Chapter 701 Reserved Program
The reason why the issue of the Minister of Personnel has attracted so much attention is not only because the position of the Minister of Personnel is too important.
It is also because next year, that is, the 21st year of Wanli, is the year of the imperial examination. After the New Year, the officials in the capital will start to "pass the test", and the imperial examination is jointly presided over by the Minister of Personnel and the Left Censor-in-Chief.
The imperial examination is held every six years. The situation of the last imperial examination in the 15th year of Wanli told everyone that the imperial examination has become a tool for party struggles.
The struggle at that time spread from the capital to Suzhou. The chief minister almost resigned, and then the governor of Suzhou and the governor of Jiangnan died one after another, and a second-rank imperial envoy was abolished. This shows how fierce the imperial examination was.
As a result, at the end of this year, when there were still two months before the imperial examination, the old and sick Wang Tianguan was bedridden. How could it not attract everyone's attention?
Zhao Nanxing, who had a bad career in recent years and was demoted from the Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department to the Director of the Ministry of Rites's Guest Department, did not want to come forward to do things.
But the organization asked him to lobby the Korean envoys, and he had to go.
Because only he could legitimately contact the Korean envoys without attracting any attention.
In fact, Zhao Nanxing could understand the organization's difficulties. In the past five years, the Qingliu forces seemed to have been suppressed and weakened.
In the peak period of the past few years, the Qingliu forces occupied nearly half of the seven ministers of the Ministry, monopolized most of the positions in the Ministry of Personnel's Wenxuan Division and the Ministry of Examination, controlled the discourse power of the Ministry of Rites, and had thirty or forty censors in the Ministry of Rites.
Now, the Qingliu forces may not have one-third of the peak period, which is the reason for being bled for many years.
And this time, the fight for the Minister of Personnel is an opportunity to counterattack!
As long as the Minister of Personnel can be taken down, coupled with the existing strength of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the absolute initiative can be taken in the next year's Beijing inspection, and the Qingliu forces can grow again through party unity and fighting against dissidents!
The most important thing is that Lin happened to be away from the capital during this period, which is a strategic opportunity period that cannot be missed.
For this goal, you can do whatever it takes, and some people may have to sacrifice for this.
When Zhao Nanxing approached Yin Zhuoran, the envoy of the Kingdom of Korea, he was prepared to be betrayed by Yin Zhuoran. After all, this was a very risky job.
But a person in an awkward situation in the Ministry of Rites, the sacrifice was sacrificed.
If Yin Zhuoran was willing to cooperate, it would be possible to launch a wave of public opinion offensive to deal with the battle for the Minister of Personnel, so the risk was worth taking.
When Zhao Nanxing left, Yin Zhuoran put away his greed for money and fell into deep thought.
He really didn't expect that an envoy who was just making a living would be involved in the internal struggle of the Celestial Empire?
But when it comes to party struggles, Yin Zhuoran is also a veteran. In Korea, he is one of the eight generals of the Northern Party.
After thinking twice, Yin Zhuoran sent his confidant to secretly visit Shen Yan of the Ministry of Rites.
After two missions to the Ming Dynasty, Yin Zhuoran was very clear that among the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Shen Yan was Lin Tailai's absolute confidant.
The confidant asked, "What should I say when I see Lord Shen?"
Yin Zhuoran instructed, "Just say that as a minister of the Joseon Dynasty, I have to submit a memorial for the burning of Taizu's palace to preserve my loyalty, but the cry can be loud or soft."
After receiving the message from Yin Zhengshi, Shen Yan thought about it for a while and guessed some inside information. Is it someone who wants Yin Zhengshi to make a fuss?
But Shen Yan did not give a reply immediately. He also had to report to the society. It happened that there was a society meeting tonight.
The meeting was chaired by Zhou Yingqiu, the editor of the Hanlin Academy. This has become a customary scene.
Although the pillars of the Lin Party are the triangle of the Prime Minister, the Heavenly Official, and the Grand Sima, when Lin Tailai is not there, Zhou Yingqiu is the person responsible for the intermediary liaison.
After all, the Prime Minister, the Heavenly Official, and the Grand Sima are too conspicuous. Many times, it is inconvenient to act, and they don't even need to attend internal meetings.
Lin Tailai did not deliberately designate Zhou Yingqiu as the chief contact person and internal meeting host, but it was a situation that naturally formed in the long-term struggle and practice.
First, Zhou Yingqiu is thick-skinned enough; second, Zhou Yingqiu has the most ideas and the strongest adaptability; third, Zhou Yingqiu is the most fanatical about Lin Tailai, and is implicitly recognized as the "first lackey".
In terms of these three characteristics, no one else in the society can compare with Zhou Yingqiu at present,
so when Lin Tailai is not in the capital, the responsibility of the chief contact person and internal meeting host gradually fell on Zhou Yingqiu.
Originally, the person in charge of these was Wang Xiangmeng, a real relative of Lin Tailai, a good wife's nephew, and a core official of the Ministry of Personnel, but unknowingly and imperceptibly, it became Zhou Yingqiu.
Even Wang Xiangmeng himself felt that Zhou Yingqiu was indeed more suitable.
It is impossible for others not to accept that he can replace the "upper-level relationship households" with his talent and strength.
The venue for tonight's meeting was held at Wang Xiangmeng's residence. After all, the Wang family had a larger space, and this place was the residence of the Minister of Revenue.
The fire basin had been lit in the hall, and the core members of the Renewal Society were chatting in groups of three or two, only Zhou Yingqiu closed his eyes and stayed alone.
Only in front of the Nine Yuan True Immortal would Zhou Yingqiu show the greatest enthusiasm, even to the point that his own people thought it was excessive.
But Zhou Yingqiu and other people in the society maintained a slight sense of alienation, and others were used to this.
"It's getting late, let's start, and talk about things." Zhou Yingqiu suddenly opened his eyes and said.
The hall was temporarily quiet, and Shen Yan spoke first, relaying the message from the North Korean envoy Yin Zheng today.
Zhou Yingqiu said without hesitation: "Let him make trouble, no matter how loud he is, the bigger the better."
Shen Jue asked in confusion: "Why is this? What's the secret inside?"
Zhou Yingqiu replied: "There are some secrets in this. I have already reported it to Zhao Shoufu. It is not convenient to announce it in the club for the time being."
So Shen Jue stopped talking. The club had rules and didn't ask questions that shouldn't be asked.
Then Wang Xiangmeng said: "Finally, the doctor of the Wenxuan Department has been squeezed out. Next, I will strive to be promoted to the doctor."
Zhou Yingqiu said: "Senior Wang must win."
Wang Xiangmeng said: "Do your best."
Zhou Yingqiu added: "It's not about trying your best, it's about being determined. If it were placed in normal times, the competition for the doctor of the literary selection department would have been fierce.
But now all the energy of the enemy is on the official minister, and all the resources they can use in the official department must be used to fight for the official official.
Therefore, there is much less pressure to compete for the position of doctor in the selection department. This is also a good opportunity for you, Senior Wang. It would be a pity if you fail to win. "
In this way, everyone said a few more things, and the recent affairs that needed to be informed to the society were discussed.
Finally, Zhou Yingqiu spoke: "Jiu Yuan Gong once said that whenever he was away from the capital, the Qingliu forces would always have a small rebound, and then wait for him to return to the capital to clean up the situation.
Although this is a joke, it is also a criticism of us, and we must keep this criticism in mind.
Now that Duke Jiuyuan is not in the capital, but he has encountered a major incident in the capital, we must hold our position resolutely and suppress our enemy firmly! "
Someone reminded: "Let alone the capital inspection, the most important thing at the moment is the selection of the Minister of Staff!"
Zhou Yingqiu responded: "This is actually the same thing, different stages of the same battle!
According to internal reports, the plan of the Qingliu Party this time is to make an exception for Sun Piyang, the censor of the Zuodu, to be moved to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and to promote Sun Quan, the left minister of the Ministry of Hubu, to the censor of the Zuodu, in order to achieve the goal of controlling the Tianguan and the General Constitution at the same time. layout! "
Someone immediately cursed, "It's these two old guys who lived in Jiajing for 35 years again!"
In the current imperial court, except for Tianguan Wang Shizhen, who has been bedridden for a long time, these two people have the earliest and oldest titles.
It seems that no matter what official position it is, these two people can jump out and compete for it, and their priority is not low. They can at least disgust Party Lin.
Zhou Yingqiu continued: "The internal forces also revealed the strategy of the Qingliu forces! This time they may try their best to avoid court push and strive to ask the emperor to directly appoint internal surrender!"
The rest of the people were speechless. What kind of insider was this? Do you know such secrets? It sounds like he has a high status among the Qingliu forces.
However, this spy currently only has a single line of contact with Zhou Yingqiu. No matter how curious others are, they have no way of knowing, and they cannot ask due to confidentiality rules.
Also, are the Qingliu Party members so cowardly now? Do you even want to avoid Tingtui?
Although the Minister of Civil Affairs is as special as the cabinet scholar, he can be recommended by the court or appointed by the emperor. It mainly depends on the emperor's ideas.
But are the Qingliu Party members so afraid of Tingtui now? Could it be that he was hurt by several key court referrals in recent years?
Someone else took the initiative to ask: "Then what should we do?"
Zhou Yingqiu replied: "Let us first recommend Wang Hongjie, the Minister of Civil Affairs in Nanjing!"
Everyone is very unfamiliar with this name, and they feel very confused.
Although it is a normal operation to select a minister from Nanjing, this Wang Hongjie is not one of his own, so why should he suddenly recommend such a person?
Zhou Yingqiu emphasized: "I have communicated with the chief minister and other senior figures regarding this matter, and it is not convenient to disclose more at the moment.
Please believe that the final victory this time must be ours, and we must reassure Lin Jiuyuan who is away at war! "
Then one day later, Yin Zhuoran, the envoy of the Joseon Dynasty, wrote a memorial for the burning of the Hamhung palace and asked the emperor to make the decision.
On the same day, Ambassador Yin Zheng cried again outside the right gate of Chang'an, which moved all the officials.
Then it seemed like the prelude to a new round of struggle. Some officials impeached Lin Tailai for disregarding other people's ancestral temples, and launched a vigorous popularization of etiquette science in the court.
If someone impeaches Lin Tailai, there must be someone who defends Lin Tailai, claiming that war is dangerous and dangerous, and that it is normal for war to occur, and it is not appropriate to criticize him harshly.
At the same time, some people said that Wang Shizhen, the official minister, was ill, and asked Wang Tianguan to resign and the court to replace the official official minister.
These scenes can't help but make many court officials sigh. For some reason, the court has been very lively at the end of the year in recent years, and it seems that year-end brawls have become a repertoire.
Although it is not as exciting as the replacement of three cabinet ministers at the same time last year, the fight over a minister is still a little interesting, not to mention that this is the outpost of the Beijing Chaos next year.
Regarding these memorials, Emperor Wanli could not come up with any specific opinions, so he remained silent for the time being and continued to wait and see.
In fact, Emperor Wanli's attitude was often relatively mild as long as his ministers were not quarreling with the country or criticizing the emperor.
Later, many ministers regarded this kind of stay in China as "encouragement", which triggered a new round of separation.
In this round of Shang Shuli, they not only talked about Wang Tianguan's own problems, but also began to give advice on the candidates for the next Minister of Staff.
At this time, there was another prominent voice in the court, which was to request the emperor Qian Gang to make an exception and move Sun Piyang, the censor of Zuodu, to be the official of the Ministry of Personnel.
It must be said that this request actually made Emperor Wanli very excited, and successfully attracted the emperor's attention.
Whenever possible, the emperor would of course prefer to appoint ministers by internal decree to demonstrate the absolute authority of the monarch.
It is just that due to various restrictions in the political environment, this idea is often difficult to implement.
For example, after the imperial selection, there will often be strong opposition from the ministers outside the court. Although it can be suppressed by force with the monarchy, the process will be too annoying and make the emperor feel that it is not worth it.
In other words, there is no minister now that is worthy of the emperor's support at all costs.
Therefore, if you want to truly achieve the realm of "Qian Gang Duzhi", it is very challenging for the emperor's political skills. Emperor Jiajing has this ability, but it is also a centralized power that has been slowly realized through more than ten years of great rituals.
The Wanli Emperor obviously does not have this level of political skills, nor does he have the patience to lay out for more than ten years.
All of the Wanli Emperor's talents in patience are probably on "sulking".
Although the Wanli Emperor admired his grandfather Jiajing very much, the difference between him and his grandfather may be that Emperor Jiajing could persist in maintaining an idea for ten or twenty years of operation and finally achieve the effect he wanted.
The Wanli Emperor would only sulk for ten or twenty years in a row, and would intermittently convulse after being incompetent and furious.
In Lin Tailai's eyes, he is a person who is both inexperienced and playful, and he often cannot afford to play.
In history, Emperor Wanli only made trouble for the foundation of the country at the beginning, and then took the opportunity to be angry and did not attend the court, which was considered to be too much to play.
After making trouble for more than ten years and being forced to establish his eldest son, the ministers thought that the emperor would be quiet, but he began to be even worse than expected.
He could keep the appointment of officials for more than ten consecutive years, and more than half of the official positions in the court were often vacant. There was only one person in the cabinet at any time, which made the court almost paralyzed.
In fact, this caused great damage to the system and seriously shook the prestige and operating mechanism of the Ming Dynasty court.
Perhaps Emperor Wanli could be whitewashed in many aspects, but he really could not be whitewashed in terms of destroying the system.
It can be said that the "sacredness" of the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by Jiajing and Wanli in different ways.
Having said that, Emperor Wanli was not very interested in the "dog-eat-dog" in the foreign court this time, but when there was a voice requesting "Qian Gang's arbitrary decision", it aroused Emperor Wanli's strong interest.
I even thought too much - is this a good sign? Is this a political hint that some ministers are thinking of "joining" me?
Can I use this as an opportunity to get the ministers used to the emperor's arbitrary decisions?
If the ministers are used to the emperor's arbitrary decisions, then when it comes to the country's foundation in the future, can I, the emperor, make the decision with one word?
When thinking of this, Emperor Wanli decided to intervene in the dispute over the Minister of Personnel with a more positive attitude.