The reason why the issue of the Minister of Personnel has attracted so much attention is not only because the official position of Minister of Personnel is too critical.
It is also because next year, which is the 21st year of Wanli, is the year of the Jingchao. After the New Year, the officialdom of the capital will begin to "pass the test", and the Jingchao is jointly presided over by the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Yushi of Zuodu.
Beijing inspections are held once every six years. The situation of the last Beijing inspections in the 15th year of Wanli told everyone that Beijing inspections have become a tool of party struggle.
The struggle at that time spread from the capital to Suzhou, and the chief minister almost resigned. Then the prefect of Suzhou and the governor of Jiangnan were killed one after another, and a second-rank imperial minister was deposed. This shows how intense the imperial envoy was.
As a result, at the end of this year, when the Beijing inspection was about to start in two months, the old and sick Wang Tianguan was bedridden. How could he not attract everyone's attention?
In the past few years, his official career has not gone smoothly. Zhao Nanxing, who was demoted from a member of the Literary Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel to the head of the Host and Guest Department of the Ministry of Etiquette, did not want to do anything.
But the organization required him to lobby the North Korean envoys, so he couldn't do it.
Because only he can legitimately contact North Korean envoys without attracting any attention.
In fact, Zhao Nanxing can understand the organizational difficulties. In the past five years, Qingliu's forces seem to have been suppressed and weakened.
At its peak in the past few years, Qingliu forces accounted for nearly half of the seven ministers of the Ministry, monopolized most positions in the Selected Works Department and the Examination Department of the Ministry of Personnel, controlled the voice of the Ministry of Rites, and also had thirty or forty famous officials in the Department of Science and Technology.
Now, the Qingliu forces may not be one-third of what they were at their peak. This is because they have been bloodletted for many years.
And this time the fight for the official position is an opportunity to counterattack!
As long as we can win over the Minister of Civil Affairs and the existing strength of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Beijing Procuratorate will be able to take the absolute initiative next year and let the Qingliu forces develop and grow again through party unity and opposition to dissent!
The most important thing is that Lin was not in the capital during this period. This was a period of strategic opportunity that should not be missed.
For this goal, you can do whatever it takes, and some people may have to make sacrifices for this.
When Zhao Nanxing approached North Korean envoy Yin Zhuoran, he was mentally prepared to be betrayed by Yin Zhuoran. After all, this was a very risky job.
But the head of the Host and Guest Department of the Ministry of Etiquette, who was in an embarrassing situation, should sacrifice himself.
If Yin Zhuoran is willing to cooperate, he can set off a wave of public opinion offensive to coordinate the battle for the Minister of Civil Affairs, so the risk is still worth taking.
After Zhao Nanxing left, Yin Zhuoran put away his greed for money and fell into deep thought.
He really didn't expect that he, a dawdling envoy, might actually be involved in the internal strife of the Celestial Kingdom?
But when it comes to party struggles, Yin Zhuoran is also a veteran. In North Korea, he is one of the eight generals of the Northern People's Party.
After thinking twice, Yin Zhuoran sent his cronies to secretly visit Shen Jue of the Host and Guest Department of the Ministry of Etiquette.
After two missions to the Ming Dynasty, Yin Zhuoran already knew very well that among the officials in the Host and Guest Department, Shen Jue was Lin Tailai's absolute confidant.
The confidant asked: "What should I say when I meet Mr. Shen?"
Yin Zhuoran instructed: "Just say that as a minister of the Li family of Korea, I have to express my gratitude for the burning of Taizu's palace, but the cry can be loud or small."
After receiving the message from Ambassador Yin Zheng, Shen Jue thought for a moment and guessed some of the inside story. Is this someone hoping that Ambassador Yin Zheng would make a big fuss?
However, Shen Jue did not reply immediately. He also wanted to report to the club, and there happened to be a club meeting tonight.
The meeting was presided over by Zhou Yingqiu, editor of the Hanlin Academy, and it has become a customary occasion.
Although the pillars of Lin's party are the triangle of Chief Assistant, Tianguan, and Da Sima, when Lin Tailai was away, the person responsible for intermediary liaison was Zhou Yingqiu.
After all, the Chief Assistant, Tianguan, and Grand Sima are too eye-catching, and it is often inconvenient for them to move around, and they don't even need to attend internal meetings.
The use of Zhou Yingqiu as the general liaison and host of internal meetings was not deliberately designated by Lin Tailai, but was a natural result of long-term struggle and practice.
The first is that Zhou Yingqiu is thick-skinned; the second is that Zhou Yingqiu has the most creative ideas and the strongest adaptability; the third is that Zhou Yingqiu has the most fanatical attitude towards Lin Tailai and is vaguely recognized as the "number one lackey".
In terms of these three qualities, no one else in the club can compare to Zhou Yingqiu.
Therefore, when Lin Tailai was away from the capital, the responsibility of general liaison and host of internal meetings gradually fell on Zhou Yingqiu.
Originally, the person in charge of this was Wang Xiangmeng, a real relative of Lin Tailai, a good wife and nephew, and a core official of the Ministry of Personnel, but unknowingly, he became Zhou Yingqiu.
Even Wang Xiangmeng himself felt that Zhou Yingqiu was indeed more suitable.
Being able to replace "upper-level connections" with talent and strength will make others dissatisfied.
Tonight's meeting will be held at Wang Xiangmeng's residence. After all, the Wang family has a relatively large space, and this was originally the residence of the Minister of Revenue.
A brazier has been lit in the hall, and key members of the Update Society are chatting in twos and threes. Only Zhou Yingqiu is alone with her eyes closed.
Only in front of the Nine Yuan True Immortal, Zhou Yingqiu would show the greatest enthusiasm, even to the point of being so enthusiastic that even his own people would think it was too much.
But there is still a slight sense of alienation between Zhou Yingqiu and the rest of the club, and others are used to this.
"It's getting late, let's get started, we have something to talk about." Zhou Yingqiu suddenly opened his eyes and said.
The hall fell silent for a while, and Shen Jue spoke first, relaying the message delivered by the North Korean envoy today.
Zhou Yingqiu said without hesitation: "Let him make trouble, no matter how loud he is, the bigger the better."
Shen Jue asked in confusion: "Why is this? What's the secret inside?"
Zhou Yingqiu replied: "There are some secrets here, which have been reported to Zhao Shoufu, and it is not convenient to announce them in the society for the time being."
So Shen Jue stopped talking. The club has discipline and don't ask questions that shouldn't be asked.
Then Wang Xiangmeng said: "Finally, the doctor of the Literary Selection Department has been squeezed out. Next, I will strive to be promoted to the doctor."
Zhou Yingqiu said: "Senior Wang must win."
Wang Xiangmeng said: "Do your best."
Zhou Yingqiu added: "It's not about trying your best, it's about being determined. If it were placed in normal times, the competition for the selection of doctors would have been fierce.
But now all the enemy's energy is focused on the official department, and all the resources they can use on the official department will be used to fight for the official department.
Therefore, there is much less pressure to compete for the position of Doctor of Anthology. This is also a good opportunity for you, Senior Wang. It would be a pity if you fail to win."
In this way, everyone said a few more things, and the recent affairs that needed to be informed to the society were discussed.
Finally, Zhou Yingqiu spoke: "Jiu Yuan Gong once said that whenever he was away from the capital, the Qingliu forces would always have a small rebound, and then wait for him to return to the capital to clean up the situation.
Although this is a joke, it is also a criticism of us, and we must keep this criticism in mind.
Now that Duke Jiuyuan is not in the capital, but he is encountering a major incident in the capital, we must resolutely hold our position and suppress our enemy firmly!"
Someone reminded: "Let alone the capital inspection, the most important thing at the moment is the selection of the Minister of Staff!"
Zhou Yingqiu responded: "This is actually the same thing, different stages of the same battle!
According to internal reports, the Qingliu Party members' plan this time is to make an exception and move Sun Piyang, the censor of the Zuodu, to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and at the same time, promote Sun Quan, the left minister of the Ministry of Hubu, to the censorship of the Zuodu, in order to achieve the simultaneous control of the Tianguan and the General Constitution.
layout!"
Someone immediately cursed, "It's these two old guys who lived in Jiajing for 35 years again!"
In the current imperial court, except for the Tianguan Wang Shizhen, who has been bedridden for a long time, these two people have the earliest names and the oldest seniority.
It seems that no matter what official position it is, these two people can jump out and compete for it, and their priority is not low. At least they can disgust Party Lin.
Zhou Yingqiu continued: "Nei Ying also revealed the strategy of the Qingliu forces! This time they may try their best to avoid court push, and strive to ask the emperor to directly appoint Nei Ying to surrender!"
The rest of the people were speechless. What kind of spy is this? Does he know such secrets? It sounds like he has a high status among the Qingliu forces.
However, this spy currently only has a single line of contact with Zhou Yingqiu. No matter how curious others are, they have no way of knowing. Due to confidentiality rules, they cannot ask.
Also, are the Qingliu Party members so cowardly now? They even want to avoid Tingtui?
Although the Minister of Civil Affairs is as special as the cabinet scholar, he can be recommended by the court or appointed by the emperor. It mainly depends on the emperor's ideas.
But are the Qingliu Party members so afraid of impeachments now? Could it be that they have been hurt by several key imputations in recent years?
Someone else took the initiative to ask: "Then what should we do?"
Zhou Yingqiu replied: "Let's first recommend Wang Hongjie, the Minister of Civil Affairs in Nanjing!"
Everyone is very unfamiliar with this name, and they feel it is very confusing.
Although it is a normal operation to select a minister from Nanjing, this Wang Hongjie is not one of his own, so why should he suddenly recommend such a person?
Zhou Yingqiu emphasized: "I have communicated with the chief minister and other senior figures regarding this matter, and it is not convenient to disclose more at the moment.
Please believe that the final victory this time must be ours, and we must reassure Lin Jiuyuan who is away on the battlefield!"
Then one day later, Yin Zhuoran, the envoy of the Joseon Dynasty, wrote a letter about the burning of Hamhung Palace and asked the emperor to make the decision.
On the same day, Ambassador Yin Zheng cried again outside the right gate of Chang'an, which moved all the officials.
Then it seemed that a new round of struggle had begun. It was said that Lin Tailai was impeached by officials for neglecting other people's ancestral temples, and a vigorous popularization of etiquette and law was carried out in the court.
If someone impeaches Lin Tailai, then someone must defend Lin Tailai, claiming that war is dangerous and dangerous, and that it is normal for war to occur and it is not appropriate to criticize him harshly.
At the same time, some people said that Wang Shizhen, the official minister, was ill, and asked Wang Tianguan to resign and the court to replace the official official minister.
These scenes can't help but make many court officials sigh. For some reason, the court has become very lively at the end of the year in recent years, and it seems that year-end brawls have become a repertoire.
Although it is not as exciting as the replacement of three cabinet ministers at the same time last year, the fight over a minister is still interesting to watch, not to mention that this is the outpost battle for the Beijing-Chamberlain next year.
Regarding these memorials, Emperor Wanli could not come up with any specific opinions, so he kept them inactive for the time being and continued to wait and see.
In fact, Emperor Wanli's attitude was usually relatively mild as long as his ministers did not make trouble with the country or criticize the emperor.
Later, many ministers regarded this kind of stay in China as "encouragement", which triggered a new round of separation.
In this round of Shang Shuli, they not only discussed Wang Tianguan's own problems, but also began to give advice on the candidate for the next Minister of Civil Affairs.
At this time, there was another prominent voice in the court, which was to request the emperor Qian Gang to make an exception and move Sun Piyang, the censor of Zuodu, to be the official of the Ministry of Personnel.
It must be said that this request actually made Emperor Wanli very excited, and successfully attracted the emperor's attention.
Whenever possible, the emperor would of course prefer to appoint ministers by internal decree to demonstrate the absolute authority of the monarch.
However, due to various restrictions in the political environment, this idea is often difficult to implement.
For example, after the appointment, there was often strong opposition from ministers from other dynasties. Although it could be forcibly suppressed by using the monarch's power, the process would also be too troublesome, making the emperor feel that it was not worthwhile.
In other words, there is no minister now worthy of the emperor's support at all costs.
Therefore, if you want to truly achieve the state of "Qian Gang Dictatorship", it is a great test of the emperor's political skills. Emperor Jiajing had this ability, but it was also the centralization of power that was slowly achieved through more than ten years of ceremonial discussions.
Emperor Wanli obviously did not have this level of political power, nor did he have the patience to make plans for more than ten consecutive years.
All of Emperor Wanli's talents in terms of patience were probably focused on "anger".
Although Emperor Wanli admired his grandfather Jiajing very much, the difference between him and his grandfather may be that Emperor Jiajing could insist on maintaining a single idea for ten or twenty years of operation, and finally achieved the results he wanted.
However, Emperor Wanli would only continue to be angry for ten or twenty years, and would suffer from intermittent convulsions while being incompetent and furious.
In Lin Tailai's eyes, he is a good person and loves to play, but he often cannot afford to play.
Historically, Emperor Wanli was just making trouble for his country at first, and then he took the opportunity to be angry and refused to go to court. He couldn't afford to play anymore.
After more than ten years of turmoil and being forced to have the eldest son, the ministers thought that the emperor could calm down, but the results began to go beyond imagination and become even worse.
Unexpectedly, he was able to retain the appointment of officials for more than ten years in a row. More than half of the official posts in the dynasty were often lacking, and there was often only one person in the cabinet to handle affairs, which brought the court to the verge of paralysis at every turn.
In fact, this caused great damage to the system, seriously shaking the prestige and operating mechanism of the Ming Dynasty.
Perhaps Emperor Wanli could be cleansed in many aspects, but in terms of destroying the system, he really couldn't be cleansed.
It can be said that the "sacredness" of the Ming Dynasty's imperial power was destroyed by Jiajing and Wanli in different ways.
Having said that, Emperor Wanli was originally not very interested in the "dog eat dog" policy in foreign dynasties this time, but when there were voices asking for "Qian Gang's dictatorship", it aroused Emperor Wanli's strong interest.
I even think a little too much - is this a good sign? Is this a political hint that some ministers are thinking of "taking refuge" in themselves?
Can we use this as an opportunity to get the ministers accustomed to being arbitrary?
If the ministers are accustomed to being arbitrary in their decisions, will the emperor be able to make decisions with just one word when talking about the foundation of the country in the future?
When thinking of this, Emperor Wanli decided to take a more active stance and intervene in the dispute between the officials and ministers.