Chapter 877 966 The Position of Minister of Personnel

"Master, I heard that Lord Yang has an incurable disease. I'm afraid there's no hope. He's still staying in the court now, just trying to hold on."

Yang Bo is going to die. This thought came to Wei Guangde's mind. He was distracted and didn't pay attention to Zhang Ji's words.

Because the first thing he thought of at this time was who should take over the Ministry of Personnel after Yang Bo was gone.

The position of the Minister of Personnel is crucial in the court, because the Ministry of Personnel can directly appoint and dismiss officials below the fifth rank. For newly-appointed Jinshi, it is very important to assign the Ministry of Personnel to which government office, because it is related to their future.

In the past few years, the Ministry of Personnel has been controlled by Yang Bo and Gao Gong in turn, providing considerable convenience for the promotion of their respective disciples.

Wei Guangde was not good at competing for such a position before, but now that he is already a second assistant, he naturally has to consider the people around him, especially in recent years, it has been difficult for Jinshi from Jiangxi to enter the government.

He can ask the Ministry of Personnel to take care of one or two students, but he can't take care of them all, and most of them will definitely not get help.

But if he could take the position of Minister of Personnel and specialize in the deployment of officials, he would naturally have time to make arrangements and arrange the official positions of his own people calmly, which would also be conducive to their promotion.

Wei Guangde had few candidates to compete for this position. It seemed that there was no Jiangxi person who was qualified in the court except Zhu Heng.

As for Tan Lun, forget it. He had no other department to transfer except the Ministry of War.

"Master."

Seeing Wei Guangde thinking deeply, Zhang Ji called out in a low voice.

"Oh."

With Zhang Ji's call, Wei Guangde came back to his senses and asked, "Is the news true?"

"It should not be wrong. I privately found someone from the Imperial Hospital who treated Lord Yang. Although he did not say it clearly, he did not correct it."

Zhang Ji said in a low voice.

"Hiss"

Not correcting actually means tacit consent.

For imperial doctors, the patient's condition should be kept confidential, especially the condition of some powerful people, which should be kept secret.

They won't say it, but if they make random guesses, they will generally correct it.

Such probing is also the unspoken rule of the industry. They will keep the patient's secret, but if others guess it, it has nothing to do with them.

Through changes in facial expressions, they can guide the guess in the right direction.

But because it is just a guess after all, and they don't tell it, it is naturally not a leak. Although there is a sense of covering one's ears and stealing the bell, most imperial doctors do this openly and secretly.

After all, who can't get along with money.

Yang Bo is old after all, and there is no chance to return to the court again, so he offended.

"You go and investigate Hu Zigao, keep this matter confidential, and don't mention it again."

Wei Guangde just gave an order, and then waved his hand to send Zhang Ji out.

Let Zhu Heng compete for this position?

An idea came to Wei Guangde's mind, but then he thought that if he took the position of Minister of Personnel, the Ministry of Works would not be able to be saved.

Zhu Heng was concerned about his juniors. When the Zhaoling Mausoleum was built, he had appointed Jiang Zhi, the Right Vice Minister, to be in charge of the project. Now he has been transferred to Nanjing to serve as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

It has only been a short time since he left, and he is about to bring him back to the capital to take over as the Minister of Works. It seems a bit ugly, and it is inevitable that he will be criticized by the Censorate and the Six Departments.

Moreover, it is unknown whether Zhang Juzheng knows the news. Who will they recommend to be the Minister of Personnel?

Could it be Zhang Siwei?

Thinking of Zhang Siwei, Wei Guangde couldn't help shaking his head. Zhang Siwei's qualifications were not enough after all.

In fact, it was very important to have the emperor's favor to be promoted in the Ming Dynasty. Without the emperor's favor, you can only wait slowly according to seniority.

Whether it was Zhang Juzheng or Wei Guangde, they were able to rush into the cabinet so quickly because they had the trust and support of the emperor, and then they outlasted a large number of people with higher qualifications, and finally it was their turn to rule the Ming Dynasty.

If Xu Jie hadn't fought against Gao Gong, and Gao Gong hadn't gotten rid of Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizun and others, Wei Guangde's qualifications would really not have made him a deputy assistant.

Moreover, because the power of the Minister of Personnel was too great, even if he had a relationship with Zhang Juzheng in the palace, it was unlikely that the cabinet would discuss the candidate for such a position. It was very likely that the cabinet would need to discuss it, or even the court would discuss it to determine the candidate.

After all, Yang Bo had the qualifications to take over Gao Gong's position. When Yang Bo retired due to illness last time, he had already served as the Minister of Personnel, and there was little opposition in the court for him to take over.

Although the six departments of the Imperial Censor had impeached Yang Bo for nepotism and favoring Shanxi people in the Beijing inspection, most of the court officials still believed that Yang Bo was fair because there was no major difference overall.

After dinner in the mansion, Wei Guangde read in the study. Thinking that his wife and children were already on the way and should arrive in Beijing in more than a month, Wei Guangde's mood could not help but improve a lot.

After Zhang Ji sent the information about Hu Zigao, Wei Guangde just read it once and couldn't help but feel a headache.

This Hu Zigao is really a character. How could he be so lucky? He worked in all the lucrative government offices.

From the perspective of the later period, Ambassador Cang must have been lucky, but he was transferred to the Salt Administration later, and he must have used the connections and money he accumulated when he was Ambassador Cang to open up the relationship.

After all, Ambassador Cang's rank is there. After passing the exam and getting promoted, it is impossible for him to continue to hold this position, so he made plans in advance.

From this point of view, this person is a person who is good at scheming. No wonder he would join Feng Bao at this time and use Feng Bao's relationship to help him transfer positions.

Wei Guangde didn't care about the money involved, but he was still a little hesitant to promote such a person if he satisfied Feng Bao's request.

"Check up what Hu Zigao did when he was the ambassador to Cang, and what the salt factory said about him when he was the judge of the Salt Transportation Department."

But based on the materials at hand, Wei Guangde couldn't tell how capable this person was, and he couldn't be sure about corruption.

If he is greedy, Wei Guangde will not be willing to recommend him. After all, he will bear the responsibility of recommending him when the time comes.

"In addition, you can send a message to Zhu Shangshu, and I will have a chat with him tomorrow night."

Wei Guangde plans to discuss the matter with Zhu Heng in person tomorrow night to see if he has such intention. If so, how the Ministry of Works should arrange it should be planned in advance.

On the evening of the second day, Wei Guangde went back to his house and changed into casual clothes, and then took a sedan chair to Zhu Heng's house.

In order to entertain Wei Guangde, Zhu Heng set up a banquet. After a while of changing glasses, he mentioned the reason for his visit.

"Brother Shi Nan, does he know Yang Weiyue's physical condition?"

Wei Guangde spoke bluntly.

"Only an appointment?"

Hearing Wei Guangde ask about Yang Bo's health at the beginning, Zhu Heng hesitated and said, "Did he have another attack?"

Yang Bo had accumulated some old problems in the border town in the past, which were all caused by the harsh climate in the border town.

After all, those who can be governors are already very young.

You have to go to the forts frequently to inspect and sleep in the open air, which will cause you to have some problems.

These are all things I learned from Tan Lun.

It can only be said that the governor of the border towns of the Ming Dynasty was not easy to do. If the border fort was damaged, the governor should bear the first responsibility.

"The news I heard is that I'm afraid I won't be able to make the appointment because I've been out of office due to health reasons before."

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde glanced at Zhu Heng.

In fact, they all knew that at that time, Yang Bo requested to be retired because of his serious illness. His health was one reason, and the main reason was to avoid Gao Gong's revenge.

It wasn't until Gao Gong stopped moving towards Xu Jie that Yang Bo came out of the mountain again and returned to the court.

"really?"

Hearing that Yang Bo might really want to become an official this time, Zhu Heng suddenly became interested, and he also vaguely guessed the purpose of Wei Guangde's visit to the government.

"The news should not be wrong. He is still insisting on covering up the news. He should be preparing for the future."

Wei Guangde whispered.

Zhu Heng nodded. The Shanxi gang behind Yang Bo is now quite powerful in the court, especially Zhang Siwei, who has become the leader of Shanxi officials.

"No wonder I recently heard that Zhang Siwei often invites people from his hometown and the same year. I think he is also paving the way for this."

Zhu Heng sighed.

Regarding Yang Bo, people in the court had mixed feelings about him, but the overall evaluation was pretty good. Especially when Yan Song was in power, Yang Bo and Xu Jie secretly helped many people and formed many good relationships.

However, what was a good fate for Xu Jie and Yang Bo was a bad fate for Wei Guangde and Zhu Heng.

Some people in the DPRK more or less reject Jiangxi officials, which is mostly due to this.

In fact, speaking of it, there is no official in any province who does not care for his fellow countrymen. However, in those years, there were too many officials in Jiangxi who held high positions, especially Yan Shifan, who was too high-profile and became the target of public criticism.

"Brother Shi Nan, you must have guessed the purpose of my visit."

Wei Guangde put down the wine glass in his hand, looked at Zhu Heng and asked, "I just want to know if Brother Shinan is interested in taking charge of the Ministry of Personnel.

If not, this matter will naturally be discussed separately. If there is, then we need to plan carefully. "

Zhu Heng did not answer directly. He first picked up the wine pot and filled it up for Wei Guangde and himself. He took this time to think about it and then said: "Shandai, if we can win the official department, what will happen to you, me, and us?" Surrounding yourself with people is naturally helpful.

But there are still ministers from the Manchu Dynasty on the side of the chief minister, so I'm afraid it may not be what you and I want. "

"It all depends on people. As long as Brother Shinan wants to fight for it, then we have to work harder."

Wei Guangde said: "I have made some calculations. Yang Bo will probably choose Zhang Siwei to take over as the official department, and Uncle Shu will definitely ask him again and again.

But based on what I know about him, Uncle Uncle probably won't agree easily, even if Yang Bo makes more guarantees, he probably won't.

Yang Bo is here, and he can cooperate with Xu Jie for Xu Jie's sake. If Yang Bo goes, although Shuda will not break up with the Shanxi Gang, he should not let them control the staff again. "

Wei Guangde analyzed.

"So, the result may be that I, Zhang Siwei, and the person chosen by Zhang Juzheng compete for this position?"

Zhu Heng asked.

"That's about right."

Wei Guangde said.

"What about the court?"

Zhu Heng asked.

"Chatang? Haha. Who do you think they will elect to be the Minister of Civil Affairs?"

Wei Guangde smiled and said, in his opinion, the officials in the court are the most attuned to the situation. As long as they see that both the first and second assistants have recommended people, most of them will know how to make a choice.

After all, no one wants to offend a cabinet minister.

As for Lu Tiaoyang, he had just been promoted from the Ministry of Rites. It seems that he was in the same situation as Wei Guangde at the time. There was no suitable candidate for him. Naturally, it was impossible for him to participate in the competition for such an important official position as Shangshu so quickly.

"Among the Nine Qings, there is still one person suitable for this position."

Unexpectedly, Zhu Heng said.

"who?"

Wei Guangde said suspiciously.

"Ge Shouli."

Zhu Heng gave the answer very directly, "Whether he first served as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, or later the Ministry of Punishments, and finally took charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, his cautious and fair behavior has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Isn’t it necessary for a minister of the Ministry of Personnel to be just like this? "

"this"

After Wei Guangde hesitated for a while, he had to admit Zhu Heng's statement.

But soon, Wei Guangde shook his head and said: "Unless he gets the support of Zhang Juzheng, even if Lu Tiaoyang supports him, he will not be able to take charge of the Ministry of Personnel.

In the Ministry of Household Affairs, I think it has been shown that he is not good at managing the Ministry of Finance, but because of his personality, he is more suitable for controlling the Metropolitan Procuratorate. "

"You know, it doesn't mean that all the ministers know it, or they will think so."

Zhu Heng disagreed with Wei Guangde's words.

Cabinet ministers do have great power, but the basis of their rights, which Wei Guangde seems to have not realized yet, is the courtiers' belief in him.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, why he is called the head of officials is because the courtiers support him.

If the courtiers do not support him, even if he sits in the position of chief minister, there will still be problems with the government's orders, because no one will implement the orders issued by the cabinet.

Wei Guangde was obviously a little distracted after returning to the cabinet as the second assistant, and he couldn't see the source of the cabinet ministers' power.

The emperor can give you this official position, but to implement your rights, you need broad support in the court.

Zhu Heng has been a minister for many years and has served as chief minister for so many times, so he naturally understands.

And if Wei Guangde had not joined the cabinet and was still in the Sixth Department, he might also be able to understand.

But now that we are in the middle of the game, it is inevitable that we cannot see it in the dark.

"Shaloan, the decree comes from the cabinet, but what if the six ministries ignore it, just like the attitude of the Ministry of Personnel towards Chen Gong's order."

What Zhu Heng was talking about was that when Gao Gong was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he publicly told his subordinates not to pay attention to Chen Yiqin's note.

After all, the cabinet has no power to suppress the six ministries in name. The orders they issue require the support and cooperation of the six ministries before they can be called government orders. Otherwise, they are just a blank piece of paper.

"Um?"

Wei Guangde was surprised when he heard Zhu Heng's words.

Perhaps because he has never encountered such a situation since taking office, he was not prepared.

But after Zhu Heng's reminder, Wei Guangde also remembered what happened back then.

Yes, cabinet ministers cannot control the six ministers, which is why cabinet ministers have to participate in the competition for the official positions of the six ministers.

Only when one of your own is in power can you ensure the smooth flow of government orders and the implementation of the rights in your hands.

"As long as the chief minister did not choose Zhang Siwei and me at that time, and instead supported the person recommended by the court, he could easily gain the trust and support of all the officials in the court."

Zhu Heng reminded again.

"That makes sense."

All day today, Wei Guangde secretly rejoiced that he had discovered that Yang Bo was seriously ill in advance, but he did not consider Zhang Juzheng's attitude.

It would be fine if Zhang Juzheng had someone to recommend him, but if he couldn't find one, he would probably choose someone who supported the court proposal.

"Shaloan, we can give it a try with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. I've also made some preparations here, but in my opinion, there's not much hope."

Zhu Heng said again.

"It seems that it is easier for Ge Shouli to win the support of the court officials, but my uncle may not agree. But if you are in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, he may not approve it. Let me think about it again."

Wei Guangde said. (End of chapter)