Zhang Siwei got a copy of Cao Yikui's memorial to Shucai. After reading it, he was furious at first and then happy again. Because the six crimes mentioned by Cao cannot be said to be completely slanderous, but it is absolutely fine to say that he wants to inflict crimes. In this case, this entire article is probably a squib.
But as the Prime Minister, Zhang Siwei was so viciously impeached and had to make a political statement. It was only right that he should avoid his position and go home.
It is not surprising that important officials of the Ming Dynasty were impeached. Even the emperor himself often received bullets. But most impeachments are ignored. The emperor stays silent and the people being impeached don't know about it, and the matter goes away.
For example, when Zhang Juzheng was in power, he was impeached. If he was criticized, he would go home and be embarrassed. Then he would not have to do anything. Just answering the impeachment would be enough to fill up his time.
But in the face of the impeachment of a fellow important minister, the vicious impeachment of Cao Yikui, or the impeachment of a group attack, it would be a fight to the death. Avoiding the position is this kind of statement: important ministers and impeachers must be killed one by one.
For example, Yang Jisheng impeached Yan Song and Liu Tai impeached Zhang Juzheng, which was basically a fight to the death. As long as the emperor has no intention of changing his position, he can only give his important ministers some dignity by imprisoning them, sending them to prison, or impeaching them with imperial rods.
Therefore, bullet writing skills are very important. If it is determined that a certain minister's holy family has declined, then he can write a criticism without saying too much, and he will be successful. The censor may become famous all over the world immediately. If it is long-winded, mixed with reality, or written in a bloody style - such as Cao Yikui's book, Zhu Yijun will not be able to send it to the court for discussion.
Because the political statement issued by Fu Tingyi was that the emperor asked Zhang Siwei to resign immediately and fully affirmed the charges in the bullet. If Zhu Yijun did this at this time, it would be unfair to Zhang Siwei on the one hand; on the other hand, Zhu Yijun could not afford to disgrace this man - such a scumbag, how did the emperor choose him to be the prime minister in the first place?
Before the Great Reform, the Metropolitan Procuratorate had already carried out reforms. After the reform, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has certain investigative powers - after Zhu Yijun abolished Dongchang, he reorganized some of the powers of edicts and prisons. However, this power of investigation and the right of lien against officials are limited, and those above the third rank still need to request a decree.
Therefore, the imperial court still allows the imperial censor to give clarifications to the matter. This is a compromise in the case that the Metropolitan Procuratorate does not have the power to review matters above the third rank. However, judging from the actual results, in recent years, when officials of the third or higher rank of the imperial court were successfully impeached, the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate basically conducted preliminary investigations. Impeachments without real evidence are almost always dismissed, which is equivalent to sinking into nothing.
At the same time, because the censor of Qiandu had to sign a memorial for the censor in charge, Cao Yikui's memorial still included the results of the investigation. The most powerful evidence is that Zhang Siwei's brother embezzled the property of Zhang Cheng, the evil eunuch.
In fact, if Cao Yikui was a smart man, this one thing would be enough in the memorial. This kind of thing can be big or small: although Zhang Cheng's business shop is his personal property, as an important member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is unclear how much of it is the stolen money embezzled from the royal family's property.
The Zhang family swallowed one of them regardless of the prime minister. If it is really investigated, it can be regarded as indirect embezzlement of royal assets. Even if he didn't pursue it vigorously, Zhu Yijun had another explanation for sending it to the court: What do you mean by Lao Zhang taking the emperor's money without telling him? The emperor's anger became very reasonable, and it was easy to cause the effect of looking at the flowers in the fog, which reduced the political impact of deposing Zhang Siwei.
However, Cao Yikui may have been eager to gain political prestige to overthrow Zhang Siwei, so he cooked a pot of rice with raw materials, which greatly turned off Zhu Yijun's appetite. He has the idea of changing his appearance, and he also shows his dissatisfaction with Zhang Siwei in his daily life. But this kind of thing is very subtle. The emperor's naked intention to express his intentions is disrespectful to the prime minister and cabinet ministers, and it is not conducive to the new prime minister's work. If the emperor decides on the candidate for the prime minister, everyone will be attracted to him. , why bother to discuss it? And the ministers in the cabinet do not need to seek merit, they can just flatter them well.
At this time, the powers of the prime minister were no less than those of the prime ministers of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Zhu Yijun initially established the position of prime minister, and there was a lot of noise when he launched the major reforms. Wang Yongji hit the pillar, and more than thirty people were imprisoned. If he chose a yes man, would it be worth going to so much trouble?
Because Zhang Siwei avoided his position, Pan Sheng continued to be the temporary head of the cabinet. The memorial to impeach Zhang Siwei came from the General Affairs Department. Pan Sheng could not label it as yellow, but could only send it to the inner court as it was. The inner court also couldn't approve it, so the bare book arrived at Zhu Yijun's desk.
Zhu Yijun had a headache for a long time, so he had to leave the memorial. At the same time, internal officials were sent to comfort Liu with gifts - there was no way, Cao Yikui was too stupid, now he could only comfort Liu first.
During this period, Pan Sheng, an idiot, was so blessed that he did a wonderful thing: he convened an impromptu cabinet meeting and circulated this memorial. As the temporary head of the cabinet, there is nothing wrong with him doing this - for such a major political event, people in the cabinet still need to be informed.
As soon as the small meeting started, everyone understood what Pan Sheng meant: those who want to make progress and those who want to attack the people arranged by the Jin Party, let's go shoulder to shoulder. Cao Yikui was the censor of Shanxi Province and was said to be from Zhang Siwei. Being stabbed by one of his own men meant that Cao Yikui was someone's secret agent. They have used all the hidden tricks, so others can't do it, right?
For Pan Sheng himself, the second assistant Wang Guangguang is still there, and he must not be able to do it anymore. When it comes to ranking based on seniority, it happens to be my turn. However, the reform edict stipulates that the prime minister needs to be recommended by court - this is not something Pan Sheng can control. The implication is very clear that the Prime Minister must not be someone who can be appointed based on seniority.
Pan Sheng was worried about gains and losses, and others in the cabinet were also ready to make a move. Now that Cao Yikui fired the first shot, it was quite easy to follow suit. So here the emperor comforted Zhang Siwei, and there was heavy artillery fire over there - Cao Yikui was not considered to be doing useless work. According to military terms, his first one was a "school shooting".
For Zhang Siwei, the emperor comforted him and earned him some face. But he was completely sure in his heart that the emperor did not want to continue using him. Otherwise, in conjunction with the stay, Cao Yikui should be dealt with immediately. Either dismiss him from his official position or assign him to another position. You should never keep the memorial and then "comfort" yourself without any pain.
Sure enough, Cao Yikui did not suffer immediate disaster, and led a large number of censors to attack Zhang Siwei. If Zhang Siwei was the same two years ago, he would have written several "apology" memorials to defend himself. But now, he is already exhausted mentally and physically due to the great changes.
Therefore, Zhang Siwei stayed with the emperor in various ways, continued to express his resignation, and resolutely resigned. One of them wrote about his state of mind:
"Fu Nianchen is a lowly man. He encountered a sage and a minister. He was short-sighted, mediocre and incompetent. He was punished by the emperor and did not punish him. However, the ghosts and gods did not bless him, and he punished his relatives with cruel punishments. He hated him so much that he wanted to die. Heavy. In the memory of the Holy Spirit, I am favored and bestowed with favors. I have so many gifts in front of you, how can I be so poor as to be able to carry a piece of thatch?
The minister's performance is poor, and he has nothing to gain from serving on the left and right every day. He has caused disputes about things, so he should stay away from him now. I hope that the emperor, Fazu, is filial to his relatives and diligent in his administration as before. Cherish talents and love the people, be careful every day. I can't repay you for the rest of my life, so I vow to tie a ring of grass in my hand to help him grow his ears. I thanked him and begged for the gift, and returned it to the field urgently. After hearing it, I was overwhelmed with sincerity. "
This memorial is different from Zhang Siwei's thank you note, which was bestowed upon him by the emperor various sacrifices and condolences during the consecutive funerals. Of course, in those memorials of thanksgiving, they should humbly say that their virtues and abilities are shallow and they cannot bear the grace of heaven.
After being violently impeached, Zhang Siwei, except for the first one, left the remaining memorials without any explanation or explanation - indicating that he really found that the Holy Family was declining and resolutely quit. So after Zhu Yijun and he had enough fun in the interaction, they finally gave the order to resign.
Along with the decree, he was given the courtesy of a third-class prince and promised Chiyi. Compared with the eternal kindness of Prince Zhang Juzheng and his ability to attack, although Zhang Siwei, the third-ranking prince, cannot compare with it, compared with him, he thought that he could only receive the treatment of a count, which can be regarded as the emperor's contribution to him. Highly recognized - even in the eyes of his critics, this is a rare honor.
On October 20th of the fifteenth year of Wanli, the hustle and bustle finally ended, and Zhang Siwei left the capital.
