The Imperial City of the Capital, the Office of the Minister of Civil Affairs.
Not every official will live in an official residence.
Although the official residences in the yamen are relatively elaborate and spacious when they reach the second-rank official level such as Shangshu, some families who have made great achievements in making money usually have their own residences in the inner city of the capital.
For example, Zhan Hui's house was given to his father by Zhu Yuanzhang. This kind of reward was equivalent to giving away the land deed.
This includes Xu Da's Zhongshan Palace, Chang Yuchun's Kaiping Palace, Lan Yu's Duke Liang Palace, etc. This is the case.
There are also some that I bought with my own money. Of course, in terms of position, they are definitely not as good as the rewards from His Majesty.
When Zhu Ying arrived, Zhan Hui had already been waiting at the gate for a long time.
Zhu Ying's actions were not done in private. For the sake of royal dignity, officials were given some preparation time. When a decision was made, eunuchs would go and inform them.
After receiving the notice, Zhan Hui asked the mansion to prepare fruits, snacks, hot tea and snacks immediately, and then he went to wait at the gate.
This is a necessary regulation. If we go directly and encounter Zhan Hui going out, wouldn't it be the fault of the ministers?
"I, Zhan Hui, would like to pay my respects to His Highness Taisun. His Highness Taisun is able to come to my residence today, which really makes this place full of glory."
Zhan Hui, who was in his 60s, already had gray hair on his temples, but his body was relatively strong, his words were full of energy, and his eyes were bright and lively.
Zhu Ying smiled and said: "I am also interested, so I want to come to Zhan Shangshu's place for a visit."
Hearing His Highness Taisun's calm tone, Zhan Hui was overjoyed. He quickly bowed and led the way to the lobby of the mansion, asking His Highness Taisun to sit down.
After His Highness Taisun took his seat, Zhan Hui sat down at the lower end, and then his servants served him tea.
After chatting for a while, Zhu Ying said: "If I remember correctly, Shangshu Zhan was concurrently appointed as Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel in June of the 23rd year of Hongwu. It has been exactly three years now."
Zhan Hui cupped his hands and bowed: "Reporting to Your Highness, this is indeed the case."
Zhu Yingdao: "I have been in charge of the Ministry of Personnel for three years, and I have also inquired about it. Under the management of Zhan Shangshu, the governance is in order, and among the many officials, there is no one who is dissatisfied."
"This makes Shangshu Zhan worry a lot."
Zhan Hui said quickly: "I don't dare to be praised by His Highness. I just did my duty well."
Looking at Zhan Hui, Zhu Ying sighed a little in her heart.
This year is already the middle of May in the 26th year of Hongwu. If in the original history, the blue jade eucalyptus broke out in February, Zhan Hui, who was Prince Shaobao, Zuodu Yushi, and Official Minister, would have been involved.
At that time, Jiang Gu, the commander of Jin Yiwei, accused Lan Yu of treason. Zhu Yuanzhang appointed the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen and the official minister Zhan Hui to interrogate Lan Yu, but Lan Yu refused to accept it.
Zhan Hui scolded him: 'Speak the truth quickly and don't implicate others in vain.'
Lan Yu shouted that Zhan Hui was his party member, and the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen immediately ordered Zhan Hui to be captured, and was subsequently executed.
Now that Zhu Ying is the grandson of the emperor, the blue jade naturally survives. Without the blue jade eucalyptus, naturally Zhan Hui also survives.
Perhaps it has a lot to do with ability. Although Zhu Yuanzhang still has some thoughts of destroying the Huaixi Xungui Group, he has not mentioned his intention to get rid of Zhan Hui.
This shows that in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, Zhu Yunwen is unable to control talents like Zhan Hui, but Zhu Ying, as the grandson, is fully capable of controlling them.
In this case, there is no need to get rid of Zhan Hui.
Zhan Hui has a reputation as a cruel official. The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the management, assessment and promotion of officials. The emperor will definitely not be able to take care of it. The only thing he can do is to balance.
If Zhan Hui has a good reputation, it won't work.
According to convention, ministers will be transferred after being re-elected for three years. This is also to avoid excessive concentration of power among officials.
For example, local governors in prosperous areas are basically transferred every six years.
However, until this year, Zhu Yuanzhang still had no intention of changing Zhan Hui's position as Minister of Civil Affairs. Obviously, his current job felt good.
Zhan Hui is talented.
Zhu Ying can also feel this clearly. Nowadays, with the decline of talents, the official atmosphere of Ming Dynasty is relatively positive. Although the majesty of Emperor Hongwu is at the forefront, Zhan Hui's assessment is also the key.
"Zhan Shangshu has been in the Ministry of Civil Affairs for three years. He should have some knowledge of the world's talented people." Zhu Ying asked.
Hearing His Highness Taisun's words, Zhan Hui's eyes lit up and he knew that he had guessed correctly.
He didn't answer directly, but clapped his hands. The old slave, who was already ready, walked in from outside the hall, holding three thick books in his hands.
"Reporting to Your Highness, these three volumes of documents are my records of the literati in the world. With the convenience of the Ministry of Officials, I have recorded them clearly one by one, dividing them by provinces and surnames."
"Please take a look at it, Your Highness."
Zhan Hui's tone was undoubtedly a bit triumphant. He had long guessed that His Highness Taisun would definitely come to him, and that he was looking for him for official matters.
Zhu Ying looked at Zhan Hui's expression and sighed in his heart that the historical records were indeed correct.
Guoyan commented on Zhan Hui: "Hui is talented and decisive, and he is the most entrusted by the superior. However, it is easy to get a glimpse of the superior's order, but in the end it will lead to disaster."
It is conceivable that in his previous tenure, Zhan Hui must have guessed the old man's intentions many times, and even often.
This kind of behavior is really like Yang Xiu of the Three Kingdoms. From ancient times to the present, there are a few people who spy on the thoughts of superiors and have a good death.
In history, Zhu Yunwen killed an official minister on the spot just because of Lan Yu's words. Behind this, in the final analysis, it was Zhu Yuanzhang's intention.
When an emperor's thoughts are understood by his ministers, as an emperor, it is not admiration, but fear.
When the emperor is afraid of a minister, what future does the minister have?
There is a saying that if the king wants his ministers to die, the ministers have no choice but to die.
In this case, death is the only way out.
If you don't kill, you will feel uneasy.
In this situation, Zhu Ying finally understood Cao Cao's choice at that time, and also understood why the old man used Zhu Yunwen's hand to kill Zhan Hui.
It has to be said that after seeing the current situation, Zhu Ying had a hint of murderous intent in his heart.
But this trace of murderous intent disappeared after reading the three volumes of documents sent by Zhan Hui.
On top of the documents, there are very clear records of each official's talents, preferences, personality, and even their areas of expertise.
If you look around casually, there are hundreds of people.
There are records of at least nearly two thousand people in the three volumes of documents.
It can be seen that in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhan Hui, who was a scholar in the fifteenth year of Hongwu and only entered the official career at the age of forty-nine, was able to rise through the ranks and continue to receive the attention of the old man.
As soon as he entered the official position, he was promoted to the position of censor of the Supervisory Capital. In only eight years, he became the crown prince Shaobao, the censor of Zuodu, and the minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He was a highly respected minister.
All this has something to do with the old man's importance, but this talent and knowledge are really not just words, they are actually real materials.
"Grandpa has never read these three volumes of documents, right?" Zhu Ying flipped through a section, put down the documents and asked.
Zhan Huidao: "Reporting to Your Highness, I have not yet completed the document recorded by this official, only part of it."
"I thought that I would wait until it is generally completed before submitting it to His Majesty for review."
For Zhan Hui, these records are of great use to the country.
Even though he is already sixty this year, he has great ambitions and is committed to discovering and promoting talents for His Majesty.
And this is also the work of his painstaking efforts, and he is proud of it.
Zhu Ying sighed a little.
If in the original history, the old man had seen these three documents, would he still insist on executing Zhan Hui?
I'm afraid I won't see it.
It's just that when the old man kills people, he always makes a plan, like thunder and wind, leaving no one with the slightest chance to react.
These three volumes of documents can become life-saving treasures. It is feared that Zhan Hui will have his head chopped off before he has time to react.
After thinking for a while, Zhu Ying said: "Shang Shu Zhan should know that our Zhan Shi Mansion is currently short of talents. The huge Zhan Shi Mansion only has two or three kittens, big and small, so I would like to ask the Minister for help and introduce some talents.
"
"I think that with Zhan Shangshu's familiarity with the talents of our great world, he should be able to understand them better. I don't need to go and select from this book in person."
When he got here, Zhu Ying did not call himself ‘this palace’, but called himself ‘I’.
This is a kind of respect for Zhan Hui.
Respect for those who have dedicated themselves to the Ming Dynasty and dedicated themselves to their duties.
Even though he was already sixty years old, Zhan Hui's mind was still sharp. When he noticed the change in the title of His Highness Taisun, he knew that His Highness Taisun was extremely satisfied with the manuscript he had written, so he was happy in his heart.
Immediately, he asked: "I don't know what kind of talents Your Highness is focusing on. I may give you some directions to look for."
The James Mansion is the department responsible for assisting the prince.
In other words, the crown prince is more clear.
However, Prince Zhu Biao did not pay much attention to this aspect of Zhan Shi's Mansion, because the talents cultivated by Prince Zhu Biao were all veterans from the Zhu Yuanzhang period.
So although there is this department, it is mostly held by some veterans of Hongwu.
Now that Zhu Ying wants to build his own core team, he naturally has to train additional confidants.
James Mansion has one person named James, who is the third grade, and one person is James, who is the fourth grade.
The sixth grade official
Set up the left and right Chunfang, the economic bureau, and the chief bookkeeper.
The official system is relatively rich and detailed, equivalent to a small cabinet system, or it may be more appropriately called the East Palace system.
Zhu Ying thought for a while and said: "The person I want to look for should be someone who is not afraid of power and has decent talent. It is best to be someone who has a lot of experience in the field."
"Nowadays, with the rise of commerce in the capital, when I was reviewing memorials, I found that many incidents have become more frequent, so I must have a sense of justice in my heart."
"It is best to have a strong familiarity with the laws of the Ming Dynasty."
Under Zhu Ying's control, the capital of the Ming Dynasty became more and more prosperous, and the flow of people was increasing. Chambers of commerce, merchants, and traders from all over the country continued to gather towards the capital.
In addition, now that the maritime ban has been lifted, the business environment has become more friendly. Although there is no explicit order to improve the status of merchants, the level of contempt that most people have for merchants is constantly decreasing compared to last year.
These developments are closely related to Zhu Ying and the Qunying Chamber of Commerce under his command. From the perspective of the people, His Highness Taisun is now a businessman and has given too many benefits to the people of the capital.
Cheap goods have brought real benefits to the people. Under such circumstances, the prejudice against businessmen will naturally be greatly reversed.
When the capital has a business environment, many dignitaries, large and wealthy households, and a highly concentrated population, you don't have to worry about being oppressed when doing business here.
That is to say, not only Ming businessmen gathered, but many foreign businessmen also came after hearing the news.
It's just that under the bustle and bustle, competition has become more and more fierce, and the number of people with evil intentions who try to steal property secretly and illegally has gradually increased.
There were more and more incidents happening in the capital.
Although there are wars outside the Ming Dynasty today, the country is peaceful, and managing people's livelihood is the focus.
Currently, there is a huge backlog of cases at the Ministry of Punishment.
Zhu Ying has little ability to do this kind of thing, so it's okay to participate occasionally, but it is impossible to actually solve the case and analyze the situation, and time does not allow it.
Unlike Zhan Hui who wanted to take people to Liaodong, Zhu Ying thought of developing the Zhanshi Mansion under his own name for the current capital, and even to solve cases in various places and protect people's livelihood, so this is why today's official search department was created
The incident of Shangshu Zhan Hui.
Listening to His Highness Taisun's thoughts, Zhan Hui began to think deeply in his heart.
From the memory, I began to search for talents that meet the needs of His Highness the Grand Sun.
After a long time, his eyes lit up, and he cupped his hands and said, "I thought deeply about it, and I really think of one person who fully meets His Highness's requirements."
Zhu Ying heard this and asked with interest: "Tell me and listen."
Zhan Hui asked: "Does Your Highness know Di Renjie in the prosperous Tang Dynasty?"
Zhu Yingdao: "Di Renjie's name has been passed down through the ages. Of course I know it. Is it possible that the person Zhan Shangshu said has Di Renjie's great talent?"
Zhan Hui replied: "Of course he is not as talented as Di Renjie, but this person is better than Broken Eucalyptus. He does have some books. He is also a Di family in Taiyuan. He is a descendant of Di Renjie, named Di Yusen."
"This person admires his ancestors the most. He carries "Collection of Di Renjie" with him all year round and studies it day and night. He wants to be like his ancestor Di Renjie and realize his ambition."
"But unlike his ancestors, perhaps his thoughts were focused on the broken eucalyptus. He spent fifteen years in a row, wasted half his life, and lost his reputation. He is still just a living member."
"Now, relying on the method of promoting filial piety and integrity, he holds the post of classics historian in Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi Province, and Pinglu, Xia County, Xiezhou County."
Classics and history are not officials, but officials.
Officials have ranks, have household registration in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and move around the country. They are not necessarily above the county magistrate, but there are also those below the county magistrate. Generally, they have meritorious titles.
In a county town, the magistrate, the county magistrate, and the chief bookkeeper are generally the officials, and the rest are all officials.
Officials, on the other hand, are generally local cowards, who may not necessarily have fame or rank, and it is basically impossible to become an official.
To put it simply, the social status of officials and clerks is completely different.
Officials are superior people and hold great power. Although officials hold positions in the government, their household registration is still civilian. If they are kicked out of the county government by officials, they will be no different from ordinary people.
"Since it was recommended by Zhan Shangshu, I think this person must be talented, so I will issue an order to summon this person to the capital to see how good he is."