Early the next morning, Gao Pingshi returned to the Hubu Yamen to take charge of matters as he had promised the emperor yesterday. Although the emperor's imperial edict yesterday was a central edict, since Gao Pragmatic has already accepted it, this edict must be archived in the Supervisor of Rites, the Cabinet, and the Sixth Section. This process also has to go through the General Affairs Department, so the content has already been spread. .
Under the premise that the emperor ordered Gao Jingshi to go out and take matters into his own hands three times a day, there would be no problem for Gao Jingshi to return to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and others would not be able to gossip. If we really want to say it, the emperor's third decree itself is the focus. If Gao Pragmatic accepts such an decree and still refuses to come out, that would be big news.
With Cheng Wen and Hu Zhili present at the Hubu Yamen, it has been able to basically maintain normal operations these days. Although there is a backlog of documents that require Gao Pragmatic review and approval, the smaller matters are handled cleanly, saving Gao Pragmatism a lot. trouble.
As for the "ministry-level" official documents that require the signature and seal of Gao Jingshi, there are only seven or eight in total, and they are all neatly placed on Gao Jingshi's desk. The two ministers even wrote a statement about these official documents. A brief introduction and approval suggestions were given, allowing Gao Pragmatic to experience the feeling of watching a ticket.
Although he officially became an official only six or seven years ago, his experience in his previous life and his experience as a government official were not given in vain. In addition, he also reviewed Jinghua's internal documents for a long time, which made Gao pragmatically read official documents very quickly, finishing it in less than half an hour. Complete these seven or eight official documents.
He was about to invite Cheng Wen and Hu Zhili to discuss the specific arrangements for the "Two Departments and Eleven Departments" when he suddenly received news that the emperor had sent all the ministers in the cabinet and the Minister of Personnel to the meeting early in the morning. Yang Wei, Zuo Du Yushi Shen Li and other important ministers announced to the Wenhua Hall to summon the couple.
Not long after, news came from the palace that Dinghai's imperial inspection was about to begin.
Beijing inspection was a political system initiated by the Ming dynasty to regularly inspect officials from the southern and northern capitals. The establishment of this system has gone through a long process.
The attempt to monitor the capital had already begun during the Taizu period, but its implementation was up and down according to the emperor's personal will. It was not until the early years of Yingzong's orthodoxy that a certain system was formed; after the four emperors Yingzong, Jingdi, Xianzong, and Xiaozong Through continuous adjustments and attempts, a fixed system of "one inspection every six years" was finally formed during the reign of Emperor Wuzong.
After the year of Jingcha was relatively fixed, there were many other factors that affected the specific time of Jingcha, mainly including the emperor's personal wishes, changes in celestial phenomena, and the involvement of powerful officials in politics.
This Dinghai Beijing Inspection should normally be held at the beginning of the year, but at the beginning of the year the emperor's main energy was spent on "where to cut the expenditure." Immediately afterwards, the rebellion in the northwest occurred, so the capital inspection was delayed until it was suddenly mentioned by the emperor today - for the officials in the capital, this was a bit like a sneak attack.
The responsibilities of Beijing Police are shared by many departments and officials. The departments that play the most important roles are the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Inspectorate. The Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel and the left (or right) imperial censor are the most important officials responsible for the imperial inspection; The chiefs of the three yamen (one of the six subjects) jointly bear the preliminary responsibilities of the Beijing Inspectorate.
Generally speaking, most of the rulings of the Jingchao were made in the first trial. When the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the left (right) censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate presided over the court hearing, only some people with minor connections were dealt with separately. In other words, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Yushi of the Zuodu are "in charge", mainly targeting high-ranking officials or special officials. The vast majority of "inspections" are actually carried out by the Kaogong Department of the Ministry of Personnel, the Henan Province of the Ducha Yuan and the officials. Section to complete.
The implementation of Beijing inspection includes two aspects: court inspection and self-report. The court review targets low-level officials of fifth rank and below, while the self-examination targets middle- and high-level officials of fourth rank and above.
Before the court hearing, a series of preparations need to be completed, sometimes the whole process takes almost half a year, so these work are usually carried out in advance - the same is true for this Dinghai Jingchao - and the actual court hearing only takes one day. Self-presentation by mid-level and senior officials does not require much preparation.
After the court review and self-examination, approval must be made in the name of the emperor, and then the official of the Department of Science and Technology can "pick up the matter". After the officials reviewed the results of the relics and reported them to the emperor for final decision, the inspection in Beijing ended.
Like the principles for handling other major matters, the results of the Beijing Chaotic Examination are also affected by many aspects.
The emperor had supreme authority in the Ming Dynasty. He had the final say on whether officials should be retained, rewarded or punished. This was of course the same in the imperial court, where he had the final say.
The cabinet is an auxiliary administrative agency. Since the time of Yan Song, cabinet ministers have been superior to the Ministry of Personnel. Therefore, its influence in the Beijing inspection cannot be underestimated. The Ministry of Personnel, as the agency in charge of officials, is also the main responsible agency for the Beijing inspection. The impact of the results of the Beijing Procuratorate is obvious; the Metropolitan Procuratorate can also provide cooperation or restraint to the officials to a certain extent.
As for the superiors of various yamen halls like Gao Jingshi, because they have the right to fill in the test statements, they can also give a certain degree of care to their subordinate officers during the Beijing inspection - of course, if you want to suppress them, it is "by the way".
The reason why Gao Pragmatic got the news so early was precisely because he was a senior official in the Hubu Hall and had the right to evaluate subordinate officials. However, he does not intend to actually exercise this power - the reason is obvious. He was impeached and shut down after only a few days in office, and he did not come out to take action until today.
Seriously speaking, he has only been the Minister of the Ministry of Finance for five days, so he plans to delegate this power to Cheng Wen and Hu Zhili. He himself is regarded as a ghostwriter and just writes comments according to their opinions.
Perhaps the news about the Jingcha came too suddenly, and it was not a big deal when Gao Pragmatic took matters into his own hands. Even the popular "Zhengguoben" incident had to give way to Dinghai Jingcha.
Everyone was caught off guard, and the officials were clearly in the eye of the storm.
Yang Wei, Shangshu Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel, had just returned to the Ministry of Personnel for a visit, and immediately returned to the palace under the pretext of discussing with the cabinet the key points of this capital inspection, and went to the cabinet's main room in Wenyuan Pavilion to take shelter from the wind.
However, although he sneaked into the cabinet to check the direction of the situation, as a branch of the Real School, he was obviously not lucky enough to be able to sneak into the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
When he went to the cabinet, he naturally went to Xu Guo, Zhang Xueyan and Wu Dui to discuss his actions, but this was only a superficial action. In private, he immediately sent his trusted servants to quietly come to the Ministry of Household Affairs to ask for an audience with Gao Pragmatic.
Speaking of which, Yang Wei had already prepared for this year's Dinghai Beijing Inspection. After all, the six-yearly Beijing Inspection has been "ordered" for decades, and preparing in advance on time is what every official minister should do.
It's just that the situation in the DPRK this year is not very stable, and it has been even more volatile since the rebellion in the northwest was basically put down. One moment it's a case of slandering the king, and another moment it's a case of upholding the country's foundation. It really can't stop.
He has also been busy trying to stabilize people's hearts in the past few days, hoping that his old friends, students and former officials who are related to him will not interfere at will, but must wait until the situation becomes clear - for example, after Gao Pragmatic takes a stand, and then follow up.
Now, with the arrival of Wang Xijue in Beijing, the dispute between the two factions is obviously intensifying. Although Yang Wei is a heavenly official, it is now a period when cabinet power suppresses ministerial power. In addition, the Real School and the Heart School are both political groups. He couldn't afford to offend anyone with this level of power, so he had no choice but to follow the crowd.
However, this Daliu was not very easy-going. After much deliberation, he still bet on Gao Pragmatism, but he also followed the etiquette of Xu Guo and tried to avoid offending both sides.
Although Yang Wei didn't know why the emperor suddenly acted like this, as a heavenly official, he quickly guessed that the emperor might want to use the capital inspection to distract the officials and continue the matter of "zhengguoben". Procrastinate later.
However, no matter what the emperor's purpose was, now that Dinghai's capital inspection was launched, the officials were the first to bear the brunt. He must figure out how to determine the general direction of this Beijing investigation.
For things like the general direction, asking Xu Guo is just for show. Asking for high-level and pragmatic advice is reliable. After all, things like the Beijing Inquisition can cause a big mess if you are not careful. If you want to be okay after a big mess, you often have to rely on "public opinion", and the vast majority of people in the pragmatic school follow Gao Pragmatism.
But Gao Pingshi's reply to him was very simple: "The responsibility of the examination committee is only for the Heavenly Official to depose him at his discretion. There is no need to go into details."
Yang Wei did not receive this message until almost noon. After hearing it, he felt relieved and immediately returned to the ministry from the cabinet. He ordered the Ministry of Personnel to take meritorious examinations and clean up the official affairs. A total of four people, including Lang Zhong, Yuan Wai Lang and the second chief, were fully responsible for this matter.
Being pragmatic is not nonsense, and there is nothing wrong with this approach itself. As the department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs directly responsible for the inspection of the capital, the Department of Examination is responsible for "taking charge of officials' examinations and diligent involvement in matters, in order to praise the minister." Its duty is to "examine the merits and demerits of the officials, identify their best, and report to depose Zhi." The role played in the Beijing inspection is extremely important. People of the Ming Dynasty have always attached great importance to the role of the Kao Gong Department. For example, when Chen Younian wrote the inscription for the Kao Gong Department, he once praised its status as "the world will be bright if it is gained, and it will be quiet if it is lost; it will be rational if it is lost." It will cause chaos".
In the original history, Wang Xijue once said when talking about the Beijing inspection in the 21st year of Wanli: "This year's inspection is exclusively under the charge of the doctor Zhao Nanxing." This time the Beijing inspection was "different from Taiwan Province", which led to divergent discussions. However, "If the superior of the department is responsible for the matter, he will not plead guilty on his behalf, or he should be decent enough not to commit serious crimes."
Chen Younian, then Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, also said when evaluating the performance of Qian Shiwan, a doctor in the Nanjing Examination Department in the 21st year of Wanli, during the inspection in Beijing: "It is difficult when things are going on, and it is especially difficult when there is resentment. What the ministers saw , there is no need to complain after the scholar is finished."
The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel believed that the imperial examination was specifically responsible for the imperial examination, so the adverse consequences should be borne by the imperial examination officials; the cabinet ministers also believed that this approach was "proper and proper"; the president of the capital inspection department also believed that the imperial examination department was responsible for the actual There is nothing to complain about.
It can be seen that the Gong Kao Department played an important role and had such huge responsibilities in the Beijing Chaos, so much so that everyone in the imperial court considered the Kao Gong Department to be the "supervisory unit" of the Beijing Chariots.
This situation is not unique to the Wanli Dynasty. As early as the 24th year of Jiajing, Xue Yinglu "worked as a doctor in Nanjing's examination department and was in charge of the capital inspection. Yan Song, a great scholar, was impeached by Wang Ye during the incident and ordered Shang Baocheng and all the heroes sent letters to respond to the journey, and ordered Dian Ye."
Even Yan Song, who had great power in the government and the public at that time, wanted to depose someone with personal grievances, but he still had to ask the imperial examination doctor to do it. This shows the importance of the imperial examination doctor in the imperial examination.
Specifically, "In every year of internal and external planning, the examination of meritorious services must be limited to the spring and summer of the first year. The public consultation will be held in consultation with the public, and the public will not be allowed to bear the responsibility. The matter will be hastily. Internal and external inspections After that, the chief seal officer of the merit department should still stay in the department for a few days. If there is any discussion in the register that the official has not been punished, either because of the defense of the department, or because of public sentiment, he should clearly note it one by one, seal it with a seal, and personally pay it to the selected officer. No confusion is allowed. This is a bad behavior. This move must be completed by the seal official before the fifth or sixth day of the second lunar month and presented to the court for brief reading."
It can also be seen from these regulations and instructions that the doctor of the examination department usually needs to prepare for the Beijing inspection for almost a year in advance; and even after the Beijing inspection, the doctor of the examination department is still responsible for the follow-up work of the Beijing inspection.
In this case, Gao Pragmatic asked Yang Wei to "dismiss Zhi as appropriate, without further investigation" based on the preliminary evaluation results of the merit examination department. From a theoretical and customary point of view, there is no problem.
But after Yang Wei gave the order, he didn't feel relaxed at all. He always felt that he seemed to have overlooked something.
After a while, Yang Tianguan, who was already seventy-two years old and had been forced to stay in office for two more years by the emperor, was suddenly shocked: Oops! There is no doctor in the examination department now!
To be precise, it's not that there is no doctor in the Kao Gong Division, but that the then doctor of the Kao Gong Division got seriously ill half a month ago. During this time, he has been staying at home to recuperate. It is said that he can't even get out of bed.
Nowadays, there is a shortage of chief officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Qing Dynasty's official affairs department. It is the deputy officer, Wai Lang, who is responsible for the examination!
Who is the examiner Wai Lang? Gu Xiancheng.
When Yang Wei thought of this, he threw away all his panic and thought to himself: Okay, okay, Gao Qiuzhen, this guy is really scheming... Isn't he trying to kill someone with a borrowed knife this time?
Gu Xiancheng, the famous "Mr. Donglin" in later generations, was in the same year as Gao Pangshi, and his grades were also very good, ranking second in the second class. He had a good reputation among the scholars, but his official position was not high at that time. He was just a member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and was a junior official of the fifth rank.
Although his official position is small, he is famous. One important factor is that although he is not an official of the Practical School, he often criticizes the political views of the Xin School.
One thing must be said here: Gu Xiancheng and even the early Donglin Party believed that what they learned was practical. But in fact, like the Xin School, they should belong to the category of "moral practical science" and have little to do with the Gao Gong and other practical theories of economics.
Since they are all "moral practical studies" and Gu Xiancheng disagrees with the exaggerated style of the Heart School, it is normal for Gu Xiancheng to criticize the Heart School in order to "get to the bottom of things".
Yang Wei himself had never thought about one thing in detail before, but now he had to doubt: Gu Xiancheng has been in office for seven years, he is not from the Practical School, and he always criticizes Xinxue, why hasn't he lost his official position now? He even entered the civil service department in a grand manner, and safely held a powerful and important position like Yuan Wai Lang, Chief Examination Officer?
Does Gu Xiancheng have any credibility? Shilin's reputation is definitely unreliable. If Shen Shixing really wants to punish him, he will just find a fault and get out. His reputation as a scholar can't save him.
Yang Wei thought about it and found that the only way Gu Xiancheng could be relied upon was that he and Gao Pragmatic were of the same age. Others, including those from the Xin School, were not sure whether touching Gu Xiancheng would cause Gao Pragmatic to overreact.
Yang Tianguan suddenly felt a chill in his back: Could it be that even Gu Xiancheng's job arrangement was an ambush prepared by Gao Qiuzhen in advance?
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