On both sides of the imperial street between Chengtianmen and Damingmen were the civil and military offices of the imperial court. To the west of the imperial street were the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion and the Jinyiwei Yamen, as well as Taichang Temple and the General Administration Department; to the east of the imperial street was the Zongren Mansion.
and five departments (the Ministry of Punishment, the Ducha Yuan, and the Dali Temple are separated and located in Fucifang, southwest of the imperial city), as well as the Hanlin Academy, Honglu Temple, Qintian Prison, Imperial Hospital, etc.
Generally speaking, with the exception of the Hanlin Academy, the closer these yamen are to Yujie, the more noble they are, or the more prominent their status.
The Hubu Yamen embodies its nobility and prominence - it faces the Imperial Street and ranks first among the civil servants' offices on the east side of the Imperial Street. To the north of the Hubu Yamen is the Libu, and to the north of the Libu is the Zongren Mansion.
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This setting obviously has symbolic meaning: since the Zongren Mansion manages clan affairs, Zhu Yuanzhang designated the Zongren Mansion as the first government office in the world, so it was not only placed on the civil official side, but also closest to the palace. Its corresponding Wuchen Yamen was
The Governor's Mansion of the Chinese Army.
Below the Zongren Mansion is the Staff Department, and once again it is the Hu Bu’s turn. However, although the Staff Department is noble, it does not occupy a large area like the Zongren Mansion. The two yamen together are even larger than the Hu Bu.
Slightly smaller, this shows how amazing the scale of the Hubu Yamen is.
From today on, Gao Pragmatic is the official standing at the center of the six largest yamen departments.
Throughout the ages, it has not been a trivial matter for the top leader of any yamen or unit to take up new posts. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang set up a lot of rules for civil servants, as long as he dies, these dead rules will naturally not stop the living officials.
Although the Ming Dynasty had a lot of rules, and in theory it was not allowed to make any grand arrangements when officials took office, but some procedures were actually necessary, such as a "meeting meeting" which was completely necessary.
Facing the Household Department Yamen, which was obviously clean after "spring cleaning", as well as the officials and staff in the courtyard, Gao Pragmatic naturally had to give a leadership speech.
However, he did not shout any big slogans. He just mentioned a work goal, which is to ensure that in the three years since the imperial court opened the vassal ban, the Ministry of Revenue can make every effort to ensure that the imperial court's financial situation is in good condition and try to eliminate the causes of the outbreak of the Northwest Rebellion——
The reason is the reduction of military pay. Everyone has known this for a long time.
This goal is neither too high nor too low, but everyone can still accept and understand it. Originally, the court's requirements for the Ministry of Household Affairs are pretty much the same. After all, if there is another rebellion in the Northwest, the people involved may be
It's not as little as it was last time.
This time, the rebellion in the northwest was pacified quickly thanks to Gao Pragmatic. Although the shock was great at the time, the military exploits were sufficient and many things were covered up, otherwise it would not have ended well for everyone.
You see, if we really want to investigate the responsibility, if there is such a big chaos in the local area, Liang Wenmeng, the governor, will not only be dismissed from his post? And if a small chaos leads to a big chaos, how can Gao Guangxian still live in peace and quiet?
Not to mention the two of them, even the patrol inspectors would not be able to escape. As for the local chief secretaries, inspectors, etc., each one of them could be found responsible for their incompetence and would be implicated.
And is this matter really just a local issue? That’s not the case. Your Ministry of War is not responsible? The Ministry of Household Affairs is not responsible? Even the Ministry of Personnel is responsible!
Why did the Ministry of War agree to such a reduction in military pay earlier? Did you make a mistake in your calculations and overestimated the local "ability to withstand pressure"?
Why can’t the Ministry of Household Affairs provide more money and food, so it can only transfer the pressure to the local governments? Isn’t the work of your Ministry of Household Affairs not “effective” enough?
And the Ministry of Civil Affairs, what happened to the selection of officials in your Ministry of Civil Affairs? Liang Wen and Meng are strict, and Gao Guangxian is cowardly. How do you choose local officials? Is a place like the northwest suitable for such an official to rule?
Regardless of whether the above is justified or not, if you really want to argue about it, you can bring it out and hold it accountable. Even if you are "not afraid of Tianyan", even the emperor can get involved - in the final analysis, the reduction of military pay is approved by your emperor.
Ah, your majestic emperor can’t take on leadership responsibilities?
Of course, generally speaking, everyone still has a tacit understanding, and His Majesty the Emperor is usually not involved. But the principle is this. It just means that once this issue is involved in a big way, it may get out of control.
Now that the rebellion in the northwest has been basically settled, we must remember what is going on and what is behind. If the northwest causes trouble due to insufficient military pay, will other places be absolutely safe? No one dares to guarantee this, so at present the Ministry of Household Affairs
The pressure is great, and we must find ways to raise money to eliminate these hidden dangers.
Although Shen Li's transfer to Zuodu Yushi is not a demotion, everyone can almost guess the hidden story behind it - he must have been transferred because of poor financial management. Otherwise, why is the person replaced now Gao Pragmatic, the golden expert?
?It is said that in the previous cabinet meeting, it was even proposed by the Holy Emperor himself to let Gao pragmatism be the chief minister. Isn't this intention obvious?
Therefore, everyone quite understood Gao Pragmatic's simple speech today, and did not think that he was being arrogant and deliberately wanted to give everyone a blow.
Of course, the Ministry of Household Affairs was originally the sphere of influence of the Practical School, and Gao Pragmatism really did not have to do this.
There were too many people at the meeting, dozens of people. Of course, Gao Pragmatic couldn't be too specific. Moreover, according to his habit, he would not launch any big operations without finding out the details of the household department. Then
This is not a habit that a good leader should have.
There is an ironic saying in later generations to describe this kind of leadership, which is called "a slap on the head, it's done; a slap on the chest, it's done; a slap on the thigh, it's broken; a slap on the butt, and it's gone." Although Gao Pragmatic used to be just a leader.
Although we are grassroots cadres, we should still take warning from this.
After the general meeting, it is routine to have a small meeting. After the meeting, it is time for the three ministers from the household department to hold a high-level meeting, which is roughly equivalent to the meeting of local secretaries in later generations. As the saying goes, meetings with many people are not important, but important
There are not many people in the meeting, which can be regarded as an inherent characteristic throughout the ages.
Unlike the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Household Affairs does not have a system of four ministers. There are only two ministers on the left and right, namely Cheng Wen, the left minister, and Hu Zhili, the right minister.
Cheng Wen was a gold medalist in Jiajing forty-four years. The examiner that year was Gao Gong, and Gao Gong had personally taught Gao Jingshi how to read. Therefore, although Cheng Wen was more than twenty years older than Gao Jingshi, he often attended formal occasions.
Gao Pragmatic is called "Brother", and Gao Pragmatic is also called "Senior Brother".
The two of them had known each other for a long time. Gao Gongqi returned to the capital in the past, and Gao Jingshi came with him. Soon they met Cheng Wen. At that time, Cheng Wen was an official in the civil service department. Later, Gao Jingshi became an official in charge of government affairs and represented the prince for the first time. At the same time as the envoy, Cheng Wen was the envoy, and the relationship between the two was very good.
Later, Cheng Wen held many positions. At the Double Ninth Festival Conference where Gao Pragmatic returned to Beijing to discuss orthodox issues, Cheng Wen was already the Left Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
In a sense, Cheng Wen is the landlord of the Household Department. The reason why he can hold such an important position is that, firstly, the Household Department is one of the basic foundations of the Real School and needs to be guarded by "housekeeping generals"; secondly, This shows that his ability is quite good - after all, political factors are sometimes more important than others when reassigning a minister, while Zuo Shilang is the "executive deputy" and often has to "preside over overall work" in practice.
Although Shen Li was transferred due to poor performance at work, Cheng Wen cannot be blamed for this. After all, he is not the leader. There are many things that he can only follow Shen Li's footsteps. Once Shen Li loses his courage , Cheng Wen doesn't want to push forward - sometimes it is like this in the officialdom. If you are more powerful than the first-in-command, but you are already the second-in-command, what will the second-in-command think of you? So Cheng Wen can only follow him honestly. Shen Li's baton works.
Because Cheng Wen and Gao Pragmatic had a close relationship, Gao Pragmatic knew about these situations, but Gao Pragmatic didn't have any good ideas at that time.
After all, Shen Li is not Xu Guo. Gao Pragmatic can secretly argue with Xu Guo about who is the leader of the Shi School, but he cannot do the same to Shen Li.
If he gives Cheng Wen his full support and lets Cheng Wen do his own thing, then on the one hand, Shen Li's situation will be very embarrassing, and on the other hand, the outside world will laugh at the internal strife within the school, and even cause other troubles. Come on, isn’t it huge and beautiful?
Now that Gao pragmatic himself has become the Minister of Household Affairs, this situation can obviously be improved. He also believes that with his relationship with Cheng Wen, Cheng Wen can fully support his work.
As for Hu Zhili, his qualifications are even older. Not only has he held many positions, but he is also considered an "old household minister".
Hu Zhili, whose courtesy name is Ruli and whose name is Yazhai, is from Yongchang but his ancestral home is in Lanzhou. He was originally from Yongchang from his father.
At the age of nine, Hu Zhili was already outstandingly intelligent and was highly praised by people at the time. He was called a child prodigy (the Ming Dynasty was indeed rich in child prodigies). He has not yet passed the imperial examination and entered the officialdom.
As mentioned before, most of the Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty were obtained in their thirties. People like Hu Zhili who passed the Jinshi in their twenties would basically be trained intensively. But it is a pity that although Hu Zhili passed the Jinshi, he At that time, his ranking was not very high - one of his classmates is now a Ge Lao, namely Wu Dui, who was a second-class "gifted Jinshi". Hu Zhili was not only ranked third-class, he was even ranked 79th in the third-class .
This ranking was obviously not destined for the Hanlin Academy, so Hu Zhili was appointed as the promotion official of Baoning Mansion.
Tuiguan is the official in charge of prisons in various government offices, equivalent to the president of the local intermediate court in later generations. In the Ming Dynasty, he also had the function of auditing and was the seventh rank. Luo Tingshen, the prefect at the time, regarded him as childish and looked down upon him. Neglect.
At that time, Hu Zhili came to his house, but Mr. Luo Mansion remained calm, as if he was talking to himself: "To win a Jinshi at such a young age, and to promote me to an official position in Baoning Mansion, I must have a backer in the court, right?"
Hu Zhili replied: "Nowadays, most of the ministers of the imperial court are famous people in the Jiangnan and Central Plains. Our ancestors are from Gansu. Even if students want to attach themselves to each other, they don't know who to turn to!"
Mr. Luo Fu smiled again and said: "In today's world, things are going downhill. If you have money, you can make the world go round."
Hu Zhili replied sternly: "What the Lord said is wrong. Firstly, the student's family is poor and he has no money to bribe the courtiers; secondly, he has been taught by his parents since he was a child and his master clearly taught that bribery is an unjust act. If an adult treats a student as young,
, have you ever remembered Gan Luo of the Qin Dynasty, Qubing of the Western Han Dynasty, and Zhou Yu of the Eastern Wu Dynasty? Before they reached their prime, they became very useful. The students felt that they were not talented. They were more than twenty years old, but they were only talented enough to get involved, and now they are ridiculed by the adults.
, I’m really ashamed.”
When Luo Tingshen heard that his family was poor, he was a little embarrassed and said with a smile: "So, I am over fifty years old and have only just become a prefect. I am even more embarrassed."
This Baoning Prefecture can be briefly introduced. From the 13th year of the reign of Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, to the first year of the Republic of China, Langzhong was governed as Baoning Prefecture for 636 years. In the Ming Dynasty, northern Sichuan was divided into guardians.
The northern part of Sichuan was divided into patrol roads, and the northern part of Sichuan was divided into military preparation roads to control Langzhong.
North Sichuan Province also governs Baoning Prefecture, Shunqing Prefecture, Long'an Prefecture and Tongchuan Prefecture, a total of 31 prefectures and counties, of which Baoning Prefecture governs two prefectures and eight counties (namely: Jianzhou, Bazhou; Langzhong, Cangxi, Southern
, Guangyuan, Zhaohua, Zitong, Tongjiang, and Nanjiang counties). In the Sichuan Opera that was widely circulated in the late Qing Dynasty, there was a singing line that later evolved into a common saying, "You are not afraid of lawsuits even if they go to Baoning Prefecture." This shows its
His status and influence in Sichuan at that time.
When Hu Zhili took office, he went through the old cases of the two prefectures and eight counties under his jurisdiction one by one, regardless of the fatigue of the saddle and horses. Three days later, he brought all the old documents and more than 100 documents to see the prefect. Luo Tingshen was greatly puzzled: "Is it so fast?
Have you read all the files?"
Hu Zhili replied: "If you don't believe me, you can check randomly at will."
Mr. Luo Fu really didn't believe it, so he flipped through a few volumes and asked Hu Zhili: "What do you think after reading the volumes?"
Hu Zhili replied: "There are thirty-six volumes, and the judgments are wrong and need to be re-tried. Especially the case of Zhao Ting of Jianzhou who raped a civilian girl and forced her to die. Right and wrong are reversed and black and white cannot be distinguished. If this case is not corrected, it will be difficult for me to get justice."
The Law of the Ming Dynasty."
The prefect, Luo Tingshen, was a native of Chunhua, Shaanxi Province. After winning the imperial examination in the 25th year of Jiajing's reign, he experienced ups and downs in his official career. He managed to survive until he was in his early fifties, and was promoted from chief officer to Baoning prefect in 1553.
In addition to being busy with officialdom and socializing, he was also more interested in pax cards, gold stones, and cultural relics (his "Xiaoshan Zhi" was also lost in the future).
He is good at perfunctory, prevaricating and flattering about government affairs, and his life is considered smooth. Unexpectedly, he would meet a newborn calf now, who is neither familiar with logic nor humane, but insists on being truthful, and threatens to strengthen the righteousness, eliminate evil, and eradicate violence. It is even more terrible.
What is interesting is that the Zhao Ting he mentioned was the son of Zhao Bingran, then Minister of War.
Luo Fujun wanted to get in the way, but he was pushed back by the "bookworm", so he had to avoid it on the excuse that he was not feeling well and needed some time to recuperate.
In fact, Hu Zhili knew full well who Zhao Ting was related to, but he knew better that Zhao Bingran was an important minister of the dynasty who could rule the country with military force and be civilized and bring peace to the country. He once put down the rebellion on the Yunnan border and led his cavalry into the desert to achieve military exploits.
When he patrolled Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he also assisted the deputy commander-in-chief Qi Jiguang in fighting Japanese pirates. He had outstanding military exploits and a good reputation. He successively served as the censor of Shuntian Prefecture, the censor of Jiangxi supervision, and the governor of Xuanhua Datong. He was awarded the platinum medal by the emperor many times.
, colorful silk.
Hu Zhili thought to himself: Zhao Bingran was an upright official, loved the people like his son, and was famous in the government and the public. He would never tolerate his son corrupting the government and damaging his reputation. So, Hu personally re-tried the case. When all the witnesses and evidence were present, the domineering
Zhao Ting still wanted to deny it in every possible way, but he no longer had the arrogance of the past.
Hu Zhili was also worried that the case would implicate Zhao Bingran, so he decided to send the case file to the Ministry of Justice and then go to the Ministry of War to meet with Zhao Bingran to explain it, so as to prevent the sycophant from taking advantage of the opportunity to attack.
Just as he was about to get up, Zhang Shi, the then governor of Sichuan, came to Baoning Mansion in person and rebuked Hu Zhili sternly: "The case of Zhao Ting has been closed and reported to the Ministry of Punishment for approval. Why bother now?"
Hu Zhili replied: "Although the case has been concluded, the trial was unfair. Now that the trial is re-tried, it is to uphold the law of the country and avenge the people's injustice. Why not?"
Zhang Shi said: "Who was instigating the retrial of this case?"
Hu Zhili replied: "It was all the lower official's idea."
Zhang Shi sneered and said, "You disobeyed the Ministry of Justice's instructions and retried old cases without authorization. What crime should you be punished for?"
Hu Zhili said: "To eliminate violence and bring justice to the people, and to avenge injustice for the people, this is the purpose of our Ming Dynasty law. Moreover, Article 120 of the Criminal Law contains the law of 'trying unjust cases without first going through the Ministry of Punishment'. Futai will not forget it, right?" Zhang Yishi?
At a loss for words, speechless.
Hu Zhili then hurriedly prepared the submission documents and rushed to the capital day and night. He promptly exchanged opinions with Zheng Xiao, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, and repeatedly emphasized that "Zhao Ting forced people to die, and they should be beheaded. Moreover, this person has always done evil in the countryside and preyed on the people. In fact,
The whole body of evil is so full that not killing him is not enough to appease the grievances and appease the people."
When he went to the Ministry of War to meet with Zhao Bingran and told the truth, the young Sima was silent for a long time, and suddenly choked up and said: "It's all my fault that I didn't know how to teach my son. The crime committed by the evil son will be dealt with according to the king's law, and will never be tolerated or condoned...".
Later, he wrote a personal letter and asked Hu to deliver it to Zhang Shi, an old friend who had been recommended by Zhao Bingran to serve as governor of Sichuan.
After Zhang Shi read the letter, he had no choice but to agree to escort Zhao Ting, who had been taken away in advance, to Baoning Mansion. In the autumn of that year, he was executed in Jianzhou. Seeing that Hu Zhili was so powerful, Luo Tingshen was frightened and decided to "send the god of plague" to him on his own initiative.
The imperial court recommended him, and soon Hu was promoted to head of the Criminal Department.
After Hu Zhili came to Beijing, he successively served as the chief of the Ministry of Justice, the chief of the Ministry of War, the literary selection doctor of the Ministry of Personnel, the right admiral of the General Affairs Department, Li Huang, the minister of Taipu, the minister of Guanglu, the minister of Taichang, and the right vice-captain of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
Censor, left minister of household affairs, and right minister of household affairs in Nanjing, etc., until he was transferred back to Beijing from Nanjing, and became today's right minister of household affairs.
The above two people are Gao Qingshi's right-hand men in the household department.
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