Daming talker

Chapter 562 Fish and Bear’s Paw
After thinking for a while, Chen Ju, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, politely declined Lin Tailai's request:
"I am only here to deliver a message, and the issue of whether to add cabinet ministers has nothing to do with today's court discussion.

Why should I forward the message without your permission? You should just write another letter."

Eunuch Chen only serves the emperor and does not want to get involved in the trivial matters between civil officials.

If you, Lin Tailai, really have any ideas, please submit them through formal channels and do not use eunuch Chen as a tool to pass on your messages.

Every time you help others convey a message to the emperor, you run a greater risk.

Lin Tailai frowned and said: "The emperor has been deceived by the cabinet, and reorganizing the cabinet or adding cabinet ministers is a top priority.

Those of you who work in the Imperial Household Department must always consider the Emperor's interests and think ahead of everything!
If I were to be the Master of Ceremonies, forget it, that is not my ambition!"

Chen Ju was a little unhappy and snorted coldly.

You, Lin Tailai, think it's easy to be a eunuch? The competition in the palace is more brutal than that of you civil servants!

Also, you, Lin Tailai, are an outsider. Do you think you understand the emperor better than the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department?
If you, Lin Tailai, dare to "take advantage of the disaster" and forcibly interfere in the selection of cabinet members, you will be the first one to be punished afterwards!

After Lin Tai finished speaking, he opened the door to the East Courtyard, and Eunuch Chen, who represented the emperor, left first to report to the inner palace.

Then the Dongchaofang meeting ended, and Lin Tailai was the first to leave.

However, seeing that Luo Sigong, the deputy commander of the Northern Pacification Division of the Jinyiwei, was still outside, Lin Tailai asked, "Did Eunuch Chen just give the order to arrest me and put me in prison?"

Luo Sigong replied unhappily: "No."

Lin Tailai looked around and asked, "It was Captain Liu who escorted me from Xizhimen to Dongchaofang this morning, and now he should escort me back.

But why wasn't Captain Liu here at this time? This was desertion! This was dereliction of duty!
There are many imperial censors in the East Court Room, how dare he do this?"

Luo Sigong said impatiently: "Alright, alright! I'll escort you back! Don't make trouble out of nothing!"

Lin Tailai immediately asked again, "Commander Luo, are you planning to use actual actions to protect Captain Liu?"

Luo Sigong: "."

It's up to you to do whatever you want! No matter what! Anyway, you, Lin Tailai, won't run away!

After seeing Commander Luo leave angrily, several people quickly approached Lin Tailai.

The Minister of Revenue Wang Situ, the Left Vice Minister of Rites Zhao Zhigao, the Left Censor-in-Chief Zhao Huan and others walked out of the palace together.

It would be difficult to talk if the Jinyiwei officers were around.

Zhao Zhigao said with some concern: "Isn't it a bit too hasty to propose adding cabinet ministers today?"

Lin Tailai said nonchalantly: "How can you say you are rushing things? It's just right, just wait for the progress!"

Speaking of this, Lin Tailai felt quite gratified.

Starting from the 13th year of the Wanli reign, it took nearly five years of hard work to finally train Old Man Zhao.

If "maturity and prudence" is used as the standard, the candidates for cabinet entry are basically only the Minister of Personnel Yang Wei and the Left Vice Minister Zhao Zhigao.

If Zhao Zhigao entered the cabinet, that would certainly be a good thing.

Even if Yang Wei entered the cabinet, Zhao Zhigao could take over as the Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel, a position no less important than that of an ordinary cabinet minister.

Zhao Zhigao couldn't help but ask, "In your opinion, Lin Jiuyuan, which one is better, fish or bear's paw?"

This means, what should we work towards next? Grand Secretary or Minister of Personnel?
Lin Tailai sighed: "To be honest, I am also hesitant and don't know which option is better.

So let everything be left to fate, whichever one comes to you is the best choice. Anyway, both options are good."

At this time, Emperor Wanli was in the Yiku Palace, reading and studying in the room with Concubine Zheng.

When eunuch Chen Ju arrived, he stood in the courtyard in front of the palace and waited, as it wouldn't take long anyway.

Sure enough, after a short while, the sage-like Emperor Wanli came out.

Eunuch Chen stepped forward to pay his respects, and the emperor asked, "What was the result of the discussion?"

This shows that the emperor was still very concerned.

Eunuch Chen said: "The court officials generally believe that Lin Tailai should be pardoned!"

Emperor Wanli said angrily: "I knew it! There is no punishment for criticism of the emperor and father, and it will not go unstopped!"

Eunuch Chen continued, "It is generally agreed by the court officials that the disaster was fulfilled when Lin Tailai was demoted and expelled.

Therefore, in order to eliminate the disaster, please pardon Lin Tailai."

Emperor Wanli immediately turned his anger into joy, "Very good! Then Lin Tailai can be pardoned!"

This is the news the emperor wants to hear most, someone should take responsibility for the disaster and not talk about his own misconduct all day long.

Then Emperor Wanli said: "Since Lin Tailai was wronged before, he can be promoted and rewarded."

Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, Chen Ju also smiled and replied:

"Lin Tailai also requested today that Your Majesty should add cabinet ministers as soon as possible.

He also blamed me and other eunuchs for not considering Your Majesty.

After all, he is still too young and impatient. "

Emperor Wanli did not comment on this and then began to arrange the work.

"Issue an order! Have the cabinet draft an edict of apology, saying that I was deceived and demoted loyal and good people, which led to a warning from heaven."

At this point, Emperor Wanli suddenly realized something, paused for a moment, and then said hesitantly: "Is there no one in the cabinet who can draft an imperial edict now?"

According to the existing system, all formal imperial edicts (except imperial decrees, oral instructions, handwritten orders, etc.) are first drafted by the cabinet and then sealed by the emperor after confirmation.

But this time the emperor's edict of self-criticism included content such as "I was deceived", and the people who deceived the emperor were the cabinet ministers.

It sounds funny to let the person who deceived the emperor help the deceived emperor draft a confession of guilt.

The edict of repentance is not only for the people of the world to see, but also for God to see. The more superficial it is, the less likely it is to become a joke.

Thinking of this, Emperor Wanli sighed and said, "So Lin Tailai is right. We do need to add more people to the cabinet, even if it is just to draft an edict of apology."

Chen Ju: “.”

Is it true that he is not as good as Lin Tailai? Is it true that Lin Tailai is more suitable to be a eunuch in the Imperial Household Department than he is?

Thinking of this, Eunuch Chen decided to test it again and said:

"Lin Tailai also said that the current cabinet is too young and unstable, so we should elect more mature and stable people around 65 years old to join the cabinet."

Emperor Wanli nodded. "Lin Tailai has indeed considered everything, and that's just the way it should be. If he hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have thought of this."

If the cabinet is too young, isn't it very likely that there will be old cabinet members who have been in office for 10 or 20 years and are difficult to remove?
So if you add more people, it’s better to find older ones.

Eunuch Chen suddenly became a little autistic, and he finally discovered how powerful Lin Tailai was.

This method cannot be regarded as judging the emperor's thoughts at all, but rather actively guiding the emperor's thinking and making him think in the required direction.

Don’t think this is easy. Unless you have a deep understanding of the emperor, it is impossible to do this.

So maybe Lin Tailai is really more suitable to be a eunuch than himself.

Emperor Wanli no longer hesitated and first issued an order to the Ministry of Personnel, ordering the Ministry of Personnel to nominate candidates for cabinet membership.

The candidates were also required to be mature and prudent, and their ages should be higher than those of the existing cabinet ministers. After the news of this decree spread, all the government offices in the imperial court were speechless.

Previously, Lin Tailai openly proposed that the cabinet must elect an old man, which really seemed like a joke.

Generally, young people are chosen as newcomers. How can it make sense to choose old men as newcomers?

Unexpectedly, this seemingly playful request actually came true, and the emperor actually adopted this suggestion.

Under normal circumstances, once someone is selected to join the cabinet, the court will definitely be in an uproar.

There will be countless people trying their best to get that seat in Wenyuan Pavilion.

But this time everyone was very calm because they were not qualified to participate in the competition at all.

It is good enough for a person to live to the age of 65, and it is even rarer for an official to serve until the age of 65.

There are very few who can serve as officials until old age and still meet the requirements to enter the cabinet.

Not to mention the purge of Zhang Juzheng seven years ago, which also involved the purge of many ministers of the older generation, resulting in there being not many elderly ministers in the court now.

So after looking around, the only candidates are Yang Wei and Zhao Zhigao.

Faced with this kind of random recruitment, why would anyone join in the fun?
"So this is the situation now," Shen Yongmao explained to his father at home.

"If the emperor wants to pardon Lin Tailai, he must first issue an edict of guilt; to draft an edict of guilt, he must first recruit new cabinet ministers, so everyone is waiting for the result of nominating new cabinet ministers."

Shen Shixing said dimly, "Did the emperor and the court forget something?"

Shen Yongmao thought for a while and asked doubtfully, "What on earth was forgotten?"

Shen Shixing suddenly felt a little resentful, "You forgot to let me go back to Wenyuan Pavilion! I, the Prime Minister, am still at home!"

Application: "."

After a pause, Uncle Shen said, "It seems that these current events have nothing to do with father, right?
As a member of the old cabinet, it is impossible for you to draft the edict of repentance.

As for nominating a new cabinet minister, it has nothing to do with you, and it is impossible for you to publicly express your support for anyone.

The most important thing is that the emperor has no intention of secretly consulting you, and you have no power to influence him at all."

To this, Shen Shixing only said: "No matter what, I am still the Prime Minister."

Shen Yongmao spoke frankly: "Whether or not you are the Prime Minister at the moment is really irrelevant to the overall situation.

It’s not like there is no one leading these things now, and that person is Lin Tailai.”

Shen Shixing asked angrily: "Whose son are you?"

Shen Yongmao replied: "I am just standing in an objective position and saying a few words.

At the beginning, Lin Tailai wanted to give you the dominant power, but you reached a tacit understanding with the Qingliu forces.

In order to so-called stabilize the overall situation, you ignored Lin Tailai's demands and watched him being expelled.

Now that Lin Tailai has regained control with his own ability, what do you have to complain about?"

Shen Shixing was speechless after being contradicted. No matter who was sitting in his position, he would not have made any other choice.

Unless those who are superstitious about Lin Tailai, who could have thought that Lin Tailai, a criminal soldier thrown into a border town, could turn the tables and dominate the situation?
At this time, Menzi came to report that the Minister of Personnel Yang Wei came to visit.

Prime Minister Shen regained some confidence and said to Shen Yongmao: "It is impossible that the major events of the court are completely unaffected by me."

The relationship between the Minister of Personnel and the Prime Minister has always been sensitive, and public visits are rare. Yang Tianguan's visit this time shows his strong support for the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Shen and Shen Yongmao went to the second gate to greet him personally, and invited Yang Tianguan to sit in the private study.

"Old God, are you here tonight for the matter of the court recommendation?" Prime Minister Shen asked proactively.

"That's not the case." Yang Tianguan replied, "I intend to resign and return home, so I informed the elder in advance."

Shen Shixing was instantly shocked and said subconsciously: "Why do you have to do this!"

The Minister of Personnel Yang Wei was his strongest aide and the pillar of his situation in the outer court, even the unique and irreplaceable pillar.

It was precisely because of his status as the Prime Minister, coupled with his control over the Minister of Personnel, that he was able to exert great influence on the court despite the frantic encirclement and suppression by the Qingliu forces.

If he lost the support from the Minister of Personnel, Shen Shixing's power structure would collapse immediately.

Yang Tianguan sighed, "It's too tiring to be in this position, and I'm nearly 70 years old. I'm no longer able to support it any longer."

The position of the Minister of Personnel was too important and too sensitive. It turned out that he was sandwiched between the Prime Minister and the Qingliu forces, and was torn apart by the Qingliu forces every day.

Now that the Lin Party is gradually taking shape, I am afraid that in the future I will be frequently and rudely interfered with by the Lin Party. Is this the life a human being should live?
Moreover, the court was obviously becoming more and more chaotic. He was an old man who was almost seventy years old and was in the most sensitive position, so he really couldn't bear it any longer.

You know, Yang Tianguan was on the same list as Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng. After going through three dynasties and more than forty years, he was really exhausted.

Shen Shixing said somewhat reluctantly: "This time you have the opportunity to join the cabinet, don't you want to enjoy the honor of being a prime minister?"

Although Shen Shixing hoped that Yang Wei would continue to serve as the Minister of Personnel.

Yang Wei smiled bitterly and said, "I can see clearly that this time it is most likely that Zhao Zhigao will enter the cabinet."

Finally, Yang Tianguan said: "I hope the Prime Minister will take care of himself in the future. I, an old man, can no longer help you!"

After seeing Yang Tianguan off, Shen Shixing had completely lost his confidence as the Prime Minister and sat there in a daze, distracted.

Under the current circumstances, it is impossible to find another Minister of Personnel as obedient as Yang Wei.

As long as Yang Wei leaves the court, Shen Shixing will be the one who suffers the most losses.

"Father? Go to bed early." Shen Yongmao advised.

Shen Shixing sighed, "If Yang Wei resigns, then I will also resign, truly resign.

Without the support of the Minister of Personnel, it is better not to be the Prime Minister! "

Shen Yongmao knelt down and bowed his head to the ground, shouting from the bottom of his heart:

"Father, please think twice! The Ming Dynasty cannot do without you! I cannot live without you in the capital either!"

During this period of time, Prime Minister Shen was scolded by his son at home every day, and his blood pressure had risen a lot. Seeing this, he felt slightly relieved.

Then he said with emotion: "It turns out that you also understand in your heart how important being a father is to you."

Shen Yongmao replied: "Lin Jiuyuan told me to stay at home and watch my father's movements. I must not let my father really resign."

"Get out!" Prime Minister Shen cursed.

The next day, when Prime Minister Shen had just woken up and had not yet had breakfast, he saw his eldest son rushing to the door.

I also heard a report saying, "Lin Jiuyuan has been waiting at the gate before dawn, asking to see father!"

Shen Shoufu: "."

Lin Tailai was asked to wait outside the door for an audience before dawn. This must be the treatment he received from an emperor, right?

"Father, you should meet him." Shen Yongmao advised.

Prime Minister Shen snorted coldly: "I just realized that only I, who am ready to resign, can gain your respect!"

(End of this chapter)