prosperous age

Chapter 474 Chapter 473
Lei Li's gratitude made Emperor Jiajing think of adding grace.

This grace, of course, is not only because of the completion of the Yongshou Palace project, but also the construction of the three halls, so it might as well be rewarded.

With this in mind, the Emperor Jiajing continued to say: "Xu Jie, who is serving the ministers and assistant ministers, is a young teacher and a secretary, and still Yin has a son, Zhongshu Sheren; Gong Zhu Xizhong and assistant minister Yan Song are each [-] years old. Shi; Fuchen Yuan Wei plus Shaobao; Shangshu Lei Li plus Prince Taibao, still Yin one son went to prison to study; Governor Zhu Xixiao plus Shaobao, Yin one son and hundreds of households; One son and one hundred households; servants Liu Boyue and Zhu Heng."

"Your Majesty, no."

At the beginning, seeing the emperor was happy and wanting to reward him generously, no matter whether it was Huang Jin, Xu Jie or Lei Li, it didn't matter.

The three main halls are a major project of the court, and the Yongshou Palace is also the de facto residence of Emperor Jiajing. They are actually very important, and they will be sacrificed to the suburban temple, so there is no need to come out at this time to disturb the emperor's happy mood.

What's more, this award, it seems that everyone in the Ministry of Industry will benefit, and it can be regarded as a reward, and I can't stop others from getting promoted and getting rich.

The previous ones are all fine. Brothers Xu Jie, Zhu Xizhong, and chief assistant Yan Song have more or less participated in these projects and have contributed to the smooth progress of the projects. What the hell?

And like Lei Li, add the prince and Taibao, and shade one son and one hundred households?
Who is Xu Gao?

For a craftsman household who has not passed the imperial examination, Emperor Jiajing would immediately seal the Minister of Industry and add Sangong as soon as he was happy. This is absolutely not acceptable.

Lei Li only thought so in his heart, but he felt that his mouth was bitter and he couldn't speak.

The reason for this is because of his official position. He is the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and he was added to the crown prince just now. At this time, when he heard that the emperor granted Xu Gao the same official position as himself, if he stopped him, he would naturally be rumored by the outside world. For jealousy and jealousy.

Even if you know the truth, what will be said behind your back, who knows?

Fortunately, at this time, Xu Jie who was in front of him spoke up.

Yes, Xu Jie didn't want to say anything about Emperor Jiajing's award, as long as the emperor was happy.

It is the right thing to get a reward for making achievements, but what does this Feng Xu Gao mean?
Emperor Jiajing was not angry when his speech was interrupted. He looked at Xu Jie who could hear the sound, and asked kindly, "Why?"

Rewarding the ministers, this is a reward. Emperor Jiajing couldn't understand why Xu Jie stopped it. You don't want to reward him. If you stop it at this time, you are not afraid of being resented by others?

Xu Jie is not the kind of person who looks down on the current situation.

With a hint of curiosity, Emperor Jiajing asked.

"Your Majesty, this Xu Gao was not born in the imperial examination. It is also acceptable to be awarded gold and silver and an official position in the Ministry of Industry, but the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry and the Crown Prince Taibao have passed."

Of course Xu Jie didn't want the people behind him to hate him, who couldn't tell that the emperor was happy at the moment, obviously everyone had merit and rewards, and he would offend many people if he stopped at this time.

In a hurry, Xu Jie quickly said that the reason why he stopped him was because of Xu Gao's identity.

Speaking of which, I felt relaxed. He didn't object to the emperor's rewards to other people, but he had an opinion on Xu Gao's rewards.

He understands that it is difficult for him to say what Lei Li's position is. Huang Jin is a member of the inner court and can't take care of the affairs of the outside court. He is the only one here who can speak out to stop this from happening.

In the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen were not forbidden to serve as officials. Craftsmen were allowed to serve as officials in the Ministry of Industry, even if they had not passed the imperial examination, but they were all low-level officials, or professional officials. Minister of the Ministry of Industry, this cannot be justified anyway.

However, Emperor Jiajing looked at Xu Jie with a weird look at this time, which made Xu Jie feel a little nervous. After careful consideration, he realized that he seemed to have said the wrong thing, but he didn't seem to say the wrong thing, and he didn't know what to say for a while. How to continue talking.

"If I remember correctly, in the 25th year of Hongwu, we set up a camp repair office, and changed the general office into a camp repair office, with seven grades of rank, and two officers, one deputy, and two prime ministers. .”

Emperor Jiajing didn't care about Xu Jie's appearance, but said lightly, "What do you mean by 'the most skilled craftsmen do it'?"

Xu Jie kept his mouth shut. He had indeed neglected this matter before. The Ming Dynasty was different from the Song and Yuan Dynasties. During the period of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, it was indeed stipulated that craftsmen could also directly become officials.

Note that the term "craftsman entering an official" here does not mean "craftsman entering an official". In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, with the opening of the imperial examination to craftsmen, craftsmen can also enroll in the imperial examination and become an official; It is the craftsman who failed the imperial examination and became an official simply relying on his craftsmanship.

"In the Hongwu Dynasty, Xu Xingzu and Jing Gao were awarded Guangluqing as cooks, Du Andao and Hong Guanju were appointed as Taichangqing, an engineering officer, and Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites. In the Chenghua Dynasty, Lu Xiang was appointed as a stone engineer to Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry."

Emperor Jiajing began to count down the list of craftsmen who had entered the officialdom that he could think of for a while, and said them one by one, which made Xu Jie feel ashamed for a while.

"Do you want to learn from Hu Shining and Li Yue?"

Speaking of this, Emperor Jiajing's tone became hostile. He was in a good mood at first, and wanted to give them rewards for the construction of the Three Great Halls and the Yongshou Palace, but he did not expect this to happen.

And Xu Jie also broke out in a cold sweat.

Hu Shining and Li Yue were both officials of the Jiajing Dynasty. Hu Shining was the minister of the Ministry of War in the early Jiajing period. In the fifth year of Jiajing, because he opposed the emperor, he promoted 54 craftsmen including Zhao Kui. Do your best to get promoted" is inappropriate.

However, Xu Jie had a vague impression that this memorial was rejected by Emperor Jiajing on the grounds that "promotion to an official position is also a story of the previous dynasty".

Thinking of this, Xu Jie knew that it would be impossible to prevent Xu Gao from becoming Minister of the Ministry of Industry, but he could still talk about adding titles.

"Your Majesty, the old minister made a slip of the tongue. After being reminded by His Majesty, the old minister has no objection to Xu Gao's appointment as Minister of the Ministry of Industry, but adding the title of Prince Taibao is something that has never happened in the previous dynasty. Please learn from Your Majesty."

Thinking of this, Xu Jie hastily said.

Prince Taibao, Prince Taishi, and Prince Taifu are all official positions in the East Palace. They are all in charge of teaching and learning, and they are collectively referred to as the "Three Masters".

The prince's grand master teaches literature, the prince's grand master teaches martial arts, and the prince's grand protector protects him. In addition, there are also the prince's young teachers, prince's young masters, and prince's young guards who are all their deputies. They are the so-called "three males and three orphans".

Emperor Jiajing thought about it at this time, and it seemed that this was really the case.

Although the craftsman also went to the six departments and nine ministers, it seems that there are really no three males and three orphans.

Thinking about it just now, it seems that he said it well, thinking that since he was promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, he would be given a Taibao by the way, but he forgot about it.

From a craftsman to a minister, he also ascended to a high position suddenly, and he was super promoted, so Emperor Jiajing stopped arguing.

He nodded slightly, thinking about his own thoughts just now, and continued: "The great craftsman Xu Gao was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Yin had a son of a hundred households; the servants Liu Boyue and Zhu Heng were promoted to one level each, and Heng Yin's son went to prison to study; Counselor Liu Ji and Gou Wei were promoted to Shaoqing of Taipu Temple; Xu Fan, Minister of Shangbaosi, was promoted to Shaoqing of Taichang Temple."

Emperor Jiajing didn't want to spoil everyone's mood, he saw that behind Lei Li there was a large group of people who were looking forward to this place, waiting for him to give them a reward.

There are still many things I want to cultivate, and I will use these people in the future.

Emperor Jiajing was known for being mean and ungrateful, and extremely selfish. These were the evaluations given to him by officials from other courts, and he didn't care about them.

However, he dared to make exceptions for the talents he liked, which gave Xu Gao this rare opportunity.

What happened in Xiyuan was quickly spread outside the palace and was known to the courtiers.

In the beginning, these Jinshi who passed the imperial examinations and passed the imperial examinations heard that there was a master craftsman from the Ministry of Industry, who was appreciated by Emperor Jiajing with his extraordinary skills and made his way to the top, and was directly awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry. What a state of mind.

That was a burst, and they all clamored for impeachment and scolding Emperor Jiajing.

Regardless of whether it was to cheat the imperial staff or not, there were quite a few officials making noise anyway.

But soon, under the patient explanation of some quick-response officials around them, they gradually realized that they had lost their composure just now.

If it was the official system of the Ming Dynasty, but the system of six books, one minister and two ministers seems to be a common practice, but it is not always the case.

In fact, a few years ago, the Ministry of Industry had two ministers standing side by side, namely Ouyang Bijin and Lei Li, but at that time it was Ouyang Bijin who was in charge of the department, that is, the official minister, and Lei Li was the official minister of the Ministry of Industry. The title of Shangshu, but running around the various construction sites of the Ministry of Industry, inspecting and guiding the work, this is dispatch.

It's hard to imagine that one person should not only be in charge of the ministry's affairs, but also travel around to inspect the work. Given the transportation conditions of Ming Dynasty, this possibility is simply not possible.

It wasn't until Ouyang Bijin became an official and Emperor Jiajing let Lei Li take charge of the ministry that Lei Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was considered to be right.

As for why no one brought up this matter, it is not because of Yan Song's great influence. It is probably because this is actually a rule handed down from the Hongwu period. In fact, it also reflects that there are too many affairs in the six ministries. Not coming, so add officials.

At the time of the Hongwu Dynasty, the Ministry of Household Affairs created a grand occasion with seven ministers holding titles at the same time, and each of them was in charge of a piece of government affairs without interfering with each other.

Moreover, in the Ming Dynasty, it was actually normal for several people to hold an official position. Some of them were false titles, which were used to improve the rank and treatment of officials.

For example, the cabinet ministers, in addition to the official position of a scholar of a certain hall, plus the crown prince Shaobao and other officials, will also be given the title of minister, which means that the rank of the cabinet ministers will be raised abruptly.

It is true that there were some positions that were already too busy to be filled, so it was not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty to add some officials of the same position to work together.

As for Xu Gao, a carpenter, who became the minister of the Ministry of Industry, he was actually the former, and it was just for him to enjoy the treatment of the minister. It was impossible for him to take charge of the affairs of the Ministry.

With this consensus, the ministers who wanted to publish the memorial and use the book to kill Emperor Jiajing decisively chose to give up.

As the saying goes, these are all "first dynasty stories", how to put it this way, they just brought up the ancestral system to talk about things when they have nothing to do.

Sometimes, Emperor Jiajing appeared to be more active than them in maintaining the ancestral system.

When the news reached King Yu's mansion, King Yu and others were naturally shocked beyond measure.

A carpenter, directly turned into a minister of the Ministry of Industry, inspirational, really inspirational.

What is it about being Tian Shelang in the dynasty and ascending the Tianzitang in the evening? None of them Jinshi can compare with this great craftsman named Xu Gao.

"broken."

Just when everyone was shocked, Zhang Juzheng suddenly cried out.

"what happened?"

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng are close, no matter what the reason is, anyway, he is with Zhang Juzheng now when he is free.

Zhang Juzheng's reaction at this time must be because he realized that something serious happened.

"You said, if it is so easy to build a palace, will your majesty continue to build it?"

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde, as well as Yu Wang and others who cast puzzled eyes, and said, "As far as the imperial court's finances are concerned, if you wantonly build palaces and pavilions...
In the past, the ministers tried their best to prevent His Majesty from making large-scale construction projects under the pretext of the difficulty of finding large materials. With Xu Gao's technique, how can he stop it? "

"It's a pity that Xu Ge is getting old."

Wei Guangde naturally understood the meaning of Zhang Juzheng's words, and answered the words as soon as he opened his mouth.

At this time, everyone in Prince Yu's mansion realized that Yan Song's phase was coming soon, and naturally they also knew who the successor would be. Isn't it because Xu Jie suffered?

"It is estimated that your teacher will realize that he has made a mistake."

Wei Guangde smiled at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng didn't answer, just nodded slightly.

As they said, after Xu Jie returned to the cabinet from Xiyuan, he shut himself up in the house of duty, and temporarily put aside the drafting of the decree.

I thought that making great achievements would be the help to push Yan Song to this mountain, but now it seems a bit too hard, and it may make the emperor think again. Thinking about the future Emperor Jiajing will ask the court to spend money to repair this and that, Xu Jie can't help but A headache.

In the valet not far away, Yan Shifan, who knew the news, looked at the valet Xu Jie and sneered.

Knowing that his father will soon be resigned by Emperor Jiajing, it is too late to make amends at this time, Yan Shifan is clear about it, not to mention that Yan Song has already ordered him not to mess around, just wait honestly, so He was familiar with Emperor Jiajing, and he knew that the family would be fine in the end, as long as those people didn't chase after and beat them fiercely.

Simply greedy for some money from the court, in fact, Emperor Jiajing would not take it to heart, this emperor knows the virtues of officials very well.

At the beginning, Yan Shifan used the methods of the Ministry of Industry to raise money. Even if it wasn't him, someone else would have taken the money away, just the difference.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing had long since lost interest in reorganizing the administration of officials, and no matter how much he did, it was just a new generation of corrupt ones replacing the old ones.

What's more, my family has always been loyal to the king's affairs. Those officials think that the serious crimes committed by their Yan family are actually against the emperor in the final analysis. If there is this, it is the gold medal for avoiding death.

Convicting the Yan family is acknowledging that he did something wrong, so Yan Song has nothing to fear.

Yan Shifan also knew this, so he was too salty now, and he didn't want to struggle anymore. If he wanted to struggle, it would be difficult to repair the emperor's view of the Yan family in the short term.

Thinking of the family fortune I have collected over the years, even if I don't become an official, with those connections, I still have nothing to worry about. It's not bad to be a rich man.

It's just that Xu Jie and the scheming fox would one day shoot himself in the foot with a stone.

(End of this chapter)