No matter how sad or unwilling he was, Zhang Siwei's motorcade finally disappeared on the southward post road of Yantai Mayi. His motorcade is expected to arrive at Gujie Horse Station in the southwest of the capital tonight, catch up with Gao Zai and his wife who set off a little earlier, and then return to Puzhou together to bury their father and weep, and Ding You will keep the order.
At least half of the officials in the capital appeared around the farewell pavilion, with solemn expressions as they sent off the chief minister - or rather the former chief minister - out of Beijing and back home.
Of course Gao Pragmatic stands in the most conspicuous position, and even continues to accept "consolation" from others. Obviously, this was not because his official position as Minister of War would be the highest among the Gonggun princes, but because the deceased was also his grandfather, but he could not leave his post.
In the eyes of people at this time, being unable to perform filial piety due to official duties is also worthy of pity. As for whether Gao Pragmatic is really sad, no one really pays attention to it.
If they are really concerned about Gao Pragmatic, it is because they are concerned about whether he can "turn grief into strength" and really make a flower out of Jingying, which has long been rotten to the core.
Today's situation was different from the past. Gao Pragmatic relied on his "filial piety" and did not exchange too many greetings with everyone. After seeing off his uncle, he left in silence.
No one would blame him for being rude, at least not today.
But the bad things that happened to the Ming Dynasty in July this year were obviously not over yet, because after the chief minister was appointed during the day, another cabinet minister actually died that night - Yu Youding died of illness.
Originally, the next day was the day of the imperial court, but Yu Youding died of illness, so the emperor had to issue a temporary edict to express his condolences and skip the imperial court as usual.
The next day, Emperor Chen Judai issued the latest edict to re-order the cabinet ministers. The original situation of seven cabinet ministers being in the cabinet at the same time changed again and returned to the status of five cabinet ministers.
The current composition of the cabinet is as follows: Shen Shixing, the first assistant, the bachelor of Zhongji Palace, Xu Guo, the second assistant, the bachelor of Jianji Palace, and three assistants: Pan Sheng, the bachelor of Wenhua Palace, and Zhang Xueyan, the bachelor of Wenyuange. , Wu Dui, a bachelor of Dongge University.
As for the Grand Scholar of Wuying Palace who was originally ranked after Wenhua Palace and before Wenyuan Pavilion, it is of course temporarily vacant - anyway, it is common for cabinet ministers to be vacant, so it is not surprising.
At this time, the positions of Qi Qing had also been changed. The so-called Qiqing refers to the six ministers plus the imperial censor of Zuodu.
If we talk about Jiuqing, the Ming Dynasty was divided into "Da Jiuqing" and "Xiao Jiuqing". Among them, the "Dajiuqing" refers to the above seven ministers plus the minister of Dali Temple and the general affairs envoy; the "Xiaojiuqing" refers to the ministers of Taichang Temple, Taipu Temple, Guanglu Temple, Zhan Shi, Hanlin Bachelor, Hong The Qing of Lu Temple, the Qing of Guozijian Jijiu, the Qing of Yuanmasi and the Qing of Shang Baosi.
The appointment status of the seven ministers who have now completed all the changes are as follows: Yang Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Shen Li, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Pan Sheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites (concurrently), Liang Menglong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Shu Hua, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, Yang Zhao, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Yu Zuodu Shi Zhaojin.
Among them, Yang Wei, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was originally a "non-party person" and could not be counted as a school of thought or a school of pragmatism. However, he had served in Xuanda, Shanxi and Shaanxi for a long time, and he had a close relationship with Zhang Siwei. But now that Zhang Siwei has left Ding You, Gao Pragmatic is not very sure whether Yang Wei's attitude and stance will change.
Shen Li, Minister of the Ministry of Finance, needs no further introduction. He is a disciple of Gao Gong. Because Xu Guo entered the cabinet first because he was older, his opportunity to join the cabinet has been delayed until now. However, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Finance has become more and more important after the reform of the Real School. Now that he is the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, theoretically speaking, he is getting closer to the position of the elder.
Pan Sheng, the Minister of Rites, does not need to be introduced. This old man was born in the twelfth year of Zhengde (1517). He is only six years younger than Guo Pu. He is already sixty-seven years old this year (virtual age). He is generally in good health, but a little Deafness. But this is not a big deal. Judging from the current situation, he may be able to continue working for another three years and then retire with honor.
His real problem is similar to that of Yang Wei. He has no party or faction. When the Practical School was strong, he basically listened to the words of the chief assistant of the Practical School. Now that the chief assistant of the Practical School has unexpectedly left his post, will his attitude and stance change? This has become the area of greatest concern to Gao Pragmatic and others.
Liang Menglong, Minister of War, does not need to be introduced, so just skip it.
Shuhua, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was born in Jiangxi. He grew up with his father in Zhejiang and other places when he was young. He became a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing. During the reign of Longqing, he served as an official of the Criminal Division. In the "incident of the late emperor's edict", he undoubtedly took Xu Jie's position and opposed Gao Gong's release of Wang Jin and others.
This incident has been briefly introduced in this book and will not be repeated here. In short, the result was that Gao Gong was transferred from the capital, but he was not demoted. Instead, he was appointed to participate in politics in Shaanxi Province - and he was even promoted (historical fact). Later, when Guo Pu came to power, because Shu Hua performed well outside, he was transferred back to the capital and served as the Minister of Justice in the Ministry of Punishment. Because Shu Hua was very strict in enforcing the law, he even became the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. This was also a major manifestation of Guo Pu's meritocracy in power. As long as there was no conflict in major matters, he would not deliberately suppress him.
Of course, Gao Pragmatism, who is "excessive calculation", is not as kind as Guo Pu. He always remembers that Shu Hua is a person of the Xinxue lineage, but he is more upright and strict in law enforcement. Gao is not sure whether there will be conflicts between the two parties in the future, so mentally, he is always prepared.
Yang Zhao, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, was born in Shaanxi and was a Jinshi in the 35th year of Jiajing. This Duke once served as governor of Jiliao and Shangshu of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. He was not originally from the Practical School, but was more like a person without party affiliation, but later he became friendly with Zhang Siwei, and Zhang Siwei won him the position of Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing during Guo Pu's administration. Later, the minister of the Ministry of Industry was also called by Zhang Siwei, so... at least he can be regarded as half of the real school.
As for Zhao Jin, the censor of Zuodu, he was from Yuyao, Zhejiang, and he was a member of the famous Wang Xuemen. However, as a member of Wang Xuemen, he is not just a talker, he has done some things.
For example, he impeached Yan Song in his early years, and the criticism in his essays was so fierce that Jiajing Lanshu was furious and said that he "deceived heaven and slandered the emperor". He was ordered to be tortured in prison, and finally he was severely punished forty and denounced for the people.
Zhao Jin stayed at home for fifteen years, and when Emperor Mu Zong came to the throne, he was appointed as his old official by Xu Jie. He was promoted to Taichang Shaoqing, but before he got promoted, he was promoted to Guangluqing. In the first year of Longqing, he patrolled Guizhou with the right deputy capital censor, and captured the rebel Miao Long and others. After the event, he entered the capital and became the minister of Dali, serving as the left and right ministers of the Ministry of Industry. In the second year of Wanli, he moved to Nanjing to be the censor of Youdu, and after a period of time he was changed to the minister of the Ministry of Punishment.
After that, he served in circles among the six ministries in Nanjing until the transfer of power between Guo Pu and Zhang Siwei. With the mediation of Shen Shixing, he was transferred back to the capital to serve as the censor of Zuodu.
So to put it simply, he should be Shen Shixing's right-hand man now.
Arranged in this way, it can be seen that the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War are controlled by the Practical School, and the Ministry of Industry can also basically control them; the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites were slightly biased towards the Practical School in the past, but it is still doubtful how they will do in the future; the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate can Seen as the headquarters of the Heart School, it is equivalent to the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of War in the hands of the Real School.
Gao Pragmatic sat in the duty room of his military department and thought carefully, and suddenly found this situation quite interesting: the pragmatic school likes to have the power to "do things", while the heart school prefers to have the power of supervision and judgment.
Yes, doing things is so dangerous. If you don't do it well, you may make wrong decisions and handle things poorly, which may lead to personal injury and political risks.
Supervision is much more satisfying. I will scold you when I see you don’t like it. Not only can I scold you if I have a reason, but the key is that I can “create” a reason to scold you even if there is no reason. Even after the scolding, I can still investigate, and after the investigation, I am still responsible for making judgments - this is so cool.
Thanks to the fact that the first assistant has always been a member of the Practical School these years, the emperor is also leaning towards the Practical School, otherwise he will be in big trouble.
Gao Pragmatic was very aware of the current troubles: this time, his uncle Ding You took the lead and took some temporary remedial measures, which resulted in a predominance of ministers from the practical school in the cabinet, but in fact this was only a temporary measure, not the root cause, because This fundamental disadvantage cannot be alleviated.
That is the first assistant.
The chief assistant is no longer from the Real School, but has been replaced by Shen Shixing.
Although everyone is a cabinet minister, in fact, the importance of the first assistant, second assistant and group assistant is quite different. To give a not-so-appropriate example: Gao pragmatically may remember who the prime minister of a certain foreign country is in future generations, but most likely he will not remember any of the prime minister’s cabinet colleagues.
Why? Because there is always one person who “takes overall responsibility”! In Chinese history, this is the so-called "Zong Kui", which is also the name for the prime minister. The chief minister, the prime minister without the name of prime minister, is the only person below the emperor who "has overall responsibility".
Not every first assistant is like Li Chunfang, and not every second assistant is like Gao Gong. The reason why Gao Gong was able to act as a secondary assistant in the Longqing Dynasty was because he was unparalleled in the holy family, and secondly, Li Chunfang's personality was too soft.
However, in the current situation, Shen Shixing's personality is different from Li Chunfang. Shen Shixing is actually soft on the outside but strong on the inside, and he is a man of means, almost a replica of Xu Jie in the past.
As for the holy family members, the situation is even worse, because the holy family members of Xu State are probably not as good as Shen Shixing - when Zhu Yijun was the prince, Gao Gong and Zhu Xizhong were the two civil and military ministers who "know the prince's banquets" , and the "Tongzhi Prince Jingyanshi" who actually plays the role of "head teacher" is Shen Shixing.
From this point of view, there is only one person who can really compete with Shen Shixing in the Holy Family, and that is his high pragmatism. Others, even the group of old scholars who had served as the prince's lecturers at that time, had to lean back, including Xu Guo.
This is a bit embarrassing, because although Gao Pingshi made a sincere claim to the Holy Family, he is not a cabinet minister after all, and he cannot compete with Shen Shixing on the same battlefield - I discuss cabinet affairs in my cabinet, and you Gao Can people come in? Did I invite you to attend, or did I invite you to attend?
Therefore, the gap in status makes Gao Pragmatic actually "out of reach" of possible disputes in the cabinet. At most, he can only go to the emperor before and after. If the emperor is willing to take action, of course everything will be easy, but if the emperor is in trouble What if you find it inconvenient to take action?
What's more, the holy family is a thing that is mostly maintained by emotions. If Gao Pragmatic always goes to the emperor to solve it, will the emperor get bored sooner or later? This is also something that has to be considered.
Similarly, this is the main reason why Gao Pragmatic has long been obsessed with helping the emperor solve problems instead of causing trouble to the emperor.
The Holy Family must be maintained for a long time. Otherwise, no matter how powerful the Holy Family is, it will eventually weaken until it disappears.
To maintain the Holy Family, the first and most important thing is to do your own job first. Gao Wuzhi's current job is to serve as the left minister of the Ministry of War and the assistant manager of the military affairs of the Beijing camp. This job can be simple or difficult.
If you want it to be simpler, Gao Pragmatic can find some ideas from the nobles and carefully select a team of people to perform for a period of time. There is no need to ask them to actually go into battle. As long as they practice a neat formation and create a seemingly mighty and majestic parade, this matter can be fooled.
At that time, Zhu Yijun was invited to participate in the parade in person. The emperor didn't know how to lead troops anyway. Seeing that the troops being reviewed seemed neat and energetic, he was naturally very happy.
However, this kind of work effect obviously cannot satisfy Gao Pragmatic himself - what use do I need from these guys? This is nothing more than expanding the scale of the Han generals in the palace. They should be trash, but they are still trash!
Yes, the Beijing camp generally does not need to go to war anyway, and foreign wars are basically handled by the border troops.
But the current situation is different from the Wanli Dynasty in original history! Once the Ming Dynasty collects enough money, food and supplies, it may launch a final blow against left-wing Mongolia at any time. But the emperor trusted him very much. If the time comes, he suddenly says: Since the Beijing camp has been cleaned up, the battle will be based on the Beijing camp as the main force.
At that time, he was very pragmatic and wanted to sit on the wax. Where should he go to cry?
Therefore, regarding the issue of military affairs in the capital, we cannot just treat it as a paper framer. That is useless, and the secret will be exposed if it rains accidentally. I can only work as a mason honestly, building walls when the walls are broken, and laying tiles when the tiles are gone.
As for whether there is a problem with the foundation of this house... that is not something that he, the Minister of War, can do. Unless he reaches a higher position, he can just think about it in his dreams, and there is no need to even say it.
Since the military affairs of the Beijing camp need to be sorted out, it is certainly difficult not to mention the basic issue of the military system, but no matter how difficult it is, it must be done, and it must be done in a certain way. But where to start?
Over the past half month, although Gao Pragmatic only looked at the files without expressing his opinion, he was not without thinking. After analyzing various existing materials from the Ministry of War, he felt that with his current power, he could grasp the "most fundamental" issues. Just people.
People are soldiers, registered military households and soldiers.
How many military households are there in the Beijing camp now, how many registered soldiers are among them, and how many soldiers can actually be in place? This is the most basic and must be clarified, otherwise any measures will be just a mirror. The moon seems beautiful, but it cannot become a reality at all.
Gao pragmatically called a Yuanwai Lang and said: "Go and inform the governors of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, and tell them that I will go to the Governor's Mansion tomorrow to pay a visit. Please come to the Yamen."
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