…
In the Yangxin Hall, under the imperial steps, all the pavilion elders and the six ministers gathered together. 【Read full text】
In recent times, although there have been frequent party disputes in the court, it has generally been peaceful and uneventful. It has not been a long time since all the important officials of the court gathered in the Yangxin Hall like today.
Therefore, no one dared to neglect this gathering in the Yangxin Hall.
When entering the Yangxin Hall, all the ministers from Zhou Shangjing on down looked solemn.
On the contrary, Emperor Deqing on the imperial steps looked relaxed and casual at this time.
After all the ministers saluted Emperor Deqing and greeted him, Emperor Deqing put his hands aside without any fuss, then raised his head and said: "My dear friends, I have finally arrived. I have been waiting for you for a long time. This is not the place." Hall of Supreme Harmony, there is no need to be more polite... I am summoning you this time, what is the purpose of my summons? My dear friends have always won my heart, you can guess some of it even if you think about it, right?"
Just as Zhao Junchen pretended to be confused in front of Zhou Shangjing before, when hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, all the ministers were also pretending to be confused.
Although they did guess some of Emperor Deqing's thoughts and each had their own wishful thinking, they would not show it in front of Emperor Deqing.
After all, it would not be a good thing for the emperors if their ministers could guess the emperor's thoughts, and Emperor Deqing especially would not like it.
Therefore, after all the ministers looked at each other for a few times, the chief minister Zhou Shangjing came out on behalf of everyone and replied: "Your Majesty, is it about the imperial examination and the southern tour?"
Emperor Deqing smiled and nodded, as if that was all he had on his mind, and praised: "It is for the imperial examination and the southern tour that Zhou Shoufu really knows my heart... Earlier today, I took a look at the almanac and found that It’s almost March. I’m thinking that March in spring is when the beauty of the south of the Yangtze River is at its peak, and the weather is suitable. It’s also a good time for me to inspect the south, so the next palace examination must be held as early as possible. Wait until the palace examination It’s over. Then I can go on my southern tour with peace of mind. Mr. Lin, regarding the palace examination, how are the preparations made by the Ministry of Rites?"
Lin Wei came out and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, although it has only been a few days since the end of the imperial examination, everyone in the Ministry of Rites also knows that your majesty's southern tour is coming and time is tight, so they do not dare to delay the various matters related to the imperial examination. Everything is ready, as long as His Majesty gives the order. The imperial examination can be held within ten days."
Emperor Deqing nodded with satisfaction and ordered: "In that case, the time for the palace examination should be set in ten days. When the palace examination is over, prepare for another five or six days. I will set off on a tour to the south. Lin Shangshu, The preparations before and after the southern tour also need to be properly arranged by the Rites Department. Your Rites Department should pay more attention these days to make sure nothing goes wrong."
Lin Wei quickly assured: "Your Majesty, please rest assured that the Ministry of Rites has already prepared, and the next step is just to follow the steps. There will never be any mistakes."
"The Ministry of Etiquette has always been able to do its work, I am very relieved." At this point, Emperor Deqing changed the topic and said: "Speaking of which, during my southern tour, although the prince will supervise the country, the center of the capital also needs important ministers to be in charge. And I have thought about it for some days and listened to many opinions from hundreds of officials, and I feel that it is most suitable for Huang Yourong and Huang Ge to stay in the capital to assist the government. What do you dear ladies think?"
Regarding Emperor Deqing's decision. The ministers had already been mentally prepared and were not surprised. In addition, Shen Changmao had now formed an alliance with Huang Yourong and would no longer compete with Huang Yourong. Therefore, after hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, all the ministers Is to express approval.
After receiving the consent of all the ministers, Emperor Deqing nodded and announced: "Since all the beloved ministers have no objections, the matter is settled. Mr. Huangge, please discuss it with the ministers next." , make a list of who among the hundreds of officials in the court will accompany him south, and who will stay in Beijing to manage the affairs. This matter must be decided as soon as possible. After the list is determined, it will be submitted to my imperial review."
At this time, Huang Yourong had regained his former smiling tiger image, with a gentle smile on his face, but extremely cold eyes.
After hearing Emperor Deqing's decree, Huang Yourong did not show any pride. He just walked out of the queue quickly and thanked him: "I accept the decree! Your Majesty trusts me. I dare not live up to your holy hope. I will assist His Highness the Crown Prince with all my heart." I will never let your Majesty have any worries during your southern tour, and I hope your Majesty will feel at ease!"
Emperor Deqing nodded and smiled: "The prince is young and inexperienced. He really needs your help. During my southern tour, you should take the opportunity to teach him well. You are an old minister, and I can trust you." "
After hearing what Emperor Deqing said, Huang Yourong naturally promised not to mention it.
However, after Huang Yourong returned to the queue, his eyes glanced at Zhao Junchen, intentionally or unintentionally.
There was deep malice in his eyes.
Obviously, while Huang Yourong is staying in Beijing to assist the government, his power will be unprecedentedly great, and he will definitely take the opportunity to create some trouble for Zhao Junchen.
Zhao Junchen was naturally aware of this, but he just smiled indifferently and didn't care.
Emperor Deqing seemed to be aware of these little moves between Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong, but he seemed not to be aware of them. He just changed the subject and said slowly: "However, whether it is the palace examination or the southern tour, everything will This is a major event that attracts the attention of the world. All of you, dear ministers, are important officials of the imperial court. I hope that you will put the overall situation first and work together to stabilize the situation in the DPRK and China. During this period, no chaos must occur, otherwise it will only be seen by the world. What a joke, when the time comes, both the court’s face and my face will not look good.”
As he spoke, Emperor Deqing looked around and paused for a moment on Huang Yourong and Zhao Junchen. The warning was obvious.
After hearing Emperor Deqing's warning, all the ministers agreed in unison. As for Huang Yourong and Zhao Junchen, their expressions were particularly solemn and serious.
However, although the promise was a promise, it was still difficult to predict what Huang Yourong and Zhao Junchen really thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, as Zhao Junchen analyzed to Zhou Shangjing before, the purpose of Emperor Deqing summoning the ministers this time was firstly to prepare for the imperial examination and the southern tour, and secondly to warn Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong.
But the most important thing is that the official positions of real power in the DPRK are currently vacant.
Now, the first two things have been agreed upon, but the most important thing has not yet been discussed.
so. All the ministers were also waiting attentively.
Sure enough, after Emperor Deqing hinted and warned Zhao Junchen and Huang Yourong, he suddenly turned his attention to Feng Po, the Minister of Punishment, and asked: "Feng Aiqing. How old are you now?"
After Feng Po was silent for a moment, he slowly came out of the queue and said, "Your Majesty, I am three years old this year."
Emperor Deqing said with emotion: "I didn't expect that you are already seventy-three. Seventy-year-olds are rare in life. I remember that when I first met you, you were still a sentencing inspector in Jiangsu Province. In the blink of an eye, you were already Twenty years have passed, and you have reached your seventies..."
As he spoke, Emperor Deqing looked at Feng Po with concern. Then he asked: "Speaking of which, you are now the oldest among all the people in the court. In recent years, you have been taking leave in the morning court. You have been absent for more than half of the time. I guess you are older, so your body is somewhat supported. Can’t you live any longer?”
Although Feng Po was old, he was not an old fool after all. After hearing these words of Emperor Deqing, he immediately understood the deep meaning of Emperor Deqing.
In fact, he had already been mentally prepared for this.
so. After hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Feng Po suddenly knelt down, bowed his head and said: "I am ashamed, I have occupied a high position in recent years, but I have been mediocre and inactive, depriving the emperor of his salary. But I have failed to be loyal to the emperor, I... I have since Please resign and return home."
Emperor Deqing sighed, as if he was very reluctant to leave, and said: "You are an old minister, and I have had a relationship with you for more than 20 years. I am reluctant to let you leave. However, with your current age and body, if I continue to use you, In other words, I am harming you. I really can't bear it... That's all. I will allow you to retire and return to your hometown. You will be rewarded in a few days. Just go back to your hometown and spend your old age in peace. I remember that you have several descendants here. As an official in the court, I will naturally take care of them in the future, so you don’t have to worry."
After receiving Emperor Deqing's order, Feng Po first saluted Emperor Deqing, then silently stood up, took off his official hat, held it in his arms, and then silently stepped aside.
Next, no matter what happened in Yangxin Hall, it had nothing to do with him.
…………
At this time, all the elders and ministers in the Hall of Yangxin saw that Emperor Deqing had dismissed Feng Po in a few words. In addition to the original few vacancies of real power in the court, there was now another criminal department. The vacancies of ministers are all full of eager eyes, ready to make a move.
The first one who couldn't help it was Mr. Cheng Yuandao.
As a confidant of Prince Zhu Heyu, Cheng Yuandao felt that he should help the prince to gain some benefits at this time, so Feng Po had just stepped back, and he couldn't wait to speak first.
"Your Majesty, now that Feng Shangshu has retired and returned to his hometown, and Yan Pengfei, the Minister of Punishment, was detained for interrogation, now only Li Lide, the right minister of the Punishment Department, is left among the three chief officials of the Ministry of Punishment. The lack of manpower will inevitably affect the affairs of the court, so I would like to ask Your Majesty to make another Select talents to supplement." After a pause, Cheng Yuandao continued: "I believe that Mr. Cao Rongcao, the Crown Prince's Shaobao, has mentored the Crown Prince, guarded his body and wings over the years, and has always been shrewd and capable. He is the best person to take over as the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. selection."
After hearing Cheng Yuandao's words, Emperor Deqing frowned slightly, and a trace of displeasure flashed across his expression.
Now that Feng Po has just retired from old age and returned to his hometown, he is still in the Yangxin Hall. Cheng Yuandao can't wait to jump out to fight for the benefits. He is a little too anxious. Although it is normal in the officialdom to "take the tea to cool down", some people on face There is still work to be done, but Cheng Yuandao is a little out of sorts now.
However, Emperor Deqing did intend to leave some of the real power vacancies to the prince, so although he was dissatisfied with Cheng Yuandao's eagerness, he still did not criticize him.
However, although Cheng Yuandao was the first to fight for it, except for a few of the officials in the prince's party, most of them had the same shortcoming - that is, these people did not lack knowledge, character, and There is no shortage of prestige, but there are always questions about his ability and experience.
Therefore, Cheng Yuandao's suggestion was quickly refuted.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment needs to be replaced by someone. However, Cao Rong, the Crown Prince's Shaobao proposed by Mr. Cheng Ge, is by no means a suitable candidate. Although Cao Shaobao is a great scholar in the world, before he served as the Crown Prince's Shaobao, At the highest level, he had only served as Minister of Taichang Temple. He was only in charge of rituals and sacrifices, and was not proficient in the investigation methods of the Ministry of Punishment. Now that the former Minister of Punishment, Feng Shangshu, has resigned and returned to his hometown, and the former minister Yan Pengfei has been detained pending trial, we need someone who is good at this. The old minister believes that the most suitable candidate now is Henan Inspector Lin Chengze, and I hope your Majesty will learn from it." Huang Yourong said as he stepped out.
Although Henan Inspector Lin Chengze was recommended by Huang Yourong, he was a disciple of another pavilion elder, Shen Changmao. Obviously this is part of the cooperation between Shen Changmao and Huang Yourong.
Sure enough, as Huang Yourong came out to speak, Shen Changmao also came out to express his agreement.
On the other side, Song Qiwen, the official secretary, came out and said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Bochong, the governor of Shandong Province, is about to serve as governor. This person has served as a local governor in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou. His political achievements during his tenure have been outstanding. Now The age is also suitable, and I think he is the best candidate to take over as the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. As for Lin Chengze, proposed by Mr. Huang Ge and Mr. Shen Ge, his term has not yet expired. Moreover, his performance evaluation over the years by the Ministry of Civil Affairs has not been very satisfactory. So outstanding, I think I still need to continue to practice locally, and I would like to ask Your Majesty to learn from it."
Many people say that Zhou Shangjing is powerful in the DPRK. Half of them come from the official department. Although it is a bit exaggerated, there is some truth in it.
The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for the assessment, promotion and transfer of officials all over the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the core yamen in the court. After Zhou Shangjing took control of the Ministry of Personnel, he was naturally unfavorable in competing with others.
Such as now. Song Qiwen just said "there are not many outstanding things in the performance evaluation over the years", which immediately reduced Lin Chengze's hope of taking over as the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Even with the full support of Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao, the two cabinet ministers, it could not be avoided.
Over the years, Emperor Deqing wanted to rectify the civil service more than once and free it from the influence of Zhou Shangjing. However, Zhou Shangjing's management of the Ministry of Personnel was more solid than Zhao Junchen's management of the Ministry of Household Affairs. If he were not a close disciple of Zhou Shangjing, he would not be able to secure his position as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. After several attempts. Because the personnel department was too important, Emperor Deqing could only give up temporarily in order to avoid turmoil in the country.
On the other side, following Song Qiwen's speech, Zhou Shangjing also came out, but he did not directly fight for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment for his disciple Zhang Bochong. Instead, he changed the subject and said: "Your Majesty, in addition to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, now the court has There are also a Minister of Justice, a Minister of Works, and a Deputy Inspector-General, a total of three vacancies. The veteran believes that suitable candidates should be found to replace these vacancies as soon as possible."
Zhou Shangjing's words are a reminder to the major factions in the DPRK that there are many vacant official positions of real power in the DPRK, and they do not have to focus only on competing for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice - this implies that they want to cooperate with other factions to carve up the positions. .
Of course, among the major factions in the DPRK, Zhou Shangjing has the most power, and naturally he will get the greatest benefits.
While the major factions in the DPRK were speaking one after another, Zuo Lanshan, Minister of Industry, kept winking at Zhao Junchen.
Zuo Lanshan didn't know that Zhao Junchen had reached an agreement with Zhou Shangjing, and thought that Zhao Junchen would try his best to fight for Li Lide's position as Minister of the Ministry of Justice, so he saw that the major factions were speaking one after another, but Zhao Junchen remained silent, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious. .
Zuo Lanshan didn't know that if Zhao Junchen was determined to win the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice for Li Lide, then he would not let Feng Po retire and return home.
In fact, Emperor Deqing probably did not want Li Lide to take over the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. After all, if this were the case, then together with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry, half of the six yamen in the court would be controlled by Zhao Junchen. At that time, Zhao Junchen's power development would also be out of the control of Emperor Deqing, which Emperor Deqing never wanted to see.
I am afraid that it was precisely with this in mind that Emperor Deqing allowed Feng Po to retire and return to his hometown.
However, due to various considerations, even if it is just pretending, Zhao Junchen should now come forward to fight for it.
Therefore, under Zuo Lanshan's constant hints, Zhao Junchen finally stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, I think that the Ministry of Punishment is now vacant, and an official who is familiar with the Ministry of Punishment should take over the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment. I recommend Li Lide, the Minister of Punishment. This person is very capable and has served in the Ministry of Justice for many years, so he is the most suitable candidate."
As Zhao Junchen came out to speak, Zuo Lanshan also quickly came out to express his agreement.
However, because of Li Lide's lack of qualifications, achievements, abilities, etc., although Zhao Junchen recommended him, he was quickly refuted by the major factions.
Of course, Zhao Junchen also found various reasons to refute the candidates proposed by several other cabinet elders and refused to give in - including Zhang Bochong proposed by Zhou Shangjing - although Zhao Junchen had reached an agreement with Zhou Shangjing, Zhao Junchen had already reached an agreement with Zhou Shangjing. Junchen did not want Emperor Deqing to notice this.
…………
In this way, after a long quarrel between several cabinet elders and the six ministers, under the final decision of Emperor Deqing, the real power in the court was vacant, and all the replacement candidates were finally settled.
In the end, with the full support of the chief minister Zhou Shangjing and the official minister Song Qiwen, the former Shandong chief envoy Zhang Boxhong became the new minister of punishment. This person did have very few black spots, so although other factions wanted to oppose it, they could not There weren't many reasons, and Zhou Shangjing's group also benefited the most from this.
And as Zhou Shangjing speculated, because Zhao Junchen failed to secure the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice for Li Lide, Emperor Deqing agreed to take over the position of Shandong Chief Envoy to Li Lide out of compensation considerations. In this way, under Zhao Junchen, he finally Having a feudal official will bring long-term benefits to Zhao Junchen.
Then, under the strong recommendation of Zhao Junchen, Qin Huaiyuan, the former Shaoqing of Dali Temple, became the new Right Minister of the Ministry of Punishment.
In addition, another vacancy for the left minister of the Ministry of Justice was taken by Shen Changmao's disciple Lin Chengze. There was also a vacancy for deputy inspector censor, which was taken by Cao Rong from the prince's party. As for the vacant position of Shaoqing of Dali Temple left by Qin Huaiyuan after he took over as Minister of Punishment, it was taken by Huang Yourong's disciple Shi Zexian.
Obviously, although the prince has not yet returned to Beijing, Emperor Deqing still reserved some benefits for the prince. With the alliance between Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao, the situation in the DPRK and China has become more balanced again. Emperor Deqing has no regard for these two elders. He also changed his attitude and started to support again.
It is worth mentioning that due to the preference of Emperor Deqing and the full efforts of Zhou Shangjing's group, the vacancy of the Minister of Industry was eventually taken by Ye Shanghong, a disciple of Zhou Shangjing and the former Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture.
Obviously, while Zhou Shangjing was cooperating with Zhao Junchen this time, he also took the opportunity to insert a nail into Zhao Junchen's territory, and he did not have any good intentions.
Emperor Deqing also supported this, and apparently planned to use this to cause unhappiness between Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing.
In this way, many vacant official positions in the court finally had candidates to replace them, and the major factions in the court also received more or less benefits.
…
After the dust settled, all the ministers were secretly calculating their own pros and cons, and at the signal of Emperor Deqing, they all resigned one after another.
Zhao Junchen was also calculating his own pros and cons and gains this time in his mind. Just as he was about to leave with the ministers, Emperor Deqing suddenly spoke: "Zhao Aiqing, please stay, I have something to say to you."
…
Well, the second update today, two chapters in one!
