know what he said was wrong.

What he said just now was not his comment on Zhao Zhenji, but was given by others, and was also believed by most people.

"Shan Dai, is there anything wrong with what I said?"

Chen Yiqin asked strangely.

"No, no."

Wei Guangde waved his hands hurriedly. He couldn't say what he thought just now. The story of "Kong Rong giving away pears" is a good story for thousands of years, promoting a spirit of humility and sharing.

"To be honest, I think the person who is most likely to succeed Brother Zizheng after he returns home is Liu Tigan."

Wei Guangde immediately corrected the topic and brought the somewhat distorted topic back to the right track. Today they were discussing the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

The Liu Tigan he was talking about here was not the current Minister of Revenue Liu Tigan, but the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Nanjing Censorate Liu Ziqiang, who was from the same hometown as Gao Gong in Henan.

And "Tigan" was Liu Ziqiang's courtesy name.

Wang Ting's decision to leave was no longer a secret in the court, so after Chen Yiqin introduced Zhao Zhenji as his successor, Gao Gong also introduced Liu Ziqiang, hoping to transfer him to Beijing to serve as the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Of course, Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen would definitely not be mistaken about what Wei Guangde said, and they naturally knew who he was talking about.

Regardless of whether it is Zhao Zhenji or Liu Ziqiang, whoever sits in that position represents who the emperor Longqing's heart favors more.

Chen Yiqin actually knew in his heart that his status in the emperor's mind was definitely not as good as Gao Gong's, but he was unwilling to give up.

"Shandai, Zhengfu, is there anyone else you can recommend? Or has Uncle Shu proposed any other candidates?"

After Chen Yiqin was silent for a moment, he suddenly said.

"It may not be a good thing to muddy the waters at this time."

Wei Guangde frowned, and then said, "We can't recommend it, we should choose to support Meng Jing, but Uncle can ask if there are any candidates.

After all, His Majesty may not consider a candidate proposed by Shuda to take over the post of Zuo Du Yushi. "

After such a long time, Wei Guangde actually understood a little bit that what Emperor Longqing wanted was a court with a relatively balanced strength.

Since balance is required, whether it is Gao Gong or them, it is definitely not the best choice for one family to dominate.

Li Chunfang is old and has no drive. In other words, he is a veteran who is prudent and not prone to making mistakes. He is basically excluded, but he can stabilize the cabinet.

The other family, Xu Jie's successor Zhang Juzheng, is currently the weakest. It is difficult to balance whether it is the right to speak or actual power in the court.

Proper support should be what Emperor Longqing wants to do.

In Wei Guangde's opinion, the current cabinet has some flavor of the Three Kingdoms.

Gao Gong had the most say because of the emperor's status, so he was naturally "Wei", and his group and Zhang Juzheng were naturally "Wu" and "Shu".

A single family cannot compete with Gao Gong, but if they join forces, they may be able to compete.

It is difficult to get Zhang Juzheng to support them, just as difficult as getting Zhang Juzheng to support Gao Gong.

But if it is someone recommended by Zhang Juzheng, the emperor may consider it for the sake of balance. They can unite with him by supporting the person recommended by Zhang Juzheng and fight against Gao Gong together.

Wei Guangde expressed his thoughts, and both Yin Shizhen and Chen Yiqin also felt that it made sense. The key was that they could use this to test out Emperor Longqing's true thoughts.

Previously, Wei Guangde suspected that the emperor wanted to balance the court, so he chose to recall Gao Gong, but the two still had doubts.

If the emperor chooses Zhang Juzheng instead of Gao Gong this time, the emperor's idea will basically be confirmed.

"Uncle never mentioned it to me."

Yin Shizhen frowned and said.

"Don't look at me. I did ask, but my uncle said there was no candidate."

Wei Guangde also said immediately.

"Shandai, please ask again when you have time. I have recommended candidates, so it's really hard to ask."

Chen Yiqin said.