At midnight on July 24, the first year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, a morning dynasty concerning the future political situation of the Ming Dynasty officially began.
The main purpose of this court meeting is to recommend and discuss the vacancies in the outer court after the impeachment case.
In the past few days, many officials in the outer court, who had sensed the reversal of the situation, defected collectively. Dozens of officials sought to see Liu Jin through various connections and channels. Liu Jin's subordinate Gu Da used Ma Yongcheng and others as intermediaries, only accepting gifts for introduction.
They received a soft hand. Those officials who wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to rise to power prepared generous gifts and asked to see Liu Jin, hoping to get a chance through this reshuffle of the outer court.
The baseness of human nature was undoubtedly revealed during this period. The civil servants, who usually spoke of benevolence, justice and morality, and chanted slogans, were more philistine and fickle than the common people. The so-called integrity and nobility disappeared at this moment.
"A gentleman does not stand behind a dangerous wall!"
"If you don't do it for yourself, you will be punished by heaven and earth!"
"He who knows the current affairs is a hero!"
"..."
This group of people used such words to justify themselves and their actions. It was as if the sages had taught them to do this. Other civil servants in the outer court felt sad and sneered at this.
In any case, the division of the outer court has become a reality. Under the pressure of the situation and driven by interests, some people have become partisans, while the other people insist on sticking to their bottom line, although they don't know whether their bottom line is
correct.
During these three days, Li Dongyang faced all this in silence. When someone reported to him angrily, who secretly went to see Liu Jin and others, and who betrayed the dignity and bottom line of scholars, Li Dongyang just nodded silently.
"Everyone has his or her own ambitions, don't force them. Let them go." This is what Li Dongyang said the most.
Such almost depressing words are actually as if they were not said at all. This makes more people suspect that even if Li Dongyang is here, the foreign court may exist in name only. Almost most people feel pessimistic and frustrated about the situation of the foreign court. In their view,
Come, the outer court will soon fall under the control of Liu Jin and others. Li Dongyang and others will be unable to fight back.
They sigh, suffer, feel disappointed and confused because of this.
However, what everyone did not expect was that after the morning dynasty began, the situation was not as bad as everyone imagined. After Liu Jin, who was proud and sure to win, put forward a list of recommendations, he was met by more than a dozen foreign court officials headed by Li Dongyang.
Officials responded strongly.
What is even more shocking is that the noble nobles headed by British Duke Zhang Mao and Dingguo Duke Xu Guangzuo also joined in. When they negotiated the lists of officials proposed by Li Dongyang and Liu Jin to fill vacancies in the foreign court, they were obviously biased towards Li Dongyang and others.
.
Originally, it was predicted at the beginning that Liu Jin and others would gain a one-sided advantage in this matter, but in the end it turned into an evenly matched battle. Both sides had disagreements on almost every candidate, and the quarrel turned red in the face.
It's rough and can't be opened.
Zhu Houzhao did not seem to have expected this situation. When he was sitting on the throne and watching a group of people spitting at His Highness, Zhu Houzhao was speechless. He did not expect that an elegant Li Dongyang would stomp his feet and point at others to spit.
Swearing. A group of normally polite officials were now sarcastically mocking each other and trying their best to slander each other.
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help laughing at the end. This was so interesting. Seeing these people fighting for each other in front of him, Zhu Houzhao was extremely happy. Being an emperor really has a lot of fun.
, this moment is one of them.
The two parties had "intense and candid" exchanges about every position. For example, when selecting cabinet candidates, Li Dongyang proposed Yang Tinghe and the highly respected former Zuodu censor Ma Zhongxi, who retired due to illness. And Liu Jin proposed two candidates.
The candidates are Jiao Fang, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs, and Liu Yu, the current censor of Zuodu.
On the surface, both Jiao Fang and Liu Yu are suitable candidates. As for Yang Tinghe and Ma Zhongxi, one is too junior, and the other is an old man who, although he has sufficient qualifications and reputation, has a hot temper and an upright personality. He has been punished by the imperial court twice and dismissed from office twice.
Angry Youth. In terms of cabinet candidates, it is obvious that the candidates proposed by Liu Jin are more suitable. After all, both Jiao Fang and Liu Yu have served in the court for many years, have sufficient qualifications, and have no major faults.
Liu Jin and others naturally focused on Yang Tinghe's junior qualifications and his teacher-student relationship with Li Dongyang, as well as Ma Zhongxi's old age and temper, and attacked them. However, everyone led by Zhang Yanling and others took a different approach. They focused on Liu Yu and attacked fiercely.
This is the most shameful thing about Liu Yu. After Liu Jian's downfall, Liu Yu published a book, recounting Liu Jian's mistakes and severing the relationship with Liu Jian.
"Master Liu Yu, everyone in the court knows that he was promoted by Liu Jian, the former chief minister of the cabinet. At that time, Master Liu always called himself a student in words and humbled himself in deeds. He went to the cabinet to kowtow every morning and evening, which can be said to be respectful.
Extremely. At that time, some courtiers joked that the two of them were officials from Henan and had the same place of origin. Maybe they were father and son. This was of course a joke. However, Liu
Master Yu Liu not only did not deny this, but also told people everywhere that he also felt that he and Liu Jian had similar personalities and looks. Maybe they were actually separated father and son. Although Master Liu Yu and Liu were also joking, this kind of
Even his biological parents can use it as a means to flatter Liu Jian, which is really disgusting. This shows that Mr. Liu Yu Liu's character is worrying."
"What's even more outrageous is that after the impeachment case, Mr. Liu Yu Liu went out of his way. Not only did he categorically deny his relationship with Liu Jian, he even denied the fact that he was promoted by Liu Jian. He also went on to file a memorial to attack Liu Jian. Then
You have all seen the excerpt and said that Liu Jian lived a luxurious life. What is ridiculous is that Liu Jian ate a lot of fat in one meal.
Sheep. This is so funny. Liu Jian is so edible, how can he be described as haggard? A fat sheep weighs dozens of kilograms. Who can eat a fat sheep in one meal? This kind of ungrateful behavior is really disgusting.
If someone joins the cabinet, wouldn't it mean that the Ming Dynasty encourages this kind of behavior? If everyone follows suit, wouldn't it mean that etiquette and music will be ruined?"
The above is what Zhang Yanling said when he stood up. He was merciless and touched his heart with every word. Liu Yu was so angry that his face turned livid and he almost fainted on the spot. Although he did add insult to injury, Zhang Yanling's words were obvious.
It was an exaggeration that added fuel to the flames, and it reached the point where the ceremony was broken and the music was broken. How could Liu Yu not be ashamed and angry to death?
On the contrary, Zhang Yanling and Li Dongyang naturally had another argument for Yang Tinghe's junior qualifications and Li Dongyang's teacher-student relationship. In addition to emphasizing the importance of character and knowledge, they also emphasized the principle of not avoiding suspicion when appreciating talents. The trump card was Yang Tinghe.
He was once selected by the late emperor to serve as a lecturer in the East Palace to emphasize that Yang Tinghe was by no means qualified.
His experience is shallow. Isn’t a minister who can give lectures to the prince highly respected? To further belittle Yang Tinghe’s qualifications and abilities is to question the late emperor’s vision in disguise, and it is disrespectful to the emperor. To describe the emperor’s former lectures as qualifications
Those who lacked ability even viciously attacked the emperor.
In short, after all kinds of sophistry and sophistry and exaggerated quarrels and attacks, in the end, both sides took a step back, and Jiao Fang and Yang Tinghe joined the cabinet.
In order to prevent Liu Jin from going crazy, he agreed to appoint Jiao Fang as the Minister of Civil Affairs.
After a whole morning of quarreling and quarreling, finally, before noon, the candidates for the six foreign ministries and the cabinet were announced.
There are three cabinet members, with Li Dongyang as the chief assistant, Jiao Fang and Yang Tinghe as assistant ministers. Jiao Fang, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Xu Jin, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Tu Xun, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, Li Jie, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Gu Zuo, the Minister of the Ministry of Husbandry. Liu Yu plus the left minister of the Ministry of War
, Zhang Cai was appointed as the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Wang Jianzhi was appointed as the Left Assistant Minister of the Criminal Ministry and was appointed as the Deputy Censor of Zuodu. There were also several people recommended by Liu Jin who served in key yamen of the Six Ministries.
Li Dongyang and others were satisfied with this result. Generally speaking, the civil servants and soldiers fell into the hands of Liu Jin, but the other four chief officials were all obtained by the foreign court. More importantly, Yang Tinghe joined the cabinet, and the cabinet position formed an advantage. This is
The result that Li Dongyang cares about most.
For Liu Jin, although it could not be called a complete victory, the staff and the military were under his control, which were the most powerful and key departments of the outer court. The other yamen also had deputies arranged by Liu Jin, and overall they were OK
accept.
Although both parties are not happy, at least the result is not too bad. And this is exactly what Zhang Yanling expected.
Helping the foreign court fight against Liu Jin will definitely not let the foreign court go back to its old ways. Keep Liu Jin's partial control and pressure on the foreign court, keep Li Dongyang and others under pressure, and let the two fighting tigers neither kill the other.
This is the best result for our honorable men.
Of course, Zhang Yanling also understood that after today, the alliance between him and Liu Jin would have been broken. Liu Jin would definitely hate him to the core.
However, this day will come sooner or later. Under interests, divisions and combinations are the norm. Liu Jin's rise to power will be even more detrimental to himself. It is better to seize the opportunity and join in to become a chess player instead of a chess piece on the chess board.
important.
What's more, Zhang Yanling knew Liu Jin's fate. He didn't want to be Liu Jin's martyr. It was inevitable to break away from Liu Jin as soon as possible.
After a vigorous, noisy, quarreling, and bargaining morning, the power structure of the Ming Dynasty was re-divided.
Although Liu Jin's attempt to fully control the outer court failed, it is undeniable that from today on, Liu Jin's rise has become a fait accompli.
The inner court was in red, and a large number of officials from the outer court were attached to it. In a very short period of time, Liu Jin had obviously become the most popular figure in the Ming Dynasty. What does this mean? No one knows.
In response to this joint blockade from the outer court and nobles, Liu Jin, who was extremely angry, immediately launched his retaliatory action after the court meeting, demonstrating his power to intimidate everyone after having power in his hands.