Three of the four clean officials in the Ministry of War are Yu Qian's people.
Hong Chang was the doctor of the Military Selection Department, and was in charge of the selection, promotion, replacement, and merit and reward assessment of the military officers of the Guard. His status was similar to that of the Civil Service Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, making him the most powerful department in the Ministry of War. At the same time, the Military Selection Department It is also the most core method used by the Ministry of War to suppress the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies.
Secondly, there is the Zhongfang Si Langzhong, who is in charge of maps, military systems, city gods, town garrison, conciseness, and conquests. It seems to be just a department responsible for keeping maps, but in fact, the functions of the Zifang Si are, In a sense, it is no less than the Martial Arts Division.
The Military Selection Department is responsible for the promotion and transfer of military attachés, while the Military Affairs Department, in addition to keeping maps, its most important function is to manage the farms in various places. It can be said that it is the core department in the great policy of rectifying military camps.
Next up is Fang Gao, the doctor of the Arsenal Department. Compared with the first two, the Arsenal Department usually plays a smaller role, but its status is equally important, because the Arsenal Department is responsible for keeping weapons, talismans, and rulers. Ji, responsible for martial arts, salary, and other matters. In other words, as the core authority of the Ministry of War, the department responsible for the troop deployment power is the Arsenal Department.
The weapons logistics and the talisman used to mobilize the troops are suitable for the army's expedition, and the specific ones are handled by the Arsenal Department.
It can be said that these three officials of the Qing Dynasty have basically taken over all the important functions and powers of the Ministry of War. And these three people were promoted by Yu Qian in the first place. On the other hand, they are actually the fundamental reason why Yu Qian can truly control the Ministry of War. location.
Now that Yu Qian has left the Ministry of War alone, after the new Minister of War takes office, it is conceivable that life will not be easy for these people.
It is true that neither Yu Shiyue nor Yu Qian is a party member in the government, but not being a party does not mean that they do not have their own factions.
At least for now, most people in the court regard the three of Hong Chang as Yu Qian's direct descendants. Yu Qian just left, leaving them alone and allowing them to be embarrassed by the new minister. In the future, in the court, they will inevitably suffer People discuss.
To put it bluntly, these people were fighting for Yu Qian. No matter what, Yu Qian should take their situation into consideration...
Yu Shiyue's question made Yu Qian silent for a moment, but it was only for a moment before he shook his head and said.
"These days, when I was handing over affairs at the Ministry of War, I asked Hong Chang and others to work hard and cooperate with Wang Jiugao. These people are all capable and of good character. Wang Jiugao suddenly arrived at the Ministry of War and is familiar with the affairs of the Ministry. , it will always take a while, as long as Hong Chang and the others don't make any mistakes during this period, I think Wang Jiugao won't embarrass them too much."
"After all, the emperor let him go because he didn't want the normal operation of the Ministry of War to be affected. If he was really eager to eliminate dissidents, then he would be punished for causing trouble and delaying government affairs. But he himself, I don't think Wang Jiugao would be like this. Unwise."
As he spoke, Yu Qian's eyes moved and he said.
"I heard that the emperor's special decree allowed Sun Yuanzhen to join the cabinet?"
As soon as these words came out, Yu Shiyue suddenly had a smile on his face and said.
"Did you see it too?"
When Yu Shiyue heard the name Sun Yuanzhen, he thought it sounded familiar. Later, after returning home, he checked it out and found that Mr. Sun was indeed a minister who was familiar with military affairs as he expected.
When the Civil War just happened, people in the government and the public were panicked, and the local government was restless. Some people took this opportunity to start an army and rebel. At that time, it was Mr. Sun who was responsible for suppressing the rebellion. In the end, he not only successfully suppressed the rebellion and beheaded the thieves, but also In addition to recovering the gold and silver of the plundered people, what is commendable is that they did not use severe punishment, but mainly appeased the surrendered rebels and paid tribute to the court, thus saving thousands of lives.
More importantly, Sun Yuanzhen is not the kind of person who ignores the consequences just to earn a good reputation. He has a benevolent heart and is willing to appease these rebellious people, but at the same time, he also knows that these people are causing great instability in the local area. factor.
Therefore, after appeasing these people, on the one hand, he moved the most prestigious ones out of their original places, and on the other hand, he reported to the court to change the original local organizational system, and reanalyzed the counties with a large number of rebels. The establishment of officials and garrisons successfully quelled the local banditry, and because of his many measures, the people who were originally recruited did not cause trouble again.
It can be seen from just one point that Sun Yuanzhen has outstanding abilities, but his shortcomings are also obvious, that is, like Wang Ao before him, he has been in the local area for a long time. Although he served in the Ministry of Rites when he first became an official, That was more than ten years ago. Now that I have returned to the capital, I am afraid it will take some time to get familiar with the situation.
Because of this, Yu Shiyue was not familiar with him. However, after checking Sun Yuanzhen's resume and contacts, he discovered something very interesting.
That is, Master Sun is not only outstanding in military and civil affairs, but he also has a friendship with Yu Qian!
When Yu Qian was the governor of Shanxi, he recommended Sun Yuanzhen to succeed him. At that time, although Sun Yuanzhen was already highly qualified, he had no particularly outstanding political achievements.
Under this situation, based on Yu Shiyue's understanding of Qian, Yu Qian would not have rashly recommended Sun Yuanzhen if he did not really know Sun Yuanzhen's ability and character.
This time, Sun Yuanzhen was not on the list of recommended cabinet ministers, but suddenly appeared among the final candidates. From this point of view, there must be something worthy of the emperor's attention in him.
If it were just because he was familiar with military affairs, although Sun Yuanzhen did a good job, there were not a few ministers in the court who had the same political achievements as him.
Given the emperor's character, it was impossible for him to be temporarily incited by someone. Therefore, the emperor's preference for Sun Yuanzhen was most likely due to his friendship with Yu Qian.
From a common sense perspective, this is not normal, because since the emperor wants to suppress the Ministry of War and is afraid of Yu Qian, then why would he appoint someone who has friendship with Yu Qian to join the cabinet?
However, neither Yu Shiyue nor Yu Qian was obviously surprised by this. As for the reason...
"Although Wang Jiugao's plan is ingenious, how can you not see it with His Majesty's wisdom? Since you want to fight for power, you will always have to undergo some tests."
Looking at Yu Shiyue with a smile in his eyes, Yu Qian said calmly.
"exactly!"
The smile in Yu Shiyue's eyes grew stronger. Obviously, Yu Qian's words spoke to his heart.
It should be said that Yu Cifu's mood has not been good these days.
First, Yu Qian was imprisoned and fell into a crisis. He was always worried about this matter, thinking about how to rescue Yu Qian without angering the emperor. He worked hard and his nerves were always tense.
Later, although Yu Qian was released from prison, he wanted to avoid suspicion and refused to see anyone. It happened that at this time, Wang Ao and Zhang Min teamed up to plot against him.
Under this situation, even if Yu Shiyue is a fool, he will still have some anger. What's more, he is also the second minister of the court, the prince Zhan Shi, and he is still an important minister above the court.
Even though the court battles were fought by different means, it was impossible not to feel aggrieved by being used over and over again.
Now, seeing that Wang Ao, who was so proud of the spring breeze, was actually not so victorious, he was naturally happy.
To this day, Yu Shiyue dare not say that he can understand the emperor's heart, but he still has some understanding of the emperor.
What the emperor likes are loyal ministers, honest ministers, people who serve the country wholeheartedly and not for personal gain. This is very obvious from Yu Qian.
At the same time, the emperor hated party strife very much, but anyone who formed a party would not end well in the hands of the emperor.
These two points are not only known to everyone in the court, but most people are also aware of them. However, these two are only extreme situations.
In court, most of the time, people are not so pure.
Fighting for power and profit and fighting with each other are inevitable. Yu Shiyue knows very well that the emperor is not a person who simply thinks that the world will revolve around imperial power.
There are some things that even the Nine-Five Master cannot change, such as human nature...
Many ministers in the court have their own selfish motives and ambitions to make progress, and almost all of them have fought with power.
This is inevitable, and whether the emperor likes it or not, he cannot change it.
However, being unable to change does not mean that the emperor will be indifferent. Take Wang Ao's incident this time, as Yu Qian said, no matter how sophisticated his strategy is, from the emperor's perspective, many things are actually very clear and clear. very.
For example, his cooperation in the timing of the imperial prelude, and his deliberate actions to spread the news, essentially showed that he wanted to seek the position of Minister of War.
Of course, Yu Shiyue had to admit that Wang Ao's plan this time was mainly aimed at him. There was a high probability that Wang Ao had no intention of hiding his thoughts from the emperor.
Because Yu Shiyue knew the emperor's attitude toward power, it was impossible for Wang Ao, who was also in the cabinet, to be aware of it.
In fact, it can be summed up in one sentence: power can be used, but the result must be good!
If it is a fight with an upright heart and no selfish interests, then the emperor will give preferential treatment and encouragement. Even if you make any mistakes, the emperor will be behind it.
However, if there is selfishness mixed in, then although the emperor will not suppress it, he will not give preferential treatment. At most, it will be impartial.
Letting Sun Yuanzhen into the cabinet is a sign that Wang Ao has completed the leap from the chief minister of the cabinet to the minister of the Ministry of War through power and power. The emperor knew it and acquiesced.
However, since the emperor gave him what he wanted, he had to do the things that the emperor had assigned him. What the emperor wanted was to split up the Ministry of War, which was now under Yu Qian's absolute control, while ensuring stability. .
In other words, Wang Ao, the minister who flew over, must not only maintain stability, but also slowly eliminate Yu Qian's influence in the Ministry of War.
This is very difficult, especially when Yu Qian was transferred and after the conversation of the cabinet ministers was spread, everyone in the government and the public regarded Wang Ao as Yu Qian's political enemy.
Not to mention that it would be difficult for him to move forward when he arrived at the Ministry of War, but at least it would not be easy.
And Sun Yuanzhen was the back-up left behind by the emperor, or in other words, a reminder to Wang Ao.
Once Wang Ao is unable to successfully control the Ministry of War, or if something goes wrong in the process and affects the court situation, then Sun Yuanzhen will succeed him and become the new Minister of War.
In terms of ability and virtue alone, Sun Yuanzhen is not bad. What he lacks is his understanding of the situation in Beijing and his official rank. After all, before joining the cabinet, he only had the title of third-grade minister, and he was directly promoted to minister. It means super promotion.
However, these problems were actually not problems in front of the emperor. Think about why Yu Qian was so sharp in the court at that time, and think about why Wang Wen could still sit firmly in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, as long as he offended people every day. With the emperor's support, it is not difficult to support a person to rise to power.
It can be said that with Sun Yuanzhen around, Wang Ao's position was never secure. Or perhaps, in a sense, this was the emperor's response to Wang Ao's use of power to rise to power.
He used political tactics to get the position of minister, and the emperor also used political tactics to check and balance him. The main thing was that he could reap the benefits of sowing melons and beans.
At this thought, Yu Shiyue's original worries were put down.
"In this case, Wang Jiugao is the one who should have a headache. It's not me. Hong Chang and the others, although they are very obedient under your command, are actually not easy people to deal with..."
It is difficult to find a perfect person in the court. Even the people Yu Qian likes cannot be without flaws. For example, Yu Shiyue knows a few people like Hong Chang. Their abilities are indeed outstanding, but they also have their own shortcomings. .
Hong Chang is a bit arrogant and arrogant. If he doesn't have real ability, it will be difficult to convince him. Fang Gao has a withdrawn personality and is good at getting things done, but he has trouble communicating. Goshi is optimistic and cheerful, but he is just like a ball of cotton. He is an ordinary person. In front of him, there was absolutely nothing he could do.
Wang Ao occupies the position of Minister, so it is easy to embarrass them. However, it is very difficult to ask them to contribute a lot without directly transferring them.
Hearing Yu Shiyue's comments, Yu Qian didn't have any special reaction, he just said.
"Everyone in the court performs their duties. Hong Chang and the others will naturally do what they should do. However, if someone deliberately suppresses and belittles them, or even threatens to lower their tone, then even if Yu is not in the capital, But I won’t just sit back and ignore it.”
Yu Shiyue nodded, but was not surprised by these words.
It is one thing for the emperor to suppress the Ministry of War, but it is another thing for Wang Ao to take this opportunity to add insult to injury.
Yu Qian would cooperate with the emperor and take the initiative to withdraw, but this did not mean that he had no counterattack against Wang Ao's targeted move.
He retreated when it was time to retreat, but if Wang Ao himself was useless, then even the emperor would not be able to blame him.
Therefore, fighting in the court is far from being as simple as it seems on the surface. Even Yu Qian will never be soft when fighting is needed.
From this point of view, although Yu Qian will leave Beijing for inspection soon, the Ministry of War will not be so peaceful next...
